4th judge for 'American Idol'

From Fox:

GRAMMY-NOMINATED SONGWRITER KARA DIOGUARDI JOINS
PAULA ABDUL, SIMON COWELL AND RANDY JACKSON
AS JUDGE ON “AMERICAN IDOL”


Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi has joined AMERICAN IDOL as a fourth judge. She will sit alongside Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson at the judges’ table and use her background as an award-winning songwriter and producer to praise or critique the wannabe hopefuls throughout the competition. The eighth season of AMERICAN IDOL premieres January, 2009, on FOX.



“We are turning the heat up on ‘Idol’ this year and are thrilled to welcome Kara to the judges’ table,” said creator and executive producer Simon Fuller. “She is a smart, sassy lady, and one of America's most successful songwriters. We know she will bring a new level of energy and excitement to the show.”



“We had originally intended for AMERICAN IDOL to have four judges,” said executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz. “We’ve seen from our international series that having a fourth judge creates a dynamic that benefits both the contestants and the viewers.”

Good place for amazing race

The Travel Channel has acquired rights to show "The Amazing Race" from CBS, with
the series joining Travel's primetime lineup starting Sept. 3 with the 12 season (which is last season) at 8 p.m. The show will air at 8 p.m. Wednesdays. CBS will premiere the 13th go-round starting Sept. 28.
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From NPR on death of commentator:

LEROY SIEVERS, NPR COMMENTATOR AND BLOGGER,
CREATOR OF ONLINE CANCER COMMUNITY “MY CANCER,”

HAS PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 53



TRIBUTE TO SIEVERS AT www.NPR.org



“I am reminded again that my membership in this club, something I never would have wanted, is what has kept me alive.” – Leroy Sievers, NPR’s “My Cancer,” June 27, 2008



August 16, 2008; Washington, D.C. – Broadcast journalist Leroy Sievers, who openly chronicled his battle with cancer in the “My Cancer” commentary, blog and podcast on NPR, and in the process built a massive online community of people whose lives have been touched by the disease, died last night at home in Maryland, at the age of 53. He is survived by his wife, Laurie Singer, and a legion of family and friends.



Over the past two years, Sievers wrote candidly about his ongoing battle with cancer on the daily “My Cancer” blog, and invited its online community – which grew to include thousands of readers and contributors – to share their comments and experiences. Sievers could also be heard in regular commentaries about living with cancer on Morning Edition and a “My Cancer” podcast.

Olympics a huge success for NBC

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/sports/olympics/18nbc.html?_r=1&th=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=th&adxnnlx=1219075363-Gf786Ak+hJdI1F+pIRAeHQ

Because Ferrucci made fun of my logo photo

Here's my new look. I think you can see my face reflected in the helmet. Or maybe it's a vision of Our Lady of Phoenix. see Pat Ferrucci's Blog Like an Egyptian at
http://bloglikeanegyptian.blogspot.com/

'Greatest Olympics relay race I have ever seen'

NBC's update on Olympics for 8-11:

Michael Phelps will swim the 200m freestyle final live on NBC's primetime Olympic coverage tonight starting at 8 p.m. ET, as he looks to tie the all-time Olympic mark of nine career gold medals. Phelps began the 2008 Beijing Games with six gold medals and has won his first two races of the Olympics. Saturday, Phelps captured gold in the 400m individual medley. Sunday, he swam the first leg for the U.S. team which captured gold by just eight one-hundredths of a second over France in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay, a race NBC Olympic swimming analyst Rowdy Gaines called "the greatest Olympics relay race I have ever seen." A replay of the race is available at NBCOlympics.com.


HICKS ON CALLING THE RELAY: "Without a doubt it's the great Olympic moment I've ever experienced or called, head and shoulder above anything, and we have done some pretty good things. It's just one of those rare moments that you get in this business to be a part of something like that, and the fact that it now has a chance to continue, one of the greatest Olympic stories ever in Michael Phelps, just makes it an even bigger moment.

"It was something out of a Hollywood script. It had everything. It had the guys that did the trash talking in the French, it had the 32-year-old swimmer in Jason Lezak who has not had successful Olympic swims in the past trying to catch the world record holder in the 100m, and doing it when it looked like he had no chance at all. It was a crazy, crazy moment. I know Rowdy, in his eyes, agrees with me that it was simply the greatest Olympic relay race he has ever seen."

Reality show winners

Iliza Shlesinger (see photo right), a 25-year-old Los Angeles-based comic originally from Dallas, Texas, has become the first female "Last Comic Standing" in the six-season history of NBC's standup comedy series.

The fourth season of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE came to a conclusion as Joshua Allen was named the champion on the live two-hour season finale. Allen, 19, from Fort Worth, TX, received the most votes after the almost 60 million votes cast this season and danced off with the cash prize of $250,000.

And on Thursday Aug. 12 it will be the season 2 finale of "America's Best Dance Crew" with Soreal facing off against Super Crew.

COMCAST has launched SNY HD in connecticut

From Comcast:
BERLIN, CT – (August 7, 2008) - Comcast today announced the launch of SportsNet New York (SNY) in High Definition. Comcast also launched seven other HD channels this week, including Disney HD, ABC Family HD, TLC HD, AMC HD, Science Channel HD, TMC HD and Showtime 2 HD.

SNY HD will broadcast both Mets games and Mets entertainment programming like Mets Classics, Mets Weekly, Mets Hot Stove and Kids Clubhouse. The network will also provide coverage of the Jets through a number of shows like Jets Post Game Live, Jets Nation and a Jets draft special.

Trivial pursuit the tv show gets host, and other stuff

The Sept. 22nd premiere of the nationally syndicated series "Trivial Pursuit: America Plays" will be hosted by Christopher Knight (The Brady Bunch), it was announced this week.

Radio: Tom Joyner Morning Show’s ‘Back to School’ Special broadcast will be hosted by Myra J and Anthony Brooks when it comes to New Haven Friday, says a publicist. The two will co-host from New Haven’s Citywide Fieldhouse on Friday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The event will be a way for parents and students to become motivated and get the educational tools they need in the coming academic year, say officials.

"Antiques Roadshow" will be in Hartford on Aug. 23 to wrap up our six-city 2008 appraisal event tour. In addition, a production crew will visit locations in and around Hartford, capturing stories about antiques and collectibles unique to your community, it was announced.