Marie Osmond's 18-year-old son Michael Blosil has died, the entertainer said yesterday.

Osmond said in a statement through her publicist that her family is devastated by the "tragic loss." She did not provide details on the death.

Entertainment Tonight reported on its Web site that Blosil jumped to his death Friday night from a downtown Los Angeles apartment building.

Donny Osmond, Blosil's uncle, told Entertainment Tonight: "Please pray for my sister and her family."

Michael is one of Osmond's five adopted children. She also has three other children from two marriages.

Osmond earned fame at age 13 with the hit song "Paper Roses," and starred with her brother, Donny, on television's "Donny and Marie Show" during the 1970s.

They perform a musical variety show regularly at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The hotel said yesterday's performance was canceled.

Pamela Anderson sent a letter yesterday to Canada's prime minister requesting an end to the country's annual seal hunt.

The Canadian actress and spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals dropped the letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a mailbox in front of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans office.

Anderson called the hunt "an embarrassment to Canada" at a news conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, saying she made the appeal during the Winter Olympic Games here because "the whole world is watching Canada."

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock will be feted at a belated 70th birthday bash at Carnegie Hall in New York that will highlight the revival of a major summer jazz festival in the Big Apple.

The pianist, who turns 70 on April 12, will be joined by comedian Bill Cosby, saxophonist Joe Lovano, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Hancock's bandmate in Miles Davis' famed 1960s quintet, with more guests to be announced.

The June 24 concert, "Herbie Hancock, Seven Decades: The Birthday Celebration," will benefit The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

The first dad is watching one of his daughters hoop it up.

President Obama left the White House early yesterday morning for the short drive to Chevy Chase, Md., to see 8-year-old Sasha's basketball game at a community recreation center.

First lady Michelle Obama also came along.

The president is a big basketball fan and sometimes plays basketball himself on the weekends. He's also gone to some NBA and college games in Washington.

— Advertiser News Services