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
Archives for May 2008
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
Sharon Osbourne will host Charm School 2, which stars Rock of Love’s women
In addition to I Love Money, VH1’s all-star competition between its Love show cast members, the network has also ordered a second season of Charm School. Instead of the Flavor of Love women being taught by Mo’Nique, the new season will feature Rock of Love cast members being trained by former Osbournes star and current… continue reading
Andy Cohen promoted to senior VP at Bravo
Bravo announced several promotions today, including bumping Andy Cohen to Bravo’s senior vice president of original programming and development. The network also promoted Shari Levine to lead production and Cori Abraham to lead development, while Christian Barcellos is the new VP of production and Eli Lehrer is the new VP of development and production. Cohen,… continue reading
Miami Ink ending after three seasons because its stars are upset with the network
TLC’s workplace drama Miami Ink will end after its fourth season, which is currently airing, concludes. Its stars, Ami James and Chris Nuñez, “declined to extend Discovery Communications’ option to order more episodes of the TLC show after the network delayed signing them on for another season,” and “no talks are under way to shoot… continue reading
New shows star cougars, teen idols, mamas’ boys, Boy Scouts, millionaires, puking people
Over the past few weeks, networks have announced a bunch of new reality shows that they plan to throw against the wall to see what sticks. They range from a competition about throwing up to a reunion of 1980s teen idols, and while some will debut this summer, we’ll have to wait until next year… continue reading
Co-executive producer, creator sues A&E over Dog the Bounty Hunter money
A co-executive producer on A&E’s Dog the Bounty Hunter is suing the network for $5 milllion+, saying he hasn’t been paid for the fourth season of the show. “Boris Krutonog of Los Angeles says the A&E Television Networks and others failed to pay him for the fourth season of the show as its creator and… continue reading
Kristi Yamaguchi wins Dancing with the Stars 6
Dancing with the Stars has its second female winner in six seasons, as Kristi Yamaguchi and her partner Mark Ballas won the competition. She beat Jason Taylor, as Christián de la Fuente was eliminated first. In the final dances, Kristi received a perfect 30, giving her perfect finale scores, and leaving her as the highest-scoring… continue reading
Judges essentially declare David Archuleta American Idol 7’s winner
After American Idol 7 finalists David Archuleta and David Cook each sang three songs–including one they’d each selected from the songwriting competition’s losers–during the finale, a win by Archuleta seems inevitable, assuming his fans vote. Even David Cook seems resigned to losing, telling Entertainment Weekly, “I think you go into tonight kinda seeing the forest… continue reading
Downtown Brooklyn penthouse may be The Real World’s next house
For its next New York location, The Real World is reportedly using a penthouse in a new downtown Brooklyn building that a producer confirmed is being considered. The show’s “housemates may be inhabiting the luxurious BellTel Lofts in not-quite-hip Downtown, sources familiar with the discussions said,” according to The Brooklyn Paper. “Construction is going on… continue reading
Survey equates reality TV with the atomic bomb, capital punishment as worst ideas ever
The UK’s Museums and Galleries Month 2008 survey has found that people think reality TV is one of the worst ideas ever, alongside the atomic bomb and capital punishment. The survey was conducted “by The Campaign for Museums and the 24 Hour Museum,” and “asked what are the best and worst innovations of all time,”… continue reading
Semi-finalist Luke Menard has Hodgkin lymphoma
Luke Menard, one of American Idol 7‘s semi-finalists, has been diagnosed with cancer, specifically Hodgkin lymphoma, and will undergo treatment soon. “Luke had a lingering cough and was having trouble breathing deeply, so he went to the doctor to have it checked out. The suspicion was walking pneumonia. But after a chest x-ray doctors saw… continue reading