'Now That's What I Call Music 23' is No. 1
NEW YORK, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- "Now That's What I Call Music 23" debuts at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album list after selling 337,000 copies in the United States.
Josh Groban takes the No. 2 spot on the chart with "Awake" while country singer Keith Urban earns his best sales week ever with "Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing" entering at No. 3, Billboard.com reported Wednesday.
Sugarland's "Enjoy the Ride" drops at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 and the soundtrack to Disney's "Hannah Montana" falls to No. 5 after two weeks at the top of the chart.
Jim Jones's "Hustler's P.O.M.E. (Product of My Environment)" debuts at No. 6 while Birdman and Lil Wayne's "Like Father, Like Son" drops to No. 7.
At No. 8 is Carrie Underwood with "Some Hearts" in its 52nd week on the chart and Justin Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds" comes in at No. 9.
The Dave Matthews Band's new album, "Best of What's Around: Vol. 01," debuts at No. 10 rounding out the top tier on the Billboard 200.
CD sales are also up 11.9 percent from last week and 0.25 percent compared to the same week last year at 11.94 million units moved.
Album sales for 2006 are down 5 percent compared to 2005 at 455.1 million units.
George Clooney is People's sexiest man
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Hollywood leading man George Clooney has been honored for the second time with the title of People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive."
With his second win he is now on level with his pal Brad Pitt as a two-time honoree, reported People Wednesday.
"Brad's going to be upset," said the 45-year-old Clooney.
But Clooney has clearly had the upper hand, kicking of the year with an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Syriana" and then furthering his reputation for social activism by working on behalf of causes to help the troubled Darfur region of Sudan.
"There's a lot of pressure," Clooney joked about being the sexiest man of 2006. "There are all the events you have to show up for. The sash you have to wear ... it's embarrassing.
"This one's going to be hard for Brad (Pitt) since he's been Sexiest Man Alive twice. He's enjoyed that mantle. I'd say 'Sexiest Man Alive' to him and he'd go, 'Two-time,'" Clooney said. "So that's been taken away."
Irwin sees irony in airline 'watch list'
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Traveling for comedian Tom Irwin has been tougher at home than it has been in Iraq since his name has been raising red flags in U.S. airports.
Irwin told the Los Angeles Times he has been repeatedly stopped at airports because his name is close enough to someone on the U.S. terrorism watch list to warrant additional scrutiny.
The irony comes from Irwin's past performances at the White House and in Iraq and Afghanistan where has entertained U.S. troops throughout the war zone.
Irwin, who recently debuted a new stage show called "25 Days in Iraq," said the Transportation Security Administration would only tell him that he apparently is being mistaken for someone on the watch list, although they wouldn't say whom.
Irwin told the newspaper he hadn't pushed the issue. He is free, however, to make light of it on stage if he chooses.
U2 wins case against former stylist
DUBLIN, Ireland, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Irish rockers U2 have won a Dublin court battle against their former stylist Lola Cashman and regained some possessions they said were stolen.
Cashman returned a Stetson cowboy hat, a pair of metal hoop earrings, a green sweatshirt and a pair of black pants she took in 1987, the BBC reported Wednesday.
U2's Bono said last month in Dublin's High Court that Cashman acquired the items without permission during the band's "Joshua Tree" tour.
The stylist insists that they were gifts from the star and had appealed a ruling ordering her to return them.
The possessions were estimated to be valued around 3,400 pounds ($6,400).
The band was also trying to retrieve other items reported to be in Cashman's apartment such as videotape, rosary beads and hundreds of photographs.
