Monica looks for right role

R&B singer Monica says she is still looking for the right film role to follow up her acting debut in the 2000 MTV movie Love Song.

Monica said that all the scripts she had looked at since then had been similar to the character she played in the movie.

She said she wanted something more "serious" than teen dramas.

The 22-year-old spoke at a party to preview her new album, which is to be released in July.

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Back to school for Gibson

Mel Gibson has gone back to stage school to open a new theatre he helped fund.

Gibson, who is in Sydney promoting his Vietnam War movie We Were Soldiers, told students at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts to "keep your nose to the grindstone and don't stop dreaming".

The star of the Mad Max and Lethan Weapon films graduated from the institute 25 years ago.

"It seems like a heartbeat, but unfortunately the lines on my face tell a different story," the 46-year-old joked.

Gibson has donated almost $1m (£690,000) towards the new theatre at the institute.

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Dream Street sue creators

The parents of members of pop band Dream Street have sued the teen boy band's creators, say their children were exposed to alcohol, women and pornography.

The lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, says that Louis Baldonieri and Brian Lukow "engaged in a wide range of conduct and activities that plainly threaten and impair the minors' well-being".

Mr Baldonieri and Mr Lukow deny the allegations.

The parents are seeking back pay and the release of the singers from their contract.

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Esther show reaches 'natural end'

Esther Rantzen's BBC Two daytime talk show will not be recommissioned.

A BBC spokesman said the decision was mutual, with Rantzen planning to work less and spend more time with her family.

The former That's Life host, 61, lost husband and fellow broadcaster Desmond Wilcox in 2000.

The current run of the discussion show will finish next month after seven years in its afternoon slot.

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Tropicalia founder suffers heart attack

Tom Ze, who helped found Brazil's tropicalia music movement, has suffered a heart attack after a concert.

The 65-year-old musician complained of chest pains on Sunday night after performing at a festival in Recife.

He had an angioplasty to unblock one of his heart arteries, according to a statement issued by the Unicords Hospital.

In the 1960s, Ze was one of those combining bossa nova and traditional Brazilian rhythms with western pop.