Sunday, August 30, 2009

Maria Shriver on Meet the Press

Maria Shriver, the first lady of California and niece of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, was one of several guests on a tribute episode of Meet the Press this morning. Watch below:





Saturday, August 29, 2009

President Obama's Eulogy for Sen. Ted Kennedy

President Obama gave an excellent tribute to Sen. Ted Kennedy at his funeral Saturday by delivering the eulogy. Kennedy, the youngest sibling of the famous family, died late Tuesday night after complications from a brain tumor. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetary next to his two assassinated brothers, former President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Watch below and read this article from Politico about the day's events, gathering crowds and guests in attendance. RIP Mr. Kennedy.


Thursday, August 27, 2009

EW cover: Seinfeld reunion!

This is just great! Entertainment Weekly's cover this week features the cast of Seinfeld, and its co-creator, Larry David—known these days for his Curb Your Enthusiasm role. I absolutely love Larry David. And the fact that the upcoming season of CYE will reunite the Seinfeld cast is awesome. I can't wait to read the article, and see the new season.

(photo via EW.com)

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Dying to see The September Issue

I cannot wait to see The September Issue, the documentary about the making of Vogue's (duh) September issue and it's famous editor in chief, Anna Wintour. I just watched the trailer and read Entertainment Weekly's review, and I've decided as both a journalism major and a woman, it is my duty to see this movie. EW gave the movie an 'A' so it's gotta be good!


Sunday, August 23, 2009

Simply gorgeous

January Jones and Jon Hamm couldn't look any better than they do in this month's Vanity Fair shoot for an article about their hit show, Mad Men. I haven't watched an episode (though I've been meaning to get into it), but I can appreciate the beauty of these two people! Make sure you check out the behind the scenes video too!

Friday, August 14, 2009

A toast to Damon Weaver

This made my day when I woke up this morning. Damon Weaver, the 11-year-old student reporter from Florida, whose dream was to interview President Obama got his interview yesterday!



I first caught wind of this kid—his talent for interviewing and his charm—shortly after the election in November 2008, when he made a video message to persuade Obama to let him interview him. In it, he interviewed Dwayne Wade and another Miami Heat basketball player, asking them if they thought Obama should allow the interview and why.



After a quick search of his name, I found that he's interviewed lots of celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Paula Abdul and then-Sen. Joe Biden.

With Biden's interview, the vice president became Weaver's "homeboy". In his interview with the president Thursday, Weaver asked Obama if he would now like to become Weaver's "homeboy" too, which elicited both a smile, a handshake and an "of course" from the president.

This kid has so much spirit and potential. I hope he keeps his journalistic aspirations alive, because his resume is already better than mine!

I also think something should be said about Obama for letting the interview take place. It's really inspiring to know that he believes in this kid as much as the rest of us do. Very cool move, Mr. President. I especially love how the president actually announced something during the interview—an education speech for Sept. 8—so Weaver was able to break news while he was there. The White House even posted the interview online and called it "Damon Weaver breaks news from the White House."

I wonder if Weaver met the Obama daughters?!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Kelly Ripa on Twitter

Twitter has taken over "Live with Regis and Kelly"—during both the show and commercial breaks—ever since Ashton Kutcher's visit to the show Monday. The actor taught the "computer allergic" host how to Tweet and she has been filling her joint account with Regis all week.

As both a fan of Kelly and a user of Twitter, the commentary on "Live" about the social networking site has been great! I hope Kelly keeps it up and doesn't let Regis ruin her fun.

Regis said Twitter "is going to become a monster. It's going to be a distraction to us. We used to have a friendly show here but [Twitter's] like including a third co-host," and asked Kelly if that's what she wanted.

"The audience is our third cohost. The audience must be heard," Kelly replied back.

Videos of Kelly between commercial breaks Tweeting can be seen here and here.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Jeanine plans to major in journalism at UCLA!

I didn't think I could love her more, but I do! On Monday's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon", Jeanine performed with Phillip and said she was starting UCLA classes a semester late because of the SYTYCD tour. The host then asked if she would be majoring in dance, to which she replied that she wasn't and was actually majoring in broadcast journalism—telling Fallon that she was going to take over his job! You can see the clip here: The section with Jeanine is Chapter 4.

And how did I miss her on Live with Regis and Kelly?! Jeanine teaches Ashton how to do a lift, but getting down was another issue ... watch below and watch some behind the scene footage here.


Another interview with Good Day LA.

SYTYCD Finale recap

Friday, August 7, 2009

Jeanine Mason is America's Favorite Dancer!


YAY!!! Jeanine Mason won SYTYCD Season 5!!! I am so happy! It's the first season that the person I was pulling for actually won. I've been happy with past winners, but never has my favorite won. And I'm so glad it was a girl that took the title, as this season's ladies were fantastic!

I'm not going to write much of a recap because most of the two-hour finale was repeated dances, but I really enjoyed reading Adam B. Vary's recap on EW.com. He and I seemed to have the same opinions about the season overall—in relation to both the dancers and the dances.

Be sure to check out EW.com's interview with Jeanine and the finale story from Watch with Kristin!

(photo via FOX)

Thursday, August 6, 2009

EW ranks SYTYCD's best 15 dances

In honor of the Season 5 finale, Entertainment Weekly ranked the top 15 dances of the series. Did your favorites make the list? (video included)

SYTYCD Top 4: GO JEANINE!!!

Her first interview for the show, followed by her last. Her amazing solo from last night is in the second clip as well! She is absolutely beautiful.



Wednesday, August 5, 2009

SYTYCD Top 4


Did you see it?! SYTYCD's Top 4 danced at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood for the first time in the serie's history. Did anyone else think the dancers (and the dances) just looked too small for that huge stage? Let us not forget that it is in this same theater that the Academy Awards take place—where movie stars are made. I'm just not sure I like the bigness of it compared to the dancing. I thought the lighting was off, the cameramen had their work cut out for them and the dancers had to make every move three times as big for the audience in the top balcony to see.

Anyway, enough about the stage. What did you think of the dancers?

By this point, Jeanine could go out there and sit in various split positions for 30 seconds and I would still think she is deserving of the title, "America's Favorite Dancer." Kayla, equally fantastic technically, just doesn't have the spark I think Jeanine brings to the stage. In Jeanine's rehearsal tapings, we can even see her personality shining through. The girl is phenomenal! Did anyone else love that for the first time we saw her family in the audience too? I bet they've gone to tapings before tonight, but they never flash to them like they do for Evan's or Kayla's.

I wasn't really wowed by any of the dances tonight, except for maybe the ladies' Mia Michaels routine and both of their solos. I thought all of Evan's dances were weak, which made each dance with him the worst of everyone else's dances.

Kayla and Brandon's Broadway routine was fun, but the table in it made me think back to Sabra and Neil's table dance in Season 3, choreographed by Mandy Moore and danced to "Sweet Dreams"—the same song used by Kayla for her solo tonight. Trying to get a little karma perhaps? Dancing to a song danced by that season's winner, and the only female champion thus far? Kayla and Brandon just didn't have the same chemistry in tonight's Tyce Diorio piece that Sabra and Neil did.

Earlier this season, a judge told Mary she was sick of seeing Paso Dobles, and I have to agree. I did like the dynamic routine from Brandon and Jeanine, but we've seen this dance enough. I groaned slightly when it was announced as their final dance.

And I have to say that there is just no comparison between the talent of Brandon and the "personality" of Evan. Brandon is such a better dancer! The judges talk about it being America's Favorite Dancer, not the best dancer but come on!! What is Evan doing in the Top 4?! I will NEVER understand it.

I don't want to sound like a total downer, as I love this show so much. But I think after dancing competitively for 10 years and watching SYTYCD for four seasons (I jumped on the bandwagon after Season 1), I've just earned the right to be more critical.

It comes down to America's votes, and it is my hope that they get it right. Three of the best dancers of the season ARE in the Top 4. Evan should not win, and really, it should be Jeanine and Kayla standing up there for the title.

I'll search for videos of my favorites tomorrow. Read more about the finale from Watch with Kristin here and EW.com here. While you're at it, check out this post about "Why SYTYCD Snagged Four Emmy Noms for Choreography" (videos included).

(photo via E!Online)

Monday, August 3, 2009

Fallen King, Fallen Angel


Vanity Fair has unveiled previews of its September cover stories: tributes to Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, who died on the same day last month. I am so excited for the new issue to come out! (so typical). To read previews, click here.

(photo via VF screenshot)