Media Mondays...on a Tuesday

Hello, Chris Hardwick....young kids know him from his YouTube Nerdist channel.  Older kids know him from MTV's Singled Out with Jenny McCarthy.

Well, we can't always be on time, can we?  I am finally getting to this post on a Tuesday after hopping on a few planes to cover events in Las Vegas, LA, and Detroit.  I was all over the place, but I had a whole lot of fun.  Take a look at some of the events I covered last week:

IAWTV Awards:  I was grateful to be nominated with my fantastic co-host, AJ Gibson, for our AfterBuzz TV show of So You Think You Can Dance.  We had so much fun in Vegas.  It was also nice to be back on the red....uh, blue carpet interviewing the nominees for IAWTV.  Thanks to the Academy for giving me that opportunity. For my fashionistas, my dress info is here.



Oscar Nominations:  I then ran home on Wednesday to cover the Oscar Nominations for Starpulse.  All of my coverage is here.  Watch the Leonard Maltin interview.  He gives some great insight on the Oscars race.

With the cast of Squaresville.  I clearly need help with my square.

Tom Barnard Podcast:  We talk Elvis, Jake the Snake, and the Oscars race. Listen here.

Cocktails and Conversation:  I am back for a special episode to talk about....you guessed it..Oscar Nominations!  Robin also won the Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge this year.  She's going to get a $25 gift certificate to the store of her choice....once she tells me the store of her choice! Listen here.

Acting up on the red carpet with Misty Kingma.

SheKnows:  All of my Oscar nominations articles are here.  However, I wrote about a few other things last week.  The more interesting ones:
Ben Affleck gets the last laugh--He also did on Golden Globes night!
Charlie Sheen gets the LA mayor in trouble--Seriously, don't hang out with Charlie.
Demi Moore is keeping her cougar status--Because she can.

With the cast of The Digits at IAWTV Awards

The Radio Dish:  We talk about the Biebs and paparazzi in this edition of the Hollywood Bling. Listen in at the 20:00 mark.

 I speak a lot.......just ask my significant other.

 What?!!  Someone wanted me on their panel?  Wow.  Thanks, New Media Expo!

With the AfterBuzz TV crew....me, AJ, Phil Svitek, and Cathy Kelley.

My 2013 Oscar Nominations Coverage

Well, the longest day of the year has officially come and gone.  Yep, Oscar Nominations Day is always   a fun, but tough day to get through. This year, I woke up at 1:30am so I could get to the theatre in time to set up at 3am.  By 4am, I was happily eating bacon and a Jamba Juice in preparation for the big announcements. (By the way, Jamba Juice and Coffee Bean sponsored the beverages this morning.  That's a first and it was totally appreciated.)

No heels until showtime.  A girl has to be comfy at 4am.

As always, the nominations came at a fast and furious pace for a total of 8 minutes.  Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone were completely charming and I am excited for Seth's hosting gig.  Then the nominations came and wow!..... there some major snubs.

Here's my article on the Snubs and Surprises for SheKnows.

It's great catching up with old friends.  Megan Telles from ABC Las Vegas.

This year, after giving my video assessment with The Academy's nominations, I was lucky enough to interview legendary film critic Leonard Maltin and the executive producers for this year's show, Neil Meron and Craig Zadan.  The producing duo gave me some great inside scoop on what to expect for this year's show.

Here's my video coverage for Starpulse.

And my pal Luz Peña from MundoFOX

Finally, my favorite thing to write is the behind the scenes scoop that you miss while watching the nominations on TV.

So, here's what you missed this morning with my Top 5 for SheKnows.

The dress was $74.99 retail, but I used Ebates to get additional money off.

The Dress:

This was the winning dress! Congrats to Robin who picked this "Luck Be a Lady" dress from Modcloth.  It fit like a glove and the PR team from Modcloth agreed after they saw my photo on Twitter.  Robin gets a $25 gift certificate to the store of her choice. (By the way, I added a thicker belt versus the skinny belt the dress came with to slim down my waistline on camera.)

As for the Shabby Apple dress, Jennifer picked a beautiful dress for me.  However, the one that was sent to me was not the champagne color, it was gray.  The lining of the dress didn't match up with the lace, so it was poorly constructed.  I was pretty disappointed in the overall quality.  So, Jennifer has great taste, I just wish the Shabby Apple dress was exactly the same as what we saw online. The good news is that Jennifer can relish in the fact that she won the popular vote.  Her pick received 58% of the vote.


Finally, I had fun with James Molnar of Gold Knight Blog who assessed the Oscar Nominations in a fan chat for Spreecast.  Do you agree with our picks?

 My awesome cameraman, AJ, who did a great job shooting all of the videos today.

Hanging with Oscar

The Finalists: Oscar Nominations Dress

It's year 3 of my Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge! Is your dress among the finalists?  Here are this year's two finalists chosen for very different reasons:

1.  Dress 1:  Shabby Apple
     This is a shape that I don't normally choose, but I like the elegance of it.  It's simple yet perfect for the tradition of the Oscar nominations.  My only concern is if this color will wash me out on camera, but like Jennifer said when she submitted this dress, "I know you want bright colors, but I love the lightness and texture on this- maybe have some deep red lipstick in hand? A la old Hollywood."

2.  Dress 2:  ModCloth

ModCloth was a runner-up in 2011, but the fit was a bit off.  Let's hope this year I got it right.  The color is great for camera and it has a bit of Mad Men glamour that is perfect for the sophistication of the event that morning.  As Robin also mentioned when she submitted this dress on Facebook, "They have wonderful good looks - really affordable too!"

Both dresses should arrive next week just in time for the Oscar Nominations.  Which one is your favorite?  

Vote below and be sure to see the dress I choose on Thursday, January 10! Winner receives a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. Good luck!

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Oscar Nominations Dress Challenge 2013

Can you believe it's that time of year again?  This is one of my favorite events that I run over here on Red Carpet Closet because it is so much fun! I need help finding a dress for Oscar Nominations morning on January 10, 2013.  Yep, it's earlier this year and we are going to have to do this over the Christmas break. Remember though, the winner gets a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. For those of you that are new to this challenge, YOU get to chose the dress that I wear for a one of Hollywood's biggest events. 

Here are some guidelines:

1.  It is not a red carpet event.  So, I am looking for a dress that is simple, classic and understated.  Think of a DVF wrap dress or a Jackie O. sheath.  I am short (5'3"), so I want to show off my legs versus lots of cleavage (which I don't have anyway) to give the illusion of height.  I love shoes, so I want to pick something hot and sassy from my shoe wardrobe.  One note from last year, even though I want a dress to show off my legs, please no so-short-I-can-see-your-hoo-ha dresses.  The Oscar Nominations are a very conservative event, so I'd like to keep it that way. 

2.  I will be working at 5AM PT that day.  I want a dress that is easy, comfortable, and not fussy.  I hate pulling and tugging at my dress because I feel self-conscious.

3.  I like color.  It looks great on camera and adds brightness to my face since my hair is currently light blonde.  Please avoid red or crazy patterns because they have a tendency to moray on camera.

4.  The budget is important.  Let's keep the dress under $200 and it has to be available online in sizes  2 or 4. 

Here are the two winners from 2011 and 2012:

For more information on the winning dresses from 2011 and 2012, click here and here.

2011:  Dress by Banana Republic

2012:  Dress by Aqua

Are you up for the challenge?  

The Rules:

1. Find me a dress by Wednesday, January 2 at 11:59pm PST. It must be available online. So post the link in the comments below with your contact info.

2.  The dress must be available in the U.S., but international contestants are welcome to join us for this contest.  

3.  Two finalists will be announced on Thursday, January 3 and the winner will be announced on Thursday, January 10.

4.  Winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to the store of their choice. 


If you have any questions, post in the comments below.  Otherwise, ready, get set, shop!


If you haven't entered my Holiday Giveaway, enter here.  There are lots of fun items and it's so easy to enter.