On Wednesday (May 4) night’s American Idol, James Durbin performed like a seasoned musician once again. Not only did he impress the hell out of the judges during his performance of Closer to the Edge by 30 Seconds to Mars, he also had this week’s guest mentor, Sheryl Crow, swooning over him: “I got to sing with James, I can officially retire now!” WOAH, now, THAT’S a compliment.
Here is what the judges said:
Steven Tyler: “James man, I think you kicked that song’s ass. You know, the way you work that audience, you are ready for Freddie I think.”
Jennifer Lopez: “We talked about who’s gonna come out here and grab it, you’ve been showing us that you want it. And I know America is feeling it. We are feeling it right here. Grab it. Take it. It’s yours to take James.”
Randy Jackson: “Now you’re showing us what kind of artist you are. James is in it to win it America. This guy wants it. He wants it Ryan! He wants it!”
SPOTTED: Celebrity Sighting Of The Day: Josh Groban at The Grove for an interview with Extra.
Funny story: During his Extra interview, he kept having to dodge shouts of marriage proposals from the fans gathered around him. He is one popular and highly-desired man!
Josh was so sweet – Not only did he ask me how I was doing, he also said hello to my friend Sum who is the biggest fan of his I know! THANKS JOSH FOR BEING A CHAMP!
Shania Twain chatted it up in the upcoming issue of REDBOOK about her new autobiography, finding her voice again, and then finding love after losing her husband to her best friend.
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On betrayal by her best friend and husband: “Being betrayed is one of the most valuable lessons life can teach. Now that you are wise to the game, you have the tools to choose your friends more carefully and protect your inner circle from these predators. Wear your scars like a badge. Someone hurt you, you lived through it, and now you can talk about it without rage and revenge in your heart.” On regaining her voice: “When my marriage broke down, I got so physically constricted that I couldn’t get any volume out at all…I realized I couldn’t live without singing and had to do something about it. This is why I was like, ‘Just get it all out right now. Clean the pipes.’”
On her new husband – the ex-husband of the woman who stole Shania’s husband: “I got to observe Fred going through the same thing I was, and I admired how he handled it. That is where I fell in love with him, because he was so exemplary in every way…He’s attentive, brighter than God should ever allow any one man to be, funny, romantic, and cute as heck. Most of all, he shows what he feels, and that’s a quality that could come in any shape or size and be admired—it just so happens that Fred has a very gorgeous shape. He’s too good to be true, only he’s real! Good for me, is all I can say, and I’m loving every minute of it.”
Thor premieres this Friday, May 6, 2011 and its star, 27-year old, Australian-born Chris Hemsworth has been receiving rave reviews for his performance as the legendary Marvel Comics superhero.
Chris stole the role away from brother Liam Hemsworth. Well, not really steal, but the two were going for the same part. Liam had done a screen test for the director, Kenneth Branagh, but Branagh decided to test other actors later on. That’s when Chris tried out and got tips from Liam on what to do during his screen test. And the tips obviously worked. And don’t feel too bad for Liam. He just landed a role on The Hunger Games.
How did the relative-newcomer feel about his time on a major U.S. movie set? Chris told The Hollywood Reporter: “I thought there was going to be a lot of pressure and anxiety on the set of a big studio movie, but instead there was joy.”
Here is Hemsworth at the Red Carpet Premiere of Thor held May 2, 2011 at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, CA:
Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon‘s twins arrived Saturday — a boy and a girl — and Mariah has been teasing her fans ever since about the names chosen for her babies.
But, she has finally revealed the names on her blog: The baby girl is named Monroe Cannon after Marilyn Monroe, Carey’s lifelong inspiration. The baby boy is now Moroccan Scott Cannon.
The top floor of Carey’s New York City apartment is called the ‘Moroccan Room’ based on its North African feel, and that served as the inspiration behind her son’s name.
Who was Voted Off and Eliminated? Who went home? See below for live blogging and spoiler results!
Nicki Minaj and James Blunt are the guest performers. As is Wayne Brady.
Six couples still remained at the start of the night: Ralph Macchio and Hines Ward had tied for first place last night, Romeo and Kirstie Alley for last. Chelsea Kane came in third and Kendra Wilkinson fourth.
LIVE UPDATE [EASTERN TIME]: 9:00 Ralph, Karina, Romeo, Chelsie, Mark and Chelsea danced the group number from last night again. 9:10 Commercial Break 9:10 SAFE: HINES AND KYM IN JEOPARDY: KIRSTIE AND MAKS 9:13 Nicki Minaj Performing 9:17 Commercial Break 9:22 Ballet performance by Patricia Zhou, newest member of the Royal Ballet of London. Accompanied by Priscilla Ann signing Dream 9:25 Commercial Break – Ralph and Karina and Mark and Chelsea waiting for results 9:32 SAFE: RALPH AND KARINA IN JEOPARDY: CHELSEA AND MARK 9:35 Macy’s Stars of Dance with Wayne Brady performing a tribute to James Brown 9:38 Commercial Break 9:42 Video: Stars having a heart-to-heart with their professional partners on how to improve 9:46 James Blunt performing 9:50 Showing Clips of Romeo and Kendra 9:51 SAFE: Romeo and Chelsie IN JEOPARDY: Kendra and Loius 9:52 Commercial Break 9:57 SAFE: Kirstie and Maks 9:50 ELIMINATED: KENDRA AND LOUIS
On Monday’s Dancing with the Stars episode (May 2, 2011) Hines Ward and Kym Johnson danced the Tango. Luca Baricchi was their “Ballroom Great” coach. Hines said having a male perspective really helped him a lot. He also said getting a 10 is his next goal. Ex Pittsburgh Steelers Jerome Bettis came to Hines’ rehearsal and Hines worked extra hard to impress him because he said, “If I can impress Jerome, I can impress anybody.” It worked! Hines got his first 10 of the season, from Bruno, but it certainly was not my favorite dance of his this season. Here is what the judges thought:
Len (8): “It was a mixture for me. Some of it was full of drama, you were like a tiger stalking its prey coming out there sharp and crisp like a pickle! An then it goes into like a fairy mode and it was all a bit too dainty for me… Overall, I liked it very much. You’re a good dancer… but it could have been more determined.”
Bruno (10): “I like the way you play it. Big. Strong. Masterful. Determined. Yet you manage to maintain the slinky, smooth stealthy action of a (?) on the prowl… That was a killer Tango.”
Carrie Ann (9): “What you do that’s so unique and sets you apart is that you take command of every dance. But tonight you were a bit off balance, trying a new hold.”
Donnie (9): “My old dance teacher used to say to me ‘dance from your heart but use your head’ and I think you do that. You have a winning mentality…Your arms looked like American Airlines, looked like you were going to fly.”
On May 2nd episode ofDancing with the Stars, Ralph Macchio and partner Karina Smirnoffdanced the Quickstep to Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full of Leadand wanted the Quickstep to be their come-back dance. Though Ralph seemed to be getting the steps in rehearsal, he called the Quickstep a “torture chamber.” Karina said the QT is brutal and hoped her 49-year old partner’s body does not break down from it.
Their dance was charming, playful, crisp, sharp, fast, and oh so much fun to watch! They were certainly back in top form. AND, I swear Ralph looked younger than ever, and certainly as young as he did in the first Karate Kid all the sudden. Karina was right when she told me recently, “Ralph is my very own Benjamin Button!” [Click here to read that story!]
Here is what the judges thought:
Donnie (10): “Last week, you were my hero for how you pulled through. Your footwork and the way you articulated your feet in this Quickstep was fabulous this week. I thought you two rocked.”
Len (8): “I liked your energy. You had great movement. Your footwork was very, very good. It was clear and it was crisp. You upper body is a little bit loose and you need to get more stable, but overall you did a great job with a very hard dance and I am very pleased.” [LEN! An 8???? YOU SUCK! JK, but seriously, take it easy big guy!]
Bruno (9): “For me it was more than a Quickstep. It was how to grab a quick one at the Speakeasy… And you got it! That was so vivid, so vibrant. You sell it like no one else can. Really really good.”
Carrie Ann (9): “BOOYAH! You’re back. I’m so proud of you, Ralph. You had some really rough weeks. Full exuberance, passion and fun.”
Dancing with the Stars May 2, 2011 (week 7) had the theme of “Ballroom Greats,” meaning all the celebrity dancers received additional help in rehearsal from one more professional dancer: Either former Latin World Champion Shirley Ballas (Mark’s mom) or Luca Baricchi, former Ballroom World Champ.
The couples performed two numbers each, one a group dance and one the usual duo dance. There was a guest judge tonight in addition to our usual suspects: Donnie Burns, a living legend in the Latin dance world.
I won’t recap the group numbers and the judges’ comments, but I have placed their performance videos below. All you probably need to know is that each team got a total score of 30 out 40 (since four judges were voting) and that score was added to their individual dance scores for the night. Since everyone got a 30 for their group efforts after they danced, the group dance was basically a wash in the results.
There were two group teams. The first one was made up of the younger dancers Romeo, and Chelsea Kane plus the older but certainly not any less vibrant Ralph Macchio who pretty much held his own against the younger two. Of course the trio were accompanied by their partners, Chelsie Hightower, Mark Ballas and Karina Smirnoff. They did the Cha-Cha-Cha to Lady GaGa’s Born This Way. Here is their performance:
The second team featured Hines Ward with Kym Johnson, Kirstie Alley with Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett with Louis van Amstel and they also Cha-Cha’d to We R Who We R by Ke$ha. Watch below:
Now, let’s get to the individual dances:
Romeo and Chelsie Hightower stole our hearts last week with their Waltz but struggled in their Samba this week, ending up in a tie for last place. They danced to Say Hey by Michael Franti. In rehearsals, Romeo said he wanted to take the top spot all by himself after having tied for first place with Chelsea Kane last week. Shirley Ballas was their assigned coach. Romeo called her the “best Latin dancer in the world” and said she made him realize the difference between “shaking” and “shaaaaaking!”
The three of them had a blast in rehearsals and about his performance before he danced, Romeo said, “Tonight I am throwing a Samba party in my shoe, in my pants, I don’t care. Everyone is invited.” Unfortunately, after getting the judges’ scores, Romeo will not be in any mood to dance and I doubt that any of us are still invited.
Bruno (8): “You can definitely get down and shake it and there is plenty of fire there down below and you can raise the heat. You’ve got to get this bounce… You go side to side. It has to go up and down.”
Carrie Ann (8): “There was a lot of bounce going on but it wasn’t sending the Samba message. It was sending another kind of message, you know what I mean? Which is not a bad thing for a lot of girls out there. You have incredible potential as you showed last week. I think you are phenomenal but if you really want to go all the way, you really need to focus on your technique, and getting the right particulars of a dance.”
Donnie (7): “I’ve watched you Romeo, am really interested because I really admire you and I have watched you grow throughout the season. You started off, you did not think it was cool. You have achieved elegance and grace. But, baby, you may have a party in our pants, but you have an earthquake in your shoes when you hit the floor. Measured about a 6 on the Richter Scale.”
Len (7): “I didn’t like it. You talked the talk but you didn’t dance the dance. We’re at the nitty gritty stage of this competition. Anyone of the couples can win and any one of you can go home. It all depends on the performance Monday night. You’ve got to up your game.”
TOTAL SCORE: 30 Hines Ward and Kym Johnson danced the Tango. Luca Baricchi was their “Ballroom Great” coach. Hines said having a male perspective really helped him a lot. He also said getting a 10 is his next goal. Ex Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis came to Hines’ rehearsal and Hines worked extra hard to impress him because he said, “If I can impress Jerome, I can impress anybody.” It worked! Hines got his first 10 of the season, from Bruno, but it certainly was not my favorite dance of his this season.
Len (8): “It was a mixture for me. Some of it was full of drama, you were like a tiger stalking its prey coming out there sharp and crisp like a pickle! An then it goes into like a fairy mode and it was all a bit too dainty for me… Overall, I liked it very much. You’re a good dancer… but it could have been more determined.”
Bruno (10): “I like the way you play it. Big. Strong. Masterful. Determined. Yet you manage to maintain the slinky, smooth stealthy action of a (?) on the prowl… That was a killer Tango.”
Carrie Ann (9): “What you do that’s so unique and sets you apart is that you take command of every dance. But tonight you were a bit off balance, trying a new hold.”
Donnie (9): “My old dance teacher used to say to me ‘dance from your heart but use your head’ and I think you do that. You have a winning mentality…Your arms looked like American Airlines, looked like you were going to fly.”
TOTAL SCORE: 36
Ralph Macchio and partner Karina Smirnoff danced the Quickstep to Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full of Leadand wanted it to be their come-back dance. Luca Baricchi was assigned as their “Ballroom Great” teacher and Karina said he was exactly what they needed. Though Ralph seemed to be getting the steps, he called the Quickstep a “torture chamber.” Karina said the QT is brutal and hoped her 49-year old partner’s body does not break down from it.
Their dance was charming, playful, crisp, sharp, fast, and oh so much fun to watch! They were certainly back in top form. AND, I swear Ralph looked younger than ever, and certainly as young as he did in the first Karate Kid all the sudden. Karina was right when she told me recently, “Ralph is my very own Benjamin Button!” [Click here to read that story!]
Donnie (10): “Last week, you were my hero for how you pulled through. Your footwork and the way you articulated your feet in this Quickstep was fabulous this week. I thought you two rocked.”
Len (8): “I liked your energy. You had great movement. Your footwork was very, very good. It was clear and it was crisp. You upper body is a little bit loose and you need to get more stable, but overall you did a great job with a very hard dance and I am very pleased.” [LEN! An 8???? YOU SUCK! JK, but seriously, take it easy big guy!]
Bruno (9): “For me it was more than a Quickstep. It was how to grab a quick one at the Speakeasy… And you got it! That was so vivid, so vibrant. You sell it like no one else can. Really really good.”
Carrie Ann (9): “BOOYAH! You’re back. I’m so proud of you, Ralph. You had some really rough weeks. Full exuberance, passion and fun.”
TOTAL SCORE: 36 Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy danced the Jive to Ritchie Valens’ La Bamba. Shirley Ballas was their “ballroom great” and helped Kirstie hone her skills. Maks looked more like a drill sergeant than a dance instructor, pushing Kirstie to her limits, but Kirstie said, “That’s why I like it.” Well, she liked it until she cried in the rehearsals because she was so frustrated. Of course Maks consoled her with his loving arms.
During the dance, Kirstie’s feet looked glued to the dance floor at times. Afterwards, she admitted she got caught up in the acting and got lost in the dance. “I just forgot to move my feet.” The judges were all over the board in their scores:
Carrie Ann (7): “I just love you so much because you bring nothing but incredible performances and complete entertainment. But it just wasn’t quite enough of the Jive, when you were side by side, you were not in sync…. You are looking amazing, I wish I had better remarks tonight.” Donnie (9): “I really like it. I buy it…They say in piano and music, the real talent is in between the black and the white keys, and in dancing, the talent is in between the steps. Mechanically you may not be the best dancer here, but you have a talent in between the steps and you fill it with your spirit of who you are…Don’t ever forget, you were a star before you even got here.”
Len (6): “It was fun, it was high energy, it was playful. You’re an actress and you act every dance beautifully. However, as a Jive it was most uneventful…I was disappointed. Your kicks were leaden [surprised no other judge but Len saw what I saw] and I could find very little to commend it.”
Bruno (8): “You might have gone wrong but as an entertainer, it was superb. It was so enjoyable to watch. It was hard for you to do the jive, but your musicality and your instinct was right on the money.”
TOTAL SCORE: 30
Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett and Louis van Amstel danced the Tango to Billy Fury’s Jelousy. Kendra said this was the hardest choreography for her to date and Louis even told her at one point during the rehearsals she looked like she was sitting on the toilet she looked so stiff. Luca Barricchi came to the rescue to co-teach the former Playmate and Kendra felt like she had finally nailed the Tango. Kendra did look confident on the dance floor, but I felt that she did not bend her knees at times when she should have.
Bruno (8): “You have never looked more elegant or sexy. You were hanging onto him a little bit too much… You don’t want to smell his armpits. You don’t really want him, let him chase you.”
Carrie Ann (8): “I’m sooo proud of you. That was nothing but sophistication, elegance, confidence. It was the most beautiful expression of sophistication I have seen from you the whole journey.”
Donnie (8): “I watched you last week break off the shackles and come out of your cocoon…The content of the choreography you tried was massively difficult… I thought you did a bloody good job.”
Len (7): “You coped very well with the demanding choreography. I thought the steps were clean and clear…I wanted it more crisp and as much as I hate to admit it, Bruno was right, you tended to cling on. You need to lift up [your chest]. I thought you did an excellent job with a difficult dance.”
TOTAL SCORE: 31
Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas danced the Paso Doble to Deadmau5 Ghosts N Stuff and Mark wanted her to get into the character of the aggressive bullfighter but knew that would be hard for Chelsea because she is always laughing [IT’S SO TRUE, click here to see pictures of Mark and Chelsea which I took last week, she’s laughing in every single one!]. Mark enlisted the help of his mom, Shirley Ballas, to teach Chelsea how to be a bit more passionate and scary. Their dance was dramatic, intense, techno, modern, and as always, well-choreographed. They got a standing O from the audience but the judges were mixed, and half were left “confused!”
Len (8): “I get confused. It was too much aggression in my face, it had no refinement to it.”
Bruno (9): “Chelsea, the ball breaker, you came out here and danced with almost violent intensity. It was like a Quentin Tarantino Paso Doble. What you showed is range. The creativity of it was outstanding.”
Carrie Ann (9): “I usually love tradition. Tonight, I’m gonna say ‘Out with the old, in with the new!’ That was the best impression of the Paso Doble. Totally progressive, pushing the boundaries, pushed them wide open. Great job.”
Donnie (8): “You’re very together… I agree with Len, I was a bit confused. Instead of a matador, I got Hell’s Angels, a biker chic.” Bruno got mad, said that was 200 years ago and told him to go back to the time machine. OK BRUNO, you don’t like Donnie, do you?
TOTAL SCORE: 34
Below are the scores and the couples’ telephone numbers, so vote for your favorite! COUPLE DANCE: Ralph & Karina (36) – Quickstep- 1-800-868-3408 Hines & Kym (36) – Tango – 1-800-868-3403 Chelsea & Mark (34) – Paso Doble – 1-800-868-3401 Kendra & Louis (31) – Tango – 1-800-868-3407 Romeo & Chelsie (30) – Samba – 1-800-868-3405 Kirstie & Maks (30) – Jive – 1-800-868-3411 TEAM DANCE: Chelsea & Mark, Ralph & Karina, Romeo & Chelsie (30) Hines & Kym, Kirstie & Maks, Kendra & Louis (30)
COMBINED SCORE: 66 (36+30): Actor Ralph Macchio and partner Karina Smirnoff 66 (36+30): NFL star Hines Ward with Kym Johnson
64 (34+30): Disney star Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas 61 (31+30): Former playmate Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett and Louis van Amstel 60 (30+30): Actress Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy 60 (30+30): Singer Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
