By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the talk show host who recently apologized for saying the N-word 11 times to a caller on the air, said Tuesday she plans to give up her radio show when her contract is up at the end of this year.

The conservative advice maven made the announcement on CNN's "Larry King Live," saying she wants to "regain her First Amendment rights."

Schlessinger said she's not retiring or quitting. Instead, she said, she feels stronger and freer to say what she believes needs to be said.

"I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry — some special interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates and sponsors," she said.

Schlessinger apologized last week for saying the N-word several times in an on-air conversation with a caller whom she accused of being hypersensitive to racism. She said on her website that she was wrong in using the word for what she said was an attempt to make a philosophical point.

"To imagine that there are people who refuse to accept an apology because they have an agenda and would like me silenced — I'm done with that," she said.

During the on-air exchange, Schlessinger said the caller, who said she was black and married to a white man, was too sensitive for complaining that her husband's friends made racist comments about her in their home.

Schlessinger told King she "never called anybody a bad word" and "wasn't dissing anybody."

Corinne Baldassano, an executive with Schlessinger's production company, Take on the Day LLC, said the talk show host plans to pursue opportunities through her website, books, podcasts and a YouTube channel.

At least two national sponsors of her radio program, General Motors Co., and Motel 6, owned by Accor SA, have pulled out, Baldassano said.

Previously, Schlessinger's negative comments about homosexuality on her television show in 2000 inspired gay activists to campaign to get her off the air.

By Associated Press

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. – "Jersey Shore" cast member Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's lawyer is expected in court on her behalf.

Attorney Raymond Raya's office says that he'll attend an initial court appearance Wednesday and that Polizzi is not expected in court.

She was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct last month in the New Jersey town where the MTV reality show is based. She was released on a summons.

Seaside Heights Police Chief Thomas Boyd said other beachgoers reported Polizzi was bothering them. The arrest came one day after the premiere of the show's second season, which features the cast in Miami.

Taping for the third season is under way in Seaside.

"Jersey Shore" focuses on the escapades of a group of hard-partying, 20-something Italian-Americans at a shore house.

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES – Celebrity plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan, who made headlines for performing multiple surgeries on reality TV star Heidi Montag, has died. He was 50 years old.

The California Highway Patrol says Ryan's 1995 Jeep Wrangler went off the side of Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu and landed on its roof Monday afternoon.

Besides Montag, Ryan's celebrity clientele included musician Vince Neil, actor Lorenzo Lamas, reality stars Lisa Gastineau and Adrianne Curry and several models and beauty queens.

Montag, who underwent 10 procedures in one day with Ryan late last year, took to Twitter to share her reaction to his death.

"I am devastated," the 23-year-old wrote on the micro-blogging site Tuesday. "He was the most amazing person I have ever known. He was an angel and changed my life and the lives of everyone he met. He was the most brilliant talented surgeon who will ever exist. Dr. Frank Ryan changed the world."

The Ventura County medical examiner's office said an autopsy would be performed Tuesday. He said no cause of death has been established.

Ryan's friend and client, model and reality star Janice Dickinson, was "deeply, deeply anguished" after hearing of the doctor's death, her publicist said.

"She is stunned and wants the world to know what a genius Dr. Ryan was," publicist Brad Taylor said Tuesday. "Her love goes out to his mother and the rest of the family."

Curry said in a statement Tuesday that she and Ryan shared "in-depth conversations about him wanting to start a family of his own, now that he had a very successful career."

Ryan operated on her twice, she said, adding, "I considered him a friend."

Ryan was a close friend of boxer Oscar De La Hoya, and attended all his fights from 2002 until De La Hoya's retirement last year.

"After any fight in which I was cut or suffered an injury, Dr. Ryan was always there for me from the time I left the ring until I was fully healed, even going so far as to accompany me to the hospital following a fight if necessary," De La Hoya said in a statement.

As a promoter, De La Hoya requested that Ryan be ringside whenever possible so boxers fighting as part of Golden Boy events were under his immediate care should they get injured.

"He was an outstanding physician, a wonderful and charitable person as well as a good friend," the boxer said.

According to his website, Ryan graduated from the University of Michigan in 1982 and from the Ohio State University College of Medicine four years later.

Ryan opened his private practice in 1994, the same year he established his namesake charitable foundation that provides free removal of gang-related tattoos and hosts day and overnight camps for children at Malibu's Bony Pony Ranch.

Ryan is survived by his mother, Mary Kate Ryan, and by many cousins, aunts and uncles, according to estate representative Melanie Sims Frank.

His family is grieving and asks for privacy, she said, adding that a candlelight vigil will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Malibu's Zuma Beach.

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – HBO has made it official: "Entourage" will end next summer.

The cable network will order a shortened final season of its longest-running series, possibly only six episodes, which will bring the show to a conclusion in 2011.

HBO programing president Michael Lombardo said Saturday at the Television Critics Assn.'s press tour that creator Doug Ellin still might write a feature-length "Entourage" film, but he also noted that Ellin is pitching new projects to the network and that it's likely the writer-producer soon will be involved in another show.

As for the network's other long-running comedy, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," it has no end in sight. It is expected to return sometime next year.

Another HBO project, "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency," is finished as a series, though like "Entourage" it could result in an HBO movie or two.

The network's upcoming Prohibition-era crime drama "Boardwalk Empire" also was paneled during the session, with the buzz positive from critics who had received advance screeners. Executive producer and pilot director Martin Scorsese said he "would like very much" to direct more episodes of the series, though scheduling is an issue.

"What's happening the past nine, 10 years was what we had hoped for in the mid-'60s when films were being made for TV," Scorsese said. "We hoped there would be this kind of freedom and ability to create another world and develop long-form characters and story."

Spike Lee didn't disappoint critics hoping for strong opinions during his panel promoting "If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise," his follow-up to the Hurricane Katrina documentary "When the Levees Broke."

Lee said the production took an unexpected detour after the Gulf Coast oil spill, and that he dedicated the fourth and final hour of the film to examining the disaster.

"BP cut some corners, went around safety regulations, the thing blew up, 11 people died and it changed our whole outlook," Lee said. "We had to rethink everything."

Lee justified the inclusion of material on the oil spill in a documentary about post-Katrina New Orleans, saying "the connective tissue is greed." "I don't care how many scientists BP buys, that oil is still there," he said.

HBO's burgeoning premium cable rival Starz held panels for three dramas: "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," "Torchwood" and "Camelot." Genre shows are increasingly characterizing the network on the heels of the breakout success of Season 1 of "Spartacus."

During the sessions, the U.S. reboot of "Torchwood" received a new title ("Torchwood: The New World"), and critics received a sneak peek at "Camelot."

"Camelot" star Joseph Fiennes, who plays the wizard Merlin, said that though the series will contain magic elements, they won't be a driving element in the story.

"The magic lies in the political essences of the piece," Fiennes said. "Yes, there will be dark arts -- you'll see things disappearing and changing shape -- but it's really about the birth of a legend."

Fiennes said he has pictures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker on the wall of his dressing room to remind him of the relationship between Merlin and young Arthur. "Merlin is a cross between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Donald Rumsfeld," he said.

"Camelot" also had an unintentional casting announcement: "Rome" veteran James Purefoy has joined the series in a nonregular role as villainous King Lot, which Starz confirmed after a critic spotted the actor in a trailer. Also, Lucy Lawless has signed on for a second season despite her character apparently being killed off at the end of Season 1.

By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – Maybe they should switch the name to the Vampire Choice Awards?

Bloodsuckers struck another vein at the Teen Choice Awards with "The Twilight Saga" ruling Sunday's ceremony with 12 wins, including choice fantasy movie and villain, while "The Vampire Diaries" sucked up seven surfboard-shaped trophies at the taped ceremony, which is scheduled to air Monday at 8 p.m. EDT on Fox.

"This is what this night is all about," said a gothed-out Katy Perry. "Vampires."

The goofy "California Gurls" singer hosted the show with the male stars of "Glee." Besides going goth, her costume changes included donning hippie garb next to Kevin McHale, being crowned prom queen with prom king Chris Colfer, geeking out with Mark Salling and landing a split as a cheerleader alongside Cory Monteith.

"Tonight is my chance to go back to high school," said Perry, "although this time people actually like me."

Voters continued to really like "Twilight" stars Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson, who were present to accept their multiple awards, seemingly handed out like candy at the freewheeling ceremony. Of Pattinson's four wins, one was actually not related to the supernatural saga: choice drama movie actor for "Remember Me."

"It's great to win something outside of 'Twilight,'" said Pattinson.

Throughout the show, funnyman Ken Jeong of "Community" and the upcoming bloodsucker satire "Vampires Suck" lingered inside a coffin on the side of the stage at Universal Studios Hollywood's Gibson Amphitheatre. Jeong, dressed as his vampire character Daro, only emerged to introduce presenters to the crowd of "bloody teens."

The awards, which honor celebrities in television, film, music and sports, were selected by over 85 million votes cast online. Other multiple winners included "Gossip Girl," Ellen DeGeneres, "Pretty Little Liars" and "Wizards of Waverly Place" star Selena Gomez, who picked up trophies in both TV and music categories.

The extravaganza was punctuated with several silly moments. Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, winners in the reality show and reality stars categories for "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," were joined by their rarely seen older sister: Cougar Kardashian, a draged-up George Lopez sporting a dress, wig and pair of heels.

"Oh my God," exclaimed Lopez. "I got a blister the size of Justin Bieber on my heel."

The teen sensation wasn't in attendance at Sunday's show to retrieve his four awards though. Instead, footage was shown of Shaquille O'Neal presenting Bieber with his trophies for choice breakout artist, male artist, summer music star and pop album at his concert last month in Phoenix before Bieber crooned "U Smile."

Taylor Swift also won four awards but wasn't present to accept for choice female country artist, country song for "Fifteen," country album for "Fearless" and breakout movie actress for "Valentine's Day." Swift, however, did appear in a taped segment in which she mounted one of her surfboard-shaped trophies in a lake.

Winners on hand included choice action-adventure movie actor Channing Tatum for "G.I. Joe" and choice drama movie actress Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side." While accepting her trophy, Bullock was interrupted by her "The Proposal" co-star Betty White, who shared the choice movie dance award with her for their tribal routine.

"I hate to blind-side you, but I've been coming to this show for years," interjected a grooving White. "If you think you're fitting in, think again, dear."

Before the ceremony, sweaty celebs strutted down a red carpet lined with wall gardens bursting with strawberries and other organic goodies. Also positioned along the carpet were fans — the ones that circulate air, not obsessive screams — powered by models pedaling exercise bikes to keep attendees feeling cool.

Levi Johnston, who recently called off his engagement — again — with Bristol Palin, the daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, walked the red carpet with singer Brittani Senser. Johnston said his relationship with Palin as the parents of their toddler son, Tripp, is going well despite their break-up.

"We are doing great," said Johnston. "I talk to her every day. We keep in touch. Even though with us broken off, it is like we are together. We found a way to work with each other. Things are going good."

By Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal, whose life witnessed triumph in Hollywood movies and tragedy at home, has died in Massachusetts. She was 84.

The husky-voiced Neal won an Academy Award for her role in the 1963 film "Hud" alongside Paul Newman, and she boasted a long list of stage, film and TV credits alongside Hollywood's leading men including Ronald Reagan, John Wayne and Tyrone Power.

"She faced her final illness as she had all of the many trials she endured: with indomitable grace, good humor, and a great deal of her self-described stubbornness," her family said in a statement.

The family said Neal died on Sunday morning at her home on Martha's Vineyard (Massachusetts) surrounded by relatives. She had been suffering from lung cancer, according to media reports.

Neal once had a love affair with actor Gary Cooper, with whom she starred in "The Fountainhead" and "Bright Leaf," but it ended in disaster after his wife found out, leaving Neal broken-hearted, according to an obituary in the LA Times.

She was married to the British writer Roald Dahl for 30 years with whom she had five children.

Their son, however, suffered severe injuries after being hit by a taxi when he just four-months-old and their oldest child, daughter Olivia, died at the age of 7 from measles.

When Neal was pregnant with their fifth child in 1965 she suffered three massive strokes and was in a coma for three weeks.

But with the help of her husband, she recovered and gave birth to a healthy daughter Lucy and returned to films, acting in "The Subject Was Roses."

"I think I was born stubborn, that's all," Neal said in a biography on the website of the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center that was dedicated in her honor in 1978 by the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.

In a statement, the center said, "the theater and movie world has lost a great talent but, at the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center, we have also lost a friend."

"TENACIOUS AND DETERMINED"

Born January 20, 1926, in Packard, Kentucky, Neal was raised in Knoxville where her parents gave her acting lessons as a Christmas present when she was 12.

She headed to New York after two years at Northwestern University and summer theater work in Pennsylvania to start a career on the stage that led her to Hollywood -- and into many real-life tragedies.

"I almost died many times from broken hearts -- when my daughter Olivia died, when my baby son Theo was hit by a car, and when I had my strokes. There were many who didn't think I would pull through," said Neal in her biography.

"I had to have an operation that lasted seven hours, and I know very well my doctor thought I would conk out in the middle of it; but as I told him later, we Tennessee hillbillies don't conk that easy, so I stayed alive."

Neal's marriage to Dahl ended after 30 years in 1983 after the writer had an affair with one of her friends and she moved from England to the United States where she split her time between New York and Martha's Vineyard.

But she continued to act, appearing with Glenn Close in the movie "Cookie's Fortune" in 1999 and was featured in Lifetime's television movie "Flying By" with Billy Ray Cyrus in 2009.

Neal wrote in her biography on the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center website that growing old was no fun.

"I've learned many lessons in life, but the most important is this -- be tenacious and determined, even in old age," said Neal.

"I don't like getting older. I thought I would, but it has turned out differently than I expected. Lately I've had both my shoulder and my knee replaced. So, what should I be happy about? I'll tell you -- it is nice to be able to get these things fixed!"

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – A familiar face is coming back to "American Idol," and it's not Paula Abdul or Simon Cowell.

Fox announced Thursday that British TV personality Nigel Lythgoe is returning to the singing competition in the producing role he left two years ago.

Lythgoe left to focus on "So You Think You Can Dance," the Fox dancing contest he executive produces and judges. He will represent CKx Inc., the holding company of "Idol" co-producer 19 Entertainment.

Lythgoe will be joining executive producers Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Ken Warwick and creator Simon Fuller on behalf of CKx, which shares rights to the show with FremantleMedia North America. His return had been widely rumored the past week.

"Since we launched the original 'Pop Idol' in England, I've remained close with Simon Fuller," Lythgoe said. "'American Idol' became a juggernaut of epic proportions, but to me it was always like home. I am elated and honored to be rejoining childhood friend and fellow executive producer Ken Warwick, and look forward to creating more magic."

Lythgoe originally served as "Idol" producer when it debuted in 2002.

"Nigel helped to define the show I created almost 10 years ago, mentoring our judging panel and nurturing our talent," Fuller said. "His unbridled passion has been missed."

The reunion comes amid sweeping changes for the show's judging panel. Cowell left at the end of last season, and Ellen DeGeneres announced last week she would not return.

Peter Rice, entertainment chairman for Fox Networks Group, declined to say Monday at a Television Critics Association meeting whether Randy Jackson or Kara DioGuardi would be back for season 10.

Other changes in store for the upcoming season include lowering the audition age eligibility from 16 to 15 years old, and Universal Music Group replacing Sony Music Entertainment as the label that develops, distributes and markets "Idol" finalists. The changes come after an edition which ratings dipped but not enough to knock "Idol" from the No. 1 spot.

The 10th season of "Idol" begins next January.

By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press

LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands – Naomi Campbell testified before a war crimes tribunal Thursday that she had received some "dirty-looking stones" after a 1997 dinner party with former Liberian ruler Charles Taylor. Still, the supermodel said she didn't know if the stones were actually diamonds or if the gift came from Taylor himself.

Campbell, an extremely reluctant witness at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, was being questioned in Taylor's war crimes trial about claims made by actress Mia Farrow. Farrow had said Taylor gave the model an uncut diamond or diamonds after an event hosted by then-South African President Nelson Mandela at his presidential mansion in Pretoria.

Prosecutors had hoped Campbell would provide evidence that Taylor traded guns to neighboring Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for uncut diamonds — sometimes known as "blood diamonds" for their role in financing conflicts — during Sierra Leone's 1992-2002 civil war.

Prosecutors say from his seat of power in Liberia, Taylor armed, trained and commanded Sierra Leone rebels who murdered and mutilated thousands of civilians across the border. Taylor, 62, says he is innocent of the 11 war crimes charges he faces, including murder, rape, sexual enslavement and recruiting child soldiers.

After fighting for months to avoid testifying, Campbell arrived at the courthouse in Leidschendam surrounded by a police escort. In contrast to her usual edgy fashion style, the British supermodel wore a demure cream two-piece outfit and piled up her straight dark hair into a classic chignon. The look was topped off with a silver "evil-eye" necklace.

Entering the courtroom fashionably late — several minutes after she was first summoned to take the stand — Campbell was calm and composed as she quickly answered questions from prosecutor Brenda Hollis for nearly two hours.

"I didn't really want to be here," she said. "I just want to get this over with and get on with my life, this is a big inconvenience for me."

Campbell had declined to cooperate with prosecutors until judges last month ordered her to appear or face a possible sentence of up to seven years for contempt.

Speaking confidently Thursday, Campbell testified that she was awakened in the middle of the night after the September 1997 dinner party by two men at her door. She said they offered her a pouch they said was a gift for her with no further explanation.

She said she frequently receives gifts from admirers and didn't look at it until the following morning.

"I saw a few stones in there. And they were small, dirty-looking stones," she said.

She said, at breakfast the following day, either Farrow or Campbell's former agent Carole White had told her the rocks must be diamonds and were probably a gift from Taylor.

Campbell said she gave the stones to a friend, Jeremy Ratcliffe, who was the director of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, intending he use them for charity. She said she had called Ratcliffe a year ago to ask what he had done with the stones, and he told her he still had them.

It was the first time Ratcliffe's name had appeared at the trial. He is still a trustee of Mandela's charity but it was not immediately possible to reach him Thursday. There was no response to phone calls to his South African homes in Johannesburg or Plettenberg Bay or to his cell phone.

Hollis asked Campbell why she had been so reluctant to appear before the war crimes tribunal, and the model said she was afraid to be associated with Taylor.

"This is someone that I read up on the Internet that killed thousands of people supposedly and I don't want my family in any danger in any way," Campbell said.

Taylor's defense attorney, Courtenay Griffiths, angrily objected, saying the line of questioning was "totally irrelevant" to Campbell's testimony.

Campbell had been called to the stand by the prosecution, but she often seemed more comfortable answering questions from Griffiths, the defense attorney. Griffiths got Campbell to testify that some statements about the dinner given to prosecutors by Farrow and White were wrong. He said White has suggested that Campbell was seated next to Taylor at the dinner and flirted with him.

White is enmeshed in a legal dispute with Campbell.

"This is a woman who has a powerful motive to lie about you?" Griffiths asked.

"Correct," Campbell answered, with a slight smile. She said she sat between Mandela, whom she idolizes, and music producer Quincy Jones at the dinner.

Appearing to take great pains to distance herself from former Liberian president, she repeated several times that she couldn't verify the stones were diamonds or that they came from Taylor.

"They were kind of dirty looking pebbles ... when I'm used to seeing diamonds I'm used to seeing them shiny in a box," she said, smiling. "If someone hadn't said they were diamonds I wouldn't have guessed right away that they were."

She said Farrow had suggested they came from Taylor, and she merely agreed. She added she has never seen Taylor before or since that dinner.

"I had never heard of Charles Taylor before, never heard of the country Liberia before, had never heard the term 'blood diamonds'," she said.

Both White and Farrow are to testify before the war crimes tribunal on Monday.

Frustrated by Campbell's answers, Hollis said Campbell appeared to be downplaying her friendliness with Taylor, pointing to a photograph in which they were standing next to each other at the dinner.

But Griffiths said it wasn't right for the prosecution to challenge the credibility of its own witness, and Judge Julia Sebutinde agreed. Hollis then argued Campbell should be considered a court witness, given that she had stonewalled prosecutors ahead of Thursday's testimony.

"You subpoenaed her and it was a prosecution witness," Sebutinde retorted.

Taylor, sitting in the defendant's chair, smiled at the exchange. In custody in the Netherlands since June 2006, he is the first former African head of state to stand trial at an international war crimes court.

International law experts said Thursday's testimony by Campbell was unlikely to affect the course of Taylor's trial. But media turnout was extremely heavy, with more reporters and television crews attending than at any time since the trial began in January 2008.

"This whole episode with Naomi Campbell being called to testify, what's welcome about that is that it's thrown the international media attention back on to the issue of blood diamonds," Global Witness spokesman Oliver Courtney told AP Television News. "This is a problem that hasn't gone away, as we see continued human rights abuses linked to diamonds in countries like Zimbabwe."

Campbell became one of the world's highest-paid models after being discovered while shopping in London at age 15. Now 40, the hot-tempered supermodel is no stranger to courtrooms, having faced a series of minor lawsuits and criminal cases over the years.

In June 2008 she pleaded guilty in an incident where she cursed, kicked and spat at police at London's Heathrow airport in a rage over a missing piece of luggage. She was sentenced to 200 hours of community service for that.

Campbell also did a week of community service sweeping floors and scrubbing toilets in a Manhattan garbage-truck garage in 2007 after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assault for hurling a cell phone at her maid because of a vanished pair of jeans.

In 2000, Campbell pleaded guilty in Toronto to an assault charge for beating an assistant who said the model whacked her on the head with a phone.

A few of Campbell's former aides and maids have sued her, accusing her of violent outbursts; some cases have been settled on undisclosed terms.

By Associated Press

NEW YORK – A spokesman says White House gatecrasher Michaele Salahi's (mih-KEL' sah-LAH'-heez) visit to the ABC daytime talk show "The View" ended in a backstage shouting match with co-host Whoopi Goldberg.

Salahi went to the show Wednesday to promote her appearance on Bravo's "Real Housewives of D.C.," which premieres Thursday. Goldberg touched Salahi's back during an interview to get her attention and urge her to talk about the night she and her husband crashed President Barack Obama's state dinner last fall.

"The View" spokesman Karl Nilsson says after the show Goldberg and Salahi got into a "heated exchange" when Goldberg learned Salahi had accused the host of hitting her.

Salahi hasn't responded to an e-mailed request for comment. Bravo spokeswoman Cameron Blanchard says she's been unsuccessful trying to reach Salahi for her side of the story

By Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Soul singer Aretha Franklin hopes to make a quick and full recovery after falling at her home earlier this week and breaking her ribs, forcing her to cancel two concerts.

Her spokesman said Franklin, 68, had fallen and sustained minor injuries. "She has canceled a few dates but expects to make a quick and full recovery," he said on Wednesday.

Franklin suffered the injuries on Sunday.

"The Queen of Soul" was to have sung at two shows in Brooklyn, New York and at a third performance for U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel's 80th birthday party.

The free concerts in New Jersey had been planned for August 9 and 12, and new dates have yet to be rescheduled.

By Reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Lady Gaga won a leading 13 nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, setting a new record for the most nominations ever in a single VMA season, MTV said.

Rapper Eminem was the most nominated male artist with eight nods after the success of his latest album "Recovery", while Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber scored his first nomination in the best new artist category for the music video of hit single "Baby".

Newcomer Ke$ha joined veterans Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Usher and indie band Florence and the Machine among the other nominees.

Lady Gaga has two entries in the coveted video of the year category -- "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" featuring Beyonce -- where her competition includes Eminem for "Not Afraid" and rapper B.o.B for "Airplanes".

The glam pop singer also won nods in the best pop, best dance and best female music video categories.

"I'm so honored for all the little monsters and self-professed freaks of the universe, to have more VMA nominations in a single year than any artist in MTV history. Ironically, I'm even more proud it's an unlucky number; 13," Lady Gaga said in a statement.

"A long time ago the world told me and my little monsters we would never be heard, together we changed the rules. God put me on Earth for 3 reasons: To make loud music, gay videos, and cause a damn raucous. Thank You MTV!," she added.

The awards will be presented in a live telecast from Los Angeles on September 12.

Eminem noted sarcastically that the award show fell in the middle of his U.S. tour. "Apparently MTV doesn't care that I have two massive stadium shows on the other side of the country the day after the VMAs," he said. "I mean, I'll be there but don't expect me to be nice about it."

Viewers can vote for the general categories on website vma.mtv.com starting on Tuesday, and voting by text message for the best new artist will continue throughout showtime on September12.