Popular Reality TV

CMT »     by Andy Dehnart / February 9, 2011, 12:33 PM This April, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance executive producer Nigel Lythgoe will debut a surprisingly original new show on CMT: CMT’s Next Superstar , a competition for singer-songerwriters in which viewers vote. I suppose that it’s for singer-songerwriters makes it slightly different, but please. CMT says the show “will search for undiscovered singer-songwriters who think they have what it takes to make it in the music industry” and “will compete while living together in Nashville,” where they “will try to impress celebrity guests each week through a series of music business-related challenges and grueling performance rounds.” Although CMT doesn’t explicitly mention it, Nigel told the Hollywood Reporter that this is a country music competition: “Country music is all about storytelling, personalities and putting yourself into the songs. This show is not about going to a set, it’s about being in a location that has...

The Voice »     by Andy Dehnart / February 1, 2011, 7:53 PM Carson Daly will host NBC’s The Voice , the singing competition produced by Mark Burnett and Jon de Mol that used to be called Voice of America . It will now air this spring, well in advance of Fox’s X Factor , but of course, it won’t have Simon Cowell. NBC reality exec Paul Telegdy said Carson Daly, who came to fame hosting MTV’s TRL and currently hosts the network’s late-night show Last Call with Carson Daly , “is the perfect choice to host this exciting new series owing to his credibility, popularity and relevance in both the music world and social media. As he has demonstrated on his late-night show, Carson has the knack of recognizing new talent, which is a key component in ‘The Voice.’” And Carson Daly said, “I have a true appreciation for authentic, raw talent and ‘The Voice’ is all about finding that. Having worked in the music industry for many years, I am looking forward to hosting ‘The Voice.’ This is a show based ...

NBC »     by Andy Dehnart / April 4, 2011, 9:44 PM NBC has ordered a new fashion competition reality series produced by Project Runway’s original creators, Magical Elves, on which designers will compete for a chance to launch a retail brand. Fashion Star will debut next year and be hosted by Elle Macpherson, who has hosted Britain’s Next Top Model, and “will give 12 unknown designers the chance to win a multi-million dollar contract to launch their line in America’s largest retail stores,” according to NBC, which said “designers will be put through a variety of challenges that will push them to further develop and expand their brands.” Winning and losing designs will be available for purchase by viewers after each episode. This sounds a lot like the first season of Bravo’s The Fashion Show —in fact, NBC calls selling winning designs online “an exciting new format twist,” but The Fashion Show for all its many, many flaws, did that first. It also sounds not at all like a series people...

April 1 »     by Andy Dehnart / April 1, 2011, 9:00 AM This satirical, fictional story is part of the April 1, 2011, edition of reality blurred . Happy April Fool’s Day. Apple will use its iTunes software to host a singing competition modeled after American Idol, The X Factor , and The Voice called American Voice Factor , and it will air episodes both online and on truTV. Singers will audition by uploading video to iTunes, where new technology will screen their audition immediately. If it is less grating than Katy Perry’s “Firework,” the contestant will move on to the next stage, where he or she will gather as many “like”s as possible on iTunes’ social network Ping. Because iTunes barely functions on PCs, an Apple insider said that the company expects auditioners to be smart, creative, interesting, financially solvent people with reality television-worthy senses of entitlement and superiority who own Macs and are thus so slavishly devoted to Apple that they actually use Ping. Two epi...

« Hell’s Kitchen: The Final Four Finally Impress Gordon Ramsay | Home December 1, 2010 09:30:59 by Shayla Perry It’s finally here! On tonight’s premiere episode of Bravo’s Top Chef: All-Stars, eighteen of our favorite (and not so favorite) “cheftestants” are back with Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Anthony Bourdain, and Gail Simmons for a second chance at the ultimate food showdown. What did you miss? Back in New York City, the eighteen contestants from seasons past greeted one another at their new home, sizing up the competition. Everyone has gone on to do big things since their Top Chef days, and everyone wants to win the title of Top Chef even more than they did before. Walking into the kitchen for the first time, the chefs are met by Padma and Tom who announce that this season, they will be competing for $200,000.00–the biggest cash prize yet! For the Quickfire Challenge, the chefs team up with the others from their season to create a dish representative of their season’s city. The...

« The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Kim Zolciak Denies Engagement Rumors | Home | Skating With The Stars: Sean Young Talks About Her Elimination » December 1, 2010 03:00:41 by Shayla Perry Author and celebrity chef Curtis Stone may be busy traveling and settling in to his new home, but he still made time to talk to RTVM about his experience on Celebrity Apprentice, and tell us what he thinks about the competition on this season of NBC’s The Apprentice. While hanging out at the new Continental Chase VIP Lounge at The Mall at Short Hills in New Jersey, Curtis Stone dished about all things Apprentice. Though he admits that he hasn’t caught much of this season, Stone did happen to catch a few of the earlier episodes. “They got nasty. It was a whole different ball game,” Stone said, agreeing that this season’s cast put poker player Annie Duke to shame. “I thought Sharon Osbourne and Cyndi Lauper were a handful, but these guys were at each others’ throats.” When asked how he was able to escap...

« Dancing With The Stars: Brandy And Maks Discuss Elimination | Home | Hell’s Kitchen: Jay Santos Gets Into Holiday Spirit As He Hosts Tree Festival » November 19, 2010 09:00:41 by Shayla Perry The clock is ticking! In just a few days, Skating with the Stars premieres on ABC, and actress Sean Young is busy getting ready to take to the ice. Read on to see what Young said about her experience training for the show, and who her biggest competition will be. The answer may surprise you. Fifty-one-year-old actress Sean Young has been working overtime in preparation for the Skating of the Stars premiere on ABC. “It’s a lot of hard work–the skating and learning how to skate,” Young told Access Hollywood in an interview. “I’ve put on skates before, like when I was a kid…and then I had some time at a Culver City ice rink where my kids would like go ice skating on Saturdays, but that was really just like puttering around,” said Sean. “The last five weeks [of training for the show] have been very...