January 04, 2010

Spice Girls star Melanie C has found a handy use for her friendship with Victoria Adams - she often uses her former bandmate's name to land the best tables at top restaurants. The singer has failed to emulate her pal's international stardom following the break-up of the girl band, and often finds she's left out of celebrity hot spots.

But Chisholm has found that mentioning her pal will often get her extra service. She says, "I still can't always get a table in restaurants. Although I do have a trick up my sleeve. I always say Victoria is coming when I book. There's always a table free then."

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle has fought off competition from Lady GaGa and Beyonce Knowles to land the best-selling album of 2009 in the U.K. "I Dreamed a Dream" was only released in November 2009, but has already sold more than 1.5 million copies in Britain and has dominated the charts worldwide.

GaGa's debut "The Fame" was the second biggest seller, with Michael Buble's "Crazy Love" coming in third. "The E.N.D." by the Black Eyed Peas and Kings of Leon's "Only by the Night" rounded out the top five sellers in Britain in 2009. Beyonce was only in seventh place with "I Am...Sasha Fierce".

Mick Jagger's appearance on "The Simpsons" resulted in one of the show's most awkward moments. The rocker rudely ignored Hank Azaria as he thought the actor was a lowly assistant on the series.

The Rolling Stones star and his bandmate Keith Richards were animated for the hit show in 2002, and headed into the studio to record their lines for the episode. But Azaria, who voices a number of characters on the longrunning series, was shocked by Jagger's attitude.

British singer Robbie Williams has fueled speculation he's preparing to wed his girlfriend, just weeks after causing a media storm following a joke proposal on Australian radio. The "Angels" hitmaker asked partner Ayda Field to marry him during an interview on a Sydney radio station in November 2009, but later revealed the announcement was a hoax.

His mother Jan was adamant the proposal was real - forcing Williams to issue an official denial on his website. But the 35 year old cemented his commitment to Field over the Christmas 2009 period, proposing to her on Tuesday, December 29, according to Britain's The Sun newspaper.

"High School Musical" star Ashley Tisdale is making a foray into the producing world by signing a deal with RelaitivityReal, a branch company of Relativity Media. Under her production company Blondie Girl, Tisdale will "create, develop and exec produce new series for broadcast and cable networks."

According to RelativityReal CEO Tom Forman, Tisdale is "the very definition of a multitalented artist with unique insight into young demographics." Blondie Girl is actually her partnership with TV producer Jessica Horowitz which was developed two years ago. The production house takes the focus on family-friendly content where Tisdale also stars in.

Officials at a leading U.S. children's charity are outraged The Who has landed 2010 Super Bowl half-time show, because of Pete Townshend's 2003 arrest on suspicion of possessing child pornography. The rocker was cautioned by police for accessing a website linked to child pornography in 1999 as part of research for a book he was planning.

As a result of accepting the caution, Townshend was placed on Britain's Sex Offenders Register for five years - which has now been cleared from his record. But officials at Child AbuseWatch.net have slammed the decision to let the group play at the NFL showdown in Tampa Bay, Florida in February, 2010.

Jennifer Garner doubts she'll ever team up with her husband Ben Affleck on the big screen again - because the pairing could ruin their happy marriage. The couple first met on the set of "Daredevil, The Movie" in 2003 and reunited for its spin-off, "Elektra".

They began dating in 2004 and went on to wed in 2005. The stars have not worked together on a movie project since and Garner is not keen on the idea of taking directions from her spouse.

In October 2009, Kirsten Prout has confirmed her involvement in "The Twilight Saga's Eclipse" to take on the part of vampire Lucy. In a recent interview with IESB, the depicter of Abigail "Abby" Miller in 2005 "Elektra" has dished on her character in the third "Twilight" movie.

"Without revealing too much, Lucy is one of the vampires that turns Jasper, played by Jackson Rathbone. Jasper gets turned while he is an officer, and I'm one of the vampires that causes Jasper to be turned during his military career," the actress shared. "Lucy appears to be an innocent little victim, and then she turns into something a lot more sinister."

An old face is back into Nora's life and he takes a different approach. In the next "Brothers & Sisters", Dr. Simon Craig who swooned Nora with his charm and left with her money just before Justin and Rebecca's wedding, is knocking on her door one morning. However, Sarah finds something peculiar about him.

Meanwhile, Sarah's interest is piqued by a divorced dad at Paige's school and Justin finds the key to his learning challenges. Called "The Science Fair", the second episode of 2010 will air on January 10 with Jon Tenney reprising his role as Simon.

Nick Jonas and his band The Administration have kicked off their first tour on January 2 at Dallas' House of Blues. A number of songs ranging from fresh materials like "Who I Am" to cover versions of such hit singles as Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel" were delivered in front of screaming fans.

After finishing the gig, Nick wrote on Twitter, "Just got off stage! What a night! Thank you so much!" The Jonas Brothers' member who also played renditions of "Tonight" and "A Little Bit Longer" during the tour opener added, "Thanks for making this Christmas/New Years/ tour kickoff the best ever Texas."

Plan to make "Sherlock Holmes" sequel has been put under fire due to homosexual hints. According to several sites, the executors of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's literary estate have threatened to withdraw Guy Ritchie's rights to the Sherlock Holmes story if the director suggests that there is romantic relationship between the lead characters in his upcoming movie.

Recently, Robert Downey Jr. appeared in "Late Show with David Letterman" and hinted at a homo erotic subtext in the relationship between his detective character and Jude Law's Dr. Watson. During the interview, the 44-year-old let the audience to determine whether Holmes is "a very butch homosexual."

With Katherine Heigl and Ellen Pompeo taking maternity leave, "Grey's Anatomy" is looking forward to shift its focus on other characters. One way to fill in the gap is to promote secondary characters to the main, such in the case of Kim Raver.

Previously a recurring, Raver's Teddy Altman has been upped to be a regular starting the second half of season 6. Raver joined the medical drama at the beginning of the season as the cardiology expert who was brought in by Owen. Within two months of her presence at Seattle Grace, Teddy had created quite a stir between Owen and Cristina.

Jason Castro and his girlfriend Mandy Mayhall have tied the knot on Saturday, January 2 in the singer's hometown near Dallas and are currently enjoying their honeymoon. A day after the wedding, the "American Idol" alum took it to his Twitter page to announce the happy news, writing "Yesterday I married the girl of my dreams. It couldn't have been more perfect! Now, honeymoooon!!! :)"

Jason was engaged to Mandy in Norman on October 31, 2009 after they began dating in 2008. At that time, the twosome, who is said to have known each other since high school, dressed as the main characters from Disney's "Beauty and the Beast". Additionally, the 22-year-old got down on his knees when he proposed to her and presented her with a ring.

One more name is tossed into the "True Blood" bowl as one of the new characters in season 3. The casting directors have been looking for an actor to play a hot gay Latino named Jesus Velasquez and they have apparently found a match in Kevin Alejandro.

The 33-year-old actor will be a major character in the new season because Jesus is slated to be Lafayette's new love interest. Jesus is to take care of Ruby Jean Reynolds aka Lafayette's mother, who is played by award-winning actress Alfre Woodward, and becomes entangled in a relationship with him. No clue yet when he would start popping up on the show but THR said he would appear in almost every episode of the season.

When Girls Aloud decided to take temporary hiatus following the end of their "Out of Control" tour, Cheryl Cole launched a solo music career and entered the studio with Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am. Their joint track "3 Words", which is the title track of her debut album, peaked at No. 4 on U.K. Singles chart.

will.i.am does not only lend his vocal in "3 Words" single but also made contribution to "3 Words" album. Led by chart-topping single "Fight for This Love", the effort reached the No. 1 spot on U.K. Albums chart and was certified Platinum twice for denoting shipments of more than 600,000 units.

Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance" is the new favorite single in the U.K. - after 10 weeks in the chart. The track jumped two places to lead the rundown, knocking "The X Factor" winner Joe McElderry's cover of Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" from the number one spot.

The Black Eyed Peas' song "Meet Me Halfway" climbed to three. Meanwhile, "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha and "3 Words" by Cheryl Cole and will.i.am rounded out the top five singles.

Taylor Swift is apparently not being considered as the depicter of Supergirl. Following report that the country music singer was mentioned for the role of the female superhero, a spokesperson for DC Comics has dismissed it, stating "I'd love to know who the 'Hollywood insider' is, because that's as clueless a thing as I've heard all year."

In December 2009, various sites, including IOL and MTV U.K., reported that Hollywood producers were interested to tap Swift to play the title role in the upcoming "Supergirl" film. "A number of young stars are being mentioned for the title role in a 'Supergirl' movie and possible TV spin-off and Taylor is top of that list. She has all the right elements to be a positive role model to young girls," a Hollywood insider was quoted as saying.

Matthew Broderick fears for the future of theater, revealing struggling ticket sales are threatening to stop his latest play from transferring to Broadway.

The actor is one of America's most successful theater stars, with two Tony Awards to his name - one for his hugely successful Broadway run in the musical "The Producers". But he insists the recession has hit New York's famous theater district so hard, only well-known productions with big-name casts are surviving.

Hip-hop producer Scott Storch has confirmed reports he dated rapper Lil' Kim in 2005, insisting she'll always be the love of his life. The stars sparked rumours they were a couple when they attended various events together following the rapper's release from prison in July 2006.

Neither Storch nor Kim ever confirmed or denied they were romantically involved - but now the beatmaker has opened up about his feelings for the "Lady Marmalade" star, admitting they are now just close friends instead of lovers. He tells AllHipHop.com, "I love her to this day. She's a wonderful girl."

Sandra Bullock is still grieving the death of her mother, nine years after she lost her battle with cancer. The 45 year old insists it took her years to come to terms with the death of German opera singer Helga in 2000 - and she still struggles to cope with the loss.

Bullock says, "It took me two years to accept that she's not here. It doesn't get easier; it gets harder. But it's a good thing, because I feel it and I value it and I'm not rushing through life."

British rockers Coldplay have started 2010 on a high - their fundraising auction has raised $402,371 for a children's charity. The "Yellow" hitmakers put all of their unwanted rock memorabilia up for sale on Ebay.com last month, December 2009 and fans clamored to become the top-bidders for the items.

And when the auction ended on Thursday, December 31, 2009, the stars were stunned to learn the final total. A statement on the band's website reads, "We're very pleased to reveal that the final total raised by the auction is an amazing 251,482 ponds."

British supermodel Lily Cole is determined to put her catwalk career behind her for good - because she wants to concentrate full-time on acting.

The beauty recently put her fashion career on hold to study at England's prestigious Cambridge University and has taken roles in a string of films including "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" with the late Heath Ledger. Cole is now adamant her days as a full-time model are at an end, because her future lies in Hollywood.

Trey Songz's "Say Aah" music video has made its way out in full. Directed by Yolande Geralds, the video was shot in Brooklyn, New York City and features the singer partying with a number of sexy ladies, one of whom is the same woman appearing in "I Invented Sex" video. Wynter Gordon, DJ Clue and Fabolous are seen making cameos.

"I Invented Sex" and "Say Aah" feature Drake and Fabolous respectively. Both of the songs come from Trey's third studio album "Ready" which peaked at No. 3 on Billboard Hot 200 since being released in August. Beside Drake and Fabolous, there are also Gucci Mane and Soulja Boy serving as featured guests in the album.

Her character may be a memorable one on "Dexter" but it doesn't stop Julie Benz from taking a major role on "Desperate Housewives". The actress has finished her commitment to the Showtime series about a serial killer with good deed when her character Rita Morgan was killed in the fourth season finale back in December.

Benz who admitted she was devastated upon learning that Rita was killed off, bounces back from elimination to take a role as a stripper on "Desperate". EW's Michael Ausiello who got the break in the casting news said that the kind of stripper Benz would be is the one with a "heart of gold and a Masters degree in education".

British actor Jude Law has reportedly reached out to the mother of his lovechild in a bid to set up a first meeting with his daughter. The "Alfie" star became a father for the fourth time when American model Samantha Burke gave birth to little Sophia in September, 2009.

Law, who has three kids with ex-wife Sadie Frost, has reportedly stayed away since the birth and has yet to meet the baby, who was conceived after a fling while the actor was working in New York. But now Law is said to have contacted Burke and is willing to meet his daughter for the first time, according to British newspaper the News of the World.

Actor Warren Beatty has slept with more than 12,000 women, according to a new authorized biography of the legendary Hollywood lothario. Beatty has enjoyed high profile romances with Madonna, Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Joan Collins, Julie Christie and his current wife Annette Bening - but writer Peter Biskind claims the 72 year old secretly seduced thousands of women during his heyday.

In "Star: How Warren Beatty Seduced America", Biskind estimates the actor has been with "12,775 women, give or take, a figure that does not include daytime quickies, drive-bys, casual gropings, stolen kisses and so on." Biskind, who wrote the biography after candid chats with the "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" star, lifts the lid on his subject's many famous lovers, and his legendary stamina for sex.

During the new year's weekend, Walt Disney Pictures has released a new featurette for "Toy Story 3". Though it does not offer new scenes, the sneak peek that is narrated by director Lee Unkrich has managed to give a look at new character Mr. Pricklepants, which is voiced by Timothy Dalton.

Beside Mr. Pricklepants, the third "Toy Story" film will feature the old toys, such as Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rex the Green Dinosaur, and Mr. Potato Head. This upcoming movie will see Andy heading off to college and the toy gang finding themselves in the hands of toddlers of a day-care center, forcing them to face yet another adventure.

Kanye West wrote on his official blog that he has started working on his next studio album. The rapper who avoided the spotlight following 2009 MTV Video Music Awards which saw him interrupting Taylor Swift's Best Female Video acceptance speech also shared what inspires him for the forthcoming record.

Kanye began his post which was written in all-cap letters by thanking fans for their on-going support. He then continued, "I will bring you the best I have to offer with the same dedication that Kobe [Bryant] has on the court. It's funny how so many rappers get worse as their careers stretch out but true poets get better."

"The Hurt Locker" dominated the National Society of Film Critics ceremony on Sunday, January 3, landing three of the top honors. The war movie was named Best Picture, while Kathryn Bigelow won the Best Director nod and its star, Jeremy Renner, landed the Best Actor trophy.

French star Yolande Moreau was named Best Actress at the annual prizegiving in New York, for her portrayal of artist Seraphine de Senlis in "Seraphine". The Best Supporting Actor honor was split between Christoph Waltz for his role in "Inglourious Basterds" and Paul Schneider for his performance in "Bright Star", while Mo'Nique landed the Best Supporting Actress award for "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire".

At the beginning of 2010, "Avatar" has ruled the North American Box Office for the third straight weekend. The James Cameron's big budget film raked in $68.5 million, for a total of $352.1 million after being released in U.S. theaters 17 days ago.

Internationally, the sci-fi movie has taken in $670.2 million which brought its worldwide total to $1.02 billion. The amount has surpassed the worldwide gross for "The Dark Knight" and made "Avatar" the fourth-highest grossing movie worldwide ever, behind "Titanic" ($1.84 billion), "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King" ($1.12 billion) and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" ($1.07 billion)."

Matthew McConaughey has another child as his model girlfriend Camila Alves gave birth to a baby girl on January 3, 2010. He announced on his official website that the bundle of joy was born at 12:13 A.M. and weighed in at 7 lbs., 7 oz. The actor named the newborn baby Vida Alves McConaughey.

" 'Vida' is Portuguese for 'life' and that's what God gave us this morning," the actor wrote. "Camila's recovering wonderfully and we are both truly honored to welcome this little lady into our family.... Thanks for all of your well wishes and prayers along the way, another blessed day, we give thanks."

Vinnie Jones and Stephen Baldwin are spending their first night under round-the-clock observation - as contestants on Britain's new series of "Celebrity Big Brother". Baldwin, who has starred in a string of U.S. reality shows in recent years, including "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!" and "The Celebrity Apprentice", was first into the house on Sunday, January 3.

He was quickly joined by Dynasty legend Stephanie Beacham, British rapper Lady Sovereign, and Sisqo, who performed an impromptu rendition of hit track "Thong Song" before he began his stint under the watchful eye of the TV cameras. Other stars, including former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss and Ronnie Wood's ex-girlfriend Ekaterina Ivanova, entered the house before Jones arrived.