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Cyrus crowned queen of the kids

Many stars vied for honors at the Kids Choice Awards on Saturday, but only two mattered to the thousands of screaming children on hand.

Miley Cyrus (pictured), the 15-year-old heroine of the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana, and the Jonas Brothers, a pop band comprised of three fresh-faced siblings, were the top draws at the Oscars for the pint-sized set. A-listers like Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz could only look on in bemusement.

Cyrus performed at the 90-minute ceremony, and picked up a pair of orange blimp statuettes for favorite female singer and television actress.

Her Hannah Montana concert tour was the hottest ticket in the land last year, with anxious parents paying thousands of dollars for scalped tickets. The scarcity of tickets prompted political probes and even a Federal Reserve economics primer on the basics of supply and demand. A concert film recently topped the North American box office.

Arriving at the Pauley Pavilion with three bodyguards in tow, Cyrus elicited ear-splitting shrieks from the excitable fans. When she took to the stage to accept her awards, she thanked, in true Hollywood style, "my lord and savior Jesus Christ" and her coterie of managers and agents.

The Jonas Brothers - Joe, 18, Kevin, 20, and Nick, 15 - were named favorite music group.

The ceremony, now in its 21st year, is organized by Viacom Inc-owned kids cable channel Nickelodeon. Host Jack Black said more than 88 million votes were cast online. Last year's telecast drew a record 6.1 million viewers across the United States. The show is also broadcast internationally.

Stones not like the mob, says Scorsese

Director Martin Scorsese won't say the Rolling Stones are like the underworld characters in many of his movies, but he admits the band's music evokes memories of the rough, mob-tinged street life he grew up around.

The Academy Award winner and the legendary band founded in London in 1962 have combined on Shine A Light, a concert documentary shot at New York's intimate Beacon Theatre in October 2006.

Scorsese and band members Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts held a press conference on Sunday ahead of the film's US release on April 4.

"I don't know if I can make any direct associations," Scorsese said with a laugh when asked what similarities he sees between the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members and the brutal criminals he has depicted in films such as Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed.

But the native New Yorker says their music has always struck powerful chords with him, so much that he used the group's violence-laced song Gimme Shelter in three of his previous films.

"The music has been very important to me over the years. It dealt with aspects of the life that I was growing up around, that I was associated with or saw or was experiencing and trying to make sense of," Scorsese said.

"It was tougher, it had an edge. Beautiful, honest and brutal at times. And it's always stayed with me and become a well of inspiration to this day," he added.

The film offers 17 songs mainly comprised of concert warhorses like Jumpin' Jack Flash, Start Me Up and Brown Sugar, and features guest appearances by blues legend Buddy Guy, White Stripes guitarist Jack White and singer Christina Aguilera.

Agencies

(China Daily 04/01/2008 page18)