Just days ago, Pamela Anderson was waning rhapsodic about how she and third-husband Rick Salomon were soulmates. But today, it’s an entirely different story. But the 40-year-old Las Vegas magician’s assistant has filed for divorce from her 38-year-old husband after just two months of marriage. Anderson cited irreconcilable differences in papers filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.The couple was wed Oct. 6. Salomon is best known for making a sex videotape with Paris Hilton, called One Night in Paris. Hilton was his girlfriend at the time. Anderson was previously married to singer Kid Rock and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee.

Posted: December 19th, 2007 under celebrity.
Comments: none

The Queen of Pop has quite possibly achieved more success as an international pop icon than any other female of all time. Madonna became a legendary pop diva in the 1980s with her music, and has five Grammy Awards and a legendary number of album sales under her belt. She is renowned for her sexually explicit and sometimes vulgar blonde bombshell persona, her unique music videos, and for using controversial themes and images in her work, combining politics, religion, and aggressive sexuality. Madonna is more than a musician and singer—she is also a songwriter, dancer, model, actress, and children’s book author. She was born in Michigan on August 16, 1958, as Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, the third of six children in a Catholic family. Her parents are Italian-American Silvio “Tony” P. Ciccone and French Canadian Madonna Louise Fortin, who died at the age of thirty from breast cancer when Madonna was only five.
After childhood beginnings of ballet classes and cheerleading, Madonna decided to leave college and move to New York City when she was twenty to pursue a dance career. This move led to her studying with Martha Graham and Pearl Lang, and performing with various modern dance companies. She went on to form several bands, and then signed a deal with Sire Records and founder Seymour Stein in 1982. Her early albums were mostly dance and pop music—popular but often dismissed by critics. Her first-ever single was “Everybody” in 1982, which was mildly popular, as was her debut album, Madonna, in 1983. However, it was the release of her follow-up album in 1984, Like a Virgin, the really gave Madonna the fame she continues to enjoy today. The title track is one of Madonna’s most recognized songs, and was also her first #1 hit on the U.S. music charts. “Like a Virgin” has been heavily criticized for its sexual content, as have many of her singles, albums, and music videos. Another single on that album, “Material Girl,” garnered Madonna further acclaim and the nickname The Material Girl.
Further hits during this time include “Like a Prayer” in 1989, “Vogue” in 1990, and “Justify My Love” in 1991. “Like a Prayer” created controversy because it was condemned by the Vatican for its “blasphemous” combination of Catholic symbolism and eroticism. Into the 90s, Madonna’s notable songs include “Deeper and Deeper” in 1992, “Take a Bow” in 1994, and “You Must Love Me” in 1996). More recent hits include “Beautiful Stranger,” for Austin Powers, starring Mike Myers, in 1999; as well as “Die Another Day,” for the twentieth installment of the Bond movies featuring Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry in 2002. Although Madonna is an actress, most of her films have not done exceptionally well, with the noteworthy exception of Evita in 1996, her most critically successful film. Madonna also won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her performance in Evita. Several of her other films include A League of Their Own in 1992, with Tom Hanks and Geena Davis; The Next Best Thing in 2000, with Rupert Everett; and Swept Away in 2002, directed by husband Guy Ritchie. Madonna is now a mother and is married to acclaimed director Guy Ritchie. She has shown no signs of slowing down in show business. In 2003, the star shared a much publicized lip-lock with pop singer Britney Spears. Her tenth album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, was released in 2005, featuring the ABBA-like hit “Hung Up.” Madonna has a long and extensive list of past relationships, including Dan Gilroy, Stephen Bray, Jean-Michael Basquiat, and Jellybean Benitez. She was married to big-time actor Sean Penn for almost four years, but that relationship deteriorated based on Penn’s aggressive behavior and Madonna’s affair with John F. Kennedy Jr. After her divorce, Madonna had relationships with Warren Beatty, Lenny Kravitz, Vanilla Ice, Jim Albright, Mark Wahlberg, and Dennis Rodman, among others. In 1996, Madonna gave birth to Lourdes Maria (Lola) Ciccone Leon, a daughter she has with then-boyfriend and trainer Carlos Leon. After they split in 1997, Madonna dated Andy Bird and David Blaine before marrying Guy Ritchie in 2000. The two had a son, Rocco Ritchie, that same year. In 2006 Madonna made headline news again when she decided to adopt a child from Malawi. The adoption caused much controversy due to the fact that Malwaian officials allegedly bent the typical laws for inter-country adoptions, as well as the fact that the child’s father changed his mind about the adoption mid-way through. The child, David, is currently living with Madonna and the rest of her family.

Posted: December 19th, 2007 under celebrity.
Comments: none

Madonna will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year. John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures and The Dave Clark Five will also be inducted. Madonna’s first single “Everybody” was released 25 years ago. The ceremony will be held in March in NYC. Donna Summer, Chic, Afrika Bambaataa and the Beastie Boys were nominated, but didn’t make the cut. Okay, Madonna deserved it. She can’t really sing, she’s not the greatest dancer, she isn’t a great lyricist and yet she’s still managed to put together a pretty great music career and sell a shit load of albums. Give her the trophy! Donna Summer was robbed! The Dave Clark who?!

Posted: December 14th, 2007 under celebrity.
Comments: none

Posted: December 14th, 2007 under celebrity.
Comments: none

IN THE latest battle between the wild girls of Hollywood, Britney Spears has reportedly threatened to leak footage of Paris Hilton in a lesbian romp. The singer and her pals sent the heiress a letter warning her that they would leak the footage, which shows Hilton in a compromising position with one of Spears’ friends, unless her attitude changed. “The letter warns Paris that if she continues being rude to people, the footage will be leaked online,” says an insider. The former friends are said to have fallen out at Spears’ birthday bash on the weekend after Hilton snubbed her. But Hilton isn’t taking the threat seriously. “It’s obvious Britney and her bratty pals are being silly. Paris laughed when she got the letter and said it was c–p,” a source close to Hilton told the London Daily Mail. Spears isn’t the only person Hilton is at loggerheads with. According to the New York Post, the House of Wax star is furious with starlet Lindsay Lohan, who is standing in the way of Hilton’s plans to win back former lover Stavros Niarchos. The Greek shipping heir ditched the socialite at a party on the weekend to hang out with Lohan.

Posted: December 13th, 2007 under celebrity.
Comments: none

It’s hard to believe that when J.K. Rowling first conceived the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone that it would lead to four hit movies and six books that are found on every child’s bookshelf, not to mention many adults’ as well. She’s not alone in this success, of course, as the young actors playing the parts of Harry Potter and his friends in the movies have certainly received their share, and for Emma Watson, the success seems to have come from nowhere.

Watson was born April 15, 1990, in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, to Chris and Jacqueline Watson. Along with Oxford, she has also lived in Paris and France, and she attended the Dragon School, a private preparatory school, for her primary education. Along with winning first place in the Daisy Pratt Poetry Competition when she was just seven, Watson also began acting in school plays such as Arthur: The Young Years and The Happy Prince.

After the success of the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the decision was made to turn it into a movie. Author J.K. Rowling insisted that all characters be played by British actors in order to keep the original cultural integrity of the book. Auditions were held looking for the three principal kids in the movie, one of which was the part of Hermione Granger. Despite the fact that the only experience Watson had was acting in plays back at the Dragon School, she beat out all the other much more experienced actresses for the part.

Just nine years old when cast for the movie, Watson was eleven by the time the movie was released, starring two other young actors, Daniel Radcliffe in the part of Harry Potter, and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. The movie became a huge success earning $976 million in the worldwide box office, with that figure being the fourth highest of all time, and the movie earned three Academy Award nominations as well. Well-known film critic Roger Ebert gave the movie four stars.

Not everyone agrees with Watson playing the part of Hermione, feeling she is too pretty for the role. Hermione was written in the book as a plain Jane type, but the actress herself is quite beautiful and only gets more so as she approaches adulthood. Even Roger Ebert referred to her as “in the early stages of Babehood.” Nonetheless, the detractors remain, believing that Watson isn’t able to portray Hermione correctly as flawed and with insecurities. She dyes her hair for the role, as she is a natural blonde, and Hermione is a brunette.

Once the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was being prepared to be made into a movie as well, no one else was considered for the part of Hermione, except Watson. Many of the other actors remained for the second installment as well, including Radcliffe, Grint, Richard Harris, and Maggie Smith. When it came time to film the third and fourth books in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the principal actors, including Watson, again recreated their roles for the movies. J.K. Rowling has acknowledged that there will only be seven installments in the Harry Potter series, but with the success of each of the movies so far, it can be assumed that all of the books will be turned into movies eventually.

Watson has done a lot in her young life. She is the youngest person ever to grace the cover of Teen Vogue Magazine. She also served on a special jury to select the teenaged filmmakers for a Film Award ceremony along with Pierce Brosnan and Kenneth Branagh, and recreated the part of Hermione in a special performance for the Queen’s birthday. Young shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton has mentioned Watson’s name as a likely person to play her when her life story is turned into a movie. Despite the fact that Watson’s only professional experience has been playing Hermione, it is clearly just the beginning.

Posted: November 11th, 2007 under celebrity.
Comments: none