[Lady Gaga]Japan quake strikes a chord with celebrities

US celebrities are rallying their fans to raise money for survivors of the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, with Lady Gaga leading the charge and raising $250,000 in 48 hours.

The larger-than-life pop icon announced her plan Monday to raise money for Japan by selling red and white wristbands bearing the message "We Pray for Japan(日本の為に祈りを)" for $5 a piece via her online merchandise website.

Forty-eight hours later, Gaga posted a new tweet praising her fans for ordering 50,000 of the wristbands.

"Monsters: in just 48 hrs you've raised a quarter of a million dollars for Japan Relief," Gaga said Wednesday on Twitter.

On the same day that Gaga launched her wristwear, rock band Linkin Park began taking orders on its website for T-shirts to raise money for Japan, where 13,000 people are dead or missing after a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami.

Both the shirts were designed by band member Mike Shinoda, whose father is Japanese-American. One featured an origami butterfly against a black background and the other has the words "Not Alone," the name of a song by Linkin Park.

The T-shirts cost $25 each and 100 percent of proceeds from sales will be donated to Music for Relief, a group of artists, industry professionals and music fans that works to support disaster relief, Shinoda said on Twitter.

Shinoda tweeted that he is also working on a single to raise money for Japan.

Popstar Katy Perry joined several celebrities who have tweeted to their followers to either pray, shop or donate money for relief efforts in Japan.

Perry tweeted to fans in Germany ahead of a concert there on Tuesday, urging them to buy a light-up wand at the show's merchandise stand.

"All proceeds will go to #Japanredcross. And when I play Firework, let's ignite the light for them tonight," she wrote.

Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber tweeted within hours of the quake on Friday: "Japan is one of my favorite places on earth...it's an incredible culture with amazing people. My prayers go out to them. We all need to help."

The television and cinema worlds are also mobilizing for Japan, with Warner Brothers pledging part of proceeds of DVD sales of its movie "Hereafter" to relief funds for Japan, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The movie starring Matt Damon and Cecile de France was pulled from cinemas in Japan after Friday's quake because it opens with scenes of death and devastation caused by a tsunami.

Other movies have also been deemed inappropriate for screening in Japan in the wake of the disaster that has hit the country, including one called "Aftershock," directed by Xiaogang Feng and originally due to be released next week.

The movie is about the 7.8-magnitude quake that struck the city of Tangshan, China in 1976, killing a quarter of a million people and reducing most of the city to rubble.

Meanwhile, hip-hop stars the Black Eyed Peas have appended a message to the end of their new music video, urging fans to donate to the Red Cross to help victims of the catastrophe in Japan, according to US media reports.

The video for the Black Eyed Peas' song "Just Can't Get Enough" was shot in Japan a week before Friday's massive quake.

"Our heart goes out to all of the Japanese people who have been affected by this natural disaster," Black Eyed Peas' Fergie was quoted as telling the Entertainment Tonight television show, which will air the new video on Thursday.

Celebrities have the potential to raise millions to help the victims of the quake and tsunami in Japan by harnessing their fan bases.

If every one of Lady Gaga's eight million-plus Twitter followers were to buy one of her wristbands and if every Linkin Park follower bought one of Shinoda's T-shirts, $47 million would be raised for Japan.

Christina Aguilera Out-Train-Wrecks Britney Spears by Getting Arrested

During her darkest period, Britney Spears was dragged to the hospital for observation, lost custody of her children, smashed a paparazzo's car with an umbrella, spent all her late-night hours in drugstores, and spoke in a British accent. She did not, however, get arrested..

Christina Aguilera has been arrested, just a few weeks into her dark period. The 30-year-old singer was busted with her boyfriend early this morning in Los Angeles. TMZ reports 25-year-old Matthew Rutler was taken in for driving under the influence and held on $30,000 bail; he was later released on $5,000, according to the AP. Aguilera was booked for public intoxication, which a source tells TMZ meant she was "extremely intoxicated" and "unable to take care of herself." The star was released from custody as soon as she "was able to navigate and think on her own" (she was fingerprinted and placed in a cell) and will not be prosecuted for the misdemeanor, L.A. County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore told the AP..

TMZ lists Aguilera's height and weight at the time of her arrest at 5'2" and 100 pounds. While this seems like an obnoxious detail to include (and one the website might not publish for a comparable male star), it does indicate the singer's fragile physical state -- according to those figures, her body mass index is 18.3, which falls in the "underweight" range. .

Based on the limited details available at press time, it appears that Aguilera's mega-drunkenness was only discovered because of Rutler's DUI arrest, though her behavior has become increasingly erratic in recent weeks. The singer filed for divorce from husband Jordan Bratman in October, forgot the words to the National Anthem in early February, and stumbled (after belting a tribute to Aretha Franklin) at the Grammys two weeks ago. .

The singer's downward spiral began last summer, when Aguilera's first album in four years, "Bionic," failed to catch on with fans. (The LP has not yet gone gold, meaning it has sold less than 500,000 copies; all her previous English language studio releases have sold platinum -- more than 1 million copies.) A "Bionic" tour was nixed, reportedly so Aguilera could rehearse more and focus on promoting the film "Burlesque," though industry experts theorized soft ticket sales were likely more to blame. Aguilera never rescheduled the dates, and "Burlesque" eventually underwhelmed at the box office, taking in less than $40 million domestically despite a big promotional push around the film's Aguilera/Cher pairing. .

One of the songs Aguilera cowrote for the film, "Bound to You," did go on to be nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, but wound up losing to another track from the same movie: "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," which was written by Diane Warren and performed by Cher. Ironically, "Burleque" arrived on DVD and Blu-ray today..