The country-pop starlet, who rocketed to fame with ballads of teen love that she wrote on her bedroom floor, has joined forces with American Greetings Corp. to launch her own line of greetings cards.

 Swift, 20, who last month became the youngest artist to win the coveted Grammy for album of the year, will introduce her first 12 cards with a display marked: “Hi, I’m Taylor and these are my cards.” 

“Staying true to who Taylor Swift is and what she loves, the creative team at American Greetings worked closely with the artist to come up with an eclectic selection of cards that glitter, offer traditional values with her personal flare, and embody her words that make such an emotional connection,” the company said in a statement.  “Taylor’s songs touch millions of people and we believe her cards will have the same emotional appeal to consumers of all ages.”

The messages on the cards range from “Rebellion is what you make it” to “Being fearless isn’t being 100% unafraid, it’s being terrified but you jump anyway.”

By the middle of this year, the cards along with gift packaging, stationery and online greetings will be sold in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Britain and U.S. military bases worldwide.

That’s right. This weekend is THE WEEKEND for affairs of the heart, date nights and dinner-and-a-movie outings as V-Day hits calendars on Sunday. And movie ticket seller Fandango.com has polled moviegoers to see just exactly what they will go see in theaters. The results? Forty-two (42) percent of women want to go see the new movie, “Valentine’s Day” while 39 percent of men picked action-packed “Avatar,” which takes place on the faraway moon, Pandora.

In the pool, 92 percent of men say they are “willing to let their dates pick the movie” (Gee, awfully nice fellas), and 94 percent of men say that they do, in fact, actually pay for the trip to the theater (Now, that’s more like it guys).  And while 32 percent of women polled picked Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling in the weepy romance “The Notebook” (2004) as their favorite onscreen couple, 20 percent of men chose Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in “Avatar.”

We wonder: where does that leave one of the other new movies this week, “The Wolfman“? Well, only 10 percent of men and 7 percent of women want to see that horror show, according to Fandango.  … Maybe a little too much hair. Now, if it were a blue-haired wolfman…

A surprisingly low-wattage assortment of celebrities showed up to see the former Beatles drummer get his star outside the Capitol Records building, most of them holdovers from Roy Orbison’s ceremony 10 days ago such as Joe Walsh, Jeff Lynne, David Lynch, Eric Idle and Barbara Orbison. 

Walsh, who recently became Starr’s brother-in-law, addressed the 500-or-so fans, as did producer Don Was and folk musician Ben Harper (pictured at left with Was, Starr, Walsh and Starr’s wife Barbara Bach). A chorus of loud boos greeted Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who stood in front of the press photographers after they had finished snapping him. 

When George Harrison got his star last year, Paul McCartney, Tom Hanks and Tom Petty topped the crowded VIP list. But McCartney was in England on Monday, Starr told the crowd, in between frequent flashes of the peace sign. Hollywood was represented this time by, er, “ER” veteran Noah Wyle.

Starr, obscured at times by two anxious bodyguards, joked that the Beatles “helped pay for” the historic (in L.A. terms) Capitol tower — even though it was completed in 1956. His meandering speech barely touched on the Beatles apart from an aside that he considered his bandmates to be “brothers … they looked out for me, and I looked out for them. We all supported each other.” 

Was, bundled up against the cold but still sporting his trademark sandals, hailed Starr’s subtle drumming style, humming tunes such as “Something” and “A Day in the Life” for effect. “I don’t think it’s out of line to say that Ringo’s musicality, his groove and his spirit are absolutely essential components of all those great Beatle records,” he said.

The unveiling was part of Starr’s promotion for his new album “Y Not,” which recently graced the lower reaches of the charts. Hollywood stars are usually unveiled in the late-morning, but the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce decided to make Starr’s a nocturnal event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Walk of Fame.

Los Angeles prosecutors finally had their day in court on Monday, when Dr. Conrad Murray — better known as Michael Jackson’s personal physician — was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the pop star’s sudden death. You can read about the charges here.

If you don’t already know about the case, LA coroners have said Jackson died of acute intoxication of an anesthetic drug called propofol, which is used in surgery. Dr. Murray has admitted giving the singer propofol on the day he died, according to court documents, but he has also said other doctors gave Jackson numerous drugs. Indeed, the coroner’s report said several drugs, including the sedative Lorazepam, were in Jackson’s system. You can read about the drugs in his system here.

Proving the case against Murray will be difficult, legal experts say, but far from impossible. Prosecutors have to make jurors believe that Murray’s actions in treating the singer were grossly negligent. “You got to remember, by definition, ‘involuntary’ means there was no intent to cause death. Essentially, it is an accidental death that is so aggravated (by Murray’s actions) that it becomes a crime,” said McGregor Scott of San Francisco-based firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

Murray is, of course, innocent until proven guilty in the United States. But we know there are a lot of strong, passionate feelings among Jackson fans about his death and whether Murray is at fault. So, we went out to Hollywood Boulevard to ask some entertainment-savvy folks about the charges. Click on the video above to watch. And if you have your own opinion, let us know in the comment section.

Swift, 20, took four Grammys on Sunday, including the coveted album of the year for the smash hit “Fearless”, which was also the biggest selling album of 2009. But her haul was somewhat overshadowed by her live Grammy duet with veteran rock singer Stevie Nicks, which The Washington Post called “incredibly wretched” and Ann Powers of The Los Angeles Times described as “tinny and rhythmically flat footed.”

Over to Scott Borchetta, president and CEO of Swift’s record label Big Machine Records in Nashville. “Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she is the best emotional singer,” Borchetta told The Tennessean.com. “No one is perfect on any given day. Maybe in that moment, we didn’t have the best night, but in the same breath, maybe we did.”

It’s not the first time that Swift’s vocal prowess has come under fire during the singer-songwriter’s rapid rise to the top and a marketing campaign that has put her just about everywhere in the last six months.  In the past, Swift’s managers have blamed some shaky moments on nerves and the technical constraints of  live performances, while pointing to a string of  sell-out concerts and her undoubted ability to connect with the angst of  young teens going through their first loves.

Veteran country star Naomi Judd also came out for “Team Taylor” , calling her multi-talented and a role model for her generation. “Smarts, manners and class. Why can’t fault-finders see that she is a sorely needed role model? We’re aware of how lyrics and musicians can influence our society. If America ever needed positive role models, it’s now,” Judd said.

But sudden fame also brings the risk of over-exposure.  Swift is now out to conquer new audiences with concerts in Japan and Australia. Australia wasn’t too fond of  Britney Spears and her lip-synching “Circus” concerts last year.

Will they be kinder to Swift, who plays guitar and piano and who has said she never lip-synchs?

With the audition rounds finally coming to a conclusion,  all eyes are now turning to the debut of Ellen DeGeneres in the first Hollywood rounds on Feb 9,  and whether she can fill the shoes of the missing Paula Abdul.

So far, most of the celebrity singers and actors called in at short notice last summer to replace the wacky and volatile  Abdul have demonstrated only how difficult it is to find the right blend of chemistry, entertainment and insight on the judging panel that has arguably been one of the show’s biggest attractions over the past eight years.

And the “performances” of  Avril Lavigne,  Posh Spice and Joe Jonas  don’t  bode well for the departure next season of Simon Cowell and his spot-on but oh so insulting quips ( Think “human orange” and “nails on a chalkboard”) .

DeGeneres has pledged that she won’t be a mean judge, but will give the average viewer’s  point-of-view, which on the face of  it seems a bit redundant since viewers have plenty of outlets for expressing what they think — most importantly by casting a vote.

She has also said that since she started working on the show she has found Cowell “even meaner” than she first thought, which could make for some interesting — and given Ellen’s comedic talents — fun dynamics when the show goes live for the first time in late February.

Ellen will doubtless bring a lot more curious viewers to “Idol” next week. The question is, can she keep them watching?

The art of the come-back should never be underestimated — especially if you’re Mel Gibson.

Gibson, back on the big screen after an eight-year  absence, is having a tough time fielding the inevitable questions about his infamous drunken anti-Semitic outburst in 2006.

After keeping a mostly low, public profile since that arrest, the “Mad Max” star has been on the media circuit promoting his new kidnap thriller “Edge of Darkness” — and trying to keep a smile on his face.

But the facade cracked in an interview with Chicago TV station  WGN when Gibson ended an uncomfortable chat with reporter Dean Richards by calling him an “asshole” as he signed off, apparently not realizing his microphone was still on.

Richards had asked Gibson, whose split last year from his wife, his new girlfriend and baby have also put him on the cover of gossip magazines,  whether he thought public perception had changed after “all that’s been in the news about you.”

“That’s almost four years ago, dude. I’ve moved on. I guess you haven’t,” snapped Gibson.  “It is a while back and I’ve done the necessary mea culpas. Let’s move on, dude. Come on.”

A few weeks ago, it was a question about religion from a Los Angeles  Times reporter that caused the “Passion of the Christ” director to request a halt to an interview, explaining he had just quit smoking.

“I’m coming rapidly to the conclusion that right now, today, my brain cannot function. Honestly? I’m six days off the cigarette. You’re looking at someone who’s having a pretty bad withdrawal from a 45-year habit,” Gibson was quoted as telling the LA Times in January.   In that case,  Gibson resumed the interview a few days later in a calmer state of mind.

The final answer to the question posed by Richards — whether Gibson thought public perception of him had changed since his arrest — lies with moviegoers, who made Gibson one of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1980s and 1990s.  “Edge of Darkness”, in which Gibson  plays a mad dad fighting for justice,  opened at North American box-offices last weekend in a respectable second place to “Avatar”, but the $17.1 million box office take paled in comparison to his supernatural “Signs” which opened to $60 million in 2002.

Is it time to forgive and forget? Or has Gibson got a longer road back than he might have thought?

Why is that important? The Academy knows that nominating popular movies helps boost the audience size for the Oscar telecast. Last year, when “Slumdog Millionaire” was on a roll at box offices ($141 million), more than 38 million people tuned in to the Oscars compared with 32 million the previous year when gritty drama “No Country For Old Men” ($74 million) won best film. 

Luckily for the Academy, this year it has a box office smash and a critical hit on its hands in “Avatar” — the highest grossing movie of all time. But the film that pundits say is right behind is low-budget, art house flick “The Hurt Locker.” And heading into Tuesday’s Oscar nominations (read about them here), if you asked Oscar pundits who the top five films would have been, the would have said: “Inglourious Basterds,” “Up in the Air” and ”Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.” The fifth slot may have been a toss-up. Then again, it generally always is.

The point is, all five of those films were nominated, and likely only the two — “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” — stand a chance at winning, pundits say. So, having 10 nominees may not have changed a thing. But that is what insiders think. You are the fans. What do you think? Did the 10 matter, and does it make for a more exciting show? Put another way, is having “District 9″ among the nominees, for instance, really going to change the thinking among the 6,000 or so Academy members? Maybe not. But how about “The Blind Side”? And do movies like those make you  any more, or less, willing to tune in to the show on March 7?

So the natural question all week has been, “do this year’s films exemplify a renewed indie spirit?” The answer depends on how you look at it. In the opening day press conference, even Sundance founder Robert Redford and festival director John Cooper seemed to disagree with Redford calling it a festival of rebirth for that independent spirit and Cooper thinking it was more a renewal of Sundance’s pledge to promote fresh, new voices in cinema. Rebirth or renewal? … TomAIto or TomAUto.

Here’s what we think. Sundance is first and foremost about films and filmmaking, say it’s organizers. So, what about the movies? Many are about the same, and a few will always be different — as different as the people who made them and how audiences perceive them. We ask: how was “Buried,” about a Iraq war contractor buried alive, any different from 2003’s “Open Water,” about a pair of scuba divers stranded in the middle of the ocean when their tourist boat leaves them? Both take us on horrific journeys that lead to personal introspection, but “Buried” also preys upon our feelings about the years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. So that’s a little different, yes. Movie watching is subjective and, as Joseph Gordon-Levitt (you can call him Joe) told us, a new movie is often about taking an old idea and “putting your own, unique spin on it.” Read our Q&A with Joe here.

The marketplace for buying and selling movies here has changed, somewhat. Gone is the notion that the “indie” label could sell anything, and it has been replaced by a more pragmatic business sense. And, after a tough 2009 market, several movies including “Blue Valentine,” “happythankyoumoreplease,” “Hesher” and “Winter’s Bone” found distributors in the festival’s final days.  The investor money is out there to fuel the market, industry veterans here say, but the players at the table are making smarter decisions about how much to invest and where to put their money. Read about that here.

The “indie spirit” is still alive at Sundance, but it never truly went away. In recent years, one just had to clear away the surface clutter to get to it. After Sundance  became a corporate circus for promoting products in the 2000s, some — certainly not all — of those corporate marketers have gone, and the ones that are here are less aggressive. This year (and in 2009 to a great extent, too) the recession cleared the clutter away for audiences. That’s good. And  while some industry watchers complained about the number of stars showing up in independent films in the late 1990s and 2000s, those observers should get over it. The indie world has more challenging material and characters, and that attracts actors and actresses. The stars are here to stay, and that’s just the nature of major studio vs. indie moviemaking heading into a new decade.

You can see the “indie spirit” among winners in the video above — a sort of mash-up of acceptance speeches from Saturday night’s awards. (Read about the winners here). And below, just for fun, is David Hyde Pierce and John Cooper performing a rap to loosen up the crowd — a couple of middle-aged, white hip hoppers, now that was rebellious. Or just plain funny. Click below.

Organizers said it was only the third time in the 20-year history of the MusiCares dinner that an honoree had not sung, after Billy Joel in 2002 and Luciano Pavarotti in 1998. Young’s publicist did not return a call seeking comment. Young was never billed as a performer, but disappointed guests assumed the tireless road warrior might dust off a few ditties.

The MusiCares event raises funds for musicians with medical and financial problems. It takes place two days before the Grammys, so an A-list crowd is always in attendance. Young, accompanied by his wife Pegi, was honored for his annual all-star concerts in Northern California for the Bridge School, an institution that helps disabled children.

Plenty of big stars took to the stage at the cavernous Los Angeles Convention Center to hail the Canadian rocker, most of them turning in earnest versions of folkie songs such as “Down by the River” (John Mellencamp, pictured in the middle, at left), “Tell Me Why” (Norah Jones) and “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” (Jackson Browne), and “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” (Lady Antebellum). Josh Groban inadvertently set off an exodus to the bathrooms with his performance of the ballad “Harvest Moon,” but Wilco enlivened proceedings with an epic “Broken Arrow.” 

They steered clear of Young’s challenging ’80s material, nothing from the experimental fare of his vocoder-fueled 1981 opus “Trans” or from his 1985 country outing “Old Ways.” An examination of his political fare was limited to “Ohio” by Ben Harper. No one dared touch his recent protest song “Let’s Impeach the President.” Dave Matthews ventured to the dark side with the junkie ballad “The Needle and the Damage Done,” an ideal tune for the event. 

Comments from the stage were few and far between. Elton John — who did “Helpless” with Sheryl Crow, said Young was his “hero … He came up and played his new album for me in 1971, in London, in my apartment, and the neighbors complained at three o’clock in the morning.”

Young’s old bandmate, David Crosby, of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, added: “We made some of the best music of our lives with you, man.” CS&N covered “Human Highway,” and Stills teamed with Crow for “Long May You Run.” (Nash and Stills are pictured at left)

Young did get up from his table at the end to thank everyone, and to reveal that he was four or five songs into a new album.  “I won’t stop and I hope to be able to continue for a really long time,” he said.