As teen sensation Justin Bieber and his crew head for Mexico to jumpstart their South American “My World” tour, news is out that Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun is now running the ship for young 14-year-old Australian singer Cody Simpson.
Braun, whose real name is Scott Samuel Braun, not only discovered Bieber on YouTube but got him signed to Island Records under L.A. Reid.
Braun will now try to duplicate his Bieber success with Cody Simpson.
Cody says,
“I’m a big fan of Justin’s. We support each other a lot. He was talking to me yesterday about the songs he liked off my album. People say we’re in a competition, but it’s really like being friends and part of a family. It’s definitely not something that should be seen as a rivalry.”
Scooter Braun, who was born in New York, got his start by organizing parties while attending Emory University.
His events attracted celebrity performers like Ludacris and Britney Spears, and when he was 19-years-old created his own party-promotion company.
In 2002, Jermaine Dupri hired him as Director of Marketing of So So Def Records, and at age 20 was named Executive Marketing Director.
In addition to Justin Bieber, Braun also manages singer Asher Roth and has business connections to wake board guru and champion Paulie Koch.
Scooter currently owns and operates two music labels - Raymond-Braun Media Group (RBMG) which is co-owned with Usher, and Schoolboy Records.
Even though Simpson was just signed and is already getting asked about collaborations with Bieber.
Simpson has released one album and just completed a short U.S. tour with friend and fellow teen singer Greyson Chance who was also discovered on YouTube and signed by Ellen DeGeneres’ label “eleveneleven”.
Justin Bieber and his crew were in Franklin Tennessee earlier this week working on his Christmas Video and we got to hear the first sounds of one of the new songs!
Well, we actually got to hear a somewhat garbled version of the backing track used during the video shoot for “Under the Mistletoe” featuring The Band Perry.
Somebody on the crew was recording the shoot while the backing track was being played – maybe not realizing the implications of his actions if it got leaked to YouTube.
Bieber’s Christmas Album titled “Under the Mistletoe” is already being presold on Amazon and will be released on November 1st.
Bieber's friend and mentor Ryan Good showed off his personal interpretive Christmas dance skills while hundreds of fans cheered him on, and at one point the crowd grew so large that production had to be temporarily stopped while Bieber addressed the crowd during a break.
Bieber then led the crowd of fans in a medley of Christmas songs and danced with Santa before resuming production of the music video.
Now that filming is done Bieber and his team are headed to Mexico to kick of the South American segment of his popular My World Tour.
JB will hit up Mexico, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Columbia before returning to the United States to officially kick off his Christmas Album release.
Before hitting the road, Justin did have time this week to spend with his family and took the time to snap a few Bieber family photos of his younger brother and sister for his supporters.
Just one day before hitting the road to resume his “My World Tour” in South America, Justin Bieber got quite a surprise.
It seems that Bieber and his team were at an undisclosed location shooting video for his upcoming Christmas Album and Video when fans discovered what was going on.
Within minutes, fans started to crowd around the area where the production was taking place and started cheering and screaming.
Production had to be halted for a short time so Bieber could address the crowd and try to bring order to the set.
So what did he do to calm everybody down?
He started singing Christmas songs and encouraged the crowd to sing along with him!
Justin took to his twitter account saying,
“Pretty wild yesterday. we didn't even say our location and thousands of people showed up. my fans go hard! #goodtimes”
Here is a video of how it went down...
After belting out a few Christmas songs the crowd was asked to stay quiet and move back from the immediate area and filming continued.
At one point Justin was seen dancing the “Dougie” with the actor playing Santa Clause.
Tomorrow Bieber and his team head to Mexico for the start of his South American Concert tour.
Bieber’s Christmas Album will be released November 1st and Amazon is already taking preorders.
We suspect brisk sales and millions of happy teenage girls Christmas morning as they discover something besides mistletoe under the tree with their name on it!
Also this week Justin had the chance to visit with his dad Jeremy Bieber and his younger brother and sister Jaxon and Jazzy.
On the eve of leaving for Mexico to kick off the next leg of his My World South American Concert Tour, Justin Bieber took some time earlier this week to reunite with his divorced Father, Jeremy Bieber, his little sister Jazzy and brother Jaxon.
Jazzy, now three years old, lives with Justin’s Dad in Canada and doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to see her big brother. Jazzy has a younger brother named Jaxon who was born last year.
But this week the three reunited and took the opportunity to snap a few family photos to share with the world.
Justin and Jazzy Bieber enjoy breakfast at Waffle House
Justin And Jaxon Bieber share a tender moment
Jeremy, Justin and Jazzy shopping at Walmart
Justin and Jazzy catch some zzz's before leaving on tour
Justin and Selena Gomez with their "Extended" family
In addition to the family pictures, Jazzy is now the proud owner of her very own twitter account.
Jazzy’s twitter account can be found at @JazzyKBiebz, and while she has not tweeted anything yet has over 100,000 followers.
And that is not going over very well with @Justins_Cat, a twitter account setup by “Spaz” – Justin Bieber’s pet cat who has taken to twitter to share funny pictures, stories, and inside information about all things Justin.
For now the entire Bieber family is on their way to Mexico to kick of the next leg of Justin’s tour and will hit up Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
Yesterday kicked of the Conrad Murray murder trial. Murray is accused of killing Michael Jackson with an overdose of the drug Propofol in 2009.
The proceedings yesterday included the opening statements by both the prosecution and defense teams and the battle lines have clearly been drawn.
The prosecution says Dr. Conrad Murray killed Jackson and the defense says Jackson killed himself by self-administering the Propofol on top of a terrible Demerol addiction.
There were a few bombshell moments during the proceedings yesterday such as the following photo of Michael Jackson lying dead on a hospital gurney at the morgue.
Michael Jackson Dead at the Hospital
That really set the stage for the day, but another piece of evidence was presented by the prosecution that actually seemed to play into the hands of the defense.
They played an audio tape of Jackson the first day Murray took over as his Doctor showing the singer slurring his speech in what is clearly some type of drug induced stupor.
Some felt Dr. Murray recorded Jackson to document the “current state” that he found Michael, and others felt there were more nefarious motives.
Regardless, this case is truly going to be the trial of the century.
If anything it is shedding fascinating insight on the process of producing a huge concert tour with a huge World famous artist who is deeply troubled and addicted to drugs.
Justin Bieber was hanging out in Los Angeles yesterday and really drew a lot of attention.
First, he was spotted hanging out at the new Hollywood Chick-fil-A on Sunset Boulevard where he hiked up his shirt and showed the paparazzi his purple underwear.
We’re not relay sure how he even keeps his woman’s pants up when they sag so low but purple underwear has kind of become his trademark.
And are those Spanks we see under his shirt?
Actually, the Biebs was getting fitted for a microphone pack by the guy standing behind him and you can see the mic wire running up his shirt.
Justin Bieber flashed his purple underwear in L.A.
Then Bieber got into a fight on the streets of L.A.!
Kind of…
Justin spent the rest of the day with his pal Ryan Goode filming a PSA (Public Service Announcement) about bullying and street fighting.
Part of the segment was filmed for everybody to see and that shot included Bieber acting like he was being bullied and getting into a fight.
One witness says the shot the scene almost 20 times before moving on to other business.
So rest easy fans – it was all for the camera!
News also slipped out yesterday that Bieber’s new Christmas album with Boyz II Men and Taylor Swift will be released on Halloween.
We can only imagine the millions that will fly off store shelves to be wrapped and put under the tree for Christmas day.
That’s why he’s famous.
And he knows what his fans want, and he knows how and when to give it to them.
Oh yea, next week Bieber heads out for his South American segment of his “My World Tour” and has just announced additional dates and cities.
Looks like Sony Music finally threw in the towel and is letting videos of “Britain’s Got Talent” runner up Ronan Parke be seen in the United States.
Ronan, who came is second last year on the popular British singing competition show has been releasing videos in preparation of his upcoming new album.
His latest cover is by the white hot band “One Direction” - a British and Irish boy band consisting of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They finished third during season 7 of The “X Factor”.
We are going to post the videos of both Ronan and “One Direction” so you can see how young Parke measures up in this music genre.
Now here is the “One Direction” version from their recently released music video for “What Makes You Beautiful”.
Hmm, we think Ronan might need a year or two to strengthen his vocals a little. But he’s still pretty good at what he does.
By the way, “One Direction” went on to sign a $2 million record deal with Simon Cowell’s production company after their appearance on X Factor.
Ronan also needs to come up with some original songs as so far everything he has done has been a cover of another artists hit single. People are going to want to hear original music if he is going to be successful in the music business.
But hey, at least Sony decided to finally let us see what Ronan is working on these days!
Funny man Jonah Hill stopped by to talk with NBC’s Jimmy Fallon last night and it turned out to be one of the best late night interviews we have ever seen.
We had no idea Jonah Hill could be this funny, and he certainly has dropped a few pounds.
In fact, that is an understatement – he has lost a LOT of weight and is looking good!
Jonah was there to plug his new movie with Brad Pitt called “Moneyball” and to talk about his new show he just sold to FOX called "Allen Gregory" - his new animated series that tells the story of one of the most pretentious 7-year-olds of our time.
Jonah told a hilarious story about meeting with the people from FOX during a party and running into Matthew Morrison from “Glee” for the first time.
It’s a great inside look at Hollywood parties, famous people meeting other famous people, and snobbery.
The interview is hilarious!
By the time that interview was over we didn’t really care about “Moneyball” and had turned into huge Jonah Hill fans for life!
And by the way, his new show Allen Gregory looks like it could be another hit for FOX. It is an animated show and will follow “The Simpsons” staring October 30, 2011.
Take a look at this trailer and you’ll see what we mean:
We got to give kudos to Jonah Hill – he really seems to be getting a lot funnier and more comfortable in his own skin. Gone are the days of that awkward fat actor who seemed to be only strangely funny at times.
The highly anticipated “X Factor” show kicked off last night and our first impression was – it’s American Idol all over again.
By the end of the night our impression was – it’s American Idol all over again.
X Factor’s premier reunited long time judges Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, and added new judges LA Reid and Cheryl Cole. But halfway through the show Cole mysteriously disappears and was replaced by Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger.
It was a bit awkward to break for commercial only to return to a new judge without any explanation or discussion.
“X Factor” seems to fall prey to the same old routine of parading very bad talent across the stage so the judges can criticize them to show their industry savvy and insider business knowledge, and then showcase the occasional great talent that seems to come as a surprise to everyone.
But it doesn’t take savvy insider music prowess to know that most of the contestants were really bad.
What amazes us is how gullible we are as viewers.
During the opening segment we are shown the thousands upon thousands of contestants standing in the arena parking lot waiting for their big chance to become famous. And out of these thousands of people the best they could do is a 70-year-old man and his 83-year-old wife mumbling through some song sung only in retirement homes?
Old People Trying to Sing
Really? This is the best you could find out of that entire parking lot of wannabes? We don’t think so.
No – it’s a ruse. It makes for good television and they have duped us into wanting to see the good, bad, and the ugly to grab ratings.
And speaking of ugly, the most shocking event of the evening was from Geo Godly. Not only did Geo think he could sing, but he proceeded to drop his pants and strut around the stage naked letting America see all his naughty parts.
And in a dramatic flair, Paula Abdul gagged and turned flush and had to leave the stage because the incident made her sick.
Really?
How did this guy get past the plethora of judges and producers and allowed to get on the stage? They HAD to know he couldn’t sing. Shame on you X Factor.
Chris Rene
There were a couple of bright spots.
One was a 29-year-old Chris Rene who was full of tattoos and fresh off a 90 day rehab, and sober spell, after years of alcohol, pot, cocaine, and methamphetamine abuse. We are suspicious of Rene and wonder if he has what it takes to stay sober – 90 days is not a long time after a lifetime of abuse.
Young Marcus Canty wowed the crowd with his version of Stevie Wonder and actually seemed to have the swagger and style necessary to move on through the competition. He got a standing ovation from the judges and was actually fun to watch.
But one thing that confused us was the role of Steve Jones – the host. We kept seeing this guy backstage standing around with the contestants and wondered who he was. With all the focus on the X Factor judges we couldn’t figure out where this guy fit in.
Well, he is the host. And his duties seem to be to announce the beginning of the show and then stand around backstage for the rest of the show. Awkward.
So will X Factor work?
If you liked American Idol with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul then you will probably like the show. But to us it’s a complete knock off of IDOL and we can take it or leave it.
Sad news for the World of music today – the band R.E.M. has announced they are breaking up after 30 years of nonstop music.
R.E.M. brought us “Man on the Moon”, “Everybody hurts”, “It’s the end of the World as we know it”, “Losing my religion”, and countless others.
The group made the announcement on their official R.E.M. web site today saying,
"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening."
The band was created in 1980 in Athens Georgia and consisted of lead singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry.
The band released 15 albums during their run with their last being “Collapse into now” that was released in 2011.
Michael Stipe, the bands creator, said,
"A wise man once said - the skill in attending a party is knowing when it's time to leave. We built something extraordinary together. We did this thing. And now we're going to walk away from it. I hope our fans realize this wasn't an easy decision; but all things must end, and we wanted to do it right, to do it our way. We have to thank all the people who helped us be R.E.M. for these 31 years; our deepest gratitude to those who allowed us to do this. It's been amazing."
Not a bad run for a group of friends who started out as humble musicians touring the country in an old beat up tour bus with a van or two following behind them carrying their equipment.
Thanks for the ride R.E.M. you music will live on forever.
Finally – some good news for troubled actor Charlie Sheen.
Sheen, who was fired from his hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men” by Warner Brothers and producer Chuck Lorre, had sued the network for breach of contract and a whole bunch of other things.
At first, lawyers thought Sheen would loose and the suit would be dropped.
But word tonight is that a settlement is near that will put nearly $100 million dollars in Sheen’s pocket.
Winning.
TMZ is reporting that Sheen will immediately get $25 million for work that was already completed before he was fired, and then another $75 million over the next ten years for the estimated syndication revenue of shows already in the can.
We also hear that Sheen was looking for much more, but really… who could not be happy with $100 Mil?
For his part, Sheen has lined up a new show “Anger Management” that will probably be aired in 2012.
Late last week scientists were shocked when a new undiscovered breed of Penguin was spotted at Sea World.
While researchers say it is not uncommon for rare breeds of animals to go unnoticed for thousands of years, they were shocked that this breed, dubbed “Penguieber”, had eluded the scientific community for so long.
“We thought we had seen just about every kind of Penguin species there was. Now we are wondering if there are other varieties that have gone undiscovered. This is truly one of the rarest sightings in the last 100 years.”
Fortunately, a young girl had videotaped the event and quickly sold her footage to a tabloid magazine for $250,000 making it the single most idiotic footage purchase ever on the face of the earth.
Authorities were notified but the elusive Bieber Penguin appeared to escape through a series of tunnels designed for really short people to use for access while feeding the other animals.
Justin’s pet cat “Spaz” took to his twitter account @Justins_Cat to say,
“Meow – I heard they spotted the rare Penguieber yesterday – Sorry guys, it was just me! - Sniff... Purr...”
Attached to his tweet was a photo that appeared to be Spaz dressed in a Penguin suite.
One eyewitness told us,
“It was not Justin’s cat. I know what I saw and it was not a cat. Spaz is just upset because he is not getting all the attention. After all, he is a cat and cats like fish. Wouldn’t YOU be frustrated too?”
Officials at Sea World have been mum on the issue and refused to give a statement but said they suspected a troublemaker by the name of Alfredo Flores probably had something to do with it.
Charlie Sheen was the guest of honor at his own Comedy Central Roast last night.
As far as roasts go it was one of the better ones, after all, who out there can say they wouldn’t want to see Sheen roasted?
Seth MacFarlane kicked things by making reference to the fact that “Two and a Half” men was premiering at the same time and was showing Uncle Charlie’s funeral and wondering out loud how Sheen had managed to stay alive for as long as he had.
Kate Walsh was up next and seemed to be in shock that Sheen was still alive. She quipped that after years of abusing his heart, lungs, and body that the only thing he ever had removed was his kids. Ouch.
Next up was comedian Jeff Ross who toured with Charlie last year as part of his “Torpedo of Truth” tour.
Ross seemed to skewer everybody but Sheen and his jabs were tame compared to others. His funniest jab was, “If you are really winning then this must not be a child custody hearing”.
Comedian Anthony Jeselnik had one of the best sets. It was well thought out and his delivery was great. It was rude and crude but was funny.
His best line was that Charlie only got on TV because God hates Michael J. Fox. He also said every moment of Sheen’s life looks like the first two minutes of Law and Order SVU.
There is nothing like being honored by the city you were born in.
And in Stratford Ontario that honor has been bestowed on their hometown boy Justin Bieber.
Millions of people have seen the video of Justin outside the Avon Theater in Stratford, and Bieber himself recalls making thousands of dollars playing on the steps for visitors in town for the world famous Shakespeare Festival.
Last week, the Mayor and City Council of Stratford unveiled a Hollywood type star outside the Avon to honor Bieber’s contributions.
Justin Bieber's Star in Stratford
Bieber on the steps of the Avon Theater 4 Years Ago
Bieber tweeted,
"Woke up today and got an email about this star in front of the place I used to busk in my hometown. DREAM BIG and thank you."
The star has Bieber's name and the words “Recording Artist” engraved and is set in the concrete just feet away from where the World famous teenager used to play for money.
Video of JB sitting on the steps of the Avon was also shown in his 3D movie “Never Say Never” and you can watch him going to town in the following video.
Stratford is a small town of less than 30,000 people and to have a celebrity like the Bieb’s is a huge deal for the city.
Justin Bieber and Usher stopped in Atlanta Georgia today to pay tribute to their vocal coach and mentor Mama Jan Smith.
Mama Jan was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame today and Bieber performed with his guitar player Dan Kanter as a tribute.
Mama Jan has been Justin's vocal coach since he started his career and has worked with some of the biggest names in the business.
Way to go Justin!
The next video shows Justin and Usher posing for pictures backstage before the presentation started.
Mama Jan was a prominent figure in Bieber’s 3D movie “Never Say Never” and is a co-founder of “The Bridge Foundation” which helps mentor young artists and prepares them for a career in the music business.
Last night NBC brought to a close season 6 of their hit talent competition show “America’s Got Talent”.
This year’s winner was jazz singer and Frank Sinatra sound-alike Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., who beat out PopLyfe, Team iLuminate, and the Silhouettes to take the season’s crown.
In addition to naming this year’s winner, the finale show also included a compilation of the top four acts and guest appearances from Stevie Wonder, Patti Labelle, OneRepublic, and last summer’s “America’s Got Talent” cross-over opera sensation Jackie Evancho.
Ah Jackie…. She’s the real reason so many people tuned in.
We’re sure Landau will do just fine with his career – as will the other three runners up.
But we are biased here at InfoStar (snicker) and all we really cared about Wednesday night was watching our favorite little shining star Jackie Evancho!
Reading through all the reviews and public comments on her performance it is clear that not everyone was happy.
But we’re not here to judge – we are here to enjoy.
So for those of you who missed Jackie’s performance we present to you Jackie Evancho singing “Nessun Dorma”.
What can you say after watching that?
We love watching her giggle and jump up and down as she reacts to the crowds standing ovation.
When asked by Nick Cannon what she had been up to the last year it seemed to take her by surprise and she muttered,
“Um, well, I, um, I made a new CD called Dream With Me … and it’s out now, and I’m really excited about it, and I um …”
“You’ve done a lot,” Cannon exclaimed.
“Yes, I’ve done a lot,” she laughed.
So sweat. Such pure honesty – that’s why we love Jackie!
Here is a backstage interview with Jackie done after the show.
We are still rooting for Jackie for a Grammy nod this year and all reports are indicating album sales are still stable and consistent.
We’re not sure we like the whole toy and merchandise idea but realize it is a natural part of any new celebrity artist and will be an important revenue stream for Jackie and her family.
We love you Jackie and wish you the best in whatever you decide to do with your talents. Don’t let them change you or try and turn you into somebody you don’t want to be.
On what would have been her 28th birthday, a duet between Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett was released to commemorate her death.
For anybody who ever doubted that Winehouse was a genuine singer and songwriter, this song will prove that Amy was the real deal.
The song called "Body and Soul” was recorded in March 2011, just four months before she died, with Bennett at Abby Road Studios in Liverpool – the same studio the Beatles used.
All proceeds from the sale of the track will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation. The charity has one simple goal:
“The Amy Winehouse Foundation was set up in Amy’s memory to support charitable activities in both the UK and abroad that provide help, support or care for young people, especially those who are in need by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.”
To make a donation to the foundation you can visit her website at AmyWinehouseFoundation.
Amy’s father Mitch told CNN that his memories of her obviously will never fade,
“She's my daughter. But the love that she had for her family and her friends...and her generosity, that's what I'll remember most."
Bennett has also commented on Amy’s singing and career saying,
"We had a beautiful time recording together in the studio, and I knew that Amy was very happy with how she performed that day. I thought she was absolutely brilliant, and this recording truly captures the essence of her unique artistry. She was a rare talent."
The duet is being sold as a single on iTunes and will also be featured on Bennett’s new album "Duets II" due in stores September 20th in celebration of his 85th birthday.
Beliebers will have one more thing to look forward to this Christmas besides a little time off from school – a new Christmas album from Justin Bieber.
Justin has spent the last several months working away in the studio not only with pre-work on his upcoming album “Believe”, but also completing a Christmas album, or Holiday album, or Kwanzaa album, or Festivus album, or whatever merry season time event you celebrate.
Ok! Magazine caught up with the World famous pop singer and asked him what it is like to be working on two albums at the same time and the relief of having one completed.
"It's crazy. I started a little bit on my actual album, but I've been really focusing on my Christmas album. We just got it finished so I'm like really excited about the final outcome. It was really incredible. I’m really just glad to be done with that and start with my album."
While Bieber sang “Some Day at Christmas” for President Obama a few years back, most of his fans may be scratching their heads wondering what a Justin Bieber Holiday album will sound like.
Maybe a hip hop version of Jingle Bells with Chris Brown? Perhaps a techno drum machine pop version of “Hark the Herald Angels” with Lady Gaga?
Relax. Bieber says he thinks there will be something for all his fans saying,
“There are a couple original songs, a couple classics, a few collaborations, but mostly originals.”
Hmm, we’re still a bit nervous.
But our insider says there will be collaborations with Boyz II Men, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and yes - Chris Brown.
And if there was ever any doubt if Bieber has the chops for a tender Christmas album just watch this video of the young star at 13-years-old, before he became famous, singing “Some Day at Christmas” back home in Stratford Ontario.
But the clock is ticking and insiders say the X-mas album will most likely be released in November around Thanksgiving, and “Believe” will be released first quarter of 2012.
That doesn’t leave a lot of time seeing as Bieber is due to kick of his South American tour in Mexico on September 30th and will be on the road through late October.
And from what we hear almost every show is already sold out and his fans will not take "No" for an answer.
In fact, there are reports of fans freaking out and resorting to tears and temper tantrums when news leaked that several high profile venues sold out in less than 30 minutes while they were still standing in line!
So Justin will return to the United States the first of November to start promotion and appearances for the Christmas Album, and spend December through February putting the finishing touches on “Believe”, and then announce his 2012 North American tour dates.
Some of the best movie roles and epic characters have been blessed by the work of Johnny Depp.
Now, Depp embarks over to the dark side with the remake of the 1960’s television series “Dark Shadows”.
Curiously, the series was actually considered a soap opera when it first aired.
Warner Brothers has released the first glimpse of Depp on the set in full Barnabas attire and we got to say… they look a little bizarre.
Not that there is anything wrong with that - we’re just saying we were expecting more of a “Twilight” effect rather than the Michael Jackson effect.
Johnny Depp on set of "Dark Shadows"
The movie is directed by Tim Burton and will star Depp so you can only imagine what the end result will be – but expect your classic dramatic horror mystery thriller.
Filming is currently underway and the final product is due for release in May 2012.
“A gothic-horror tale centering on the life of vampire Barnabas Collins and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts and is based on the popular "Dark Shadows" TV series.”
You see, sometime around 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins and their young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool England to start a new life in the United States. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that plagued their family.
Twenty years has passed and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) is now the master of Collinwood Manor. Barnabas is rich, powerful, and a confirmed playboy...until he makes the critical mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green).
Barnabas Collins
A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death - turning him into a vampire and then burying him alive.
Twenty years later, Barnabas is accidentally freed from his crypt and materializes into the very changed world of 1972.
Of course Johnny Depp will be playing the role of the now infamous Barnabas Collins, Chloe Moretz will take on the role of Carolyn Stoddard, Helena Bonham Carter will portray Dr. Julia Hoffman, and Michelle Pfeiffer will play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.
For those not familiar with the original series, here is a glimpse of Barnabas returning to Collinwood after being gone for 20 years.
Okay, so in today’s standards that may seem little dull, but in its day “Dark Shadows” was ground breaking stuff.
Imagine – vampires on TV!
Anyway, if anybody can pull it off it is Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.
Last week during a press conference for her new film “W.E.”, Madonna was handed a Hydrangea flower by one of her fans.
She smiled, said thank you, and then proceeded to hand it off to an assistance while uttering those now famous words – “I absolutely loath Hydrangeas”.
Of course her microphone was still on and her comments were picked up for the snooping press to hear.
Well, Madonna should have just stopped there, let it go, never said another word about it – and it all would have faded away.
But noooo, she had to go and make a new YouTube video about the incident.
Madonna took to YouTube, with what you could call a rebuttal to the press backlash, where she filmed a black and white video clip appearing to apologize to the scorned Hydrangea flower.
The problem?
While Madonna apologizes to the flower itself, she never apologizes to the fan who gave it to her. And at the very end she gets a crazy look on her face and says once again how much she hates the flower.
So now we are confused.
What was the purpose of this video?
In the end we decided we don’t care - and neither does the rest of the World so we stopped contemplating its meaning.
In the end, we all know what she SHOULD have done, and those feelings can be summed up with this funny video made by someone with entirely too much time on their hands.
For her part, Madonna continues to promote her new film “W.E.” - a two-tiered romantic drama focusing on the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson and a modern-day romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard.
Yawn… sounds boring, but the kind of film you would expect Madonna to be part of. In fact, not only did she write the screenplay and much of the script but is also acting as director.
Anyway, in the end we just decided we don’t care about her Hydrangea episode or her movie and are kind of wondering why we even decided to write this story.
Our favorite pop sensation Justin Bieber spontaneously called in to talk to his friend Mike Missanelli on his radio show last Friday.
We have to say, it was one of the most informative interviews we’ve heard from Bieber in a while.
It lasted almost seven minutes and was not just the canned answers we have grown accustomed to from the Biebs.
He talked about how he met Selena Gomez, his old girlfriends, Hockey, and his participation in his charity “Pencils of Promise”.
One thing became clear after the interview – Justin Bieber loves sports!
He also admitted that Jasmine Villegas was his girlfriend when he first met Selena, but did not mention the death threats and stalking problems Villegas has had.
There was a lot of ground covered in this interview and it was nice to not hear Justin say uh, well you know, yea, it’s like, every 5 seconds.
Bieber is also busy promoting his charity involvement with “Pencils of Promise”, and just announced that the company that produces his fragrance “Someday” has joined forces for the cause.
The campaign is called “Hearts Across the Web” and involves taking a picture of yourself making the heart sign and uploading it to the site to complete the world’s biggest digital chain of human hearts.
If half a million fans respond then “Give Back Bands” will help build 50 schools. You can upload your photo and learn more at the Someday web site here.
“Pencils of Promise” was founded by Adam Braun – the brother of JB’s manager Scooter Braun.
Daytime television host and funny lady Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia De Rossi, have landed a new comedy show on NBC.
The Hollywood Reporter (THR) says the comedy about two sparring sisters was offered to all the major networks and several cable channels but in the end NBC won out.
While Ellen will not appear onscreen for the show, her production company “A Very Good Production” will spearhead the project and DeGeneres will act as Executive Producer along with Don Todd and Lauren Corrao.
Portia De Rossi will have a leading role in the pilot and the final show as one of the two sisters.
De Rossi is best known for her role as Nelle Porter in “Ally McBeal”, Lindsay Bluth Fünke in “Arrested Development”, and a run on the shows “Nip/Tuck” and “Better off Ted”.
Ellen and Portia
De Rossi will also be part of the new “Arrested Development” movie that will reunite stars Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, Will Arnett and Jeffrey Tambor.
While “Arrested” the movie has found a production company no production or release date has been made public.
Emmy winner Ellen DeGeneres plans to stick to her daytime variety show “The Ellen Show” and is currently working on the comedy “Laughing Stock” – a comedy series hosted by David Steinberg that will feature interviews with some of the best comedic minds of the last five decades.
You can expect “Laughing Stock” to premier sometime in 2012.
Ellen also continues to help grow and promote the music career of 14-year-old Greyson Chance who has been signed to her Record Company “Eleveneleven” and just released his first album "Hold On 'Til The Night" last month.
