POPDISH

The musical Dreamgirls got its big screen debut this past weekend. Opening across the country in 852 theatres, and scored $8.7 million in one day, which is AMAZING comparing to similar greatly reviewed new movie such as Charlotte’s Web, doing $9.6 million in 3728 theatres over the weekend.

Dreamgirls was orginally a hit Broadway musical with 6 Tony’s and 1521 performances in the 80s. The big screen adaptation stars heavyweights including Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Foxx, which new comer Jennifer Hudson (ex-American Idol finalist) completely stealing the show with her emotional performance and blow-your-mind vocals. Eddie Murphy also delivers stellar performance and gives life to the character James Thunder Early, combining the charisma of James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and more all in one. Beyonce, Eddie and Jennifer all received Golden Globe nominations, as well as nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Song “Listen”.

I went for a 12:30 am show last night, and the theatre in Time Square is suprisingly packed. The audience shouts out in praise throughout the movie and applauding the performances of the cast. The story is loosely based on Diana Ross and the Supremes, and Berry Gordy Jr of MoTown records. I can totally see bits and pieces of many of today’s music moguls in each of the characters also, from P Diddy to Mariah Carey and Tommy Mottola. The music is amazing, capturing the soul and essense of 3 decades.

Go watch it if you haven’t already. You can watch the movie trailer on YouTube here.

Lol it’s Christmas eve and I really can’t resist… Here’s a hilarious Christmas music video by Justin Timberlake, destined to be a classic for sure, haha. It’s for mature audience only, so watch this clip on YouTube at your own risk…
Enjoy and a Merry Christmas to everyone!

Ok, so if you haven’t heard already, Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell is doing some serious celebrity feuding. I tried my best to ignore it, cuz Rosie starts these retarded comments that get her in trouble all the time, I thought it would just pass. But The Donald just won’t shut up and let it go, even taking it to CNN and talking non-sense like “people like Rosie” is responsible for the war in Iraq! So here it is kids, the chronology of how everything got to this point…

Dec 19 - Donald Trump holds press conference to announce he will give Miss USA “a second chance” (see my previous article on that specific event)

Dec 20 morning - Rosie O’Donnell mocks Donald Trump on her show The View on ABC, insulting him for trying to be the “moral compass” (ahh of course I have a link to a YouTube video on that lol)

Dec 20 early evening - The Donald fires back, saying some really nasty things, including threatening to sue Rosie as well as threaten to send “one of my friends over to pick up her girlfriend” (You gotta watch this video clip, they edited it down to the best lines from a full 8 minute tirade)

Dec 20 night - Rosie posts Donald Trump’s bankruptcy history on her online blog (she copied it from wikipedia, it’s kinda funny, you can read it here)

Dec 21 early morning - Donald Trump tells Good Morning LA that executive producer of The View Barbara Walters hates Rosie, and he went on calling Rosie a “bully,” “a loser,” “stupid,” and even compared her to a “clam.”

Dec 21 morning - Rosie makes light of the situation by bringing her girlfriend onto the show (here’s a short clip, not too exciting actually)

Dec 21 - Barbara Walters issues a statement while vacationing outside the country, trying to be the peace-maker. “Donald Trump is a personal friend of mine and has been a good friend to `The View’ for many years. I’m sorry there is friction between Donald and Rosie. That said, I do not regret for one moment my choice to hire Rosie O’Donnell as the moderator of `The View.’ I certainly hope and expect that this tempest will pass quickly.”

Dec 21 night - No dice, the Donald just keeps on trucking! He called Larry King Live from his private jet, and went on ranting about Rosie some more, including gay insults and fat insults, and insisting that Barbara Walters in private tells him that she can’t stand Rosie either. (Here are the full interview, in 2 parts cuz it’s too long, but it’s entertaining… watch part 1, then watch part 2)

It’s gonna be a pissed off Christmas at these two’s houses, but at least both of their show’s ratings are sure to shoot up!

Nice innocent girl from the south right? Tara Conner from small town of Russel Springs, Kentucky was crowned Miss USA back in April 2006. Since then, 20 years old Tara has moved into an apartment at Trump Place in New York, along with Miss Teen USA Katie Blair and Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera.

But Tara has been a bad girl…

The Daily News reports that Tara has been a party animal in the New York scene - testing positive for cocaine, lustily kissing Miss Teen USA in public and sneaking men into their Trump Place apartment!! Naughty Naughty Tara…

She has been linked to Damien Fahey of MTV (the white boy VJ who apparently has a BIG uh… you know, according to one of my girls that knows him WELL lol), Jay Hernandez from my favorite show Six Degrees, Constantine Maroulis from “American Idol“, 2 of Stereo’s Owners (lol there’s only 3 total), and quite a few club promoters… I mean it sounds like she hooked up with EVERYBODY I know, lol! How come I never remember seeing her at the clubs, since it sounds like she’s at my favorite club Stereo all the time! (Oh yea, probably because NOBODY really cared who Miss USA is each year and I could’ve made out with her drunk and not realize who she was! haha)

But now they do! The Donald was pissed! He called a press conference earlier today to announce the fate of poor little out of control Tara, and many people expected him to utter his famous phrase “You are Fired!”

But brilliantly, Donald Trump has managed to make lemonade out of lemon, and turned this incident into a free million dollar publicity opportunity! He said that originally he was planning on dethroning her, but after speaking with her prior to the press conference, he had a change of heart. He believes Tara has a good heart, and he’s giving her “a second chance”. Wow!! During the live TV coverage, Tara looks absolutely shocked, and then she started to break into tears. Even Tara herself didn’t expect such turn of events. She agreed to enter rehab and swears she will turn herself around.

Brilliant! Only Donald Trump can pull this off!

Well Tara, good luck! We’ll for sure party together at Stereo after you pass on the title next April!

She did it! Leona Lewis wins X-Factor,  the UK equivalent of American Idol. There was never any doubt in my mind, as I predicted it almost a month ago in my PopDish post. She gave some breathtaking performances, including a rendition of Kelly Clarkson’s hit song A Moment Like This, only she made it “her own” - that’s what we say in the music industry when someone remake a song but with their own flavor.  I would have to say not only does she has Kelly’s powerful vocal, her version gives the song more soul than I’ve ever heard anyone do!

Thank goodness for YouTube!  Here are all her latest performances for all of us on this side of the pond…

Watch Leona sing I Will Always Love You

Watch Leona sing All By Myself

Watch Leona sing A Moment Like This

Can’t wait for her to come do her stuff in the U.S.!!  By sheer vocal ability, she’s gotta be the best singer from the UK ever (as much as I love the Beatles and the Stones and U2, this girl’s got some amazing pipes!)

(click on images to enlarge)

This is another PopDish.com exclusive! While I was hosting the VIP section at the club Marquee last night, Paris Hilton stopped by my party to hang out with a group of her friends. She apparently had a great time dancing on top of the banquettes and being super sweet to everyone around her and all the fans wanting to take pictures of her. She was wearing a fairly conservative black and white dress (it’s cold in New York! lol) and oh yea, Bradon Davis was there too (not so hot lol)

When asked if she remembered me, Paris replied “Didn’t I take out a restraining order?” lol I kid I kid. She was very gracious and took my business card.

Lol, funny invite right?  HOTT!!  No lawsuits please Hef!!

I totally called it like 2 months ago! When JoJo released her latest album, I said “Wow, this is a hit ballad!” (read my last article on JoJo) And baby girl must be reading PopDish.com cuz she just picked How To Touch A Girl as the second single off the album, and premiered the new video on MTV’s TRL. Watch the full video from YouTube.

The annual Victoria’s Secret holiday runway show aired on CBS last night, featuring the latest advance in Bra and Panty technology presented by every hot model from Gisele to Adriana Lima. Heidi Klum didn’t walk the runway this year cuz she just gave birth to a new baby a couple weeks ago.  Justin Timberlake gave a special performance, which makes the show worth watching for even women! You can watch video highlights from the show or study up on all the model’s stats online. Enjoy!

The holiday is approaching and I know you are all pulling your hair out trying to figure out what to get me, lol. Here’s a list of my recommendations for you to give me or that special person that has made your year a little bit brighter this year…

10. Talladega Nights DVD

What more do I need to say? Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is an instant classic! Will Ferrell is the man! This is his best work yet, playing NASCAR stock car racing sensation Ricky Bobby, along with his loyal racing partner, childhood friend Cal Naughton Jr. (played by John C. Reilly). They are a fearless duo known as Shake ‘N Bake. (this has inspired many real life drunken-secret-handshakes amongst my friends and I at many clubs in New York lol)

Anyway, the DVD comes out on Dec 12, and you can buy it online at Amazon.com for $16.98

9. Canon PowerShot SD 40 (or SD 30) Digital Camera

Canon makes some of the best optics in consumer market pocket digital cameras. We switched to all Canon-based photo operations for our nightclub and events production company ClimaxVIP. I’ve been carrying around the super compact fashion model SD 20 for the last year and it’s amazing! The newest model in that line is the SD 40, with 7.1 Megapixel screen and a 2.4 Optical Zoom. A slightly older model is the SD 30, with pretty much the same specs except it’s a 5 Megapixel camera.

You can find the Canon SD 40 at PCNation.com for $312, and you can find the Canon SD 30 at PCNation.com for $249.90

8. Esteban Master Guitar Class with Black Cutaway Guitar

You all know I’m a sucker for late nigth informercials. I was gonna put The Magic Bullet food processor on my list orginally, lol but then I saw this…

Esteban is master of the guitar, considered a guitar “virtuoso” by some. And just like how George Foreman started selling his grills, Esteban started selling a series of DVDs that teaches you how to play a guitar. Included in this package is an Amp and a Steel String Accoustic/Electic All Wood Cutaway Guitar (it comes in Black or Tan, of course the Black looks hotter! Besides I already have a tan one autographed by Fallout Boy. I can’t really play on that one since I’d be smudging the signatures lol.)

The whole package is available online for $199.80 plus shipping, or 4 easy payments of $49.95 by calling 800-337-1445.

7. TUMI Signature Messenger in Caviar

TUMI is a world famous brand when it comes to luggage and travel bags for men and women. The Signature line is especially distinctive for it’s logo prints and attention to detail. This messenger bag comes in Caviar (black logo on black canvas), Eclipse (grey logo on black canvas), or Pantina (gold logo on tan canvas). The black on black looks the hottest, don’t you think? Some might say it’s too Metro-Sexual, I say a HOT bag is a HOT bag!

You can find the TUMI Signature Messenger on TUMI’s official website for $325

6. Nokia E70 Smart Phone

When shopping for a cellphone, I often find myself frustrate with having to choose between size/design and functionality. There are just so many hot looking phones out there, but they really don’t do everything I want it to do. And I’m not talking about surfing the web or watching movies on my phone, all I really want is to be able to text and email efficiently, which means I NEED A KEYBOARD!!

Nokia E70 is built with the business consumer in mind. It functions as a regular candy bar style phone, but it has an innovative keyboard that folds out. Over all it’s bulkier than most candy bar or folding phones out there, but Nokia really packed in A LOT of features, including some I might actually use like playing music, and running it as a VoIP phone over WiFi…

The phone is available online at Mobilebee for $374.99 by itself, or $234.99 with a 1 year contract with T-Mobile.

5. Marc by Marc Jacobs Textured Cotton Blazer

Marc by Marc Jacobs is a hot line! I’ve always been a fan of Marc Jacobs. We sat two seats over from him at fourth row at Mariah Carey’s concert at Madison Square Garden a few months ago. His menswear is classy, clean, yet edgy. He has a full line of Blazers, Hoodies, and Jackets out right now, and they are all so perfect for guys to wear on a night out on the town.

You can find the full line of Marc by Marc Jacobs jackets on Saks Fifth Avenue’s official website, with the Textured Cotton Blazer going for $358

4. Nintendo Wii (or Xbox 360 Platinum as backup)

You’ve all heard me raving about the Wii a few weeks earlier. It is simply the most innovative gaming console that came out this year. Actually it is probably the most innovative gaming system ever!! Although the awesome folks at Nintendo have sent me a unit already, my Games/Music Editor Josh and me have been fighting over it ever since lol. Since it technically belongs to my company Kiwibox, it kinda had to stay at at the office. I’ve been trying to buy one for myself for the last two weeks, but out of over 1 million units already sold, none has seem to reached any store I shop at! The only place in New York that has daily stock is the Nintendo World store at Rockefeller Center, and they only get very limited shipment each day so I’d had to wait in line like at 6 in the morning… lol and you ALL know that I don’t do lines… haha

So the backup plan is if I can’t get a Wii, I’d really want to have a Xbox 360 Platinum edition (with the hard drive and wireless controller). At least that you can get at pretty much every store.

The Nintendo Wii retails for $249 at most stores (if you are lucky enough to find one). The Xbox 360 Platinum edition retails for $399 at most stores.

3. Nabaztag WiFi Smart Rabbit

Now that the countdown for my holidday gift guide is down to the top 3, things are getting really exciting!! You are probably looking at this picture and saying “what the F is this thing?!” Nabaztag is Armenian for “Rabbit” (don’t feel bad, I don’t really know where Armenia is either…) This little thing sits on your desk and hooks into your Wi-Fi network and dishes up your info with entertaining lights, sounds, and the ears swivel!! It can performing tai chi, read your news, e-mail, RSS feeds, giving traffic and weather updates, playing music and Nabcasts, delivering an opinion on how your week has gone, even give you advice on what to do with your stock portfolio based on market data!!

The 2nd generation Nabaztag is nicknamed Tag, and it will be available on Dec 8th. In addition, it will have a built-in microphone so it can Listen and even Smell (I have no idea how it does that, but I want it!!) It will respond to your commands and send messages to your friends.

You can get preorder information on the 2nd generation Nabaztag rabbit on the official site, or order the original version on ThinkGeek for $149 now.

2. iPod Nano Red 8GB (or iPod Shuffle 1 GB just as Hot)

Apple’s 2nd Generation iPod Nano’s are the bomb! They now have picture capability, and they are made with scratch-resistant aluminum cases, which alleviates one of the biggest complaints of the original Nano - how easy they get scratched up, espeically the black ones (and guess which one I have? lol)

Like the Mini, the new Nano’s come in a variety of bright colors from green to pink. Most versions are 4 GB, and the black one has an 8 GB option. And the latest is Apple’s (PRODUCT)RED version, which donates $10 from the proceeds to Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Amazing product and even more amazing cause!

Also the new 2nd generation iPod Shuffle is HOT!! It’s 1 GB and it is TINY!! It comes with a built in clip and is perfect for use when you are in the gym.

The iPod Nano Red 8GB can be found at Apple’s online store for $249 with free shipping, and the iPod Shuffle can be found at Apple’s online store for $79 with free shipping.

1. Elini Jumbo Full Diamond Watch (or Elini Dove White Top Diamond Watch)

Oh come on! You know I have to list this!! lol.. So Mom?? How about it? hahaI was going to list a Landrover as my #1 pick this year, but I thought I’ll go for something more practical… lol Elini is really a very under-appreicated brand. I mean sure if you are a wannabe rapper, you might as well spend a few thousand more to get a basic model Jacobs & Co. watch, or if you really really know about watches, you’d drop $10G on a Breitling or Rolex.But if you have only say $2,000 - $5,000 to spend, and you need it to match your bling’ed out grillz, then this is probably one of the best Diamond encrusted watch makers out there. I’ve had a couple other brand diamond watches and the quality of the diamond and the timepiece of Elini is simply the best for this price range.

You can find authorized dealers for Elini on its official website (meeting face to face with an old guy in 3 piece suits is the right way to buy an expensice watch), or you can check out the online listing from one of its dealers About Time. The Jumbo Full Diamond goes for $5999.00, and the Dove White Top Diamond goes for $3999.00. Of course, never pay full retail price on a luxury watch, you can probably talk the dealer down at least $1000 - $2000 on these watches.

And I will love you forever, whoever gives me this for Christmas… lol