Reality Rocks
  • Last week on America's Best Dance Crew 2, Fanny Pak received the first standing ovation from the judges of the whole season--including guest judge Missy Elliott!!--after their completely amazing and freaky interpretation of Missy's "Get Ur Freak On":

    And yet, even after that amazing performance, Fanny Pak still didn't get the most votes, and so they ended up on the chopping block last night.

    In the words of judge Lil' Mama: AMERICA, ARE YOU SERIOUS?

    So then Fanny Pak and the other crew in the bottom two, Super Cr3w, had to battle it out for a spot in next week's finale. But I wasn't worried. I figured Fanny Pak had this one in the bag. Or in the pack, so to speak. Because the theme was '80S NIGHT, and Fanny Pak are all about the '80s. So they seemingly had an edge going into this competition, before they even slipped on their legwarmers. But then when did their Flashdance-themed routine, they were such maniacs on the dance floor, I assumed there was NO way they could lose.

    Fanny

    Read More »from America’s Best Dance Crew 2: Fanny Pak Sent Packin’
  • I know August is a big reality-TV finale month, and sometimes it's hard to keep track of it all, what with So You Think You Can Dance wrapping up last night and the America's Best Dance Crew 2 finale in just six days, etc. But for those of you who missed the big announcement this past Monday: Melissa Lawson won season 6 of Nashville Star.

    So naturally, the NStar camp is in rush-release panic mode right now. Melissa barely had time to accept congratulation kisses from her five kids or brush the celebratory confetti out of her hair before she was whisked offstage on finale night and into a press-filled interrogation room (see my interview blog here); her coronation single "What If It All Goes Right?" was the number-one iTunes country track by the following morning; as I type this, she's probably on a plane to Beijing right now to sing at the Olympics; and the Nashville Star package tour with Melissa and the rest of the top four (Gabe Garcia, Shawn Mayer, and Coffey) kicks off next month.

    Read More »from A Nashville Star Is Born: Melissa Lawson’s Debut Video
  • Well, the miracles of modern science never cease. Clay Aiken's officially a father, y'all.

    Yes, Clay's test tube non-lovechild with his BFF, record producer Jaymes Foster (who is woman, in case you were unsure), was hatched this morning.

    I could write something even snarkier here, but to be honest, the shock/awe/disgust of the original news of Clay's fatherhood has worn off a smidge since Clay and Jaymes's jawdropping pregnancy announcement was made some time ago. So I guess I'll just say congrats to the Foster-Aikens, and leave it at that.

    It's boy, by the way, and his name is Parker Foster Aiken. As far as I know, this bundle of in vitro joy was not named after me...but hey, in my demented mind I'd like to imagine he was. "Parker" has such a nice ring to it, don't you think?

    Anyhoo, proud papa Clay wrote on his blog today: "The little man is healthy, happy, and as loud as his daddy."

    Yikes! Does that mean he'll be on American Idol season 27 someday? With a name like Parker, this

    Read More »from Clay Aiken: Daddy Dearest!
  • On this week's So You Think You Can Dance finale, the judges got to pick their favorite routines of the season, and have those dancers reprise them. For the most part I agreed with their choices: Mark and Courtney's sadomasochistic "Garden" routine, Mark and Chelsie's workaholic-husband "Bleeding Love" number, Katee and Josh's sad soldier-leaving-his-sweetheart "No Air" dance, and my hands-down favorite, that psycho-girlfriend "door dance" with Katee and Twitch.

    But the judges overlooked a couple dances, in my not-so-humble opinion, so I'm going to run my own "encores" here....

    Twitchington's Bed Dance:
    As guest judge Napolean put it, "How can you go wrong with a good-looking guy, a beautiful girl, a bed, and flowers?" Add Mia Michaels to that mix and well, you can't go wrong. I am dumbfounded that no judge picked this routine, but thanks to the wonders of the Interweb, we can all watch Twitch and Kherrington hit the sack again and again:

    Katee & Joshua's "Hometown Glory":
    Another

    Read More »from SYTYCD: I Demand An Encore!
  • Much like the burning questions "Will a plus-size girl ever win on America's Next Top Model?" and "Will a rocker ever win on American Idol?," the question "Will a breakdancer ever win on So You Think You Can Dance?" is a matter I've often pondered.

    It never seemed like a b-boy (or b-girl) had a chance on SYTYCD--they were always great in their own specialty genre, sure, but whenever they had to pick up choreography or, say, do a Viennese waltz, they just fell apart. (This season's Robert Muraine, winner of tonight's finale faceoff with Philip Chbeeb, is a perfect example: He got so discouraged and exasperated during this season's audition rounds, he quit against the judges' wishes.)

    Well, zaftig Whitney just won ANTM this year, and of course rocker boy David Cook triumphed on AmIdol too. So maybe, I thought, 2008 would be Twitch or Josh's year, too.

    But still, I never really imagined it would come down to two b-boys in the SYTYCD finale. Especially over Katee!

    Yes, tonight SYTYCD

    Read More »from So You Think You Can Dance Winner: Josh Is The MAAAAANNNN!
  • Tonight was a bittersweet occasion for So You Think You Can Dance fanatics.

    Sweet, because the final four had come so far. And sweet, because all the finalists got to dance in all sorts of new configurations tonight--not just solo or in boy/girl duos, but also with same-sex partners (I mean that in a G-rated way, gutter-minded people!) and in a final four-person group number.

    But tonight was still bitter, because it was the last competition round. The season comes to an end this week, you see.

    Sigh. It went by fast, huh? Too fast.

    You know what else I was kind of bitter about tonight? The judges' treatment of Courtney. Yes, Mary Murphy did tell her she was a role model for all the little girls out there watching--a really kind and genuine comment that brought tears to Courtney's big brown eyes. But during most of the remainder of the show, the judges slipped in these nasty little digs here and there, making it obvious that they probably would have preferred Chelsie in the top four

    Read More »from SYTYCD: The Final Four Dance For Their Lives
  • Regular readers know I love me some underdogs. Danny Noriega and Josiah Leming on American Idol, Fanny Pak on America's Best Dance Crew 2, Sisley on The Search For The Next Pussycat Doll...for some reason, I always seem to root for the less obvious contender. I don't do this to be contrary. I don't do it to generate "controversy." And I certainly don't do it because I enjoy getting a jillion posts on my message boards telling me I'm fulla shiz and Yahoo! should fire me.

    What can I say? I guess I'm just one of those types that prefers the road less traveled. Or the contestant less voted.

    Case in point: This just-completed sixth season of Nashville Star. As pleased as I was when Melissa Lawson won last night, I was still really rooting for the dark horse, Shawn Mayer. And I also must admit, from episode one I had soft spots in my heart for Third Town (the Vegas cutups who were actually eleventh-hour understudies), Charley Jenkins (the one guy whom the public never even had the chance to

    Read More »from Nashville Star: Still Rooting For The Underdogs
  • Last night, the black-haired bad girl with a heart of gold, the woman who left the love of her life back in small-town Iowa to pursue her Nashville dream, the woman who was in the bottom two so many times she probably thought she never had a chance of winning...well, she didn't win, but she did make it all the way to third place on Nashville Star.

    Shawn may not have been the frontrunner on this show, but she is a major undiscovered talent, so I don't think this is the last we've heard from her. Because in a tour bus interview, caught on camera just an hour or so before the finale taping, Nashville Star judge and Shawn mentor Jeffrey Steele indicated that he'd still be supporting his protégé's career long after the NStar cameras stop rolling.

    And Jeffrey wasn't shy about taking some credit for her success, after Shawn "fired" her original mentor John Rich:

    And just moments after the finale taping, Shawn met with me and some other enquiring-minded press types to discuss her reaction

    Read More »from Nashville Star: The Shawn Mayer Finale Interview
  • When I first arrived in Nashville yesterday for the Nashville Star finale taping, I had a hunch that Gabe Garcia was going to win. I figured this car parked in front of my hotel, the Opryland, was some sort of sign:

    But oh well, so much for omens. Because last night at the Acuff Theater, Gabe Garcia came in second, losing out to equally worthy contender Melissa Lawson. However, the Texican from the little town of Lytle may still be the man to bridge the country and Latino markets in a way that John Rich's hapless handpicked Gone Country protégé, Julio Iglesias Jr., could not.

    In this backstage interview, caught on camera just an hour or so before the finale taping, Nashville Star judge and Gabe mentor Jewel explained why the timing just may be ideal for Gabe to launch his country career:

    And just moments after the finale taping, Gabe--a true gentleman till the very end--met with me and some other enquiring-minded press types to discuss his reaction to the results and his plans for

    Read More »from Nashville Star: The Gabe Garcia Finale Interview
  • As many people reading this already know, last night on Nashville Star it all came down to finalists Rob and Russell:

    Just kidding! These are crew guys who were standing in for Melissa Lawson and Gabe Garcia during the finale rehearsal taping yesterday afternoon. But you have to give them kudos for how they emoted, as they pretended to hear Billy Ray Cyrus announce the results...

    In all seriousness, the real winner was Melissa, proud mother of five. And not only did I predict she'd win in my blog last week, I declared her a frontrunner back when the season began. Once again, just call me Miss Cleo!

    Surely John Rich--Nashville Star judge, Melissa mentor, and the man who'll produce the winner's album--must be pleased with these results. He certainly seemed in good spirits in this preshow interview, taped just moments before the finale began; not only was he dressed to the nines for this special occasion, but he freely admitted that he still has a little crush on his protégé:

    Later

    Read More »from Nashville Star: The Melissa Lawson Finale Interview

Pagination

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