Screen People | Pamela Anderson – Actress helps promote Phoenix jail’s all-vegetarian meals

Some inmates at the Maricopa County Jail did a double-take after seeing actress Pamela Anderson serving their lunches.
The former “Baywatch” star was in town yesterday to help promote Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s all-vegetarian meal program.
Arpaio says cutting meat from the meals served to the more than 8,000 inmates has saved an estimated USD200,000 per year. The jail has been serving vegetarian meals for 16 months now. Inmates are served a peanut butter sandwich with oranges and some crackers for brunch and a hot meal comprised of different vegetable and soy dishes for dinner.
Anderson is a longtime vegan and a spokeswoman for the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. She hopes the meal initiative stands as a model for prisons and jails across the country.

Montreux – Lady Gaga, Herbie Hancock, Sam Smith to perform at Jazz Festival

Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett will be going cheek to cheek at this year’s Montreux Jazz Festival.
The pop diva and the legendary crooner are continuing their successful collaboration that saw them reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last year with an album of jazz duets.
Organizers say the 49th edition of one of Europe’s most renowned music events will also feature the return of Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, 36 years since they last paired up on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Santana, a Montreux regular, is also part of the two-week lineup along with Lenny Kravitz, Mary J. Blige, Dianne Reeves and this year’s four-time Grammy winner Sam Smith.
The festival runs July 3-18.

Billboard chart – Tribute song for Paul Walker hits No. 1

Paul Walker is not only being remembered onscreen, but in music too: The tribute song for him, “See You Again,” hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart yesterday.
The song from rapper Wiz Khalifa and budding singer Charlie Puth is from the soundtrack for “Furious 7,” the latest installment in the “Fast & Furious” film series that featured Walker.
Puth, 23, sings the emotional hook on the song. As he wrote “See You Again,” the singer thought about a friend who died around the same time as Walker. From there, the words came easily.

A Capella – College singers become unlikely stars on campuses

Their musical performances pack university auditoriums, though they play no instruments.
While universities have long nurtured the niche community of a cappella singers, the TV show “Glee” and hit movie “Pitch Perfect” helped create a new generation of fans that propelled the soulful, unaccompanied vocal sound into mainstream culture. Now, they’re unlikely stars on campuses across the U.S.
Tomorrow, about 3,000 people will flock to New York to see eight groups compete in the collegiate championship of a cappella singings. The sold-out show at the Beacon Theatre is a far cry from the paltry crowd of 200 that watched the national finals more than a decade ago.
“Now the larger world is seeing that it’s awesome,” said Amanda Newman, executive director of Varsity Vocals, the event’s organizer. “Everyone’s just over the moon. It wasn’t a secret that we wanted to keep.”

Cannes – Selfies are ‘ridiculous and grotesque’

The 68th Cannes Film Festival will feature a lesbian love story starring Cate Blanchett, a Shakespearean tragedy with Michael Fassbender and films from cinema heavyweights including China’s Jia Zhangke, Italy’s Paolo Sorrentino and the United States’ Gus Van Sant.
It won’t feature a lot of selfies, if organizers have their way.
While stars including Charlize Theron, Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz and Benicio del Toro will be welcomed on the red carpet at the French Riviera extravaganza, selfies and selfie sticks most definitely won’t.
Announcing the festival lineup yesterday, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux called selfies “ridiculous and grotesque.” “We’re not going to ban selfies. We don’t have police powers,” Fremaux said. But he strongly urged festivalgoers to keep the red carpet a selfie-free zone. MDT/Agencies