BuzzSugar

Separated at Birth: "Don't Forget the Lyrics" and "The Singing Bee"

BuzzSugar — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:15:07 PDT

Fox and NBC kicked off their karaoke wars this week with the premieres of "The Singing Bee" and "Don't Forget the Lyrics." While I was secretly hoping the shows would slink away into "National Bingo Night"-style obscurity, "The Singing Bee" became the summer's most-watched program on Tuesday, and "Lyrics" held its own on Wednesday (it also airs another new episode tonight). Lest you be confused by the similar-sounding shows, I've put together this handy guide to help you tell them apart:

	"The Singing Bee"	"Don't Forget the Lyrics"
Network	NBC	Fox
Host	Joey Fatone	Wayne Brady
Prize Money	$50,000	$1 million
Cute Mascot	Cartoon bumblebee	None
Use of "Walk Like an Egyptian"	Yes	Yes
Philosophy	"You don't have to sing it well; you just have to sing it right"	"Can you keep singing when the music stops?"
Obvious attempt to embarrass the host	Contestants had to sing "Bye Bye Bye"	None yet
Go-go dancers	Yes	No
Descended from	The National Spelling Bee	"Who Wants to be a Millionaire"
Similarity to actual karaoke	6 out of 10	9 out of 10

Photos courtesy of NBC and Fox

Buzz News Roundup, 7/11

BuzzSugar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 13:31:40 PDT

Kevin Spacey is all set to reprise his role as Lex Luthor in the next Superman movie - though the film won't go into production until director Bryan Singer completes his movie based on the life of Harvey Milk, says Variety.
According to Hollywood Reporter, Guy Pearce and Don Cheadle will star together in an espionage thriller called Traitor.
"The Knights of Prosperity" will return to TV for its final four episodes in August, writes the Futon Critic.
Bruce Springsteen is planning to release another album with the E Street band, Fox News reports.
Claire Danes is set to play Eliza Doolittle in a stage production of Pygmalion, the play that inspired the musical My Fair Lady, Variety reports.
Peter Berg will adapt his cousin Buzz Bissinger's Barbaro story into a movie, Zap2it reports; a similar arrangement between Bissinger and Berg spawned the Friday Night Lights movie.
Breakout hip-hop star T.I. is dominating the music charts, according to Billboard.
The AP reports on a new James Bond novel titled Devil May Care, written by Sebastian Faulks and due to come out in 2008.
TV Guide tells us that Tuesday's premiere of "The Singing Bee" was the most-watched network program in six weeks, ever since the "House" season finale.

Source

Fox and NBC Launch Karaoke Wars

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:30:00 PDT

Earlier this week, I mentioned that "Don't Forget the Lyrics," Fox's new singing reality show, sounded an awful lot like "The Singing Bee," a similar show that NBC has planned for fall. Well, NBC thought so too, and it's going to hustle and throw its show on the air early, so it will premiere July 10 - beating Fox's show by one day. Given that it wasn't supposed to air till fall, the show currently has no host, prizes or rules. Hey, what's better than a karaoke competition show? A poorly conceived karaoke competition show!

I'm guessing the conversation at NBC this week went something like this:

NBC Executive #1: Larry! We have a programming emergency! Fox just totally stole our brilliant idea for the show that embarrasses people by making them forget song lyrics on national TV!

NBC Executive #2: (Heavy sigh) I suppose we should have seen this coming. Nobody knows bad singing like Fox ...

NBC Executive #1: Clearly, someone over there is still crying into his Wheaties because we stole the idea for that boxing show a couple of years back. What are we going to do?

NBC Executive #2: Calm down, Jim. We can get that show on the air in minutes. I mean, all we need are a few idiots to sing, right? We can find those on the streets of LA any day of the week.

NBC Executive #1: You're totally right! Throw 'em on a sound stage, buy some Party Tyme Karaoke CDs, and we're all set!

NBC Executive #2: We'll need a host, though. Hmm, Bob Barker's too dignified for this, and we've already got Howie Mandel occupied. I'm not sure if Penn Gillette got another job after we trashed his last show ... Hey! What about Wayne Brady? He's not doing anything, right?

NBC Executive #1: Sorry, man. Fox got him too.

NBC Executive #2: No prob - I've got Rosie on speed dial. She's cool again, right?

Photos courtesy of Fox and Source

Announcing the 2012 Grammy Award Nominations

Rose Curiel — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:51:21 PST

For the second year in a row, the Recording Academy has given a hip-hop artist the most Grammy nominations. Last year, it was rapper Eminem with eight, and this year, Kanye West leads the nominees with seven chances at the golden gramophone, including a song of the year nod for "All of the Lights." West is also nominated twice in the rap album of the year category for his collaboration with Jay-Z on Watch the Throne and his own album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Brit crooner Adele wasn't far behind Kanye, picking up six nominations for her album 21, as well as a shot at song of the year with "Rolling in the Deep."

Bruno Mars also did well, racking up six nominations (that's down one from last year for those keeping track), while newcomers like Nicki Minaj and dubstep artist Skrillex are up for the best new artist category. See what other artists have a chance of walking away with a Grammy during the February 12 award show when you read more

Tips to Becoming a Productivity Superstar

SavvySugar — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:15:25 PDT

When Summer eases into Fall, those sudden weather changes can make you sluggish at work. Follow this guide to amp up your productivity and become a superstar worker bee!

Brainstorm in the shower - Singing in the shower is so old news, brainstorming is what you should really be doing. I get some of my best ideas when I'm washing up!
5 little ways to freshen up your morning routine - Sometimes it's hard to get out of bed and drag yourself to work. Forcing yourself to go to work isn't the best way to start your day, so start the day off right with these great morning tips.

Keep on reading for more tips.

Glee-Ful Highlights From Episode "Sexy"

Shannon Vestal — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 07:20:44 PST

After much anticipation, Gwyneth Paltrow is back as Holly Holliday on this week's episode of Glee. She's brought in as the sub for sex education, because apparently all of McKinley High, teachers included, needs it. Along with the sex ed, the focus expands to include love, relationships, and sexuality. The revelations are pretty explosive for some characters, who realize important things about themselves, and by the end, there are almost as many new connections as there are breakups.

While much of the dialogue gets very PSA-like, it's an interesting episode that pushes along lots of developments - and it's fun, of course, to see Paltrow back on the show. To discuss all the show's happenings with me, just

Holly's sex education skills turn out to be desperately needed when Brittany becomes worried that she's pregnant . . . because she saw a stork outside her window. Sigh. We get it. Brittany's dumb, but between this and her believing there's still a Santa, the writers are making her stupidity unbelievable. In any case, it's the contrivance that's needed to convince Will that he needs Holly's help to get all the glee kids informed (P.S. Why do we need to see Gwyneth as an aerobics instructor? She looks great, but the tangent makes zero sense). Holly shows up to the class clad in head-to-toe leather to perform "Do You Wanna Touch Me" and flinging zingers like "Sex: It's just like hugging, only wetter." While she sounds great, it doesn't seem to leave any of the kids any more informed than before. But if you loved the performance, watch it again now.

On the opposite spectrum of open sexuality is Emma, who oversees the return of the Celibacy Club. Pushing "chastity charms," celibacy is her own agenda because she's been married to Carl for months but has still retained her virginity. After she recruits Carl to perform "Afternoon Delight" with the club (because Emma naively believes the song is about an afternoon dessert of coconut, pineapple, and marshmallow fluff, not afternoon sex), Carl asks Holly if they can stop by for some sex therapy. When they announce they haven't slept together yet, Holly comes straight out and asks Emma if she's still in love with Will. When she can only say she's confused about her feelings, Carl informs her that he's moving out.

Holly is also a little confused about her feelings for Mr. Schue. After a cringe-inducing performance of "Kiss" (between the horrible tango and the screechy singing, it's the worst musical number of the night), Will takes a cue from the song title and plants one on Holly, and then asks her out. She declines, saying she's damaged goods. However, at the end of the episode, she stops by the school to tell Will that her over-the-top antics got her relieved of her sex ed duties - and that she might be ready for a relationship with him. I admit that Will and Holly have great chemistry, but realistically, it can't work. Well, unless Paltrow is made a series regular - which, if they toned down her character, I'd be OK with.

Santana and Brittany are still hooking up, but Brittany admits to Santana that she's confused about their relationship. They seek out Holly to help them determine what the nature of their connection is, and inexplicably, singing the song "Landslide" is the solution. I have no idea why this works, but the Holly/Brittany/Santana performance brings out Santana's serious side. She finds Brittany in the hall later, and tells her that she's a bitch all the time because she's angry. She's angry because she wants to be with Brittany but is afraid of all the implications, especially in light of how Kurt was treated as a gay student. When Santana says that she loves her, Brittany returns the feeling but says she loves Artie too and won't break up with him. Heartbroken and embarrassed, Santana storms off. Whoa. I don't know if I'm more surprised that Santana comes out or that she blames her meanness on her confusion.

Sue tries to feed Kurt and Blaine the "top secret intel" that New Directions is going sexy for Regionals, so Blaine tries to bring out the Warbler's sexy side by performing for the local all-girls school. Their Warblers's version of "Animal" isn't really sexy, but it is very cute. Post-performance, Blaine decides that Kurt's sexy faces are a cry for help. Feeling that Kurt must be closed off about sex, Blaine reaches out to Kurt's dad, urging him to talk to his son. He begrudgingly initiates a sex talk with Kurt, and despite their mutual distaste for the situation, the fact that the talk is more about the feelings sex can bring up makes it kind of touching.

Two other relationships move forward this week, but in different ways. First, Lauren's determination to make a sex tape with Puck is derailed by Holly telling them that it would be a crime. This somehow spurs Puck to do the least-Puck and least believable thing he could: join the Celibacy Club. There's just no way he believes what he tells Lauren about joining, but she still wants to keep seeing him (despite her belief that the club is for nerds). Meanwhile, there's another little reveal: Quinn and Finn have been secretly hooking up. I can't tell if Quinn is really into Finn or if she just wants her queen bee status back, so we'll just have to wait and see if they'll be the golden couple once again.

So, how did Gwyneth do in her second outing? I give her a mixed report card. While her character gets straight up obnoxious at some points (though it's not her fault that she has to say things like "Girlfriend, what is up with that?"), she sounds fantastic, especially on "Do You Wanna Touch Me." Besides her, were you surprised at anything, like Santana's realization or Carl and Emma's breakup? Comment below with your thoughts, and as always, don't forget to join the Glee Club in the Buzz community. Photo courtesy of Fox

"Stayin' Alive" Keeps Man Alive

FitSugar — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:03:40 PDT

A seemingly silly public service announcement helped Debra Bader save her husband's life. The couple was walking in the woods when 53-year-old Christopher Bader suddenly collapsed from cardiac arrest, the same heart problem that recently led to Michael Jackson's death. Thankfully, Bader recalled the American Heart Association's campaign from last year, teaching people that the Bee Gees song "Stayin' Alive" has a perfect tempo to match the recommended pace of chest compressions. So she called 9-1-1 and started singing.

"I sang the song and gave directions to the EMTs at the same time. It was like, 'Stayin' alive, stayin' alive - take a right here, take a left here - Stayin' alive, stayin' alive - take this path down here - Stayin' alive, stayin' alive,' " Bader remembers.

For 15 minutes Bader, who had never taken a CPR class, beat on her husband's chest until the ambulance arrived and the EMTs delivered a shock to his heart with a defibrillator. Christopher Bader survived, even though 95 percent of people who go into cardiac arrest die before they get to the hospital.

Wow! What a heartwarming story, and don't you love hearing that a funny PSA actually worked? Perhaps it helped that an episode of The Office also featured a riff on the "Stayin' Alive" connection. Want a laugh? Check out the clip.