Pitbull is set to return as host for the 2014 American Music Awards taking place on November 23rd at NOKIA Theatre L.A. Live. The awards show will be broadcast live (on the East Coast) on ABC beginning at 8pm.
Pitbull (real name: Armando Christian Perez) hosted the successful 2013 AMAs and says he’s ready to handle the gig again. “World, who would have thought Pitbull hosting the AMAs two years in a row,” said Perez. “The harder I work, the luckier I get. Thank you ABC and dick clark productions for the amazing opportunity – more than anything let’s get ready to have fun. Dale!”
Pitbull has also been added as a performer on the show, joining the previously announced Charli XCX as the first confirmed performers on this year’s AMAs. He’ll be premiering a song off of his new album Globalization during the AMAs.
“Pitbull is a global superstar and multi-talented powerhouse, who delivered one of the most exciting shows in American Music Awards history when he hosted in 2013. This year will be no different,” said AMA producer Larry Klein. “We’re working together to create elements of the show that will wow audiences and take the night to a whole new level.”
This year’s list of AMA nominees is topped by Iggy Azalea followed by John Legend, Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams. [Complete list of nominees]
Jennette McCurdy (Photo by Richard Chavez / Showbiz Junkies)
Netflix, shomi, and City are combining forces on Between, a new drama series from writer/director Michael McGowan. Between is described as “an original survivalist thriller series” and will be made up of a six one-hour episodes.
All of the episodes will screen on Netflix outside of Canada and shomi and City inside Canada. Canadians will get the show one year earlier than Netflix subscribers.
Jennette McCurdy’s set to star in the show, which is beginning shooting today. McGowan, Don Carmody (Resident Evil), David Cormican, and Naveen Prasad are executive producers. Jon Cassar (24, The Kennedys) is directing episodes one and two.
“We know that Canadians crave daring and distinctive original programs, and Between offers just that,” said Nataline Rodrigues, Director of Original Programming, Rogers. “Showcasing Michael McGowan’s cinematic vision on the small screen, this compelling new series, in partnership with Netflix and shomi, delivers on our promise to offer viewers world-class entertainment.”
“Teaming up with Rogers, on Between, is a tremendous opportunity to work with a creative partner in Canada to bring our global viewers top-notch content,” said Erik Barmack, Vice President of Global Independent Content at Netflix. “We’re thrilled to be working with outstanding talent behind the scenes including Canadians Don Carmody, Jon Cassar and Michael McGowan, and in front of the camera with a new generation of actors led by Jennette McCurdy, delivering a must watch event series that millions of Netflix viewers will enjoy.”
“Speaking on behalf of DCTV, Mulmur Feed Co. and Elevation Pictures Corp., we are very excited to be announcing our first series production deal which is doubly historic as a Canadian first between Netflix and Rogers,” said Executive Producer Don Carmody. ”We have assembled an outstanding team led by Michael McGowan, as show runner who has given us a bold and riveting narrative; director John Cassar, who will bring this thriller to life; and starring the beautiful and talented Jennette McCurdy. Between is backed by three of the best content behemoths in the business.”
The Plot:
Between is the story of a town under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody except those 21 years old and under. The series explores the power vacuum that results when a government has quarantined a 10-mile diameter area and left the inhabitants to fend for themselves.
Uncle Si in A&E’s ‘Duck Dynasty’ (Photo by A&E, Copyright 2014)
A&E Network’s set a November 19, 2014 premiere date for season seven of Duck Dynasty featuring the Robertson family. According to the official announcement, the season will kick off with the family taking a trip to Scotland to discover their roots.
The reality series has been average 8.3 million viewers. Gurney Productions’ Deirdre Gurney and Scott Gurney and A&E’s Brad Holcman and Lily Neumeyer executive produce the series.
The Duck Dynasty Season 7 Plot:
Cable’s top unscripted show continues with a new season following the Robertson family as they approach business and life as only they can. Willie becomes assistant coach on Lil’ Will’s football team, Sadie’s Dancing With the Stars partner, Mark Ballas, visits Monroe and attempts to teach Willie and Kay some dance moves, and the whole family takes over a local TV show for a holiday special with Si serving as the weatherman, Kay presenting her famous recipes and Phil offering holiday tips. Jep and Jessica move into a new house a few doors down from Willie and Jase and the family helps out a longtime Duck Commander employee whose mom has fallen on hard times by buying her a house for Christmas.
In the season 7 premiere, Willie takes a business trip to Scotland to expand the duck call business and brings the entire family along so they can reconnect with their Scottish roots. But when Willie organizes a bus tour to trace his family heritage, he discovers much more than he expected. Meanwhile, Jase brings a group of people to the Highland Games and winds up participating, while Jep and Jessica try to sneak away for a romantic getaway, only to find themselves with Uncle Si in tow.
Felicity Jones stars as Jane Wilde and Eddie Redmayne stars as her suitor Stephen Hawking in Academy Award-winning director James Marsh’s THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, a Focus Features release. (Photo Credit: Liam Daniel/Focus Features)
Focus Features has released a new behind-the-scenes featurette along with a clip from the dramatic film The Theory of Everything starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. The new behind-the-scenes video features interviews with Redmayne, Jones, and director James Marsh talking about the relationship between astrophysicist Stephen Hawking and the love of his life, Jane Wilde. Based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking, the cast also includes Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, Simon McBurney, and David Thewlis.
The Theory of Everything will open in theaters on November 7, 2014.
The Plot:
In 1963, as a cosmology student at the storied U.K. university Cambridge, Stephen (Redmayne) is making great strides and is determined to find a “simple, eloquent explanation” for the universe. His own world opens up when he falls deeply in love with an arts major, fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde (Jones). But, at 21 years of age, this healthy, active young man receives an earth-shattering diagnosis: motor neuron disease will attack his limbs and his abilities, leaving him with limited speech and movement, and will take his life within two years.
Jane’s love, fierce support, and determination are unwavering – and the duo weds. With his new wife fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen refuses to accept his diagnosis. Jane encourages Stephen to finish his doctorate, which includes his initial theory of the creation of the universe. They start a family, and with his newly earned and widely hailed doctorate Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time. As his body faces more limits, his mind continues to explore the outer limits of theoretical physics.
Together, he and Jane defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed – well into the 21st century.
Supertramp’s Crime of the Century was released way back in 1974 and went on to become one of the most memorable recordings of the 1970s. The album was produced by Ken Scott, the same producer behind The Beatles’ White Album and David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, and included the group’s first hit single, “Dreamer.” Scott earned a Grammy nomination for his work on Crime of the Century, and now, 40 years later, his work and that of the band, of course, still holds up.
A special 2-CD combo is being released featuring the original album tracks as well as songs recorded at Supertramp’s 1975 Hammersmith Odeon concert. Ken Scott mixed the Hammersmith Odeon concert on the night of the event, and those tracks are on the second CD.
The anniversary release also includes “a 24-page booklet of photographs, and a new essay written by Phil Alexander, Editor-in-Chief of Mojo Magazine, containing new interviews with Dougie Thomson, John Helliwell, Ken Scott, Bob Siebenberg, Roger Hodgson, and 1973-1983 Supertramp manager Dave Margereson.”
The Original Album:
“School”
“Bloody Well Right”
“Hide In Your Shell”
“Asylum”
“Dreamer”
“Rudy”
“If Everyone Was Listening”
“Crime Of The Century”
Live at Hammersmith 75:
“School”
“Bloody Well Right”
“Hide In Your Shell”
“Asylum”
“Sister Moonshine”
“Just A Normal Day”
“Another Man’s Woman”
“Lady”
“A – You’re Adorable”
“Dreamer”
Rudy”
“If Everyone Was Listening”
“Crime Of The Century”
If forced to sum up Jane the Virgin in one word, I’d chose “quirky.” Fortunately, reviews are allowed to be much longer than a single word as there’s a lot to like about this cute new show that airs on Monday nights on The CW.
Gina Rodriguez, who plays the Jane referred to in the show’s title, has been labeled this new fall season’s breakout star and she’s a solid choice for that distinction. Also working in Jane the Virgin‘s favor is the fact that it’s not the same old, same old. This is neither a subject matter we see often on TV nor is the show populated with your typical comedy series characters.
Episode One Recap:
The telenovela-inspired comedy/drama centers around Jane Villanueva, who doesn’t know her father, is being raised by her single mother, Xiomara (Andrea Navedo), and who was schooled in moral values at an early age by her grandmother, Alba (Ivonne Coll). Alba taught Jane the importance of remaining a virgin by crushing a flower and asking her to restore it to its pre-wrinkled beauty. Now 23, that flower remains in its crushed state in a frame on her bedroom wall while Jane’s virtue remains intact.
Jane’s involved in a long-term relationship with the handsome detective, Michael (Brett Dier), who understands her desire to remain a virgin until she’s married. He’s patient, but the timeline they’d planned for their relationship gets bumped up when he decides to pop the question. Unfortunately, not long before Michael gets down on his knees to propose, Jane finds out some life-changing news.
A routine visit to the doctor for a pap smear resulted in a mishap that should, if this wasn’t a TV series, find Jane’s doctor at the receiving end of a lawsuit that could make Jane a multi-millionaire. The doctor, Louisa, was supposed to inseminate her brother Rafael’s wife Petra (Yael Grobglas) with the couple’s only sperm sample taken before Raf went through his battle with cancer, however she caught Petra cheating on her brother and was so upset she accidentally inseminated Jane. Got that?
But before Jane knows how she wound up pregnant, her mother demands they re-test her, and when those also come back positive, Xiomara declares, “You are immaculata!”
A little backstory on Rafael: Rafael (Justin Baldoni) is wealthy, handsome, and the new owner of the hotel where Jane works. Although Rafael doesn’t initially remember it, they met for the first time when Jane was working at the country club he belonged to. They connected over a grilled cheese sandwich, but he never followed up with a phone call. Now years later, Jane discovers it’s his sperm she’s been accidentally inseminated with.
Back to that marriage proposal… Jane surprises Michael by blurting out that she’s pregnant, a fact which leaves him stunned as he knows how much Jane values her virginity. Although he’s not into marrying a woman who’s carrying another man’s child, Jane’s mother and grandmother are, surprisingly, far more supportive of her bizarre situation. Xiomara lets her know that she has a choice and doesn’t have to have the baby.
Grandmother Alba also chimes in with unexpected advice, telling her that she had once given Jane’s mother that same choice of keeping or aborting the baby. Alba also tells Jane that she’s the best part of her life and that if she keeps the baby, he or she will become the best part of her life too.
After Petra pleads her case, Jane decides to continue the pregnancy and then give the baby to Raf and his wife, who discover they are on the verge of divorce, something Petra keeps a secret from Jane. Michael’s actually fine with this decision, and when she shows up at the station to propose, he accepts.
The Bottom Line:
The first episode hinted that Michael isn’t the straight-up guy he’s making himself out to be. There’s something in his background that might come back to haunt him, and maybe Jane doesn’t know him as well as she thinks she does. Episode one also featured Xiomara spotting Jane’s father on TV, and it turns out he’s now a massive telenovela star (and he’s played by telenovela star Jaime Camil).
Even if the title turns you off…and I have to admit, when I first saw the show’s name and read the synopsis, I thought it was a lame concept…Jane the Virgin is worth giving a chance. Series star Rodriguez is charismatic, and she’s surrounded by a terrific supporting cast led by Andrea Navedo as her free-spirited mother. The series is sharply written and fast-paced, spending just enough time introducing each character and setting up backstories without lingering too long on any one particular element. This is one series that actually deserves and lives up to all of its pre-premiere hype.
Keanu Reeves stars in ‘John Wick’ (Photo Courtesy of Lionsgate)
This new clip from the thriller John Wick shows that Keanu Reeves can still handle action scenes. In this latest clip titled “Intruders,” Reeves as John Wick takes on a bunch of bad guys single-handedly.
Directed by Chad Stahelski, the cast also includes Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe. John Wick will arrive in theaters on October 24, 2014.
The Plot:
“An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a stylized take on the assassin genre.”
Nick Jonas stars in ‘Kingdom’ (Photo Courtesy of DirecTV)
Nick Jonas has been hitting the gym and believes his new DirecTV series Kingdom works well with the new bulk he’s put on from dedicating himself to working out. Jonas gained 12 pounds of muscle for his role as Nate Kulina, the son of the owner of a Mixed Martial Artis (MMA) gym in Venice, CA, with the family drama centering around life at the gym. In addition to Jonas, the cast of the new dramatic series includes Jonathan Tucker, Frank Grillo, and Kiele Sanchez.
DirecTV just premiered Kingdom on October 8, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT and already the series has earned an additional order of 20 episodes. However, before it debuted I had the chance to speak with Jonas about the show during the summer Television Critics Association event.
Nick Jonas Kingdom Interview
Does fight choreography have anything in common with dance choreography?
Nick Jonas: “A little bit. I didn’t really do a whole lot of dancing in my other career path. A little bit when I was doing a Broadway show called ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.’ And it was similar in that way. But the thing about the fighting that is so different is you have to become this person. The minute I sort of get into that mind set when I’m in the cage, even when I’m training, I become kind of an animal. And it’s just about being as intense and as focused as you can be because one wrong move, like they said, and you could have a knot in your forehead.”
Once you were confident with your training, how did it affect the way you felt about and carried yourself?
Nick Jonas: “It was a major shift. I think that any time you sort of open yourself up emotionally like we’ve had to in this show, you experience things in your own life, and you have to sort of find a way to adjust when you go home. Turn the lights off of the character and be the person that you are. So it was just about trying to turn off the switch more than anything because my character’s really intense and sort of zeroed in on life and his fighting. And I found that important, just find a way to become Nick at the end of the day.”
Did you get clocked?
Nick Jonas: “You know, I had my big fight in the first episode with Cub Swanson who’s one of the best fighters in the world. And there were two instances where he landed a couple of light kicks that were pretty intense. Even in our training, we did a couple of drills where we would take about a 25% kick or punch just to know what it felt like, knowing that there was still 75% more that he could be giving us. That was intense, but it was good for us to feel that and to get an experience.”
Do you get more respect from your brothers now?
Nick Jonas: “Yeah. It really is interesting. You walk with a lot more confidence. I don’t have much fear when it comes to being out or getting into a situation. The only thing I’d fear is that God forbid that ever did happen, I’ve been trained by some of the best fighters in the world now, and I have to be careful.”
How did the kick feel?
Nick Jonas: “Liver kicks are pretty intense. Basically, it just releases all the toxins in your body, and you kind of collapse right as it happens. The other one was right to the chest, so I just lost my breath and was pretty sore the next day from being dropped on my back a few times in the fight scene. But it was all worth it. And what was really interesting, we shot this fight for about – I think it was about a 12-hour shoot day – and the emotional build of it all was really intense as well. So the real emotion that came out just from exerting yourself physically like that for 12 hours was really an amazing experience. And something that now, carrying into emotional scenes, I’ll go and I’ll spend three, four hours jumping rope or doing push-ups and doing a circuit of different exercises to drain myself so that I can get to that emotional place.”
What was the skill or technique that you didn’t think you’d be able to master?
Nick Jonas: “The Jujitsu stuff came really naturally for me. I feel like when you grow up with brothers, you get away with wrestling and with putting each other in pretzel positions easier than you do punching because, you know, parents would catch that. I think the striking was actually the thing that I had to work on the most, just making that motion feel natural. And as I was gaining size and muscle, I was getting a little tighter and less flexible. So with the striking and the other things, you have to be really loose. And Bruce Lee said, ‘Be like water,’ and that’s kind of the idea we all have to have. But when you’re building, it’s tough.”
What has it meant to you to be able to pursue totally different career goals and have that time to just make it about what you want to try to do?
Nick Jonas: “I think it’s been really meaningful to feel like I’m kind of in control of my own life, at this point in my life, almost, nine, 10 years in this business, and loved every step, every career milestone I’ve had, but I feel like this is one of the most significant. It’s probably the one I’ve been able to lose myself in the most, and that feels really good. I’m thrilled for people to see it and to not only see another side of me, but just take the steps in my career to continue to evolve and grow.”
Do you have any plans musically?
Nick Jonas: “There are some music plans, yeah. I’ve been able to focus on the acting and make that a hundred percent a priority and also do some music. And actually, in a lot of ways, digging in emotionally with this role has been opened me up to be able to write in a way I never wrote before. So it’s been an exciting time. And there will be some new music, I’m sure, in the future.”
Did you worry about getting your face hit or breaking your fingers?
Nick Jonas: “No, I wanted to. I think it’s kind of a rite of passage all the fighters have, the cauliflower ear and for a minute I thought I was going to get it which kind of freaked me out, but it’s also something to be proud of too.”
Fans are going to have a say in sending one singer through to Hollywood on the upcoming season of Fox’s American Idol. According to Fox, AI XIV opened up voting online at americanidol.com/poll for fans of the singing competition to cast their votes on one of four potential contestants. Voting is also open on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtags found on the American Idol website.
The poll is open now through October 21, 2014 at 11:59pm PT.
Per the official announcement:
This year, for the first time ever, AMERICAN IDOL XIV is letting fans choose one hopeful who will receive a coveted ticket to Hollywood via an online vote. IDOL has once again combed the country to discover the best breakout talent, but America can choose among four new contenders who have been added to the mix and given an opportunity to advance to Hollywood Week.
American Idol season 14 will premiere in January 2015 with Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, and Harry Connick Jr back as judges. This season’s audition cities include Kansas City, Long Island, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
Tennessee Wraith Chasers in ‘Ghost Asylum’ (Photo Credit: Destination America)
Destination America’s Ghost Asylum will be back in the spring of 2015 for a second season, as just announced by the network. The series debuted this year with the network’s best ratings and is currently the #1 rated show on Destination America among adults 25-54 and 18-49, so the decision to bring the series starring the paranormal team Tennessee Wraith Chasers back was a no-brainer.
“Ghost Asylum has brought viewers to the edge of their seats, instilling fear and fright along the way, so we’re bringing the team back to scare up an all-new season in 2015,” said Marc Etkind, general manager of Destination America. “The Tennessee Wraith Chasers are ready to tackle more of America’s most petrifying locations, prepared to risk it all in order to try to trap ghoulish spirits wreaking havoc.”
The Plot:
The series follows two paranormal investigators, John E.L. Tenney and Chad Lindberg, as they explore some of America’s most haunted places in search of portals to another dimension. John and Chad have both had near-death experiences that left them with an undying passion for exploring one of life’s biggest unanswered questions: what happens after you die?
