BT Edmonton Blogs

We are one step closer to knowing who will take home Oscar hardware late next month. The 84th annual Oscar nominations were announced early Tuesday morning.

This year brings a key change in the Oscar rules: a shift in the voting structure allows for the number of best picture nominees to vary between five and 10.

On that note, nine films were nominated for Best Picture:
War Horse
The Artist
Moneyball
The Descendants
Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo (which leads with 11 nominations)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

 Best Actress nominees:
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Merryl Streep (The Iron Lady. Not that movie was not nominated for Best Picture.)
Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best actor nominees:
Demian Bachir (A Better Life)
George Clooney (The Descendants)
Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Gary Oldman (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy)
Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Best supporting actress:
Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids)
Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Best supporting actor
Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn)
Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Nick Nolte (Warrior)
Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close)

Best original screenplay
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
A Separation

Best adapted screenplay
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Best foreign language film
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation

Best animated feature
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

“30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan was rushed to hospital after falling unconscious at the Sundance Film Festival.

Morgan seemed disoriented when he received an award at the Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards in Utah. According to TMZ, he was escorted out of the building a short time later, where he fell unconscious.

The comedian was rushed by ambulance to the Park City Medical Center. While a spokesperson for the hospital said that no drugs or alcohol were found in his system, “unnamed sources” (according to the Hollywood Reporter) say he was out of control “yelling and falling”.

Morgan has diabetes and received a kidney transplant two years ago. His publicist denied that Morgan — a recovering alcoholic who was arrested twice for driving under the influence in 2005 and 2006 — appeared intoxicated at the festival. He released a statement explaining, “from a combination of exhaustion and altitude, Tracy is seeking medical attention … He is with his fiancée and grateful to the Park City Medical Center for their care. Any reports of Tracy consuming alcohol are 100 percent false.”

Morgan’s was with co-stars  Jesse Eisenberg and Melissa Leo at Sundance for the screening of their flick ”Predisposed”.

Because of bitterly cold temperatures and windchills the following school buses have been cancelled today:

• Victory Christian School – Edmonton
• Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools
• Aspen View Schools
• Elk Island Public Schools
• Parkland School Division Number #70 (Evergreen Catholic, Devon Christian,  St.Mathew’s, Living Waters, Black Gold School Division, Wild Rose School Division whose residence reside in  Parkland County, City Of Spruce Grove, Town of Stony Plain, and Devon)
• Pembina Hills Regional Division No. 7
• Northern Gateway
• St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Schools
• Black Gold Regional Division No. 18
• Hobbema and Mother Earth’s Children’s Charter School
• Grand Yellowhead
• Battle River
• Peace River
• Sturgeon School Division

Buses and schools cancelled for today include:

• Samson and Louis Bull schools
• Alexander First Nation
• Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation school
• Wolf Creek Public Schools

For the list of bus cancellations in the Northern Lights School Divison No. 69 and Lakeland Catholic School Division No. 150, click here.

The deep south drama “The Help” leads the nominations for the “Screen Actors Guild Awards”.

The adaptation of the best-selling novel was nominated for “Best Ensemble Cast” along with the silent film “The Artist”, the wedding comedy “Bridesmaids”, the family drama “The Descendants” and the romantic fantasy “Midnight in Paris”.

Among the best-actress contenders are Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton, and Michelle Williams.

In the best actor category: Demian Bichir, George Clooney, Leonardio Dicaprio, Jean Dujardin, and Brad Pitt.

I haven’t even covered the television nominations so head to this site for the full list.

Lady Gaga and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles performing at the Grammy nominations concert.

The Grammys won’t be handed out until February 12th, but music fans got a taste of some of the talent that will compete for the top prizes. 

Wednesday night’s Grammy nominations live concert revealed the nominees and boasted performances that featured unusual pairings such as Lady Gaga and country crooners Sugarland, and rapper Ludacris and another country act, Jason Aldean.

Rihanna performed from London, Usher paid tribute to song-writers, and The Band Perry also took to the stage.

Kanye West was the top nominee with seven nominations; Adele, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars each got six nods.

Click here for the full list of nominees.

The Grammys, hosted by LL Cool J, air February 12th.

Click here for Lady Gaga and Sugarland’s performance.

J-Lo performing on stage at the American Music Awards.

You’ve probably seen J-Lo’s commercial for the Fiat 500.

In it, she’s taking a drive through memory lane in her home town, the Bronx. Or maybe not. Turns out “Jenny from the Block” wasn’t actually on the block. A stunt double was used for all the scenes filmed in the Bronx. The fake was spotted by a barbershop owner who appears in the commercial. A statement from her spokesperson claims the singer’s schedule wouldn’t allow for her to film in New York.

Click HERE to check out the video for yourself; it could definitely be someone else.

Think back to a couple of weeks ago. Detroit fans had started a petition to bump Nickelback from the Lions’ halftime performance at its Thanksgiving Day football game. Well, the Canadian band is firing back with humour.

Nickelback just released a short video on the comedy site “Funny or Die” that acknowledges the much-publicized web campaign. The petition now has nearly 55,000 signatures from Nickelback haters.

In the online clip, Comedian Paul Scheer plays a music executive advising the band. His suggestion? To become the “Four Nickels” in matching suits with synchronized dance moves.

Before you check it out, there’s profanity and explicit language in this clip.

Courtesy Getty Images

Some of the biggest names in music stepped out for the American Music Awards Sunday night.

Rapper Nicki Minaj opened the show and nabbed two AMAs.

Other artists to hit the stage: Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Katy Perry, and J-Lo.

But it was stiff competition for this year’s artist of the year award. A stunned Taylor Swift ending up taking home the coveted award. (She took home three in total.)

The award for favourite pop-rock male artist went to Bruno Mars while British singer Adele won favourite pop-rock female artist at this year’s awards show.

Oh and did I forget to mention David Hasselhoff made an appearance (as did Justin Bieber) during LMFAO’s finale? Click here to check out the best (and worst) moments from the show.

Adele is expected to make a full recovery. 

According to “Rolling Stone”, the 23-year-old singer had laser microsurgery to repair damaged vocal chords.

Last month, the singer was forced to cancel all of her remaining 2011 concerts and promotional appearances due to her throat condition.

Her rep had said, “We would like to reiterate that Adele is to undergo surgery for a hemorrhaged vocal chord. All reports regarding any other condition are 100 percent false.” We can assume the latter comment refers to the rumours she had throat cancer.

Oh boy. (Or girl.) You’ve heard of the show “19 Kids and Counting”? Well TLC is going to have to change the reality show’s name. Michelle Duggar and her husband Jim Bob are expecting their 20^th child. She made the announcement on the Today show Tuesday morning.

Now three and a half months pregnant, the mom of 19 says she was actually surprised to discover that she’s expecting again at 45. “I was not thinking that God would give us another one, and we are just so grateful.”

This after her 19th child had to be delivered three and a half months early because Michelle was suffering from major complications: gall-bladder problems as well as preeclampsia. Fast-forward two years, Mom is happy and Josie is now a healthy toddler.