Penn Badgely

Late Monday, reports began circulating that Gossip Girl star/possessor of amazing bone structure Penn Badgley had signed on to portray Jeff Buckley in an upcoming biopic, one of two currently being planned about the late singer-songwriter, who died in 1997 in a freak drowning accident.

Badgley's film is called Greetings From Tim Buckley and will apparently take place in the days leading up the 1991 tribute concert for Jeff’s father Tim, who died in 1975 of a drug overdose, where Jeff made his public singing debut. According to a statement from the production company behind the project, the plot centers around "a romance with a young woman working the concert," through which Buckley "comes to understand the father who abandoned him."

And while some might be concerned that Badgley might not possess the, uh, depth required for a role of this magnitude, we have faith that he’s got it in him. For one, he can actually sing, and his character on Gossip Girl is already the son of a rock star, so that's got to count for something. In fact, we think that Badgley's GG co-stars should follow his lead and sign up for rock star biopics of their own. And yes, we've already picked out the perfect roles for them.

Blake Lively: Is blonde and makes questionable decisions ("The Green Lantern," Leonardo Dicaprio). In other words, she would be perfect as Courtney Love. Or Liz Phair.

Leighton Meester: Has already appeared on records with everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Cobra Starship, a pedigree which places her somewhere between Madonna and Pat Benatar.

Read on to see which rockers we think Ed Westwick, Chace Crawford and Taylor Momsen should bring to the big screen. Read More...

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Demi Lovato We didn't forget about Britney Spears this Pop Week, but there may have been a few people we didn't get the chance to catch up with for 2009. Here are the pop week honorable mentions.

1. Demi Lovato: This Disney star isn't expected to slow down in 2009. She's getting her own TV show, "Sonny with a Chance," and she'll also be seen with Selena Gomez in the movie "Princess Protection Program." She'll also once again hook up with the Jonas Brothers, if the rumored sequel to "Camp Rock" happens.

2. Daniel Radcliffe: After hitting Broadway for "Equus," Daniel isn't going to let his role onscreen as a wizard go — he's also got two more "Harry Potter" flicks lined up after the release of "The Half-Blood Prince." Also up for Daniel is "Journey," in which he plays photojournalist Dan Eldon.
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By Christina Garibaldi

The Golden Globes were back this year in a big way, and some of our favorite young stars joined their elder celebrity statesmen and -women for the festivities. From the Jonas Brothers to the "High School Musical" cast, the pop stars, small-screen beauties and blockbuster sweethearts were out in full force. So how did these fresh faces fare on the red carpet? Here is our opinion. (Click on the names for photos to refresh your memory.)

Blake Lively: Thumbs down. The "Gossip Girl" star is usually a hit on the red carpet, but this one was certainly a miss. The dress itself is beautiful, but it didn't seem to fit her and the color of the dress did not match her skin tone. Also, she could have done something with her hair. It seems this is the only style she is comfortable going for. Next time, take a risk, Blake!

The Jonas Brothers: Nick Jonas: Thumbs down. Velvet jacket, no tie — you should know better. It's the Golden Globes! Kevin Jonas: Thumbs up. Never can go wrong with a classic tux. Joe Jonas: Thumbs up. The red shirt underneath his suit was a good choice. Read More...

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Last week, "Gossip Girl" author Cecily von Ziegesar told MTV News that she didn't appreciate how the TV adaptation "ruined" her hard-edged character Vanessa.

"In the book, she's kick-ass and has a shaved head and wears lots of black ... and I think a lot of the readers who don't usually read teen fiction indentify with Vanessa," von Ziegesar told MTV News. "Even though I don't like Vanessa's character, it's nothing against [actress] Jessica [Szohr]. I just wish Vanessa was like she is in the books a bit more."


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It's election season, so it's time to pick a side: Team Blair or Team Serena?

The way "Gossip Girl" has been heating up this season, there's a major power struggle between the Upper East Side's two queen bees. Serena appears to be on top at the moment, but for how long?


When we (very unscientifically) polled our newsroom staff about who should win in the end, Blair seemed to have the edge — even if the arguments make her out to be more worker bee than queen bee.

And then a surprising dark-horse candidate emerged ...
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On occasion, it's our job to crash movie and television sets, and today that occasion came our way. And as you fine readers may know, we here at MTV News love us some good gossip. So it was our pleasure to find that "Gossip Girl" was taping right in front of the MTV building.

And what we saw is juicy. We have a breaking "Gossip Girl" spoiler alert for all you fans. If you don't want to know what will happen in Serena's love life, do not read on!

Photo By Andrew Ross Rowe

Picture this: The newly single Serena van der Woodsen — clad in straight-legged pants, a cream-color blazer, a cute little blouse and sky-high platforms — is making her way through Times Square. Suddenly, she gets a text message from a mystery person. She laughs to herself. She looks up, and there she is on the mega-screen. She turns around, and there is what we surmise to be her new love interest: a shaggy-haired fellow named Aaron.

They exchange some words — and since we sneakily got a sort-of peek at the script, we know more or less what they were talking about. Aaron, played by John Patrick Amedori, tells her that she is beautiful and asks if she'll pose for him. (We're hoping he's a photographer. Otherwise, that would just be creepy!)

She says yes (we wonder what that photo shoot will be like), and then they — wait for it — make out! Take that, Dan Humphrey. We wonder how Dan is going to feel about his competition? Things are sure heating up for those "Gossip Girl" kids ...

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GGBlog

Another installment on “Gossip Girl” from Rya, MTV News intern and former Upper East Sider:

OK, before I start this post, I just have to do this: OMFG! OMFG! OMFG! *MAJOR SPOILER ALERT* Serena killed a guy. Or a girl. Whatever. In the parallel universe that is “Gossip Girl”’s Upper East Side, a person is no longer alive, and Serena (and, presumably, Georgina) is to blame. But we won’t know the details until next week.

So with that off my chest, let's get down to the business of this week’s episode. Because, you see, for every handful of things on the show that are accurate, there are about 10 zillion more that are mostly wrong. My UES insider’s rundown, after the jump. Read More...

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