'Check it Out' checks into No. 1
NEW YORK, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Beyoncé's "Check on It" with Slim Thug grabbed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Thursday and ruled the Pop 100 and Hot Digital Songs charts as well.
Nelly's "Grillz" featuring Paul Wall and Ali & Gipp fell to No. 2, Chris Brown's "Run It!" held fast at No. 3 and Mary J. Blige's "Be Without You" ascended from No. 10 to No. 4.
Pussycat Dolls "Stickwitu" was No. 5, Juelz Santana's "There It Go! (The Whistle Song)" remained No. 6 and Mariah Carey's "Don't Forget About Us" fell to No. 7 on the Hot 100.
James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" jumped from No. 15 to No. 8, the All-American Rejects' "Dirty Little Secret" repeated at No. 9 and while D4L's "Laffy Taffy" rounded out the Top 10.
The Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" remained No. 1 on the Hot Ringtones chart for a 10th week and Daddy Yankee's "Rompe" spent its ninth week at No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart.
The Hot Country Songs and Adult Contemporary charts held onto their No. 1 songs for a third consecutive week with Carrie Underwood's "Jesus Take the Wheel" and Lifehouse's "You and Me," respectively.
Tap dancer Fayard Nicholas dead at age 91
TOLUCA LAKE, Calif., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Tap-dancing sensation Fayard Nicholas, who thrilled audiences with his brother as the Nicholas Brothers, has died of pneumonia at age 91.
Nicholas died Tuesday at his home in Toluca Lake, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday. A friend said he had been in poor health since a stroke in November.
Fayard and his younger brother Harold, who died in 2000, were considered Hollywood's greatest dance team, the Times said.
Ballet's Mikhail Baryshnikov once called them "the most amazing dancers I have ever seen in my life -- ever." Fred Astaire said their "Jumpin' Jive" scene in 1943's "Stormy Weather" was the greatest dance number ever filmed.
The brothers began on the vaudeville stage as children and tapped their way to Harlem's legendary Cotton Club, to Broadway and finally, Los Angeles, where they became Hollywood stars of the 1930s and 1940s.
The brothers lived on opposite coasts in the 1960s as they pursued individual careers. Fayard Nicholas acted in the 1970 film "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" and won a Tony in 1989 for his choreography for the Broadway revue "Black and Blue."
He is survived by his third wife, Katherine Hopkins-Nicholas, a sister, two sons, four grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
Contestant hurt in SAfrica 'Fear Factor'
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- A dangerous stunt on "Fear Factor South Africa" ripped out half the hair from a contestant's head and left her hospitalized with a concussion.
Disturbed viewers have been lighting up the switchboards of e.tv, which broadcast the show, as well as radio stations and writing letters to newspapers complaining about the Monday night stunt, Daily Variety reported Thursday.
Lebo Babe was injured while being dragged over sand dunes by a sport utility vehicle, Variety said.
Angry viewers suggested the show be renamed "Danger Factor," while others criticized the South Africa producers of pushing needy contestants to extreme lengths for the prize money. The winner of each round gets $42,000, Variety said.
An e.tv spokeswoman said she was "amazed" at the outpouring of criticism.
"Everyone knows that the program is about fear, and when the same stunt was performed on an international 'Fear Factor' show, no one complained," she said.
The contestants were all told to let the rope go if they were injured and Babe refused, which hurt her worse than if she had followed instructions, the e.tv spokeswoman added.
Bono goes 'Red' to fight African AIDS
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Irish rocker and activist Bono, in Davos, Switzerland, Thursday unveiled his "Red" product line aimed at helping stop the spread of AIDS in Africa.
Some of the proceeds from sales of Bono's red-themed products by American Express, Converse, Gap and Giorgio Armani will go into the public/private partnership, Global Fund, to help fight AIDS and HIV in Africa, The Scotsman reported.
The U2 frontman said he was confident "conscious consumers" would go for the credit cards, shoes, shirts and sunglasses that will all be part of his product line.
"Red is a 21st-century idea," Bono said. "I think doing the Red thing, doing good, will turn out to be good business for them."
