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TV FLASHBACK: American Idol Season 8 Revisited
Written by US Townhall staff   
Tuesday, 26 January 2010 04:05

With the new season of American Idol (that's season nine for those counting) now upon us, we thought we'd repost our episode-by-episode rundown of the previous season that saw Kris Allen crowned as the new American Idol.  As expected, runner-up Adam Lambert quickly overshadowed the more understated Allen and has sold more than twice as many albums so far.  Still, Kris gave some memorable performances in his own right last season, so let's take another look at the triumphs and tragedies that collectively came to be known as American Idol Season 8.  We'll begin with semi-final round 2, which is the round that introduced Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta, Matt Giraud, Jasmine Murray, and Megan Corkrey -- all six of whom made the top 13.


 

American Idol 8: Semi-Finals Round 2 Performances, 2/25/09

Round 2 of the semi-finals was last night, and just like the week before, the performances were a mixed bag. Overall this year, the contestants are not as strong vocally as they were in years past, particularly in comparison to last year. Thus far, the new Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, Chris Daughtry, or Carrie Underwood has yet to reveal him- or herself.

Let's take a look at each of last night's performances along with our predictions of who the next 3 contestants will be to make it into the top 12. Each contestant had to sing a song from Billboard magazine's Top 100 chart.

(1) Jasmine Murray sang "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles (2007). In general, this was a good, but not stellar, performance. A couple of notes fell out of key, but she worked the stage well and showed a lot of charisma. The judges all seemed disappointed, and she said she was surprised by their feedback. Given some of the dismal performances that followed, Jasmine still has a pretty good chance at getting into the top 12. Failing that, she would be a shoo-in to be brought back during the Wildcard show.

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Agnes Nixon: The Guiding Light Exit Interview
Written by Scott Katz   
Tuesday, 20 October 2009 12:59

Agnes Nixon (Photo © 2009 Aquarius Enterprises. All Rights Reserved.)In the annals of daytime dramatic programming, perhaps no single person is more well known and representative of the genre than the woman with whom we had the greatest pleasure in interviewing last week: none other than Agnes Nixon.

Although she is recognized as the creator of two-thirds of ABC's current soap opera lineup, having originated both One Life to Live in 1968 and All My Children in 1970, her career as a writer of provocative dramatic serials extends much further back all the way to the late 1940s where she was mentored by none other than the creator of the soap opera herself, Irna Phillips.

When Ms. Phillips left as head writer of Guiding Light in 1958 to focus more on her new hit, As the World Turns, she left the show in the capable hands of Agnes Nixon, who began to incorporate what would become one of the hallmarks of her writing style: crafting stories that were both entertaining and educational. 

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Tom Pelphrey: The Guiding Light Exit Interview
Written by Scott Katz   
Friday, 02 October 2009 17:40

Tom Pelphrey from GL 2005-6 opening sequence, © Procter & GambleSince bursting onto the daytime scene in Fall 2004, actor Tom Pelphrey has quickly become a fan favorite.  He's certainly one of the most popular actors to appear on Guiding Light in the last decade with his charismatic portrayal of the troubled Jonathan Randall, the abandoned son of GL heroine Reva Shayne and Prince Richard Winslow of the fictional island of San Cristobel.

Jonathan's story was as follows: During one of Reva's periodic bouts with soap opera amnesia, she ended up on the tropical island of San Cristobel, met and fell in love with the Prince, and conceived her fourth child, Jonathan.  Jonathan was first seen on the show in 1999, as an 8 to 9 year old boy, after Reva married her truelove Josh Lewis for the second time.  They honeymooned in San Cristobel and Reva's life there as Princess Catherine came to light.  She began to remember that she had to put Jonathan in hiding in order to protect him from Prince Richard's evil brother, Edmund, who wanted the throne for himself.

Cut to five years later in 2004, and Jonathan arrives in Springfield in his early 20s (it's a soap opera thing), hell-bent on revenge because the house that Reva kept Jonathan hidden away in came furnished with an abusive adoptive father.  Coming into town without revealing who he really was, Jonathan seduced and bedded his half first cousin, the virginal Tammy, then revealed to her that he was really her relative.

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Crystal Chappell part 2: Returning to DAYS OF OUR LIVES
Written by Scott Katz   
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 23:30

Some weeks ago, we published the first part of our exclusive three-part interview with Crystal Chappell, the Emmy award winning actress noted for her popular stints as Carly Manning/Katerina von Leuschner on Days of Our Lives (1990-1993), Maggie Carpenter on One Life to Live (1995-1997), and of course, Olivia Spencer on Guiding Light (1999-2009) where she won that Emmy.  In between soap roles, Crystal had numerous guest spots in primetime and syndicated television series.

October 2009 brings Ms. Chappell back full circle to her first front burner role as Carly on Days of Our Lives.  In this second part of our interview with Crystal, she talks about going back to where it all began and working once again with her husband, Michael Sabatino, and Louise Sorel, who tormented Carly as the evil Vivian Alamain.

Days of Our Lives is obviously banking on a nice ratings boost from the near-simultaneous arrival of these three longtime favorites.  Based on what we've seen and heard from the fans who have responded to the first part of our interview, the level of excitement for Crystal's return has reached fever pitch so this was pretty much a safe bet on DAYS' part.  See for yourself on Friday, October 2 as Crystal Chappell makes her grand reappearance on the Salem canvas.

Our thanks once again to Crystal Chappell for speaking with us and to Cathie and the gang over at ccandfriends.com, and Crystal's publicist, Leslie Penny, for making this all happen.

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Tom Pelphrey & the Apothecary Theatre Company Preview
Written by Scott Katz   
Tuesday, 29 September 2009 22:10

Tom Pelphrey of Guiding Light & As the World TurnsJust returned from a fun interview with actor Tom Pelphrey and his friends of the Apothecary Theatre Company.  US Townhall is committed to supporting the entrepreneurs and up-and-comers from all walks of life.  Contact us, and tell us your RealStoryTM.  We want to hear it.

For this RealStory, Tom Pelphrey, Dennis Flannagan, Kate Russell, and Shawn Renfro talk with us about their theatrical venture and all that goes into getting a production off the ground.

Also, we sit one-on-one with Tom Pelphrey, one of the more popular stars of Guiding Light in its recent years, to talk about his experiences there.

 

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MORE INTERVIEWS...

  

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cast of The Apprentice 10

BATMAN film producer MICHAEL USLAN

Sherri Shepherd

Vanessa Minnillo

All My Children creator AGNES NIXON

Bronx Opera's BEN SPIERMAN

cast of Big Brother 12 BOBBY FLAY & STEVE ELLS of America's Next Great Restaurant Cast of the play Bridgeboy
bruce-canwell-thumb chuck-thumb crystal-chappell-thumb dan-kroll-thumb dan-parent-thumb david-lyons-thumb debbie-gibson-tiffany-thumb dede-emerson-thumb
Library of American Comics' BRUCE CANWELL RYAN McPARTLIN & SARAH LANCASTER

CRYSTAL CHAPPELL

part 1: Guiding Light

part 2: Days of Our Lives

soapcentral.com founder DAN KROLL DAN PARENT of Archie Comics DAVID LYONS of The Cape DEBBIE GIBSON & TIFFANY Author DEDE EMERSON of A Different Kind of Streetwalker
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BOB DOWLING of the 3D Entertainment Summit Indie filmmaker ELIANA UJUETA of Beneath the Rock comic book artist JAMAL IGLE Genesis Repertory's JAY MICHAELS, MARY MiCARI, & actors Oscar-winning actor JEREMY IRONS

Animation historian JERRY BECK

1st interview

2nd interview

singer-songwriter JOSH GROBAN

web series producer KAI SOREMEKUN of Chick

1st interview

2nd interview

kathy-bates-thumb kenneth-johnson-thumb kyle-bornheimer-thumb law-and-order-los-angeles-thumb logo-thumb luann-de-lesseps-thumb max-thumb mike-miz-thumb
Oscar-winning actress KATHY BATES of Harry's Law Television producer KENNETH JOHNSON of V, Bionic Woman, Incredible Hulk KYLE BORNHEIMER & HAYES MacARTHUR of Perfect Couples

Terrence Howard, René Balcer

Dick Wolf, Alfred Molina, Alana de la Garza

publisher DAN HERMAN of Hermes Press COUNTESS LuANN de LESSEPS of The Real Housewives of New York City author MAX ALLAN COLLINS of Road to Perdition WWE Champion Mike "The MIz" Mizanin
MillCreeklogo-thumb nick-lachey-thumb niki-taylor-thumb paul-reiser-thumb ricky-gervais-thumb rosie-odonnell-thumb steve-niles-thumb the-event-cast-logo-thumb

JEFF HAYNE of Mill Creek Entertainment

1st interview

2nd interview

singer-actor NICK LACHEY supermodel NIKI TAYLOR talks The Celebrity Apprentice actor PAUL REISER of The Paul Reiser Show actor-producer RICKY GERVAIS of The Office actress-television host ROSIE O'DONNELL comic book writer STEVE NILES

Ian Anthony Dale, Nick Wauters

Jason Ritter, Sarah Roemer, Blair Underwood, Željko Ivanek

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THORE SCHÖLERMANN & JO WEIL of Verbotene Liebe Peabody & Emmy award winning journalist TOM BROKAW Emmy award winning actor TOM PELPHREY of Guiding Light actors from The Apothecary Theatre Company TORI SPELLING & DEAN McDERMOTT of sTORIbook Weddings

 

 

MORE FEATURES... 

 

Reviews & Previews:

Summer 2011 Movie Preview

Fall 2010 Television season

Fra Diavolo

Die Drei Pintos

Romeo and Juliet in Brooklyn

MPI Home Video

Timless Media Group

Boris Karloff's Thriller

Hunter: The Complete Series

Polly and Her Pals

Icons: The DC Comics and Wildstorm Art of Jim Lee

Adrianne Palicki as Wonder Woman

Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern

Spider-Man musical delayed again

Frozen

Dead Space: Aftermath

Altitude

 

 

    

Events:

New York Comic Con

Apprentice 10 kickoff

Farewell to Guiding Light

Farewell to As the World Turns

The Broadway Directory

 

Award Show winners:

Academy Awards

Emmy Awards

Grammy Awards

Tony Awards

American Music Awards

Golden Globe Awards

Screen Actors Guild Awards

American Country Awards

 

    

Television blogs:

American Idol 10

American Idol 9

American Idol 8

Big Brother 12

Big Brother 11

ABC Cancels Both All My Children and One Life to Live

Guiding Light: A Look Back

 

Editorials & Issues:

Scam Alert: Have You Received This E-Mail Job Offer?

Meet the 112th Congress

Brooklyn politicians Kevin Peter Carroll vs. Ralph Perfetto

Before Rosa Parks There Was Lizzie Jennings

Understanding New York State Government

USTownhall RoundTable podcast: The Worlds of Entertainment and Current Events