June 23, 2008

Kanye West has decided to shout out his statement regarding recent feud between Soulja Boy and Ice-T. On his official blog page, Kanye wrote that despite he has nothing against Ice he fully backs and supports Soulja.

Answering Ice-T's statement that said Soulja killed hip-hop, Kanye said, "Soulja boy is fresh ass hell and is actually the true meaning of what hip hop is sposed to be. He came from the hood, made his own beats, made up a new saying, new sound and a new dance with one song." Also adding, "He had all of America rapping this summer. If that ain't Hip Hop then what is?".

In the '80s, the movie version of "Conan the Barbarian" has been brought to the big screen and has boosted the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, a newer version of the heroic character will be once again brought back to the theaters, but before it even falls into production, the movie appears to be facing some problems with news over its script re-writting surfacing.

Reportedly, the script to the Nu Image/Millennium Films' project is currently undertaking another round of re-scribbling. To do the job, screenwriters Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have been brought in. It has been said that the script has played a key factor for further decisions, including the signing of its director.

It seems that Amy Winehouse is taking the Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert as an important and prestigious event as despite her poor health condition she is still eager to play there. According to the latest news Amy decided to keep playing because she doesn't want to disappoint her fans and also Nelson Mandela himself.

In order to keep anything bad happens to her at the event, set to be held on June 27, reports said that a special St. Johns ambulance crew will be on stand by for her at the concert. Not only that, Amy's backstage area will also include a hospital suite with a massage bed and paramedics.

Gory horror film "Hostel" has had its sequel "Hostel: Part II" released back in the summer of 2007 and though still gaining profit from the screening, the second film was pretty much a disappointment. Hence, though there was a talk of third film prior to the release, it went silent after that. Still, that doesn't mean that is the end for "Hostel: Part III" since recently the talks on the matter resurfaced.

Latest report coming from the third movie project suggested that early talks for "Part III" have officially begun. And, the first confirmed story released stated that Eli Roth, the man behind the first two films won't return to either direct or write the script for the project. There is no word yet on whether he will return to still produce the film or not, or on whether the film will be released in theaters or straight to DVD.

Former Blue singer Lee Ryan is set to become a first time father. He has admitted to have impregnated a female fan of him and they are planning to get hitched.

Lee began dating a female fan, named Samantha Miller, 20, after she posted a number of saucy snaps of herself on his MySpace.com webpage. It was since that time that he has fallen head over heels for her. "He described the pictures as 'well hot,'" a friend told the Sunday Mirror, adding that the male singer immediately asked her out on a date.

It looks like Robbie Williams' fans won't be seeing the pop singer performing on the stage this year after the singer stated that he won't be touring anytime soon. According to reports, the British singer confirmed that news on his blog, stating, "The more time I'm spending away from public life, the more I like it. There definitely won't be a tour any time soon".

Moreover, on the blog the singer also wrote that he is planning to release a new album in 2009 and once again insisting that his fans won't be able to catch him on stage. "I might put the B-sides to the next album out first online. Then put an album out in 2009 which means you won't be seeing a lot of me on stage."

Fans have gotten their share of seeing Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson portraying their parts in the upcoming "The Spirit" through the character posters released earlier. Still, besides the two of them, there are other beauties taking parts in the adaptation movie, including Sarah Paulson and Jaime King. Now, fans can get a glimpse to the two latter actresses as Dr. Ellen Dolan and Lorelei Rox through the newly released character posters with a special feature included.

In support for the promotional campaign for the adaptation film, Yahoo Movies have presented fans with a full quintuplet poster set of "Spirit" femme fatales. And, to make things even more interesting, each of the posters has something to say based on the letters written on the girls' cheek, such as "Do I look like a good girl?" by Mendes as Sand Saref, "On your knees then..." by Johansson as Silken Floss, "Come to me...Lover." by King as Lorelei or "Keep the mask on..." by Paulson as Ellen Dolan. What fans need to do is to move the their mouse over each of the character poster and the lines will be spoken out loud for them.

Celine Dion's cover song has just been voted as the worst cover version sung by professional musicians according to a poll at Total Magazine. The song, that is being considered by the magazine as a "musical offense", was Celine's cover of legendary rockers AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long".

The pop diva's cover of AC/DC was never actually released as a single, but it was performed by Celine along with Anastacia at a gig in Las Vegas in 2002. Stating the reason that makes the singer's version of "You Shook Me All Night" is the worst ever, Total Guitar's editor, Stephen Lawson said, "The number one worst cover song -- Celine Dion covering AC/DC -- is sacrilege. The best covers are unlikely choices and they do something radical."

Was appointed as the official 2008 ambassador for the MTV "Staying Alive", the foundation works to empower young people to protect them against AIDS, Kelly Rowland is quick to give her new duty a kick off. The R&B singer makes use her star-power for good, took a public stand and had herself underwent an HIV and AIDS test in Africa last week.

Rowland arrived Thursday, June 19 at the Kenyatta Hospital in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, to get tested for the illness, which is rife in the Kenyan capital, in a bid to raise awareness of the deadly diseases among the country's young people particularly, and in an attempt to dissolve the stigma surrounding the illnesses specifically. She took the test alongside 22-year-old Kenyan John Ngugi, who admitted to be feeling grateful for having the test alongside the famous figure.

These two Hollywood actors, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, have cemented their names in Hollywood by delivering one high grossing action movie after another. One is known for his famous catch phrase "I'll be back" and the other popularized the front steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania internationally as the Rocky Steps. Still, throughout their yearly career, they never once share the same screen, but that's about to change.

In an article by Times Online, it is unveiled that the two sixty-something actors are going to work together in a high profile Bollywood movie by the name of "Incredible Love". The current Governor of California and the "Rocky" series star will be appearing alongside Indian stars, Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Apart from the rumor that they are joining the project, it is still unclear what part will each of them portraying in the Sajid Nadiadwala-produced feature film.

Hollywood hottest hunks, including Daniel Craig, Hugh Grant, and Robbie Coltrane, managed to raise 19,000 pound sterling or $38,000 for The National Film and Television School in London by selling their kisses at an auction, held on Tuesday night, June 17. Barbara Broccoli, the "Quantum of Solace" film producer, paid the staggering amount to lock lips with all the three men at the fundraising event.

The star-studded Great British Movie Event, moreover, also witnessed Craig and Grant bid against each other for an uncorrected proof of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, published in the U.K. as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, which the James Bond star won for 18,000 pound sterling or $36,000. Other items at the auction included a dinner jacket worn by Craig in "Casino Royale," which sold for $19,000.

Quirky and one of a kind are factors that make up Katy Perry, an aspiring singer hailing from California who has broken through the music chart with her "Ur So Gay" single. The 23-year-old inevitably will join the list of young musicians ready to take over the mainstream with her attitude and pop/rock sound.

Her major debut album, "One of the Boys" has just been released on June 17 via Capitol Records, boasting two strong singles "Ur So Gay" that has been named by Madonna as her favorite song and "I Kissed a Girl" which has been her fans' favorite. The latter single topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 2, only seconded by heavyweight Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" and even became the airplay gainer in its sixth week on the chart.

Though officially the 20th Century Fox have yet to expose much about their upcoming Japanese manga adaptation, "Dragonball", fans have gotten bits of clues about how the characters in real life will look like thanks to the scanning of two different Japanese magazines, Weekly Young Jump and Roadshow, earlier. Now, adding to the fans excitement, two on-set videos have also been leaked out.

The two videos display the shooting for the tournament fight scene between Chi-Chi, Goku's love interest portrayed by Jamie Chung and Mai, Piccolo's chief enforcer who is depicted by Eriko Tamura. Though they are pretty much blurry, fans can still see the battle between the two enemies. The two videos are extremely short with the running time less than 20 seconds. Both of them can be viewed below.

Channels her diverse inner creativity, pop singer-songwriter Michelle Branch is opening up a bakery in Nashville, Tennessee called The Sugar Bar. The songbird is teaming up with pastry chef Rebekka Seale to open the bakery, which she described as "an old-fashioned bakeshop and bar where you can go grab a drink after dinner and a slice of bourbon chocolate cake or summer berry pie."

Notwithstanding with its name, Branch makes sure the bakery will be as healthy as possible for customers. Seale, elsewhere, will use the website blog.thesugarbar.com to keep customers updated when it comes to the bakery's progress.

English rockers Coldplay have continued their domination on the music charts in U.K. after managing to take their single "Viva la Vida" topping the chart there on Sunday (June 22). The song's success followed their album's achievement that has also managed to top the British albums chart earlier this week.

Previously, the band's latest single has also topped the U.S. music chart after its digital sales reached about 246,000 in the past weekend. Moreover, in the States, the album itself reportedly will also lead the Billboard 200 chart next week after its first day sale reached 316, 000 mark and it is also being estimated to reach around 700,000 to 750,000 for its first week sale.

Just recently the sequel of hit action blockbuster "Transformers" received its elaborated title, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". But, before long, it has been noted that DreamWorks/Paramount have changed their mind about it and opted to drop the "2" in the title making the movie to be called merely "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen".

Reporting on the matter, the Transformers Live Action Movie Blog posted a message from Paramount's inside source requesting the taking out of the "2" from the movie's name. Part of the message read, "I handle the online publicity for Paramount / Dreamworks and I am working on the new Transformers film. Would you mind correcting your information on the site as the title of the film is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (please take out the 2)."

Pregnant actress Minnie Driver enjoyed a casual baby shower, held at a friend's home in Malibu on Saturday, June 21. There were nearly 40 guests invited to the event.

The party's color scheme, per People, was pink with the home was decorated with pink and white peonies. The guests enjoyed basil lemonade, finger sandwiches and berry cake from Sweet Lady Jane as part of the buffet, suggesting that Driver might be expecting a baby girl she has been longing for.

Leona Lewis' success with her debut album "Spirit", not only putting her name among the top musicians list this year but also has raised her fee charges. Latest report in England stated that Leona will be paid about $2 Million for any of her performances.

The news surfaced after a source told the British newspaper, The Daily Mirror, that Leona has been offered $2 Million to play at a small and private gig. Revealing the news to the tabloid, the source said, "Leona is one of the most sought after stars around. She has little say in the fee charges - big money sponsors literally name their fee and her management respond accordingly."

Last Friday on June 20, "Get Smart" and "The Love Guru", two new comedy movies starred by top Hollywood comedians started to battle it out in the theaters to gain box office glory, but as in any other competition one will come out victorious while the other can only watch. In this case, "Smart" starring Steve Carell outlaughed Mike Myers' "Guru" by far nailing the crowned spot and leaving "Guru" on the fourth place.

Winning the number one slot of the North American weekend box office, the spy spoof movie raked in an impressive $38.7 million from 3,911 theaters making it the second #1 summer movie adapted from a television show following "Sex and the City" and becoming the second biggest live-action comedy opener of 2008 after "SATC". It also brought biggest bow movie throughout the career of its main stars, Carell whose "Evan Almighty" topped last year chart with $31 million, Anne Hathaway whose "The Devil Wears Prada" debuted with $27.5 million and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson whose "The Game Plan" ruled the box office on its first weekend screening with nearly $23 million.

Already husband-and-wife after they tied the knot in Virginia earlier this month, Timbaland and Monique Idlett held a formal lavish wedding ceremony in Aruba on Sunday, June 22. An unidentified source confirmed the news to People magazine.

The publication, sad to say, obtained no other details on the wedding except that Missy Elliott and Timbaland's artist Keri Hilson were among the hundreds of guests. US Weekly, on the other hand, reported there were about 300 people invited into the wedding.

A brawl broke out at a Malibu beach on Saturday afternoon, June 21 when a group of local surfers attacked paparazzi who were snapping pics of actor Matthew McConaughey. There were reportedly 12 photographers on the beach in Malibu trying to get shots of the hunk as he was surfing with friends. The surfers asked the photogs to stop filming and taking pictures, but when that didn't happen, things got physical.

A 29-year-old paparazzo from Santa Monica who was trying to photograph McConaughey told police he was attacked by a mob of surfers who threw his camera in the ocean. The photojournalist told sheriff's deputies that a large group of surfers near Paradise Cove in Malibu approached him and other paparazzi at about 2 P.M. Saturday and demanded the group to stop taking pictures and filming.

After spawning "No Matter What" as the lead single from his upcoming LP "Paper Trail", now another single from T.I. has leaked. The new song that reportedly will also be one of the tracks on the new record is being titled "A Better Day".

Although the audio for the single has already streamed, it is still unclear whether the joint will be the second official song from the new album or not. Rumors claimed that the song that will be set as the official second outing from "Paper Trail" is "On Top of the World", which will also feature Kanye West.

This weekend ended on June 22 passed by not without any special occasions. In fact, it was marked with the theatrical debut of two awaited comedy movies, "Get Smart" and "The Love Guru", and of course with the memorable world premiere of Disney/Pixar's highly anticipated animation movie, "Wall-E".

On Saturday, June 21, evening, celebrities of all ages came pouring down to the Greek Theatre in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California to celebrate the special event. Personalities from the older generations, like Brad Garrett, Marlee Matlin, Cristian de la Fuente and Kristi Yamaguchi to the younger ones including David Archuleta, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse and other Disney stars, Adrienne Bailon, Brenda Song and Selena Gomez, all grazed the Earth-colored carpet and joined its first screening.

Amy Winehouse's body has taken its toll. Following her hospitalization early last week to undergo tests after fainting at her Camden home, her father has confirmed that his daughter has contracted a lung disease, emphysema, which is a progressive lung condition which ages the lung's prematurely and leaves sufferers struggling for breath.

In an interview published Sunday, June 22, Mitch Winehouse was quoted as telling The Sunday Mirror that his singer daughter has early stage emphysema and an irregular heartbeat. She, according him, has been warned that she will have to wear a permanent oxygen mask to survive unless she stops smoking drugs.