January 15, 2009

Nominees of the 2009 Orange British Academy Film Awards a.k.a. BAFTA Awards have been announced on Thursday, January 15. Through the announcement, it has been revealed that "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" have dominated the awards as they each collected eleven counts, including nomination for Best Film.

Beside Best Film, "Slumdog" was also up for Outstanding British Film, Best Director, Leading Actor for Dev Patel and Supporting Actress for Freida Pinto amongst other categories. Meanwhile, the nominations for "Benjamin Button" included Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for Brad Pitt.

After much hype on the first day audition in Phoenix, Arizona, "American Idol" went mild in the second day, January 14. Held in previous season's champ David Cook's hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, the audition produced a total number of 27 golden tickets but the segment lacked the 'oomph' that the first delivered with its bikini girl stunt and Ryan Seacrest's attempt to high five a blind contestant.

One of the hits that was considerably an extra gas for the episode would be the presence of last season's finalist Jason Castro, who was there in support of his pink-haired brother, Michael Castro. The younger Castro claimed that he only started singing 20 days before the audition. Simon called his rendition of Gavin DeGraw's "In Love With a Girl", "goodish" while Kara DioGuardi said that she likes him. He went through to the Hollywood round.

Entertainment Weekly (EW) has previewed an exclusive sneak peek at "Motherhood". Less than a minute long, the video features the scene in which Minnie Driver's character confronts Uma Thurman's for telling others about her most personal and private experience.

Obviously upset, Driver pours her anger over the phone across the street of what seems to be Thurman's apartment and doesn't even bother to come in to the building. When Thurman argues that she thinks Driver's experience is something that every single mom could relate, Driver gets even annoyed, claiming that she doesn't want everyone to feel sorry for her and that she's a grown up. The clip can be seen via EW.

The death of Jenny in the sixth season of "The L Word" will not only serve as one of the story lines of the series but it will most likely also be the beginning for the spin-off's. In a press conference for the show, Showtime president Robert Greenblatt revealed that Alice who will go center stage in the spin-off, will be heading to prison.

The best guess is, Alice got convicted related to the murder of Jenny. But Leisha Hailey who portrays Alice, believes that she is actually innocent in the case. "That's where I stand. I was a wide-eyed, scared victim. I was walking through this brand new world that obviously I was going to be staying in for a very long time. It's going to be a lot about how I fit in," she said.

Rihanna has become the latest recording artist having her portrait transformed into an artwork for the upcoming 51st Grammy Awards. Pictured from above the neck line, the Grammy ad of the 20-year-old, which came from Spinner, was made from all of the selected song titles that inspired the "Disturbia" songstress.

As she is so inspired by Destiny's Child, Rihanna's selections included at least five of group's tracks; "Say My Name", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Survivor", "Independent Women" and "Lose My Breath". Beside tracks from the all-girl group led by Beyonce Knowles, songs from Prince, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion have also made her cut.

An actress and singer, who is idolized by many teenagers, Selena Gomez admits she is insecure about her ears. To Twist Magazine she reveals, "My biggest insecurity has always been my ears. Even when I had my hair pulled back, I never let my ears show. I don't know why, it's so weird. My hair stylist even knew to cover them up!"

As time goes by, Selena then experiences a change of heart about her ears and decides to flaunt them. Recalling the day when she didn't cover up her ears while attending a big L.A. event recently, she says, "I think that I just needed to remember, and I think that everyone just needs to remember that you are who you are, that is what makes you, you!"

A sneak peek has been given by ABC for the second episode of "Lost" season five. Apt to the episode's title, "The Lie", the clip takes the scene when Oceanic Six gather on a boat trying to figure out how to explain the disappearance of the island. Hurley in particular is encouraging the others to help him convince others instead of lying.

"The Lie" will air back to back right after the season premiere episode "Because You Left" on January 21. In the episode, Hurley and Sayid are on the run from the cops after stumbling into trouble at the safehouse. The island survivors come under attack by unknown forces and an old friend offers some shocking advice to Kate in order to ensure that "the lie" remain a secret.

The Pussycat Dolls have given a sneak peek to their forthcoming video "Bottle Pop". Running for approximately 10 seconds, the video is employing the sexy and energetic dancing concept that the girls often do for their music video. It takes place in a grand theater where they dance on the stage and even climb on the balcony seat.

No premiere date is given yet other than "soon", but member Kimberly Wyatt wrote on her blog that the date will be January 16. Make up artist Troy Jensen via his blog said that the video is "everything that the song is - fun and sexy." The song itself is featuring Snoop Dogg, the same rapper who was featured on their hit song "Buttons". However, the video preview does not indicate the presence of Snoop.

In the next "CSI: NY", the team will fight the most vicious criminal and the coldest crime scene. They must investigate the death of a wrestling coach whose body parts are buried around the city. Together they must search every bit of the parts, and piece it together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Also, Detective Flack may be in trouble when a teenager who becomes a suspect dies while under his supervision. Called "Rush to Judgement", the episode will air January 21 on CBS.

Screenwriter Roberto Orci has talked about a couple of rumors circulating around "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". Sharing a few hints about the "Transformers" sequel to IGN, the co-creator of "Fringe" confirms previous speculation about Pretender and has an extremely short say about Ravage.

Though he doesn't exactly give out much on the details of the Pretender or confirm speculation that Alice is a Pretender, Orci insists that the Transformers hiding inside a human-shaped shell will indeed be seen in the sequel. "I'll give you an exclusive here," he gushes. "There is a Pretender. I'm going to get killed for saying that."

Jonas Brothers post a new message on their MySpace, inviting fans to join them in a live video chat this coming Sunday, January 18. The live video chat is part of the boys' FanFamily Experience.

Under the title "NEXT FANFAMILY EXPERIENCE - LIVE VIDEO CHAT!!!", Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas write, "Hey everyone! We had so much fun with our first FANFAMILY EXPERIENCE. We spent almost 5 hours commenting to all of our fans. It was awesome!" The threesome goes on stating, "OUR NEXT FANFAMILY EXPERIENCE is going to be THIS SUNDAY!!!! SUNDAY, JANUARY 18TH at 5 P.M. EST (EASTERN STANDARD TIME) JOIN US FOR OUR FIRST LIVE VIDEO CHAT IN ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF!!!"

Putting to rest the persistent mounting rumors claiming her marriage to Marc Anthony is on the rocks, Jennifer Lopez denies she and her singer husband are heading for divorce, insisting "Divorce is not - and was never - an option." She makes the denial in an exclusive interview with In Touch Weekly.

Speculations have been mounting that Lopez and Anthony's marriage is in trouble judging from the fact that they are rarely seen together. The songbird added fuel to the divorce rumors after being spotted not wearing her wedding ring while attending the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, January 11.

It has been reported by Rap-Up that Grammy-nominated singer The-Dream will push back "Love vs. Money" release date. If previously the effort was slated to hit the U.S. market on February 17, it will now only see the light of the day on March 3. There has been no reason thrown out for the two weeks delay.

The sophomore set has released at least two singles for promotion, "Let Me See the Booty" and "Rockin' That Thang". Another single where he collaborates with diva Mariah Carey titled "My Love" is planned to be released in the weeks to come. Its audio has been leaked and can be listened here.

Just released is a webclip of "One Tree Hill" that takes the scene of Lucas and Julian in episode "We Change, We Wait". Lucas and Julian are struggling to choose a director for their movie and when they are given six candidates, they don't feel the right chemistry. So they hold a meeting with the exec who told them to pick one and stop fussing.

James Van Der Beek will make a re-appearance in the show as Dixon, the director who took interest in helming Lucas' film. Also in the episode, Peyton has mixed feelings about a surprise gift from Lucas, and Brooke struggles with relationship issues.

Gearing up to the theatrical debut of "Friday the 13th", three brand new stills from the re-imagining of the Sean S. Cunningham's 1980 classic horror movie have been found. Posted by DVD-Forum, two of the pics highlight on the action of the hockey-masked slasher, Jason Voorhees, while the other one displays one of his screaming victims.

Taking the story to where it all started, "Friday the 13th" follows Clay whose search for missing sister leads him to the eerie woods of legendary Crystal Lake. Stumbling across the creaky remains of rotting old cabins, Clay goes against the advice and cautions of local police. With the help from a young woman he meets among the college kids who are there for the weekend, he pursues what few leads he has. But, they are about to find out the terror hidden under the bush as they enter the place haunted by the infamous killer with razor-sharp machete.

Silver screen hottie AnnaLynne McCord steams up GQ magazine's February 2009 issue by exposing her cleavage in a number of raunchy poses. Her semi-nude pictures for the men's publication are captured by photographer Marc Hom.

The four pics of McCord, featured on GQ's official site, show her posing in a dark colored knickers without her bra. She has both of her breasts covered with a matching top. She finishes off her look with a pair of heels.

It would be as much a Disney stars celebration as Barack Obama's inauguration concert on Monday, January 19. Two music videos from Miley Cyrus and Jonas Brothers each will be debuted on Disney Channel on the day, during the airing of "Kids' Inaugural: We Are The Future" special telecast that starts 8 P.M. ET/PT.

Miley will premiere her video for "Let's Get Crazy", a number which will also appear in her upcoming movie "Hannah Montana: The Movie". Featuring an introduction by Miley herself, the video premiere will also be attached with the official trailer of the movie.

A two-minute clip from "Push" has been unraveled. Taking its focus on one of the main characters, the video footage features the time Chris Evans' Nick Gant gets into deep trouble when he decides to confront Djimon Hounsou's Henry Carver in a Chinese restaurant.

Walking into the restaurant, Gant firstly uses his telekinetic power to lift up his two guns in the air. After he comes face-to-face with the Division agent, he slowly lowers the guns to take aim directly at the heads of Carver and his companion. But, things go wrong when Carver slaps the gun away and his quiet companion starts attacking Gant, forcing him to fight for his life.

Having no hesitation to make public her admiration for teen sensation Miley Cyrus, Aubrey O'Day openly admits in an interview with MTV News that she and her dog Ginger are obsessed with the Disney actress-singer that they "both sleep in her Pjs!" She, moreover, reveals that she also dresses Ginger in Miley's brand outfits.

Providing example of her revelation, the former member of all-girl group Danity Kane claims, "I bought a little Miley shirt from Target for her and I tied it up and put jewels, so that's her night wear." She continues, "And I have my PJs, so we love Miley. Miley's amazing!"

Grammy-winning singer John Mayer may have just scored himself a TV show. CBS Entertainment President, Nina Tassler, told reporters that a variety show presenting the "Say" singer is likely to be given a green light by the network for a premiere later this season.

Opening further on the concept of the show Tassler said, "It'll be a music variety sketch show, and it's being developed now. It was his idea; we didn't reach out to him." The plan is to have it presented as a special first and if it picks up the rate, then a full series order may be on the line.

Star-studded ensemble drama thriller from director Gregor Jordan, "The Informers", has just got an unrated trailer and a clip. While the unrated trailer was sent out by Senator Entertainment via MovieWeb, the short clip which features Mickey Rourke and the late Brad Renfro was previewed exclusively by Cinematical.

"The Informers" is based on Bret Easton Ellis' book of short stories published in 1994. Set in Los Angeles in 1983, it revolves around seven interconnected stories of movie executives, rock stars and other morally challenged characters as they mix and mingle in the course of a week. The story is said to be a flashback to the nihilistic world of Ellis' youth.

The list of music acts crowding this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees has been unveiled to include Metallica and Run DMC. Others slated to take the same honor in an April fourth ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall are guitarist Jeff Beck, singer-songwriter Bobby Womack and blues vocal group Little Anthony & The Imperials.

Metallica who had just released their top-selling album "Death Magnetic", said that they are delighted with the honor and credit those who had played with the band over the years including late bassist Cliff Burton and bassist Jason Newsted. "So all the work and effort that we put into our relationship back then has brought a lot of fruits of labor with that, on this album, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammys. So we're feeling good," guitarist James Hetfield told The Associated Press.

Lisa Marie Presley debuts the first pictures of her twin baby girls, Harper and Finley, on the newest issue of People magazine, which will go on sale on Friday, January 16. Giving the world its first glimpse of the infants, she also tells the weekly magazine the road that she had to go through to conceive them.

In one pic, featured on People's official site, Lisa is seen sitting on a chair and carrying Harper and Finley on both of her hands. She is photographed wearing soft-pink outfits and smiling to the camera. Her little girls also wear matching outfits.

A short promo to anticipate the return of "Supernatural" tonight (January 15) has been released by The CW. Titled "Freaking Out", the clip shows Dean (Jensen Ackles) literally freaking out by screaming, watched by his brother, Sam (Jared Padalecki) who is in awe.

After almost two months worth of break, the series will be back with an episode called "Family Remains". The Winchester brothers will deal with a woman spirit that haunts a just-moved in family through the walls and traps them in the house.

Two of Victoria Adams' Emporio Armani underwear ads have been unveiled. The black-and-white ads, shot by top notch fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, show the singer and mother of three sons modeling the brand's black and polka-dot bras.

Victoria Adams' recruitment to be the model of Emporio Armani underwear was confirmed in late October last year. "Who better than Victoria Beckham to launch our new global Emporio Armani underwear campaign," Giorgio Armani stated at that time. "Victoria is a style icon, a dynamic lady whose influence and recognition will add great excitement to the continued international growth of our Emporio Armani women's underwear business."

The spreading news about a "Gossip Girl" spin-off last year come to a fruition with the announcement of a prequel. Instead of yanking one character to focus more on his or her story, the show's writers, Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, decide to throw back the time to 1980s Los Angeles where Lily Rhoades aka Lily van der Woodsen, lives her teenage life.

On the reason why they don't pick the existing character and do it in the same town set, Savage explained to The Hollywood Reporter, "We didn't want to upset the chemistry of our cast - all of whom are crucial to the show. Nor did we want to dilute New York City as a character." The original series has been worked on and a backdoor pilot for the project has been ordered to be aired as a "Gossip Girl" episode of May 11.

"Iron Man 2" could find its female villain in Emily Blunt. According to Variety, the co-star of Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada" is the front-runner to play Tony Stark's female foe, Soviet superspy Natasha Romanoff a.k.a. Black Widow whose skintight black costume is enhanced by high-tech weaponry.

Blunt's casting rumor came days after Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell were reported to be in talks to portray the superhero's other nemeses, Crimson Dynamo and Justin Hammer respectively. However, director Jon Favreau and Marvel have yet to give any comments in relations to the possibility of the 25-year-old taking the Black Widow part in the "Iron Man" sequel.

Hip-hop artist Nas and his wife Kelis are expecting their first child together, US Weekly exclusively reports. The R 'n' B singer reportedly is in her first trimester and already shows a little bump.

"It's all they are talking about. She is carrying hip-hop royalty!" a source who breaks the news of Kelis' pregnancy tells the newest issue of US Weekly. "They are so excited."

Busta Rhymes is back on the scene with a T-Pain featuring song called "Husla's Anthem 09". The song is one of the tracks which will be included in his upcoming Universal Motown album "Back on My B.S." and is scheduled to be fourth single lifted from the effort after "Arab Money".

After failing to be released in 2007 and 2008, "Back on My B.S." is expected to be released on March 24 this year. It has been spawning singles since April last year including "We Made It" where he collaborates with alternative rock band Linkin Park. Other collaborators listed in the eight studio album are among others Estelle, Ron Browz, Akon, Lil Wayne, and Nicole Scherzinger.

Universal Pictures have debuted a new trailer for their upcoming action movie "Fast and Furious" via Yahoo! Movies. Filled with action sequences, the nearly two and a half minute video footage opens with a foot chase, exposing Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner leaps from one building to another in pursuit of a thug.

The pursuit ends up with O'Conner tackling the thug to the ground from stories high building. After the agent asks the thug of what he wants, the footage cuts to a scene where O'Conner walks into a building armed with his gun and finds Dom Toretto in one of the rooms. From then on, the action sequences involving the cars and explosions take over.

Newlyweds Stacy Ferguson and Josh Duhamel exclusively share many details of their ultra-private wedding, plus several pictures taken during the ceremony, to the latest issue of US Weekly. In addition to eight pages of stunning photos, the pair also gives the publication a peek on their wedding preparation.

"Fergie & Josh's Wedding Album," so read the headline that accompanies their cover shoot. "Official pics & interview, star-studded guest list, her 2 dresses, 25,000 flowers & 150 lb cake!, his wild & romantic gift."