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By Jeremy BlacklowManaging Editor
Ahhh, another spring week,
another booted "Idol!"
Laura's on vacation this week, so
I'm pinch-hitting in her absence.
This week we lost Chikezie – the
man who dropped his last name WAY too soon before he became famous. C'mon
Chikezie, even Fantasia waited until she WON "American Idol."
I'll miss his personality and his
name, but his singing… not so much.
Last night's "Idol" was
more of the same – I was surprised to see Syesha in the Bottom 3, but I was
happy that Carly escaped the same fate. Jason Castro is starting to bury all
goodwill that he built up with "Hallelujah" three weeks ago.
Oh, and David Cook is kinda officially the "Idol" front-runner now. He's definitely gained serious momentum. In fact, our friends at TV Guide have him with 50 percent of the winning vote, compared now with David Archuleta's 2nd place 16 percent. I seriously never saw this coming in the first couple of weeks. At the start of the competition phase, this would have been the reverse.
Neil LaBute isn't a gentle playwright.While some dismiss him as merely a shock jock for the live stage, his body of work reflects a nuanced & powerful writer who also happens to have an amazing command of the English language.
His latest stage production, "Some Girl(s)," just opened at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, and I recently got a chance to check it out.
This is the third production of "Some Girl(s)" to date, all of which have starred former male NBC sitcom stars as their lead. Yet LA's is the first production of "Girl(s)" that LaBute has directed himself. The original London production starred David Schwimmer ("Friends") as 'Guy,' a writer who is about to be married, but before he takes the leap decides he's going to go visit four ex-girlfriends in an effort to, "make things right between them."
Click Here To Watch A Clip from "Some Girl(s)"
The New York production starred Eric McCormack ("Will & Grace"). The LA production stars an endearing Mark Feuerstein ("Good Morning, Miami").
As with his previous works ("In The Company Of Men," "Fat Pig," "The Shape Of Things"), "Girl(s)" asks the LaBute-ian question of, "When is it OK to hurt somebody?"
By Jeremy Blacklow, Managing Editor
I awakened today to two pieces of urgent news:
1) Early this morning, another of Young Hollywood's elite, Mischa Barton, was arrested on Suspicion of DUI charges and driving without a valid license, and…
2) Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was assassinated in a suicide attack, sending shock waves of rioting through a country already in the midst of nuclear instability.
Guess which story I've been spending most of my day on?
If you guessed "Mischa," you're correct!
Mischa… Mischa… Mischa … in the words of Jay Leno, "What the hell were you thinking?"
Your hit show's been cancelled, your career is at a stand-still and now you choose to jump on the DUI bandwagon?!
Looking back on 2007, this was the year when going to jail on illegal driving-related charges has been in vogue – Lindsay, Paris, Nicole, Kiefer, Michelle… the list goes on and on.
And what's truly frightening is how much these antics have kept these celebrities in the news!
Haven't been on the front pages of Celebrity Web sites lately? Heck! Get a DUI! You'll be right back up there with the rest of the pack.
The "Across The Universe" soundtrack is currently #3 on iTunes album charts behind Kanye West and Reba McEntire -- 50 Cent lingers at #6.
In fact, Eddie Vedder & Colbie Caillat also have albums ahead of Fiddy!
Albeit on the Billboard album chart, Fitty is resting comfortably at #2 behind Kanye, while "Across The Universe" is only at #49.
But the little Beatles album-that-could, very well could be picking up steam.
In celebration of the United Nations' International Day of Peace, cast members from "Across the Universe" will lead audience members in a sing-along with the film at the ArcLight Theatre in Hollywood tonight September 21, 2007. The event's open to the public, and cast members Evan Rachel Wood, Martin Luther, and Dana Fuchs will introduce the 8:00 pm show and lead audiences into the special sing-along presentation.
Here at Access Hollywood, we take "Lost" very seriously -- sometimes... obsessive-compulsively (see effigy votive candle pictures, above):
General consensus on the "Flash Forward" Season 3 Finale = Darn Good.
Some random staff thoughts:
Best line of the night (Keith): Hurley: "Attention.... Others..."
Best Theory (Bryant): "AGREED AND JACK AND KATE LIED ABOUT SOMETHING MY THEORY IS THEY LEFT MANY FOLKS ON THE ISLAND AND HAVE LIED ABOUT IT...
THE GUILT IS DRIVING HIM NUTS AND KATE IS DOING HER BEST TO IGNORE IT..."
Best Moment (consensus... tie): Hurley mows down The Others in the VW van .... and, Charlie's death scene.
(Ratings news... after the jump)
The Access Hollywood staff got very excited over last night's episode of "Lost" -- here's a bit of our back-and-forth e-mail conversation throughout today!
JB: Perhaps one of the top episodes ever!
Love her or hate her -- hard to argue that Juliet's not a great character.
What we learned:
- The Others can cure cancer
- but they can't cure tumors ???!!!
- Women who become pregnant on the island, can't give birth (which kind of tells us that the Others are trying to create a Utopian society and explains the kidnapping of children)
- Sun's in trouble
- Mikhail developed the portfolios on the 815 crash folks
Did anyone else notice Aaron appeared to say "Claire" towards the end -- weird … like the Hurley bird.
NF: Couldn't disagree more. The entire episode was spent building our sympathy for a girl that they then throw out completely with the stupid Shyamalan ending. All we really learned was things we've known for some time:
Jack makes terrible choices in woman
Never question Sayid's instincts
Ben has a fetish for proving to people what day it is
Claire has terrible luck
No one asked questions
And the producers love to screw w/ an overly loyal fan base
KF: Come on, NF, 'no one asked questions'? Sayid did exactly what you've been calling for since the beginning. "I want you to tell me everything..."
Major Good Spoilers After The Jump At End Of Post (You've Been Warned!)
By Jeremy Blacklow, Managing Editor
Make no doubt about it -- the Anna Nicole hoopla has everything to do with money.
And not just the half a billion in Marshall family money up for grabs in Federal court.
The loss of Ms. Smith is a great tragedy. Although she always put on the “ditzy blonde” show in public, I always felt that I could see the troubled child lying just underneath the surface of her thick shell. She had a tremendous sense of childlike innocence about her. She seemed misunderstood, gentle, sweet & harmless.
I know I’m in the minority on this one, but I actually believed that she didn’t just marry J. Howard Marshall for his money. When I heard her speak of him, I genuinely believe that she loved him. Because let’s face it, amongst all of the many things that Anna Nicole was, she was not a great actress.
But it wasn’t just Larry Birkhead or Howard K. Stern who seemed to want a piece of the Anna gravy train – the entire media world wanted some of her as well.
With the Golden Globes just days away, the stars are getting their goodies, but not everyone has been practicing proper gift suite etiquette.
For starters, former model and reality TV star Janice Dickinson has just been kicked out of the Silver Spoon swag palace for acting crazy! We know it’s Janice and she’s always outrageous but this time she was caught by our spy, defacing a photo of Andy Dick. Her biggest faux paux though? She made a huge scrawl on a “Celebrities sign here” type poster, writing her name over other, more famous signees.
Not happy with her move, she was asked by staff to leave prompting Janice to react Trump style, by threatening a lawsuit. Our spies report the staff at the event told her to go ahead, as long as she left her free goodies before filing. That got her quiet. She then packed up her stuff and left. On a rather safety-conscious note, suite promoters had her car followed home to make sure she made it there safely.
What did Lindsay pick up at the Silver Spoon Suite? .... (click below)
As a professional observer of Britney Spears' daily life, loves and general on goings, I'd like to offer a word of advice to current boy du jour, Isaac Cohen: enjoy your 15 minutes.
Like Bit Bit, K-Fed, and J.R. before you, chances are .... you're about to be kicked to the curb.
You see, Isaac, who refers to himself as "Eyezik" on his MySpace page (which he's taken down since the pictures of him and Brit Brit have surfaced ... guess he's getting too famous), is in for a very rude awakening. Brit likes her men, like she likes her Chihuahuas -- small, frightened, and dispensable.
In the Hyundai of love, Brit is the driver, and you, Eyezik, are simply along for the ride.
So don't quit your day job just yet -- play your cards right and there just may be a VH1 reality show in your future.
by Billy Bush
Some happy news and some sad news. I will lead with the positive:
Last night, I took my wife and my mother-in-law, who is visiting from Mississippi, to Wolfgang Puck's new celebrity soaked steakhouse, Cut.
The food was great, the wine was great, Janet Jackson was there lying low at a table for two with a friend.
The highlight of the night... and believe me, my mother-in-law has already called back home to Mississippi and told half the town... was Bruce Willis coming over to the table and squeezing into the booth next to her.