Sir Elton John might have not endorsed it, but Madonna's Re-Invention tour closed the year in the #1 slot cashing in $125 million in total box office gross by the time it wrapped up in September. According to Billboard Boxscore, Madonna sold out 55 of 56 shows worldwide, with an average nightly take of $2.23 million (which can be easily explained by the $250 all of us suckers paid for our tickets).
Prince's Musicology tour drew nearly 1.5 million people, more than any other artist, and grossed $90.2 million, second only to Madonna. Shania Twain came in third by grossing $62.5 million. If Celine Dion's residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Vegas counted as a "tour", her $77 million in gross sales would have placed her higher than fellow-diva Shania .

Jennifer Lopez will unveil her new album "Rebirth" March 1 through Epic. The first single "Get Right" was produced by Rich Harrison and will premiere New Year's Eve on MTV, while the video for the song is set to debut on January 6 on BET, MTV, and Fuse. Fabolous guests on a second version of "Get Right", while husband Marc Anthony and rapper Fat Joe appear on as-yet-unnamed tracks.
Last week, J. Lo announced the launch of a new fragrance, Miami Glow, which will be available at select department stores later this week.

Despite some great moments (and pretty much half of People magazine's list of sexiest actors in the cast) , Ocean's Twelve fails to deliver the same excitement and fun of Ocean's Eleven. Catherine Zeta-Jones joins the all-star cast, and from her (in red leather and high heels) we get the best performance in the movie. Julia Roberts also has her time to shine, and provides probably the funniest (and most unexpected) scene. Unfortunately though, the plot gets weaker as the movie progresses, and great actors like Don Cheadle and Bernie Mac are hardly ever on the screen. I would have loved if this had been a wittier and smarter movie, but then again it did the trick on a rainy Friday night (for some strange reason watching George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon is almost never a bad thing).

Forget about Star "ex-Bridezilla" Jones Reynolds, Joan and Melissa Rivers will be back on the red carpet in 2005 providing their fashion "expertise" on next month's Golden Globes. Celebrity stylists better watch out...

I am almost uncomfortable to admit that (despite not watching too much TV lately), I became addicted to Bravo's new show Project Runway. The show is hosted by German supermodel Heidi Klum and produced by Harvey Weinstein, and features 12 aspiring designers in their quest for runway glory in the Big Apple. Contestants are eliminated on a weekly basis based on their execution of "design challenges" until only three remain to face-off with full lines on the catwalk at New York's Fall Fashion Week in February 2005. I just get some bizarre type of pleasure from watching the candidates develop their ideas into a dress in just a couple of hours and then try to explain their concept to judges like Elle's Nina Garcia and Michael Kors. I guess the one (not surprising) thing that comes out of the show is how catty and ego-driven this business can be (and yet I somehow wish Fashion School had been a little more like this).
Another thing I must confess with deep embarrassment is that unfortunately the show is at exactly the same time slot as ABC's Wife Swap, the only other show I seem to derive some pleasure from (alright... aside from Desperate Housewives and a some late night re-runs).