MacFarlane to host Oscars

10/2/2012

Seth MacFarlane presents an award at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane will host the 2013 Oscars ceremony Feb. 24 in Los Angeles.

First-time Academy Awards producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron made the announcement Monday. “His performing skills blend perfectly with our ideas for making the show entertaining and fresh,” they said in a statement.

MacFarlane is best known for his envelope-pushing animated TV shows Family Guy and American Dad. He made his big-screen directorial debut earlier this year with Ted, which took in more than $420 million at the box office. The 38-year-old entertainer also hosted the season opener of Saturday Night Live last month and released an album of big-band tunes from the 1940s and ‘50s last year.

This is his first time hosting the Academy Awards. Nominations for the 85th annual Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 10 — nearly a week earlier than typically revealed and coming ahead of the Golden Globe Awards.

Michael axes tour dates to be treated for anxiety

George Michael is canceling Australian shows so he can get treatment for major anxiety he’s suffered since a serious health scare last year.

The singer said on his Web site he had hoped making music and performing would be enough to work through it but that he underestimated how hard his recovery would be.

The 49-year-old former Wham! front man was to perform in Sydney and other Australian cities in November and early December. He still has concerts scheduled this month in the United Kingdom. They are makeup dates for shows he canceled after being hospitalized for pneumonia in Vienna in November.

Michael spent about three weeks in the hospital and said later that his health had been “touch and go.”

Scuffle

Actress Lindsay Lohan was involved in a scuffle with a man at a New York hotel on Sunday, police said, over what media reports described as her demand that photos of her be deleted from his cellphone.

Investigators took reports from both Lohan, 26, and the man, but charges appeared unlikely, said a spokesman for the New York City Police Department. A misdemeanor assault charge filed earlier in the day against the man was dropped, the spokesman said.

Celebrity Web site TMZ.com, citing sources close to the actress, identified the attacker as a man Lohan met at a New York nightclub.

Sorry

Country star Jason Aldean has apologized to fans after pictures of him acting “inappropriately” last week popped up.

Aldean tweeted Sunday after photos appeared showing Aldean and former American Idol contestant Brittany Kerr together at a bar last Wednesday in Los Angeles. In one photo, they appear to kiss. Aldean says “the truth is I screwed up,” had too much to drink, and acted inappropriately at the bar. He noted that he left alone and added, “ultimately I ended up embarrassing myself and my family.” Aldean is married with two children.

The singer releases his fifth album, “Night Train,” on Oct. 16.