Rodriguez Raps Nostalgic on This Week’s Episode of “Lip Sync Battle”

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Gina Rodriguez is grillin’ like a villain…

Rocking dreadlocks and wearing a grill, the 31-year-old Puerto Rican actress and Jane the Virgin star takes to the stage in this week’s episode of Lip Sync Battle with an inspired take on Lil Wayne‘s 2008 hit “A Milli.”

The Golden Globe winner is anything but G-rated as she shows off her rapping chops and hip thrusts on stage, much to the astonishment of co-host Chrissy Teigen.

Rodriguez’s faced off against Wilmer Valderrama and his nostalgia-provoking take on the Backstreet Boys‘ “Everbody (Backstreet’s Back).”

Catch Rodriguez and Valderrama on Lip Sync Battle this Thursday, May 12 at 10:00 pm ET/PT on Spike.

Dorough & the Backstreet Boys May Launch Las Vegas Residency

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Howie Dorough may be heading to Sin City…

The 42-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his fellow Backstreet Boys band mates may possibly launch a concert residency in Las Vegas in the near future, according to Nick Carter.

“We have a deal with Live Nation, which is the touring company, and we just signed a 9-show deal to do sort of like a test run in Vegas with the residency,” Carter told ET at the Los Angeles premiere of his SyFy zombie western, Dead 7.

“So that’s definitely going to happen, but we’re going to do a trial run first.”

“It would definitely have to be a very big and spectacular show. Thankfully, we have a good catalog so we can perform all of our hits. That could take up a lot of the show,” Carter said.

Carter recently revealed that a new Backstreet Boys album is coming, which bandmate Kevin Richardson confirmed at the premiere.

“We’re definitely in the studio, recording a brand-new album,” Richardson said, adding, “We’re gonna do a world tour first.”

Dorough & The Backstreet Boys to Perform in Four Australian Cities

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Howie Dorough is headed Down Under…

The 41-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his fellow Backstreet Boys band mates are heading back to Australia.

The boy band’s In A World Like This Tour will play arenas in four Australian cities, beginning May 8 at Melbourne’s 15,000 capacity Rod Laver Arena and wrapping at May 15 at Perth Arena (also 15,000 capacity). It’ll be their first trek of the country for almost a decade.

Live Nation Australia announced the tour on Thursday and confirmed original member Kevin Richardson would join his bandmates — Dorough, Brian Littrell, A. J. McLean and Nick Carter — for the dates. Richardson, who returned to BSB in 2012 after a six-year break, performed on the 2013 album release, In A World Like This.

The band’s eight studio set opened at No. 5 in the U.S., and was released to coincide with the Backstreet Boys’ 20th anniversary. Richardson and co. have since played shows across Europe, Asia and North America.

“This last year and a half of touring with my bandmates again couldn’t have been any better, but I’m so excited to finally get back to Australia and play for our Aussie fans,” Richardson says in a statement. “It wouldn’t feel complete without spending time in one of our favorite places.”

Tickets go on sale at midday Feb. 23. The band’s fan club (Feb. 13-15), Telstra customers (Feb. 18-Feb. 20) and members of My Live Nation (Feb. 20) have an early window for pre-sale tickets.

The Boys’ documentary Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of debuted in the U.S. last month and is due for an Australian release from March 28.

The Backstreet Boys’ “In A World Like This Tour” of Australia:
May 8 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
May 9 — Allphones Arena, Sydney
May 10 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
May 15 — Perth Arena

Gravitas Ventures Acquires North American Rights to Dorough’s Documentary “Backstreet Boys: Show ‘em What You’re Made of”

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Howie Dorough is ready to show ‘em what he’s made of in the United States…

Gravitas Ventures has acquired the North American theatrical, VOD, and DVD rights to the 41-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his fellow boy band members’ documentary Backstreet Boys: Show ‘em What You’re Made of.

From Stones in Exile and Scott Walker: 30th Century Man director Stephen Kijak, the film chronicles two years in the lives of Dorough, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, AJ McLean and Kevin Richardson, the boy banders who rose to pop stardom with 1996’s eponymous debut album Backstreet Boys, paving the way for the likes of *NSYNC, 98 Degrees, and other favorites of the Tiger Beat set.

But in Littrell’s own words, “From 1992 to 2002 we were the biggest band in the world… Then it just stopped. And what do you do when you’re a full grown man in a boy band?”

Despite selling 130 million records, going gold and platinum in 46 countries, and earning eight Grammy nods, the boy band bubble burst for Littrell & Co. in 2000 after peaking with Millennium. Kijak’s film teases an intimate reveal of “new and old tensions that need confronting and resolving” as the quintet relive their glory days.

All five members produced the Pulse Films, K-Bahn LLC and Missing in Action Films production along with Mia Bays.

The documentary hits U.S. theaters and VOD on January 30 before London’s More2Screen rolls it out worldwide on February 26, and will make its broadcast debut in Spring 2015 via VH1.

Estrada & His O-Town Band Mates Release Comeback Single “Skydive”

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Erik Michael Estrada is skydiving his way back into the music world…

The 34-year-old Latino singer/actor and his O-Town band mates, who reunited earlier this year after a decade-long hiatus from recorded music, have officially released their comeback song “Skydive,” the debut single from their forthcoming album Lines & Circles.

For this new track, the “Liquid Dreams” performers have slowed things down similar to the Backstreet Boys‘ underrated single “Incomplete.”

“‘Skydive’ is a dramatic song,” O-Town’s Trevor Penick confirms. “It starts with a simple piano and vocal, and by the end you hear a seventy-piece orchestra, and all four of us belting it out in 4-part harmony.”

“Skydive,” co-written by Samuel Adams and Marcel Wildy, was co-produced by O-Town member Jacob Underwood alongside Mark Suhonen.

Lines & Circles, due out on August 3, will be O-Town’s third full-length and first album since 2002’s O2.

O-Town, minus Ashley Parker Angel, announced an official reunion at the end of March, 10 years after the group disbanded in 2004.

“We started this reunion purely for the fun of it,” said Underwood. “We had discussed a summer tour to perform our old songs and finally give the fans what they’ve been asking us for the last 10 years. However, once we began working, what developed was something a little more ambitious. The ideas kept flying and we couldn’t help but start making new music.”

Leto Wins Best On-Screen Transformation at the MTV Movie Awards

Posted on April 14, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Jared Leto is the ultimate transformer…

The 42-year-old part-Spanish actor/singer took home the prize for Best On-Screen Transformation at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards, which were handed out Sunday at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Leto won the award for his gender-bending performance in Dallas Buyers Club, a role for which he also earned an Oscar earlier this year.

“The Academy is really prestigious but this is unique because everybody has the right to vote and you get people from all over the world that chime in and say whatever you want to say so it means a lot,” said Leto backstage of his win. “It’s nice to be able to get up on stage and to thank people directly.”

Earlier this year, Leto offered insight into his critically-acclaimed role in “Making Rayon Real,” a featurette about the character Rayon, a male-to-female transgender character addicted to drugs and dying of AIDS.

But Leto wasn’t the only Latino to win an award…

Howie Dorough and his Backstreet Boys band mates, as well as Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson, won the Best Musical Moment for their performance in This is the End.

In the scene, the 40-year-old half-Puerto Rican boy-bander and his Backstreet Boys reunite in heaven to perform “Everybody” with signature boy band moves and flair for this unforgettable apocalyptic ending.

Conan O’Brien hosted the event, which aired live on MTV.

Here’s the complete this of winners, as voted by fans:

MOVIE OF THE YEAR
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

BEST FIGHT 
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly vs. Orcs

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE 
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE 
Josh Hutcherson – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

BEST KISS
Emma Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

BEST SHIRTLESS PERFORMANCE
Zac Efron – That Awkward Moment

BEST VILLAIN
Mila Kunis – Oz The Great and Powerful

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE 
Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

BEST SCARED-AS-S**T PERFORMANCE 
Brad Pitt – World War Z

BEST ON-SCREEN DUO
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker – Fast & Furious 6

#WTF MOMENT 
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Leonardo DiCaprio’s iconic portrayal of excessive Wall Street player Jordan Belfort takes a turn for the insane when he takes his Lamborghini for a spin.

BEST MUSICAL MOMENT 
Backstreet Boys, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson –This is the End
Spoiler alert! Backstreet Boys reunite in heaven to perform “Everybody” with signature boy band moves and flair for this unforgettable apocalyptic ending

BEST CAMEO PERFORMANCE 
Rihanna – This is the End

BEST HERO 
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent –Man of Steel

Dorough and the Backstreet Boys to Tour with Avril Lavigne This Summer

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Howie Dorough’s back, alright…

The 40-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his fellow Backstreet Boys will join forces with Avril Lavigne for a North American amphitheaters tour this summer.

Dorough and his bandmates announced the dates during a recent appearance on Good Morning America.

The Backstreet Boys have been on the road supporting their new album In a World Like This since last August, receiving support from artists like Jesse McCartney, DJ Pauly D and B5.

The trek kicks off on May 3 in Canada.

Here’s a look at the full concert schedule:

May 3 – Moncton Coliseum Arena – Moncton, NB
May 4 – Halifax Metro Centre – Halifax, NS
May 6 – Rogers K-Rock Centre – Kingston, ON
May 7 – Budweiser Gardens – London, ON
May 8 – Frist Ontario Centre – Hamilton, ON
May 11 – MTS Centre – Winnipeg, MB
May 13 – Mosaic Place – Moose Jaw, SK
May 14 – Enmax Centre – Lethbridge, AB
May 16 – Scotiabank Saddledome – Calgary, AB
May 17 – Rexall Place – Edmonton, AB
May 18 – EnCana Events Centre – Dawson Creek, BC
May 20 – Rogers Arena – Vancouver, BC
May 22 – WaMu Theater, Seattle, Wash.
May 24 – Sleep Train Amphitheatre – Sacramento, CA.
May 25 – Shoreline Amphitheatre – Mountain View, CA
May 28 – Viejas Arena, San Diego – CA
May 29 – The Forum, Los Angeles – CA
May 30-31 – Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino – Las Vegas, NV
June 2- Isleta Amphitheater – Albuquerque, NM
June 4 – American Bank Center Arena – Corpus Christi, TX
June 5 – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion – Houston, TX
June 6 – Chesapeake Energy Arena – Oklahoma City, OK
June 7 – Starlight Theatre, Kansas City – MO
June 9 – CenturyLink Center Omaha – Omaha, NE
June 10 – Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul – MN
June 11 – FirstMerit Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island – Chicago, IL
June 13 – Klipsch Music Center – Indianapolis, IN
June 14 – First Niagara Pavilion – Pittsburgh, PA
June 15 – Riverbend Music Center – Cincinnati, OH
June 17 – DTE Energy Music Theatre – Detroit, MI
June 18 – Darien Lake Performing Arts Center – Darien Lake, NY
June 20 – Xfinity Center – Boston, MA
June 21 – Susquehanna Bank Center – Philadelphia, PA
June 22 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY

Diaz Earns an MTV Movie Award Nomination for “The Counselor”

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Make that three decades of recognition for Cameron Diaz…

The 41-year-old half-Cuban American actress has received an MTV Movie Award nomination for the third consecutive decade.

This week, Diaz earned the sixteenth MTV Movie Award nod of her career when MTV announced this year’s nominees.

The Charlie’s Angels star, a two-time MTV Movie Award winner, is competing in the #WTFMoment category for getting down and dirt with a yellow Ferrari in The Counselor.

But Diaz isn’t the only Hispanic artist nominated for an MTV Movie Award.

Howie Dorough and his Backstreet Boys band mates have earned a nod in the Best Musical Moment category, alongside Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson.

The 40-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and the gang are nominated for their oh-so-memorable musical scene at the end of the apocalyptic comedy This is the End.

Conan O’Brien will serve as host of this year’s awards show, which will air live on April 13 from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

Here are look at this year’s nominees by category:

MOVIE OF THE YEAR
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Jennifer Aniston – We’re the Millers
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE 
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Josh Hutcherson – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Liam James – The Way Way Back
Michael B. Jordan – Fruitvale Station
Will Poulter – We’re the Millers
Margot Robbie – The Wolf of Wall Street
Miles Teller – The Spectacular Now

BEST KISS
Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams – American Hustle
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson – Don Jon
James Franco, Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens – Spring Breakers
Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller – The Spectacular Now
Emma Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

BEST FIGHT
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues – Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner and Steve Carell vs. James Marsden vs. Sacha Baron Cohen vs. Kanye West vs. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler vs. Jim Carrey and Marion Cotillard vs. Will Smith vs. Liam Neeson and John C. Reilly vs. Greg Kinnear
Identity Thief – Jason Bateman vs. Melissa McCarthy
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Orlando Bloom and Evangeline Lilly vs. Orcs
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Lionsgate) – Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Sam Claflin vs. Mutant Monkeys
This is the End – Jonah Hill vs. James Franco and Seth Rogen

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
Kevin Hart – Ride Along
Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street
Johnny Knoxville – Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa
Melissa McCarthy – The Heat
Jason Sudeikis – We’re the Millers

BEST SCARED-AS-S**T PERFORMANCE
Rose Byrne – Insidious: Chapter 2
Jessica Chastain – Mama
Vera Farmiga – The Conjuring
Ethan Hawke – The Purge
Brad Pitt – World War Z

BEST ON-SCREEN DUO
Amy Adams and Christian Bale – American Hustle
Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club Vin Diesel and Paul Walker – Fast & Furious 6
Ice Cube and Kevin Hart – Ride Along
Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST SHIRTLESS PERFORMANCE 
Jennifer Aniston – We’re the Millers
Sam Claflin – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Zac Efron – That Awkward Moment
Chris Hemsworth – Thor: The Dark World

#WTF MOMENT 
Steve Carell, Will Ferrell, Paul Rudd and David Koechner – Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Johnny Knoxville and Jackson Nicoll – Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.
Cameron Diaz – The Counselor
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Danny McBride and Channing Tatum – This is the End

BEST VILLAIN 
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Benedict Cumberbatch – Star Trek into Darkness (
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Mila Kunis – Oz The Great and Powerful
Donald Sutherland – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Orlando Bloom – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST MUSICAL MOMENT 
Backstreet Boys, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson – This is the End Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Melissa McCarthy – Identity Thief
Will Poulter – We’re the Millers

BEST CAMEO PERFORMANCE 
Robert De Niro – American Hustle
Amy Poehler and Tina Fey – Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Kanye West – Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Joan Rivers – Iron Man 3
Rihanna – This is the End

BEST HERO
Henry Cavill as Clark Kent – Man of Steel
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man – Iron Man 3
Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Chris Hemsworth as Thor – Thor: The Dark World
Channing Tatum as John Cale – White House Down

Dorough & The Backstreet Boys Release New Single “Breathe”

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Howie Dorough and his Backstreet Boys band mates are giving their fans plenty of reason to breathe…

Less than a week before they release their eighth studio album, In a World Like This, the 39-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his band have released the new Backstreet Boys track “Breathe,” which was inspired by one of Ryan Gosling’s recent films.

Dorough tells Billboard that “Breathe” was written in London along with producer/writer Martin Terefe, after the group started working on In A World Like This last summer.

“A.J. [McLean] was watching the movie Drive, and the music kind of has that dark, mysterious feel to it,” recalls Dorough. “He came to me, and I had just recently seen that movie, and I loved the idea. He started off with the melody for the chorus, and then I came to him and started putting feeling into the words… It’s a great song. It’s one of those songs that’s just a love song about that one person that you meet and you can’t breathe around them.”

The Backstreet Boys eighth studio album, In a World Like This, which doubles as their first album as a quintet since 2005’s Never Gone, will be released on July 30.

The Backstreet Boys will kick off a U.S. tour on August 2 in Chicago.

Click here to listen to the new track on Billboard.com.

Dorough & The Backstreet Boys Release Video for “In a World Like This”

Posted on July 20, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Howie Dorough and his fellow Backstreet Boys are back, alright!

The 39-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his fellow boy-banders have released the official music video for their new single “In a World Like This.”

The clip features all five original members of the band, Dorough, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson, looking as fresh-faced as they were when they formed the band 20 years ago.

But Dorough and the gang have matured with the years, with their new track featuring a deep message.

With the quintet performing outdoors, the almost four-minute clip features several important events in American history such as the first moon landing, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and most recently, marriage equality.

“The concept of the video is based on the song, which tells a story of how love conquers all and ‘in a world like this’ that we live in, with all the craziness and negative energy that can go around, with real love you can overcome anything,” said McLean about the new video.

McLean added that by highlighting marriage equality in their new music video, “BSB wants to show our support for the LGBT community and we believe that two people of the same sex should have the right to get married. Gay marriage has been a long-standing issue and recently the LGBT community celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave legally married same-sex couples the same federal rights as heterosexual couples.”

The Backstreet Boys are set to release a new album on July 30 to mark their 20th anniversary in the music industry, as well as a world tour.

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