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The Bachelorette, Jillian Harris (photo contributed)

SizzleTV for July 27th

Tonight is the much-hyped finale to the Bachelorette, and we finally get to find out which guy Jillian has chosen. In tonight’s show, the two final men – Ed and Kiptyn – meet Jillian’s parents in Hawaii so she can see them interact with her family. ABC’s official synopsis promises that an unexpected confession changes everything, and we can only assume from the previews (showing Reid with a ring) that Reid comes back and confesses his love for her with a proposal of his own. I was supposed to have interviewed Reid last week, but ABC cancelled all of his media interviews because of his involvement in tonight’s show. The network’s publicists promise me tonight’s show will be unbelievable.

Will Reid even get a consideration, or is it between Ed and Kiptyn? Should be interesting, and no matter which guy she picks, you can pretty much guarantee that Jillian is still happy with her decision, as she stated in a phone interview last week: “That is one thing that I can definitely say is I am definitely on top of the world right now. You know, I’m very, very happy. And I just can’t wait for next Monday so everybody can see why.”

Fans of dating-based reality shows can stick with ABC following The Bachelorette for Dating In The Dark at 10 pm (channel 13 or at 7pm on channel 86). DITD is a bizarre human experiment where men and women are introduced to each other in a dark room without the benefit of seeing their potential paramours. Curiosity got the best of us last week and my wife and I watched the first episode. It’s the kind of show that you watch when there’s nothing better on, and you need some mindless entertainment.

Major League Baseball fans in Kelowna can watch two of their favorite teams – the Blue Jays and the Mariners – battle it out in Seattle at 7 pm on Rogers Sportsnet (channel 9, or 211 in HD).

The two funniest late night hosts meet up tonight on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, as E!’s Chelsea Handler shows up on Craig’s show at 12:37 am on channel 7 (9:37 pm for timeshifters on channel 87). CHBC probably won’t be carrying Handler’s show, Chelsea Lately once they go Global, but you should watch it while you can on channel 4 at midnight. Her twisted views on Hollywood are probably the funniest on TV.

Today’s Sizzle

John Travolta denouncing Scientology?

Over the weekend, the UK’s Daily Mail published a long piece on actor John Travolta, titled “Is John Travolta Cracking Up?” It paints a sad picture of the Pulp Fiction star, and discusses the toll that the death of his son has had on his life. It’s a good read, and worth your time.

Reporter Paul Scott says that on a trip to Miami this week (his first public outing in months), “Travolta was sporting an eccentric handlebar moustache and a shapeless, baggy shirt, looking bloated and puffy. He hid under a black baseball cap as he ate an unhealthy lunch of cheeseburger and chips alone outside a fast-food joint.” Not a pretty picture. From there he goes on to describe Travolta’s distress over the first sign of cracks in his 34-year relationship with the Church of Scientology, the cult-like religion of which Travolta is a prominent and generous benefactor.

Sources have divulged that his son’s sudden death has ‘deeply shaken’ Travolta’s faith in Scientology, which makes unproven claims about its ability to cure a variety of physical and mental disorders. The former Saturday Night Fever star is said to be angry that the religion was unable to help son Jett, who was widely reported to have suffered from autism. There are even rumours going around Hollywood that if the star carries through on his private threats to leave the Church, the organization will go public with embarrassing details of his private life, apparently including allegations of past homosexual relationships.

What kind of religion has blackmail on the list of their dogmas? Oh, I’m sure every religion has been guilty of it before, but this seems rather extreme. Especially to threaten someone who has probably given millions upon millions of dollars towards their “church”. Everyone has a right to believe what they want to believe, but really? Scientology? Have you seen what Scientologists deem as the truth about humanity? For a funny (and pretty dead-on) look at what they believe, click here (you may get a few annoying pop-ups) to see the famous South Park Scientology episode that got Trey Parker and Matt Stone in so much trouble.

I hope Travolta can get over his personal issues and live the life he deserves to live, without any outside pressure from a cult-like religion breathing down his back. Be free, Vincent Vega, and enjoy that Royale With Cheese with a smile on your face.

Kelly Clarkson is not a music thief

Singer and first American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is being hounded by allegations that she stole the musical riffs from Beyonce’s Halo for her song, Already Gone.

Clarkson, who will perform here in Kelowna at Prospera Place on November 22nd, told the CBC that One Republic singer/songwriter Ryan Tedder essentially gave the same music track to both her and Beyonce. “Ryan and I met each other at the record label, before he was working with anyone else. He’s from Oklahoma, I’m from Texas; we got along really well and had some of the same influences. We wrote about six songs together, four or five of them made the album. It was all fine and dandy. I’d never heard of a song called Halo… Her album came out when my album was already being printed. No one’s gonna be sittin’ at home, thinkin’ ‘Man, Ryan Tedder gave Beyonce and Kelly the same track to write to.’ No, they’re just gonna be sayin’ I ripped someone off. I called Ryan and said ‘I don’t understand. Why would you do that?’”

The My Life Would Suck Without You songstress said that she fought to prevent the record label from releasing Already Gone as a single, but in the end they are releasing it without her consent. “At this point, the record company can do whatever they want with it. It’s kind of a sh*tty situation, but…You know, you learn.”

Have you heard both tracks? Musically, they are incredibly similar. Both videos are here for you below. As much as I hate to admit it (I’m a fan of Kelly and somewhat of a Beyonce hater), Beyonce did more with the track than Clarkson did. But isn’t there some sort of songwriter code that the One Republic dude obviously broke? Bands rip each other’s riffs off all the time, but to give the same song to two different artists seems to be more of a lame move. I guess musical Karma has already had its way with him, as it seems like Apologize is the only hit that One Republic is going to enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70AgyIEnBRE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czfCkkhtnP0

Chris Brown’s career revitalized by a Minnesota wedding party

Way to go, silly wedding dancing couple. In case you haven’t seen it, the most popular video on Youtube this week is one where a couple and their wedding party from St. Paul, Minnesota dance to Chris Brown’s Forever as they enter the church. As of this writing, the video is sitting at 8,571,037 views. Crazy!

The couple, Kevin Heinz and Jill Peterson, was even booked on the Today Show to recreate the dance live in front of America. You can see the performance here, and it’s not so much fun when the pressure is on.

I’m happy for the couple that they get to enjoy all this temporary fame just for choosing to do their wedding entrances with a slight twist. But does Chris Brown deserve the extra sales he’s getting as this video continues to surge in popularity? Looking at the Top Singles chart on iTunes this morning, I see that Chris Brown’s Forever is currently sitting at #7. That’s the first time since the Rihanna incident that Brown has been in the Top 10. It seems that Brown owes Heinz and Peterson one huge wedding present.

Will this last for Brown? I hope not. If Brown is going to make a comeback, it should be because he’s worked hard to make himself a better person, not because he’s made a lame-ass apology five months after the fact and that his song is featured in a popular Youtube video.

The lowdown on Comic-con’s True Blood panel

Whenever I’m discussing TV with others, the most popular show that people are buzzing about is True Blood. Even if they don’t subscribe to HBO Canada, they find it online and download it to watch the same night it airs. The edgy vampire series is HBO’s highest-rated show, and although it hasn’t officially been renewed, creator Alan Ball told a panel at this weekend’s Comic-Con in San Diego that a third season is a done deal. Assuming the show can keep the momentum up, there is no sign of True Blood going away anytime soon. This looks like a show with major legs, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least six seasons.

On Saturday, the creator and cast of True Blood put on a one-hour conference and my buddy Daniel Feinberg at Hitfix in Los Angeles was there to live-blog the event. His report is here for all you True Blood fans.

Some interesting tidbits: Did you know that there is going to be a True Blood drink? “Obviously we couldn’t make synthetic blood for human consumption,” series creator Ball clarifies. “It’s actually a very tasty blood-orange soda.” Would you drink it? I’ll have to taste it. Don’t count on it being available in Canada, though… Why is Eric so drawn to Sookie? “Well, just look at her… I’m sorry, Stephen,” Skarsgard says. He explains that Sookie is changing the way Eric views humanity and this excites him…

There’s so much coming up this season that it’s almost difficult to keep track of all the storylines. But man, what a great show – last night’s episode was off the hook. If you’re not watching it yet, catch up now. You won’t regret it, and you’ll think twice before devoting your vampire love to Twilight.

Tags: Chelsea Handler, Craig Ferguson, Dating In The Dark, Jillian Harris, Major League Baseball, The Bachelorette

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.