day 4.56

new girl: you decide?

chances are you've checked out one of this season's breakout hits, "new girl," staring the "adorkable" (their word, definitely not mine) zooey deschanel. and chances are, if you've seen the show, you've gotten its theme song stuck in your head. well now you can get it stuck in your head all over again while interacting with the cast. sort of. fox released an "interactive" music video for the theme song. so, go interact.

day 2.333

funny ladies

last night, nbc aired the "women of snl" special. the show highlighted the great skits featuring female players over the show's nearly 40 year history. but it wasn't the retrospective that made the special great, but the 10-minute opening. the women of snl - from cheri o'teri to maya rudolph and kristen wiig - parodied bravo's real housewives franchise reunions, each taking on a different housewife. check out the skit (hosted by real real housewives host andy cohen) above. as far as i can tell, cheri is teresa from new jersey, rachel dratch is caroline, tina fey is kim zolciak from atlanta, ana gasteyer is ramon from new york, molly shannon is bethenny and kristen wiig and maya rudolph share some sort of split role of danielle.

sharpay sneak peak

it's finally here. over the summer, ashley tisdale filmed sharpay's fabulous adventure, a spin-off of the high school musical franchise. check out the video above, which gives you a sneak peak into the movie. it looks like the flick will pick up where hsm3 left off, with sharpay going straight from high school graduation to the great white way. obviously this won't be an oscar winner, but it does look like adventure carries the same spirit of its predecessors. the film should premiere on disney channel sometime early next year, with a dvd release to follow. this may be your last chance to get a new high school musical fix, as it looks like moving forward with the franchise's fourth installment have stalled.

day 2.209

glee goes foreign (exchange student)

it looks like glee is adding one more cast member next season. in addition to the previously announced new characters that are being cast through a national call, the creators of glee decided to add a foreign exchange student into the mix. but, instead of grabbing the girl from the national pool, some stunt casting has taken place. entertainment weekly is reporting that charice, the phillipines-born pop star and oprah discovery (she's huge across the world, somewhat unheard of in the u.s.), will be playing a foreign exchange student who gives rachel a run for her money in the singing department. that means ms. berry will have two singing rivals next season, as the already announced carrie underwood-like christian character has also been described as rachel's rival. it will be interesting to see if charice can act or if she'll just be a mess on screen. hopefully she makes the show (and new directions) better, not worse. check out charice's singing chops above on her song "pyramid."

sharpay returns

here's your first look of ashley tisdale as sharpay evans in the yet-again retitled high school musical spin off high stakes. looks like a lot of pink.

day 2.233

sharpay evans is back!

it's been almost two years since high school musical 3 hit the big screen. those two years have come and gone without the much hyped fourth installment of the series ever coming to out tvs. now we can all rest easy. a fourth hsm movie is set to go into production this summer and - yay - it will not be the now scrapped west side story retelling. instead, the fourth flick in the franchise will be a spin-off vehicle for sharpay, the character ashley tisdale made famous. the tiz has signed on to star and produce broadway bound. bb will follow ashley's character as she leaves east high behind (i'm guessing she'll be graduating college and, therefore, her assistant director position at her high school?) for the big white way. so far no other names are attached to the project, but i'm sure disney will be able to throw one or two of their current disney channel darlings into the mix. broadway bound will premiere sometime in 2011. 2010 is shaping up to be a busy year for the tiz, with production on her (possible) new cw show, hellcats, going on right now. she recently dyed her hair brown for that role, so it will be interesting to see what color hair sharpay will be rocking come next year.

day 261

vying for the vma's

yesterday, mtv released the final list of nominees for their annual video music awards show. the list is pretty predictable, but there's a few surprises. every year, i try to figure out if the show is actually honoring the videos or just the songs. or, maybe just the hype around the artists. so, here's a list of the nominees in the major categories and my picks to win.

best female video

- beyonce, "single ladies" * (big duh! nothing was bigger)

- katy perry, "hot and cold"

- kelly clarkson, "my life would suck without you"

- lady gaga, "poker face"

- pink, "so what"

- taylor swift, "you belong with me"

best male video

- eminem, "we made you"

- jay-z, "doa"

- kanye west, "love lockdown"

- neyo, "miss independent"

- ti featuring rihanna, "live your life"* (anything with rihanna is bound to win, will she pick up the statue if the vid wins because ti's in jail?)

best pop video

- beyonce, "single ladies" (sorry, b, you can't win them all)

- britney spears, "womanizer"* (nothing like a comeback to win)

- cobra starship, "good girls go bad"

- lady gaga, "poker face"

- wisin y yandel, "abusadora" (who the hell are these people!?)

video of the year

- beyonce, "single ladies"* (duh, duh, duh, duh, duh)

- britney spears, "womanizer"

- eminem, "we made you" (did this song even do enough be be nom'd?)

- kanye west, "love lockdown"

- lady gaga, "poker face"

best video (that should have won a moonman)

this is basically the honorable mentions of video music awards past.

- beastie boys, "sabatoge"

- bjork, "human behavior"

- david lee roth, "california girls"

- dr dre, "nothin but a g thang"

- foo fighters, "everlong"

- george michael, "freedom"

- ok go, "here it goes again"*

- radio head, "karma police"

- tom petty and the heartbreakers, "into the great wide open"

- u2, "where the streets have no name"

best choreography

- ar rahman and the pussycat dolls, "jai ho"

- beyonce, "single ladies"* (i have no other description that "duh!")

- britney spears, "circus"

- ciara ft. justin timberlake, "love sex magic"

- kristinia debarge, "goodbye"

best direction

- beyonce, "single ladies"

- britney spears, "circus"

- cobra starship, "good girls go bad"

- green day, "21 guns"

- lady gaga, "paparazzi"* (it's basically a mini-movie and will most likely pick up the cinematography trophy, too)

best special effects

- beyonce, "single ladies"

- eminem, "we made you"

- gnarls barkley "who's gonna save my soul?"

- kanye west, "paranoid"* (add rihanna and you'll win. plus the special effects amaze me)

- lady gaga, "paparazzi"

best hip-hop video

- asher roth, "i love collge"* (too big to not win)

- eminem, "we made you"

- flo rida, "right round"

- jay z, "doa"

- kanye west, "love lockdown"

best new artist

- 3oh3!, "don't trust me"

- asher roth, "i love college"

- drake, "best i ever had" (he will always be jimmy from degrassi to me)

- kid cudi, "day n nite"

- lady gaga, "poker face"* (she's had the biggest boom)

so, basically, it's going to be beyonce's year.

no more rainbows and butterflies and idol

paula abdul has officially decided not to return to the show that has strung her along, american idol. the female judge could not come to a financial agreement with fox; with news that ryan seacrest would be making $45 million for the next three years, and simon cowell even more than that, paula felt like she was being cheated, only getting $8 million for her contract. understandable, but not exactly chump change. sadly, for paula, she was expendable. news broke last week that kara dio guardi finalized her new contract for the show. no word on how long she'll be with idol, but i'm thinking pretty long. kara is officially the third judge. personally, i would have much rather seen randy jackson go - at least paula's commentary was entertaining. randy's is so predictable and means nothing (ie "it was pitchy, dawg"). however, paula's departure might mean the beginning of the end for fox's staple show. when a major player leaves a show, that player's fans leave, too. add together the backlash producers are still getting (and will continue to get) from bringing kara on board with paula's departure and the show is destined to self destruct.

day 106

high school will be back in session

disney is willing to milk the money machine that is high school musical for all its worth.  the house of mouse plans to bring the franchise back to the small screen in 2010 with a fourth addition to the series.  none of the original main cast is expected to be back, but the two new characters introduced in the big screen edition - tiara (the new sharpay) and jimmie (the new troy) - are expected to headline the new movie.  the plot will revolve around a love triangle between the east high wildcats and the west high knights.  so, basically, the film will be a west side story rip off, much like the original was an homage to grease.  expectations for the fourth flick are low, with only production crew returning.  director/choreographer kenny ortega isn't even slated to return as he is currently working on the footloose remake, starring zac efron in the role that launched kevin bacon's career.  i'm guessing this fourth installment will be the last of the series - people will tune in for looks, but ratings aren't bound to be high.  plus, its premiere will be so far removed from the original trilogy that interest may be gone by the time of its premiere.  maybe that's what disney wants - enough time to find a new audience?

jimmy fallon premieres big

jimmy fallon relaunched his late night career last night, taking over the seat once occupied by conan o'brien as host of late night.  fallon seemed extremely nervous, which is understandable.  there hasn't been a new host in the post-news time slot since jimmy kimmel debuted in 2003.  plus, kimmel wasn't taking over an established show; he was building a new one.  fallon brought in big numbers, too.  the newcomer bested the show's monday night ratings for the past 3 years and beat out the competition in the form of jimmy kimmel and craig ferguson.  the only person fallon didn't beat was conan on his friday farewell.  fallon's first two guests were robert deniro and justin timberlake.  you can check out jt's interview above, in which he does a couple impersonations and pretty much steals the show from fallon.  the best part is his impersonation of john mayer.  it's dead on.  tonight, fallon has his old weekend update cohort tina fey on, which should provide plenty of laughs for his viewers.  

that's it for tonight.  hopefully tomorrow we'll have some clips of britney's first concert in her home state of louisiana to show. 

day 31

high school musical, the tv show

fox, the network formerly known for its rip offs, has ordered 13 episodes of the new hour-long musical comedy glee.  starring matthew morrison, how originated the role of link larkin in broadway's hairspray, is set to play a high school spanish teacher in suburba

n ohio who overtakes the school's glee club, which has become a haven for the outcasts of the school.  the show comes from nip/tuck creator ryan murphy, so it's sure to be a bit wacky and crazy.  the show will feature at least 3 full musical numbers per episode and seems to have stolen from the high school musical character department - in the script, there is a "diva in training" (sharpay), a jock who likes to sing (troy), and a nerdy soprano (gabriella).  it will be very interesting to see how this show does on tv - will kids turn in to watch? adults? both? we'll get to see when the show hits the tube at midseason, most likely behind american idol.  

office devil romance confirmed. wedding imminent. 

 emily blunt and john krasinski stepped out in la last night, confirming their relationship.  the couple have been together for about a month, after blunt's breakup with michael buble and kasinski's with office costar rashida jones.  with this real life romance comes some relationship news in the fake world, too.  john's character jim and his on screen love pam look like they'll be heading down the aisle soon.  casting is underway for a character named "pam's relative," speculated to be her father for the description on the casting page. it would make sense for the jam wedding to take place sometime before the season's end, most likely as the finale.  

rihanna to the rescue

barbados beauty rihanna, who has recently been spotted galavanting all over the hawaiian islands with boytoy chris brown, has been called in to save the sinking ship that is kanye west.  west's latest effort, 808s and heartbreaks, has not exactly been flying off the shelves.  the album is quite experimental for the rapper as it is a complete cd of him singing.  in order to reinvigorate sales and interest in the artist, kanye's label has called in the radio princess to add some vocals to the next single, "paranoid.  click here to listen to the original version.  the single is set to drop sometime in january and is sure to get radio play with rihanna on board.