Director Catherine Hardwicke hopes her star-making power will work for the upcoming movie “Red Riding Hood” as she appointed fresh stars to bring the fantasy tale to life.

In 2008, the American director cast three young actors who are now famous for the movie “Twilight.” They are Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.

This time, new names such as Max Irons and Shilo Fernandez are coming out with actress Amanda Seyfriend with the hopes that they can justify the director’s pre-judgment.

In the fantasy story set in a middle-aged village haunted by a werewolf, Amanda Seyfriend plays the role of a young woman named Valerie who is engaged to a young man, but is in love with another. Beginners Max Irons as Henry and Shiloh Fernandez as Peter both play the role of Valerie’s lovers.

Although Seyfriend has already appeared in several films, Fernandez and Irons have just a few acting credits each. Fernandez was almost cast in the role of Robert Pattinson in Twilight. But, Seyfriend said she was thankful he wasn’t so he could be in their movie.

According to the 25-year-old actress, Hardwicke has an eye for both casting and chemistry. When she sees a connection between two people, she puts that into something beautiful.

The 55-year-old director has also launched show business careers for Nikki Reed and Emile Hirsch. Reed has helped write “Thirteen,” a movie where she also appeared. She was also cast as Rosalie Hale in the “Twilight” series. Hirsch starred in “Lords of Dogtown”, but main credits include roles in “Milk” and “Into the Wild.”

“Red Riding Hood” will officially come out in theaters nationwide this Friday.

Chris Medina, an American Idol contestant who just got eliminated from the Top 24, is already achieving his recording dreams with the launch of his first single entitled “What Are Words.”

“What Are Words” is a song ballad written specially for Medina by Rodney Jerkins, a Grammy-winning producer. The video, which came out on 19 Recordings through Interscope, has already garnered more than a million views on Vevo.

At the “Idol” auditions, he sang his moving rendition of the song “Breakeven” by The Script. He touched the heart of the judges and millions of TV audience members worldwide not only because of the song he performed, but as well as his emotional personal back-story.

Medina, 26-years-old, worked as a coffee maker at Starbucks before he tried out at the singing contest and reality series, American Idol. Apart from that, he also cares for her fiancée, Juliana Ramos whom suffered a traumatic brain injury. Ramos got into a car accident just few months before their planned date to get married.

The “What Are Words” music video features the home videos of Ramos, including the recorded video of Medina’s proposal in the coffee house. Some old photos of the happy couples were also included.

Just before the “Idol” finalists were announced, Medina was eliminated because of his less fantastic performance of a classic song by the Beatles. His elimination caused too much grief for Jennifer Lopez, one of American Idol’s judges.

During a radio show, Medina was presented with $35,000 by Ryan Seacreast. It will go to the foundation to help his fiancée recover. A percentage of the song’s iTunes sales will also be given to the Juliana Recovery Fund.

A leading newspaper in Britain reported Sunday that Kate Middleton has chosen Sarah Burton of McQueen fashion house to design her most-talked about royal wedding dress.

The Sunday Times said in its online edition that Burton, who is the creative director of McQueen fashion house, accepted the request of Middleton to help her design her wedding dress.

However, the 36-year-old British designer denied the claim that she has been given the most coveted task in the fashion industry.

The report said the dress would be a combination of Burton’s extensive knowledge of high fashion, as well as Middleton’s ideas on the design.

The paper did not reveal their sources. However, it suggests the details had reached them after Jonathan Akeroyd, McQueen’s chief executive, informed a work colleague that they have received the commission. Akeroyd, later on, denied that they will be involved in the royal event.

A publicist for McQueen house declined the report in an email to an online publication. It said the story is untrue.

Two weeks ago, chief executive of British Fashion Council, Caroline Rush said that whoever had been given the coveted task would be adjoined by the rules of the agreement to keep their role undisclosed in any way possible until Middletown walks down the aisle.

Kate Middleton, 29, is the fiancée of Prince William of Wales. They will get married before the 1,900 invited guests and a worldwide television audience.

Buckingham Palace refused to comment on the speculations. It added that it would not disclose the name of the designer until the day of the royal wedding on April 29.

The worldwide premiere of the eighth and last installment of the Harry Potter films will take place at the Trafalgar Square in central London, England, a venue which is far bigger than the usual.

The movie “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” will premiere on the seventh day of July. The casts and crew members will begin with the red carpet at the famous landmark in London. Then, they will move to Leicester Square where the official screening will be held.

Leicester Square, the heart of London’s movie land, is a smaller area that contains theaters often utilized during premieres of London films.

Since the Harry Potter movies represent a great British triumph, Mayor Boris Johnson of London said that he can not think of other better venue to stage the film’s world premiere apart from the famous scenery of Trafalgar Square.

The second part sequel of the movie “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was created under the direction of David Yates. It is produced by David Barron, David Heyman, as well as J.K. Rowling, the famous Harry Potter Creator.

Rowling is the mind behind the popular seven-book series, which tells the story of a young boy born to become a great wizard. The books have sold over 400 million copies around the world.

The British author has been named the “first billion-dollar author” by the publishing and media company, Forbes, due to her combined earnings from the selling of books and franchise of blockbuster movie.

Since the first screening of Harry Potter films, the movie franchise has gathered about $6.4 billion at the box office. Warner Bros. Inc, the company which created the films, divided the last book of the novel into two parts.

The final chapter of the Harry Potter movie is coming soon to theaters on July 15.

Christina Aguilera was momentarily arrested on Tuesday subsequent to being found drunk in a public place and appearing not able to care for herself, the police informed.

The 30-year-old singer was sobering for several hours in the West Hollywood police station before she was released. Spokesman Steve Whitmore of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told the reporters that the police officials have no plan of prosecuting her.

Aguilera was inside a car with her boyfriend, who was driving erratically in the West Hollywood district. They were being pulled over by a police before dawn on Tuesday. Her boyfriend, Matthew Rutler, was held in prison for suspected drunken driving.

Whitmore said the five-time Grammy Award winner was incapable of taking care of herself. Although incapacitated, Aguilera was cooperative. Whitmore said she was not violent in any way, but was just intoxicated.

The spokesman added they arrested the singer on a misdemeanor for public intoxication, but have no intent to prosecute. Aguilera was released nearly four hours after staying in the police station and was picked up by a person known as her friend.

In October, Aguilera filed a divorce petition against Jordan Bratman whom she had been married  to for five years. She was also criticized for messing up the lyrics of the U.S. national anthem aired before a TV audience of millions of people in last month’s Super Bowl.

She debuted as a movie actress in the musical film “Burlesque” in December. However, the movie got poor reviews and disappointing ratings at the box office.

Actress Jane Russell from the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” died at the age of 89 at her home on Monday, her family said.

Russell, who turned out to be a Hollywood sex symbol in the 1940s as well as 1950s, died because of a respiratory failure in Santa Maria, central California.

Buck Waterfield, Russell’s son said in a statement that Russell passed away peacefully with her children at the bedside.

Later in her life, Russell became a “full-figured girl” with TV bra ads. She did best in comedies, which faintly joked about her sexpot image and concentrated on her full-body figure.

Howard Hughes, a multimillionaire producer and industrialist, discovered Russell. He placed her in her first film, “The Outlaw,” which brought her the sexpot image because of her reportedly 38-D breast size.

In some photos, the young Russell slumbered on a bed made of straw. She was looking snappy in a peasant blouse, tightly fitted over her body with one shoulder slipping off. The movie was held up for about three years by censors. After that, it had a limited release in the year 1943.

In Russell’s biography, she said she has been unhappy with the pictures she has been in. She went nowhere in the acting sector, expect for comedy.

Russell made it into the newspaper headlines in 1978. She was detained for four days because of drunken driving. She then started her fight against alcoholism. At 60, her figure was back, gaining a lot of attention through her television ad on a particular brand of bra.

Russell was born in Bemidji, Minnesota on June 21, 1921. However, she grew up in San Fernando Valley, Southern California.

Columnist Kathleen Parker left CNN’s primetime talk show with New York’s former governor Eliot Spitzer on Friday. The “Parker/Spitzer” show will carry on with a different name still with Spitzer and other staff.

According to CNN, it was a mutual decision to end the bond with Parker.

Even with rough reviews and poor ratings, the talk show launched last fall in a time slot conquered by Bill O’Reilly of the Fox News Channel. However, CNN was given an opportunity when MSNBC’s “Countdown” show with Keith Olbermann ended last month.

Aired in the same time slot, the network gained an average of 638,000 viewers this month. The quantity of viewers was up 24 percent in comparison to the previous show with Campbell Brown in February, the Nielsen Company said.

The new TV show will be named “In the Arena,” along with two conservatives who will join Spitzer as panellists. They are E.D. Hill, who was a former personality from Fox News, as well as Will Cain, a National Review columnist. Others who have not been named yet will also be part of the show, CNN said.

CNN’s U.S. network executive in charge Ken Jautz said in a memo given to his staff on Friday that they have been thrilled with how the 8 p.m. hour has turned out to be a center of significant and policy-oriented conversation. They are looking forward to build on that again with their new show.

Jautz said Parker will occasionally provide commentary elsewhere on the network. Parker said she wanted to ponder more on her writing, and with the show going in a new direction, it was time for her to move on. Spitzer said that it was a pleasure working with Parker.

For the first time, Anne Hathaway and James Franco will host the Academy Awards. However, neither star showed any signs of nervousness during their TV interview last Thursday.

Hathaway, only 28-years old, is the youngest to ever host the prestigious award ceremony. The 32-year old Franco is also up for his first Oscar nomination for his lead role in the movie “127 Hours.”

Yet, with the ceremony just a few days away, they appeared completely at ease. They were joking around, spilling some show rumors and even creating others. Franco even quipped they we’re dating.

The two actors were taking a break from the rehearsals last Thursday when they had a three-minute round of back-to-back interviews. They refused to tell anything particular about what they will do on the show. But, they did share a few secrets.

According to the actors, the writer of the show gave them a celebrity nickname called ‘Francaway.’ Hathaway, who was asked who she will root for the Oscar night, said hosts are not allowed to have favorites.

Although they had never worked together before, both actors said they have immediate chemistry. Hathaway also mentioned that her co-host inspires her, which makes her think what it actually means to be an artist. Franco then, is not worried about the pressure on the big show.

Hathaway and Franco are both excited to get the chance to host at the Academy Awards, which will be held at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday. The event will be broadcast on ABC network.

The Kodak Theatre was filled with stars Saturday when Celine Dion, Mandy Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow and several other musicians go through the acts they will perform live at the Academy Awards on Sunday.

Moore is playing the nominated song “I See the Light” from Disney movies’ “Tangled” with Zachary Levi while composer Alan Menken, who is an Oscar winner of eight-times, is backing them up on the piano.

Showing her melodic side, Paltrow is singing “Coming Home” from her latest film “Country Song.” Another Oscar-winner composer A.R. Rahman, as well as rocker Florence Welch performed a lingering rendition of the song “If I Rise” from the movie “127 Hours.”

Singer Dion performed “Smile” while the In Memoriam package was shown on the screen located above her. However, a group of energetic 10-year-olds snatched the stage from all of those stars.

Sixty-four fifth graders arrived at the Kodak Theatre Friday wearing blue or green shirts. They composed the New York’s Public School 22 choir and will perform the song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” at the Academy Awards. They flew from Staten Island early that morning, and for most of them, that was their first plane trip.

Their shirts identify which of them is soprano or alto. They packed Kodak Theatre with elementary-kids enthusiasm. Then, they rehearsed onto the Oscar stage with so much conviction. They even stunned their Hollywood-veteran audiences.

When rehearsing, the kids were guided by Gregg Breinberg, who is their teacher, as well as the stage managers. When they sing, they certainly know what they are doing.

After a while, the kids were surprised by hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway when they appeared on stage. The artists high-fived and hugged them, and posed for a picture.

The teen-oriented cable network will bring its college spring break tradition and make it an affair exclusive to adults in the city of sin, Las Vegas.

MTV’s yearly tradition will be taken from the typical beaches of Mexico and Florida to the dynamic pools of Palms Casino Resort near the popular Las Vegas Strip. It will be held next month, from March 6 to 10.

This year’s “Spring Break” is a five-day MTV event with concerts and parties featuring rising personalities and acts from the cable network’s reality shows. It is the first time MTV will film the special gathering in Las Vegas since it began in 1986.

The shift will change the ambience of the network’s yearly celebration. But for the Palms, it will bring more midweek customers at a time when Las Vegas is welcoming visitors who are willing to spend money on gambling and partying.

However, underage teens are not allowed to enter the party given the tight gambling and state regulations. Palm’s owner George Maloof said everyone should be at least 21-years old to be at the pool. They will enforce plenty of security to make sure of that.

College students have been seeking special places with relaxed laws on spring break since they don’t usually turn to a legal age of 21 until they are junior or senior students at school.

For example, Mexico allows drinking at the age of 18. Thus, it makes Rosarito and Cancun Beach popular destinations for college students to spend their midterm breaks.

However, Maloof said MTV’s Spring Break will fit with Palms even if casino market seemed appropriate only for 21-years old and up.