A few weeks ago I saw photos from the video shoot of Leona Lewis' latest single I Will Be. I was really excited when I saw that Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford played Leona's boyfriend. The video has premiered and I'm a little disappointed. I thought Chace was going to be in the video more than he was. At least they had the good sense to put Chace in the video in the first place.
Next Bond girl anyone? I think Jack Bauer's her father.
Apparently this is a viral campaign Nike has yet to take credit for, but it's kind of obvious with the way they focus on her sneakers. Got to get me some of them Nikes (and a pack of paparazzi to test 'em out with).
2K8 was definitely a year to be remembered. Records were broken, history was made, and I'm recapping it all here before the clock strikes 12.
Nothing was more memorable this year than Election '08. Never in my 20 years have I seen people take the election seriously enough to wait in line for 3 hours to vote. I myself waited in line for an hour while my friend in Florida waited for 6 in the pouring rain. What really surprised me about this election was how much it reminded me of New Year's Eve. People all over the world were gathered in the streets waiting to hear the news of Barack Obama's win like they wait for the ball to drop. It's definitely one of those things I'll tell my future children and grandchildren about.
The Beijing Summer Olympics was must-see TV in August. Night after night everyone watched as Michael Phelps got closer to breaking Mark Spitz's gold medal record. When he finally won that 8th gold, there was nary a dry eye or a Facebook status that wasn't Phelps-related.
** It's photos like this that make me want to start working out. **
My girls Misty May and Kerry Walsh returned to the Olympic sand and are still the reigning champions of Olympic Beach Volleyball. Now while May is healing from the injury she sustained from her stint on Dancing with the Stars, Walsh is expecting her first baby next year!
Gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson brought all the right moves to the mat as they both left Beijing as golden girls.
In the music world, Estelle looked for her American Boy, but Kanye West was in Love Lockdown. She should have gone after Usher since all he wanted to do was make Love in this Club. Lil Wayne tried to lure her in with a Lollipop and A Milli to no avail. Maybe she should have pulled a Katy Perry and Kissed a Girl like Mariah Carey who has been singing, "Touch My Body."
Estelle wasn't the only one with boy trouble. Leona Lewis was Bleeding Love, Duffy begged for Mercy and Danity Kane was Damaged so much that Diddy kicked Aubrey out of the group for being too trashy. I think the best person to lift Aubrey's spirits would be Pink. I think their conversation would go something like this :: Pink: "So What, you're still a rockstar!" Aubrey: "Hell yeah! I'm not a Bad Girl! You can't fire me. I'm Leavin' like Jesse McCartney!"
Chris Brown was Forever on the dance floor which didn't bother Lady GaGa because all she wanted to do was Just Dance to a hot girl anthem like Beyonce's Single Ladies. Chris' girlfriend Rihanna had other plans in mind. First she decided to Take a Bow. Then she told Maroon 5's Adam Levine, "If I Never See Your Face Again I don't mind, cause we've gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight." So scandalous that even Shwayze and Cisco Adler were Buzzin about them! Then Rihanna was all freaked out in Disturbia. She even saw T.I. who told her, "You can have Whatever You Like - one condition, Live Your Life." So in the end she checked into Rehab with Justin Timberlake and T-Pain yelled, "I Can't Believe It!" Former rehab girl Britney Spears made it her mission to call out a Womanizer in the Circus that is her life. Too bad she didn't have a Pocketful of Sunshine like Natasha Bedingfield or a guy in her life like Jason Mraz who would say to her everyday, " Baby I'm Yours."
As Christina Aguilera would say, music just Keeps Gettin' Better. I wonder who'll rule the charts next year, but we won't know until the ball drops and musicians everywhere begin their race to the top. In the words of Tokio Hotel, Ready, Set, Go!
And now for the Disney kids. I had to give them their own category since they like to cover all the bases: music, movies, TV, YouTube. Miley Cyrus had scandal after scandal in '08. One minute she used a body double on tour so she could change, the next she was in a Vanity Fair photo shoot wearing only a sheet (she had jeans on too but the photo was only of her from the torso up). Then she had her best friend Mandy were dissing fellow Disney best friends Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato in a YouTube video. Now Miley's dating 20 year old model/musician Justin Gaston and there are rumors that she's acting up on set to get out of her Hannah Montana contract. On the music side of things, 7 Things was a hit and Fly on the Wall has a cool music video.
The Jonas brothers semi-starred in the campy Camp Rock movie over the summer. It wasn't that great and really wasn't about them at all. The real star of the movie was the girl who said, "BTW, your lip gloss is so not glossy anymore!" Okay, not really - I just love that line. The real star of that movie is Demi Lovato who can actually sing!
On the music front, the JoBros had a hit with Burning Up and I'm loving their new song Lovebug. I'm just wondering who they're burning up for: Miley, Selena, Demi, Camilla, Taylor? Why are there so many girls in the JoBro's love web? And why do people only concentrate on Joe and Nick? I want to hear something scandalous about Kevin in '09!
No Disney story is complete without the Wildcats of East High. You know what I'm talking about. This year's High School Musical movie made a major leap to the big screen. I didn't see it, but I don't think I will after seeing the Boys are Back number. The choreography's a bit cheesy, but I'm sure Zac and Corbin could have beat Miley Cyrus in that YouTube dance crew challenge.
The movie world was also abuzz this year with the release of superhero movies, cartoons, and the movie version of the popular book Twilight.
The top 10 grossing movies of 2008 were:
(10) Horton Hears a Who: $154,529,439 - Never read the book, never saw the movie. Sorry Dr. Seuss.
(9) Twilight: $158,461,000 - My friends love the book so much that some of them even went to the midnight showing. I haven't seen it yet, but I just finished reading the book last night and I highly recommend it! I'm glad the movie did well and Catherine Hardwicke now has the record for the highest grossing movie directed by a female. Yay!
(8) Quantum of Solace: $161,300,000 - Daniel Craig is a-mazing! To the stylist who put him in those white pants, my mom and I are forever grateful. ♥ My goal of '09 is to become the next Bond girl.
(7) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: $172,332,000 - Never saw the first one. Never saw this one, but I love that petite Jada Pinkett Smith voices a hippo.
(6) Kung Fu Panda: $215,434,591 - Didn't see this one either, but I love pandas and Jack Black.
(5) Wall-E: $223,749,872 - Didn't see it, but my friend loved it!
(4) Hancock: $227,946,274 - Haven't seen it yet, but I definitely "will." ;-)
(3) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: $317,023,851 - Haven't seen this one either, but I will eventually because my future husband (a.k.a. Shia LaBeouf) is in it. I'm just getting caught up with all his movies. I watched Disturbia for the first time on Christmas, so I'll get around to this by Mother's Day.
(2) Iron Man: $318,313,199 - I'll probably see this whenever they air it on TV and love it, but I'm not really into the superhero movies, except for, of course ...
(1) The Dark Night: $530,750,228 - Saw it, loved it, need to buy the DVD! I hope Heath gets the Golden Globe (and an Oscar for this one).
Although they weren't in the Top 10, four of my other favorite movies of '08 show my diversity when it comes to films.
(4) Pride and Glory: If it wasn't for my mom's love of Colin Farrell, I would never have seen this movie. Edward Norton and Colin Farrell are amazing, and the movie really makes you wonder about what goes down behind-the-scenes with the men in blue.
(3) Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2: For my 20th birthday, my mom surprised me by taking me to see this movie. I'm glad she did because I could totally relate to the girls now that they were in college. Plus, if there was an Oscar for best abs in a movie, it would have to go to Jesse Williams (a.k.a. my future husband if he wasn't already engaged).
(2) Transporter 3: After having the villain in Transporter 2 walk around in lingerie all day while packing some major heat, I didn't know how they were going to top that in Transporter 3 but they did. I think it had something to do with Jason Statham stripping. I'm just saying.
(1) Sex and the City: Let's face it, it's hard to make a movie based on a hit TV show. Luckily the ladies of Sex and the City know what their fans want. This movie is every single metropolitan fashionista's dream. How badly do you want Patricia Field to style you everyday? And where can I find my Mr. Big?
The small screen was just as full of action and drama as the big screen was. The most talked about show (as usual) was the Hills. This was due in part to whatever deal Speidi must have made to be on the cover of US Weekly for what seemed like every week in '08. Since I don't watch The Hills, my most talked about show was definitely Gossip Girl. I didn't know how they were going to top the first season, but they did. From the will they/won't they Blair-Chuck relationship to the Lily and Rufus "Was it a boy or a girl?" cliff-hanger, this show just gets better with age.
My other favorite show is One Tree Hill. I was excited when Lucas chose Peyton, I freaked out when Nanny Carrie returned, I cried when Q died, I laughed when Dawson alum James Van Der Beek showed up as a director, I was excited when Nathan played slam ball, and I'm freaking out again that Sam is hanging out with the guy who shot Q (have you seen the previews).
I've also been watching Ugly Betty on-and-off this season due to homework, but what I've seen, I like. Other big shows of '08 were definitely 30 Rock and Mad Men. I watch neither, but I love Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin and I couldn't go to any class this year without my professors mentioning Mad Men. Also Tina Fey's dead on Sarah Palin impersonation gave SNL a much-needed rating boost. If only Mad TV had her; maybe they wouldn't have been cancelled.
Of the new shows that were on this year, I've only seen the first two episodes of 90210 and one episode of Privileged. 90210 was okay, but I wouldn't watch it even though Shannen Doherty, Lori Loughlin, and Jennie Garth are on it. The one episode of Privileged was pretty good so I may watch it again. Now that I'm not in high school, I can't really take anymore of these high school dramas.
My favorite shows that I somehow discovered over the summer actually come from across the pond. The BBC America show Skins is new in the US, but it's definitely not new in the UK where it's entering it's third season. I've seen every episode of the first two seasons and it's definitely the craziest thing I've ever seen. Since it is set in high school, I probably just contradicted my anti-high school drama statement, but it's not really about high school, now is it. One of my other favorite British shows is Britannia High. It's a mix of Fame meets High School Musical meets Degrassi. The actors (including Mitch Hewer from Skins) are so talented and exciting to watch.
Now on to my favorite game, match the baby names with the celebrity parents!
** Answers at the end **
Of all the babies born this year, Harlow and Nahla were my favorites. But as always, the cutest Tinsel Town tot of them all was Suri Cruise. The girl's a fashion icon in the making.
** Check her out **
As the Byrds said in Turn! Turn! Turn!, "To everything there is a season." We can't move on until we remember those who passed this year. This isn't everyone, but here are the ones I'll never forget.
Paul Newman
Isaac Hayes
Cyd Charisse
Yves Saint Laurent
George Carlin
Bernie Mac
Tim Russert
Eartha Kitt
Bettie Page
Heath Ledger
And lastly, I just want to talk about my favorite trend this year ... Twitter. Twitter came out of nowhere ... okay it came from San Francisco as many a social networking site does. Although it's been around since 2006, no one really started using it until this year, myself included. I jumped on the Twitter bandwagon right before it started getting hot as a way to pass the time as I sat in an office with nothing much to do over the summer. I can't get enough of Twitter. Even as I wrote this '08 recap, I posted on Twitter 9 times. Now Twitter is garnering some major media attention. It seems that every time I read an article, Twitter is mentioned in some shape or form. I can't wait to see how Twitter will evolve in the future.
♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠ ♠
How many did you get right in the baby name game?
Matthew & Camilla = Levi Jack & Tanya = Thomas Ashlee & Pete = Bronx Jessica & Cash = Honor Jennifer & Mark = Max & Emme Angelina & Brad = Knox & Vivienne Nicole & Joel = Harlow Halle & Gabriel = Nahla Christina & Jordan = Max Gwen & Gavin = Zuma
I just clicked on a story on the NY Times' website called Behind the Statistics on TV and Teen Pregnancy. The image they put to go along with the story is of Vanessa from Gossip Girl. Somebody has obviously not seen the show. I think I can count on one hand how many times Vanessa's kissed the guys on the show. If they wanted a risque picture from GG, they should have used Blair and Chuck, Blair and Nate, Serena and Dan, Serena and Nate, Chuck and (insert victim name here), or Nate and (insert any girl's name here).
I just came across this new music video for Hayden Pannettiere's song Wake Up Call. I like the video. Hayden does a couple wig changes á la Hannah Montana and models some Candies' clothes (at least I think they're by Candies). But what's up with these girls trying really hard to be sexy? Hayden did better than Hilary Duff in that department, but still it's kind of awkward. Forget TV; they need to do a study on the risque behaviour in music videos and how it affects young girls. (Leave Gossip Girl alone!)
I missed this week's episode of Gossip Girl because I was watching Chuck. I know, another Josh Schwartz show, lol. He's a genius and we have the same birthday. I saw this on NY Magazine's website. Did this air during the show?
I was browsing through the Yahoo! OMG site recently and I saw pics of celebs. Some were making fashion statements and others (or just one in particular) were not.
Gossip guy Chase Crawford looking All-Americana at the Diesel party.
Gossip Girl star, Taylor Momsen keeping it cool in white. I heart her hair. I think I'm going to cut mine again.
I love Lindsey's look, but I'm not feeling the random tan lines on her ankles. Is it for her new guest spot on Ugly Betty or was she wearing socks when she got her spray-on done?
Michelle Willaims keeping it fierce on the red carpet. Love the gloves girl! Love the gloves! Remember when I cut my hair like Michelle?
I did not know this was Beyonce until I read the caption. What happened? This outfit does not work for her. I'm a similar body type and now I don't think I could pull off the leggings-as-pants look. Did Michelle borrow her stylist that night?
What would I do without NY Magazine's website? I pretty much get all my news from their blogs lately. I was reading their weekly Gossip Girl recap when I found out that Blake Lively made a cameo in an SNL digital short the week James Franco hosted. It's really funny.
Either Selena Gomez isn't dating Nick Jonas, or Jonas is a really understanding boyfriend.
Gomez, 16, surprised the red carpet press on Saturday night at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Runway for Life benefit when she suddenly shouted, "Let Shia know I'm available!"
She was apparently inspired to make sure everyone knew about her longtime thing for 22-year-old Shia LaBeouf (she's gushed about it in the past) after being asked about her celeb crushes.
The Transformers star isn't the only boldfaced type Gomez would like to meet up with...
She said she's hoping to team up on her upcoming debut solo album with Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams. "I love her," Gomez said. "I look up to her."
Gomez also said she's definitely going to record a track with best friend Demi Lovato and would even welcome some time in the studio with Miley Cyrus. "That would be fun," said the Wizards of Waverly Place starlet.
I love Selena Gomez! I've never seen her show, but my mom has and thinks she's adorable. I've only seen a few of her YouTube videos, but apparently she has great taste in music. I think Haley from Paramore's amazing too.
Anyway, you know why I had to post this. I heart Shia LaBeouf. I'm not sure if he would date Selena. She's 16 and he's 22, but that may not stop him. That 20 year old underwear model's dating Miley Cyrus and her parents aren't batting an eyelash. (Sidenote :: I was very mad when Miley and her friend Mandy made fun of Selena and her BFF Demi in that YouTube video. In the words of Stephanie Tanner, "How rude!" ... You know you love Full House too.)
This all leads me to another reason why Shia and I are compatible. I believe this is the 4th on my list. I was watching A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints this weekend, and Shia's character kept talking about going to California which he eventually did. For my creative writing class I keep writing about California. How perfect are we? You know you know it's true.
Oh, and I came across this blog and somebody found out Spencer Pratt's phone number and it was really him on the voicemail. This made me wonder if someone can find out what Shia's number is. Does Paris Hilton's cell phone need to be stolen again? Remember that fiasco a few years ago. Celebs had to change their number, and Paris became public enemy number 1. But would Shia's number even be in Paris' cell? Would it be in Miley's? Maybe someone got it for Selena? Am I seriously debating this instead of creating a survey for my advertising project? The answer to the last question is yes; the rest you'll have to figure out for yourselves.
... we have to take our clothes off! Just kidding. That Gym Class Heroes' song has been stuck in my head lately for some reason.
What I was going to say was I love the movie poster for Forever Strong. I don't really want to see the movie, although surprisingly, my local theater is showing it, but Dan Humphrey Penn Badgley is in it so it must be good. Check out the trailer below.
I just realized that I haven't blogged in almost a month. This always happens when I start school ... blogs get abandoned.
Here's what I've been up to :: these events are so NOT in order ::
Saw Natasha Bedingfield in concert ... will copy & paste my review from InSense soon ... hopefully ... will also post pics and vids as well
Started school ... classes good so far ... Japanese is making me crazy and I think I'm forgetting the English alphabet.
Went to Hershey Park ... only rode 2 rides, but I went to the zoo, got a tour of the Chocolate factory, had Cold Stone ice cream for the first time ever, and I think I saw a European boy band ... pics and vids to come soon!
Finished the first two seasons of Skins on YouTube before school started. A-mazing!
On my playlist: Shwayze, Gym Class Heroes, Lenny Kravitz, and new stuff from October Nites (hottt)
My creative writing class thinks I'm smarter than I actually am ... what are you analyzing??? ... now I know how deceased artists and writers must feel.
Apparently my friend feels I only have time for my other friends who in turn feel like I don't have time for them ... how do I get clones of myself to keep everybody happy?
I learned that having friends who are Psych majors comes in handy when you need to analyze your other friends. ;-)
An old classmate's brother joined the Navy ... that makes me nervous ... an old friend/classmate is joining the police force ... that makes me nervous.
Debating whether or not to e-mail Carson Daly ... but don't tell "you know who"
OMG, I saw Rent the second to last Saturday before closing (i.e. August 30th) and the actress who played Joanne in the movie played Joanne in the play. Sad it's closed now. Then again, it makes way for new shows like In the Heights.
One of my friends (you know you are) met Adrian Grenier ... me, jealous? ... well, yeah ...
It's my Mom's birthday today! All she wants is Margherita Pizza ... we're down-to-earth people.
When I think of other things I've done, I'll let you know. In the meantime, check out free (and legal) music from Philadelphia Slick, a Philly-based band who performed at my school recently :: philadelphiaslick.com ... you heard about them here first!
How could I forget? Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill are back and better than ever! Blair is damning that Mother Chucker, Nate's a male prostitute, I sense sexual tension between Rufus and Vanessa (did anyone else get that vibe in episode 2?) ... Lucas chose Peyton, Brooke's mother is really evil, Q became cool then got shot, and Nanny Carrie had a baby?
This has got to be the most randomest post I've ever written in my life ... I'm going to bed now. Good night!
I went on The N's website to watch an episode of Degrassi, and I saw thisGossip Girl quiz on the home page.
Of course I end up being Dan. Tell me something I don't know.
You remind Gossip Girl of Dan. "I don't read Gossip Girl. That's for chicks." -- Dan Humphrey
Just like Dan, you're a down to earth outsider who seems like a decent human being. You don't have much in common with the gossip-obsessed world around you, so you sometimes feel lonely, even when you're not alone. You're very protective of the people you care about, especially your family.
If Gossip Girl blogged about you, she'd say: Gossip Girl here. Spotted scrawling in a notebook at our favorite cafe... D's doppleganger. We don't know if our new friend is from Brooklyn, but we bet a few Upper East Siders would gladly venture to the outer boroughs for a date with this cutie. We can't resist a brooding outsider, especially one with a notebook full of personal thoughts. New friend, if you're ever feeling lonely, Gossip Girl is always willing to listen. xoxo.
Sidenote: I just learned that "doppleganger" means alter-ego. (The more you know.)
