Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga and More Staging Digital Deaths for a Cause

Don't worry, Kim Kardashian is not really dead. But starting Wednesday, she won't be quite as lively on social media.

Kardashian, 30, is joining sister Khloe, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys and other stars in signing off Facebook and Twitter beginning Wednesday, which is World AIDS Day, to draw attention to the disease.

The campaign, called Digital Life Sacrifice, includes ads that show Kardashian and others lying in coffins to symbolize their digital deaths. They will sign back on when the Keep a Child Alive charity – which Keys has been closely involved with – raises $1 million.

Other celebrities joining the campaign include Jennifer Hudson, Ryan Seacrest, Elijah Wood, Serena Williams and Keys's husband, Swizz Beatz.

Keep a Child Alive will accept donations via text message and bar-code technology embedded in the ads. The charity raises money for families affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India.

"We're trying to sort of make the remark: Why do we care so much about the death of one celebrity as opposed to millions and millions of people dying in the place that we're all from?" says Leigh Blake, co-founder of Keep a Child Alive. "It's about love and respect and human dignity."

Barbara Walters Reveals Her 2010 Picks for 'Most Fascinating People'

From the queen of Hollywood to a princess in waiting, Barbara Walters has revealed eight of the 10 names on her 2010 Most Fascinating People list.

Sandra Bullock and Kate Middleton are joined on the list by Justin Bieber, Betty White, LeBron James, Sarah Palin, new American Idol judge Jennifer Lopez and the cast of Jersey Shore.

As usual, Walters won't divulge the final names – or the overall Most Fascinating Person – until the special airs December 9th at 10:00 pm (ET).

Middleton was a prescient choice, having reportedly been selected for the list before word of her engagement to Prince William broke this month.

Palin, meanwhile, makes a return appearance, having been featured on Walters's 2009 list as well.

Walters has chosen a woman as her overall Most Interesting Person in each of the past five years: Michelle Obama (2009), Tina Fey (2008), J.K. Rowling (2007), Nancy Pelosi (2006) and Camilla Parker Bowles (2005).

Will Lady Gaga make the cut? Or will she go with the cast of Glee? Who is your top guess for 2010?

James Franco & Anne Hathaway Hosting the Oscars

Hollywood's biggest night is getting a double-dose of talent.

James Franco and Anne Hathaway will serve as co-hosts for the 83rd annual Academy Awards, producers confirmed Monday.

Franco has earned critical raves for his latest film, 127 Hours, the real-life story of outdoorsman Aron Ralston who cut off part of his arm after getting it stuck under a boulder. The actor's resume includes diverse roles in Eat, Pray, Love, General Hospital, Milk and Pineapple Express.

Hathaway's newest project is the much-hyped Love and Other Drugs in which she costars with Jake Gyllenhaal. She also showed off her singing and dancing chops when she performed a musical number with Hugh Jackman when he hosted the Oscars two years ago.

"James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation of Hollywood icons – fresh, exciting and multi-talented," Oscar telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer said Monday.

The Oscars air live on ABC from the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 27th.

Madonna's First Mega-Gym Opens in Mexico City

The Material Girl is trying her hand at a new business: her first gym opened its doors Monday, the Associated Press reports. Hard Candy Fitness, located in the heart of Mexico City, is Madonna's first foray into the fitness biz.

Though the gym equipment is pretty similar to other high-class gyms in the city, there's no missing the huge Andy Warhol-esque mural featuring the singer that greets every customer as they walk in.

The name of the club is also a nod to Madonna--Hard Candy was the title of her last album. She states the name is the perfect combination of "hard body" and "eye candy."

"It's a sexy name that gives you the opportunity to have fun and to build strength as far as the imagination will allow," the singer-actress said in a statement.

As for choosing Mexico City as the location of her first gym, Madonna reveals it was a calculated move. "Our plan is to use Mexico as a place to fine-tune our brand and then expand it to other countries and, in the long term, develop a global brand that includes the United States," she said.

For the red carpet opening of the gym, Madonna handpicked 20 members to join her for a dance class--DJ'd by Paul Oakenfold, the same DJ who opened her last tour.

Gym fees run about $160 a month, after a one-time $830 sign-up fee.

New Release Tuesday!

The holiday season is here! It's time to stock up on Blu-Rays, CDs and DVDs. Here is a list of what's new today, including the latest release from Black Eyed Peas titled "The Beginning".

MOVIES

Cairo Time (B)

Fantasia & Fantasias 2000: Special Edition (B)

Going the Distance

Knight and Day (B)

Meet the Fockers (B)

Meet the Parents (B)

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (B)

The Special Relationship (B)

Vampires Suck (B)

Walt & El Grupo

The Wiz (B)

MUSIC

Eric Benet - Lost in Time

Beyonce - I Am..World Tour

The Black Eyed Peas - The Beginning

Charice - Grown-Up Christmas List

Chrisette Michele - Let Freedom Reign

Cristian Castro - Viva el Principe

El DeBarge - Second Chance

Flo Rida - Only One Flip (Part 1)

Glee Cast - Glee: The Music, Volume 4

KT Tunstall - Have Yourself a Very KT Christmas

Miguel - All I Want Is You

Miguel Bose - Cardio (Remixes)

Ron Isley - Mr. I

Soulja Boy - The DeAndrew Way

Tim McGraw - Number One Hits

TV SHOWS

The Lucy Show - 3rd Season

Parks & Recreation - 2nd Season

Sid & Marty Krofft's Saturday Morning Hits - Mutiple Shows

Soldiers of Fortune - Complete Series

A Touch of Frost - 15th Season

(B) = Available on Blu-Ray

Anderson Cooper Talk Show Moves Forward

Plans for Anderson Cooper’s daytime talk show are moving forward — the series has been sold for debut in fall 2011 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.

Deadline Hollywood reports the daytime talk show will follow in the footsteps of Oprah and Phil Donahue. For the show, distributed by Warner Bros., Cooper will serve as executive producer in association with Telepictures Productions and StrongChild Productions.

Hot for the Professor, Mr. Gale Harold

Gale Harold will forever be one of the “People We Love” for his portrayal of charismatic Brian Kinney in Showtime’s Queer as Folk. With his new role as serious law professor Julian Parish on the CW’s Hellcats putting him back on our screens, MetroSouurce Magazine checked in on him to find that the ghost of Brian is still haunting him, even after all these years.

Tell us a little bit about Julian.
Julian’s a law professor. He’s teaching a pre-law class, and that’s where he runs into Marti, [but] he doesn’t take her seriously because — where he’s coming from — pre-law students aren’t cheerleaders.

Would you say this is a slightly more cerebral character for you?
Well, all my characters are cerebral; it’s just nobody knows about it.

Okay, how about slightly more cynical?
I think that might be the challenge a little bit, because I’m a slightly cynical person. That comes pretty easily for me and I do think he has quite a bit of cynicism, but I don’t want it to stop the story. You know what I mean? I don’t want it to prevent me from allowing other things to come through. I think his cynicism and idealism are an interesting mix.

He’s a cynical idealist, then.
That’s a great way to put it. And I think for him, someone on a cheerleader scholarship is not gonna be with him on that.

Is there a potential romantic relationship between Julian and Marti?
People who come up against each other and butt heads for whatever reason: they’re going to be in the same circumstances, the same room, over and over again. And if they have similar interests, there’s always going to be that potential for a spark. Romance is a part of drama and a part of life, for that matter, but I don’t know how that’s going to play out.

How does it feel to be back on a series again?
It feels good. It feels good to be working and to have the kind of material that keeps you interested — in the sense that this character is very different for me.

You had a serious motorcycle accident in 2008 that prevented you from working for a while. How are you doing now?
I’m perfectly perfect. Actually, I’m 99.9 percent perfect. I was very fortunate. It’s good to know that you can survive a little blip to your well-being and come back.

How long was your recovery?
I recovered pretty quickly. I was sort of back to functioning in a general sense in three months, but ... I had to play a lot of mind games with myself just to test my cognitive functions and my memory and make sure that I wasn’t going to have any gaps. If you’re an actor, you have to be able to memorize lots of material, and then just be able to let it go; so that was my main concern. To go on stage and to be hit with a light, how would that affect me? What would my balance be like?

Did the accident affect your acting in any way?
I definitely think it changed it. Whether it improved it or not, I wouldn’t be so presumptuous, but I think an event like that is so emotional and affects your emotions for a long time. ... I get angry at certain things now much more quickly than I did, but on the other hand, I’m a bit more understanding and accommodating. It was a gift and a blessing at the same time. Perhaps it had to do with learning that new part of life that comes with survival, and all the fear that comes in with that. Maybe that sank down into my bones and my heart and hopefully it comes out in the performance.

We can’t get away without asking about Queer as Folk. What the show’s legacy for you?
I was terrified of taking on this sort of sexual/political stance. There’s always, in my mind, this hesitancy to speak as Gale Harold about the life of this man, Brian Kinney, that I’m playing and how that relates to society and the gay community at large.

It seemed at the time that a lot of people couldn’t differentiate between Brian and Gale. Well this is the thing: When you’re an actor and you get a big break and you’re young — I mean, I had just turned 30 when I started the show ... Nobody knew me, which was amazing, in a way, for the show, because you see that person for the first time when they’re playing that character so you believe it more. ... The legacy of the show was having all these people come up to us over the years and thank us for giving them characters to watch and to relate to. They saw themselves. That’s kind of overwhelming to hear that. It’s very meaningful, and it’s heartbreaking, and it’s inspiring, but ... it was a heavy and awesome responsibility and I wanted to get it right.

And now more from Gale Howard's exclusive interview:

ON HIS HELLCATS CHARACTER DEALING WITH LIARS…
He can’t help but notice that he deals with liars; he deals with different kinds of charlatans all the time. But he still believes that justice and social issues are the most important thing and he has a responsibility to take them on because he has access to the court system and power there.

ON GETTING TURNED ON BY LEARNING…
I remember being a student and I remember being around people that were so much on your mind and they were so brilliant, you know? And I thought “That’s what I want to be.” It’s very, very seductive. I think when you’re watching two people in that situation, your minds going to go there.

ON THE PITFALLS OF HIS CHARACTER ROMANCING A STUDENT… I think the last thing he would do is squander his position by doing something inappropriate. He doesn’t want to put himself in that position, but more importantly he does believe that his students are his charges and he’s responsible for their well-being, as well as their education. He wouldn’t do anything that would undermine that. On the other hand, who knows? For drama, those could be some great circumstances for everything to go wrong.

ON PLAYING POKER FACED CHARACTERS…
I don’t want to come across sort of one-note cynical; I don’t want to come across totally disengaged, so finding those moments of connection between myself and other characters … a lot of the characters I’ve played have been so kind of poker-faced and sort of one step ahead. They always seem to know more than anybody else so you can’t get a grip on them. I really feel with Julian, because he’s an academic and an instructor, you really have to feel and understand what he’s saying without it being obvious. It’s the key to that part.

ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PLAYING BRIAN KINNEY…
I wanted to get it right. And that feeling only increased as the show went on. That I was not part of this world, and yet I was responsible for portraying it. And the thing about Brian was, he was great to play because he did not give a shit about what anybody else thought of him. He had to find a way to survive. This is how I’m going to live my life and you can take it or leave it. I don’t care. And he loved it! He loved that feeling. He scared the shit out of me the first couple of years. I really didn’t think I was pulling it off.
EVEN NOW?
I’m starting to feel a little bit more like I can believe that. That I can trust that what I did was honest and good. My attempts were honest, but I’m never quite comfortable saying “I pulled it off.”

Black Eyed Peas to Perform Super Bowl Halftime

The Black Eyed Peas will be the featured halftime performer at the Super Bowl.

The Grammy award-winning group will perform February 6th at Cowboys Stadium. The announcement was made Thursday during the Dallas Cowboys' game against the New Orleans Saints.

Since forming in 1995, The Black Eyed Peas have sold more than 28 million albums worldwide and nearly 31 million digital tracks. Their new album, "The Beginning," is set for release Tuesday.

Last year's featured performer was The Who. Other halftime acts have included U2, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Paul McCartney and Prince.

The Super Bowl halftime show is sponsored by Bridgestone.

Leslie Nielsen Dies

Leslie Nielsen, who made audiences laugh with his ridiculous seriousness and deadpan deliveries in the absurd scenes of comedy films like Airplane! and The Naked Gun has died. He was 84.

His agent, John. S. Kelly, confirmed that the actor died Sunday near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the Holy Cross Hospital, surrounded by his "lovely wife and friends" at 5:34 pm (ET), due to complications of pneumonia.

Nielsen had been hospitalized for nearly two weeks as a result from pneumonia, his agent said.

"Just in this last 48 hours, the infection has gotten too much," his nephew Doug Nielsen told Canadian radio station CKNW. "He just fell asleep and passed away."

Canadian In Hollywood

Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, where his father was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Nielsen began his career in television in the 1950s, after training at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse.

He found early success as a dramatic actor in the 1972 blockbuster The Poseidon Adventure (he played the captain of the doomed ship) and on TV shows like Bonanza and The Fugitive.

Lasting Sense of Humor

But behind the scenes, he was reportedly known as a prankster. Landing his role as Detective Frank Drebin on TV's Police Squad would prove to be a turning point in his career, as that became the basis for the Naked Gun movies.

In 1998, the actor told The New York Times: "It's been dawning on me slowly that for the past 35 years I have been cast against type," he said, "and I'm finally getting to do what I really wanted to do."

Nielsen is survived by his fourth wife, Barbaree Lee Neilsen, and two daughters, Maura Nielsen Kaplan and Thea Nielsen Disney, both of whom appeared alongside their father in the comedies, Dracula: Dead and Loving It and Wrongfully Accused. His brother Eric was deputy prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1986.

While Nielsen "enjoyed a more than 60 year career in motion pictures and television," as Kelly noted in his statement, his signature line from Airplane! will surely be remembered as one of comedy's best: Said Nielsen, as Dr. Rumack, "I am serious . . . and don't call me Shirley."

And the Winner of Dancing With The Stars is...

With a season full of surprises and shocking eliminations, it's no mystery that Tuesday's finale of Dancing with the Stars was a nail-biter, right down to the last remaining minutes of the telecast.



As consistently low-scoring Bristol Palin advanced ahead of stronger dancers like Audrina Patridge and Brandy, fans and the media argued about whether Dancing had lost its credibility.

Palin held her own on Monday night's performance show against the season's most dynamic performer, actress Jennifer Grey, and charismatic actor Kyle Massey. Still, Palin received the lowest scores.

Did Palin's fans vote in droves to ensure she takes the Season 11 mirror-ball trophy home to Alaska? Or did America truly vote for the best dancer – which, depending on whom you ask, is either Grey or Massey?



It's Jennifer Grey!

The audience cheered and the actress broke into tears as her professional partner, Derek Hough, jumped up and and down. This is the third win for Hough, who also had victories with Nicole Scherzinger and Brooke Burke.

Grey, 50, endured health problems throughout the competition and on Tuesday night danced through pain from a slipped disc.

Massey, 19, came in second place, and Palin's amazing run ended. The 20-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin had a third-place finish.

Christian Bale Bids Bye Bye to Batman

Christian Bale is planning to hang up Batman's cape after playing the vigilante in a third and final movie.

The actor insists The Dark Knight Rises will be his final outing as the comic book superhero - unless director Christopher Nolan has other plans.

Bale says, "This will be, I believe, until Chris says different, the last time I’ll be playing Batman."

Kate Middleton: The Making of a Princess

Newly engaged to Prince William, 28-year-old Kate Middleton has been the portrait of poise and grace. But friends tell People magazine in this week's issue that the future princess wasn't always so self-assured.

As a young teen, she was shy and awkward. "She wasn't really confident," says a former classmate. "The poor girl, we felt sorry for her."

Now, of course, she is set to become one of the most famous women in the world. As anticipation mounts over the April 29 wedding date, those inside Middleton's circle say she will draw on her quiet inner strength.

"While she's not the sort of person who bursts through the door and grabs people's attention, she very much has presence," says a friend. "She draws attention to herself in a very unobtrusive way."

So far, say observers, she's proved herself a quick study on the royal stage – despite little-to-no formal training. "There's no charm school for princesses," says Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine. "It's sink or swim."

For much more on Kate, including her stellar style and candid photos of her childhood, pick up this week's issue of People on newsstands now.

John Travolta and Kelly Preston Welcome a Son

John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston are parents to son Benjamin, who was born Tuesday in a Florida hospital.

The baby weighed 8 lbs., 3 oz.

"John, Kelly and their daughter Ella Bleu are ecstatic and very happy about the newest member of the family," they say in a statement. "Both mother and baby are healthy and doing beautifully."

Preston, 48, said recently that the entire family was in major preparation mode for their new addition as her pregnancy neared its end.

"I've been cleaning out everything in the house," Preston said in September. "Ella has been helping too. She's looking forward to being a big sister."

Travolta, 56, and Preston's son Jett suffered a fatal seizure at age 16 in January 2009.

Date Set for Prince William's Royal Wedding

Mark your calendars: Prince William and Kate Middleton have chosen a wedding date!

The Royal wedding will take place on Friday, April 29, 2011, according to the British Monarchy Twitter. It will take place at Westminster Abbey, the venue for the 1947 wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth, William's grandmother the Queen.

The couple, both 28, have received their wish to have a relatively early ceremony. William is known to have wanted as short an engagement as was practical and they both wanted a spring wedding.

Early clues as to the venue came only a day after their November 16th engagement, when Kate was seen leaving the Abbey after receiving a tour by officials.

Sources early Tuesday said that despite the fact it can seat 2,000 guests, the couple like the Abbey's "intimacy." The palace officials have also announced that the Royal Family and will pay for the church service, the music and parties. The cost of security – likely to run into millions – will be met by the British taxpayers.

Meanwhile, the couple are continuing their lives as they had been pre-engagement. Catherine Middleton, as the palace calls her, was seen shopping at upmarket superstore Waitrose in Menai Bridge, not far from the home that the prince rents in North Wales.

It will also be a public holiday in the U.K, the Prime Minister David Cameron announced. There is already the May Day holiday on the following Monday, making for a festive four-day weekend for the country.

The BBC reported that the date is also the feast day of St. Catherine of Sienna.

Jim Carrey Slams David Letterman

While appearing on Late Show with David Letterman to promote his new gay prison comedy "I Love You Phillip Morris," Jim Carrey took the late-night talk show host to task for his dated line of questioning with regard to straight guys playing gay on film.

“We haven’t grown at all, have we?” the actor asked Letterman after being asked if he worried about his image as a heterosexual leading man after playing gay.

I Love You Phillip Morris, which also stars Ewam McGregor, hits theaters on December 3rd.

Watch the exchange on the second video below:

Teri Hatcher Fuming Over 'Untrue' Desperate Housewives Quit Claims

Teri Hatcher has blasted "ridiculously untrue" reports she's quit Desperate Housewives, insisting she will stay on the show until "it's cancelled".

The actress, who has played Susan Mayer in all seven series of the drama since it began in 2004, was said to have told executives at ABC the next season will be her last.

Britain's Sunday Express reported she was leaving the show so she could work on a new series - but Hatcher is fuming over the story, branding it a "reckless fabrication".

She's taken to her Facebook.com page to reassure fans she's continuing with her role, which she describes as "one of the highlights of my career", and is demanding a "retraction and apology" over the report.

In a series of posts, she writes, "There are not enough adjectives to describe how stupid, off base, and ridiculously untrue this is... What disturbs me the most is that one fan would consider for one second that I would 'quit' what has been... one of the highlights of my career for which I am grateful on a daily basis.

"I have never said nor inferred otherwise... I am awaiting a retraction and apology at the least... I will say it again, I love Dh, the cast and crew are like family and I am with it till it's cancelled."

Hatcher has also praised the makers of Desperate Housewives for their "new energy" on the current season, which has seen Vanessa Williams land a role.

She adds, "Vanessa Williams and the writers have brought a new energy to the show this year and I expect and hope it can continue on for a long time. I meet many people who still find so much joy in watching it and I want everyone to know I'm joyful to be involved to this day and that's not going to change."

Dancing With the Stars: Did Bristol Palin Save Her Best for Last?

Grey has dazzled Dancing With the Stars fans and judges with incredible routines. And on Monday night, the season's final performance show, Grey and partner Derek Hough achieved perfection for the second week in a row.

They received 30 out of 30 points for both of their dances – a paso doble that had the audience and the judges on their feet and a freestyle that had Bruno Tonioli raving about "two dances at the opposite end of the spectrum and both equally brilliant!"

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer didn't disappoint with a suave foxtrot that earned a solid 27 out of 30 points and had judge Len Goodman gushing that the actor had gone from "Messy Massey to marvelous."

The duo's hip-hop themed freestyle earned them a score of 29 out of 30 points and Massey a new nickname from Carrie Ann Inaba, who called him "the Fresh Prince of Dancing with the Stars."

At the bottom, once again, were Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas.

The 20-year-old Palin emerged from a hibernation of sorts – and not just because Mama Grizzly Sarah Palin was sitting in the front row – with the routine that earned a much-deserved standing ovation and a score of 27 out of 30.

But their Chicago-themed freestyle didn't fare as well. The musical-inspired routine fell short, with Bruno Tonioli commenting that it was "not quite at the level" of what a finale night freestyle should be, earning 25 points for a combined total score of 52/60 for the night.

Now that the judges' scores have been tallied, the contestants' fates are in the hands of the American voting public. Will Palin's fans pull her through again? Hopefully NOT!

The season 11 live results show airs tonight at 9:00 pm (ET) on ABC.

New Release Tuesday!

As we enter the offical "Black Friday" week, here is a listing of what's new on Blu-Ray, CD and DVD this week including for the first time ever, "The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Series" starring Lee Majors, Richard Anderson & Martin E. Brooks, available exclusively through Time-Life.

MOVIES
Countdown to Zero (B)
Diary of a Mad Black Woman (B)
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (B)
Eat Pray Love (B)
The Expendables (B)
Flipped (B)
The Hunting Party (B)
I'm Still Here (B)
Jolene (B)
Madea's Big Family: The Play (B)
The Winning Season (B)
Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (B)
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (B)
Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion (B)
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married (B)

MUSIC
Alan Jackson - 34 Number Ones
Akon - Akonic
Burlesque - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Justin Bieber - My Worlds Acoustic (Walmart Exclusive)
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Ke$ha - Cannibal (EP)
Ne-Yo - Libra Scale
Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday

TV SHOWS
7th Heaven - 11th & Final Season
Batman Beyond - Complete Series
Deadwood - Complete Series (B)
Human Weapon - 1st Season (B)
Murder, She Wrote - 12th Season
The Six Million Dollar Man - Complete Series (Time-Life Exclusive)
Space Precinct - Complete Series
The Tudors - Complete Series

(B) = Available on Blu-Ray

The 2010 American Music Awards Performances

It was a night of entertaining performances at the American Music Awards from Rihanna to New Kids On The Block & Blackstreet Boys, with some Black Eyed Peas, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull, Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Train, and so much more, in between.

Here are my favorite performances from the show:

Rihanna

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Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull


Christina Aguilera


Black Eyed Peas

Black Eyed Peas Live 2010 BMF
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Pink


Ke$ha


Carlos Santana & Gavin Rossdale


Katy Perry


Train


New Kids On The Block & Backstreet Boys

Cher Talks About Chaz Bono’s Gender Change: “It’s Hard, ’cause She’s Still My Girl.”

It seems like the rest of the world has been very careful to refer to Chaz Bono as “he” since the only child of Cher and Sonny Bono announced his transition from female to male last year.

But his superstar mother, in various interview promoting her new movie Burlesque, keeps referring to Chaz as “she” and only catching herself sometimes.

In Sunday’s issue of Parade, Cher spoke movingly of her child who used to appear with her and ex-husband Bono on their 70s variety show: “When Chaz first told me about wanting a sex change, I had a really hard time with it. We talked about the transgendered thing intermittently for years. She was unhappy. Plus, she was doing drugs. [Chaz was addicted to Oxycontin]. I believed that once she stopped doing drugs, she would have a much better life and put the transgender idea on the back burner.”

But after getting sober in 2004, Chaz became more determined than ever.

“She said to me, ‘If I’m ever going to do it, I’ve got to do it now. I’m 40,’” Cher recalls. “I went, ‘If you’ve got to do it dear, you’ve got to do it.’”

In May, Chaz’s gender and name were legally changed.

“When I realized she was going to do it, it was rocky for me. I thought, ‘What will the press do to her?’ What will they do to the two of us together? It’s going to be the biggest nightmare that will not stop. But the press has been kinder than I thought they would be.”

“It’s hard ’cause she’s still my girl. But she has an inner strength and she’s a courageous person – she believes what she believes. She and her girlfriend came over here for dinner last night.”

Good to see that Cher and Chaz are close and supportive of each other. Now if only Cher could start to refer to her child as “he".

The 2010 American Music Awards Winners

Last night, music’s best and brightest gathered in Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre to see who would take home this year’s crop of American Music Awards.

Here is the list of trophy winners.


Soul/R&B Album: Usher, Raymond v. Raymond
Pop Rock Band/Duo/Group: The Black Eyed Peas
Country Female Artist: Taylor Swift
Latin Music Artist: Shakira
Soul/R&B Female Artist: Rihanna
Country Male Artist: Brad Paisley
Breakthrough Artist: Justin Bieber
Pop/Rock Male Artist: Justin Bieber
Country Band/Duo/Group: Lady Antebellum
Alternative Rock Music Artist: Muse
Adult Contemporary Music Artist: Michael Bublé
Soul/R&B Male Artist: Usher
Artist of the Year: Justin Bieber
Country Album: Carrie Underwood, Play On
Rap/Hip-Hop Male Artist: Eminem
Pop/Rock Album: Justin Bieber, My World 2.0
Pop/Rock Female Artist: Lady Gaga
Contemporary Inspirational Artist: MercyMe
Rap/Hip-Hop Album: Eminem, Recovery
Soundtrack Album: Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers

Teri Hatcher Quitting Desperate Housewives

Teri Hatcher has quit her starring role on Desperate Housewives, according to a U.K. report.

The actress has played Susan Mayer in all seven series of the drama since it hit screens in 2004.

But Hatcher has reportedly told executives at America's ABC network the next season will be her last, so she can work on a new show.

A source said, "Teri has given in her notice and is making active preparations to move on."

"She has another production deal in the pipeline and she is in the early stages of developing a sitcom that she wants to start work on immediately after she finishes Desperate Housewives - she wants a new show in time for the mid-January pilot season."

The report also suggests Hatcher's co-star Felicity Huffman is planning to leave her role as Lynette Scavo after season eight.

It continues, "ABC hasn't announced its schedule yet because the future of the series is up in the air. Some of the crew are disappointed in Teri, they feel like she is abandoning the show that revived her career.

"Desperate Housewives can't really continue without Teri or Felicity because they need the original stars to pull in the ratings. She (Hatcher) says she had an amazing run on the show but feels it is time to move on to a project that she has more control over."

A spokesperson for ABC says, "We are working on the next season at the moment and we haven't got anything to say about the one after."

Kelly Brook Linked to Charlie's Angels Remake

British model/actress Kelly Brook has reportedly been lined up to star in a TV remake of Charlie's Angels.

Plans are afoot to bring back the iconic show and producers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, who previously worked with Brook on hit series Smallville, are keen for the busty beauty to take on a leading role.

A source tells Britain's Sunday Mirror, "Al and Miles know Kelly from their time on ­Smallville and they think she is a star in the making.

"Rather than cast established stars, producers want to find less well-known ­actresses and turn them into household names - just like they did in the 1970s with Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith.

"Kelly fits the bill. She's gorgeous, feisty, athletic, a good actress and - most importantly - the ­producers think American viewers will love her."

2010 American Music Awards: Tonight on ABC!

ABC will be presenting the 38th annual American Music Awards tonight with preformances by Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Ke$ha, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Ne-Yo, Usher, Bon Jovi, Sean Comb's Diddy-Dirty Money, the pairing of Carlos Santana and Gavin Rossdale, and for the first time, Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block will perform together.

Eminem and Lady Antebellum lead the way with five nominations each, while Justin Bieber followed with four and B.o.B, Katy Perry, Ke$ha and Usher each took three.

Here is a list of the nominees. Our predicted winners are preceded by an asterisk (*):

Favorite Male Artist, Pop or Rock
* Justin Bieber
Eminem
Usher

Favorite Female Artist, Pop or Rock
Ke$ha
* Lady Gaga
Katy Perry

Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Pop or Rock
* The Black Eyed Peas
Lady Antebellum
Train

Favorite Album, Pop or Rock
Justin Bieber - My World 2.0
Eminem - Recovery
* Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Favorite Male Artist, Country
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
* Brad Paisley

Favorite Female Artist, Country
Miranda Lambert
Taylor Swift
* Carrie Underwood

Favorite Band, Duo or Group, Country
Zac Brown Band
* Lady Antebellum
Rascal Flatts

Favorite Album, Country
Jason Aldean - Wide Open
Lady Antebellum - Need You Now
* Carrie Underwood - Play On

Favorite Male Artist, Rap/Hip-Hop
* B.o.B.
Drake
Eminem

Favorite Album, Rap/Hip-Hop
* B.o.B. - B.o.B. Presents
Drake - Thank Me Later
Eminem - Recovery

Favorite Male Artist - Soul/R&B
Chris Brown
Trey Songz
* Usher

Favorite Female Artist - Soul/R&B
Alicia Keys
* Rihanna
Sade

Favorite Album, Soul/R&B
* Alicia Keys - The Element of Freedom
Sade - Soldier of Love
Usher - Raymond v. Raymond

Favorite Album, Soundtracks
AC/DC - Iron Man 2
* Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Favorite Artist, Alternative Rock Music
* Muse
Phoenix
Vampire Weekend

Favorite Artist, Adult Contemporary Music
* Michael Bublé
Lady Antebellum
Train

Favorite Artist, Latin Music
Daddy Yankee
* Enrique Iglesias
Shakira

Favorite Artist, Contemporary Inspirational
Casting Crowns
MercyMe
TobyMac

Artist of the Year
Justin Bieber
Eminem
Ke$ha
* Lady Gaga
Katy Perry

T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Nominations
B.o.B
Justin Bieber
Taio Cruz
Jason Derülo
* Ke$ha
Lady Antebellum
Travie McCoy
Mike Posner

Watch ABC tonight at 8:00 pm (ET) for the results!

Out 100's Entertainer of the Year: Ricky Martin

On March 29th of this year, Ricky Martin made a decision that would change everything. He posted a letter on his website and linked to it from Twitter. The letter outlined the process of writing his upcoming memoir, during which Martin came to realize that he needed to free himself of a particular burden. Writing about it, he added, was “a solid step toward my inner peace and vital part of my evolution.” He closed the letter, with a beautiful, eloquent, and simple declaration: “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.”

It is a warm October afternoon in Miami Beach, and the fortunate homosexual man is tearing up. We’ve just started talking, but Martin can barely contain his elation. It is sweet and touching and genuine. When I suggest that few of his fans could have imagined in January that he would be on the cover of this year’s Out100, he has to steady himself, sucking in the air and releasing it in a low, long exhalation. The hum of jet skis and motorboats on Biscayne Bay fills the silence. A breeze shifts the long, white drapes that separate the living room from Martin’s waterfront garden. “I get emotional,” he says, finally, fanning the air gently with his hand. “What a beautiful way to start.”

He’s right. There is something beautiful in witnessing a major celebrity in the throes of profound and real transformation. A week before we meet, Martin had made a surprise appearance at the annual Human Rights Campaign national dinner to pledge his support. “Something as simple as standing at that dinner and saying, ‘I’m gay,’ creates so may emotions I’ve never felt before,” he admits. “I didn’t do it earlier because of fear, and, bottom line, it was all in my head. I was seduced by fear, and I was sabotaging most of my life -- my music, my relationships with my friends, with my family, with everybody. That’s something I need to share because I know that a lot of people are going through what I went through, no matter what their age, and fear cannot control us.”

Martin is about to share big time -- with his new memoir, Me, a remarkably heartfelt account of his journey from teen group Menudo to fatherhood, delivered in a frank, conversational style that doesn’t economize on the truth. It includes accounts of his first passionate affairs -- with men and with women -- as well as his struggle to reconcile his conflicted yearnings with his rapid ascent in America. The pivotal year is 1999, at which Martin performed his World Cup anthem, “La Copa de la Vida,” at the Grammys. Largely unknown in the United States beyond Hispanic audiences, he left the stage as a breathless Rosie O’Donnell (the evening’s host) exclaimed, “Who was that cutie patootie?” Between that quip and the well-intended advice of Madonna to “stop doing interviews -- everyone knows who you are” were a few short hops separated by 17 million album sales for his first English-language album, Ricky Martin, covers on Time and People, and a 25-date U.S. tour that sold out in eight minutes.

Contrary to Madonna’s comment, it’s arguable whether Martin even knew himself. In Me, he presents much of his life as a subconscious effort to avoid confronting unpalatable truths. It’s one explanation for his nonstop work ethic. He was always, he says, a performer who didn’t know how to say no -- “perhaps because if I stopped I would start to think.” A growing interest in India -- a giant Buddha stares passively from his hallway -- would eventually help him resolve those tensions and lead to the introspection that animates his memoir. “In this book, I am sharing the moments that triggered intensity, like passion and love, and that brought me to a place of understanding or a place where I really started asking a lot of questions, connecting the dots,” he says.

It was connecting the dots that led directly to Martin’s tweet last March. In his memoir, he recounts how friends and colleagues remonstrated with him to hold off: “I ignored all their recommendations, and by the end, when they came to me with the argument that I shouldn’t do it during Easter because it might offend my Christian fans, I said: ‘What part of ‘I can’t take it any more’ do you not understand? What about me?’”

Two people who didn’t intervene to stop Martin were his parents. “My father is an amazing human being,” says Martin. “He was the first one to tell me, ‘Come on, share your love.’ ” As for his mother, she flew to Miami for a visit the same day he published his letter. Martin held off posting it until he knew she was safely in the air, beyond the reach of gossipy chatter, and made her read it the moment she arrived at his house. “As soon as she finished,” he writes, “she stood up, gave me a great big hug, and started to cry like a baby.”

M artin is not the first pop star to come out -- a string of musicians got there before him, but while many enjoyed significant fame none has achieved such stratospheric heights of idoldom. And none had to contend with the dual responsibilities of being gay and a crossover Latin music star -- or a “symbol of the new status Latin culture holds in mainstream America,” as The New York Times dubbed him in 1999. That seems like an awful lot of symbolism for one man’s shoulders. Martin shrugs. “I am a minority twice,” he says. “I am Hispanic, and I am a gay man, and they both struggle. Is it a big responsibility? It can be as big as I want it to be, and I believe there’s a lot still to come.”

Martin doesn’t skate over the oppressiveness of Latin machismo that made his coming-out such a milestone back home, one not always appreciated by the press and bloggers in the West who treated it as no big deal. At the same time, he insists that his own “Latin lover” vibe was always genuine. “A lot of people go, ‘Wait a minute, so ‘She Bangs’ became a ‘He Bangs?’ ” -- he laughs -- “No, I never lied. That was my truth at that moment. And when you are on stage you just are. Mind you, as an entertainer if you make a move and you get a reaction, trust me, you are going to make that move again -- that’s what we entertainers live off. Do I think it’s going to be the same now? I don’t know, and,” -- his voice drops to an urgent whisper again -- “it doesn’t matter. It feels so good that it can’t be wrong.”

Not content to represent two minorities when he could represent three, Martin became a single parent just over two years ago after identifying a surrogate mother on the Internet. He thinks now that he was dealing with a lot of residual guilt for having abandoned his younger brothers when he joined the gilded cage that was Menudo, but he was also inspired by his work with his children’s foundation, launched to help disabled children in Puerto Rico and later broadened to combat child trafficking and prostitution. In Me, he robustly rejects criticism of his choice to raise his twin boys, Matteo and Valentino, alone, with some familiar arguments -- many great people are the products of single parents -- and some less so. All families are different, he says, before adding, with a priceless flourish, “being unique is fabulous.”

As it happens, his two boys do have another man in their life, one who does not materialize in Me, but who has recently become a major part of Martin’s world. “I am in a relationship, and I am in love, and it’s incredible that I’m actually talking about it,” he says, adding that it’s not in the book because it was too soon to write about it. “It was a moment to nurture a relationship, not a moment to talk about it. And I was living one day at a time in this relationship because I was a father first and foremost -- I wasn’t looking for anyone.” Martin won’t reveal much more, except to say that his partner is also from Puerto Rico and loves his children and is loved by them in turn.

In the end, of course, everything is connected (back to those dots again) and Martin credits his boys for lighting the fuse that led him to come out. The turning point was that chapter about fatherhood. As he pondered why he’d wanted children, he cycled back through a chain of linked events and consequences. “Why did I decide to be a father? Because of my work with my foundation. Why my work with my foundation? Because of my trips to India. Why did I want to go to India? Because I wanted to detach from fame, because I wanted to look for silence. Why? Because I didn’t like interviews, I didn’t like being famous. Why was that? Because maybe I was being invaded by questions about my sexuality. Hmmm. Why did I feel invaded?”

Above all, he says he worried about Matteo and Valentino having to answer for their father’s untruths. How would they respond as they grew older? Would they have to lie on his behalf? “How could I teach my kids to lie?” he asks. “How could I teach them not to be themselves?” And, as simple as that, he realized he couldn’t and wouldn’t. “My children will grow up with no prejudice,” he says. “As parents, we need to create a new way of thinking for our kids, in which we accept, and we love, and we can vibe with everybody.”

On cue, it seems, the boys awake from their afternoon nap and are brought downstairs to daddy. Martin has a small retinue of loyal and longtime staff, more like family, and they start clucking and fussing over the kids, amusing them with clown faces as they run around the lawn grabbing at flowers to present to the adults, tokens of their affection. Martin laughs as they stumble in their haste and launches into a proud-father monologue, detailing their quirks and foibles: how Valentino insists on eating with his hands, covering his face with pasta; how he jokes that Matteo is “half Puerto Rican and half Chinese” because of his overweening fondness for rice. And he frets about separation issues when he returns to Broadway in 2012 to play Che in the revival of Evita, his first stage role since he played Marius in Les Misèrables in 1995, before reassuring himself that other Broadway parents deal with much the same.

And there is, of course, his new partner. Martin imagines a day when he’ll be walking down a red carpet with his man and his boys, right behind Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka and their twin kids. “How awesome will that be?” he asks. Well, very.

See all of the 2010 Out 100 honorees here.

Cher Nearly Plants Her Face into Cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Yesterday, Cher was bestowed with the honor of putting her hand and foot prints in cement at Hollywood's legendary Grauman's Chinese Theatre, but she nearly left a lot more than that.

Watch the video below of her near "face in the cement" incident:

American Idol: Catching Up With All 9 Winners

A new season of "American Idol" begins in January, but FOX is giving fans a a chance to check in with the nine people whose lives they changed forever when they voted them the winner of the hit show.

The videos feature the family and loved ones of each winner in their hometowns. Here is the full list of winners: Season 1 - Kelly Clarkson, Season 2 - Ruben Studdard, Season 3 - Fantasia Barrino, Season 4 - Carrie Underwood, Season 5 - Taylor Hicks, Season 6 - Jordin Sparks, Season 7 - David Cook, Season 8 - Kris Allen and Season 9 - Lee DeWyze.

Some of the highlights from the "Welcome Home" videos? Carrie Underwood's town (Checotah, OK) pulled a "Mean Girls" and wore shirts with her name on it every Tuesday. In Jordin Sparks' we get to go behind-the-scenes of her Broadway play "In The Heights" and we learn that David Cook's sister and one of her friend swere the only people who used to go to his shows in Blue Springs, MO.

Below is the video of Kelly Clarkson's hometown (Burleson, TX) return, where the town's slogan for her was "Small Town, Big Star." To see the rest of the winners' videos visit this website.

'Spartacus: Gods of the Arena' Trailer: Blood, Sex, But No Andy Whitfield

Behold, the new trailer for "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena." (It just feels right to say "Behold" when you're talking about a sword-and-sandal show like this.)

While you won't really see any of Andy Whitfield in the 90-second teaser, you will see a lot of what you've come to expect from "Spartacus" -- lots of action (and accompanying gore), a few hints at steamy sex scenes and intrigue at the house of Batiatus.

Best of all, though is the fact that the prequel, which takes place before Spartacus (Whitfield) arrives at the ludus, found a way to involve John Hannah and Lucy Lawless again. They were often the most interesting parts of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," and it's great to see more of their characters.

While the full second season of "Spartacus" is still a ways off, "Gods of the Arena" premieres on Starz on January 21st.

'Glee' Cast Announces European Tour

Fresh off their “Teenage Dream” cover topping Billboard‘s Digital Songs chart, the Glee cast has announced a European tour for next year.

Actors Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Mark Salling, Dianna Agron, Naya Rivera, Heather Morris, Harry Shum, Jr., Chord Overstreet and Darren Criss will perform five dates in the U.K. and Ireland during June and July 2011.

A Fox press release describes the events as “an all-new singing and dancing celebration” of Glee.

SoFLa Local: Governor Charlie Crist Wants to Pardon Jim Morrison

Florida governor Charlie Crist is seeking to issue a posthumous pardon to Doors front man Jim Morrison for two criminal convictions he received after a night of onstage antics in Miami in 1969 that drew outcries from conservatives including antigay crusader Anita Bryant.

The New York Times reports that Crist, whose term ends in January, will submit Morrison’s name to a clemency board next month. He joins Morrison supporters who believe the charges against the countercultural hero were trumped up in a case that constitutes an "injustice." The rocker, who was fined $500 but never served time, was appealing his conviction on misdemeanor charges of profanity and indecent exposure when he died in Paris in 1971 at age 27.

According to the Times, “The fight began on March 1, 1969, when the Doors played a raucous concert at Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami. An intoxicated Morrison stumbled through songs like 'Light My Fire' and 'Break On Through (To the Other Side),' taunted the crowd and threatened to expose himself before fans mobbed the stage. A newspaper review said the singer appeared to simulate masturbation during his performance, and the concert was investigated by a Miami crime commission as six arrest warrants were issued for Morrison, including one for a felony charge of lewd and lascivious behavior.

“In the ensuing outrage, several other nearby Doors concerts were canceled. On March 23, the Orange Bowl became the scene of a Rally for Decency, organized by local high school students. Some 30,000 teenagers and adults gathered for performances and speeches on virtue by Jackie Gleason, Anita Bryant and the Lettermen. (President Richard M. Nixon later wrote a letter to the rally’s organizers saying they had shown ‘admirable initiative.’)”

Some doubt whether the pardon will succeed. Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the current state attorney of Miami-Dade County, who would need to weigh in regarding the pardon, said the effort seemed like a waste of state resources.

Anne Hathaway Dreams Up Perfect Glee Role

Anne Hathaway is so desperate to land a guest role on hit TV musical Glee, she has already come up with her ideal role and planned out the entire episode in her mind.

The Devil Wears Prada star admits she's a huge fan of the Ryan Murphy creation and would jump at the chance to appear alongside its leading stars Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele.

And she's worked out the whole storyline and the song she'd love to sing.

Hathaway says, "In my head I've written a part for me... That's so arrogant and obnoxious! Ryan Murphy, like no one else wants to be on your show!

"In my head, I've cast myself in Glee and I know what song I'm going to sing! I would wanna play Kurt's long-lost aunt's mother's sister who is also gay, (who) comes back to help him deal with his sexuality, and I would sing You Are Not Alone from Steven Sondheim's epic show Into the Woods."

Hathaway isn't the only celebrity fan of Glee - Britney Spears and Gwyneth Paltrow are also regular viewers and have both made cameos in the show. Paltrow received rave reviews for her portrayal of substitute teacher Holly Holliday in an episode which aired in America on Tuesday.

American Idol Shifts to Wednesday & Thursday Schedule for Season 10

The changes just keep coming for "American Idol."

FOX's top-rated series, which has aired on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for most of its life, will switch to Wednesdays and Thursdays this season. The move also means a number of other shakeups in the network's midseason schedule.

The "Idol" move will give "Human Target" and "Bones" new timeslots on Wednesday and Thursday nights, push "Fringe" into the dead zone of Fridays and, FOX hopes, serve as a launching pad for its new comedy "Breaking In" later in the spring. It's also an acknowledgment that "Glee" is doing well enough on its own on Tuesday nights that it no longer needs "Idol's" help in the ratings.

"Fringe" is probably the biggest loser in the shakeup. The show finishes fourth in its current Thursday timeslot, averaging around 5 million viewers per week. It gets one of the biggest bumps, percentage-wise, of any show on TV when DVR viewing is factored in, but it's likely to lose some audience at least in the overnight ratings with the move to Fridays. It will be paired with "Kitchen Nightmares."

"Bones," meanwhile, is likely to get a bit of a bump when it moves to 9:00 pm Thursdays behind "Idol." "Human Target" may as well, but it won't have much time to show itself. The network is running back-to-back episodes on January 5th and 12th, and after "Idol's" two-hour January premiere on January 19th, "Human Target" will have only three weeks with an "Idol" lead-in before going off the schedule again.

The new shows in FOX's midseason lineup are a pair of live-action comedies, "Mixed Signals" (which premieres at 9:30 pm Tuesday, February 8th) and "Breaking In" (9:30 pm Wednesday, April 6th), animated comedy "Bob's Burgers" (8:30 pm Sunday, January 9th) and crime drama "The Chicago Code" (9:00 pm Monday, Febuary 7th).

The schedule shift for "Idol" is the latest in a series of big changes for Season 10. The show has two new judges (Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler) and is tweaking its format by, among other things, skipping the Top 24 stage and going straight to a Top 12.

Here's how FOX's midseason schedule will shake out (no changes to Saturday nights):

Mondays
8:00 pm "House"
9:00 pm "Lie to Me" (through January 31st) / "The Chicago Code" (premieres February 7th)

Tuesdays
8:00 pm "Glee"
9:00 pm "Million Dollar Money Drop" (January 4th - February 1st) / "Raising Hope," "Mixed Signals" (starting February 8th)

Wednesdays
January 5th and 12th
8:00 pm "Human Target" (back-to-back episodes)

January 19th
8:00 pm "American Idol" (two-hour season premiere)

January 26th - February 9th
8:00 pm "American Idol"
9:00 pm "Human Target" (new timeslot)

February 16th - March 30th
8:00 pm "American Idol" (two-hour episodes)

Starting April 6
8:00 pm "American Idol"
9:30 pm "Breaking In"

Thursdays
8:00 pm "Million Dollar Money Drop" (January 6th and 13th) / "American Idol" (starting on January 20th)
9:00 pm "Bones" (new timeslot starting January 6th)

Fridays
8:00 pm "Kitchen Nightmares" (premieres January 21st)
9:00 pm "Fringe" (new timeslot starting January 28th)

Sundays
7:00 pm "The Simpsons"
7:30 pm "American Dad"
8:00 pm "The Simpsons"
8:30 pm "Bob's Burgers" (premieres January 9th)
9:00 pm "Family Guy"
9:30 pm "The Cleveland Show" (new timeslot)

Glee Tops the Download Charts!

A new Glee star has certainly been born.

Darren Criss, who plays Blaine, the new gay BFF of Kurt (Chris Colfer) on the show, has already quickly been made a series regular.

Now Deadline Hollywood reports that Glee‘s rendition of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream debuted at #1 in digital track sales with 214,000 tracks sold, the first time a Glee track has done so. (Glee‘s signature song, cast’s version of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ reached #2 in May 2009.)

Criss sang the solo literally seconds after his character was introduced on the show.

Ryan Kwanten Praises Gay Brother for Coming Out

Many of you fell in love with Ryan Kwanten watching him on HBO’s True Blood on which he plays endearingly dim himbo Jason Stackhouse.

Prior to True Blood, Ryan starred in an episode of Law & Order: SVU as a military guy wrongly accused of rape. The 33-year-old Aussie actor was so good in that episode and his chemistry with series star Mariska Hargitay was off-the-charts.

Ryan recently chatted with Brandon Voss from The Advocate and they covered all kinds of gay ground.

Here are some highlights:

Before True Blood, you starred as a lifeguard in the Australian soap Home and Away. Were you aware of gay fans that early in your career?
Yes, they’ve always been very staunch supporters of me. The great thing is that it’s a loyal fan base — they’ll stick with you through thick and thin, and I like that. You can’t buy that kind of loyalty.

I read a story in Star that claimed you purposely keep your love life private in part because you’re so conscious of your gay following. Any truth to that?
Well, it’s in Star, so it’s got to be true. [Laughs] But yeah, and, to be honest, it’s more than my love life. It was Einstein who once said, “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.” We almost know too much about far too many actors in this day and age — to the point where it becomes harder and harder to see them as a character. So I’ve always tried to maintain somewhat of an air of mystery.

Were you always comfortable with the idea of male admirers?
Oh, yeah. Australians are a very open-minded society, and I come from a very liberal, open family, so it’s something that I’ve embraced from the get-go. My youngest brother, Lloyd, is gay.

Tell me about him.
He’s a doctor, so he got every ounce of intelligence in the family. He was probably about 18 when he came out, and I can wholeheartedly tell you that from the day that he did, he was a changed man for the better. The sheer beauty of who he is really came through.

Let’s talk True Blood. With the exception of Jason, all the major male characters were involved in homoerotic action last season. Did you feel left out?
Well, there are more seasons to come, so there’s still many an opportunity. I’m sure Alan Ball’s concocting some road to take Jason down that he’s never been down before.

Your True Blood costar Stephen Moyer recently auctioned off his “modesty sock” for charity. Would you auction off your penis pouch for a gay charity like The Trevor Project?
Well, I’ve gone through more than one, so there might be a couple out there. I’ll have to speak to Audrey, our wardrobe designer, and see if she can track one down. There’s quite a collection, actually—one for every mood.

You wrote an upcoming satirical self-help book, The G-Strategy. Any chance the G stands for gay?
It’s stands for whatever you want it to, Brandon. That’s the beauty of it.

Go to Advocate.com to read the interview in its entirety.