Bieber Fever

Justin Bieber had finished school for the day, but the threat of detention was still looming. Backstage at "The Tonight Show" last week, the teen pop star's personal tutor, Jenny, couldn't find her cellphone. She suspected her pupil might have hidden it as a prank. "Justin, did you take my phone?" she said, searching under a couch cushion. "Because if you don't have it, I'm going to have to cancel my plan right now." "No! I swear, I didn't take it," he said, offering up a convincing puppy dog look and shaking his wispy trademark bangs out of his eyes and walking away.

Jenny McCarthy kissed Justin Bieber on Sunday night at the American Music Awards, grabbing him by the neck and then the butt after announcing him as the winner in the rock/pop album of the year category. All in good fun, right? "Wow. I feel violated right now," said Bieber, laughing off the slurp-stravaganza as he collected one of his three AMAs. "Wow. " Afterward, McCarthy attempted to explain herself - which might have been about as icky as going full cougar in the first place.

Among the many revelations delivered Saturday night at Staples Center, where L.A.'s pop-radio powerhouse KIIS-FM (102.7) presented its annual Wango Tango concert, perhaps the most noteworthy was this: Brody Jenner from "The Hills" has finally contracted a case of Bieber Fever. If the preceding sentence consists primarily of unfamiliar words, you're probably one of the three or four humans who fall outside the purview of KIIS' mission, which is to provide the big-tent soundtrack to Right Now. (Alternatively, your name might be Andy Rooney.

Completing a directorial swap between California and Kentucky, Actors Theatre of Louisville announced Tuesday that Les Waters, associate artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre since 2003, will be its next artistic director. Waters, a 59-year-old native of northern England, will start his new gig in March, succeeding Marc Masterson, who had led Actors Theatre for nearly 11 years before being grabbed earlier this year as the new artistic director of South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa.

Jenny McCarthy kissed Justin Bieber on Sunday night at the American Music Awards, grabbing him by the neck and then the butt after announcing him as the winner in the rock/pop album of the year category. All in good fun, right? "Wow. I feel violated right now," said Bieber, laughing off the slurp-stravaganza as he collected one of his three AMAs. "Wow. " Afterward, McCarthy attempted to explain herself - which might have been about as icky as going full cougar in the first place.

Kathy Griffin will bring the "tea party" to "Glee. " ( TV Line ) "Inception" takes the top film sound editing Golden Reel honors. They did a good job of drowning out the sound of audience members saying "What's going on?" ( Los Angeles Times ) The weekend isn't over, but it looks as though Liam Neeson and "Unknown" will win the box-office derby. ( Los Angeles Times ) Actress Hayden Panettiere took a nice, quiet Lifetime movie and landed herself in a world of controversy.

NOTE: This is a blog about two guys attempting to lose weight over a six-week period.  They kicked off their weight-loss "strategies" on Jan. 10 . Somehow I was at the premiere for the new Justin Bieber movie at the Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live and there it was: a table filled with boxes of freshly popped popcorn. The tween girls panted in anticipation and stood in line to take pictures with Disney Channel celebrities but all I saw were the rows of cold cans of pop, endless bottles of water, and tall boxes of popcorn waiting to be devoured.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never Paramount, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99 Those with chronic cases of Bieber Fever should be well-satisfied by the young pop star's concert film. Intercutting slick live performances with old home movies and new footage of Bieber on tour, "Never Say Never" effectively communicates how the teen idol became a phenomenon, along with showing what it's like to be a mere kid at the center of a multimillion-dollar business. As for the actual music, well, fans will like the energetic stage show, and even skeptics might be impressed by how hard Bieber works.

Completing a directorial swap between California and Kentucky, Actors Theatre of Louisville announced Tuesday that Les Waters, associate artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre since 2003, will be its next artistic director. Waters, a 59-year-old native of northern England, will start his new gig in March, succeeding Marc Masterson, who had led Actors Theatre for nearly 11 years before being grabbed earlier this year as the new artistic director of South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa.

For decades, whenever a music or movie star popular with teenagers burst onto the scene, his or her rise to fame would be chronicled within months via what's known in the publishing industry as an "insta-book. " On Friday comes the "insta-movie. " "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never," part 3-D concert film and part glossy biography of the 16-year-old pop star, was conceived, produced, edited, marketed and released in little more than six months. That's a time frame virtually unheard of in notoriously slow-moving Hollywood, where movies typically take years to gestate.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never Paramount, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99 Those with chronic cases of Bieber Fever should be well-satisfied by the young pop star's concert film. Intercutting slick live performances with old home movies and new footage of Bieber on tour, "Never Say Never" effectively communicates how the teen idol became a phenomenon, along with showing what it's like to be a mere kid at the center of a multimillion-dollar business. As for the actual music, well, fans will like the energetic stage show, and even skeptics might be impressed by how hard Bieber works.

Kathy Griffin will bring the "tea party" to "Glee. " ( TV Line ) "Inception" takes the top film sound editing Golden Reel honors. They did a good job of drowning out the sound of audience members saying "What's going on?" ( Los Angeles Times ) The weekend isn't over, but it looks as though Liam Neeson and "Unknown" will win the box-office derby. ( Los Angeles Times ) Actress Hayden Panettiere took a nice, quiet Lifetime movie and landed herself in a world of controversy.

For decades, whenever a music or movie star popular with teenagers burst onto the scene, his or her rise to fame would be chronicled within months via what's known in the publishing industry as an "insta-book. " On Friday comes the "insta-movie. " "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never," part 3-D concert film and part glossy biography of the 16-year-old pop star, was conceived, produced, edited, marketed and released in little more than six months. That's a time frame virtually unheard of in notoriously slow-moving Hollywood, where movies typically take years to gestate.

NOTE: This is a blog about two guys attempting to lose weight over a six-week period.  They kicked off their weight-loss "strategies" on Jan. 10 . Somehow I was at the premiere for the new Justin Bieber movie at the Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live and there it was: a table filled with boxes of freshly popped popcorn. The tween girls panted in anticipation and stood in line to take pictures with Disney Channel celebrities but all I saw were the rows of cold cans of pop, endless bottles of water, and tall boxes of popcorn waiting to be devoured.

Baby, baby, baby ... You might find yourself talking about Justin Bieber. Put the laser guns away! Stat! The tween heartthrob ? and his die-hard fans too ? will invade Staples Center and its surrounding areas. We'll let you decide whether the smart thing to do is attend or not. (Monday) Do you ever really need an excuse to talk about "Sex and the City"? Sure, it's not exactly cinematic art, but the film versions of the hit HBO series are worthy of a viewing ? despite what Rotten Tomatoes may suggest.

Among the many revelations delivered Saturday night at Staples Center, where L.A.'s pop-radio powerhouse KIIS-FM (102.7) presented its annual Wango Tango concert, perhaps the most noteworthy was this: Brody Jenner from "The Hills" has finally contracted a case of Bieber Fever. If the preceding sentence consists primarily of unfamiliar words, you're probably one of the three or four humans who fall outside the purview of KIIS' mission, which is to provide the big-tent soundtrack to Right Now. (Alternatively, your name might be Andy Rooney.

Baby, baby, baby ... You might find yourself talking about Justin Bieber. Put the laser guns away! Stat! The tween heartthrob ? and his die-hard fans too ? will invade Staples Center and its surrounding areas. We'll let you decide whether the smart thing to do is attend or not. (Monday) Do you ever really need an excuse to talk about "Sex and the City"? Sure, it's not exactly cinematic art, but the film versions of the hit HBO series are worthy of a viewing ? despite what Rotten Tomatoes may suggest.

Justin Bieber's getting a bit feisty in his old age, ripping Patrick Carney on Tuesday after the Black Keys drummer told photogs Sunday night that the Biebs didn't deserve a Grammy. "Grammys are for, like, music, not for money ... and he's making a lot of money," Carney told TMZ after being asked how he felt about Bieber's Grammy-nomination snub. "He should be happy. " That didn't exactly make the younger musician happy. PHOTOS: Justin Bieber performs at Staples Center "the black keys drummer should be slapped around haha," Bieber tweeted Tuesday.

Justin Bieber had finished school for the day, but the threat of detention was still looming. Backstage at "The Tonight Show" last week, the teen pop star's personal tutor, Jenny, couldn't find her cellphone. She suspected her pupil might have hidden it as a prank. "Justin, did you take my phone?" she said, searching under a couch cushion. "Because if you don't have it, I'm going to have to cancel my plan right now." "No! I swear, I didn't take it," he said, offering up a convincing puppy dog look and shaking his wispy trademark bangs out of his eyes and walking away.