In alphabetical order, and with their professional partners, the 12 stars making their dancing debut on the new season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars are:
Season Two looks to knock out the “gamer” stereotype … as well as zombies and ninjas.
By Emily Mitchell
N00b.
If that word is familiar to you, then you either:
a) are a gamer
b) have an extremely close relative or friend who is a gamer
c) have been called this before (most likely by a gamer)
d) never want it to be spoken again. (as does the author of this piece.)
Yes, video gaming (and its lingo), has become a massive pop culture and economic phenomenon, and SyFy Channel’s WCG Ultimate Gamer chronicles it all.
The show is a combination of the Real World/ Road Rules Challenge and videogames. Twelve contestants (6 men and 6 women) live in a house together while competing against one another in both physical and video gaming challenges to become ‘The WCG Ultimate Gamer’, a title that includes $100,000 in cash, an “ultimate” Samsung electronics package, Alienware High-Performance gaming desktop called “The Aurora’, and the chance to represent at the World Cyber Games (aka the WCG).
By Ryan Berenz
To say that there’s buzz about the New York Jets is an understatement. No, that buzz is more like the deafening roar of a Boeing going throttle-open down the LaGuardia runway.
The Jets are coming off a loss to Indianapolis in the AFC Championship, and they’re a popular preseason favorite to win the AFC — if not more — this season. Their confident and colorful head coach, Rex Ryan, has the Jets throwing their weight around the league (though Ryan lost weight himself, thanks to offseason lap-band surgery). Their quarterback, Mark Sanchez, enters his second season and is already an Internet legend for his “poise” on the field and with the ladies. Their rushing attack, tops in the NFL a season ago, now has LaDainian Tomlinson, who spent the past nine seasons with San Diego and is now out to prove he’s still a premier back. The No. 1 defense from ’09 returns arguably the NFL’s best defensive player in CB Darrelle Revis (if he ever ends his holdout), and adds CB Antonio Cromartie. Longtime Jets nemesis DE Jason Taylor is now in the fold, as is former Super Bowl MVP WR Santonio Holmes. The Jets appear on ESPN’s Monday Night Football a league-leading three times. And they’ll play in the nifty New Meadowlands Stadium opening this season.
By Emily Mitchell
(l-r) Catherine Ommanney, Stacie Turner, Mary Schmidt Amons, Lynda Erkiletian, Michaele Salahi
“D.C. has a certain expectation of how you behave and treat people and argue. I think you are going to see a more refined edge to these women. It’s probably going to be a little classier,” says Mary Schmidt Amons, one of the stars of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of D.C.
In other words, the nation’s capital will be no place for wig-pulling and girl fights. With a dynamic cast, the network’s fifth Housewives series — which joins Orange County, New York, Atlanta and New Jersey — promises to add another facet of drama in its portrayal of American housewives.
By Emily Mitchell
“She doesn’t even go here!” This may be one of the funniest quotes from 2004’s Mean Girls. It comes from the part of the movie where all the girls of North Shore High School are gathered in the gymnasium to have a venting session about all the gossip and wrongdoing of high school cliques. If you enjoy this scene as much as I do, then you should tune in to MTV’s newest unscripted show, If You Really Knew Me…
But don’t expect to be laughing much when watching this show. It’s serious and emotional. The premise of the show revolves around Challenge Day, an organization whose mission is “to provide youth and their communities with experiential programs that demonstrate the possibility of love and connection through the celebration of diversity, truth, and full expression.” The program gathers a whole student body into a gymnasium. They play purposely awkward games to interact with each other, followed by intimate small-group discussions and mini-confessionals led and mediated by Challenge Day organizers. This includes the Mean Girls microphone-confessional format. But what the students reveal is real and heart wrenching, much more than superfluous cattiness.
By Mike Frey
If you like brash NFL players, you are going to want to start tuning in to VH1 on Sunday nights. Fresh off his run on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, Chad Ochocinco teams up with Terrell Owens to give the channel a tandem of wide receivers that only the reality-show genre could cover. Premiering Sunday, July 11, at 9pm ET, Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch and Season 2 of The T.O. Show find the superstar athletes taking their game off the field, with Ochocinco looking for love [Update: and, apparently, a seafood lover] from among 85 women — or ocho cinco women, for those who speak Spanish poorly — and T.O. trying to reconnect with his ex, volleyball-player-turned-model Kari Klinkenborg. Both guys are known for grabbing touchdowns and attention, and both shows look good, but in sports there’s always the need to declare a winner, so we present the following statistical breakdown to help you decide which one is right for you.
Chad Ochocinco
NFL team: Cincinnati Bengals
Age: 32
Pro Bowl appearances: Six
Wingman: Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Bernard Berrian
Previous TV experience: Placed fourth on the most recent installment of Dancing With the Stars; was one of the stars on Season 5 of HBO’s Emmy-winning Hard Knocks
Past feuds: Shawne Merriman, Carson Palmer, Marvin Lewis, Joey Porter
Best TD celebration: In a 2005 game, Ochocinco (then Chad Johnson) kneeled down in front of a Bengals cheerleader and delivered a mock marriage proposal.
Random Tweet: marriage is out the question, you can thank Elin “Greedy” Woods for the change of heart
Terrell Owens
NFL team: Free agent*
Age: 36
Pro Bowl appearances: Six
Wingman: Make that wingwomen. Friends/publicists Kita Williams and Monique Jackson
Previous TV experience: Paired with model Joanna Krupa and withdrew from competition four weeks into ABC’s The Superstars; uncharacteristically played a background role in Season 4 of Hard Knocks
Past feuds: Donovan McNabb, Rodney Harrison, Tony Romo, Bill Parcells, Andy Reid, Steve Mariucci, Jeff Garcia and just about everyone else he has played for, with or against
Best TD celebration: During a game in ’02, T.O. pulled a Sharpie out of his sock, signed the ball and handed it into the crowd.
Random Tweet: @ underground!! Waiting on jay cutler 2 come n here 2 explain how I wouldn’t fit n their system!! Where u @ Jay?!
Kim Kardashian with Jonathan Cheban & Simon Huck of "The Spin Crowd"
By Emily Mitchell
The new executive-producer of E!’s new show The Spin Crowd may be more accomplished than you think.
You know the celebrities I’m talking about … the ones where you are constantly asking yourself, “Why are they famous?” I find Kim Kardashian to be in this category, as well as Paris Hilton. Both essentially got famous off infamous sex tapes, but both have used the publicity to further their fame. Touche.
I was impressed to learn that she was going behind the camera for E!’s new series on public relations, The Spin Crowd, simply because a) she and her family are the biggest fame whores in Hollywood, and b) because I didn’t realize she had the ability.
But it got me thinking about all the stuff the Kim Kardashian has ever done careerwise. Does she deserve more credit than I am giving her? Let my research begin.
By Stacey Harrison
Back in 2005, when Jeff VanVonderen agreed to take part in a documentary series that would chronicle interventions for addicts, he did so hoping to raise awareness about a method of treatment many people did not know was an option. It’s succeeded far beyond what he or anyone else could have imagined, as Intervention has lasted over 100 episodes and returns for its ninth season on A&E June 28.
I caught up with VanVonderen recently to talk about his history with the show, how it’s helped people, and why so many of the addicts featured are still surprised by the actual intervention:
What was your reaction when you were first approached with the show?
Jeff VanVonderen: Well, they approached me when it was an idea. There wasn’t actually a show, it was just this idea about a show. As far as thinking there should be, or it would be great for there to be a show like this, I’m all on board with that. But I couldn’t figure out how they were going to pull it off, because I do interventions anyway. That’s what I did before, and I just couldn’t imagine somebody wanting a camera following them around. The people I work with, I just thought, “This won’t work.” … The creator, the guy who’s idea this was, he said they’d work that out. The reason I said yes is because probably half the time or more when I would do an intervention, somebody would say, “I didn’t even know there was such a thing” or they’d say, “You know, if I had known about this five years ago, maybe my dad would still be alive.” And I thought, well, what a great opportunity to let people know that there is such a thing and that it’s effective and they don’t have to give up yet, there’s more they can try. That’s why I said yes, I never really aspired to be on TV or anything, and frankly I didn’t know if they were going to pull it off. [Read more →]
FOX has announced cities that will host auditions this summer for the 10th season of American Idol. For the first time, 15-year-olds
will be allowed to audition (the previous minimum age was 16). “A lot of young, talented people are now seeking careers and representation before they turn 16,” says Cecile Frot-Coutaz, executive producer of the show. “Lowering the age limit allows us to tap into this talent pool.”
Auditions are open to men and women 15-28 years old who are eligible to work in the United States.
Things kick off July 17 in Nashville at the Bridgestone Arena (501 Broadway). Wristbands will be distributed from approximately 7am on July 15 until approximately 8am on July 17. Auditioners will not be permitted to camp out. Once obtaining a wristband, auditioners will be asked to return to the Bridgestone Arena by 5am on July 17.
By Ryan Berenz
GOLF CHANNEL returns its Big Break reality competition series for a 10-episode, 13th edition and an all-female cast with brains, beauty and some serious golf skills. Taking place at Sandals Emerald Bay in Great Exuma, Bahamas, Big Break Sandals Resorts (premiering June 21 at 9pm ET and airing Mondays) features 11 women, nine of whom are playing on the Duramed FUTURES Tour. The ladies compete against each other in golf skills challenges in the hope of winning an exemption to play in an LPGA Tour event and a Ladies European Tour event, among other prizes. Each week, one contestant will be eliminated, with the final player earning her dream shot to play with the best in the world.
