Random Round-Up 17

Robert had mentioned to me a few weeks back that Hurricane - from American Gladiators, of course - was going to be in Beijing in the javelin. He'd read something about it in one of his magazines (Rolling Stone? I can't remember.) and said that, in the accompanying photo, Hurricane still had his doofy pink hair. (Ugh. He's really not one of the more intimidating Gladiators to begin with - does he really need to color his hair like cotton candy? After learning that he is dating fellow pink-haired Gladiator Phoenix, I thought maybe he matched his hair as a token of his love. Not so much - Robert said the article said his hair is always like that. Sweet.) Anyway, I came across the following photo of Hurricane (né Breaux Greer) with somewhat normal hair at Us Weekly's site and thought Robert might enjoy a peek:


Apparently, Breaux (dude, you're name is Ed. Get over yourself.) is actually a darn good javelin thrower. According to Wikipedia,

He is an eight time American Champion and American record holder for the javelin with a throw of 91.29 meters, achieved on 06/21/07 during the U.S. Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis.

Not too shabby. Good for you, Hurricane! Now fix your hair.

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Concierge.com has posted a feature on the world's worst celebrity hotel guests. It has a lot of the people you'd expect to see on the list - Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe, Britney Spears - but also a couple surprises. It's worth a gander if you have time.

TV Tidbits 08.5 - American Gladiators

Wow! I don't know if any or how many of you read the comments but Christina sent me one saying: "oh, one of the girls that played on the cornell team was part of the gladiator team in season 1. Her famed move was to wrap her legs around an opponents neck....i think her name on the show was fury, but her real name is jamie." Awesome!! Once she wrote the bit about the leg wraparound move, I knew exactly to whom Christina was referring. Fury was actually one of the scarier lady Gladiators - the blond, implanted ones never looked quite as menacing to me. :o) Christina asked if Fury would be on season 2 and I thought "Of course!" Wrong! What a bummer... it looks like she's been replaced by Phoenix, whose online bio is as follows:

Soaring into the sky like a spirit from the flames who has been kissed by the sun, the beautiful and bewitching Phoenix is as impossible to defeat as her mythical namesake.

Yeah, that sounds SCARY! Add in her feathered pink hair, circa 2000 Gwen Stefani, and you've got one intimidating bi-atch on your hands, people! Pbbbbbth!!!

However, I was happy to see that last year's winners are actually going to be Gladiators this season. Jet and Rocket are considerably more ripped these days than they were in their competition days, that's for sure, but I'm glad their "prize" was actually their prize. Plus, homemaker Monica (Jet) was by far my favorite competitor last year so I'm glad she gets to continue. :o) Evan (Rocket) was crazy fast - I called him Monkey Man - last season so I hope that's enough to power him through as a Gladiator... the dude is 4 inches shorter than the next shortest Gladiator and he and I are almost the same weight!!! (Just for my own pride, he does weigh more than me; unfortunately, it's not by much). Seeing as head Gladiator Titan gets 80% of the available screen time, however, it may not be a problem... !

TV Tidbits 08 - American Gladiators, American Idol

1.) American Gladiators' 2nd season premieres this Monday, the 12th, and it looks like it will debut a few new games to boot. Hosts Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali recently intro'd the new games:

"My favorite [game] is a new one called Rocket Ball," Hogan said while speaking with reporters at NBC's "All American Summer" Press Day in Pasadena on Friday. "It's kind of like a mix between slam-dunk basketball and football. You've got these round hoops, way up in the air. You've got two contenders and two Gladiators, and you hit this launch button, and you get launched 25 to 30 feet in the air and try to put the ball in one of the hoops. At the same time, the Gladiator is trying to knock the ball out of the way, or hit you physically. That game is really intense."

Ali... introduced a game called Tilt, "which is like a tug-of-war that takes place over the water," she explained. There's also one called Vertigo, adopted from the U.K. version of Gladiators, which involves a race between a contender and a Gladiator across a field of hanging poles. "To start," she said, "you have to climb up a pole, and then you have to make the poles sway using your body weight to get to the next pole. Way up in the air. I wouldn't want to do that. But I like it!" [EW.com]

Man, whatever happened to the event where the contestants ran inside giant metal hamster balls and tried to roll their ball over steam-spewing scoring pods (while a gladiator chases them, of course)?! That was the best!!! *sigh*

OOH! I just found it! 'Atlasphere'... nice. Real nice. I can't embed the video but if you click here, you can check out Atlasphere in action. Woohoo!

2.) Against my will - I just said I would never do this! Never say never... it'll bite you in the ass every time - but by repeated request, here's a teensy blurbette on AI:

Meeting the press to promote the new season of NBC's America's Got Talent (premiering June 17 at 9 pm/ET), Simon Cowell inevitably was swarmed with Idol-related queries. Here is what the outspoken Brit had to say about:

It All Coming Down to David vs. David
"It's what I genuinely believe will happen. I think you're going to have a real scrap on the night. Without either of them being a red-hot favorite, [the winner] will be [determined by] what happens on the night, and that's what the show is all about."

The Davids' Weaknesses
"I don't think they've got too many. I think David Cook has got the best voice and David Archuleta's got the teen and the gran[dma] appeal. [They're] very equal."

Jason's Surprising Longevity
"He's got a great face. If he looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame, he still wouldn't be there, would he? But that's the music business. He's had some very good weeks, to be fair. He just struggled with Andrew Lloyd Webber and, in particular, Neil Diamond. It almost felt a little bit like he was giving up last week."

"Broadway Week"
"I didn't really see the point because I use it as a criticism on the show that you are going to end up on Broadway. We aren't looking for a Broadway singer. I want like a Leona Lewis, a contemporary recording artist who's going to sell a lot of records. I'm not looking for someone to be in The Wiz."

The Plan to Revamp Idol
"You have to revamp every show that you make, every year. You have to wait and see [what we are going to do]. It's a surprise."

This Season's "Safe" Singers
"We are not "letting go" enough, you know? They are very media savvy, saying the right things, not arguing with me. David Archuleta was performing in front of Kelly Clarkson six years ago. It is on tape. It's like he's gone to the "University of American Idol." Safe song, safe message. I like people who go a bit crazy sometimes. I'm dying for someone to scream at me one week and say, "I hate your guts." I know they are thinking it."

Paula's Flub Last Week
"The whole thing is being blown out of proportion. It was a live show, she made a mistake. The year [Idol] becomes normal is probably the year I will leave. Genuinely, I like it when it is a bit loopy."

A Singer Sent Home Too Soon
"Michael Johns was probably the only contestant that should have stayed on a bit longer. I was thinking this week it would have been nice to see him in the Top 4. I think he would have got better."

Kristy Lee, Country Star?
"Kristy Lee Cook [has a career ahead of her] because I think that she knows who she is now, and I do think I steered her in the right direction one week when I said, "You are actually a country artist." So I think she knows who she is and I think that audience will like her. She's easy to market and she is interesting." [TVGuide.com]