television

Carrie Ann Inaba’s Dancing With the Stars, All-Stars Blog: Week Two

October 2, 2012 at 4:30 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

Last night was an exciting show—a little bit of sass, a lot of competitive edges coming out, and a few personal victories. I actually woke up yesterday morning feeling a bit under the weather which is never a good thing because it takes so much energy to do our show. But you can’t be sick on a show day in our business. So, I took my medicine and went on with the day hoping I wouldn’t get sicker. People who have never done live TV don’t know the adrenaline rush that comes with our show. It’s like jumping out of a plane and by Tuesday morning, I often feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. No matter how many vitamins I take, or how well balanced my meals are, or even how much rest I get, Tuesday comes and when I wake up….I wonder which bus hit me in my sleep. But in all honesty, I love it. Sure, I’m struggling right now as I sit here with my coffee and eggs wondering if I should go to my “drenched” cardio work out, but I never forget that I have a great job!

I’ve been doing live television for a long time. I was 18 when I landed my first regular live show, so I’ve been working in dance and mostly live television for about 26 years now. I started as a teen pop star singing and dancing my way into people’s homes on a live show in Japan. I loved dancing so much that I begged the producers to let me to continue dancing on the show even though I had released a record and was performing my own songs across Japan. They thought I was crazy—who would want to dance when they could be a star? Me, that’s who. Read more

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The Reader Interview: Reba McEntire

October 1, 2012 at 9:00 am , by Sonia Harmon

Every month an LHJ reader will get the chance to interview one of their favorite celebrities. This month, Michelle Broussard of Missouri City, Texas quizzes McEntire about her new show (Malibu Country), what it means to be a southern belle, and more.

I can’t wait for Malibu Country. What’s your character like?
I play an ex-country singer, whose husband, a very famous country singer, cheats on her. She gets a divorce and moves to Nashville from Malibu to restart her career so she can support her kids.

What makes you a true southern belle?
Southern principles, morals and a good sense of humor. Respecting my elders. I don’t take some things as seriously as other folks.

Do you have any hidden talents?
Not that I know of! I’ve recently taken fly fishing lessons so I think I’m hooked on that.

I’m a redhead too, and my skin is sensitive to the sun. How do you keep your complexion so flawless?
I try to stay out of the sun as much as I can, cleanse my face daily and moisturize a lot! I always look for new products that will erase brown spots and get rid of wrinkles.

When can we expect a new album from you?
I started recording in the studio over the summer so new music will be out soon. Some of the music I’m recording will be for the TV show too.

What’s one food you could live off of for the rest of your life?
Red beans and cornbread—I love that. But one food? Beef stew!

What advice would you give to your 15-year-old self?
Enjoy life. Love yourself. Have fun. Don’t get so nervous. Practice more. Take better care of your body—exercise more and quit picking up 50-pound sacks of cattle feed!

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The Fall TV Workout

September 26, 2012 at 1:21 pm , by jbrown

This week is heaven for TV lovers. Several new shows debut (Animal Practice, The Neighbors, Elementary, etc.) and a slew of favorites return (Modern Family, CSI, Grey’s Anatomy, and so on…you can see the full schedule here.) What’s not so heavenly is how much time you’ll spend on your butt watching all this entertainment goodness. Studies show that the more hours you log in front of the tube, the more likely you are to develop serious health problems like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

So what’s a health-conscious TV fan to do, other than be very picky about what you watch? Make your tube time less sedentary. It’s a great opportunity to fit in strength training—something most women skip. These six exercises allow you to keep your eyes on the screen while you tone your trouble spots.

Couch push-ups If doing push-ups on your knees feels too easy but you’re not quite ready to do them on your toes, incline push-ups like this one are the perfect happy medium.

Side plank This targets your obliques, aka the muscles under the love handles. (I hate using “love handles” but it’s slightly less loathsome than “muffin top.”)

Wide-leg wall sit with calf raises Proof that sitting isn’t always bad for you! This variation on the classic wall sit works your butt, thighs and calves.

Flamingo dip Think you’ve mastered triceps dips? Give this one-legged version a try—it tightens your triceps and your thighs.

Bridge kick You don’t even have to get off the couch to do this butt- and thigh-toner. Seriously. (See images 3 and 4.)

Hammer curl shoulder press Firm your biceps and shoulders while you ogle McDreamy. How’s that for a multitasking move?

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Carrie Ann Inaba’s Dancing With the Stars, All-Stars Blog: Week One

September 25, 2012 at 5:13 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

We’re excited to welcome our new blogger, Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba to the Ladies’ Lounge! She’ll be here every Tuesday giving you her take on the performance show and sharing behind-the-scenes scoop from the set. Check out her first blog below, and tell us what you thought of the season opener in the comments!

Well, we’re officially in season 15, the all-star season and it’s as exciting as I knew it would be. The couples have all danced their first dance and some shone brighter than others but it was like a wonderful reunion of a happy (and maybe slightly dysfunctional) family! Love was in the air, but so were nerves—we even had a live TV moment when the audio cut me off mid comment during my first comment of the night to Joey and Kym. (Luckily, I ran into them backstage so I could fill them in on what I didn’t get to say on air and give them their constructive criticism.) I have to admit that I haven’t had that much fun on a premiere night in ages. You see, what you don’t know is that we judges get nervous too.

Everyone else on our show knows what they’re going to do when they get out there. The dancers and stars know their routines, Tom and Brooke have gone over their prompter reads and walked through their staging, the band has practiced every note of every song under the direction of Harold Wheeler, and the camera operators know their choreography too. But Len, Bruno and I have no script and we have no preparation. We only have our experience, our knowledge and our wit and honesty to draw from, so being a judge is a very intense experience.

Many people ask about the judging process so I thought I’d explain it a little more. We have about 7-10 seconds from when the dancers finish their routines and walk over to Tom for us to formulate our comments and turn in our scores. It can be a bit daunting. There is incredible pressure to be sure we make our point and for me, to do it with compassion and honesty for the performers. I like to look at myself as a mentor and give them with some positive feedback as well as constructive criticism to help them grow. And after 15 seasons our audience knows their dancing and they don’t miss a thing! As much as it may hurt or disappoint the star to hear what may feel like negative feedback, it’s only given to help them improve, which you can’t do if you don’t know what’s going wrong. Read more

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The Reader Interview: Carrie Ann Inaba

August 30, 2012 at 9:30 am , by Sonia Harmon

Every month an LHJ reader will get the chance to interview one of their favorite celebrities. This month, Linda Jacob of Prince George, Virginia quizzes Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba about grading the dancers, her BFF Bruno, and more.

Has the audience reaction ever made you change your opinion of a performance?

There are so many elements that go into a score, and the audience’s response is a big one. After all, a performance is for the audience, so if the audience doesn’t like it, I can’t give it a great score. The other elements that go into my scoring include technique, musicality, their chemistry and the way it all looks.

Who would be your dream partner if you were competing on DWTS?

My dream partner would, of course, be none other than Len Goodman himself. He’s the king of ballroom, and I would settle for nothing less than the best, and that would be Mr. Len Goodman.

Most people don’t know you started off as a singer. What is your singing style like?

I have a voice that’s like Sinéad O’Connor and Karen Carpenter mixed together. And when I write music my style is country/folk, kind of like Tracy Chapman. I like simple ballads and songs that tell stories because I was raised in Hawaii, and in Hawaii all the songs are like folk tales and tell stories. I’m actually getting back into writing again, so it’s nice. I play the piano and the ukulele and I’m learning how to play the guitar.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Read more

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Jillian Harris Blogs The Bachelorette: Season Finale!

July 24, 2012 at 2:46 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

The finale has finally arrived! You guys know that I have been team Jef all the way, so I had my fingers crossed for them. I remember when I was down to the last two on my finale; I had truly fallen for all three final guys. It’s so hard when you realize time how quickly time has flown by and you have to make a decision for the final rose.

Meeting the parents is obviously a huge decision and of course, Emily had little Ricki to think of as well. It’s all about making sure that whatever guy she chooses was the perfect compliment to not only her life, but Ricki’s life too. I’m a new aunt, and I can only imagine how much stress Emily was under to make sure that she was picking the right guy and not just following along with what her parents think. I’m so fortunate to have a very open family that trusts my judgment and they always supported me through the process. At this point I just wanted them to essentially tell me what to do, but I knew they couldn’t.

Jef is such an amazing, genuine and kind guy. You could just see in his eyes how nervous he was talking to Emily’s mom and to me, that shows how much he loves Emily. I also thought it was great that he asked the family what they thought about Emily doing the show. He really opened himself up and I think Emily’s parents saw honesty in him. Do you guys think that Emily should have introduced Ricki to the guys before she made her decision in order to judge how good they would be with her? It’s such a big step and hard to predict, but I can also understand why she wouldn’t want to confuse Ricki.

I couldn’t believe that Arie would be going up against such tough competition after Jef met the family! It seemed like her family definitely had their mind made up about Jef. Is it just me or did it seem like Arie was talking more about himself than asking questions? Maybe it was just edited that way. And who knew that Arie dated a single mother? I think that gave him a little advantage, but I agree with what Emily’s brother said—his answers felt forced and unnatural. Arie and Emily didn’t have that look in their eyes where you can tell that they’re in love. To be honest, I thought their kiss was a little awkward. It seemed like she was pulling back a little bit, no? Read more

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Jillian Harris Blogs The Bachelorette: Episode 10

July 18, 2012 at 12:57 pm , by Ladies' Lounge

To be honest, I’ve always had a hard time recapping my thoughts on the Men Tell All and Women Tell All specials. To me, we already know who’s a jerk, who’s awesome and who’s not.

I struggled through the beginning of this episode but that came to a screeching halt when I saw the Bachelor Pad previews. I know this is supposed to be all about Emily but I’ve been getting a lot of tweets about Bachelor Pad 3 and I’d like to clarify a few things. I have no qualms about Ed or Reid being on the show, and I’ll probably tune in if I’m at home on a Monday night. I have no opinion on whether I’m on “team Ed” or “team Reid” because I have yet to see what all of the commotion is about. No offense to either guy, but based on my time with a certain one of them I highly doubt it’s actually about me. That ship sailed a long time ago and I’m just happy to see the guys doing something fun and exciting. To be frank, I hope Ed wins, but it might be a surprise to most of you to learn that being the “winner” of The Bachelorette is not financially rewarding. After everything is said and done, he might was well make some benefit from it all. I am in an amazing place in my life right now; I’ve never been happier. So it’s not awkward, weird or sad to see one of ex-boyfriends on the show! You can read more of my thoughts about this on my blog.

A few quick notes about Men Tell All…I was disappointed in Kalon. But I guess it is what it is and I’ll give him one thing—at least he knows who he is and isn’t wishy-washy about it. He stood his ground and didn’t waver. I know his attitude and personality leave something to be desired, but I’ve always said I’d rather be friends with an a**hole who owns it than one who fakes it. Just know who you are and own it! Read more

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