Elements

Contrary to popular belief, “The X Factor” winner Melanie Amaro hasn't been dropped by her label Epic Records. Rumors that the Season 1 champion had seemingly been released by the label ahead of her debut album were sparked when her image (and that of fellow Season 1 alum Astro) disappeared from the label's artist roster page. But a rep for the label confirmed to Pop & Hiss that Amaro and Astro are indeed still signed to the label and that the landing page is “not a reflection of our entire roster.” Its understandable that Amaro's status with the label would be called into question.

Kristen Bell and fiance Dax Shepard have welcomed their baby girl. Shepard, 38, who stars in NBC's "Parenthood," announced the arrival Thursday on Twitter and revealed the newborn's name, which falls in line with Jessica Simpson's masculine-name-for-females heuristic. "Lincoln Bell Shepard is here," Shepard tweeted . "She has mom's beauty and dad's obsession with breasts. Hooray!" PHOTOS: Oddly fantastic celebrity baby names Added the new mommy: "My new roomate poops her pants and doesn't pay rent...basically @daxshepard1 pre-sobriety :)

The former Kate Middleton is getting a tad more specific about her due date. Attending an event with husband Prince William for the Quarriers Stopover Project in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, revealed the detail to reporters. "It's around mid-July, but apparently babies have their own agenda," she joked. The palace previously said that the baby was due in July, when it originally announced that the duchess was pregnant last December. PHOTOS: Kate Middleton through the years The British royals are known as the Earl and Countess of Strathearn when they are in Scotland and the countess-duchess often pays tribute by wearing a bit of tartan, the Daily Mail said . She wore a checkered gray and blue coat with silver buttons during a leg of the visit and the next day sported a tartan scarf with a bright red coat.

Microsoft Corp. is partnering with Paramount Pictures on a promotional effort for the studio's "Star Trek Into Darkness. " It represents the biggest such undertaking ever for the software giant. The Redmond, Wash., company's campaign isn't short on whimsy: Bing, Microsoft's Internet search engine, was updated Tuesday to include the "Star Trek" language Klingon in its online translation service. But there also is strategic significance to the marketing venture, because it leverages so many Microsoft services, devices and platforms in a way not previously attempted by the company for a movie promotion.

Barbara Walters made her triumphant return to "The View" this week after being laid up with a series of maladies, including chicken pox, since late January. And after a few surprises for her, like an appearance by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg with a bouquet of flowers, Walters had a surprise of her own: the identity of the actor who gave her chicken pox in the first place. As Walters confirmed on Tuesday's show, the actor who gave her chicken pox is Frank Langella, with whom Walters shared a New Year's Eve smooch on the cheek a few weeks before.

It's been a rough week. A few days ago, at UCLA's Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, 6-year-old Jani toppled a food cart and was confined to her room. She slammed her head against the floor, opening a bloody cut that sent her into hysterics. Later, she kicked the hospital therapy dog. Jani normally likes animals. But most of her animal friends -- cats, rats, dogs and birds -- are phantoms that only she can see. January Schofield has schizophrenia. Potent psychiatric drugs -- in doses that would stagger most adults -- seem to skip off her. She is among the rarest of the rare: a child seemingly born mentally ill. She suffers from delusions, hallucinations and paroxysms of rage so severe that not even her parents feel safe.

The new documentary “Family Band: The Cowsills Story,” premiering tonight on Showtime, opens with a compelling scene showing musician Bob Cowsill setting up single-handed for another thankless gig in the corner of a restaurant-bar of an Indian casino. As patrons chat, eat and drink, barely paying attention, he says, “I had four hit records between the ages of 17 and 21… I did!” As is obvious in that scene, the Cowsills long ago fell off the radar of most pop music fans, and are remembered today primarily for their hit recording of the title song from the musical “Hair,” which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969.

Mark Balelo, the flamboyant auctioneer who appeared on A&E's "Storage Wars," was found dead in his car on Monday morning, in what appeared to be a suicide. According to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office, the 40-year-old Balelo died of asphyxiation from carbon monoxide and exhaust fumes. He was found in a car parked in a garage at his Simi Valley auction house, Balelo Inc. Balelo, known as "Rico Suave" on the series, which follows a team of auctioneers who sell off the contents of reclaimed storage units to buyers, drew interest for the outlandish outfits he wore to auctions and for the large sums of cash he brought to auctions to buy items.

On Tuesday, attorneys for the largest agrochemical corporation in the world, Monsanto, will present arguments before the Supreme Court asserting the company's rights to the generations of seeds that naturally reproduce from its genetically modified strains. Bowman vs. Monsanto Co. will be decided based on the court's interpretation of a complex web of seed and plant patent law, but the case also reflects something much more basic: Should anyone, or any corporation, control a product of life?

Kendall Brown, professor of Asian art history at Cal State Long Beach and one of the experts to weigh in on the Storrier Stearns garden in Pasadena ( see related article ), has a book coming out this month. It's titled “Quiet Beauty: The Japanese Gardens of North America ,” and for this edited Q&A, we asked about his fascination with Japanese gardens, how best to experience them and why our notion of Japanese gardens is not entirely Japanese. What do you find most intriguing about Japanese gardens?