Blog Posts For: May 2009

Secrets are hard to keep in tinsel town but this one was a doosie….Jennifer Hudson is pregnant. And the Chicago Sun – Times is reporting that she is not just newly pregnant but 7 months along. It seems that word got out as she was attending her own baby shower this weekend in the windy city. Hudson is from the South Side and the gathering was kept pretty quiet with just friends and family attending. Jennifer got her start of course on “American Idol” and then received an Academy Award for best supporting actress for “Dream Girls." It definitely seems like things are looking up again for Jennifer after the devastating losses of her mother, brother and nephew. She recently went back out on the road to tour with Robin Thicke, is engaged to be married, and now a baby on the way. Congratulations on the baby news and for keeping it a secret for so long. And in other baby news, Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Hounsou are new parents to a baby boy. Simmons has two daughters from her previous marriage to Russell Simmons. Two of the girlyist girls I have ever seen, Ming Lee 9 and Aoki Lee 6 ½, so adding a boy into the mix should be interesting. Simmons is the CEO of her company The Baby Phat and she made sure to keep all her fans in the loop by Twittering out the news to them several times throughout the labor and delivery process, and she promises more to come. And last but not least in weekend baby news…Brandon Flowers from the band The Killers and his wife are expecting baby number 2.

Good news for Depeche Mode lead singer Dave Gahan. After receiving the scary news that a malignant tumor had been found on his bladder, it has been successfully removed. Originally Gahan was diagnosed with severe gastroenteritis but further tests showed the low grade tumor. The group that has been on tour in Europe and did have to cancel a few shows however will be back on track on June 8th in Leipzig, Germany.

You know I find it interesting how people just love to talk about their sexuality and then are surprised when others are upset by it. The latest person “opening up” about her sexuality is Lady Gaga. She has a new interview coming out in Rolling Stone Magazine and she talks about being bisexual. She says that, “she’s been highly disappointed by her boyfriends reaction to the fact that she’s sexually attracted to women. It makes them uncomfortable.” I am surprised that she is surprised by such a normal reaction. It is not the norm, so of course it makes people uncomfortable. She goes on to explain that it is just the physical feelings and attractions she has towards women. In the interview she does talk about a man that she was in love with several years ago who was actually the inspiration for all her songs on her first album, “The Fame”. Right now she is dating someone new but she also says she is fine to be alone as well. She talks about her music in the interview and how she is happy that she is not the typical “perfect little pop singer.” She wants to be different and stand out and hopefully her music can do the same. Speaking of sexuality, there is a lot of speculation about Adam Lambert and his preferences. For now he is not sharing. He is all about “embracing who you are and what makes you different is actually what is really cool.” That is the kind of role model he wants to be, do not be afraid to be who you are. When asked if he will address his sexuality in his upcoming interview in Rolling Stone Magazine he says, “maybe”.
 

Here comes another new reality TV show and this one is being spear headed by Jessica Simpson. After the ordeal she went through personally when she wore those high waited unflattering jeans and the “body bullying” she experienced she has come up with the idea for her new show. At the moment the title is “The Price of Beauty. The plan is that she would travel around the world in order to find out “what people find beautiful and why”. She would take a friend and they would head out on this great road trip and find the answers to these questions. They would also delve into taking a look at some of the outrageous things women go through and do to themselves to look beautiful. Jessica would be taking a very active role in the show and feels that this is a very important topic to learn more about and make people more aware. At this time that is about all the details that are out there.
 

Every year just before the NBA playoffs begin, the postseason, the 16-team tournament or “second season”, seems to be sold as a story with plot points at every round and a black and white biopic for every charismatic player or superstar for each remaining team.

Its official – Lauren Conrad from the hit reality show, “The Hills”, will not be returning for season 6. However fear not, that doesn’t mean there will be any less drama, especially since Kristin Cavallari will be joining the show and bringing plenty of drama with her. Cavallari is responsible for introducing Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag and look where they are now. It should be an interesting season since Cavallari told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS FM radio show that she is “on the manhunt, and that her focus will be drinking, fighting, and hooking up”, so let the filming begin. Wow, is it me or is that just quality TV programming in the making?

Kevin Bacon was mugged on Thursday in New York while waiting at the train station at 53rd and 7th Avenue. The thief stole Bacon’s Blackberry which contained all the numbers of his A- list friends. Bacon ran after his assailant but lost him and the Blackberry in the crowded station. You have to wonder did the thief know it was Kevin Bacon or was it just random and he got lucky. Most likely it was probably random since cell phone theft is 37% of what is targeted in these subway robberies. Last year there were 823 robberies reported. Usually the phones are sold right back onto the streets or the thief will use the phone himself. Bacon and his wife have lost bigger than the Blackberry lately, they were also in the large group of people who lost money to the Bernie Madoff scheme. Well luckily Kyra Sedgwick has her hit show “The Closer” and Bacon is currently on the road with his band, the Bacon Brothers.
 

Remember Mary Kay Letourneau (the teacher convicted of raping her 12 year old student and went to jail for 7 ½ years for the crime)? Well it really was true love, although it started out as a very disturbing story. Letourneau is now 47 (hard to believe) and her husband/student of 5 years, Vilii Fualaa, 26 are still together and happy. It is a crazy story but I have to admit I am happy for them. She did her time in prison, he waited, they have a couple of kids and through all this there are still together. The two are in the news this weekend because Mary Kay emceed the “Hot Teacher Night”,event and Vili was the DJ at the Fuel Sports Eats & Beats Bar, in Seattle.

Green Day is taking issue with the worlds largest retailer, Wal-Mart. IT seems that even though Green Day currently has the most popular CD, the retailer has refused to carry it because of its parental advisory sticker, which is their policy. Wal–Mart feels that the bands can issue different versions of their CD’s and Wal–Mart chooses to sell CDs that have been edited for appropriate language and content. Green Day feels that there is nothing “dirty” in their CD and have refused to censor it. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong says, he feels like he is back “in 1953 or something” So even though their new album “21st Century Breakdown” sold over 215,000 copies in less than a week and is at the top of the charts, they are standing strong in regards to censorship. So if you want their album you will have to find it somewhere else. The band, although disappointed in the message that Wal-Mart is sending to others and being able to express themselves, Green Day will not let it get them down. The group begins their summer tour in Seattle on July 3.

A new “American Idol” has been crowned and it was a shocker… Kris Allen won it all with almost 100 million votes being cast, an all time record for the show. Kris Allen, the 23 year old home town boy from Arkansas was just a surprised to hear he beat out favorite Adam Lambert who had been predicted to win. Kris started out slow and just continued to get stronger and stronger each week and the fans loved that. And holey moley, did you check out bikini girl, Katrina Darrell and judge Kara DioGuardi – what a duo the two made. Not only did the two sing, they also showed off those bodies. Katrina showed it off the whole time but Judge #4 did it quick. Let’s just say she is definitely ready for bathing suit season. It was a fun night with great performances and duets. Adam got down with Kiss and sang an awesome medley, while Kris and Keith Urban had a blast singing “Kiss A Girl”.  I have to say although I felt bad for Adam it was nice to actually be surprised. And after seeing what other Idol non winners have been up to I am sure he will be just fine and very successful.

After a month prelude that was at times compelling (Celtics-Bulls) and at times uninspired (Mavs-Spurs) the conference finals have finally begun. The Los Angeles Lakers, who won last night thanks to Kobe’s fourth quarter performance, play the Denver Nuggets for the Western Conference title and the Cleveland Cavs play the Orlando Magic for the Eastern Conference title.

One down and one to go. We now know who won “Dancing with the Stars” and very soon we will know who the big winner is on “American Idol”. Congratulations to the youngest winner ever, 17 year old, Olympic gold medalist, Shawn Johnson. She just barely beat out her French opponent, Gilles Marini, since there was less than 1% of votes that separated the two. So congratulations are definitely due for Gilles as well. Another big winner is Mark Ballas, who is now a two time title winner for ‘DWTS”. Although the show could have easily been done in 1 hour they really milked that second hour and filled it with so much junk… I mean recap…filler stuff.  At least Lady Gaga was good entertainment, not only her two songs “Just Dance” and “Love Game” but the costumes on that woman…whoa!  So that is it for Season 8. Now we will just have to wait patiently to see who the next cast of “stars” will consist of.

 The fall TV schedules are starting to surface and there are some old favorites that will be missing plus several many shows with some of your old favorite celebrities resurfacing. Over at ABC, Christina Applegate and her show “Samantha Who” will not be returning, along with “According to Jim”, “The Unusuals” and big surprise “Cupid”. Coming back to TV are Kelsey Grammar, new mom Rebecca Romijn, Patricia Heaton, and one of my favorites, Courtney Cox. ABC tops the new show charts with 11 new shows, 4 of which are comedies and 6 will be dramas and only 1 will be a reality show from by Mark Burnett. The show is called “Shark Tank” and will have people trying to get millionaires to choose their ideas to fund. Cox will be playing a cougar in her new comedy “Cougar Town”, where she will be back in the dating world as a single mother. Patricia Heaton will also be in a comedy called “The Middle” where she will be living in Indiana as an average middle class family…I can feel the laughs already. “Eastwick” is one of the new dramas starring Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price and Jamie Ray Newman who are women with unique powers that are brought together by a man who helps them realize those powers. And remember, “V” the miniseries back from the 80’s (I do), this is being remade and updated. “V” stands for visitors so it will be sci-fi and stars Elizabeth Mitchell from “Lost” who should feel right at home in that series.

The big news this morning seems to be that ‘Sex and the City “actress, Cynthia Nixon and her girlfriend of 5 years, Christine Marinoni, got engaged. Nixon has 2 children, Samantha 12 and Charles 6 from a previous relationship with photographer, Danny Mozes. The 2 actually announced their engagement during a gay rights rally that they were attending in New York City. The 2 hope to be able to eventually legalize their marriage in New York and say they will wait for legislation to pass the gay marriage act. A vote is actually set to happen soon, but at this point still needs more support from congress.

This was finally the big New Kids on the Block Carnival cruise weekend. There were about 2,100 obsessed fans on board to see the boys (who should really be called boys to men – but too bad that is already taken). The women ranged from in their 20’s and 30’s  and were all about the boys,  they wore their  New Kids t-shirts, buttons,  and some even kissed those life size card board cutouts of their favorite kid. The guys were going to perform twice on board in order for everyone to have a chance to see them. They were also around to sign autographs and hang with the fans. It seems like this was a big hit for the cruise line who along with many other companies have taken a hit with the struggling economy. Who will be the next group to sign on to “get on board”? Already Jon Mayer,  Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bare Naked Ladies have also done similar type events. The boys get started with their actual concert schedule on June 4th in Atlanta.

Holly Madison seems to be another girl we just can’t get enough of. From Hef’s main squeeze, to “Dancing with the Stars”, her next project is going to be to star in “PEEPSHOW” the sexy new burlesque show in Las Vegas. The former “Girl Next Door” star will be replacing Kelly Monaco, when her 3 month contract is up in June. “Dancing with the Stars” seems to be a bit of a stepping stone or prerequisite for the show, since Madison will be the third star from Dancing to join the cast. Monaco was the winner from season 1 and Melanie Brown who is also currently starring in Peepshow was a runner up from season 5. Although the show does feature topless performers the stars themselves are remaining covered up. “Peepshow” is at Planet Hollywood and although it has just been a month is doing well.

The American League is being dominated in the early season by shades of blue. Every division has a team clad in blue, in powder blue, in blue block lettering, or in a bright blue outline, leading the way. Each team, the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East, the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central, and the Texas Rangers in the AL West, is surprised to be there. So which team will hold on to a little bit of Their Blue Heaven and which teams will come crashing down to Earth and be singing the blues by the time the pennant race really begins?

It is ironic that Ryan O’Neal came to fame in the 1970 film, “Love Story”, where he loses the love of his life, and now he is living the story in real life.  Friday night NBC will be airing the Farrah Fawcett documentary that chronicles her battle with cancer, called “Farrah’s Story”. This morning on the “Today Show”, Meredith Vieira talked to Ryan O’Neal, Farrah’s long time love and her best friend, Alana Stewart, who has been filming the documentary for Farrah. Time does seem to be running out for Farrah, and as I watched what has become of my favorite angel from “Charlie’s Angels”, it was hard not to well up this morning while watching this very candid interview. Why document this you might be asking yourself…I know I did. Farrah felt she wanted to share her story and hoped in some way she could help others with her strength and bravery and give them a reason to keep fighting. IN the beginning they thought she would recover, but it has been a hard year for her.  Farrah was diagnosed with cancer back in 2006 and it had gone into remission for a while, but came back in 2007. At the moment, O’Neal is not very optimistic about the future. Alana though is not ready to let her friend go and feels there is still hope for recovery. Alana says it has been very difficult to film but she has done it all for her friend. Farrah has had an amazing support team and you will be able to see all this in the 2 hour special which shows it all.  Ryan O’Neal himself was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2001 and says he has had to just “put it in a drawer” while helping Farrah. The actor is 68 years old and feels that he himself is on borrowed time”. To watch him talk about Farrah is beautiful and heartbreaking all at once. Farrah’s Story will air Friday night at 9:00 (ET/PT).

Country music has always been about heart break and real folks with real problems and that is still true with new music coming from the country music industry. The news songs  seem to be talking about the recession head on and how it is affecting the average family. Listen to some of these country titles…”Red White and Pink Slip Blues” from Hank Williams Jr. He sings about a guy who loses his job, his house and his truck. That is about as much heartache as I can take. Then there is John Rich’s song “Shuttin’ Detroit Down” and Phil Vassar’s, “Prayer of a Common Man”. Fear not if country is getting you down switch over to Billboards top 100 which is not as focused on the hard times. The dance music and pop musicians are still trying to have some fun... just check out the Black Eyed Peas or Lady Gaga to pick up your spirits.

Big honors for the country duo Brooks and Dunn along with Dierks Bentley who were honored in Sydney Australia for promoting their country music abroad. They were honored by the Country Music Association and Bentley actually won the International Artist Achievement Award. So it was a pretty big achievement for all of them. In the past some winners have included Keith Urban, Shania Twain, Dwight Yokam, the Dixie Chicks and Trisha Yearwood. Congratulations guys!

Eminem is back and he just can’t stop rapping about people in his new music. First it was Kim Kardashian Jessica Simpson, and Sarah Palin in “We Made You”. In his latest song, “Bagpipes from Baghdad” he sings about Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey and Cannon is NOT happy about it. Eminem and Carey did date briefly about 8 years ago and Cannon writes on his blog that Eminem “is still obsessed with my wife, the same female who wouldn’t let him get to second base from 8 years ago.” Then it really starts to get ugly when Cannon calls Eminem “racially insensitive” as well as an “old school Caucasian con man”. You really have to wonder what Eminem was thinking when he not only wrote the song but made it so everyone could hear it. It does seem to be a bit much and makes one think that he did step over the line and no wonder Nick Cannon is fuming over the song. There are definitely fighting words in that song. You be the judge, but it is very difficult to listen to and made me cringe. One might say take it with a grain of salt, it is Eminem after all, but it is pretty descriptive and to be quite honest pretty insulting. Sorry Mariah that out of nowhere you have to deal with this but lucky for you your hubby is willing to fight for your honor.
 

A sports and musical merging is on the horizon. Jimmy Buffett, along with his company Margaritaville enterprises will become a new business partner with the Miami Dolphins team. One of the first changes to be seen will be the renaming of Dolphin Stadium to Land Shark Stadium. Land Shark is the name of the beer the Jimmy Buffett markets with the help of Anheuser – Busch. So you can imagine what type of beer you will be able to purchase at those Dolphin games, right? Buffett is actually good friends with the new owner of the team, Stephen Ross. This will all become official today at a private event where Buffett plans to sing before the official unveiling of the new Logo. This is actually quite exciting and good news for the team who has not had corporate sponsorship for several years. Land Shark stadium will also be the host of the 2010 Super bowl.

Bono, from U2, is just full of surprises. In an upcoming broadcast on BBC Radio, on May 13th, Bono will be reading a poem he wrote about Elvis Presley more than 10 years ago. Bono is a huge Elvis fan and truly realizes what a groundbreaker Elvis was in his time. Like many, Bono was influenced by Elvis as a child. In his poem he talks about Elvis’ early years as a truck driver and how he basically revolutionized the music world. In his poem he says, “Elvis was made by America so America could remake itself”, he also writes, “Elvis woke up my heart”. The poem seems really incredible and a wonderful way to honor Elvis during the poetry season on the BBC. It has taken a while to figure out the best venue for the poem and how to present it to people and that is one of the reasons it has basically sat on a shelf for all these years. Along with the poem there will be a 15 minute presentation surrounding it that will include some of Elvis’ music along with other Elvis information to compliment the poem.

Sadly the Jon & Kate Plus 8 plot thickens…US Magazine is confirming that Jon Gosselin has been having an affair for 3 months, with Deanna Hummel, a 3rd grade teacher. The news comes straight from Deanna’s brother and roommate, Jason. In addition to Jason, the magazine is reporting that they have talked to 5 additional people who are also confirming the story. I have to say I am sitting here shocked, and although I wrote two stories about his late night mishaps, I was really hoping in my heart that his denials were true. The brother gives detailed descriptions of times the two have been together and it seems that they have been able to spend a lot of time together. Wow, pretty shocking…I wonder what this will mean for the Gosselin family and next seasons show. I am sure Kate does not want to be raising that family on her own. Good luck guys. I am sure we will be hearing more on the Jon & Kate saga.

Elton John is smiling this morning…his musical “Billy Elliot” was nominated for 15 Tony awards, one of which includes Best Musical. Also up for the top award are “Rock of Ages”, “Shrek the Musical” and “Next to Normal”. The Tony Awards will air on CBS on June 7^th at Radio City Music Hall. And in other breaking news…the controversial 4^th American Idol judge, Kara DioGuardi, will be back next season. Simon Cowell actually shared the news with Ellen DeGeneres and you can watch it today, Tuesday, on her show.

Sad news this weekend for “American Idol” winner David Cook. He lost his brother Adam, 37, who has been battling a brain tumor for over 10 years. Ironically, David was in D.C. for the 12th Annual Race for Hope 5K, in which he was the grand marshal as well as a runner. Along with his team they raised over $98,000 which will go to the National Brain Tumor Society and Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure. David actually spoke to the crowd and actually shared with them that morning that his brother had just died the night before. He told the crowd “I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else right now.” Jeff Kolodin, who was the co chair for the race said this about David, he “is beyond the most courageous young person I have ever known. He spent his entire day hugging survivors, signing autographs for them taking pictures. He shared his very private moment with thousands. He was willing to put his personal raw emotion out there, knowing he was being filmed. He’s a heck of a person.” That is an incredible story. Our thoughts and prayers are with you David, during this very difficult time.

Shocking news rocks Las Vegas with the news of the sudden death of funny man Danny Gans. He performed a great set on Wednesday and seemed to be the picture of health, but then was found dead of still unknown causes on Friday morning. He was just 52 and a self proclaimed health nut. He was one of the all time great impressionist doing people like Tony Bennett and Michael Jackson. Although nothing seemed wrong with Gans, in an odd twist, Gans did change his final routine on Wednesday night. He usually ended with a medley “Apollo” however instead he did “The Curtain Falls” by Bobby Darin. A coincidence or did he know or feel something was wrong? It will be interesting to see what the autopsy says but regardless of the results he was a talented funny man who will be missed.

You have got to love Coldplay…listen to what the band is doing for their fans during these hard times. They just announced that for every fan that attends there “Vida la Vida” summer concert on the North America leg of their tour, they will receive a free live album from the band. How awesome is that? And for those unable to attend the concert they can download 9 songs from “LeftRightLeftRightLeft” at the bands official Coldplay website. The band said in a statement that “Playing live is what we love. This album is a thank you to our fans – the people who give us a reason to do it and make it happen.