James Gandolfini died after he was discovered having a heart attack in his hotel bathroom by his teenage son, it emerged on Thursday.

The Sopranos star was on vacation in Rome with Michael, 13, as well as his wife Deborah and baby daughter Liliana, nine months, and had apparently been hoping to ‘reconnect with his Italian roots’ before attending the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.

After a day out with the family, Gandolfini, 51, had a heart attack in his bathroom at the Hotel Boscolo and was found by Michael, who raised the alarm and called the hotel reception, according to the hotel manager.

His Sopranos colleagues have led tributes from the showbiz world, with the show’s creator David Chase who compared him to Mozart, praising him as ‘one of the greatest actors of this or any time’.

When paramedics arrived to take Gandolfini to hospital, they found him lying on the bathroom floor, according to hotel owner Antonio D’amore.

The actor was taken to Policlinico Umberto I at 10.20pm, and was pronounced dead at 11pm when efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful, according to Dr Claudio Modini, head of the hospital’s emergency room.

— Daily Mail

Christina Aguilera shows off slim figure on The Voice finale

She has slimmed down significantly in recent months. And Christina Aguilera appears more than proud to flaunt her trimmer figure.

The 32-year-old showed off her slender frame in a tight skirt and cropped sheer top for her spirited performance of Feel This Moment with rapper Pitbull during The Voice season four finale on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.

The singer looked incredible in a skin-tight bandage black skirt and a sparkly silver top that revealed her hot pink bra underneath. The pint-sized star also added a boost of height to her 5ft 2in frame with sky-high black peep-toe heels and accessorised with giant diamond earrings. Aguilera wore her platinum blonde hair in glamorous curls over one shoulder and opted for smokey eyes and nude lips. The Genie In A Bottle singer made quite a grand entrance.

— Daily Mail

Mary J Blige’s money woes continue

Mary J Blige is being sued for allegedly cancelling a concert in Dallas, Texas, so that she could perform with the Rolling Stones in New York. The No Drama singer and her production company are being sued by Vision Entertainment Worldwide (VEW) after she pulled out of the gig on December 9, 2012.

The 42-year-old star was reportedly paid a deposit of $145,000 to perform, but she cancelled the concert a few days before it was scheduled to take place, after she accepted the offer to perform with Mick Jagger and his band at the Barclays Centre, reports TMZ.

VEW is seeking $145,000 in damages from the performer who has run into other money problems in recent times. The singer was hit with a $3.4million tax bill last month after being accused of avoiding her US federal taxes for three consecutive years from 2009. In addition to her federal taxes, Blige also reportedly owes the State of New Jersey over $900,000 in back taxes.

Blige’s money woes do not end there, as she was sued earlier this year for allegedly defaulting on a $500,000 bank loan, which she took out between 2005 and June 2012.

— Daily Mail