Val Kilmer ponders a run for governor

Val Kilmer ponders a run for governor

SANTA FE, N.M. — Holy hornet’s nest, Batman! The New Mexico governor’s mansion?

Fresh from the inauguration, actor Val Kilmer is pondering running for governor in 2010, when two-term Democrat Bill Richardson will be forced from office by term limits.

“I’m just looking for ways to be contributive,” Kilmer told The Associated Press. “And if that ends up being where I can make a substantial contribution, then I’ll run.”

But there’s no decision yet. “It’s really day to day,” he said over tea at a local restaurant.

Kilmer, 49, grew up in Los Angeles but has called New Mexico home for more than two decades.

Kilmer’s screen credits include Batman in “Batman Forever” in 1995, brash fighter pilot Lt. Tom ’Iceman’ Kazansky in the 1986 hit “Top Gun,” and rock icon Jim Morrison in the 1991 Oliver Stone film, “The Doors.”

Pregnant M.I.A. plans to sing at Grammys

LOS ANGELES — M.I.A.’s planned performance at the Grammys might be more labor intensive than most.

The pregnant rapper is nominated for two Grammys, including record of the year for her hit “Paper Planes.” She could give birth to her first child at any moment. Yet she has agreed to perform during the Grammy telecast, to be aired live on CBS on Sunday.

M.I.A. has had a lot of excitement already in the past year. Not only is she due to give birth to her child with fianc Benjamin Brofman and nominated for Grammy awards, she was nominated for an Oscar for her song “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire,” which she wrote with A.R. Rahman.

Jessica Simpson bungles performance at concert

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A bizarre 38-minute set by opening act Jessica Simpson inadvertently stole the spotlight from headliner Rascal Flatts in a show at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Grand Rapids Press says Simpson forgot her lyrics, struggled with her ear monitors, mumbled through songs and fought back tears during Thursday night’s performance.

At one point, she asked her backing band to start over on one song, and she forgot the words to another.

Cindi Berger, a representative for Simpson, says the 28-year-old singer-actress had an “off night.”

Simpson apologized to the supportive audience of about 9,000 by mouthing the word “sorry” on two large video screens.

Winslet: Love scenes are part of the job

BERLIN — Kate Winslet said Friday that filming love scenes is “part of the job” as an actress and she does not allow it to distract her from portraying complex characters such as an illiterate former concentration camp guard.

Winslet spoke to reporters at the Berlin Film Festival, where Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of the popular German novel “The Reader” was being shown ahead of its release in Germany. She said that it was much more important to her to reflect the shame and guilt felt by her character.

Winslet said she “felt strongly ... that I had to make her a human being.” Her portrayal earned the 33-year-old British actress a best actress nomination for the Oscars.

The role involves intimate scenes with 18-year-old German actor David Kross, who plays her lover. Asked if she’d had any hang-ups about filming the love scenes, Winslet shrugged.

ABBA tribute band plays private concert for Putin

MOSCOW — A British-based ABBA tribute band said Friday the Kremlin whisked it away to perform a private concert for Vladimir Putin — offering a rare glimpse into the private life of the secretive Russian prime minister.

The four-member Bjorn Again band said it traveled 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Moscow for the Jan. 22 gig on the shores of Lake Valdai to perform before an exclusive audience of eight people — Putin, an unidentified blonde woman and six other men in tuxedoes. Putin’s spokesman denied that the prime minister attended any such concert, but band members gave plenty of details and said they recognized Putin at the show.

Today’s birthdays

Comedian Robert Smigel (Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) is 49. Actor James Spader is 49. Country singer Garth Brooks is 47. Keyboardist David Bryan of Bon Jovi is 47. Comedian Chris Rock is 44. Actor Ashton Kutcher (“That 70’s Show”) is 31. Actress Tina Majorino (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Veronica Mars”) is 24.