LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – When politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived in France last week, cleared of a New York sex scandal, he returned home smiling despite facing a frosty reception. Maybe he should have gone to Mexico, instead.

Pay attention Anthony Weiner, Tiger Woods, Brett Favre and others caught up in public, sexual indiscretions.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – When politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrived in France last week, cleared of a New York sex scandal, he returned home smiling despite facing a frosty reception. Maybe he should have gone to Mexico, instead.

Pay attention Anthony Weiner, Tiger Woods, Brett Favre and others caught up in public, sexual indiscretions.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Comedian Eddie Murphy, whose movies range from “Beverly Hills Cop” to voicing the smart-mouthed donkey in “Shrek,” has been picked to host the Academy Awards in February for the first time in his career.

Tuesday’s announcement makes Oscar organizers appear as if they are aiming for laughs in 2012, after this year’s performance by co-hosts, dramatic actors Anne Hathaway and James Franco, fell flat with critics and many viewers.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Husband and wife songwriting team Marilyn and Alan Bergman have won three Academy Awards and two Grammys, but their biggest reward in a long career just may be writing for Barbra Streisand.

They have penned the words of songs such as “The Way We Were” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” While they have written for other singers ranging from Frank Sinatra to Sting, it is Streisand they hold dearest.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop star Lady Gaga opened the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday dressed in drag and singing her “You and I” while Britney Spears and Katy Perry took awards, but it may be Beyonce who stole the show.

The R&B singer whose hits include “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” appeared visibly pregnant as she showed up on the red carpet outside the show, posing for photographers and outlining a baby bump with her hands under her long gown.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pop star Lady Gaga opened the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday dressed as her male alter ego in her video “You and I,” and Britney Spears took home the first award for best pop video at the widely-watched program.

Lady Gaga, who showed up last year at the MTV video awards in a dress made of raw meat, did an about face in a man’s dark suit and T-shirt. She kicked off the program dressed as her counterpart Joe Calderon who gave the audience a lecture in just who Gaga is — high heels, wild hair and crazy costumes.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – It wouldn’t be the MTV Video Music Awards without a little controversy, and even before Sunday night’s program, a Twitter war broke out between Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine and the show’s producers.

The MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) annually give out honors for the top music videos and performances to singers and bands, and each year, audiences can count on at least one surprise. Last year, it was Lady Gaga in her dress made of raw meat, and in 2003, the famous kiss shared by Britney Spears and Madonna.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – King of Pop Michael Jackson is gone, but he is not forgotten — not by MTV Video Music Award voters.

Two days before the widely-watched awards show, MTV on Friday released a poll of the top moments chosen by voters in the program’s nearly three decades with Jackson singled out for most iconic and best pop performances for a medley of songs he sang in 1995.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Back in December, writer and actress Carrie Fisher began a long journey to shed pounds, hiring on as a celebrity spokeswoman for weight loss company Jenny Craig and targeting 30 lbs. She did far better.

On Wednesday, the woman who in her twenties made many a young man swoon as “Star Wars” Princess Leia in her metal bikini, revealed that she’d lost 50 lbs.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – He made his name on the quirky fast food documentary “Super Size Me,” and recently peered inside the wacky world of product placement in movies.

So, it makes some sense that Morgan Spurlock’s newest premiere might seem kooky because it won’t be in movie theaters or on TV, but on a computer at Web television service Hulu.