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SYTYCD’s Billy Bell Out due to Illness

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billy bell SYTYCDNineteen year-old contemporary dancer Billy Bell from West Palm Beach, Florida is out of the running in this season’s “So You Think You Can Dance”. It’s not because he sucks because we all thought he could dance really well. In fact even the judges think he can really dance so much so that they ended up crying upon watching his solo in Vegas. However, the doctors have declared that he CAN’T dance just yet. According to a statement (allegedly from the Bell family) posted on SYTYCDISM, Billy Bell is ill and, though “feeling better”, still needs to take time to recuperate. In fact Billy will not be able to go back to SYTYCD this season nor could he go back to train at Juilliard. His condition, the specifics of which the family hasn’t disclosed yet, is so serious that “his doctors told the show that if he continued to dance on the show before he recovered, he could possibly die.”

According to executive producer/judge Nigel Lythgoe, “We are disappointed that Billy cannot continue dancing in the competition on the advice of his doctor and wish him a speedy recovery. However, we are fortunate that Brandon Dumlao has agreed to return.” Brandon Dumlao is a 21-year-old hip hop dancer from Concord, California. In the meantime Billy’s family hopes that they will allow Billy to go back to the show even if he has to “re-audition for Season 7”.

Jon and Kate Plus 8 Minus Jon

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kate_plus_8Looks like Jon’s got what was coming to him. TLC has announced that “Jon & Kate Plus 8” will be changing its name to “Kate Plus 8” starting November 2 leaving Jon out in the cold – a clear win for Kate.

TLC’s decision to boot out Jon (although they don’t call it that) is pretty logical not to mention a popular move since he’s been factoring less and less in the kids’ life. According to TLC “Kate Plus 8” is appropriate because it reflects the new “family dynamics” with Kate handling life as a single mom. As TLC President Eileen O’Neill said, “Given the recent changes in the family dynamics, it only makes sense for us to refresh and recalibrate the program to keep pace with the family. The family has evolved and we are attempting to evolve with it; we feel that Kate’s journey really resonates with our viewers.” Or maybe even they are getting tired of Jon’s bachelor antics.

In the meantime, Jon is trying to salvage things by putting the brakes on their divorce proceedings. According to Jon he wants to “restore our [his and Kate’s] relationship as cooperative parents and to open up our lines of communication. I hope that she will be as receptive and enthusiastic as I am to do what is best for our family . . . I would like to get back with Kate as a partner in parenting.” As if Kate is the one who hasn’t been trying to do what’s best for the kids!

As for the show we’ll see how better off things will be without Jon G.

If I Can Dream: Coming Soon

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ificandreamReality show and real-time interaction is what Simon Fuller has in mind with the new show he’s developing for the internet. The show, called “If I Can Dream”, is a reality show focusing on the lives of five people – 2 actresses, an actor, a musician and a model – who want to make it in Hollywood. The show will be streamed live 24/7 at IfICanDream.com. Hulu will also show weekly highlights that are 30 minutes long.

What makes the reality show different is that as the group of artists rehearse and live their daily lives viewers can give their feedback real-time. According to the announcement, “Innovative camera and sensor technology will allow a global audience to interact with the aspiring performers through text, blogs, MySpace, Twitter and Facebook as the action unfolds in real-time — something that has never been attempted on a global scale before.”

Simon Fuller is of course excited about the whole deal and thinks that it is “is the dawning of a new age.”

Major sponsors for “If I can Dream” include Ford Motors and Pepsi. Other partners include MySpace, which will be the the exclusive social-networking platform where fans can upload videos to audition for a spot in the series, and Clear Channel Radio.

Top Chefs Meats Natalie

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Top_Chef_Natalie_Portman_Padma_LakshmiThe last Top Chef episode just won the best “Halloween Top Chef Episode Title” in my book for sounding unpalatable, gross, and just plain wrong. Last episode was called “Meat Natalie” and while witty and apt being an episode where the contestants got to meet NataliePortman, who happened to be vegan, I don’t think anyone will disagree with me in feeling all eeewy about the title.

Anyway before I get stuck on a completely senseless discussion on episode title choices, here a very short recap of what went down during the “Meat Natalie” episode.

The contestants were asked to do their gourmet interpretations of TV dinners. They also had to make sure that their gourmet TV dinners were inspired by classic TV shows assigned to them. Kevin, who picked “The Sopranos” and did his version of meatballs, was declared the winner. His prize: His dish will be sold by Schwan’s frozen food line. Unless he gets royalties (and he should!), I would throw a tantrum if I were him.

For the elimination challenge the chefs got to take over Tom Colicchio’s restaurant in Vegas to cook for food lover, vegetarian Natalie Portman. Kevin won the challenge (again) and this time got a much much better prize – a whole slew of appliances from GE. Kevin said “Ok” and seemed not to care for his prize that much, so I guess he liked his frozen dinner prize better. Weird!

As for the bottom three, Robin, Jennifer and Michael I all deserved to be there but like most everyone else, I am miffed that Robin wasn’t the one to go home. So there, expect to see Robin (who hasn’t stuffed a squash blossom her whole life) to still be in the next episode to underwhelm us all.

America’s Next Top Model All Under 5’7”

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ANTM 13America’s Next Top Model Season 13 contestants won’t be topping all the other supermodels, at least in terms of height.

We have seen the plus size models in ANTM but “shorter” girls are still a very rare sight in the modelling business. This season we can expect to see more petite models with the ANTM’s contestants all being 5’7” and under. Everything else about the show stays the same – Tyra, the judges, the various challenges, and undoubtedly the drama. The only thing that’s really novel is the contestant’s height.

This is really exciting for the model-wannabes who never thought they’d get the chance to be supermodels simply because of their height. As Brittany Markert, one of this season’s contestants said, “Hopefully, this will impact the fashion industry. I’ve always wondered where this stigma that women 5-9 and above are more godlike than shorter women came from.” In a way I also think this season might be something “real people”will be able to relate more to, at least in terms of fashion, since models will be closer to ordinary girls’ heights, making what they wear more wearable for mere mortals. So despite the seemingly small tweak in the show’s rules , the repercussions are pretty big, at least for petite girls worldwide. What we have yet to see though if this trend will catch or if it will die down when this season ends.

ANTM Season 13 will premier tonight 8PM at CW.