Natalie Dessay needed a relief soprano at the Metropolitan Opera.

After struggling through the first act of Verdi's "La Traviata" on Saturday night, Dessay was replaced by Hei-Kyung Hong for the final two acts.

Chaz Bono picked up a pair of trophies at the GLAAD Media Awards.

The 43-year-old transgender activist and author was honored with the outstanding documentary prize and Stephen F. Kolzak Award at the 23rd annual Media Awards for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Bono won along with directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato for "Becoming Chaz," the OWN documentary that chronicled his gender transition.

Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb has woken from a coma and responded to members of his family, his spokesman said Saturday.

Gibb, 62, contracted pneumonia and fell into the coma last week. He is suffering from colon and liver cancer.

No one smoked or drank on stage during the memorial for Christopher Hitchens, although one overhead picture featured a cigarette drooping from his mouth. And few of the speakers swore, unless quoting from their departed friend.

Hundreds filled Cooper Union's Great Hall in lower Manhattan on Friday to honor a provocative author and committed atheist who, unless mistaken about the cosmos, could not respond.

Disney movie studio boss Rich Ross stepped down on Friday, taking the fall for at least a couple of over-budgeted bombs as Hollywood shies away from taking risks on big blockbusters.

His resignation comes after two years in a row of nasty March surprises, ironically both having to do with the Red Planet. Last year it was "Mars Needs Moms," a creepy animated movie that lost $70 million. This year, it was "John Carter," a sci-fi action movie set on Mars that resulted in a $200 million loss for Disney.

He gets colonic irrigations, Botox injections and vitamin drips, and insists on black toilet paper in his home.

A revealing new biography offers intimate — some might say too intimate — details about Simon Cowell, along with a portrait of the entertainment mogul's savvy business side.

Officials in southern Australia's Adelaide voiced their disappointment Saturday at revelations that U.S. singer Cher had apparently put her key to the city up for sale on Internet auction house eBay.

The key and accompanying memorial plaque was being sold online by a user called Authentic_Cher who claims to be the musician's "personal consignor" selling her personal effects.

U.S. pop diva Lady Gaga arrived in South Korea late Friday, one week before a Seoul performance which will kick off her third concert tour.

The singer, wearing a floor-length low-cut white dress, white gloves and a pearl-encrusted mask, blew kisses to fans at Seoul's Gimpo airport who tried to snap her image on smartphones.

Levon Helm, whose gruff vocals and razor-sharp drumming underpinned the seminal late 1960s rock group The Band, died Thursday, his recording studio said. He was 71.

"Levon Helm passed peacefully this afternoon," said Barbara O'Brien, executive manager of Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, New York, in an email to Agence France Presse.

It all began with Desert Masterpiece Production (www.dmproduction.net) wanting to launch an event that would embody the cultural harmony between Egypt and Lebanon, as well as portray a crucial turning point in Egypt’s history: the revolution, Desert Masterpiece Production said in a press release Friday.

It was the beginning of the journey for Desert Masterpiece Production (www.dmproduction.net) and its owner media mogul: Mr. Ayman Sabek who went on a quest to find the docudrama that would uncover the truth and give viewers an insight into the Egyptian Revolution. It is then that he saw the award winning work of Mr. Mhamad Hisham, entitled: El Nas Dol, a docudrama that bluntly depict the sufferings of patriotic civilians who stood for liberty. At that point ,Mr. Ayman Sabek found it crucial to share this work with the world, and he chose Beirut as one of the movie’s stops, because of the importance of Lebanon as the cultural hub of the Middle East.