This Week: A Vote For Change
Everyone had a vote this week.
As the 2006 election campaign came into the homestretch, the stars came out in force for their favorite candidates or causes. Actor Ben Affleck was campaigning in Connecticut, as was Paul Newman, while Affleck's wife, actress Jennifer Garner, was rallying in California with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Redford.
Michael J. Fox, whose support for stem-cell research unleashed a diatribe from Rush Limbaugh, crossed the country from Missouri to Virginia this week as Election Day neared.
And on election night, there were celebrities at the victory parties to congratulate the winners, who included actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, winning his second-term as California governor.
The American people cast their ballots for political candidates and for their favorite entertainers. On Election Day, the 2007 People's Choice Award nominees were announced in Hollywood. They included Johnny Depp, Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Carrie Underwood and Shakira.
To determine the nominees, Internet research firm Knowledge Networks called on pop culture fans. Now there will be more voting to determine the winners, who will be honored at a Jan. 9, 2007, ceremony to be broadcast on CBS from Shrine Auditorium.
On election night, the networks voted for caution. Having been burned in the past by botched calls, most news anchors took their time in calling winners for the most hotly contested races.
American writer Jonathan Littell won the vote of French judges, who awarded him France's prestigious Goncourt Prize for a 900-page novel, written in French, about a Nazi SS officer.
And the musical duo Brooks & Dunn won a lot of judges' votes, making them the big winners at the 40th Annual Country Music Association Awards. They won prizes for single of the year, song of the year, and music video of the year for "Believe." They also won vocal duo of the year.
Borat, the cinematic ambassador from Kazakhstan, swept the competition to take the top spot at the box office this week. Fans stood in line to see Sacha Baron Cohen's mockumentary, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." It was playing at only 837 theaters last week, but will expand this week to more than 2,500.
The judges on "Dancing With the Stars" voted, but it wasn't their results that sent actor Joey Lawrence packing this week. The show's three judges awarded Lawrence and his two competitors, former NFL runningback Emmitt Smith and actor Mario Lopez, the exact same score — 59 out of possible 60 — for this week's performances. It was the vote of the viewing audience that made the difference.
And, finally, pop diva Britney Spears voted with her feet this week, and Kevin Federline, like the Republicans, lost the house. Spears filed divorce papers to end her two-year marriage to rapper Federline on Election Day, just months after giving birth to the couple's second son. According to Internet reports, Spears made her choice known the same way the "Dancing With The Stars" viewers did — by text message.
By MARY JAYNE McKAY