TMZ'S NICKI FERTILE: Backstage 'Idol' Drama

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While most of the departing "American Idol" cast received proper sendoffs on national television - it appears that one person was left in the dust. TMZ's Nicki Fertile explained...

Catch Nicki on TMZ TV, local listings here.

WINGMAN WEDNESDAY: Used and Abused

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The Wingman explains the importance of self respect to an anonymous writer dealing with an issue.

Visit The Wingman on MySpace, Facebook, & Twitter.

CNN HEADLINE NEWS APPEARANCE: "$#*! My Dad Says"

Last night CNN Headline News' "Prime News" invited me back to discuss the title of a new CBS sitcom debuting this fall: "$#*! My Dad Says". Yes, there's a curse word in the title, but it will be bleeped and censored. The show is based on the super popular Twitter account and best-selling book (the former which doesn't sensor the word). William Shatner will play the father, and by all accounts, it looks hilarious.

However, The Parents Television Council does not find the title so funny... instead, more offensive to families nationwide. So, in typical PTC fashion, the non-profit released a statement to the press condemning the show, and is appearing on television screens to talk about how appalled they are, blah blah blah.

I sparred last night with PTC President Tim Winter on the subject. I don't think this is an issue: the curse word is not a "hate word" - like say, the n-word or f-word. It's censored and bleeped. Most importantly, it's a free country - you don't like it? Turn the channel.

Besides, I'm more concerned with other $#*!... you know, like the $#*! that is pouring in to the Gulf, or the bull$#*! we're getting from BP about it...

Liza Minnelli Murders Beyonce's Single Ladies (Not In A Good Way)

This is off the "Sex and the City 2" soundtrack... why Liza, why?

PRODUCT RECALL: Belkin iPod Car Fixtures

Bought one of these from a HUGE ELECTRONICS RETAILER - despite being recalled due to a possible fire hazard last October, they were still selling them.

Click here to see if your item is one of three models affected.

DR. ROBERT MELILLO: Megan Fox's OCD

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In the latest edition of Allure, Megan Fox talks about her OCD. "The RRS" spoke with expert Dr. Robert Melillo about the condition.

Dr. Melillo authored the book, Disconnected Kids.

EXCLUSIVE: Meet H*Wood & The Fist-Pump Friendly 'Could It Be You'

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Brandyn Bordeaux moved to Hollywood from Denver, adpoted the stage name, "H*Wood", and landed a deal with super-producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins. Now he's gaining momentum across the blogosphere with his single, "Could It Be You (Punk Rock Chick)" and living out his dream.

H*Wood made some time for "The RRS" to talk about the track and his music that will be featured in upcoming episodes of "The Hills" and "Jersey Shore."

DAILY DOWNLOAD: Auburn - 'La La La'

Sure, her label may bill her that way. Yes, you may even think it after listening to "La La La." But do not call Auburn the "female Jason Derulo."

Matter of fact, don't call her the female version of anything.

The MySpace sensation scored a record deal with J.R. Rotem's Beluga Heights well before Derulo or Iyaz burst on to the scene. Now it's her turn at stardom with her first single pushed to radio, the catchy "La La La", which features her labelmate Iyaz.

Auburn checked in to "The Ralphie Radio Show" to shed some light on the track and the path she took to reach the current point of her career.

Part 1: "La La La"

Part 2: MySpace

EXCLUSIVE: VV Brown Plans To Prank Maroon 5 & Keep It Real With Owl City

Maroon 5, here’s your “call and response.” Owl City – sleep on this. VV Brown knows what she’s in for on her upcoming trek with both acts.

“I’ve heard that (the guys in Maroon 5) are pranksters,” noted Brown, who kicks off her slate of dates with the band on August 5. “Well, I’m a prankster,” she warned, half in jest.

While the fellas of M5 are chill, laid back, and relatively social – I warned VV when she stopped by “The Ralphie Radio Show” on Wednesday that Owl City’s Adam Young is the exact 180 – shy and introverted from all reports I’ve heard.

“Oh no, I can charm a lion,” she responded, dismissing my claim. “I think sometimes, people just need to be understood. I’ll try and understand him.”

I wished her the best of luck with that task.
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Part 1: Touring, Trickers, Big Bird

Part 2: "Shark in the Water", Lost Guitar


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“(Young) is probably sick of people kissing his butt all the time, and he just needs someone real to just tell him how it is,” continued Brown. “I always keep it real.”

The UK singer isn’t joking with that claim – all of her vocals from Traveling Like the Light are the demo versions – no retouching, no auto-tune, no thirty takes of one note. But just because she’s real, doesn’t mean she isn’t awkward, at times.

“I’m the kind of person that talks about inappropriate things at the wrong time,” admitted the artist, before offering up an example. “Just talking about poo around the dinner table… I’m very honest as well.”

If I could only be a fly inside the catering tent for this tour.

DAILY DOWNLOAD: Joey Fatone - 'Radio'

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Joey Fatone reveals how he chose "Radio" from a handful of songs he's recorded to be the lead single from his debut LP.

EXCLUSIVE: Joey Fatone Launches Solo Music Career Amidst Movies, 'Dancing'

He’s flying from coast to coast – filming a new movie, “Inkubus” in the east, appearing on “Dancing with the Stars” out west. He just welcomed a second child in to his life. This summer he is preparing for a two week run of “The Producers” in Pittsburgh – on top of countless other appearances and hosting commitments.

Yet somewhere in between all of this, Joey Fatone is finding the time to go back to his roots and launch a solo music career. “Radio” is his first single, and the evening before it hit iTunes, the former ‘N Sync member somehow spared 10 minutes to check in to “The Ralphie Radio Show.”

“It’s been a crazy month of May for me,” Fatone said, arguably a rather large understatement. “It’s been unreal, and I count my blessings every day.”

‘N Sync released its debut, self-titled album 12 years ago. From 1998 to 2003, the group sold 56 million albums worldwide – a number that sounds and reads unfathomable in this day and age. After the boy band disbanded – Justin Timberlake and J.C. Chasez pursued separate music careers. Lance Bass unsuccessfully attempted to launch in to space, before revealing he was gay in 2006. Chris Kirkpatrick hosted a morning radio show and appeared in a couple reality TV programs.

And if you were looking for Fatone, you didn’t need to look any further than the closest screen or stage – because the baritone singer decided he’d pursue everything that didn’t involve recording an album and touring.

“I did ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, and then I went off and did Broadway for a while,” noted Fatone, who appeared in “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Rent.” “And then I was spending time with my wife and my kid, and then I just finally had another kid recently.”

Fatone cites the birth of his second daughter as the reason he backed out of the spotlight – focusing on his family after “Dancing with the Stars” and his various hosting credits, which include the TV Guide Network. Now he’s back on the road – wrapping up his current film, a horror flick in which he stars alongside Robert Englund – the original Freddy Krueger, before the end of the month. Despite the constant activity in his life, Fatone believes the timing is right to return to music.
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Part 1: New movie, Return to "Dancing with the Stars"

Part 2: Solo album plans, possible Justin collab, "The Producers" in Pittsburgh

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“To have all the guys from ‘N Sync come out with an album at the same time, and just where I was, for me to do more Broadway and obviously not come out with an album, I think for me I’m glad it was kinda that way,” revealed Fatone. “You know, you don’t want people to get bombarded and go, ‘Oh look, Justin’s coming out with an album, oh here’s J.C. coming out with an album, here’s Joey coming out with an album, who’s coming out with an album next?’”

So he waited, and eventually recorded a handful of songs over the past couple years – fine-tuning his work until he was satisfied.

“I’m not the biggest writer, Justin and J.C. were really, really great writers… I’d always come up with concepts but never was a writer for that,” he recalled. “I always wanted to, and over the years developed writing and coming up with more ideas and working with a friend of mine, Rob Giles, who wrote ‘Radio’, it just kind of came together.”

Somehow Fatone fit in writing and recording sessions between his litany of other gigs. He’s only worked with Giles in studio thus far, but plans on reaching out this summer to other potential collaborators, including Timberlake. Fatone agreed with my assessment that Justin is more interested in partnering with other artists at the moment than recording his own material, so now may be the time to snag him for a feature.

“I think right now, because he doesn’t want the pressure on himself to have to go on tour and all that stuff,” said Fatone, who mentioned that he already spoke with Timberlake regarding the possibility. “So I think for him, producing and writing with other people is a great outlet for him, and he can stay at home.”

Certainly much has changed, besides the decline in sales, since ‘N Sync ruled the charts. But Fatone has taken note and adapted. He did not commit to any type of music video for “Radio” until he sees the reaction from fans – which these days, is instant thanks to comments and stat reports from iTunes, Amazon MP3, and YouTube.

“It’s like, why not put it out there, see what happens, and if it starts to grow… for me I’d love to do a tour and go out to maybe like, a House of Blues and do a tour like that,” said Fatone, also mentioning that he’d like to keep that intimate setting for his fans.

“My whole thing is, life’s too short, enjoy what you have, enjoy the music, enjoy spending time with your family, and that’s my vibe in general. I’m not trying to save the world by writing a song that’s going to make everyone hold hands and be one together. No, just have a party, have a good time.”

WINGMAN WEDNESDAY: Dirty Laundry

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The Wingman advises a listener to dump his girl before she airs more of his personal secrets... and sizes.

Visit The Wingman on MySpace, Facebook, & Twitter.

Defending "Single Ladies" on CNN Headline News

Last Friday, I made a cameo on CNN Headline News’ “Prime News” with host Mike Galanos to discuss a recent viral video on YouTube. The piece in question showed a group of 8 and 9 year-old girls at a dance competition in Los Angeles. The girls wore very elaborate costumes that showed off their midriffs, along with knee-high boots – and mimicked the dance to the music video for Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”

Parents and counselors across the country voiced their displeasure in the dance instructor and the children’s parents, calling the choreography too provocative and the outfits too revealing. Lauren Lake, a former hip hop dancer who appeared on the same HLN segment with me, compared the moves to that of a stripper – asking if a pole would be the next step for dancers their age.

I’m sorry, but I have to draw the line there. These girls were in a controlled environment, with parents, supervisors, and teachers. The comparison to exotic dancers was extreme, out of line, and uncalled for. I concurred that the outfits were not age-appropriate. But the dance moves consisted of more ballerina-twirling than booty shaking, grinding, or gyrating.

Matter of fact, how much of the latter actually appeared in the video? The girls were moving around frantically, but I think the “gyrating” claim is a little generous – perhaps these critics need a tutorial on how one actually gyrates.

Galanos and Lake were both against the video – which made it very hard for me to voice my opinion in the two-part, 10 minute piece. The bias in the segment reached a fever pitch right before Galanos tossed it to me for my first of only two chances where I’d be allowed to speak. The anchor decided it would also be a good idea to question not only the dance moves and costumes – but the song as well – by picking the most provocative lyrics of the track and reading them, while the words were displayed on screen.

This is a classic example of people criticizing pop culture without understanding it. You could pick a segment out of any piece of art – a song, a movie, The Bible – and find something to demonize. What Galanos failed to understand is that taken its full, intended context – Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” is an empowering song to women of all ages. In the track, which is one of Columbia Records’ most downloaded digital singles, Beyoncé sings about finding a man that will treat her right, and not needing any guy, especially one who won’t show her the respect she deserves.

Rolling Stone named “Single Ladies” the best single of 2008. The video has close to 90 million views on YouTube. Everyone from Joe Jonas to Justin Timberlake can be found on-line mimicking the dance… there is even footage of President Barack Obama, right before his inauguration, speaking to Beyoncé and noting that his daughters made him watch the video, attempting to teach him the infamous dance moves in the process. I’d hate to “pull a KanYe” – but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time!

“Single Ladies” is more than a song or a video – it’s a phenomenon that transcended to people of all ages and genders. Thankfully, there is at least a positive message to be taken from it.

That can’t be said for many other segments of our culture that 8 and 9 year olds are exposed to. Would Galanos and Lake rather see these girls hoola-hoop to Young Money’s “Bedrock”? How many of these dancers’ peers use a Lady GaGa song like “Just Dance” in a routine – yunno, where GaGa sings about getting drunk and hooking up in a club?

Galanos and Lake probably couldn’t answer that – which is another big problem with this whole ordeal. No one conducted a study to find out if “Single Ladies” is normally used in similar competitions, with comparable dance moves.

A TV network not giving a subject due diligence by reporting the facts? Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised of my experience after all.

TMZ'S NICKI FERTILE: Drama Between Spencer/Heidi And Mama

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TMZ's Nicki Fertile explained what happened when police were called to the Pratt household after Heidi's mother showed up unannounced.

Catch Nicki on TMZ TV, local listings here.

WINGMAN WEDNESDAY: Drive-Thru Special

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The Wingman goes where few before have gone: the drive-thru.

Visit The Wingman on MySpace, Facebook, & Twitter.

New York State Wants To Make Trying On Undies Illegal

Another one of those laws that shouldn't be needed - common sense, right?

Apparently not.

10 Reasons You'll Never Quit Facebook

Via Business Insider...

1. You're not going to go back to waiting an hour to send an email to 30 people with 40 photos. attached.

2. How will you remember anybody's birthday?

3. How will you stalk your college boyfriend's new fiancé?

4. Without Facebook what are you going to do when you don't have a friend's email address or phone number? Facebook messaging blows. But at least you know you can reach anybody who has a Facebook account.

5. Forget Facebook. 80 million of you are addicted to Zygna's Facebook game, FarmVille.

6. It takes 2 seconds to "join" a new site through Facebook Connect. It can take a good 10 minutes doing it the old way. (Care to subscribe to these magazines?)

7. How will you hear about parties? How will you remember where and when those parties are? Evite?

8. You don't care about Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg's sometimes sketchy past

9. Sure, Facebook has privacy issues, but you don't care about privacy anymore. Remember when you wouldn't use your real name on the Internet?

10. You've never quit before. Remember News Feed? Beacon? You didn't quit then and won't now, either. Not even if you want to.

EXCLUSIVE: VerseCity's Micah Walker Reveals Details Behind 'Tik Tok Rok'

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VerseCity front man Micah Walker calls in to "The Ralphie Radio Show" from Houston to chat about his band's version of "TiK ToK", entitled, "Tik Tok Rok." The group kept the basic premise of the song while changing a few lyrics and melodies - transforming a ladies anthem in to something a little more unisex.

Walker tells "The RRS" that 10 cents of every iTunes sale goes to Ke$ha's publishing company. He also found out that Dr. Luke, who wrote and produced a litany of hits, including "TiK ToK", heard the rock version and liked it.

EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Jon Gosselin Spends Mother's Day Shopping In King Of Prussia

You'd assume that reality star Jon Gosselin was not responsible for his eight kids on Mother's Day, with ex-wife Kate taking care of the children. So, how did Jon spend the day?



I spotted Gosselin and an attractive brunette on Sunday evening looking down the directory at the King of Prussia Mall, near Philadelphia. While the lady in hand is toting a Louis Vuitton purse, Jon is holding a pink Juicy Couture bag.

No pictures from the front, obviously I was in a mall, not expecting him to walk by me, and certainly not trying to cause a scene. My friend Nikki tells me that she spotted him later in the day at a nearby Target.

Happy Mother's Day!

DAILY DOWNLOAD: Chiddy Bang - 'Opposite Of Adults'

Rapper Chiddy, one half of Chiddy Bang, called in to "The Ralphie Radio Show" to talk about the group's single "Opposite Of Adults" as well as the video for it - which has received airplay on MTV and approval from the likes of KanYe West.

Part 1: "Opposite Of Adults"


Part 2: Rapper/Producer Relationship