Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus to host CMT Awards

The seemingly ubiquitous Miley Cyrus, star of Hannah Montana and last seen on the red carpet at the 80th Academy Awards, will join her father, country star Billy Ray Cyrus, as host of the 2008 CMT Music Awards on April 14. The show, which airs on CMT and CMT.com, will take place at Nashville's Curb Event Center at Belmont University.

The pair, whose single "Ready, Set, Don't Go" recently peaked at No. 4 on Hot Country Songs, will also perform on the show. Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, and Toby Keith are also set to perform at the event.

CMT will announce the finalists in each of the 13 CMT Music Awards categories on March 6.

Linkin Park stalker sentenced

A woman who seemingly took stalking to a whole new level through technology has been sentenced for her actions. Devon Townsend, who stalked Linkin Park lead singer Chester Bennington by obtaining an astonishing amount of classified information about the singer and his wife through computer databases, was sentenced to two years in a minimum-security prison in Phoenix. She is expected to receive mental health care at the facility. She had pleaded guilty to stalking and other counts.

Townsend, who worked in Sandia National Laboratories, a US security laboratory, used lab computers to illegally access private information about Bennington and his wife, Talinda, in 2006. In a plea deal, Townsend admitted to obtaining family photos, voice messages, a 34-page Verizon bill that included a history of his phone usage, the phone numbers of his bandmates and other celebrity friends, and correspondence between Warner Bros. Records and Linkin Park's business attorney, including a copy of a check made to Bennington from the record company and a copy of the band's recording contract.

Townsend traveled to Arizona to meet Bennington, using information she learned about his travel plans. She also hacked into the e-mail of Bennington's wife and at one point called the former Playboy model and threatened her.

Timberlake signs on for baseball flick

To many, the life of Justin Timberlake seems like a field of dreams. Now the 27-year-old singer and actor has signed on for a baseball movie. Timberlake will play the fictional Corpus Christi Hooks minor-league baseball player Carlton Garrett in the upcoming movie The Open Road. He plans to meet with players on the real-life team of the same name--the Houston Astros' Double-A team--to help him learn what it's like to play minor league ball in Texas.

The Open Road is the story of a young man trying to reconnect with his father, a legendary athlete played by Jeff Bridges, as he struggles to get home to his ailing mother. Mary Steenburgen and Kate Mara are also in the film. Writer-director Michael Meredith is the son of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith.

Dr. Dre launches liquor line

As many diehard Dr. Dre fans continue to wait patiently for the long-delayed Detox album, the acclaimed producer appears more focused on collecting unpaid royalties and developing ancillary revenue streams. Just weeks after unveiling his new line of designer headphones, Dr. Dre is now branching into alcohol sales.

Dre--real name Andre Young--has teamed up with Drinks Americas to roll out a series of liquor brands, the first of which will appear on store shelves within the year. The first will be a premium cognac, followed by a sparkling vodka. Drinks Americas and Dr. Dre also plan to enter the growing imported premium tequila category.

The new products will join Drinks Americas' current and growing portfolio of products, including Donald Trump's award-winning Trump Super Premium Vodka, Willie Nelson's Old Whiskey River Bourbon, and Paul Newman's Lightly Sparkling Fruit Juice Drinks and Flavored Waters.

"I'm always down for a new challenge," Dr. Dre said in a statement. "When Drinks Americas approached me about going into business with them, I knew there was a lot of competition out there but it was the same way when I started doing music. I'm going to put the best product out there, because that's what I do."

Andre 3000 to reprise The Shield role

Set to costar with Will Ferrell in the forthcoming ABA basketball movie Semi-Pro, Andre 3000--real name Andre Benjamin--hasn't forgotten one of his acting gigs. The OutKast star is set to reprise his 2004 role in FX cop drama The Shield, in which he plays the owner of a comic-book store who takes policing his community seriously, confronting drug dealers and prostitutes in creative ways.

The character, who hosed down prostitutes in front of his store in one scene--"hosing down the hos," as he put it--will return for the show's finale as a mayoral candidate. "I'm actually playing a guy running for mayor in the show finale," Benjamin told Blackfilm.com. "My character was first introduced years ago in a small role." This will be the seventh and final season of The Shield.

Aretha feels PETA wrath

Most viewers of the Grammy Awards earlier this month saw Aretha Franklin wearing a flowing yellow dress during the gospel medley performance of the ceremony. But on the event's red carpet, the queen of soul wore a large fur coat, and has subsequently drawn the ire of animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

"... you looked as if you were going to perform 'I Am the Walrus' by the Beatles," PETA said in a statement. "You might be a queen, but you don't know jack about compassion. How 'bout some R-E-S-P-E-C-T for animals?"

PETA also ripped Marilyn Manson, Eva Longoria, Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss, and Kylie Minogue for wearing fur and other clothing made from animals.