The fourth season of "So You Think You Can Dance" is done, Courtney Galiano is back home and Alex Iglesias got the inside scoop on the show from the former Knicks City Dancer ("I'm always going to be a Knicks City Dancer") right outside of Madison Square Garden.
Check out Part Two of the big interview right here:
Fall is nearing, and with it comes much better TV and the start of hockey season. But those of us who treasure both were given a tiny gleam of hope this summer in the form of "MVP," a hockey romantic drama dumped by Canadian TV and picked up by SoapNet. Hey, every show can't be "Mad Men."
Tonight marks the season finale of the show - which just might be the series finale as well. Since The Monitor is not ready to say goodbye to Trevor, Molly, Damon, and Gabe (aww, Gabe) for good, we present our Top 10 Reasons to Keep "MVP" Alive:
10. It's all the fun of "Footballers Wives" without the pesky British accents. Believe us, once you get past "a-boat," it's smooth sailing.
9. Amazing cameo opportunities. We know the show is trying to keep it surreal (the Mustangs recently played the New Jersey Demons), but we can think of a whole mess of real-life hockey players with excellent on-screen presence.
8. The subtitle: He Shoots, She Scores. We don't know who writes this stuff, but we don't want to live in a world where he or she is an unemployment line.
7. Eye candy - and there's really something for everyone. There's the really bad boy, the super-talented rookie who poses in his underpants and a dreamy Prince Charming type. Plus there's no shortage of girls in beautiful (the wives) and/or very little (the "fans") clothing.
5. Shock factor. We really didn't think that a soap opera could surprise us anymore, but there we were gasping over one scene in last week's episode. And no, it wasn't the shooting. (Spoiler alert: There's a shooting.)
4. Hardly any hockey scenes, like, ever. At first we thought this was a bad thing, until we saw their sad, headless excuses for on-ice action. Ohh, it's terrible. Thank you for sparing us and focusing on the off-ice action.
3. Unparalleled locker-room insight. The veteran goalie wears a threadbare (and stinky) lucky undershirt, huh? Just as we suspected.
2. The world needs more hockey-based narratives. We hope to someday have enough for a top 10!
1. The nice girl gets the best guy (we hope ... there is still a chance that tonight's episode will ruin it all).
Soap watchers, hockey fans, what do you think you of the show? Tell us about it!
The days are long and hot this time of year, and winter may be the furthest thing from your mind right now, but it's coming up quick — Christmas is only 125 days away!
Alex Iglesias caught up with people celebrating Christmas in August at Radio City Music Hall, home of the Christmas Spectacular, and got them to share some of their best holiday memories. Check it out right here:
Madonna.com runs down the Sticky & Sweet Tour by the numbers. Our favorite figures: "180 QTips used for entire tour (3 per night)" and "12 Traveling trampolines." Madonna takes over The Garden for four nights in October.
The Rumor That Never Rests: Page Six reports that Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are finally going to get around to recording that duet. Commence breath-holding now.
Kanye Blog Watch: Still no tribute to Julius Carry, a veteran character actor perhaps best known as Sho'nuff in the Harlem-set cult classic "The Last Dragon." Come on, Kanye. You own him one. Carry died Tuesday in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer, Variety reports. He was 56. He was also fantastic:
Alex Woodard's self-titled album hit stores yesterday. So who is Alex Woodard? Well, Alex Iglesias met up with the man at Johnny Utah's and learned that he's a singer/songwriter who loves autumn in New York, blogging, The Beatles and playing shows at fans' homes. No, seriously.
The fourth season of "So You Think You Can Dance" is done, Courtney Galiano is back home and Alex Iglesias got the inside scoop on the show from the formerKnicks City Dancer ("I'm always going to be a Knicks City Dancer") right outside of Madison Square Garden.
Maxwell is coming! Maxwell is coming! Ever since Spin showed us his new bespectacled look (see page 70) we've been very interested in seeing more, and now Maxwell has announced an October 9 show at Radio City Music Hall. Tickets go on sale Friday.
Brooklyn's TV on the Radio have posted the new song "Golden Age" on their website. Idolator loves it, and so do most of their commenters. So what do you think, is it more "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" or "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"?
Kanye Blog Watch: He's a fan of the cover of the latest issue of King, featuring "Flavor of Love" star Hoopz. OK, that's minorly interesting. What keeps us coming back for more is the fact that he has to write "NO SERIOUSLY" twice in his headline. No, seriously.
Dave Matthews Band saxophonist and founding member LeRoi Moore died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 46. Moore had been recovering from a June ATV accident. The band paid tribute to their friend at last night's show at the Staples Center in L.A.:
If you didn't get tickets to see Miley Cyrus perform live (and it's very likely that you didn't), you can now experience the magic at home. "Best of Both Worlds: The 3-D Movie," the Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana concert DVD — featuring our New Jersey faves the Jonas Brothers — hit stores today.
We're pretty sure that the title is a reference to the concert's Cyrus/Montana combo set (Here's a hint: If there's a blond wig with bangs, it's Hannah), not a nod to the Jonas Brothers' curly/straight hair mix, but either way, it works. The title is also very familiar, but we think this time they really got it right.
Here's a look at three previous releases named "Best of Both Worlds," and why Miley simply wears it better:
Best of Both Worlds - Jay-Z and R. Kelly collaborative LP/tour Turns out that when the reigning kings of hip-hop and R&B join forces, you don't get the best of both worlds so much as a major fiasco. And we don't want that in 3-D.
Best of Both Worlds - Van Halen hits compilation Like these people, The Monitor loves Van Halen, so our main objection here is organization. You have two CDs, you want to showcase DLR and Hagar, you give them each a disc, right? Wrong. If they couldn't even get that sorted out, we can't even imagine how badly a 3-D attempt would go.
"Best of Both Worlds" - British TV series Diane Sullivan has a family in London and a new love in Italy. Constant lying and twice the trouble - what's so great about that? Do we even have to tell you that they did not shoot this in 3-D? Didn't think so.
Brooklyn hip-hon icon Jay-Z has been unseated by Queens rap mogul 50 Cent on Forbes' Hip Hop Cash Kings list, MTV News reports. 50 earned $150 million over the past 12 months to come in at #1. Jay-Z, who drops to #2, took in $82 million this year.
Shakespeare in the Park has extended its production of "Hair" for a third time. The acclaimed revival will close August 17August 31September 7 September 14! While on the Playbill site we also learned (via banner ad) that Stephen Collins and Drew Lachey are starring in "Spamalot." Yes! "7th Heaven" fans finally get to see more Stephen Collins singing.
The Central Park Film Festival's celebration of the five boroughs kicks off tonight with a screening of "Working Girl." Who says Staten Island doesn't get enough respect? "The French Connection" (Bronx), "Strangers on a Train" (Queens), "Moonstruck" (Brooklyn) and "August Rush" (Manhattan) round out the week. P.S. The "Moonstruck" house has sold after two years on the market.
The Monitor is pretty sure that the Rod Stuart Loves the Hamptons movement only exists to enrage. Aside from the "Who cares?!" premise, how tough is it to spell Stewart correctly? And now I have "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" stuck in my head. Thanks a lot.
Eight subway musicians remain in the "NYC Sound Tracks" running, and they need you to pony up virtual change NOW in order to advance to the next round of "NYC Sound Tracks" - and hold on to the chance to perform at one of MSG's venues.
Missed last night's show? Check out Part One below and go to MSG.com/soundtracks to watch the rest. While you're there, get to know all of the contestants, watch their extended performances and drop some pretend dough on your favorite finalists before the voting ends at 8PM today. (Be generous - it won't cost you a penny!)
Those Morgan Freeman-voiced ads saluting Michael Phelps' historic Olympic gold haul are pretty great, and there is no doubt that Phelps' amazing achievement is the biggest story of the past week. But as of publish time, the Phelps video sits at #3 on the (always changing) Viral Video Chart, only one spot ahead of Jason Mraz's video "I'm Yours."
The Monitor likes "I'm Yours." The song is so cute ("You're so hot that I melted" gets us every time) and the video looks good. But we can't figure out why the web is going crazy for the video right now when it was posted back in March. Our standby answer, "They played it on 'The Hills'," doesn't hold either — "The Hills" doesn't premiere until tonight. We are seriously stumped. Will you watch the clip and explain it to us?
NewYorkology spotted a group of good-looking young people being followed by a camera near Pier 41 in Red Hook last week. Is it the new "Real World" cast? Probably. One Curbed commenter ran into the same group at Fairway. (Several other Curbed commenters want to know what this is being covered on Curbed.) Have you had any run-ins with the seven strangers? Tell us about it!
Legendary record producer Jerry Wexler died Friday at his home in Florida. He was 91. The Bronx-born Atlantic Records partner coined the term rhythm & blues, brought the music to a mainstream audience, and helped define the signature styles of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. He also signed Led Zeppelin, Willie Nelson, Santana and George Michael.
The fourth season of "So You Think You Can Dance" is done, Courtney Galiano is back home and we got the inside scoop on the show from the former Knicks City Dancer. Watch part two of the interview right here.
Thanks to "MVP," our summer wasn't completely devoid of hockey and new TV. Tonight is the season finale, but we hope it isn't the series finale. Here's 10 reasons to keep "MVP" alive:
Hey, did you know that Christmas is only 125 days away? Meet the people getting a jump on the celebration at Radio City Music Hall's Christmas in August event.
Madonna.com exposes the singer's Sticky & Sweet Tour by the numbers. Keep an eye out for Brooklyn band Ra Ra Riot. Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake rumors recirculate.
The fourth season of "So You Think You Can Dance" is done, Courtney Galiano is back home and Alex Iglesias got the inside scoop on the show from the former Knicks City Dancer. Watch now.
Hannah Montana's "Best of Both Worlds" DVD has the Jonas Brothers and a very familiar title. So who wears the name better, Miley, R. Kelly, & Jay-Z or Van Halen?
"Whitney Houston Live, September 27," reads a sign hanging outside a Bay Ridge bar. But will the diva really perform on a little-known stage in Brooklyn? Plus 50 Cent beats Jay-Z in a contest where both NYC rappers are winners.
Local singers line up in New Jersey for a chance at "American Idol" fame. Neil Diamond is spotted on the subway. Red Hook gets invaded by "The Real World."
Between "Iron Man" and "Tropic Thunder," 2008 is shaping up to a big year for Robert Downey Jr. Here's a completely subjective list of his 10 greatest performances.
If the promos for "Heroes" and ads for the new "90210" haven't tipped you off already, we're here to break the bad news: summer is almost over and fall TV is right around the corner.
