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Movie news - Carrie Underwood (pictured in her bikini) has landed a part in upcoming movie Soul Surfer, according to reports. The 26-year-old star, who recently got engaged to boyfriend Mike Fisher, will reportedly star alongside Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid.

The movie is based on the real-life story of teenage surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost an arm in a shark attack aged 13. Underwood will be playing the role of a church youth leader called Sarah Hill. Shooting is due to start later this month.

More movie news...Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall has said she is looking forward to the release of the sequel movie as the secrecy surrounding it has been 'crazy'.
The 53-year-old actress plays the role of Samantha Jones in the TV series as well as the movie adaptations. The first movie was released in 2008 and the sequel is set to come out later this year.
She said: "It's crazy. You really have to be careful because I've signed my life away to say I won't tell. "It gets to the point where you're terrified to carry your script around just in case someone catches a glimpse of it. I'll be glad when the movie is out and we can all relax."
(Image: Splash News)

Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood and Usher will take part in a tribute to Michael Jackson at the Grammy awards next week that will also showcase a movie created by Jackson for his hit "Earth Song."

Grammy organizers said on Wednesday that Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson would also join in the Jackson tribute, singing along with the voice of the "Thriller" singer.

The January 31 Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles will also feature the first showing of the 3-D mini movie for "Earth Song" created by Jackson before his death in June.

The song and the movie, about the future of the planet, were intended to be the centerpiece of Jackson's planned series of 50 "This is It" comeback concerts in London last summer.

"It was one of the most important portions of the concert tour to Michael and when Michael saw the film for the first time at his last rehearsal, there were tears in his eyes," Ken Ehrlich, a Grammy producer and longtime Jackson associate, said in a statement.

Organizers said the Grammy ceremony would be broadcast in 3-D for the first time. 3-D glasses will be provided to the audience in Los Angeles and U.S. TV viewers will be able to get free 3-D glasses through a partnership between broadcasters CBS and retail store Target.

Jackson, who won 13 Grammys and whose 1982 album "Thriller" is the biggest-selling album of all time, is to get a posthumous lifetime achievement Grammy this year.

Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy which awards the Grammys, said the Jackson tribute "promises to be an emotional highlight of this year's show".

Jackson, 50, died in June of cardiac arrest caused by an overdose of prescription medication and the powerful anesthetic propofol. Los Angeles authorities are still investigating and no-one has been charged in the case.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant, editing by Dan Whitcomb)

Carrie Underwood doesn't think she'll be able to have a small wedding.

The country singer - who recently announced her engagement to ice hockey player Mike Fisher - has already started a scrapbook of ideas for her big day but expects most of the planning will be taken out of her hands.

She said: "I started tearing out pictures and stuff. I think I want a small wedding, but I don't think that's going to happen."

While friends of the couple are overjoyed by the news of their engagement, many pals claim the wedding plans took even Carrie and Mike - who have been dating since March 2008 - by surprise.

Paula Abdul X-Factor? - "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell said on Monday he was quitting the top-rated Fox TV show in May to launch his own singing contest, "The X Factor" next year.

The acerbic Cowell, one of the most powerful entrepreneurs in reality TV, confirmed rampant speculation that he was bringing a U.S. version of his British show "The X Factor" to News Corp-owned <NWSA.O> Fox in the fall of 2011.

Cowell, 50, whose sarcastic quips are arguably one of the biggest factors in "American Idol"s six-year reign as the most-watched TV show in the United States, said he would be both a judge and the executive producer of "The X Factor".

But Cowell told TV reporters at a Fox presentation he was confident that "American Idol" would continue to do well without him when his contract ends in May 2010.

The ninth season of the show starts on Tuesday, with Cowell in place and new judge Ellen DeGeneres joining Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi.

Original "Idol" judge Paula Abdul quit last summer in a dispute over the renewal of her contract -- and Cowell hinted on Monday that Abdul might join him on "The X Factor".

"I adore Paula. Whatever happens, I will be working with her in some capacity because I miss her," he said.

Cowell said he had been offered "a lot of money" to renew his contract with "American Idol", whose average audiences have slipped from 30.8 million in 2006 to 26.3 million in 2009.

"But I felt like doing something different. I want to leave 'Idol' this year bigger and better than before," he said.

"We did talk about me staying on both shows, but when we looked at the practicalities of that, it was impossible."

"I believe it ('Idol') is not my show, but it's still very close to me...I am confident it will continue to be the No.1 show," he said.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SHOWS

Fox said "The X Factor" -- the top-rated show in the UK and with an audience of 500 million in 17 other nations -- would be broadcast in the fall of 2011, with "American Idol" keeping its traditional spring time slot.

Fox said it had no replacement yet for Cowell. Media speculation has focused on "America's Got Talent" judge Piers Morgan, who is also British, and singer Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Last May, 49 percent of fans questioned in an AOL TV poll said they would no longer watch "Idol" without Cowell.

But Fox executives on Monday expressed confidence in the show's potential to attract huge ratings and said they planned to continue broadcasting it for many years to come.

"We are very buoyant about where the show is going to be this season. Every year 'Idol' has increased its lead over the No. 2 show," said Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly.

"American Idol" has created Grammy-winning stars like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood and is shown live or tape delayed in more than 100 nations.

In Britain, "The X Factor" discovered Leona Lewis in 2006, who had an international hit with "Bleeding Love", while Cowell's other TV venture, "Britain's Got Talent", made an international star last year out of dowdy Scottish singer Susan Boyle. Both were signed to Cowell's own record label.

Cowell said "X Factor" differed from "American Idol" by including both younger and older singers, groups and duos. The show's judges also act as mentors to the singers, but viewers vote on which contestants will be eliminated.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Wedding plans for former American idol and star country singer and newly-engaged Carrie Underwood (pictured).  The blonde beauty has said she wants 'big hair' for her wedding day.

The 26-year-old American Idol winner recently got engaged to hockey player boyfriend Mike Fisher and said she has already thought of a few details for her big day.

The singer told People Magazine: "[I want] a groom, good food and an open bar." She added: "I'm Southern. I like big hair and eyeliner. I want my wedding day to be me, so I'll probably be rocking some big hair and some eyeliner."
The star recently released her new album Play On and will start touring in April, but has already thought of ways to keep her relationship going while she is apart from fiance Mike.
She said: "We're big texters. We talk on the phone. I-chatting, I don't know what we'd do without it to be honest - and face time is the most important."

Former American idol finalist Jason Castro has wed, tying the knot with girlfriend Mandy Mayhall.  The singer sent out a tweet and wrote on his Twitter account: "Yesterday I married the girl of my dreams? It couldn't have been more perfect! Now, honeymoooon!!! :)."  The ceremony was in his hometown near Dallas.

Castro placed fourth on the seventh season of American Idol.  More Idol and weddings...Carrie Underwood (pictured) has said she will be watching her weight ahead of her wedding to hockey player Mike Fisher.

Underwood, 26, got engaged to Fisher last month and said her enviable figure is hard to maintain. During a radio interview, she said: "Genetics are not exactly on my side. Once I got out of high school, I packed on about 10 pounds, and once I was on American Idol, I packed on another 10 pounds.
"I'm a little person, I'm 5 ft. 3 in., and I was about 130 [pounds]." She added: "I carry all my stress weight, all my potato chip weight, around my mid-section. You've got to fight genetics sometimes."
Despite getting engaged last month, Underwood said that she and Fisher have 'no date' so far. She said: "Our schedules don't provide us too much time to get married and have time to really enjoy being married. "We're trying to really work it out and move some stuff around."

There's just no stopping Susan Boyle on the U.S. pop chart.

Her debut album "I Dreamed a Dream" claimed the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 for a fourth week in a row Wednesday, denying Alicia Keys a shot at the top.

It sold 661,000 copies during the week ended December 20, according to Nielsen SoundScan, taking its total to 2,465,000 copies -- the second-best selling album of 2009. Only Taylor Swift's "Fearless" -- a 2008 release with 2,933,000 copies sold this year -- is standing in its way. And with two weeks left in the 2009 tracking year, anything is possible.

Keys' "The Element of Freedom" debuted at No. 2 with 417,000. All four of her previous albums -- three studio sets and an "Unplugged" release -- started at No. 1. Her last effort, "As I Am," kicked off with 742,000 copies during Thanksgiving week of 2007.

However, Keys still has a chance of eventually reaching No. 1. The set could rise to the top next month when (and if) the Boyle hysteria dies down.

The second-biggest new arrival was Robin Thicke's "Sex Therapy: The Session," which began at No. 9 with 123,000. It's the singer's third top 10 set in a row, following "The Evolution of Robin Thicke" (No. 5 in 2007) and "Something Else" (No. 3 in 2008). The latter album opened with 137,000 copies.

The only other debuts on the Billboard 200 were all the way down at Nos. 172 (the "Avatar" soundtrack) and 198 (Phil Vassar's "Traveling Circus").

After five weeks at No. 2, Andrea Bocelli's "My Christmas" slipped to No. 3 with 390,000. The seasonal set has blown through 1.9 million copies and is now Bocelli's third-best seller after 1997's "Romanza" (4.2 million) and 1999's "Sogno" (2.5 million).

Swift held at No. 4 as "Fearless" shifted 239,000, while Carrie Underwood's "Play On" (153,000) and Lady Gaga's "The Fame" (141,000) were also unchanged, at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively.

Michael Buble's "Crazy Love" rose two places to No. 7 with 140,000 copies, surpassing the one-million mark. Justin Bieber's "My World" held at No. 8 with 127,000.

The second volume of the "Glee" TV soundtrack fell seven places to No. 10 in its second week with 111,000.

Overall album sales totaled 15.14 million units, up 26% compared to last week, but down 12% compared to the same sales week of 2008. Year-to-date sales stand at 357.5 million, down 13% compared to the same total at this point last year.

Professional hockey player Mike Fisher says U.S. country music star Carrie Underwood accepted his marriage proposal during the weekend.

Fisher, who plays center for the Ottawa Senators, confirmed his engagement to Underwood in an interview with The Ottawa Citizen.

"It's true," Fisher told the newspaper. "We're both obviously excited and very happy and so, exciting times for sure."

The wedding date has not been set yet.

Fisher and Underwood have been dating for about a year.

Country Superstar Carrie Underwood and professional hockey player Mike Fisher are engaged, reports the Ottawa Sun. According to a press conference Monday The Ottawa Senator player confirmed the news stating, "It's true," he said. "We're both obviously excited and very happy."

The former American Idol and has always been quite guarded when discussing her personal relationships, but has recently started opening up about Mike, which led many to speculate that the couple of just over a year were getting serious.  

Despite denying rumors that the two were to begin living together, Carrie gushed about the hockey player, 29, on the liner notes of her new CD, Play On.
"Thank you #12," she wrote, referring to his jersey number. "You are the most amazing addition to my life! You are such a wonderful person and have had such an amazing hand in the building of this album and in the growth of me as a person. I love you so much! You make my life better in every way! I thank God for you every day... xoxo, Carrie."

Many young men and women alike will be heartbroken to hear about the upcoming nuptials. Fellow Ottawa Senator, Chris Neil told reporters, "It's a long time coming. There's going to be a lot of broken hearts in Ottawa with all those girls who are in love with Mikey."  
Underwood, 26, has been linked in the past to Dallas Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo and Gossip Girl actor Chace Crawford.
(Image: Credit WENN)

Carrie Underwood wants to give away all her money before she dies, the country star says in an interview with Self. The former American Idol winner says: "I want to give more back. Before I die, I want to get rid of all my money.

"Recently, I started a foundation to benefit my hometown [Checotah, Oklahoma]. I'm looking forward to doing a lot of good for a community that's a big part of why I am who I am."
And the 26-year-old is also generous with fame hopefuls revealing that she gives American Idol contestants more than just moral support.

"I give out my phone number to the contestants freely," the blonde tells the US fitness magazine. "I also like to send a present for making the top 10. "I'll send a dog tag necklace from Tiffany and put, 'Congrats on the top 10. Love CU' on it."
Underwood also believes that Ellen DeGeneres will be a good replacement for former American Idol judge Paula Abdul.