Bristol Palin Gives Birth; Baby Has Funny Name

Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin is a grandmother. The former Vice Presidential candidate's daughter, Bristol, gave birth on Sunday to a healthy baby boy, whom she named Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston. Tripp, who name is destined to be mocked when he is in school, weighed in at seven pounds and four ounces. There are no reports if uncles Trigg and Track or aunts Willow or Piper have visited yet.

Marley & Me Climbs to Number One

Jennifer Aniston's dog tale, Marley & Me, raced to the top spot of the Christmas Box Office this weekend. The tear jerker scored a record breaking $14.75 million. Aniston's ex-husband Brad Pitt's film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button earned $11.8 million.

Eartha Kitt Dead at 81

Eartha Kitt has lost her battle with colon cancer, according to her publicist. The 81 year old entertainer had recently completed a PBS special, which is scheduled to air in February. Here is a 2006 clip of Miss Kitt singing Santa Baby.

From Our Home to Yours, Merry Christmas!

Lisa Rinna to Pose Nude for Playboy

Lisa Rinna, the wife of Harry Hamlin and former Dancing with the Stars contestant, will pose nude for an upcoming issue of Playboy. The 45 year old Rinna, who also starred in the NBC soap Days of Our Lives, confirmed the rumor to TV's Extra.

Hugh Jackman will Host Academy Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that Hugh Jackman has been tapped to host the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

Jackman, 40, currently starring on the big screen alongside Nicole Kidman in Australia, hosted the Tony Awards in 2005.

The Oscar telecast will air live on ABC on Sunday February 22. As always, we'll have live coverage right here.

Golden Globe Nominations

The nominatees for the 2009 Golden Globe Awards were announced today.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas, I’ve Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Leonardio DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Rebecca Hall, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Javier Bardem, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Colin Farrell, In Bruges
James Franco, Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden/Denmark)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I’ve Loved You So Long (France)
Waltz With Bashir (Israel)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Amy Adams, Doubt
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Marisa Tomei, The Wrestler
Kate Winslet, The Reader

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes, The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes, Revolutionary Road

NBC's Fall Schedule: All Leno, All the Time

Last winter we reported that FOX, ABC, and Sony Television all courting Jay Leno in hopes of snatching up the late night ratings king when NBC installs Conan O'Brien as the new host of the Tonight Show in June. Well, NBC shot back, and in a BIG way.

NBC announced yesterday that Leno will be on the NBC primetime schedule in 2009. EVERY NIGHT. Leno will own NBC's 10:00pm hour, airing every Monday through Friday. Basically, he'll be moving his late night show into prime time. NBC will save a ton by airing Leno as opposed to scripted shows. If this works out well, watch for CBS and ABC to ditch their 10:00 slots in favor of a five night strip program.

Soap Stuff

Back in April, we ran an interview with some of the best and brightest soap bloggers around and we asked them about the current state of soaps. You can read it all here. Meanwhile, something I stumbled upon caught my eye today. It seems the recession has hit the soap world. Yes, Susan Lucci is being forced to take a pay cut. And Deidre Hall has been let go from Days of Our Lives. Even legendary soap scribe Agnes Nixon has had her salary cut (twice!). Check it out here.

Meanwhile, I checked out the witty and wonderful Snark Weighs In column written by Snark himself, which always has consistently hard-hitting and humorous commentary on the world of daytime. Trust me, its not easy to balance hard hitting and humor. Tried it. Failed. Tried it again. Gave up. Anyway, Snark's column led me to yet another blog, and this one is a doozy. A former soap fan who gave up on soaps years ago is doing the unheard of: he's going to watch every soap, one week at a time, until he has watched an entire week of every soap on the air -- just to see if any of them can bring him back as a fan. He's blogging about it here. I have a concern about this: There are eight soaps on the air, people. What happens if he likes them all? He'll never leave his house! We'll be sending him pizzas and takeout Chinese to keep him alive. I'll be keeping tabs on his blog to see if he gets hungry.

Grammy Award Nominees

Album of the Year
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Ne-Yo - Year Of The Gentleman
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Record of the Year
Adele - “Chasing Pavements”
Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”
Leona Lewis - “Bleeding Love”
M.I.A. - “Paper Planes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - “Please Read The Letter”

Best New Artist
Adele
Duffy
Jonas Brothers
Lady Antebellum
Jazmine Sullivan

Song of the Year
“American Boy” - William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle Featuring Kanye West)
“Chasing Pavements” - Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele)
“I’m Yours” - Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz)
“Love Song” - Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles)
“Viva La Vida” - Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)

Best Rock Album
Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus
Kings of Leon - Only By The Night
Metallica - Death Magnetic
The Raconteurs - Consolers Of The Lonely

Best Rock Song
Bruce Springsteen - “Girls In Their Summer Clothes”
Radiohead - “House Of Cards”
Death Cab for Cutie - “I Will Possess Your Heart ”
Kings of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Coldplay - “Violet Hill”

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
AC/DC - “Rock ‘N Roll Train”
Coldplay - “Violet Hill”
Eagles - “Long Road Out Of Eden”
Kings of Leon - “Sex On Fire”
Radiohead - “House Of Cards”

Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
John Mayer - “Gravity” from Where The Light Is — Live In Los Angeles
Paul McCartney - “I Saw Her Standing There” from Amoeba’s Secret
Bruce Springsteen - “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” from Magic
Eddie Vedder - “Rise”
Neil Young - “No Hidden Path” from Chrome Dreams II

Best Pop Vocal Album
Sheryl Crow - Detours
Duffy - Rockferry
Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden
Leona Lewis - Spirit
James Taylor - Covers

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
Alicia Keys & John Mayer - “Lesson Learned” ”
Madonna, Justin Timberlake & Timbaland - “4 Minutes”
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - “Rich Woman”
Rihanna & Maroon 5 - “If I Never See Your Face Again”
Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown - “No Air”

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals
Coldplay - “Viva La Vida”
Eagles - “Waiting In The Weeds”
Gnarls Barkley - “Going On”
Maroon 5 - “Won’t Go Home Without You”
OneRepublic - “Apologize”

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Adele - “Chasing Pavements”
Sara Bareilles - “Love Song”
Duffy - “Mercy”
Leona Lewis - “Bleeding Love”
Katy Perry- “I Kissed A Girl”
Pink - “So What”

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
Kid Rock - “All Summer Long”
John Mayer - “Say”
Paul McCartney - “That Was Me”
Jason Mraz - “I’m Yours”
Ne-Yo “Closer”
James Taylor - “Wichita Lineman”

Best Rap Album
Jay-z - American Gangster
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
Nas - Nas
T.I. - Paper Trail

Best Rap Song
“Lollipop” - D. Carter, S. Garrett, D.Harrison, J. Scheffer & R. Zamor, songwriters (Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major) “Low” - T. Dillard, M. Humphrey & T-Pain, songwriters (Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain)
“Sexual Eruption” - Calvin Broadus, S. Lovejoy & D. Stewart, songwriters (Snoop Dogg)
“Superstar” - Lupe Fiasco & Soundtrakk, songwriter (Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos)
“Swagga Like Us” - D. Carter, S. Carter, Clifford Harris, & Kanye West, songwriters (M. Arulpragasam, N. Headon, M. Jones, J. Mellor, T. Pentz, P. Simonon, songwriters) (Jay-Z & T.I. Featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
Estelle Featuring Kanye West - “American Boy”
Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain - “Low”
John Legend & Andre 3000 - “Green Light”
Lil Wayne Featuring T-Pain - “Got Money”
Lupe Fiasco Featuring Matthew Santos - “Superstar”

Best Alternative Music Album
Beck - Modern Guilt
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs
Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Best R&B Album
Eric Benet - Love & Life
Boyz II Men - Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA
Al Green - Lay It Down
Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson
Raphael Saadiq - The Way I See It

Best Electronic/Dance Album
Brazilian Girls - New York City
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
Cyndi Lauper - Bring Ya To The Brink
Kylie Minogue - X
Moby - Last Night
Robyn - Robyn

Best Hard Rock Performance
Disturbed - “Inside The Fire”
Judas Priest - “Visions”
The Mars Volta - “Wax Simulacra”
Mötley Crüe - “Saints Of Los Angeles”
Rob Zombie - “Lords Of Salem”

Best Metal Performance
DragonForce - “Heroes Of Our Time”
Judas Priest - “Nostradamus”
Metallica - “My Apocalypse”
Ministry - “Under My Thumb”
Slipknot - “Psychosocial”

The Grammy Awards will be televised on CBS on February 8.