Dennis Hopper dead at 74
LOS ANGELES, May 29 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Dennis Hopper, star of such films as "Easy Rider," died Saturday at home in Venice, Calif., The Washington Post reports. He was 74.
Hopper was diagnosed last year with cancer.
The actor helped open doors in Hollywood to younger directors such as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the Post said.
His career enjoyed a resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s, the report said, playing troubled characters in such films as "Hoosiers," "Blue Velvet" and "Speed."
The director, co-star and co-screenwriter in "Easy Rider," which was released in 1969, Hopper called the film his "state of the union message" about a country on the brink of destruction.
Hopper was born May 17, 1936, in Dodge City, Kan., the Post said, but grew up in San Diego, becoming an apprentice at the La Jolla Playhouse and finally leaving for Hollywood.
$14 million for 'Sex and the City 2' debut
HOLLYWOOD, May 29 (UPI) -- "Sex and the City 2," a sequel in the U.S. TV series-turned-film franchise, garnered $14.2 million in its Thursday opening, its distributor said.
Warner Bros. opened the film a day early for the long Memorial Day weekend and expects the New Line-produced effort to take in $60 million from its mostly female fans over the holiday, The Hollywood Reporter said Saturday.
"Exceeding all expectations is the best way to open any film," Warner's domestic distribution head Dan Fellman said. "Having $14.2 million in the bank at the start of a long holiday weekend is even better."
The first "Sex and the City" film took in $26.8 million on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend in 2008, bringing in $62.6 million for the long weekend.
Competitors vie in Eurovision finals
OSLO, Norway, May 29 (UPI) -- Musicians representing 25 countries shrugged off economic gloom to vie for top honors in Oslo in the international Eurovision Song Contest, officials say.
In the heritage -- or dowager -- European competition which began in Lugano, Switzerland in 1956 participating nations put forward a group or singer with a song specially-written for the event and telephone votes and judges from each country decide the winner, CNN reported Saturday.
The contest is simulcast across Europe, watched by an estimated 120 million people and staged at great expense by the public broadcasters in each host country.
Four nations pulled out of the 2010 show citing budget cuts amidst European money woes, CNN said.
Russia hosted the extravaganza last year on their Channel One, showing off a technologically elaborate stage design and a decidedly non-Communist display of scantily clad dancers which added up to a tab of $43 million which the government picked up.
The rules say nations cannot take part in the contest if they cannot afford to stage the event, and a country has to stage the event the following year if a competitor from that country wins, CNN said.
Previous winners include British rocker Lulu and the superstar pop group ABBA.
Lohan wants to decorate monitoring anklet
LOS ANGELES, May 29 (UPI) -- U.S. actress Lindsay Lohan says she wants to decorate the alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet a judge has ordered her to wear.
UsMagazine.com reports Lohan recently twittered: "can CHANEL please help me out by getting me some stickers to put on my scram bracelet so that i can at least wear a chic dress?! maybe!?"
She visited Hollywood clubs earlier this week with the bracelet covered by boot-cut jeans.
A Los Angeles judge Monday ordered Lohan, 23, to wear the alcohol-monitoring bracelet.
She was also ordered to submit to weekly random drug testing and attend the remainder of her alcohol-education classes.
The judge's decision came at a hearing intended to determine whether Lohan had been adhering to the terms of her probation for a 2007 conviction for driving under the influence.
UsMagazine.com did not say how long Lohan will have to wear the alcohol-monitoring bracelet.
