Media Mondays

Happy Memorial Day, everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying the day off while remembering all of those who bravely fought for our freedom throughout history. You are appreciated--thank you!

Here are all of last week's media appearances. Pick and choose your adventure:

AfterBuzz TV DWTS: Final week....last of the controversies. You can find it all here.
Kell
The Hangover III premiere:  All of the photos are here.

AfterBuzz TV SYTYCD:  The show will ramp up once the audition rounds are over, but we are still discussing what we are seeing in each city as the contestants head to Vegas.



Tom Barnard Podcast:  We talk about the Biebs at the Billboard Music Awards and Bradley Cooper wearing a pumpkin suit at The Hangover III red carpet. I come in at 2:08.

SheKnows:
Kellie Pickler comes out on top on Dancing with the Stars:  All of the delicious controversies...phew, glad that's over.
Jennifer Lawrence's hot bod for X-Men: No body paint this time, it's a body suit.
Lea Michele lands a book deal:  Would you buy this book?

The Amy Beth Arkawy Show: I chatted with Amy Beth about the string of TV cancellations and what we can expect from next season's TV shows. Listen here.

AfterBuzz TV DWTS: Sharna Burgess & Lindsay Arnold

Ahhh, what a season! I cannot believe it's over.  It's been a wild ride over the last 10 weeks. My wish for next season is that we are all good to each other...no matter who we are rooting for. We are so lucky to live in a world where we can have our own opinions and thoughts, but it is important to be respectful of the opposing side.  Kellie and Zendaya are both beautiful dancers and women. While they each brought different things to the table, we watched because we love dance.  While Kellie went home with that mirror ball trophy, I think we are all going to watch Zendaya become a superstar in Hollywood...way beyond the confines of Disney/ABC. Whether she hits the music scene or takes on the film world, mark my words, she will be wildly successful.

My SheKnows.com article about the DWTS finale >>

I know many of you aren't satisfied with the voting explanation. ABC should have done a better job with explaining what happened much like NBC did with The Voice when they had a similar issue in early May. Legally, they did the right thing by throwing out the ABC.com votes. It leveled the playing field for both coasts.  While viewers were left with phone, text, and Facebook votes, I know some of you will argue it isn't fair.  Well, I can never text since I'm not an AT&T customer.....so that's not fair. I also only have a public FB page, so I cannot vote via social media. I have to pick up the phone. We could go in circles about this over and over. Remember, all networks have to abide by FCC regulations and Broadcast Standards and Practices. Here are ABC's guidelines for their entire network. What ABC failed to do is explain the situation to the viewers...that is a PR misstep.

Our pre-show Vine video >>

I also think Lindsay and Sharna addressed the footwear issue very well.  There are so many other issues to deal with when you are trying to teach a celebrity to dance.  While it may not be the preferable choice for viewers with a dance background, the pros chose what they felt was best for their celebs. I prefer the line of a heel, but once I heard Lindsay and Sharna's explanations, I feel like I understand the reasoning a bit better...even if I prefer true ballroom footwear.

One crazy photo post-show >>

Thank you all for such a great season. We really cannot do it without you. Your input, comments, questions and artful debate have been so much fun. Even when we don't agree, I love discussing the show with you.  For those of you that are fans of SYTYCD, I hope you join me, Jake, AJ Gibson, and Chloe West for a fun season. Next week, we will slide into DWTS' old time slot on AfterBuzz TV at 9pm PT, so you know where to find us. We will also be bringing in some DWTS and SYTYCD guests to join us once the Top 20 is announced.



The podcast is available to listen to here. 

Now feel free to comment away about the season, but be respectful of others and their opinions. Thank you! 

AfterBuzz TV's DWTS: Henry Byalikov

This was such a fun show. I'm so glad we had Henry Byalikov back on this season for a second time so he was able to give us the inside scoop on his work with Baz Lurhmann on Gatsby.  He's always a great guest and we all know his fans are legendary.

Catch our pre-show Vine video here.

It was our last show with Anna Trebunskaya and we are going to miss her next week. She's been a great addition to the show this season on AfterBuzz TV. However, we do have two pros currently confirmed for next week's show. Be sure to come back here on Tuesday to find out who it is. I am really excited to end the season in a big way. It will be an awesome finish to a fascinating season.

I wanted to list everyone's Top 4 predictions for next week. I think our answers shocked a few of you and none of us had the same answer. Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments below. See you all next week!

Predictions:

Suri                        Anna
1st: Jacoby              1st/2nd: Kellie/Jacoby (She couldn't decide.)
2nd:  Kellie              3rd: Aly
3rd: Zendaya           4th: Zendaya
4th: Aly

Henry                     Jake:
1st: Kellie                1st: Kellie
2nd: Jacoby            2nd: Zendaya
3rd:  Aly                  3rd: Jacoby
4th: Zendaya           4th: Aly

Kristyn
1st: Kellie
2nd: Jacoby
3rd: Zendaya
4th: Aly

If you missed the show, you can watch below.

DWTS: It's Time To End The Zendaya Debate

Enough with Zendaya.

She's not a ringer, she's a girl who has had Hip Hop classes. I might take this debate more seriously if she were a trained ballet dancer or ballroom dancer, but it's time to stop.  Here are my reasons for ending the Zendaya discussion on DWTS:

1. It's a TV show: Having great dancers and bad dancers all lumped into one variety show is fun. I cheered on Andy Dick as much as I have cheered Zendaya and Kellie Pickler this season.  I did make fun of Sean Lowe's dancing a bit, but it made for some interesting topics of discussion on our AfterBuzz TV show.
    And guess what? By constantly debating that "Zendaya is a ringer" and "Kellie is being underscored"(Although the "7" from Len was ridiculous, it also made for good TV.) topics, you are playing into exactly what ABC wants...controversy.  It makes for good television and it gets us all watching each week.
    One other argument is that ABC wants to promote its own network stars. If you look at the statistics, this is a bad argument.  Let's look at the ABC stars who have won DWTS:  Season 1 Kelly Monaco, General Hospital. That's it, kids.  You could argue Melissa Rycroft from Season 15 as she is a former ABC employee with The Bachelor franchise/former GMA & Bachelor Pad host, but ABC has not used her in that capacity since April 2012. If there were a series of ABC winners, I would agree with you. 1 winner out of 15 does not make for an ABC push for a winner.
 
Supplemental reading: Carrie Ann Inaba talks Kellie Pickler 

2.  Zendaya Hears You:  If you think this 16-year-old doesn't hear your criticism, she does...and she takes it personally.  If you read her Access Hollywood blog, she knows exactly what is going on in the forums.  I feel badly for her because I remember being 16 and we don't need to help anyone's teen insecurities along.

Supplemental reading: Zendaya's blog

Even with dance training, Zendaya doesn't have lines like Kellie does. Beautiful!

3.  Twitter followers:  Yep, Zendaya has more followers than anyone, but she's also of a generation that is more tuned into social media than say...Wynonna's fans.  Different generations, different demographics, different use of social media.
      I know many of you are upset that Zendaya got Hip Hop this week. She asked for it, the fans gave it to her. Aly asked for Afro-Jazz, Kellie asked for Flamenco, everyone got the exact dance they wanted. While Flamenco might be harder for Kellie than Hip Hop is for Zendaya, it is Derek who wanted this dance. He has something in mind choreographically just the same way Mark wanted to try Afro-Jazz on Aly.  They know their partner's strengths.
      Also, ABC is trying to keep up with the times and keep this show as interactive as possible for all of the fans.  Twitter is social media site that keeps growing while Facebook's growth has stagnated over the last two years, that's why they are using it for voting.  While not every experiment on DWTS works, I like that they are trying to keep current and relevant.

Supplemental reading: Carrie Ann Inaba names best DWTS dancer ever

Honestly, I would rather talk about the great dancing we are seeing from Zendaya and Kellie this season and how much I've enjoyed watching them each week.  Val and Derek have both stepped up their game choreographically and it's been a treat for the viewers.  With two weeks left, let's end the debate and see who's going to come out on top.  Remember last year, we all thought Shawn Johnson was going to win.

Let's end the debate. You are missing some good dancing.

Okay, your turn to comment. Please post in the comments below...

UPDATE:  Thanks for all of your responses so far. While some of you agree with me, I want to address those that don't agree with me...of course, I respect your opinion. However, hurling insults my way weakens your case. Instead, why don't you comment below and give me some facts to back up your argument.  I am totally up for rational discussions. It's refreshing to hear a different perspective when it's done with respect.  

The other thing you must remember is that I compliment both Zendaya and Kellie in this post. I like them both. I haven't chosen sides.  

I also want to disclose I have interviewed Zendaya many times, so I was very familiar with her work pre-DWTS. If you want to see some of that coverage, go here and here. 

Anyway, thanks for all of your feedback. I appreciate it!   

Preview: AfterBuzz TV DWTS, Week 8

Okay, I know a lot of you have been asking who are guests are this week. My answer...I don't know yet. Jake is working hard on it back in LA, so hopefully we will have a guest this week. If not, you all know we have plenty to talk about with Len's "7", Sean's elimination, and Kellie and Derek were in jeopardy-ish this week.

UPDATE:  Our guests tomorrow night are Sasha Farber and Emma Slater...get those questions in!

DOUBLE UPDATE: Tristan MacManus is coming, too! #PartyTime

TRIPLE UPDATE:  No Anna tonight. She's performing in Vancouver.

So...if you have been following my tweets, I am not in LA. I am working in Houston this week.  In addition, Suri is not in LA this week either. She's starting the ProGym Challenge in Pennsylvania. It will air on ESPN2 in two weeks.  We will both be joining the discussion via the phone while Jake and Anna hold down the fort in LA.

I will be LIVE tweeting tomorrow night again like I did back in March when I was out of town for work.  Remember to use the official hashtag to talk with me and Suri:  #ABTVDance.

I am still collecting questions for Anna here on my site, so make sure to leave all of your comments and questions below.  Can you believe we only have 2 weeks left?

If you are a fan of SYTYCD, I will be starting the AfterBuzz show next week with my co-host AJ Gibson. I will have more details on time and date soon.

DWTS on AfterBuzzTV, Week 7: Shirley Ballas, Yegor Novikov

How great of a guest was Shirley Ballas? She offered up some awesome insight and she talked about the fact that there is politics on the show. However, she showed that they are fair and balanced when it comes to moving the top leaders around on that scoreboard. It's boring if Kellie or Zendaya win every week and no one should discount Jacoby for the top spot in the end. I also love that Shirley confirmed the Maks/Val/Derek feud...it's true, it exists.

As for Yegor, he was so sweet and he gave the best critique of the night when it came to Sharna and Andy's journey. He showcased what Sharna did as a choreographer for her celeb who was a great performer, but not a great dancer.  It was fantastic to hear his opinions on them.

If you missed the show, you can watch it below or download it on iTunes. Thank you for making the show #10 this week of Top Podcasts on AfterBuzz TV.  We love you guys!

I also want to thank JC Rubio and Jackie Miranne for taking your questions to the red carpet. It's awesome to have their clips and your questions featured on our show.

I can't believe we only have 3 more shows left. Sniff...I'm going to miss you all until next season...or come join me as I co-host Season 10 of SYTYCD on AfterBuzz TV beginning May 14.

Finally, you are all so sweet for sending my mother lovely birthday wishes! xoxoxo kb