shanekaslin

4/23/2011 2:30 PM PDT by TMZ Staff  

Singing a crazy ballad of nursery rhymes, Scottish singer Edward Reid wowed the judges of "Britain's Got Talent" and may have earned himself 15 minutes of fame, Susan Boyle style.

Good luck getting this song out of your head.

Guy Ritchie and Joss Stone

Wireimage (2)

Among the Sirs, Ladies, Dukes, Kings, Queens and Prime Ministers invited to Westminster Abbey on Friday for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, are the names of a handful of stars, including Joss Stone and director Guy Ritchie, as well as previously reported invited guests Elton John and Victoria and David Beckham.

"Guy Ritchie is a friend of Prince William and Miss Middleton," reads a description beneath the director's name on the official guest list. William has been spotted with Ritchie at the director's popular London pub, Punch Bowl. Stone, described as an "English Soul singer and songwriter," performed at Princess Diana's memorial concert in 2007.

Also on the list: Mr. Bean star Rowan Atkinson, a friend of Prince Charles's, Australian Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe, official royal engagement portrait photographer Mario Testino, members of the British Royal Family as well as foreign royals such as the King of Swaziland, the King of Tonga, Prince Constantine of Greece, The Queen of Spain and Sheikh Ahmad Hmoud Al-Sabah of Kuwait.

As for the seating chart, which was also released, Middleton's immediate family and friends have been placed in the "north lantern" of the Abbey, sharing the aisle with the British Royal Family. The Spencer family and foreign royals are directly behind, and off to the sides in will be Prince William's friends and diplomats.

Courtesy Technomarine

Marlon Brando?s grandson, the son of his daughter Cheyenne Jackson, is showing off an artistic new side of himself in an ad for watch brand TechnoMarine. Tuki Brando, who is no stranger to the modeling world with former experience working it for Versace and others, wears a sleek watch over one eye like a patch in the striking campaign, which was created to resemble a gallery of portraits. A release from the company explains his appeal, ?He has inherited his looks from his grandfather Marlon, but decided not to follow in his footsteps. He is creating his own trail and pursues a medical career.? He joins other stars including Taiwanese model Chin Hsi, Harry Potter baddie Arben Bajraktaraj and Slovakian model Ivana Vancov, who all sport the watch the same way. The campaign will launch in May with new faces being added every year. Get a glimpse behind the scenes of the campaign with all the famous faces below. Tell us: What do you think of Technomarine?s new ad campaign??Kim Peiffer

Edited by Melissa Liebling-Goldberg

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VH1?s NYC offices welcomed singer/guitarist Lissie and her band earlier this afternoon. Lissie is an upcoming You Oughta Know artist, so we were happy to host her amid what?s apparently been a busy schedule for the band. They left our offices already packed for their Australian tour that starts Wednesday, debating whether Lissie would have time to go home to Ojai during their extended layover in Los Angeles tomorrow (they decided no) but thankful that they at least had time for a trip to In ?N? Out.

While the band was here, they performed an exclusive four-song live set for You Oughta Know Live, which will be available on VH1.com shortly. Until then, here?s the inside scoop!

Lissie got her start as a singer-songwriter, so the band she recruited makes sense: Lewis Keller on bass and drums and Eric Sullivan on ?lead? guitar. Before you ask: ?bass and drums? means that Keller plays bass seated in front of a hi-hat, a bass drum, and a snare on its side with a kick-pedal, so between his hands and his feet, he is the rhythm section. And Sullivan may play the solos and occasionally arpeggiate, but everything is built up around Lissie?s guitar chords and vocal melody.

Lissie has gotten quite a bit of radio play in Europe, but until recently, she was mostly known in the United States for the songs she?s licensed to television shows and films. ?When I?m Alone,? with which she opened today?s set, won 2010 Song of the Year on iTunes UK, but ?Little Lovin?,? which she played last, is better-known here?from ads for the new season of Justified.

Of late Lissie has gained a whole slew of American fans for a number of cover songs, including Lady Gaga?s ?Bad Romance,? Metallica?s ?Until It Sleeps,? and Kid Cudi?s ?Pursuit of Happiness.? She played one such cover as part of her set today. To find out which one, check back for the whole set, which will go live on our site soon!

Setlist: ?When I?m Alone? / [cover] / ?In Sleep? / ?Little Lovin??

Okay, when we first read John C. Reily might be in The Hunger Games, we couldn?t imagine it. The man played Sasquatch in Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny! Then again, Reilly also has an Oscar-nomination for Chicago, so maybe we can average the two and come out with the perfect lumbering, bear-like role for him to play. According to New York Mag, the Cyrus star is in talks to portray Haymitch Abernathy, the gruff, usually inebriated mentor to Jennifer Laurence?s Katniss and Josh Hutcherson?s Peeta, as well as the only living Hunger Games winner from District 12. We just hope people will get past Reilly?s comic persona from movies like Step Brothers, and remember the pitiful oafs he played in The Hours, Year of the Dog, and?well, basically every other film he?s ever been in. Actually, now that we think of it, Haymitch is the role he was born to play!

[Photo: Splash News Online]

By DAVID WEINER

Colin Firth earned this year's Best Actor Academy Award for his portrayal of England's King George VI, who dreaded public speaking due to his serious stammering problem. After the ordeal of a particularly painful public oration, the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon), and the scandalous abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII (Guy Pearce), the new king recruits unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to help him overcome his impediment and lead his country into World War II. Nominated for a total of 12 Oscars, the film was crowned Best Picture of the year.

Special features include audio commentary with director Tom Hooper; the 20-minute behind-the-scenes featurette "Making of The King's Speech"; archival footage of the actual King George VI and his speeches; and much more.

4/16/2011 2:20 PM PDT by TMZ Staff  

Famous designer Bijan Pakzad died today in Los Angeles, this according to reports.

He suffered a stroke Thursday night and was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medial Center.

Jimmy Delshad, former two-time mayor of Beverly Hills, confirmed the news via Twitter: "It is with sadness in my heart that I share the terrible news of Bijan passing away. May he rest in peace."

Bijan was a legend in the fashion and perfume biz and designed clothes for movie stars and world leaders. His Rodeo Drive boutique is known as the most expensive store in the world.

Tags: Bijan Pakzad, R.I.P., Sponsored By Madea's Big Happy Family, Fashion

The Croisette is in full bloom this year.

There will be plenty of flashbulbs popping at the 64th Cannes Film Festival as Brad Pitt and Sean Penn walk the red carpet on behalf of Terrence Malick's new film, Tree of Life, while Johnny Depp turns up for the world premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

The three are among a bevy of Tinseltown stars and acclaimed international filmmakers heading to the French Riviera next month for the annual 10-day affair that kicks off May 11 with Woody Allen's latest, Midnight In Paris, starring Rachel McAdams, Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard and Adrien Brody.

MORE: Take a look back at E! Online's coverage of the 2010 Cannes Film Festival

Heading up the Cannes jury this year is all-around goodfella Robert De Niro who, with a panel of judges that's yet to be unveiled, will decide which among the 19 movies in competition will receive the coveted Palme d'Or, or Golden Palm.

No doubt, Malick's Tree of Life, the sole U.S. entry, will be a strong contender, especially since festival organizers waited over a year for the famed director to finish work on the secretive period piece, which follows a young Texan's journey from innocence to adulthood in the 1950s.   

Another notable title sure to please cinephiles and star-watchers alike will be Drive, an action drama from Danish helmer Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson) about a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver and learns that a contract has been put out on his life after a heist goes wrong. The flick, which stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks and Albert Brooks, unspools Stateside in September.

Refn's fellow Dane, Mr. Enfant Terrible himself, Lars von Trier, will also be vying for the top prize with his sci-fi melodrama, Melancholia, headlined by  Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland and Charlotte Rampling in a story about two sisters who find their relationship challenged as a nearby planet threatens to collide with earth.

Other notable entries include: Pedro Almodovar's The Skin That I Live In, which reunites him with Antonio Banderas and will be the first time one of his movies premieres at Cannes before being released in his native Spain; British director Lynne Ramsay's much buzzed about drama, We Need To Talk About Kevin, featuring John C. Reilly and Tilda Swinton; Belgian sibling auteurs and Cannes veterans Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's Set Me Free; and Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti's We Have a Pope, starring Michel Piccoli.

Screening in the sidebar category, Un Certain Regard, will be Gus Van Sant's Restless with Mia Wasikowska and Jane Adams; Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene, starring Elizabeth Olsen playing a damaged woman escaping a cult; and The Day He Arrives from Korean director Hong Sangsoo, who won the Un Certain Regard honor last year.

As usual, there will be a number of films screening out of competition that will provide plenty of star wattage, chief among them the new Pirates Of the Caribbean flick, which will see Penelope Cruz grace the Croissette; and Jodie Foster's quirky drama, The Beaver, which may or may not mark the big screen comeback of Mel Gibson.

All told, this year's Cannes Film Festival, which runs May 11 through May 22, sports 49 feature films from 33 different countries including 44 world premieres.

Here's a complete rundown of the flicks competing for the Palme d'Or:

? Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark)
? Footnote, Josef Cedar (Israel)
? Hanezu no Tsuki, Naomi Kawase (Japan)
? Hara-kiri: Death of a Samurai, Takashi Miike (Japan)
? Le Gamin Au Vélo (Set Me Free) Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (France)
? L'apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close), Bertrand Bonello (France)
? Le Havre, Aki Kaurismaki (Finland-France-Germany)
? Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey)
? Melancholia, Lars von Trier (Denmark-Sweden-France-Germany-Italy)
? Michael, Markus Schleinzer (Austria)
? Pater, Alain Cavalier (France)
? Polisse, Maiwenn (France)
? The Skin That I Live In, Pedro Almodovar (Spain)
? Sleeping Beauty, Julia Leigh (Australia)
? La Source des Femmes, Radu Mihaileanu (Belgium-Italy-France)
? This Must Be the Place, Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)
? The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick (U.S.)
? We Have a Pope, Nanni Moretti (Italy-France)
? We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay (U.K.)

PHOTOS: Cannes 2011  Buzz Films