TMZ has the news that young mom Bristol Palin, 20, made a jaw-dropping $262,000 in 2009 for her role as some kind of abstinence ambassador for Candies. She’s still working for them to this day and just put out an awful PSA a few months ago with The Situation. Bristol was paid quite a bit more last year for her long running stint on Dancing With The Stars and for speaking engagements, with her fee verified as at least $14,000 and rumored to be as high as $30,000 an appearance. She’s since purchased a home outright. This example of 21st century nepotism at its finest isn’t going away anytime soon. Bristol has a memoir coming out this summer.

Here’s TMZ’s report on Bristol’s payday in 2009. It’s probably safe to assume she made more than this last year:

Bristol Palin BANKED more than $262 thousand in 2009, for her role as a spokesperson for a teen pregnancy prevention campaign.

The former “Dancing With The Stars” contestant became an ambassador for The Candie’s Foundation in 2009 when she was 18 … just a few months after giving birth to her son, Tripp … and according to tax documents, the job PAID OFF.

The foundation’s website says Bristol “plays an important role by helping other teens understand the incredible challenges teen parents face, and encouraging them to wait until they are socially and financially independent to start their families.”

According to the website, Bristol is still working for the organization.

[From TMZ]

So all you have to do to get rich is to have a famous controversial mom, an (arguably) likable personality and the gumption to believe you’re qualified to represent something you’ve publicly failed at. It also doesn’t hurt if you can dance, but obviously that’s not what led Bristol to this payday back in 2009. At least she’s going to college and aspiring for some kind of media career. She’ll have something to fall back on when her mom is no longer the poster girl for Fox News. I would say I’m looking forward to Sarah Palin fading away, but someone will take her place for sure. I learned my lesson from Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. We thought Paris was annoying, but we didn’t know the half of it.

Photo credit: Fame Pictures and Harpers Bazaar

Dlisted’s Michael K got his hands (and other body parts) on the above video of Alex Skarsgard doing something naughty and strange. Much like my Daniel Craig gay fan fiction, this video is turning me on. It’s totally budget though – it’s not like Alex is doing an audition for some role where he plays a gay party boy who likes to dance and make out with asses. It really seems like Alex was drunk and he and his friends decided to make a funny video.

The guy Alex is dancing with is an English actor and comedian named Rhys Thomas. Rhys does not seem like he’s even half-way as into it as Alex. He actually looks like he’s fighting the Skargard advance. So now we know – Alex is not hot enough to turn a straight dude gay. We also now know that Alex is a big-time ass-man, and that when he gets drunk, he likes to dance and lick men and wear what seems to be a pair of Capri leggings(?). Well… now we know why Alex is with Kate Bosworth?

Alex on June 8, 2010. Credit: WENN.

A few weeks ago, a totally budget video came out of Katie Holmes singing and dancing to “Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)”. Tom was her little dancing love-slave in the performance, and it was totally for charity. It was sort of cute, actually. Except that it was hilariously bad – Katie sang live, and her voice kind of sucks, and as for the actual “dancing” – well, just go look at my post about it. In case you wanted to see the video again, here it is:

The video became so popular that when Tom appeared on Oprah, she even showed it and had Tom talk about it. Tom, of course, laughed and seemed very proud of his wife, much to his credit. Now OK! Magazine is reporting that Tom is a little overly-enthusiastic about Katie’s dance fever. According to their source, Tom makes Katie (KATE) practice all the time so they can become “the new Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.”

Tom Cruise is driving Katie Holmes crazy with demands for perfection on the dance floor, a source tells OK!.

The two performed “Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)” at a benefit in L.A. on May 1. Tom caught dance fever afterward, and now he makes Katie practice several times a week.

The source says, “Tom wants them to become the new Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire.”

“He loves the idea of performing on stage with her but believes Katie has a long way to go before she’s ready. The irony is that she’s a far better dancer than he is!”

[From OK! Magazine]

Tom thinks he’s Ginger, doesn’t he? Ginger was the short one. Seriously, Tom is one of those people who takes someone’s innocent and enjoyable hobby and sucks all of the fun out of it by demanding perfectionism. Why can’t Katie just dance because she likes to dance? Why does she have to be the best? Because she’s not. She’s a good dancer for an amateur, don’t get me wrong, but as I said in the other post, she actually thinks she’s Ginger (or Fred, I can’t tell), and that’s what’s sad to me.

I’m sorry I didn’t get to this lovely Jake Gyllenhaal video before (below), because it is adorable. It’s Jake, promoting The Prince of Persia in Russia, and having a lot of fun of with Russian chicas. This totally looks like blackmarket spy footage, which makes me think that at least one of the girls Jake was partying with was a hooker, but nothing dirty happens. The boy just loves to dance and sing along to Marvin Gaye. Ain’t nothing wrong with that:

Adorable, right? But isn’t he dating Isabel Lucas? Maybe that was just a fling, because he’s not really acting like a dude with a girlfriend. Then again, he’s not making out with any of these girls… but he is flirting his ass off. I didn’t know he had it in him.

Meanwhile, Jake gave an extensive interview to the Philippines’ newspaper The Inquirer, and there are some really great quotes from the piece. The full article is here, and here are some highlights:

On interviews: “I love my work and care about it. But I’m beginning to have a great sense of humor about it because I just don’t feel like there’s any need to take it all that seriously.”

On shaping up for the role: “It was a really long, arduous process. It was total devotion. It was so hard to get paid to exercise. There’s nothing harder. First, I grew the hair which was, again, really hard. It tried my patience. It’s painful to grow out your hair. It was really about two simple things: Shampooing and then conditioning. Not the two-in-one kind. You start with the shampoo which really works out the biceps. If you rub vigorously, then the triceps are worked out with conditioning. A lot more bathing involved, actually. Three to four hours in the shower of vigorously rubbing all over defines the abs and pectoral muscles. Eventually, you just become the Prince of Persia. Also, drinking bath water is always a nice way of keeping yourself hydrated while you’re bathing and training to get the Prince of Persia physique.”

On the accent: “From the very beginning, Mike Newell would say to me, ‘You know my dear boy, you should just speak in the accent. Do not be afraid. Just talk to all the actors and enjoy yourself.’ I was like, ‘Oh Jesus.’ I was so nervous. I was working on the accent for about three months with a dialect coach because I knew how much scrutiny I would get. I had been watching ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ over and over again. And by the way, Bridget Jones was a main influence in my training regimen. I was going after that physique. My accent was really a mixture of Gwyneth Paltrow in ‘Sliding Doors’ and Renee Zellweger in ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary.’ Gwyneth in ‘Sliding’…influenced the hair, too.”

Filming in the sand: “It’s so strange. Like I read the script and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ And then I show up in the desert and I am like, ‘How the hell did I not know that we were shooting in the desert for four months?’ I’m pretty familiar with sand – it’s in my DNA now. If I have children one day, they will be born made of sand… Sand gets in everywhere, like my mother used to say. I had a lot of sand in my schlitz.”

Filming in Morocco: “People talk about how hot it is in the desert. We shot in the desert in Morocco which is beautiful. If the audience responded to this movie and we have to do another one, I would gladly do it. I just thought this seems like great fun. It was really that simple.” Then he quipped, “You’re like, ‘Aha, I bet. You liar.’ But no.”

[From The Inquirer]

I totally have doubts whether The Prince of Persia will end up being a hit movie. Can Jake Gyllenhaal convincingly pull off the cartoon-ish action hero? Eh. He seems more suited for the anti-hero, the sympathetic dramatic lead, or even a comedic lead. We’ll see how audiences respond to Jake in a skirt-and-sandals, sand-filled action film.

Yesterday, Radar had the scoop that “someone” had a video of a 16-year-old Miley Cyrus giving a 44-year-old gay film producer a “grinding” lap dance. This all took place at the wrap party for The Last Song last summer. I didn’t really doubt that the video existed, or that Miley did in fact give a dude a lap dance, and it looks like both were true. TMZ got a hold of the video (or part of the video, since this thing looks edited). Here it is, courtesy of TMZ:

My first reaction was “This is totally not as scandalous as Radar made it seem”. The party seems very crowded, and it doesn’t even seem like many people are paying any attention to Miley at first. Of course, then she climbs on a chair and rubs her ass on a 44-year-old dude, so people start paying attention. So… it is pretty gross when you think about it. I don’t care if Adam Shankman is gay – why in the world is a 44-year-old man dancing with a 16-year-old like that? Also – this is not Miley’s first time at the lap dance rodeo, even though I don’t consider this particular instance a “lap dance”. It’s more like some gross, underage dirty dancing, I guess. There is grinding. There is a lot of hip action. And she’s good at it, and she’s done it many times before. TMZ reports that “We’re told Miley’s parents were not at the wrap party. Miley’s reps had no comment.” I can’t see how Miley’s parents would object, seriously. What are they going to do? Take away the stripper pole she had installed in her house, where she’s now living alone?

Oh. Dear. God. This is one of the funniest, most uncomfortable, ridiculous videos ever. The setting: the “A Fine Romance” fundraiser for The Motion Picture and Television fund in New York on Saturday. The event: Katie Holmes singing and dancing “Whatever Lola Wants” and treating Tom Cruise as her hyper-choreographed love/dance slave.

This is whole thing is too good not to over-analyze, so let’s get started:

0:24 Holy crap, I think Katie is singing live. And she sounds terrible.

0:34 Katie does a cute little mini-almost-vadge-flash as she struts over to Tom, who is rushing to his mark.

0:40 Tom gives the performance of a lifetime as he pretends he’s okay with Katie running her fingers through his hair. When she does this at home, he slaps her hand and yells “BITCH, DON’T TOUCH IT.”

0:45 Yep, this bitch was totally choreographed, including when Tom would turn his head dramatically, in time with the music. For all we know, he was the one who choreographed it.

0:49 When Katie gets close to flashing Tom her vadge, he looks away. Poor Tom. You can look at it, honey, The Vadge won’t eat you. Also, poor Katie!

0:59 Oooh! She flashed him again and he forced himself to look! He stared at The Vadge with intensity, as if he needed to figure out what wire to cut so he wouldn’t detonate the damn thing.

1:10 Chuckle. Now that he got a good look at The Vadge, he’s trying to get away from It.

1:20 Worst. Stunt. Ever. It was like Katie was throwing a limp fish. Operative word: limp. Operative word: fish.

1:25 Tom is really comfortable on all fours, huh?

1:39 God, Katie is really terrible dancer. It wouldn’t be so bad if she was just like, “Hey, I’m having fun, it’s not like I’m really into this.” But she thinks she’s amazing.

2:00 Okay, this last part is actually kind of cute. I like how Tom “gives in”. It’s kind of sweet and you can tell they probably had a lot of fun working on this.

2:40 Sweet hug. God, she’s so tall. I guess Tom doesn’t have any lift dress shoes or lift dance shoes. Only his poor white lift sneakers.

Pamela Anderson isn’t doing too badly on this season of “Dancing With the Stars.” She’s a decent dancer with some natural ability (unlike Kate Gosselin, who has all the physical grace of a department store mannequin), but she seems to be stuck in this mode where she does a lot of sexy poses, honed over years of Playboy photo shoots, in lieu of actual footwork. And even when she’s dancing well, she kind of looks like a hot trashy mess with that ratty hair and the tiny outfits. But hey – that’s Pam, and what you see is what you get. I suppose we should all be thankful that the show’s production team put their foot down and forced Pammie to wear underpants. No, I’m not making that up.

“You exude so much sex appeal,” gushed Tonioli after the former Baywatch babe channeled Marilyn Monroe for her March 29 fox-trot. That’s not by accident. With a fashion philosophy of the more titillating, the better, Anderson, 42, insisted on trimming a couple of inches from the hem of her premiere-night mini. She also balked at wearing pasties (in case of a wardrobe malfunction), says a source – not to mention panties, says another. On that last item, she relented. Adds the source: “She had to, but she didn’t want to.” Another must? Perfect lighting. To score an interview, camera crews had to have ring lights, which help hide wrinkles. Says a set insider, “I’ve never, ever seen any celeb request that before.”

[From US Weekly, print edition, April 12, 2010]

I’m thinking that Pam may be hoping for a wardrobe malfunction on national TV, so everyone will be talking about her. Because we know one thing for sure, Pammie loves attention. But what she doesn’t seem to get is, we’ve already seen what she’s got – many, many times. As for the special lighting requests, I can’t say I’m surprised. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that “ring flash” request from Pamela. And I can see why! Pam’s face up close is a little…Cruella DeVille these days. Probably all those years on the beach in the sun.

I was fully prepared to mock Katie Holmes for the interview she gave about her upcoming, pretaped appearance on So You Think You Can Dance? Not only is Katie dancing… she’s also singing. Not only is she singing… she’s singing a Judy Garland song, just like Tom “I Love Me Some Judy” Cruise wanted her to do. But now I’m thinking twice about the mockery, because it seems Katie got involved with this whole project because she’s involved with the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a nonprofit that “provides assistance to talented underprivileged youth.”

She must have taped this thing weeks ago, when she was making zombie-like appearances all around Los Angeles. I think she also pre-taped all of the interviews about her appearance too, because she’s working in Australia now, I can’t see her flying in to LA just to promote an appearance on So You Think You Can Dance?

Katie Holmes says she is “very excited” about her upcoming singing and dancing homage to Judy Garland, airing on the 100th episode of So you Think You Can Dance Thursday.

“I like to sing and dance so it is really fun,” she tells Entertainment Tonight.

As Usmagazine.com previously reported, Holmes will dance and sing to Garland’s “Get Happy” from the 1950s musical Summer Stock, wearing an all-black ensemble similar to one Garland once wore.

At one point in the routine, Holmes – who also prances around in a black velvet fedora, nylon stockings and body-hugging skirt – is lifted over three dancers’ heads. For her finish, she tosses her fedora in the air, and one of the other male dancers catches it.

The spot is directed by show producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe and is choreographed by pal Tyce Diorio.

Holmes agreed to the dance after becoming involved with the non-profit Dizzy Feet Foundation, which provides assistance to talented underprivileged youth.

“It is to give scholarships to these young kids,” Holmes tells ET. “I think it is important to experience music and dancing and singing and the arts and sports. This is the next generation. I think it is important to give them every opportunity to grow and discover what it is that they like and to have access to the best. “

[From US Weekly]

Alright, I’m officially giving her a pass on this one. No mocking. Even though she’s going to murder Judy’s — no, I won’t go there. It’s nice that Katie is drawing attention to the foundation’s work. Zipping my lips now.

On what might turn out to be a completely unrelated note, did everyone else think this blind item was about Katie and Tom? From Blind Goosip:

The attorneys have finally hammered out an agreement! We’re finally getting close to the announcement of a split of this couple. Have you noticed how few photos there have been of them together lately? Half this couple is on a project that requires travel. The other half joins them fairly frequently, but it’s really just for the sake of the child/ren. They both have outside relationships. He has a new – albeit temporary – boy toy that his boyfriend is not too happy about. She has an extra man in her life but is afraid to be seen with him before the announcement. No need to feel bad for her, though. She is will be doing a happy dance soon enough. Dance, girl, dance!

[From Blind Gossip]

The “dance, girl” part made me think of Katie. And then I thought of Judy. And then I thought of Tom Cruise. And then… I thought of barley water. So I’m assuming “barley water” is the answer to this blind item.

Katie Holmes is shown on set in Australia with Suri on 7/21 and 7/23/09. That big guy with her is her bodyguard. Credit: BARM/Fame Pictures

We were having the debate earlier this week as to whether Katie Holmes is pregnant again, or if she’s just bloaty, slouchy and a bad dresser. If she is pregnant, I feel really bad for her, because she’s got a couple of strenuous projects lined up for the next few months. If she’s knocked up, I’d imagine she’ll be sick as a dog. Of course, she already tends to look like a zombie Stepford wife with no fashion sense. So “sick as a dog” might be an improvement.

Before Katie, Tom and Suri fly off to Australia so that Katie can film a creepy thriller, the rumor is still going strong that she’ll appear in an episode of “So You Think You Can Dance? Granted, it’s a hit show on Fox. The downside is that Katie used to be a promising actress… and now she’ll be guest-starring on a dance reality show. No fears! MSNBC’s The Scoop has the “real reason” why Katie has signed onto the dance show: because Tom Cruise really wants Katie to do a tribute to Judy Garland. Hand to God! Tom Cruise loves some Judy Garland. Cough cough of course he does cough.

The reasoning behind a Katie Holmes’ song-and-dance tribute to Judy Garland is a bit more complicated, though. This is the year of the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, and MGM is doing a lot to promote the reissue or something. MGM and Tom Cruise are tight… so Katie is doing a Judy tribute to be a good wife. Or something. JUDY!!

When you’re Katie Holmes and you’re spotted walking around the studio lot of “So You Think You Can Dance,” wearing an outfit that looks hijacked from the set of “Fosse,” word will spread quickly.

Holmes has yet to confirm her “SYTYCD” participation, and Fox is steadfast with a “no comment” response, but several sources say that you can expect Holmes to both sing and dance on the reality show.

“She’ll be doing a Judy Garland tribute,” says a source who became close to Holmes when she performed in “All My Sons” on Broadway last fall.

The logical follow-up question is: Why would Holmes want to be part of the show? One theory: she’s playing the part of the good wife.

It’s the 70th anniversary of the iconic Judy Garland film “The Wizard of Oz,” which is an MGM property (and here’s where it becomes complex — stay with me). MGM and Holmes’ hubby, Tom Cruise, are closely linked since the studio was behind the resurrection of Cruise’s production company, United Artists.

MGM, which isn’t a runaway financial success right now, has high sales expectations for the “Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition” DVD, which comes out this September.

Cruise doesn’t have any films from United Artists in theaters any time soon, so the pressure is on for him to contribute to the bottom line. One way to drum up publicity: have Holmes help where she can.

“It’s a lot of dots to connect, but for one, she’s his biggest cheerleader, and she had her eye on the Weinstein Company’s Judy Garland project, but (the role) went to Anne Hathaway,” said another source. “She has talked about doing musical theater for some time now. And even though it feels strange that she’d do ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ it could be good for the next phase of her career.”

Holmes’ performance, which MGM says is not a promotional one to benefit the studio, is expected to air later this summer, but there’s no official air date yet.

[From MSNBC’s The Scoop]

Is any of this true? Perhaps, but I find that the thread connecting the rationale (Katie Holmes to Tom Cruise to MGM to Judy Garland to So You Think You Can Dance?) a bit confusing. I think it’s much more likely that Katie just likes to dance and be girly, and she thought the whole thing would be really fun. F-ck it, it gets her out of the house, you know? A woman can’t live by Xenu and barley water alone.

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise are shown on 6/22/09 during the ceremony for Cameron Diaz’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Credit: WENN.com, Fame Pictures and PRPhotos

Katie Holmes may be trying to break free again – even if only temporarily. The actress was widely reported to love New York and want to move there permanently after starring in “All My Sons” on Broadway. However husband Tom Cruise was supposedly against it, and when her run in the play ended she returned to Los Angeles. Now Star is reporting that Katie has been spending a great deal of time working on her dance moves in the hopes of getting the lead in the Broadway version of the movie “Finding Neverland.”

Katie Holmes is staying on her toes, hoping to snag a starring role in a big Broadway musical! Mrs. Tom Cruise, 30, has spent a lot of time lately at the International Dance Academy in Hollywood. “She’s determined to do a musical,” says a source, “and really wants the female lead in ‘Finding Neverland,’” the play based on the life of Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. Katie has already proved herself on stage – she had a successful run last year in the drama ‘All My Sons’ and showed off her singing and hoofing skills on the canceled ABC series ‘Eli Stone.’

[From Star, May 11 2009, print ed.]

“Finding Neverland” was the movie that made me like Johnny Depp. I have no idea what was wrong with me, but I couldn’t have cared for him less up until that point. It really was a phenomenal movie and it’ll be interesting to see how it translates onto the stage. That said I cannot imagine how they’ll turn it into a musical. But most people said that about “The Color Purple” and they did a great job with it.

Katie always seems so quiet and demure; I’d love to see her in a musical, hopefully in a more outgoing role. The more independence she gets from Tom, the better, and she seemed to really enjoy her time in New York. I swear, I can almost see her making a break for it any day…

Here’s Katie attending an instructed lesson at the ‘ International Dance Academy’ in Hollywood on April 15th. Images thanks to Fame Pictures .