Gossip Girl Going Chinese

Gossip Girl producers have reportedly been contacted about creating original Gossip Girl episodes in China, featuring Chinese actors, for broadcast in Asia. "100 percent we would love to do that," [Josh] Schwartz tells the Post. On one hand, they really like their Gossip Girl in China: "They estimate that more people watch us online in China than watch us in all forms of viewing combined in the United States,” executive producer Stephanie Savage said. "We are not streaming it. They are watching it illegally." But Josh Schwartz added, "I assume there would be a little bit of censorship [in the Chinese Gossip Girl]." Well, now that they're allowing Internet porn in China, what's a little racy, brilliant teen soap going to do?

Carrie Underwood talks about the change of judges on American Idol

MTV'S "JERSEY SHORE" SEASON TWO PREMIERE #1 CABLE TELECAST OF 2010 WITH 5.3 MILLION VIEWERS

MTV's "Jersey Shore" season 2 premiere can boast the top cable telecast of 2010 with viewers aged 12 to 34, the network announced today.

About 5.3 million viewers got their GTL on Thursday night, making it MTV's best season premiere since the season 2 launch of "The Osbournes" in 2002, according to Nielsen ratings.


In the premiere, the gang (including former roomie Angelina Pivarnick) reunite in Miami for all-new adventures and vintage drama: Will Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola and Ronnie Magro make up? Will Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino step on any grenades? What scrap of fabric will Jenni "JWoww" Farley drape over her chest and call clothing? Will Vinny Guadagino actually get a storyline this season? How much spray tan can Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi apply before start mistaking her for a traffic cone?

New Interview with the Women of Mad Men

"Mad Men" may be named for the guys, but the women rule the roost.

Take Christina Hendricks' savvy office manager Joan Harris (nee Holloway), a glamour girl who choreographs her every move with the precision of a five-star general drawing up battle plans. Or how about January Jones' frustrated housewife Betty Draper, whose icy veneer masks a woman constantly on the verge of coming undone? And of course, there's up-and-comer Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), a gifted copywriter finding her voice during the upheaval of the series' 1960s-era setting.

As the critically acclaimed AMC series begins its fourth season, the Emmy-nominated trio chatted about auditioning, typecasting, and being women in a world of "Men."

WHAT WAS YOUR "MAD MEN" AUDITION PROCESS LIKE?

Christina Hendricks: It was pilot season. It's that crazy time of year when we all go nuts. I had already auditioned for a bunch of stuff, and I was feeling depleted. I had gotten the script, and I was super excited and went to work on the audition with my best friend. I remember breaking down and crying because I was so tired. I was like, "I'm not doing anything with this role; I don't know what I'm doing." She helped me so much, so I had every word down and went in and enjoyed myself and had a really good audition. They brought me back to read the Midge role: the bohemian lover of Don Draper. At the time, they hadn't decided which characters were going to be regulars on the show and which were going to be guest stars. I said, "I'll take whatever one stays!" The women's roles were so beautiful.

January Jones: I went in for the role of Peggy twice. Ultimately, I wasn't right for it. ("Mad Men" creator Matthew Weiner) said, "There is this other role." He wasn't sure what he was going to do with it, and there weren't any real lines for Betty at the time. He wrote a couple scenes overnight -- really amazing scenes, actually -- and I came in and read for him, and that was it. I just wanted to be involved in the show in any way; I think we all felt that. It was such a unique project, and it was the best thing I'd read in a long time.

Elisabeth Moss: I auditioned twice. I did two scenes both times, and it felt like a really good fit for the part. I loved playing Peggy; I just really felt at home playing that character. I knew who she was, and I knew why she was doing what she was doing. And the person that I thought she was the person Matt wrote.

HOW DID YOU APPROACH THESE ROLES?

Jones: Betty's not very developed when it comes to emotional maturity, I think. So I kind of approached her as a child playing house, not really being able to deal with a lot of the issues in her life that don't go her way.

Hendricks: As I was reading the lines for Joan, I thought, "Oh, this is that kind of person that we all know that needs to be acknowledged, needs to be thanked. She needs a lot of attention." I based that off her being kind of a know-it-all. I found out later that Matt had a different idea -- I think she was a little more conservative and pinched and uptight, and I interpreted it in a different way. Thank God he liked it. After I did that, he started to write for her in that vein.

THERE'S SO MUCH GOING ON IN EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF "MAD MEN," YET THE ACTING IS SO SUBTLE. HOW DO YOU FIND THAT BALANCE?

Moss: I think it's a combination of the acting and the writing. In real life, we don't walk around giving speeches about what's going on with our day. You say hello, you say, "How are you?" I think we're true to life in that way. I like playing opposites and complexities and having subtext.

Jones: We get very little time to do the show, so it's a very instinctual, organic reaction -- for me, at least. It makes it that much better, because you don't have time to overthink it as an actor. You do what comes naturally for the character. I feel like I know her more than I've ever known a character, but also less, because she's ever-evolving. I don't know what's going to happen to her in the next episode, so I have to be on my toes in terms of being game to do anything.

WHAT'S BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING THING FOR YOU TO PLAY ON THE SHOW?

Hendricks: The reason this job is so fun is it's always challenging. You never just show up to work and walk through it. Every day, it's like, "Oh gosh, I get to do this." Even the moments where you're watching and listening are meaty.

Jones: For me, probably the giving-birth scene (last season). It was a very trippy episode: I mean, Betty's hallucinating. I've never had a child, and I was always terrified I'd have to do one of those "push a baby out" scenes. I had to be struggling with that and then the next day come in to work and do a weird dream sequence where I'm in the kitchen with my parents. It was an odd week.

Moss: It's difficult to nail a scene down, but I think the most challenging thing for me has been to retain who she is as Peggy and at the same time let her grow and change. I feel like she has had the most room for growth over the course of the show, just by virtue of her age and the time period and who she is. It's a moment-by-moment sort of process. I try to maintain a balance of thought and decisions, and at the same time I really like to allow for things to just happen, allow it to be organic and just let go -- it's a balance between regimented and not regimented. I make a choice that this is how she would handle this situation as someone who has grown, and then allow the old Peggy to creep in a little bit. I've never played a character who has come so far and changed so much over the course of a period of time.

THESE CHARACTERS ARE SO ICONIC. HAVE YOU FOUND YOURSELVES DEALING WITH ANY TYPECASTING?

Hendricks: It's actually opened doors for characters for me. Before I played Joan, people thought that I was maybe a little too soft or sweet or vulnerable to play tougher characters. Now I play one of the toughest characters there is, so I've been reading scripts and being offered roles that are these really strong, aggressive women, which no one ever thought I could do before.

Jones: It's been a very amazing blessing, so I won't complain and say now I'm typecast -- and I never would've dreamt that you could be typecast as someone from the past, but occasionally something will come across my desk that's another period piece. There are a lot of really great ones, but I try to stay away from doing too much of that, at least from the '60s. And I kind of like having that allure about the show and about the characters: There's a noir feeling about it, and a lot of the stuff I'm attracted to has that vibe.

YOU'VE ALL BEEN ACTING FOR A LONG TIME. DO YOU HAVE ROLES YOU CONSIDER BREAKTHROUGHS?

Moss: I think any actor will attest to the fact that there rarely is that one role. I think the idea that someone is a breakout -- an overnight sensation, and there's this one thing that happens -- is kind of a myth. You look at anyone's career; you'll see that many small steps that were involved. Something that was a big moment was I did a film called "Girl, Interrupted": I was 15, and it was my biggest movie at the time. That was something, but at the same time, then I did my first play in New York. That could've been something. I got on "The West Wing." That could've been something. I remember I read with (creator) Aaron Sorkin and didn't realize it was Aaron Sorkin. It's probably good that I didn't realize, 'cause I would've been really nervous! I thought it was interesting that he did that; most (show creators) choose just to watch. It was at Warner Bros., and a million girls, I'm sure, were auditioning for this, and I was like, "There's no way I'm gonna be the one."

Hendricks: I landed the lead role in a pilot of John Wells' called "The Big Time," which was actually another period piece. It was set in the '40s. It was one of those jobs where you work a 17-hour day, and at the end of the day you're like, "Wait, I have to go home?" I think that proved to me that I had the chops and the stamina to go in and play a lead role and fully immerse myself into a character.

I remember, I went in to test for it, and there was a room of people testing, and John Wells walked in the room, and he was like, "I understand that this process isn't human. I'm sorry for you guys because you're all amazing. When you walk into the room to audition, please make yourself comfortable, take your time, don't rush, make sure you give the best audition you can give." I thought that was the nicest thing someone could come out and say, because you're racked with nerves. Your palms are sweating, and you feel like you're gonna throw up, and you're looking at your competition sitting in the chair next to you. I remember walking into the audition room, setting down my bag. And they were like, "Wow, you really are taking your time." I'm like, "John Wells said I could!"

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM, WOULD YOU MIND SHARING A WORST AUDITION STORY?

Jones: I think they're all bad -- I hate them. I hate that you have to go into a room and see people you don't know and spill your guts out for them and have them tell you that you're not right for it. It's heartbreaking, it really is. But you have to do them. If I can come out not wanting to punch myself in my face, I consider it a good audition.

Hendricks: I remember one in particular. It was pilot season, and it was a procedural kind of show, and I went in to play the wife of a cop. I had to break down and cry and all these things. I left so confident. I was like, "I killed that." There are so few moments as an actor where you feel like in an audition you were truly there, you were so present and you really felt it. I got a call from my agent a couple hours later: "What were you wearing? The casting director was so offended by what you were wearing."

Now, let me tell you what I was wearing: gray dress pants from Banana Republic and a navy-blue silk top from Donna Karan, which was the nicest thing I owned. It was a little low-cut, because most things are; I just happen to be bustier than a lot of people. It was very classy and very nice, and the casting director was so offended by my breasts that she called my agent and said, "I couldn't even hear her audition because of what she was wearing." I was like, "You pathetic woman. I just killed that audition so hard, and you're so distracted by what I'm wearing that you didn't see my acting. And I put on my nicest duds for you!"

Snooki Arrested in Jersey - Disorderly Conduct

Snooki from "Jersey Shore" was just arrested in Seaside Heights, NJ ... TMZ has confirmed.



Law enforcement sources tell us the Seaside Heights PD busted Snooki moments ago for disorderly conduct. The details of that conduct are unclear.

We're told Snooki -- real name Nicole Polizzi -- is currently in police custody.

White Collar 2x03 Preview Clips

Three scenes from this week's episode of White Collar, "Copycat Caffrey" (airs July 27th).

'Family Guy' to stir Palin with return of 'DS Girl'

"Family Guy" will likely bring back a character that made headlines for angering Sarah Palin.

Creator Seth MacFarlane told Comic-Con audiences that "Down Syndrome Girl" would likely make a return to the show and even sang the character's theme song live to the San Diego crowd.

"My guess is that at some point we will [bring her back]," MacFarlane said, "despite all the Palin business."

Added writer Mark Hentemann: "I wrote that episode; This season I decided I'd even things out and write something that would offend smart people."

The team also declared the show's upcoming spoof of "Return of the Jedi" would be the show's last full-episode "Star Wars" parody, a venture that's generated healthy DVD sales for 20th Century Fox TV. In addition to increasing the creative team's workload, the more recent prequels, MacFarlane explained, would be "too expensive" to recreate.

The problem is, we try to be as faithful as possible to the look of those movies; to do that with the prequels, I don't think TV budgets have reached that level yet," MacFarlane said.

Added Alex Borstein, who plays Lois: "That, and they sucked."

MacFarlane also ruled out doing more big-franchise movie spoofs, except, possibly, Indiana Jones.

"We may tackle Indiana Jones," he said. "There's no one quite like LucasFilm for allowing us to do what we do."

9 Spoilers From Smallville!

Super Season 10 Scene-Stealers: New footage from the final season kicked off the panel. Spoilers of note: Lois (Erica Durance) finds the infamous blue and red super-suit in the Kent farmhouse; Chloe and Oliver (Justin Hartley) kiss; Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman) is still alive, but being held captive; Cat Grant joins Clark (Tom Welling) at the Daily Planet while Lois is off in Africa as a field correspondent; we hear the word "Superman"; and Chloe says "Goodbye Clark," as she picks up Dr. Fate's gold helmet. Is your head spinning?

Super Villain: "This year we have a little different twist on the villain," executive producer Brian Peterson said. "We're bringing in Darkseid, but he's going to come in a little different form than you're used to seeing, so we're going to switch it up a little."

Super Secrets: Lois found out Clark's little secret in the season finale, but won't be sharing the news, even with him. "She decides not to tell him that she knows for a while," Durance told TVGuide.com after the panel."She finds all these ways to hide it and make it easy for him to do what he's got to do to get away from her, so he can be that superhero and fulfill that destiny. But, in true Lois fashion, I'm sure she'll get tired of keeping secrets."

Super Surprise: As mentioned above, Tess Mercer is alive. Rejoice! She will even be helping Clark and Oliver at Watchtower, Freeman told TVGuide.com. However, "There's a huge secret from her past discovered in mid-season that is going to come back, that she tries to keep from people, but it's really going to change things around for her. This twist is going to define whether or not she's destined for goodness or badness."

Super Endings: Mack will be leaving the show this season, and Peterson said they will wrap the storyline "in a way that's fitting for Chloe." Her romance with Oliver will play a key role in that. "She gives herself up for him, like a trade almost," Hartley told TVGuide.com. "He is trying to figure out who's behind it, and he's been told that they killed her, so he's kind of tormented. His whole quest is to try to figure out where she is."

Super Behind-the-Scenes: Welling will be directing two episodes in the new season, and Hartley will take his first spin in the director's chair. There's also good news for Durance fans that campaigned for her to be in 22 episodes: Mission accomplished.

Super Returning Characters: Jonathan Kent (played by John Schneider, who surprised fans by showing up to the panel) will return, along with Brainiac (James Marsters), Kara (Laura Vandervoort) Carter Hall (Michael Shanks) and Plastique (Jessica Parker Kennedy), who has become a member of the Suicide Squad. Peterson also said they're in discussions to get Lionel Luther (John Glover) back on the series. And as for his progeny, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum), the producers said the door was always open.

Super New Characters: Besides Granny Goodness, who appeared in the finale, and Darkseid, along with his harbingers, viewers will meet Rick Flag, a member of the Suicide Squad. Also, Geoff Johns, who wrote "Absolute Justice" last season, will be doing a Booster Gold and Blue Beetle episode that will feature Jaime Reyes' Blue Beetle, Skeets, and possibly Ted Kord.

Super Wait: Clark Kent will become Superman by the end of the year. "There are some people who don't like the fact that we've waited this long to do the suit or become Superman," Welling told TVGuide.com. "You also have to understand that if we had done that in Season 1, we would've been done. The fact that we've lasted this long is because we've struggled and tried to put off the inevitable this long."

Sneak Peek at S2 Vampire Diaries + Bloopers + Stuff!

Heidi Montag Reality Show Not Happening

About a week ago we reported that Heidi Montag might not be involved in the reality TV show she and her former Hills costar Jennifer Bunney had been promoting for months. Now, we can confirm that Heidi will not be a part of the show – at least not at first.



Surprisingly, there are still a few networks who have agreed to give Jennifer Bunney the green light to star in her own reality show (don’t worry, we’re just as shocked as you are) which, according to Bunney herself, is set to air this January.

Jennifer Bunney released this statement on her official website under the title “Reality Show Update”:

“Originally I was supposed to do a reality show with Heidi , but right now it looks like some things have changed, and I don’t know if Heidi wants to be involved in reality TV at the moment with everything going on in her personal life (no we are not in a fight, and no Heidi is not “dropping” me to do reality shows with the twins).”

Everything going on in her personal life likely refers to Heidi’s divorce from Spencer Pratt.

Jenn continues “So, since that recent development our original network and some others as well have offered to continue on with the show despite Heidi possibly not being involved, which I just recently agreed to. Although, I of course wanted to pursue this project with her I also respect that she has a lot to deal with right now and have to decided to go ahead and move forward with it alone, since these opportunities have presented themselves (my hope is that she will want to be involved later on).”

As for the details of Jenn Bunney’s show, those are still under wraps. She just announced that she’s broken up with her boyfriend, so we’re pretty sure they’ll be some drinks, dancing and making out with random boys.

Do you think Jennifer Bunney has what it takes to make a successful reality show on her own?

True Blood Vs. Mad Men

Discerning viewers divide into two camps when talk turns to True Blood and Mad Men. Which show can rightfully lay claim to being television’s best current drama? Let’s get ready to rumble.




The debate begins anew with this weekend’s return of Mad Men (Sunday, AMC at 10 p.m.). The sombre dramatic treatise set in the New York advertising world of the early sixties remains the darling of the TV industry, which is fairly impressive for a show going into its fourth season.

Running concurrently is the HBO drama True Blood (Sunday, The Movie Network at 9 p.m.), a moody supernatural drama about humans and vampires co-habitating in a steamy Louisiana backwater. Midway through its third season, True Blood is adored by critics and cherished by fans, even with the recent addition of werewolves into the dramatic mix.

True Blood and Mad Men have buzz, at least among Entertainment Weekly subscribers, and despite the fact neither is a ratings giant. True Blood averages around three million U.S. viewers, and a few hundred thousand viewers in Canada; Mad Men pulls in two million and change in the United States, and an untold number of followers here, since no Canadian network has picked up the latest season.

Both series emanate from a precious broadcast echelon - mostly that of viewers willing to spring for premium packages - and both are up for Best Drama honours at next month’s Emmy Awards (along with Breaking Bad, Dexter, Lost and The Good Wife). But on a strictly categorical basis, which is the better show? This is the tale of the tape.

TV PEDIGREE

* True Blood – Created by Alan Ball, also the creator of HBO’s Six Feet Under.
* Mad Men – Created by Matthew Weiner, former writer/producer on The Sopranos.

Advantage: Ball, though only because he ran the show on SFU for six seasons.

TITLE SEQUENCE

* True Blood – Grainy pastiche of disturbing images of the American deep south, including rednecks, roadkill, gospel revivals, kids in KKK garb and a dead dog consumed by maggots. Brr.
* Mad Men – Against mournful music by RJD2, it’s a silhouette of an ad executive falling out of an office building and slowly downward past skyscrapers emblazoned with sixties-era advertising images.

Advantage Mad Men. The opening titles still feel like a disturbing dream, even without the graphic imagery.

TROPHY COUNT

* True Blood – The show has collected a trunkload of less-celebrated industry honours - Satellite Awards, Television Critics Awards, People’s Choice Awards and something called the “Tubey” - but has had minimal recognition from Emmy voters, until this year. Series star Anna Paquin took home a Golden Globe for Best Actress in 2008.
* Mad Men – Almost too many to count. Emmy-winner for Best TV Drama the last two years; Golden Globes for Best Drama three years running. Winner of a Peabody Award for its rookie season. Last year’s recipient of Best International Show at the British Academy Television Awards, eh wot.

Advantage: Mad Men. Matthew Weiner will eventually need to put a new wing on his house for trophies.

CASH-IN POTENTIAL

* True Blood – The show’s success has bumped up sales of the book series it’s based on (The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris), but nobody is racing out to buy True Blood lunchboxes. Earlier this week, the series was launched as a comic book, in both print and digital formats.
* Mad Men – Quite a little cash cow, the series has spawned Mad Men edition Barbie and Ken dolls, a Banana Republic clothing line and several pop-culture tomes, including Mad Men Unbuttoned: A Romp Through 1960s America.

Advantage: Mad Men, by far. But why no Pete Campbell doll?

POP-CULTURE PRESENCE

* True Blood – The show has yet to reach the mainstream level attained by The Sopranos, but its profile should rise now that the first two seasons are syndicated (the first season currently airs on Space in Canada). Probably worth noting that Mad magazine has done its parody treatment on Twilight, but not True Blood.
* Mad Men – Firmly entrenched in the American zeitgeist. Magazine covers on People, Vanity Fair, Esquire, et al. Support player Crista Flanagan graces the current issue of Playboy (and appears sixties-style naked inside). And it has been parodied on both The Simpsons and Sesame Street.

Advantage: Mad Men. No contest [I disagree. TB parodied by Sesame Street? Yeah okay. Also, Mad Men doesn't have a porn parody. Just sayin'.]

FEMALE CHARACTERS

* True Blood – Telepathic waitress Sookie (Anna Paquin) is one tough cookie. She was the rescuer of her eventual vampire beau Bill in the first season and has done so again since. This season has brought more screen time for Sookie’s teen vampire charge Jessica (Deborah Ann Woll), which is a good thing.
* Mad Men – For a show set in the early sixties, the Mad Men ladies are corkers. Once-naive Peggy (Elisabeth Moss) had a baby out of wedlock, but continues to mount her ad career; Don Draper’s trophy wife Betty (January Jones) walked away from her philandering husband; and watch and see if zaftig secretary Joan (Christina Hendricks) doesn’t do the same with her chauvinist hubby.

Advantage: Mad Men. You think it was easy being a woman in the 60s? [What? First ep: Sookie + chain. Girl is fierce.]

STRONG MALES?

* True Blood – A continuing carp against is the show is that the central male character of Bill (Stephen Moyer) is a wuss. It certainly doesn’t help a vampire’s rep when your fiancée has to repeatedly come to your rescue. Bloodsucker sheriff Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) is a stronger dramatic figure, as is bar owner - and shapeshifter - Sam (Sam Trammell).
* Mad Men – The full spectrum of sixties alpha males. Handsome Don Draper (Jon Hamm) shifts between charming and detestable - his entire life is a lie, we’re learning; aristocratic ad veteran Roger (John Slattery) is ruthless in business and weak in his desires; ambitious account executive Pete (Vincent Kartheiser) is the most obnoxious, though occasionally pitiable; and art director Sal (Bryan Batt), who will reappear later this season, is a portrait in closeted gay angst.

Advantage: Mad Men. You may not like these fellas, but they’re never boring. [Ignoring Lafayette's fierceness. Typical. Also how can Sookie come to Bill's rescue, and lose for strong female? SMH.]

RAWNESS QUOTIENT

* True Blood – Anything goes on HBO. Unfettered by network censors, hence no barriers on language or violence and the sexual situations can be more sexual, all of which seems about right for a series involving modern-day vampires.
* Mad Men – The other side of the coin. AMC is basic cable in the U.S., which means no nudity or graphic violence and minimal swearing. Sure, the ad sharks can say damn or hell, but an F-word? Not in 1964.

Advantage: True Blood, which probably deserves some credit for using the lack of censorship judiciously.

CONCEPT CRED

* True Blood – The show exists on a fantasy plane, with casual story nods to synthetic blood and nobody really taking much notice of vampires and shapeshifters wandering among normal folk. The entry point was the murder investigation involving Sookie’s brother Jason (Ryan Kwanten), but the story has since ambled off into several directions, with creator Ball simultaneously balancing several plotlines.
* Mad Men – Over three seasons, Weiner has stuck rigidly to juxtaposing his characters against a timeline of real-life events. His stories are rife with references to Bob Dylan, Richard Nixon, Allen Ginsberg and the like. Last season closed in November, 1963, paralleling the takeover of Sterling-Cooper by aggressive Brits with the blanketing gloom that came over America following the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. The new season picks up one year later.

Advantage: Mad Men, if only for period detail. Then and now, those beehive hairdos defy physics. [Excuse you. Clearly you've never seen the post-mortems. The WWII one was ace.]

STAYING POWER

* True Blood – Just last month, HBO announced that there will be a fourth season of True Blood, which will debut in the summer of 2011.
* Mad Men – AMC has yet to confirm plans past the incoming fourth season - hey, it’s a channel that normally airs old John Wayne movies around the clock - but two days ago, Variety reported that the network was in talks to extend Mad Men to a fifth and sixth season, and possibly beyond.

Advantage: Mad Men. In TV and advertising, you have to strike while the iron’s hot. [Disagree. TB has the books.]

THE WINNER [a.k.a. what you've all really want to read...]

Mad Men, though not for the usual populist reasons. Yes, True Blood wades into deliciously dark territory -- this is not Twilight, kids -- but Mad Men is more stylized, and gets right into the skin of the people who virtually spawned the advertising industry. To older viewers, it feels real, and younger viewers should realize this was exactly what North American culture was like only a half-century ago. As happened with Six Feet Under, people will forget about True Blood the moment it stops airing. Mad Men is the sizzle, and the steak, and will be analyzed by TV historians for years.

SOURCE

Teenage singer Charice gets Botox for 'Glee' debut

Filipino teenage singer Charice Pempengco says she prepared for her debut on the hit TV show "Glee" by getting Botox and an anti-aging procedure "to look fresh on camera."

The 18-year-old Charice, whose singing career rocketed after appearing on Ellen DeGeneres' and Oprah Winfrey's talk shows, underwent a 30-minute Thermage skin-tightening procedure and Botox to make her "naturally round face" more narrow, celebrity cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo told ABS-CBN television.

Charice, in the same interview, said last week's face makeover was part of her big preparations for her appearance on the hit show's second season. She starts filming at the end of this month.

"All people will be anticipating 'How will Charice look? Is she good enough to pit against Rachel Berry?' So of course there is tremendous pressure," Charice said.

In an earlier TV interview, she said she auditioned for "Glee" in mid-June in Los Angeles and was thankful to have been accepted.

"It's really a blessing," she said, adding she was "very proud to be an Asian, very proud to be Filipino."

On the streets of Manila on Monday, some residents who follow Charice had mixed feelings about what she did with her face.

"I think it's OK for women to have procedures done, but Charice is too young. Does she need it?" said Patricia Carpio, a 21-year-old student.

For Myrna Lumanao, a 23-year-old seller in a doughnut stall, looking natural is better. "I guess she can afford to have those procedures done because she has the money, but I wish she did not change her looks."

Born Charmaine Clarice Relucio Pempengco and raised with her brother by a single mother, she sang in local contests and appeared on TV talent shows in the Philippines and South Korea before she got a big break on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" at age 15.

She later appeared several times on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and credits Winfrey for helping push her career.

Source.

Being a "Tudors" king changed Jonathan Rhys Meyers

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – He might have been just another young Hollywood actor on the rise, but Jonathan Rhys Meyers chose to become a king -- on TV. And doing so, the actor said, changed his life.

Four years ago, Rhys Meyers was coming off an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe win for playing Elvis Presley, and he had wowed audiences in Woody Allen's "Match Point" and worked opposite Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible III."

He was among the hottest young actors in Hollywood, but the Irish-born Rhys Meyers traded his Tinseltown calling card to move to play King Henry VIII in Showtime drama "The Tudors." Initially, Rhys Meyers thought the role might last only a year. He was wrong.

The show debuts its fourth and final season on Sunday, as King Henry, by now in his late 40s, battles illness, takes his country to battle and, of course, marries and remarries.

The role has earned Rhys Meyers two Golden Globe nominations, and while he told Reuters it is now time to move on, he also said the part made him a wiser and better actor.

"I've changed. My concepts have changed. Everything I've done up until now has been an apprenticeship," he said. "Now, I think, at 32 years old, I've garnered enough experience to know what I don't want. Now, I know what I do want."

What Rhys Meyers wants, he said, is to work with directors who will challenge him, confront him when he's not getting a role right, and always push him to be a better actor.

He said directors with whom he has worked in the past, such as Allen, Ang Lee and Robert Altman, have done just that, and the role of King Henry has only strengthened his abilities because of the many facets of the character.

Henry VIII reigned from 1509, when he was a teenager, until his death in 1547, at age 55. He was the second ruler from the House of Tudor, and his time on the throne was marked by the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church and by his six marriages.

"The Tudors" has covered it all, with Rhys Meyers portraying the English monarch from youth to middle age. The fourth season picks up with his marriage to a young Katherine Howard and sees him through his final years as he becomes obese, ill and an increasingly cruel ruler.

But Rhys Meyers reckons there was always a method to King Henry's madness, and learning how to tap into the monarch's manipulative nature has helped improve his own acting skills.

"I must psychologically put everybody on edge...that is an art, and I've had to learn that over time." he said. "And as he gets older, you see more of the internal struggle inside him."

As Rhys Meyers looks at his own career, he views the past 14 years as little more than an apprenticeship in acting, and believes the next 20 years will bring some of his best work.

He looks at painters and other artists in their middle ages as examples and says that with age comes experience and maturity that ideally leads to excellence.

The king is dead, long live Rhys Meyers.

Ellen Degeneres shares her thoughts on joining the Idol

Ellen Degeneres shares her thoughts on joining the Idol judges panel and Hollywood Week with Extra. She hints a tension between her and Simon Cowell. She also says that she’d be happy with a 3 judge panel once Simon leaves, but that a decision on a 4th judge will depend a lot on the chemistry of the remaining judges.

Ellen has a few candidates in mind, but is going to keep those thoughts to herself.



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Sneak Peek of Next Week's Episode of 'Chuck'

A sneak peek photo of sad/bored/thoughtful Hannah (Kristin Kreuk) from next week's episode, welcomes you...

PREVIEW FOR 'PETER', AIRING APRIL 1

Lost: A Side By Side Comparison

I’m still processing Lost’s season premiere, which might be why I’m so drawn to this side-by-side video of the opening scene from the pilot and from “LA X.” Keep your eyes peeled for things that are different, just like you used to with Highlights.




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