coming off a much talked about season premiere without her, what better time than today for lauren conrad to reveal that her debut novel, la candy, has been optioned for a movie. temple hill entertainment, the people responsible for making twilight into a movie, have optioned candy for a feature film. conrad will be the film's executive producer of the flick through her blue eyed girl production company. as far as i know, this is "blue eyed"'s first deal. ever. apparently, lauren, being the great mind of our generation, came to temple hill with an idea for adapting the film that sets it apart from any other book-to-movie adaptation we've ever seen before. it's apparently "separate" and "apart" from the way the book is told, but is still an honest interpretation. fascinating. no word on whether or not temple has optioned the two yet-to-be released books in the series, but if the first is a success, they're sure to follow up. this is quite a week for lc. she also launched a new, low-end line of clothes at kohls stores. moving on up.
britney spears has officially come full circle. the reigning pop princess has released the lead single off her upcoming studio effort (the singles collection), "3," produced by "baby one more time" - spears' first single - hitmaker max martin. "3" is the only confirmed new track off the "greatest hits" record, which will also include updates of all miss spears' biggest songs since her career started over a decade ago. "3" is a song all about (surprise, surprise) threesomes. the song is in the vein of the new stuff brit brit has been putting out, like "if u seek amy" and "womanizer," but is reminiscent of the songs that made her a household name (think "slave 4 u" and "oops! i did it again"). give the song a listen above. chances are you'll get it stuck in your head. "3" should be available for download next week and "the singles collection" hits stores in november, just in time to be a stocking stuffer.
taking jon out of the equation
tlc has decided to part ways with jon gosselin ... kind of. jon and kate + 8 will be renamed kate + 8 come november when the show relaunches. if this isn't a "we like kate better than you" gesture from the learning channel, then i don't know what is. jon is still under contract with tlc and will appear on the revamped show in a limited capactiy. the network said that in, with all the changes going on in the family, it makes sense to refocus the program on the trails and tribulations of kate's single motherhood. kate also has a new contract with the network and is reportedly working on other projects to be launched in 2010. if the talk show pilot kate filmed with paula deen gets picked up, too, then miss gosselin is set to be the hardest working woman on tv. isn't it funny that in just a matter of months, everyone's opinion as to who is the better person has completely flipped? that's what happens when you go around sleeping with every woman you see and wearing ed hardy, jon.
selena gomez and her band, the scene, performed for the first time this weekend in a "private" show at la's roxy theater. by "private" i mean you had to get information about the show through clues selena gave out on her official twitter. basically, it was a scavenger hunt. nicole richie and joel madden were in attendance, so obviously it wasn't that hard to figure out because i doubt those two spent time figuring out how to get to a disney star's concert. the video that's making the viral rounds, above, is of selena and the band (why it's not just "the scene" or simply selena gomez, i don't know why) performing "tell me something i don't know," the single from selena's film another cinderella story. this song isn't even an original for the group and is on the disc in the form of a remix. if that's the best they can do, i doubt this record is going to have legs. the entire album is can be heard at selenagomezkissandtell.com if you let them post a bulletin about the album release through your facebook or twitter. no thank you, selena. i think this little experiment into music is going to be just that for selena: an experiment. leave the singing to demi lovato and miley cyrus, who were actually brought to the mouse house to be triple threats. i really want disney to get the memo that not everyone has to do everything. that's how people get run into the ground and become lindsay lohan. or become just another wikipedia entry, like raven symone. if you feel the need to actually listen to this, kiss and tell hits stores tomorrow. i'm sure all the tweens and teens will make it a big release, but no radio station is actually going to play this. and, no, radio disney doesn't count.
last night was the 35th season premiere of saturday night live. for such a historic episode, the show didn't really warrant going down in the history books. the opening was an annoying c-span cold reading with fred armisen playing libian president muammar qadhafi. i feel like snl falls back on these stupid c-span sketches when they don't have any good material, which is usually a sign that the show is going to s-u-c-k, suck.
megan fox was hosting and, well, i'm not sure she's made out for comedy. the funniest parts of the show were megan's monologue and a flight attendant speech she did with the one talented member (as in a cast member who could play with the cast of the 90s) of the show, kristen wiig. why the show didn't make use of any of the staples from last year - like the suze ormon show or 4th hour today (both of which feature wiig) - is beyond me.
to add insult to injury, the show barely made use of the two new female cast members. wouldn't this be the time to show off their comedy chops to prove to the audience that these girls were worth firing michaela watkins and casey wilson? the highlight of the night was when new cast member jenny slate dropped the "f" bomb during her debut in a completely unfunny skit about a biker chick with her own talk show.
hopefully the show gets better from here. however, i don't know if it will.
after touring with the same songs from a couple years now, creepy face performer john mayer has finally released some new music. "who says" is the first single off his latest record, out later this year. the song talks about getting high and, to be honest, sounds like it was written when he was high. it's a bit of a departure for mayer, as he continues to grow farther and farther from the pop music world. "who says" has more of a 60/70s singer-songwriter vibe, kind of like a second rate eric clapton. check out the single above to listen for yourself. the song is growing on me, but i can't say it'll be added to my playlist rotation. and i don't know if it will even be added to a radio stations's playlist rotation. i was expecting something a little more deep or revealing after mayer's courtship with jennifer aniston. i know there has to be something to say.
ladies and gentlemen, it has arrived. the long awaited music video for miley cyrus's biggest single ever, "party in the usa," has finally premiered and, well, it's kind of disappointing. i don't know what i was expecting, but it wasn't this. i guess i wanted a more literal interpretation of the song - as in, she actually hops off a plane, sees the hollywood sign, et cetera. i guess i was expecting something that could be played on the disney channel, not mtv. the way miley's business is hanging out all over this vid is definitely not mouse house appropriate. maybe that's why the powers that be over at hollywood records decided to debut the vid during a commercial break of dancing with the stars on abc and not during and all new episode of hannah montana. the production value of the video is obvious - they spent some money - but it's just kind of basic until the end. why the whole video wasn't filmed in the end set (the weird playground/jungle thing and the flag screen backdrop) i don't know. the parking lot bits are kind of lack luster. and i don't understand why miley insists on not wearing "kicks." i'm sorry, kicks are sneakers - not boots! every time miley has performed the song, she's worn some sort of heeled boots. in the video, she wears cowboy boots. while that might be your personal style, that's not how the song goes. out of all the things that needed to be true to the lyrics, that's the only thing. the video concept and the lyrics don't really go together, which is the biggest failure in the video. however, most people who watch it don't care. they just want to hear the song.
after a disappointing opening weekend for her latest big-screen effort,the megan fox satire jennifer's body, diablo cody is moving on to bigger and better things. the oscar winning scribe is adapting one of her guilty pleasures, the sweet valley high book series by francine pascal, for the big screen. after an intense bidding war, universal studios will be behind the film, which if successful, could result in a series. diablo reportedly read the books growing up and has long been interested in pursuing an adaptation of the series. the books, about twins elizabeth and jessica wakefield and their time at sweet valley high, were made into a syndicated tv series in the mid 90s (the pilot episode is posted above), but there's a huge opening for a new audience to get to know this world. combining the plot of the books with diablo's sharp wit should make for a really good movie. i just hope that diablo doesn't wind up a one-hit-wonder of the movie biz. jennifer's body failed to break big this weekend and, even though it will make back its production cost, the studio was definitely expecting more. replicating the success of juno will be difficult, but should be possible. had body been advertised as a comedy and not a horror film, it probably would have been the weekend's number one flick. it's all about how a film is presented to the audience; if you want to appeal to the juno audience, then advertise the film like it's a pop-culture filled 90 minutes of witty dialogue. diablo will begin writing the film sometime soon and production will probably start sometime in mid 2010.
and it's not kourtney. while kourtney kardashian is currently preggers with her first child, little sister khloe is the one tying the knot this weekend. khloe is getting married to los angeles laker lamar odom. the duo started dating just over a month ago and have decided to make it official by heading to the alter this sunday. this is quite the surprising move as khloe as been known to be quite the man hater. it's actually been the plot line of at least three episodes of keeping up the kardashians/khloe and kourtney take miami. the impending nuptials - which were confirmed today on khloe's official blog - just won't make khloe an honest woman, but a mother too. yep, there's going to be two kardashian mommas. speculation over the quickee-wedding pointed to the idea that khloe may in fact be preggers, but that's not the case. nope, khloe won't be a mom by birth, but a mom by default. lamar currently has two children - a 10 year old daughter and a 7 year old son - from a previous relationship. that means the youngest kardashian sister will actually have the oldest children. the entire lakers team (including kobe bryant), brody jenner (who is actually the kardashians' step-brother), and executive producer of keeping up the kardashians will all be in attendance on sunday when khlodom say "i do." and there's no doubt in my mind that the whole thing will be caught on tape for a very-special-episode of one of the kardashian shows. khloe getting married leaves kim as the only single kardashian sister, which is surprising because she's the most normal and has had the most public-profile relationships. however, kim has been married once before to music producer damon thomas, and that may play into her fear of tying the knot (and gives explanation to the dissolution of her relationship with reggie bush).
as promised, i'm just posting some of the highlights from last night's emmy telecast. first up, the opening number ("put down the remote") by host neil patrick harris.
neil helped draw in over 13 million people to the telecast, helping the show bounce back from dismal ratings the year before. this definitely helps cement nph as the go-to-host for awards shows.
this was my favorite acceptance speech from the night and it just so happened to come first. amy poehler didn't win the award, but she did come up with the idea for all the nominated women to wear silly glasses when their names were called. and, vanessa williams wasn't being rude by not wearing a get-up; her bit was actually to play the bitch and not participate. i love when celebs are genuinely humbled by the experience and did a great job mixing emotion and comedy in her speech.
jimmy fallon took inspiration one of my favorite youtube channels, autotune the news, by getting up on stage and starting his presentation with an autotune mic. he then did a pratfall, which made the autotuned noises even funnnier.
that's all the bits i can find so far, but i'll check back later to see if there's any more uploads of some of the night's best speeches.
to quote emmy host neil patrick harris' how i met your mother character, this year's emmys were legen - wait for it - dary. neil opened the show with a great musical number all about the tv industry and appeared later on as his character, dr. horrible, from the emmy-winning online show dr. horrible's sing-a-long blog, cementing him as one of the go-to hosts for these events. hopefully this means we won't have to be subjected to the awkwardness that is steve carrell - who is far better at acting than carrying an award show - or john stewart, who can deliver the fake news, but not the jokes that keep the audience both in attendance and at home entertained. why the producers of the emmys keep bringing back ricky gervais is beyond me. yes, he helped create the office and had the critical darling of a show extras, but he's just so annoying to me. his comedy is definitely geared towards an english audience, not an american one. i'll get to the winners in a minute, but i just need to talk about sarah mclaughlin. this woman has made a career out of making people cry. she has two songs - "i will remember you" and "arms of an angel" - which get played along with every sad montage and dying dog commercial. the fact that the emmys actually brought sarah on to perform "i will remember you" over the "in memorial" was like yelling at the audience, "cry, bitch!" okay ... on to the winners.
i really liked how the show was divided by category this year. it made it easier to follow and keep track of who won what. plus, it allowed me to zone out during the reality awards. comedy came first and kristin chenowith started off the night's surprises by taking home the "best supporting actress" nod for her work as olive on pushing daisies. i love when defunct shows get credit for their amazing work; networks kill off shows with loyal audience and keep around shows with target demographics, even if they pull in the same numbers, which really annoys and confuses me. i understand it's about money, but i love pushing daisies. had samantha who?'s christina applegate taken home the award for "best actress," all of my abc redemption would have been taken care of. sadly, toni collette made an upset in that category for united states of tara. while i do love that show, i would never have expected toni to get the statue. i was for sure tina fey, who took home "best guest actress in a comedy series" for her sarah palin parodies on snl, would be repeating her win from last year. jon cryer continued the comedy award upsets by nabbing the "best supporting actor in a comedy series" for two and a half men. cryer, and everyone else, seemed completely surprised by the win. at least i'm assuming he wasn't expecting to win because he was dressed like a bumble bee. alec baldwin took home the only unsurprising win for "best actor" for 30 rock. justin timberlake finished out the comedy awards for his guest host gig on snl, which was announced last weekend on the creative arts emmys. surprisingly, jt didn't win for the music category, in which he was nominated for two separate events - "motherlover" from snl and his opening number from his espys hosting gig.
the reality category was next and i just kind of watched unenthusiastically. i feel like the emmys is so predictable and never budges from their choices, always picking jeff probst for host and theamazing race for show. whoop-de-doo.
grey gardens made a virtual sweep of the miniseries category, taking home the two biggest awards - best actress and best movie. the only disappointing part of this category was that jessica lange and drew barrymore had to be nominated against each other. the movie was much more about drew barrymore's "little edie" and i would have put jessica lange's "big edie" in the supporting category. if that had been the case, i know both of them would have taken home statues. sadly, lange beat out barrymore for her dead-on recreation of the beale matriarch. drew's performance in the movie is really good, but just enough off from the real deal to make jessica the better player.
the biggest category - drama - was the least surprising of all. while the show isn't all that popular, brian cranston took home the "best actor" statue for a second year in a row for breaking bad. glenn close helped to recreate last years acting awards by taking home the "best actress" once again for damages. this second year sweep continues the theme of cable shows eclipsing the world of broadcast tv. hopefully next year the academy will wise up and include some of the shows people actually have been watching - like true blood, which was completely shut out - in the future. cherry jones, a broadway vet, surprised the audience by taking home the award for "best supporting actress" for her role as 24's president. and, in another shocker, michael emerson was named "best supporting actor" for his creepy work on lost, a show that has definitely lost momentum and that is entering its final season later this year. the "guest actor" awards went to ellen burstyn for her role on law and order: svu and michael j. fox for his turn on rescue me. almost all the guest actress noms were from svu, which i found surprising. are there no other shows that allow for good performances? my guess is that it doesn't deal as much with the material as it does with the names the shows get. the guest actor/actress categories are always big stars.
in the final awards of the night, 30 rock and mad men took home the best show trophies. both of these shows deserve it and it's nice to see a balance of cable and broadcast. i'm glad 30 rock keeps winning emmys because i'm not sure it would stay on the air otherwise. it's really surprising that the show has never picked up momentum, as it has won emmys for every season its been on the air and is one of the few sitcoms on tv currently that is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. with these two shows taking home the awards, the program ended on time, which is always a nice surprise.
check back tomorrow for videos from the broadcast and more news.
last night, chelsea handler's e! late night show, chelsea lately, got its biggest guest even when jennifer aniston stopped by to talk up her new movie, love happens. either this movie is really good or really bad because jen and costar aaron eckhart have been on a crazy promotional tour for it. the movie, which comes out today, focuses on a self-help expert (eckhart) who learns he hasn't really been following his own advice when he meets a woman (aniston) at his own seminar ... and it's a romantic dramedy. the interview focuses more on chelsea, surprisingly, and is mainly her cracking jokes about her family and life in new jersey, which you can read all about in her two books. the only thing jennifer could really say about the movie was that it's a "good" movie. well that's descriptive. still, it's a fun interview to waste 8 minutes with. watch it below.
i don't really have a story today/time to do a full blown blog, but here are some tiny bits from today. first, kris allen - this year's american idol champ - has been in the recording studio lately and a sneak peak of his alleged first single has hit the web. it's very jason mraz-ish, with a combo soft rock/spoken word/singer-songwriter feel. check it out below.
and in happy family news, katherine heigl and hubby josh kelly have brought their adopted daughter, names nancy leigh/naliegh and released these family photos today. don't they look like a happy little family?
miley cyrus kicked off her "wonderworld" concert tour, featuring her brother's band metro station, last night in portland and she definitely brought it. stepping out of the disney bubble-gum pop concerts of her past, miley is really taking being a performer seriously, which is nice to see. people pay a lot of money to see these shows and if all you do is some pre-packaged choreography and stand at a mic stand, they're going to be disappointed. the video above is miley's performance of "fly on the wall," which comes somewhere in the middle of her set. the performance is really well choreographed - there doesn't appear to be any hesitation or confusion on stage (though i can't say the costumes are all that great - they look like they may have come from cyrus's walmart line). the only thing that annoyed me was miley constantly doing the "kristen stewart," pushing her hair back compulsively. if it's such a problem, tie is back or cut it off. half of it isn't even growing out of your head anyway. other than that, miley's performance is superstar worthy and reinforces why she was selected as one of vh1's divas (which airs tomorrow night). halfway through the "fly on the wall," miley magically flies into the air. to the concert-goer, it probably wasn't all that obvious that some of her dancers/stage-crew were attaching her to a harness so it's quite the concert trick. if this is what miley does during all of her performances, which i haven't watched but are viewable here, then the wonderworld tour is a definite must see. at the end of "fly on the wall," miley and her team pay tribute to michael jackson in a small section of the "thriller" choreography. check the tribute out around the 4:00 minute mark.
for the past two days, kate gosselin has filled in for elisabeth hasselbeck while she takes maternity-leave from the view. and, now, it looks like that small taste of talk show hosting may be parlaying itself into a full-time job. according to e! online, telepictures - the studio behind daytime powerhouses ellen and tyra - is in talks with the mom of 8 to develop her own talk show. kate's done a pretty good job as a co-host on the view, easily tossing questions at big names like victoria beckham and taylor swift while holding her own in the hot topics segment of the chat-fest. kate hasn't held anything back, even bringing up her on-going divorce battle when chatting with victoria beckham, a sign that she's honest with viewers. according to e!, the telepictures show would pair kate with - wait for it - paula deen. yep, the queen of butter and fried food and the organic-loving kate would go helm the new series that would be focused on life as a mom. hopefully, it wouldn't just be an hour of parenting tips and tricks, but rather a traditional daytime show that's directed towards mom. additional casting is reportedly underway for more moms to join paula and kate, but i'm not sure they need it. unless they can get a real name - like a kimora lee simmons or brooke burke - who would draw some un-targeted group, another host is useless. besides, the chat format works best with just 2 people. look at regis and kathie lee/kelly rippa. it's a loosely structured daytime staple where people aren't talking over each other (like the view) and where you don't feel like you're watching the news (i.e. today/gma) or being taught a lesson (dr. phil, the new dr.oz show). hopefully this show works out because it would be huge - who doesn't want to see two of cable's biggest personalities talking for an hour each day. both deen and gosselin are already all over tv in reruns, why not have something new to watch? check out a sample of kate on the view interviewing taylor swift - she talks all about that little kanye incident - and debuts a brand new hairstyle. apparently the glamsquad at the view talked kate into going a little less severe in the 'do department and i'd say they worked some magic.
taylor swift doesn't care about black people. okay, that's not true, but that's all i could think of last night when kanye west rushed the vma stage during taylor swift's acceptance speech for "female video of the year." if you didn't get a chance to see the moment, here it is.
taylor looked dumbfounded and beyonce looked mortified. way to go, kanye. way to go. kanye and his lady friend, amber rose, were escorted out of radio city music hall soon after the debacle, but that didn't stop from people booing kanye anytime his name was mentioned for the rest of the show. this morning, pink popped up on the today show and got a chance to talk about her thoughts on the whole situation, managing to call kanye a toolbox in the process. here's the video.
i liked pink before, but now i like her even better. pink was able to rock radio city last night do, doing a crazy cirque du solei style take on her hit "sober." after this, i don't want to see any star lip sync because if pink can fling her body around in the air while singing live, britney spears should be able to, too. she's just doing a little choreography. pink was risking her life.
pink wasn't the only star to perform or stand up for miss swift, either. beyonce took the stage to perform the routine from "video of the year" hit "single ladies."
my only complaint with the performance is that beyonce chose the closest tone-deaf girl in the audience for the audience participation portion. or should i say sasha fiece chose the girl? i don't know. anyway, over all the performance was ridiculous but some more effects - like in the solo in the beginning - would have been cooler to watch. plus, the back-up track was kind of annoying when beyonce decided to just focus on choreography and not at least pretend to sing. we've all seen the routine umm...i don't know? umpteen times. mix it up and sing! or add some new steps, please. i wonder if she's tired of this choreography yet. i know i would be. when "single ladies" took home the night's top moon man, beyonce was the ever-gracious recipient and gave up her speech time to give taylor her vma moment.
that really is a once-in-a-lifetime, first time experience and beyonce gave taylor exactly what she needed and deserved. if you didn't like beyonce before, you most definitely do now. though, taylor's speech 2.0 really didn't add anything to what she got to say the first time, so it was kind of a lost moment. kanye attempted to apologize for what he did on his official blog by saying he didn't mean to take the attention away from taylor, but was just trying to give credit to the appropriate artist...um, that's the same thing kanye. he also proceded to remind up that when he won his moon man, he gave it away to outkast because they deserved it over him. dear kanye, what you think is right is not necessarily the popular outcome. people have opinions. this is a viewers choice award...you should have voted for beyonce if you really wanted her to win. people most likely chose taylor - and britney spears in the "pop video" category - over beyonce because they knew they were voting for her to take home the top prize. duh.
okay, the other memorable person from last night was lady gaga. she is one crazy artist. not only did she dress up as little bunny foofoo, an eskimo and some crazy pile of bloody lace, but she took to the stage to perform a "poker face"/"paparazzi" medly that was more performance art than performance. if you haven't seen this yet, i recommend not watching if you're squeemish. one word: blood.
if this is any indicator of what a lady gaga concert is like, i don't know that i ever want to go to one. gaga took home the award for "best new artist," which is deserved because she was bigger than anyone else nominated, but that performance made me very uncomfortable.
the show had two michael jackson moments. the first was the opening number, which was introduced by madonna in her fake british accent. while madonna was looking good for being 50+, her monotone delivery was anything but entertaining. i know she's the queen of pop and all, but she didn't really seem to know michael, other than one meeting where she told him he looked like a limo with sunglasses on and then proceeded to make the entire audience uncomfortable by saying that her 4 year old son likes to grab his crotch. the michael jackson tribute was very tastefully done and didn't make me want to shoot myself, which is surprising because everything else michael jackson has been getting on my nerves. michael's sister janet performed alongside her brother (digitally, of course) one last time to their duet "scream." while the performance was awesome, janet seemed like she was trying to imitate her late brother's voice rather than just perform. check it out below.
janet's performance made me realize that i actually do like when she performs, we just haven't seen her do it since that little superbowl debacle. do people actually remember that? is it still stopping her from performing on tv? something to look in to...
the show closed with a preview of michael jackson's final memorial, the concert movie compiled from rehearsals for the this is it tour. the movie, which comes out next month, is sure to do well, but i'm thinking it will be really creepy to watch. all the recorded performances are audience-less, meaning each number will end with silence and not a roaring applause like a typical concert film would. can you say creepy?
and that's about it, folks. the whole show is viewable on mtv.com on-demand, so you can watch each piece individually and don't have to sit through all the lame acceptance speeches. russel brand was definitely not as big of a hit this year as he was last year - he looked like he accidentally wore a jonas brothers' reject suit - and all of his jokes bombed. they were all about having sex with random performers who didn't seem in on it. hopefully mtv will mix it up next year and find some new talent? yes, please. make sure to check out taylor swift's performance of "you belong with me," below, too. she didn't seem to let the whole kanye incident phase her, but i was kind of unimpressed. pre-recorded bits are fun and all, but an on-stage performance is way more entertaining. i still am waiting for her to top this performance of "should've said no," which is probably my favorite live performance ever at an awards show.
last night the "schmemmies," otherwise known as the creative arts emmys, were held in los angeles. this show is where all the awards not really cool or noteworthy enough to make it into the official telecast - airing next sunday, the 20th, on cbs - are handed out. this year, the show was hosted by 2-time emmy award winner kathy griffin (i'm currently reading her memoir, official book club selection, and it's hi-larious) and some big names actually showed up. kathy didn't actually pick up a 3rd statue this year for my life on the d-list (that honor went to a&e's intervention), but she did get to rub elbows with tina fey, justin timberlake, michael j fox ... and the list goes on (sort of). tina fey picked up her first emmy of the year (she's sure to add a whole lot more come next weekend as 30 rock has the most noms) for her guest work on saturday night live as sarah palin while justin timberlake was the first snl guest host to ever take home the coveted "guest actor in a comedy series" trophy. this is jt's second snl emmy, as he won last year for his collaboration with andy samberg on "dick in a box." michael j. fox took home the award for "guest actor in a drama series" for his guest stint in rescue me and ellen burnstyn took home the female trophy for her work on law and order: svu. in a sure-to-be rub-in-miley cyrus's face moment, the cast of wizards of waverly place took home the trophy for "children's program." selena gomez & co. was up against number one shows icarly and hannah montana so their win was surprising on a ratings stand-point, but not necessarily a quality standpoint. plus, an emmy is a great way to secure another season for your show. the full show will air (edited, of course) on e! september 18th at 1 p.m.
don't forget that mtv's music video awards starts tonight at 9/8c - tune in to see some sure-to-be great performances and just take in all the awkwardness that is russell brand's hosting style.
here's the song that started it all for taylor swift: "i'm every woman." yep, the chaka khan classic was the song that reportedly secured ms. swift the record deal that made her the biggest artist currently. this "i'm every woman" is a rare demo track swift recorded years ago as part of her music star - in - training life and i'd say it paid off. the song is a disco-country fusion, something that no one has ever really heard before; i'd say that this ingenuity probably helped secure taylor a record deal. not many artists could take two completely different genres and make them into a ready for radio number. maybe taylor will included this leaked track as part of her fearless album re-releases, coming to stores later this month with new tracks and remixes of the singles off the original cd.
here it is, twihards
a new new moon trailer premiered last night before screenings of audrina patridge's big screen debut sorority row and it's way more packed than the first one released before last month's bandslam, which was really just a taylor lautner interview about his character in the sequel. this trailer actually tells you what the movie is about. it looks like summit entertainment is really trying to play down the whole edward not really being involved in this outing, except for a the beginning and end by putting robert pattinson in the trailer as much as possible. it looks like almost every single one of r patt's scenes is packed into the trailer, which will probably be a let down for some die-hard twilighters. check out the trailer above. it looks like kristen stewart didn't work on her acting skills at all and it still just kind of stuttering through her words. oh well, i guess she's staying true to the character she created in the first film.
here are two different music videos for miley cyrus's latest single, "when i look at you." while the title is very similar to whitney houston's current song "i look to you," they're quite different songs. "when i look to you" is the lead song off the last song's soundtrack, the nicholas sparks film that miley recently wrapped and that will be released in april of next year. now, technically, i don't think we were supposed to see either of these music videos until at least next february, but here they are - watch them while they're up. the second video features small clips from the movie, if you want to get a feel for what it'll look like. the novel the last song was released this week in stores, too, so now you can get the look of each of the characters while you read.
kathy griffin turned up on jimmy kimmel last night to talk up her recently released memoir, official book club selection, and brought with her what is sure to be the latest video to go viral. in a pre-taped sketch, kathy gets her lifetime on by playing kate gosselin in a faux made-for-tv movie, kate is enough: the kate gosselin story. check out the fake promo for the movie above and have a laugh.
idol's biggest news...ever
american idol just got a whole lot funnier. yesterday, ellen degeneres and fox announced that the spunky talk-show host/comedian would be taking over the fourth chair for the 9th installment of the series. ellen reportedly signed a 5-year deal with the talent competition. while many people thought this was initially a joke, they're dead wrong. once idol is done with auditions, ellen will be taking the permanent position over from guest judges like victoria beckham, kelly clarkson, katy perry, and joe jonas. in the vid above, ellen talks about how she's loved the show since day 1 and will go into judging in the mindset of a consumer, not a record executive. finally, someone who won't say things like "artistry" and "pitchy!" this is the biggest get idol could have gotten; people weren't going to tune in to see diana ross or some other performer who should be taking the retirement stage in vegas. the show needed a new punch, and degeneres is perfect. ellen will continue to host her daily talk show, which is sure to be the go-to spot for idol-exit interviews. i wonder how ryan feels about this - e! news won't be the only place with an official idol hook-up anymore. when paula announced she was leaving, i questioned whether or not i would really be interested in watching the next season. now, with ellen on board, i definitely will check it out. now if only randy jackson could either learn some new words or leave the show, too. that would be great.
two of hollywood's big names broke big baby news today. former simple life star nicole richie gave birth early this morning in los angeles, according to her blog. ritchie popped out a baby boy, her second child with longtime love joel madden - their first is 1-year-old daughter harlow winter kate - whom they named (wait for it) sparrow james midnight madden. why these children need 4 names i don't know. but at least the kiddos will be unique? my guess is that this little boy will probably wind up going by james when he's older, because sparrow and midnight aren't exactly "adult" names. sparrow weighed in at a whopping 7 lbs, 17 oz ... now, for the unexpected baby news. grey's anatomy is adding another momma to the mix. katherine heigl recently hosted a baby shower for costar ellen pompeo and, apparently, she was bitten by the baby bug. heigl and musician husband josh kelley have decided to adopt a baby girl from korea, according to radar online. heigl and kelley have reportedly been working towards the adoption for 6 months now; their soon to be daughter, named nayleigh, was born 10 months ago. radar's source says the couple plans to nickname their baby girl leigh. heigl is no stranger to adoption as she has an older sister, meg, who was adopted from asia. way to carry on a great tradition. this baby news helps to explain why katherine heigl recently quit smoking, another plus.
so any story i would have wanted to talk about today wound up being complete fabrications. the biggest rumor of the day - which i still hope is true - was that kristin wiig would be taking amy poehler's old rolly chair at the "weekend update desk" on saturday night live come this month's season premiere. but, according to an insider at entertainment weekly, kristin joining the fake news is just that: fake. boo. i'm hoping that the insider is either lying or trying to cover up the fact that kristin is taking the position and we'll all be "surprised" when she pops up on the 26th. i don't know how i feel about a full season of seth myers making jokes that aren't that funny all alone; "weekend update" got so much better when colin quinn left snl and tina fey and jimmy fallon took over as co-anchors. the segment began as a co-hosted sketch with one female and one male anchor and that's the way it should be. i understand that the head writer gets one of the slots - seth meyer - but that shouldn't mean they're the only slot. that's just boring ... the other story was that rosie o'donnell and star jones were teaming up for a reality show that would meld the concepts of oprah's cross country road-trip and the simple life. the duo has reportedly put aside their issue - they've long feuded (rosie called star out on her "natural" weight loss), but have apparently bonded after both serving tenure under barbara walters at the view. too bad any indication that this story was true was stripped off intouch and us weekly's web sites, the two publications who had reported the story.
britney spears did something she never does at her show in north carolina last night: she sang live. the princess of pop added a new number to her best-selling circus tour, a cover of alanis morrisette's "you oughta know." check out the video above to hear brit brit's rendition of the moody rock-ballad, which is surprisingly entertaining. one of my favorite things is when artists go out of their comfort zones and perform something unexpected. we almost never see pop stars doing covers of indie hits, but rather acts like alanis covering pop tunes, like the black eyed peas' "my humps." i think it would be an interesting idea if britney decided to do an album of covers, featuring songs that she likes but we'd never know she did. britney is on the second leg of her circus tour in north america and will be done traveling the world in november. that means that, by this time next year, we should have some new britney material to entertain us on the radio.
it's been over a year since leona lewis broke into the international music scene with her single "bleeding love" and now the most successful x-factor winner is back with a new single, "happy," off her sophomore disc, echo. i was starting to get worried that leona was going to be a one-hit wonder stateside after her second single off her first record, spirit, didn't get radio play. but, now that i've heard "happy," i'm pretty sure leona is here to stay. the song is very much-so in the vain of "bleeding love" - most likely because "happy" re-teamed lewis with the creative force behind "bleeding love," one republic's ryan tedder. it's really catchy and is already stuck in my head after just two listens - so, you've been warned. check out the song in the video above and hear for yourself. the one thing that troubles me is that leona is very much in the real of celine dion, whitney houston, and 90s mariah; that era of music is kind of dead and gone. to really become a pop force, leona is going to have to release something super-upbeat. i hope, for her sake, that she has a track that could compete with kelly clarkson or even miley cyrus on the radio today. because, i don't want her to end up like mariah carey, who really doesn't seem to understand what her career or musical focus is anymore, or like whitney, who has a top selling album right now, but isn't really getting radio play. leona will most likely debut "happy" as part of her vh1 divas performance on september 17th. jordin sparks recently joined the divas showcase, which will also feature adele, miley cyrus, and kelly clarkson. the fact that they booked miley over taylor swift is crazy to me, because taylor easily could have pulled in the young audience just as well as cyrus. paula abdul is set to mc the evening, so i'll be tuning in just to see how much she slurs.
saturday night live will be just a little less funny when the new season premieres september 26th. two of the comedy staple's newest editions - casey wilson and michaela watkins - have been let go by head honcho lorne michaels. wilson was brought in at the end of the season before last in a last ditch effort to replace maya rudolph who exited the show unexpectedly. i never really got used to casey and she never got any of her own characters (or, if she did, they didn't take off because i can't recall any of them). plus casey will fare just fine in hollywood - she's already an accredited screen writer, having written january's bride wars and worked on julie & julia. watkins was brought in last season alongside abby elliott to give the show an even larger female comedic force, mostly because amy poehler exited the series half-way through the season in order to have her baby and start production on one of the lamest sitcoms on the air right now, parks and recreation. watkins was the only new cast member who really got to do a lot and it looked like she would be with the series for a long, long time. the fact that she was kicked to the curb is really surprising to me and almost disheartening. in an interview with entertainment weekly, michaela says the firing was unexpected and came with little explanation. the silver lining in her being axed was a backhanded complement lorne michaels gave to her - basically, lorne said he believed michaela was too talented to be stuck in the snl routine and should really have her own show, not be a secondary player on his. while that's all well and good, aren't a lot of snl's power players good enough for their own shows? that's why tina fey and amy poehler have sitcoms on the peacock network. i know i'll miss watkins later this month when the show launches its 35th season, especially if that means the 4th hour today show/kathie lee and hoda skit has died and gone to the big sketch show in the sky. check out one of michaela's funnier today show skits above. lorne has hired two new female players to take wilson and watkins places - jenny slate and nasim pedrad - but we have to wait and see if they're anywhere near as funny. from googling nasim, she could easily take on hoda kotb, but it just won't be the same. plus, i find it hard to believe its so hard to find a black comedian who could really fill the void left by maya rudolph for things like a michelle obama impression or even hoda kotb. hopefully they'll find some way to get the show back to its maya-amy-kristin glory of just a few years ago; and, if kristin wiig ever exits the show, i might not even have a reason to tune in anymore. the 35th season kicks off with host megan fox and musical guest u2.
the hills comes back to your tv screens september 29th and, as we all know, it has a whole new look. above is the preview for the 6th season of the mtv show, most likely in its final season. kristin cavallari takes the spotlight from lauren conrad, just like she did in the laguna beach era. the trailer is entertaining and all, but the thing i don't understand about this whole switcheroo is how mtv thinks its audience is stupid enough to still believe they're watching reality tv. in no real world (no pun intended) situation can a group of friends pretend like the friend they've had for 5+years just doesn't exist anyone. from the selected clips, it appears as if lauren conrad moved away or died. however, she still lives in the same city and even rooms with lo bosworth, who for some inexplicable reason is still a part of the show. and the introduction of a girl whose tie to the group are that she was frenemies with the former protagonist and dated brody jenner for a split second just aren't enough of an explanation for me. i guess now that mtv has started a scripted series department, which is developing a teen wolf update and a teen knock-off of hbo's hung, they feel all their shows should be completely scripted. they just need to admit it.
no, katherine heigl's izzie stevens won't be headed to the hospital in the sky like tr knight's george o'malley, but we will be seeing significantly less of the grey's anatomy doc this upcoming season. as part of her burgeoning film career, katherine heigl has requested a leave of absence from the show in order to film life as we know it, a romantic comedy she is also producing alongside her mother. katherine will be mia for 5 episodes this season, entertainment weekly reports, which will probably coincide with meredith's exit, aka ellen pompeo's maternity leave. that means grey's will be both izzie and meredith-less half-way through the season. this is the first time that katherine heigl's movie schedule has directly impacted filming on the show that gave her a career, the first in what is sure to be a number of signs that she will leave the show permanently sooner rather than later. how will two major character absences be explained? e! reports that seattle grace will be merging with cross-town rival mercy west this season, meaning the hospital will be double the size and with double the drama. as part of the merger, the staff has to be downsized - and izzie is the first casualty. yep, dr. stevens is getting fired. the hospital merging chaos is also the background for meredith's disappearance; rather than getting fired, she'll simply fade into the background as some of mercy west's doctors take the forefront. three new faces we'll be seeing are robert baker, jesse williams and nora zehetner, pictured below.
but, don't worry - you won't be completely meredith-less during that time period. taking a cue from the hills, ellen pompeo is recording meredith footage that can be used throughout the episodes where she's not a major player, much like lauren conrad filmed reaction shots for various scenarios before her mtv contract was up. plus, the introduction of these new characters is a move by the producers to recreate er-like success, keeping new faces coming so that in a few seasons they'll be familiar, even if the entire original cast is gone. there are also rumors that patrick dempsey's mcdreamy will go missing when meredith and izzie return in order for him to film a movie. welcome to the new grey's anatomy. hopefully this season will be a good test for the behind the scenes crew to figure out the future of the show. because, if they don't, grey's is sure to take a nose-dive.
though lindsay lohan likes to remind the public that she's super involved with many different projects, none of them have really surfaced. and, the one ones that have - her spray tan and leggings lines - aren't all that successful. so, what is ll to do? in addition to her recently acquired role in robert rodriguez's machete, lindsay is seriously considering taking it all off for america's most prestigious nudie mag, playboy, according to popcrunch. lindsay has reportedly turned down offers from hugh hefner in the past which have allegedly been around half a million dollars. i guess around the time of the last offer linds wasn't as strapped for cash. her home was recently burglarized, with her valuables safe having been lifted from the house. so, with an offer of $900,000 on the table, why wouldn't lindsay not jump at the opportunity. in the wake of celebs like kim kardashian, aubrey o'day, and heidi montag posing for the mag in semi-nude/covered spreads, lindsay could probably negotiate a similar deal. but, it's not like this would be ll's first foray into full frontal. last year, linds recreated marilyn monroe's famous "last sitting" topless photo spread for new york magazine. because marilyn is one of ll's idols, what better way than to pose for playboy; marilyn was, of course, the first centerfold for the mag. lindsay is supposedly working on a reality show, as well, that would focus on her re-ascending the hollywood ladder. and, like all celeb reality shows do, aim to show us that lindsay really is just a normal, everyday american girl trying to make her dreams come true in the big bad hollywood machine. wah wah wah.
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