Posts Tagged ‘conan o brien’
Power Celebs: Oprah back on top, Lady Gaga moves up – CTV News
Monday, 28 June 2010 21:04
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Pants-less pop stars, late-night warriors and sexy vampires spiced up the fame game last year, with Lady Gaga, Conan O’Brien and Twilight superstars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson joining the Forbes Celebrity 100 list for the first time.

But despite their impressive debuts (Gaga hit the list in fourth place), Oprah Winfrey is the year’s big winner.

After being ousted by Angelina Jolie on last year’s list (Jolie dropped to no. 18 this year), the Queen of all Media takes back her crown on Forbes’ annual ranking of the world’s ultra-famous. Winfrey earned $315 million over the past 12 months.

The talk-show host choked up when announcing that this coming season of her flagship chat fest would be her last. The news helped the self-made billionaire garner more press mentions than any other member of the Celebrity 100. Winfrey earns big thanks to The Oprah Winfrey Show as well as her magazine, popular website, radio channel, TV specials and movies like the Oscar-nominated Precious. looking ahead, her Harpo production company, which launched the careers of Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray and Dr. Oz, will introduce interior designer-turned-talk-show host Nate Berkus this fall.

Months later, the mogul will roll out the lifestyle-themed Oprah Winfrey Network in partnership with Discovery Communications.

The Rest of the Best

Beyonce Knowles climbs two spots to no. 2 on this year’s list, raking in $87 million over the course of the year. her 90-plus date global tour grossed more than $85 million, bolstering a portfolio that includes album sales, her House of Dereon fashion line and a slew of endorsement deals, ranging from Nintendo to L’Oreal. Continuing to expand her business empire beyond music, the female half of hip-hop’s most powerful couple also released her first fragrance, Heat, earlier this year.

In at no. 3: director James Cameron. Thanks to the box office success of Avatar, the man who once declared himself “the King of the World” pulled down a hefty $210 million over the last year. though his 3-D film failed to win the Best Picture Oscar, it broke Cameron’s own record by grossing $2.7 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing film ever. (Titanic had rested at the top for 12 years with $1.8 billion.) with the Blu-ray edition of Avatar setting sales records and a sequel in the works, expect Cameron to continue to mint money for years to come.

Earnings Increase

Despite stock market swings and a global economy that seems reluctant to restart, the earnings power of the Celebrity 100 remains remarkably resilient. The stars on our list collectively earned $4.7 billion this year, up from the $4.1 billion they banked a year earlier.

The Celebrity 100, which includes film and television actors, TV personalities, models, athletes, authors, musicians and comedians, is a measure of entertainment-related earnings and media visibility (exposure in print, television, radio and online). because of the growing power of social networks, we added a social media ranking that reflects each celebrity’s presence on Facebook and Twitter. The earnings consist of pre-tax income between June 1, 2009, and June 1, 2010. Management, agent and attorney fees are not deducted.

A Gaga Debut

Lady Gaga catapults onto our list, ranking ahead of much more established pop stars like Madonna (No. 10) and U2 (No. 7). she has a 106-date world tour and her willingness to partner with corporations like Virgin Mobile and Polaroid to thank for an estimated $62 million in earnings. What’s more, her fame and theatricality have brought her gobs of press coverage, while her music videos have made her something of an Internet sensation. Proof: The fashion-forward rocker ranks first for social media and Web presence among the Forbes Celebrity 100.

Gaga is also the list’s top-ranked newcomer, leading a group that includes the Black Eyed Peas ($48 million), O’Brien ($38 million) and Twilight costars Pattinson and Stewart. Pattinson comes in at no. 50 with estimated earnings of $17 million, while Stewart, who is working on fewer non-Twilight projects, comes in at no. 66 with a $12 million haul.

Woods Stays Strong — for Now

Rounding out the list’s top five: golfer Tiger Woods. Despite personal and professional setbacks this year (all negative publicity was extracted from this year’s list), the tabloid target still managed to earn $105 million between June 2009 and June 2010. The reality: While his revenue streams have diminished post-scandal (Accenture, AT&T and Pepsi have all dropped Woods as a spokesman), he continues to generate millions from deals with Nike, Electronic Arts and Upper Deck. his golf course design business is also struggling due to the troubled global economy.

Expect to see Woods’ income take a sizable dip on next year’s list, a byproduct of his tarnished image and the reality of celebrity earnings at large.

Smith Drops Off

Dependent on new deals and fickle fans, the stars and their incomes have a tendency to fluctuate from one year’s list to the next. among this year’s drop-offs is will Smith. after ranking 11th on last year’s list with $45 million, the blockbuster king fell off this year because he had no new films in the works during the time frame we analyzed.

Also absent from this year’s list is rapper 50 Cent. in 2009 he ranked 50th with an impressive $20 million income. But his last album, Before I Self Destruct, sold barely 500,000 copies and he has been out of the limelight while losing 25% of his body weight to play a cancer patient in the upcoming film things Fall apart.

More on the Methodology

The Celebrity 100 is a measure of power based on money and fame. Earnings estimates, which include income from films, television shows, endorsements, books and other entertainment ventures, are calculated between June 2009 and June 2010. Figures were rounded off where appropriate. Additional sources include Billboard, Pollstar, Adams Media Research, The Nielsen Company and SNL Kagan. Fame is calculated using Web hits on Google, Blog Search, TV/radio mentions on LexisNexis, overall press mentions on Factiva and the number of times a celebrity’s image appeared on the cover of 25 consumer magazines. Social rank is calculated using metrics like Facebook friends and fans as well as Twitter followers.

Power Celebs: Oprah back on top, Lady Gaga moves up – CTV News

 
Conan O'Brien, Letterman, Ferguson Rip Jay Leno Apart
Sunday, 13 June 2010 22:16
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Conan O’Brien has officially gone rogue. On the heels of Friday’s unusually harsh monologue, O’Brien went after the network that screwed him even harder tonight. also: David Letterman and Craig Ferguson chimed in with some NBC/Leno digs of their own.

Note: for complete video coverage of Tuesday night’s late night drama as it happened, be sure to check out our new post. As each show aired, we posted relevant video. Clips of O’Brien, Leno, Kimmel, Ferguson and Letterman contained therein. CLICK HERE to visit the post.

O’Brien opened up this evening’s broadcast of The Tonight Show just moments ago with a slew of jokes at NBC’s expense, and also poked fun at his current job insecurity.

  • [Audience applauding] “Ladies and gentlemen, please! you keep that up and this monologue won’t start until 12:05.”
  • “Good evening, everybody. I’m Conan O’Brien, the new host of Last call with Carson Daly.”
  • “This weekend, a 6.5 earthquake hit California… the earthquake was so powerful, it knocked Jay Leno’s show from 10:00 to 11:35.” [Then mocks Leno's voice.]
  • “Everybody now wants to know what my plans are… all I can say is I plan to continue putting on a great show night after night, while stealing as many office supplies as humanly possible. I’m gonna rob this place blind.”
  • “NBC announced they plan to lose $200 million on the Winter Olympics next month. Folks, is it just me, or is that story hilarious?”

A few minutes later, O’Brien reiterated that NBC wants to push his show to 12:05 AM so that Jay Leno can occupy the 11:35 PM time slot. O’Brien then played a scrolling video of some of his future “options” before the audience, many of which included jabs at NBC and Leno.

The options included:

  • Star in a Lifetime original movie about a woman trapped in an abusive relationship with her network.
  • Move to FOX and follow their hit “24″ with a new show called “24:05.”
  • Convince NBC to let me keep this time slot if I can gain 10 pounds of chin.
  • Bring sanity back to NBC by hiring Gary Busey as head of programming.
  • Leave television altogether, and work in a classier business with better people, like hardcore porn.

At this point, we think it’s safe to say that O’Brien isn’t going down without a fight—or at least an attempt at embarrassing the network that screwed him as much as it’s embarrassed him.

Update, 1:00 AM ET: not one to be left out of the fray, David Letterman also addressed the mess over at NBC on tonight’s episode of The Late Show, starting with a monologue that featured a couple of NBC/Leno jabs, including “I’m a little worried about Conan. I’m not worried about Jay, he’ll land on his chin, he always does.”

Letterman then spent a few minutes before the reading of tonight’s Top 10 List recapping what happened to him when he lost The Tonight Show to Leno in 1992, before summarizing what he thought the situation to be at NBC and offering a recommendation for how the network could fix its late night mess. It’s worth watching for the jokes at Carson Daly’s expense alone, not to mention Letterman’s impersonation of Leno working on a car while talking to his wife, Mavis.

Update, 1:30 AM ET: and for good measure, here’s The Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson’s take on the NBC late night situation. Ferguson spent most of his monologue tonight discussing it, but this moment—in which he called the mess at NBC “the direct result of atrocious management by a once great American network”—was definitely the one to watch.

Update, 2:05 AM ET: it looks like we stopped watching The Late Show a few seconds too early. Luckily, a tip from Brian Van set us straight and we were able to go back and grab this video of Letterman’s Top 10 List from tonight: “Signs There’s trouble at NBC.”

Don’t forget that Leno made some of his own remarks tonight, too. you can view them here.

[The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien]

[The Late Show with David Letterman]

[The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson]

Send an email to Matt Cherette, the author of this post, at matt@gawker.tv.

Conan O'Brien, Letterman, Ferguson Rip Jay Leno Apart

 
NAMES FACES 'Mad Men's' Jones hits 3 parked cars
Saturday, 12 June 2010 03:16
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Actress January Jones, who plays Betty Draper on AMC’s Emmy-winning “Mad Men,” reportedly was involved in a multiple-car collision Thursday night.

TMZ.com says Jones lost control of her Range Rover while trying to evade paparazzi and hit three parked cars, causing major damage to the vehicles. A witness reported that Food Network star Bobby Flay arrived soon after the incident and told Jones to leave the scene, which she did. She returned 45 minutes later.

Flay told TMZ he arrived because Jones called him after the accident. they had met earlier in the evening when both attended the same party to watch the NBA finals.

Police say Jones has not been cited or charged and they don’t believe alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash.

Jack White jams with Conan

A small Nashville crowd of about 300 was treated to an impromptu set Thursday night by Jack White and Conan O’Brien. O’Brien stopped by the headquarters of White’s third Man Records, where White joined him on covers of songs by Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and Radiohead.

Moscow … Paris … Detroit

Detroit’s got a tough role to fill. It’s about to play Paris, Moscow, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

“The Double,” an espionage thriller starring Richard Gere, Martin Sheen and Topher Grace, will be shot entirely in Detroit, but it’s set in the aforementioned locales. According to a location scout associated with the film, the Harmonie Park area of Detroit will represent Paris. Filming is set to begin June 21.

In related movie news, “Real Steel,” which held an open casting call in Troy last month, starts filming Monday. Hugh Jackman is the film’s star.

Local Woodson tribute set

Former Temptations vocalist Ali-Ollie Woodson died of cancer may 30 and was buried June 5 in Gardena, Calif. Now Detroit friends and fans will have a chance to pay tribute to the native Detroiter at a service organized by Ed Sammels of ESP Productions.

Friends and family members will share memories of Woodson next weekend at a service that will feature music from Enflyte, Serieux, Bernard Gibson & Living Proof and Charles Davis. It’s scheduled for 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. June 19 at new Bethel Baptist Church, 8430 Linwood in Detroit.

Briefly

• former “Grey’s Anatomy” star T.R. Knight is heading to Broadway to star opposite Patrick Stewart in David Mamet‘s “A Life in the Theatre.” Rehearsals are set to begin in August, with previews starting in September.

• Fox announced Thursday that its animated series “The Cleveland Show” will return for a third season.

• “American Idol” alum Jason Castro, who finished fourth in Season 7, will appear on “The Bold and the Beautiful” next month. He’ll play himself on the CBS soap and sing his new single, “Love Uncompromised.”

• Detroit native Stacey Cohen will compete against 11 designers on this season’s “HGTV Design Star,” which kicks off at 10 p.m. Sunday on HGTV.

NAMES FACES 'Mad Men's' Jones hits 3 parked cars