Cristián de la Fuente is recovering from the surgery he needed after becoming injured on Dancing with the Stars 6. He “had surgery last week to repair the tendon he tore from the bone in his left bicep in the middle of a dance routine,” and that “required that a hole be drilled through his… continue reading
Archives for May 2008
Tyra Banks makes $18 million a year; is upset girls see Top Model “as a way to become a star”
Six years after coming up with the idea for America’s Next Top Model in her kitchen, Tyra Banks now “makes an estimated $18 million a year, and her net worth is around $75 million,” according to a New York Times Magazine profile. Part of that is from the 25 percent of Top Model she owns…. continue reading
Clay Aiken impregnated his best friend, will be a dad
Clay Aiken has artificially inseminated his best friend and former record producer who, yes, is female, and the ambiguously gay American Idol 2 runner-up will become a father in August. The mother is Jaymes Foster, David Foster’s sister, who produced A Thousand Different Ways and is apparently Clay’s best friend/roommate. People confirmed unsourced gossip reports… continue reading
IFC’s At the Death House Door documentary examines death penalty via death row chaplain
Tonight, IFC debuts At the Death House Door, a documentary that explores the death penalty in Texas via a pastor who served as a death row chaplain for 15 years. It debuts at 9 p.m. ET and repeats this weekend and next week. For those without access to IFC, the network has made the film… continue reading
MTV spins off Making the Band; plans reality version of Juno, Apprentice clone with 50 Cent
In a story about several new MTV series, network executive Tony DiSanto told The Hollywood Reporter that their programming strategy’s “main goal is to always pull the rug out. If something is working great, we don’t want to do it again, we want to do something new. Our viewers expect us to keep evolving, genre-busting… continue reading
David Cook’s single leads downloads; his first album will be “a rock record”
David Cook’s rendition of The Time of My Life is the number one song on iTunes and MP3 on Amazon.com, probably because it was sung by David Cook and not because it’s the awful winner of the American Idol 7 songwriting contest. Last Friday, that track “and the three songs he sang in this week’s… continue reading
Nine of the top 20 shows in 2007-2008 were reality; Idol’s performance show takes #1
The 2007-2008 TV season has ended, and after being interrupted by the writers’ strike, reality TV occupies nine of the top 20 spots, and six of the top 10. And America has a new number one TV show: the American Idol performance show. Those numbers are a bit misleading; the six in the top 10… continue reading
Networks cutting reality show budgets
Get ready for even cheaper-looking reality TV shows, as networks–broadcast and cable–are cutting budgets even for the shows that once were considered cheap alternatives. “Producers are being urged to shoot shows faster than ever and use indoor settings to help reduce expenses,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Uber VH1 producer Mark Cronin said, “Every year… continue reading
Nigel Lythgoe concerned about ringers on Dancing with the Stars, but not American Idol
Paula Abdul is still considering being a competitor on Dancing with the Stars 7 this fall, maybe, but her American Idol executive producer doesn’t like the idea because of how unfair it would be. News that Paula was interested came in late March from Tom Bergeron, and Paula now confirms that she’s considering the show,… continue reading
Flavor Flav proposes to Liz, the mother of one of his kids
On the reunion of the final episode of Flavor of Love 3, which is the final season of his series, Flavor Flav proposed to a woman, but not to one who appeared on any season of the show, thereby officially rendering the entire thing to be a charade, if an occasionally enjoyable one. He revealed… continue reading
Greg Plitt was cast for Work Out by producers, reveals how contrived and set-up it is
Work Out‘s workplace drama looks increasingly contrived this season, and there’s good reason for that: At least one of the show’s trainers was cast by producers, not hired by Jackie “I’m fond of emotionally manipulating people and then blaming them because I have no self-awareness” Warner. One of SkySport’s newest trainers, Greg Plitt, did a… continue reading
Matt on his relationship with Shayne: “All things considered we are doing really well”
The newest Bachelor couple, and one of two that’s still together, is still together now that their show is over and pictures of the chosen woman have ended up in Girls Gone Wild. The photos, which appeared in Girls Gone Wild magazine, don’t bother Matt. “As we English say, I really feel it was ‘a… continue reading
Simon Cowell promises “big shake-up” next season, age may be lowered to 14
With less than a week since American Idol 7‘s conclusion, it’s time to start talking about American Idol 8. Following a rather lackluster season, Simon Cowell promises changes for next season, but in a vague way that suggests he really has no idea what’s happening. “There’s going to be a big shake-up. You’ll see,” he… continue reading
Trailer, full cast revealed for I Love Money
Now that the full cast for I Love Money has been announced–it includes Pumkin, Hoopz, Mr. Boston, Chance, The Entertainer, and Toasteee–VH1 is giving us a glimpse of what they’ll be doing in order to win $250,000. (The series is the latest spin-off from VH1’s franchise of Love shows, but is a competition between cast… continue reading
David Cook’s win and Idol’s seventh season generates theories, speculation, more boredom
So, American Idol 7 is finally over, the ratings are in, and now it’s time to curl up into a ball and forget all of this ever happened. But before we do that, what did we learn this season? What does it all mean? New York Magazine suggests that “David Cook’s surprise landslide victory over… continue reading
Whitney: “I’m not really plus-size in real life, I’m regular”
America’s Next Top Model 10 winner Whitney Thompson became the show’s first plus-sized winner, and while the show and modeling industry may not have a realistic understanding of her weight, she certainly does. “I’m not really plus-size in real life, I’m regular. I’m the weight I’m supposed to be and that’s considered plus-size, and what… continue reading
Ratings rebound as American Idol 7’s finale is up over last year’s
Although ratings slipped all season, viewers returned for the finale of American Idol 7, which actually beat last year’s finale by about 1 million viewers. Overall, 31.66 million people watched, compared to 30.7 million viewers for season six’s finale. Among viewers 18 to 49, Wednesday’s episode had ratings “a tick below last season’s, while this… continue reading
David Cook wins American Idol 7 by 12 million votes
David won American Idol 7, after receiving 56 percent of the 97.5 million votes cast Tuesday night. David Archuleta lost by a surprisingly large margin of 12 million votes, despite the judges’ relentless praise Tuesday night. That gap seems to be too big to be attributable to one factor, such as backlash against the judges… continue reading
Fourth season of So You Think You Can Dance debuts tonight
Fox isn’t giving us even one night to take a break from talent search shows, debuting So You Think You Can Dance 4 tonight at 8 p.m. ET. It airs Wednesdays and Thursdays, and audition episodes will fill the time between now and June 4, and the top 20 will finally perform June 11. Nigel… continue reading
Six of 13 Making the Band 4 tour dates cancelled
Almost half of the performances scheduled for Day26 and Danity Kane’s joint tour have been cancelled. The tour was supposed to start May 18 in Orlando, but now begins May 28 in New York, as the first three dates have been cancelled. The tour, which is the subject of the upcoming third season of Making… continue reading