NEW YORK (AP) – Singer Billy Joel has checked into an undisclosed rehabilitation center “for treatment of alcohol abuse,” his spokeswoman said.

Joel, 55, entered the clinic after suffering “a recent bout of severe gastrointestinal distress,” spokeswoman Claire Mercuri told The New York Post for Wednesday editions.

Less than two years ago, in June 2002, the singer spent about two weeks at Silver Hill Hospital, a substance abuse and psychiatric center in New Canaan, Conn. He later said he entered the hospital because he had been abusing alcohol.

Joel has been involved in several car accidents in the past three years, though none has been linked to alcohol or drug use.

In 2002, shortly before entering Silver Hill, he escaped serious injury in a crash in East Hampton, on Long Island.

Two other car accidents followed, including one in 2003 in which he smashed his car into a tree along a highway on far eastern Long Island. Last year, Joel escaped unhurt when he crashed into a house on Long Island.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Denmark got the Dogg. Snoop Dogg, that is.

Organizers of the annual Roskilde Festival said Wednesday the rapper was set to play the annual music show this year.

The artist, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, last visited Denmark in 1998. His latest release, 2004’s “R&G – Rhythm and Gangster: The Masterpiece,” spawned the hit single “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”

Other artists scheduled to play during the June 30-July 3 festival include Black Sabbath, The Go! Team and Junior Senior.

Last year, 75,000 tickets were sold for the outdoor event where more than 150 artists, including the Pixies, Morrissey, Sahara Hotnights and Avril Lavigne, performed on Roskilde’s six stages.

First held in 1971, the festival was inspired by the 1969 Woodstock Festival in upstate New York.

The event, which in recent years has been shown on MTV, attracts visitors from throughout Europe and the United States.

MEXICO CITY (AP) – Paris Hilton arrived in Mexico to promote her perfume, book and film projects, saying she also wants to shop and visit the pyramids.

“I love Mexico,” Hilton, star of the TV reality series “The Simple Life,” told reporters in Mexico City Tuesday. “The people are so nice.”

Hilton, who visited the Caribbean resort of Cancun last week, said her namesake fragrance “smells like flowers.”

The 24-year-old hotel heiress has a role in “House of Wax,” a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price horror movie. The new film, starring Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray, is scheduled for release in the United States on May 6.

Her book, “Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose,” was published last year.

Hilton was expected to participate in a 1960s-themed fashion show along with other celebrities during her visit.

PARIS (AP) – Lance Armstrong acknowledged that he’s a little behind schedule in his preparation for a seventh straight Tour de France title and also reaffirmed his love for New York City – and his fondness for Paris.

Armstrong, who received a Sports Academy Trophy at the foreign ministry Tuesday in recognition of his sixth straight Tour win last summer, said he hopes to recover his form in time for July’s Tour.

“I’m going to try and get in shape. I have to admit I’m a little bit behind, more than I would normally be,” he said. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have started with a race like Paris-Nice. It was a very hard, fast, intense race with bad weather.”

Some stages at the Paris-Nice race were shortened severely due to heavy snowfall, meaning Armstrong – who eventually pulled out with a sore throat – had little chance to accumulate distance on his bike, a crucial part of his preparation.

However, Armstrong said nothing will stop him from trying to win his seventh Tour “other than injury or illness or some other external problem.”

“I don’t know that I’ll win, but I’ll be on the start line,” he said.

Armstrong also commented on the 2012 Olympic bid.

“As an American my heart has to be with New York City, and I have to support the bid for New York City,” he said. “But you also have to be fair and say Paris has a good bid. Are they deserving cities for the Olympic Games? Absolutely. They’re great cities, legendary cities, historical cities.

“Perhaps I wasn’t strong enough when I said my vote was for New York City. Since it wasn’t strong enough they said, “He’s a traitor. He’s a weasel.”‘

Armstrong said he was upset by the media outcry and took a swipe at some of the publications that rose against him.

“Some of the tabloid papers, they let it rip. They took the gloves off. But c’est la vie, as they say.”

NEW YORK (AP) – “The Wendell Baker Story,” directed by Luke and Andrew Wilson, is among the highlights at this year’s Vail Film Festival.

The movie reunites brothers Luke, Owen and Andrew Wilson, whose previous collaborations include “Rushmore” and “Bottle Rocket.”

Other films to be shown at the festival, which will run March 31-April 3, include Todd Solondz’s “Palindromes,” starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Ellen Barkin, and “Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession,” directed by Alexandra Cassavetes, which documents one of the first pay cable stations in the United States.

The Vail Film Festival is produced by the Vail Film Institute, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to fostering independent film and creative filmmaking.

“I think the world is waiting to see how the next generation of independent filmmakers will change the landscape of film,” festival co-founder Sean Cross said in a statement Tuesday. “We’d like the Vail Film Festival to help usher in the next century of filmmaking and filmmakers.”

CLEVELAND (AP) – Usher is a hands-on NBA owner.

The Grammy-winning R&B artist, who is part-owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, has unveiled a symbol from his floor seats that he calls the “Double C.”

During the team’s game Sunday, Usher crossed his arms over his head and curled his hands to form letter C’s. Fans made the symbol as the Cavaliers downed the Indiana Pacers 98-86.

Usher said his hometown of Atlanta has a special sign called the “A-town down.”

“This is my way of showing my Cleveland Cavaliers’ pride,” he said in an e-mail to The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

LONDON (AP) – David Beckham is preparing for life after soccer.

The English star unveiled plans Monday for The David Beckham Academy, which opens this summer next to the Millennium Dome in east London, where he grew up.

“There is that certain kind of buzz when you step on a football pitch,” Beckham said. “I want to be able to get that same kind of buzz with the soccer school.”

“I’ll play up to the point where I feel my legs are getting too old and I can’t do it anymore at the top level,” he added. “When that time comes, that’s when I’ll go into the soccer school.”

After this season, Beckham has two years remaining on his contract with Real Madrid. He arrived at the club 20 months ago, and he’s won nothing. He’ll turn 30 in May, and he knows Madrid fans are demanding and impatient.

“I’m happy at Real Madrid and want to stay at Real Madrid as long as I can,” he said. “But in football and life, you never know what is going to happen.”

Real Madrid was knocked out of the Champions League last week and is nearly eliminated from the Spanish league, trailing Barcelona by 11 points.

The midfielder star, who is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, is bracing himself for the day he leaves soccer, and he knows he doesn’t have the temperament for coaching.

“Management has never been a thing for me and never will be,” he said. “I’m just one of those players who has never fancied going into management.”

And so his academy beckons.

Beckham is setting up the school with “several million” of his own money. He is working with the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is developing the vacant Millennium Dome into a 26,000-seat arena and entertainment complex. The school will have two full fields, indoor facilities, classrooms and a dining area. The school will be open to boys and girls ages 8-15.

About 15,000 are expected to enroll, with 10,000 enrolling for free. Others will pay a $480 fee for a five-day training camp.