POP CULTURE HIGHLIGHTS OF 2011

Here’s my annual list of what excited and entertained me in the world of show biz this year:

10. What was my most exciting surprise star sighting of 2011? Was it running into Mark Pellegrino in the hallway of the Convention Center at the San Diego Comic Con and asking him to sign my “Lost” DVD (if I had known then how much I would enjoy his work on “The Closer” this year, I would have embarrassed him with praise!)? Was it standing in the buffet line at the after-screening party for “Take Me Home Tonight” and slowly realizing that the guy in front of me in line was Zac Efron (hey, he had a buzzcut, so he wasn’t that recognizable)? No, the most exciting surprise sighting was exploring the huge ballrooms at the Rio in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker, walking along aisle after aisle and not spotting anyone famous, only to stop at a table and realize I was staring at Phil Hellmuth, the bad boy of poker! I didn’t see any tantrums though, as Phil seemed to be in a good mood, talking and laughing with his fellow players. Must have been the lack of TV cameras…

9. I have long wished that Barry Manilow would put out one more great album with the kind of varied music of his classic seventies albums. I had to wait through five straight CD’s of covers, but on his latest album, “15 Minutes,” Barry did just that, and included a soaring ballad that belongs with his best called “Bring On Tomorrow.” And let’s give an honorable mention to Richard Marx, who also released some great new songs on his “Stories To Tell” album, “When You Loved Me” and “Loved.”

8. This year I was hired to write a TV show, “The Greatest Duets: It Takes Two,” for PBS. The show was hosted by Kenny Loggins and I got to have lunch with Kenny, an artist whose music I have enjoyed for years.

7. Another artist whose work I have enjoyed for years is that of my friend Ernie Halter. It was great fun this year watching as Ernie added to his fanbase, thanks to Justin Bieber! First Justin covered Ernie’s song, “Come Home To Me,” at a concert and then he attended one of Ernie’s shows and sang it with him. And thanks to the spotlight Justin gave Ernie, Ernie gained a lot of new fans, including just under half a million followers on Twitter. Pay it forward, indeed!

6. I was very happy to see USA bring one of my favorite authors’ books to TV with the movie, “John Sandford’s Certain Prey.” More please!

5. While I always enjoy attending the finale of “American Idol” each year, this year had special significance, even though no one knew it at the time. It was the final performance by saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who was featured on Lady Gaga’s “The Edge Of Glory.” I listen constantly to my Springsteen CD’s and Clarence was a huge part of making Bruce’s music come alive. RIP, Big Man!

4. Another one of my musical heroes is Elton John. While I have never interviewed him, I did get a chance this year to ask him a question at a press conference promoting a film he produced, “Gnomeo And Juliet.” And I was rewarded with a long thoughtful answer about Elton’s influences and his constant search for great new music.

3. Another big Comic-Con highlight came at a panel hosted by Entertainment Weekly’s “Lost” writers Dan Snierson and Jeff Jensen. They were interrupted by a guy in a stormtrooper’s uniform, who was revealed to be “Lost” producer Carlton Cuse, who was soon joined by the second half of the Darlton team, Damon Lindelof. Between a long Q&A and the reveal of a hilarious “lost” “Lost” scene, it was a grand goodbye to a great show.

2. While I may never see another show I love as much as “Lost,” I have to give props to all the great series on FX I discovered this year. First I got into the second season of “Justified,” which was full of great acting and engrossing plots. Then a few months later while on vacation, I was up late and saw a few episodes of “Louie” and instantly loved the show’s surrealistic brand of comedy and drama. Truly amazing. And just a few months ago, I saw “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” for the first time and thanks to reruns on FX, Comedy Central and syndication, I’m already caught up with every episode. “Seinfeld” but with even worst people? I love it! Now if FX would only greenlight “Powers”…

1. I took my annual trip to Las Vegas to work on the Academy Of Country Music Awards as well as the special “Girls Night Out” and was wowed by Carrie Underwood’s one-two punch. First she did a surprise duet with Steven Tyler at the ACMA’s on “Walk This Way” that was the highlight of the show and then turned around and topped that performance the next night with her stunning rendition of “How Great Thou Art.” I also have a few more personal highlights from working on the shows, including meeting the great John Fogerty (okay, he just thanked me when I got him some water, but still!) and getting to speak to another of my favorites, the shockingly tall Vince Gill, when I happened upon him sitting outside the rehearsal room. Do I now have some Vince Gill autographed CD’s? Of course!

My Comic Con 2011

Once again I headed down to San Diego for the extravaganza known as Comic Con. While movies like “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Immortals” were getting the big push from the studios (judging from the wraps done on the sides of the big hotels), I was more focused on the TV shows being promoted.

 

We arrived too late on Wednesday night to do little more than a walk through of the exhibit hall, which followed the layout of the previous year. Thursday I spent haunting the DC Comics booth, where writers and artists show up to meet fans, autograph books and sketch for free. I always hang around the DC booth much more than Marvel’s because while Marvel will have just one line featuring a few of their stars each hour, DC will have three or four going at once, keeping the lines manageable. My thanks to Dan Jurgens, Jeff Lemire, Norm Rapmund and Rafael Albuquerque for the additions to my sketchbook.

 

Of course, my number one priority at the Con was adding autographs to my various books. For instance, I have a book on the history of DC Comics signed by over 130 writers and artists that have worked for the company. I also have books on Marvel Comics, television and Batman, my favorite as I started with the signature of Batman creator Bob Kane 25 years ago and have been adding to the book with the autographs of people that have worked on Batman in comics, TV and movies ever since. Somehow though, one autograph has always eluded me… the signature of comics legend Frank Miller! Once again, I tried and failed, as they capped the line for Frank before I arrived at his signing. Oh well, there’s always next year…

 

But any sadness over that missing signature was washed away by my success at adding autographs to my “Lost” Season One DVD box. I was in time for the signing by Nestor Carbonell, who’s in the new CW show, “Ringer.” It’s a good thing for me Sarah Michelle Gellar didn’t sign, as I’m sure the line would have been around the block! Then Saturday, I added three more “Lost” actors to the box. To participate in Warner Brothers signings, you had to draw a winning ticket from a bag. If you did, they gave you a wristband, which got you into their booth at the appropriate time. I was lucky and got a ticket for “Person Of Interest,” enabling me to get Michael Emerson’s autograph and say a few words to him. I felt bad though, as I was planning to have the other stars of the show sign my TV book, but the security at the booth insisted I only have one item signed, even though it meant I would only have one actor sign for me. Well, the “Lost” DVD came first, of course. When I left the booth, the two guys in front of me in line commented on how badly the security guy had treated me and added that another actor from “Lost,” Mark Pellegrino, was standing near the booth. Unfortunately he had moved away by the time I looked around, but I later saw him in one of the upstairs hallways and he was happy to sign the box right then and there. Finally I had noticed that Daniel Roebuck, who portrayed the not long for this world science teacher Doc Artz on the show, was scheduled to sign free autographs at a booth, so I hightailed it there and added signature number four to the “Lost” box. Dan also gave me an autographed photo of himself (on which he wrote “Kaboom!” which I made me laugh) and spoke of a family film he has coming out called “That’s What I Am.” He’ll also be seen in an episode of “The Mentalist” next season.

 

Of course, my “Lostapalooza” didn’t end there, as I attended the  “Lost: One Year Later” panel and enjoyed the surprise appearance of “Lost” producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Kudos to EW writers Jeff Jensen and Dan Snierson for turning over their panel to Darlton for the duration. Of course, the highlight was the showing of a never before seen “Lost” scene they code named The Marbled Rye. Check it out online if you were a fan of the show. Very funny!

 

Still, the one thing about Comic Con is making choices. Did I err by attending that “Lost” panel and skipping the “Green Lantern” animated series panel hijacked by Conan O’Brien, who answered questions and told jokes for 45 minutes? Should I have attempted to attend a panel in the gigantic but usually packed Hall H, which this year may have had a few empty seats, for the chance to see Steven Spielberg? Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. Because the truth is the thing that keeps me going back to Comic Con year after year is the chance to hang out with my friends in a city that’s full to bursting of people who love the same things I do!

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT: COUNTDOWN TO THE SHOW!

Today rehearsals for tonight’s “Girls’ Night Out” show began at 10:30 AM, with Vince Gill working up his rendition of “Jesus Take The Wheel” with the house band in a rehearsal room. I’m a longtime Vince Gill fan (he was at his peak of popularity about the time I got into country music and his songs of heartache matched my state of mind perfectly back then), so I was very glad he finally participated in the ACMA festivities, as he hadn’t attended since I started working on the show.

In “American Idol” parlance, Vince “made the song his own,” and I realized how important his guitar sound is to his music.

After running through the song a few times, Carrie Underwood arrived and they worked on their duet (from this point on, I won’t mention the songs, as I see the spoilers have been picked up here and there on the web). Around this time, the performers who were scheduled for rehearsal afterward all started to arrive, with Reba, Rascal Flatts, Jennifer Nettles and Ronnie Dunn all adding to the star power and hanging out in the room at the same time. One thing about country music: everyone knows everyone else and they all get along, with the singers not rehearsing all bobbing their heads to the music and singing along. They were especially impressed by Carrie’s singing on her duet with Vince, with everyone clapping at the end.

As the other acts ran through their songs together, I was busy watching for my chance to get Vince’s autograph, but he was busy conversing with the various musicians hanging around. I thought I had lost my chance because I thought he’d left, only to see him a few minutes later sitting in a chair alone in the public hallway, listening to Carrie’s version of “Jesus Take The Wheel” on his phone, still working on his performance. I took my shot and Vince was more than happy to sign a few CD covers I had brought to Las Vegas. I told him how he was one of the artists that got me into country music and he joked how he ruined me for life and thanked me. As super nice as expected, and surprisingly tall. Taller that me anyway!

Rehearsals have now moved to the big stage in the arena. Time to take a look!

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE ACMA’s 2011: SHOWTIME!

So I haven’t had any time to write a post until now, just two hours before showtime. The dress rehearsal looked great, at least what I could see on the monitor in the production office. I’m looking forward to finding out the identity of Carrie Underwood’s surprise guest for her performance. Many people online were guessing Steven Tyler. I was thinking it might be Celine Dion, at least until I read Britney Spears was seen in Las Vegas this weekend. That’s who I would put my money on, but we’ll see!

Most of my duties have been preparing for the show they’re taping tomorrow, “Girls’ Night Out,” which will be broadcast on April 22nd on CBS. The reason I’ve been so busy is we keep changing things on the show to make them better, right up until the last possible minute. Mostly we’ve been improving the tribute packages, which are a glimpse into the early lives of our honorees. I’ve been asked to find photos of their hometowns, their families, and their early performances. Some of my favorite material came from Carrie Underwood’s management, who sent us footage of Carrie performing in a school assembly and even on a Tulsa Oklahoma TV station when she was in the seventh grade. Turns out she was a seasoned performer even then!

My favorite moments so far occurred at the rehearsals for the “Girls’ Night Out” show. As always on the second show, the house band sets up in a small room and the artists drop by to work on their songs. The great John Fogerty is performing two songs, including a duet with Wynonna Judd on one of his Creedence classics. Yesterday, John spent some time rehearsing his performance of a Judds song, followed by a run-through of “Proud Mary.” First the band did it like the original record, which sounded great. But then John announced that was the first time he’d played it that way in 40 years and that he’d taken a tip from the Tina Turner version and sped it up a bit, so they played it that way and that’s the way you’ll hear it on the show. And did I mention that John spoke to me? Sure, it was only to thank me when I got him a bottle of water, but still! Just observing him, you could see he was the nicest, most humble rock star you would ever want to meet.

Enjoy the show!

ACMA’S 2011: THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

This year’s run-up to my annual trip to Las Vegas to work on the Academy of Country Music Awards has been especially hectic. It seems just when I think I’m getting close to the finish line, they move the end of the race a few miles further!

You’ll remember that the past two years have featured tribute concerts taped the night after the ACMA’s, both of which I’ve been the researcher for. Two years ago, they celebrated George Strait winning the Artist of The Decade accolade, while last year, the concert commemorated the careers of Brooks & Dunn on the occasion of their last hurrah together. This year, one act wasn’t enough. The Academy decided to pay tribute to seven artists at once, with Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, the Judds, Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert and Reba McEntire all getting the star treatment on “Girls’ Night Out: Superstar Women Of Country.”

“Girls Night Out” is a bit more intricate production wise than the past two tribute concerts. Rather than just have an artist come out and talk a little bit about the honorees before performing one of their hits, we’ve prepared tribute packages about the artists. In some cases, we even sent crews to their hometowns to talk to people that knew them growing up. In fact, one of my first jobs when I started on the show a few weeks ago was to help organize the shoots and get in touch with the people we wanted our crew to interview.

A few of the tribute packages include glimpses of our honorees as children. It turns out that every one of these artists were dynamic performers long before they became superstars. I especially enjoyed the footage of Jennifer Nettles with her high school 4-H group, Clovers & Co., as well as Carrie Underwood performing at an Oklahoma TV station while she was still in seventh grade.

In addition to organizing shoots and gathering footage, I’ve also been pitching in trying to locate photos we can use in the background screens during various performances. You’d think that would be as easy as just entering someone’s name in Google Images, but it’s more complicated than that. First, you need photo files big enough to fill the screens, and then you have to be able to clear the photos. What this means is we need to get permission for every photo and bit of footage we use. Naturally we try to use video from past ACMA shows, but you also get sent material by the different management companies of the artists and every single thing you use, you have to identify where it came from, find out who owns it and get them to sign off on using it. It’s a really big job and Dick Clark Productions has a clearance department to handle it, but as I’m the person who’s getting the stuff in, it’s up to me to keep track of everything!

But don’t cry for me, country music fans! Tomorrow I’m off to Sin City for a week of hanging out with the biggest stars in country music… although I have to admit I’m more excited about some of the non-country performers. No, not presenter Robert Pattinson! I’m eager to try and meet James Taylor, who’s performing with the Zac Brown Band on the ACMA’s, as well as another rock legend who’s not officially booked yet for “Girls’ Night Out,” but I’m keeping my fingers crossed! I’m also psyched to see Vince Gill, who will be singing a Carrie Underwood classic on “Girls’ Night Out.” This will be the first time he’s been on one of the ACM country shows since I’ve been working on them, and he’s one of the first performers I really liked when I started listening to country music.

Keep your eye on my blog for more backstage scoop from Las Vegas later this week!

POP CULTURE HIGHLIGHTS OF 2010

Here’s my year end wrap-up of what I really enjoyed this year:

1.  “NCIS”:  Back in March, I helped out my friend Chuck The Movie Guy by filming a few of his interviews on the red carpet at the Paley Television Festival. I joined him to cover “Flash Forward,” “Cougar Town” and “NCIS,” and I never would have imagined that a few months later the latter show would become my biggest pop culture obsession of 2010 (which is another way of saying my biggest obsession).

My friend Brad had gotten obsessed with the show a few months before me and had soon seen every episode, a goal made easy by the fact they constantly show old episodes on USA Network. Based on Brad’s recommendation, I caught a few shows while visiting my hometown, and just like Brad, I soon devoted my free time to seeing every episode. Well, almost every episode. I have two more to see. I should have known this would happen. From “Magnum P.I.” to “Quantum Leap” to “JAG,” there hasn’t been one long running show created by Donald Bellisario that I haven’t loved.

2.  “LOST”:  Many were disappointed at the way the show wrapped up, but I liked it just fine all the way to the end. Maybe “Lost” was never as complicated as we viewers thought while trying to puzzle out it’s mysteries through the years, but the revelation of the meaning of the alternate universe still packed a punch. I never thought there would be another show as important to me as “The X-Files,” but this was it.

3.  “BROOKS & DUNN: THE LAST RODEO”:  So many reasons this is on the list. My annual week in Las Vegas working on the show that tapes the night after the Academy Of Country Music Awards is always a joy. The week included such highlights as sitting in on an interview with Carrie Underwood, my first look at City Center and hanging out just a few feet away from great performers like Keith Urban and Jennifer Hudson as they ran through their songs. Then there was the ACMA show itself, the always fun after-party where act after act goes onstage and does a song or two (I loved Laura Bell Bundy singing Tina Turner’s version of “Proud Mary” exactly like Tina Turner, complete with choreography and backup dancers) and “The Last Rodeo” itself, enlivened considerably by the hilarious Kix Brooks.

4.  COMIC-CON:  I only decided to go the week of the show and I’m glad I did, as I got to meet some of my favorite stars, including Pauley Perrette of “NCIS” and Elizabeth Mitchell of “V,” which allowed me to add another signature to my “Lost” DVD box.  Sure, I had to wait in some long lines, but it was totally worth it. And then there was the moment Saturday night as I was packing to leave and suddenly fireworks started lighting up the sky across the street over the convention center. Magic…

5.  The “American Idol” Finale:  While I have to admit I wasn’t too excited by Lee DeWyze’s win, I did enjoy the parade of guest stars like the Bee Gees, Chicago and Hall & Oates and was amazed by Bret Michaels’ appearance so soon after his hospital stay. The show was followed by the always enjoyable after-party, highlighted by Siobahn Magnus’ joy at meeting her idols, the brothers Hanson, as well as catching up with some of my Idol favorites from past seasons.

6.  “Mad Men”:  This was the year I finally really got into the show. “The Suitcase” was the best hour of TV I saw this year.

7.  “The King’s Speech”:  My favorite movie of the year. I was into it right from the very beginning. Funny and touching in equal measure.

8.  Gary Oldman:  My favorite interview of the year came during the junket for “The Book Of Eli,” as Gary admitted he chooses his roles these days around his life as a single father, explained how he turns on the emotion for his angry scenes and admitted he was having such a good time, he didn’t want to leave the room.  We didn’t want him to leave either.

9.  “Inception”:  The only movie this year I couldn’t wait to see. I vote the top keeps spinning!

10. “Sherlock”:  A superb BBC miniseries shown on public TV here in America. Not that I didn’t enjoy the Robert Downey, Jr. version, but this was the Sherlock I grew up knowing.

11.  “Heartbreaker”:  The French show the Americans how it’s done. A great premise and likable leads remind us that a great romantic comedy need not be just a flick for chicks.

COMIC-CON 2010

With the demise of “Lost” and the lack of a “Lost” panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, my interest in attending hit a new low. For me, the question is how much is it worth to get a few free sketches and autographs? Wouldn’t I be better off putting that money towards a Vegas vacation? It’s not like Comic-Con is my one chance a year to run elbows with the stars. But when a friend offered me a free credential and my usual hotel mates extended a bargain basement offer to sleep on their floor for $ 50 a night, I decided what could a few days of nerdy fun hurt?

After the traditional stop at Irvine’s Chik-Fil-A for lunch, I hit San Diego Thursday afternoon around 1:30 and dropped my stuff off in the room before heading over to the Convention Center. This year, it actually seemed more crowded outside the building than inside, thanks to an outdoor display of the Green Hornet’s Black Beauty automobile and plenty of scantily-clad models hawking TV shows, movies and comics, which made for a traffic jam in front of the Hard Rock Hotel.

The highlight of the first day was adding the signature of Marvel Comics writer and fellow Chik-Fil-A fan Brian Michael Bendis to my Marvel book. Over the years, I’ve been given many books as gifts and have turned them into autograph books, starting with “The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told,” which I’ve gotten signed by anyone who’s worked on the Batman comics, movies and cartoons. I also have a book for DC Comics, Marvel Comics and still another one devoted to TV stars and producers. The DC book has the most autographs, with 122. It’s so crowded with signatures, it looks like a high school yearbook owned by the most popular kid in school.

Brian, writer of one of my favorite comics, “Powers,” as well as such current hits as “The Avengers” and “Ultimate Spider-Man,” had his signing scheduled for 6:00, with the convention closing at 7:00 for the evening. Unfortunately by 7:00, I still hadn’t reached Brian, and while he announced that he was prepared to stay until we all had our autographs, the security on hand didn’t exactly agree to that. But I did make it to Brian around 7:14, got my book signed and told him that a few years ago I had inquired about the option on one of his books, “Fire.” He said he was keeping it for himself and sure enough, this year the book was optioned by Universal as a vehicle for Zac Efron, so I congratulated him for his success in selling the property.

The next day I spied a line at the Warner Brothers booth for a signing by the producers and voice talent of “Batman: The Brave And The Bold,” where I had Diedrich Bader, the voice of Batman on the show, sign my Batman book (and if you had told me the guy that played Os on “The Drew Carey Show” would have made a great Batman, I would have laughed in you r face, but he certainly does!). I was also pleased to have my book signed by Andrea Romano, the executive in charge of voice casting on all of Warner’s superhero series in recent years.

I later returned in the afternoon to the WB booth to get in line for the signing for “V” featuring stars Elizabeth Mitchell and Morena Baccarin. Morena’s face was embossed on my hotel key card, which I showed the ladies when it was my turn to approach them. Elizabeth said, “You should have her sign that!” A good idea, but I stuck to having them both sign my TV book and most importantly for Elizabeth to sign my “Lost” DVD box. Of course, it was a surprise to see Morena rocking a new hair color, a whitish blond look. Already one of the world’s most beautiful women, did she suddenly wake up one day and say, “You know, not enough people notice me? I better change my hair so I’m even more stunning!” Well, it worked!

Besides Elizabeth Mitchell, there was one other actress I dearly wanted to meet, and that was Pauley Perrette, who plays forensic expert Abby on “NCIS,” a show I’m currently spending many hours catching up on, so it’s fortunate as I told Pauley that it’s on all the time in reruns. Pauley was part of the autograph line for the participants in the “Tech On TV” panel. Also signing was Anthony Zuiker, creator of “CSI.” Anthony has turned to writing what he calls digi-novels under the title “Level 26.” I had read the first one and he informed me he has another coming out soon, which will include a companion DVD. I guess I won’t be borrowing that one from the library then…

Fortunately, I didn’t have to stand in line every time I wanted to see a star at Comic-Con. It seemed like a number of them were staying in our hotel, as I rode the elevator at various times with the new Green Lantern, Ryan Reynolds, and the new Steve McGarrett of “Hawaii 5-0,” Alex O’Loughlin. The cast of “True Blood” must have been staying there too, as my roommates reported seeing such cast members as Anna Paquin and Evan Rachel Wood around.

When I wasn’t stalking the stars, I was hanging around the Marvel and DC Comics booths adding autographs to my books and standing in line for free sketches. When I get a sketch, I usually tell the artist to draw whatever they want, which in the case of Pop Mhan got me a drawing of a character he said he draws at every convention sooner or later: Ghost Rider. “Green Lantern Corps” artist Patrick Gleason drew me a fan favorite character that’s also a favorite of his, BZZD, an insect-like Green Lantern. I also talked to Cully Hamner, who was the artist on the mini-series “Red,” which has been made into a movie starring Bruce Willis. Cully drew a sketch of main character Paul Moses for me and said he’s writing and drawing a prequel to the “Red” comic.

I left the Con Saturday night after dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory with friends in the Gaslamp District. As I packed, suddenly a fireworks display began over the Convention Center, the perfect capper to a perfect convention!

IDOLPALOOZA 2010

Last week was pretty much all “American Idol” all the time, starting with an interview with Bo Bice on Monday. Bo was appearing on Game Show Network’s “GSN Live,” so Fred Bronson and I headed out to the GSN Studios in nearby Glendale to meet with Bo in his dressing room. Half of the interview was devoted to Bo’s new album and can be seen on Fred’s Idols Now app for the Iphone, while the non-video portion centered on Bo’s run on “American Idol,” one of many interviews we’ve been doing for a secret project that’s due out next year. As always, Bo was the consummate Southern gentleman, and certainly one of the most charismatic Idols I’ve ever met. The big revelation of the interview was that in Bo’s justifiably praised acapella version of “In A Dream” on “Idol,” he hit a bum note that has bothered him ever since. I checked out the performance on You Tube, and if you didn’t know it was there, you’d think it was something Bo tried to do!

The next day, Fred and I headed downtown for the final performance night of Season 9. We got a late start and arrived not too long before the show started. Fortunately, Fred had a parking pass that got us in a garage right across from the theater. Our seats were in Row NN, which was pretty far back although we still had a great view of the stage. I thought Crystal won the night, although given the screams for Lee, I wasn’t at all surprised when he was crowned the winner the following night.

Wednesday, we got downtown quite a bit earlier, enabling us to have lunch at The Farm restaurant, followed by a few hours on the red carpet before the show. I took a spot near the TV Guide Network booth where Justin Guarini and Brooke White were greeting the Idols. I got a chance to say hello to Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young, using their weekly break from “Hair” on Broadway to attend the finale, as well as play the game of “Spot The Idol,” seeing such past contestants as Kristy Lee Cook, Melinda Doolittle and Michael Johns on the Red Carpet. I also got a sneak preview of the evening’s special guests with Daryl Hall & John Oates as well as Alice Cooper being interviewed. But the biggest surprise was when a limo pulled up and out stepped Raquel Welch! Here I had traveled to Pasadena to attend one of her book signings recently and there she was right in front of me.

Of course, the show itself was another triumph for the producers. For me, the highlight was seeing Bret Michaels take the stage so soon after his recent health problems. I’ve always had a fondness for Bret, as he’s from Pennsylvania and played the same bars I went to as a college student.

After the show, Fred and I stopped off at the KISS FM Viewing Party at the nearby Regal Cinemas, then got in my car and headed for the Mondrian Hotel on the Sunset Strip for the 19 Entertainment party. After getting to the party late one year and missing out on all the food, Fred and I have not made the same mistake again. In addition to chowing down, there was plenty of hobnobbing with my favorite Idols. I said hello to Kris Allen. I complimented Casey James on his amazing duet with Bret Michaels and learned that their team-up had been in the works long before Bret’s recent health problems. I congratulated David Archuleta on what a great job he does keeping in touch with his fans, thanks to his constant video blogging. In typical Archuleta fashion, he laughed off his efforts.

I told Carly Smithson how I couldn’t get “With Or Without You” out of my head after seeing her band’s acoustic version on Billboard.com. But the most enjoyable moment of the night came in two parts. Early on, we came upon Siobhan Magnus in the lobby. Someone had told her that the members of her absolute favorite music group of all time, Hanson, were at the party. Siobhan couldn’t have been more excited, but when I checked with the keepers of the guest list, they said that Issac, Taylor and Zac weren’t on the list, so I figured that Siobhan was not about to meet her heroes. But later when we were leaving the hotel, we saw her again and she told us that the Hanson brothers had been at the party and she got to talk to them for a long time. There’s photos of them together on the internet if you need the proof.

Other Idols that attended were the rest of the Season 9 crew, including Lee and Crystal, plus  Bo Bice, Scott MacIntyre and Brooke White and Justin Guarini, fresh from their TV Guide duties. I spent a little time with Brooke’s husband, Dave, who was patiently waiting to go home as he had to get up at six in the morning for work. I’d be more sympathetic, except he had tickets to the Laker game the following evening, where he was planning on rooting for Phoenix. I also spotted Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell, producer ken Warwick, former Idol producer and “So You Think You Can Dance” mastermind Nigel Lythgoe and Idol creator Simon Fuller, who didn’t step into the VIP area once.

A truly exciting night, but there was more Idol on the way on Friday, with interviews with LaToya London and Nick Mitchell, the real life alias of wacky Norman Gentle. I actually drove Nick down to the airport Friday night, bringing Idolpalooza 2010 officially to a close!

LIVE BLOGGING THE ACMA’S

Here’s something I’ve never tried… a live blog! Let’s try it… and there’s no better day to do it than here behind the scenes at the Academy of Country Music Awards!

11:00 – Right now the Production Office is pretty calm and quiet. They’re in the midst of the final dress rehearsal for the show. It’s an interesting mix of the real acts (Laura Bell Bundy drew a crowd to the TV’s here in the office to watch her high energy dance number) and stand-ins standing beside the mikes and pretending to play invisible instruments.

The real action is outside the building, where fans have already taken their place behind a small fence at the Orange Carpet (orange thanks to sponsor Home Depot) and talent escorts are getting their final instructions. There’s also an interesting sight at the stage entrance, where wheeled platforms with the drum kits and instruments for each band on the show sit waiting.

11:30 – Taylor Swift just rehearsed what should be a pretty cool moment on the show. I’m proud to say I added something to her performance in a small way by gathering the photos that will be seen on the screens behind her. Lady Antebellum are onstage now, running through “American Honey.”

12:00 – Miranda Lambert onstage with more photos I gathered on the screens behind her.

12:01 – I highly recommend Whitney’s hilarious blogs about the ACMA rehearsals from the past few days at ew.com.

12:30 – Brad Paisley is rehearsing his new ode to summertime, “Water.” Originally Brad wanted to be in a tank of H2O onstage, but the heaviness of water made the producers rule out the idea. Of course, Brad’s guitar solo is all the magic you need.

12:40 – Off to a Jennifer Hudson rehearsal for the Brooks & Dunn show.

2:00 – Back from the Jennifer Hudson rehearsal. When the background singers applaud, you know you have something special. Of course, then Jennifer and her entourage walked outside the rehearsal room and hundreds of country fans walked right by them without a look.

3:00 – Back from lunch. Not much happening on the red carpet just yet. Time to change for the Awards!

3:20 – Just scored a ticket to the All Star Jam, the incredible party that follows the ACMA’s. Star after star comes over to the Marquee Ballroom across from the Arena to jam with an all star band. Last year, I made the foolish mistake of going to dinner after the show and missed Kenny Chesney, but did see John Rich, Randy Houser and best of all, Carrie Underwood after she won Entertainer of the Year.

4:20 – The crowds leading into the arena are huge! Fortunately I had a pass that helped me push through the crowds! Off to my seat! Have fun watching the Awards! I know I will…

9:15 – Turned out I had a terrible seat, but was able to move and sit next to my friend, Dick Clark Productions’ ace archivist Jeff James. The show was full of highlights. I especially liked Brooks & Dunn, Keith Urban and Laura Bell Bundy. Now I’m off to the All Star Jam! Goodnight internet!

REHEARSAL DAY FOR “THE LAST RODEO”

So for the past two days, I’ve been hanging out in the MGM Grand Garden’s Studio 2, watching the cream of country music rehearse for “ACM Presents Brooks & Dunn: The Last Rodeo.” There’s nothing like being in a small room and hearing great singers like Faith Hill and Rascal Flatt’s Gary LeVox wailing away just a few steps away from where you’re seated. And while I can’t reveal who’s performing what Brooks & Dunn song on the show, I will say that I was walking around singing some of B&D’s lesser known hits after hearing them done in powerhouse rehearsal performances.

Of course, I got some face time with the stars. Kenny Chesney was first on the schedule, and while Kenny joked he was suffering from a wild night, he still sounded great and was nice enough to sign a CD cover from his live album for me. I got a laugh from him when I said that while I hoped he would finally get that vacation he keeps announcing he’s going to take, I was glad he was making a new album first. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill came in together and you can tell they’re still romantic with each other, kissing a few times during their rehearsal. I got a chance to tell Faith how much I love her song “Paris” off her “Fireflies” album, even though I’ve never quite understood what it’s about. She thanked me and said she didn’t understand it either!

While most of the acts are backed up by Brooks & Dunn’s touring band, a few of the performers were playing in a more stripped down way. Sugarland for instance have a very dramatic performance planned. Their take on a Brooks & Dunn classic reminded me a bit of Bruce Springsteen, with some beautiful piano and harmonica playing. They’re doing one of my favorite B&D songs, and I also got to hear the original version by Kix and Ronnie, as they rehearsed a few of their classics on the main stage. For the ACMA’s, the fans are voting on which song Brooks & Dunn will do in their final ACMA performance together, so they have to be ready with a few of them. And yes, while they know all their own songs, they still have to rehearse so the director and cameramen know how to shoot each performance.

As always, the sheer niceness of the country artists was on display. Brad Paisley clapped me on the back as he walked by, and when Taylor Swift came in for the last rehearsal of the day, she started off by giving a hug to everyone in the band and just about everyone else standing around the room. And of course, it’s always fun watching great singers work on a song. Every artist took just two tries to get things exactly the way they wanted it. And you’ll see what that is when “The Last Rodeo” hits the air in May.

Tomorrow, it’s the ACMA’s!