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…DAVID COOK! Last night David Cook became the next American Idol, winning by over 12 million votes. Comments made by the judges the night before clearly favored David Archuleta and based on those comments Cook’s win has been labeled an upset, however instead it should be called a landslide. One Republic made a guest appearance, performing their hit song “Apologize” with David Archuelta, however before the big announcement was made judge Simon Cowell was the one apologizing. He said that after going home Tuesday night and reviewing the show, “it wasn’t quite as clear cut as we had called it” and he thought he was “verging on disrespectful” with his comments to Cook the night before. Cowell concluded that for the first time he didn’t care who won and thought they had both done a terrific job. But America did care and in a very clear cut victory David Cook won with over 60 million votes (5 of which I can personally take credit for). Congratulations David, we’ll see you in concert! I’ll be the one holding the sign “David Cook is Off the Hook!!” or something equally catchy.

Click here to watch the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Click below to watch a few guest performances

Donna Summer

ZZ Top

Seal

Carrie Underwood

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A-listers made a splash at the most photographed event in the world A.K.A the world’s biggest runway. Gwyneth Paltrow topped my list in a Chanel gown accented with bows. Who else got my vote for best dressed? Click here to see the chicest of the chicettes.

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Last week America narrowed their Idol picks down from three to two, making it the predictable battle of David squared. David Archuleta (pictured above), 17 yr old pop singer from Murray, UT and David Cook (pictured below), 25 yr old rocker from Blue Springs, MO have been the contestants to beat throughout the season. Last Tuesday their popularity was confirmed. Be sure to watch the two part finale beginning tonight 8/7c and ending tomorrow night 9/8c. Here are a few links of past performances to help you catch up in case you fell a little behind this season. Don’t forget to vote!

David Archuleta/Imagine

David Cook/Always Be My Baby

David Archuleta/Smokey Mountain Memory

David Cook/Billie Jean

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Finally the bump! Nicole Kidman and singer Keith Urban arrive at the 43rd annual Academy Of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas. Kidman has caused concern in recent weeks with her alarming thin appearance but all is well according to reports.

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Keeping her porcelain skin in tact, Cate Blanchett shielded her face from the harsh UV rays of Southern France while promoting Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at the 61st Cannes International Film Festival. Note to tan-o-rexics: embrace the pale! It’s chic!

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Every once in a while a movie comes along that touches the hearts of millions, uniting the globe in the common cause of American domination of international entertainment conglomerates. One of those films is now upon us - we’re just three days away from the movie event of the decade. To your undoubted surprise, I’m not talking about the Bergmanesque What Happens in Vegas. I’m referring instead to the likely indy sensation (hahaha) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Psych! Maybe not.

Though her full review won’t be published for another two days, the revered Manohla Dargis of the New York Times had this to say about the film in her weekend Cannes roundup:

“I was bored out of my mind while watching the movie, which makes me think that Steven Spielberg was terribly bored while directing it. But that’s a germ of an idea that I would like to actually contemplate for a few days.”

The film has received a host of mild to ecstatically positive reviews though, including a rave from Roger Ebert. While I’m often a fan of Mr. Ebert, I should remind fair readers that he also wrote this review.

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Gee, I was way off with my box office predictions this time around. Perhaps it’s all the unbridled Indiana Jones anticipation in the air that’s making me crazy, thinking that a PG Tolkien derivative was going to bust out $100 million at the U.S. box office. If you cut that roughly in half, you get the $56.6 million estimated weekend for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which most analysts had pegged at around $80 million. The first installment made $65 million. Ouch.

In retrospect this makes sense. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a much-beloved tale, but the rest of the allegorically rich C.S. Lewis Narnia stories have never been nearly as popular. This entry is supposedly more of a straight-up fantasy adventure, losing much of the Christian overtones of the original (even though the first film toned down the deafening Christian allegory of the source novel). The trailers haven’t been that exciting either - it looks like more of the same, with more handsomely staged battle sequences. Plus, while Hollywood likes to trump box office receipts as evidence of quality, the first film made its cash on name recognition and a paucity of good family fare for the holidays, not necessarily on hot buzz for Lion. It was pretty dumb to open this in the summer.

Iron Man continued its strong performance in second place with an impressive $31.2 million estimate. That puts the metallurgy documentary at an excellent $222 million. It now has an outside chance of breaking $300 million, something no one expected a month ago. Speed Racer continues as one of the biggest mega-budget bombs of all time, falling nearly 60% to roughly $7 million. International receipts have been pathetic as well. At this point, the film might not even break $100 million worldwide. The Wachowskis are going to have difficulty getting their fetishist pet projects (in this case it was CARS CARS CARS) off the ground at Warner, which gave them whatever they wanted for Racer after the phenomenal success of the Matrix films.

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Uh. No.

Disgraced ‘Hollywood P.I.’ Anthony Pellicano got shafted in a big way by the jury in his long battle against criminal charges for unscrupulous methods in his shady celebrity P.I. business. Pellicano was found guilty of 76 of the 77 racketeering, wiretapping, and conspiracy charges brought against him. Though he won’t be sentenced until September 24, he could face a 20 year sentence from one racketeering charge alone. It took the judge over an hour to read the verdict.

Many legal professionals, most forcibly in the New York Times piece about the verdict, have noted how anticlimactic the end of this massive case really is. The prosecution never really attempted to go above Pellicano and try to implicate his clients - all of whom have strongly asserted that they ‘had no idea’ Pellicano was using such tactics. Yeah, it must have been his charm and wit that sent Hollywood’s elite straight to his slimy doorstep…

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I’m pretty bullish on the box office prospects of Walt Disney and Walden Media’s second installment of their blockbuster Chronicles of Narnia franchise, Prince Caspian. Though it looks just as bland and visually uninspired as the first attempt (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), critics are weighing in with mostly positive reviews, pointing out in particular the tighter narrative and increased sense of gravitas. I suppose the latter is appropriate for a movie about anthropomorphic rodents and Jesus-Lions. Speaking of Jesus, click here.

The usual suspects are predicting around $80 million for this juggernaut, a solid improvement over the first film’s $65 million opening in December 2005. I’m not 100% confident with my prediction, but I’d peg Prince Caspian more in the $90-100 million range. Iron Man has breathed new life into a dull spring box office, and Speed Racer clearly wasn’t the blockbuster Hollywood was hoping for. Families are ready for some lightly drawn Christian allegory - bring on that doe-eyed Prince!

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Julianne Moore is spring, personified in Christian Lacroix Couture at the premiere of Blindness at Cannes on May 14th. The gown rides the line between the fanciful fairytale gown of girlhood dreams and a gawdy mess, but Moore carries it off looking like a good old fashioned movie star. The dress does have a lot going on. Feathers, gems, runching and flowers on top of an unusual shade of faded chartreuse. Dance comes to mind with an elongated sugar plum fairy meets can-can dancer feel. Black feathers add contradictory weight to her shoulders, giving her a vulture-esque appearance, but this edgy element is also what keeps the gown from being sickeningly sweet. Moore grounds the airy frippery with dark strappy shoes and a velvet clutch.

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