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Entertainment News

Dixie Chicks set to visit Ames

The popular country music trio the Dixie Chicks have scheduled Hilton Coliseum as one of its stops for the band’s first headline tour.

The Chicks will visit 70 cities for the tour, which is being sponsored by MusicCountry.com. They promise to “entertain fans from the minute they arrive at the venue,” according to a press release.

Tickets went on sale Saturday, and the prices are $59.50 Gold Circle, $50 and $32.50. They are available at the Iowa State Center Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster centers, by phone or online.

Dr. Dre sues Detroit

Rap superstar Dr. Dre and his lawyer Howard King filed suit in U.S. district Court against the city of Detroit, two police officers and the Detroit mayor’s press secretary on Friday charging all parties with violating the rapper’s First Amendment right to free speech, according to MTV Online.

Dre’s suit seeks an amount of $25 million from the city after police stopped him from projecting an eight-minute video at last week’s “Up In Smoke” show at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena.

The controversial video is a very R-rated affair that depicts topless women and bloody gunfights, and is, according to Dre, apparently crucial to his set.

“I just think that it was wack that everybody in Detroit that has been buying our records for the last decade couldn’t see a real Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, ‘Up In Smoke’ show,” Dre told MTV.

Dre went on to say that he hopes the people of Detroit can catch a full show that they put together, but he will never perform at Joe Louis Arena again.

Ridley Scott puts end to ‘Blade Runner’ debate

Ridley Scott said in a recent interview that Harrison Ford’s character in the movie “Blade Runner” was indeed a replicant, according to Reuters.

The statement puts an end to years of debating that argues whether the character was a replicant or artificial human being.

The issue didn’t really arise in the original version due to cuts that were made at editing time, removing most of the clues.

But when the 10th anniversary director’s cut was released, hard-core fans began to wonder.

“He’s a replicant,” Scott told Britain’s Channel 4 during an interview for an upcoming documentary. “I think it’s one of the best films I ever made.”

— Kyle Moss

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Ulrich, Napster debate in D.C.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is taking the battle over swapping songs over the Internet to Capitol Hill, reports E! Online. Ulrich, Napster CEO Hank Barry and other Internet and music industry heavyweights met before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, led the committee that heard testimony to determine what the committee’s role will be in the music-sharing debate.

Ulrich berated Napster, stating that music-sharing companies have robbed Metallica of their music and compared file-sharing to stealing CDs from music stores.

Ulrich said there’s a need for legislation.

“We’d all be dreaming if we think we could work this out between us,” he said. “We should decide what happens to our music, not a company with no rights, no recordings, which has never invested a penny in our music or anything to do with its creation. A choice was taken away from us.”

In Napster’s defense, Barry compared Napster to the VCR as an example of new technology that once was deemed a threat to copyrighted work, but was in actuality harmless. He added that people that are transferring 20 music files on their computers will delete more than 95 percent of them.

Barry said Napster users shouldn’t be labeled thieves and Napster can work with the recording industry and music publishing industries.

The government isn’t quite ready to become involved in the debate though. “Let’s not strangle the baby in the crib,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. “Let’s make it work.”

Napster and the music industry will meet in federal court on July 26.

Print run for ‘Potter’ to double

The print run for “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is set to nearly double, reported Variety.

Scholastic, the American publisher of “Potter,” has already circulated 3.8 million copies of the book and is preparing to add an additional 3 million into circulation.

The increase depicts a huge increase in sales compared to the last edition in the series, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” which sold 3.6 million copies in 1999.

Advance orders over the Internet powered the book to a record-setting weekend, with orders at Amazon.com totaling nearly 350,000 and BarnesandNoble.com proclaiming pre-orders of 360,000.

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” will be released Aug. 15 in paperback with a print run of 3.2 million.

Total sales for Potter have soared to more than 30 million in the three years since “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

Divorce set for Quaid, Ryan

Dennis Quaid filed for divorce from Meg Ryan last week in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences, reported E! Online. Quaid filed for divorce two weeks after what publicists confirmed was a “mutual and amicable” breakup.

Quaid, 46, and Ryan, 38, had been together for nine years and were viewed as one of Hollywood’s most long-lasting couples. Ryan has been linked to “Gladiator” star Russell Crowe, who is her co-star in their upcoming film, “Proof of Life.”

Quaid is attempting to receive joint legal and physical custody of their 8 year-old son Jack.

The couple first met on the set of the 1987 film “Innerspace.” They became engaged in 1989 and married on Valentine’s Day in 1991.