Rising Broadway performer Shannon Tavarez, 11, passed away on Monday after a battle with leukemia that had Rihanna, Alicia Keys and 50 Cent fighting with her.

"Just got off of a plane ride and got horrible news that our little star Shannon Tavarez has lost her battle against leukemia," Rihanna tweeted on Tuesday. "Way too soon ... keep her family in your prayers."

The young talent from Queens, New York, landed the role of Young Nala in the Broadway production of “The Lion King" after her first open audition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and performed in four out of eight shows a week until she was diagnosed with cancer in April, BroadwayWorld.com reports.

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Sean Duffy - who you may remember as one of the housemates on "The Real World: Boston" - has gone from reality TV to the realities of Congressional politics.  The 38-year-old Republican has been called the winner in the race to represent Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District with 99 percent of the precincts reporting, according to WisconsinVote.org.

Duffy was up to replace Rep. Dave Obey, who announced he was retiring in May, and was competing against state Sen. Julie Lassa.

During his campaign, Duffy appeared in an ad dressed as a lumberjack – he was a two-time champion lumberjack athlete - telling voters that he planned to “bring the ax to Washington” and to “topple the big spending.” Duffy had also been endorsed by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who called him a “ brave soul” and a “northern Wisconsin patriot.”

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This is the type of news that reinforces the adage, "all publicity is good publicity."

Since actor Charlie Sheen had a headline-making stay at the Plaza in New York and confirming that he's heading back to divorce court, ratings for Sheen's CBS hit "Two and a Half Men" have gone up.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show saw a 7 percent increase for Monday's episode, with 13.6 million tuning in.

Sheen was back on the "Two and a Half Men" set Tuesday.

Being pregnant is not slowing Mariah Carey down.

The singer released her latest album on Tuesday just in time for the holidays, and ABC announced she will star in her own holiday special.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Carey has dropped a follow-up to her very successful 1994 “Merry Christmas” album. “Merry Christmas II You” contains re-recordings of some of the earlier tunes plus some new tracks.

According to an ABC press release, the network will air a music special, “Mariah Carey: Merry Christmas to You,” on December 13.  Carey will sing seasonal favorites and, “In the spirit of giving, the program will also feature Carey surprising some very special fans and helping to make their wishes come true.”

“Men appreciate hair they can run their fingers through…” Patti Stanger of Bravo’s “Millionaire Matchmaker” wrote in her book, "Become Your Own Matchmaker."

While that may be true, NatuallyCurly.com is sick of Stanger telling women they need to flat iron their locks to land the man of their dreams.

In a letter to Stanger, folks at the website wrote: “NaturallyCurly.com has had it with your curl-bashing ways. Season after season, we’ve listened to you fuel insecurities and spread a notion that you can only be attractive with smooth, straight hair.”

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Taylor Swift is clearly being heard by her fans.

Her new album, “Speak Now," will debut at No. 1 on this week's Billboard 200 chart with over 1 million copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

According to Billboard, there have only been 16 instances where an album sold at least a million copies in a week since SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991. The last time was when Lil Wayne's “Tha Carter III" debuted in 2008.

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Get ready to make a date with ABC next year. The network is developing a new comedy series based on the popular Dealbreaker relationship blog and book, reports Deadline.com.

Created by Dave Horwitz and Marisa Pinson, the site and tome have been described as a "hilarious reference guide to the qualities that, when discovered, transform the 'date you hope to go home with' into the 'date you pray never calls again.'"

In other words, all the little warning signs – aka dealbreakers – that indicate the relationship isn't going to have legs.

"American Dad" writers Nahnatchka Khan and Laura McCreary will script the TV series, which, Deadline notes, has nothing to do with the "30 Rock" fictitious dating-advice show built around character Liz Lemon’s catchphrase, “That’s a dealbreaker, ladies."

Seventeen-year-old Miley is starring in a new music video for Rock Mafia’s song, “The Big Bang," in which she kisses a 26-year-old guy!

But I think it’s time we all accept that Miley is about to turn 18 (her birthday is just a few weeks away). A month from now we wouldn’t be having this discussion. I get why people think it is plain wrong, but at this point, if she’s okay with it and her parents are okay with it, we should be okay with it. It happens in movies with barely a whisper. It’s art.

What do you think? Post your comments below and I’ll work some of them into our show today.

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Actor Rainn Wilson might be going from "The Office" to the OWN network. The funny man tells E! Online he is currently in talks to bring his spiritual site SoulPancake to Oprah Winfrey's new channel.

"We're kind of in negotiations to try to do short pieces for their Web site or as [on-air] interstitials," said Wilson, whose SoulPancake promotes creativity and conversations about both life and spirituality.

Or, as the site puts it, it's "a place to speak your mind, unload your questions, and figure out what it means to be human."

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As a Viagra salesman who falls for a free spirit in "Love and Other Drugs," Jake Gyllenhaal spends plenty of time stripping down and steaming things up with co-star Anne Hathaway. The 29-year-old actor reveals that he had no problem with the onscreen intimacy - especially since it's the second time around.

"Anne and I had already had sex on film [in 'Brokeback Mountain']," he explains in the December issue of Esquire UK.

"There's something about the way Annie and I both work which is inherently very musical," he added. "It’s all about rhythm. There’s a rhythm to writing, there’s a rhythm to sports, there’s a rhythm to sex.”

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