Watching New Celebs

Do you remember this guy? Josiah Leming? The British-sounding, car-living young dropout who auditioned on American Idol but was cut from being included in Top 24?

One year after being turned down from American Idol, he is poised to release his album with Warner Brothers records by January.

All grown up at 19 years old told LA Times the circumstances of his departure from Idol and what he has been doing since moving from Tennessee to Los Angeles and writing his songs.

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Does Chace Crawford regret playing a teen heartthrob? Or does he actually have good sense of how to make it in this business and have longevity?

One of the stars of Gossip Girl, the CW’s hot teen drama, Chace Crawford, in an interview with VMan magazine says that he prefers not to be typecast as a high school jock in any of his other projects. He plays one on the hit TV series.

“There are a lot of adverse effects of being a certain type, which I am. Look, I wouldn’t be in the business if I didn’t feel I had what it takes to have longevity. Everyone has a certain castability, or quality they’re always going to have to fight.”

“I think the best remedy is to reinvent yourself. I’m not going to take the same type of role in the future.”

According to reports, the big screen adaptation of Disney’s widely popular TV movie has sold $42 Millon tickets during its first weekend opening day all over North America. At the same time, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” has grossed $40 Million internationally, making it the most successful world-wide hit since The Dark Knight, which opened in July.

Should one even wonder about its success. The franchise has had two top-rating offerings in the previous years. It also has two top albums and has made huge stars of Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale.

Additionally, according to Business Sheet via Deadline Hollywood:

“HSM3 is a hard film to track because most kids will see it at least 2x this weekend. There are no metrics to a film that has repeat viewing, and kids that have to be accompanied by parents,” one HSM3 insider just emailed me. “Disney internal folks have no idea what to expect because what historical data could be a comparison. Nothing. I have a feeling this weekend will be a game changer…”

High School Musical 3: Senior Year is set in New Mexico and stars Zac Efron as Troy and Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella. It features their final year and graduating off to college. It has all the basic ingredients teens love to see in the movie. Plus there’s a lot of that singing and dancing, too.

Young actress Hayden Panettiere was in Washington DC over the weekend, leading participants in the Save The Whales Again campaign. In this humanitarian effort, Hayden received an award from the Mayor of Washington.

In the said event, participants also formed a giant human pilot whale and formed the word, “VOTE!”. It was held in front of the US Capitol Building.

The actress was also at the American University in Washington, DC speaking to the students there, as part of her Save The Whales Again campaign.

Last Friday, Hayden was also guest on the Ellen DeGeneres show where she gamely flashed Ellen her underwear…which looked like granny panties! She also talked about her campaigns —

Watch the video:

Photo from JustJared

Watch as these two sing a duet…do they sound good together?

And does these two look good together as romantic partners? They seem to be cozying up…The National Enquirier reports that Justin and Miley went to visit the latter’s Grandma this weekend and apparently, Grandma is smitten by him.

“Justin is the guy Miley’s parents see her settling down with a few years down the line. He’s handsome, talented, clean-living, goes to church and knows his Bible - a real catch.”

Justin is about five years older than Miley and keeps his own apartment in Los Angeles. He is said to be at the Cyrus residence nearly every night under tight watch of Miley’s dad, singer Billy Ray Cyrus.

“Billy Ray wasn’t born yesterday. He figures the safest path to take is to keep Miley and Justin on a short leash - and under the same roof.”

There’s no denying he is the newest hot celebrity of the season especially with High School Musical 3 only days away from its release. But up next for this teen sensation? It’s a comedy flick in the tradition of Tom Hanks and Jennifer Garner, who did Big and 13 Going 30 respectively.

Co-starring Matthew Perry, Zac will play the 17 year old version of him in the movie 17 again. The character goes back to high school and meets a couple of mishaps along the way. The movie is set for screening in April.

Here is the trailer:

Meanwhile, MTV UK reports Zac may also star in the 4th installment of Pirates of the Caribbean as Jack Sparrow’s younger brother. The fourth part is scheduled for a 2010 release. But Zac, though MTV USA, says this news isn’t true.

• This past week, a story that originated in “The National Enquirer” began picking up steam across the net, finding its way into British tabloids by the truckload: 21-year-old “High School Musical” star Zac Efron was set to star in “Pirates of the Caribbean 4” alongside Johnny Depp. It all made too much sense: Efron was a Disney star, “Pirates” was a Disney franchise. Efron was leaving “HSM,” Disney didn’t want him out of their grasp. And, I mean, if you can’t trust “The National Enquirer” and British tabloids, who could you trust? Speaking to MTV News, Efron was adamant that the talk of his voyaging through the Caribbean was nothing more than a rumor. “No one has talked to me about it,” the “High School Musical 3” star insisted. “I didn’t even know [about it].” That said, of course, the winking machine couldn’t help but smile at the possibility, telling us that just to be mentioned for a role was “awesome.” “I didn’t know anything about that,” he said. “[But] cross your fingers for me guys!”

It’s funny… I googled up Zac Efron’s best friend and came up with several searches including one that says he’s best friends with Miley Cyrus. Maybe he’s a really all-around nice friendly guy — everyone wants to be his best friend.

But his main BFF really is the actor, Bubba Lewis (IMDb Profile), whom Zac met when they were still kids in the TV movie Miracle Run.

Bubba spills to E! Online that Zac is actually a real dork at heart.

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What do you say to a Christmas album or a 3D concert/movie with the cast of High School Musical? Now that the third installment is done and is coming to theaters very soon, director Kenny Ortega wants to bring more of Zac Effron and the cast; until at least before Zac heads off to college at USC next year.

Says the director while doing the promotional tour for the third installment —

• “We’ve been talking about it. Steve Vincent, who is Head of Music for ABC and The Disney Channel in the States, came to me earlier this year and came with a load of ideas also including a Christmas album. We’ve also talked about doing a 3D concert movie experience with the cast. I’ve also been talking about the idea of taking High School Musical and transferring the setting to another country… go outside of the US… maybe to the UK. I like that idea. I think it would be a fun experience.”

Teen sensation Miley Cyrus is going with a different flavor. While most stars branch on to making their own clothes brand or anything related to fashion, Miley is going on a different route. The young star is going to create her own milkshake!

At a special event last week, Miley and her family and friends attended the opening of Millions of Milkshakes located in Santa Monica Boulevard. The store has a variety of flavors in their menu including milkshakes named after Obama and Britney Spears.

When asked what Miley had for hers, she told Hollywoodtv.com — “I put vanilla and cookie dough (in mine). (It was) greasy and slippery. Oh my God, I’m such a fatty!”

Her milkshake concoction will become a main part of the menu.

Leanne Marshall has bested a dozen or more designers in the fashion reality TV series, Project Runway, this year. The show, which is now on its fifth season, announced Leanne’s win the other night, after the top three designers showcased their work during Fashion Week in New York.

Leanne’s creation was inspired by the sea and the ocean, using a lot of light aquas, turquoises, creams and beiges in her collections. She also went with waves and ruffles but her designs were generally fashion forward, smashing yet simple and wearable. While not a big favorite among the contestants, Leanne stands out because most of her work are usually clean and well put together. The young designer is a Portland, Oregon native who has tried to use sustainable materials inmost of her collection. She is a staunch supporter of “living green”. She apparently has a signature look (petals) that one of the judges thought she will forever be known as “Petals McQuinn”.

With her winnings, Leanne Marshal will receive a total of $100,000, the new Saturn Hybrid, one year’s worth of professional representation and a big spread on Elle Magazine, one of the show’s sponsors.

Here is Leanne’s final runaway showcase:

And as a matter of comparison, or if you have not seen the actual show, the following videos will be of the two other contestants who almost made it big this year —Kenley Collins and Korto Momolu. This year was an all-female final three:

But alas, as with any contest, there must only be one winner. Congratulations Leanne! I wonder which celebrity will be wearing her clothes soon?

Teen heartthrobs, The Jonas Brothers will be performing at the during halftime Thanksgiving Day game of the Dallas Cowboys against the Seattle Seahawks.

The game is televised nationally every year and with the Jonas Brother’s visit, this will officially start the Salvation Army Red Kettle Christmas Campaign to raise money for the Salvation Army serving the country nationwide. The record for last year’s campaign was about $118 Million.

Past performers to this halftime celebration included Kelly Clarkson, Sheryl Crow, Destiny’s Child, Carrie Underwood, Jessica SImpson and LeAnn Rimes.

Incidentally, the brothers have also come up with their latest music video featuring the song “Love Bug”. This video is set to debut on October 19th but you can watch a short preview of Joe, Nick and Jonas here:

The first movie isn’t even in theaters yet, but the sequel to Twilight is apparently already being prepared according to Deadline Hollywood.

• When your soundtrack isn’t even completed much less released (not until November 4th), yet it’s already in the Top 5 Best-Selling Albums on Amazon based on pre-sales alone, you know you have a hit. When Borders makes an exclusive calendar and sells out the first printing in a matter of days, you know you have a hit. And when the new trailer to your movie surpasses 3.5 million views less than 48 hours after its online debut, you know you have a hit. Which is why Summit Entertainment’s CEO Rob Friedman is already readying a Twilight sequel — even though the vampire tween/tween movie isn’t set for release until November 21st which is the date vacated by Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince. Oh, and did I mention that Twilight has the fastest selling licensed merchandise since — you guessed it — Harry Potter?

Blake Lively and Penn Badgley, stars of Gossip Girl, are supporting Barack Obama’s presidential bid and have both appeared in this 30-second clip seen online. The commercial is part of the campaign by MoveOn’s Youth Vote program. The commercial is scheduled to air during advertisement gaps in youth centered TV channels like The CW (where Gossip Girl is running), MTV and even Comedy Central.

The commercial below:

The star of High School Musical, Zac Efron is reportedly going to take over Daniel Radcliffe’s role on Equus, the Broadway play. The role calls for baring one’s whole body naked, which Daniel Radcliffe didn’t hesitate to do.  But Zac is denying this saying he wasn’t even asked for the the part.

He says he is more inclined to attend a film program at USC after High School Musical brouhaha is over. “I’m learning so much every day working with great directors. I just worked with Richard Linklater and Burr Steers and also Kenny (Ortega). I’m working hand-in-hand with directors and taking home a lot of lessons.”

These young stars… are they’re exposed to too much violence these days or are they not being careful?

Reports have it that Ashley Tisdale has accused a paparazzi for breaking into her house. The report goes on to say that she  was forced to call the LAPD when the group demanded for exclusive coverage.  As she told Access Hollywood — “They broke in; they came into my home before. They don’t want middle America to know this is what they do to try and get pictures. The police were there and they (told me), you could say it’s a robbery. I’ve never seen the guy again, but they go to an extreme for pictures. I wish they had badges. It could be a random stalker. They’re like 40-year-old men following us girls around.”

Meanwhile her co-star on the said film, Vanessa Hudgens, was apparently attacked by a middle aged man while in London with boyfriend (and co-star on the film, too), Zac Efron. The attack apparently left her with a cut on the cheek. Speaking before Access Hollywood again, Vanessa said —  “I actually got hit in the face! If anything, I was the one who got attacked, not Zac. There was a guy who was walking down the street and I think he was a little drunk and he got pushed into the craziness of it all. He was blocking the door so our bodyguard had to push him aside.I looked in the mirror and got a huge scratch and I was bleeding.”

Her boyfriend Zac was oblivious to the attack. “I just heard about it. I was just focused on (the) van door - I’ve gotta get to it. I got in the van and we drove away… I don’t remember getting harassed.”

I don’t know how much of a coincidence these news are and what it is trying to imply but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s all part of a publicity stunt, considering High School Musical 3 is going to premiere in a couple of weeks.