The late Michael Jackson has been honored by his loyal Chinese fans this month with the erection of a tribute statue in his honor. As I understand it, a group of fans raised the money themselves to fund the statue’s creation … and earlier this month, it was put in place as a lasting tribute to the late King of Pop — the first MJ statue in China!
Loyal Chinese fans of the late “King of Pop” Michael Jackson have donated 158,000 yuan ($23,000) to erect the first bronze statue of their idol in China. This project has been approved by the local government and will be completed and installed on January 1, 2011, said Huang Zhenhui, the head of the project. The statue will stand in Guangzhou Sculpture Park in Guangzhou City, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province. Huang said they will hold a ceremony on the inaugural day and raise money for charities, which will spread Jackson's message of love. “I’m thrilled to see our dreams will finally come true,” Huang said. Famous sculptor Lu Zhenkang has been designing the statue. Jackson died on June 25, 2009 after he suffered cardiac arrest at his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood in Los Angeles. His death triggered an outpouring of grief and tributes worldwide.
Considering how huge China is I’m surprised that this is the first Michael Jackson statue in their country. That said, I love that it was his Chinese fans who took matters into their own hands to commission the creation of this statue. Sculptor Zhenkang did a fantastic job with this tribute. I’m certain that MJ fans from around the world will flock to China to see this statue in person. Well done, China ;D
LOL!! Nicki‘s head really does look like it’s attached to a mound of cotton candy … but at least she is owning the look. I think I much prefer Nicki‘s ridic hair to Rihanna‘s because I’ve always been a fan of cotton candy … Kool-Aid, notsomuch. Sure she looks kooky but she also looks fun, don’t you think?
In November, we got our first look at the first trailer released for the new film Red Riding Hood based on the classic fairytale story. As you may recall, the clip gave us a look at the romance that will be featured in the film but was light on showing us the actual wolf part. Today we get to feast our eyes on the just-released second movie trailer … and this time, we get a quick peek at the wolf.
As I mentioned before, I LOVE the idea of turning the tale of Little Red Riding Hood into a romantic remake with a werewolf villain. It’s just the sort of thing that audiences are really going for these days. I love how this second trailer shows a lot more action. I know we only get a quick peek but doesn’t the werewolf in this trailer look a lot like the werewolves we get in The Twilight Saga films?
Gary Oldman will make this movie, no doubt … I think I am even more excited by this second trailer. I kinda love that they used the Nine Inch Nails song The Hand That Feeds in this trailer. Color me impressed … can’t wait to see more. What do you think?
In the pages of Marvel Comics, the X-Men have been the ultimate outsiders for decades — even other superheroes view the strange mutant crew with mistrust, prejudice and disdain. So it's fitting that "First Class," the fifth Hollywood adventure for the heroes, will arrive in theaters this summer with so much to prove and plenty of doubters. For the all-new cast (led by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender), the challenge is to replace the familiar faces of the franchise; for producer Bryan Singer, the challenge is to recapture the affection of comic-book movie fans; and for Vaughn, the challenge is, well, to actually finish making the film. "We're filming at the moment, we've a lot to get done," said a weary Vaughn, whose credits include memorable but modest-grossing indie fare like "Kick-Ass" and "Layer Cake." "I've never worked under such time pressure. The good thing about the independent world is I never even knew if I was going to get distribution. I'm used to finishing a film and then crossing your fingers that someone is going to like it. This is totally doing it the other way around. We've definitely got a release date and we've got to make it."
The full text of this LA Times article can be read HERE and the entire batch of photos (including two photos not included in the LA Times piece) can be seen below. I know that many people were not impressed with the photo we saw on Tuesday (and rightly so, if it really is a fake) but I think these photos are all very cool. I think I can dig the 60′s vibe that will be portrayed in this film … can you?
Like many new fathers, Orlando Bloom couldn’t wait to toast his baby son Flynn’s arrival into the world down the pub with his friends. So after model wife Miranda Kerr gave birth to their son, the English actor headed down the low-key Pikey’s Bar in the Los Angeles suburb of Agoura Hills to ‘wet the baby’s head’. Clearly in high spirits, the Lord Of The Rings star celebrated till 2am in the morning drinking beers and even tequila shots. The photos of the actor in celebratory mode come as the couple introduced their son into the world in an intimate photo on their website. In an age where celebrity parents insist on introducing their babies to the world in big-money, glossy magazine deals, it marks a refreshing change. Beaming up to a camera held by Orlando, the Australian beauty breastfeeds their newborn son Flynn in an intimate scene of motherly warmth.
I’m not familiar with the term “wet the baby’s head” but I’m certain there are many fathers who celebrate the birth of their children with their mates at the local bar. Orlando Bloom is one lucky duck … he is married to one of the world’s most beautiful women and now he’s the proud father of a baby son. Life sounds pretty good for the Bloomster … I think he is totally deserving a few celebratory drinks.
With tag lines like “My World Includes Passion for Animals, Yours Should Too” and “Animals Can Make U Smile, Adopt From Your Local Shelter,” Justin Bieber has joined forces with PETA as the latest celebrity spokesperson for the animal-rights organization. The pop singer and a papillon pup named Bijou posed for the ads, asking fans to adopt animals from a shelter. Bieber also shot a video for the campaign that has been posted online. In the clip, he says, “A lot of animals are getting abused in different homes … and I think it’s really important we just stay aware about these different situations.” Bieber goes on to recalls his own experiences with animal shelters. “I have a dog, his name is Sam. He’s actually a papillon,” the teen star explained. “We moved to a city where we didn’t really know anybody, so I wanted a friend and Sam was kind of like that friend. “My dad and I used to just go visit the different animals and stuff,” he continued, while suggesting that people get involved with the campaign. “It’s really important that people adopt. I really encourage going out to an animal shelter or a place where you can get a dog that has been abandoned or doesn’t have a home.” In his punny photo ads for the organization, the pop sensation sports his signature bangs and hoodie. The pics were shot by Cliff Watts, who has photographed other stars such as Kate Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Angelina Jolie in the past. Bieber joins a long line of celebrities who have posed, many often nude, for PETA campaigns. Khloé Kardashian, Pamela Anderson, Paul McCartney, Eva Mendes, Pink and Mark Ronson, to name a few, have been featured in previous PETA ads.
PETA, love them or hate them, are brilliant when it comes to nabbing celebrity endorsements. I mean, how can you go wrong when you pair adorable little animals with adorable little Bieber?
Because of his endorsement, I’m certain legions of Bieber fans will now want to adopt animals just so they can abandon them and adopt them again to keep Justin Bieber from crying. Well done, PETA … well done.
Snooki and Jwoww from “Jersey Shore” fame are shooting a pilot this weekend for a “Jersey Shore” spin-off show … TMZ has learned. Sources connected with the production tell us … the pilot will be shot in Long Island over the weekend. There’s no special hook — it’s just Jwoww and Snooki being themselves. What’s really interesting …. MTV wants a pilot. Considering “Jersey Shore” beat “Grey’s Anatomy” in the ratings — plus the fact you kinda know who these chicks are — a pilot would seem unnecessary. A word of caution — Dina Lohan lives near the shoot, so hide the cameras!
Ugh, when will it stop?! As if news of this new Snooki and Jwoww show isn’t disheartening enough, how about the news that Snooki is now a New York Times Bestselling Author! Her debut novel, A Shore Thing, enters the NY Times list at #24. Surely, this is the sign of the end of our civilization. Remember this day, we will look back on it as the Fall of the American Empire.
As for this new spin-off show, does this sound like something you’d like to watch?
Last night I attended night one of a three night residency at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA to see Dashboard Confessional live in concert. For the 10th anniversary of their debut album, Dashboard — well, actually just frontman Chris Carrabba, is touring the US performing the entire album in full with just his acoustic guitar. My ex-bf Erik got me into Dashboard when we were together many moons ago and I never got to see them live … until last night.
The venue last night was PACKED to the gills with emo fans who happily sang along to every word that came out of Carrabba‘s mouth. To be honest, I’m not a big emo fan but last night’s show was really fun. I was amazed at how perfect STILL Chris Carrabba looks … as if he hasn’t aged in the past 10 years. I managed to record video of 2 of my fave Dashboard songs to share with all y’all … first up, here is Vindicated:
And here is my fave song (and their biggest MTV hit) Hands Down:
As you can hear, the whole concert was a veritable sing-a-long and a great time was had by all. The second and third shows here in LA are sold out but if there is a way for you emo fans to get in to see this show, I highly recommend it. Hearing Chris Carrabba wail his mournful songs will make you feel like a kid again.
Tonight, David and I are going on a Date Night to see a show called Traces. His choice, I have no idea what it is. I can’t wait to find out.
Skeet Ulrich (The Craft, Scream) is 41, Stacey Dash (Clueless) is 44 and Paul Stanley of Kiss is 59 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
In celebration of his upcoming Royal Nuptials, Prince William of Wales is being honored with his very own (yet wholly unofficial) £5 Welsh banknote created as a souvenir by the Travelex company. According to a poll taken by Travelex, 83% of Welsh citizens surveyed said they would love to have Prince William on their currency. Today, we get to see what Prince Wills may look like if and when he gets his face plastered on UK money.
Prince William and Kate Middleton should be made Prince and Princess of Wales and their engagement commemorated with a banknote, according to a study of royal sentiment among the Welsh. The study, carried out by Travelex, the leading foreign exchange provider, asked over 1,500 people living throughout Wales how they would like to celebrate the royal engagement. It follows the news that Prince William and Kate Middleton are to live near the Prince's RAF base in Anglesey, North Wales, after the April 29th wedding. An overwhelming majority of respondents (83%) called for the creation of a special Welsh banknote to commemorate the news. Nearly half of those questioned also called for the royal couple to be appointed Prince and Princess of Wales. Travelex Director, Peter Davies, comments: "Scotland and Northern Ireland both have recognised banknotes, which whilst not legal tender, are accepted throughout the UK and widely used for transactions in each country. It's been over 100 years since the last Welsh banknotes were in circulation and this is as good a reason as any to bring it back." In further evidence of their support for the Prince, over half (53%) of those questioned also favoured him to be emblazoned on the banknotes. The research poll sees the Welsh choose His Royal Highness above some of their biggest celebrities including Shirley Bassey, Katherine Jenkins and Tom Jones. In recognition of the findings, Travelex is to produce a Limited Edition £5 Travelex Royal Engagement Commemorative Welsh Banknote. The banknote, which is similar in shape and size to a £5 Sterling banknote, has been designed to reflect Welsh heritage. An image of Prince William replaces the Queen's image usually found on a £5 Sterling banknote.
Travelex wants to make it clear that this commemorative banknote can NOT be used as legal tender but it can be purchased from their official website HERE. Altho this particular banknote isn’t real, in the near future — when Prince William becomes King — we will be seeing Wills on UK money. He looks good on a £5 bill, don’t he? Is this commemorative banknote something you’d like to own?
Ever since Rihanna debuted her new Kool-Aid-colored red hair a few months ago, I’ve been engaged in a love/hate relationship with her new hair’do … I mostly hate it but there are times when I kinda love it. Today we get to see new photos of Rihanna out on the town here in SoCal last night that show just how wild and unruly her shocking red hair has gotten … and it’s not a pretty sight.
Wow! That’s a lot of look. It kinda looks like a Muppet exploded on top of Rihanna‘s head … or mebbe like a mutant strain of blob trying to consume her skull. I’m not sure if this look is intentional but … yeah … it’s a total mess. Yikes. Doesn’t Ri Ri remind you of someone else in these photos?
Club kids, beware: Lady Gaga’s new bass-pumping anthem will have you hitting the dance floor in a matter of mere beats. View the video above to listen to the pop queen’s newest song, in a short, somewhat shocking and amazing film that is being shown exclusively on StyleList.com and Mugler.com. Here’s the backstory: The house of Mugler is newly under the creative direction of Nicola Formichetti, Gaga’s costume cohort and personal stylist. The soundtrack was remixed by Mother Monster herself especially for Formichetti’s first menswear show, which took place yesterday in Paris. Gaga calls him “Fashion’s Freedom.” “I love him, my friend the genius, my collaborator, more more than any piece of clothing or closet I possess. But don’t tell him I said that, he’ll die. He picked them all out,” she said in a statement at the show. For the sexy and moody fashion film, which was directed by fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco, Formichetti tracked down an unlikely muse in Canadian model Rick Genest. After seeing the skeleton-tattooed “Zombie Boy” on Facebook, Formichetti flew to Montreal to shoot the video above. It is interspersed with clips from yesterday’s runway presentation. It features Genest, aka Rico, peeling off slick black paint to reveal his impressive body art and also dancing in a strands of pearls to Gaga’s infectious house music. Gaga remixed the song specifically for the occasion. It is a track from her new album, “Born This Way,” which is set to be released in May.
Buffy Anne Summers, the fictional heroine of Joss Whedon‘s Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (which includes film, television, video games and comic books) turned 30 years old yesterday (or today, depending on whose timeline you believe) and CNN fells it is necessary to publicly celebrate the famous vampire slayer’s milestone birthday … and I would agree. Buffy Summers is deffo deserving of much BIRTHDAY LURVE.
If you’re not already celebrating at your local comic book store or glued to Oxygen’s 10-hour marathon of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” re-runs, then maybe you don’t know. Today [January 19] is Buffy Anne Summers’ 30th birthday. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has survived through one feature length film, a cult television series and a comic book. Still a fan favorite and no stranger to controversy, Joss Whedon’s influential franchise about a teenage girl who just happened to be naturally good at killing vampires is still inspiring fans. Buffy’s birthday is reason for them to celebrate. There was a moment in the episode “The Gift,” which aired in 2001, when fans certainly didn’t think this powerful girl would make it to 30. That’s because Buffy took a swan-dive into a magical vortex from hell and died. At the end of the episode her gravestone is shown, marking her life from 1981 until 2001 with the epitaph, “She saved the world a lot.” (She was resurrected the next season, when the show moved from the now defunct WB network to UPN.) Few who are aware of the “Buffyverse” would argue with that. Buffy saved the world from plenty of “big bads,” like vampires, demons and witches, but she did something pretty heroic for the people who tuned in every week to watch her adventures, too. “(The show) really brought a lot of nerdy girls out of their shell,” said Andrea Carlson, 27, a dedicated Buffy fan who works for the state of Minnesota. “It did make it more acceptable to be a female who was into more unconventional sides of society. And I think a lot of guys were suddenly like, ‘Hey, these nerd girls are really cute!’ Instead of just being the best friend, now we’re more accepted as almost sex symbols, thanks to that show.”
Without question, Buffy is not only one of the most beloved female characters of the past decade + but she has become one of the most beloved TV characters of the modern age.
“Buffy is the sexy, hot chick that’s always slaying everything, but the fact that she has her smart sidekick — always with the laptop, always researching, I think (the show) did a lot to show that there’s more than one type of girl,” said Janeka Rector, a 32 year old die-hard Buffy fan who works at the University of Texas at Austin as a development specialist. Series writer and “Buffy” comic book contributor Jane Espenson agreed. She said the show’s central characters (who referred to themselves as the “Scooby Gang”) gave overt nerdyness “a lovely coating of coolness and acceptance.” Fans and critics often wondered how a man like Whedon could portray the trials and tribulations of being a teenage girl so accurately. “We are definitely in tune with our feminine side,” said “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” comic book artist Georges Jeanty of his collaboration with Whedon. “I don’t think it’s so much a respect for women, but it’s just the acceptance of a human being.” Jeanty said Whedon broke the stereotype of helpless, attractive girls in horror movies with “Buffy.” “He just thought, what if, once the monster did catch up to the blond girl who was screaming and running away into the alley, what if that girl then turned around and really started kicking some ass?” … “You can find certain things in the characters that you, personally, can identify with,” said Kim Frum, a public relations expert for the Maryland state highway system and another Buffy fan. “Some days I’m having a “Willow” day and other days I’m having a “Xander” day where nothing goes right, I’m a complete klutz and I’m getting knocked in the head all the time,” she said. “Some days I just want to fall out laughing, and I know exactly where to go back to and watch a certain scene. It’s still fun to watch even if you know the entire series by heart.”
To clarify for the uninitiated, Buffy Summers isn’t technically 30 years old in the comic book series (which gives the character and her friends new life, going into a Season 9 later this year) because she will perpetually be the same age in the Buffyverse. But, in terms of the TV character that we all know and love, if she lived in the real world … she would be 30 years old now. No matter what her age is, Buffy Summers will live on FOREVER in the hearts and minds of geek fans around the world … and her immortality comes without having to turn into a vampire. Now that’s a neat trick, right? I hope you’ll join me in celebrating Buffy‘s 30 Birthday by sending all of our genuine Birthday Lurve to our most beloved fictional vampire slaying chick!
Elementary! ET’s own Kevin Frazier is on the London set of the highly anticipated ‘Sherlock Holmes’ sequel with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Watch the video for all the action! “We said, if I remember rightly, on the last one that we had so much fun, and if everyone else would too, that if they wanted us to do more, we would — and it seems they wanted us to do more, so that’s why we’re back,” Jude tells Kevin. “It’s gone to the next level.” “There is something — I call it “sequelitis” — about having a movie that takes off and is set up to do a couple more,” says Robert. “I just feel you have to work harder and not compare it to anything else, because it’ll just drive you crazy.” Once again directed by Guy Ritchie, the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ sequel (in theaters Dec. 16) finds Robert returning as Holmes and Jude returning as Watson in turn-of-the-century London and facing their toughest adversary, Professor Moriarty, played by Jared Harris. Swedish ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ star Noomi Rapace also joins the sleuthing pair for all the action as a mysterious femme fatale. “Noomi’s fantastic,” says Robert, and Jude agrees, “Noomi’s been really good. Really, really good. [She's] been a great addition. … You ask about who’s in good shape, I think she would kick both of our asses — she’s a tough cookie.” “She likes to fight,” concurs Robert. Robert dresses in disguise as a woman in one of the scenes, and the Oscar nominee explains, “I actually have to say that this ‘Some Like It Hot’ moment was kind of my idea, and then when we were getting closer and closer I was thinking,’ Is this a really bad idea?” And as it happens, it’s good, I think.” “The idea this time was to remember what put us in the position to be able to join forces again,” elaborates Robert. “The tone of Sherlock and Watson this time around [is darker] — they’re actually up against their greatest nemesis, therefore we’re afforded a little more levity [in some of the scenes].”
No lie, RDJ and Jude have the best chemistry that two straight men can have. I am really looking forward to these guys going at it again — figuratively speaking, of course — in Sherlock Holmes 2, picking up their bromance where it left off in the first film. Aren’t these guys great?
Without question gay visibility has gone up considerably on US television in the past 10 years and nowhere is that fact more apparent than on the extremely gay-friendly song and dance teen series Glee on Fox. Glee‘s main gay characters, Kurt and Blaine (played by actors Chris Colfer and Darren Criss), are featured on the cover and in the pages of this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine as the coverboys for the magazine’s report titled Gay Teens on TV.
EW graciously shares a large portion of this fantastic coverstory with us here at Pink is the new Blog, which you can read below:
When Rickie Vasquez came out to his family on a 1994 episode of My So- Called Life, he ended up bruised, bloodied, and living in an abandoned warehouse full of homeless teens, afraid to tell even his closest friends why his uncle had kicked him out of the house just before Christmas. He didn't even utter the word "gay" on screen until the season finale, which became the show's final episode—and that was only to console a girl he'd rejected.
No wonder Rickie felt the need to keep his sexual orientation painfully tucked away—he was completely alone when it came to gay teens on television. He was the first on a primetime network show, and he'd be the only one for another five lonely years. In fact, there would be just a handful more in the next 10 years. "It was cathartic in some ways and painful in others," says the man who played him, Wilson Cruz, now 37, whose real life inspired many of Rickie's story lines. "The biggest part was the acknowledgment of our existence and our pain, which we hadn't seen at all on television before that."
If only Rickie could see Glee's Kurt Hummel now. The breakout character (played by Chris Colfer) on TV's most buzzed-about network show has won an Emmy nomination, a Golden Globe, and viewers' hearts with an at times poignant, but often, well, gleeful depiction of a modern gay teen. It took Kurt only four episodes to say the words "I'm gay" to his dad, to which his father shrugged and said, "If that's who you are, there's nothing I can do about it. And I love you just as much." He sealed it with a hug, and a new kind of gay hero was born: one who's loved as much for his boa wearing as he is for fending off bullies and forming a touching stepbrotherly bond with his former crush.
Kurt, incidentally, spent his Christmas episode duetting on a wildly flirtatious version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with his new dreamy male idol, Blaine (Darren Criss). "That was by far the gayest thing that has ever been on TV, period," Colfer says. "Forget AbFab, forget Beautiful People and Will & Grace." The song became the most downloaded track off the Glee Christmas album—and ubiquitous on the radio during the holidays. "I was proud of that," Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy says. "I think it pushed the envelope a bit."
Unlike Rickie, Kurt and Blaine are far from alone in their boundary pushing this TV season. Gay characters have gone from one-time guest stars, whispered tragedies, and silly sidekicks to not just an accepted but an expected part of teen-centric television. The change reflects real teens' lives: The percentage of schools with gay-straight alliance clubs is up from 25 percent in 2001 to 45 percent today, indicating the increasingly visible role that gay kids are playing in the high school landscape. With the average coming-out age now 16 (down from 19–23 in the '80s), according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, it only makes sense for teens on TV to tackle the issue. "With our millennial audience, it's what they expect to see," says ABC Family exec VP of programming Kate Juergens. "Don't Ask Don't Tell was such a vestige of an older generation."
Speaking of which, the trend reflects not only demographic shifts but also the social and political climate. It was telling that when Colfer took home a Golden Globe on Jan. 16 for his moving portrayal of a bullied teen, his tear-jerking acceptance speech ended with these words of encouragement to fans: "To all the amazing kids who watch our show…who are constantly told 'No'…by bullies at school that they can't be who they are… well, screw that, kids." Despite the uptick in gay characters like Kurt—and out teens in general—it's a message that's still sorely needed in a world that doesn't always reflect the same kind of happy-ending acceptance TV is almost obliged to depict. Nine out of 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students have been harassed because of their sexuality, according to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). And while Kurt is lucky to have supportive friends, there are many real teens out there feeling as if they have nowhere to go and no one to talk to—and the results have been devastating. A spate of teen suicides (at least six in September) linked to brutal bullying incidents prompted the U.S. Department of Education to draft anti-bullying guidelines for schools— and reinforced the need for empathetic portrayals of high schoolers on TV. The celebrity-studded It Gets Better campaign (in which everyone from Barack Obama to Kim Kardashian recorded video messages of hope and support) surely helped some struggling gay teens, but TV shows that form long-lasting relationships with their audiences can resonate even more. "I think young gay people look at [Kurt and Blaine] both as role models," says Murphy, "and it means something to see their lives perhaps for the first time reflected on screen."
Jason Galisatus, a 17-year-old student ambassador for GLSEN, would be the first to agree with Murphy. "I think that Kurt will become a historical figure in LGBT history," says Galisatus. "My friends talk about the episode where he came out to his dad. We all talk about how amazing that is and how crazy it must be to live in a conservative, Midwestern community and be able to be open about your sexuality. That's very inspiring to all of us, and we can say, 'Well, hey, if Kurt can do it, why can't we?' Frequently, even if it is just a show, it does give us hope that coming out is not always a horrible thing to do." And a little hope can often go a long way. The Trevor Project, which runs a toll-free suicide hotline for gay youth or those questioning their sexuality, has been receiving numerous calls from teens who have been moved to pick up the phone after watching relatable TV characters such as Kurt. "There are conversations that happen with counselors that point to characters on TV," says Trevor Project executive director Charles Robbins. "Obviously, Glee is dealing with a very spot-on issue with Kurt's character. Since September, our call volume has increased, and that coincides with the Glee story lines and all the news media coverage of gay bullying."
Thanks to Glee and its 14.1 million viewers, gay teen characters are now reaching more eyes than ever, as Kurt's run-in with bullying has dominated the first half of the musical's second season. It's also led to the addition of wildly popular mentor/love interest Blaine. "They're kind of like the Joanie and Chachi of our generation," Colfer says. True enough, audiences are pulling for the couple just as they have for such iconically sweet teen pairings of the past. "When we made the announcement that Kurt was getting a boyfriend, people went batshit, they were so excited," Colfer adds. "And then you add Darren, who is incredibly talented, and people are just jumping up and down." For Criss, the real sign of progress is that the pairing has caused no controversy whatsoever. No protests. No outcry. No loss of corporate sponsors. Even their suggestive yuletide duet caused far less commotion than, say, some of their Glee costars posing provocatively (and heterosexually) in GQ magazine. "It's become less and less about the obvious frame of it, the young teen gay couple on the popular network show," says Criss. "It's more about just a favorite character having a love interest, which is awesome."
It really is revolutionary the way that Glee is telling the story of its main gay character … a teen gay character. When I was very young, I used to love watching Three’s Company but I had no idea what it meant that Jack Tripper (played by John Ritter) had to pretend to be gay to live with his female roommates. What I did learn was that being gay meant you were the butt of a lot of jokes and it was undesirable to be known as gay. Thankfully, I never encountered bullying in school (tho, I did hear the generous use of the words fag, queer, don’t be gay etc.) but the idea that it was not a good thing to be gay had a huge impact on me staying in the closet well into college. Because of the way Glee is portraying Kurt and Blaine‘s story on national television, I hope that a new generation of kids will grow up knowing that it is not a bad or shameful thing to be gay and, in fact, is something to be proud of. For that reason alone, Glee will remain near and ear to my heart.
Tangent over … here are a couple photos of Kurt and Blaine as featured in this new issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine:
Despite the amazing impact of shows like Glee, we still live in a culture where bullied young gay teens feel the need to kill themselves so there is still MUCH WORK TO BE DONE to make our culture totally gay-friendly … but it is my hope that we will get there someday. Progress is made every day … and I look forward to the day when the bullying and suicide of young gay teens are just sad parts of our distant past. This issue of EW magazine goes on sale tomorrow, it’s an issue that I think we ALL should buy, read and take to heart.
Mumbai-based designers Shane and Falguni Peacock have designed one of Britney Spears’ looks for her upcoming music video. The Mumbai-based designers claim the entire dialogue and design process for the video for Britney Spears' new single 'Hold It Against Me' took less than two weeks. They said the video will be shot later this month in Los Angeles. "After her stylist contacted us we sent in the designs from which they short listed a few. The dresses were flowing and dreamy," said Shane Peacock, adding that the chosen dress in red and pink features a long train, strong shoulders and plenty of embellishment. It’s possible that other looks from the designers could also be part of the video.
First, I LOVE this look! The color is really cool and I know that our dear Britney will rock this outfit right. It stands to reason that Shane and Falguni Peacock may have designed other looks for the video but it’s not really clear if the video itself will necessarily have an Indian look and feel to it. It’s very clear to me that Britney‘s creative team are really working hard to give us something that will be new, fresh and exciting. I can’t WAIT!! I hope we get to see more little tidbits from Britney‘s HIAM video :D
Judson Birza, the winner of “Survivor,” season 21 in Nicaragua, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance … TMZ has learned. Law enforcement sources tell us cops noticed Birza at around noon riding a skateboard in the street — which is illegal. They stopped Birza, noticed he was acting strangely, and determined he was under the influence. Santa Monica police arrested Birza and took him to the station, where he was booked and jailed. Birza was also booked for an unrelated DUI warrant as well as a probation violation. He’s currently being held on $37,000 bail … Leave it to a “Survivor” winner to get picked up from jail in a LIMOUSINE! Judson “Fabio” Birza — who won $1,000,000 on the most recent season of “Survivor” — walked right out of jail and into a white stretch limo last night … minutes after he was released from the Santa Monica police station. As we previously reported, Birza was hauled to the slammer last night after cops arrested him on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance … while skateboarding. Fabio told us, “Dude, this is such bullshit … I got treated like a baby.” Moments after he got into the limo — Birza and his buddies popped a few Tecates to celebrate his newfound freedom.
I find none of this surprising at all … but thankfully, this moron wasn’t busted for drunk driving and he had enough sense at least to start his drinking up again while letting someone else drive. To be honest, I was never a Fabio fan so none of this is at all shocking … I just hope the ding dong doesn’t drink (or whatever) away all of his winnings.
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