red carpet (163 posts)

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Adam Lambert is fully embracing his new solo career—as well as his keyboard player, too.

The American Idol runner-up gave the final performance at the 2009 American Music Awards, and he delivered much of what earlier outings by Janet Jackson, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Shakira, Lady Gaga and others had: Lots of back-up dancers, a stumble or two and just a bit of raunchiness.

OK, in Lambert's case, there was more than a bit of racy material as he mixed together a so-so song, some S&M imagery and a bit of simulated sex. Oh, and that juicy mid-song kiss, too.

For your entertainment, of course. Was it enough to make his performance the best of the evening?

What was your favorite moment during the show? Check out our 2009 American Music Awards gallery for the highlights.

Kevin Mazur/AMA2009/Getty Images

Kanye West might have a problem with it, but this is definitely Taylor Swift's year.

The 19-year-old twanger pocketed a leading five prizes, including the biggest, Artist of the Year, at Sunday's American Music Awards, while Michael Jackson made some history from beyond the grave.

The late King of Pop won four posthumous awards—including Favorite Pop/Rock Artist and Pop/Rock Album for his 2003 greatest hits set, Number Ones—bringing his AMA career total to 25.

In a night win neither of the top winners were present (Jackson for obvious reasons; Swift was in London rehearsing for a show at Wembley Arena), the Los Angeles cemerony was marked by a couple of outrageous performances (thank you, Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga) and welcome comebacks by Rihanna and Whitney Houston. But in the end, the ghost of Jackson was the night's most compelling presence.

"We love you, Michael," said a sequined-glove-sporting Jermaine Jackson who accepted the honor on his brother's behalf. "It's not just about the winnings, the awards, it's mainly the message. The message that Michael had will live on forever...and he saw good in everyone and he wanted them to do good.  To start with love and let's love each other."

Sister Janet kicked things off with a medley of her hits. Even Swift, who accepted her Artist of the Year award (without interruption) live via satellite, paid tribute to Michael, whom she beat.

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Paramount Vantage

Oscar won't be tacking a happy ending onto Capitalism: A Love Story.

Michael Moore's latest diatribe against the powers that be, this one directed at Wall Street and the government that let it run amok, did not make the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' short list of films that still have a shot at winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary.

Instead, the eye-opening Food, Inc. is the top muckracker of the bunch, joining Facing Ali (but not Tyson) and Valentino: The Last Emperor (but not The September Issue) in the in-between stage of Oscar consideration.

Of 89 feature-length docs submitted, 15 made the list, most of them focusing on international politics and global issues, such as illegal immigration (Which Way Home) and cultural oppression in Zimbabwe (Mugabe and the White African).

Moore's Bowling for Columbine, his stab at U.S. gun-control policy, was named Best Documentary in 2003, and Sicko, about the state of health care in the U.S., scored a nomination last year. But the Academy stayed far, far away from his 2004 blockbuster, Fahrenheit 9/11, perhaps not wanting to encourage another "Shame on you, Mr. Bush" speech so soon after the first one.

Check out which 15 documentaries are in the running for Hollywood's highest honor after the jump:

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

When it comes to the Emmys, NBC is definitely not ready to play ball.

Due to a scheduling conflict with its Sunday Night Football franchise, the Peacock has decided to push up next year's 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards to Aug. 29 from its usual September berth.

We're guessing NBC isn't too worried about the switcheroo. The last time the statuettes were doled out in the dog days of summer was on Aug. 27, 2006—which happened to pull in bigger ratings than any Emmycast since.

Nominations will be unveiled July 8. 

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twitter.com/RachelleLefevre/status/5787052240

Didn't the gang look lovely together at the New Moon premiere last night?

Too bad they weren't all there. Rachelle Lefevre was MIA.

But actress, who played Victoria in both Twilight and New Moon but was famously dismissed for Eclipse, wasn't a no-show just because of sour grapes. It turns out last night was sour for her for completely separate reasons.

"2 fans at the premiere: w/ Honey in hospital & being fired from Eclipse tonight was just 2 emotional 4 me & I couldn't manage it. So sorry," she Twittered last night.

Honey is a dog she adopted from an animal rescue, and who recently inspired her to become the spokeswoman for Best Friends' Puppies Aren't Products campaign.

Honey's health—and Rachelle's ability to attend the premiere—weren't looking promising earlier yesterday, when she tweeted, "Honey is in the hospital and I don't know what's going to happen. I wonder if you can die from a broken heart..."

We wish the honey and her Honey the very best.

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See some other stars and their fine furry friends in our Very Important Pets gallery!

Everything else was just a warm-up. The mall tour, the magazines, the gossip—all of it just the opening act for this: the Los Angeles premiere of New Moon.

The entire Twilight gang—Robert Pattinson! Kristen Stewart! Taylor Lautner! Some other kids!—is storming Westwood village tonight, where fans have been camping all day.

Our own Marc Malkin and Ted Casablanca are covering live on Twitter, so follow them for cast interviews and more. And catch the live video (via MySpace) above.

Wish you were here?

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Watch Live From the Red Carpet: New Moon on E!—Tues. @ 7:30 p.m.

And relive the mayhem in our New Moon World Tour Madness gallery!

Kimberley French/Summit Entertainment

Something tells us you already know all too well that the New Moon premiere is tonight. That's not news.

But what you don't know is how its stars are spending their day preparing for the big event.

They're on Twitter, of course!

"Many people wonder what celebs do the morning of their movie premiere," Peter Facinelli writes. "I would like know 2, seeing how I'm at the DMV renewing my license."

Once he was ready to drive, he cruised by the scene of the big red-carpet event.

"Drove past the Westwood theatre on my motorcycle to wave hi to the fans on the way home from DMV. You guys are awesome," he gushes.

Anna Kendrick and Jackson Rathbone are playing a bit more coy with their anticipation, Rachelle Lefevre sounds like she may have other plans and wait 'til you hear what other lucky ducks scored seats to the big show.

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There's nothing like an Oscar statuette to kick off the holiday season.

Iconic actress Lauren Bacall, B-movie maven Roger Cornam and Godfather cinematographer Gordon Willis were all presented with gold statuettes Saturday night at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Governors Awards.

The academy broke the tradition of its March on-camera ceremony, and instead held an off-camera, black-tie banquet for the honorees at the Grand Ballroom above the Kodak Theater. 

Producer John Calley, famed for The Davinci Code and Catch-22 among other films, was also honored with the Irving J. Thalberg Memorial Award. 

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Fredrick Breedon/Getty Images, Taylor Hill/Getty Images, Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

For all the love Taylor Swift receives from the music industry and elsewhere, she has a rather vocal handful of detractors.

Kanye West's giant diss was the talk of the CMA Awards Wednesday night, but he wasn't the only person who questioned the starlet's success.

"It's too much too soon," Wynonna Judd told USA Today of Swift's numerous nominations, especially the one for Entertainer of the Year (which she won, along with three other gongs).  "Time is God’s way of keeping everything from happening at once. It’s just too much of a good thing too soon."

But comparisons of the hip-hopper and country star's comments end there.

Judd didn't blog an all-caps opus of a disingenuous apology, delete it and try again. And we're guessing she won't be appearing on a talk show crying and announcing a break from the spotlight.

Instead, she wrote a short and sweet note on her website.

"I understand that my comment about Taylor Swift's Entertainer of the Year nomination came across as a negative statement," she says. "My intent was not to take anything away from her talent and contributions to the country music industry...all of which are truly unprecedented for an artist of ANY age. Taylor is a beautiful, hard working young woman that deserves the success she has had and I support her as an artist and as a woman in the business."

Yeezy, are you paying attention?

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See what else went down last night in our 2009 CMA Awards gallery!