Oprah and Maria Shriver are BFF’s, Lady Gaga gears up for album release and Snoop Dogg does reality!

Good afternoon! Today we have some good gossip for you to chew on. Maria Shriver and Oprah Winfrey seem to have bonded, Lady Gaga gains momentum with “Born this Way”, and Snoop Dogg battles American Idol with his new rap reality show! Let’s go!

Maria Shriver and Oprah have been getting close; Shriver was first seen lunching with Oprah on Monday, and now she has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show’s “Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular!” where she was candid in her appreciation of the talk show host. Maria Shriver has been bombarded by paparazzi lately due to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest scandal. Whilst cameras were rolling, Maria Shriver told Oprah, “You have given me love, support, wisdom, and most of all, truth…And I know I’m not alone in receiving those gifts from you.” I think it’s great that Shriver has had such a strong support system throughout this ordeal. What are your thoughts? Is the buzz surrounding Schwarzenegger’s family and Mildred Baena legitimate, or should it die down?

In somewhat related news, Oprah no longer holds the No. 1 slot for Forbe’s Most Powerful Woman. The list, which was released yesterday, gives that title to none other than Lady Gaga, who has really gained momentum in recent years. “Born This Way” the album was leaked online today in its entirety, and suffice it to say, it’s huge. When Lady Gaga undertakes a project, it’s always executed professionally and dramatically. Lady Gaga is the Madonna of our time, and “Born This Way” will be talked about for generations to come.

There are so many music competitions on air nowadays that it’s difficult to keep track of them! It started with American Idol, and splintered into similar shows like The Voice, or Simon Cowell’s upcoming X-Factor. Now Snoop Dogg has jumped on the bandwagon (something that Diddy has already attempted) by announcing hopes to produce a show like American Idol, but for hip-hop. According to Snoop Dogg, it would be “straight directed to the ‘hood … at people with no money, just talent. I’m looking for a deal from a network to find the nation’s hottest ‘hood artists.” Am I the only one who remembers what a fail Diddy’s show was? Do you think Snoop Dogg could do it better? Let us know in the comments!

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez present as a couple at 2011 Billboard Music Awards

Beliebers will definitely have mixed feelings about Justin Bieber’s plans to present at the 2011 Billboard Awards with oft-despised gf, Selena Gomez. Other presenters include Tim Allen, Joe Jonas, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Bieber has also nominated for a whopping 11 categories this year, including Top Artist, Top New Artist, Top Pop Album, and Top Male Artist. What are the categories you think Justin Bieber will win?

In other Justin Bieber news, the teen star visited Japan recently, where he spoke with 9 girls and boys who lived in areas that were dramatically affected by the disaster. Justin Bieber had intended to perform in Japan, but his crew was apprehensive about going due to radiation concerns.

Justin’s words were very inspirational; the 17-year-old warmly said, “”Things can get better and things will get better… There can only be good times to come from this and my prayers go out to all of your families.” And according to US Ambassador John Roos, “Events like Justin Bieber’s visit to Japan not only lift the spirits of young people in Japan but are an important contribution to the message to the world that Japan is safe to visit and open for business.” How do you feel about what Justin Bieber did?

PSN is back online and now Xbox 360 users are battling a killer firmware.

PS3 owners who just got over the whole PSN debacle are getting their laughs in at this latest news. Some people updating their Xbox 360 with the latest firmware update will have nice surprise in store for them. Of course it depends on your definition of “nice” considering the surprise will be in the form of their console not working anymore. It’s sorta like the lottery but instead of winning a million dollars you just keel over and die.

“Following a recent update to our system software, we have become aware of an issue that is preventing a very small number of Xbox 360 owners from playing retail game discs,” Translation: You are not going to be playing Xbox for a few weeks if your console happens to be one of the models affected by the latest update. Luckily you can have your Xbox replaced if you are one of the “customers that may be impacted”.

What kinda sucks is if you bought your console second hand you might be out of luck. Still it is pretty nice that Microsoft is willing to replace the consoles. It just seems kinda hilarious that an update allegedly made for “anti-piracy measures” is bricking the consoles of people who actually paid good money for their hardware. The irony continues when you think of how much DRM Sony put into protecting their Blu-Ray discs while leaving the PSN vulnerable to identity theft.

On the bright side there is a 1gb increase in storage space but considering it came at the cost of making certain versions of the consoles DVD drives unusable. Just when they had Playstation on the ropes Microsoft pulls the old “your stuff might be broken” card. The only person that is left to have problems is Nintendo and they have been pretty stable since the whole blow in the NES catridgegate.   At least Microsoft is offering replacement that doesn’t involve hyperventilating into your console.

Kirstie Alley’s DWTS success, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s baby mama drama with Mildred Baena and Brad Pitt and Angelina talk movies.

Happy Wednesday! In today’s news, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s baby mama (Mildred Baena) has kept her lips sealed about him fathering her child. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie discuss hopes of starring in another film together, and Kirstie Alley opens up about her DWTS success! Read on!

Mildred “Patty” Baena is the mother of the child whom Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered outside of his marriage, and apparently, she is unlike the many women who have affairs with celebrities and sell the stories to the tabloids. In fact, Mildred Baena has been extremely loyal in her silence; from the start she denied allegations that Arnold Schwarzenegger was the father to her son, and she never threatened the former actor to go public. I’ve been perusing comment sections, and a lot of people have been insulting Baena’s appearance, calling her ugly and the like. In my opinion, this woman is way less ugly on the inside than the twenty somethings who crave fame and money and who make a career out of being a malevolent person. What do you think? Does Mildred Baena deserve the public ridicule she has been getting, simply because she made a mistake more than 10 years ago?

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have revealed that they want to co-star in another film together. Brad Pitt spoke with NPR recently, where he said, “We’re not ones to repeat ourselves, but we’d like to, because right now, we’re hopscotching with films so one can be with the kids and one’s free to work.” Raising 6 kids is certainly no easy task; how much time do you think these stars actually spend with their children? Brad Pitt continued, saying, “And why aren’t we doing them together? Why aren’t we doing everything together?” Do you think Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are as enamored with each other as they like to project to the press? Are they sincere?

Dancing with the Stars may seem like a dumb competition to some onlookers, but to the celebrities taking part in the show, it seems like something they take very seriously. These celebs are practicing for hours every day to perfect their routine, and in doing so are showing the kind of dedication they are willing to give, towards projects. Kirstie Alley is a fan favorite, and she after last night’s elimination, she told reporters that winning the show would “be like winning an Oscar. Because it’s something I haven’t won before, it’s something I’ve always really wanted. It’s a different category, but I feel like we were just nominated!” That’s pretty intense! Who do you hope will win DWTS?