The Weekly News Roundup - week of May 23 - 27

Justin Bieber

- The Bieb got more ink! Last year for his 16th birthday he got a tattoo of a seagull (family tradition, apparently), and this year he got the word "Jesus" in Hebrew. Not sure, but I think he's sending mixed messages. (JSYK)

- JB has a commercial out for his new perfume "Someday," and according to the commercial, Justin Bieber is the new Beetlejuice - just spray the perfume three times and he appears. (JSYK)

- Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez and their families went on vacation in Maui this week, and Justin & Selena totally got caught kissing again by the paparazzi! OMG! (JJJ)

TV

- Scotty McCreery won American Idol, and went straight home to take a test in English class. If that doesn't say "rockstar lifestyle," I don't know what does. (JSYK)

- And Hines Ward won this season of Dancing With The Stars. Too bad - I had $50 on Gary Busey. (Cambio)

- Big Time Rush got picked up for a 3rd season. Good call, Nickelodeon. (Cambio)

Movies

- The first official poster for "Breaking Dawn" has been released, and it might as well just be a hand-written note tacked on a corkboard. (Cambio)

- The release date for the Julia Roberts "Snow White" movie got shifted earlier, so now that one's opening before the other one - "Snow White & The Huntsman". Oh, and there's aSnow White TV pilot, too. I like to think this sudden interest in Snow White is all thanks to the increased popularity of vampires in the past couple years. (Cambio)

- The first trailer for "The Muppets" came out this week, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the real plot of the movie. HOORAY MUPPETS!! (Cambio)

- Aaaaaand since "The Hunger Games" can apparently have an infinite cast, Lenny Kravitzwas added to the cast list this week. (Cambio)

- "Pirates 4", despite nearly universal bad reviews, broke international box office recordswhen it took in $364.4 million overseas in its opening weekend. Now I really want to see it in a different language. (Cambio)

- Abigail Breslin was paid $275,000 for one week's work on the movie "New Year's Eve," plus another $100,000 if the movie does well in the box office, plus $40,000 per day for any pickups. Yeah, well, who didn't earn that as a 15 year old? (Teen.com)

Music

- Ever wondered how to crash a website as big as Amazon? Well, the answer is: sell Lady Gaga's album Born This Way for 99 cents. What's up, iTunes? What you got?? You got NOTHIN! (Cambio)

- On the off-chance you care, the new We the Kings music video is out, for their song "Friday is Forever." (JSYK)

- Taylor Swift's Speak Now tour includes elements that were inspired by Cirque du Soleil, including aerialists, dancers and glow sticks, along with the usual pyrotechnics and lighting stuff. (JSYK)

- Joe Jonas released a teaser video for his aptly-named single "See No More". (Cambio)

- Oh right the Billboard Music Awards were Sunday! Eminem and Justin Bieber won the most awards of the night with 6 each, and Taylor Swift nabbed 3 awards. Anyone else think the Billboard Award categories are ridiculously narrow? (JSYK)

- When "Hairspray" hits the Hollywood Bowl in early August, the cast will include alumni Harvey Fierstein and Marissa Jaret Winkour, and newbies Nick Jonas, John Stamos, Drew Carey, Diana DeGarmo, Mo Gaffney, Darlene Love, Tara Macri, and Corbin Bleu. Someone please remind me not to try to drive anywhere near the Bowl that week. (Cambio)

- Just like the killer bees, Miley Cyrus's "Gypsy Heart" tour is slowly making its way up through South & Central America, and has reached Mexico. Hey Texas, run for cover!!! (JJJ)

Trending Topics

- A high school in Arizona is charging its seniors $25 to participate in their own graduation ceremony. As can be expected, the kids are a bit miffed. But back in my day, I swear we had to pay a $70 gown rental fee, so they should just shut the front door. (JSYK)

- And a senior prank at a Colorado high school shut the entire school down for 4 days. Seniors put 30 bales of hay in the school's common areas, which doesn't seem like it could possibly warrant a cleanup bill of $100,000 (which it did) until you think about how that crap gets EVERYWHERE, plus it releases an amazing amount of mold and other allergens into the air, which can cause some intense respiratory problems. A few days and a lot of money later, though, everything's back to normal there. (JSYK)

- Kim Kardashian got engaged to Kris Humphries this week. Still no word on the Freudian implications of marrying a man who has the exact same first name as your MOTHER. (Cambio)

- The Backstreet Boys went vegetarian for their current tour. Just for the record: consumption of meat does not affect vocal performance. Regardless, PETA has applauded the 'boys decision. (Cambio)

Doing Good

- Lea Michele wrote to officials at the National Institute of Health asking for help saving 14 chimpanzees at a medical research facility in Texas. (Cambio)

- Blake Lively told a British newspaper that she is determined not to let her fame cause her to make the same mistakes that a lot of other young stars make (*cough* LINDSAY *cough*), and that young fans need more positive role models (like her). (Cambio)

- As reported last week, Taylor Swift opened up one of her soundchecks to fans, charging $50 per ticket, and in doing so raised $750,000 toward tornado relief. After Joplin, though, she may want to do that a couple more times. (Cambio)

- The cast of Pretty Little Liars did a PSA for Staples for Students, a campaign by the office-supply chain to get school supplies for underprivileged students. (JJJ)

Movies Opening This Weekend (imdb)

Kung Fu Panda 2

The Hangover Part 2

The Tree of Life

Top 10 in the Box Office Last Weekend (imdb)

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

2. Bridesmaids

3. Thor

4. Fast Five

5. Priest

6. Rio

7. Jumping the Broom

8. Something Borrowed

9. Water for Elephants

10. Madea's Big Happy Family

The Weekly News Roundup - week of May 16 - 20

Bieb the World

- Building on the success of his unisex "My World" fragrance, Justin Bieber will soon launch aperfume for women, called "Someday." He's such a tease. (JSYK)

- Bieber and his GF Selena Gomez will be presenters at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, which will be on Sunday if the world hasn't ended by then. (JSYK)

- Justin Bieber's world tour took him to Japan this week, where he took the time to meet with some kids who were affected by the tsunami. He actually wanted to perform in the tsunami area, but it's kind of radioactive at the moment. (JSYK)

- Justin Bieber has teamed up with PhoneGuard to boost his message against texting while driving. $1 from each concert ticket sold will go to PhoneGuard, makers of the Drive Safe app that disables texting and email when users are in a car driving more than 10mph. (JSYK)

Music

- Selena Gomez leaked the cover art for her upcoming album (dropping June 28), which will apparently no longer be called Otherside, and will now instead be called "When the Sun Goes Down." (JSYK)

- Joe Jonas is still a thing, and he's releasing a single called "See No More" on June 3rd. (JSYK)

- Katy Perry has a rider that forbids her tour chauffeurs from speaking to her or even looking at her. Because she's a singer of the people. (Cambio)

- Avril Lavigne released the video for her new single "Smile." Great. (Cambio)

- Ke$ha has asked her fans to give her their teeth so she can make a necklace with them. I repeat, Ke$ha has asked her fans to give her their TEETH so she can make a NECKLACE with them. WHEN WILL EVERYONE REALIZE SHE'S F#@KING CRAZY?? (Cambio)

Movies

- Entertainment Weekly published the first photos of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss in The Hunger Games. I still really want to read those books. Anyone have a copy they could lend me? For serious. (JSYK)

- The Muppets movie poster was released this week. Get excited! But not too excited - the movie isn't coming out until late fall. (Cambio)

- Alex Pettyfer is now backtracking like crazy on the anti-Hollywood rant he went on in an interview with VMAN magazine. Apparently he actually does still want to have a career. And an American work permit. And possibly a social life. Who knew? (Cambio)

- Armie Hammer, better known as the Winkelvi from The Social Network, has been cast asThe Lone Ranger to Johnny Depp's Tonto in a new Lone Ranger movie. (Cambio)

- Sam Raimi will direct a Wizard of Oz prequel called "Oz: Great and Powerful", which will feature James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, and Michelle Williams as Glinda the Good Witch. (Cambio)

- Chris Hemsworth will play the Huntsman in "Snow White & The Huntsman", oppositeKristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, and friend of the show Sam Claflin. (Cambio)

- The movie "Titanic" will be re-released in 3-D in 2012. And James Cameron will donate all profits to charity. That last part is the opposite of true. (NYTimes)

Trends

- Remember the Connecticut kid who took that prom sign thing to a whole new level and got banned from prom by school administrators for posting his prom proposal in giant cardboard letters on the side of the school? Well, thanks to a massive Facebook initiative, tons of Tweets, and an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the school backed down and is letting him go to prom (with the girl he was asking out. How could she say no?). They did make sure to say that he would still be punished, just in a different way. How terrifying. (JSYK)

- You know how Oprah has been at the top of Forbes' Celebrity Power 100 list for the past 4 years? Well not any more - this year it's Lady Gaga, possibly for being the first person to have10 million Twitter followers. This year's top 10 in order are Gaga, Oprah, Justin Bieber, U2, Elton John, Tiger Woods, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi, Simon Cowell, and LeBron James. (Cambio)

- Hailee Steinfeld is the new face of Miu Miu, following in the footsteps of Katie Holmes, Kirsten Dunst, and Vanessa Paradis. (Cambio)

- Schools are increasingly turning to online teaching during what would otherwise be snow days. School districts save money and school years aren't pushed into mid-summer, but families without internet access (or without enough computers for each of their kids) can't participate. Still, in this increasingly Day After Tomorrow-esque world, online learning is probably a really good idea. (TweenTribune)

Doing Good

- When the Collins Academy in Chicago won the "Get MotivatED Challenge" (a national competition to improve attendance rates), their grand prize was to get Nicki Minaj as their principal for a day. And now they can all go back to skipping school and not hanging out with hip hop moguls. (JSYK)

- Miranda Cosgrove and the casts of iCarly and Victorious spent Sunday at a charity event for St. Jude's, and the St. Jude's kids tried to make the day about her, by giving her a giant birthday cake in honor of her 18th. It was very sweet, but Miranda didn't let it go to her head - she kept the day all about the St. Jude's kids. (JSYK)

- The newly-single Leonardo DiCaprio has raised over $200,000 for relief efforts in Haiti, and only $70k of that was his own money. (Cambio)

What?!

- A missing chihuahua has been reunited with its owners... FIVE YEARS after it disappeared! Microchips really do work, but only if someone finds the dog. No word on what Cookie was up to for five years, but something tells me Disney will have a movie out about it within a year. (TweenTribune)

- A man was not allowed to board a train in northern Wales this week when he attempted to board it with his pony. It wasn't even a miniature pony, it was just a pony pony, and for some reason he thought no one would have a problem with having a large, hoofed animal in a moving train car. Only in Wales. Or New Zealand. (TweenTribune)

Movies Opening This Weekend (imdb)

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Midnight in Paris (limited)

Louder Than a Bomb (limited)

Top 10 in the Box Office last Weekend (imdb)

1. Thor

2. Bridesmaids

3. Fast Five

4. Priest

5. Rio

6. Jumping the Broom

7. Something Borrowed

8. Water for Elephants

9. Madea's Big Happy Family

10. Soul Surfer

The Weekly News Roundup - week of May 9 - 13

Bieberiffic

- OMGOMGOMG "Never Say Never" was released on DVD today!!!!! And because there's always more money to be made, the Bieb-machine set up a website (NSNweekend.com) which, when linked to your Facebook page, gives you access to JB t-shirt stencils, Twitter skin, printables, recipes, and more. (JSYK)

- At a press conference in Indonesia, Justin Bieber kissed Selena Gomez. Well that explains ONE of the Twitter outages this week... (JSYK)

- A 14-year-old girl who lost her father in the 9/11 attacks wrote to President Obama not asking to meet the president, but asking if he could arrange for her to meet Justin Bieber. Obama invited her to the ceremony at Ground Zero, and when he met her there he promised to try to help reach the Bieb. Bieber read about this story and tweeted that Obama will keep his promise, although JB didn't actually reach out to the girl. Smart money is, if Obama can track down Bin Laden, he can probably track down His Biebness. (Cambio)

TV

- Ashton is the new Charlie. Hopefully just on TV. Kutcher will replace Sheen on "Two and a Half Men" in a plot device that Chuck Lorre describes as "hilarious." We shall see, Lorre. We shall see. (Cambio)

- During a radio interview with Europe 1, "CSI" actress Marg Helgenberger said that during his recent guest appearances on the show, Justin Bieber was "kind of a brat." Ha! Apparently he locked a producer in a closet, and destroyed a cake that was on the cast's table. Granted, he was sort of part of the cast that day, but clearly they were having none of his shenanigans. (CNN)

- Following the season wrap of Glee, Diana Agron chopped her hair. This is not news. (JSYK)

- ION will broadcast the Young Hollywood Awards on May 26. Giuliana Rancic will present awards to Elle Fanning, Hailee Steinfed, Aimee Teegarden and more. (JJJ)

- Once her show wraps this year, Oprah is headed to Broadway! She has met with producers and they are figuring out which play to do, but it "is really going to happen." (Cambio)

- Betraying every definition of the word "reality," Bristol Palin will co-star in a new reality series on BIO Channel with Chris & Kyle Massey. The three, plus Bristol's son Tripp, will all move into a house together and Bristol will work at a small charity. (Cambio)

Movies

- Zac Efron has joined the cast of "The Paperboy," based on the 1995 novel by Pete Dexter. Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire, and Sofia Vergara are already on board. (Cambio)

- Will Smith's ginormous trailer at the set of Men In Black III caused so many complaints that Mayor Bloomberg demanded that the 2-story mobile McMansion be moved to a private parking lot. Will had been quoted as saying the ire of the locals was "hilarious," which I'm sure the Manhattanites appreciated. (Cambio)

Music

- And in another sign that humanity is doomed, Lady Gaga will be releasing songs from her upcoming album on FarmVille. Yes, FarmVille. The game makers have created a farm called GagaVille, and players will be able to unlock one Gaga track per day from May 17 to 19 by completing tasks. No word yet whether those tasks will involve begging you to buy them cows on Facebook, although that scenario seems likely. (AP)

- YouTube has started its own music chart tracking the popularity of music videos, andJennifer Lopez is their first #1, with her song "On the Floor." (Cambio)

- And Katy Perry just set a record of her own, becoming the first artist ever to stay in the Billboard Hot 100's Top 10 for an entire year. Well done there! (Cambio)

- Selena Gomez announced the name of her next single via Twitter: "I Love You Like a Love Song Baby." There is rampant speculation that she's talking to/about Bieber. (JSYK)

- And Britney Spears' next single will be "I Wanna Go," but unlike Newt Gingrich, she did not announce it through Twitter. (Cambio)

- Rihanna released the video for her song "California King Bed" this week. (Cambio)

- Taylor Swift has released the video for her song "Mean" which is all about ultimately triumphing over bullies. I really only wish she'd actually used Kanye's name. (JSYK)

All Broken Up

- Lady Gaga split up with her boyfriend, and blames her hectic work schedule for her "miserably pathetic" love life. Because it couldn't have been the meat dress. (Cambio)

- Adele's ex-boyfriend wants a cut of the royalties from the album 21 because their breakup inspired a few tracks. Someone please tell him muses don't get paid. (Cambio)

- Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Schriver split up this week, reenergizing the market for quotes from '80s Arnold movies. (Cambio)

Doing Good

- Seventeen magazine and ABC Family are launching the Delete Digital Drama initiative this summer to raise awareness for the problem of cyberbullying. They're even running a new made-for-tv movie on ABCF called "Cyberbully" starring Emily Osment, Kelly Rowan, and Kay Panabaker. (Cambio)

- After seeing cell phone footage of the tornadoes last month, Taylor Swift decided to open her rehearsals to the public, donating ticket money raised to tornado relief. (Cambio)

- CMT also got in on the tornado relief action. Last night they did a live, 90-minute concert special to raise money and awareness. Lots of big names from the world of country music performed. It was probably awesome. (Cambio)

Awesome

- Remember the jet-pack guy from last fall? Yves Rossy? He just flew across the Grand Canyon! Check it out. (TweenTribune)

Movies Opening This Weekend

Priest

Bridesmaids

Hesher (NY/LA)

Everything Must Go (limited)

Go For It! (limited)

Skateland (limited)

L'amour fou (NYC)

City of Life and Death (NY/LA)

Top 10 in the Box Office Last Weekend (imdb

1. Thooooooooooooooooor!

2. Fast Five

3. Jumping the Broom

4. Something Borrowed

5. Rio

6. Water for Elephants

7. Madea's Big Happy Family

8. Soul Surfer

9. Prom

10. Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil

The Weekly News Roundup - week of May 2 - 6

Bieber

- Justin Bieber was pelted with eggs during his concert in Sydney last Friday, and after a video of the incident made the rounds on the interwebs, the Sydney police arrested a 17-year-old totally jealous boy who is the alleged culprit. (JSYK)

- Remember the YouTube video where the skinny little kid was bullying the bigger one until the bigger one snapped, picked the bully up, and slammed him down, breaking the kid's leg? Yeah, so does Justin Bieber, who met with the bullied kid while touring in Australia this week. Bieb told the kid, who he'd had flown in from Melbourne, that he was proud of him for standing up for himself. (JSYK)

TV

- Teen Mom has been renewed for a 4th season. Where on Earth are they going to find moreteen moms? Oh, right, the show is self-perpetuating. (Teen.com)

- Selena Gomez will host the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto in June. MuchMusic is like MTV, only, y'know, Canadian. (JJJ)

Movies

- "Fast Five" set box office records, and so of course now we're getting yet another Fast & Furious sequel. I'm hoping they'll call it "Fast Five 2: Faster and Fiver." (Cambio)

- As we already know, Glee is going on tour again this summer, but they will also be coming to a movie theater near you, starting August 12. Oh yes, "Glee Live! 3D!" will be the multidimensional concert movie extravaganza of the summer. Count on it. (JSYK)

Music

- Adele turned 23 this week and sang at her own birthday party, mostly because it was a karaoke party. But also because she loves singing. (Cambio)

- Jordin Sparks has a new single called "I Am Woman", which will be on her next album. (JSYK)

- Selena Gomez's next album will be called "Otherside", and is due out June 28th. I'm pretty sure there's supposed to be a space in there somewhere, but that's why she's the artist. (Cambio)

- During her concert in Ecuador on Friday, Miley Cyrus covered Nirvana's "Smells Like TeenSpirit." Reviews are mixed, but most people who actually remember 1991 agree it wasn't exactly advisable. (JSYK)

- OMG Joe Jonas is going to be at Wango Tango! Remember when the Jonas Brothers were a thing? (Cambio)

- Mariah Carey named her twin babies: the girl is Monroe and the boy is Moroccan Scott. This is not newsworthy information. (Cambio)

- Lady Gaga has a rider on her venue contracts stating that ice for beverages is banned starting 30 minutes before her shows, because she's afraid her fans will throw it at her. Unrelated: remember when Charlize Theron was on Arrested Development and at first they thought her character's fashion sense was quirky? (Cambio)

Trends

- Demi Lovato is blogging! For Seventeen Magazine. (Cambio)

Doing Good

- After releasing her official video for Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign, Beyoncemade a surprise visit to students at PS 161 in Harlem while they were taking part in a "Let's Move! Flash Workout." She jumped right in and danced the routine with them, the kids all freaked out, and everyone had a great time. (JSYK)

- And Beyonce is raising money for the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund by releasing her cover of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" as a single. (Cambio)

- Wayne Brady surprised a teacher and classroom full of kids with $1000 worth of classroom supplies, plus a day full of activities as part of Office Max's "A Day Made Better" program. Call me old fashioned, but having a corporate sponsor in the name of your charity, and then expecting others to donate to it, well, it seems wrong. (JSYK)

- Britney Spears is hosting a dinner to raise funds for ongoing Hurricane Katrina relief. Can you believe it's almost been 6 years? Where does the time go. (Cambio)

Movies Opening this Weekend (imdb)

Thor

Something Borrowed

Jumping the Broom

The Beaver (limited)

Last Night (limited)

Hobo with a Shotgun (limited)

Passion Play (limited)

There Be Dragons (limited)

Top 10 Movies in the Box Office Last Weekend (imdb)

1. Fast Five

2. Rio

3. Madea's Big Happy Family

4. Water for Elephants

5. Prom

6. Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS Evil

7. Soul Surfer

8. Insidious

9. Hop

10. Source Code