“The Rachel Zoe Project”: Season 4 Sneak Peek

Get ready to go Ba-nanas! The Rachel Zoe Project is back for Season 4.  It premieres August 2nd on Bravo TV.  Here’s a special sneak peek and, if you wait until the end, you can see adorable Baby Skyler.

The Glee Project

If you are a fan of  the Fox mega hit Glee, like I am, then you MUST check out The Glee Project.

It’s a cool new series that airs Sunday nights on Oxygen and I have no idea why Fox did not pick this show up.  The Glee Project focuses on finding a new character for the mega hit Glee and there was a massive audition process (similar to American Idol) to narrow the kids down to a lucky twelve.  What’s super cool is that Glee‘s own executive producer, casting director, choreographer, and vocal coach are all involved in The Glee Project. Each week the twelve contestants will go head to head in singing, dancing, and acting competitions for the chance to win a dream role on Glee.  (There will also be Glee cast members who come on each week as mentors.  This week was Darren Criss who plays Blaine.  Of course the girls, and some of the guys, went crazy.)

They could not have picked 12 more different kids as finalists.  Which is really great.  I’m already hooked and have my personal favorites.  I love geeky Cameron, sassy Emily, and spunky Matheus.  Here’s a sneak peek of the series so hopefully I can convince you to join me in the fun.

Hey, it’s summer.  You need something new to watch, don’t you?  Be a Gleek!

Scotty McCreery wins American Idol!

Yeeeee Haw!  Scotty McCreery won the title of American Idol last night.  It was a fun finale.  I really did not care if Scotty won or Lauren Alaina won because I had picked them both as my favorites when the season first started.  I love that they are country singers.  And they just seem like really good kids who love their Mamas. Here’s the moment when Scotty won:

I can’t wait to hear Scotty’s country album.  I’m crossing my fingers that he goes on tour with Tim McGraw because their duet of “Live Like You Were Dying” was awesome.

And you know who else was awesome?  This amazing diva.  Beyonce gave an on stage master class performance on how to be a pop star.  I hope they all were watching.

American Idol: The Final Three

I still have TWO of my four favorite American Idol contestants left in the competition: Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina.  Yay! They will compete against Haley Reinhart for a spot in the finale.  Scotty and Lauren are both country artists.  I would love a country finale.  I wonder what songs they would sing?  Here’s Scotty singing one of the best songs ever written, Where Were You (When The World Stopped Turning?) by Alan Jackson.  It was the perfect song because it was so relevant and it showed how Scotty has emerged as a true artist.  Watch out, Nashville.

A Night with Gretchen Rossi and some Real Housewives

Last night something really exciting happened in Jacksonville …I got dressed up! I wore heels! I went out to a club! Oh, and I met Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley from Bravo TV’s The Real Housewives of Orange County.

Yes, Gretchen is just as small and pretty in person as you would think. Perfect hair. Perfect makeup. Perfect teeth. And a very sweet personality. I think Slade really enjoyed the attention much more than she did. And, hey, Kara Keough was there too!

Kara’s the one in the colorful bustier who looks like a swimsuit model. She is Jeana Keough’s daughter. Jeana was one of the original stars of The Real Housewives of OC and she’s also made a couple of appearances this season. They brought her back to create some tension with Tamra. (I love this show.) Kara was last seen going to school at Berkeley University. I found out last night that she now lives in Jacksonville! Super cool. She moved here to be near her boyfriend, Jacksonville Jaguar Kyle Bosworth, who she met when she transferred to UCLA. Kara seemed pretty chummy with Gretchen and Slade.

Gretchen and Slade flew into town for a special appearance at this cool new lounge/nightclub in Jacksonville called Suite. Suite is located right in the middle of a suburban shopping center but you would never know it. It’s very hip and trendy and I love that they have a dress code. You can wear jeans but I convinced Hubbie to rock his suit. He looked amazing. I wore a dress from New York & Company. It’s a black and white wrap dress and it was very comfortable.

Since Hubbie is a morning radio guy, we got the special hookup. Joe, The General Manager, sat us in the outside VIP lounge where a waitress brought us drinks. We were the first ones to see Gretchen and Slade when they arrived.

This isn’t Gretchen, but doesn’t Hubbie’s morning radio producer, Ashley, have some serious Gretchen hair? SO jealous.

I also had some fun with my neighborhood Mommy Group friends. We usually meet up at the park for play dates so it was so nice to get dressed up and do something fun without the kiddies in tow. Now here’s a shot of some REAL housewives. We had a blast.

Suite has an amazing drink menu. I stuck to Sauvignon Blanc but my Mommy friends had the special low calorie martini from The Slim List. It was fun to chat and compliment each other’s dresses, jewelry, and shoes. I spotted three women (including Ashley) with the same neutral Guess heels. How cute are they? I must go out and buy a pair. Nude is apparently the new black.

It was a bit chaotic in the meet and greet area. Everyone was trying to get Gretchen and Slade’s attention.

We managed to push our way to the front to get some photos. I was planning on asking Gretchen if she was still with Slade, but that question was obviously answered for me. So I asked her about her hair. Yes, she does it herself. Yes, she uses hot rollers. And that’s about as far as I got. Hubbie managed to jump in for a couple photos before we moved aside to let everyone else have their 5 seconds with the reality stars.

Then we were out. It was past midnight and past my bedtime. We had soccer in the morning. It was so fun to get a little glamorous and hang out with a bunch of celebrities. Now back to my life as a Real Housewife of Jacksonville, Florida.

Casey Abrams

I’m down to my two favorite contestants on American Idol.  Casey Abrams was voted off last week.  I was not surprised.  He was amazing from the beginning, but he took a lot of risks.  The judges used their one “save” on Casey and I think he struggled from the after shock of that big moment.

And this was the moment I knew Casey was going to be in the Top 24 AND on my favorites list.  It will be cool to see where he goes from here.

Bye Stefano

Well, the first of my four favorite American Idol contestants has left the building.  Cutie Stefano Langone is, um, gone.  And he just had an amazing Wednesday performance of Ne-Yo’s “Closer.” What a bummer.  I hope he gets a record deal because he was the one contestant I could definitely hear on Top 40 radio.

Extreme Everything

I was watching TLC’s Extreme Couponing last week and it gave me anxiety.  These shoppers have mastered the art of coupon clipping, but they have taken it to a whole new level of crazy. It was frightening to watch them fill cart after cart (some of them had 9 carts!) with hot dogs, peanuts, power bars, sports drinks, and other really random stuff (calcium pills?)  Sure, they would save over 90% with their coupons, but they were bringing home so much junk.  40 bottles of mustard?  120 candy bars? They would then stockpile the items in their garage, under their kids’ bed(!), or in their master bedroom(!), and then go out and do it all again later in the week.  Why do you need to stockpile 3 years worth of  pasta, toilet paper, and hair conditioner?  That’s EXTREME.  (And I didn’t even mention the Mom who went dumpster diving for coupons with her kid.)

I really thought I would watch the show and be inspired to start clipping coupons from my Sunday circular again (I used to be good at it, but have slacked because of the time commitment and energy it took) or maybe visit one of the myriad of websites dedicated to coupon deals, but NO.  The show was so over the top and overwhelming that it made me want to avoid coupons at all cost.  (No pun intended.) It really was EXTREME.  (OK, I signed up for Groupon, but that’s it.)

It’s very popular now to have these extreme reality shows on television.  Extreme Couponing is a lot like Hoarders. (Some of my Facebook friends referred to Extreme Couponing as Food Hoarders.) I wrote about Hoarders two years ago when it first premiered and it is fascinating. These people are EXTREME.  Every room in their house is stuffed from floor to ceiling with piles of crap.  They can not find their bed under the layers of unopened shopping bags and discarded food.  Yes, food.  Some of the people had serious mold issues and one lady finally “found” her cat.  I thought the show would make me want to reorganize all my closets, but it was just horrifying and sad.

Also, can I find one reality family show that features a mom, a dad, and their 2 kids??  No.  They either have 6 kids or 8 kids or 19 kids and then there’s the polygamist with 4 wives.  I guess my family of four is just not interesting enough.  It’s not EXTREME.

The Granddaddy of all extreme shows was Extreme Makeover.  Contestants would come on the show to change their entire face with plastic surgery so they could be happy.  What’s wrong with that?  I mean, it’s all about the outside not the inside, right? Ugh. That show morphed into Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which is so much better.  This show has a sweet premise. Families who have personal tragedy write in and the team comes to build them a brand new home. They tear down the small dilapidated house you once lived in and give you a gigantic mansion filled with top of the line appliances, electronics, and dreamlike bedrooms.  I always wonder what their poor neighbors think.  This show lives for that before-after WOW moment when the home is finally revealed.  It’s so over the top and EXTREME.

I still love reality shows.  I watch them all the time.  I always check out the brand new ones and give them at least a one episode try. Even these “extreme” ones. I wonder when they’ll do a show about me?  How about Extreme Reality TV Show Watchers? (Although, I only have 2 television sets and I do LEAVE my house from time to time, so I guess I wouldn’t be EXTREME enough.  Oh, well.)

My American Idol Favorites ’11

I’ve picked my four favorite American Idol contestants for Season 10.  I did this last year and one of my picks actually won the whole thing and became the American Idol!  (Lee Dewyze.  Remember him?)

I’ve decided to abandon my two girls and two boys rule.  I just think the boys have more potential this season.  I’m excited.

Good luck, guys! (and gal!)

First Idol Mistake: Chris Medina is Out

Argh.  I hate when American Idol builds up a contestant for us only to cut them before WE, the audience, get a chance to vote.

Last night was the end of the road for AI favorite, Chris Medina.  His story touched my heart from day one.

I’m sad to see him go.  So was Jennifer Lopez.  She had a serious breakdown.  I just wish they gave him one more chance.  Chris is a class act.  I hope he continues his music journey with Juliana by his side.

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