Manila, Philippines – SELF-confessed “non-singer“ Anne Curtis appealed to the public to just leave Tony Award winning singer Lea Salonga be for allegedly “dissing“ the former’s singing prowess.

“Out of respect kay Ate Lea, tigilan na natin `to. Marami kasing nagagalit sa kanya sa Internet. I believe she was misunderstood,“ Curtis was quoted as saying in an abs-cbnNEWS.com report posted on Feb. 17.

A few days ago, a TV network reported on its news website that Salonga made a cutting remark about Curtis and nonsingers who make a career out of singing.

But the website has since admitted that it had taken Salonga’s quotes out of context and publicly apologized to both personalities involved by releasing the full transcript of the interview for the public’s scrutiny.

“I don’t think that anything should be said about that because Ate Lea already said her piece so I think it should stop there,“ Curtis underscored in a Push.com interview posted on Feb. 18. (Bulletin Entertainment Online)

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By Christine Kearney and Jonathan Allen

NEWARK, New Jersey |
Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:24pm EST

NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – Stars, family and friends mourned Whitney Houston in a spirited Baptist funeral service at her hometown church on Saturday, a week after the death of the singer whose spectacular voice made her one of the biggest pop stars of her era.

Gospel and soul music greats, celebrities and family members swayed to gospel hits and delivered tributes both sung and spoken to the crowded New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, where Houston honed her wide vocal range as a young choral singer with her mother Cissy Houston, a backup singer for Aretha Franklin.

“Whitney returns home today to the place where it all began,” said actor Kevin Costner, who starred opposite Houston in the 1992 hit film, “The Bodyguard.”

He urged those around the world to “dry our tears, suspend our sorrow – and perhaps our anger – just long enough, just long enough to remember the sweet miracle of Whitney.”

Houston, who died in a Beverly Hills hotel room last week, recorded stirring love songs and vibrant dance tunes during a 30-year career that peaked with her 1992 signature hit “I Will Always Love You” and paved the way for a generation of singers that followed.

She was among the greatest singers of the 1980s and 1990s, but later admitted to heavy use of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription pills. Officials have said prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where she died.

Her death at age 48 shocked her family, fans and

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Manila, Philippines – MAKING an all-English OPM album isn’t just a special treat for his fans, but it is international idol David Archuleta’s way of paying homage to Filipino artists.

Although the album “Forevermore“ contains his renditions of some of the most well-loved OPM songs, the “American Idol“ Season 7 runner-up does not intend to be compared with the original singers.

“I wouldn’t say that I sound better than the original singers because the singers here are so amazing. But I would hope that I could pay tribute to them with this album,“ said he at the press conference for the album.

David is known for his soulful singing and this stems from how much premium he puts in conveying the message of the songs.

“You just try to do your best so that people won’t bother comparing you to the original singer, so that people just connect to your performance and the song and what it’s about. As a singer your job is never to be compared to someone else. You just hope that you can give justice to the song… and allow people to connect to it…“ he related.

It was David’s first time to make an album like “Forevermore.“ But unlike in his previous albums, he didn’t have as much time for recording.

He recalled recording “Forevermore“ for just a few days, shortly after he came from Singapore for some engagements.

He lauded his producers Jimmy Antiporda and South Border’s Jay Durias for being “great musicians.“

“We recorded three songs in a day, not to mention Jimmy will also arrange the songs [and] right there and then we move on to the next song… It was really fast so

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BERLIN (Xinhua) — Actress Rachel Mwanza for role of Komana in Canadian film Rebelle (War Witch) by Kim Nguyen, won the prize Silver Bear for Best Actress, at the awarding ceremony of 62nd Berlinale, in Berlin, Germany.

By Christine Kearney

NEW YORK |
Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:18am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A star-studded lineup will sing and speak at pop star Whitney Houston’s funeral, from Alicia Keys and Kevin Costner to the soul and gospel music royalty from which she hails, including her cousin Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin.

Houston will be laid to rest on Saturday after an invitation-only memorial service at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey, where Houston groomed her voice singing in the church choir with her mother Cissy Houston, a soul and gospel singer who once backed up Franklin.

The singer, who rose to fame with a soaring voice and hits in the mid-1980s such as “Saving All My Love For You,” died in a Beverly Hills hotel room almost a week ago on the eve of the music industry’s Grammy Awards. She was found underwater in her hotel room’s bathtub. A cause of death has yet to be determined.

Along with her signature song, “I Will Always Love You,” her other hits included “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” and she starred in movies “The Bodyguard” and “The Preacher’s Wife.”

Other top names taking part in the service include Houston’s mentor and record producer Clive Davis, singer Stevie Wonder and Hollywood actor and producer Tyler Perry, who donated his plane to fly her body from Los Angeles to Newark earlier this week.

Elton John, Beyonce and rapper Jay-Z, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby are also expected to attend, according to reports.

It is not yet known if singer Bobby Brown, who Houston divorced in

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