EJ's Thoughts

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'I want to thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to work from such an early age,' Portman says as part of her acceptance speech.
By Shawn Adler

Natalie Portman onstage at the 2011 Academy Awards
Photo: AMPAS/ ABC

A visibly nervous and very pregnant Natalie Portman was near tears after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Oscars Sunday night (February 27) for her performance as a ballerina on the verge of a mental breakdown in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan."

Check out backstage photos of the big Oscar winners.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. This is insane!" the 29-year-old first-time Oscar winner enthused after taking the stage. "I truly and sincerely wish that the prize tonight was to get to work with my fellow nominees."

"Black Swan."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Stick with MTV News on Oscar night and beyond for red-carpet fashion coverage, analysis of the winners, plus interviews, photos and more from your favorite Hollywood stars!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658821/natalie-portman-oscars.jhtml

America Ferrera Amerie Amy Cobb

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With the merger of the WEC into the UFC, Zuffa just pushed the 135 and 145-lb weight classes to the forefront. Is it too soon to start talking about the 125ers?

There are several prominent flyweights featured on a Tachi Palace card in Lemoore, California, who'd like to be the next small fighters to step into the spotlight.

The Visalia Times Delta says Tachi Palace Fights 8 (free stream on MMAjunkie.com - 8:30 p.m. ET) is essentially holding its own 125-tournament tonight:

TPF 125-pound champion Ulysses Gomez (7-1) will defend his title in a 5-round bout against Darrell Montague (8-1), and Jussier da Silva (9-0), who is regarded as the world's top 125-pound fighter, will put his undefeated record on the line against World Extreme Cagefighting veteran Ian McCall (8-2).

Tachi Palace Fighting knows it has something specials with the flyweights.

"It is the most important weight class we have," said Tachi Palace entertainment coordinator Jeremy Luchau. "Some people do see it as a tournament because we have some of the best guys in the world. It is an opportunity for guys who have been in our promotion to showcase their skills against some of the top fighters from around the world."

There's also a ton of intrigue around the debut of another small fighter, but this guy is a little thicker. Tyler Freeland, a little person at just 4-foot-11, is making his pro debut.

Freeland, nicknamed "Hulk Hands," put together an impressive 16-4 mark in the amateur ranks.

"It’s dwarfism, a bone disorder where my bones stopped growing," Freeland told Sherdog.com in describing his hypochondroplasia. "I’m about four eleven, but I tell everyone I’m five feet. I need that extra inch."

Walking around 160 pounds, Freeland is no tiny guy. But he realizes, he'd have a tough time at 155 pounds, where many of the fighters are in the 5-9 to 5-11 range. He'll make his debut at 145 and hopes to eventually get down to 135. Freeland, 26, recently began training at Las Vegas' TapouT Training Center with Shawn Tompkins.

Tompkins said just like any fighter, Freeland, 26, has to work around certain limitations.

"With his height, it’s always harder to strike with someone taller than you," Tompkins says, "but it’s harder to wrestle with someone shorter. Their level-change is so much faster than yours."

He said Freeland has something you can't necessarily teach.

"What most impressed me is that he has a lot of power in his hands," he adds. "He’s got KO power and very big hands. He hits hard and is very precise. He has a really good wrestling pedigree. I’ve just been banking on rounding his game out, keeping him safe from submissions and working on his standup. We’ve been having fun and building from there."

Freeland faces Diego Melendez. They met in the amateur ranks and Melendez won via triangle. Freeland says he took that fight on short notice and things will be different this time.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Little-person-Freeland-leads-a-troupe-of-little-?urn=mma-323409

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The image from Gaga's clip, which is set to premiere on Monday, shows a leather-clad person with long, sharp nails.
By Jocelyn Vena

Lady Gaga
Photo: Marco Prosch/ Getty Images

With just hours until the premiere of her video for "Born This Way," Lady Gaga took to Twitter to post a still from the Nick Knight-directed clip on late Sunday, as the rest of the world was busy watching the Oscars.

The mostly black-and-white image is a close-up of the thigh area of a leather-clad person who is clenching one of his or her hands near their crotch. A little splash of red can be seen near the person's thumb, which has a long, sharp fingernail.

Several hours before teasing the video, which she co-directed alongside Knight, her Haus of Gaga creative team and choreographer Laurieann Gibson, Mother Monster tweeted a photo of herself wearing a denim top and skinny jeans, and sporting a brand-new do.

"Dyed my bangs black. Its my new monsterlook," Gaga wrote in a message that accompanies the pic. "Let the mitosis of the future begin. Off to meet Judas." ("Judas" is the name of the next single off her May album release, Born This Way.)

And on Saturday, the pop star had this to say about the impending video premiere: "After all the whiskey, lipstick, and late nights editing, the Born This Way video is DONE. Will be up to watch Monday 11am Est."

The clip will hit the Web at 11 a.m. on Monday (February 28) on Perez Hilton's website, and then will make its TV debut at 5 p.m. ET that day on MTV's "The Seven."

In a sit-down with Gayle King last week, Gaga confirmed that a second "Born This Way" video also will be released. "I've been so excited about [the fans'] reaction and seeing the fans be so excited during the show every time we play 'Born This Way,' it's been really amazing," she explained. "So there's [the video] that's coming out on Monday. But then I'm actually putting together another video, which is a more stripped-down version of the song that will be released on iTunes and also released as an audio file. A portion of the money raised selling the song is actually going to go towards an anti-bully charity."

What do you expect from Gaga's "Born This Way" videos, and how do you like her new look? Share your opinions in the comments.

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1658834/lady-gaga-born-this-way-video.jhtml

Alicia Keys Alicia Witt Amanda Bynes

ErnDog

Bobby Lashley was making a nice living performing around the country doing the "fake stuff," but his competitive juices pushed him to enter to the unrehearsed world of mixed martial arts. With a solid amateur background and massive build, Lashley appeared to have the goods to be a very good MMA fighter, but his ascent hit a major speed bump last time out and now the former pro wrestling has elected to head back to smaller MMA shows and leave Strikeforce. It's something rarely done in the world of MMA.

"I’m not giving up. I know what I’m capable of," Lashley told Bloody Elbow Radio. "[...] There’s going to be a lot less pressure. Because I’m not undefeated anymore. That’s going to alleviate a lot of pressure for me. I don’t have to worry about keeping this undefeated streak or anything like that."

Lashley (5-1) re-emerges at Titan Fighting Championship on Mar. 25 in Kansas City. He'll meet James Jack.

"I can just go out there and be more comfortable. I think you’re going to see a much better fighter, because I think they’re going to let me fight every couple of months," Lashley said. "I’m just going to get better and better and better."

The fight will be televised on HDNet and he'll still be the centerpiece of the card.

Lashley was making solid progress when he signed with Strikeforce back in Dec. of 2009. He won his first fight for the promotion against Wes Sims to move to 5-0, but there were some warning signs. He was a still a one-tricky pony, who had to rely solely on his ability to get the fight to the floor and his cardio was iffy. So when Chad Griggs weathered the first Lashley takedown storm, the heavily muscled former NAIA wrestling champ, hit the preverbial wall at Strikeforce: Houston back in August. Griggs pounded away at Lashley, who crumbled to the floor and had no fight left in him.

"It’s hard when you have your first fight. And that first fight is on TV. You have a lot of publicity around you. It’s kind of hard," Lashley said. "Other guys, they get a handful of fights before they ever see any competition or are even on TV or anything like that."

Lashley just didn't like being under the spotlight as he was trying to hone his skills and gain experience.

"My first fight was on a major card and I’ve been on TV my whole career," Lashley said. "Everybody was like 'Who are you going to fight next? Are you going to fight Fedor?' And man, I’ve only got one fight under my belt!"

The 252-pound Lashley has to improve his stamina and needs to get past the mental hurdle of getting punched in the face. Much like former fellow pro wrestler Brock Lesnar, the former UFC heavyweight champ, Lashley looked very uncomfortable in the standup game.

The biggest thing? He needs to get his mental game together. Lashley's honesty is admirable, but he doesn't come off as a guy who believes he can be a great fighter. Even Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was beginning to querstion Lashley's dedication to the craft. Lashley told PROMMANow that he has nothing personal against Coker, but he probably won't be returning to Strikeforce in the future. He's hoping to get more steady action with Titan FC.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Pro-wrestler-turned-MMA-fighter-Lashley-volunte?urn=mma-327444

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Radar

Artist: Britney Spears
Label: RCA, Jive, Zomba Label Group
Director: Dave Meyers
Album: Circus

Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=501686&vid=410008

Thalía Thandie Newton The Avatars of Second Life

ErnDog

First Love is a film about love, friendship and following your dreams. The story follows the lives of three passionate young girls from Phillip Island and documents their trip to Hawaii ? the first step on their journey to making a career out of surfing. With magic footage and stellar photography, First Love will surprise, [...]

Source: http://www.clubofthewaves.com/blog/first-love/

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Martial-arts expert Steven Ho talks to MTV News about working on the new video.
By Jocelyn Vena

Britney Spears fights herself in "Hold It Against Me"
Photo: Jive

Last week, fans were treated to the premiere of Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" video. The sleek, dark look at celebrity life was a new aesthetic for the star, who hooked up with Jonas Åkerlund on the clip.

While her dance scenes were choreographed by Brian Friedman, it was noted Hollywood martial-arts expert Steven Ho who helped Britney work out the moves to battle herself in the video.

"I've been very fortunate to have worked on a wide range of high-profile projects, and the video's producer, Hagai Shaham, thought my style would be a good fit with Jonas and Britney. I was brought in to train Britney, choreograph the fight and set up wires for the levitation shots," he told MTV News about joining the project.

"I've always wanted to work with Jonas," he continued. "I knew that a stylized fight would translate well with his trademark visuals, so I was thrilled about doing this project. Jonas wanted a superhuman fight with elements of brutality — that's right up my alley of how I approach an action scene, so we were definitely all on the same page throughout the process."

Not only were Åkerlund and Ho onboard for some mortal combat, but the star herself warmed up to the idea of battling a clone. "Britney was really excited throughout the whole process. It was a grueling shoot of dance and stunts, but her passion for the video and professionalism never wavered," he explained. "There were some pretty tough insert shots where we needed Britney to actually get hit in the face by 'herself.' We did several consecutive takes of this, and she had a lot of fun with it and was a great sport.

"Britney was very enthusiastic about learning how to fight; she's an athlete," he added. "I got that Jonas' concept was partially about the duality of self — we all deal with that, so who wouldn't have fun fighting their alter egos?"

The key, it seems, was making Ho's fight moves work with Friedman's dance routine. "It was really great working with Brian; he's an absolute professional. He was diligent about our fight style being cohesive with the dancing, and that's why it worked so well," Ho recalled. "Our rehearsals were on the same stage, so it was very helpful to have Brian's feedback from a dancer's point of view."

It seems that one of the most memorable moves in the fight, Spears' quickstep during the smack-down, was all her own.

"Britney was fantastic about incorporating what we had practiced in rehearsal, and as a consummate performer, she was able to take ownership by adding her own flavor to the fight. There's a quick cut in the video that features Britney taking a series of small shuffle steps in her heels. This is something she came up with herself that I thought added a nice break of 'cuteness' in the fight," he said. "Jonas drowned out the music here to highlight the tapping sounds, and it's really one of my favorite beats of the video."

Aside from the two Britneys, the other main characters in the fight were her sky-high heels and flowing gowns. "The wardrobe was one of the stars of the fight," he explained. "At first I was concerned about how to approach the long trains. There were discussions with Jonas and [stylist] B. [Åkerlund] and [fashion assistant Renelou Padora] about possibly shortening the train for safety issues. After I showed my wife [designer Nina Petronzio] the pictures of the dresses, she literally said, 'I will kill you if you cut those trains down.' We ended up incorporating the trains as 'weapons.' We treated them as if they were sharp blades, giving Britney reason to jump and evade around them."

What did you think of the Britney battle in "Hold It Against Me"? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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