We all know how quickly things happen in Hollywood, and this week is no exception. One day you’re happily married, the next day your husband is sexting other women. We all know how that is, right?

Large Movie Theater Popcorn With Extra Butter

1. Eva Longoria has filed for divorce from husband Tony Parker.  This surprising news came out after several days of her publicists saying the rumors were false, but Eva tweeted the news herself.  Apparently, Tony was sending inappropriate texts to his former teammate’s wife! Yikes, that’s a major no-no.  Sad news, but I’m pretty sure Eva will have someone new and better soon enough.  Who the heck would cheat on her?!  She can wear a jacket without pants for goodness sakes!

2. This.is.bananas: Rachel Zoe is preggers!  The fabulous fashionista has finally admitted she’s pregnant.  We’ve been speculating for the past few months, and now we know for sure!  Rachel tweeted that she and hubby Rodger are “beyond excited.”  Congrats!!  I bet this baby will have the most fantastic outfits and beat out Suri for best dressed kid.

3. Teen Mom, Amber Portwood, has been charged with two counts of felony and a misdemeanor for domestic violence against baby daddy, Gary Shirley.  Amber has responded saying the reports are false and without proof that Leah was there, she can’t be charged for a felony.  MTV has handed over all footage to the authorities in cooperation.  If convicted, Amber faces a $10,000 fine and up to three years in jail.

4. Famous Hollywood publicist, Ronni Chasen, was murdered this week. This is such a strange and sad incident, and investigators are baffled.  Ronni was driving home after attending the “Burlesque” premiere and was shot in the chest five times before crashing into a pole.  She was brought to Cedars-Sinai where she was pronounced dead.  So sad, our thoughts are with her family and friends.

5. Former American Idol, Chris Daughtry and his wife Deanna had twins!  The couple had fraternal twins, Adalynn Rose and Noah James, through a surrogate.  Congrats, you two! Deanna already has a 13-year-old and 11-year-old from a previous marriage.

Small Smartpop Popcorn

1. Mischa Barton has a reality show?  Sadly, this is true.  The starlet wants to be portrayed in a more positive light, so what better way to do that than to have your own show. Sigh. We just want to remember her as Marissa Cooper.

2. Toy Story 3 is gunning for Best Picture at the Academy Awards!  While there’s a separate category for animated pictures, the Pixar team figures, why not? No animated film has ever won for Best Picture, but it looks like Toy Story 3 definitely has a shot.

3. Paranormal Activity 3 is coming next Halloween.  No! Stop it, we don’t need anymore of these scary movies. More Pixar, please!

4. Get excited: Flava Flav is launching is own lines of flavored vodka and fried chicken! Yeah boii!!!

5. Matthew Morrison is so hot I can’t stand it! [Editor Note: neither can we...more topless vaporubs please]

Sometimes I think Lifehouse writes songs with me in mind. It’s like every album they’ve ever put out was talking to me and guiding me through whatever ish was happening in my life at the moment. I can’t tell you how many times I played songs like “Hanging By A Moment” and “You And Me” on repeat over the past ten years. They just pull at my heartstrings empower me to stop moping and start singing to myself in front of my mirror in my undies. And somehow, that makes everything better.

And now, after ten years and 5 million albums sold, Lifehouse is back on the road with Chris Daughtry and their newest album, Smoke and Mirrors to talk to me once again. Literally.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to interview one of the men behind the Lifehouse success: lead singer and songwriter, Jason Wade. I was so excited to have the opportunity to interview him I had a perma-grin spread across my face for an entire week. Lifehouse’s music is some of the most-played on my iPod and, duh, he’s the one writing those most-played songs! How could I not be excited to speak with him!?

And so I did. And I’ll just go ahead and say it: he is a hot commodity. Can I also go out on a limb here and say he has a zexy phone voice? But I guess that just comes with the “lead singer” territory.

5 Questions We Ask Everybody

1. What’s your favorite college memory/most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
Well, I actually barely graduated high school so I don’t really have a college memory. The most trouble I’ve ever been in…we were on tour with Matchbox 20 about 10 years ago and uh, the three of us, it was the first time we were traveling without a tour manager and we were actually an hour early for our flight.  But, we were at the gate and we were having such a good time that we actually just missed our flight, and we almost missed the gig. Luckily we got on the next flight, but it could have been really bad.

2. What are five things you cannot live without?
Computer, iPod, acoustic guitar, some sort of a book… What is that four? Um, my cell phone.

3. What is your motto/advice you live by?
Probably, live every day to the fullest because you don’t know how long you’re going to be around.

4. What is your favorite song to belt out at the bar/car/karaoke?
Let’s go with ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey. That is a guilty pleasure.

5. Ten years from now you will be…
Forty.

Questions We Ask Jason Wade

1. If you could have a room full of anything, what would it be?
Probably those jelly beans, the butter popcorn ones. I like those. A lot of people think they are gross, but I actually like them. I kind of go back and forth, but I was obsessed with them for two years.

2. Who inspired you to get started in the music business?
I would have to say my Mom. It wasn’t really about the business back then per say, I mean I was fifteen when I started playing guitar and for me I was kind of going through a difficult time when my parents got divorced. We moved around a lot so I didn’t have any close connections with any people so I was kind of coming from a place of isolation. I was kind of writing these songs, and as soon as I made some connections in Los Angeles a bunch of these producers and record labels started to freak out on these songs I was writing. So it kind of happened that I wasn’t really looking for it, it just kind of found me when I was fifteen or sixteen.

3. What has been the biggest moment of your career thus far?
We had an opportunity to open for The Rolling Stones for three shows back in 2002-2003. They are one of my favorite bands, so that was definitely a highlight in the last 10 years.

4. If you weren’t successful musical artists right now, what would you be doing instead?
When I was younger I was really into martial arts, I got up to brown belt and I kinda had ambitions to start my own karate studio. But I’m the kind of person that can only do one thing at a time so as soon as I got obsessed with music I put that on the back burner. But if I didn’t have music I might get back into that.

5. What can we expect from your new album Smoke & Mirrors?
This record is different from any other album we’ve made in that there’s way more collaborations. I used to predominantly write most of the songs by myself on acoustic guitar and most of the songs were coming from a really personal place, but I felt like I was at the point in my life where I kinda needed to do a little more co-writing. You know, ‘Hanging by a Moment,’ ‘You and Me’, songs from our first record like ‘Somewhere in Between,’ those were all coming from my personal relationships and stuff. But on this record I felt like I was at a place in my life where there wasn’t a whole lot of drama or turbulence going on. So I reached out to friends like Chris Daughtry to write songs with, Richard Marx, Kevin Rudolph. I wrote with my producer Jude Coal quite a bit, so I did a lot more collaborations with this record than I did in the past.

I think that this record is a bit of a departure for us, but there are songs on here that are a little bit more organic and are a little bit more reminiscent of our first record. So, I think there is something on this record for everybody who enjoys listening to Lifehouse.

The real question is, who doesn’t?

This week was a good, if not totally random, week for music. I mean, who groups Daughtry, Jack White’s the Dead Weather, and the soundtrack to 500 Days of Summer in one category? I do. And I love them all.

Though, in totally different ways.

Chris Daughtry I love in a good-boy rocker kind of way. Jack White I love in a creepy weirdo fascination kind of way. And the 500 Days of Summer I love in a Zooey Deschanel kind of way. I love music in lots of different ways and this week is a prime example of how much my love can vary.

Daughtry – Leave This Town

Chris Daughtry is one of those musicians people of all ages love. I desperately wanted him to win American Idol. So did my mom. But alas, he didn’t. And it’s probably a good thing, because he got the freedom to do whatever he wanted. And now? Many people forget was even on American Idol. Which I think is a sign of a super successful American Idol contestant.

His first album, with his band Daughtry, was a huge hit, so I was totally excited for their second album, Leave This Town. And so far, I’m pretty thrilled with it. I especially love, “Every Time You Turn Around,” with its jungle-like sounds in the background (Hey, I’m a sucker for jungle animals) and “whoo hoos” throughout the song. Lots of the lyrics on the album are super cheesy, which leaves Daughtry in the position of being a rock band, without really being hardcore. I can see a lot of music critics taking issue with this; but I have to respect Daughtry for it. I always love a super nice rocker. I’m pretty sure the slower ballad, “Life After You” is going to be a huge hit because it has a little bit of that “Home” feel to it. And check out the lyrics: “All that I’m after is a lifetime of laughter/As long as I’m laughing with you.” Yes, it’s all cheese, but who doesn’t love cheese? I hope Daughtry sticks around a long time and I know I’ll be listening to their new album for quite a while. And when I’m dealing with an awful break up. This music seems about right for that.

The Dead Weather – Horehound

OK, so I’m a really big White Stripes fan. People are usually really surprised when I tell them this. There’s nothing about me that makes me look like I would be a Jack White lover, but I’m totally into him. And his completely strange relationship with Meg too. He’s just so weird, I can’t help it. Call it just a fascination; I don’t mind, but I do know the White Stripes can sing like whoa and I’ll give a little listen to anything Jack White decides to do. So, cut to me being super excited that he started a new band and just released a new album. The band is The Dead Weather and the album is Horehound. And I like. A lot.

Jack ditches his guitar and goes with the drums instead. He is joined by The Kills’ Alison Mosshart who I think compliments Jack’s voice perfectly. I love “Treat Me Like Your Mother,” probably because it really does sound like the White Stripes would sing. The back and forth between White and Mosshart is awesome and I’ve probably listened to this song about 50 times and am pretty sure I’ll never get tired of it. “Come on look me in the eye/You wanna try to tell a lie/I’ll bet you can’t and you know why/I’m just like your mother.” Every time the song ends, I find myself going, “Whoo, I need more. I’m also totally into the bluesy feel of “Will There Be Enough Water” and the sort of Western feel in “Rocking Horse.” My overall theory is that Jack White can do whatever he wants and I’ll still love him. Probably the creepier the better.

Various Artists – 500 Days of Summer Soundtrack

I usually don’t get very excited about soundtracks. They generally don’t do anything for me, unless it’s a movie I really, really love with a soundtrack that has my favorite artists on it. This lovely combination just doesn’t happen all that often, but when I heard 500 Days of Summer was starring Zooey Deschanel, I immediately thought, “I wonder what the soundtrack will be like!” And you know, it really is good, even if it does only include one song by Zooey’s band She & Him.

I don’t really know too much what the movie is about, but I feel like the soundtrack has given me a really good idea of the general feel of the plot, which I think is a sign of a good soundtrack. I never realized how much I enjoyed The Smiths until I heard them singing “There is a Light That Never Goes Out.” I immediately loved it and wondered why I don’t listen to them more. Of course, I loved She & Him’s version of “Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want,” but I also quite enjoyed The Smiths’ as well. I have to admit I’m not the biggest fan of Regina Spektor (I know. But her voice has always been a bit grating to me), but I actually kind of enjoyed her here. Both of her songs on the soundtrack, “Us” and “Hero” felt especially summery and perfect for what I presume the movie is about.

In fact, that’s what I liked most about the whole album – it’s so summery. From The Black Lips “Bad Kids” to Hall and Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True to Feist’s “Mushaboom” to Mumm-Ra’s “She’s Got You High,” the whole album just screamed fun and summer to me. And how could I not love that? Oh, and bonus (as if you needed more): France’s own Carla Bruni has a light and airy track on there too. Absolutely amazing. Just like 500 days of summer would be.

That’s right ladies: American Idol starts tonight (OMGI’mSoExcited!).

In honor of some of the awesomest entertainment on television, we decided to take a look back at the men we have grown to love over the last eight seasons. Click here to see the ladies.

Will there be another William Hung? Another Ruben? Another Daughtry?

We’ll just have to watch and find out. (Cue the commercial break.)

Nerdy Clay Aiken:

Rockstar, Chris Daughry:

David Archuletta (who sometimes makes us want to be in high school again):

Bo Bice:

Old Man Taylor Hicks:

Ruben Studdard:

Beat Boxing Blake Lewis:

Our personal favorite, William Hung:

American Idol

There, I said it.

How much longer can this go on? I won’t deny that we have found some incredibly talented singers from this show: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry, Fantasia Burrino….Clay Aiken?

But, with that said, there are about 5 MILLION incredible artists playing in bars, clubs, coffee houses, etc. within a block of my apartment. Los Angeles, Manhattan, Austin, and po’ dunk towns with karaoke are cranking out talent as you read this.

It isn’t that the people on the show aren’t talented, it’s that the whole formula is absurd, obvious, limiting and now, boring.

There is ONE SLOT for each sterotype:

-One spot for the young, hardly talented, teenage boy who serves as bait for 10-14 year old viewers.

-One spot for the blonde. The blonde spot is to bait country music lovers, and the 20-28 year old men.

-Only about two spots for the seriously talented African American singers (who tend to be the best ones, but they can’t have ALL THE TOP TEN look like Rubin Studdard…though, they easily could and they’d all be amazing.)

-Two spots for the cheesy, cruise ship type singers, one guy and one girl. These are people pleasers, they’ll be on the attractive side and on the lacking side, as far as talent is concerned. These two people serve as bait for the elderly and the housewives.

-One spot for the rocker chick. This spot is an attempt to get the “alternative crowd” tuned in.

-One spot for the rocker man. This spot is bait for the male viewers between 24-35 (the demographic that buys Daughtry.)

-One spot for a babe. Whose voice will make you want to jump out the window. This is a safe bet, since most of us are shallow and pretty people are like candy to television. Sometimes they’ll make an exception and add two “babe spots”, for our demographic who likes to swoon over pretty boys who could sing us to sleep.

-One spot for a great singer chick who’s unattractive. This spot serves no one, since she’ll get cut in the beginning and will barely be remembered, though she’s probably better than most that make it towards the end.

-One young spot. Guy or girl. This spot serves as “the story,” since we get off on watching crying parents in the audience with pictures of their children plastered across their t-shirts.

Do you feel queasy now too??

If the show were truly based on talent, most of those spots wouldn’t exist. It would be less about the story and more about the artist. There would be more REAL musicians, more VOICES and less vanity, more HEART and less packaged performing- stage left, wink to the camera, stage right, smile at the judges. UGH. Gag me.

I’m tired of sitting through performance after performance of botched versions of Frank Sinatra classics and covering my ears every time a Mariah Carey wannabe takes on one of her untouchable tunes.

Please Lord, put me out of my misery.

Do you think Bob Dylan or Elton John would have ever made it on American Idol? Sadly, I think not….and there are so many artists out there who deserve that opportunity.Is anyone else on the same page? Or do you enjoy this candy-coated crap?

What is going on here? I’ve always loved Kelly Clarkson. In all my years of watching of American Idol, I voted exactly one time and it was for Kelly. I even seriously contemplated dying my hair like the cover of her Thankful album, (with the bright red and platinum blonde streaks). Thankfully, I didn’t– but that’s how much I loved her. Not to mention the fact that nothing is more perfect for a run at the gym or singing along with your car windows down than her last album Breakaway.

So what gives? When I was home over Spring Break, I was shocked when my best friend told me she cringed every time she heard a Kelly Clarkson song.

“WHAT do you mean? I loooove her” I replied in astonishment.

To which my best friend pointed out that on 90% of her songs, Kel screams. “Uch whatever” I thought and I pushed her criticism aside. I mean after all this friend of mine doesn’t like Christina Aguilera OR Chris Daughtry’s voices either- what does she know?!

But the other day I realized… she was right.

I happened to catch her video premiere on TRL for “Never Again” and I was so excited. They even had her live via web cam (she is so cute-I just want to hug her!). But as the music started I realized nothing has changed since she’s been gone- its the same screaming-ranting-hair pulling-angry-rocking out-Kelly Clarkson of “Since you Been Gone” and “Behind These Hazel Eyes”. Check out the video for yourself… the album “My December” was slated for a summer release, but rumor has it, head honcho of Sony BMG-Clive Davis is not impressed with Kelly’s new album and wants to scrap part/all of it. Apparently Ms. Clarkson penned the entire album herself. However, the first single is not being received so well (um I can’t imagine why- maybe cause it uh-sucks?) on the charts.

But I am praying for Kel. she announced her plans for a summer arena tour (and last time I saw her in concert I was rockin o-u-t). My fingers are crossed that the rest of the album is a little more promising.