As you may recall, Heroes adeptly utilized the Save the Cheerleader, Save the World storyline to catapult the show’s ratings into the stratosphere, making it one of the most successful shows of the year. Since that time, ratings have waned and interest in the show has fallen off considerably. It makes total sense that the show would want to hearken back to a time when it was hugely successful in order to remind viewers to watch the show again. The fact that Hayden looks good in her cheerleading garb couldn’t hurt either. I guess we’ll see if the Heroes cheerleader can help save the show in the coming season.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

AS HAYDEN PANETTIERE WALKS a deserted strip in Hollywood, the 19-year-old star of NBC’s Heroes glances around nervously, occasionally spinning her head to check behind her. Wearing short denim shorts and brown UGGs and toting a big bag, the diminutive actress looks like an elfin princess on the run. “Hello,” she says, walking into a little vegan restaurant, greeting me as she shrugs off her load. She orders a bowl of brothy vegetable soup and twirls her little gold whale-tail necklace, a symbol, she explains, of her devotion to the cetacean cause. The petite, bronzed blonde keeps looking out the window, over her shoulder. Not surprisingly she’s afraid she’s been followed—Panettiere has become the ultimate tabloid chum. She has lived her whole life in the public eye. “I started doing this, and I know it sounds absurd, but 11 months old, I did my first commercial.” The daughter of an actress and a New York City firefighter, Panettiere spent her childhood bouncing between 30-second spots and roles on One Life to Live and Guiding Light. “I remember hearing in first grade, ‘Oh, why does she get to skip school?’” she says. “It wasn’t like I suddenly started feeling different. I always knew that I was. I never felt I missed out—in fact, it was like, ‘Oh, thank God I’m not that.’” Namely, she means, a regular kid. It’s not easy being beautiful and special and talented, and Panettiere lived through her share of Mean Girls shit. Mostly homeschooled, she occasionally returned from acting gigs to her public school in Rockland County, New York, and her classmates’ wrath. In middle school, she was punched in the face by “a very angry, very sad girl,” she says, as if echoing the words her mom used to comfort her at the time. “I was tortured, emotionally tortured by these girls. Every time I came back from filming, it would be me trying to find my way back into the clique. And they weren’t having it.” Panettiere seems to have emerged victorious from her teen trials. After a series of minor TV and movie roles, she was cast at age 16 as Heroes’ invincible cheerleader, Claire, and quickly blossomed into the queen of high-school geeks of all ages. (Her new teen comedy, I Love You, Beth Cooper, is about a nerd who falls for the hottest, most popular girl in school—notice a trend?) … There have been times when the media scrutiny was more than she could take. “It’s turned my life upside down and shaken it,” Panettiere says, referring to the incident in August 2008 in which her father was accused of hitting her mother and later charged with misdemeanor battery. Her father called it a misunderstanding, saying, “Nothing actually happened,” then pleaded no contest. “It was very tough, especially since it’s my family,” Panettiere says. “It’s one thing if you do it to me. I get frustrated, but I can handle it. But when it involves my family, my friends, forget it—I lose my . . . ” Panettiere pauses—then regains control. “I learned the game. The more I react, the angrier I get, the more satisfaction they get. That’s exactly what they want.” As Panettiere drains her bowl of soup, two young Orthodox Jewish men who have been circling in front of the restaurant finally come inside, holding cameras. “Excuse me. I’m sorry, I know this is extremely rude, but we’re from the East Coast and you’re the first famous person we’ve met. Is there any way I would be able to get a picture of you?” “You don’t want to meet famous people.” “If it’s possible, please,” the guy says. Panettiere puts down her spoon, and as they awkwardly drape their arms around her, she gives the camera a practiced look. “Thank you so much. Thank you. I’m sorry,” they say as they back out of the restaurant, already reviewing the images on the camera. “I gave them a half-smile,” she says matter-of-factly. “It’s a survival skill.”

On the one hand, I think it’s totally inappropriate to bother someone for a photo or autograph while they are eating … that should go without saying. But for Panettiere to feel she needs to employ “survival skills” when she is recognized by fans then she prolly should seek a different career. I can totally understand how the constant crush of fame can get tiresome but I also know that celebs really love the money and cache that comes from being famous. It is absolutely a double-edged sword … you take the good with the bad. In my personal experience, Hayden has been nothing but totally sweet to me. I’ve met her a few times … we chatted for a bit at the Star Trek premiere a couple of months ago. BUT, one of my very good friends suffered an unpleasant encounter with her when he tried to say hello to her at a public event (not while she was eating, not while she was talking to anyone else … at a promo event that she was paid to attend). I mean … I get it but when fame starts getting too much to bear, mebbe it’s time to try something else? I do enjoy her work and I will prolly see Beth Cooper when it opens (tho, I doubt the friend who she was mean to will want to come with me) but I’d rather the girl keep her sanity and get out of the limelight rather than become a bitter person.

[Photo credit: Matthias Vriens for DETAILS; Source]

The MTV Movie Awards were a blood bath Sunday night with “Twilight” taking five trophies, including best movie. But it was Sacha Baron Cohen who gave the show its trademark bizarro moment when he landed upside-down on the lap of Eminem, who may or may not have been deeply offended. “Twilight,” the popular vampire drama starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, sucked up golden popcorn trophies for best movie, best fight, best kiss, breakthrough male performance and female performance during Sunday’s freewheeling and often-bleeped ceremony at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif. “The fans are the ultimate driving force,” Stewart said while accepting her best female performance trophy (which she promptly dropped on the floor, breaking off a chunk of the golden popcorn). Awards were decided by fan votes. Other winners included “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” star Zac Efron for male performance and his co-star Ashley Tisdale for female breakthrough performance. Miley Cyrus accepted the best song from a movie prize for “The Climb” from “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” preventing “Twilight” from sweeping all six nominated categories. An award new to this year, the “WTF moment,” went to Amy Poehler’s scene in “Baby Mama” where she urinates in a sink. But even that was upstaged by Baron Cohen, who flew in on a wire, hanging above the audience. Dressed as flamboyant character “Bruno” in a pair of feathery white wings and his rear end mostly exposed, the comedian crashed into an overhead obstacle and was lowered headfirst into the lap of Eminem, his bare hindquarters in the rapper’s face. “Is the real Slim Shady about to stand up?” chirped Baron Cohen. Eminem seemed visibly upset by the encounter, and members of his entourage roughly removed Baron Cohen as the rapper struggled to get out. But had the rapper’s self-styled homophobic character been punked by Baron Cohen and MTV, or was he in on the elaborate stunt? Free of the scene, Eminem stormed out with his entourage in tow — and cameras rolling — and hit the exits. Baron Cohen’s descent to the audience was included in rehearsals, but Eminem — who performed Sunday night — didn’t take part in that piece of the run-through. As the rapper stormed off, it sounded as though he was wearing a microphone, and cameras were in position to record his fast exit, but he was not seen or heard from again. Baron Cohen’s publicist, Matthew Labov, had no comment when reached after the show. A spokeswoman for MTV would not confirm whether Eminem was caught by surprise, and representatives for the rapper did not immediately return requests for comment Sunday night … Besides handing out awards for movies from the past year, MTV debuted new footage from the upcoming films “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” and “New Moon.” The highlight of the “Twilight” sequel clip: A newly buff Taylor Lautner transformed instantly into a giant, menacing canine, fans’ first look at one of the storyline’s werewolves.

LOL. I was surprised that Twilight only won 5 awards … from watching the show, it seemed like the movie won every category announced. It’s very clear that the Twilighters have spoken … and they love their vamps! They also love their awkwardly, fidgety starlet Kristen Stewart … who fumbled and itched her head thruout her acceptance speech for Best Female Performance (she looked like a crack addict pheenin’ for a hit) — and then dropped her award trophy onto the ground. In case you missed it the first time or just wanna watch it again, you can watch the full video of her onstage acceptance speech (and fumble) after the jump …

In 1966, “Star Trek” was launched on television, then unceremoniously canceled due to low ratings. In 2002, fans mourned the death of the franchise after a movie and new TV series were both poorly received. In 2009, a time-traveling reboot has relaunched the Enterprise — and filled Grauman’s Chinese Theatre with fans renewed in their belief that “Trek” will live long and prosper. “I’ve only seen about half the movie,” grinned Leonard Nimoy on the movie premiere’s massive black carpet, admitting that the emotion of passing the Spock torch to Zachary Quinto left him unable to sit through the film’s heart-tugging second half with dry eyes. “I’m very proud of him.” “I couldn’t love him any more; I’ve just been so honored to get to know him,” Quinto returned, adding that Thursday night’s celebratory atmosphere would even prove infectious for the logical character the two men share. “Spock loves to party; he loves to let his bangs down every once in a while.” In addition to the movie’s stars, such proud Trekkies as Amanda Bynes, Neil Patrick Harris, Leighton Meester, Rainn Wilson and Heidi Klum walked the event’s massive stage shaped like the “Trek” logo. “This is like Cinco de Mayo and Yom Kippur all rolled into one for me,” “Inglourious Basterds” actor Samm Levine marveled. Director Robert Rodriguez was equally excited, saying he was torn over his favorite “Trek” character: “I love Captain Kirk, but I love the Vulcan grip too, so I’ve gotta go with Spock.” New Kirk Chris Pine insisted that the film, which comes out May 8, stays true to Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a harmonious future. “To present a positive image of the world, there’s nothing better than that,” he said. “I can’t believe this amazing series has lived for 40-something years,” beamed Zoe Saldana, the new Uhura. “And now we’re here.” “This is definitely the craziest premiere I’ve been to, and definitely the biggest,” explained Rachel Nichols, one of the movie’s sexy alien green girls. “It’s the hottest ticket in town.” The death of “Trek,” it seems, was greatly exaggerated when the series hit a speed bump in the early part of this decade. And down to a person, all the new crew members credited the well-reviewed 2009 film to the brave resurrection efforts of J.J. Abrams and his creative team. “Three years ago, J.J. called me and was like ‘Is “Star Trek” dead?’ ” recalled Damon Lindelof, a producer on Abrams’ “Trek” and “Lost,” as hundreds of pointy-eared fans shrieked at the stars. “Now, three years later, we’re here.” “‘Star Trek’ is cool again,” said an amped-up Karl Urban, who plays the new “Bones” McCoy in the film. “It’s hip; it’s sexy. It’s ballistic.”

Gene Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek was to create a series where hope, prosperity and unity were the hallmarks of a bold new vision of the future. When Star Trek was created, there was still so much racial unrest in this country that it seemed like absolute science fiction that people of different races (and species) could co-exist in a semi-peaceful future landscape. You may know that the original Star Trek series provided US television with its first interracial kiss (between James T. Kirk and Uhura). So much has happened since Trek first blazed its way on our televisions. Abrams’s new vision for Star Trek is nothing short of epic … but I’ll get to my review of the film a little later on. After the jump, check out which Star Trek stars from days of yore came out for the premiere and see which celebs count themselves as rabid Trekkie fans …

Here are a few of the Star Trek actors that we already know and love:

It was a thrill to be able to see Leonard Nimoy, George Takei and Walter Koenig all together in the same place. They are sci-fi icons and being that close to them was an absolute thrill. In the lobby, I found myself standing next to Johnathan Frakes (who played First Officer William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation) and almost lost my shizz. He is a very tall man and still looks damn good. He came to the premiere with Marina Sirits, who played Counselor Deanna Troy also on ST: TNG. But, they weren’t the only celebs in the hiz last night … here are a few pics of some of the celebs who came out for last night’s premiere:

As you can see, it was a who’s who of celebs on the red carpet. I was able to chat for a bit with Trent Reznor (who is also a huge Trek fan) and his guest Mariqueen Maandig and we all agreed that we loved the movie. I tried not to geek out too much in front of them because I really don’t like embarrassing myself … but it invariably happens all the damn time.

I will go into more detail about my thoughts on the movie a bit later on … I will say now, tho, that it is a bit misleading to call this film a prequel. Because of things that happen in the film, I think it’s more correct to refer to the film as a new sequel to the Star Trek timeline … or at the very least, a fresh and totally new reboot. I will explain more on that later ;)

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

Hayden and Katy were chillin’ at the park before they took to the stage for Disney’s Grad Nite, which is an in-park concert for High School seniors (Hayden hosted, Katy performed). The three ladies look all cute with their matching bows and shizz … it sounds like the Grad Nite was a big hit this year — bands like Metro Station and White Tie Affair also performed for the high school seniors. It’s hard to believe that it’s already graduation time again … but when the Mouse says it’s time to graduate, it’s time to graduate. Congrats class of 2009!!

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Hayden Panettiere found fame in the cult US TV show Heroes as a strong-willed teenager. But in real life the actress feels much more grown up, as she shows in her latest photoshoot for In Style magazine. Despite being only 19 blonde-haired Hayden reveals she is planning a large family. “I always said I want four kids – I love kids,” she said. “I would love to be a mum and to have a family – for Italians, it’s the most important thing you can have.” But Hayden says she would not want her children to follow her into the acting world. “I think you have to be a pretty strong person to enter the industry that young and not be affected by it,” she said. “I was lucky, but I’d never want my kids to be subject to that much criticism at such a young age.” However Hayden may have to wait before she starts her family. Last month she broke up with her 31-year-old Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia, with sources citing the 12-year age gap as a factor.

I think at 19, she’s got time to worry about the 4 kids later on. Tho, I can understand where she is coming from. Believe it or not, a certain someone I know who is very close to me as informed me that he would like to have a large family since he grew up with 3 other siblings very close in age. I don’t know about Hayden’s readiness to have so many babies but I know I’m not quite there yet … and I’m just a wee bit older than 19. But, you know what, do your thang girl … have your babies if you like. In the meantime, why don’t we just check out a few photos from Hayden’s In Style mag photospread …

Gettin’ past all the baby talk, I must say that I really like these new photos. She looks very mature and very sophisticated. This is a great shoot. I don’t think that Hayden has to worry about finding a guy to help her with her baby needs, I just hope she plays it smart in the long run. These pics are really great, don’t you think?

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You can do anything! That’s the message of the seven decades of female risk takers, rule breakers and style makers here. We celebrate them with the help of some very-2009 young talents.

What a great idea for a magazine photospread! I love how each iconic woman is represented by a younger member of Young Hollywood to portray her. After the jump, check out a bunch of my fave icons who are featured in this new issue of Glamour along with a short explanation of their iconicness …

Alexis Bledel as Rosie the Riveter

In 1984 Madonna told American Bandstand host Dick Clark that her dream was to “rule the world.” Months later she was on her way—her album Like a Virgin skyrocketed to number one on the Billboard charts. She’s been a pop-culture powerhouse ever since, and last year, Sticky & Sweet was the highest-grossing tour by a solo artist ever. “When I was little, every day after school I would come home and put in her The Immaculate Collection disc and karaoke to it around the whole house.”—Lindsay Lohan, 22, of the upcoming film Labor Pains, re-creating Madonna’s 1984 MTV Video Music Awards performance of “Like a Virgin”

I absolutely love these photos! Again, such a great idea for Glamour to feature this tribute to American icons. While I have MAD LOVE for the fictional character of Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City, I’m not sure I would list her with some of these other amazing and truly iconic women but Emma Stone portrays her in this issue of Glamour mag. Click HERE to see the full collection of tribute photos. Which one is your fave?

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Heroes costars Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia have called it quits, Usmagazine.com has learned. “It was a lifestyle conflict,” a source close to the couple tells Us, adding that the split happened within the last week. “They were in very different places.” Adds the insider, “They are still on friendly terms. There are no hard feelings.” The source tells Us that Panettiere, 19, “is young. She likes to go out in the Hollywood scene and that’s not his style.” Ventimiglia, 31, “has been concentrating on work on his production company [Divide Pictures],” the source adds. The two, who began dating in 2008, had been an open secret for months – in part because of their 12-year age gap.

Boo! This is sad news … I really thought that HaLo really made a supercute couple. Despite the age difference, they always looked so happy to be with one another … I’m bummed they’re dunzo. I wonder if that rumor that Hayden was spied making out with Jesse McCartney had anything to do with the break-up. I hope that the make-out session happened after the couple decided to call it quits — and wasn’t the cause of the split. I’m glad to know that the pair have decided to remain friends. It’s still a bit sad that they couldn’t make it work :(

[Photo credit: INFdaily; Source]

Good looking, toned and talented – Hayden Panettiere and Milo Ventimiglia looked every inch the superhero couple as they walked hand in hand along the beach. The pair, who both star in the science fiction drama Heroes, are enjoying a romantic break on the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora. Despite dating for more than a year, it is rare for the couple to be spotted together in public. It emerged the pair, who have a 12-year age gap between them, were dating in January last year. Rumours first circulated when they were seen smooching at an Emmys party in September 2007 and by the end of the year they were regularly seen out together at showbiz events. Milo, 31, had previously denied rumours when asked about reports of a possible romance with the 18-year-old actress. He said: “She and I are close friends. It’s only natural that people are going to couple us together.” The couple met on the set of superhero drama Heroes and they enjoy a close relationship on as well as off screen.

Nice to see that the couple are still happily attached. Because we don’t see them out and about very often it’s hard to tell how things are going (we last saw the pair in public together back before Halloween). I’d say these new pics of the couple on holiday together is a very good sign that things are coming along swimmingly with the couple. I like them together … they make a nice match. Here’s hoping that 2009 will be a very good one for HaLo … as it stands, it looks like they’ve got the New Year off to a great start!

[Photo credit: National Photo Group; Source]

Except for the absolutely frightening Mrs. Claus above, the event looked like it was a lot of fun. I’m sure the girls from the hospital really enjoyed their shopping spree with Hayden. I really love how big companies and celebs themselves really get into the spirit of giving around the holidays. I guess we all get a little more generous around this time of the year … but I think it’s a really cool thing when celebs participate in events like this. Kudos and love goes out to Hayden, Candie’s and Kohl’s for organizing such a fun event. It’s seeing events like these that really help restore my faith in the humanity of celebs. Sure, Hayden’s not saving the world but I’m sure this Xmas will be an extra special one for these girls. Well done!

[Photo credit: Splash News]