Tag Archives: Eva Longoria

Katy Perry Brings Pop Perfection To Kids’ Inaugural Concert

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — There haven’t been squeals like this in our nation’s capital since the passage of House Resolution 6354, which recognized One Direction as the hottest boy band in the whole entire world. On Saturday night (January 19), the tweens and teens of America showed up in full force (and full throat) at the Kids’ Inaugural Concert, a super-charged pop extravaganza packed with big-name stars.

Headlined by Katy Perry and featuring sets from Usher, Mindless Behavior and stars from “Glee” — not to mention dancers, T-shirt tossers and racing mascots — the Kids’ Inaugural was definitely a spectacle. But it also served a higher purpose: to show military families a good time.

Which is why, though both Michelle Obama and Jill Biden (and, of course, first daughters Sasha and Malia) were seated front-row, the focus was definitely on the men and women of our Armed Forces and their children. Each act took time out of their set to salute their sacrifice and service, though each also focused on their main objective: to entertain.

Usher found himself in the unusual position of opening act for the night, but that didn’t stop him from pulling out all the stops. He powered through hits like “Yeah!” “Without You” and “O.M.G.,” packing the stage with acrobatic dancers and displaying the kind of smooth moves that have become his calling card (said moves were replicated by several young attendees in the aisles, to adorable effect).

Far East Movement and Mindless Behavior both shook and slid through sets of electro-tinged pop and RB — Mindless were ridiculously sharp with their matching suits and synchronized steps — and the action never let up for an instant, thanks to host Nick Cannon‘s effervescent energy and a pair of stages, which insured there was always something to watch. And in the rare instance when there wasn’t, the in-house DJ kept things moving by blasting hits from Beyoncé, The Wanted, Justin Bieber and Pitbull.

Eva Longoria and Chelsea Clinton kick off Inauguration Weekend in support of the National Day of Service.

And while everyone who took the stage received their fair share of squeals (the kids love Michelle Obama, BTW, and let her know when she delivered a speech that paid tribute to military families), they saved their biggest screams for Katy Perry, who took the stage in a red-white-and-blue romper (with matching jacket, which she’d eventually peel off) and strutted through a series of her smashes — “Teenage Dream,” “Part of Me,” “Wide Awake”. — each of which had the crowd singing along with aplomb.

Perry sprinted across both stages, shouted out four more years of the Obama administration and even managed a quick wardrobe change before closing the night with a rousing version of “Firework,” which nearly lifted the roof off the Washington Convention Center.

And then, the show was over, and though some of the younger attendees had to be carried out on their parents’ shoulders, there were still plenty who bounded out into the night with energy to spare. And why wouldn’t they? This was a party in their honor, and it was a pretty excellent one at that.

Stick with MTV News for Inauguration Weekend as we bring you all the latest from the D.C. presidential events, performances and parties right through the official swearing-in on Monday, January 21. And although the election’s over, you can still get involved and be heard by heading over to serve.mtv.com.‪

President Obama Taps EDM DJs For Election

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With a tough re-election battle on his hands, President Obama is going to need to rally the many different voter blocs that supported him in 2008. And, with 45 million young voters eligible to cast ballots in November, one of the ways he’s reaching out to the 18-29 demographic is through the power of the beat.

In a new web ad that debuted on Tuesday entitled “DJs for Obama,” the president is going after fans of EDM with a thumping commercial message anchored by DJ Cassidy, who explains that the movement by beat masters to support the president is intended to raise funds and awareness to help Obama secure a second term.

“DJs are about motivation, inspiration, celebration, that’s why I think it makes such perfect sense,” says Cassidy, a celebrity DJ who has worked the turntables at Diddy’s infamous “White Party” in the Hamptons, served as Kanye West‘s touring DJ and performed at Jennifer Lopez‘s 2001 wedding to Cris Judd and Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s wedding. “To not only celebrate this man but to motivate people to re-elect him.”

The one-minute ad features images of a number of participating DJs, including Steve Aoki, D-Nice (of Boogie Down Productions), Rashida, Irie and Adam 12 (She Wants Revenge).
“Four years is great,” says Cassidy, who encourages Obama supporters to use whatever talents they have at their disposal to generate excitement. “But eight is what we need.”

While the star wattage in support of Obama has dimmed somewhat since the 2008 election, a number of bold-faced names have come out in support of the president by hosting fundraisers or voicing their support, including George Clooney, Gwen Stefani, Beyoncé, Tom Hanks, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jon Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Bill Maher, Steven Spielberg, Eva Longoria and Ricky Martin.

Check back for coverage on the 2012 election, and stick with Power of 12 throughout the presidential election season.

Ron Howard’s Project Imaginat10n Recruits First-Time Filmmakers Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria And More

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adc74 project imagination Ron Howards Project Imaginat10n Recruits First Time Filmmakers Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria And More

When next you find Ron Howard, he’ll be at the helm of an all-new project with five first-time filmmakers in tow — first-timers, yes, but names that you’re surely familiar with.

Howard and Canon U.S.A. have announced their partnership for Project Imaginat10n, a creative endeavor where consumer photographs will inspire the creation of short films. A similar project in 2011 — Project Imagin8ion — yielded the award-winning short film “when you find me,” directed by Howard’s daughter Bryce Dallas Howard. This time, however, five different directors have been tapped to make their own shorts based on user-submitted photographs: actors Eva Longoria and Jamie Foxx, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, designer and Marchesa co-founder Georgina Chapman, and LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy.

“[Project Imaginat10n] is just a scaling up of the experiment in a really dynamic way. The five directors are in and of themselves so accomplished and the aesthetics they represent are so diverse,” Howard told MTV News about the project. “I’m really fascinated to see what they come up with.”

But don’t expect to see much, or any, of Howard’s vision in the short films these directors ultimately produce. “I don’t think the experiment is ‘how will James Murphy respond to Ron Howard‘s leadership?’ I don’t think that’s what we want,” said the director. “I think it’s ‘what do James Murphy and Biz Stone bring of themselves to this experiment?’ I’m happy to be a support system and a cheerleader but I think that’s as far as that’s going to go.”

In fact, Howard believes he’s the one who’s going to learn from Foxx, Longoria, Stone, Chapman and Murphy. “I think I’ll learn something when I look at a photograph and see how it’s applied to their film. I’m going to learn something about them and how their imaginations work,” he said. “It’ll challenge me to keep looking more deeply and more open-mindedly at not just old photographs but the world around me and what other people create.”

The whole point of Project Imaginat10n, as Howard explained in the project’s announcement, is to prove that “sources of inspiration can come from anyone or anything,” even something as simple as a photograph. For Howard, the most unusual place he’s found inspiration for a film? The director’s answer, without skipping a beat: “Vomit.”

“When I was going to make a movie in Argentina, ‘Gung-Ho,’ I had three young kids on the flight. It was before my son was born,” he recalled. “It was a 17-hour flight to Buenos Aires. In the first twenty minutes of the flight, I was sitting next to Bryce, who was then three and a half or four. I got her to sample some vegetarian sushi that I thought she might like. She sampled it very dutifully and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s kind of cool! She wasn’t creeped out! She really did it!’ And then she projectile vomited all over me.”

“I was miserable! I didn’t have a change of clothes. My twin daughters were crying. It was a low point in my life,” the director continued, in much better spirits than he must have been on that day. Later, after landing in Buenos Aires, Howard thought to himself, “‘Nobody told me about this. Nobody explained any of this for me.’ And it led to the idea, very directly, of making ‘Parenthood.’ I was staring at this seventeen hour old puke stain on my shirt that I hadn’t had the chance to really clean up, and that led to that movie and, all these years later, a TV show.”

The moral of the story? “I think ideas come from puke on your shirt. They come from something you’ve lived and something you’ve observed,” he said. “You never know where that eureka idea is going to come from.”

Visit the Project Imaginat10n website to find out how to get involved with the project.

What do you think of Howard’s new Project Imaginat10n initiative? Let us know in the comments section below or on Twitter!

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Sofia Vergara Is TV’s Highest-Paid Actress

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It’s Sofia Vergara’s world, we’re just watching it on TV. And movie screens, and while shopping in Kmart and during trips to Burger King. Bumping aside Kim Kardashian, the Columbian-born star of Emmy-winning sitcom “Modern Family” has been named by Forbes magazine as the top-earning actress on American television.

Vergara, 40, earned an estimated $19 million over the past 12 months thanks to her salary for the hit show, as well as her Kmart clothing line, English-language endorsements deals for Cover Girl and Pepsi, Spanish-language ads for Burger King, Comcast and State Farm and appearances in “The Smurfs,” “New Year’s Eve” and “The Three Stooges.” Forbes reported that Vergara is the kind of cross-over Latin star that hasn’t broken out of the world of TV in generations, enjoying a wide appeal with Hispanic audiences while also appealing to American viewer.

Some of her cash came from her Latin World Entertainment production company, which she co-founded 16 years ago and which claimed $27 million in revenue in 2011. She also reportedly earned $7 alone from an advance in the Kmart deal.

While Vergara took the top spot, Kardashian was not far behind at $18 million, some of which may have come from a $30 million deal her family signed with the E! network for three more seasons of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.” Her fragrance has also earned more than $6 million in retail sales and she banked some serious cash thanks to her Sears clothing line with her sisters, Kardashian Kollection.

The rest of the top five was: Eva Longoria ($15 million), another reality TV break-out star-turned entrepreneur, Bethenny Frankel ($12 million) and, tied for fifth, Khloe Kardashian Odom and Tina Fey ($11 million).

Other top earning women include Zooey Deschanel (#8, $9 million), “Big Bang Theory” star Kaley Cuoco (#11, $8 million), “How I Met Your Mother” star Alyson Hannigan (#15, $7 million) and break-out “Bridesmaids” actress Melissa McCarthy (#17, $6 million).

296b4 spotted Sofia Vergara Is TVs Highest Paid Actress