Buzzmakers: New X Factor and Miss Universe Winners

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. 'The X Factor' Crowns A Winner!

And the $5 million recording contract goes to…

Tate Stevens! The 37-year-old country crooner beat out runner-up 13-year-old Carly Rose Sonenclar for the top prize Thursday night. 35 million votes were cast Wednesday to determine victory for L.A. Reid's mentee.

Near tears, the Raymore, Missouri native thanked his fans for their overwhelming support.

"This is the best day of my life," said an emotional Stevens.

Girl group Fifth Harmony, mentored by Simon Cowell, placed third in the competition. Earlier in the night, the holiday themed finale saw performances by One Direction and Pitbull.

Auditions for an all-new season of The X Factor USA have already begun online. In-person auditions will start on March 6, 2013 in Los Angeles.

The celebrity judging panel has yet to be announced, but L.A. Reid has already taken himself out of the running. Spears has expressed interest in returning to the show for season three, but nothing has been confirmed.

2. Miss Universe 2012 Crowned

Beauties from 89 countries strutted their stuff Wednesday night in pursuit of the Miss Universe crown, but only one woman would earn the coveted title.

In the end a panel of ten celebrity judges, including Cee Lo Green and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings, appointed Miss USA Olivia Culpo the winner.

The 20-year-old Rhode Island native beat out Miss Brazil (Gabriela Markus) Miss Philippines (Janine Tugonon), Miss Mexico (Irene SofĂ­a Esser Quintero), and Miss Australia (Renae Ayris) for the distinction.

Culpo follows in the footsteps of Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, who earned the crown in 2011.

The two-hour show was broadcast live from Las Vegas with musical acts One Direction and Train lending their talents to the annual extravaganza.

3. Exclusive: Arsenio on His Late Night TV Return

Break out the Woof! Woof! fist pump: Arsenio Hall is coming back to late night TV in the Fall of 2013 after a 17-year break from the game, and only ET is behind the scenes with the timeless talk show host as he shoots his first-ever promo for The Arsenio Hall Show!

"[This is] the first time America will see anything on television about the show," says Arsenio. "Instead of a commercial where I do something like say, 'I'm baaaaack' -- and everybody's, 'Ugh' -- they've come up with a real, unique, creative angle that -- actually, I looked at dailies, and it scared me. I looked at the dailies and I frightened myself."

The trailer-length promo from CBS Television Distribution pays homage to horror movies and begins airing today on all Arsenio Hall Show affiliate stations, kicking off the campaign for the new late night syndicated talk show that will be seen all across the country next year.

"I'm real excited about this; so many things have changed in pop culture since I left the air," says Arsenio about his return to late night. "I can't wait."

The Arsenio Hall Show premieres on 9/9/13. Look for much more with Arsenio between now and then, only on ET!

4. Claire Danes Gives Birth

It's a boy!

Homeland star Claire Danes and her husband Hugh Dancy welcomed their very first child together on Monday, December 17, her rep confirms to People Magazine.

The proud parents named their bouncing baby boy Cyrus Michael Christopher Dancy.

Danes, 33, wed Dancy, 37, in 2009 after two years of dating.

5. President Obama is Time's Person of the Year

For 2012, Time Magazine has selected President Barack Obama as their Person of the Year.

"For finding and forging a new majority, for turning weakness into opportunity and for seeking, amid great adversity, to create a more perfect union, Barack Obama is Time's 2012 Person of the Year," Time's Managing Editor Richzard Stengel explained.

He also cited both of the president's re-elections, snagging over 50 percent of the popular vote, as one reason he received this honor.

This is the second year Time has tapped Obama as their Person of the Year -- he previously was selected in 2008 for becoming the first black president of the United States.

Time previously named the eight finalists for 2012's Person of the Year. They included: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Malala Yousafzai (the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for her crusade for better girls' education), Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi and the three scientists who discovered the Higgs Boson particle.

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Funerals for three more kids killed in Newtown massacre set for today








NEWTOWN, Conn. — The funerals for the victims of a Connecticut elementary school shooting are wrapping up after a wrenching week of farewells in Newtown.

Services are scheduled Saturday in Connecticut for 7-year-old Josephine Gay and 6-year-old Ana Marquez-Greene. A service is also planned in Utah for 6-year-old Emilie Parker.

Twenty children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14. The lone gunman also killed his mother before going on the rampage and then committing suicide.

A spokeswoman for the Connecticut Funeral Directors Association says the last funerals it knows of are taking place on Saturday, although some of the burials are private.











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Investors shuffling assets ahead of fiscal cliff




















Some citizens aren’t waiting to find out if the White House and Republicans in Congress will be able to reach a last-minute deal to pull the country away from the “fiscal cliff.”

They are selling securities while capital gains tax rates are still low or transferring millions into trusts for the benefit of children and grandchildren before estate tax laws become more stringent. Others are getting out of the markets and parking money in less risky accounts.

Miami financial planner Cathy Pareta has been counseling her upper middle class clients — “the Johnsons, not the Rockefellers” — on whether to adjust investment portfolios, accelerate income or realize capital gains sooner than planned.





“Some people are going to get hit hard,” said John Bacci, a financial planner in Linthicum, Md., who has gone down his client list and run projections on what higher taxes would look like for them. He’s looking at tax-friendly alternatives for some clients, such as annuities or rental property.

At year’s end, the country will leap off the “fiscal cliff” unless politicians reach a compromise on mandated spending cuts and the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts.

For most investors, the expiring cuts will mean that the tax rate for long-term capital gains will rise from 15 percent to 20 percent. Dividends also will no longer be taxed at 15 percent but treated as ordinary income, which could mean a tax rate as high as 39.6 percent. And individuals with multimillion-dollar estates will find much more of their money subject to the federal estate tax.

Estate planning lawyers say the demand is so intense that they are putting in grueling hours to set up trusts.

“It’s very stressful. We are working day and night,” said Diana Zeydel, an estate planning lawyer with Greenberg Traurig in Miami. “Were doing three times what we normally do for end-of-the-year planning.”

Zeydel said many of her clients waited until after the elections in November to gauge how the political tide would affect their future finances. This gave them little more than a month to make major decisions about their wealth.

Most observing the political jousting in Washington expect taxes will go up even if the political leaders reach a deal — they’re just not sure how much. Many aren’t taking any chances.

Jim Ludwick, a financial planner in Odenton, Md., said one client in his late 50s cashed out stock and bond funds totaling $1.7 million not long after the election and stashed the proceeds in a money market fund.

The client, anticipating a market plunge due to the “fiscal cliff” and other issues, said he spent his entire working life building up a nest egg and wouldn’t have time to wait for his portfolio to recover, according to Ludwick. The client fears it won’t be safe to re-enter the stock market for another year.

“We have a number of clients who are taking capital gains this year, expecting that if they wait until next year, they will have to pay higher taxes on those same gains,” said Daniel McHugh, president of Lombard Securities in Baltimore. Some of those clients are realizing six-figure gains but are still willing to take the tax hit now, he said.

Of course, the downside is that the stock market could take off, and these investors will miss out on even higher gains, McHugh said. But, he added: “Given the state the economy is in, that’s a very small risk.”





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Stand Your Ground motion denied in Janepsy Carballo case




















It will be up to a jury to decide if Janepsy Carballo was justified in the killing of the man she said killed her husband.

The Stand Your Ground motion filed by her defense was denied on Friday, based largely on Carballo’s inadvertent confession to a confidential informant who was wearing a police wire to investigate an unrelated drug charge at the pain management clinic where she worked.

Miami circuit court judge Beth Bloom said the tape of that conversation and the circumstances of the shooting “belied the claims” of forced entry and self-defense.





In 2008, Carballo shot Ilan Nissim six times in the back and arm one month after her husband and toddler son were shot in front of her house. Her son survived; her husband did not. Nissim was a suspect in the murder.

The controversial 2005 Stand Your Ground law eliminated a citizen’s duty to retreat when using lethal force to meet a threat of harm. The law also allowed judges greater leeway to dismiss a charge based on a self-defense claim.

The law came under scrutiny earlier this year when police initially declined to charge a self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman in the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford.

Carballo will go to trial in April facing murder charges.

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.





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Jerry Seinfeld Makes Surprise Appearance on Late Night

Billy Crystal made an appearance on Thursday's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon for an encore performance of Who's On First?, and it included another funny man showing up on the scene!

Jerry Seinfeld surprised the audience when he came in on the Abbott & Costello sketch, finally revealing the identity of the St. Louis Wolves' first-baseman "Who" and their second-baseman "What."


RELATED VIDEO: Tom Cruise and Fallon Get In Water Fight

But wait, who is Seinfeld portraying? Check out the video to find out!

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Boehner says he's open to negotiations with President Obama on avoiding 'fiscal cliff'








WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner signaled on Friday he's still open to negotiations with President Barack Obama on avoiding across-the-board tax increases set to hit taxpayers Jan. 1, but sounded pessimistic about reaching a grand deal with the president.

"How we get there, God only knows," Boehner told a Capitol Hill news conference just hours after his rank-and-file handed him a stunning tactical defeat.

The Republican leader was forced by his members to abandon legislation that would have raised taxes on millionaires. "We didn't have the votes to pass it," Boehner said glumly.





AP



Speaker of the House John Boehner, joined by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, speaks to reporters about fiscal cliff negotiations at the Capitol in Washington today.





In the aftermath, Boehner said any deal with the president to avoid the looming "fiscal cliff" would require more compromise by Obama and greater involvement of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the minority leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

"I'm interested in solving the major problems that face our country," Boehner said. "And that means House leaders, Senate leaders and the president are going to continue to have to work together to address those concerns."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who stood by Boehner's side, said, "We stand ready to continue in dialogue with this president to actually fix the problem."

Boehner dismissed suggestions that the embarrassment late Thursday night over the legislation would cost him his speakership, second in line to the presidency.

"While we may have not been able to get the votes last night to avert 99.81 percent of the tax increases, I don't think — they weren't taking that out on me," he said. "They were dealing with the perception that somebody might accuse them of raising taxes."

Obama has said he will press ahead with Congress in search of a deal.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama's "main priority is to ensure that taxes don't go up on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses," citing statistics associated with Obama's campaign promise to increase top tax rates on households earning more than $250,000 a year.

"The president will work with Congress to get this done and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy," Carney said. Pointedly, the statement didn't say whether Obama would work with Boehner to revive stalled talks or turn first to the Democratic-controlled Senate to try to salvage the situation.

Boehner's attempt to retreat from a longstanding promise to maintain Bush-era tax rates for all was designed to gain at least some leverage against Obama and Senate Democrats in the fiscal cliff endgame. Thursday's drama was a major personal defeat for the speaker, who retains the respect and affection of his tea party-infused conference, but sometimes has great difficulty getting them to follow his leadership.










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Miami-Dade jobless rate drops to 8.4 percent; Florida rate drops to 8.1 percent




















Florida’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.1 percent for November, down .4 percent over the previous month, bring it to November 2008 levels. It was the largest drop in month over month rates since October 1992, reported the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity.

In Miami-Dade County, the unemployment rate dropped to 8.4 percent when adjusted for seasonality; that represents a drop of .3 percent from October 2012 and 1.8 percent from November 2011.

In Broward County, the jobless rate dropped to. 7.0 percent, down .1 percent from October and down 1.8 percent from November 2011; seasonally adjusted numbers will not be released for Broward until later in the month.





Statewide, the total number of job postings increased sharply in November 2012 compared to the previous November by 29,522 (an increase of 12.4 percent), for a total of 267,310 openings (seasonally-adjusted), according to the Help Wanted OnLine data series from the Conference Board, Gov. Rick Scott’s office reported.

Broward County showed its first gain in construction jobs in 66 months. Miami-Dade continued to lose construction jobs for a 62th month.

Jane Wooldridge





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Religious leaders, students in South Florida remember Newtown tragedy with observances




















South Florida religious leaders will be remembering the 20 children and six adults killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

On Friday, all Archdiocese of Miami schools will have a moment of prayer at 9:32 a.m. The archdiocese’s churches also will ring their bells 26 times in observance of those killed.

On Sunday, Temple Judea in Coral Gables will offer an interfaith service that will be open to everyone. Rabbi Edwin Goldberg said the idea was to offer a chance for the community to come together after what happened in Newtown.





“The point of the service is to come together and find comfort and hope,” Goldberg said.

Here are some of the observances:

•  Interfaith service organized by South Florida Muslim community, 2:30 p.m. Friday, Darul Uloom Institute, 7050 Pines Blvd. in Pembroke Pines.

•  Spiritual bouquet for Newtown students by the students of St. Rose of Lima in Miami Shores, prayer service at 10 a.m. Friday.

•  Prayer jar by students at Good Shepherd School in Southwest Miami-Dade to be sent to Newtown students.

•  Interfaith service, 4 p.m. Sunday, at Temple Judea, 5500 Granada Blvd. in Coral Gables.

The service will start at 4 p.m. at Temple Judea, 5500 Granada Blvd. in Coral Gables.





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Facebook predicted to overtake Google in mobile display ad revenue this year






Shares of Facebook (FB) have begun to rebound since the company’s disastrous initial public offering this past May. After opening at $ 38 per share the company’s stock plummeted into the mid-20s over the summer months and eventually fell to a low of $ 17.55 in early September. Since then, however, Facebook shares have begun to bounce back after the company posted better-than-expected results in the third quarter. While Facebook stock is still down more than 25% on the year, it is rising steadily as analysts and investors become increasingly bullish about the company’s future as a leading advertising platform.


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According to a new report from eMarketer, Facebook is predicted to surpass Google (GOOG) in mobile display advertising in 2012. Google is expected to generate $ 339 million in mobile ad revenue this year, a significant increase from previous estimates of between $ 45 and $ 100 million. The research firm notes that Facebook is expected to capture an 18.4% share of the mobile display ad market in the U.S. this year, compared to Google’s 17% share, which is down from 23% in 2011.


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“Major ad publishers are strengthening their offerings much faster than previously expected,” said Clark Fredricksen, vice president of communications at eMarketer. “I don’t think anybody thought after the second quarter that Google and Facebook would be in position that they are now in the mobile ad marketplace.”


The company’s mobile ad revenue is expected to more than triple by 2014 when it will reach an estimated $ 1.2 billion. The firm predicts that Facebook and Google will continue to battle for the No.1 spot in the mobile ad market over the next few years. Facebook is expected to increase its lead to 25.2% in 2013, compared to Google’s 19.6% share. Google is estimated to bounce back in 2014, however, with a market leading 23.1% share, ahead of Facebook’s 22.7% share.


Despite the impressive numbers, eMarketer notes that mobile still represents a small slice of the total advertising market. In 2012, only 2.4% of total ad spending in the U.S. is expected to go towards mobile ads, but the market is expected to reach an 11% share by 2016 when it surpasses both radio and print spending.


This article was originally published by BGR


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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2012 Movie Supercut

From The Avengers to Zero Dark Thirty, 2012 was a stellar year for cinema and now Kees van Dijkhuizen Jr. has compiled the best moments from nearly every release into one absolutely breathtaking mash-up!


RELATED - ET's 12 Best Films of 2012

"Cinema is a friend, a teacher, a refuge and a safe place," Kees writes in the video description. "Here's to that dream."

And what a stunning fantasy it is.

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