Celebration and Tragedy

Though the 60th Annual Emmy Awards presents Hollywood with a celebratory evening, the music industry is shaken up by a tragic plane crash.

Plane Crash Claims Victims
Blink 182 drummer, Travis Barker, and famed disc jockey, Adam Goldstein (best known as DJ AM), were critically injured in a South Carolina jet crash Friday night. The plane was en route to Van Nuys, Calif., following the duo's free concert in Columbia that evening.


While AM and Barker suffered serious burn in juries in the accident, the remaining four passengers were hardly as fortunate. The crash claimed the lives of the remaining four passengers: pilots Sarah Lemmon, 31, and James, 52, Chris Baker (Barker's assistant), 29, and security guard Charles Still, 25. An eyewitness has recounted seeing AM and Barker exit the blazing aircraft with flames leaping from their bodies. According to reports, Goldstein has endured extensive burns to the face, while Barker's injuries are most severe from the waist down. The drummer's ex-wife, Shana Moakler, has rushed to be by his side in a Georgia hospital, while former girlfriend, Mandy Moore, joins Goldstein. While AM and Barker are expected to make full recoveries, thoughts and prayers are with them.

Emmy Upset
It's possible that the casts of Mad Men and 30 Rock stood solo in their excitement during the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. Viewers of the program have expressed less- than-impressed opinions of the presentation, to say the least. Julie Hinds of the Detroit Free Press reviews the experience, saying, "If they ever give an award for the telecast of 2008 that was the most flat, boring and strangely off-kilter, we may have a winner." The night's big winners were Mad Men, making history as the first-ever basic cable program to nab the honor for best drama, and 30 Rock, cleaning house with four awards. This year's program also debuted the best reality-show category, which was claimed by ratings dominator, The Amazing Race.

But it was the show's opening that has been blasted as the night's least entertaining moment. Hosts Ryan Seacrest, Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Jeff Probst introduced the program with little more than awkward banter. Yikes. So, five heads aren't better than one? Maybe Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle says it best. "The opening flopped, the middle sagged and the end was rushed. Not even Oprah could save it."

Bathroom Bust
George Michael definitely has a thing for bathrooms. The singer, 45, was busted in London restroom for possession of crack cocaine and marijuana. This is hardly a virgin run-in with the law for the singer--who was detained after being discovered passed out behind the wheel of his car in 2006 in possession of drugs. The singer released a statement, saying, "I want to apologize to my fans for screwing up again, and to promise them I'll sort myself out. And to say sorry to everybody else, just for boring them." After being taken in to a North London police station, Michaels was released with a warning, a notably lenient penalty. Wow. Some things never change.

Little Bits
The Hills' Audrina Patridge has officially moved out of the "pool house" she's been shacking up in--separate from Lo Bosworth and the series' star, Lauren Conrad, who were living in the actual house. Come on, MTV. As if she ever really lived there in the first place! ...In baseball-type news, Yankee all-star, Alex Rodriguez, and now ex-wife Cynthia have finally settled their divorce. According to the New York Post, the couple reached an "amicable" agreement. We bet. ...And Katie Holmes finally hit the Broadway stage in All My Sons on Saturday to a packed house. However, crowds outside the theatre were less than pleasant. A group of approximately 30 protestors gathered outside to protest Scientology, shouting "Scientology Kills!" Wonder what Xenu had to say about that!