Dancing with the Stars: Season Six Line-Up

If you're looking for the DWTS season 7 line-up go here.

ABC chose the season finale of Dance Wars: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, Monday night, as the time to reveal the celebrity line-up for the sixth season of Dancing with the Stars.

The new DWTS season kicks off on March 17.

Here's whose fancy footwork you'll be seeing.Marlee Matlin, 42, an Academy Award winning, almost completely deaf, actress who also appeared in an episode of Seinfeld. Matlin will dance with Fabian Sanchez, age unknown. I recognize Sanchez appears better suited for a cubicle than the dance floor in his picture, but it's the best I could find. Penn Jillette, 52, the gross and gigantic half of the magical duo Penn and Teller. The guy is 6 feet 6 inches tall! Jillette will dance with Kym Johnson, 30ish.
Marissa Jaret Winokur, 35, won a Tony for her role in the Broadway version of Hairspray. Winokur will be dancing with Tony Dovolani, 34.Cristián de la Fuente, 33, Chilean television actor. Fuente will be dancing with DWTS's two-time winner Cheryl Burke, 23. Adam Corolla, 43, radio personality best known for Loveline and The Man Show. I've read that Corolla's partner is DWTS's two-time champion Julianne Hough, 19. It's confirmed, Corolla will be dancing with Hough.Kristi Yamaguchi, 36, Olympic gold medalist figure skater. Yamaguchi will dance with Mark Ballas, 21.Mario Dewar Barrett aka Mario, 21, R&B and pop singer. Mario will be dancing with Karina Smirnoff, 29ish. Monica Seles, 34, formerly the world's number one professional tennis player. Seles will be dancing with Jonathan Roberts, 33. Jason Taylor, 33, a guy I had no idea was so hot/ defensive end for the Miami Dolphins. Taylor will dance with Edyta Sliwinska, 26. Steve Guttenberg, 49, quintessential hasbeen actor who appeared in films such as Police Academy, Cocoon and Three Men and a Baby. Guttenberg will dance with Anna Trebunskaya. Shannon Elizabeth, 34, American Pie actress and pseudo poker player. Elizabeth will dance with Derek Hough, 22. Priscilla Presley, 62, actress, Elvis' former wife and mother of Lisa Marie Presley. Presley will dance with Louis Van Amstel, 35.

I guess Brooke Hogan botched her audition? I totally wanted to make fun of her :(

In other bad news, professional dancer/"hottie from Hottingham," Maksim Chmerkovskiy won't be competing this season. But he'll reportedly be back for season seven.

Update: The first results show, on Tuesday, March 25, will feature a double elimination, a first in the history of the show.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Check out British pop tart Jordan aka Katie Price busting out of her top at a signing for her newest autobiography Jordan Pushed to the Limit. The new book release brings her total number of published autobiographies up to three!
Her latest bout of plastic surgery, a nose job, breast reduction and veneers, has rendered her almost unrecognizable--and not in a good way. But at least her boobs look better--reportedly she's not happy with them though. She went from a 32G to a 32F last month. Price told OK! U.K. that she still thinks they're too big. She wants yet another reduction, which would make for boob job number five!

Here is the uncensored picture.

Update: She's selling her old implants online. Ewww! Scroll to the 12th paragraph.

Lily Allen Show...Not That Bad

Lily Allen is getting a lot of flak online for her new show Lily Allen and Friends. There have been reports that a third of her studio audience walked out during the show's first taping, which Allen denies. Then people cracked that a measly 255,000 viewers tuned in for the pilot episode. And all around she's just getting a lot of shit.

For what it's worth, I don't think the show is particularly wretched. In fact, Allen comes across as quite likeable. Of course I could have done without "internet superstar", and "singer," Tay Zonday's guest appearance. Dude bugs. But, it is only her first show.

Give her a break temporarily. She's been through a lot during these last couple of months.

Check out a five minute snippet of the premiere below.

Post-Strike TV Schedule (Updated)

According to E! News:

• Lost will continue to air as usual until episode seven, March 13. Then the show will be off the air for six weeks and return 9 p.m. Thursday, April 24. The following Thursday, May 1, the show will be pushed back to the 10 o'clock slot because Grey's Anatomy will return.
  
• In case you got lost, no pun intended, in the previous description, new episodes of Grey's Anatomy will begin airing 9 p.m.Thursday, May 1.
  
• As I said in a previous posting, Heroes and Chuck will be back next season.
• However there is no word yet on Life, which I've never heard of.
• Monday, March 17 will signify the return of Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother, all are expected to air nine new episodes before the end of the season.
• New CSI: Miami will hit the airwaves again on Monday, March 24. Eight new episodes are expected.
• Sunday, March 30: Cold Case (5 episodes).
  
• Wednesday, April 2: Criminal Minds (7 episodes), CSI: NY (7 episodes).
  
• Thursday, April 3: CSI (6 episodes), Without a Trace (6 episodes).
  
• Friday, April 4: Ghost Whisperer (6 episodes), Numb3rs (6 episodes).
• Tuesday, April 8: NCIS (7 episodes).
• I wasn't sure Moonlight would be back, especially since I'd never heard of it, but four fresh episodes are expected, beginning Friday, April 11.
• Monday, April 14: Rules of Engagement (6 episodes).
• TBD: Shark (4 episodes).
• Altogether Unknown: Cane, Swingtown, The Unit.

According to TV Guide:

• 24 season 7 postponed until January '09.
  
• 30 Rock expected to shoot 5 new episodes to begin airing on April 10.

Sorry guys, updating this is just way too tedious. For more info. see my previous entry on the subject, or check out TV Guide, its updated hourly and seems to have a pretty complete list of shows.

Butt Implants Gone Bad!

Yowza! I found these photos of some random chick with a case of seriously heinous, I dare say freakish, butt implants on Awfulplasticsurgery.com.

Wow!

Update: Picture without the, equally ugly, banner.

Nas is Bringing the N-Word Back

[Seen above] are rapper Nas and his wife, singer, Kelis wearing N-word emblazoned attire at the Grammys on Sunday to promote Nas's upcoming album of the same name.

Reportedly Nas is using the word more as a form of artistic expression, than as a marketing tool to incite controversy.

Nas insists the epithet is symbolic of the oppression and discrimination experienced by people of all ethnicities.

He told a CNN reporter:
"We've all at some point felt discriminated on, whether it's in Dominican Republic, whether it's in China, whether it's in Iraq with soldiers getting their heads blown off for reasons we don't know why. The meaning of the word is supposed to be ignorant.So no longer are Black people still niggers, it's also me and you (a white correspondent). I want people to think about what I'm thinking about today."

When asked, even Jay-Z backed Nas. He called Nas's use of the word "art," saying people afford power to words. He added that if we expunge the term from the English language other racist diatribes will replace it; the sentiment and feelings will still exist.

I'm reserving my final judgment for when, and if, I hear the album. But as of now, I don't like the idea. I think the word is highly offensive--I rank it right up there with cu*t. And I think the message will be lost on too many people for it to be effective. But that's the cynic in me.

For more insight check out Blackvoices.com and jovanmiles.net.

Natalie Portman & Scarlett Johansson do "W"

The cover of this month's issue of W magazine seems to be generating a lot of interest, namely because Natalie Portman and Scartlett Johansson are plastered across it, striking a sexy S&M-style pose--but let's give the chihuahua some credit.

Portman and Johansson, are gearing up for the release of their new movie The Other Boleyn Girl, which hits theaters next month. The two play sisters in the film and W is touting them as "Hollywood's hot new duo."

Here is an excerpt from their joint interview with the mag.:On monogamy:

Natalie:
“I’m into monogamy. But I’m not really into marriage right now. I sort of hate the legal aspect of it. What does the state have to do with it? Why are they making rules that say my lover can stay in the United States if they’re foreign or share my health care benefits because I’m straight -- but if you’re gay, you can’t have that?”

Scarlett:
“I’ve been battered for saying that I don’t believe humans are monogamous by nature. The response was, like, ‘What a ho-bag!’ I didn’t mean that I don’t practice monogamy in my own life — of course I do! I’m not going to be in some tarty relationship… I remember another time. I said I get tested for AIDS twice a year, and again that got spun as me being promiscuous. But I was single at the time, and I think it’s important to do that!”

On trying to stay out of the limelight:
Natalie:
“I don’t want people to have a juicy read about me. I’ve been trying to watch more TV [in an effort to better] converse with people. People talk about TV way more than you think.”

Scarlett:
“You’re never going to find me at the Ivy. I don’t care how good the Cobb salad is. These tabloid magazines — I think they’re hideous and the downfall of society,” she said, referring to a recent Us Weekly story accusing her of having had a nose job. “It was as ridiculous as if they’d showed side-by-side pictures of me at 11 and 20 and saying, ‘Look, she grew breasts!’”

On who they’re voting for:
Scarlett:
“I will continue stumping for [Barack] Obama until he’s elected. The past eight years have been painful for a lot of people. We’re in a state of emergency.”

Natalie:
"I met with about 10 representatives… and Hillary [Clinton] was by far the sharpest. Did you read Gloria Steinem’s op-ed piece?” Natalie asks, citing Steinem’s January 8 column about the presidential hopeful in the New York Times. “Hillary’s just so experienced.”

The issue will be available in a grocery aisle near you on Feb. 26.

BTW: did anyone else get a prerecorded telephone message from Scarlett Johansson asking you to vote for Barack Obama? I sure did. It was weird and kinda cool. Not saying it got my vote though.

Portions of this blog entry courtesy of PageSix.com.

Shaking Up the Polaroid Picture Business

Shaking it like a Polaroid picture will soon have new meaning.

Polaroid Corp., which is best known for bringing instant film photography to the masses, has announced plans to halt all manufacturing of instant film by the end of the year. The company will focus its efforts on digital endeavors, including digital cameras and a digital mobile photo printer for cell phones.

Apparently, the company quietly, very quietly, stopped production on their instant cameras over a year ago.

Polaroid is reportedly interested in licensing its instant photography technology to a third party, so loyal customers can obtain the product. But negotiations are tenuous, and could fall through. If that happens instant film consumers will have to switch over to a different photo format, as Polaroid only plans to make enough instant film to last until 2009 or 2011, depending on who is doing the reporting.

Portions of this blog courtesy of The Boston Globe.

Post-Strike TV Schedule

Members of the Writers Guild of America may be heading back to work as early as Wednesday, effectively ending their 3-month-long, industry-wide strike.

But that doesn't mean your favorite shows, which have been forced into rerun mode, will be airing fresh new episodes any time soon.

According to Sonia Zjawinski over at The Underwire:

• 24 has been officially postponed for a year.
• Heroes is rumored to have no plans to return this season because its special effects cause production to take too long.
• Lost, although finally back, may air only 13 of the 16 episodes it has in the can.
  
• When The Office returns, which is rumored to be in five weeks, the show may extend its season past May.

According to Reuters, "industry executives say it will likely take eight weeks to restore favorite shows like House, CSI, Grey's Anatomy, and Desperate Housewives to prime time once the strike ends."-- I've read that it will take the same amount of time for new episodes of Ugly Betty to air as well.

Also according to Reuters, "viewers are unlikely to see original episodes of returning hourlong dramas before early April. The same is true for single-camera comedies such as Scrubs which like dramas, are shot more like a film and without live audiences. Multi-camera sitcoms like Two and a Half Men" How I Met Your Mother "and Back to You take less time to make -- three to four weeks from start to finish -- and could be on the air before mid-March."

All of this doesn't afford much time for shows to crank out a bunch of new episodes. Most will only be able to air four to six new episodes before the season wraps in May.

According to Entertainment Weekly:

• Samantha Who? may, however, have the time to air nine new episodes since its pre-strike episodes remain unaired.
• And first-year drama Gossip Girl aims to be back on the CW in late April, and could complete its 22-episode first season by running original hours through the summer.

According to The Huffington Post:

• ABC's Dirty Sexy Money and NBC's Chuck, also aren't expected until fall.
• A minimum of four weeks will also be needed for producers to get the first post-strike episode of comedies such as NBC's My Name Is Earl back on the air.

According to E! Online:

• 30 Rock is expected to produce five to nine new episodes, slated to air in April and May.
• Dexter will absolutely have a season three, but exactly when remains to be determined.
• Big Love will go back into production in March and is likely to return on HBO sometime this summer.

Lastly, Yahoo! News says that "ONLY HITS WILL RETURN. Not all of the roughly 65 scripted series bumped off prime time by the writers' strike will come back this year. Lower-rated shows whose futures already were in doubt will either be placed on hold for possible relaunch in the future or be canceled altogether, in part because networks lack the time to build up marketing campaigns for them." I've read shows such as NBC's Bionic Woman and CBS' Moonlight fall into this category and may not be returning at all.