Head for les hills, Lindsay Lohan and her entourage (which includes her younger sister Aliana Ali Lohan, BFF Patrick Aufdenkamp, a few new unnamed hangers-on and various members of her security detail) have made their way to Paris, France to partake of all that the City of Lights has to offer … here is Lindsay and a couple of her peeps roaming the streets of Paris earlier today:

To her credit, she is lookin’ much better than she has been lookin’ in the past few weeks. I understand she enjoyed a lovely and drama-free visit to Singapore for a festival over the weekend and it looks like she is fresh-faced and ready to enjoy Paris. One hopes that she will keep her partying to a minimum because I much prefer seeing photos of Lindsay lookin’ put together rather than bedraggled and falling out of nightclubs. Take heed, Parisians … L. Lo is in your town now. Watch out!!

[Photo credit: Splash News]

The New York medical examiner’s office released its official findings in the death of Adam DJ AM Goldstein, who passed away one month ago, and ruled that he passed away due to accidental drug overdose. Apparently, AM had quite a bit of controlled substances in his system and died as a result of the deadly cocktail of substances he ingested:

DJ AM died accidentally from a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and cocaine, the medical examiner’s office ruled Tuesday. The toxicology report showed the 36-year-old had in his system cocaine, OxyContin, Hydrocodone or Vicodin, antianxiety drugs Xanax and Ativan, Klonopin which also controls anger, Benadryl, and Levamisole, a drug apparently used to cut cocaine. The cause of death was acute intoxication due to the combined effects the drugs, the medical examiner’s office said. The dosage of each drug was not released. The celebrity, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, had openly discussed past addictions to crack cocaine, Ecstasy and other drugs. He was found Aug. 28 in his apartment in New York City’s trendy SoHo neighborhood after a friend called 911. Paramedics had to break down the door before they found him, shirtless and wearing sweat pants, in his bed around 5:20 p.m. Six pills were found in his stomach and a pill in his throat when he was found dead in his apartment. The pill in his throat appeared to be OxyContin. A crack pipe and prescription pill bottles were discovered there.

While I’m not trying to sound harsh or cruel, I guess I’m having a hard time understanding how someone who takes so many drugs in a relatively short period of time and then dies from their effects is considered an “accident”. Sure, the intent was not to kill one’s self but if someone actively drinks a can of gasoline and doesn’t want to die but does die, is that an accident, too? Semantics aside, AM’s untimely death is a true tragedy and I hope that he is finally at peace wherever he may be. It’s clear he was suffering in the grips of addiction and sadness … it’s just a shame that he had to pay with his life in the sad end :(

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Prince Harry was on hand to present awards to some of the UK’s bravest children coping with serious illness at The Children’s Health Awards in London, England yesterday. One of the night’s award recipients, Alex Burke, wasn’t convinced that Prince Harry was really a prince because he wasn’t wearing a crown … Harry insisted that he is the real deal and sent the little tyke on his way. I understand this funny bit was among the highlights of the evening:

He may have one of the most recognisable faces on the planet but young Alex Burke was determined to check that Prince Harry was the real deal. Looking puzzled as he met the third in line to the throne at a charity awards ceremony this evening, the six-year-old said: ‘Are you sure you are Prince Harry? Where’s your crown?’, before asking for good measure: ‘So you’re not William then?’ Fortunately, Harry, 25, took it all in his stride as he scooped Alex up into his arms. ‘I’m sorry, you’ll have to put up with me!’ he spluttered. The prince, who was on a day off from training to be an army helicopter pilot, was at the WellChild Children’s Health Awards in London, which recognises the courage of youngsters coping with serious illness. Alex, from Manchester, has Neurofibromatosis Type 1, a genetic condition which causes non cancerous tumours to grow on the nerves in his body prompting a host of painful health problems. The lively youngster takes his condition in his stride, however, and was full of beans as he accepted his award from Harry yesterday – celebrating by blowing bubbles in the prince’s face. His mother, Sarah, 26, a full-time carer, said; ‘The only kind of princes that Alex knows about are the ones in stories who wear cloaks and crowns. ‘I have been showing him pictures of Harry and his brother, trying to explain who they are but he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t wearing his crown. I just told him that he wasn’t allowed to take it out with him.’ Among the other award winners was Lucy Tutton, eight, named the most caring child in the country for helping with her poorly sister, Sophie, five, who suffers from Rett Syndrome, a severe neurological disorder. Lucy, from Bristol, screamed with excitement and gave Harry a flower made out of balloons. Afterwards she said; ‘Oh wow – I felt like a princess.’ Harry got a fit of the giggles himself when he was presented with a framed picture of his elder brother by another brave young guest, saying: ‘Oh no, look who it is!’ He was given the photograph by Harrison Holmes, eight, from Barrow-in-Furness, who suffers from chronic lung disease and met William earlier this year on a trip with WellChild to the Lake District. The chatty youngster bowed as he handed his prized posession over to Harry and made him promise to give it to William. Harrison told him that William, who he calls his ‘Prince of Cuddles’, had promised to come to his house. ‘Oh, he is so sweet,’ said Harry, ‘I will definitely remind him of his promise.’ And the prince liked the balloons so much he took them home…

What an amazing awards ceremony. I love that these brave children were allowed a night in the spotlight so that they could be honored for having to endure their serious illnesses. That a member of the royal family would be on hand to do the honors of giving out the awards to these brave children is very impressive. As we are well aware, Prince Harry is no saint … but he deffo has his heart in the right place and I wholeheartedly commend him for his tireless charity work. Much congrats goes out to all the award recipients last night … here’s hoping for speedy recoveries!!

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Longtime fans of the #1 daytime drama, The Young and the Restless, have a big adjustment to get used to in the coming weeks on the series. According to a new report, Y&R head character honcho Victor Newman (played for 30+ years by actor Eric Braeden) is being written off the show. Braden refused to take a pay cut from the show (which was asked of all the actors on the soap to keep things afloat) and was informed that he would be written out of the show. Does this sound familiar, Y&R fans? Melody Thomas Scott (who plays Nikki Reed-Foster-Bancroft-DiSalvo-Newman-Abbott-Landers-Chow on the series), who’s been on the show almost as long as Braeden has, tried to pull the same stunt earlier this year … and she was written out of the show, too:

Stop the presses! Emmy winner Eric Braeden has been written out as the iconic Victor Newman on Y&R. The actor has already taped his last scenes. Reportedly, Victor and Nikki go on vacation. For the past few weeks, Braeden has been involved in intense negotiations. While his contract is up at the end of 2010, Y&R has been asking actors to take pay cuts when their 13-week cycles expire. Actors like Braeden and Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki), who this past summer was written out after she balked over the same issue, are furious; not over the fact that they are being asked to take pay cuts but that they are being expected to re-negotiate their contracts during their 13-week cycles. It is important to note that they are willing to take pay cuts but at the end of their contracts. “Everyone knows they have to take a slash in pay,” says an insider. “That isn’t the issue — the issue is that their current contract isn’t being respected. Once you open up a contract during a cycle, the original contract is null and void and you must start over from scratch. Eric thinks he should be paid his current salary until next year. The same thing happened to MTS. Her contract wasn’t up this summer — her cycle was.” As previously reported, Y&R is currently transitioning Adam Newman to inherit his father’s complex history. Additionally, the sudser has announced it’s casting a new millionaire bad guy named Tucker with a big name to cover their bases. “The casting call is not a scare tactic,” says an executive. “Tucker is a real role.” During Braeden’s last tape date, the actor gave a speech to the cast saying he may not come back and thanked the cast and crew for decades of memories. “He said he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be back, and thanked everyone for their hard work,” says one co-star. “He got emotional towards the end. After his speech, there was dead silence. We were all stunned,” says another witness. If you’re a fan of The Mustache, Soapgeist suggests you start writing into CBS, Sony, and Y&R like yesterday.

To be honest, none of this is surprising. And, as a longtime fan of Y&R, I don’t mind it so much anymore. I was more upset when I learned that Thomas Scott (Nikki) was being written off the show but I’m not so broken up about Braeden’s departure. I understand that Braeden the actor is almost as pig-headed, stubborn and uncompromising as his Victor Newman character is. Not only is he a horrid actor but he really doesn’t bring anything new to the show. I don’t understand how it seems more desirable to say no to a pay cut and get written off the show. The fact that neither character (Nikki or Victor) is being killed off is a good sign for them … should they wise up, they can come back. Should they not wise up, the actors can be (shudder) replaced when those characters eventually return to the show. While it’s true that losing these characters would be a big change for fans of the series … I personally would be fine with the changes. I would rather lose a couple of characters than risk losing the whole show because their selfish paid contract demands were being met. Any Y&R fans out there? What do y’all think?

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It’s out!! Britney Spears’s new single, 3, which will be included on her new album Britney Spears: The Singles Collection (due out in November) has made it’s debut on US radio for all to hear. It turns out that Brit Brit decided to release a song that champions the wonders of the ménage à trois … or threesome. The lyrics of the song are not subtle at all, behold:

3
(M.Martin/Shellback/T.Amber)

What we do is innocent
Just for fun and nothin’ meant
If you don’t like the company
Let’s just do it you and me
You and me…
Or three….
Or four….
- On the floor!

HMMM … but what does it sound like? It is upbeat as I hoped, has a bit of a electro feel to it … sounds like it came from the recording sessions for her last album Circus rather than her previous recording sessions. After all, pretty much all of the unreleased demos from Blackout were leaked to the Internets and this song was not among them. After the jump, listen to 3 in full and judge the song for yourselves …

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