Entertainment Briefs Aug. 9, 2010

Spike Lee bashes US report on vanished Gulf oil

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Filmmaker Spike Lee is calling a "lie" a U.S. government report that 75 percent of the spilled Gulf Coast oil is gone.Speaking to a meeting of the Television Critics Association on Saturday, Lee said journalists should expose what he called the real story. He argued that it's unlikely that "abracadabra, presto chango" the vast majority of the oil has vanished from Gulf of Mexico waters and coastal wetlands.

Federal scientists said last week that nearly three-quarters of the oil has been removed by various artificial or natural means, but that the spill's effect on wildlife will long continue.Lee was promoting his new documentary about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. "If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise," a follow-up to his 2006 film about the hurricane, debuts Aug. 23 and 24 on HBO.

Lady Gaga back at Lollapalooza 3 years after debutCHICAGO (AP) - Lady Gaga has come a long way since her appearance three years ago at the Lollapalooza music festival - but she hasn't forgotten some critics' less-than-stellar reviews of that performance.

The voice behind "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance" commanded thousands of screaming fans in Chicago on Friday night to forget anyone who ever said they weren't pretty enough or skinny enough - or that "your Lollapalooza BMI stage show was a (expletive) trainwreck. You're a (expletive) superstar. You were born that way!"The order was met with a roar from the sea of mostly teens and 20-somethings squished in front of the stage, bouncing up and down with their fists in the air.

It was redeeming moment and a far cry from Lady Gaga's first appearance at the festival in 2007, when she sang and played keyboard in a glittery bra and tiny, black bottoms. Recordings of the daytime performance show a distracted crowd and a sparse stage.Three years later, a towering image of a scantily clad Lady Gaga flashed on a billowing white curtain. The singer started the show in a black jacket with sky-high shoulder pads. Next, she donned a shiny red cape, later dancing around in a transparent dress.

"My name is Lady Gaga. I thank you for coming to my show. I didn't used to be brave. In fact I wasn't very brave at all," she told her fans. "But you have made me brave, little monsters. So now I'm going to brave for you. Tonight, I want you to free yourself."- The Associated Press