You know I love Adele, but did you know that I’ve been worried about my girl for months now? Adele’s tour schedule has been all over the place, and she keeps canceling shows month after month because of seemingly unending vocal and throat problems. Adele just cancelled the rest of her 10-city US tour yesterday because of new issues. Adele took to her blog with an exhaustive open letter to her fans to explain what’s gone wrong:

Guys, im heartbroken and worried to tell you that yet again im experiencing problems with my voice. its ridiculous i know! i cant believe it myself. i follow all the advice im given and stick to regimes, rules and practices to the best of my ability but it seems to simply not be enough. i want you to know the full story about my voice troubles so bare with me in this long blog.

i first started having trouble with my voice back in january, it was weakened by a bout of flu from december and never got its complete strength back before i started my UK and European promotional tour, so it just got weaker and weaker until it eventually “broke” as i say. i didnt realise at the time, cause id never had anything wrong with my voice, ever. but id also never sung as much as i was at the time it went. i was diagnosed with laryngitis and ordered to rest intensely for 10 days, and i recovered and went on to do a show in london and a month long promo tour in the U.S and also the brit awards without any hiccups. the whole time i stuck to a strict regime of numerous diets, steaming, vocal rest and vocal warm ups. which is very necessary but insanely grim. After a bit of time off I embarked on my european and UK tours at the end of march and finished at the end of april and everything seemed fine.

in may i went on tour in the U.S, i was in minneapolis which was about half way through the tour. i made a skype call in the morning on the day of the show and during it my voice suddenly switched off like a light! it was literally as if someone pulled a curtain over my throat. i knew something was wrong and panicked but convinced myself id be fine. i got to soundcheck and knew immediately i couldnt perform and with doctors advice cancelled the show. i was mortified and distraught but stubbornly insisted we go to denver for the following day, i did the show even though in the back of mind i knew it wasnt the right thing to do. and during it i felt, what i can only describe as something ripping in my throat. but adrenalin kicked in and i was too embarrassed to not finish the show.

I was sent to LA to rest and get another opinion. this time i was diagnosed with a hemorrhage. which is like a black eye on the vocal chord, it was incredibly tender and dangerous if i was to continue to sing through it. i was ordered to rest, so i flew home and did for a month. then slowly i started fulfilling my commitments. i did a show in london at the itunes festival and then went on to complete the first leg of the rescheduled US shows and perform at the VMAS which were all a blinding success.

however when i got home and prepared to start my UK tour in september i developed a respiratory and chest infection which had nothing to do with any of my voice problems from before but still forced me to cancel 6 shows and a performance at the mercury awards. i was stuffed full of antibiotics, had some time to rest and in the end managed to do 9 shows of the 15. After them and once back home my voice yet again went. mid conversation and it just switched off! i have a hemorrhage again and it is paramount that i rest and therefore wont be able to come and do these already rescheduled U.S shows which are due to start this friday in atlantic city.

the fact is i have never been able to fully recover from any of the problems that ive had and then continue to rest even once im recovered, because of my touring commitments. ive been offered the chance to not tour at all to save anything like this from happening again, but i simply hate letting you down. although now im having to let you down once again through no fault of my own really. if i continue to pick up everything before i have properly conquered these problems and nipped them in the bud. i will be totally and utterly f–ked. singing is literally my life, its my hobbie, my love, my freedom and now my job. I have absolutely no choice but to recuperate properly and fully, or i risk damaging my voice forever.

i have great confidence in believing you know how much this upsets me, how seriously i take it and how truly devastated and annoyed i am by this. wanting to do something so bad and not being able to is the most frustrating thing as im sure you know! my voice is weak and i need to build it back up. I’m gonna be starting up vocal rehab as soon as, and start building my over all stamina in my voice, body and mind. i will be back and im gonna smash the ball out the park once im touring again. i apologise from the bottom of my heart, sincerely i do. i know its not only disappointing because of the show, but its plane tickets, hotel bookings, birthdays, anniversaries and time wasted. but please have faith in me that this is the only thing i can do to make sure i can always sing and always make music for you to the best of my ability. truly yours and yours only forever, adele xx

[From Adele’s Blog]

I do feel really bad for her, and I think her throat/vocal issues are genuine. As in, I don’t think she’s blowing off appearances and tour dates just so she can go shopping and gossip with girlfriends. I think she’s genuinely unwell, and if her throat was up to it, she would be fulfilling her obligations. That being said, she needed to stop this whole catastrophe months ago, when it seemed like she was in health crisis after health crisis – as an Adele super-fan, I think I can speak for most of us when I say this: I’m thinking about my long-term Adele fix, and I want her to have a voice to record more and more albums, and the touring stuff is just gravy. Yes, it’s great to have a pop artist who ACTUALLY SINGS and who depends on her voice night after night. Now just cancel everything, refund the tickets, take six months off, rest, and record a new album.

You want the video again, right?

Photos courtesy of WENN and Fame.

Tennis star Venus Williams is the older of the Williams’ sisters and the one who is known for her risque fashion. (I don’t pay enough attention to sports and I sometimes confuse her with her sister, Serena, which is why I’m specifying.)

Venus was formerly ranked No. 1 in women’s tennis in the world and she’s now at 32 in singles and 20 in doubles, so she’s force to be reckoned with. Her health has led her to be sidelined, though. Venus just pulled out of the US Open and made an announcement that she was diagnosed with a disease called Sjogren’s Syndrome.

In an interview on Good Morning America today Venus said that she felt for years that her stamina was low no matter how much she trained. She explained that about four years ago she felt like she could never get enough air in her lungs. She was diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma at the time. This year she experienced joint swelling, dry eyes and dry mouth as well as fatigue and peripheral nueropathy, which are all symptoms of Sjorgen’s. She explained that it normally takes six and a half years to get diagnosed with Sjorgen’s.

I think I’ve had issues with Sjogren’s for a while. It just wasn’t diagnosed,” Williams said. “The good news for me is now I know what’s happening.”

Sjogren’s is usually triggered by an infection. The symptoms vary, but usually include dryness in the mouth and eyes, joint and muscle inflammation, and fatigue.

“I had trouble with stamina,” Williams said, adding that her doctor diagnosed her with exercise-induced asthma four years ago. But it wasn’t until this summer, when she developed more definite symptoms, that an accurate diagnosis was made.

“I had swelling and numbness and fatigue, which was really debilitating. I just didn’t have any energy,” Williams said. “And it’s not that you don’t have energy; you just feel beat up.”

Deciding to drop out of the U.S. Open wasn’t easy, Williams said.

“… I just felt like, ‘Okay, I could walk out on the court. I’m a tough woman, I’m a tough athlete, I’ve played through a lot of things.’ But what kind of match it would be?” she said. “It was a tough decision, but at the same time I’ve had to come to accept what I’m going through.”

Williams said she’s glad to finally have an explanation for her mysterious, debilitating symptoms.

“It’s a huge relief because as an athlete everything is physical for me — everything is being fit and being in shape,” she said. “I think the best thing that could have happened for me this summer was to feel worse so I could feel better.”

While Sjogren’s has no cure, there are treatments that make symptoms more manageable: Artificial tears and saliva stimulants can ease dryness; anti-inflammatory drugs can reduce joint and muscle inflammation; and certain drugs can help quell the overactive immune response.

“Sjogren’s is something you live with your whole life,” Williams said. “The good news for me is now I know what’s happening after spending years not knowing… I feel like I can get better and move on.”

Williams said she “absolutely” plans to return to tennis.

[From ABCNews.com]

I’ve had health problems in my life. I’m doing great and am hopefully fully recovered now, but years ago there were months when I could barely get around the house and needed a wheelchair outside. So when I hear about health problems I think I get it. I don’t fully remember how bad it was to be that sick, but I was there. It can be awful when your body betrays you. For an athlete, it must be especially devastating. I hope that Venus is able to get the treatment that she needs. I found her story very well told and she sounded like she’s come to terms with it. She will surely bring more awareness to this disease.

You can learn more about Sjogren’s on the website for the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation.

Here’s Venus playing tennis on 8/29 and out with her dog on 8/10. Credit: WENN.com

Sad news. George Clooney has spent a significant amount of time in Sudan over the past few months, and during a stay in early January, he contracted malaria. Sad! Of course, malaria is a treatable condition, and this is George’s second time at the malaria fun-house. I hear they let you drink gin and tonic! That’s about it. Basically, you feel like hot death and you wish someone would shoot you in the face.

George Clooney is known for his practical jokes but a recent bout with a serious illness was no laughing matter.

The actor, 49, contracted Malaria during a trip to Africa recently as part of a push for aggressive diplomacy to avoid another potential genocide in the Sudan region. But, his rep says, he’s subsequently made a full recovery despite new reports to the contrary.

“George is completely over the Malaria he contracted while in the Sudan during the first week in January,” his rep tells PEOPLE. “This illustrates how with proper medication, the most lethal condition in Africa, can be reduced to a bad ten days instead of a death sentence.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site, “Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans.”

The news of his illness broke Thursday via the host of CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight, who Tweeted that Clooney is still fighting the illness: “It’s his 2nd bout of malaria. Taking medication but feeling rough,” Morgan claimed.

Morgan says Clooney, who taped his interview on Jan. 13, is due to be a guest on his show on Friday and will talk about the condition then.

[From People]

God, George has balls. He talks the talk and walks the walk, and he’s got his second case of malaria to prove it. Oh, CNN has a video clip too – Clooney’s on Piers’ show tonight:

George Clooney contracted malaria while he was in Sudan during the recent election there, he told Piers Morgan during an interview scheduled to air Friday. Clooney was in Sudan working on a his “Enough” project with Google and the United Nations installing equipment to film the historic election. Clooney was helping set up a semicovert satellite photography project to record the voting and any possible fallout. The “Enough” project’s goal is to end genocide.

“The truth of the matter is we are hoping it is one of many tools to continue to apply pressure, at the very least, to gather evidence that could be used at The Hague later if there are – if there are infringements or rules broken … if anyone crosses across the border north or south,” Clooney told Morgan.

It was during this recent work in Sudan that he contracted malaria.

“I guess the mosquito in Juba looked at me and thought I was the bar,” Clooney quipped.

While discussing the matter in a fairly jovial manner, Clooney said it was the second time he had gotten malaria.

“You don’t think President Bashir has – has detached a detail of sickly, vengeful mosquitoes to target you whenever you arrive?” Morgan joked.

“Yeah,” Clooney responded. “I think so.”

A few minutes later Morgan joked in another tweet abut Clooney’s condition.

“Clooney malaria update: now have 24,563 offers to nurse him. But his rep says medication’s worked and he’s OK. Sorry, ladies,” Morgan tweeted.

[From CNN]

See… I went this whole time without making an Elisabetta Canalis/mosquito/blood-sucker joke. Aren’t you proud of me?

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Michael Douglas rounded out the Golden Globes very nicely last night when he presented the award for Best Picture. The crowd went wild, cheering for him and all standing up. Michael quipped “there’s got to be an easier way to get a standing ovation.” He looked great and you could tell that he’s put some weight back in since he’s successfully completed cancer treatments.

I have so admired the way Douglas has handled himself both during his cancer battle and now that he’s tentatively beaten throat cancer. That was a nice tribute to a great actor and a very admirable man. Maybe Douglas will get some more much deserved accolades at the Oscars this year, which are coming on February 27.

Douglas was on Leno on Friday, and he told Jay that after going through cancer he appreciates life more. “I smell the roses. I wake up in the morning and each day is special.” There are rumors that Douglas is currently in talks with a publisher and may be working on an autobiography. That story seems to have originated in the Daily Mail and I wouldn’t put much stock in it, but I hope it’s true. I would love to read his memoir.

Here’s an interview with Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Hones on the red carpet. They say it’s a date night for them. I love Catherine’s dress!

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This news made me so happy. Kaiser and I have been pretty worried about Michael Douglas after he was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer in August of last year. Douglas, 66, had a walnut-sized tumor under his tongue, and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones was furious at doctors who took too long to discover the problem. While his outlook seemed positive, and he was hopeful about his prognosis, just the sheer progression of his cancer made it sound grim. From what I understand, Stage 4 cancer is the most serious. Douglas told Matt Lauer that his tumor is gone now, and he thinks he’s beaten cancer.

In his first television interview since undergoing treatment for throat cancer, Michael Douglas tells TODAY’s Matt Lauer that his tumor is gone and he’s got his cancer beat.

“The odds are, with the tumor gone and what I know about this particular type of cancer, that I’ve got it beat,” Douglas said during an interview that will air Tuesday on TODAY. Douglas said that he still has to undergo monthly checks to be sure the cancer is gone, but he’s already quantifying how having the disease has changed him.

“It’s put a timeline on my life,” Douglas said. “I’m 66 now. You know, I’m fortunate I’ve got a mother who’s 88. She’ll kill me. She may be 87. My father’s 94. So, you know, I feel good about those genes. But it’s definitely a third act. And so you’re a little more conscious of your time in how you choose to spend it.”

As for how he’s spending his time now, Douglas is beginning to get back to a normal life. “I’m eating like a pig … I lost about 32 pounds. And I’ve put about 12 back,” Douglas said. Now that his chemotherapy and radiation treatments are done, Douglas has few restrictions on his day-to-day activities. He’s working out at the gym, though “they want to keep the cardio down because they want me to put some more weight on.”

Douglas also says that his experience with cancer has given his life more depth. “You know, maybe it has to do because of everything life threatening. So all of a sudden the affection from my family, from my friends, and from my fans hit me at a much deeper level than I would have ever imagined before. And it gave me a really new appreciation of just how valuable, how precious good friends are and family. And it’s not that I disregarded them before but there’s a much deeper feeling. And I’ve talked to other cancer survivors about this, that — that happens, that you just really, really appreciate what’s important in life.”

Catch more of the interview on TODAY Tuesday morning and the complete interview on Sunday’s “Dateline NBC.”

[From Todayshow.com]

There’s a follow-up article on the Today Show’s website that discusses how this type of cancer can recur and needs to be carefully monitored.

Douglas also explained that his mouth is dry after his salivary ducts were closed from the effects of the chemotherapy. (They’re expected to return to normal after a year.) He said that having a dry mouth affected his sleep and that he also suffers fatigue. Other than that, he says he’s doing well and sounds cautiously optimistic. When Lauer asked him about it he called the radiation and chemotherapy “lousy” though and said “I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

Douglas discussed the photographs that came out of him looking gaunt during his treatment, and said they lead his loved ones to worry. He thinks that his dad, Kirk Douglas, came and visited him for a week because of those pictures. As for the paparazzi, he was very matter-of-fact and reserved about how they stalked him while he was at his weakest. “I resent the amount of imposition on our children… there was sort of a macabre enjoyment of sort of watching me go down [healthwise] by the paparazzi.”

Douglas said that facing death helped him experience love and caring from others at a level he hadn’t before. The “affection from my family, my friends and from my fans hit me at a much deeper level than I would ever have imagined before.”

Congratulations to Douglas. He fought hard and it looks like he’s triumphed. He’s now preparing for his role as Liberace and says he’s getting his “fingers ready.” I’m so happy to see him looking healthy and ready to work again.

Of all the solutions to life’s struggles and tribulations, acupuncture is one of the remedies I am most wary of. I understand the idea behind it – that our bodies have pressure points, and that if you “puncture” a certain part of your toe, your headache will be relieved, et cetera. I know people who swear by it. I know people who hate needles of all kinds, and get barfy and queasy at the idea of someone sticking something sharp into them. I am one of the latter category. I get barfy around needles. My mother was recently hospitalized, and they couldn’t find a vein to get blood, and the nurse was jabbing at my mom’s arm, and I swear, I started sweating and hyperventilating and I almost passed out.

Anyway, Mariah Carey swears by acupuncture, and she claims – in a new cover interview with Us Weekly – that it helped her in the difficult months she and Nick were trying to get pregnant after their first miscarriage.

After suffering a miscarriage following her April 2008 wedding to Nick Cannon, Mariah Carey cried herself to sleep many nights. But in an exclusive interview in the new Us Weekly (on newsstands now), the singer says she and Cannon never gave up.

Though she dismisses reports that she did IVF, Carey tells Us Weekly she began taking progesterone, a hormone that is often prescribed to boost fertility and support or help maintain pregnancy in women susceptible to miscarriage.

Cannon also tells Us Weekly his wife relied on “once-a-day” acupuncture, “all over her body. I think it helped her quite a bit, because it was a good destressor.”

Seeing Carey’s face when they learned she was pregnant “was priceless,” Cannon recalls. “We definitely cried. We still cry all the time. It’s an emotional journey.”

With their baby due in spring, Carey says it still “amazes” her she’s going to have Cannon’s child. “He’s a great person, and we have more in common than not,” she tells Us Weekly.

“I know people initially were, ‘What? Those two?’ But I think people who know us get it.”

For more – including what Carey thinks about her “weight gain”; what foods she’s craving “in the middle of the night” and how they found out she was pregnant – pick up the new Us Weekly today!

[From Us Weekly]

If it works for her, then that’s great. But do you think she’s lying about not doing IVF? I don’t know, I really don’t. I think it’s perfectly possible that Mariah was on the motherload of fertility drugs, and that’s all.

By the way, Mariah was just on Ellen DeGeneres’ show, and she talked about whether she would force pink onto a possible daughter – it’s really funny. Mariah is already scheming her way into getting either a super-girly-girl or a very fabulous boy.

Us Weekly cover courtesy of CoverAwards.

http://coverawards.com/

Can you imagine being on your honeymoon with your new husband Russell Brand? Okay, let’s start smaller: can you imagine having sex with Brand? Chances are pretty good that at least a few of you commenters already had sex with him, so let’s start it there. Let’s say you had sex with Brand, the “Shagger of the Decade”, and you fell in love. Let’s say he took you to India and proposed. Let’s say you eventually married in India, and now you’re on your honeymoon. Once there, once you are finally officially hitched and The Shagger of the Decade is your lover for life… wouldn’t that alone seem like a come-down? I’ll admit, Brand seems like he would be fun in bed. But he’s not husband material. Thankfully, Katy Perry isn’t really wife material, so I’ll imagine they can make it work for a year or two. Or maybe less, if the honeymoon is any indication. Radar reports that Katy and Russell’s honeymoon is like something out of a Doris Day comedy – what with Katy refusing to “consummate” their marriage because of a rash. That’s seriously the plot of a Doris Day movie.

Katy Perry and Russell Brand’s honeymoon in the Maldives didn’t go exactly as planned, RadarOnline.com has learned, as the new bride was bitten by a spider their first day there, dampening the mood for the newlyweds.

Brand and Perry had refrained from having sex for a month prior to their wedding in India last week, according to the Australian magazine Grazia. After a spider bit Perry shortly after the pair arrived in the Maldives, the I Kissed A Girl singer developed a nasty rash on her legs, which led to her taking a medication that left her tired, drowsy and unable to consummate the marriage.

Grazia magazine also reports Perry, 26, and Brand, 35, spent their honeymoon at the Soneva Fushi resort in the Maldives, a nation of tiny islands in the Indian Ocean that boasts some of the world’s most gorgeous resorts.

The Get Him To The Greek star chose the secluded, $8000-a-night location because it’s “paparazzi proof,” according to the magazine. Other celebs who have frequented the island retreat include Madonna, Paul McCartney and Tom Cruise.

[From Radar]

I wonder what the “nasty rash” is? It could be something from the plant life, an allergy she didn’t know she had, something like that. But in the Doris Day movie, it was psychosomatic – in Touch of Mink, Doris breaks out in hives whenever she’s in a hotel room with a man.

So… I give it another week until Brand is boning other women, basically.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Celine Dion has been checked into a Florida hospital to prevent the early delivery of her twin boys. The statement released by the hospital makes it sound like this is just a preventive measure to ensure a healthy and successful labor, but I kind of wonder if there’s some other stuff going on. Not anything horrible, mind you, just some indications of early labor, maybe. Or maybe Celine isn’t have quite as healthy a pregnancy as she hoped. Still, it sounds like her doctors are taking good care of her and that everything is under control.

Céline Dion is preparing for the birth of her twin boys by checking into the hospital on the advice of her physicians, the singer’s rep confirms to PEOPLE.

In a statement issued Monday morning, the hospital says, “Ms. Céline Dion has been admitted to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida for observation at the recommendation of her doctors. She has been admitted to prevent the early delivery of her babies, which is the standard of care for any patient with twin pregnancy in this clinical setting.”

The statement makes clear this is a preventive measure, “done to ensure the patient can be in close contact with their doctors and clinical resources, leading up to their birth,” it says.

Last week, Dion’s husband, René Angélil, told PEOPLE that, contrary to reports, his wife had not scheduled a C-section to deliver her twins on Oct. 22 – nor had she made outrageous demands of the hospital.

“There is nothing scheduled,” he said. “We do not have a date” for the babies’ birth.

[From People]

Didn’t something similar happen when Angelina Jolie was pregnant with twins? There were concerns, so she checked into the hospital several weeks early and she got to chill out and wait. Plus, isn’t it quite normal for twins to come a little early? Like, a few weeks early. Whatever.

Anyway, I hope Celine is doing well and I hope everything goes great with the babies. I kind of love Celine, she brings more goodness to the world than most celebrities, and she’s been incredibly honest and forthright about her fertility issues, so I really hope everyone is healthy and happy. Good luck, Celine!

Header: Celine in March, credit: Fame.

I was glancing through some new photos, and at the same time, I saw photos of Michael Douglas and Robert Redford, on two separate continents, separated by a deep void of experience, both looking like hell. But it’s a strange thing, this “getting older” stuff. Michael is 66 years old, and had a facelift several years ago that is now falling apart because of chemo, amongst other things. Robert Redford, on the other hand, is 74 years old, and looks every single year, and yet somehow… he looks extremely healthy and rugged, even manly. Yes, his skin looks like leather. Yes, that’s a horrible f-cking dye job. But I would still hit it.

Which brings me to my question – even though Redford looks like a beautiful kind of aged massacre, shouldn’t we love him more for being all natural? It’s the Meryl Streep thing, the Helen Mirren. Even if your skin isn’t the best, and you have wrinkles up the wazoo (I bet Redford’s wazoo looks leathery too), I appreciate that your face moves and that you don’t look like you swapped heads with an alien.

Anyway, these are new photos of Redford today in Paris, where he will be receiving the Knight in Order of Honor at the Elysee Palace, from President Sarkozy. And the Michael Douglas photos are from today as well – Michael was out and about in NYC. Michael really, really looks bad. I’m not trying to be all Star Magazine, but I don’t think he’s doing as well as all of the happy, optimistic statements from his people.

Photos of Redford, courtesy of WENN.

Pretty much as soon as Kelsey Grammer and his wife Camille split up early this summer, Kelsey began showing up around New York with a new girlfriend. The girlfriend is Kayte Walsh, and she’s a 29 year old British blonde (Kelsey is 55). Anyway, their roll-out as a couple happened very quickly, and in August, her family confirmed that she was carrying Kelsey’s baby. But things quickly went bad – it seems that shortly after the pregnancy was confirmed, Kayte suffered a miscarriage:

It was devastating news the couple had not been ready to reveal for weeks.

But on Saturday, Kelsey Grammer and girlfriend Kayte Walsh said she had a miscarriage.

“We lost our unborn child about six weeks ago,” they tell PEOPLE in a statement. “We would like to thank all of those who expressed kindness and concern but we needed a little time to heal, time to find some solace before we publicly acknowledged our loss.”

The actor, 55, and Walsh, 29, had revealed in August that she was expecting. It was to have been the first child for the couple and the fifth for Grammer.

[From People]

That’s sad. Poor Kayte and Kelsey. I think it’s fine that they didn’t issue a statement right away – that’s a private, personal, medical experience, and I get why they waited to say something. I also think Kelsey and Kayte will probably try again, don’t you? If they do, good luck to them.

Kelsey & Kayte at the US Open on Sept. 10, 2010. Credit: WENN.