Fan Fare

‘Twilight’ vs. ‘High School Musical 3′ at Teen Choice Awards

The lovelorn vampires of “Twilight” will vie for top honors at the Teen Choice Awards on Aug. 9 with the singing stars of “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.”

“Twilight” garnered 12 nominations, ahead of 10 for “High School Musical 3.” Miley Cyrus and the teen soap “Gossip Girl” also scored 10 each, while event hosts the Jonas Brothers snagged nine.

The ceremony will be held at the Gibson Amphithreatre near Hollywood, and will be broadcast on Fox the next day. Fans aged 13 to 19 can each vote once daily for their top picks at teenchoiceawards.com.

“Twilight” stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart were respectively nominated for choice movie actor and actress in the drama category. The film’s other nods included choice movie in both the drama and romance catgories. Taylor Lautner, Nikki Reed and Ashley Greene will compete for fresh face awards, and Cam Gigandet for the villain award.

The only head-to-head competition between “Twilight” and “High School Musical 3″ in the movie category was in the liplock category: Stewart and Pattinson vs. Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron. Cyrus was also nominated, along with her “Hannah Montana 3″ co-star Lucas Till.

Efron was also nominated for choice movie actor in the music/dance category, alongside co-star Corbin Bleu. Till and “Hannah Montana” co-star Jason Earles will also compete. In the actress race, Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale were up against Cyrus. Cyrus also picked up nominations in the TV and music races, and in random races such as choice female hottie.

Celebrities come knocking for “Twilight” sequel

Vampire romance movie “Twilight” proved a blockbuster hit last year and has made more than $356.8 million worldwide at the box office. The movie’s success was unusual for Hollywood, because at its heart “Twilight” was an indie movie, and box office leaders often come from the major studios. “Twilight” was made by independent studio Summit Entertainment and it starred Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who went into the production as working actors and came out as instant celebrities.

Now, established celebrities are thirsty to be part of Summit’s sequel “New Moon” due out on Nov. 20. The latest stars knocking at Summit’s door are teen pop sensations The Jonas Brothers, who told MTV they would love to contribute to the “New Moon” soundtrack.  ”The movie was obviously a huge success, and if they asked us to be a part (of the sequel) that would be great,” Nick Jonas told MTV, as his brothers agreed.

Not so fast, Jonas Brothers. Not all the “Twilight” fans are happy with the idea of the Jonas Brothers, who gained their popularity on the Disney Channel, playing a part in the next installment of the movie franchise. One commentator at the MTV site wrote, “This isn’t some stupid Disney movie so stop trying to turn it into one.”

The Jonas Brothers are not the first Disney stars to eye a role in the “Twilight” franchise. Vanessa Hudgens, a star in Disney’s “High School Musical” movies, has also sought a part in the “Twilight” franchise, MTV reported last month. And Dakota Fanning, 14, one of the most famous and acclaimed child stars of recent years, is also interested in winning a part in “New Moon” as the bloodsucker Jane.

Catherine Hardwicke, who directed “Twilight,” has been replaced with Chris Weitz. That change also ruffled some feathers from “Twilight’s” passionate fan base of mostly teen girls and young women. Weitz is more of an inside Hollywood choice for the movie franchise, with proven box office success on the 1999 “American Pie” and the 2001 sequel, whereas Hardwicke before “Twilight” had more modest box office success. Even so, the style she brought to “Twilight” pleased many fans, who are still on the fence about how Weitz will handle the sequel.

 Stewart, the 18-year-old star of “Twilight” who played Bella Swan in the movie, is still adjusting to the roller coaster of fame that came with the movie. Will she thrive if called upon to star opposite Dakota or Vanessa? More importantly, how will fans react if “New Moon” becomes studded with celebrities? Will they like the change or not?

Actors shed tears over “High School Musical”

Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan, Chad and Taylor were “all in this together” for almost three years,  so when it came down to the final day of filming for “High School Musical 3: Senior Year”  tears were flowing on set.

The latest movie in the Disney franchise, which opens in the U.S. on Oct. 22, sees the six main characters graduate East High School, and although Disney is already planning a fourth installment in a couple of years time, many of the stars won’t be coming back.

“Knowing it was the last time we’d be together was extremely emotional,” recalled Vanessa Hudgens, who has played math student Gabriella Montez since 2006. “We’ve been through so much together, we have become a really close-knit family.”

“The last day was horrible. We couldn’t stop crying and we had to do one more scene. We were in hair and makeup, crying our eyes out, and the assistant director was saying ‘ we need to go’  and hair and makeup was saying ‘ we can’t get their makeup on them they won’t stop crying’, ” she said.

Zac Efron, 21,  who plays basketball-crazy Troy, said the final graduation scene “was our sign-off”.

 ”It was very emotional, the last day on set. No one was expecting it. We knew it was coming but it was something about that moment — it had such finality.

“ It felt like we were closing a curtain with the biggest performance of our lives yet to come,” Efron said.

Disney says no to ‘Musical’ panties

Disney said on Friday that it has stopped selling a line of panties for girls after parents in Britain complained about the message printed on them.

The  underwear, made for ‘tween girls, invited the the reader  to  ”Dive In” and was, according to company officials, themed for a swimming pool scene from the Disney Channel hit movie,”High School Musical 2.”

Ahh to have been in that product brainstorming session!

In that scene, “HSM2″ boyfriend and girlfriend, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, sing about their love and dance in and around a swimming pool at the country club where both of their characters work during the summer.

“Unfortunately, an oversight was made and the text on the underwear was used out context,” Disney said in a statement. “This product will not be part of any forthcoming collections and the remaining product has been removed from shelves.”

Get your head back in the game for HSM 3: Senior Year

Fans of High School Musical have just a week to count down before Disney releases the first global look at “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.” Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on Tuesday said that from July 13, a high-energy trailer for the third movie about Troy, Gabriella and their friends at  East High School will be shown on Disney Channels in several countries as well as on Disney.com. Hosted by Zac Ephron (Troy Bolton) and Vanessa Hudgens (Gabriella Montez), and including the song “Now or Never” from the upcoming movie, the trailer features footage from the film slated for a release on October 24.