After completing her Sticky & Sweet World Tour on Wednesday night in Israel, Madonna decided to spend some time as a tourist in the region yesterday day and night. First, she spent her time with her much younger toyboy Jesus Luz for touring the grave site of Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Luria at a cemetery in Israel (making sure to wear the appropriate black colored Adidas sportswear) before she helicoptered off to the south of Jordan to tour the ancient Roman-era city of Petra:

The Material Girl has wrapped up her world tour with a sightseeing trip to Jordan’s famed ruins in Petra. Madonna, 51, was flown by helicopter into the ancient Roman-era city carved out in red stone in a trip arranged by Queen Rania, the wife of Jordan’s King Abdullah II. The pop star, wearing a white shirt, trousers and shawl, was escorted by Jordanian security and an armed bodyguard during her 15-minute tour yesterday. She made no comment to reporters as she walked in almost total darkness. Jordanian security lit the area with headlights from their vehicles and sites the star took in included the elaborate Treasury building, which featured in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Madonna arrived in Jordan from neighbouring Israel, where she performed two concerts over the last two days, rounding off her Sticky & Sweet world tour. Earlier today she continued her sightseeing as she met up with her Brazilian model boyfriend Jesus Luz. They paid a visit to the grave of Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Luria at a cemetery in the northern town of Safed in Israel. The singer is a big follower of the Kabbalah faith, which is a branch of Judaism.

It’s really cute seeing Maddy play tourist from time to time, just like a “regular” person. I imagine touring the world for many months at a time is not always fun and she rarely has time off to visit some of the cities she performs in. I suspect her decision to end her tour in Israel had much to do with her wish to spend as much time in the region as possible to actually enjoy her time there at the close of her tour. Hopefully she’ll be able to enjoy some downtime for a bit before she has to start doing promo for the release of her new greatest hits album Celebration. Rumor has it she may be making an appearance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards in NYC on September 13 … so she best enjoy her vacay while she still can.

[Source]

Production is in full swing on the SoCal set of the new season of Heroes as starlet Hayden Panettiere was spotted on set rockin’ her classic cheerleader costume. Might Hayden’s character Claire’s return to the world of cheerleading be a ploy to woo viewers back to the show?

As you may recall, Heroes adeptly utilized the Save the Cheerleader, Save the World storyline to catapult the show’s ratings into the stratosphere, making it one of the most successful shows of the year. Since that time, ratings have waned and interest in the show has fallen off considerably. It makes total sense that the show would want to hearken back to a time when it was hugely successful in order to remind viewers to watch the show again. The fact that Hayden looks good in her cheerleading garb couldn’t hurt either. I guess we’ll see if the Heroes cheerleader can help save the show in the coming season.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Ego maniacal rap superstar Kanye West is usually never one to shy away from attention … but somethin’ must’ve gotten his goat up here in SoCal yesterday when he confronted a photog who was shooting him in an effort to get the pap to stop taking photos. I believe this is the first time in recorded history that Kanye West asked NOT to be photographed since that time last year he wiled out on a photog at LAX Airport:

Perhaps the gentleman was filming his bad side or mebbe Kanye just done lost his mind but for him to ask not to be photographed seems very strange to me. Not for nothin’ but Kanye West is one of the most fame hungry musicians out there …but I suppose Kanye needs to diva out every once in a while. I don’t think it’s a good idea for him to start asking for people to stop paying attention to him because one day (mebbe sooner than he would like), people will stop.

[Photo credit: Splash News, thanks Monique]

Victoria Beckham is featured on the cover and in the pages of the October issue of Elle magazine … and because she is a diva supreme, Ms. Thang gets not one but TWO magazine covers for the mag — one for Elle subscribers and one for the regular peons who pick up the issue at newsstands. Here is Vicki B. on the cover of the subscriber issue of Elle and some quotes from her coverstory interview:

Dressed in nude stockings and suspenders and reclining on a diving board looking every inch the Hollywood star, it’s hard to imagine Victoria Beckham has any hang-ups at all. The former Spice Girl has a hint of Audrey Hepburn about her in the photoshoot, taken for Elle magazine’s subscriber cover in the U.S. But the 35-year-old has revealed that she is insecure and that her shyness is the reason for her near-constant pout. She said: ‘People think I’m a moody bitch. I do have my insecurities. Maybe that is why I look a little bit serious. The kind of person who’s going to stand on the red carpet and love the attention and have the big grin – I’m just not like that. I want to get in there, do what I’ve got to do, and get home to my kids.’ The mother-of-three, speaking to Elle, said that her relationship with husband of 10 years David was as strong as ever. ‘David and I have a working relationship together, and we also have a private life together. Someone used the example recently of Brad and Angelina. They might be in a movie together, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to let someone film them at home. I don’t do “at homes” with my family. I don’t march my kids down red carpets. It’s just not how we choose to do things.’ Despite her recently appearing as a guest judge on American Idol, she said reports that she wants an acting career are ‘rubbish’. ‘I know my boundaries – I know what I am good at and what I’m not good at.’ She also appears on the general on-sale cover, posing in a grey and yellow dress and carrying a silver box clutch. The photoshoot and interview are well-timed. Although celebrities including Elle Macpherson, Mel B and Katherine Jenkins have been snapping up her dresses, Victoria’s denim line has been dropped by another US retailer. According to reports, the dVb brand was dumped by high-end Los Angeles boutique Maxfield. ‘Maxfield no longer carries dVb,’ a source told a US newspaper, who cited ‘poor sales’ as the reason. The line was previously dropped by Kitson, Saks and Bendels.

OUCH! Tough (but not at all surprising) news about her dropped denim line but I suspect that her finances will be just fine. After the jump, check out the alternate Elle magazine cover, the one you will find on newsstands if you are not a regular subscriber …

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Adam DJ AM Goldstein was memorialized in a special service at the Hollywood Palladium here in SoCal last night one day after his body was laid to rest in a semi-private funeral service at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary on Wednesday. Modeled as a 12-step AA meeting, AM’s memorial service brought out hundreds of family and friends One More Time so that they could pay their final respects to the late DJ:

While Michael Jackson was being buried in a lavish ceremony across town, friends, family and fans paid a final tribute to DJ AM (born Adam Goldstein) on Thursday night at the Hollywood Palladium, less than one week after the popular celebrity DJ was found dead in his New York apartment of an apparent drug overdose. According to People, hundreds of invited guests and fans turned out to remember AM, 36, who was buried on Wednesday, among them former fiancée Nicole Richie and friends Lindsay Lohan, Samantha Ronson, Eric Dane, Rebecca Gayheart and Robert Downey Jr. E! Online reported that the VIPs also included Dr. Drew Pinsky, Tom Arnold, Jon Favreau and Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath. “He was my soulmate and now he is my soul,” girlfriend Hayley Wood said during the two-and-a-half-hour memorial. “He is my amazing grace.” Because of the anonymity requested by organizers to honor the structure of 12-step meeting, no press was allowed into the event, and few details have emerged about what was said inside. Radar Online reported that the 3,500 attendees also included John Mayer and that the event was organized by Hollywood club promoter Brent Bolthouse. While fans reportedly scrambled to get a seat in the venue, an eyewitness described the crowd as “very hip and eclectic,” with some in T-shirts and jeans, and others in black suits. “It was packed, though. You could tell how well loved he was,” the witness told the site. “It was a very somber and sad crowd.” The Palladium was a fitting place for AM’s final memorial, as it was the first venue he performed in following the South Carolina plane crash he and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker survived last September. The New York City medical examiner’s office has not yet determined a cause of death and is conducting further toxicology tests, but there were several reports from unnamed sources earlier this week that AM had more than half a dozen undigested OxyContin pills in his stomach and one in his mouth when police found him face down on his bed in his barricaded Soho apartment.

Considering Goldstein’s struggle with addiction and the way it is believed he passed away, this 12-step style memorial service seems a fitting way for family and friends to pay tribute to his memory. I sincerely hope that, while they are still coping with their tragic loss, Goldstein’s loved ones were able to take solace with one another and have begun to find closure. The pain of loss doesn’t go away over night but slowly, one day at a time (as it were), time will help heal their wounds.

[Source]

200 of the late Michael Jackson’s family and closest friends convened at the Glendale Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, CA last night to pay their last respects to MJ at a small funeral/burial service exactly 70 days after he passed away on June 25. For the most part, the service was fairly quiet (even tho some of it was broadcast live on TV and all of it was filmed for possible inclusion in the upcoming A&E reality TV series The Jackson Family) and provided family and friends the opportunity to say their final farewells to the King of Pop:

Michael Jackson’s family and about 200 of their closest friends gathered on a hill Thursday evening for their final farewell to the pop singer, who died 10 weeks ago. Jackson’s burial may lay to rest some of the mystery and controversy that erupted with his sudden death on June 25. His large family was divided over where the superstar’s final resting place should be, but matriarch Katherine Jackson settled on a crypt inside the well-guarded and ornate Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California. Thursday’s service began 90 minutes past the announced start time, leaving dozens of celebrities — including Elizabeth Taylor — waiting in their seats for the 26 cars carrying the Jackson clan to arrive. It began with Jackson’s five brothers — each wearing a single sequined glove — carrying his flower-covered bronze casket onto the outdoor stage among six large bouquets of white lilies and white roses, along with green topiaries. His three children, led by daughter, Paris, 11, placed a crown atop their father’s coffin, which a family spokesman said it was “to signify the final resting place of the King of Pop.” Jackson’s children, parents and siblings took their seats in the front row, while his nieces and nephews filled several rows of white chairs behind them.

After an opening prayer by Pastor Lucius Smith, soul music legend Gladys Knight sang the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” Clifton Davis sang “Never Can Say Goodbye,” a hit he wrote for The Jackson 5 — the group that featured a young Michael and his brothers. What was said by Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson, and others who took the lectern is not publicly known, because the family barred news cameras from the ceremony. A family statement issued afterward said close friends and family, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, spoke “spontaneously to celebrate Michael’s life.” News helicopters hovering above captured video from a distance, but without sound. Lisa Marie Presley, one of Jackson’s former wives and the daughter of Elvis, attended the service, according to the family statement. It did not mention Debbie Rowe, Jackson’s second wife and the mother of his two oldest children. Macaulay Culkin, the “Home Alone” actor who spent time with Jackson during his Neverland Ranch days, was there with his girlfriend, actress Mila Kunis. Actors Corey Feldman and Chris Tucker were also seen arriving for the service. Motown founder Berry Gordy, who gave Jackson and his brothers their first big record deal, and Quincy Jones, who produced Jackson’s “Thriller” album, were there. Music producer Teddy Riley, who helped with Jackson’s 1991 “Dangerous” album, attended. The guest list included TV executive Suzanne de Passe, who produced a miniseries about Jackson’s family, and Kenny Ortega, who was producing Jackson’s comeback show. Thomas Mesereau, the lawyer who successfully defended Jackson in a child molestation trial, sat just behind the Jackson family. When the hour-long service ended, his brothers lifted Jackson’s casket for a final time to carry him inside the Great Mausoleum, where he was placed in his crypt at 9:43 p.m. PT (12:34 a.m. ET Friday). The family statement said it was “his final resting place.” The family and friends then drove to an Italian restaurant eight miles away, in Pasadena, California, for “a time of celebration.”

I watched most of the service as it aired live on CNN last night and found it a much more pared down service compared to the lavish service that took place at the Staples Center last July. I have to admit, I found the placing of the crown on the casket a bit odd but, that seems pretty de rigeur for any service honoring the memory of Michael Jackson. After all these weeks and months, tho, Michael Jackson is finally laid to rest … where he belongs.

[Photo credit: Getty; Source]