End Of An Era? Fox To Pull Plug On ‘American Idol’ After 15 Seasons

After 15 seasons, Fox is bringing it’s genre-creating hit American Idol to an end. At network upfronts, Fox announced that this season would be the last for the series, focusing this year on its alumni as well as the last crop of contestants.

Original judges, Randy Jackson (who left in Season 12) and Simon Cowell (who left in Season 7) commented about the end of the show on Twitter.

 

Still not all are sad that the show which spawned a generation of copycats (from NBC’s The Voice to Cowell’s own clone X Factor) is calling it quits. Mediaite.com wrote that “Fox Finally Takes American Idol Behind the Shed) to “put it down” presumably. US Weekly proclaimed that Fox has “finally” cancelled the show.

What do you think? Are you sad to see it go? Or did American Idol wear out it’s welcome?

Picasso painting smashes record with $179 million bid

APablo Picasso painting of scantily clad women broke the record for the highest price ever fetched by a piece of art at auction with a bid of $179 million.

The painting, "Les femmes d'Alger (Version 'O')," fetched $179.37 million Monday at a Christie's auction in New York.

The famed Spanish painter completed the piece as part of his 1954-55 series inspired by 19th century French artist Eugene Delacroix. Les femmes d'Alger was the final work of that series and was also considered an homage to fellow artist Henri Matisse, a contemporary.

"Les femmes d'Alger, (Version 'O')" is the culmination of a herculean project which Picasso started after Matisse's death, in homage to his lost friend and competitor, and which over a period of two months and after nearly 100 studies on paper and 14 other paintings led to the creation of this phenomenal canvas in February 1955," said Olivier Camu, deputy chairman, impressionist and modern art with Christie's, prior to the auction.

The painting was originally valued at $140 million, $34 million more than ever fetched for a Picasso painting. "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" sold for about $106.5 million at an auction at Christie's in 2010.

The previous record for amount paid at auction for a painting was for a 1969 triptych by Francis Bacon, "Three Studies of Lucian Freud," which sold for a whopping $142.2 million

The Picasso painting wasn't the only item to set a world record at Monday's auction. A sculpture by Italian artist Alberto Giacometti sold for $141.28 million.

"L'homme au doigt (Pointing Man)" had an estimated value of $130 million, several millions of dollars more than the most previously paid for a piece of sculpture of $104.3 million. The previous world record was set in 2010 with the sale of another Giacometti piece, "Walking Man I."

The bronze sculpture stands 5 feet, 10 inches tall and features a pencil-thin figure with one arm pointing, another raised behind its head. The piece was cast in 1947.

'Pointing Man is unquestionably Giacometti's greatest sculpture,' said Jussi Pylkkanen, global president of Christie's. 'Executed after the War in one incredible night of creative fervour, this noble figure points mankind to a brighter future beyond our limited horizons.'

OJB Jezreel Debunk Rumours Of Failing Kidney and Bad Liver

Ace music producer, OJB Jezreel has debunked a widely reported story of his kidney relapsing months after transplant.  He set the records straight on his ‎facebook page.

'Hi my name is Babatunde okungbowa a.k.a OJB JEZREEL. I'd like to set the record straight, am at home and healthy with my family going about my ‎normal business.

Obviously bloggers don't research before they post. If they did they would know that a transplant patient will always do routine checkups cus of infections etc

Mmmm nuff said am sure hiptv, orisun tv,encomium,el tv and black jerzie seeing n speaking with me in the past 2 weeks.

Wasn't on a hospital bed or in one! Not cool at all Linda not cool yes magazine. RESEARCH proper if it's gossip worthy or not." He said

Kanye West Receives Honorary Doctorate Degree From The Art Institute Of Chicago (Photos)

He went from being a college drop out Yeezus to Dr. West!! Kim Kardashian's hubby, Kanye West today received his honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 

SAIC, one of the most prestigious art schools in the US, said the honorary doctorate is given to "influential individuals" who earned "this distinguished award through their work''. Kanye's selection  stirred up controversy amongst some students and alum, but SAIC President Walter E. Massey and Dean of Faculty Lisa Wainwright firmly defended the decision to award Kanye with a degree in an interview saying:

Quote

   "The guy is smart, the music is beautiful, it's complicated, it's post-modern, it's hip, it's awakening," said Wainwright, "I couldn't be happier."

24-year-old female accountant Anita Okorie with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) has been murdered in cold blood

Oluchi Anita Kalu Elem Okore (a.k.a Lulu) who
hailed from Ezi Obasi, Amodu Ututu in Arochukwu
Local Government Area of Abia State, was brutally
hacked to death along East-West Road in Port
Harcout, Rivers State, by suspected ritualists,
who also cut off her vital organs.
Her assailants, three young men, who are now
being detained in a military facility in Port
Harcourt, are said to have confessed that they
sold Oluchi’s vital parts for about N1.5 million.
Oluchi, a 2012 Banking and Finance graduate of
Abia State University, Uturu, was offered
employment by FRCN after her youth service and
was recently deployed to Unity FM, Abakaliki,
Ebonyi State.
She left her base about three weeks ago for Port
Harcourt, en route Aba, to visit her elder sister
who was said to have just put to bed. She never
returned from the journey.
Family sources said Oluchi made a brief stop-over
at Aba, where her parents are based, and
proceeded on her journey to Port Harcourt at
about 6pm that fateful day.
It was gathered that she maintained close contact
with her parents through mobile phone
conversations, intimating them of her location at
any point in time.
She was said to have informed her parents of the
heavy traffic on the road which delayed her on
the way as she was said have arrived Eleme
Junction at about 10pm.
Oluchi, according to our source, promptly called
to inform her parents that she had arrived Eleme
Junction and that she was about boarding a taxi
cab to her destination. She was also said to have
raised her in-law, requesting him to come and
fetch her at the bus stop where she would alight.
Our source said that Oluchi may have been
sandwiched by two young men who equally
boarded the same taxi after she had boarded. A
little while, Oluchi was said to have put through a
distress call to her parents, telling them though
she had reached where the cab was supposed to
drop her off, they driver turned to a different
direction and she was unaware of where they
were taking her to.
It was learnt that Oluchi’s father pleaded with his
daughter’s captors to spare her life but just name
any amount of money they want and the family
would source for it. Shortly afterwards, calls to
Oluchi’s phone line were no longer going through.
After Oluchi’s father made desperate but futile
efforts to re-establish contact with her daughter,
he reported the matter to the police which later
declared her missing. Search parties were raised
without success, prompting his father to report
the matter to the military and Department of
State Service.
Our source said the military responded with
dispatch by deploying personnel from its
Intelligence Department who stormed Port
Harcourt, was able to locate the venue where
they evil men had killed the young woman.
The military intelligence officers were said to
have subsequently traced the suspected ritual
killers to a hotel in Port Harcourt where they were
nabbed.
It was at this point that the suspects led the
army officers to where they dumped the mangled
body of Oluchi and were also said to have
confessed during interrogation that they made
N1.5 million from selling Oluchi’s vital organs.
The army officers then put a call to Oluchi’s
father to come to Port Harcourt and identify a
corpse.
A relation of the deceased said they believed that
Oluchi was tortured to death going by the extent
of bodily injuries which disfigured her to the
extent that it took only a natural mark on her
body to identify her.
Tears flowed like river in Ututu last Thursday
when the remains of their elegant, promising
daughter, cut down in her prime, was committed
to mother earth.
Her mother, in a tribute to Oluchi, wrote: “God
knows why you were murdered at a tender age.”
The military is still keeping sealed lips on the
identities of the suspected ritual killers as
investigation into the matter was continuing.
•Photo shows late Oluchi.

Would You Read a Magazine Printed With HIV Positive Blood?

An Austrian men’s magazine hopes to shatter stigma about HIV by printing their latest edition of the magazine with ink laced with HIV positive blood.

Julian Wiehl, the founder and editor-in-chief of Vangardist magazine said there is nothing dangerous about picking up his magazine and giving it a read and that is exactly the point.

“We wanted to make a statement against the stigma and the irrational fears [about] … HIV and HIV-positive people,” he said.

“If you hold this magazine in your hands it is like holding somebody who is HIV positive. Nothing can happen, nothing can harm you holding the magazine, and nothing can harm you holding an HIV-positive person.”

The HIV virus does not live well outside the body and quickly dies. To further make sure his magazine was not a risk, the team autoclaved the HIV-positive blood obtained, which they obtained from three volunteers, before mixing it in small quantities with red ink.

Even though it is not risky, Wiehl said he knows his magazine will raise questions.

“If you see the magazine . . . the first question that comes to your mind is, ‘Would I touch it? Would I take it in my hands?’ ” Wiehl said.

The special edition magazine will be German-English and sell for €50 each online. An additional 15,000 hard print editions of the magazine, sans blood, are also available.

All the proceeds from the run will go to charity.

Kylie Jenner admits to having temporary lip fillers

Kylie Jenner has finally come clean about her lips.

The 17-year-old reality star confessed to plumping her pout with temporary fillers in a preview for Sunday's episode of E! series Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Jenner is well known for her extremely full lips, but dismissed rumors of a procedure until now.

"It's just an insecurity of mine and it's what I wanted to do," she shared in the clip. "I'm just not ready to talk to reporters about my lips yet because everyone always picks us apart. I want to admit to the lips, but people are so quick to judge me on everything."

Jenner never explicitly denied having injections, but skirted the issue by downplaying rumors and explaining her makeup techniques. Speculation about the teenager's plump pout reached new heights in April when fans attempted to mimic Jenner's lips for the #KylieJennerChallenge.

Jenner and her family recently returned for a 10th season of Keeping Up with the Kardashians. New episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET, and a two-part special dedicated to Bruce Jenner's gender transition will broadcast May 17 and 18 at 9 p.m. ET.

This Little Girl Died Just Hours Before She Was to Testify Against Her Rapist, Still No One Charged in Her Death

It has been over a month since little 10-year-old Corinne Gump died in a Youngstown, Ohiohouse fire just hours before she was set to testify against her rapist.

Still, no arrests have been made.

Corinne had been living with her grandparents, Bill and Judy Schmidt, at the time of the fatal fire after her mother, Lynn Schmidt, had abandoned the little girl there and decided to move back in with Corinne’s alleged rapist, Robert Seman.

On the night before the trial of Seman for raping the grade schooler, Lynn remained at Seman’s home. Corinne stayed with her grandparents.

By early morning, little Corinne and the Schmidts were dead.

Without Corinne’s testimony the rape trial against Seman set to begin that day was also up in the air.

In the meantime, Seman showed up to court as expected  for the trial with burns hidden with makeup. The burns would later be revealed when he showered in jail.

Seman’s bail was immediately revoked by the judge as soon as he heard what happened to Corinne. Despite community speculation Lynn was involved and she was found at Seman’s home the next day, Corinne’s mom was not arrested.

Since then, Seman, has also faced additional charges for trying to bribe a witness - his own ex-wife – into saying Corinne was lying and the abuse did not take place.

Police also have searched Gump’s home and placed into evidence those strange burns Gump was found to have on his body when he showered in jail days after the fire.

Yet, still there are no charges filed directly relating to Corinne’s or her grandparent’s death.

Arson investigators have said these things take time and results from evidence they sent to the lab are due back in a week or so.

Corrine’s stepmother Lisa Cappitti doesn’t doubt the authorities in Youngstown are doing their job. Like the rest of Corinne’s family and the people of Youngstown, they just want justice for the little girl.

“It consumes your whole mind. You want justice for her,” Cappitti said.“Definitely we want justice for her and we want to keep her name out there. We want to push as many issues for sexual abuse for any child that is going through this because you have to speak out, you have to tell somebody, and Corrine was very brave.”

Photo Credit: Screenshot/Corinne Gump, Screenshot/Lynn Schmidt, File Photo/Robert Seman

Pastor Disappears With Church Member's N10Million Bank Loan In Lagos

A member of a Lagos church had presented a sum of N10 million before his pastor for special prayers for a business he intended starting only for him to get defrauded by the man of God.

The popular pastor known as Pastor Timothy Gabriel who resides in Ejigbo, Lagos is currently under the searchlight of the Nigeria Police after absconding with a church members’ N10million.

According to PM News reportage, The victim (namewithheld) reportedly obtained the loan from a bank with an interest which he intended to use to start a new business.

It was gathered that before the victim went to the bank to process the loan, he informed the pastor whom he regarded as his spiritual father, who then promised to offer prayers to God so that the loan would be obtained successfully.

When the victim finally got the loan, he informed the pastor about it and the pastor reportedly told him that he had a revelation from God that the money was 'blood money' and if he used it for the business he intended to use it for, it will be unsuccessful.

He told him to bring the money so that he would anoint it and offer some prayers for three days before he would use it to start the business.

Heeding to his pastor's warning, the victim took the money to the Pastor at his home at Jakande Estate, Ejogbo which also serves as his church and there he was told to return for it in three days.

“I will anoint the money and do special prayers on it for three days” the pastor reportedly said.

The victim, who did not suspect any foul play, went back home and returned after three days as told, to collect his money but unfortunately the pastor had eloped with the money and no property of his was in sight.

Confused and at a loss of what to do at first, he later reported the case to the Police.

Police sources at Ejigbo Division have also confirmed the incident and said they were on the trail of the pastor. 

Judge Adds Rape Charge for Man Who ‘Killed Girlfriend and Ate Her Heart, Brain, Lung’

The Indiana ex-con on trial for murdering and eating his ex-girlfriend will be charged with raping the victim as well, a judge has ruled.

On Monday, A Clark County judge ruled that the prosecution’s argument to charge Joseph Oberhansley, 34, with rape was valid.

Oberhansley is already facing charges of murder and abuse of a corpse following the death of 46-year-old Tammy Jo Blanton on September 11. The request to add the rape charge was filed last month and will pave the way for a possible death penalty in the case.

Adding rape to the list of charges provides prosecution with the “aggravated circumstance” they need to seek the death penalty under Indiana law.

Oberhansley has already confessed to stabbing Blanton, cooking her body and then eating some of her organs, including her heart, brain and lung.

Oberhansley, an ex-con, was convicted of manslaughter back in 1998 following the shooting death of his 17-year-old girlfriend Sabrina Elder near Salt lake City, Utah just a few days after the birth of their son.

He was discharged from prison on July 23. Just eight days later, Oberhansley was in trouble with the law again when he was arrested on charges of criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement after a car chase.

It was Blanton who posted Oberhansley’s bail in July. A little more than a month later, Oberhansley murdered his then ex-girlfriendafter a fight.

Xenophobia In South Africa Begins At The Airport - Abike Dabiri-Erewa

 

According to PUNCH, Abike said that the xenophobic situation in South Africa has been a long-standing problem.

“Xenophobic matters in South Africa have always been there. It didn’t just start overnight. Once you get to the airport as a black foreigner, for instance, and they notice that you don’t speak their language, they start name-calling: kwere kwere, which is a very derogatory term—worse than being called a nigger. Xenophobic matters have always been there. And there have always been cases of attacks and discrimination against Blacks in South Africa.

The (House of Representatives) Committee on Diaspora has visited South Africa a few times and intervened in matters relating to discrimination. For example, we were in some South African prisons to meet Nigerians there. Some, who had finished serving their sentences, were still kept in prison, after serving their sentences, etc. Therefore, it has always been an issue in South Africa.

Checkout Gorgeous Photos Of Genevieve Nnaji As She Celebrate Her Birthday Today!

Nollywood actress Genevieve Nnaji is a year older today, May 3, 2015. Born in Mbiase, Imo State, Genevieve is a African Movie Academy Awards winner and a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). She began her career in Nollywood in 1998 at the age of 19 with the movie ‘Most Wanted’, and today she stands tall as one of the leading and best actresses in the game. We celebrate her birthday with 10 of her cute photos below

Crazy Woman Steals Bus, Crashes Into Police Car, Tries to Swim to Canada

A woman from Blaine, Washington, was arrested after a bizarre crime spree, which involved stealing a school bus, crashing it into a police car, and trying to swim to Canada.

Elizabeth Winter’s crime spree started when a bystander noticed a yellow school bus drive by her vehicle at speeds over 60 mph. Katherine McCall, 72, of Blaine, saw the bus drive by at an excessively fast speed. She immediately called the police.

“Boy, that school bus sure is driving fast,” McCall recalled. “I hope there aren’t any kids aboard.”

Shortly after, the bus drove into a parking lot at a gas station, where the woman smashed into a police patrol car and sped off to the local harbor. At the harbor, she crashed into a parking-lot barrier, dragging the log, and came to a stop. She proceeded to jump into the water and swim for Canada.

According to the police, she was shouting, “God will save me,” as she helplessly swam away.

Police used the Blaine harbormaster’s powerboat and tried to convince the woman to return to shore. She refused and kept swimming. Around 20 minutes later, they were forced to bring her on board as she was showing signs of hypothermia. It is estimated that she swam about half the distance towards the 49th parallel that marks Canadian waters.

Blaine Police Chief Mike Haslip described the incident, saying that the woman was very cold when rescued.

“She’s wet and very cold,” Haslip said.

The woman stands accused of vehicle theft, felony assault on an officer, and felony eluding of law enforcement. She was booked into Whatcom County Jail and she will be expected to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Tiger Woods' 3-year relationship to Vonn ends due to 'hectic lives'

Pro golfer Tiger Woods and U.S. Olympic champion skierLindsey Vonn have come to the end of their three-year relationship, both parties announced Sunday.

"I will always cherish the memories that we've created together," Vonn said in a Facebook post Sunday. "Unfortunately, we both lead incredibly hectic lives that force us to spend a majority of our time apart. I will always admire and respect Tiger. He and his beautiful family hold a special place in my heart."

Woods' statement, posted to his website, sounded similar.

"I have great admiration, respect and love for Lindsey and I'll always cherish our time together," Woods said. "She has been amazing with Sam [daughter] and Charlie [son] and my entire family. Unfortunately, we lead very hectic lives and are both competing in demanding sports. It's difficult to spend time together."

The athletes first began dating nearly three years ago and it became public knowledge in March 2013,ESPN reported Sunday.

Woods became divorced from his ex-wife in 2010 -- several months after an extramarital affair and a vehicle crash became public. The events also sparked a major scandal that cost the golfer some of his endorsements and corporations billion of dollars.

Vonn had previously said she had no plans to marry anyone at any point in the future.

Woods will continue to golf professionally and Vonn will ski. Last month, Woods finished in a tie for 17th at the Masters tournament in Georgia.

Kanye West changes album name to 'SWISH'

Rapper Kanye West says he has decided to change the title of his seventh solo album from So Help Me Godto SWISH.

"I'm changing my album name to SWISH," West tweeted Sunday. "I might change it again but that's the name now."

No reason was given for the move