London, Feb 22 (IANS) Singing couple Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony, who are very keen to appear together on 'American Idol', might make an appearance on the hit show on April 11.
Contactmusic.com quoted a source as saying: 'It was Jennifer and Marc who approached 'American Idol,' not the other way around. They are currently in talks with the show's executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe.
'Getting them on the show would be a huge deal - they'd definitely be the big surprise of the season. Prince was such a sensational guest last season, they knew they'd have to step it up for season six.'
Marysol Castrois heading to Hollywood to the 79th annual Academy Awards for Good Morning America.
On Saturday and Sunday Marysol Castro will report live for Good Morning America Weekend. And on Monday, the entire Good Morning America team will be live from the Pantages Theater...
General Motors Corp. kicked-off Hollywood’s most prestigious awards week with their annual celebrity fashion show, TEN, partnering the hottest names in entertainment with GM’s futuristic concept and new production vehicles. Touted as one of the biggest and most anticipated events each year by the entertainment industry and media, this annual pre-Academy Awards event took place at legendary Paramount Studios in Hollywood and highlighted GM’s commitment to design as well as the environment.
The tech-savvy kid enjoys surfing the Internet but steers clear of "Betty" message boards, where fans have been known to post cruel comments about his over-the-top portrayal of TV's most atypical male child. Preferring not to elaborate on the negative, he says, "The controversial comments, all from adults, are pretty discouraging."
Mabius is impressed with how Mark has handled his high-profile Hollywood arrival, noting, "Regardless of who he becomes as an adult, he's very self-assured."
That confidence radiates on screen, making Mark an integral component of the ABC hit (Thursdays, 8 p.m.), which is this season's third-most-watched new series (behind "Heroes" and "Shark"). It averages 12.3 million viewers and has dramatically improved the network's performance in its time slot.
The show also has collected honors from the Golden Globes, Family Television Awards and the Satellite Awards, and it will vie for the top TV comedy title at the NAACP Image Awards and GLAAD Awards, which recognizes positive portrayals of gay and lesbian characters.
A sweet innocence'
Justin's sexuality has never been addressed on the show, but "Betty" creator Silvio Horta, who is gay and came out to his Cuban-American family at age 19, says the character will experience "the journey" as he matures. "I see myself in him," Horta says. "Growing up, I certainly felt like an outsider at times. But there's this sweet innocence in Justin that sees the positive."
A Pennsylvania native, Mark began singing songs from "The Little Mermaid" at age 3. He calls acting and singing "my passions."
He was dancing in his school musical, "45 Minutes to Broadway," when his manager jumped on a New York casting call for "not a buff typical Latino boy," Mark recalls. "And as you can see, I'm not the typical Latino boy."
Certainly not. Mark is a quarter Puerto Rican, 75 percent Italian and 100 percent showman, with musical preferences ranging from pop to alternative to musical theater.
"Mark nails the character - being able to play up the flamboyance," Horta says.
Adds America Ferrera, who plays Betty: "He loves what he does - like a little kid playing."
Ferrera says she, Mark and Ana Ortiz, who plays Justin's mother, Hilda, "sit around the set singing musicals. We're recently obsessed with Dreamgirls,' and last week we were singing Hairspray.' "
Meanwhile, as the season progresses, Justin will be dealing with the possibility of his mother reuniting with his father, Santos. The macho dad has so far had trouble accepting Justin, but Horta says the relationship will evolve.
"There's a great emotional story line to play there," he says.
Passing the mall's cinemas, Mark says the actors who play his TV mom and grandfather have become his movie buddies. Last year, he and Tony Plana (grandfather Ignacio) watched "Marie Antoinette," while Mark and Ortiz took in a screening of "The Devil Wears Prada."
He cites Queen Latifah as his personal acting muse "because she has the endorsement (deal) with Cover Girl. I wouldn't want to endorse Cover Girl, but maybe something else to get all that free stuff."
Though not yet a teen, Mark is already using skin-care products and has visited the mall's Kiehl's store. "Kiehl's is great," he says. "And my mom and I have begun using a (product) called Clarins."
Sporting Prada sunglasses, Mark says his keen knowledge of fashion predated his "Betty" casting.
"Of course, you know what Prada is," he explains. "Maybe I didn't know Valentino and Michael Kors, but I knew Coach, Gucci, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana. Fashion means a lot. The way you look is the way people judge you. I don't care what people say, that's the way people are."
Expensive tastes all around
While his TV alter ego prefers bright colors that "pop," Mark is more comfortable in black T-shirts he picks up at teen-friendly stores such as Gap and Quicksilver.
But the week before the Golden Globes, he took full advantage of the swag suites, which allow celebs to load up on high-end freebies.
Mom Lynn, trailing behind her son as he enters Nordstrom, takes partial blame for her son's fashion obsessions. "It's not that I'm a materialistic individual ..." she prefaces. Says Mark, finishing his mother's sentence and inspiring them both to laugh, "It's just that we have expensive taste."
Mark, who began selecting his own wardrobe in the third grade, recently cleared out his father's closet and gave him a fashion makeover. Though Mark, a fan of Bravo's "Project Runway," says that "I go anywhere I want and buy what I like," his mother says that's not so. She says she carefully monitors her shopaholic son's spending. "We give him a little allowance each episode, because you never know in this business where you're going to be day to day," she says. "It's very easy to spend, but he's really learning the value of money."
Indeed.
Coming upon Nordstrom's shoe department, he races over to a pair of pricey pumps he discouraged his mother from wearing to last month's Screen Actors Guild awards. "These are the Jimmy Choo shoes that are like $1,000," Mark enthuses, sounding identical to his character.
Flipping them over, he sees they are a steal at only $650. "Still," he pauses, "that's pretty expensive."
Male TV directors in Hollywood have told me it's hard to find shows willing to hire female directors. Whenever I've asked why, they simply said, "I don't know." But "Ugly Betty" is an oasis where women really are equal, or in control, behind the scenes.
"Half of the writers are women, if not more. We've had more women directors on the show than men," says Ana Ortiz, who plays Betty's sister Hilda. "I've never been on a set before where there's so many women calling the shots."
As a result, Ortiz, 36, believes women viewers relate to the hit show.
"I haven't ever had a ['Betty'] script where I thought, 'I wouldn't say that.' That's happened so many times before [on other shows]," she says.
Moreover, a lot of the characters and crew are not white, as Ortiz, a New York native of Puerto Rican descent, explains.
"My own experience working [as an actress] has been cliche," she says. "It's Maria the maid, or Maria the drug-dealer's girlfriend, or Maria the sassy spitfire."
In other shows, she says, Latinas "are the guest stars. We come in and we have an affair with the husband, we ruin the family and then we leave."
Hilda is a kind of sassy spitfire, but she's more fleshed out than that, Ortiz says.
"You get to see the relationship with her son, being a single mom, and everyone living right on top of each other," she says. "It's not so surface."
Producer Salma Hayek deserves a lot of the credit. She was very active in getting the show made, and she remains active in promoting and working on the series.
Higher-ups at ABC have also gone the extra mile, investing millions of dollars a week not just in the production and promotion of "Betty" but in the female sensations "Grey's Anatomy," "Desperate Housewives," "Men in Trees" and "Brothers & Sisters."
The investment is paying off. "Betty" and "Grey's" are perhaps the most diverse shows on TV, and they're ABC's top-rated series among all viewers and the coveted age demographic of 18- to 49-year-olds.
Ortiz says "Betty" doesn't exploit issues of gender and heritage by propping up old storylines, either.
For instance, she says, Hilda's son is gay, but Betty's family is not freaked out about it.
"Here's this great kid who's completely unique, well-adjusted, loves himself, loves his family, and he's his own person," she says. "And we don't have to comment on it and wring our hands and sweat. He's happy."
Ortiz hopes the look of "Betty," both in front of and behind the camera, becomes contagious, and she has good reason to be optimistic now that "Betty" is a critical and popular smash.
"People are going to go where the money is. That's obnoxious to say, but we're doing really well and that's a huge plus, and hopefully it means [TV networks will] take a risk like this."
With Ortiz's own success blooming, she jokes, she might hire a maid.
"I'm gonna name her Maria," she says. "But she has to be white."
Coming-of-age drama about a boy growing up in Astoria, N.Y., during the 1980s. As his friends end up dead, on drugs or in prison, he comes to believe he has been saved from their fate by various so-called saints.
Rosario Dawson plays the boy's childhood friend all grown-up.
Tonight, ex-wife Joy (Jaime Pressly) is looking at a jail term for her latest crime and Earl wants to save her bacon. He appeals to strip-joint owner Richard Chubby (another fabulously declasse appearance by Burt Reynolds) to loan him the necessary money.
The trade-off is convincing the sultry Catalina (Nadine Velazquez) to return to her old job as a stripper - so she can jump for Joy.
Ricky Martin, who was a headliner at the 2001 inauguration ball for President George W. Bush, has a message for the American commander in chief about war.
At a recent concert, the 35-year-old singer stuck up his middle finger when he sang the president's name in his song "Asignatura Pendiente," which includes the words, "a photo with Bush." The gesture last Friday prompted cheers from thousands of fans in the San Juan stadium.
On Thursday, the Puerto Rican heartthrob repeated his criticism of the Iraq war and explained his changed position on Bush.
"My convictions of peace and life go beyond any government and political agenda and as long as I have a voice onstage and offstage, I will always condemn war and those who promulgate it," Martin said about his action in an e-mail statement sent to The Associated Press via a spokesman.
Martin, like other artists, has been highly critical of the war in Iraq.
Bernie Williams rejected the Yankees' offer of a minor league contract and will wait to see if a guaranteed job opens up for him on the team.New York manager Joe Torre spoke with Williams last week and tried to reach him, without success, on Sunday."Bernie told me he had talked with Joe. Other than the invite, there wasn't any information that led him to believe he would be a member of the team," Williams' agent, Scott Boras, said Tuesday. "He's continuing to work out, will wait to see if their position changes."
What's a better offer than the New York Yankees, Bemie?
Denise Quinones talks about playing the Angel of Vengeance Andrea Rojas on Smallville and in the Vengeance Chronicles, as well as playing Rachel Torres in the Aquaman Pilot, we even talk Batman and Wonder Woman!
Joaquin Phoenix introduces Steven Tyler of Aerosmith with a resounding, "F**k, yeah!" to the Peace Alliance volunteer activists who heard from just some of the 52 members of Congress who are initial cosponsors of the bill to establish a U.S. Cabinet Level Department of Peace and Nonviolence.
Oktay Urkal (38-3, 12 KOs) will be the reality for welterweight Miguel Cotto (28-0, 23 KOs) on March 3 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but the majority of the media members on a conference call hyping the event were more interested in Cotto's proposed June 9 Madison Square Garden event against Zab "Super" Judah.
Cotto, tried his best to keep the focus on Urkal. "Urkal is a tough opponent," said Cotto, "He has two hands and he is coming to win, I am taking this fight seriously and not looking ahead."
Yet even the usually measured Cotto broke character and seduced by thoughts of Zab Judah when one media member asked the Puerto Rican star to comment on Judah's prediction of a 5th round knockout victory.
"Zab Judah talks a lot, but look at him now," said Cotto, "Look at his career, does he back up all the talk?"
Kostya Tszyu, Carlos Baldomir, and Floyd Mayweather Junior would equivocally answer, "NO!"
Top Rank's promoter, Bob Arum, licked his chops at the possibility of Brooklyn's Judah against Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden during the weekend of New York's Puerto Rican Day festivities.
"Judah is very attractive live gate for local fans," said Arum, "It is a natural rivalry."
Back to the matter at hand, Oktay Urkal and March 3.
One would think that preparing for a fight in your native country, while being a national idol, would be distracting. Hell, Zab Judah, a marginal icon at best in American popular culture, partly pinned the reason for his January, 2006 loss to Baldomir at Madison Square Garden due to the distractions of being at home.
Not a problem for the Cotto, ever a professional, who knows how to balance his personal and professional life like few young men in the sport can.
"When it is time to get ready for a fight, " said Cotto, "It is time to get ready. There is a time for fun and there is a time for work. Now is a time for work."
You can check out Cotto, at work, March 3 on HBO's Championship Boxing, knowing that if Cotto is victorious, he will then proceed to work "Super Mouth" Judah, a fighter who is the living antithesis of Cotto's humble and workman like personality.
Access Hollywood has learned from reliable sources that Jennifer Lopez is scheduled to perform on “American Idol” on April 11.
J. Lo joins a long line of big-time acts to take the “Idol” stage over the years, including Prince, Mary J. Blige, Rascal Flatts, Shakira and more.
Access also has heard very strong rumors that Gwen Stefani is slated to perform on “Idol” on March 28.
FOX has announced season 3 winner Fantasia will perform on the show this Thursday and reportedly will announce that she’ll be joining the cast of Oprah Winfrey’s “The Color Purple” on Broadway.
This year’s “Idol” competition is now down to the final 24, with the top 12 men performing on Tuesday night, followed by the final 12 ladies on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Michael Jackson shot down rumors that he would perform on the “Idol” stage this year.
“There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Michael Jackson is going to appear on ‘American Idol,’” Jackson’s rep Raymone Bain told Access. “He has signed no agreements with anyone. Robin Leach’s story is inaccurate.”
Lost star Michelle Rodriguez has opened up about her drink-driving convictions in an online message.
The actress's grammatically challenged rant to fans paints herself as a victim, even though she admitted drink-driving.
She claims she asked to spend more time in jail rather than wear an alcohol-detecting ankle bracelet she was fitted with following her court appearance.
I tried to get them to put me in jail but they had their mind set on this bracelet,' the former Lost actress, 28, writes.
She claims the bracelets 'should be for alcoholics and druggies' and adds: 'For someone like me, who loves life too much to f*** it up for a sip of a beverage, this level of control isn't necessary.'
London, Feb 22 (IANS) Singing couple Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony, who are very keen to appear together on 'American Idol', might make an appearance on the hit show on April 11. 
