Harry Potter Fans Seek Grief Counseling After the End of an Era and the Death of Their Childhood Hero - Video

When you think about it, any kid under eighteen-years-old has spent a lifetime with Harry Potter and his friends.

Eight books, eight films, computer games, lunch boxes, 10+ years, $6 billion in worldwide sales, and there will be residuals for all the grownups for years to come.

As of Tuesday, Deathly Hallows had grossed over $525 million worldwide to make it the single best first week movie opening ever.

The first Harry Potter movie was “The Sorcerer’s Stone” and came out in 2001 – shortly after the first J.K. Rowling book was released.

And millions of kids are obsessed with Harry, Hogwarts, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and the worlds most hated villain ever - Lord Voldemort.

These are names that every kid has known for years, and the world has indeed, fallen in love with everything Harry Potter.

That’s what makes The Deathly Hallows so difficult for some children – they feel like they have just lost a lifetime friend to the dark side of evil.

Watch Harry Potter - A Look Back...


Remember how you felt as a child watching young Bambi getting injured, and the possibility of never seeing her mother again. Did you cry?

Now, multiply that feeling by about a million and stretch it out over ten years.

That’s what some child psychologists are saying will happen with the death of Potter. They say the death of Harry resembles the same emotions that a child feels after they lose a close family member to death, or after the loss of a cherished family pet.

Doctors say there may be a silent impact on some children’s brain as they slowly realize they will never see Harry again.

And that has them worried.

In fact, some schools across the country are setting up “grief stations” during their summer sessions so children can talk to psychologists about their “loss”.

Other schools have consulted with specialists about how to deal with the long term effects of their summer session students coming to grips that they have lost a cherished childhood friend.

“It can be traumatic. They know it’s only a movie but their grief bubbles to the surface and they don’t know how to deal with it. Their grades can suffer and their social world can come crumbling down like a ton of bricks.”

Teachers and staff say they will be on the lookout for sudden drops in grades, irritability from normally stable kids, non-social behavior, and loss of interest in school, sports, and friends.

“Some children may not even realize or understand what is happening. All they know is Harry is gone and they don’t care about anything else anymore – friends, family, grades, or sports. These are the signs we will be looking for.”

J.K. Rowling seems to understand that you can’t just kill off Harry and expect things to be normal. She has already said she will continue to release “Potter” games, writings, and a website dedicated to everything Potter that emerges fans into an online social world of Harry Potter called Pottermore.

Watch Deathly Hallows Movie Trailer


Experts say this will help, and may actually spawn a new industry designed to keep the memories alive.

“Now you will have fans creating what’s called fan fiction and other cultural offshoots. There will continue to be a world of Hogwarts even though the movies have come to an end. Look at Star Trek, that legacy has lived on through comic-con, fan fiction, conventions, trade shows, and specialized websites.”

Now that the story has drawn to a close, some believe there will be spinoffs, sequels, prequels, and new books focusing specifically on still living characters like Hagrid, Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley.

Bottom line:

Our children are strong and will get past this brief hiccup in their emotional development. And it just may bring out new creativity that we can only imagine in pushing the continuing legacy of the world of Harry Potter.

It aint over yet….

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – Alohomora please!

Related: Deathly Hallows Behind The Scenes Filming - Video

Forget About Planking - “Owling” is the Next Big Craze – Are These People Nuts? - Photos

I think the youth of today are getting extremely bored.

The latest craze to take over the internet in recent months has been a thing called “Planking”.

It’s really a pretty simple and stupid craze that consists of laying down anywhere, on anything, on your stomach stretched straight out like a plank of wood.

But it can’t be a dumb idea because some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have done it like Gordon Ramsay and Justin Bieber. Right?

Still, pretty dumb eh?

Here is what “Planking” looks like:

Justin Bieber Planking

The idea is to “Plank” in a bizarre or unusual place while somebody takes your picture.

Believe it or not, people have actually died while doing it – like the guy in Australia who died planking on top of a moving car.

Not too bright mate?

Well, move over plankers because there is a new trend taking over the world.

It started in Australia on Facebook and is called…..

Owling.

That’s right – Owling.

Owling is the simple process of crouching down and staring out into space – like an owl. It’s not difficult and just as stupid as planking.

Here is what “Owling” looks like:

 

Now you might think that that’s as good as it gets right?

Well, you would be wrong because you can score extra technical points if you can “Plank” and “Owl” at the same time.

The Technical Double "Owl and Plank"

Now be careful with that one – and consider that if all you have are Facebook friends you won’t be able to do this double craze because as you can see – you need two people.



If this is all people can come up with as the latest viral craze then we have lost our imagination and creativity.

But then again, they aren’t really hurting anybody and it does kind of make you smile when you see it.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – we want to start a “Sitting” craze

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony Split – Announce Divorce After Seven Years of Marriage

We’re going to have to file this one under “didn’t see that one coming…”

After seven years of what appeared to the World as a blissful Hollywood marriage, the two power musicians have announced they are splitting up.

Their rep took to the airwaves today to release a joint statement saying,

"We have decided to end our marriage. This was a very difficult decision. We have come to an amicable conclusion on all matters. It is a painful time for all involved, and we appreciate the respect of our privacy at this time."

After a month of speculation, Lopez announced just last week that she had decided to return to her position as judge on “American Idol”.

Related: Jennifer Lopez announces return to American Idol

The couple was married in 2004 and had renewed their wedding vows twice – once in 2008 and again last year.

They have two children - fraternal twins, Max and Emme, who are three years old.

Lopez appeared with Marc last season on “American Idol” in a sexually driven duet that brought down the house and gave no clues as to their crumbling marriage.



This is Lopez’s third marriage after being married to Ben Affleck and P. Diddy Sean Puffy Combs.

She is currently filming the animated comedy “Ice Age: Continental Drift” due in theaters next year.

She voices the character Shira alongside an A-list group of cast mates including Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo, and Aziz Ansari.

We haven’t heard what went wrong but I bet the first episode of Idol later this year will be a bit awkward.

Follow InfoStar on Twitte

Shirley Logan – A Fantastic Nashville Musician and a Mother Who Inspires – Video

Sometimes musicians get lucky.

They crank out one song and it takes over the world and then the world takes over them – effortlessly.

Not so with Indie song writer and musician Shirley Logan.

Logan has put in her time, and has worked hard to not only incorporate great music into her life – but also be a mother to her four children ages 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Shirley Logan is a very unique artist, and the kind you don’t find around much anymore today. For her it’s all about the music – not the fame, paparazzi, world tours, bling and fortunes.

After listening to her music you can picture her sitting around the campfire with her friends and children picking up her guitar and starting to tell a story.

And every song has a story.

“I love music…GOOD music. I have been influenced by many different styles and don’t exactly fit into one box. My desire is to write excellent music that will be appreciated by many, crossing over the lines that separate style… songs that are an expression of myself, my experiences, my struggles and issues that are universal to the human soul.

I want to write music that identifies with people at their core…honestly… I want to be known, and I want to know you… I would love to hear your feedback… thoughts…memories… revelations… revelations! Perhaps they will become a song...”

Logan, 37, admits that she had to stop listening to advice from people because everybody told her to be mysterious about her age and to not let people know about her children or divorce.

She talks about her experience of packing up and moving to Nashville and realizing she was in for a big challenge,

“I moved to Nashville on October 11, 1993. It only took a few weeks before I was discouraged and felt like I wasn’t good enough to be here…so many writers…so much talent. I had no idea what I was doing! I was twenty years old, didn’t know one soul and lived by myself on South Street just off music row. I got a job working for a management company through a new friend of a friend. One day the owner asked to hear some of my songs, so I gave her a tape (yes, a tape). She was a very confident no-nonsense kind of woman and didn’t skip a beat in telling me that I needed to work on my writing…I had a beautiful voice, but I would never make it in this town. I had only been playing the guitar for a few years and never considered myself a writer, I just wanted to sing….but it deflated me none the less. It would be years before I would share my music again. Three years to be exact.”

You can hear the influence of pop, indie, folk, country and Christian styles in her music and lyrics, and you can tell there is a deep story to every song she writes.

Take the song “Remember Who You Are” for example.

Logan says she wrote it in a moment when she was shocked at her own desire to forgive again after being betrayed so many times by the same person. Her thoughts led her to a deep belief that if it weren't for forgiveness and grace, we would destroy ourselves.



One of our favorites is the song “Who am I”.

She wrote it with Rivers Rutherford after struggling to define her style and realizing she was very shy about performing. She didn’t want to write about how many times her heart had been broken because she didn’t want to relive the pain.

Out of that journey came “Who I Am”.



Logan also penned a song after the devastating floods hit Nashville last year called “Don’t Stop When it Rains” and is an uplifting song for all those who were affected by the devastation.



Shirley is one of those singer songwriters that you can tell has gone through a lot of pain and disappointment. Yet, she has brushed herself off and has come to terms with who she is and what is important to her.

And after listening to her music and getting to know her a little more I can tell you those important things are friends, family and God.

Logan can be contacted from her Facebook page and her albums and CD’s are available from her website ShirleyLogan.com

God speed Shirley Logan.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter

Video - Lady Gaga Slammed After Performing In a Wheelchair – Haters Have a Field Day

Being Lady Gaga must really be difficult sometimes.

After all, how do you top a dress made out of meat, emerging from an egg, or appearing in any of the hundreds of bizarre costumes she wears?

She always seems to have somebody yelling at her and criticizing her behavior at every turn. And she seems to love it.

Just recently she upset several religious organizations when she released her sexually charged music video for “Judas”.

Related: Watch - Lady Gaga Releases “Judas” Music Video

Now she has found another way to draw attention to herself while at the same time angering a whole lot of good people, disability groups, disabled American advocacy organizations, and spinal injury groups.

Last night, Lady Gaga appeared on stage during a special concert at the Sydney Town Hall in Australia in a wheelchair.

That’s right. She performed a song while rolling around in a wheelchair.

About two-thirds of the way through her shortened set she emerged on stage to perform “You and I” not only wheeling herself around in a wheelchair – but wearing a rubber mermaid tail.

After the show, several organizations representing people in wheelchairs, and patients suffering from paralysis and spinal cord injuries took to the airwaves to slam Madonna Ms. Gaga.

The Roman Reed Foundation took to twitter to say,

"Dear @ladygaga how about using your celebrity status 2 try 2 get us out of wheelchairs instead of cruising in one. Cool?!"

The Foundation later released an official response saying,

"Since this isn't the first time Lady Gaga has used a wheelchair in her performances, I invite her to learn more about the 5.6 million Americans who live with paralysis. They, like me, unfortunately, don't use a wheelchair for shock value. I extend a personal invitation to Lady Gaga to attend one of our Life Rolls On events where quadriplegics and paraplegics surf, skate, and snowboard, so she can see how much is possible beyond a wheelchair. Maybe that will be most shocking to her of all".

People, you have to realize she knows exactly what she is doing. She knows that by appearing in a wheelchair there will be an outcry and her name will be in the news for days. It’s the oldest trick in the book.



While some are slamming her for her bad taste, others are slamming her for once again ripping of another artist.

After repeated complaints that the singer has turned into Madonna, now people are yelling at her for the mermaid and wheelchair stunt – not because it’s in bad taste, but because Bette Midler already did it.

Related: Is Lady Gaga ripping off Madonna? - Video

But you can’t deny Gaga’s hoards of ‘lil Monster fans and their dedication to their idol.

With 11.6 million twitter followers, and millions of Facebook fans, we suspect this is just another cry for attention that will only leave her looking for that next plateau of bizarreness – maybe she could amputate a body part and wear it as a hat?

After all, when you have fans who have extremely detailed tattoos of the singer inked to their body you know you have a dedicated fan following.

Related: Lady Gaga Fan Tattoos Shock and Excite – Photos

So the world will just have to let her slip by while we await her next big move. But she better hurry because I think she is running out of people to offend.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter – No mermaid tails allowed

Massive Cast Shakeup at “Glee” - Rachel, Sam, Finn and Kurt Are Out! What Now?

Massive changes are afoot for the cast of the show “Glee”.

Just last week there were reports that Chord Overstreet, who plays Sam, was out – but then producers backtracked a bit saying Chord was welcome anytime even though his contract had expired.

Today we got the news that Lea Michele, Cory Monteith and Chris Colfer are leaving Glee after the third season.

Related: Chord Overstreet Leaving Glee

We have all grown accustomed to cast shifts on our favorite shows, but this move on Glee seems almost insurmountable.

After all - Rachel, Finn, Sam and Kurt are the McKinley High students we fell in love with, and their drama was the reason we started watching the show in the first place.

Are we really ready, and capable, of getting to know an entirely new cast? Can we really let go of Kurt’s struggle with his sexuality and his relationship with his father?

Can we really imagine a show without Flinn?

Do we have the time to start all over again learning to care about the lives of a new cast of fictional characters? Won’t we compare everything new with how it ranks to everything we once knew?

Upon hearing the news, Lea took to twitter to tell fans,

"We always knew we'd graduate in real time. It’s all part of the plan and it's all good! It’s going to make Season 3 amazing! To Gleeks everywhere, you're in my heart now and forever. Love you all!!! This is just the beginning."

We get the concept – seniors graduate and move on and new freshmen enter the scene and fight their way into the social strata they are thrust in to.

Glee's creator Ryan Murphy hinted to these kinds of massive cast changes last week when he told reporters,

“The show to me is about the way you express yourself as you start to move out into the world as a fresh, young person. Do we really want to have an eight-year high school senior? The only way somebody could stay on the show is if they flunk, and that is always a possibility. I think Brittany is pulling straight F’s.”

With the creation of this years “Glee Project”, it seems producers have fashioned a Glee machine to crank out new potential cast members.

But in the end it may not be an issue of “Is it possible” but rather “Is it a smart move?”

I guess time will tell if America will be patient enough to get involved with a basically brand new cast, but I know a lot of people who will move on to something new.

And if Jane Lynch ever leaves the show is done…

But don’t feel bad for Rachel, Finn, Sam and Kurt – they’re going to be just fine in the real world.

Chris Colfer who plays gay Kurt has already inked a deal with Disney to write new screenplays and movie scripts. His first comedy, “Struck by Lightning” is due out next year.

Related: Chris Colfer Writing Movies for Disney Now

Coffer told Inside TV,

“It was bound to happen sooner or later. I always assumed that Kurt was very young in the original scripts. I knew he was 16, but I didn’t know what grade. Then when it was announced I was leaving, I was like, I guess it’s our senior year next year!”

At least he was nominated for an Emmy for his efforts.

Lea Michele seems to be busy with non-Glee projects as well.

Michele has already landed her first big movie role in the comedy “New Year’s Eve” directed by Garry Marshall and starring Josh Duhamel, Ashton Kutcher, Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Jessica Biel, Alyssa Milano, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, Frankie Muniz, John Lithgow, and Sofía Vergara.

That is an impressive list of A-list actors to work with in your first movie.

“New Year’s Eve” will hit theaters in late 2011 and will show how the lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine and change over the course of New Year's Eve.

Lea has also scored the lead voice role of Dorothy in the animated movie “Dorothy of Oz” due in theaters in 2012.

Watch Lea Michele Interview About Dorothy of Oz


Cory Monteith is also branching out into movies starring as ‘Justin’ in the comedy “Sisters and Brothers”. The movie is due out later this year.

Monteith also worked with Selena Gomez in her romantic comedy “Monte Carlo” - about three young women vacationing in Paris who find themselves whisked away to Monte Carlo after one of the girls is mistaken for a British heiress.

And all Glee cast members are working on “Glee: The 3D Concert Movie” due in theaters this August. It is a concert documentary filmed during the “Glee Live! In Concert!” summer 2011 tour.

As you can see, it’s not like our favorite cast members are going to go hungry on the streets of Hollywood once they leave the show.

We just don’t know if we have the time, or the energy, to get involved with an entirely new cast on Glee without always comparing things to how they were “in the old days…”

And we don’t want the new season to become “The Darren Criss Show” either.

And they really need to stop saying the word “regionals” so much. It makes a great drinking game but they are beating a dead horse already - let’s move on folks.

Time will tell.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter

Could The ESPN ESPY Awards Have Survived Without Justin Bieber?

In the Hollywood world of award shows it’s all about ratings. If your show doesn’t have the viewers you don’t have an award show for long.

So tonight during the two hour ESPY red carpet special leading up to the big awards show, we were shocked at how important of a role Justin Bieber seemed to play.

That’s right – Justin Bieber.

Some people know Justin plays basketball, ice hockey, and soccer – but most know him for his music.

To be fair, Bieber did win the MVP at last year’s NBA All-Star game, but the Wednesday night ESPN ESPY’s were supposed to be all about the athletes and the sport – not Justin Bieber.

Related: Justin Bieber wins NBA All-Star Award – Video

The sad facts:

During the two hour pre-show, Bieber’s name was dropped 46 times by the hosts and interviewers.

Forty six times. Do you believe that?

His name was mentioned more than any other athlete.

Every time they went to a commercial they said, “When we come back we’ll have Justin Bieber on the red carpet….”

Forty six times.

In fact, when the pop star did appear the host told him the crowd had cheered more for him than ANY of the athletes walking the red carpet.

Really?

Forty six times.

How awkward was it to watch grown men drop his name in what seemed like an effort to hype the show.

Forty six times.

At one point the host read a viewer’s email asking who was the most anticipated red carpet walker and he joked “Maybe Justin Bieber”.

Forty six times.

Is that what it takes to get the viewers to tune in? Do adult male sports fanatics really care?

No.

The bottom line is if Bieber would not have walked the red carpet during the preshow their probably wouldn’t have been any show.

But you can sell a lot of advertising during a two hour warm up.

Forty six times.

Sad.

I hope Seth Meyers doesn’t have 50 Bieber jokes ready to go – but I bet he has a few.

And they better not point the camera on him during the actual show every 5 seconds.

And I hope the award winners don’t drop his name just to get the audience to scream – they may be disappointed.

We were.

Forty six times.

Follow InfoStar on Twitter - No intentional fouls allowed