Dave Kotinsky, Getty Images

Simon Cowell went through hell, high water, a conservatorship and $15 million to sign Britney Spears on to ‘X Factor.’ As a result, it’s going to take a lot more than the possibility of a meltdown to make him give that cash cow of a judge up!

TMZ cameras caught up with Cowell as he left a dinner date (platonic, mind you!) with fellow new ‘X Factor’ judge Demi Lovato. The polite-yet-aggressive film crew asked Cowell, “Do you think you’re going to get to 20 million viewers?” Cowell gave a sly smile and replied, “I think we’ll get close.”

They then asked, “Are you nervous with Britney being on live TV?” Cowell, ever professional, replied, “Not at all. Wait and see!” The site reports that some people are worried about Spears ongoing mental health issues, considering she’s still under a conservatorship, but she seems happy and excited about gig. TMZ also pointed that Spears is back her bad nail biting habit, a sign that she may be facing some anxiety about the job. Or maybe she just hasn’t had a manicure in a while!

At the Upfronts, Spears was excited about “inspiring the contestants,” telling press, “They’re so young and they’re fulfilling their dreams. It’s just a whole beautiful concept, so being able to be a part of this is really cool.” Aw, Brit!

Watch Simon Cowell Talk About Britney Spears

[button href="http://www.tmz.com/2012/05/15/britney-spears-x-factor-video/" title="Watch Britney Spears at the Fox Upfronts" align="center"]

Source: PopCrush.com

Here is the Lemon Bucket Orkestra, live on Air Canada Flight AC 876 bound for Bucharest,taking advantage of the 20-minute delay at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

It’s probably pretty self explanatory, but also the little intro explains the concept, too… then the video actually is the concept!For God’s sake, quit reading and start watching if you want to learn more/laugh!

Susan Saunders

Here is Shannon Schwartz and her family getting ready to fly out on a trip she won to Orlando with CIRA, Allegiant and WBNQ with BNQ Benefits!

Central Illinois Regional Airport is a lovely and convenient airport right in our own backyard. With free parking, and the nicest TSA agents you could ever hope to be patted down by, you are silly to drive far away to fly for work or pleasure. It is even fun to watch the planes come in. Here is the inaugural Allegiant flight arriving at CIRA on Wednesday, May 17, 2012.

As American University School of Public Affairs graduates walked across the stage to accept their diplomas, graduate Sarah Cooper became engaged to School of Communication graduate Sam Miller. He proposed on stage in front of family and classmates.

You tube user : americanuniversity

What was the best thing you saw at graduation this year? Log into Facebook and comment below.

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Today’s example of why live TV is fun, even when it’s about stocks, comes from Bloomberg TV where they get a little too cute with their live reporting from the newsroom floor.  Or trading floor maybe?  I don’t know.  Anyways, this is a rather awkward moment that’s captured forever thanks to the miracle of the internet.

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By now you may (or may not) have been introduced to Lilly the Hero Pit bull! She has become famous on facebook and all over the internet because on May 3rd, Lilly the family pit bull, saved her unconscious owner Christine from an oncoming freight train after she passed out on the tracks. Lilly is one of the many pitbulls around the country helping change the outlook of the breed deemed dangerous by many. But ask yourself this…how many humans do you think would risk their lives to save another?

Lilly saved her unconscious owner after she had been drinking and passed out on the train tracks, dragging Christine Spain from an oncoming freight train and instead taking the hit herself. The train wheels damaged Lilly’s front right leg and pelvis along with some other internal injuries. She has had many surgeries, sadly lost her right leg, and is now filled with bits of metal in hopes of keeping some of her other body parts.

Lilly was actually adopted three years ago by Christine’s son David. He met Lilly at a rescue shelter, and Lilly’s sweet disposition let him know that she would be the perfect companion for his mother Christine, who was alone alot, and had some depression and alcohol problems.

As soon as Lilly made herself at home with Christine, Christine seemed to get better. She instantly fell in love with Lilly and gave her a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Lilly gave Christine a new purpose in life and a new reason to be alive. Things got better. But one day Christine received some bad news and seemed to fall off the wagon. That is when tragedy struck for Lilly as she was hit by the train while trying to save her owner and best friends life.

Happily, Lilly will be ok! She has a long road to recovery, and her life will never be the same again, but she is alive and for that I am very grateful.

And good news is she is well enough to go home, yesterday Lilly exited the hospital to go home with Christine’s son while she recovers and receives therapy to teach her how to walk again.

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Jay-Z is backing President Barack Obama’s recent endorsement of gay marriage. During a recent interview with CNN, the rap executive felt that POTUS’s announcement of support for states to legalize same-sex marriage was the right thing to do.

“I’ve always thought it as something that was still holding the country back,” Jay said. “What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination plain and simple.”

Hov is a longtime supporter of Obama, having backed his 2008 presidential campaign and appearing on Young Jeezy‘s ‘My President’ (D.C. Remix), which is a tribute to the president. Of course, Obama has made it no secret that he’s a Jay-Z fan. Obama even picked Jay over Chicago native Kanye West, who he called a “jackass” — twice.

When Jay-Z was asked if he felt Obama’s decision to support gay marriage would cost him votes, he disregarded the notion. “I think it was the right thing to do,” he said. “So whether it cost him votes or not — it’s really not about votes, it’s about people. So whether it cost him votes or not, I think it was the right thing to do as a human being.”

Jay-Z for president?

Watch Video Where Jay-Z Backs Obama on Gay Marriage

Source: PopCrush.com

Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to freak out 500 feet above the arena. The cold sweat was pouring off me and for awhile I couldn’t do anything by grip the rails and breath heavy. Ray was brave enough to continue all the way out to the center of the grates, so you can see how high up it felt. Now I am know I will never sky dive. Apparently, I have a new found fear of heights.

Have you ever gained a fear later in life? What was the scariest thing you ever did on purpose and would never do again? Comment below after logging into to Facebook.

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Let this video serve as a reminder as we enter “sitting outside with a beer or two” season.  Do not sit on the awning.  It will end badly for you, but hilariously for the rest of us.  By the way, note what she lands on.  It makes this that much funnier.

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Have you ever ended a relationship with someone right before a big getaway you had planned together? An old boyfriend and I once broke up as we were planning a trip to Florida, I went without him and had the BEST time. A man from the UK recently had his heartbroken when his girlfriend dumped him and now he is GIVING his trip to Malta (where’s that?) away for FREE!

Tom says he is doing this because he wants to fix our world, genuinely making it a better place to live in, and so he can move on from heartbreak. He wants to give it to someone who deserves it the most. Think you deserve this trip? Email iwantyourholiday@hotmail.com.

It’s nice to know that there are genuinely good people wanting to do heartless things for others. Thank you Tom!

NBC

The Justins – Bieber and Timberlake -- helped ‘Saturday Night Live’ celebrate its 100th digital short on last night’s episode (May 12) in an obvious way. They appeared in a digital short celebrating their digital shorts and what’s in their undershorts.

The Biebs appears as though he were a member of the writing team that creates the shorts, sitting alongside Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, as though he is replacing Akiva Schaffer of their writing troupe.

The boys don tuxes and dance, celebrating their ability to suck their own, well, a part of their anatomy. Fill in the blanks yourselves, kids!

Timberlake returns for a reprisal of the famed, Emmy-winning ‘D— in a Box’ song. Michael Bolton reprises his role as the wannabe Jack Sparrow cinephile and Natalie Portman goes nuts. Usher also participates in the star-studded fun, as does episode host Will Ferrell.

Clearly, the boys have a certain body part on the brain and they like to make songs out of it. Having the Biebs stop by and having Timberlake return upped the ante of the celebration. It’s also stuffed with lots of celebs and jokes, so watch, enjoy and see if you can pick ‘em all out.

Congrats ‘SNL!’

Watch ‘Saturday Night Live’s 100th Digital Short’

Source: PopCrush.com

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The latest generation iPod Nano is a thing of beauty. It play music, runs apps, even tells the time. In fact, it’s so small and light there are companies that make wristbands that allow you to wear the Nano like a watch.  Dave Hurban has taken it a step further.

Dave went to work on himself implanting magnets into his arm at Dynasty Tattoo in Newfield, NJ. See how it all worked out in this video. (This video is not for the safe squeamish because blood is involved.)

Watch Ashleigh and Pudsey the adorable dog act charm the audience and Judges in the BGT Final:

Click HERE to see videos of the people from Blo-No that received AGT audition Fast Passes from WBNQ

Kevin Winter, Getty Images

Looking like the fiercest bride in all the land, Nicki Minaj took the Wango Tango stage and reinforced that despite her recent forays into pop, she still has a hip-hop heart.

Minaj opens with ‘Roman Holiday’ and ‘Did It on ‘Em,’ flanked by dancers who could pass for models and rocking the heck out of a long blonde wig. She looks a lot like an actual Barbie. She was probably particularly pleased by all of the pink lighting, as well. Soon, she launches into a medley, with bits from ‘Take Me to Your Leader’ before sailing into ‘Beez in the Trap.’ Unfortunately, 2 Chainz wasn’t around to join her, but she still held her own!

Clutching a pink bejeweled microphone, Minaj moves quite a bit along with her dancers, bringing attention to her backing track. She normally relies on backing tracks to supplement her vocals when she sings (like in ‘Starships’), since it’s harder to hold longer notes when you’re moving so much. Apparently it’s also a bit tough to spit rapid fire rhymes, but she keeps the volume much lower for this set than for many of her other recorded performances.

Minaj announced on Twitter that her full set would be online next week, but you can get a taste of her performance in the clip below.

Watch Nicki Minaj at Wango Tango 2012

Source: PopCrush.com

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Perhaps by coincidence, Will Ferrell is hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ tonight and oh look!  Here is the first trailer for his new movie!  ‘The Campaign’ stars Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis and even though it looks like Ferrell is doing his George W. Bush impression for the whole movie – which I’m fine with – this looks like it’ll be hilarious.