Alex Bogusky broke up with Twitter

Twitter is losing Alex Bogusky. I repeat, Twitter is losing Alex Bogusky. This morning, after posting for three months, the Crispin Porter + Bogusky creative leader said he's packing it in. "Signing off twitter. Just not for me. I really enjoyed the time and it was fun to follow and be followed by such a lively group. Love, Alex." No, sir, we will not let you go. Steve Wax, a partner at digital shop Campfire, has suggested a boycott of all CP+B brands until Alex agrees to share his every thought with the world. On a more serious note, it's too bad. Bogusky was interesting, often funny and frequently interacted with other users. (CP+B confirmed it was actually Bogusky, not a doppelganger.) He even took a shot at Bob Greenberg after the R/GA CEO dismissed Crispin's work as "viral stunts." Is his losing interest a sign that Twitter has jumped the shark?
source

Youth hunters unfairly targeted by PETA in wake of tragic shooting

An 11-year-old boy shoots and kills his father's pregnant girlfriend in Pennsylvania with a youth-model shotgun, prompting the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to send a letter to the state's governor urging him to push for legislation that would ban hunting for people under 18.

"When parents teach their kids to hurt and kill animals -- to take lives -- they run the risk of destroying the child's sensitivity to the suffering of others," explained PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk.

Reaction: Nonsense! And shame on PETA for using an isolated tragic incident to foster its agenda and indict youth hunters around the world. Overall, children who hunt with their parents develop close family bonds and a strong conservation ethic, and they're taught to respect weapons and use them responsibly. They probably are least likely to shoot someone.

I agree with Rick Story, senior vice president of the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, who countered, "There is not a single shred of evidence indicating hunting had anything to do with this attack."

-- Pete Thomas

Photo: A hunter carries two shotguns across a pasture near Pratt, Kan. Credit: Craig Hacker/For The Times

source

Reese Witherspoon will grace the April 2009 cover of Elle

source

Michael Jackson set to announce London shows

"This is it. My final performances in London. The final curtain call."
Michael Jackson's legions of fans awaited the star's announcement Thursday of a series of comeback shows in London after a long absence from the concert circuit.

The BBC published pictures of bright orange posters adorned with Jackson's profile advertising 10 shows in July. Jackson himself was due to appear at London's O2 concert arena at 4 p.m. (1600GMT) to confirm the dates, although organizers said he would not be taking questions.

Tickets are expected to sell quickly despite concerns the 50-year-old star may not be up for a return to the spotlight.

The King of Pop has been plagued by financial, legal, and medical woes for years and has not performed a major concert since 2001. His last studio album was released the same year.

A previous attempt to relaunch Jackson's career collapsed amid reports of ill health and court action. An Arab sheik who hosted Jackson in the Gulf state of Bahrain sued the singer in November, saying Jackson never delivered on a promised album.

Video played during the trial at London's High Court showed Jackson singing in a thin, weak voice. Although due to testify in the case, a lawyer for Jackson said he might be too sick to travel and the suit was eventually settled out of court.

Jackson has sold more than 750 million albums and won 13 Grammys. "Thriller," released in 1982, is still the best-selling album of all time.

But he has appeared in public rarely since being acquitted of child molestation in California in 2005. He has struggled to pay his debts and last year was forced to give up the deed to Neverland, his 2,500-acre (1,000 hectare) ranch and miniature amusement park in California.

On Wednesday, Jackson launched a lawsuit against an auction house to stop the scheduled sale of more than 2,000 personal items from Neverland, including platinum and gold records, a customized Harley Davidson and a Rolls Royce limousine.

His company, MJJ Productions, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Julien's Auction House, describing the attempt to sell the items as "malicious, fraudulent, extreme, outrageous and without any legal justification whatsoever."

Auctioneer Darren Julien said he was surprised by the lawsuit and claimed Jackson "had been apprised of everything since the day we started."

The five-day auction was due to be held in April.

Hundreds of the items were going on display to the news media Thursday at a preview in Newbridge, Ireland. It will open to the public on Friday.

The auctioneer said the preview was unaffected by the lawsuit.

Jackson's gigs at the O2, which can hold up to 20,000 people, follow performances there by stars including Led Zeppelin and Prince, who played a 21-day series of shows in 2007. Britney Spears is due to play there for eight nights in June.
source

Angelina Jolie: First ‘Salt’ Set Pictures!

Here are the very first pictures of Angelina Jolie shooting her upcoming spy flick, Salt!!!

The 33-year-old actress kept warm in a black beanie and camel-colored coat as she shot scenes in Washington D.C. on Thursday morning (March 5). Angie also carried around a backpack… probably full of spy gear!

In the film, Jolie plays rogue CIA operative Evelyn A. Salt. The film costars Liev Schreiber as Winter, her ally and supervisor in the CIA’s Russia office. Salt opens in 2010.
source

Lena Sonoda

LevLane Adds More KFC

LevLane in Philadelphia has added to its KFC cachet, winning media and promotions duties for the Lake Champlain KFC Co-op based in Burlington, Vt., after a review, the agency said today. Local shops had previously handled the work on a project basis.

LevLane already handles five other KFC regional assignments in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Spending for the new account will likely be $500,000-1 million, covering efforts targeting western Vermont and northeastern New York state, the agency said. Print, radio, coupons and merchandising are all in the mix.

LevLane vp, account director Chris Ponzio said in a statement: "This is a gratifying vote of confidence from one of our most important clients, some of whose franchisees we've been working with for over twenty years."

Also on the shop's roster: Sunoco, Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Beneficial bank, among others.
-By Adweek Staff
source

Christina Milian Covers 50th Anniversary Issue of King Magazine

source

Zac Efron at Lakers v. Grizzlies, courtside with his manager

"Spinal Tap" stars getting serious on new tour

It's no joke. The comedic trio behind "Spinal Tap" are hitting the road for a 30-city North American tour next month, and are leaving their heavy-metal guises at home.

Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer -- accomplished musicians who have been playing together since 1978 -- said on Monday they will perform music from their "Spinal Tap" days as well as from subsequent film collaborations like the folk-music spoof "A Mighty Wind."

They performed a few songs and took questions during a news conference held on the 25th anniversary of the release of the influential mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap," in which the Americans played deluded English headbangers.

The cult hit spoofed situations that have rung eerily true for real-life bands, such as getting lost while trying to make their way to the stage, being confounded by malevolent stage props, or dealing with problematic drummers.

The film also popularized phrases such as turning the volume "up to 11." And when artists explain away their waning popularity by saying that "their appeal is becoming more selective," it's an inadvertent quote from the movie.

NO ROYALTIES

"It's a cautionary tale that we don't intend anyone to pay heed to," said McKean, who played vocalist David St. Hubbins. "If you're a young guy or gal and you want to be in a rock 'n' roll band, see this movie but do it anyway."

But musicians might want to pay heed to one small factoid: The trio never made a dime from the Rob Reiner-directed movie, their manager Harriet Sternberg told Reuters.

The film, originally funded by TV producer Norman Lear at a cost of $2.5 million, has changed hands at least half a dozen times, and is now owned by French firm StudioCanal. Sternberg said no attempt has been made to recover any royalty income.

The trio's "Unwigged & Unplugged" theater tour begins on April 17 in Vancouver, B.C., and runs through May 31 in Milwaukee.

"We've never gone out as ourselves," said Shearer, who played Derek Smalls, the hirsute bass player famed for stuffing a cucumber down the front of his pants. "It's interesting. After playing characters on stage all these years, we're having meetings now trying to figure out who we are."

They have toured several times before in their Spinal Tap incarnation, but played it straight off stage. Now, "we're gonna destroy hotel rooms," said Guest, the man behind guitarist Nigel Tufnel.

"Actually, at our age, we're gonna hire people to destroy hotel rooms," added Shearer.

The trio have also recorded studio versions of the Spinal Tap songs that appeared in live form on the film and soundtrack. The as-yet-untitled album, bolstered by seven or eight unheard tracks, will be released on May 26.
source

Paris' ex finds pal Katy beautiful

Paris Hilton’s ex beau Benji Madden has slammed reports of his romance with Katy.

The Good Charlotte guitarist had raised eyebrows after being spotted canoodling with the I Kissed A Girl hit maker at Sin City hotspot “Wasted Space” at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. But the rocker has now blasted the rumour mill, saying there was nothing but friendship brewing between the two.

“No, it’s not true, we’re friends. She’s beautiful,” Fox News quoted him as telling Australia’s 2Day FM radio. “When you’re friends with someone, you don’t want to ever compromise a friendship,” he added.

Katy too has previously blasted reports linking her with the vocalist.
source

Michiyk Tokuda

Choice Hotels Touts Free Services

Choice Hotels targets money-conscious consumers with a new campaign highlighting the value travelers get by choosing its family of brands.

Three spots, via Arnold in McLean, Va., show that the client's Quality, Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites properties offer complimentary services like free breakfast and Internet access. Choice has 5,800 locations worldwide.

In the past, however, ads played up the convenience of its locations with Johnny Cash's “I’ve Been Everywhere” serving as the jingle since 2005.

The change in advertising strategy comes as Choice reports a 33 percent drop in fourth quarter profit.

“For us, it is not an entirely new focus. Our brands have been known for providing the best value and convenient locations, but we are placing more emphasis on the value,” said Chris Malone, client CMO.

Choice spent about $75 million on advertising in each of the past two years, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Malone said the new push coincides with the company's heavy emphasis on search and online advertising. The chain has ramped up its keyword searches for all properties, as 60-70 percent of all hotel bookings are made online. Malone added that in 2009, the company would increase broadcast and online impressions by 4 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

Even during an economic slump consumers still want to travel, but they’re looking for value more than anything else, said Woody Kay, chief creative officer at Arnold's McLean office. “If anything, this is the year of the deal. The 'staycation' is becoming the 'nearcation.' People are discovering that staying at home is not fun,” he said.
-By Elaine Wong
source

Kevin Federline continues being fat

source

Katie Holmes in April 'Glamour'

source

Oasis' Noel Gallagher hopes the credit crunch worsens

Oasis' Noel Gallagher has joked that he hopes the global financial crisis gets worse – because it will help bands write better music.

He compared the current financial climate to conditions in the early 1990s when the Manchester band started out, joking that he hoped a similar resurgence in the quality of music would occur.

"I hope the financial crisis gets a bit worse - at least we'll get a few good albums out of it," he told That's Shanghai.

He added: "When we started in the early 90s it was a pretty grim time when the Conservative [party] was still in power. Times of crisis usually bring out the best in music and fashion and politics and things like that."
source

First Tasty Details On Hasbro’s Big Screen ‘Candy Land’

Adaptations, sequels, reboots — nary a day goes by without news of some newfangled iteration of entertainment properties big and small, beloved and forgotten. You can’t be blamed for yawning in the face of all this unoriginality. Yet the burgeoning big screen version of Hasbro’s “Candy Land” board game should be a lesson to every would-be producer: assemble enough top-tier talent and even the most jaded cinemagoer has got to get excited.

The “Candy Land” script is being penned by “Tropic Thunder” scribe Etan Cohen and directed by Kevin Lima, the helmer behind the surprisingly good “Enchanted.” After throwing together this stellar crew, the film’s exec producer and CEO of Hasbro Brian Goldner dished out an MTV News exclusive first look at the film’s development — details of which have not been publicly discussed before.

So, er, what the heck is this movie going to be about? “Imagine if you took that basic idea of going to a better place, and then allowed the audience to go to that same place together,” Goldner told us. “But then you come to find out, like every other place that’s promised to just be all better and all sweets and candy, you come to find out there’s actually some controversy there as well, that of course the stars of the movie have to solve for.”

Goldner calls the adventure story/mortality tale “very human and very natural,” although time will tell how natural a fantastical world of chocolate bonbons and rainbow jawbreakers can really be.

Still, he maintains Lima and Cohen “really understand this brand.” In the hands of Cohen, I’m willing to believe most anything is possible. At its core, “Tropic Thunder” contained a complex meta-narrative about Hollywood egos, movie-making machinations and the nature of storytelling itself — all gussied up in the slick veneer of a rollicking action flick. In the hands of a lesser talent, “Thunder” could have turned out incomprehensible, pretentious or, worst of all, boring.

But that sucker rocked, and if Cohen can pull off such a feat — and Lima can so successfully engage audiences in “Enchanted,” yet another tale about a musical princess — why can’t they enliven a board game invented by a nurse who worked in a 1940s polio ward?

“The idea was an escape,” said Goldner. “It was for kids who really couldn’t get up, [so] how could they sort of project to play in this beautiful world of sweets and colors, and take them to a better place.”

Does “Candy Land” give you a psyched-up sweet tooth or a give-me-a-break headache? Can über-talented Cohen and Lima give us a movie for which we’d pay good money?
source

Yumi Imai

China Crashes Satellite Into Moon

China crashed a lunar probe into the moon Sunday, according to Chinese media reports.

The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense told the People's Daily Online that Chang'e I crashed onto the lunar surface at 4:13 p.m. Beijing time.

Images released by the Chinese government show that the lunar satellite circled the Earth three times before traveling toward the moon and circling it twice before its crash. The government said the Chang'e I was controlled remotely and began to reduce speed about 45 minutes before the crash. Images show the lunar satellite breaking apart on impact.

The deliberate crash of the lunar satellite aimed to give China experience for a moon landing in two years and eventual launch of an unmanned lunar rover, according to the report.

China hopes to collect soil and stone samples from the moon by 2017 and send a manned rover to the moon by 2020. The country also plans to build its own space station. After the Chang'e I crash, China announced plans to send a space module, Tiangong-I, next year. The government said Chinese astronauts will live in the module and research zero gravity.

In 2003, China became the third nation to send humans into space, nearly 35 years after the United States celebrated Neil Armstrong's moonwalk.

The Chang'e I, named after a Chinese moon goddess, launched in October 2007 and spent 494 days in space. It captured stereo radar images to provide a complete map of the moon's surface, according to media reports.
By K.C. Jones
source

The Clutter Busters

The gremlin of the media business, clutter, has grown exponentially, particularly in media that are under greater pressure to meet or exceed revenue goals in a recessionary environment. Wisely, many clients have forged ahead with their own clutter-busting ideas.

For example, Stephen Quinn, CMO of Wal-Mart Stores U.S., says that the only clutter-proof medium he's aware of is the one that the company created itself, the Walmart Smart Network, which debuted last December (relaunched from a satellite-fed network that's operated in its stores for a few years). When it's fully rolled out next year, it will include some 27,000 in-store video screens in 2,700 stores. The content includes both infomercials and advertisements from Wal-Mart suppliers, and the schedules are customized to individual stores and shopping occasions.

While a wholly in-house channel might seem to be the creative responsibility of the marketing department alone, that's not the case. "We need collaboration from both our media partners and our vendor partners to work on the messaging that goes on those screens," the CMO says. "That's a relatively new medium, so the level of understanding from the people who work on the content [is key]."

Quinn is taking a separate clutter-busting tack online with Wal-Mart's "ElevenMoms" social-network concept, which features select female bloggers who provide money-saving tips on Wal-Mart's site as well as on a YouTube channel.

The original mom team has now expanded to 21 women who post videos and interact with hundreds of people that respond to the mom postings with their own ideas about how to pinch pennies.

Meanwhile, Honda is attempting to carve its way through the media clutter in a different way. The automaker's online components have involved homepage takeovers and roadblocks on portals like Yahoo! and Facebook. They're especially effective "if you use a floating ad unit that really grabs people's attention. We can see the impact that has immediately," says Jenny Howell, Honda's manager of interactive marketing.

Honda also buys a lot of ad placements on TV network Web sites that offer full-series episodes. The Honda and Acura spots run in pods that, in their online iteration, involve the placement of one commercial per pod. The fact that users can't fast forward through the messages is an obvious benefit. "You can own the whole show, running three ads in three commercial pods," Howell says. On NBC's site, Honda not only places spots in shows, it has a rich-media experience that has included a gallery of car images on the page, or an interactive image where users can change the colors of a car.

Walgreens' marketing challenges go beyond clutter. A major problem for the company is overcoming widespread consumer perceptions about the 7,000-unit chain. Walgreens sells everything from toaster ovens to pet products, but "people often don't think of us as more than a pharmacy," says Christine Kubisztal, Walgreens manager of media strategy. "We want to find venues to tell our stories and connect our brand in new and exciting ways."

Which is where its media partners come in. Walgreens recently signed on as a sponsor of The Bonnie Hunt Show. The daytime talk show features Walgreens integrations in a beauty segment that runs on Thursdays. The initiative goes beyond simple product placement or name dropping. Host Bonnie Hunt "is actually in our stores," Kubisztal says. "She's shopping with our beauty advisors and getting a makeover."

What Kubisztal likes about the partnership is that "it showcases things that we don't get in a 30-second commercial." What's more, it's a benefit that Walgreens is already familiar with. The retailer previously inked a similar deal with The Ellen DeGeneres Show that focused on Walgreens' photo department. Like Bonnie, DeGeneres is distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution. The company's Warner Bros. Media Lab is able to determine viewers' biometric response to different segments of shows, taking into consideration such factors as pupil dilation and heart rate.

The lab "actually measured people's emotional responses as they were watching [the DeGeneres] show. Our integration actually showed a spike in interest, and when the integration was over, it would go down again," Kubisztal says. "It spoke to the fact that if you put engaging content [in shows], people will respond to it favorably."

Similar integrations have been favorable for MillerCoors, according to Jackie Woodward, vp of media and marketing. ESPN's hugely popular SportsCenter show contains a Thursday night segment called "Cold Hard Facts" sponsored by Coors Light. It features a "six-pack of questions" fielded by a sports expert. Woodward considers the segment to be a "precision play," given that beer drinkers tend to plan out their weekends on Thursday night.

It is also, she says, an effective way to cut through the clutter. But the effort isn't the only move the brewer is trying. MillerCoors has signed to become a charter advertiser of the new ESPNChicago.com site that's expected to launch in April. It's the sports brand's first city-specific Web site dedicated to sports fans.
-By Janet Stillson
source

Ashley Tisdale is featured in Cosmopolitan

source

Keira Knightley soothes heartbroken Colin Farrell

Keira Knightley has been playing agony aunt to heartbroken actor Colin Farrell.

Keira, who is to star opposite Colin in forthcoming film ‘London Boulevard’, has recently been consoling Colin following his split from novelist Emma Forrest.

Former hellraiser Colin, 32, is said to be distraught after he was dumped by Emma following a year-long relationship and has turned to Keira, who he had been in touch with regarding their roles.

A source said: “Keira thought it would be helpful to speak to Colin about their parts but she has been trying to support him through girlfriend troubles.

“She says it has helped her understand the man she is going to play opposite and is delighted to have connected with him so well.”

Keira, 23, is going through a tough time herself because she has hardly seen her boyfriend, actor Rupert Friend.

The source added to Britain’s Daily Express newspaper: “Keira can’t wait to start shooting as she has put in so much preparation for the part.

"She has felt lonely without much time with Rupert over the past few months as he has been busy promoting his new film ‘Young Victoria’ and - like Colin – can’t wait to absorb herself in the project.”

‘London Boulevard’, which loosely follows the plot of 1950 film ‘Sunset Boulevard’, will see Colin playing an ex-convict who falls in love with Keira’s reclusive actress character.

Shooting on the film starts next month.
source

Amy Winehouse returned to Britain

Amy Winehouse returned to Britain yesterday after a relaxing 71-day holiday — and got into a fight on the plane.

The troubled singer, 25, lashed out at a man she thought was “giving her the eye”.

Back to Black singer Amy cut short her epic holiday in St Lucia after she discovered husband Blake Fielder-Civil, 26, had been freed from jail.

Home... Amy with Mitch

She flew back to London in a bid to save her turbulent marriage — but had to be pulled off a passenger.

A pal said: “Amy went wild. She thought this guy was giving her strange looks and just lost it.

“She was nervous about coming back and seeing Blake so it didn’t take much to push her over the edge.”

Amy arrived at Gatwick airport at 7.30am and declared: “I love London more than anyone in the world.”

She was welcomed to her new North London home — arranged to keep her from the temptation to use drugs — by family and friends, including dad Mitch, 57.

Amy screeched “Oh my God!” as she toured her new pad, which has palm trees, an oak panelled front door and a giant loft conversion.

Her new neighbours were dismayed to hear who had moved in to their posh suburb.

Jeremy Amery, 33, said: “House prices have fallen enough without Amy Winehouse taking up residence.”

And a mum said: “Amy Winehouse moved in? There goes the neighbourhood.”
source

Skittles Wikis Its Home Page

Skittles, the Mars candy brand, has adopted its Wikipedia page as its home page in an effort to give more control to consumers.

The effort, via Agency.com, is a total revamp of the site and includes other social media hooks, like a Twitter section for live chats and links to Skittles pages on Facebook and Flickr.

"We are leveraging what we think are the key consumer social media touchpoints," said Carole Walker, vp, integrated marketing communications for the brand. "Wikipedia is a definition of what the brand actually is."

The effort underscores Skittles' brand positioning, which Walker said was "a border zone . . . Skittles lives in a world that is unexpected." In the past, that positioning has been reinforced with wacky ads from Chiat, but the site aims for a similar level of zaniness. The nutrition section of the site, for instance, is under the header "other gobbledegook."

Walker acknowledged that there's opportunity for consumers to vandalize the site and said the brand will monitor comments. "I would expect that users would contribute in a positive way but we could always take [negative or obscene comments] down if there's an issue," Walker said.

While Skittles may be the first brand to turn its Web site over like this, the Boston ad agency Modernista! beat it to the punch last March by making its Web site a search engine redirect-a Google search would take you back to Google but with a red navigation bar at the top. Subsequent iterations of the site have emulated Wikipedia and, currently, Facebook.
source

Mexican ad for Viagra actually doesn't suck

Viagra commercials are generally awful, particularly the "Viva Viagra" ones with the guys sitting around grinning widely as they play music and sing about their erections. (The best thing about those ads is the name Copyranter gave the band: the Whiskey Dicks.) Cialis ads are no better. Maybe it's just because E.D. advertising is so wretched, but the new Viagra spot above, from Z Publicidad in Mexico, is pretty decent. It actually has an idea—it takes its characters back in time, all the way back to the first time—and strikes a decent, non-off-putting balance between romance and passion. By the end of the spot, the couple appear to be in their late teens. Go back any further, and they'd be in a JC Penney commercial.
source

Takao Aoyama

10 Least Deserving Reality Show Winners

While we're still reeling from the surprising and unfathomable shocker of Hosea winning the Top Chef prize this week, we decided to look back at some other reality show contestants who didn't deserve their titles either. There have been quite a few, and heck, we could have probably made most of this list with just Survivor players (Amber and Tina, we're looking in your general direction). And that's not even counting people whom we just didn't like, even though they earned their wins, like Hung, Fantasia, Mike Boogie, Flo and Zach (OK, mostly just Flo). So if we we're in the business of revoking titles, these are the ones that we'd like to take back.

1. Jenna Morasca (Survivor: Amazon)
Ostensibly Survivor is about trying to outwit and outplay your fellow contestants, which runner-up Matt did. However, in a season that was a battle of the sexes, sexy was what won, or at least being naked was what won. She was sick all the time, complained constantly, considered leaving and her most memorable power play was bartering with Jeff Probst to get peanut butter in exchange for her (and her gal pal Heidi) stripping down to the buff. She only made it as far as she did because her ailing state made her less of a threat than Heidi. We hate winners who do so little, yet get so much (Vecepia, consider yourself lucky that we only put one do-nothing Survivor on our list).

2. Maggie (Brother Brother 6)
When will Big Brother contestants finally realize that people should be rewarded for playing people so skillfully and artfully pulling puppet strings? Bitter people voting and manipulating house guests is the only way we can remotely explain how Maggie (or Jun, who ridiculously beat Alison) won this show. Janelle went against the odds, lasted a tremendously long time without a single ally and was infinitely smarter than Maggie and runner-up Ivette. And if we could take away a runner-up prize too, it would be Ivette, who trusted her alliance and kept Maggie with her, instead of having the guts to go up against Janelle. Ivette still wouldn't have won, but at least then we would have respected her.









3. Kelly Monaco (Dancing With the Stars)
It was Season 1 and the competition wasn't exactly up to the level that it is now, but even so, Kelly Monaco was not the strongest contestant on her season. The only reason she took home the prize was because she had a bigger fan base than John O'Hurley, who at that point was just known as "J. Peterman from Seinfeld" and there's not a hell of a lot of overlap between the DWTS voters and the Seinfeld fanbase. If they had given a mirrorball for most improved Monaco would have taken that one, but she never really stepped it up the way that O'Hurley did.







4. Taylor Hicks (American Idol)
Can we get a recount on this one? Seriously, there had to have been some tampering with the phone voting, because it is two seasons later and we're still shaking our heads at how this boring silver-haired Michael McDonald wannabe beat out Kat McPhee. Because where were the fans when it came to buying albums? No where. Taylor got dropped from his label in little over a year after winning. Even Ruben (the other least deserving Idol) had us snowed with that whole Velvet Teddy Bear thing while he was on the show. Taylor's win is especially suspect in a season that included Chris Daughtry, Kellie Pickler and Elliot Yamin, all of whom have had some pretty decent sales in their post-Idol careers.

5. Ilan Hall (Top Chef)
Hosea wasn't the first Top Chef winner to get us all steamed up. Ilan Hall had that honor when he took home the title in season 2, beating out fan favorite Sam Talbot and the annoying-but-talented Marcel Vigneron for the prize. Throughout the season Ilan produced some solid meals, but Marcel definitely had him beat in the originality department. And in the finals, the judges rated both of them well. Plus, Ilan was partially responsible for the infamous Marcel head-shaving incident and didn't receive any real recourse, and tried to accuse Marcel of cheating. That kind of poor sportsmanship should have earned him some demerits.











6. Charla (Paradise Hotel)
Why this all-but-forgotten Fox show from the summer of 2003 is perhaps the greatest single season of any reality series ever is an argument for another day. But as some of you may recall, the program pitted schlumpy Dave against a resort filled with mean, drunk, hard-bodied a-holes. In classic nerd vs. Goliath fashion, Dave ingeniously wheeled, dealed and manipulated himself all the way to the finals, where high school reared its ugly head and all of the bitter ex-houseguests that he'd gotten kicked off voted for his ungrateful sidekick Charla and his ally Keith to receive the big cash prize instead of him. Keith, we liked. But we'll never forgive Charla for refusing to share her spoils with the guy who made it possible.

7. Saleisha Stowers (America's Next Top Model)
This ordinary girl, with a killer runway walk, seemed to impress the judges, but she ended up in the bottom two as much as she did the top two. Yet somehow she pulled out a win. We're skeptical that it was just because Chantal tripped some poor stilt-walker on the runway. It might have more to do with the fact that Saleisha knew Tyra before the show. She went to T-Zone camp and appeared walking the runway on Tyra's talk show. Suspicious. Also, she sort of bent the rules a bit about not having a national modeling campaign for five years prior... in our mind, a commercial should count. Very suspect. We're not impressed.









8. Stefani Schaeffer (The Apprentice)
Did anyone even watch the L.A. season besides us? It was infuriating on all kinds of levels (living in tents... really?). Anyway, we were most disappointed that at the end of this insane season, Trump decided to hire Stefani who had just kind of stood to the side and never really stepped up to the plate to take responsibility for ideas (good or bad). She was never even a project manager (which wasn't entirely her fault due to the twists of the game), but yet she gets to oversee a project for a mega-organization? Stupid. Runner-up James at least showed some leadership abilities along the way. Bad move, Trump. Much smarter to move along to celebrities who you don't actually have to put on the payroll.











9. Freddy and Kendra (Amazing Race)
While we are all for conning and scheming to win on Big Brother and Survivor, that sort of behavior doesn't really fit with the Amazing Race vibe. Yet Freddy and Kendra (who had made some upsetting and ignorant comments about the nations they had visited -- "these people just keep breeding" was probably her most charming) tried to lie their way on to an earlier flight by claiming they had a sick child in Hawaii. They also tried to get a cop to give them an emergency escort to the finish line. While runners-up Kris and Jon lost out in a foot-race, they were the real winners in our mind.





10. Ambre (Rock of Love 2)
Was this just supposed to make for a good twist somehow? The manipulative girl, who was two-faced to all her fellow contestants (although that's not necessarily a bad thing) acted immature. Which is strange, since she lied about her age, telling everyone she was in her early thirties when she was actually 37. Is that some kind of new math? At her age, she should know better. Not to mention that she never seemed to have chemistry with Bret. He was way more into Daisy the stripper. They were both fake bitches, but at least Daisy was upfront about it.

Source

Margaret Cho to host Gay Porn Awards

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Gallagher: 'GaGa makes my teeth hurt'

Noel Gallagher has directed criticism at a number of artists, including Leona Lewis and Lady GaGa.

The Oasis star revealed his distaste after "for some reason" watching MTV's Europe Top 10.

"F**k me, it was painful. Leona Lewis doing Snow Patrol? Ouch! Kings Of Leon doing U2? Ouch!" he wrote on his blog.

"The Killers doing fancy dress? Ouch! Lady GaGa? (I may be showing my age here but who’s Lady GaGa?). It made my teeth hurt! MY TEETH!!"

Gallagher scooped the prize for best blog at the Shockwaves NME Awards last night. Oasis were also presented with the best British band award.
source