JENNIFER Lopez wants to make her boyfriend a star. The singer is currently dating Casper Smart, and is paying for the toyboy to have acting lessons. “Casper is taking acting lessons because Jennifer wants him to be a star,” a source said.

“She thinks it might be fun to act alongside him the way she has done in the past with her ex-fiance Ben Affleck and Marc Anthony, her former husband.”Recent reports claimed Lopez is paying Smart a $10,000 per week allowance!  “She hated having to whip out her credit card every time they go to dinner,” a source said. “Jen figured it’s easier to give Casper a weekly stipend, and she thought $10K was a nice round number.

“Jen doesn’t want to go over the top, showering Casper with too much, but she also wants him to up his game. “Jen is hoping Casper won’t think twice about buying presents for her kids or whisking her off for a surprise weekend getaway.”

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Randy Jackson has praised Jennifer Lopez for maintaining her professionalism on American Idol in the wake of her divorce from Marc Anthony. The veteran panellist said he was impressed that Lopez, who separated from Anthony in July and is now dating dancer Casper Smart, had managed to leave all her personal troubles at home.

"She's really cool and very professional," he told reporters during a conference call. "She comes to work and she doesn't carry anything with her."However, Jackson noted that Lopez and co-judge Steven Tyler had got "tougher" on Idol contestants in their second season. 

"I must say her and Steven this second season you will see, we put these kids on the paces and we were tougher on them," he said. "I think as a judging role because that's what I can speak on, I really think they settled in and I think we are a real crew now."

Jackson has recently backtracked on his past criticism of The Voice and The X Factor USA, insisting that it is possible for all three shows to co-exist. American Idol airs Wednesdays and Thursdays on Fox in the US. UK viewers can catch it Thursdays and Fridays on ITV2. 

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Three-times married Jennifer Lopez said on Monday she doesn't know if she'll wed again after splitting up with her Latin pop singer husband Marc Anthony last year. "Let's see, I don't know. It's not time to think about that yet, do you know what I mean? Like, it's still fresh," the singer and "American Idol" judge told Matt Lauer on TV talk show "Today."

Lopez, 42, who split with Anthony in July after seven years marriage and two children, also fielded questions regarding comments she made about her divorce in an interview with Vanity Fair magazine last August, when she said "I love myself enough to walk away" from her marriage with Anthony.

"Everything I wanted to say about the divorce I said in that article, and Marc and I agreed that we weren't going to talk about it publicly again," said Lopez. "We're human and it's not the easiest thing in the world but I think we handled it with a lot of grace and a lot of caring and a lot of love," she added

The "On The Floor" singer teamed up with her ex-husband on their "passion project," new talent show "Q'Viva! The Chosen," to find the best artists from Latin America for a stage show in Las Vegas. "Q'Viva" debuted on Saturday on Univision and on 20 other TV networks in Central and South America. (Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Jennifer Lopez might have found new love in Casper Smart after separating from husband of seven years, Marc Anthony, but she apparently doesn't dare to think about another marriage just yet. In fact, the "American Idol" judge admitted during a recent appearance on the "Today" show that she isn't sure about walking down the aisle for a fourth time.

On Monday, January 30 morning, the 42-year-old singer was asked by co-host Matt Lauer, "Do you think you'll marry again?" Slightly flustered by the question, she responded, "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. We'll see. I mean, I don't know." When pressed further on the matter, she dodged it by stating, "It's not time to think about that yet. It's still fresh."

During the sit-down, the "On the Floor" hitmaker also explained why she has no problem working together with Anthony on "Q'Viva! The Chosen" post-split. "Marc and I were friends before we got married," she pointed out. "We were friends for years, and we always loved each other."

The singer, who has been divorced twice before, continued on, "And we always worked together, so it wasn't an unnatural thing for us to continue working together. And, obviously, we have children together, so it's not going to be like he's not in my life. He's always going to be in my life."

When Lauer mentioned her Vanity Fair interview in which she said she loves herself enough to walk away from her marriage to Anthony, J.Lo was quick to say, "Matt! I'm going to kill you right now. Why do you have to bring it up!" She refused to elaborate further by reasoning, "Because everything I wanted to say about the divorce I said in that article."

"Marc and I agreed we weren't going to talk about it publicly again because it really is our personal life," she said. "At the end of the day, like I said, we're working together, we have a lot of love for each other and we're human. It's not the easiest thing in the world but I think we handle it with a lot of grace and a lot of caring and a lot of love."

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Jennifer Lopez doesn't know whether she could ever get married again. The 42-year-old singer-and-actress - who has wed on three occasions and split from estranged husband Marc Anthony last year - is unsure whether she will ever tie the knot with new boyfriend Casper Smart, 24, in the future but she is not considering it at the moment.

When asked on the 'Today' show if another marriage is a possibility, Jennifer - who has come under fire for dating a man 18 years her junior - replied: "I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. We'll see. I mean, I don't know. It's not time to think about that yet. It's still fresh."

Despite splitting with Marc - who she has three-year-old twins Max and Emme with - the 'On The Floor' hitmaker revealed there is "real love" when they are working together on TV show 'iQ'Viva! The Chosen', and she knows he will "always" be a part of her life.

The brunette beauty - who was previously married to Cris Judd from 2001-2003 and Ojani Noa from 1997-1998 - added: "There is real love there. "Marc and I were friends before we got married. We were friends for years, and we always loved each other. "And, obviously, we have children together, so it's not going to be like he's not in my life. He's always going to be in my life."

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Jennifer Lopez is one busy gal. She's a judge on "American Idol," she's got a new show with Marc Anthony called "Q'Viva! The Chosen" and a new boyfriend. Well, clearly that isn't enough for JLo. She's just announced a brand new scripted series with MTV.

According to THR, Lopez will be producing a new series for Musica y Mas, the cable network targeting young Hispanics, formerly known as MTV Tres. The eight episode series called "Amigas, Inc." chronicles the lives of four entrepreneurial Miami teens who start a party-planning business to throw their perfect 15th birthday parties, otherwise known as Quinceneras. The show is based on a book written by Jane Startz and was inspired by JLo.

"I'm so excited to bring the Amigas series to television and to share the rich cultural experiences of being a Latino that are universal to us all," said Lopez said of the series, which she will produce. "I hope that this series will entertain audiences and inspire my fans to pursue their own dreams.""Amigas, Inc." will premiere in the fall.

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Two months before separating last July, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony announced they’d be appearing in Q’Viva, a genre-defying reality show in which the pair (along with live-show director Jamie King) travel to more than a dozen Latin countries to discover the best singers, dancers, and musicians. Fifty-two acts are then brought to Los Angeles to audition for a chance to perform in an upcoming Las Vegas show. I visited the downtown Los Angeles set during the audition rounds earlier this month and talked to Lopez, Anthony, and King about what makes Q’Viva different, how American Idol prepared Lopez for this new venture, and what it’s like for Lopez and Anthony to work together as exes.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: It sounds to me like one of the things that makes Q’Viva unique is that you guys don’t give screen time to untalented people like Idol and X Factor do.

MARC ANTHONY: That’s absolutely right.

JENNIFER LOPEZ: I don’t know that there is another show like this. There’s no winner. This is about creating a live visual experience about Latin culture, rhythm, dance — the likes of which have never been seen. So there is no show to compare it to. We’re casting a show, and you’re on the journey with us.
MA: It’s a callback — the only thing is that we’re rolling cameras on it. This is very, very serious business.
How has the filming gone so far?

JL: We went to these countries and we ate the food, walked the streets, and came upon people we didn’t know we were going to meet. Some people we knew we were going to meet that we saw on video. But some people ran up to the car and were like, “Can I audition?” And I was like, “Okay.” And they were amazing.

JAMIE KING: It makes it harder, because the talent is all so strong. There’s not a lot of weak people in there.

JL: The question is what’s going to work for the show, what’s going to represent Latin America in a way that we, being of Latino heritage, can be proud of. It’s a big responsibility.
Are there specific acts with whom you’ve really connected?

JL: There’s one little boy, Lucciano from Argentina, that can’t get his visa to come here. That’s part of the show too: We do find this amazing talent and sometimes we can’t get them over here to the States to give them this opportunity. But I’m still going to fight for him. We’ll see!

MA: I met this extraordinary dance troupe from Mexico City that did a little bit of everything, they were street performers, and there was one who I kept wondering, Why isn’t he performing? And they said, “He can’t because he doesn’t know who he is.” He had no identity, no name. They left him in a park when he was young. I was not ready for that. But the world needs to know about this talent.

JK: There’s also some people that we found, like this tango couple from Argentina, who are already at a high level, but it’s like, Where can they go? Can they be seen outside of Argentina? How far can we help them grow?

Jennifer, how would you say a year and a half on Idol has prepared you for this?

JL: It’s such a different experience. The traveling is nothing like Idol. And then actually putting together the live show will be a mess! But amazing at the same time. But it’s helped me in being able to spot talent really quickly. So what’s the level of ribbing that goes on among the judges panel?

MA: You have no idea.

JL: Well, we’re friends. We know each other. I don’t know if people know that Marc and I know each other. So we have a lot of fun.

MA: I’m just getting to know her. She’s a little difficult, but she’s actually not as bad as I thought she’d be. I was really nervous coming into today, because I had heard nightmare!

JL: He, on the other hand? Everything is true. All a nightmare.

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Jennifer thinks this year's round of contestants is better than ever. "I think the stakes each year get better and better. There's so many amazingly talented artists this year."

While Randy told In Touch to expect "a lot of soulful [contestants]. A lot of Adele's", Steven gave some insight as to why she's become such a popular singer for the contestants. "Adele is a good example of singing from the heart. It's from the heart, it's from the spirit. That's why that sold. She's so soulful and the kids today that have these vocal gymnastics, it's just astounding, and the ones that we have this year are just over the top."

Even Jennifer thinks this year they've found the total package. "Not only the voices, but they also seem to have the whole package, they understand that there's a performance that needs to be there, they're gonna have to dress a certain way. They're like little pop stars in a box!"

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Steven Tyler caused his fellow “American Idol” judge Jennifer Lopez to scream in shock after discovering the rocker taking a dip in a Las Vegas swimming pool completely naked.

The talent show personalities headed to the Wynn Las Vegas resort last week to film an upcoming episode of “Idol” and they took time out of the shoot to catch a performance of the venue’s in-house show “Le Reve – The Dream,” which features artists dancing underwater.

The show prompted Tyler to later shed his clothes and go skinny-dipping in the hotel pool – but his nude swim caught Lopez by surprise.

During a joint appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Friday, “Idol” host Seacrest explained, “We flew back from Vegas last night, we were shooting an episode there of ‘Idol’… and at the end of a final performance from a contestant, I heard this scream from Jennifer Lopez and I looked up and she was standing over the Le Reve pool. It’s a water show, so she’s standing over the edge and screaming, looking down at a naked body in the water!”

The nude culprit was identified on the talk show as Tyler and he laughed off the incident with a quip about trying to shock Lopez with his saucy stunt. Tyler joked, “Hey, I’m from Boston! I love water… Well I sat at La Reve all week and I just thought, I’ve watched the show all week and I’m a water guy and… I just wanted a good excuse to take my clothes off in front of J.Lo.”

Asked what he expected Lopez to do, he burst into song, singing the chorus of Frank Sinatra’s High Hopes: “‘Cause we had, high hopes…!”But Tyler insisted he wasn’t embarrassed by the incident – because he loves teasing Lopez. He added, “I live to try to make her blush, I live for it, oh yeah!”

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San Diego's a noisy place. Joanne Childers gets interrupted by the blast of a boat horn right in the middle of her song. Another singer's response to a question gets drowned out by a jet airplane. "It's like plans, trains, automobiles, boats and birds," says Randy. But back to more serious things. Jane Carrey is a mom first and sometimes a waitress. When she's not doing either of those, she sings some.

Did we mention that she's Jim Carrey's daughter?

"I remember you when you were little!" Jennifer exclaims. She remembers her from the days of In Living Color, when Jane was about 2. She hopes American Idol will help her make her place in the world. She needs to work on her performance appearance, but her version of Bonnie Raitt's Something to Talk About gets her through to Hollywood. So do a lot of other unnamed girls.

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