Can you guess? I guess the names do change every now and then. After all, the trends do change over time. At this point in time, among those at the top are Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Swift.

Can you guess how much they earned in the year 2009? According to the reports, these stars earned tens of millions of dollars last year! That kind of money is something that normal people like you and me dream of. And, take note, these people are quite young!

Here’s the breakdown. Taylor Swift earned $17.5 million. Robert Pattinson earned $18.5 million. Kristen Stewart brought in a whopping $23 million.

Isn’t that just amazing? These people are so young, and yet they are bringing in millions and millions of dollars. Then again, it is not that surprising. Since the launching of the Twilight movies, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have become household names. Five years ago, the average person probably wouldn’t have recognized these names. Today, however, people from all over the world – from the United States to Africa to Asia – speak their names like they were bosom buddies. They both have become part of the list of most searched for people on the Internet as well.

As for Taylor Swift, this young country singer has reached the top of the charts. Her being rudely interrupted by Kanye West also helped endear her more to the hearts of fans.

We’re not even halfway through 2010, but these three kids are still set to make more with their various projects. Who’s willing to bet that they just might make the list again next year?

It seems to me we’re hearing of people getting a Hollywood Star more often these days. Perhaps it’s because of the fact that the Hollywood greats are reaching the point that they have to immortalized – there’s no question about that. Whatever the reason, I was quite thrilled to hear that Dennis Hopper has been given his very own star. This makes him the 2,403rd person to receive one.

For those who may not have heard about it, Dennis Hopper is waging a war against prostate cancer. He announced this piece of news several months ago. While he is certainly not the first Hollywood star to experience such a struggle, it is always sad when we hear about such things. To have a Star awarded to the 73-year-old actor means so much more under these circumstances.

Dennis Hopper received a lot of support during the awarding ceremony. The Celebrity Café reports:

Jack Nicholson and David Lynch, Johnny Mathis and hundreds of photo snapping fans all came out to support the honor presented by Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive Leron Gubler. Viggo Mortensen and film producer Mark Canton spoke some praise to Hopper as well.

“He is someone who has seemed to regularly rise out of the ashes of self-inflicted chaos, surprising us with his originality and wit as an artist and defying the odds by somehow staying alive physically and professionally,” spoke Mortensen.

Oh yes, Mr. Mortensen, I couldn’t have phrased that in a better way! This farm boy from Dodge City, Kansas has indeed gone a long way; and he deserves this Star so much more than some people out there.

Earlier this month the iconic Hollywood Sign was covered up for five days with red letters spelling out the phrase “SAVE the PEAK”. The sign was covered by the “Save Cahuenga Peak” campaign, whose aim is to keep the 138-acre tract of land located behind on the left of the Hollywood sign the way it is right now. The land is currently privately owned and is set to be developed so that the view will eventually be marred by mansions. In order to protect the land, the campaign has to raise a total of $12.5 million by April 14, 2010. The money will be used to purchase the land and so hopefully preserve the view.

Right now though it seems that the campaign is not taking off as well as they would want it too despite the support of celebs like Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tippi Hedren, Aisha Tyler, and John Slattery. The Save Cahuenga Peak campaign site shows the online campaign progress at just $40,355, a mere 8 percent of their target $500,000. We can only hope for them that the celebs will be more receptive to the cause and start turning out their pockets in a hurry. With all the natural disasters happening all over the world today though and so much charity that needs attention most might feel that trying to save a sign, however iconic it is, should come second to giving to the more worthy causes. And with the economy you can expect that only those who have a really special connection with the Hollywood sign will be willing to spend money to save the sign.

You would think that Hollywood has no problems when it comes to attracting visitors. Immortalized in movies, songs, and TV shows, Hollywood is a place that people around the world dream of visiting. Why should they have any problems when it comes to lack of tourists? Indeed, their problem just might be the opposite – too many visitors to handle.

Apparently, Hollywood is no different from any other city in that it needs advertising campaigns to push the tourism industry. In fact, this year, they are launching Visit Hollywood 2010, a campaign to showcase what Hollywood has to offer. I don’t really understand why they have to do that, but that goes to show how much I know! The L.A. Times reports:

The effort comes as the travel and tourism industries begin to show signs of rebounding from the worst economic recession in a generation.

For example, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood Walk of Fame; the 70th anniversary of the Hollywood Palladium theater; and the 25th anniversary of the Rock Walk, a rock music tribute along Sunset Boulevard.

I suppose that this year does merit highlighting many things in Hollywood. After all, you can’t have too many visitors bringing money into the coffers. With these milestones happening in 2010, I cannot think of a better time to pay Hollywood a visit. If you’re planning a major trip this year, then why not Hollywood?

Hollywood now comes with a big W. I don’t mean HollyWood but the new W Hotel and Residences that opened last Friday on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.

The W Hotel is a mixed-use development with hotel suites and apartment for a total of 143 residences, restaurants, clubs, shops, and a subway station right underneath it. The W Hotel also has energy efficient rooms and is expected to draw more tourists to Hollywood.

The W Hotel presents $350 million in investment, which is expected by the city government to be pumped right back to the economy. In terms of employment this will be true since it will bring about 500 jobs, good news with the still struggling economy. Aside from the jobs they are hoping that the development will end up revitalizing the whole area surrounding the hotel. According to Gatehouse Capital CEO Marty Collins, “It creates and really anchors a vision that allows the whole area to expand and really in some ways become back to what it once was before, that whole renaissance of Hollywood.”

However, some are already calling the hotel “ungainly”. As Christopher Hawthorne, architecture critic of LA Times, said, “The rather ungainly result… is not what you’d call an elegant addition to the rapidly expanding Hollywood skyline,” but even he has to agree that how this “urban-experiment” will end is still a puzzle that will only be solved by time. For now we can be sure that this curiosity will be the talk of Hollywood; as to what people will be saying, we can only wait and see.

For many Hollywood figures, getting a star in the Walk of Fame is one of the pinnacles of their careers. Once you get a Hollywood star, you are immortalized. But what happens when your star disappears from the Walk of Fame?

This is what’s going on with Beatles front man John Lennon’s star. The other day, LAist reported that the star has gone missing:

Over the weekend LAist received an email tip regarding John Lennon’s star on the world-famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. It seems that at 1750 Vine Street the spot “is covered up with a trashbag, and beneath that is an empty outline of a star,” prompting Lennon fans on the Beatlestweets site to claim the assassinated Fab Four member’s star is “missing.”

Naturally, people have been talking about what might have happened. All the conspiracy theorists out there have their own ideas, but the popular theories are:

Speculation seems to be centered on damage to the terrazzo and brass star, which was dedicated on September 30th, 1988, necessitating its full removal from the sidewalk, or its possible removal to prepare the area for the addition of Ringo Starr’s star. Starr is one of 28 celebrities who will be honored in 2010 with a place on the Walk of Fame on February 8th, kicking off the Walk’s 50th anniversary.

Both are quite plausible, aren’t they? After all, why would you leave a damaged star on the Walk? Also, as high profile as that star (and area) is, how possible is it for someone to spend time to chip away the star without anyone else noticing it? I bet we’ll be seeing a replacement soon.

This year has not been kind to our Hollywood stars, and now, another Hollywood icon is battling a serious disease. Dennis Hopper, who is now 73 years old, is dealing with prostate cancer. He is currently undergoing treatment under a special program at the University of South California.

More on his condition from The Telegraph:

The Hollywood actor, who has been married five times and has four children, has cancelled all travel plans so he could focus on treatment, Mr Maydew said. “We’re hoping for the best,” his manager told the entertainment website E! Online. He declined to comment further.

Hopper was due to visit Australia next month for the opening of a Melbourne exhibition, Dennis Hopper and the New Hollywood. He said he was “very disappointed” at not being able to travel to Australia for the exhibition, a collection of his artwork and photography, at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne.

Born in May 17, 1936, Dennis Hopper has established a name for himself worldwide in the realms of acting and filmmaking. He is best known for works such as Rebel Without A Cause, Easy Rider, and Speed – among many others. Unbeknownst to many, Dennis Hopper is also active in other pursuits aside from the big screen. He is an avid photographer, painter, and sculptor. As a matter of fact, his work is scattered in exhibits all over the world.

For now, this artist is battling perhaps one of the biggest challenges in his life. Our prayers are with him, together with the hopes that he conquers this disease much like he conquered every thing else in his life.

Got some free time this Thursday? Rather, do you have all of Thursday free? If so, and if you are a fan of Flaming Lips, get your butt over to Hollywood’s Ricardo Montalbán Theatre, which is near the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. The news is that the band is going to have a FREE concert at 7:30 pm.

There’s some good and some bad here. The good first: the concert is FREE. It is sponsored by MySpace, and they are throwing away the tickets on a first come first served basis. That’s the bad. You know how these things go. Even though the concert is not starting till 7:30 pm, you would have to be there hours earlier to score some tickets.

So why is this gig creating such noise? If you haven’t heard, Flaming Lips has released a new album after so many years. Titled “Embryonic,” the album is getting favorable reviews. This psychedelic band has been in the scene for quite some time now, and while not everyone is into their music, they do have a strong following. Also, a teaser tells us that this will be the band’s last performance till next year. That’s enough reason for fans to make it to Thursday’s concert.

By the way, if you buy the CD at Amoeba, you will also get free tickets. As it was released Tuesday, I don’t know if there are any left. You could go check it out, though. I am sure that beats having to line up early at the venue.

Who would have thought? After all, mainstream journalism does not normally pay its respects to tabloids. But then again, can TMZ be categorized under this label?

I could hardly believe it, but BBC has a full write up on TMZ. Apparently, the Hollywood-based entertainment news web site has already been attracting the attention of other journalists and has been building a reputation for getting the scoop on the hottest happenings in Hollywood – ahead of everyone else. Seems to me that the BBC write up is all positive:

TMZ broke the news of Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic tirade against a police officer, and it was the first to publish the photograph of a bruised Rihanna after she was assaulted by Chris Brown.

But it was the Jackson story that focused attention on the site more than ever before. Mainstream media outlets struggled to confirm the singer’s death while TMZ had details that proved to be accurate.
Once viewed as a bunch of mavericks, the site won the grudging respect of established news organizations.

I say, what better place to evolve from being mavericks to an established and respected entity than in Hollywood? After all, this is where dreams do come true, right?

People behind TMZ also have a lot to say. Harvey Levin – that familiar grinning face you see on TMZ’s TV version – edits the web sites and claims that their extensive contact book is one of the best in town, and that it is the key to their success. Well people, if you have something to say, you know who to approach now.

Hollywood relies mainly on one thing for revenue: making movies. While there are many other streams of revenue in this town, movies are what really rake the dough in. That is why when something threatens movies and the revenue they are bringing in, Hollywood execs are quick to go up in arms.

The latest threat comes in a unique shape – that of a big red box. Dubbed Redbox, this “threat” is a self-serve DVD rental kiosk which is placed in strategic locations all over Hollywood. The price of a rental is a mere $1, making it such a convenience for anyone who wants to watch a movie. Being self-serve, the Redbox kiosks are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is no danger of having the movie rental store close on you or anything like that.

While people might be happy about this development, Hollywood execs are not. In fact, they are taking rather drastic measures in order to stop this threat from becoming a full blown problem. The management of 20th Century Fox, for example, has already issued a directive that their wholesalers are not allowed to sell DVDs to Redbox until a month (30 days) after the initial release. Obviously, this step is meant to help increase the DVD sales before Redbox can release their own for rental.

I know that the movie companies are out there to make money but in these hard times, average people like me really really appreciate services like Redbox. Heck, that’s better than downloading movies illegally, right?