Season 11 of American Idol started airing on Fox on January 19, 2012. Airing auditions will last until February 8, 2012 and Hollywood rounds will start on Thursday, February 9, 2012.
The Fox singing contest’s boss, Nigel Lythgoe says that there are no major changes to the show. He indicated that so many tweaks have been made to Season 10 and the changes to the show at this time are minor.
Judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler are no longer rookies. As we can see from the few aired auditions, they are no longer saying how wonderful everyone is, instead show maturity and toughness while providing encouragement to contestants. Randy Jackson who is a veteran of the show is the other judge.
Last season’s winner, Scotty McCreery, will entice more country singers to participate in the current season. When the show started several years ago, it was mostly pop and over the years it is showing maturity and diversity.
Show will air the exclusive world premiere of Madonna’s new music video on February 2, 2012.
Comedian Jim Carrey’s daughter Jane and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, Joe Magraine’s daughter, Shannon is among this year’s contestants.
In another blow to the long running TV show, Kimberly McCullogh who has played the role of Robin Scorpio in General Hospital since 1985 from the tender age of seven is leaving the show to focus her efforts behind the camera and fulfill a lifelong dream of being a director.
She initially joined the cast on 1985 and stayed on till 1996 and rejoined the cast in 2005 after appearing on the show on and off in between. The show made headlines in the 90’s when her character Robin was diagnosed as being HIV positive.She will leave the show at the beginning of 2012 after appearing in over 750 episodes of the show.
The announcement of her departure from the show was made shortly after her co-star Jonathan Jackson who plays the role of Lucky announced that he was leaving the show.
General Hospital premiered on the ABC television network in 1963 and is the longest running American soap opera and the third longest running drama on television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns and the world’s second longest running television drama behind the British series Coronation Street. To date the show has had 49 seasons with over 12,400 episodes.
X Factor USA will become the first reality TV show to permit viewers to vote through social networking site twitter. The producers of the show announced the partnership with the social media network which allows viewers to vote for their favorite finalists. Voting will be open from November 2 after the live performanaces.
You will not be voting with tweets which will be very chaotic but through your account’s direct message feature. In addition XFactor fans can vote via Facebook, text messaging, the Xtra factor mobile application on Verizon Android phones and by phoning in.
“I think it’s fantastic that Verizon and ‘The X Factor’ are giving fans so many different ways to vote. Launching touch screen voting on Verizon’s The Xtra Factor App and the new voting on Twitter is really exciting, I love that the audience has more and more choice in the way that they can vote,” Simon Cowell said in a statement.
Only the votes sent via direct message to @TheXFactorUSA will count while publicly visible will not be counted as votes. Viewers who cast votes via TheXFactorUSA.com and Twitter are limited to 50 votes per account.
There is nothing like watching a good television series as a form of relaxation. Here are a few television series you should definitely see.
The Vampire Diaries – This is one of the highest rating shows of today. It is currently on hiatus and season 2 just ended. This is the perfect time for you to catch up Elena, Damon, Stefan and the rest of the citizens on Mystic Falls. Who do you think should end up with Elena? Are you for Damon or for Stefan?
Pretty Little Liars – Season 2 just started for this tv adaptation of the book series with the same title, written by Sara Shepard. Follow the lives of Spencer, Aria, Hanna and Emily as they try to figure out who really killed Allie and figure out who is behind the identity of “A”.
How I Met Your Mother – It’s currently on a hiatus but it has been revealed that CBS has picked up the show for another 2 seasons. It tells the story of 5 friends and their misadventures, Ted is telling his children about how he met their mother but so far, it has yet to be revealed. Season 6 ends with Ted being the best man at Barney’s wedding. Who is Barney marrying? And who is Ted’s wife? We will find out when Season 7 comes sometime later in 2011 or early 2012.
Glee – It is definitely one of the most popular television series on TV right now. It is currently on hiatus because Season 2 just ended but it has already been picked up for a 3rd season.
Glenn Beck, who has been a popular host on Fox News, took television viewers by surprise when he announced that his 5 pm program will transition off the network so that he can focus on producing a variety of television projects for Fox as well as the digital properties that Fox News currently owns.
And this news comes despite the fact that his news show is the third-highest rated cable news program, and which attracts almost 2.2 million viewers every night.
With the kind of response that he has received in taking up the 5 pm slot on Fox News, there was no doubt that this move has been met with surprise and digs from the media universe, where some are not sure what he’s going to do and the others wonder why he has made such a move.
Although he has been such a controversial figure, much to the envy of his left-wing competitors whose ratings pale in comparison, there’s no doubt that most people wonder who is going to pull the numbers for the 5 pm slot like Beck has done in the past.
In hindsight, his criticism of President Obama at the height of his popularity back when he was newly elected as the President drew a lot of criticism (and attention) has only changed his status from being another talk show host to a cultural icon of our times.
But there’s no doubt that Fox and Beck will continue to work together for some time to come, albeit in a new manner.
If you have been reading about movies that were shelved last year, do not worry. Chances are they will be back at some point or the other. Take for example, Edwin A. Salt. In 2008, Sony was in a quandary as they tried hard and did not reach a deal with Tom Cruise. Originally slated as a Cruise/ Jolie headliner, two directors later, they eventually changed the name to Salt and opted to run only with Angelina in the lead; the movie opens this year in July.
However, if you think that it took a long time to materialize, consider some the other more famous delays. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button took over two decades to hit the big screen. In that time, the plot was changed many times over, as much as (if not more than) the number of directors who were associated with it. Spike Jonze, Gary Ross, Ron Howard and Phil Alden Robinson were all flirted with until David Fincher was settled on. Even then, the project did not begin as scheduled in 2005.
Memoirs of a Geisha was also a project in the making for a long time as was A.I. Artificial Intelligence, both of which were directed by Steven Spielberg. The director is now associated with another long-awaited movie based on the life of Abraham Lincoln.
Even though all these movies took some time to come out, it just goes to show that some movies need to find just the right people and take all the time they need to come out right.
Promoting movies has taken a new direction over the last few years. While TV still forms the cornerstone with up to 60 % of the marketing budget, the old favorites such as billboards and newspapers are not considered essential anymore.
In just eight years, digital marketing has gone from 1 % of the total marketing budget to 12 %, showing that marketers are targeting specific groups and with the intent of engaging them directly. When you consider that studios spend millions in their advertising campaigns, the amount spent in using new media is extremely significant, but the returns justify it without a doubt.
When Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was due to hit the screen last year, Paramount placed a single full page in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times during the opening week. Compare this to the numerous full-page and double full-page ads that used to be placed in higher frequencies by movies up until then that seems like a folly now. However, the movie grossed over $200 million within five days and Paramount was vindicated. Soon other movies like Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Avatar followed suit.
Studios have also shifted to using traditional media like newspapers and billboards to drive traffic to their websites. These methods enable them to engage with the public thus creating hype. They have also gone back to an old technique used by Hollywood in days gone by, where actors are taken on nationwide and worldwide tours to promote the movie on TV, Radio and public gatherings. While these tours do cost up to about $1 million or more, it is negligible in the face of earnings that regularly exceed $100 million.
So, who’s the latest person to be invited by ABC to join “Dancing with the Stars”?
As unlikely as it seems, the answer to this question lies in the words “Sarah Palin connection”, and the person in question is the Delaware Tea Party politician also known as Christine O’ Donnell.
Blame it on her unsuccessful run for a Senate seat last (while being endorsed by Sarah Palin herself) or having two left feet, the politician isn’t too sure whether or not she should participate in the show or not.
In asking her “friends” on Facebook, she received several comments but did not lead to any concrete decision on her part despite the fact that she was flattered about the invitation made to her. However, what she was sure about was the release of her book while continuing to remain undecided about her participation on “Dancing with the Stars”.
With the new season of “Dancing with the Stars” premiering on March 21, the cast members will be finalized and announced during the broadcast of “The Bachelor” on Monday night.
However, Christine O’ Donnell has been in news for a while now but not necessarily for the most pleasant reasons as she lost to Democrat candidate Chris Coons for one of the U.S Delaware Senate seat as well while also being caught on film, released by Bill Maher, admitting to dabbling in witchcraft while also dating a witch as well.
