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.

Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney will host a $6 million fundraising dinner for Barack Obama at his Los Angeles home as the president fills his campaign coffers to battle Mitt Romney.

The event, on May 10, will feature in the "Dinner with Barack" campaign which the president's political braintrust dreamed up to drum up small donations and fire up grassroots supporters.

The latest installment of the X-Men franchise, "The Wolverine", starring Hugh Jackman, will be shot in Australia, it was announced Friday.

The potential blockbuster was due to be filmed in Japan last year but the devastation from the tsunami and earthquake that hit in March put production on hold.

Christian singer Jason Crabb might not have won all of the awards he was nominated under, but he certainly came away with the two most prominent categories for a male artist.

Crabb went home with artist and male vocalist of the year awards Thursday night. The 43rd Dove Awards show for Christian and gospel music will air on April 24 for GMC, formerly the Gospel Music Channel. The awards show was held at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta for the second straight year.

Kathy Griffin jokes she's been banned from most talk shows for poking fun at the rich and famous. But that shouldn't be a problem now that she's got her own weekly talk show on Bravo.

Griffin said in a recent interview that the show will not be celebrity oriented and she will poke fun at people in all walks of life, including herself.

The Cannes film festival on Thursday unveils its pick of Hollywood giants and art-house newcomers to compete at the world's top movie showcase on the French Riviera next month.

Organizers will announce the 50-odd films awarded a slot at the May 16-27 event at a press conference in Paris, half of them in the official race for the Palme d'Or and half in the parallel new talent section, Un Certain Regard.

Dick Clark stood as an avatar of rock 'n' roll virtually from its birth and, until his death Wednesday at age 82, as a cultural touchstone for several generations of Americans.

His identity as "the world's oldest teenager" became strained in recent years, as time and infirmity caught up with his enduring boyishness. But he owned New Year's Eve after four decades hosting his annual telecast on ABC from Times Square. And as a producer and entertainment entrepreneur, he was a media titan: his Dick Clark Productions supplied movies, game shows, beauty contests and more to TV.

New York's Tribeca Film Festival, created a decade ago after the 9/11 attacks, opens Thursday with a touch of sparkle from Cannes thanks to new artistic director Frederic Boyer.

Boyer joined festival founders Robert De Niro and producer Jane Rosenthal for an opening presentation Wednesday in lower Manhattan where movies will be shown until April 29.

A new exhibit exploring human identity through the "Star Wars" universe and the epic sci-fi saga's quirky characters kicks off a multi-city world tour in Montreal on Thursday.

"Star Wars Identities" combines the latest scientific research in areas of psychology, neuropsychology and genetics with some 200 costumes, props, models and artwork from the Lucasfilm archives to ask the fundamental questions: who we are and how do we become who we are?