J.K. Rowling is sharing more Harry Potter secrets, but it’s not for a new book! The author has partnered with Ian McEwan, Hilary Mantel, and more to annotate first editions of their classic tales with behind-the-book info, including how a bear was originally meant to represent Hufflepuff. The editions will be put up for auction with proceeds benefitting English PEN, a non-profit to protect writers and their work all over the world. [The Guardian]
While everyone’s gearing up for the next chapter of The Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence is looking a little blue. X-Men: Days of Future Past director Bryan Singer was the first to share a snap of the star back in her scaly blue Mystique costume for the blockbuster that’s currently in production. While she might be blue, her character will see red when the movie hits theaters as he described her as “vengeful.” [Twitter]
After snapping up the Top Touring Artist Billboard award, her Madge-sty will grace another concert stage soon! Gucci has just announced that Madonna will be a presenter of The Sound of Change concert, which already boasts a roster of big names including Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Rita Ora, John Legend, and Florence + the Machine. This concert will be a summer show no one will want to miss! [WWD]
Homie hopper? Keek? If those words confuse, don’t worry; they confuse Nicole Richie, too. The Fashion Star mentor spent some time with her sister Sofia and her friends to find out the latest slang as part of #CandidlyNicole series for AOL. Bulk up your urban vocabulary by checking out the video. [AOL]
You can expect to see a new addition to The Voice tonight, but it’s not a new contestant. Coach Blake Shelton and his wife Miranda Lambert will sing a duet dedicated to their home state of Oklahoma in light of the tragedy, asking viewers to donate to the Red Cross. While the name of the song has yet to be released, it will be a touching tribute; you won’t want to miss! [Entertainment Weekly]
If it sounds familiar, you’re right! Audiences first heard a snippet of the track as Queen B danced with herself in her recent Pepsi commercial. The song is classic Beyoncé, a thundering female empowerment club banger. If you don’t start singing along, your feet will be itching to move! Take a listen below:
We knew Bill Hader would go out with a bang, but we didn’t see this coming! Hader’s signature character, Stefon, hosted the wedding of the year to none other than Anderson Cooper. But who else managed to nab an invite? Hobocops, evil celebrity chef Wario Batali, human parking cones, and Stefon’s brother David (Ben Affleck) filled the pews. While the vows weren’t exchanged, due to Seth Meyer finally admitting his feelings for the correspondent, it was an epic way to say goodbye! [Gothamist]
After his controversial stint as Oscar host,Seth MacFarlane revealed he wouldn’t make another appearance during Hollywood’s biggest night. The Family Guy creator tweeted the news today, stating “Traumatized critics exhale: I’m unable to do the Oscars again. Tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep.” But never the one to miss a joke, he happily suggested Joaquin Phoenix as a candidate for next year’s host. [People]
He got his start on Degrassi, and it looks like Drake is going back to his roots…sort of. The rap star was spotted on the set of highly anticipated sequel in an Afro alongside Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, and Paul Rudd. He’s not the only hip-hop star slated for a cameo in the movie as Kanye West also filmed a spot for the film. While we have to wait until next year for it to hit theaters, we at least have a teaser trailer to tide us over for a while. [Huffington Post]
Antonio Banderas is set to become Super Mario, and we’re not talking the beloved Nintendo character. The Spanish actor will play Mario Sepulveda, one of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground for 69 days in 2010. Producer Mike Medavoy secured the miners’ exclusive life rights last year and worked with the rescued men, their rescuers, and their families, making Los 33 the official version of the miners’ story. [Deadline]
We first heard his voice alongside Mandy Moore in Tangled, but now Zachary Levi is Broadway bound! Levi will play a tightly wound suitor to a serial dater (Krysta Rodriguez) in First Date. The quick drink turns into a high stakes dinner, complete with Google background checks, friends, exes, and parents. Performances will begin July 9th with an August 8th opening at the Longacre Theater. [Entertainment Weekly]
While Iron Man maintained it’s reign over the number one spot for two weeks in a row, it couldn’t fly as high as the Star Trek sequel. Find out what other films aimed high this weekend:
1. Star Trek Into Darkness $70.6M
2. Iron Man 3 $35.2M
3. The Great Gatsby $23.4M
4. Pain and Gain $3.1M
5. The Croods $2.8M
6. 42 $2.7M
7. Oblivion $2.2M
8. Mud $2.2 M
9. Tyler Perry Presents Peeples $2.2M
10. The Big Wedding $1.1M
Music’s biggest stars sparkled along with the bright lights and a slew of sequins at Vegas’s MGM Grand to honor the industry’s heaviest hitters at the Billboard Music Awards. Instead of seeing “red,” Taylor Swift only saw gold, picking up eight awards last night, including Top Artist. Gotye’s infectious track “Somebody I Used to Know” snapped up four awards while Rihanna had the R&B categories on lock. Here are some of the night’s biggest winners:
Top Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Hot 100 Song: “Somebody That I Used to Know” | Gotye feat. Kimbra
Top Billboard 200 Album: Red | Taylor Swift
Top Duo/Group: One Direction
Top New Artist: One Direction
Top Touring Artist: Madonna
Top Male Artist: Justin Bieber
Top Female Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Radio Songs Artist: Rihanna
Top Pop Artist: One Direction
Top R&B Artist: Rihanna
Top Rap Artist: Nicki Minaj
Top Country Artist: Taylor Swift
Top Rock Artist: Fun.
For the full list of winners, please visit Billboard.com.
Television this weekend is sweet music to our ears. From Kanye West‘s return to the Saturday Night Live stage to a televised performance from the purveyor of “Purple Rain,” we can’t help but have our DVRs ready.
Tomorrow night marks the 38th season finale of SNL and it will be a memorable one. For starters, the Ben Affleck-hosted night is Bill Hader‘s final show after eight seasons of hilarious hijinks (how will we cope without Stefon?). On another buzzworthy note, it will also be the first time West has appeared on the show since his ballerina-assisted performance of “Runaway” in 2010. With West’s “Power” lyrics slamming the show (F— SNL and the whole cast/Tell them Yeezy said they can kiss my whole a–) and news that writers had to nix Kim Kardashian jokes, we’re itching to see how this turns out. We just hope West is happier to perform than he seemed while filming this tease with Affleck and show vet Fred Armisen.
Fast forward to Sunday—which will be here before you know it—and our full attention will be on the 2013 Billboard Music Awards hosted by Tracy Morgan. The celebration of chart-topping music will boast 17 performances from David Guetta, Nicki Minaj, Miguel, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, and more. Album and digital sales, tour numbers, radio airplay, streaming, and social media presence will determine the evening’s top winners, but the artist formerly known as Prince (and then known as Prince again), is sure to steal the show. Not only will he join Neil Diamond and Stevie Wonder in the exclusive Icon Award recipient club, he will also perform live!
SNL will air tomorrow night at 11:29 p.m. on NBC while the 2013 Billboard Music Awards will broadcast live from Vegas on Sunday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m. on ABC.
Britney Spears keeps giving us more! While the will.i.am collaborator is priming for a Las Vegas residency (we can see the glittered body suits now!), her new song for Smurfs 2 has leaked. “Ooh La La” is Spears’ first solo single since 2011′s “Criminal,” and it packs as much pop perfection into four minutes and 16 seconds as possible. [Vulture]
We still haven’t come to terms with Bill Hader‘s SNL departure; but what we really want to know is what he’s going to do next. “Sleep. Spending time with my family. A new set of concerns,” he succinctly put it in an interview with GQ. “Heading back to LA. I met my wife in California and lived out there before this. We have good friends out there.” [ABC News]
Anita Bryant’s fall from grace will be revisited in a movie by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman who have cast Uma Thurman in the title role. Anita will follow the singer as her past as an anti-gay campaigner comes to light and jeopardizes her career in entertainment. Epstein and Friedman, who are responsible for Lovelace starring Amanda Seyfried, are currently shopping the biopic at Cannes. [Variety]
Congrats may be in order for American Idol‘s season 12 winner Candice Glover, but the show itself suffered a huge loss. Viewership for the two-hour season finale was down 44 percent from last year; with 14.3 million fans tuning, it was the firstfinale in Idol history to not reach 20 million or more. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Variety is The Voice‘s middle name. The NBC singing competition is bringing back Cee Lo Green, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, and Usher over the next two seasons. Green and Aguilera will be returning to their red, rotating chairs alongside Adam Levine and Blake Shelton this fall, while Shakira and Usher will make their way back to the program next spring. [Entertainment Weekly]
While most of us were glued to our television sets during last night’s Scandalfinale, Emmy voters and their guests were given a live rendition of the shocking closer. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences hosted a live table read of the season 2 episode where Kerry Washington and her castmates performed dialogue straight from the script. “‘It’s such a great opportunity, because we all enjoy working together so much, we’re like a theater company,’’ Washington told Boston magazine about the theater-style showcase. [Boston]
Kanye West can take a little comedy after all. The rapper will be returning to the Saturday Night Live stage tomorrow, and although he won’t be doing any skit, he did give us a chuckle in this promo clip with Ben Affleck and Fred Armisen. Kinda. [MTV]
We’ve yet to settle into the adorable being that is Blue Ivy, and now, this just in from the Queen Bey’s hive: according to an exclusive report from E! Online, Beyoncé and Jay-Z are expecting baby number two!
Speculation of Mrs. Carter’s pregnancy rose earlier this week when she cancelled her first of two Antwerp shows during the European leg her world tour; as evidenced by this handwritten note, it was the first time she’s had to do so in her career… ever. Reps initially cited “dehydration and exhaustion” as the culprit, but three days later, we can chalk it up to a case of baby fever. It should be little surprise, though, that the multihyphenate is adding to her brood. While promoting her role in the animated feature Epic on ABC News last week, Beyoncé said she “would like more children” and that her “daughter needs some company.”
But what could this mean for the remainder of the Mrs. Carter Show World Tour? Jay-Z’s better half won’t be bringing the show stateside until June 28, and without a full single or fifth album reveal, we could be in for a long summer—or Live at Roseland take two (that wouldn’t be a bad thing, but we all want to get bodied with Bey!). At least we have her HBO documentary, Pepsi commercial, and H&M campaign to hold us over… for now.
Expletives may not be part of your everyday vernacular, but for veteran actress, comedienne, and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg, cursing is the “flavor” to her language. That wasn’t the case, though, for pioneering funny woman, satirical vaudeville star, and subject of Goldberg’s directorial debut Loretta Mary Aiken, cemented in history as Moms Mabley. In her later years, Mabley captivated crowds with her disheveled duster, floppy hat, and trademark—toothless—smile; a signature look that sagaciously propelled her message on race and gender sans swearing. With more than 20 comedy albums and a record as the oldest person to achieve a U.S. Top 40 hit with the stirring single “Abraham, Martin and John,” little is known about Mabley’s personal life. For that reason, Goldberg rounded up greats like Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte to applaud the trailblazer who, as the film notes, has been “lost somewhere in history.”
The Kickstarter-funded I’ve Got Somethin’ to Tell You features Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, Bill Cosby, and others who applauded Mabley’s 50-plus year career while reminiscing on her most memorable moments. The doc, which debuted at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival, won’t be released to the masses until August, but we heard from Goldberg herself about the filmmaking process, what Mabley’s work means to her, and how this future HBO series sparked her next big project.
And then there were two. Nicki Minaj is the next judge to say goodbye to American Idol. Rumors have swirled for weeks that all four judges will be getting the axe, but so far, Randy Jackson has been the only one to publicly address the news. Sources spoke to Us Weekly, though, and said that Minaj will soon announce that her first season on the celebrity panel would be her last. [ABC News]
David Beckham is hanging up his cleats. His next two games for the Paris Saint-Germain will be his last as the H&M ambassador will retire at the close of this season. “[I am] thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue, but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level,” he announced. Beckham signed a five-month deal to play with the French team after relocating back to Europe with designer wife Victoria Beckham; it is the fourth team the 38-year-old athlete has played for in his 20-year career. [People]
Ryan Gosling isn’t the only A-lister giving it a go behind the camera. Scarlett Johansson is priming for her directorial debut by taking on Truman Capote’s Summer Crossing. The novel, which was published 20 years after Capote’s death, follows a 1940s NYC debutante who skips out on a family trip to Paris and pursues a romance with a Jewish parking attendant. “Several years ago I began working alongside the Capote estate and writer Tristine Skylar to adapt Summer Crossing, an inspired early work of Truman’s which has long captured my heart,” Johansson said. “Being able to bring this story to the screen as my full-length directorial debut is a life dream and deep privilege.” [E! Online]
Rebel Wilson is the Pitch Perfect addition to the ABC family. The comedic breakout star will lead the cast of Super Fun Night, a sitcom about three, nerdy girlfriends who set out to make Friday their best night of every week. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Looks like Bill Hader isn’t the only one leaving Saturday Night Live. Fred Armisen is departing from the sketch comedy hit after 11 seasons on the show; fellow veteran Jason Sudeikis is “probably” going to follow suit according to the New York Post. Add Seth Meyers to the tally—who will be leaving SNL in 2014 to take over NBC’s Late Night—and that makes four empty spots on the SNL stage.[Entertainment Weekly]
From now on, your favorite Ciroc connoisseur will be known as Downton Diddy. Revolt TV head Sean “Diddy” Combs spoofed the award-winning hit for a spot on Funny or Die in anticipation of the show’s first black character reveal (played by Gary Carr) in season four. [USA Today]
