day 135

the hills are alive

the the fifth and final (as we know it, at least) season of mtv's the hills premiering on monday, a lot of promotions and press have been going on lately.  first of all, the cast's final photos together were released today.  the big pic is above, but you can check out the rest here.  even though lc said the pic was taken all together on an mtv retrospective/interview that aired monday, it looks like photoshop had it's way - as can be seen here.  the ladies look like they took their pic separately as brody is noticeably absent.  lauren, always one to put her foot in her mouth, relayed to entertainment weekly that she was hoping last season's finale was her final bow, but the producers wanted her back to tie everything up...even though she "says" she doesn't have much going on in her life.  by the look of the pic above, lo bosworth, stephanie pratt, and justin bobby have all been added to the cast full time.  this is the first time the cast photo has included more than just lauren, audrina, heidi, and (formerly) whitney.  but, hollywood has definitely taken its toll on the ladies.  lookie here to see the ladies' first season promo.  everyone (well, with the exception of audrina) was smiley and happy and plastic surgery free! what happened? my only guess can be that spencer pratt got involved.  and speaking of spencer, he and his musical prodigy/girlfriend-fiance-wife hybrid heidi stopped by ryan seacrest's radio show this morning to premiere not one, but two singles.  head over the ryan seacrest's webpage to listen to them.  at least "your love found me" isn't horrible.  heidi's entire music catalog can be found there, too.  it's a good way to lost 15 minutes of your life.  and don't worry hills fans, lauren says she won't be done with tv any time soon. she's currently in the process of turning her yet to be released semi-autobiographical novel/series la candy into a scripted series.  apparently our budding fashion designer/writer/actress/reality vixen also wants to add producer to her many credits.  the show doesn't have a home (or any sort of development for that matter) yet, but mtv or the cw is sure to pick up on it in the near future.  the book hits shelves june 16th, but is available for pre-order over on amazon now.  

project runway finally gets home

the legal battle over mega reality series project runway is finally over! the show will head to lifetime (formerly television for women, now television for everyone) for its 6th cycle (and 1st in los angeles) after the weinstein company reached a deal with the show's former home, bravo/nbc-universal.  the weinstein bros sold the show over to lifetime after the shows contract with bravo expired last summer even though the contract had a clause in it that was supposed to allow nbc-universal to counter any other offer before the show runners made a decision on the show's future.  after almost a year in legal limbo and with the 6th season having finished filming earlier this year, the show was in desperate need of a home.  and now, all of us fans get a chance to see it! lifetime has yet to announce a premiere date for the series, but i can only imagine it will be very, very soon - probably this summer to capitalize on viewership.  this is a tough loss for nbc; they are constantly placing 3rd in their various markets and pr was one of their few success stories and they've now lost it to major competitor disney/abc, which owns lifetime.  no word yet on if the show's reruns will continue to air on bravo or if all rights will head to lifetime.  it will be interesting to see, as well, if viewers will follow the show over the female friendly net.  bravo is known for hip/cutting edge reality programming and lifetime, simply, is not.  i'm also looking forward to seeing how bravo's fashion successor, the fashion show, will do in the net's post runway era.  the show is currently in production with singer kelly rowland as host.  in a related story, kelly recently parted ways with columbia records.  

destiny returns?

all signs are pointing to a destiny's child reunion sometime in 2011.  while kelly rowland may have parted ways with columbia records as a solo artist, her john hancock is still on file as part of the world's most famous girl group.  kelly is reportedly set to reunite with beyonce and michelle williams next year to work on new material for a "reunion" album of sorts.  the girls are still contractually obligated to produce a final disc and the record label isn't looking for a get-out-quick scheme with a "greatest hits" album.  beyonce is currently on her "i am..." tour and won't be done into 2010 and michelle is still promoting her most recent release, unexpected, which features her surprise club hit "we break the dawn." the girls will head to the studio next year to crank out some new sure to be hits, even if they don't want to.  are you ready to here some new beats from b and her backup singers?