The Voice returned for Season 3 last night, premiering in the fall for the first time (perhaps to stir up unfriendly competition and level The X Factor). For whatever reason, Blake Shelton’s folksy, borderline inappropriate wise cracks are back, along with Cee Lo Green’s eccentricities and cockatoos. Christina Aguilera’s booty is off the charts (in a good way), and Adam Levine continues to impress in his role as a judge, mentor and showman. Oh yeah, the blind auditions were pretty cool too. Team Christina Aguilera The format is the same: With their backs turned to a singing hopeful, the judges turn around if they like what they see … er, what they don’t see. If more than one turns around, then the candidate gets to choose his or her coach. Xtina got her first team member Monday night with De’Borah.
Faced with new competition from The Voice and in need of a ratings splash, The X Factor is reportedly close to giving control of its stage over to a Kardashian. Indeed, not only is Khloe a candidate , TMZ confirms from a previous rumor, she’s the competition’s front-runner for female hosting duties! The X Factor is expected to name one female and one male host, and sources say Khloe’s recent screen test impressed Simon Cowell and other producers. Along with new judges Britney Spears and Demi Lovato , show insiders believe Kardashian would help lure in fresh, young viewers. One person in the know tells TMZ “there’s at least an 85% chance” Khloe is named co-host. A decision is needed in the near future, as The X Factor will need hosts in place when it goes live next month. (Season 2 premieres over two nights, September 12 and 13, next week.) Do you want to see Khloe Kardashian as X Factor host?
My name is Hannah and I’m from Manchester in England, UK. I’ve been a huge fan since July 2009 but I never EVER thought that I’d be writing a Bieber experience, but on 06/06/2012 at 2:33pm, my dream really came true. It’s the school holidays so we all have a week off, it was just a normal day and I was sat at home on my own, studying, strangely enough I was wearing a Bieber shirt. About 6 months ago, I entered my details online to Radio One (UK) for a show called ‘Star Caller’ where celebrities call their biggest fans (if you’re lucky) I never thought that I had much of a chance, there was like a 1 in 27 million chance of Justin calling me. SO ANYWAY, my phone started ringing, I pick it up and I was like “Hello?” then I hear “Hannah? ” so I was like “Who is it?” (my phone is really quiet, and he sounds SO different on the phone!) “It’s Justin” so I said “It’s Justin?!” Then when he said “It’s Justin Bieber” MY WHOLE BODY STARTED SHAKING.. was this really him? I freaked out & asked him if he was joking, he said “It’s Justin, can’t you tell by my voice?” Then it really hit me that JUSTIN BIEBER WAS TALKING TO ME ON THE PHONE. I jumped out of my seat and tried to keep calm, I tensed up my whole body because I knew I’d only have a couple of minutes and I couldn’t blow this one opportunity to talk to him. He asked me a couple things and he knew where I was from, and my age, we talked about school, his new songs, Dan Kanter, my mum(lol) ..he asked me what my favourite song was out of ‘All Around The World’ or ‘Die In Your Arms’, I said Die In Your Arms. I told him that I love ‘Turn To You.’ At one point I told him, “I’m so excited to be talking to you,” he was like, “Aww your excited to talk to me?” ..HE SAID AWW TO ME. I’ve always loved how he says aww to other fans. Then he just said it to me, how was I still breathing? And yes Justin, of course I am excited to talk to you! :’) THEN THE BEST PART OF IT WAS WHEN HE SAID TO ME: “I love you!” I replied with “I love you so much!” He said “I love you, thank you for being my Biggest Fan!” The fact that he called me his biggest fan made me feel so special, my 3 years of endless support have been noticed, I told him random things like that I was going to camp out for Believe tickets with my mum haha.. then he had to go. When he put the phone down, I literally collapsed to the ground screaming..it didn’t seem real, all I could hear going through my mind was Justin telling me he loved me. UNREAL. I called my mum to tell her all about it but I couldn’t even speak, I was CRYING hysterically down the phone, I couldn’t stand up straight. She thought something real bad had happened to me then I managed to squeel out what had just happened, she freaked out too. Then the radio station called me back about 30 minutes later, to talk to me about how I was feeling . By now, I was totally freaking out, everything was slowly sinking in. When Justin called me, my whole mind went blank. I’d planned what I’d say to him if I ever met him but I completely forgot everything. It was an amazing experience. I honestly spent the whole day shaking and crying, I felt like I hadn’t slept for days from so much jumping around and crying. I had to run up and down the stairs a couple of times to calm myself down. Imagine answering the phone and it’s your idol. Wow. IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE, seriously, NEVER SAY NEVER! Never give up on your dreams. Thank you so so so much to Justin for taking the time to phone me, it’s made my life complete! I wont ever forget this day. -Hannah Go here to read the rest: My name is Hannah and I’m from Manchester in England, UK….
My name is Hannah and I’m from Manchester in England, UK. I’ve been a huge fan since July 2009 but I never EVER thought that I’d be writing a Bieber experience, but on 06/06/2012 at 2:33pm, my dream really came true. It’s the school holidays so we all have a week off, it was just a normal day and I was sat at home on my own, studying, strangely enough I was wearing a Bieber shirt. About 6 months ago, I entered my details online to Radio One (UK) for a show called ‘Star Caller’ where celebrities call their biggest fans (if you’re lucky) I never thought that I had much of a chance, there was like a 1 in 27 million chance of Justin calling me. SO ANYWAY, my phone started ringing, I pick it up and I was like “Hello?” then I hear “Hannah? ” so I was like “Who is it?” (my phone is really quiet, and he sounds SO different on the phone!) “It’s Justin” so I said “It’s Justin?!” Then when he said “It’s Justin Bieber” MY WHOLE BODY STARTED SHAKING.. was this really him? I freaked out & asked him if he was joking, he said “It’s Justin, can’t you tell by my voice?” Then it really hit me that JUSTIN BIEBER WAS TALKING TO ME ON THE PHONE. I jumped out of my seat and tried to keep calm, I tensed up my whole body because I knew I’d only have a couple of minutes and I couldn’t blow this one opportunity to talk to him. He asked me a couple things and he knew where I was from, and my age, we talked about school, his new songs, Dan Kanter, my mum(lol) ..he asked me what my favourite song was out of ‘All Around The World’ or ‘Die In Your Arms’, I said Die In Your Arms. I told him that I love ‘Turn To You.’ At one point I told him, “I’m so excited to be talking to you,” he was like, “Aww your excited to talk to me?” ..HE SAID AWW TO ME. I’ve always loved how he says aww to other fans. Then he just said it to me, how was I still breathing? And yes Justin, of course I am excited to talk to you! :’) THEN THE BEST PART OF IT WAS WHEN HE SAID TO ME: “I love you!” I replied with “I love you so much!” He said “I love you, thank you for being my Biggest Fan!” The fact that he called me his biggest fan made me feel so special, my 3 years of endless support have been noticed, I told him random things like that I was going to camp out for Believe tickets with my mum haha.. then he had to go. When he put the phone down, I literally collapsed to the ground screaming..it didn’t seem real, all I could hear going through my mind was Justin telling me he loved me. UNREAL. I called my mum to tell her all about it but I couldn’t even speak, I was CRYING hysterically down the phone, I couldn’t stand up straight. She thought something real bad had happened to me then I managed to squeel out what had just happened, she freaked out too. Then the radio station called me back about 30 minutes later, to talk to me about how I was feeling . By now, I was totally freaking out, everything was slowly sinking in. When Justin called me, my whole mind went blank. I’d planned what I’d say to him if I ever met him but I completely forgot everything. It was an amazing experience. I honestly spent the whole day shaking and crying, I felt like I hadn’t slept for days from so much jumping around and crying. I had to run up and down the stairs a couple of times to calm myself down. Imagine answering the phone and it’s your idol. Wow. IT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE, seriously, NEVER SAY NEVER! Never give up on your dreams. Thank you so so so much to Justin for taking the time to phone me, it’s made my life complete! I wont ever forget this day. -Hannah Go here to read the rest: My name is Hannah and I’m from Manchester in England, UK….
Christina Aguilera talks at length about her enviable booty in Lucky magazine this month. Immediately upon hearing this, we subscribed to that publication. Proud to be bootylicious, the 31-year-old pop star and Voice judge loves her curves, which have certainly evolved since the early days of her career. Evolved in a good way, according to the singer. “Actually, the challenge I’ve always had is being too thin, so I love that now I have a booty, and obviously I love showing my cleavage,” she confesses. The singer also encourages curvy girls to flaunt their figures: “Hey, if you can work it and you can own it, that confidence is going to shine through.” Aguilera’s eclectic sense of style is on full display in her spaceship-esque chair on NBC. “I have always loved dressing up, being theatrical,” she says. Mission accomplished, Xtina. Well done. Check out how she dressed up for Lucky by clicking to enlarge some more Christina Aguilera pictures below …
She received an Oscar and BAFTA nomination for her starring role as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in the aptly titled Frida back in 2002, an Emmy nomination for her appearance in TV’s Ugly Betty (where she was also an executive producer) and has been in films from Puss in Boots (ok, her voice), Desperado to Dogma and her latest pic, Savages , directed by Oliver Stone . Yet Mexican-born actress Salma Hayek told a German magazine that she was in fact ready to end her acting career. The 45 year-old actress told German Vogue that Oliver Stone’s Savages persuaded her to stay on in front of the camera. Her husband Francois-Henri Pinault also encouraged her to take on the role in the drug thriller. “Roles like Elena don’t come along frequently,” she is quoted as saying in the publication via NDTV Movies . “I didn’t want to do another movie to be honest. Francois convinced me of that. Actually, I quit acting.” But now that Savages has been released both in the U.S. and abroad, will she continue to act? Apparently it’s not clear, but she did say she would have done Savages even if it would end up being her final performance because it was directed by Stone. “It at all I just wanted to do it for fun,” she said. “I didn’t take it that seriously anymore. And then [Stone] came. To be honest even if I didn’t like the part I still would have said yes just to work with Oliver.” In Savages , Hayek plays the role of a cartel leader. Even if the acting thing isn’t for her anymore, the movie biz will likely still be ongoing. She founded her film production company Ventanarosa in 2000 and she is currently producing The Prophet , an animated feature slated for next year. And a quick look at her IMDb page shows that she has two acting gigs in the works, Here Comes the Boom and Grown Ups 2 . [Sources: NDTV , IMDb ]
Former NFL linebacker-turned-actor (not to mention past and future President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho ) Terry Crews took a slightly different journey to action stardom than folks like Sly Stallone , Bruce Willis , Dolph Lundgren and Arnold Schwarzenegger ; his route carved a path through the comedy world, with turns in films including Friday After Next , White Chicks , and Balls of Fury . Cast as the bicep-flexing, quip-happy Hale Caesar in 2010’s The Expendables — a role he admits Wesley Snipes might have otherwise played if things had worked out differently — Crews more than earned his spot on the team, backed by Stallone’s vote of confidence: “He literally told me, ‘I’m going to make you an action star.’” Back alongside his brawny brethren in The Expendables 2 , Crews took time to share a few revelations about his Expendables experience with Movieline — starting with a surprisingly in-depth analysis of the art of delivering the perfect action movie one-liner. What is the secret to delivering the perfect one-liner in a movie like The Expendables 2 ? It’s funny because Sly, Bruce and Arnold kind of perfected it — and let me tell you a little thing that a lot of people don’t know. In the first Expendables there were a ton of monologues, and I mean monologues. Mon-o-logues. Everywhere! I remember I had a two-page monologue and spent about two months learning this whole thing, so did Randy [Couture], he had his own monologue — and we get on set and Sly’s like, “We can’t say any of this.” [Mimes crumpling paper.] I was like, “Ahhhh, the script is gone!” And you realize in an action movie, the one-liners are about necessity because you have to find a way to move the story without talking all the time. So those one little lines — “Hasta la vista, baby” — they’re cute, but they let you know and signal that we’re moving on to another part. So true! “I’ll be back” — the whole thing turns Terminator on its ear. And he did come back! Everybody had them. Those one-liners were so cool because they’re like chapter headings, you know what I mean? You realize, that’s what that is — you need that little thing to keep it the movie flowing but let people know with a signpost, this part is over and we’re starting a new section. And also to inform characters, especially when there are so many in an ensemble like this. Exactly. You need them just because you can’t say it in a monologue. You’ve got to hit it, hit it, hit it, quit it. And then let’s go. Nobody really wants to hear you talk all day. [Laughs] Do you remember what Hale Caesar’s original Expendables monologue was about? Oh, it was about social things in America, how the man in the hood in the ghetto… [Laughs] But after that it was, “Remember this shit, Christmas?” That’s all I had to say! There’s a scene in Expendables 2 where a rocket comes toward you and before diving out of the way you yell, “OH!” And there’s just something wonderfully perfect about that one “OH!” [Laughs] Well you know what, it makes things real! Because we don’t talk in monologues. You say, “What in the world?” It mimics real speech. Sly is a really great writer; I mean, he wrote Rocky . Did you improvise much? There wasn’t a lot of improvisation because he told us exactly how to go — there were times he’d say, “I want a bigger reaction!” Because he had a picture of it in his head. I learned to trust him all the way. You have to trust him. Sure, particularly when there were so many moving parts involved. You can’t improvise gigantic scenes that way, or somebody’s going to get hurt. You have to really stick with it and make what you planned the best it can be, and that doesn’t leave a lot of room for [improvisation]. I’ve done a lot of comedies and when you improv a lot, you say a great joke and the whole crew laughs. Well, you have to do that same scene maybe twenty times, so on the fourth time you say the same joke nobody laughs. What happens? The guy improvises. He makes people laugh again. But you can’t edit it. So you get to the other side and they can’t put it together, because you started changing your act in the middle of the thing to make everybody laugh. So, stop! [Laughs] I’ve been there with the comedians when you’re like, “No dude, say the line. I promise you it’s the first time in the theater that they’ll hear it!” Trust it. But comedians are trying to make the crew laugh. You had more comedy experience than many of your fellow Expendables — when did that came in handy the most? You lead a guy — I can lead a guy just by my expression, and it’s natural. You lead them instead of making it like, “Knock knoc.k” “Who’s there?” It’s all about the timing and the flow. Sly knows it perfectly. It sounds like this shoot was really quickly paced, with little margin for error with rewrites happening on set and having to get coverage of these big elaborate set pieces. It was huge. The biggest movie I’ve ever been involved with. I was looking at the script wondering, “How are they going to do it?” Especially if they couldn’t get certain cast members on jet skis… [Laughs] I know! Well, they did work it out — they just rigged it. You’ve got to have a bigger boat attached to the jet ski and you can get the shot. I like that they thought that they had all these seasoned action stars, of course they can just stick them on jet skis and let them do their thing. Look, let me tell you: One plus one is two. I knew how heavy I was and I felt that jet ski. And you wanted to put two more people on there? [Laughs] Jean-Claude Van Damme played the villain and said that on set he chose to be rude to everyone in order to stay in character, until the very end. Well, this is the thing. We had to have a little distance between him and us. There had to be. If we hung out with him, and he was our pal… it’s really hard to dig up that emotion when it’s time. Because first and foremost, we’re in Bulgaria — we don’t want to mess around. You don’t want to come back and hear, “You didn’t do your emotion right.” You can’t just, like, go down the street to reshoot a scene. Yeah — you’ve got a one-timer. We were like, look — Jean-Claude’s the villain. Let’s treat him like that. And there was a distance; we would shake hands, “Hey, how you doing?” but after that… With so many iconic action stars in this film and the previous one, I imagine you grew up watching some of these guys in their heyday. Who was the one you were most excited to rub elbows with? You do get to memorably drop a Terminator quote directly to Arnold… The first movie I ever did was The 6th Day — and what was weird was watching how much I’ve changed since then. I was nervous, I was scared, I didn’t know what I was doing. Then to go into our scene together here… he noticed how much I’ve grown. It’s such an honor. Because you do change; as long as you keep going, you can get better and better. It’s about effort. But the guy that I have enjoyed the most is Sly, because he hand-picked me for this. He literally told me, “I’m going to make you an action star.” Because I was kind of worried! You mentioned your role was initially meant for Wesley Snipes. Did that make it more nerve-wracking? Yeah! That’s the thing — there were four other choices before me that all fell through, and I was a little nervous. I was like, “Sly, I come from the comedy world…” and he was just like, “You just stay in shape, give me your all, and I’m going to make you an action star.” I just love that guy. He’s like my mentor. He’s amazing. He has that creativity and a will that just won’t quit, and I love him. The Expendables 2 is in theaters today. 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Nic Cage re-teams with Con Air director Simon West ( Expendables 2 ) in Stolen , which is the most-est ’90s-est classic Nic Cage genre vehicle we’ve seen in a long time. (Yes, but is it very nouveau shamanic ?) The overly complicated plot involving a burned ex-partner and millions in stolen booty! The estranged daughter with an Anne Parillaud haircut! AND OH DEAR LORD IS THAT REALLY JOSH LUCAS OUT-NIC CAGING NIC CAGE? Sigh. It is . Your Friday Fun Time has arrived. Oh yeah, Malin Akerman is in this (and threatens to turn in the best acting in the cast). Two lingering thoughts: A. Is it just me, or does this voice-over narrator pronounce Nicolas Cage like a total weirdo (“Nicolas Ca-aaage”) at the 1:30 mark? B. JOSH LUCAS WTF!? I can’t even . If anyone needs me this weekend I’ll be watching Sweet Home Alabama on repeat wondering how things could go so wrong over the course of 10 years. Verdict : Folks, we’ve got to buy tickets and make this a hit so that poor Josh Lucas never has to go oily-skinned and straggly-haired again. EVER. Mmkay? Director Simon West and Nicolas Cage re-team for the first time since CON AIR for STOLEN, a fast paced action thriller set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. WILL MONTGOMERY (Nicolas Cage) is a master thief who after being double-crossed in a heist gone awry is sent to prison for 8 years. Upon his release he’s ready to leave his criminal past behind and try to rebuild a relationship with his estranged daughter ALLISON. The FBI and his old cohorts believe that he hid the loot from the last heist 8 years ago, $10 Million in Bonds. To get his hands on it, his old partner VINCENT kidnaps Allison and demands the entire $ 10 Million as ransom. Keeping her in the soundproofed trunk of a Taxi Cab, he’s able to stay mobile amongst the throngs of taxis out during Mardi Gras day making it nearly impossible to find. Montgomery only has one day to get the $10 Million ransom but much to the disbelief of the FBI on his trail and Vincent, Will doesn’t actually have it. Instead, he must trust his instincts and his old partner in crime, the beautiful, sexy and smart RILEY, to do one more, clever heist to get his daughter back alive before it’s too late. [via Yahoo ] Stolen will hit theaters September 14, 2012. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Attached to prints of Disney-Pixar’s Finding Nemo 3-D re-release next month will be a new Toy Story Toon spin-off short starring the voice of Wallace Shawn as the adorably naive dino Rex, who goes from Debbie Downer to the titular Partysaurus Rex at bathtime. Cute enough, no? Watch a clip after the jump and tell us if the law of diminishing returns applies to stories built around second- and third-tier Toy Story characters. More on Partysaurus Rex : Poor Rex. Buzz, Woody and the rest of the “Toy Story” gang think he is a just a wet blanket. But when Bonnie takes him to bath time, he goes from a party pooper to king of the hot tub! Creating a bubble bash like no other, everyone’s raving about the Partysaurus Rex! Directed by Pixar veteran animator Mark Walsh and produced by Kim Adams, Disney•Pixar’s new short “Partysaurus Rex” makes a splash in theaters in front of “Finding Nemo” on September 14, 2012.
Attached to prints of Disney-Pixar’s Finding Nemo 3-D re-release next month will be a new Toy Story Toon spin-off short starring the voice of Wallace Shawn as the adorably naive dino Rex, who goes from Debbie Downer to the titular Partysaurus Rex at bathtime. Cute enough, no? Watch a clip after the jump and tell us if the law of diminishing returns applies to stories built around second- and third-tier Toy Story characters. More on Partysaurus Rex : Poor Rex. Buzz, Woody and the rest of the “Toy Story” gang think he is a just a wet blanket. But when Bonnie takes him to bath time, he goes from a party pooper to king of the hot tub! Creating a bubble bash like no other, everyone’s raving about the Partysaurus Rex! Directed by Pixar veteran animator Mark Walsh and produced by Kim Adams, Disney•Pixar’s new short “Partysaurus Rex” makes a splash in theaters in front of “Finding Nemo” on September 14, 2012.
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