newsmakers

newsmakers

Beyonc named most-beautiful woman

NEW YORK

People magazine has named Beyonc as the World’s Most Beautiful Woman for 2012.

The 30-year-old singer tops the magazine’s annual list of the “World’s Most Beautiful” in a special double issue. The announcement was made Wednesday.

Commenting on her selection, Beyonc tells People: “I feel more beautiful than I’ve ever felt because I’ve given birth. I have never felt so connected, never felt like I had such a purpose on this Earth.”

Beyonc , who is married to rapper Jay-Z, gave birth to a daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in January.

“She’s just the cutest thing,” says the Grammy winner, who sings to her daughter and claims to “love” changing diapers.

Does Blue resemble mom or dad?

“She looks like Blue,” the singer says. “She’s her own person.”

“The best thing about having a daughter is having a true legacy,” she adds. “The word ‘love’ means something completely different now.”

Other celebrities on the list include Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Jessica Pare of “Mad Men.”

Academy honors folk legend Seeger

NEW YORK

Folk music legend Pete Seeger has won a prize, and he might just sing a song to celebrate.

The 92-year-old troubadour is receiving a “Distinguished Service” award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. According to academy executive director Virginia Dajani, Seeger might perform at the May 16 ceremony, where playwright Tony Kushner will present Seeger a certificate and a check for $1,000. In an acceptance letter sent to the academy, and shared with The Associated Press, Seeger wrote that his father, Charles Louis Seeger Jr., would have been “especially pleased.” The elder Seeger was a composer, conductor and pioneer of “ethnomusicology.”

“I am glad we are all realizing that the arts, in a broad sense, may save the world, save the human race,” Pete Seeger wrote to the academy.

Also Wednesday, the academy announced that a pair of Pulitzer Prize winners and academy members will receive gold medals for lifetime achievement: David McCullough for biography and Steven Reich for music. Because academy members are eligible for the medals, no cash prize is awarded.

The arts academy is an honorary society founded in 1898. It has a core membership of 250 writers, artists and musicians, including McCullough, Reich, Toni Morrison, Jasper Johns and Ornette Coleman.

Kinkade estate gets restraining order

MONTE SERENO, Calif.

A judge in California has issued a restraining order against the girlfriend of late painter Thomas Kinkade.

The order against Amy Pinto-Walsh was sought by Kinkade’s company, Windermere Holdings, which claimed she broke a confidentiality agreement by talking to reporters after Kinkade was found dead and threatening to reveal his secrets.

Windermere Holdings is acting as trustee and executor of the Kinkade Family Trust.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge granted the 15-day restraining order April 16.

Pinto-Walsh did not return calls to comment from the Mercury News on Tuesday.

Kinkade, the self- described “Painter of Light,” died earlier this month at his home in Santa Clara County. He was 54.

His brother has said he battled alcoholism and relapsed before his death.

Associated Press