Is Madonna moving to primetime?

She is if Simon Cowell has anything to do with it.

Cowell is pushing to land Madonna for the hit British reality show “The X Factor,” according to OK! Magazine. If all goes according to Cowell’s plan, Madonna would come on as a celebrity mentor to the contestants on the Saturday night music talent competition.

Determined to win the ratings war with BBC series “Strictly Come Dancing,” Cowell is hoping ‘X Factor” execs will entice Madge with some extra cash. Cowell’s coercion has, of course, worked in the past with musicians like Beyonce, Britney Spears and Take That, all of whom have mentored contestants.

A source told OK!, “ITV are happy to back him – and he’s determined to repay their faith by getting the biggest names in the world, including Madonna.”

Of course, it may take more than money to get Madonna to rearrange her schedule for the series. She’s now wrapping up her Sticky and Sweet tour and will undoubtedly be busy promoting her upcoming greatest hits album “Celebration,” due out September 29th.

Meanwhile, “X Factor” is currently holding auditions for its sixth season. Though no plans are finalized where Madonna is concerned, the source told OK! “Simon is the most powerful man in TV these days and he’s in a position to call the shots.”

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MIKE TYSON, in his first role following his memorable cameo in the hit film “The Hangover,” is confirmed to appear as a guest star on the new half-hour comedy series BROTHERS, which debuts with a special one-hour series premiere on Friday, September 25 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on Fox. In an upcoming episode, Tyson shows up to collect money from MIKE (Michael Strahan) at his brother’s (Daryl Chill Mitchell) restaurant.

BROTHERS is a sitcom in which Michael Strahan (”FOX NFL Sunday”) plays a former NFL star dealing with post-gridiron life as he moves back home with his family, co-starring Daryl Chill Mitchell (”Ed,” “Veronica’s Closet”), CCH Pounder (“The Shield”) and Carl Weathers (“Rocky”).
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Avril Lavigne seems to be having a blast on her now turned two week vacation in Saint-Tropez, France.

On August 2, 2009, Avril hits the beach, she was wearing Abbey Dawn accessories

Avril Lavigne - at a beach in St Tropez

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Proposed 2009 Strip a Victim of Economic Downturn

Program Partners announced Friday that the proposed Marie Osmond talk show, Marie, will not be going forward for a Fall 2009 launch. Citing deteriorating economic conditions in the broadcasting, advertising and credit markets, Program Partners stated that these conditions were simply too unfavorable to support the anticipated large-scale production with the level of resources that required for a Fall 2009 launch. The daily one-hour talk series was scheduled to launch as a syndication strip in September and had been cleared in well over 80% of the U.S. and Canada.

“We acknowledge with gratitude the many stations, advertisers and marketing partners who have been totally enthusiastic and incredibly patient with us as we worked hard to maintain solid footing for this project,” said Ritch Colbert of Program Partners. “Our belief in Marie’s creative vision for a new kind of talk show is unshakable, but in the end, the marketplace this year was simply unyielding.”

“I want to express my deep appreciation for the faithful support and dedication shown by the numerous stations,” Marie stated from backstage at the Flamingo hotel showroom. “It was my sincere desire to return their enthusiastic responses by producing an exceptional talk show for their fall schedules; produced with the high quality that is associated with the Marie Osmond brand for over four decades. This project, under proper conditions, still remains a strong passion of mine.”

Marie is currently performing five shows a week at the Flamingo with her brother Donny. She recently launched a new home decor and gift line with Giftcraft and has two new albums scheduled for release: her first inspirational album in August of 2009 as well as a duet album with her brother Donny, due to be released in early November of 2009. The duet album is the first Donny & Marie c.d. to be produced in almost 30 years.

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For years Candace Cameron Bure, aka DJ Tanner, became a staple in the American home as she grew up in a “Full House” of drama, laughs and family fun. But after a ten-year hiatus from the lights and action, Cameron has just recently come back to the small screen to star in the ABC family series “Make It or Break It”. And for the record, don’t expect her to stray from her strong Christian values for the sake of showbiz.

“Family friendly roles are extremely important, it is who I am,” Cameron told Tarts. “I had family morals instilled in me as a child and I have a responsibility to be a good role model.”

But aside from raising three children during her decade out-of-the-spotlight, the 33-year-old kept busy spreading the sacred word by speaking at numerous churches across the country.

“When the kids are back in school I want to go back to visiting churches, it is a passion of mine. Christian faith is so important and sharing Christ is one of the most important things to me,” she added.

But that’s not the only thing Cameron is sharing with the world, the blonde beauty and her husband, retired NHL Hockey Player Valeri Bure, are playing the business card with their own Napa Valley exquisite line of fine “BURE Family Wines.”

“I retired (from professional hockey) to spend time with our kids and move with the family business,” Bure added. “I love wine, I love the learning the business side.”

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She may have said farewell to her longtime spot on “American Idol,” but could Paula Abdul soon land on another reality show?

Former “American Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said he will be asking Paula to take a seat at the judge’s table on his current reality venture – “So You Think You Can Dance.”

“I’ll ask her to come on the show… possibly as a performer and as a dancer,” Nigel revealed to Access Hollywood on Wednesday.

But as to whether he thinks Paula will accept his offer, the reality mogul admitted, “she knows more than any of us.”

Paula broke the news of her “Idol” departure on Tuesday night, announcing the decision on her Twitter page.

“With sadness in my heart, I’ve decided not to return to #Idol,” she posted on her Twitter page. “I’ll miss nurturing all the new talent,but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day1become an international phenomenon.”

Following the news, “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest said he was “shocked” and “saddened” by the announcement – a sentiment shared by Nigel, who tapped Paula as a judge when the show launched in 2002.

“I’m sad. It’s sort of an end of an era for me,” Nigel told Access. “Obviously money had something to do with it.”

And quite possibly, a lot of money.

Paula was believed to be making around $2 million per year. The New York Times is reporting producers offered her a 30 percent salary increase in a deal worth more than $10 million.

However, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Paula was seeking a $20 million per year contract.

By comparison, “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest recently inked a three-year deal worth $45 million, while fellow judge Simon Cowell – who has one year left on his “Idol” contract – reportedly makes $36 million per year on the hit FOX show.

Randy Jackson is attached to the show through 2011.

The newest member of the “Idol” judging panel – and now the lone female member — Kara DioGuardi recently re-signed with the show and will return next season. No details on her contract were available.

However, Nigel admitted that despite the statements from Paula and FOX, he wasn’t ready to rule out a return to “Idol.”

“I think there’s always a chance that we’ll get her back on ‘Idol,’” he added.

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Writer-director John Hughes, Hollywood’s youth impresario of the 1980s and ’90s who captured the teen and preteen market with such favorites as “Home Alone,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” died Thursday, a spokeswoman said. He was 59.

Hughes died of a heart attack during a morning walk in Manhattan, Michelle Bega said. He was in New York to visit family.

Jake Bloom, Hughes’ longtime attorney, said he was “deeply saddened and in shock” to learn of the director’s death.

A native of Lansing, Mich., who later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there, Hughes rose from ad writer to comedy writer to silver screen champ with his affectionate and idealized portraits of teens, whether the romantic and sexual insecurity of “Sixteen Candles,” or the J.D. Salinger-esque rebellion against conformity in “The Breakfast Club.”

Hughes’ ensemble comedies helped make stars out of Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Ally Sheedy and many other young performers. He also scripted the phenomenally popular “Home Alone,” which made little-known Macaulay Culkin a sensation as the 8-year-old accidentally abandoned by his vacationing family, and wrote or directed such hits as “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” and “Uncle Buck.”

“I was a fan of both his work and a fan of him as a person,” Culkin said. “The world has lost not only a quintessential filmmaker whose influence will be felt for generations, but a great and decent man.”

Devin Ratray, best known for playing Culkin’s older brother Buzz McCallister in the “Home Alone” films, said he remained close to Hughes over the years.

“He changed my life forever,” Ratray said. “Nineteen years later, people from all over the world contact me telling me how much ‘Home Alone’ meant to them, their families, and their children.”

Other actors who got early breaks from Hughes included John Cusack (”Sixteen Candles”), Judd Nelson (”The Breakfast Club”), Steve Carell (”Curly Sue”) and Lili Taylor (”She’s Having a Baby”).

Actor Matthew Broderick worked with Hughes in 1986 when he played the title character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

“I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend John Hughes. He was a wonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family,” Broderick said.

Ben Stein, who played the monotone economics teacher calling the roll and repeatedly saying “Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?”, said Hughes was a towering talent.

“He made a better connection with young people than anyone in Hollywood had ever made before or since,” Stein said on Fox Business Network. “It’s incredibly sad. He was a wonderful man, a genius, a poet. I don’t think anyone has come close to him as being the poet of the youth of America in the postwar period. He was to them what Shakespeare was to the Elizabethan Age.

“You had a regular guy – just an ordinary guy. If you met him, you would never guess he was a big Hollywood power.”

As Hughes advanced into middle age, his commercial touch faded and, in Salinger style, he increasingly withdrew from public life. His last directing credit was in 1991, for “Curly Sue,” and he wrote just a handful of scripts over the past decade. He was rarely interviewed or photographed.

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Miranda Kerr models swimwear during a photo shoot at the famous Bondi Icebergs Winter Swimming Club in Sydney, Australia on August 2, 2009.

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