August 2008 Archives

 

This is actually not the first time the show has attempted using a fourth judge though. Back in season two rapper Angie Martinez was given as spot as the fourth judge but quit after only five days on the job. At the time she issued a statement to the media explaining that it was "too uncomfortable for me to tell someone else to give up on their dream."

 

Like Julia Roberts famously said in "Pretty Woman" - "Big Mistake. Huge." Unless Angie didn't want to become a household name.

 

Whether the audience will accept Kara or not remains to be seen but don't expect Kara to go away as quickly as Angie. This is a smart cookie that is used to telling people like it is behind the scenes. Though she started out wanted to be an artist herself, Kara quickly morphed into a songwriter. She has worked with a long list of A-list artists including Celine Dion, Pink, Marc Anthony and Faith Hill among many, many others. She has also had her hands in the songs of past Idols - Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Katherine McPhee, Taylor Hicks and right now David Cook. 

 

With auditions for season eight of "American Idol" already underway you can expect a major overhaul for the new season, according to everyone's favorite snarky judge, Simon Cowell. In a conference call from London with reporters this afternoon, Cowell said he and "Idol" producers have already begun meetings in the UK with the production team and Fox executives to discuss what he would like to see happen.

 

With the exit of executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe recently announced, Simon thinks the show will get a much-needed face-lift, 

 

"You must never depend on one person. I don't think we would have had the success initially without Nigel but we are onto our eighth season. It feels like it’s going to be a different show this year because of it and we will see whether that’s an advantage or a negative."

 

Simon, who helped create the show, is prepared to step into a larger role behind the scenes,

 

"With Nigel there it became too much of a crowd and he is a very good producer but I think now he has stepped down I probably will get more involved. I already have to be honest with you."

By Lulu Chiang
NBC Olympics Features Producer

It’s been a wild ride here at the Olympic games… a dream that I’ve had for 7 years coming to fruition in style. My first time at the Olympics and I get to see Michael Phelps smash record after record, taking home a total of eight gold medals. Let’s put it in perspective; if “Phelps” was his own country, his gold medal count would be 7th , tied with Japan and just behind South Korea. Unreal!

As Maria Bartiromo’s right hand at CNBC, I’m used to booking and producing interviews with the top CEOs of companies from around the world, government officials of the highest levels and money managers that control billions and billions of dollars. But here in Beijing at the International Broadcast Center (or, the“IBC” as most call it) my responsibility is to arrange athlete interviews and coordinate logistics with my booking partner and to coordinate everything and anything else with the NBC Universal Family (including Access Hollywood, AccessHollywood.com, CNBC, MSNBC and NBCOlympics.com). Talk about a gear switch!

And this is the best gig ever!  Our mission is simple – to make the athlete’s experience with NBC Olympics an incredible one. However, sometimes making that happen can be very very hairy.

Between competitions, practices, sponsor commitments and media interviews these athletes are working around the clock. Whether it’s transporting the Olympian from point A to point B, or making sure we get their families the proper credentials so they can have access, we are here to do whatever it takes to make it happen.

In order to make the handoff from one thing to another smooth, countless phone calls are made to make sure everyone is on the same page. You don't see any of this on camera.

I can’t believe that I only have two more days left in Beijing! The time has flown by so quickly. Maybe it’s because we’ve been working so hard, but it feels like I just arrived yesterday. Still, I miss my family so much, that I’m also excited about getting home.

It rained very hard today in Beijing and, of course, this would happen on the day that the women’s beach volleyball finals were taking place! The rain cleared in the afternoon, but returned right on time for Shaun and Amanda Beard to shoot stand-ups for the show tonight.

When I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, ‘I really don’t want to go down to watch beach volleyball; it’s POURING!’ But then I ran into Hoda Kotb from "Today" in the lobby (Al Roker wore his swimsuit to the game!), who convinced me that I couldn’t miss this gold medal game! Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh playing China, on their home turf, to defend their gold medal!

Hoda is very convincing! I put on my rain jacket, and off I went with Shaun Robinson, Access supervising producer Mike, and our crew, Mike and Wally.

The rain didn’t let up the entire match. And the spectator seats certainly weren’t covered. It was a packed stadium of 12,000, all outfitted with umbrellas and rain slickers. Our Chinese hosts were so prepared though; they were handing out ponchos to every attendee.

The match was very dramatic. The Chinese team was the last to defeat Kerri and Misty (who are now on a 108 game winning streak) and they played a smart and strategic game. But the feeling of watching our Americans drop to their knees in joy after they won was worth the potential pneumonia!

Ever since DeAnna Pappas chose 26-year-old snowboarder Jesse Csincsak over 32-year-old single daddy Jason Mesnick on the season finale of “The Bachelorette”, fans have been lobbying hard for him to become the next “Bachelor.”  Well, ABC listened to the letters and hordes of emails and the fans are getting their wish. Jason will get a second chance at finding love on reality television. He has been officially chosen as the next “Bachelor.” 

 

Unfortunately, it will be a long wait to see his journey as the thirteenth go round of the show will not return until January 2009. The good news is that since production has not begun yet this gives ladies who might be interested in meeting Jason a chance to audition for the show.

 

He is certainly not the typical “Bachelor.” Jason will be the first single dad to step into the choser role. He will not be the first divorcee though, as Bob Guiney was also divorced when he became "The Bachelor" in season four after he became a fan favorite during Trista Rehn's (now Sutter) "Bachelorette" stint.

Jason is a father to three-year-old son Ty, living in Seattle, Washington. It’s certainly risky for ABC to put a single father and his son out there in such a vulnerable position again but I’m hearing the show may actually film up in Seattle to not disrupt Ty’s life too much.

The feeling was one of being on top of the world.  

I was standing on the Great Wall of China - some 4,000 miles long and built over 2,000 years ago. It was one of those very few experiences that are awe-inspiring in the truest sense of the word.

The days here in Beijing had been extremely hazy, and many here for the Olympics had talked about visiting the Great Wall and not being able to see very far when they got there. So, when I opened my hotel room curtains and saw blue skies, I knew my prayers had been answered.

The part of the Wall we visited on this day is called "Mutianyu" in the Huairou district of Beijing. History says it was under the supervision of General Xu Da of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the early Ming dynasty. It was many watchtowers and passes built on steep hills and some precipitous cliffs. This part of the wall goes around the ridge like a flying dragon.

"T-shirts! Hats! Cold beer! Very nice!"

Walking up the road that takes you to the gondola is filled with native vendors selling everything from ice cream to Chinese slippers to miniature Great Wall replicas. When we boarded the gondola and started moving, the anticipation was growing for me. Peering out the window suspended high up in the air, I was first able to see the beautiful rolling hills that make the area so magnificently serene. And then, you see "IT." The Wall.

And it is Great. I was just awe-struck. It goes on FOREVER.

My first reaction was "How in the world did they build this?!?" You really want to see how far you can walk, just to see what is on the other side of the coming hill. The parts of the Wall are so different - in some, the floor is flat and leveled, other parts, it's slanted, other times you find yourself climbing very, very steep stairs.

(more great pics, after the jump!)

"Twilight" fanatics have Harry Potter to thank for being able to see Edward and Bella on the big screen three weeks earlier and without any other major competition. Summit Entertainment has moved the highly anticipated adaptation of Stephenie Meyers's first book in the vampire saga up from the film's original release date of December 12th to November 21st.

 

Once Warner Brothers decided to bump "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince" to July 2009 explaining that it, "Perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer" (whatever that means!) the folks at Summit Entertainment immediately jumped at the chance to snatch the date for themselves.  

 

"We are by no means trying to fill the shoes of the incredible Potter franchise for 2008, rather we are just looking to bring the fans of Stephenie Meyer's incredible book series the film as soon as possible from a programming perspective," Summit CEO Rob Friedman explained.

Today was exciting around these parts… very, very exciting.

Michael Phelps’ final race – giving him 8 of 8 in ’08, and the most gold medals in Olympic history – was the stuff of legend.

The games are filled with moments – and this was the moment of all moments.

The energy inside of the International Broadcast Center (IBC) today was electrifying.

At 11 AM, dozens of NBC employees were gathered in the commissary watching Dara Torres’ and Michael Phelps’ final races together. There was cheering… sighing… and high drama – it was powerful and emotional. Even though most folks didn’t have tickets to the final races at the Water Cube, this felt like the next best place to be watching the action.

Afterwards, crowds of people were gathered everywhere in clusters around the IBC, just waiting to catch a glimpse of Phelps, as he made the interview rounds --- from Costas, to Brian Williams, to “Access Hollywood” … on to NBCOlympics.com, and soon, to do the “Today” show.

Billy’s interview with Michael was fun and engaging. You can catch it Monday night on “Access”. He asks the questions that are off the beaten track.

After attending the E3 gaming convention followed immediately by Comic-Con you would think I had my fill of video games. However, this week I was happy to travel to the Rose Bowl for the 20th annual Madden Palooza.

 

This an event where every year the new version of "Madden NFL Football" is introduced. Thousands of video game devotees travel to the event to be among the first to play the new version and purchase it on the eve it hits stores. Fans also get a chance to meet and take photos with retired NFL players. This year Marcus Allen, Willie Holt, Deion Sanders, Steve Young and Warren Sapp were out for the fans. Fans were also treated to a performance by the band Good Charlotte. 

 

My interest in attending was purely personal. My good friend Addie (who used to work here with me) and her husband Greg Zinone are the founders of a charity called "Pro vs. G.I Joe." The goal is to link up professional athletes and celebrities in video game competitions with soldiers both here and overseas as a way to boost morale. "Pro vs G.I. Joe" was invited by EA sports to participate in Madden Palooza a few weeks ago and Addie and Greg were thrilled to join in. Of course, it was a lot of work to pull together in a short period of time. I wanted to do whatever I could to help so I offered my services down at the Rose Bowl for them on Monday afternoon. Of course, I knew I could write about it for my blog so it's technically not ditching work -- which is a good thing because based on my headline for this story my bosses were probably a little suspicious!  

 

I felt like a proud big sister watching Addie and Greg pull it all together. They set up a couch and some gaming chairs in a room underneath the massive stadium. They had hung "Pro vs. GI Joe" signs and camouflage netting to give it an authentic military feel. They set up a TV, a couch, some gaming chairs, the Xbox 360 and a computer monitor with a web cam link to a group of soldiers in Kuwait at the USO gaming center XBox's live gaming tag.

 

Unfortunately, the web cam link was not working so there was a lot of sweating going on as they fumbled to get it to work. A friend stepped in and got it working literally moments before their special guest was set to arrive. EA Sports had been kind enough to arrange for Warren Sapp (a defensive tackle who played for Tampa Bay and then Oakland) to come in and play the group of troops that had come specifically for the event, and those playing in Kuwait.

Breakfast is always a great time of the day for me. The hotel where I am staying here in Beijing has a delicious buffet and I have to race down there every morning in time to get seconds before it closes at 10:00 AM.

This morning, just as the hostesses were telling us, “Last Call,” my friend, Jeremy, who is our miraculous Web site guy here in Beijing, invited me to accompany him to men’s gymnastics. Because this is a popular event, we wanted to get there early enough to get a good seat in the media section of the venue. If we just want to be spectators at an event, our press badges will get us in, but the seats fill up fast with the thousands of credentialed journalists here for the games. The badges will get us in - except if a guy by the name of Michael Phelps is in house and in the water. Forget it. You better have a paid ticket, or you watch it on television.

Jeremy and I scurried through the halls, up the stairs and spotted two really good seats. We sat down just at the moment the predominately Chinese audience erupted into a harmonious chant for their athletes. If you’ve been watching the games, you know they are good.

The Rings…
 
(Pictured:  Korea)













Pommel Horse...

(Pictured:  U.S.A.'s Jonathan Horton)







Floor...

(Pictured: China)







Parallel Bars

(Pictured: Italy)

On the plane ride over to Beijing, there were a lot of Olympic athletes on my flight. It was really cool to see all these men and women wearing their red/white/blue team jerseys walking through the airport. I met some of the track and field team, including Natasha Hastings, who’s running the 4x400 relay. I chatted it up with some of the wrestlers standing in the ticket line and was dying to ask them about their cauliflower ears but held back. Actually, sitting on the plane together - to the joy of the flight attendants who took lots of pictures - gold medalists Venus and Serena Williams. Seated in the aisle opposite the sisters, was Olympic gold medalist Lindsay Davenport.

All the athletes felt like stars as passengers whispered, “Who is that?” and stared every time they saw someone on Team USA.

It was until several hours on the plane that I noticed a really cute guy sitting behind me who was also wearing a USA jersey. Our conversation went something like this:

“What team are you on?” I asked very innocently. “Tennis,” he smiled.

“Oh really? There are lots of tennis players on this flight. Do you know Serena and Venus?”

“Oh, yes, I know them very well.”

“Where do you rank among players?”

“In the world, I think I’m 8th.”

“Wow! You’re pretty good. What about in the States?”

“Uh, well. I think I’m pretty much near the top.”

“Oh really? Impressive. What’s your name?”

I grabbed my favorite Bollywood style purple tank top and headed to the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard for "The Cheetah Girls" One World" premiere. The film, airing August 22nd on Disney Channel, was shot mostly in India and finds the girls competing for a part in a Bollywood musical. This is the first film without Raven Symone as part of the popular girl group known as The Cheetah Girls. Stars Sabrina Bryan, Kiely Williams and Adrienne Bailon remain as Dorinda, Aqua and Chanel.

 

Last night, the street was shut down on one side to make room for a huge blue carpet strewn with bright colored rose petals. The ninety-degree plus heat did not keep young fans away as they lined Hollywood's walk of fame for a glimpse at their favorite Cheetah. 

 

As usual Disney Channel dragged out all their TV kids for a little cross promotion. We always joke about this how at every Disney event if they could they would bring out the janitor or the stagehand from "Hannah Montana" or "The Suite Life" and have you interview them. Of course, for my Disney peeps I'm always happy to oblige and so before the Cheetahs even arrived I was chatting it up with several Disney kids to see what they are up to this summer.

 

14-year-old Mosies Arias who plays Rico on "Hannah Montana" nearly broke my hand. That kids got a mean handshake! He's also got four films coming out this year. Little Madison Pettis, Sophie from "Cory in the House" is just as busy with several projects including "Seven Pounds" with Will Smith. "Cory In The House" has wrapped production on a second season with no word on whether it will come back for a third. 

 

I got differing stories from two "Camp Rock" stars on whether or not a sequel is in the works.  Anna Maria Perez de Tagle says their is and they will begin filming next year while Alyson Stoner says its still not a done deal.

From the Managing Editor

One of the most exciting parts about being over in Beijing, amongst many high points, is that it’s the first time Access Hollywood has had an online staffer travel along with the TV team to an Olympics, which goes a long way to explain how important online coverage has become since 2004  -- both to Access Hollywood, and to NBC Universal as a whole.

There are 16 bodies here in Beijing from Access Hollywood --- 15 for the television show, and 1, namely, myself, for AccessHollywood.com. We all share a very small space together in the International Broadcast Center, and so we work very closely (figuratively, and literally… together).

Our ratio of on-air to online is pretty much in line with the rest of the NBC Universal team here overall. While NBC has had huge numbers on-air this Olympics, the percentage increase on NBCOlympics.com has been staggering! Only four days into the games, NBCOlympics.com has already surpassed the totals for the entire Athens Games in page views (a 27% jump), unique users (a 52% jump), and video streams (a staggering 514% jump!!!) -- and that’s with 12 days of competition left to go!

There are plenty of online journalists here in Beijing, but seriously, I probably have one of the best jobs out of any of them. Sure, there are plenty of sports journalists out here, reporting on results and injuries and doping -- but not me -- I’m writing about athletes’ personalities, and asking them, ‘Who are your favorite movie stars?’, and running all around town with stars like Chris Tucker – filing articles, and even more fun, doing a lot of digital photography.

Each day, I head out with our show’s field producers and listen to and assist on the interviews that we’re conducting (most of my career has been as an on-air producer). Occasionally, I’ll field produce a shoot here or there if the show can use my help. And like most print and online journalists, I rarely have to use my digital voice recorder, because the TV show is already rolling on the interview.

Last night, while shooting our show, a woman was standing in the crowd, holding this baby. I took a picture. Many others did too... this baby represents the youth of this country... steeped in history but young in capitalism and open society. There is innocence to all the people in China. They are very gracious and optimistic, patient and hopeful. 

That baby says it all to me. I've tried to explain it.

I am currently waiting for Phelps at the side door to the “Water Cube”... an interview is my quest. The great thing about covering the Olympics, if you want to do it right, is you have to be willing to run, sweat, linger by a door, hustle and bump. We're doing that and you're all watching.

Thanks.

I am inside and watching the Mens' gymnastics finals and the U.S. team, massively the underdog, is doing well. We’re in the middle of rotation #4 out of 6; the U.S. Team is 2nd. China just passed them. Our guys are performing nearly flawlessly.  

The Chinese are loud and proud. This guy next to me (see photo) is so loud my eardrum nearly popped a minute ago.

"China! China!"… That's how it goes... not very complex, but solid enough.

China is expected to win. Maybe I'll have a "Zelig" moment and run out there on the mat mid Chinese routine... to sacrifice for country... maybe not.

These guys all have the same bodies. It’s amazing. Stout, buff, compact. Gluteus muscles that could crack walnuts. Sorry... stream of conscience here.

Go USA!!

I am finally able to sleep through the night here in Beijing. The time difference is 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles so for the first several days, waking up every few hours during the night was normal. I'm on the other side of the world, which has been very isolating at times. There are a lot of NBC shows here covering the games and for the most part, you see them traveling as a large group which seems like a lot of fun and can only add to the joy of being in another country. The people I'm personally traveling with usually separate into their own socially comfortable groups and I often find myself solo.  

You probably heard the news that an American tourist here for the Olympics was stabbed to death and his wife critically injured in a random knife attack in Beijing, so I am very mindful of that when I venture out by myself, especially as a single woman who can be a target no matter where in the world you are. A lot of my family and friends have been calling and e-mailing, making sure that I'm OK and I tell them that I am fine and will keep my wits about me.  

I oftentimes feel like that person in a strange land who, on one hand is very scared and nervous about their new surroundings but on the other is overwhelmed by the exhilaration of new experiences. I would certainly rather have a traveling partner to explore new areas but, I don't want to miss out on anything this Asian city has to offer.

  Congratulations to Joshua Allen, a 19-year-old street dancer from Ft. Worth, Texas who pulled off an incredible win on the fourth season of 'So You Think You Can Dance." Joshua is the first winner of the popular Fox dance competition to have no formal dance training. The win earned him $250,000 and a role in the film "Step Up 3D."

 

In a conference call with reporters on Friday he spoke about his plans for the future beyond the two month 'SYTYCD" tour which kicks of September 20th in Tacoma, Washington,

 

"I would love to choreograph or be in Missy Elliot videos, Omarion, Chris Brown, Usher, Neo just anyone of those I would love to be in, just everybody."

 

And it’s not just the dance world Joshua wants to conquer. He's also a singer hoping to tackle the music world,

 

"Hopefully a record company tries to jump on it." 

 

The opening of the opening ceremony is nothing short of spectacular. The technological prowess is mind numbing.
Over an hour in, there was a message of global warming..."Ice caps are melting," etc...the odd thing is nowhere is pollution worse than right here in Beijing it seems. The sky above me every day is daunting.

Sorry, it's the truth. It had to be said, now moving on.

Two hours and 40 minutes into the ceremony, a USA athlete was escorted out of the building. Maybe he had to go to the bathroom. He returned about 25 mins later.

The parade of nations is seemingly endless.

Do you ever just get a bad feeling about something and know it's going to go all wrong?

 

Yesterday morning I had that feeling and I should have gone with my gut instinct. I had agreed to cover an event in Hollywood that was a party to help celebrate the release of “American Christmas” -- a CD which features recordings from past top 12 “Idol” alums Nikki McKibbin, RJ Helton, Trenyce, Jasmine Trias and Mikalah Gordon - as well as a few Top 24 contestants and even the rejected Maynard Triplets, who in Season Four Simon Cowell famously called “fat Jessica Simpson’s."

 

It sounded like a grand old cheesy time. They were all going to perform some Christmas tunes together. We would interview them and see what they have all been up to and capture some video of the performance to put online. The whole shoot hinged on one thing though -- I agreed to it because I wanted to do an intimate sit down interview with Nikki McKibbin who was just wrapping filming on the second season of "Celebrity Rehab With Dr Drew" for VH1.

 

Nikki has had a rough year emotionally. Her mother passed away just as Nikki was readying a Las Vegas wedding. Then in March, she was taken to a hospital and placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold after it was feared she was contemplating suicide, still distraught over her mother’s death. When that story broke her manager issued a denial to me and said Nikki did not attempt suicide, rather she had a bad reaction to medication. My plan was to get to the bottom of all this and find out what she learned during her rehab experience. 

 

E-mails were exchanged with her manager and a time was set up for the interview with the explanation that Nikki was the only reason we were coming. We would arrive at 9:00 PM and interview Nikki at 9:30 PM. Around midnight the prior evening, I received an e-mail telling me that Nikki would be needed for VH1 until 10 PM and the interview would occur then instead. This is when I should have known this was going to turn out to be a disaster. On good faith though and because I had committed, we arrived at 9:00 PM (because I was told this was when the red carpet would open for the other “Idols” in attendance.) 

We are two hours early for the opening ceremony here in Beijing. Rob Silverstein, our Executive Producer, and I are sweating like two Greco-Roman wrestlers in a sauna.

That said, our shirts are off and faces are painted....I kid.

 

The "Bird's Nest" is massive in size. The flags of the 205 countries participating in the Beijing games hang breezelessly limp but proud.

 

The idea that some 160,000 some odd people will in some capacity fill this stadium at the peak is almost unthinkable.

Hi Everybody,

I am finally getting a chance to write to you about my incredible trip to Beijing! This is my first time in Asia and my very first Olympics, so I am experiencing so many new things and meeting some phenomenal athletes.

I'm going to try to share with you everything that has been going on. It's not often that I cry during an interview, but I just finished one that was very emotional for me. Even my producer, Whitney, just teared up when she was logging the tape of my discussion and had to leave the room.

I'm sure it will touch your heart also.

Lopez Lomong is the American flag bearer for the Opening Ceremonies and he is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. When he was six years old, he was taken from his family by the militia and forced to become a soldier, only to escape and run away to a refugee camp in Kenya. Then, at age 16 (he is 23 now), he was adopted by an American family, who are now coming to Asia to see their son run in the 1500m Track & Field event for the Beijing Olympics. Quite a story!

Lopez is definitely a star at these games because of his incredible journey, but he surprised me when he walked into our room for our interview and said he was so excited about being interviewed by Access Hollywood! He said that he watches all the celebrity news updates, from Angelina Jolie to Will Smith.

One of the highlights for him, so far, has been meeting the American basketball players who are on the Olympic team; like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. You should have seen his face light up when he talked about taking pictures with them. Lopez says he is truly the American story and when he carries the flag for his new country, he will be thinking about his family back in Africa, especially those who never made it out of the militia camps. He knows he is one of the lucky and blessed ones and we will all be rooting for Lopez Lomong to bring home the GOLD!

Peace, Shaun

It’s amazing to think that most of us have already been here for a week getting ready for the Games to begin.

The energy here has gone from a gentle rumble, to a loud roar.

The streets are full of people and the traffic is insane (thank goodness there’s an “Olympics lane” for media credentialed folks).

It’s truly amazing how much we -- the team at Access Hollywood -- has seen so far… from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square to the Dirt Market and Night Food Market.

And we haven’t even explored the nightlife yet!

It’s amazing to wake up every morning and have Dim Sum for breakfast… to drive through the city and see traditional Chinese pagodas side-by-side with modern skyscrapers… to walk through the hallways of the International Broadcast Center and hear dozens of different languages being spoken.

What a morning it has been! Rattled nerves after I nearly missed my flight to Beijing - a trip I have been anxiously awaiting for three months now.

I was so proud of myself for not overpacking (3 suitcases) for three weeks, only to arrive at the airport and be told my connecting flight to San Francisco was delayed.

Oh no!

But the airplane gods were looking out for me and here I am, sitting in a 747-400 with Serena and Venus Williams right next to me and on our way to China! Have to turn off my BB.

See you when I get to the Olympics!

With less than 36 hours to go before the "So You Think You Can Dance" finale, today comes word that two of the final four dancers took a trip to the emergency room. US Weekly reports 'Twitch' Boss and Joshua Allen were treated for dehydration at Cedars Sinai hospital after collapsing at a weekend rehearsal. The news comes as no surprise as all four dancers, Twitch, Joshua and the remaining females Katee Shean and Courtney Galiano, were candid with Access Hollywood on Friday about the emotional and physical toll the show is taking on them. 

 

Katee, a 20-year-old student from San Jose, California, revealed that after the morning press junket they had an 11 hour rehearsal day ahead of them,"Your bodies are starting to get those long hour rehearsal feelings in you."  

 

20-year-old Commack, NY native Courtney told us she was excited for the finale but it has been a long, tough road, "It went by so quick. It's just been an emotional, physical mental roller coaster for all of us. I think all of us feel like we can do anything after this because we have pushed our bodies to the limit we have pushed our brains to the limit."

Beijing Bushy is on the ground at the Olympic games. We shot all day today around this massive city of 17.4 million people.

First, we went to the "dirt market," which is now tiled, and haggled with vendors selling their wares. That may sound aggressive, but truly, they will sell their items as high as you'll allow. For example, I bought an eyeball watch to hang around my neck for 60 RMB – or, about 8 bucks. It was originally offered at 450 RMB. I quickly became a force with which to be reckoned.

The laughs were plenty.

We then went to the Summer Palace, built in 1750 as a leisure home for emperors and the like. A man-made lake, with a beautiful landscape, Chinese families strolled around, floated around in paddle boats... it was peaceful... and intensely humid.

Next, we hit the "night market," where street vendors hawk exotic meats, innards, bugs etc… on sticks.  I tasted sheep’s testicles. Anything for the camera, I guess. The vendors bark out their "delicacies" with gusto. One of our producers, weak of stomach, ran across the street and up-chucked. It was a character building experience.

Our Access team of 16 is fun, creative and ready for adventure.

The people in China are sweet, kind and helpful. There is no request too much... they want to show the world their home and they are proud.

Tomorrow.... The Great Wall of China, where I will host Access Hollywood. Wow, never thought I'd say that.

By Rob K. Silverstein
Executive Producer

Greetings from 35,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean around 5 hours into a 12-hour journey to Beijing and the Summer Olympic Games which begin at 08.08.08 at 8 PM.

These are my 9th Olympic Games. My first experience was for a camp trip in 1976 to Montreal where the city spent over $2 billion and it took the Montrealers decades to get out of debt. For these games the Chinese have spent $40 billion alone on Olympic venues, that's more than adjusted for inflation. 

(This post is also available at Rob Silverstein's "Access Hollywood Confidential" Blog at TVWeek.com)

I am a huge Olympic fan having grown up watching the Games on ABC with Roone Arledge at the controls. My first memories were the 1968 Mexico City Games followed then by the tragic Munich Games of 1972. I was 12 at the time and will never forget the late, great Jim McKay bringing us the news, "they’re all gone," as the Israeli athletes were senselessly murdered by Palestinian terrorists in, of all places, Germany.  

I also recall my first real sense of patriotism every time an American won and my first sense of sporting outrage and frustration when the USA lost to the Soviet Union in "our game," basketball, in one of the most bizarre and controversial endings in sports history. I believe the reason I went into TV was due to my fascination with the Olympic Games.

So 20 years after the '72 games, in 1992, a dream I had as a kid came true when I worked my first Olympic Games in Albertville, France, for CBS Sports. I went on to work at the '94 games in Lillehammer, Norway, also for CBS. After that, I left sports but still loved the Games -- going to Atlanta, then Salt Lake City right after 9-11 with my wife, and then Athens, Greece and Torino, Italy... all 3 for Access.

My most memorable Olympics, and they are all memorable though, was 1980 Lake Placid, NY... Cold War America not feeling good about ourselves similar to today, and then out of nowhere, and only sports can do this, a group of young upstart Americans strung together the performances of their lives and stunned the world with the "Miracle on Ice." I was there with my dad and brother and can still hear the crowd chanting "USA, USA," as goalie Jim Craig skated around the ice draped in the American flag searching for his dad in the crowd.