'Sopranos,' '30 Rock' win top Emmy honors
LOS ANGELES , Sept. 17 (UPI) -- "The Sopranos" and "30 Rock" were named best drama and best comedy respectively at the 59th annual Emmy Awards show in Los Angeles Sunday.
Both shows were shut out of the acting categories, however.
James Spader from "Boston Legal" beat out "The Sopranos" don James Gandolfini for the lead actor in a drama Emmy, while Sally Field of "Brothers and Sisters" bested Gandolfini’s screen wife, Edie Falco, for the best lead actress in a drama honor.
"Ugly Betty" beauty America Ferrera took home the Emmy for best lead actress in a comedy series, beating "30 Rock" star and creator Tina Fey.
"Extras" creator and star Ricky Gervais won the Emmy for best lead actor in a comedy series, leaving "30 Rock" actor Alec Baldwin to go home empty-handed.
Other big winners of the night were the AMC western miniseries, "Broken Trail," the PBS police procedural "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" and the musical special, "Tony Bennett: An American Classic," which all won three Emmys apiece Sunday night.
Rainn, Kanye face off at Emmys
LOS ANGELES , Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Hollywood comedian Rainn Wilson and Grammy Award-winning rapper Kanye West had a little singing competition at the Emmy Awards show in Los Angeles.
The pair faced off in a spoof of the reality program, "Don't Forget the Lyrics!," which Wayne Brady presents on television.
The segment also poked fun of West's recent record-selling rivalry with rapper 50 Cent.
Brady introduced Wilson and West and challenged them both to sing West's song "Stronger" verbatim.
Oddly enough, Wilson, who stars as Dwight Schrute on "The Office," won the competition because West sang "you" instead of "ya" and Wilson got all the words right.
"You picked a bad time to speak properly," Brady admonished West.
As the winner of the competition, Wilson was invited to introduce the nominees for best reality show competition.
"Victory is mine," Wilson said. "Kanye, come here, stand with me."
"I never win," West groused, to which Wilson replied, "I'm sorry, man."
The winner of the Emmy for best reality show competition was "The Amazing Race."
Madonna: 'I am an ambassador for Judaism'
JERUSALEM, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Madonna celebrated the Jewish new year in Israel with her husband Guy Ritchie and Israeli President Shimon Peres, Usmagazine.com reported.
Madonna, who was raised Catholic, has in recent years publicly embraced the teachings of Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism. She traveled to Israel Wednesday, the eve of the Jewish new year, to attend a conference on Kabbalah.
She exchanged gifts with Peres at his Jerusalem home Saturday.
Peres bestowed upon Madonna a lavishly bound copy of the Jewish Bible, while the singer gave Peres a copy of "The Book of Splendor," the guiding text of Kabbalah, Usmagazine.com said.
Inside the volume, she wrote, "To Shimon Peres, the man I admire and love, Madonna," the Yediot Ahronot daily reported.
"You don't know how popular the Book of Splendor is among Hollywood actors," Madonna reportedly told Peres. "Everyone I meet talks to me only about that. I am an ambassador for Judaism."
Marilyn Manson asks Taymor for Spidey role
NEW YORK, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Hollywood filmmaker Julie Taymor seemed surprised to hear shock rocker Marilyn Manson liked the music in her new film "Across the Universe."
A romance set to 33 tunes in the Beatles song book, the movie musical stars Manson's 20-year-old girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood.
Manson recently accompanied Wood to an after-screening dinner for "Universe" in New York.
"The funny thing is, (Manson) really liked the music," Taymor told the New York Daily News.
"He just asked me if he could have a part in 'Spider-Man,'" she added, referring to the stage musical she is developing with Irish rocker Bono.
Bono also appears in the film and sings two songs on the soundtrack.
