Oprah Winfrey announced on Monday to an audience of around 300 that she is taking them all on a trip to Australia. “I started to think about where would I most want to go. Maybe I should take all of you with me to the other side of the world … We’re going to Australia!” she exclaimed to her audience in Chicago.

Oprah has been on the air for 25 years and this will be her final season. She said that it was her “last chance to do something really big.”

The eight-day seven-night trip for 450 people (300 audience members and 150 production crew) is not going to be paid for by Oprah. In a deal that took about 12 months to finalize the Australian federal government is going to put up $1.5 million and the New South Wales government will pay $900,000.

It is hoped that Oprah’s journey will spark an increase in tourism to Australia. Around 70 million viewers will watch each of the two episodes broadcast from Australia. At least one of the two shows will be at the Sydney Opera House, renamed the Oprah House for the event. “The publicity that Oprah will bring to Australia around the world is something you couldn’t buy,” said federal tourism minister Martin Ferguson.

Previous attempts to bring tourists to Australia have not been successful. The 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney did not bring about increased tourism dollars; in fact tourism’s share in the Australian economy has dropped by 25 per cent over the last ten years.

This years VMA had no shortage of talent with Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Eminem, Usher, Linkin Park and Ke$ha all performing at the event. Lady Gaga was dressed to impress as she came out with a different outfit each time she appeared.

Lady Gaga surprised everyone when she went to accept the award for the Video of the Year from Cher wearing a dress that looked like it was made from meat. “I never thought I’d be asking Cher to hold my meat purse,” she quipped as she passed her purse to Cher.

Gaga dominated the awards taking home eight VMA’s in total.

Complete List Of Winners At The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards

Video of the Year: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

Direction: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

Editing: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

Special Effects: Muse, “Uprising”

Breakthrough Video: The Black Keys, “Tighten Up”

Dance Music Video: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

Art Direction: Florence and the Machine, “Dog Days Are Over”

Collaboration: Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce, “Telephone”

Female Video: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

Male Video: Eminem, “Not Afraid”

Hip-Hop Video: Eminem, “Not Afraid”

New Artist: Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, “Baby”

Pop Video: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

Rock Video: 30 Seconds to Mars, “Kings and Queens”

Choreography: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”

Cinematography: Jay Z and Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”

The world’s oldest film festival, the Venice Film Festival, has come around again with U.S. film director Sofia Coppola winning the Golden Lion for Somewhere.

This year marks the 67th year the festival has run. The Golden Lion goes to the best film screened at the festival for that year. Occasionally a Silver Lion is awarded as a “runner-up” prize. The Volpi Cups are awarded to the best actor and actress

The following movies were in the running for the Golden Lion:

We Believed – director Mario Martone from Italy, France
La Passione – director Carlo Mazzacurati from Italy
13 Assassins – director Takashi Miike from Japan
Potiche – director Francois Ozon from France
Meek’s Cutoff – director Kelly Reichardt from the U.S.
Miral – director Julian Schnabel from U.S., France, Italy, Israel
Norwegian Wood – director Tran Anh Hung from Japan
Attenberg – director Athina Rachel Tsangari from Greece
Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame – director Tsui Hark from China
Three – director Tom Tykwer from Germany
Black Swan – director Darren Aronofsky from the U.S.
La Pecora Nera – director Ascanio Celestini from Italy
Somewhere – director Sofia Coppola from U.S.
Happy Few – director Antony Cordier from France
The Solitude of Prime Numbers – director Saverio Costanzo from Italy, Germany, France
Silent Souls – director Aleksei Fedorchenko from Russia
Promises Written in Water – director Vincent Gallo from the U.S.
Road to Nowhere – director Monte Hellman from the U.S.
Balada Triste de Trompeta – director Alex de la Iglesia from Spain, France
Venus Noir – director Abdellatif Kechiche from France
Post Mortem – director Pablo Larrain from Chile, Mexico, Germany
Barney’s Version – director Richard J. Lewis from Canada, Italy

The winning film Somewhere starred Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning. It had received mixed reviews but the jury loved it. “It enchanted us from the first and it grew and grew in our hearts, in our analysis, in our minds and affections. “We kept coming back to it in discussions, even when talking about other films, because we found it kept illustrating what we were looking for in the winner of our Golden Lion,” said jury president Quentin Tarantino.

There was some controversy over the win because Tarantino is a close friend of director Sofia Coppola. He said that none of the other judges knew her but everyone loved the movie. “Sure, I created guidelines but she won it fair and square and unanimously,” he said.

There is only one week to go before the winner of America’s Got Talent is crowned. The top ten were whittled down to just four this week as America voted for their most popular performances.

The winner of America’s Got Talent will take home $1 million and be given their own Las Vegas show. “To every kid out there who gets picked on or feels like an outsider, I want you to believe that life is magical and I want you to look at me right now and understand that dreams can come true,” said Prince Poppycock after having his name called out as one of the finalists.

The blue-man group, Fighting Gravity, who stunned audiences with their performances are also in the running to take home the prizes as well as 10-year-old opera singer Jackie Evancho who thanked everyone for voting for her.

Singer Michael Grimm, who is performing not only for himself but for his grandparents who lost everything in Hurricane Katrina, was also voted into the top four.

These four will be performing once more next Tuesday before viewers vote on an overall winner on Wednesday September 15.

Angelina Jolie UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador

Angelina Jolie has made a visit to northwestern Pakistan to bring attention to the 20 million affected by the worst disaster the country has seen.

Jolie is the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and has visited Pakistan four times since she took up the role in 2001. She has made a personal pledge of $100,000 and created a video appealing for donations and long-term support.

The floods have displaced millions of people and caused over $40 billion worth of damage to infrastructure and agriculture. “These are very, very long, extended situations that need our constant support for a very, very long time,” said Jolie.

The Hollywood actress was covered in a black shawl as she spoke to refugees in Noshera in Pakistan’s northwest. She distributed food and goods to women and children before speaking at a press conference in Jalozai Camp.

Those affected by the floods are still in dire need of food, shelters and medicine. The UN has been able to raise $310 million to assist with the relief efforts but much more is needed if people in Pakistan are going to get the support they need.

U.S. comedian Robert Schimmel has died at the age of 60. He died on Friday as a result of injuries sustained during a car accident that occurred on August 26. He was a passenger in the car when the driver, his 19-year-old daughter, swerved to avoid another accident, lost control and crashed.

Schimmel’s daughter was hospitalized after the accident and is in a stable condition. Schimmel’s 11-year-old son was also in the car but fortunately sustained no injuries.

The comedian was famous for his role on “The Howard Stern Show”. His stand-up comedy acts were also shown frequently on cable and he appeared on various HBO programs.

Schimmel’s style of comedy was often considered too raunchy to be shown on major networks. He was always able to make fun of himself and even joked about his own cancer.

Some of his friends have spoken out on Twitter about their fondness for the comedian. “I’m so sad about Robert Schimmel dying. I’ve been checking the news for 3 hours hoping it wasn’t true. He was very funny and wonderful,” said Pen Jillette.

His brother, Jeff Schimmel commented, “ROBERT SCHIMMEL. Son, Brother, Father, Grandfather, Comedian, Generous Man. I have always loved you, admired you, and was proud to be your biggest fan. I will never forget a single moment. R.I.P.”

Promotional poster from Hasbro

Gabriella Cedillo, an extra from the latest action movie Transformers 3, has been seriously injured during filming. The incident occured while she was driving a car when an object struck the windshield and hit her. the car continued moving, crashing through a barrier and eventually stopping a mile later.

A description of the incident explains that the vehicle that Cedillo was driving was “being towed by another vehicle… The cable between the two vehicles broke. It whipped around and sliced through the woman’s car and sliced through her skull, apparently.”

Cedillo was immediately airlifted to the Loyola University Medical Center where it is expected she will have to undergo brain surgery. She is a teller at a local bank and always had a dream of being an actress and appearing in movies.

Friends and family are praying for a full recovery.

Transformers 3 is produced by Steven Spielberg and will be released July 1, 2011.

With the culmination of this years Emmys, ideas are raging about how the show should continue into the future. The big networks, ABC,NBC,CBS and FOX, who take turns hosting the Emmys, no longer produce long form movies and are considering moving them to a separate awards show.

At the moment each of the big networks pays a $7.5 million fee to host the awards when it is their turn. They are considering allowing other smaller networks on cable or pay TV to take a turn in hosting the show and splitting the awards ceremony into two different shows.

There is strong competition among the broadcast networks to win awards in each category. However they no longer compete for the movie of the week, long-form and miniseries programs which they have handed over to smaller networks such as HBO. It’s no wonder the larger networks would rather spilt the show in two rather than host awards that they no longer compete in.

It would be a shame to see the Emmys split as many celebrities such as Al Pacino and Patrick Stewart attend just for the movie or miniseries programs.

If you missed watching Avatar on the big screen you’ll get a second chance with the re-release opening in cinemas today. The special edition features an additional eight and a half minutes never seen before by movie-goers.

Avatar was taken off the big screen earlier in the year when it was replaced with Alice In Wonderland due to pre-existing contracts. The 3-D action flick is back, much to the delight of eager fans.

Avatar is written and directed by James Cameron and stars Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington. It is the highest-grossing film of all time and brought in more than $2.7 billion at the box office worldwide. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction.

James Cameron’s Titanic is also scheduled for re-release in 2012 once it has been converted to 3-D.

Cameron has announced their will be two sequels to the Avatar film.

It’s party time for Demi Lovato as she celebrates her 18th birthday, but it’s not just Demi who is getting the gifts. As part of the celebrations she has purchased a new home for her family. She will also live in the house.

Demi’s younger sister, who is also an actress, attended the birthday party, buying an iPHone 4 for her older sister.

Demi Lovato says she is a big fan of “American Idol” superstar Kelly Clarkson because she knows how to keep herself out of trouble. “She has stayed out of trouble; you don’t really read about her in the tabloids, yet she has an incredible music career,” she said.

Nick and Joe Jonas, who are co-stars in Demi’s upcoming film “Camp Rock 2″, also attended the party in New York City. Demi had recently broken up with Joe Jonas but they still appear to be on good terms. “It’s not very much fun when you break up in a public relationship. So, maybe next time keep a secret. …I’ll go public when I marry someone one day,” she said.