It’s only one month into the new year, but Ne-Yo is making major moves. The Grammy-winning singer has signed to Motown Records and been appointed Senior Vice President of A&R.

After releasing four albums on Def Jam, Ne-Yo will transition to Motown and serve in a creative role, reports Billboard.biz. He will also bring his Compound Entertainment imprint to the label.

In his new position, the R&B gentleman will produce and mentor Motown’s artists, as well as sign and develop new talent.

“I’m honored that I’ve been given such a prestigious title and trusted with such responsibility; terrified because I know that playing this role in the fashion of one of my career role models, Mr. Smokey Robinson—these are big shoes to fill. But trust, I can handle it,” said Ne-Yo in a statement.

Barry Weiss, Island Def Jam Motown Chairman and CEO, added, “His track record of success at Def Jam will always be a benchmark. But this move to Motown will provide new and inspiring challenges for Ne-Yo as both an artist and a key member of the new senior management team that is taking form at the label in 2012.”

Ne-Yo’s fifth album and first for Motown, The Cracks in Mr. Perfect, is due this summer. He can currently be seen in George Lucas’ Red Tails and will appear as a mentor on the upcoming season of NBC’s “The Voice.”

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Singer-songwriter Seal makes his first television appearance since the announcement of the separation from wife, Heidi Klum on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Tuesday, January 24th. Ellen talks with Seal about the separation and why he is still wearing his wedding ring.

On his split from Heidi Klum:

ELLEN:
I think it’s a very very hard thing to be in a relationship and working on a relationship and have a family and have kids and have two huge careers and a lot going on, and to be in the public eye. I think a lot of people have seen many pictures of you and Heidi. I think it was surprise to a lot of people. That’s got to be a hard thing when people don’t really know and I think people were just shocked.

SEAL:
I think so too and you can include us in that. I think we were shocked. You go into these things with the greatest intentions when you say “I do” and you say “’til death do us part.” Those vows hold value. They are not just words. These things happen. We pretty much said how we feel and made it clear in the release statement. But, for intensive purposes of this show, you just grow apart after awhile. You try and you work through it and the thing that you quickly realize when you are married and you become a parent you do the best that you can. It makes you actually appreciate your parents a lot more. The thing that I’m most proud about this great woman who married (and I really do mean that from the bottom of my heart), is that together she has given me four incredible gifts…four beautiful children. She still, in my opinion, the most wonderful woman in the world. I think our priority was to remain civil and do this thing with dignity. We still very much love each other. It’s not a question of we were never to follow suit of some break-up or separations that you hear about, especially in our industry. It’s a shame. To say that neither of us were grieving would be an out and out lie (and I don’t mind telling you that). I think the operative here is that we are civil to each other and we both have a tremendous amount of respect and love and we try and do this with as much dignity as we possibly can. And of course, when you have four children,you hope and pray that the rest of the world will respect that we have four children and that their little hearts are at stake too.

Seal on wearing his wedding ring…

ELLEN:
That must be hard for them. I still notice you’re still wearing your ring. (Is that, it’s an interesting) It’s a beautiful ring…

SEAL:
Yes, I am still wearing my ring. I think it’s just pretty much a token of how I feel about this woman. We have eight years. Eight wonderful years together. Just because we have decided to separate doesn’t necessarily mean you take off your ring and you’re no longer connected to that person. We will be connected in many ways ‘til the rest of our lives…. though our children and also through this tremendous admiration, respect and love that we have for each other. Will we wear the ring for the rest of our lives? Who knows? But right now it feels really comfortable on my hand so I have intentions of taking it off anytime soon.

I want them to work it out and stay together! I hate the thought of them splitting. When some people split – it comes as no surprise. (Like if Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis actually split – I probably won’t think much of it.) But Heidi and Seal? It shouldn’t be happening I tell ya!

PS: I think it’s very commendable that Seal honored his commitment and still went on the Ellen Show. He was scheduled to appear before Heidi announced the split, and it would have been very easy for him to bail. But he didn’t!

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Halle Berry’s baby daddy Gabriel Aubry is being investigated for criminal child endangerment and battery — over an incident involving his and Halle’s child … TMZ has learned.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, Gabriel allegedly pushed his nanny into a door while she held his daughter Nahla in her arms.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ … Gabriel was supposed to take 3-year-old Nahla to school Wednesday but decided to keep her home instead. The nanny — who worked for both Gabriel and Halle — went to the school to pick Nahla up and was told the child was a no-show.

According to the report, the nanny then went to Gabriel’s home, where she found Nahla. The nanny picked Nahla up and began to question Gabriel as to why he didn’t take the child to school.

According to the report, that’s when Gabriel allegedly flew into a rage — claiming, “You’re the f**king nanny. Who do you think you are? You are a nobody. You don’t need to f**king know anything.” The 6-foot-4 Gabriel then allegedly pushed the 5-foot-2 nanny out the door, Nahla in her arms.

The nanny filed a police report, claiming she was injured. Law enforcement sources tell us … police are investigating Gabriel for both misdemeanor child endangerment and misdemeanor battery.

The report lists the investigation as a battery, but law enforcement sources tell us they are “definitely investigating child endangerment.”

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Jodie Marsh has revealed how complications with her boob job left her with a serious infection.

The former glamor model told Heat magazine how her “boob was open and bleeding” a week after the surgery.

The scarring has left Jodie conscious of her body, and she confessed that she was so embarrassed she didn’t get fully naked in front of her boyfriends.

“The first dressing was taken off after a week or so,” the 33-year-old recalled. “That’s when I saw that I wasn’t healing. My boob was open and bleeding.

“I had the lollipop procedure – your nipple is taken off and put back on again, and then you are stitched from the bottom of the nipple to the under part of your boob.

“But as the stitches started popping out of my skin, there was no skin to hold the incision together.”

The botched job left her crying “continuously” as she struggled to heal from the surgery.

She said: “My boobs looked like they were exploding. It was so painful. There was green pus coming out of my boobs and they constantly bled. It has left me with a a huge scar that will never go away. At first, I was so embarrassed in front of boyfriends I wouldn’t take my top off.”

“I want to get them reduced, but I’m too frightened. I couldn’t cope with that happening again. I wish I’d never had them done.”

Do you feel sorry for Jodie?

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They’re here. The nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were read this morning by 2011 Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence and Academy President Tom Sherak.

Leading the pack was Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” with 11 nominations followed by “The Artist” with 10 noms and “Moneyball” and “War Horse” bringing up the rear with six each.

There were noticeable slights and some welcome surprises. Leonardo DiCaprio was not nominated for Best Actor for “J. Edgar” but Rooney Mara was nominated for her breakout performance in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” for Best Actress while Melissa McCarthy got a nod for Best Supporting Actress for “Bridesmaids.”

The telecast kicks off live Sunday, Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. from the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

The following is a complete list of nominees:

Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Art Direction
“The Artist”
Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

“Hugo”
Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

“Midnight in Paris”
Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

“War Horse”
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O’Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips

Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again”
Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

“Pina”
Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

“Undefeated”
TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

“God Is the Bigger Elvis”
Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

“Incident in New Baghdad”
James Spione

“Saving Face”
Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran

Makeup
“Albert Nobbs”
Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng

“The Iron Lady”
Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (Original Score)
“The Adventures of Tintin” John Williams
“The Artist” Ludovic Bource
“Hugo” Howard Shore
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Alberto Iglesias
“War Horse” John Williams

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

“Hugo”
Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

“Moneyball”
Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

“War Horse”
Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

“Hugo”
Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning

“Real Steel”
Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

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Mel Gibson has returned to criminal court but, thankfully for his flailing career, this time he’ll be appearing in the less prominent role of the juror…

Can you imagine how strange it would be to have Mel Gibson passing judgement on your crimes? Very strange, we reckon. It would, at the very least, be quite distracting to look up as you were led to the stand and see Braveheart staring at you.

The filmstar was spotted by the beady-eyed folks at TMZ.com in a court assembly rooms, reading through the court transcript, chatting up women and even having his photo taken with his fellow starstruck jurors.

At least he dressed up for the occasion… oh. Well, he at least DRESSED for the occasion; a baseball cap and jeans aren’t really what we expect from our normal jurors but we suppose they must make exceptions for celebrities.

It’s all a little crazy but, hey, we’ve come to expect nothing less from Mel!

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Fat Joe wants kids to forget about leaning back — and go back to being lean.

Sorry. Make that the formerly Fat Joe.

The Bronx rapper, who once topped the charts with “Lean Back,” used to tip the scales at nearly 460 pounds. But he’s shed more than 100 in the past year, even curbing the diabetes that has plagued him since he was 14.

“I was just a kid myself, dealing with childhood obesity,” says Joseph (Fat Joe) Cartagena, who realized his oversized persona was killing him after six friends died prematurely from obesity-related illnesses since 2000. They included fellow NYC artist Big Pun, who had a fatal heart attack at 28.

Now Cartagena is turning the tables on the obesity epidemic with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Campaign, which launched a creative competition in Newark last fall to get more teens off their rears.

The campaign was inspired by The Daily News’ own Diet & Fitness Hotline.

“I was at the Diet Hotline the first year, in 2009,” says fitness expert Jeff Halevy, “and I realized that there were tons of people with a lot of questions who were so frustrated and so ill, but they just didn’t have the dollars to translate their motivation into a healthier life.”

Halevy approached the NYC Parks Department about challenging the five boroughs to a free, friendly exercise competition to see which residents would move the most, but it never got off the ground.

Once Newark Mayor Cory Booker caught wind of it, however, he invited Halevy to launch a similar contest in his city’s five wards. A whopping 64% of Newark’s elementary school children are obese or morbidly obese, and 44% of kids age 3 to 19 are overweight, making the Jersey city perfect place to kick-start the campaign. Last October, Let’s Move! Newark: Our Power (LM!NOP) was born.

Halevy’s pilot program outfitted 1,500 freshman from five Newark high schools with MYTRACK, a pager-sized health device that measures physical activity, including steps moved and calories burned.

The gadget’s LED light turns green once the wearer hits 60 minutes of physical activity, so students can see when they’ve reached their daily activity goal.

The ninth graders were offered incentives such as Nets tickets, Sean Combs’ ENYCE designer clothing, Zumba DVDs and TRX exercise equipment, plus a “mystery” grand prize, which was a concert by Cartagena.

“I don’t usually perform when I go to the schools,” says Cartagena, who is suprising the winning Barringer 9th Grade Success Academy tonight. “But this is a special occasion.

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Tracy Morgan was rushed to the hospital Sunday night at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, reports TMZ. The comedian and actor apparently fell unconscious and was taken by ambulance to Park City Medical Center.

A spokesperson for the hospital stated that there were no drugs or alcohol found in the ’30 Rock’ star’s system. A rep for Morgan, Lewis Kay, also issued a statement, saying, “From a combination of exhaustion and altitude, Tracy is seeking medical attention.”

Before passing out, Morgan was being honored at the Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards. Although it was reported that Morgan appeared drunk at the ceremony, it may have been due to his diabetes. The Bronx native, who was diagnosed with diabetes in 2006, received a kidney transplant last year.

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Re-engaged couple Kristin Cavallari and Jay Cutler have something ELSE to smile about these days! Not only are they altar-bound again, but they’re about to welcome their first child later this year.

As reported by People, the celebrity parents-to-be officially announced their happy news to the mag on Jan. 22.

“We are thrilled to announce we are expecting our first child together. It’s an amazing time in our life and we can’t wait to meet the new addition to our growing family.”

While Kristin’s reps also confirmed that the reality starlet and her quarterback beau are expecting, the pair have yet to reveal when the newest member of the Cavallari/Cutler family is set to arrive!

Congratulations you two!!!!!

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Supermodel Heidi Klum and husband Seal have released a statement confirming the rumors the two are separating after seven years of marriage. The decision was mutual and they will remain good friends as they are totally focused on raising their children.

In a statement, the 38 year-old Project Runaway host said:

“While we have enjoyed seven very loving, loyal and happy years of marriage, after much soul-searching we have decided to separate.

“We have had the deepest respect for one another throughout our relationship and continue to love each other very much, but we have grown apart. This is an amicable process and protecting the well-being of our children remains our top priority, especially during this time of transition.

“We thank our family, friends, and fans for their kind words of support. And for our children’s sake, we appreciate you respecting our privacy.”

If I had little faith in the marriage institution, Heidi and Seal’s divorce completely made me lose hope in fairytales. What happened with these two? They always looked so perfectly in love.

Heidi and Seal started dating after the supermodel broke up with Flavio Briatore, the biological father of her 7 year-old daughter Leni, back in 2003. The two, who tied the knot in May 2005, have four children together – Leni, 6 year-old Henry, 5 year-old Johan and 2 year-old Lou.

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