Natasha Bedingfield
Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Natasha Bedingfield (singer, "Unwritten") is 26
Robert Goulet (singer, died October 30th, 2007) would have been 74
Rich Little (impressionist) is 68
Tina Turner (singer) is 68
Jean Terrell (singer, replaced Diana Ross in The Supremes) is 63
John McVie (bassist, Fleetwood Mac) is 61
Maia Campbell (actress, In the House) is 30
Jessica Bowman (actress, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman) is 26
Lil' Fizz (rapper, B2K) is 22

ON NOVEMBER 26th...
In 1962...The Beatles recorded their first session for the "Please Please Me" single atAbbey Road's Studio 2.
In 1966...The Beatles convened at Abbey Road studios to record the follow-up toRevolver.
In 1967...The Ed Sullivan Show aired a promotional clip for The Beatles' "Hello Goodbye."  The film was banned in England due to the Musician's Union rules regarding miming.
In 1968...Cream played their farewell concert at theRoyal Albert Hall. 
In 1969...John Lennon participated in his last session with The Beatles, he mixed and edited their B-side "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)."
In 1974...Led Zeppelin spent their time rehearsing at London'sLivewire Theatre while they waited for the release ofPhysical Graffiti.  The record company was holding up the album's release due to its complicated cutout sleeve.
In 1979...Fleetwood Mac played their first date in support of the double albumTusk in Pocatello, Idaho. 
In 1979...Bob Dylan's all-gospel show got an angry reaction in Tempe, Arizona. Dylan himself spent most of his time berating the audience and then refused to play an encore.
In 1988...The Russian rocketSoyuz sent Pink Floyd'sDelicate Sound of Thunder album into deep space.
In 2002...Paul McCartney releasedBack in the US, a live document of his2002 Driving USA tour.
In 2002...Tupac Shakur releasedBetter Dayz, despite having been dead for six years.
In 2003...Britney Spears topped the album charts with her much hypedIn the Zone record. She became the first female artist in chart history to land four consecutive albums at number one.
In 2003...No Limit rapper Soulja Slim was shot and killed in front of the two-story duplex he'd recently purchased for his mother in New Orleans.
In 2005...Christina Aguilera married record executive Jordan Bratman in California's Napa Valley.

MOVIE MINUTE: HITMAN
Hitman, a new movie based on the popular video game of the same name, stars Timothy Olyphant in the title role. In it, Timothy gets to work alongside established stars such as Dougray Scott, but the real action is between him and the female lead, actress Olga Kurylenko. She plays the role of a sexy Russian prostitute by the name of "Nika Boronina." Timothy says it wasn't an easy part to pull off, but she did it with style and grace. "She was great.  She's great in the movie, she worked very hard.  It was not an easy job, not an easy part and in a lot of respects, she carries the weight on a number of our scenes." As a matter of fact, Timothy says that his co-star actually had a tougher job than he did. "My character kind of just, he moves from here to here, a tiny little thing, her character is a much broader, much more emotional character and she did a fantastic job."  Hitman is shooting up theaters today.

SOULJA BOY ON PEOPLE'S PERCEPTION OF HIM. Many people may think that Soulja Boy is just a kid, but that child became widely successful at the tender age 17. The hip-hop sensation feels people will understand him more through conversation.  "I feel like people look at me and be like, 'Well he's just a kid.' But once I do the interviews and once I get to talk to the person one on one and they get to understand me more. Once I show them that they look at it differently." 

JAMES BLUNT EXPLAINS WHAT YOU OUGHTA KNOW. In February, James Blunt and Sara Bareilles will be heading out on the You Oughta Know Tour. Blunt told us that since he was a former You Oughta Know artist and Bareilles currently is one, getting together to tour made sense. "As we were sorting out our tour for February 2008, we got the call that said, 'Would you like to be part of that tour and toss up with Sarah who is also a You Oughta Know artist.' And it just made a great deal of sense."

RIHANNA WANTS ROBIN THICKE AND ANDRE 3000. After collaborating with Ne-Yo and Jay-Z on her latest album Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna is looking forward to the day she hooks up with Robin Thicke and Andre 3000. "I want to work with Robin Thicke. But I really want to work with Andre 3000. I love Andre 3000, I think he's so funky and so different. His style is very weird, I like it. It's weird in a cool way." 

STYLES P. BREAKS DOWN RECORDING WITH SWIZZ BEATZ. L.O.X. member Styles P. currently is heating up the streets and the radio airwaves with his current single "Blow Your Mind." Recording the song with Swizz Beatz was a breeze for S.P. "It was just kind of natural. We went through a couple of beats. That one felt like it, chose between it, and that was the beat. And me and him just sat there and start going in. I heard him chatting, and I was like, 'Yeah, that's it right there Swizz.' He was singing the beginning part, and I was like, 'Yeah, let's use this melody. And that was it.'" "Blow Your Mind" is the first single featured off of Styles P's forthcoming album Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman), which drops December 4th.

RIVERS CUOMO'S SOLO TRACK LIST... Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo has revealed the track listing for his upcoming solo album. NME reports Alone - The Home Records of Rivers Cuomo is due out December 17th and will include songs from the "Black Hole"sessions which lead to Weezer's 1996 album Pinkerton. The track list is:
"Ooh"
"The World We Love So Much"
"Lemonade"
"The Bomb"
"Buddy Holly"
"Chess"
"Longtime Sunshine"
"Blast Off!"
"Who You Callin' Bitch"
"Dud We're Finally Landing"
"Superfriend"
"Lover in the Snow"
"Crazy One"
"This Is The Way"
"Little Diane"
"I Wish You Had an Axe Guitar"
"I Was Made for You"

...AND WEEZER NAME THEIR NEXT ALBUM. According to Billboard.com, Weezer had dubbed its next CD Tout Ensemble. Bassist Scott Shriner said, "I have never been so excited about a project in my life. Weezer fans truly have something to look forward to. The entire band has accomplished some of its most challenging goals as a group and as individuals. It's all coming together on this album." No other details have been made available about the project, which is the follow-up to 2005's Make Believe.

THE SICK PUPPIES WERE A BIT SCARED. Letting people see the real you can be a frightening experience. Just ask Shimon Moore of the Sick Puppies.  "We started working with these producers that produced our record, and basically they stripped us down to nothing.  And said 'Everyone else is prepared to bare their soul.  Are you prepared to do the same thing?' And it's scary as hell." Be there as the Sick Puppies expose themselves live, well feelings wise anyway, as they tour the U-S with Evenescense.

PETE DOHERTY SUPPORTS AMY WINEHOUSE. According to NME.com, Pete Doherty has said he had been there to support Amy Winehouse in her time of need. The Babyshambles frontman said that he speaks to Winehouse everyday and they are helping nurse each other through their battles. Doherty said Winehouse, "Just wants her man back for Christmas. They are desperately in love. One good thing is that Blake (Fielder-Civil) has gotten clean since he has been in prision."

THIS PROVIDENCE LOOKS TO PARAMORE. Seattle band This Providence have toured with Cute Is What We Aim For, Paramore and more. Did the band ever get any advice from their roadmates? This Providence member Daniel Young told us they looked to Paramore. "I don't really know if they specifically gave us tips. But them as a band has set a really good example. And kind of keeping integrity with the music. So I really like that about that band. And they also inspire us for the live show to."

WHAT TO GET THE ROCK FAN. This year rock fans will rejoice at the release of three Holiday Tribute CDs that features songs by Metallica, AC/DC and Green Day. And Christmas for All: The Holiday Tribute to Metallica features 10 classic songs  such as "The Unforgiven" and "Wherever I May Roam." Hell's Bells of Christmas: The Holiday Tribute to AC/DC boasts songs such as "You Shook Me All Night Long" and "Back in Black" along with eight others. And The Green Days of Christmas: The Holiday Tribute to Green Day includes "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," as well as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and more.

DWAYNE JOHNSON WILL GET SMART.  Dwayne Johnson, who currently stars in the new Richard Kelly flickSouthland Tales, will next be seen in the remake of the '60s TV showGet Smart.  The original TV show starred the late Don Adams as the bumbling detective "Maxwell Smart," who received a great deal of help from his partner "Agent 99," in taking on a terrorist organization called KOAS.  Dwayne Johnson stars opposite Steve Carell, Alan Arkin and Anne Hathaway in this version and he explained that the film is funny, but in a different way. "Well the great thing about that is everybody's straight in that movie and a lot of times why it works in Get Smart is because the characters don't know that they are in a comedy, so everything is played very straight.  Of course, you know Steve Carell's humor, very dry, very straight.  Anne Hathaway's very funny in the movie, Alan Arkin's outstanding.  Yeah, so I think that's what makes that comedy work."  Johnson also added that Steve Carell really made a point to respect the iconic role made famous by Don Adams.  "He has a tremendous amount of respect for the series and for Don Adams and Don Adams' family and he wanted to make sure that he not only brought authenticity to the role but he really did it justice and brought a lot of respect and he approached it that way.  Don's family had come to the set and they were there and spent a lot of time there and Steve was always very respectful to them as we all were." Get Smart also stars Terence Stamp, Terry Crews and Masi Oka, best known fromHeroes.  It was directed by Peter Segal, who also helmed50 First Dates,Anger Management andThe Longest Yard.  The flick hits theaters on June 20th. 

FREDDIE HIGHMORE IS AUGUST RUSH. August Rush is the new drama that stars Freddie Highmore, best known fromFinding Neverland andCharlie and the Chocolate Factory.  He plays "August Rush," an orphaned music prodigy, who uses his talent to find his parents.  Highmore explained the most challenging part of his role.  "Conducting is the hardest to do.  It seems like it would be quite easy, you know?  Just do one, two, three, four, but that bit was okay but you've gotten learn... there's a seven minute piece at the end.  There's a symphony at the end that I've go to conduct so you've actually got to have it in your head for the exact piece and you've got to know where to bring in the obo on the left or the violas on the right and then bring them in at exactly the right moments so you don't mess up."  The film also stars Robin Williams and Highmore enjoyed working with the comedian.  "He's fantastic.  Normally people say, 'What is it like being the only kid on this film, must be pretty rough?'  But in this film, Robin is the best kid to have around.  He's always joking.  The way he improvises a lot is good because when he improvises, not only does it keep it fresh all the time but also very funny." August Rush also stars Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  It's open in theaters now.  

GHOSTFACE KILLAH SPEAKS ABOUT A SCENE IN IRON MAN. As previously reported Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah is set to make a cameo in the upcoming Iron Man movie. Ghost recently opened up about his scene with Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. "I jumped in there for maybe 12 or 16 bars, nothing too major. It was a good look for the kid because Robert Downey Jr. recognized me as soon as I seen him. He was like, 'Yo, Tony!' For him to recognize me, I was kinda surprised by that. I didn't know he even knew about the kid. We called each other 'Tony' onscreen. I'm like, 'Tony Stark, I got your jet, I didn't mess it up.' He was like, 'I got the Bentley for you, I laced it up.' He's a cool dude and funny. Big up to Robert Downey Jr." Iron Man is tentatively scheduled to hit theaters in the Spring. Meanwhile, Ghostface Killah is gearing up to release his new solo effort The Big Doe Rehab, hitting stores December 4th.  

LUDACRIS TAKES ON THE GREEN.  In the new holiday film Fred Claus, Ludacris plays a D.J. by the name of "DJ Donnie." The catch is Luda's character is a little person, and because he's not a little person in real life, his scenes had to be shot with a green screen. "I had to come and do my scenes in front of a green screen because my scenes were all trying to get the movements of the little person and the neck movements right so when they put my head on his body, it all looks natural.  So I was pretty much working with no one, just the people behind the camera."  Fred Claus, which stars Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Kevin Spacey and Kathy Bates, is in theaters now.

WILL SEX AND THE CITY BRING BACK "BURGER"? Ron Livingston played "Jack Burger" on several episodes of Sex And The City. He told us what part, if any, he would be playing in the upcoming Sex And The City movie."I'm going to be in the film on the day that it opens, in the audience. But I believe that's going to be it. I don't believe 'Jack Burger' appears in the film, unless somebody else is playing him." Fans can catch the new film, and possibly Livingston, when the Sex And The City movie hits theatres May 30th, 2008.