andjohan, Flickr

For job interviews, it used to be enough to just show up in a nice suit, answer some perfunctory questions and be on your way.

But these days, some companies have changed the interview process so much that candidates wind up feeling as though they’re trying out for a reality TV show instead of simply vying for a 9-5 paycheck.

The Los Angeles Times calls the trend “extreme interviewing,” and cites the example of one company that made internship hopefuls write 13 different 140-character messages on Twitter to illustrate why they should be chosen for the gig.

In addition, other interviewees are now often asked questions for which there is no right answer, like, “If Germans were the tallest people in the world, how would you prove it?” or “On a scale of 1 to 10, how weird are you?”

The popular Pinkberry chain even asks potential hires to act out fake commercials and come up with marketing plans for hypothetical new products — and that’s just for a job scooping frozen yogurt. In a statement, the company said such exercises “allow us to see immediate impact on team connectedness, demonstrate service and leadership skills and unveil entrepreneurial spirit.”

Bottom line: the next time you have an interview, keep in mind that while you probably won’t have to eat anything icky in ‘Fear Factor’ style, you may very well have to prove your worth in a variety of bizarre ways.

[Time]

YouTube

Mike Myers has never been nominated for an Academy Award. A fact that shouldn’t shock anybody who has seen ‘The Love Guru.’

But despite this oversight, Myers is still a very talented actor. Don’t believe us? Check out his hilarious turn as Oscar etiquette expert Sir Cecil Worthington in this promotional video for the 2012 Academy Awards.

It seems Kevin Kline, a 1989 Academy Award winner for ‘A Fish Called Wanda,’ has been mistreating his statuette.

So the Academy has asked Worthington to retrain Kline on the ways of handling the world’s most famous golden midget. As you can see, Kline proves a worthy pupil. And Worthington, who is so obsessed with the eight-and-a half pound prize that he doesn’t even have time to watch any movies, drops all kinds of Oscar knowledge as he teaches Kline the error of his ways.

But what it all boils down to, really, is that an Oscar winner must remember to keep the statuette on an even surface. All you future Oscar winners out there take note.

Source: TheFW.com

Mike Coppola, Getty Images

Even with ‘Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)’ commanding the charts as the No. 1 song in the country, Kelly Clarkson fans are eagerly looking forward to the next single from the original ‘American Idol‘ champion’s latest album, ‘Stronger.’ Clarkson hinted in a recent Z100 interview that it could be ‘Dark Side.’

“Maybe, yeah, that’s one we’re thinking about,” Clarkson said in response to a question about ‘Dark Side’ as the third single. “There’s only a couple slower songs on the record. It’s very much a cardio kind of album. I like ‘Dark Side’ cause it’s still got a beat to it, but it’s a sweet song. It’s a sweet-sounding song but it’s kind of a darker lyric, and I like that.”

So it sounds like nothing has been officially decided, but ‘Dark Side’ is the leading contender to be the next single. The song, which features Clarkson singing, “Everybody’s got a dark side / Do you love me / Can you love mine,” was produced by Greg Kurstin, who also co-wrote and produced the ‘Stronger’ track.

In the interview, Clarkson also revealed a near disaster before her performance of the national anthem at the Super Bowl when she boarded the plane to Indianapolis without her dress. “We were on the plane, and Ashley, my makeup artist, looks at me and goes, ‘Where’s your dress?’” Fortunately, they were flying via private charter, so just before takeoff, her tour manager stopped the plane and rushed back to get the outfit. Clarkson said, “I was like, ‘I don’t think Spanx alone is gonna be hot. I think I’m gonna need a dress!’”

Source: PopCrush.com

Thinkstock/Jason Kempin, Getty/Thinkstock/Thinkstock

The Academy Awards take place this weekend. It’s Hollywood’s biggest night and it might be yours, too, if you go to a good Oscars party. If you do wrangle an invite, make sure to avoid any of the following people, who typically show up at an Oscars bash.

The woman who loves ‘Titanic’

Thinkstock/Paramount Pictures

People who survived the legendary boat’s sinking didn’t have as tough a time moving on as this woman does from the fact the 1997 movie’s moment in the sun is over. This woman constantly brings up how romantic the love story was, how sad the ending was and how Leonardo DiCaprio failing to pick up a best actor nomination was the biggest disgrace in Hollywood since ‘Ishtar.’ And don’t even get her started on how much she loves Kate Winslet.

The woman who thinks she’s Joan Rivers

Jason Kempin, Getty Images

Yup, this woman is convinced she’s on E!’s ‘Fashion Police.’ She always has to give her opinion on what so-and-so is wearing and make some sort of snide remark, like she’s testing out material to use at her next open mic night. We get it — Bjork looked weird in her swan dress. That reference is over a decade old.

The gossip

Kevin Winter, Getty Images/Thinkstock

A one-person TMZ, this annoying partygoer is the Lisa Turtle of the party. When Jennifer Aniston walks out onto the stage to present an award, the gossip immediately feels the need to remind everyone about her well-known romantic history and usually punctuates it with a dated reference like, “I still can’t believe she couldn’t make it work with Vince Vaughn. They seemed so good together.” She needs to jump in the time machine she shares with the ‘Titanic’ fan and push 2012.

The dude

Joe Shlabotnik, Flickr

Generally speaking, Oscar parties are not the most masculine of events, but chances are there’s at least one guy there. And somehow he’s great friends with every woman in attendance. They all love him – like a brother – yet no one knows why he’s been single since his tragic fourth grade breakup. What no one seems to realize is he’s been harboring a crush on one of the women there since the ‘80s, but he’s gotten so far into the “friend zone” that it would take a team of EMS rescue workers to dig him out.

The person who has to get up early the next morning

Thinkstock

Why this person came to the party remains as big a mystery as why exactly he or she has to get up early. It’s a matter shrouded in secrecy because you can’t get a straight answer when you ask why they have to be up early. He or she feels compelled to tell everyone that they have a 3 am flight the next morning, claiming it’s “for work” and “I guess I’ll just sleep on the plane.” Next time, don’t go to an Oscar party, buddy. The show is never under three hours.

The woman who is always surprised

Thinkstock

No matter the winner, this person is stunned, as if the academy is pulling some sort of joke. When Natalie Portman won best actress for ‘Black Swan,’ she was in a state of disbelief matched only by the test audience for any non-animated Eddie Murphy movie, even though Portman was considered the frontrunner. This person is also the type to be caught off-guard when Meryl Streep picks up her annual nomination for whatever movie required her to wear a wig and adopt a British accent this year. “Doesn’t Meryl already have enough nominations??,” the surprised woman bellows, to anyone within earshot.

The person who hasn’t seen a movie in a really, really long time

Warner Bros/Thinkstock

The Oscars are not the best event to play catch up. If the last Academy Award-winning film you saw was ‘Out of Africa,’ then you’re probably not the ideal person to attend an Oscars bash. This person usually says things like, “I haven’t seen ‘American Beauty’ yet, but it’s in my Netflix queue” or “I had ‘The Departed’ in my Netflix queue, but it never got shipped to me” or “Someone hacked into my Netflix account just before I was supposed to get ‘Gangs of New York.’” Maybe the moral is you shouldn’t have a Netflix account.

The ‘Movie buff’

Thinkstock

You know this snob. Midway through the evening, this self-proclaimed connoisseur starts talking about how great the cinematography in ‘The Artist’ was. Here’s a little-known fact: no one cares about the cinematography. The cinematographer barely cares about the cinematography. So when this person starts blabbing on about how ‘Hugo’ is an homage to the work of French surrealist filmmaker George Méliès, make sure you have a blunt object at the ready to hurl in their general direction.

Source: TheFW.com

Tasos Katopodis, Getty Images

J. Cole is going to back to school. Well, sort of. The Roc Nation rapper has teamed up with green company REVERB for his Campus Consciousness / The Sideline Story Tour this spring. Besides performing songs from his latest album ‘Cole World: The Sideline Story,’ Hollywood Cole will also teach students how they can save the environment.

“My music gives me a platform to reach a lot of young people,” he said. “I’m happy to be partnering with REVERB to engage my fans and hope they’ll get on board with these positive environmental messages.”

The 17-city jaunt kicks off April 4 in Kingston, R.I., where he will be visiting the campus of the University of Rhode Island. J. Cole will also hit his home state of North Carolina for a performance on April 21. The entire trek wraps up on May 4 in South Orange, N.J.

J. Cole is a proud graduate from New York’s St. John’s University with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in communications and a minor in business. As a university grad, Cole should be able to connect with his collegiate fans on his eco-friendly tour.

J. Cole’s Campus Consciousness Spring 2012 / The Sideline Story Tour Dates:

4/11 /12 – Kingston, R.I. (University Of Rhode Island) | The Ryan Center
4/13/12 – Babson Park, Mass. | Private Location
4/14/12 – Waterville, Maine (Colby College) | Wadsworth Arena
4/15/12 – Amherst, Mass. | Private Location
4/17/12 – Champaign, Ill. (University of Illinois) | Assembly Hall Theatre
4/18/12 – Dekalb, Ill. (Northern Illinois University) | Convocation Center
4/19/12 – Lexington, Ky. (University of Kentucky) | Memorial Coliseum
4/20/12 – Johnstown, Penn. (University of Pittsburgh Johnstown) | Sports Center
4/21/12 – Greensboro, N.C. (UNC Greensboro & North Carolina A&T) | White Oak Amphitheatre
4/23/12 – Springfield, Mo. (Drury University) | O’Reilly Center
4/24/12 – Cedar Falls, Iowa (University of Northern Iowa) | McLeod Center
4/26/12 – Bloomsburg, Penn. (Bloomsburg College) | Nelson
4/27/12 – Morgantown, W.V. (West Virginia University) | WVU Coliseum
4/28/12 – Philadelphia, Penn. (Temple University) | The Liacouras Center
4/29/12 – TBA
5/3/12 – Durham, N.H. (University of New Hampshire) | Whitmore Center Arena
5/4/12 – South Orange, N.J. | Private Location

Source: PopCrush.com

Henry S. Dziekan III, Getty Images/GQ

Anyone picked up the latest issue of GQ? Well, this time around you should ’cause Trey Songz got himself a nice little spread in there, looking suave as hell. The photos aren’t available online yet, so now’s the time to run to a newsstand and find out exactly what we’re talking about. (Or, we suppose, you can just wait that extra week or so until it hits the web.)

Trey’s GQ pics were a much needed reminder of how sexy he is. We already knew this, but lately he’s been getting upstaged in the news by Chris Brown and that singing president of ours. He’s also proving himself to be quite the style icon. (Maybe even more stylish than Kanye West. Is that blasphemous to say?)

Vibe Magazine

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Twitter, @treysongz

Andrew H. Walker/Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Daniel Barry, Getty Images

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says wireless resources are not infinite.

In fact, the smartphones to which we’re all so addicted are gobbling so much bandwidth that as early as next year, we could be paying more for our service — not to mention seeing slower data speeds and an increase in dropped calls.

The FCC calls the issue “spectrum crunch” and officials there are worried it could be a very real problem, with one saying, “Network traffic is increasing … [Carriers] can manage it for the next couple years, but demand is inevitably going to exceed the available spectrum.”

Rory Altman, director of technology consultancy Altman Vilandrie & Co., added, “We got into this principally because technology and demand exploded at a rate that nobody had anticipated.”

The current wireless spectrum is distributed among companies and entities unevenly, with some having more than they need and others having too little. In early March, Congress is expected to vote on an FCC plan to hold incentive auctions that would help balance things out, something FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski says would not only help to free up spectrum resources but would also greatly benefit the US Treasury.

[CNN Money]

Gareth Cattermole, Getty Images

Believe it or not, there are still some members of the American public who don’t own Adele‘s ’21′ album. However, that pool is a lot smaller than it used to be, after nearly three-quarters of a million people purchased the record last week, giving ’21′ by far its biggest sales week yet.

As reported by Billboard, the 730,000 copies eclipses the album’s previous best week, when it sold 399,000 during the Christmas shopping season. The surge in sales comes after Adele was the star of the 2012 Grammy Awards, taking home all six awards for which she was nominated, including Album of the Year.

Appropriately, ’21′ has now spent 21 weeks at No. 1 on the album chart. That passes the 20-week reign of Whitney Houston‘s ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack. It ties for the 8th-most weeks at No. 1 in history with MC Hammer‘s ‘Please, Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em.’ The next targets for Adele: Prince‘s ‘Purple Rain’ and the ‘Saturday Night Fever’ soundtrack, which both spent 24 weeks atop the chart.

Here’s another interesting piece of trivia: Not counting albums that have been out for less than a month, and excluding the Christmas season (when album sales typically go through the roof), the 730,000 copies Adele sold of ’21′ this week are the second-most by any album in any week in history, behind only the 848,000 the ‘Titanic’ soundtrack sold during Valentine’s week in 1998.

Adele’s debut album, ’19,’ also sees a huge sales surge, shooting up to No. 4. The remarkable vocalist’s remarkable success just won’t quit!

Source: PopCrush.com

A composer, comedy songwriter and documentary filmmaker, Hill said he plans to establish a “Senate for Terrestrial Alien Relations,” replace military war machines with flying discs and release all top secret government UFO files on both DVD and Blu-Ray.

As if that wasn’t enough, Hill also wants to build giant stone pyramids near the Hollywood sign, Pikes Peak and Alcatraz Island. The Statue of Liberty will need to be replaced too. But don’t worry, says Hill, a nifty monument to Zaxon, who he describes as “the leader of the good aliens,” will go in its place. Got all that? Good. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to go work on our tinfoil hats.

Would you vote for UFO Phil? Is he any crazier than fellow candidate, self-proclaimed “friendly fascist”/wizard Vermin Supreme?

Source: TheFW.com

My Fox Atlanta

At Atlanta pizzeria is receiving both cheers — and jeers — for the notice it recently printed on its menus asking parents of noisy children to take their kids outside.

After Donnie Parmer, co-owner of Grant Central Pizza, got an abundance of complaints (both in person and on the review site Yelp) about screaming or unruly children in his restaurant, he added the following notice to the bottom of his menus:

Dear all present and future patrons: GCP is proud of its reputation as a family restaurant, a title that we will work to keep. Unfortunately a number of our diners have posted unpleasant experiences because of crying and unsupervised children. To ensure that all diners have an enjoyable lunch or dinner with us we respectfully ask that parents tend to their crying tots outside.”

Parmer says that while he likes kids and Grant Central Pizza is a family establishment, it’s not fair for little ones to disrupt the entire dining room. He cites an incident in which a child hit an adult patron in the head with a toy as the last straw that made him print the public notice.

While some parents are offended, saying “noise is just part of the experience in a family restaurant,” other customers applauded the gesture and said it’ll make them more likely to visit the restaurant.

[My Fox Atlanta]

consumerist, Flickr

Does your job make the world a better or worse place? That’s what 30,000 workers were asked last year — and their answers have given researchers a lot to talk about.

Salary comparison site PayScale conducted the survey in which people were asked the question and told to choose from the answer options of “very much so,” “yes,” “a little,” “no” and “My job may make the world a worse place.”

While only one percent picked the last answer, the New York Times was curious about what types of jobs those people had, so PayScale investigated further. Here are the top 10 occupations that had the highest shares of workers saying they thought their jobs made the world a worse place:

• Fast-Food Worker: 42.3 percent
• Bartender: 5.8 percent
• Senior Attorney: 4.9 percent
• Fashion Designer: 4.1 percent
• Associate – Investment Banking: 3.8 percent
• Legal Assistant: 3.6 percent
• Account Executive, Advertising: 3.4 percent
• Claims Adjuster / Examiner / Investigator: 3.3 percent
• Personal Banker: 3.2 percent
• Petroleum Engineer: 3.1 percent

Although a lot of people would take issue with bartenders thinking they don’t make the world a better place, analysts noted two of the 10 spots were banking professions — possibly a reflection of the economic downturn that happened largely at the hands of Wall Street executives.

Sorted by industry, here are the top 10 fields in which employees said their jobs make the world a worse place (the number one slot isn’t a terrible surprise):

• Tobacco Manufacturing: 15.9 percent
• Gambling Industries: 5 percent
• Gasoline Stations: 4.4 percent
• Limited-Service Eating Places (e.g., Fast-Food Restaurants): 2.8 percent
• Beer, Wine and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers: 2.1 percent
• Petroleum and Petroleum Products Merchant Wholesalers: 1.9 percent
• Legal Services: 1.8 percent
• Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing: 1.7 percent
• Jewelry, Luggage and Leather Goods Stores: 1.7 percent
• Advertising and Related Services: 1.6 percent

[The New York Times]

Mark Metcalfe / Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images

Some celebrities use their Twitter accounts to share behind-the-scenes details of their lives and careers; for others, it’s mainly just a way to promote their latest project. But for Chris Brown, the popular social networking site seems to be mainly a public forum for venting about whatever — or whoever — is making him angry. Case in point: Brown’s recent Twit-beef with wrestler CM Punk.

It all started when CM (or is that Mr. Punk?) issued a challenge to Brown on Feb. 19, referencing his arrest for assaulting Rihanna by tweeting, “I would like @chrisbrown fight somebody that can defend themselves. Me curb stomping that turd would be a #wrestlemania moment.”

That’s all it took to produce a flurry of back-and-forth barbs between the wrestler and the singer, including Brown accusing Punk of being such a heavy steroid user that it’s “utterly impossible for him pleasure a women [sic]” and Punk daring Brown to “put some gloves on and get in the ring” before shrugging, “I know none of these things will happen because Chris Brown isn’t a man.”

Punk made the latter comments during a TwitVid dedicated to upping the ante in the feud while insisting, “I’m not here to start controversy, or to gain publicity, or anything like that.” (Smooth.) Never one to leave an insult alone, Brown retorted, “the video u just posted was cute! It’s so funny how defensive u are. And the fact that I really don’t know who you are and could give a s— is the funny part!”

It was just the first salvo in a rant that found Brown insisting that he’s “never ‘ANGRY’ when I speak my mind on Twitter” and lamenting “I miss the real wrestlers” before promising, “today will be the last day I bring @cmpunk existence up! The confrontations that people continuously bring my way are very amusing.”

This latest feud seems to have run its course, but given that we’re only two months into the year and we’ve already seen Brown taking on everyone from random haters to Miranda Lambert, it seems likely that we’ll see Brown blasting more enemies before 2012 is through. Who’s next — Josh Groban? Rachael Ray? Louis CK? Tight pickle jar lids? Anything is possible.

Source: PopCrush.com

tpauly, Flickr

Despite what many a working stiff might think, men do not wear neckties to facilitate strangulation when their bosses are less than pleased with their work.

So, why do men wear this variable, often quite fashionable, and utterly useless piece of business attire?

The answer lies in history, and Europe’s Thirty Years’ War. The logistics of that 17^th century conflict are messy, to say the least, and the various alliances hard to follow. What is worth note here was the extensive use of Croatian mercenaries. Croatian soldiers, fashion innovators that they were, wore scarves around their necks as part of their uniforms, which were called kravatas.

French soldiers must have thought the Croats looked pretty smashing in their rustic scarves. Military personnel brought the idea of wearing neckties back to France, where King Louis XIV quickly introduced ‘la cravate’ to high society. Neckties soon became all the rage. Wearing a cravate allowed you to show off your individual style, by altering the size and length of the tie, as well as the colors and patterns swimming across the cloth.

The word ‘cravat,’ which owes its origins to ‘Croatian,’ eventually became ‘tie’ in English. While the design and manner of wearing a tie have evolved over the years, the ubiquity and cross-cultural relevance of this little strip of fabric simply prove that ties are here to stay.

[Time]

jdangson, YouTube

For some mysterious reason, February 23rd is known as International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day. It seems likely that dogs managed to get a hold of a calendar somewhere and decided to mark this day, so to speak, in order to get more treats. Clever pups.

In celebration of this delicious day for dogs and the crafty canine who must have made it so, we found a selection of videos involving dogs and treats and what dogs will do for the love of biscuits.

Little Dog Steals Biscuits From Big Dog

This brave (and treat-crazed) Yorkie steals a biscuit from a rather large, but patient, pit bull. We don’t advise taking biscuits from a bigger dog, but we can understand why the little dog would do so. Look how much more he gets.

Impressive Eye Trick

This little guy will risk having his eyes stick that way for a biscuit. We’ve never seen a dog cross his eyes on command before, so this trick definitely deserves a treat. But, please, save his eyes and teach him to roll over too.

Find the Hidden Biscuit

Victor the German Shepherd has to use his powerful sense of smell to figure out where his favorite treat has been hidden. Dogs know that the best use of their nose is for finding their delicious biscuits, no matter where the humans hide them.

Synchronized Biscuit Eating

Time to double the treat fun with more German Shepherds. This pair of pups waits serenely for the command to toss the treats off their noses and catch them. They deserve many biscuits because they have coordinated their efforts in a virtual dog biscuit ballet.

Extreme Patience Wins a Biscuit

These two patient pooches endure a long and excruciating waiting period before they get their biscuits. Certainly, they must go to some very Zen, dog happy place to sit so still and wait so patiently for the command to eat their beloved biscuits.

Tricks With Biscuits For Biscuits

Last year, we showed you this talented dog who can balance a giant stack of treats on his nose with ease. Here he is again, lying on his back, balancing biscuits on his chin and paws. Knick knack paddywack, give this dog a bone.

Even Cats Like Dog Biscuits

This sneaky little thief proves that it’s not just dogs who love dog treats. And, his dark coloring gives him a stealthy advantage, although he seems to have been caught in the act this time.

Pooch With Amazing Balloon Popping Skills

Strangely enough, this dog appears to prefer balloons to biscuits. She even holds a Guinness Book of World Records title for popping 100 balloons in 44.49 seconds. Anastasia, you deserve a biscuit.

Give a Dog a Biscuit Over Twitter

To celebrate the day, you can give the lovely Sela a treat through the miracle of modern technology and the internet with this robotic instant message treat dispenser. We can’t tell if this is actually working right now, but you can follow @seladog on Twitter and give her a treat from there.

Not a Dog Biscuit, But a Dog, “Biscuit”

This dog named Biscuit is a skilled climber. She loves rock climbing with her owner and has gotten to new heights with her talent. We don’t see it here, but we do hope she gets a biscuit after a good climb.

Source: TheFW.com

Dave Hogan (3), Getty Images

British citizens should be proud of their fellow brethren Adele, Coldplay and Florence + the Machine, thanks to their performances at the 2012 BRIT Awards last night (Feb. 21.) They should also adopt Rihanna, because the Bajan beauty also brought the house down with her performance.

Like at the 2012 Grammy Awards, Adele performed ‘Rolling in the Deep,’ which is the song that kicked off the massive success of the much-worshiped ’21.’ Adele looked classy and beautiful with bouffant hair and a black dress. Once again, she proved her voice rebounded just fine from surgery. Her performance was strong and strikingly similar to that which she turned in at the Grammys. Her lashes were so long we worried she might float away if she batted them too much. If you look close and hit rewind, you can see that massive diamond on her left hand.

RiRi performed her smash hit ‘We Found Love’ with dancers encased in block-like structures on stage. She also chose to forego pants in favor of a baggy, white sweatshirt-type top and construction boots. Despite being dressed down, it was typical sexalicious Rihanna, rocking huge hoop earrings. Given her recent remixes with her ex Chris Brown, the lyrics feel all the more autobiographical. The choreography was banging, too.

RiRi’s ‘Princess of China’ cohorts, Coldplay, brought the rock as they opened the show. With explosions going off in the background, they performed ‘Charlie Brown’ in the middle of the crowd. Few rock as flawlessly as Chris Martin and company. Their fellow countrymen ought to be proud.

Our favorite redhead Florence Welch delivered another epic performance. When doesn’t she, right? She was surrounded by peasant-like dancers that cavorted on the floor as she radiated while standing in a gold column gown. Gorgeous as always. There was also a lot of light on the stage, despite her performing ‘No Light, No Light.’ She’s another British vocal treasure.

Watch Adele Perform ‘Rolling in the Deep’

Watch Rihanna Perform ‘We Found Love’

Watch Coldplay Perform ‘Charlie Brown’

Watch Florence + the Machine Perform ‘No Light, No Light’

Source: PopCrush.com

Obama has just finished thanking all the musicians who attended the concert, which included Jeff Beck, B.B. King and Mick Jagger, when legendary blues man Buddy Guy goaded him into singing the blues classic. “I heard you singing Al Green,” Guy said. “You’ve started something. You’ve got to keep it up now.”

At first, Obama tried to refuse. But then, Jagger passed the microphone and the POTUS launched into a surprisingly tuneful rendition. What do you think? Could Obama have a second career as a blues singer?

Watch Obama perform ‘Let’s Stay Together’ below.

Source: TheFW.com

YouTube

‘Super Bass’ isn’t the only tune Sophia Grace Brownlee has hidden up her sleeve! The tutu-wearing 8-year-old made yet another appearance on her girl Ellen Degeneres’ talk show, and alongside her 5-year-old backup dancing cousin Rosie, the little Brit tore through Nicki Minaj‘s ‘Moment 4 Life’ without a single misstep.

Seriously, Sophia Grace really impressed us this time around. She kept up with Nicki Minaj’s pace throughout the entire song, and even threw in some of that sassy, Harajuku Barbie attitude during certain points. Rosie is also really growing more comfortable in the spotlight! Even though Rosie didn’t sing or rap with her big cousin, she did bust out some entertaining dance moves while looking absolutely adorable in her pink, orange and yellow ballerina princess getup.

Can these little girls please receive a small round of applause? We really think Sophia Grace is a born star, and we really hope this isn’t a cutesy gimmick that fade with time. Anybody who can rap like that at the age of 8, whether they wrote the rhymes or just memorized them from the radio, deserves some serious props!

Watch Sophia Grace + Rosie Perform ‘Moment 4 Life’ on ‘Ellen’

Source: PopCrush.com

Vogue

Nicki Minaj has the blues.

In a photo from her Vogue feature, pop music’s colorful pink lady is painted blue. It’s not quite a Smurfette shade but it’s a rich turquoise that one might expect from the often candy-coated ‘Super Bass’ singer. Is she trying out for a role as a Na’vi in the next installment of ‘Avatar?’ Nah, she’s just posing for the fashion bible.

Wrapped in lowcut, drapey scarlet red dress accessorized with a pink curly wig, a belt and over-the-elbow gloves, Minaj looks mature and grown up, not to mention incredibly fashion forward. The animated, cartoonish element of her image falls by the wayside in this frame-worthy shot.

Minaj declares that she’d “do a really good job as a prosecutor” if she followed her initial desire to be a lawyer. She also reveals she lives in a condo in Los Angeles, due to the weather and to escape “bad memories” back east.

She also refers to her outrageous get ups as “costumes, not outfits,” revealing that many are custom-made or imported from Japan.

Source: PopCrush.com

At first, this young girl’s trick may not seem all that impressive. But try it yourself. It’s definitely not as easy as it looks. We got about halfway through before throwing in the towel.

How exactly does she pull off this amazing closed-mouth feat? Is she throwing her voice? Does she have a mini speaker hidden somewhere in her mouth? If anyone has an explanation for this odd (but impressive) trick, we’d like to hear it.

Source: TheFW.com

Here’s a look at this year’s nominees in the major categories. Let your voice be heard and tell us who you think will win!

‘Hugo’ leads the way with 11 nominations. Will it end the evening with the most wins? You tell us:

Paramount/DreamWorks/DreamWorks

Frazer Harrison/Kevin Winter/Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Kevin Winter/Carlos Alvarez/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Frazer Harrison/Jason Merritt/Jason Merritt, Getty Images

Jason Merritt/Frazer Harrison/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Gareth Cattermole/Valerie Macon/Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images

DreamWorks/DreamWorks/Blind Wink Productions