Leah Remini & Corbin Bleu Interviews: Get Excited For DWTS Season 17!

Is it Wednesday yet? I'm dying for the ABC reveal of the Season 17 cast for DWTS. As I was going over the rumored cast list, I realized I had two old interviews with possible cast members: Leah Remini and Corbin Bleu. Coincidentally, the red carpet interviews I have with them were both done at the same event. It was the LA opening of the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus back in July 2011.

Both of the interviews were pretty hilarious. Leah misunderstood my question, so watch have the whole thing goes down...over and over...



My interview with Corbin was kind of awesome because I had tickets to see him in Hairspray at the Hollywood Bowl as Seaweed J. Stubbs...and yes, the boy can dance. I think both Corbin and Leah are going to add a ton of personality to Season 17. Bring it on!

Are you ready for this season? I sure am!

Opening Night At The Hollywood Bowl with Reba and Chaka Khan

One of my greatest summer pleasures in Los Angeles is the Hollywood Bowl.  I go every year to catch everything from Hall and Oates to Gustavo Dudamel to the Broadway musical, Hairspray.  I have never been to the Opening Night at the Bowl which always honors the inductees to the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame.  My amazing friend, Annie, who was working on the production, offered me two tickets to opening night.  How could I say no?  Well, the seats turned out to be gorgeous box seats with the most incredible view of the stage--a completely different experience for someone like me who normally buys the $10 seats in the last row.  If you live in the LA area and you haven't taken advantage of the Bowl in awhile, check out their schedule here.  It's an affordable entertainment option for the summer season.

Here are a few photos from my evening with my usual inside commentary.....

 Tarrah and I joked about our "terrible" seats all night long.......

 Okay, see that last section all the way in the back?  Yep, that's where I normally sit. By the way, the bathrooms are way nicer and more plentiful by the box seats too.  Higher price=better life?

 This photo makes me giggle--I'm taking a self-portrait on my iPhone while Tarrah is busy Tweeting on her iPhone.  Steve Jobs would be proud.

 The host of the evening, Julie Andrews.  She's a Dame, but prefers to be called, "Julie".

 The super sweet Reba McEntire.  Her awesome fans followed me all night on Twitter.  They love their gal, Reba. 

 Souvenir chocolate bars for the box seats!  We never get this in the bleacher seats.

 I was happy to see there wasn't any corn sugar or high fructose corn syrup in this chocolate bar.  

 Hey, Dawg, it's Randy Jackson!

 The diva-licious Chaka Khan even had a costume change with only a 5-song set.  "Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan, Chaka Khan!"

The best way to end the night......Hollywood Bowl fireworks.  

Don't forget, it's #RadioBurtt night!  I will be on the Driving With Gass show at 7:35PM PT/10:35PM ET tonight on KWSS.  I hope you join me for the latest in entertainment news.

If you missed my appearance last week with Dara on Radio, click here to listen in about how I got my start in entertainment reporting. You can find most of the archives to other media appearances here.  

Disclosure:  My tickets were complimentary.  I was not asked to post on this event, all opinions are my own.

The Friday Five

Friday is here and I have a busy weekend planned.  I will be moderating a panel on the "New Critics" at ITVFest on Saturday at 6PM.  If you are in LA and looking for the inside scoop on film and TV critics that work in the online space, click here for more info.  On Sunday, I am headed back to the Hollywood Bowl where I get the opportunity to see my pal, Corbin Bleu, perform onstage in the Broadway hit, Hairspray.  So, enjoy your weekend and here's my Friday Five, my favorite moments from the week:

1.  The Change-Up:  Um, I interviewed Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman AT THE SAME TIME!  Want to see it?  Go here or if you are a dude, here's Olivia Wilde.  It's my first correspondent gig for NBC/Univeral's iVillage website and it was an absolute blast.  If you like the interview, I would love it if you could comment over on their site under the video.  You don't need to register, you can just enter name, or you can even comment anonymously. (Thanks!)  I have another series of interviews from Spy Kids 4 coming up soon.  Think Jessica Alba, Joel McHale, Jeremy Piven, and Alexa Vega.

2.  Spy Kids 4: Speaking of Spy Kids, this was the amount of tape I walked out of the press junket with.  That's a lot of tape!  They gave the press an opportunity to talk to a majority of the press which is rare, but it is appreciated. The iVillage editor is going to have a lot of work to do!  To see what a press junket is like, take a look at my article on the A Little Help press junket for Starpulse.

3.  The Amazing Mat:  This was a first:  a marching band playing in a house on an infomercial set.  It was wild and so much fun.  The house we shot the show in was gorgeous, one of those houses you aspire to own.  My co-host, Jordan Murphy, might be familiar to you too. He was the host of NBC's For Love or Money and VH1's Tool Academy.  I'll let you know when the show begins to air.

4.  Godspell:  My pal, Larry, sent me a text yesterday saying, "Hey, producer girl, isn't this your show?'  Well, it's not MY show, it's being helmed by my friends, Daniel Goldstein and Ken Davenport, but yep, I'm an investor.  I love getting the word out whether it is my new iPhone case or the cool time lapse video they posted of the billboard going up in Times Square.

5.  The Help:  Go see this movie.  It's a wonderful break from robots, aliens, wizards, and the explosive summer movie fare.  If you have read the book, I think you will be satisfied with the screen adaptation. (My mom just sent me her copy yesterday, so I am going backwards:  movie first, book second.) The performances are award-worthy and it's an important story to tell.  I saw a screening and I was lucky enough to hear a Q& A after with stars Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, and director Tate Taylor, and author/writer Kathryn Stockett.  Go see the film on August 10th.  You won't be disappointed.  

The 64th Annual Tony Awards

It's that time of year again.  Yes, a time of singing, dancing, and channeling your inner theatre geek with the 64th Annual Tony Awards.  If I could move Broadway to Los Angeles, I would.  That's how much I miss the rich theatre scene in New York.  However, LA is starting to step it up their relevance in the theatre world and I am going to throw a few of my hard earned dollars at Reprise's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying this week starring John O'Hurley, Ed Asner, Vicki Lewis, and Simon Helberg. Run by Jason Alexander (Yes, George Constanza runs a theatre program.), the organization does a great job of breathing new life into "rarely revived" musicals and enhancing the LA theatre world.  If you're like me though, you want the glitz and glam of award show season and The Tonys rarely disappoint.  I don't know how they will top last year's fun with host Neil Patrick Harris, but here are a few opportunities to participate in some of the fun:

Macy's wants to send you to the Tony Awards!  Instead of just an "enter and win" scenario, Macy's is going to make you work for it.  Show off your talent and you could be on your way to the Big Apple and hobnobbing with Broadway's elite talent.  Here's how it works, head on over to the Tony Awards page at CBS, sing your heart out, record it, vote, vote again, and hopefully win!  Simple right?  Here are the details:


Macy's Invites You to Sing Your Way to the Tony Awards

Upload a video of yourself singing one of the following songs and you can be in the running to win a trip to the 64th Annual Tony Awards on Broadway.

96,000, In the Heights 
Gimme, Gimme, Thoroughly Modern Millie 
Good Morning, Baltimore, Hairspray 
I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa my Hair, South Pacific 
Lonely Goatherd, The Sound of Music 
Maybe, Annie
One, A Chorus Line
Stars, Les Misérables 
Ya Got Trouble, The Music Man

MUSIC CLEARANCES FACILITATED BY MUSIC THEATRE INTERNATIONAL, THE RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN ORGANIZATION, AND TAMS-WITMARK MUSIC LIBRARY. SONGS PROVIDED COURTESY OF COPYRIGHT HOLDERS.

Get Started:
1. Upload your video by May 27th noon PT
2. Vote on yor favorites from May 27th to June 1st to help determine the top 5 videos.
2. Return on June 3rd noon PT to view and vote for your favorite of the top 5.

There are some great songs listed.  I am a bit partial to "Good Morning, Baltimore" from Hairspray, but we all know what a winner Annie is, you can never go wrong with that little redheaded mop top.  Good luck!

If you are already going to be in NYC on June 13th, then this is a great affordable excuse to go to a Tony Party.  Broadway producer, Ken Davenport, in conjunction with BroadwaySpace.com is throwing a fun viewing party at Blondies on the Upper West Side.  The night promises unlimited food, contests, raffles, Broadway karaoke, and two Broadway stars from Hair hosting the event all for $25 if you grab your tickets now.  Since Ken is a pal from my NYU days, I know you won't be disappointed.     So, at least there is a Plan B if you don't win Macy's Ticket to the Tonys.  It might not be a seat in Radio City Music Hall, but you still get to hobknob with a few Broadway stars!