The iconic comedian and acclaimed singer-songwriter find a way to create beautiful melodies together.

By Katherine Lanpher

He's an iconic comedian, a best-selling author, and a bluegrass banjoist. She's an acclaimed singer-songwriter. But when Steve Martin and Edie Brickell initially starting collaborating, they had trouble doing it in the same room. Turns out these two industry veterans were equally ... shy.

Their first team effort -- a gorgeous passion project of an album titled "Love Has Come for You" (Rounder Records) -- was hatched at a birthday party for Brickell's husband, Paul Simon. "I went up to Steve and told him how much I loved his music," Brickell recalls. "He said he had a new tune, and I said, 'I want to make a song to that tune.'"

But Brickell, whose biggest hit has been the 1988 song "What I Am," found herself tongue-tied and mumbling when she began writing lyrics with him. "I couldn't calm my inner critic," she says. In turn, Martin felt "really, really intimidated" around Brickell.

Which is how the unorthodox collaboration began: "We decided to go away, separately make mistakes, be bad, and then come back with the finished product," Martin says.

He began sending Brickell compositions by e-mail. "When I heard his melodies, I would remember a part of my life that I'd left a long time ago," she says. "I'd be cooking, and absentmindedly sing along while the song played."

"You gained 25 pounds during this record," Martin teases.

Hooked on the "simplicity and quirky originality" of his tunes, Brickell says they "felt familiar, yet unlike anything I'd heard before." Martin felt a similar spark. "I'm exploring something that's been locked up inside the banjo, inside me, for 40 years," he says. "Edie somehow found a way to bring it out."

Once all 13 songs were written, the pair did finally have to work side by side in the recording studio, where Martin would lay down the track for Brickell to sing over. After her first take, she says, "the studio producer leaned into the microphone and said, 'That was great!' and then I heard Steve whisper, 'I didn't think so.'"

Brickell bubbles with laughter as Martin interjects. "That's not true!"

"You were joking," Brickell assures him. "And it was hilarious."

Beginning in May, Martin and Brickell took their live act of playful, rootsy songs on the road to cities along the East Coast and beyond. Let's hope the close contact doesn't keep them from producing a follow-up.

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The trailer for what appears to be another quirky, heartfelt movie from mumblecore favorite Lynn Shelton ("Your Sister's Sister," "Humpday") has arrived, and it's in keeping with the director's normal understated fare. "Touchy Feely" will premiere first via iTunes on Aug. 1 before opening in theaters Sept. 6.

The movie features Rosemarie DeWitt, who also starred in "Your Sister's Sister," as Abby, a massage therapist who suddenly becomes averse to bodily contact. Abby embarks on an indentity crisis as her brother Paul (Josh Pais) develops a "healing touch." "Touchy Feely" also stars Ellen Page, Allison Janney and Ron Livingston.

Shelton has made a name for herself in the indie-film world thanks to her well-received directorial features as well as her work on a Season 4 episode of "Mad Men" and a Season 1 episode of "New Girl." Boasting what is arguably Shelton's most high-profile cast to date, "Touchy Feely" seems destined to see a reception in keeping with the director's previous efforts.

And baby makes four: Michelle Monaghan is pregnant! Us Weekly reports that the "Source Code" actress, 37, is expecting her second child with husband Peter White, according to sources who confirmed the news to the publication.

In 2011, the Winthrop, Iowa, native told "Health" magazine that she was accustomed to living in a full household from an early age. "When I was growing up, my parents took in foster children. From a young age, I learned that there are a lot of children in need. I am a firm believer that you can make a difference in someone's life -- whether they're thousands of miles away, or on your own block," she said.

Monaghan is mother to a 4-year-old daughter, Willow Katherine. She married White, an Australian graphic designer, in 2005.

NEW YORK -- Taylor Swift shares her feelings and personal experiences on her hit records, but the 23-year-old Grammy winner isn't worried about losing intimacy with her fans on a stadium tour.

"I find that you have to emote a little bigger, but you can reach all the way up to the top," she said. "Eye contact is important, even if it's from 500 yards away."

Swift said she's never worried about the sound being lost in a massive space. With a few shows already under her belt, she feels they've gone pretty well.

"Everyone who comes to these shows seems so engaged," she said. "They come to the show. They know the words. I'm singing the words. We're singing them at the same time, and therein lies the connection. It goes beyond what size the venue is."

She recently embarked on her RED tour of North America. Later this fall, she'll perform in Australia and New Zealand.

Swift, who writes her own songs, has sold more than 75 million albums. She recently appeared on the Fox sitcom "New Girl." And while she likes acting, she has no plans to put aside her guitar and pen – unless something really impresses her.

"I love to write music. And I love to put an album together and take two years to do it and put everything I have into it. (Except) if there was something, some script that came along that was so enticing that I couldn't walk away from it, that I became obsessed with that the way I obsess over music," she said. "If you see me commit to a film, it's only because I couldn't focus on anything else."

Swift was honored as Fragrance Celebrity of the Year at the Fragrance Awards, presented Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center.

"Getting this award is such an honor," she said on the red carpet before the event.

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Valerie Harper -- The Will And Grace.

Wrong show.

I know.

I loved Mary. And Phyllis, Sue Ann Nivens and Georgette... but I was, I am, a Rhoda. Through Rhoda, Valerie Harper gave me and countless other girls permission to be outspoken, opinionated, talk with a funny accent and dream of shining in a supporting role so brightly as to become a leading lady and a star, while remaining true to her essence.

A woman of grace, she's garnered nothing but praise, not only for the talent and the funny, but also for the person she is and has always been.

For a bossy yet sensitive Jewish girl from the Bronx, it's what I aspired to.

I met Valerie and her husband Tony Cacciotti last year right around the time her memoir, I, Rhoda, was dropping. I was immediately struck by the love, care and respect they share. I wanted what they were having. Warm and gracious, they patiently listened as I made my pitch for her to read at Women Who Write. Which takes place in my living room. On the other end of LA. Right in the middle of her fancy schmancy book tour.

I know.

Lest you judge, Carl Reiner, Garry Marshall, Micky Dolenz, Kevin Pollak, Jackie Collins, Marlee Matlin and Robert Morse are a few who've made the pilgrimage.

I know.

I continued my pursuit on The Facebook. But we weren't friends and you know where those messages go...

Me neither.

Fate stepped in to lend a miracle.

Pamela Cameron, a Women Who Write regular who works part time as a salesgirl, waited on Valerie a month or so ago and reconnected us. A few weeks and emails later, sans fanfare, Valerie and Tony arrived at my home in time to cheer on singer-songwriter, Cynthia Carle and writers Wendy Lawless and Judi Hollis. Cause that's the way they roll.

If I were told that my time was limited, how would I spend it? Dinner in Paris? Seeing every play on London's West End? Begging Ryan Gosling to sleep with me? What the hell was she doing readying to read to a roomful of mostly middle-aged women on a Tuesday afternoon, a schlep-and-a-half from civilization?

Valerie isn't living her bucket list. She's living her life.

Defying age and any inkling of illness, Valerie took to the podium with the feisty passion, enthusiasm and good humor of Rhoda Morgenstern. I swear there were moments she looked exactly like she did in the '70s and sounded precisely like one of the tribe.

She noted something specific and special about each of the performances, a gracious act of generosity, which dispelled any notion that her organ in question was firing on fewer than all cylinders.

She read a bit from her charming, funny, informative, I, Rhoda, something she doesn't usually do, but she wanted to honor our forum. She encouraged us to ask questions. She answered them dispassionately, rationally and without censor, about her symptoms, illness, diagnosis and spiritual beliefs.

She was calm and measured. We were a mess.

In spite of the only six day advance booking, and being packed to the kishkas, it was an almost effortless event. It flowed and was drenched with love. Just like Valerie.

They say we reap what we sow.

For the past two weeks people have been sharing their stories, one more extraordinary than the next. What's come through from all of them is Valerie's consistent, extreme kindnesses when no one's looking. Typified this day.

Not only was she determined to sign every book, she made sure to date each one as well, so they would have more value for the owner. She shared a hug, a few words, and took a picture with each and everyone... never stopping to eat, or drink, sitting in the most uncomfortable chair in my house to be more accessible, and staying way past her allotted time, causing her to have to rush like crazy to her next appointment.

What Valerie did for just about every woman in the room as Rhoda was magnified a gazillionfold that day... showing up for us, deeming us that important, exemplifying the true power of now, of sheer will and grace, and filling our hearts to overflowing. The day was a collective treasure. Goddess energy at its best. Valerie our queen. Long may she reign.

Valerie Harper is teaching me how to live.

I'm a Rhoda. I aspire to be... a Valerie.

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Note: Do not read on unless you have seen Season 9, Episode 3 of ABC's "The Bachelorette."

It's Week 3 in Bachelor Nation, people. That means the emotional walls are starting to come down as the testosterone levels begin to rise. This episode features a solo date and not one, but TWO group dates that will inspire even the mellowest of men to channel the competitive spirit he either keeps conveniently tucked away behind a gentlemanly demeanor or blatantly displayed through thick necks and tribal arm band tattoos. Everyone knows that a little friendly competition never hurt anyone (pay no attention to this sentence Brooks). Clearly, there's a simple way to find out who is here for the right reasons: DODGEBALL!

Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive and Dodge
Ten of the guys were chosen to learn the secrets of dodgeball under the tutelage of Patches O'Houlihan at a local junior high school gym. I would have thought there would be an entry-level foam ball that newbies use to practice with at first, but good old Patches went straight for ones that produce wicked burns on any exposed skin that may come in contact with a rubber ball hurling in your general direction.

Harrison arrives to break the news that the 10 guys will be split into two teams of five and will play three games of dodgeball against each other. The winning team will get extra special, very important, alone time with our bachelorette. By the way, they'll be playing in a public place (read: the field where the junior high band practices) and tons of locals have been bribed to come and act excited as if this were an Olympic trial. In keeping with my conspiracy theory that ABC has totally given up that their contestants can muster any real entertainment value, they make the dudes where shorty shorts, knee socks, headbands and red/blue tank tops with white piping around the edges.

Below the radar contestants Drew, Zack and Chris proved to be dodgeball savants. One may have assumed that Mikey T. and the Federal Prosecutor (both on team red) would have a distinct advantage, but their rumbling, tumbling size inhibited them from quickly dipping and diving. They spent most of the games shouting accusations at Villain Ben, basking in the glory of Chris Harrison's presence and shedding their tanks for an afternoon tan on the sidelines. Both insist that they are here for the right reasons and will rue the day and roll the head of anyone who is not.

Brooks also proved that he was here for the right reasons by returning to the group after spending the majority of the day in the hospital with a broken finger. He was tripping on some pretty major pain medicine that caused him to walk around holding his injured hand with the good hand, but Des loved the loopiness and quickly made out with him by the pool. However, it was the dark horse Mortgage Broker Chris who swept Des off her feet and up to the roof who scored the date rose.

We Were on a Break
Since Harrison is obviously here for the right reasons, he feels it's only necessary to interrupt Des' morning sketch time with a quick phone call to inform her that one of the suitors actually has a girlfriend and has been lying this entire time. After the producers present visual confirmation that Brian is neither Brad nor Brandon, or that dude that looks like Don Draper whose name no one seems to recall, she hops into the Bentley to confront him. Brian admits nothing. Harrison waltzes in with Stephanie ... the phantom girlfriend. Really earning his paycheck, Harrison mediates a very loud, high pitched fight between Stephanie (who is here for the right reasons), Brian and a mute Des. Stephanie is super pumped that she decided to wear her tightest pair of black leather pants because this performance is going to be PERFECT for her acting reel.

Brian is clearly "caught" and big Pauly (the same burly man who helped escort Roz from the premises during Harrisongate) helped Brian pick his belongings among the remnants of a disgusting room he shares with other filthy boys.

Worst Date Ever
#Kasey drew the traditional Week 3 one-on-one date that takes place on the side of a building. Typically, one of the two participants are deathly afraid of heights and will use this time to grow closer as a couple because of the death-defying experience they are about to have with one another. This was not the case with Hashtag and Des. This does not mean they jumped off the side with reckless abandonment. No, no. They just sort of walked around, fell down and generally hung there. Once, Des executed a 360 twirl and they both did a back flip. #hoorayforactionsequences

Dinner on the roof proved to be just as vanilla. Just as they were about to discuss how sore their cores were feeling, a random gust of wind simultaneously blew down a potted plant stand, extinguished all 284 candles (#internshoutout) and disheveled the coveted rose until it became limp bud on its silver tray. Des and Hash decide to go swimming because she's tired of her hair flying in her face. Unfortunately, the aggressive wind and the fact that this was filmed in early spring proved to be too much for the pair and numbness began to set in. Piling the beach towel on her head like a turban didn't help. Neither did Hashtag mimicking her and then going in for the most ill timed kiss in the history of this show. They gave up and went inside before their body temperature became dangerously low and the wind still refused to cooperate. #listentoMotherNaturekids

Des felt bad that her entire date was ruined by the Cheater, the lame window walk and the onset of a monsoon. Since Hash was such a great sport, she gave him a pity rose in the stairwell of the building because he was surely here for the right reasons. #gohashtag

Hi-Ho Silver
The section of this recap is brought to you by Disney's "Lone Ranger," coming to a theater near you this July.

I have to say that this was one of my favorite group dates in a long time. Who doesn't love a cowboy, first of all, but I think what I liked most about it was that the guys seemed to genuinely get along with one another. Sure, there was a miniature Cowboy Triathlon competition that would stir the hearts of most guys with a pulse, but this group seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's company. Zak was uncomfortable with his shirt on, but that didn't stop him from popping his hip out when he shot his gun. And Dan didn't even break character as his pants split while mounting the horse. Juan Pablo delivered his entire speech to the bad guys in Spanish, and then whispered sweet Latin nothings into Des' ear as he carried her off into the sunset. To no one's surprise, he won some alone time and wisely used his popcorn as "accidental" access to Des' bosom and then took immediate action in order to retrieve a kernel from her cleavage. And she ate it up -- literally and figuratively, because they made out right after that. I'd have to say that the entire cowboy posse was here for the right reasons.

Official Villain Wardrobe
According to Mikey T., the Federal Prosecutor and most of the housemates from next week's coming attractions, Ben is NOT here for the right reasons. His girly tank top gets a pass because it has become the official wardrobe of the resident villain. #jcrewforever

What did you think? Was the cowboy date adorable? Did the right guys go home? Who is your frontrunner? Sound off in the comments.

For a full recap, visit iHateGreenBeans.com.

"The Bachelorette" airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

The thought of a British Superman had never occurred to me before hearing the eloquent voice of Henry Cavil on the other end of the telephone. Cavill, who just turned 30, was born on the island of Jersey, a British Crown Dependency, but his Superman in Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" is not descended from British origins. Cavill's man of steel, like Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh before him, is from Kansas by way of Krypton. The difference is that Cavill plays his version with a little more weary bravado than what we've seen in the past.

The thing about Cavill is that I actually believe him when he says he didn't think he'd be cast as Superman in "Man of Steel." He had lost the role nine years earlier when plans for a version of Superman directed by McG fell through. The near-misses didn't stop there: among the iconic characters Cavill almost starred as were James Bond in "Casino Royale" and Edward Cullen in "Twilight." Empire magazine even labeled him "the unluckiest man in Hollywood." With that in mind, it's easy to understand Cavill's trepidation about "Man of Steel."

Here, Cavill -- who endearingly refers to himself as a "geek" (and if you don't believe him, wait until he starts talking about the Superman villain Brainiac or discussing "World of Warcraft") -- looks ahead to his future as Superman, both as a character (ahem, Justice League) and what it will mean to his own personal fame and, more importantly, his personal privacy.

I read that after getting the role that you stared into a mirror repeating "I'm Superman!" I have a hard time believing that expletives weren't involved.
Well, I may have censored the statement for the sake of the interview.

What's the uncensored version?
[Laughs] As I said it in Details is exactly how I said it, of course.

You lost roles in "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" to Robert Pattinson. Were you worried at all Zack Snyder was going to call and say, "So, we decided to cast Robert Pattinson as Superman."
[Laughs] I wasn't worried about any particular actor getting the role -- I was prepared, and expecting, "no." I mean, of course I wanted a "yes," but as soon as he told me "yes," I wasn't ready for it. I really wasn't prepared for the answer to be "yes." So, it was a bit of a like "I don't know how to feel" moment. But, yeah, it wasn't like I was there going, "Oh, someone else is going to get the role."

Was there any hesitation? In the sense that for the rest of your career, this will be mentioned as something that you did.
Not for a second was there hesitation. Not for a split second. It was such an opportunity to tell the story of this amazing character -- and with amazing people like Snyder, [producer Christopher] Nolan ... and what turned out to be an absolutely epic cast.

Have you seen all of the other Superman movies?
I have seen them. But, I didn't use them for research.

I was thinking that you might want to watch them for the opposite reason. In that this is such a different interpretation, you might want to watch them in an effort not to do what they did. Does that make sense?
It makes total sense. Because the important thing for me was to go to the source material and with other movies or live action stuff that's happened, that's another actor's interpretation of the source material -- which are the comic books. And I wouldn't want someone else's interpretation influencing my own. I wanted this interpretation to be purely mine and just pure -- and not sort of hints of someone else's performance in there. Because it would make the thing more disjointed and it was special to me that I do this direct from the source material and as me.

You even watched "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace"?
No. I didn't. I didn't.

You were going to play Superman in McG's version, then you were dropped when Bryan Singer came aboard. I'm sure that was heartbreaking then, but do you feel it's better to play this character now, rather than then?
I couldn't agree more. And not to say anything about the script or anything that was going on then with anyone else, but, just personally, I've got more experience now. I've acted for that much longer -- it's like two-thirds of my career, almost, I've acted now, on top of what I had already done. I've lived more of a life. I have experience more in the way of ups and downs and goods and bads -- so I could more accurately represent this incredible character.

But also, you were closer to 20 then, now you're 30. Do you think that back then you could have handled the fame that comes along with this role?
I haven't thought about that. But, I don't know, to be honest. I don't know how it's going to happen now, to be honest. Because when the movie comes out, I've been told that everything is going to change -- and I have no idea what to expect, really.

Have you noticed any differences so far?
Yeah, there's definitely a difference. You know, people will stop me and ask for a photo. Going to Starbucks, I definitely feel that thing of "any minute now someone is going to say something" -- then it will be photo bedlam. But it hasn't quite hit with its full force yet, but it's definitely changing.

Are you dreading that? Perhaps that's too strong of a word.
You know, it's a tough one to say whether I'm looking forward to it or not looking forward to it. Of course it's nice to have a movie which everyone enjoys and loves -- absolutely, because that's the whole point. I love telling stories and if everyone loves the story, then I've done my job right and that's a great feeling. But, at the same time, sometimes you don't want to have someone put a picture of you on Facebook for the world to see -- you're not feeling great or you've got a cold or something or you just had a fight with your family and you're in a bad mood. You know, just the normal stuff, which we generally take for granted. You know, if you're in a bad mood walking down the street, people are like, "Oh, wow, he's in a bad mood." But if you're in a bad mood and you're in the public eye, then you're almost not allowed to be in a bad mood.

I like that you've already been theorizing on a Justice League movie.
Yeah, it's important to me that this thing -- I mean -- I love telling this story: I loved working with the guys and it was an amazing job to work on. And I'd be very happy to do many more movies with all of those people again. And, you know, we were so excited about stuff, you did start thinking about future movies and what the storylines would be. And, also, this is the kind of stuff I like to read! So, it's a story which I'm going to keep on imagining how it may continue.

When you were filming "Man of Steel," were the words "Justice League" ever mentioned?
Not officially. Not like a producer saying, "Oh, by the way, this could lead into "Justice League." It was always us fanboys or geeks saying, "Oh, I wonder if they'll make a Justice League out of this," and what that might involve. It was just people geeking out basically.

You seem to like Brainiac. If someone let you decide, is that who you'd go with next?
I think Brainiac is a great character. [Pauses] I'm not going to answer that because I would need to think about it more seriously to give an official answer in an interview.

That's fair.
I think Doomsday is an awesome character as well. There are plenty of awesome characters, but I like the idea of Brainiac because he's got the city of Kandor in everything, so that's an exciting prospect -- to reintroduce an idea of Krypton back to Earth. And that opens up a whole bunch of new possibilities.

Who would you cast to play the Bizarro Henry Cavill Superman?
Ideally it would be me -- just with a whole bunch of prosthetics and CGI.

Are you contracted for more Superman movies?
How Hollywood works with these kind of things, when you are doing a screen test, before the screen test, you will sign a contract saying, "OK, yes, I'll do the movie if you guys want me." And, in that, it's standard procedure to do two options beyond the movie.

And I think with Justice League, people look at what Marvel did with "The Avengers" and get excited about the possibilities on DC Comics side.
Yes. I'm sure it does and it's a development to the story, which is interesting -- the combining of different worlds. Whether it happens or not, I just don't know. I just don't know.

You're a big fan of "World of Warcraft." If you could pick a character to play in the movie, who would you play?
Oh, oh! Well, there are so many stories. There are so many different stories it would be tough to choose one character. And I haven't played "World of Warcraft" in so long now, you've caught me slightly off guard.

I got you with a hard hitting question.
It is a hard hitting one! I mean, Varian Wrynn would be a great character to play. And the name completely escapes me, but the guy who is the Lich King would be awesome -- Arthas Menethil.

Mike Ryan is senior writer for Huffington Post Entertainment. You can contact him directly on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES — Until he died in 2009, Michael Jackson was fiercely protective of his children (save for that one balcony-dangling incident). He covered their faces when they went out with him so they might enjoy the kind of normal childhood he missed out on as a member of the Jackson 5.

But Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson stepped onto a world stage without masks when they appeared at the King of Pop's public memorial. Paris, then just 11, delivered the most poignant words of the star-studded service when she tentatively took the microphone and said, "Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine."

Since Jackson's death, Paris has become the most visible of his children, granting interviews to Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres, appearing in magazine articles and amassing more than a million followers on Twitter. She has also expressed interest in starting a singing career and has plans to star in a movie. But on Wednesday, Paris became a trending tabloid topic all too familiar for the Jackson family after she was rushed to a hospital for unspecified reasons.

All fire and sheriff's officials would say is that they transported someone from a home on Paris' suburban Calabasas street in the middle of the night for a possible overdose. They did not release any identifying information or additional details.

The Jackson family would say even less about what happened.

"Being a sensitive 15 year old is difficult no matter who you are," Jackson's mother's attorney, Perry Sanders Jr., said in a statement Wednesday. "It is especially difficult when you lose the person closest to you. Paris is physically fine and is getting appropriate medical attention. Please respect her privacy and the family's privacy."

Sanders declined further comment on the teenager's condition or the circumstances that led to her hospitalization.

Yet on Tuesday, Paris hinted at her state of mind on Twitter, posting, "I wonder why tears are salty?" followed by lyrics from the Beatles' song "Yesterday": "yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away now it looks as though they're here to stay."

A 20-minute video of the teen applying makeup was posted to YouTube last week. It shows Jackson in what she describes as her bedroom playfully demonstrating how she does her eye makeup. She receives and replies to several texts on her phone while offering cosmetics instruction. She also reveals that she watches the film "Tangled" three times a week and, as a child, fantasized about marrying a cowboy.

She also makes goofy faces and says, "I need serious help. I'm crazy!"

Paris wrote on Twitter that she doesn't know how the video, in which she repeatedly asserts, "I am so weird," ended up on YouTube.

"I hope you guys liked it tho and didn't think i'm too crazy," she wrote. "i get weird when i'm not around people lol."

Katherine Jackson shares guardianship of her son's three children with the singer's nephew, TJ Jackson.

Messages left for TJ Jackson's attorney were not returned.

"We appreciate everyone's thoughts for Paris at this time and their respect for the family's privacy," said a statement from Eric George, an attorney for Debbie Rowe, Paris' biological mother.

In recent months, she has reconnected with Rowe, with whom she has had little contact for most of her life.

Paris' uncles Tito, Marlon and Jackie echoed that sentiment in their statement Wednesday: "Thank you for the outpouring of concern and support for Paris – she is safe and doing fine. We truly appreciate you respecting our family's privacy at this time."

The children are listed as plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed by their grandmother against concert giant AEG Live LLC, who she claims is responsible for her son's death. Katherine Jackson's lawsuit claims AEG failed to properly investigate the doctor convicted of causing the singer's death, and pushed the superstar to rehearse and perform a planned series of 50 comeback shows titled "This Is It."

Paris and Prince are listed as potential witnesses in the case, which is in its sixth week of trial.

Marvin S. Putnam, a defense attorney for AEG Live, said Paris and Prince Jackson were deposed in the case because they are named plaintiffs and may be called to testify. He said Paris Jackson's testimony was not a "grilling" but urged privacy for her and her family.

"There's a real person involved here," Putnam said. "There's a 15-year-old girl and something incredibly tragic has happened that none of us know why and I think it would really be in everyone's best interest and particularly in her best interest if rather than blowing this up into something else, that they were given a little bit of privacy to deal with something that has to be a tragic, tragic moment for all of them."

"She's 15," he said. "Someone should give her a break."

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AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.

LAS VEGAS — Singer-actress Pia Zadora has been arrested on suspicion of domestic battery and coercion after a disturbance at her Las Vegas home.

The 61-year-old Zadora was booked Saturday into the Clark County Detention Center and released after posting $4,000 bail.

She was arrested about 11 a.m., some six hours after police responded to a disturbance call at her home.

Police declined to release the name of the victim and other details, saying further information would be released Monday.

Zadora has been married to her third husband, Las Vegas police detective Michael Jeffries, since 2005. The couple met after Zadora contacted police to report a stalking incident.

After working as a child actress on Broadway, she appeared in various movies. When her film career failed to take off, she became a singer of popular standards.

MOSCOW -- The head of a U.S. congressional delegation said Sunday that its meetings in Russia showed there was "nothing specific" that could have helped prevent the Boston Marathon bombings, but that the two countries need to work more closely on joint security threats.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican who led the six-member delegation, described discussions with Russian parliament members and security officials as productive. Some of the meetings, he said, were made possible by American actor Steven Seagal.

Seagal, who attended the news conference in the U.S. Embassy, is well connected in Russia. He met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, and last week paid a visit to Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman who rules Chechnya, a province in southern Russia that has seen two brutal wars between federal troops and Chechen separatists since 1994.

Those wars spawned an Islamic insurgency that spread across the Caucasus region, including to neighboring Dagestan, now the center of the violence. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who is accused of carrying out the Boston bombings with his younger brother, spent six months in Dagestan last year. Investigators have been trying to determine whether he had contacts with the militants there.

Rep. Steve King said Russian security officials told the delegation they believed that Tsarnaev and his mother had been radicalized before moving to the United States in 2003. "I suspect he was raised to do what he did," said King, a Republican from Iowa.

His account of the meeting at the FSB, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, was disputed by Rep. Steven Cohen, a Tennessee Democrat, who said he understood that the radicalization took place much later, when the family was living in Boston.

Rohrabacher said a higher level of cooperation between the United States and Russia is necessary to keep people safe in both countries. "Radical Islam is at our throat in the United States, and is at the throat of the Russian people," he said.

The congressman repeatedly thanked Seagal, who took credit for arranging the congressmen's meeting at the FSB, and said it helped avoid the experience of past foreign trips when all of the meetings had been arranged by the U.S. Embassy.

"You know what we got? We got the State Department controlling all the information that we heard," Rohrabacher said. "You think that's good for democracy? No way!"

The action movie star escorted the congressmen on a trip Saturday to the site of a terrorist attack in the Caucasus town of Beslan, where militants seized a school in 2004 and took more than 1,000 people hostage, most of them children. More than 330 hostages died, most of them when federal troops stormed the school.

Seagal had invited the delegation to visit Chechnya, but the trip was called off in part because U.S. House rules would have prevented the congressmen from flying on his private plane, Rohrabacher said.

The Kremlin has given Kadyrov lavish funding and political carte blanche to fight terrorism since he came to power in 2005. Activists accuse him and his feared security forces of staggering abuses, including torture, kidnappings and murder.

"All these accusations are thrown around," said Seagal, who was given a lavish welcome in Kadyrov's palace. "Is there any evidence? Has he been indicted?"

Cohen said he had refused to go to Chechnya for these reasons. But Rohrabacher, who chairs the U.S. Foreign Affairs' Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats, said the United States should be more understanding of the threats facing Kadyrov and Putin.

"If you are in the middle of an insurrection with Chechnya, and hundreds of people are being killed and there are terrorist actions taking place and kids are being blown up in schools, yeah, guess what, there are people who overstep the bounds of legality," he said.

While the rule of law is important, Rohrabacher added, "We shouldn't be describing people who are under this type of threat, we shouldn't be describing them as if they are Adolf Hitler or they're back to the old Communism days."

Rohrabacher and King were full of praise for Russian Orthodox Christian traditions after attending a service at Moscow's main cathedral on Sunday morning. The cathedral became a rallying point for Putin supporters and the opposition alike last year when punk group Pussy Riot staged an impromptu protest against Putin's merging of church and state, earning them worldwide notoriety and a two-year prison sentence for "hooliganism."

"It's hard to find sympathy for people who would do that to people's faith," King said.

The United States and European Union have condemned the jailing of the Pussy Riot members.

Rohrabacher, however, lamenting the "sinister way" U.S. politicians discuss Russia and Putin, said he wished they would have more appreciation for the changes that have taken place.

"Most of my friends in Congress don't even know that the churches are open now," he said.

The congressional delegation also included Michele Bachmann, but she made no public appearances and left before Sunday's news conference. The Minnesota Republican arrived in Russia last week shortly after announcing that she would not seek reelection in 2014.

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