Newly single Selena Gomez is getting on with her life after splitting with superstar Justin Bieber, her boyfriend of nearly two years -- and if her ear-to-ear grin is any indication, she's doing just fine, thank you very much.

On Monday, Nov. 12, the 20-year-old "Love You Like a Love Song" singer walked the red carpet at Glamour's 22nd Annual Women of the Year Awards in New York City, where a source tells Us Weekly she looked "radiant and very happy."

Wearing a white, knee-length Giambattista Valli frock with a deep V-neck and a peplum waist, the Wizards of Waverly Place actress playfully vamped for the cameras.

"She was smiling and laughing between photos and really having a good time posing for the photographers," the witness says of the star, adding that she seemed "bubbly and upbeat" giving interviews. "She looked genuinely happy...not like she was sad or bummed out at all."

Indeed, the December cover girl could barely contain her excitement as she accepted her Woman of the Year award from the magazine.

"I am so honored to be in a room full of women that I can only aspire to be as good as they are one day," she gushed of her fellow attendees, among whom were Chelsea Clinton, Chelsea Handler, Lena Dunham, gymnast Gabby Douglas, and screen legend Lauren Hutton. "I feel so lucky that every day I get to work with interesting people that are way smarter than me, that have taught me so much

"I just want to share with all the girls out there -- you have a voice, you have a chance," she continued. "Just do what you love, whether it's acting or singing and just being true to who you are. The person who has taught me that is my mom. She's so strong and beautiful and has taught me everything."

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British singer Adele performs ''Someone Like You'' at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles, August 28, 2011.

That Adele's "21" will rank as the year's top-selling album is no surprise - the English singer-songwriter's hits "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" dominated playlists in 2011. What is surprising is that "21," released by independent British label XL Recordings, sold more than 5 million copies.

The last time an album topped the year-end chart with more than 5 million copies sold was in 2004, when Usher's "Confessions" moved 7.9 million, according to Nielsen Soundscan, which supplied all sales data for this story.

Indeed, music sales overall are expected to end 2011 up more than 3 percent from last year. Not coincidentally, the last time overall music sales rose by so much was in 2004 as well.

The resurgence in sales is welcome news for the music industry. A meager 1 percent increase in digital sales last year created widespread panic that the format had already plateaued.

Nielsen analyst David Bakula attributed the rebound to a strong release slate, plus retailers getting more aggressive with pricing and promotions.

For instance, Lady Gaga's album "Born This Way" was priced at 99 cents - less than one-tenth the price of most albums - in a special deal, helping drive sales beyond her core fans, he said. The promotion on Amazon.com angered other retailers who were selling the album at full price, however.

"In 2004, you had one massive album driving sales," said Bakula, senior vice president of entertainment analytics for Nielsen. "This year is similar in that you have one really great story that everyone is talking about."

Digital sales are expected to end 2011 close to 10 percent higher, prompting Bakula to proclaim the sales performance "a great resurgence."

Physical albums still outsell digital albums by a 2:1 margin. But total music sales, which would include digital singles, are now split 50-50 between physical and digital.

TOPPING 5 MILLION

To put Adele's sales figures in context, the more than 3.5 million physical albums she sold this year would have been good enough to take the top spot in each of the last three years without even adding in digital sales. Album sales include LPs, compact discs and digital albums.

Figures for the year's best-selling album declined every year from 2004 to 2008. They hit an all-time low in 2008 when Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" took the top spot with sales of just 2.9 million, the first time an album claimed the best-seller title with sales of less than 3 million.

Since 2008, however, sales of the top-selling album of the year have increased, though not by much. Taylor Swift took the top spot in 2009, selling 3.2 million copies of "Fearless." Eminem's "Recovery" finished 2010 as the year's best-seller with 3.4 million copies.

"Adele's performance this year shows the demand for great original music," Bakula said. "Here's an artist that had moderate success before, but nothing of this magnitude, and she's doing it all on two singles."

Amy Winehouse's death from alcohol poisoning in July also factored into Adele's sales performance. Bakula said the attention Winehouse's death received stoked interest among fans to sample other soulful, jazz-infused female British singer-songwriters, like Adele and Duffy. As a result, in addition to buying "21," consumers dipped into Adele's back catalog, making her prior release, "19," one of the year's top 25 best-sellers.

Still, Adele's sales total is less than half of the more than 11 million copies that "No Strings Attached" from N'Sync sold in 2000. That year marked the last time the top spot featured an album that sold in excess of 10 million, underscoring the dramatic impact that legitimate digital distribution channels like Apple's iTunes and illegal file-sharing sites such as Limewire have had on the music industry.

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David Lee Roth of Van Halen performs at Tiger Jam XI in Las Vegas April 19, 2008.

Veteran rockers Van Halen unveiled plans on Monday for a tour with original lead singer David Lee Roth returning to the stage.

In a video posted on the band's website, www.van-halen.com, Eddie Van Halen, brother Alex and son Wolfgang play the hit "Panama" while Roth runs around on stage. Underneath reads "Van Halen On Tour 2012" with tickets going on sale January 10.

No other details were announced, but the video confirms music industry buzz that the band is together again with Roth. An album is said to be in the works, too, after Van Halen signed a record deal in November.

A separate posting on the Van Halen News Desk website said the video was shot at the Roxy Theatre along Los Angeles' Sunset Strip while the band performed "a brand-new song."

The news site speculated about a possible February release date for a new song or album, and said the record was produced by Ross Hogarth. It is the band's first full album with Roth since the CD "1984," which was released on December 31, 1983.

Van Halen's relationship with Roth has been a stormy one over the years. Roth left the band in a bitter breakup in 1985, only to rejoin for a performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1996, then quickly depart in another bitter split. He returned to Van Halen for a tour in 2007-2008.

The band, whose early hits include "Runnin' With the Devil" and "Dance the Night Away," was among the leading rock acts of the late 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s when Sammy Hagar replaced Roth as singer.

Michael Anthony was the original bassist, but alongside Hagar he has joined another band, Chickenfoot. Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's son, took over on bass.

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Sinead O'Connor

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has ended her fourth marriage after just 16 days, blaming pressure and disapproval from the family and friends of her new husband Barry Herridge.

O'Connor, 46, said on her blog that the marriage went wrong three hours after the Dec 8. ceremony in Las Vegas and that the pair had lived together for only seven days before splitting on Christmas Eve.

"Within 3 hours of the ceremony being over the marriage was kyboshed (ruined) by the behavior of certain people in my husband's life. And also by a bit of a wild ride I took us on looking for a bit of a smoke of weed for me wedding night as I don't drink," the controversial singer wrote.

O'Connor, who found fame in the late 1980s with her shaved head and original voice on songs like "Nothing Compares 2 U", said that Herridge was "enormously wounded and very badly affected by that experience and also by the attitude of those close to him toward our marriage. It became apparent to me that if he were to stay with me he would be losing too much to bear."

She added that she had decided to end the marriage, and said the couple had made a mistake "rushing into getting married" without being prepared for the consequences on his life.

"The marriage was 16 days. We lived together for 7 days only. Until Xmas eve. And we haven't been awful to each other," she wrote.

O'Connor has been married three times previously. Her most recent union to musician Steve Cooney ended earlier this year after about one year.

She courted controversy in the 1990s by tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live television in a protest over priestly sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, by declaring herself to be a lesbian and then retracting her assertion, and by being ordained as a priest in a breakaway Catholic Church sect.

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The contents of the home where Michael Jackson lived with his three children just before his death have sold for nearly $1 million at auction.

Darren Julien, president of Julien's Auctions, was unable to provide a more specific figure as he continued to tally the totals Saturday after the daylong auction, which brought in nearly triple the company's pre-auction estimate of $200,000 to $400,000.

Among the highlights: A kitchen chalkboard where Jackson's children wrote "I love daddy," which sold for $5,000, and an armoire upon which Jackson wrote a message to himself on the mirror that fetched $25,750.

The auction also included furniture, artwork and other items from the rented mansion at 100 North Carolwood Drive, where Jackson lived as he prepared for a series of comeback concerts in London before his death in June, 2009.

The headboard from the bed where Jackson died at age 50 was removed from the auction at the family's request, but the rug that was beneath the bed sold for $15,360. The estimate had been $400 to $600.

Julien's Auctions re-created the mansion inside its Beverly Hills showroom and invited fans to fill the space where the bed would have been with a tribute to the late King of Pop. Julien promised to deliver all of the tribute items to Jackson's children and family matriarch Katherine Jackson.

"Michael Jackson has the greatest fans in the world. I can see why he lived for them," Julien said. "They came out every day this week to bring gifts. It's unlike anything we've ever seen as it relates to a celebrity and their fans."

Julien's Auctions has conducted auctions for dozens of celebrities, including Cher, Barbra Streisand, William Shatner and Slash.

Jackson commissioned the company to sell the contents of his Neverland Ranch before the auction was called off in early 2009. Julien's also sold Jackson's famous "Thriller" jacket for $1.8 million earlier this year.

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It's no secret that Janet Jackson has battled weight issues her entire life, but what her fans may not know is that even when the singer is on tour, sweating every night, she still has problems staying slim.

So Jackson joined the ranks of Nutrisystem users on Thursday to become the "new face" of the weight-loss program, promoting a new "SUCCESS" diet plan even as she uses it to help raise money to feed the world's hungry.

The "Rhythm Nation" singer and member of the famous Jackson family, wrote fearlessly about self-image issues in her book, "True You," documenting a period in 2006 when she put on weight for a movie and ballooned to 180 lbs, only to become fodder for fat jokes in the tabloid press.

But Jackson said it's not only working as an actress that can cause her to put on pounds. Rather, it is everyday life that gets her. And even after dancing and singing nearly every night on her "Number Ones," she still battles weight gain.

"Your body gets used to different exercises, and I've been performing for so long that my body's just used to it. Actually, I have to work a little harder while doing a show," she told Reuters.

Weight gain, she said "is something I've dealt with my entire life."

In her book "True You," which was published in hardcover earlier this year and hit stores in paperback this week, Jackson writes "eating was emotional for me; eating calmed my nerves and brought me instant gratification."

After Nutrisystem chief executive Joe Redling read the book, he approached Jackson about his weight-loss program and gave her some of Nutrisystem's pre-packaged foods to sample while on tour. Jackson said she was sold.

"When I was in hair and makeup, we were all taste testing. Everybody was going crazy for it," she said.

LOVE THE CHEESE PUFFS

When asked her favorite Nutrisystem meal, Jackson said "I can't say there's just one thing," then she paused.

"They do have cheese puffs," she said. "It had been years since I wrapped my lips around cheese puffs because they were things I had to stay away from."

Jackson joins a long list of celebrities, including Kirstie Alley and Jennifer Hudson, who have publicly battled weight loss and endorsed diet programs. Typically, the stars document how much they lose, but Jackson doesn't want to do that.

"I'm going about this a different way by not putting a pound amount on it," she said. "It's about when I feel healthy, about when I feel good. That is how I want to be," she said.

Like most people, she pops her meals into a microwave to heat them up, but is quick to add that, unlike many others, she has a trainer to help her work out. She stresses the importance of exercise, but emphasizes that people don't need a trainer when all they really need to do is go for a long walk or do other everyday activities that get them off their couches.

Key to Jackson's involvement in Nutrisystem, she said, is that for every pound its dieters loose in 2012, the company will donate $1 worth of food to people in need. The pair have created "Nutribank," (www.nutribank.org ), to work with hunger organizations around the world. Last year, Nutrisystem users lost 10 million pounds, in total.

"I feel that my true calling is to help people," she said. Now, that calling extends to weight loss and quashing hunger.

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The gold and silver coins are 10cm across and are legal tender

Sir Anthony Caro [L] and Tom Phillips with their designs

A gold coin commemorating London's 2012 Olympics, designed by eminent sculptor Sir Anthony Caro, has been revealed by the Royal Mint at London's Royal Academy of Art.

The UK's first Kilo coin - one of just 60 to be produced - is worth £100,000 as it contains 1kg of fine gold.

A silver Kilo worth £3,000 designed by artist, composer and writer Tom Phillips was also revealed.

The Queen personally approved both designs in order for them to become legal tender.

The obverse of the coins features her effigy, created by sculptor Ian Rank-Broadley, whose design of Her Majesty appears on all UK and Commonwealth coinage since 1998.

Sir Anthony Caro's design represents how the Games focus on success and pushing the body and mind to their limits as well as the long heritage of the Olympics. His coin is framed by a laurel wreath and the London 2012 logo, and depicts the sports equipment used for weightlifting, boxing, football and athletics.

During the manufacturing of the gold Kilo, a special press and production technique was used to achieve the highest ever relief on a coin struck by the Royal Mint. However because of its worth and size, it is unlikely to go into circulation.

The silver Kilo design focuses on the idea of teams working in unison to achieve success and victory, featuring the words "Unite our dreams to make the world a team of teams". It also has images of celebratory flags creating a sun for the Games while also representing the Olympic flame.


Sir Anthony's works have played a key role in the development of contemporary sculpture. He was knighted in 1987 and was the first British sculptor since Henry Moore to receive the Order of Merit in 2000. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York recently featured a major exhibition of his works.

Phillips's works are displayed in some of the world's most prominent galleries, including London's Tate and the National Portrait Gallery.

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Recordings must be over 25 years old to qualify for the Grammy Hall Of Fame

Bruce Springsteen's album Born In The USA and Paul Simon's Graceland are among 25 recordings which are to be inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.

The list, made up of both albums and singles, also includes Tina Turner's What's Love Got To Do With It? and Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive.

Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said the music has "influenced and inspired" people for generations.

The 54th Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on 12 February.

A recording of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which he delivered 48 years ago, also features on the list, along with Exile on Main St by the Rolling Stones and Anything Goes by Cole Porter.

Other well-known albums on the list include Santana's self-titled debut, which was released in 1969, and Bill Cosby's comedy record, I Started Out As A Child.

Established in 1973, more than 850 recording have been recognised in the Hall of Fame. Past inductees include The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

"The Recording Academy is dedicated to celebrating a wide variety of great music and sound through the decades," Mr Portnow said in a statement.

"We are especially honoured to welcome this year's selection of some of the most influential recordings of the last century.

"Marked by both cultural and historical significance, these works truly have influenced and inspired audiences for generations."

The event, which will take place at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles, will be broadcast live on US network CBS.

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NEW YORK (AP) - Amy Winehouse had written all the songs that were to appear on her third album. She even picked out song titles.

But music producer Salaam Remi said the soul singer, who died over the summer, was not rushing to release that new material, instead planning to drop a jazz album first with a "supergroup" including ?uestlove of the Roots.

"She had written down everything she wanted to do," Remi said Tuesday.

Only two of the tracks Winehouse wrote were recorded and appear on her compilation album, "Lioness: Hidden Treasures," out Dec. 5.

Winehouse died from accidental alcohol poisoning at age 27. Her body was found at her London home July 23.

Remi, who worked on the singer's two albums, "Frank" and "Back to Black," produced most of the upcoming CD, saying Winehouse was a perfectionist when it came to composing music.

"She was taking her time with it, and at the end of the day all of her songs are somewhat autobiographical, so she had to live through something, then get out of it and then look back at it to be able to write about it," he said.

"Who knows what will happen in the future with that," he said of the songs she penned.

Remi held a press listening for "Lioness" on Tuesday. The 12-track set features covers and stripped-sounding versions of released Winehouse songs, with some completed in one take.

Before her third album would come out, Remi said, Winehouse wanted to record with Roots drummer ?uestlove and saxophone player Soweta Kinch.

"There were a bunch of other names bouncing around," Remi said.

?uestlove did make the new album, though. He appears on the track "Half Time." There's also a song by an 18-year-old Winehouse, another about her ex-husband's infidelity and "Best Friend," which opens with the line: "I can't wait to get away from you."

Remi has produced for the Fuguees, Nas, Jazmine Sullivan and Nelly Furtado. He produced the song "Block Party" from TLC member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Winehouse sought him out after hearing the track. Remi says that Winehouse usually wrote songs while playing the guitar and that the new album sounds just as good as her critically acclaimed predecessors.

He also said he wanted to release new material from the late singer before others did so.

"Before somebody comes up with some weird song .... this is what it really is," he said. "This is the quality."

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The decibel level in the small, bunker-like rehearsal room is ear-shattering and every loose item in the space is shaking as if an earthquake struck.

But it's no temblor -- just business as usual at the Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp where ex-Runaways guitarist Lita Ford is leading a group of 30-something, would-be rock stars through a bone-jarring version of "Roadrunner."

"We're doing The Who's version," says 53-year-old rocker Ford, an enthusiastic coach who guides her equally enthusiastic charges -- three guitarists, a singer and two drummers -- through the arrangement.

As befits a Who homage, it's loud. But there's no guitar smashing, scowling or bad attitude. Everyone looks happy.

Other rooms in the Camp's North Hollywood complex feature similar scenes, with other rock teachers -- Kiss singer Paul Stanley, Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice and producer-songwriter Mark Hudson -- schooling students on the finer points of hard rock, playing and performing.

But big changes are on the horizon for the "camp," now in its 14th year, where people of all ages who dream of rock stardom can bring their axes and learn to shred like Pete Townshend or Guns N' Roses' Slash.

David Fishof, who founded the camp after years as a manager and tour producer for Ringo Starr and The Monkees, estimates that some 7,000 have attended one of the sessions held six times a year at various locations including New York, Philadelphia and London.

"It gets bigger every year," he said, and to cope with the demand, Fishof is planning to open a permanent location in Las Vegas. "We're in negotiations with a major hotel, and it's going to happen within the next year," he said.

GOING CORPORATE
Fishof also is setting up camp in corporate markets, planning events and performing exercises with executives that focus on successful collaboration and task completion.

"We get a rock star like Lita to work with them, rewriting a song they're famous for and tailoring the lyrics specifically to a company sales model or convention," he said.

While the operation has focused exclusively on classic, metal and hard rock so far, Fishof promises other genres are about to get the same boot camp treatment.

He wants to branch into alternative rock music, country and even jazz once they get a permanent location, and they plan to bring in celebrity musicians from each genre.

Fishof says that the camp attracts a cross-section of people, not just aging adults who long ago gave up on a career in music but still harbor dreams of rocking out.

"We get mothers, 15-year-old kids, top executives and music fans from all over the country," he said. "The common denominator is their love for music, and many of them keep coming back, they love the experience so much."

And that's not only true for fans, but for the rock stars, too. Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler worked at the camp last year and is returning again in May to teach. "He had a great time and was eager to come back," said Fishof.

"It's been a surprisingly rewarding experience," said Ford who freely admits that, "back in the '70s and '80s, I'd never have imagined doing this. But I really enjoy teaching people how to overcome their fears."

She cites one young drummer "who froze every time he had to do a fill." Ford and a drummer worked with the nervous musician for days with success. The drummer and his group won the trophy for best percussion section at a local showcase.

"He came up to me afterward, and was so excited and went, 'I got it! I understand it now!'" recalled Ford. "It was such a huge pay-off for me, so it's not just about the music and guys living out this rock 'n' roll fantasy. It's about people who come in here, their hands shaking, who can't even look you in the face. We help them face those fears and conquer them -- and have a great time doing it."

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Cooked lamb eyeball, boiled fertilized duck egg and beaver tail are just a few of the more unusual dishes sampled by a club of adventurous eaters called the Gastronauts.

Started in March of 2006 by two friends who wanted to try some of the more exotic foods that could be found in New York, the first meeting of the club attracted only six people.

But it has now grown to more than 1,000 members in New York and Los Angeles and there are plans to expand to other U.S. cities.

"I've always been a big trier of new foods; I'll never say no," said Curtiss Calleo, an art director and graphic designer who founded the club with magazine editor Ben Pauker.

"Gastronauts is a great way to meet new people, try new foods, and explore the city."

Calleo said the club is open to everyone, and counts bankers, artists, journalists, designers and an acupuncturist among its members. There are no fees to join and members pay for their own meals which are held monthly in restaurants.

Invitations to the meals, which are normally for 70-80 people, are sent via email. Dinners often fill up quickly.

"It's a social experience as well as a culinary experience," Calleo explained. "We get a lot of stories about travel and food-related illness, like Montezuma's revenge," he added, referring to the stomach upset caused by eating unfamiliar foods or drinking local water.

Calleo and Pauker both spent their childhoods living in various countries, which sparked their curiosity about unfamiliar foods.

At their last gathering in New York they ate balut, which is a Philippine snack of boiled fertilized duck egg.

"There's a reason why people eat this stuff," Calleo said. "In many cases, cultures have had hundreds of years to make the food palatable or even exquisite."

While no one is forced to eat anything, he said the goal is to "try to try", which reflects the group's spirit of culinary adventure.

"It's rare for people to change their minds once they're here," he said. "I think it's a mixture of peer pressure and a welcoming environment."

At the October Gastronauts dinner at a Yemeni restaurant Bab Al Yemen in New York, Nicole Murray, an assistant editor at an education company, extracted a piece of eyeball from a cooked lamb skull and brought it toward her mouth as those seated around her cheered.

"It's kind of jelly-like," she said, during her first Gastronauts dinner.

Calleo compared it to an earlier dish served during the meal.

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Turning 60 and celebrating 25 years as a solo performer, Sting has done what no other musician has done before -- he made an "appumentary" for the iPad.

The Apple Inc app is the first to capture an artist's body of work, performances, interviews and biographical memorabilia and put it on an electronic tablet.

The Sting 25 app is free from the App Store on iPad.

"It's the first of a kind," the singer said at the Apple Store on Manhattan's Upper West Side on Monday night.

"Today is my digital re-birth. The app is a model for future delivery of music," he said, before playing his haunting song "Fragile," which he dedicated to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died last month.

"I'm sorry he's not here, since he shaped all our futures," Sting said of the man who revolutionized how people listen to music, through the iPod.

The British-born bassist and composer for the rock band The Police launched a solo career a quarter-century ago, and the Sting 25 app coincides with a new box set, "Sting:25 Years."

"This app encompasses my entire solo career. It's a scrapbook for the digital age," he said.

"I felt like an archaeologist in a way, going through years and years of material, excavating these pieces of history, to put together the box set.

"We initially considered some sort of documentary, but the idea developed into something much more compelling and dynamic," he said.

Described as "an appumentary" by Apple, the app explores Sting's solo career, including his musical influences and environmental activism. There are photos, handwritten lyrics and journal entries, interviews and even 360-degree images of his instruments, including his battered old bass guitar.

There is also concert footage, including from his 60th birthday celebration last month in New York, with performances by Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder and a dynamic duet with Lady Gaga of "King of Pain."

"This appumentary harnesses the display and multi-touch capabilities of iPad to tell a much richer story than you could using a single medium," said Justin Wilkes, the app's executive producer.

"The narrative behind Sting's journey as a songwriter and a solo artist is as layered as this app, which is why he was the perfect subject to collaborate with for this new approach to storytelling."

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