Tom Sherak, Academy President and 2008 Academy-nominated Anne Hathaway, announced the Oscar nominations for the year 2010. The highlights of the 2010 Oscar nominations were the ten featured films nominated in the category of Best Picture.

The biggest surprises at the  Oscar nominations 2010 came from the Academy’s Best Picture category, with nominations going to The Blind Side, Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 and Pixar’s Up. In the Best Supporting Actress category, Maggie Gyllenhaal landed a nomination for her brilliant performance in Crazy Heart, while Jeremy Renner got his first nomination for The Hunt in the Best Actor category.

Following are some important 2010 Oscar nominations:

BEST PICTURE
-Avatar
-The Blind Side
-District 9
-An Education
-The Hurt Locker
-Inglourious Basterds
-Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
-A Serious Man
-Up
-Up in the Air

DIRECTING
-Avatar (James Cameron)
-The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
-Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
-Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire (Lee Daniels)
-Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
-Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
-George Clooney (Up in the Air)
-Colin Firth (A Single Man)
-Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
-Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon (Invictus)
-Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
-Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
-Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
-Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
-Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
-Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
-Carey Mulligan (An Education)
-Gabourey Sidibe (Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire)
-Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penelope Cruz (Nine)
-Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
-Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
-Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
-Mo’Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire)

The Oscars will be telecasted on March 2010, don’t forget to watch it!

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Last week, John Murtha had undergone laparoscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder, according to his spokesman, Matthew Mazonkey. He says that complications arose from the surgery and Murtha is still at Arlington’s Virginia Hospital Center.

John Murtha was admitted in the hospital in December to treat his gallbladder problems but had returned to duty after a few days.

Last year, the 77-year-old helped in the passing of the Defense appropriations bill and is the top Democrat in the committee that watches over Pentagon spending. Since 1974, he has been elected as the representative in the House for PA 12th Congressional District and is currently serving his 19th term.

Murtha was the first Vietnam War veteran to be elected to the Congress and is the 8th most senior member in the house.

The powerful democrat from Pennsylvania had recently been in the news for his connections with a lobbying firm and even had a corruption inquiry against him. However, the corruption inquiry recommended against passing any sanctions on the senior democrat.

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Literally, thousands of people had gathered at Punxsutawney, PA to watch the predictions of Punxsutawney Phill on the 2010 Groundhog Day. The handlers of the most famous groundhog in North America predicted that winter will last for another six weeks, bringing an abrupt end to hopes of an early spring.

The Groundhog Day predictions dashed the hopes of Americans who were hoping for an early, booming spring in 2010. Apparently, Punxsutawney Phill isn’t the only groundhog to have made this prediction. Wairton Willie, Canada’s popular groundhog has also made a similar prediction.

The 2010 Groundhog Day predictions are sure to bring a cheer for the management of the Vancouver Olympics who were praying for snow during the winter games. However, the rest of North America is not too pleased with the Groundhog Day predictions.

Groundhog Day is celebrated on 2 February of every year. When Phill appeared in the crowd at Groundhog Day 2010, it was greeted by the clapping and loud cheers of thousands.

Groundhog Day is a tradition that believes if the groundhog sees his shadow on the 2 February morning – the Candlemas holiday of Christians – winter will last for at least another six weeks. The legend says that if a shadow is not cast by the groundhog, then winter will end and spring will start soon.

The 3 groundhogs that are mostly used to predict the weather on Groundhog Day in North America are Shubenacadie Sam of Nova Scotia, Wiarton Willie of Canada and Punxsutawney Phill of Pennsylvania.

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The 2010 Grammys award was clearly a women’s night and the absence of competition from their male counterparts saw Taylor Swift and Beyonce continue their domination over music award shows like never before.

The 2010 Grammys award winners list include Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift who won the album of year. Beyonce and Taylor Swift ruled over the Grammy last night by winning 10 Grammies between them. Beyonce and her husband Jay-Z were the hit pair of the night winning as many as 9 awards between them.

Taylor Swift won 4 Grammies; Beyonce bagged 6 while Jay-Z won 3.

Taylor Swift barely out of her teens looked ravishing at the award night and there is hardly anyone around her age who can be compared to her beauty or singing talent. Beyonce who is 8 years older than Taylor Swift dominated the awards and will continue to be a big name in the music industry like the King of Pop, Michael Jackson was. Michael Jackson’s kids Paris and Prince were the highlight of the award night as they received the Lifetime Achievement award on behalf of their late father.

Michael’s son Prince impressed everyone at the presentation as he said that his father’s message of love for humanity will be carried forward by the kids.

Few of the winners at the 2010 Grammys are:

1. Album of the Year Winner: Taylor Swift for “Fearless”
2. Best Female Pop Vocal Winner: Beyonce for “Halo”
3. Best Rap/Sung Collaboration Winner: Rihanna, Kanye West, and Jay-Z for “Run This Town”
4. Best Rock Album Winner: Green Day for “21st Century Breakdown”
5. Best Pop Vocal Album Winner: The Black Eyed Peas for “The E.N.D.”
6. Record of the Year Winner: Kings of Leon for “Use Somebody”
7. Best Comedy Album Winner: Stephen Colbert for “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!”
8. Best New Artist Winner: Zac Brown Band
9. Song of the Year Winner: Terius, Beyonce and Thaddis Harrell for “Put a Ring on it”
10. Best RnB Album Winner: Maxwell for “Black summer’s Night”
11. Best Rap Album Winner: Eminem for “Relapse”
12. Best Musical Album for Kids Winner: Ziggy Marley for “Family Time”
13. Best Dance Recording Winner: Lady Gaga for “Poker Face”
14. Best Country Album Winner: Taylor Swift for “Fearless”

To check the full list of winners, visit http://www.grammy.com/nominees

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The presentation was first aired on 30 January 2005 on CBS. It was produced by Cameron Johann, Andrew Gottlieb, Jim O’Grady, Richard Welsh and was directed by Brent Shields.

In 1944, Livy Dune (Keri Russell) a young woman became pregnant before marriage and was sent to rural southeast Colorado. Her father, Reverend Dunne (Daryl Shuttleworth) decides to deal with the embarrassing situation by marrying her to a shy farmer with the help of another preacher. Ray Singleton (Skeet Ulrich), the groom lives on a distant farm and has a very different nature than Livy. He focuses on things that are close to him – his land, his family, today, while Livy thinks of life on a much grander scale – the world, far away places, ancient civilisations.

Ray Singleton’s farm uses the help of Japanese Americans to work on the farm. Livy befriends 2 well-educated Japanese American women working on the farm, Rose and Flora (Gwendoline Yeo and Tania Gunadi) and finds familiarity and comfort in their friendship.

Livy is civil and polite to Ray, her new husband and Martha (Mare Winningham) his sister but still has feelings for the baby’s father and feels guilty for the pregnancy. However, Ray is supportive and caring of Livy but is hurt deeply by the fact that she doesn’t want him.

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Caressa Cameron sang ‘Listen’, the hit song of Beyonce from the hit movie, ‘Dreamgirls’ and answered a difficult question on teen obesity.

The new Miss America 2010 was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University and has pursued a broadcast communication degree. The new Miss America 2010 wants to complete a Mass Communications Masters degree and follow it with a top news anchor position for television. BTW, she looks stunning in a bikini swimsuit too!

Cameron has been on the Virginia Commonwealth University’s dean’s list and has received several academic honors. She has received more than $35,000 in scholarship money in 2009 because of her participation in the Miss America Organization. The Virginia native is also an active campaigner for AIDS awareness and supports the cause across the nation.

She has also been given a President’s Volunteer Service Award and Congressional Honor for her community service in VA. The new Miss America 2010 had a lot of time during the Miss Virginia pageant, winning several talent and preliminary swimsuit rounds. Miss Virginia Caressa Cameron can now proudly wear the Miss America 2010 crown and give a big boost to the causes close to her heart.

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iPad A Disappointment: Last night saw the launch of Apple iPad but contrary to the expectations of Steve Jobs, the gadget received more silence than ovation.

The launch for the ‘super gadget’ was marketed as being better than a smart phone and a laptop by Jobs but without flash, the gadget doesn’t meet the promise of being better than a smart phone and a laptop. The launch of the iPad left the market so disappointed that Apple’s shares dropped frequently.

However, people who were expecting a lot more from the iPad were much disappointed because AT&T has been selected as the only 3G carrier for the iPad tablet.

The features missing in the iPad that made it a disappointment are:

• iPad USB ports – USB ports in this iPad are absent, so a person can’t plug in his USB drive to transfer photos to it

• iPad Camera – No camera is present on the front or back of the iPad.

• iPad Multi-tasking – Multi-tasking is unacceptable for a Tablet having a starting price-point of $499 so it is not present in it

• iPad Flash – As Apple won’t approve Flash player so no flash support is present there

The iPad is less svelte than fans expected it to be. The home screen of the iPad features icons that are weirdly spaced-out, resulting in many people to comment that the gadget is in fact a really biggg iPhone.

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Maci and Ryan are engaged, after enduring a few rocky months of shock as they adjust to the responsibility of being young Bentley’s parents. They are already living together and plan to get married in the next few months. The pressure from their parents to tie the knot is stressing them out and adding to the stress is Ryan’s business trip that will keep him away from his new family for a month, leaving Maci to manage the baby and the house alone.

Amber and Gary also live together and are engaged. However, they are faced with completely different challenges, as Gary works 12 hours-a-day to meet the needs of his family, while Amber has dropped school to be a full-time mother.

Farah is left to raise baby Sophia without the help of the baby’s father but with the support of her family. She juggles being a parent with a modeling career, going to culinary school and working.

Catelynn and boyfriend Tyler decide not to raise baby Carly and place her with an adoptive family that can give their child a life they could not give. They agree on a semi-open adoption, which gives Catelynn a chance to get together with the adoptive family twice in a year.

MTV’s Teen Mom is a nice companion to 16 and Pregnant as it allows viewers an interesting look in the lives of the four young girls’ after they give birth to their babies.

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This week saw one member from each team being named as teacher and who will be the only person to train with Jillian and Bob. The responsibility of the teacher would be to pass everything to the student that he has learned. The responsibility of the student is to represent its team at the show’s weigh-in and similar to other episodes, where one member represents the whole team, meaning below the yellow one.

However, the contestants of the Biggest Loser don’t get to choose and this season’s first temptation is very simple – eat M&Ms. It seemed too simple, considering that only 2 teams took the temptation. Michael didn’t but Maria took a piece. Sherry and Ashley ate one each and earned the power to choose the students and teachers. Stephanie and John were teamed together for this week, making Stephanie the teacher. Cheryl, Andrea, Michael, Melissa, Sam, Migdalia and Sherry also took on the role of teacher.

The next week of The Biggest Loser: Couples will see Melissa versus the trainers. But before that, take a look at the scoreboard:

Black team: Andrea at 272 pounds (-7), Darrell at 361 pounds (-8)
Brown team: John at 437 pounds (-14)
Gray team: Koli at 353 pounds (-13), Sam at 334 pounds (-11) (immunity)
Green team: Migdalia at 237 pounds (-8), Miggy at 212 pounds (-7)
Orange team: Cheryl at 203 pounds (-7), Daris at 301 pounds (-9)
Pink team: Ashley at 333 pounds (-12), Sherry at 190 pounds (-6)
Purple team: Stephanie at 236 pounds (-7)
Red team: Lance at 324 pounds (-12), Melissa at 214 pounds (-1)
White team: Maria at 254 pounds (-4) (eliminated), Michael at 471 pounds (-10)

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Despite Los Angeles known as the world’s entertainment capital, the LA auditions of American Idol proved to be quite tame, except for the fiery exchanges between Katy Perry and fellow show judge Kara DioGuardi, which were quite entertaining.

The biggest standout of the night was Mary Powers, a 28-year-old native of Burbank, California. The mother of an 8-year-old daughter sang ‘Love Is a Battlefield’ bringing a smile on Avril Lavigne’s face. Idol judge, Simon Cowell too liked her vocals but found her black-on-black fashion style an old formula of trying to look like a rock star. Lavigne felt Powers voice had character and was raspy. Another contestant who stood out on day one was Neil Ranger, a father of 3 and a Pastor, who impressed Idol judges with his rendition of ‘Drive’.

Day two of American Idol LA auditions too produced a few number of potential stars with the exception of Andrew Garcia, who sang a soulful version of ‘Sunday Morning’, Tasha Leyton, who nailed it with Joss Stone’s ‘Baby, Baby, Baby’ and LA shoe salesman Chris Golightly, who struck an emotional note with the Judges with his take on ‘Stand By Me’.

In all, 22 contestants from LA made it to the Hollywood round of American Idol.

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