Season 5 of America’s Best Dance Crew culminated in a breath-bating battle to the end with California’s Poreotix edging out Canada’s Blueprint Cru by a hair.

Following the finale, I grabbed a few moments with some of the talented folks who made this season a nail-biter like Poreotix, Blueprint, Lil Mama, Omarion and Exec. Producer Randy Jackson.

Check out extended interviews from the night – including a special one with Glee cast-member Harry Shum. Continued –>

This week, I bumped into Alex Lambert and Giglianne from If I Can Dream at my neighborhood Target.

Dream is a new web series from Simon Fuller (American Idol) that chronicles the lives of 6 aspiring entertainers as they hone their crafts in a house that’s rigged with a bajillion video cameras. These cameras broadcast the housemates’ activity live – even when they’re sleeping! With the vast amount of coverage that the show shares, I was surprised to find Alex and Gig shopping without a crew behind them.

Alex’s premature elimination from Idol sent a shockwave through the Idolverse this season, and his passionate fans seem stoked that Fuller has offered him a second chance to foster his singing career on-camera.

Gig, meanwhile, is looking to make a name for herself in the high fashion modeling world. Currently, there’s a showmance blooming between herself and a fellow castmate, but it looks like she’s got a fixed focus on her career. Continued –>

As P. Diddy continues his search for the next great recording artist on MTV’s Starmaker, he enlists the skills of American Idol alum Kimberly Caldwell to host the program and music manager Johnny Wright (Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, etc.) to mentor the contestants.

Here, Kimberly discusses the kind of talent that Starmaker seeks to nourish, and Johnny insists that the show isn’t a karaoke competition – sounds familiar, eh?

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Kris Allen and Adam Lambert have barely begun to reap the rewards of the ginormous exposure that they received during American Idol Season 8, but auditions for the 9th round of the competition are already in full effect!

I covered the bustling LA auditions for my buddies over at RealityWanted and found a wide range of talent hungry for stardom. After checking out the clip, I’d be intrigued to know if you think that the next American Idol lies somewhere in this footage.

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Based on the judges’ praises and the media’s obsession with him, many of us tuned into the American Idol finale believing that Adam Lambert aka Glambert had this year’s crown in the bag. But in a display of democracy that foiled most assumptions, Glambert came in 2nd to the mellow, yet memorable, Kris Allen.

When I met up with Glambert following the finale, I got the sense, however, that his post-Idol career will still be laden with some fantastic entertainment opportunities. While backstage, decked out in his guyliner and black fingernail polish, the dude exuded confidence while addressing the media and showing love to his supporters. After 18 years of performing in front of audiences, this guy is ready to record!

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With the Black Eyed Peas slated to perform on Wednesday night’s American Idol finale, now’s the ideal time to post the second half of my conversation with Peas member Taboo.

In last week’s clip, Tab shared a pretty cool anecdote about the recording of “Where Is The Love?”; this segment finds him getting personal about the quality that he brings to the Peas, the thrill of acting in a Street Fighter flick, and how he’s using technology to provoke positivity.

The Peas’ new album The E.N.D. drops on June 9th.

Photo taken from a previous run-in with Danny

After I congratulated him on making it to the Top 3, Danny mentioned that he’s quite the Brian McKnight enthusiast. Now, being Season 8’s soul-singer extraordinaire, his respect for McKnight was no shocker to me. The real surprise occurred after I told him that my favorite McKnight song was the falsetto-heavy Love Of My Life. Danny, being a fellow fan of the song, started singing it, but instead of just enjoying his vocal stylings, the karaoke beast within me arose, and I found myself attempting to sing along with the dude.

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