1. Good news for the summer of superheroes: Thor topped the weekend box office, bringing in $66 million in its opening weekend. It was followed by Fast Five ($32 million) and Jumping the Broom ($13.7 million). [via Movieline]

2. Def Leppard is planning to release an album of rock lullabies for babies aka, 12 “softer” versions of the band’s hit songs. [via NME]

3. Andy Warhol’s Sixteen Jackies — a 1964 painting from his well-known series of portraits of the First Lady — is expected to sell for $30 million when it goes up for auction tomorrow at Soethby’s in New York. [via Artdaily]

4. Paula Abdul will join Cheryl Cole, L.A. Reid, and Simon Cowell as a judge on The X Factor this fall. Says Cowell: “This show would never have been the same without Paula and I can’t believe I am saying this – I have missed her a lot, and I am thrilled she’s on the show.” [via Deadline]

5. Listen to Jack White’s latest collaboration with Danger Mouse and Arcade Fire and Cyndi Lauper perform “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” at New Orleans Jazzfest.

Bonus link: A montage of memorable movie sandwiches

Last night on American Idol, Iggy Pop exploded onto the stage to give a shirtless performance of “Real Wild Child (Wild One)”  and dance around like a hyperactive four-year old at a Chuck E. Cheese’s birthday bash. Weird, right? Not only that American Idol is still on the air or that the 63-year-old Pop is allowed to be so chillingly shirtless on live network TV, but that the suburban-mom favorite hasn’t yet been prescribed the programming equivalent of Valium. Because, really, this isn’t the show’s first foray into the quaint town of WTF-ville, USA. After the jump, we count some of American Idol’s craziest moments. This one’s for you, Paula Abdul: You made it okay for men and women everywhere to act clinically insane on reality TV.

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Today at Flavorpill, we dreamed of becoming the proud owners of a panda cow — although we have no idea what we’d do about pet care after the Rapture. We visited the amusement park where the kid in Big made his wish, and the Universal Studios backlot where Back to the Future was shot. We made a vow to watch less TV in 2011 — or at least less than the 34 hours a week that the average American consumes. We were envious of Hank Gioiella, who paid just $5,500 for the green 1972 Chrysler station wagon that John Lennon and Yoko Ono owned. We felt bad for laughing at Paula Abdul, who told Julie Chen that she has a brain and has never been drunk in her life — she’s just goofy. We found out that our own brain is 10% smaller than our ancestors’ were. We learned how footballs are made. We looked at some of New York City’s ugliest apartments. And finally, we watched what The Awl considers the 10 most wonderful internet films of 2010. Did your favorite clip make the cut?

Let’s face it: American Idol effed up. After refusing to play ball with Paula Abdul, they snapped up Ellen DeGeneres. We love Ellen, but it was not the right venue for her. She didn’t know what she was talking about, and the jokes just fell flat. So we’re totally with her on the decision to cut her losses after a single season. And now, we think it’s time to admit something to ourselves. It was a mistake to think that bringing in a normal, balanced human being would improve the show. What we need is crazy. That is why, in our attempt to help the Idol producers replace Ellen, our mission is clear. Here are 10 potential judges who achieve or surpass Paula’s level of crazy. We hope you pick one of them.

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1. Sony and Michael Jackson‘s estate have set a music-industry record with a $250 million deal that covers 10 albums. The material will involve a mix of previously unreleased songs and new packages of old ones. [via WSJ]
2. Paula Abdul is finalizing a deal to host/judge an updated version of Star Search for ABC. This is interesting, because back in 2003 CBS tried to revive the same show with Arsenio Hall as its host. [via EW]
3. Did you realize that both women and big worriers are more likely to get songs stuck in their heads? [via NYT]
4. Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne made a brief appearance on Sunday night’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. (video) [via Pitchfork]
5. A new study by Austrian neurologists reveals the special painting technique behind the Mona Lisa’s ever-changing smile. [via Telegraph]

Bonus link: Hear the Lil Wayne and The Office Mash-Up Song

1. Lollapalooza. [via Pitchfork]
2. Germany’s Central Council of Jews wants to republish a critical version of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, a book that has been banned in the country since the end of World War II. [via PW]
3. Have you ever eaten from the most expensive hot dog cart in the world? (It was parked right outside the Met.) [via NYDN]
4. The LA Times thinks Perez Hilton is a tastemaker; Gawker says he’s an unapologetically awful person. [via Gawker]
5. ABC would love to have Paula Abdul on Dancing With the Stars because of her sensitivity and empathy. [via People]

1. Zaha Hadid’s Burnham pavilion in Millennium Park is finally open seven weeks behind schedule. [via Chicago Tribune]
2. Jack White will release a solo single on August 11 called “Fly Farm Blues” written while filming the new guitar documentary It Might Get Loud. [via Pitchfork]
3. Grey Gardens director Michael Sucsy will make his feature debut with a Jennifer Aniston film that’s based on the true story of a female country band in a 1940′s Texas prison. [via Variety]
4. Jason Segel has signed on for a comedy with Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman inspired by the stories in Mick Conefrey’s book The Adventurer’s Handbook: Life Lessons From History’s Great Explorers. [via THR]
5. Is Paula Abdul lying about leaving American Idol? That’s what Bonnie Fuller says. [via Gawker]

Last night on Idol, the top 7 contestants choked out the theme songs from various movies and the result was an hour of television more boring than Cold Mountain. Plus, guest mentor/judge/all-around crazy person Quentin Tarantino’s advice was about as useful to improving a performance as Renee Zellweger’s Oscar was to her getting better roles. Performance-wise, there were very few highlights. Anoop Desai kept his upward momentum going by giving Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” a nice R&B spin. Otherwise, it was an evening of snoozers. Read More »