Entertainment 24-12-2003 Review of the Year 2003: Showbiz who: Arnold Schwarzenegger what: Is the most powerful man in showbiz - WTPS Review of 2003 when: 2003 snippet: A year of celebrity litigation began with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas suing Hello magazine for £600,000 for printing secretly-snapped shots of their wedding. In the end the celebs pocketed just £14,500, but Hello ended up footing a £4m legal bill. The same couple celebrated the birth of their second child Carys in April, and six months later Paul McCartney joined the "oldest celebrity dad contest" as he became a father again at the age of 61, shortly after causing a scene underneath David Blaine`s Thames-side starvation box. Michael Jackson spent most of the year wishing he hadn`t let ITV`s Martin Bashir into his life for a revealing documentary, shown in February, which started a chain of events that led to Jacko ending the year in court. After a summer of rumours concerning his mental and financial stability, the self-styled King of Pop was charged in December on seven counts of "substantial sexual conduct" with a child.Meanwhile Who guitarist Pete Townshend got a police caution in May for paying to look at child pornography on the internet. He claimed he was researching a book on the subject. And former This Morning presenter John Leslie emerged from what he called "my year of hell" when sexual assault charges against him were dropped in July. Also in court was Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy. The 20 year-old star was convicted of punching a nightclub attendant in a drunken row, earning herself a £3,500 fine and 120 hours` community service. Across the pond, legendary record producer Phil Spector remains on a murder charge following a February incident at his 10-bedroom mansion in Los Angeles in which actress Lana Clarkson died from a gunshot wound to the head. Arnold Schwarzenegger stayed out of trouble in 2003 but his year was no less eventful for it; his year began with Terminator 3 and ended with his swearing in as state governor of California, an experience that left Arnie "humbled...honoured and moved beyond words." Film and politics mixed again at the Oscars, where satirist and writer Michael Moore stepped up to accept his award for best documentary by lanching a tirade against president Bush and the war in Iraq. The Matrix money machine dominated the cinemas this year, parts two and three raking in over £700m worldwide despite lukewarm reviews. Pixar`s fishy fantasy Finding Nemo, Disney`s Pirates Of The Caribbean and the final chapter of Peter Jackson`s Lord Of The Rings set the world`s box offices alight. The flames of passion between Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez failed to do the same, however; their "hopelessly misconceived" romantic comedy Gigli took just $3.8m on its opening weekend. And they didn`t get married. Unless, of course, they did. Likewise Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay singer Chris Martin. The seemingly endless speculation over their wedding plans ended in December with a secret ceremony in California and the announcement that the pair are expecting their first child next summer. While some celebs came together, others, inevitably, broke apart. Liza Minelli and David Gest were among the noisiest, he accusing her of beating him and leaving him with "severe headaches and scalp tenderness." The Cabaret star hit back with counter-claim, saying Gest "stole from her and fiddled her books." Other celebrity couples Jude Law and Sadie Frost and Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman called it a day, as did teen pop band S Club. Former singer Rachel Stevens wasted no time releasing a successful solo album and getting in trouble for distracting motorists as the new face (and legs) of Pretty Polly hosiery. Robbie Williams may have played to a massive 375,000 fans at Knebworth, but the rock success story of the year was undoubtedly Robbie`s warm-up act The Darkness, whose huge riffs, spandex and healthy sense of humour won them the hearts of music fans across the nation. Winning either the Mercury Music Prize or the Christmas number one spot was beyond the Suffolk four-piece, however. The former went to 19 year-old London rapper Dylan Mills - aka Dizzee Rascal - for his Boy In Da Corner album, while the latter belonged to Michael Andrews and Gary Jules, whose maudlin cover version of Tears For Fears` Mad World hit the right festive note without a sleigh bell in sight. Hitting very few notes at all were the UK`s 2003 Eurovision entrants Jemini, who blamed their tuneless vocal performance - and subsequent Nul Points - on dodgy stage monitors. But then, singing out of tune has never stopped Ozzy Osbourne, who managed a number one hit in December despite being in intensive care following a near-fatal quad bike accident. The good news is, Ozzy`s on the mend and Jemini are...well...who cares? [... more]

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