Rapper Jay-Z is one of the ten most successful recording artists of the past decade. But on the new 'Late Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS), he discussed his very humble upbringing.

Jay-Z (real name: Shawn Carter) was born in the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn, NY, and he went through some tough times. Shawn was abandoned by his father when he was 12. Without a man in the house, he had to find a way to support himself -- which led to some very questionable decisions.

David Letterman asked about life in the projects: "What was that like for a kid?" Jay-Z said sometimes there were "great days ... fun and ice cream." "But then, some days it would turn super-violent." Asked about the source of the violence, Jay-Z said it was caused by "little guys with big guns."

On the premiere of 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' (weekdays, syndicated), Ellen welcomed Justin Bieber. Yes, the adorable moppet/cultural phenomenon/MTV "Best New Artist" was one of the first guests of the new season. While talking with DeGeneres, Bieber took some time out to answer questions that his legion of fans had sent in via Twitter.

It was Bieber's first appearance on the show since his appearance last season -- that time around, the singer performed his hit song 'Baby,' which also happens to be the most-viewed video in YouTube history. Today, DeGeneres read out the Twitter questions, and Justin replied. Here's some of what he was asked ...

The whole world remembers what took place at last year's 'MTV Video Music Awards.' You do remember, right? While singer Taylor Swift was accepting the award for "Best Female Video," Kanye West crashed the stage. He then interrupted her speech with the now-infamous words, "Taylor ... I'mma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!!!" Well, it's been 365 days since then, and we're still dealing with the fallout from that little incident.

Taylor Swift certainly recalls what happened. And on this year's 'VMAs' (Sun., 6PM ET on MTV), she addressed the controversy with a premiere performance of a song from her upcoming album.

Former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland appeared on 'The Graham Norton Show' (Sat., 10PM ET on BBC America). And there, she discussed an unfortunate incident involving dolphins -- and their poop.

Rowland was on the show along with British comedian Bill Bailey. Mr. Bailey mentioned how he was told that swimming with dolphins was one of the "100 things to do before you die." But according to the comedian, swimming with dolphins isn't that much fun in real life, since the sea creatures don't actually seem to enjoy hanging out with humans that much.

Then, Kelly told an even worse story. Apparently, the one time that she tried to swim with dolphins, she got hit in the face ... with dolphin poop. She described it as looking like a white sheet of "paper." Wait? It was white? "Are you sure that was poop?" host Norton asked.

Ex-Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson was awarded the 2007 Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture during tonight's award show. Even though I don't particularly like film adaptations of stage productions (don't even get me started on how much I hated Rent or The Producers), I did enjoy Dreamgirls and was blown away by Hudson's spectacular performance (both her singing and acting were incredible). She not only holds her own in a film full of major stars -- such as Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Foxx -- she pretty much steals the show.

Jennifer Hudson is looking great as one of the singers in Dreamgirls, a Broadway musical that Dreamworks is bringing to the big screen. The production company released some behind-the-scenes video on its website in which Jennifer is featured prominently. She plays Effie White, one in a trio of black female soul singers who cross over to the pop music charts in the early 1960s. While previous reports I cited back in November claimed that Hudson landed the lead in the movie, the behind-the-scenes video and the trailer tell a different story. I believe she is actually a supporting actor to big names like Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy. Hopefully Jen makes some good connections on this flick that lead to more opportunities in Hollywood. She was a feisty gal with a lot of fans when she was on Season 3 of American Idol.

[Via Pop Candy]