It has been reported that Jennifer Lopez has signed a deal to be a judge in the 10th season of American Idol and her salary will be $12 million for a one-year deal.  Apparently, she had asked for $15 million, plus a request to produce some shows for FOX, but they could not meet her demands.

It was reported earlier that Kara Dioguardi and Ellen DeGeneres will no longer will be judges and also Simon Cowell left to start his own show X-Factor in the US. There had been many speculations who would fill these empty spots.  The show will be going back to a 3 judge format and the final open spot has been filled by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.

It was reported that Ryan Seacrest was in support of J-Lo joining.

Lady Gaga is always full of surprises with her weird fashion. This Year’s MTV Video Music Awards show was no exception.  She actually changed her outfit 3 times. Her initial outfit was probably the best. It was a dress designed by late Alexander McQueen. The flowing regal gown wrapped her body in royal shades of gold, dark reds and deep greens. On her head she was wearing a Mohawk feather headdress atop a long white-and-blue wig.

She was also escorted by several military servicemen who were recently discharged for being against military’s “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy.

He second dress was all in black and wasn’t bad either. However, her last dress was the wierdest and it appeared to be either made of meat to look like that it was made of meat. When she went up to accept her last award from Cher, she proclaim I never thought I would ask Cher to hold my meat purse.”

Lady Gaga was nominated for 13 categories and she won 8, including Best Female Video and Best Video of the Year.

Madonna‘s new song called “Broken,” which has not been released yet, has apparently been leaked online. The song was produced by Paul Oakenfold, who is one of the top Trance DJ’s and producers.

Paul has previously remixed a variety of songs from Madonna, like “What It Feels Like For A Girl”, “Hollywood”, “American Life”, “Sorry” and later in 2008 “Give It 2 Me” from her album Hard Candy, Paul went on tour with Madonna for two months opening her presentation in the Confessions Tour, previously he had supported her in 2004 at Slane Castle in Ireland. His sets lasted for an hour and a half, followed by Madonna’s two-hour show.

Apparently, the song was from a studio session that the two had back in 2009 and was supposed to be featured on the new album. It is not currently clear if the song will be removed from the release now that it has leaked online. Paul Oakenfold is also gearing up to release his own album, which will be titled “Pop Killer.” It will be the third album of his career, but most of the details regarding the album have been kept under wraps.

I don’t know about you, but there’s something thrilling about seeing the stars you love in person. Whether it’s screaming from the stands as your favorite team scores that tie-breaking goal or singing along with the crowd as the musician you’ve listened to for years performs, attending such an event in person lends itself to creating memories that will last far longer than if you simply watched a game on TV or popped a CD in your stereo system. Even in times of economic turmoil when wallets and budgets are slimmer than ever, there are still plenty of fans who work to scrape together the money to go see the games or shows that they love live.

Of course, for many people, simply attending the event isn’t quite enough. It’s all about getting the best seats possible. Perhaps this is a once-in-a-lifetime concert and you want the best view possible. Or perhaps you’ve taken your kids to quite a few ball games and want to give them a real treat with seats that are right next to the action. Whatever the impetus, scoring tickets to the best seats in the house can be a difficult proposition, particularly if the event is one that’s extremely popular.

Luckily, being quick on the trigger (or phone dialing or mouse button as the case may be) isn’t the only option for those scrambling for the front row. Services like VIP Tickets (located in Los Angeles) cater especially to those who are looking to get these prime spots in the stands. After all, why not let the experts deal with the stress. They’re used to it!

One of America’s favorite shows has returned to the airwaves. That’s right, music fans (and train wreck fans), American Idol is now in its eighth season! The show couldn’t come back fast enough for us. We have to admit, the fun of American Idol isn’t just watching it for us — it’s discussing the contestants with like-minded fans. Which singer performed best? Were the voting results fair? Who deserves to win it all? If you’re looking for a place to talk with other fans about the show, we recommend Idol Fan Forum, a great website for viewers to discuss the hits and misses on the popular show. It appears that this season, the website will include recaps of each episode of the show, perfect if you’re one of those people who has trouble keeping track of the contestants’ names or remembering who sang which song.

The show is mixing things up this season by adding a fourth judge to the panel: singer, songwriter, and record producer Kara DioGuardi. The results shows will drop back down to half an hour in length, something that we haven’t seen since season five. And there is a promise to focus less on the embarrassing auditions and more on the genuinely talented singers that stand a real chance at being crowned the next American Idol. There’s also talk that we will learn more about these contestants than we have previous ones: more about their personal history, dreams, and aspirations. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, in our opinion. While it’s always good to feel a little more like the singers are real live three-dimensional people, our favorite element of the show itself is, of course, the singing. It’s the core of the show, after all. Hopefully, any changes this season and in future seasons won’t serve to detract from that.

With the nominations for the Oscars having been announced this week, the countdown to one of the biggest events in Hollywood is well on its way. Every year, we love seeing the stunning fashion dos and horrific fashion don’ts that are paraded down the red carpet. The gowns, the jewelry, the shoes, the hairstyles–it’s a veritable feast for the fashion-lover’s eyes. Oh, and we can’t forget about those little gold statues they hand out. Those are pretty important too.

There are some really great movies that are up for awards this year. We have to say that our favorite of the nominees is Slumdog Millionaire. We went into this movie not knowing much more than “Bollywood-inspired” and “romantic comedy.” The former we didn’t really see until the closing credits and the latter doesn’t actually give much of a sense of the actual scope of the story. We laughed, we cried, we had the urge to watch Who Wants To Be A Millionare. You can’t say that about very many movies. If you haven’t had a chance to see this film yet, we highly recommend catching it before it leaves theaters. It’s one of those movies that’s big enough to warrant paying $10 for a ticket.

On another note, we have to admit that we’re a little disappointed that The Dark Knight didn’t get a nod for best picture. If a superhero film can draw in so many viewers that have never picked up a comic book before in their life, doesn’t that deserve special recognition?

I’ve said I suffer with depression and sometimes go through such severe bouts that I become desperate and suicidal. Depression is a difficult illness to live with and so I am trying every day to fight it in whatever ways I can. I won’t pretend I started this blog as a way to help myself cope with depression. I started it as part of a business venture for the purpose of making money; but at this point I don’t think it will be helping me in my quest to become a rich woman. However, it is helping me to work my way through my mental illness hour by hour day by day; and if it serves the purpose of helping me heal myself then that’s more than worth the time I’m investing into it. Here are some pictures I’ve just viewed on art.com to distract myself from self-defeating thoughts. They are renditions of prints by an artist whose name is T. Chiu.

Images:

• Cappuccino, Roma
• Latte, Paris
• In the Tropics
• Teapot and Iris
• Family Values Woman
• Espresso, Pisa

Find T. Chiu’s work on art.com

Still sitting here trying to calm myself by looking at pictures to distract my mind from thoughts that are draining me of energy emotionally. I am not quite calm yet but getting there.

Here are 6 more art prints I’ve viewed on art.com. These are “tea” themed

Titles and artists:
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Childhood demons are partying in my brain at the moment. Although sometimes it feels that way I know I am not the only woman on earth who is still being tortured by her childhood even though she’s almost 38 years old. I get judged by people who like to tell me to grow up and get over it. I want to grow up and get over it. That’s why I keep fighting every day. It would be easier to give up; but I haven’t done that  yet and I don’t plan to.

Here are some floral posters and prints I’ve just viewed on art.com a moment ago.

The titles and artists:
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How cute are these pictures of artist Jo Parry’s “Bicycle Lady” series? Wish I had her talent.

Images: Jo Parry | art.com