NEW YORK, May 11 (UPI) -- U.S. singer Alicia Keys said she's sad to hear of Randy Jackson's departure as a judge from "American Idol," but she doesn't know if she'd want to replace him.

Jackson announced his departure Thursday on the same day Keys performed her new single "Tears Always Win" on the show.

"I don't know if I'd want to be a judge," she said after her performance, quoted by People magazine.

"That's so sad," Keys said of Jackson's move. "I think he's amazing. I've really loved him for lots of years."

Current and former "American Idol" contestants echoed Keys' sentiment.

Season 10 runner-up Lauren Alaina said his departure is "kind of a bummer."

"He's been there since the beginning, and now none of the judges are going to be the same," she said.

Season 12 finalists Kree Harrison and Candice Glover will go head-to-head in next week's two-part finale for Jackson's last episodes.

"I feel honored," Harrison said of being part of Jackson's last episode. "Randy has always been so nice and humble. He always comes up after the show and gives us constructive criticism."

Glover said he should reconsider his decision.

"I definitely don't think any season after this is ever going to be the same without 'Yo Dawg,' " she said.

LOS ANGELES, May 11 (UPI) -- Singer Chris Brown's neighbors in the swanky Hollywood Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles say the large murals outside his home are scaring the children.

The murals feature monsters 8 feet tall painted in bright colors, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. They are done in the style of the street art that has long been a Los Angeles feature, although often painted illicitly.

"There are lots of babies, lots of children, and they're literally frightened," Patti Negri, president of the Hollywood Dell Civic Association, told the newspaper. "It's like devils on the wall -- big scary eyes and big scary teeth, and just the whole vibe is not what we're used to."

Mark Geragos, Brown's lawyer, said the singer plans to fight a citation for unpermitted signs that comes with an order to remove the murals within 30 days and a fine of at least $376. Geragos said neighbors have been harassing Brown with a series of calls to agencies dealing with everything from animal control to parking enforcement.

"They are trying to suspend the First Amendment," Geragos said of the ordinance that bars mural art on most private property.

LOS ANGELES, May 11 (UPI) -- U.S. rapper Kanye West lost his cool with the paparazzi, screaming at them after he walked into a metal sign and banged his head, TMZ reported.

West was leaving a restaurant in Los Angeles, trying to hide his face from nearby photographers, when he walked into the sign, TMZ reported Saturday.

West became angry and blamed his accident on the photographers. The rapper went back into the restaurant, then came back out and yelled at the one of the photographers, who claimed he wasn't there when the accident took place. West eventually went back inside the restaurant.

NEW YORK, May 7 (UPI) -- Hollywood actor Samuel L. Jackson admits he was initially disappointed to learn he was too old to play the lead in Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained."

Jamie Foxx, 45, was eventually cast in the role of Django -- a freed American slave who assists Christoph Waltz's Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist/bounty hunter, with capturing and killing his enemies in exchange for helping Django reunite with his wife, Broomhilda, played by Kerry Washington.

Jackson, 64, ultimately signed on for the scene-stealing role of slave supervisor Stephen, the right-hand man of Calvin Candie, a wealthy plantation owner portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio.

"I'm the power behind the throne. I'm like the Spook Cheney of Candyland," Jackson told reporters at a New York press conference before the movie's late 2012 theatrical release.

"Yeah, I'm all up in that. To tell this story, you have to have that character, specifically in that type of setting," Jackson explained. "I got the script from Quentin. He called me and told me he wrote a western and he wanted me to read Stephen, and I complained about being 15 years too old to play Django. When I read the script, I called him back and said, 'So, you want me to be the most despicable Negro in cinematic history?' We both kind of laughed together and said: 'Yeah! Let's get on that.'

"Not only was that a great artistic opportunity to create something that was iconic and to take what people know as Uncle Tom and turn it on its head in a powerful way; it also gave me the opportunity to do some really nasty [expletive] to the person who got the role I should have had," Jackson said.

"Django Unchained" was a Best Picture Oscar nominee this year, but lost out to "Argo."

Waltz and Tarantino won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay respectively for the film, which has been the top-selling DVD and No. 1 rental in the United States for the past two weeks.

Jackson and Tarantino previously collaborated on the films "True Romance," "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown."
KAREN BUTLER || United Press International

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (UPI) -- Quentin Tarantino's blood-soaked revenge film "Django Unchained" is the top-selling DVD and No. 1 rental in the United States for a second week, Rentrak said.

Coming in at No. 2 on the DVD and Blu-ray sales roster for the week ending April 28 is "Gangster Squad," followed by "A Haunted House" at No. 3, "The Impossible" at No. 4 and "The Bible" miniseries at No. 5.

Rounding out the top tier are "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" at No. 6, "Lincoln" at No. 7, "Promised Land" at No. 8, "Wreck-It Ralph" at No. 9 and "Jurassic Park" at No. 10.

The No. 2 DVD and Blu-ray rental for the week ended April 27 is "This Is 40."

"Life of Pi" is No. 3, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is No. 4, "Lincoln" is No. 5, "Parental Guidance" is No. 6, "Zero Dark Thirty" is No. 7, "Argo" is No. 8, "The Impossible" is No. 9 and "Les Miserables" is No. 10.

NEW YORK, May 7 (UPI) -- Jamaican saxophonist Cedric Brooks, who had been seriously ill for three years, has died of cardiac arrest in a New York hospital, his sister said. He was 70.

The influential Reggae musician, known for combining music with spirituality, passed away Friday, Paulette Keise told the Jamaica Observer.

Keise said her brother Brooks had been unable to speak for the last three years, with his communication restricted to nodding his head and eye movement, the newspaper said.

Brooks, who learned to play the saxophone at the Alpha Boys' School in Kingston, collaborated with many other artists, such as Count Ossie in the 1970s, and led his own band, Light of Saba. He was touring with the ska band The Skatalites when he fell ill.

"Cedric came up during the dying days of the horn-driven band, so he had to find a new expression. The result was, he came

up with a sound that was singular," said Herbie Miller, curator of the Jamaica Music Museum.

Cedric Brooks is survived by seven children and four sisters.