Entertaining Posts: 08/05/11

Friday, August 5, 2011

Fox tries to play down furor over "Glee" graduates

LOS ANGELES | Fri Aug 5, 2011 6:41pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Fox television on Friday confirmed that three lead characters of its high school musical comedy "Glee" would be "graduating" at the end of the upcoming season, but tried to play down a fan furor over their exit.

Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said the show's Emmy Award-winning creator Ryan Murphy "probably regrets" going public with the news, and the subsequent confusion over a possible spin-off show for some of the departing "Glee" stars.

Murphy told the Hollywood Reporter in July that actors Lea Michele (Rachel), Cory Monteith (Finn) and Chris Colfer (Kurt) would not be back for a fourth season in a bid to keep the show about a struggling high school choir more credible.

The news stunned fans and some of the actors said they learned of their fate on Twitter. "Glee" producers then said that plans were underway for the three to appear in a spin-off show, which had later been canceled.

Reilly said on Friday that the "public nature of it did take everybody by surprise" and had "taken on more heated momentum than it in fact is".

"A spinoff was in the wind. It is still in the wind. We haven't said we are not doing it," Reilly told TV journalists, saying the idea would be revisited later this year.

Reilly said the upcoming third season, starting on September20, would be a "back to basics year" for the show.

"There are no big guest star-driven shows, no big tribute numbers. We are focusing on our core characters and relationships. There will will be a graduation at the end, we know the characters who will be graduating. How that is going to play out, I am not going to say. There's going to be surprises," he said.

Reilly blamed Murphy's "creativity" for the confusion over how the characters will leave the show and a possible spinoff. Murphy's interview with The Hollywood Reporter took place at the end of a successful live summer tour by "Glee" cast members as preparations were being made for the new season.

"I think in the middle of Ryan's creativity, this got out and we were a little surprised at how it took on a life of its own," Reilly said.

"Ryan did talk to all the actors about it...Ryan has said he probably regrets talking about it at that point because in the interim we had decided to focus on this year."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Rowan Atkinson released from hospital after crash

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MTV's "Jersey Shore" premieres to record audience

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Simon Cowell predicts "X Factor" will thrash rivals

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Fri Aug 5, 2011 5:08pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Big, brash and confident as ever, Simon Cowell said on Friday that his upcoming "The X Factor" would thrash the competition on U.S. television and topple "American Idol" as the nation's most-watched show.

Cowell, both executive producer and acid-tongued judge on the U.S. version of "The X Factor" called the singing contest a "game changer" and said it was "completely different" in style and content from his old vehicle "American Idol".

Asked whether he thought "X Factor", with its unprecedented $5 million cash prize for the winner, would beat "Idol" in the TV ratings when it debuts on Fox in September, Cowell told television journalists.

"If I didn't think we could -- and its not just 'Idol', it's any show -- we don't enter something for the silver medal. You do it because you want to be number one, and for the next few months we are going to throw everything at this to try and make it the best show on TV," the British producer said.

"I wouldn't have made the show unless I thought it would be different...we see this as a game changer," he added.

Fox, which broadcasts both talent shows, said it believed "X Factor" would reverse the network's historically "patchy" ratings in the fall TV season.

"If 'X Factor' can do half of what we hope it will do in the fall, Fox is going to be really difficult for the other guys to reckon with," Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly said.

"X Factor" marks the return of the abrasive but popular Cowell to U.S. television after quitting "American Idol" in 2010 following 10 years in the judges' seat, and reunites him with his old "Idol" sparring partner Paula Abdul.

The new show debuts in a now-crowded market for TV talent contests that includes the surprise success of NBC newcomer "The Voice" earlier this year, and established favorites like "America's Got Talent" and a capella contest "The Sing-Off", as well as a revamped and resurgent "Idol" which airs from January-May.

"X Factor" welcomes contestants 13 years-old and up, as well as singing groups. It turns the judges into competing mentors and has contestants auditioning before vast stadium audiences.

"We will show the good bits, the bad bits, the ugly bits -- and there are a lot of ugly bits," Cowell said, saying there was room for more than two or three hit TV singing shows,

While the revamped "American Idol", with new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, increased audiences last season with a softer and kinder attitude toward its aspiring young stars, Cowell has clearly abandoned none of the sarcasm and biting wit that helped make him a star on U.S. TV.

Asked how it felt to be working again with Cowell, Abdul told reporters, "It's nice to be back in a demented relationship. It's like home."

"I think its more like 'The Exorcist 2'," retorted Cowell.

But he confessed that he had met his match in some of the younger contestants auditioning for a spot on the show.

"We have had to say to some of the 14-year-olds 'please be kind to me'...I was quite traumatized after some of the auditions." Cowell said that one young rapper had "absolutely chewed me apart. But I quite like that."

"The X Factor" arrives on Fox on September 21 with a two-hour premiere, and ends with a two-part finale on Dec 21 and 22, where a winner will be chosen by public vote and scoop up a $5 million cash prize, as well as a recording contract with Cowell's Sony Music-owned record label SyCo.

Fox stays mum on Jennifer Lopez, "Idol" talks

LOS ANGELES | Fri Aug 5, 2011 4:19pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jennifer Lopez's future as a judge with "American Idol" is still up in the air, after Fox television on Friday declined to confirm or deny reports that she had signed on for a second season.

Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly told a meeting of TV critics he had no headline-making announcements -- "maybe like confirm Jennifer Lopez or something. No luck there."

The return of Lopez for the upcoming 11th season of "American Idol" has been in doubt after the singer said earlier this summer that she was undecided about doing a second year.

Several news reports, all citing unnamed sources, have reported that Lopez is ready to sign up, and this week, showbiz website TheWrap.com said a deal had been finalized that would pay Lopez just over $20 million (12 million pounds).

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler and veteran record producer Randy Jackson are already confirmed as judges when the talent contest resumes on Fox in January.

Lopez and Tyler joined the judging panel this past season, helping to boost flagging viewership for the aging "American Idol" and maintain its status as the most-watched show on U.S.

TV.

The show has also been good for Lopez. She topped People magazine's "most beautiful" list earlier this year and had a top 10 hit with her dance single "On the Floor."

However, Lopez announced in July that she was divorcing her husband of seven years, Latin singer Marc Anthony, with whom she had twins in 2008.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

ABC apologizes for Nicki Minaj's costume slip up

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Designer Michael Kors to marry in New York

NEW YORK | Fri Aug 5, 2011 11:52am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Will "Project Runway" be staging a gay wedding episode soon?

Michael Kors, a top designer and one of the long-running TV fashion show's judges, said he plans to marry his partner, Lance LePere, now that gay marriage is legal in New York state.

"Lance and I are very excited to finally be able to have the opportunity to marry in our home state after many years together," Kors, a Long Island native, said in a statement.

"We have no plans for a major party, but we will be getting married privately," Kors, 51, added.

Kors and LePere were seen at City Hall in New York getting a marriage license on Thursday, according to media reports. The two met in 1990 when LePere began working at the company as an intern.

Kors is only the latest public figure to announce plans to marry a same sex partner.

Neil Patrick Harris recently reiterated that he and partner David Burtka, parents of 10-month-old twins, had been engaged for several years and would marry, though he said no definite plans had been made as to a date or location.

Harris also has said the wedding would be low-key and private.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Buskers, stars and tourists crowd Edinburgh Festival

By Ian Mackenzie

EDINBURGH | Fri Aug 5, 2011 12:38pm EDT

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - The Edinburgh Fringe Festival swung into exuberant action on Friday as 21,0000 performers ranging from street buskers and mimes to top-class singers, actors and cabaret stars set out to entertain in a city whose population doubles in size over the coming month.

The free-spirited Fringe, the Edinburgh International Festival, the International Book Festival, the military tattoo and major art exhibitions combine in the world's biggest annual arts festival.

The Scottish capital, with a population of around 470,000, virtually doubles in size over the coming weeks. The hoteliers association said its 40 members reported that most of the available 145,000 rooms were taken. A report commissioned by Scotland's festivals said they brought some 250 million pounds ($410 million) to the country's economy annually.

Buskers, magicians, acrobats and brightly clad actors promoting their shows crowded Edinburgh's historic Royal Mile in bright sunshine on Friday, after heavy rain the previous day.

The military tattoo, whose pipe bands and military performances expect to attract 220,000 spectators for its three-week run from Friday through to August 27, has spent 16 million pounds on revamping its seating and facilities on the esplanade of the Castle, which dominates the city's skyline.

The 2,542 shows scheduled for this year's Fringe range from one-person events tucked away in back alleys to world-class comedy, theater and song.

Cabaret has returned this year to feature in the programme. There is also a "free Fringe" in which more than 500 shows can be seen without charge.

The Fringe, which started as an adjunct to the International Festival founded in 1947 as an antidote to the austere days after World War Two, has also given many stars of comedy and theater their first break over the years.

Fringe director Kath Mainland said one reason performers flocked to the city was for the chance of catching the eye of impresarios, talent scouts and agents who gather from around the world in the search of new talent and acts.

The International Festival, with a strong Asian theme this year, runs from August 12 to September 4, and the book festival from August 13 to 29.

(Edited by Paul Casciato)