Obama, first lady tape ’Oprah’ in Chicago
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are back in their hometown of Chicago to tape an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
The Obamas arrived in Chicago on Wednesday morning for the taping. Later in the day, the president was to travel to New York.
The first couple is to appear on one of the final episodes of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which is taped in Chicago at Harpo Studios. Ms. Winfrey is ending her popular talk show this May after 25 years.
The Obamas’ episode is to air Monday. The last episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will air May 25.
J.Lo., Marc Anthony team for new show
Jennifer Lopez is teaming up with “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller for a new TV show - and she’s bringing husband Marc Anthony into the fold, Associated Press reports.
The trio announced Wednesday that they are creating “Q’Viva! The Chosen.” The show will feature the superstar couple as they travel to 21 countries seeking the best performers in Latin music, dance and other arts with the goal of creating a live extravaganza.
The show’s director will be Jamie King. It will be filmed in three languages.
Miss Lopez says the show will break new ground.
“This is a show for the 21st century with an unprecedented global and local story. The Latin culture is a tapestry that is rich in passion, tradition and artistry,” she says. “We are going to places where all of this talent lives and wouldn’t have otherwise been discovered.”
Mr. Anthony says the show will “provide an outlet to a whole new generation that have been waiting to have their voices heard.”
Country singer Aldean leads CMT nominations
The party just keeps rolling for country music star Jason Aldean.
Long left out of major award consideration, Mr. Aldean’s recent tear continued Wednesday morning when he received a leading four 2011 CMT Music Awards nominations, Associated Press reports.
The singer’s video for “My Kinda Party” earned nods for CMT’s top award, video of the year and male video of the year.
Six acts trail Mr. Aldean with three nominations apiece: Lady Antebellum, Rascal Flatts, the Zac Brown Band, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and the Band Perry. All are nominees for video of the year. Seven others received two nominations apiece.
The nominations for the awards, which are in their 10th year, were announced Wednesday morning on NBC’s “Today.” Fans will decide the winners in 10 categories on the video channel’s website and will choose the video of the year winner during the June 8 awards telecast.
Academy Awards staying in late February
The Academy Awards are sticking to the last weekend in February, rather than moving to an earlier date.
Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, announced Tuesday that next year’s ceremony will be held Feb. 26, the same Sunday as most recent Oscar shows.
Oscar organizers have considered moving up the show, saying that earlier film awards might be stealing some of the thunder of Hollywood’s biggest night.
Nominations for the 84th Oscars will be announced Jan. 24.
CW network renews ’Vampire Diaries,’ 4 others
The CW network is announcing early pickups of five of its series for next fall, including an all-star version of “America’s Next Top Model” and the network’s hit drama, “The Vampire Diaries.”
The network said late Tuesday that “Gossip Girl,” “90210” and “Supernatural” also will be returning for another season.
In the first of two editions set to air next season, “America’s Next Top Model” will bring back models from the show’s past competitions for a rematch.
News of these series’ renewals comes several weeks before the CW’s official schedule announcement next month.
Cooper: Hannity special took words out of context
CNN’s Anderson Cooper says the Fox News Channel took his words out of context to make a false point about media bias, according to the Associated Press.
Mr. Cooper, on his CNN show, noted that he was quoted in Friday’s Sean Hannity special on media bias. Fox aired a clip of Mr. Cooper saying a former U.S. ambassador in Africa, Joseph C. Wilson IV, was “the victim of a Bush administration smear campaign.”
Mr. Cooper says if Fox had aired his full report, it was clear he was reporting Mr. Wilson’s claim of a smear campaign - not saying it himself.
Mr. Cooper says he tries to choose his words carefully and “don’t like it when someone cuts around them to make it seem like I’m saying something that I’m not.”
Mr. Hannity’s executive producer, John Finley, had no comment Tuesday.
Compiled from Web and wire reports.
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