In its first season, Glee featured some weirdly eclectic song choices: Remember “Thong Song” and “Sweet Caroline” in the “Mash-Up” episode? But in the season-two premiere on September 21st, the show will outdo itself. Rolling Stone has learned that the first episode will feature renditions of Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” Lady Gaga’s “Telephone,” Travis McCoy’s “Billionaire,” and Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn.” In true Gleek fashion, the cast will also perform two vintage Broadway musical standards — “What I Did for Love” from A Chorus Line and “Getting to Know You” from The King and I — as well as “Listen” from the film version of Dreamgirls.
According to the series’ music supervisor, P.J. Bloom, the episode’s plot paved the way for the Jay-Z track: Having placed at the Regional competition in last season’s finale, New Directions will travel to New York for the Nationals. “So we needed a New York song,” explains Bloom. He also says that the use of a second Gaga song — after “Bad Romance” in the previous season — is all due to co-creator Ryan Murphy. “Ryan’s a huge Lady Gaga fan,” Bloom says. “I suspect we’re going to continue to look to her to be part of the show.”
The following week will see the premiere of the show’s all-Britney Spears episode, which will include performances of five Spears songs — although for now, no one’s saying which ones. Bloom is also promising an “additional recording” for the episode, but is mum on details. (We’re already picturing Spears and Matthew Morrison doing a Britney-and-Justin-style duet, but maybe that’s just us.) In other Glee music news: Another soundtrack album could arrive as early as October, and Morrison is wrapping up his solo debut, due on Mercury Records early in 2011.
“Bristol is terrified,” a source tells Us Weekly of Bristol Palin, 19, who’s about to hoof it on Dancing with the Stars (debuting September 20 on ABC).
The mom — fresh off her broken engagement with Levi Johnston, dad of son Tripp, 20 months — “isn’t naturally outgoing,” adds the insider, “and doesn’t have any performing background.”
Palin’s partner, Mark Ballas, 24, even had to quell her anxiety. “Mark told her, ‘Just stop and breathe,’ in rehearsal, because she was so stiff,” continues the source.
But Ballas was in need of a chill pill too. The show alum, whose partner Shannen Doherty was booted from DWTS in the second week last season, “was bummed at first. He was hoping for someone more dance-inclined,” adds the source. “But he’s happy now, because he realized how much press they’ll get!”
And Palin’s biggest hurdle may not be the dance steps but the daring outfits. “My clothes will be the most conservative of everyone’s,” Palin tells Us. “That’s how I am, and that’s how I want to dress. But it’ll be good — and the rhinestones and spray tans. That’ll be fun!”
According to a friend close to Theresa Giudice, don’t expect her to return for season 3 of Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Giudice struck a bad deal with Bravo over royalties from her best-selling cookbook, “Skinny Italian.” The bankrupt babe is the only housewife in the franchise to give the network 10 percent of royalties from her book sales. In exchange, Bravo said it would make up the difference by promoting her book on the show. She filmed several scenes with the book, cooking and testing recipes — but the footage never aired. The book was mentioned once during the reunion episode.
Her friend told us Bravo is trying to hardball Giudice by moving to hire her sister-in-law, Melissa Gorga, whom she hates, as a possible replacement. Although Giudice is $11 million in debt, her friend said, “Teresa is done with Bravo, I don’t think any amount of money will make her come back.” A rep for Bravo didn’t get back to us.
Over the course of one raucous night at a seaside wedding seven close friends, all members of a tight, eclectic college clique, reconvene to watch two of their own tie the knot. Laura (Katie Holmes) is maid of honor to Lila (Anna Paquin), her golden girl best friend. The two have long rivaled over the groom, Tom (Josh Duhamel). Friendships and alliances are tested and the love triangle comes to a head the night before the wedding, when the drunken friends frolic in the nearby surf and return to shore… without the groom.
I think this movie looks really good, hopefully it is!
Halle Berry has officially moved on from (her other hot boyfriend) Gabriel Aubrey with hot French actor Olivier Martinez (you know him as the hot guy who made Diane Lane cheat in Unfaithful, and he also dated Kylie Minogue for years).
Berry, 44, and Martinez, also 44, have been spotted making out all over Paris (his hometown), while they film the movie Dark Tide. The two have been sightseeing all over the city of love, and have been locking lips as they go.
“It was the classic ‘I’m going to kiss you here in a dark corner’ move,” an onlooker tells PEOPLE of Berry and Martinez’s romantic romp. “And she was waiting to be kissed. They had their arms around each other as they walked. They were both smiling and laughing Their body language was very flirtatious. They definitely seemed like a couple – absolutely looked like more than friends.”
The two sped off on Martinez’s motorcycle before dining at the intimate Casa Bini restaurant. After dinner, Martinez led Berry on a cozy back-streets tour of the St. Germain district at dusk, including Place Saint-Sulpice and its fountain. En route to his Paris pad, the couple stopped along a narrow street and kissed in a doorway for two minutes, says an onlooker.
