Since the premiere of its latest season last February, The Amazing Race has gone to four continents, nine countries and eliminated eight teams. The show has reached its final leg, and the race is down to its last three teams.

Brent and Caite

Brent (28) and Caite (20) are models from South Carolina that are dating. They have not been well-received in the race and are known particularly for their feud with Carol and Brandy. Caite took offense at their earlier statement about “Caite’s tiara” and has been trying to always be one step ahead of them. Caite and Brent got their payback when they U-turned Carol and Brandy in the Singapore leg, forcing them to do both Detours and eventually eliminated them from the race. Caite is the last woman standing, and their team came in first in the last episode, securing their spot in the Final Three Teams competing for one million dollars.

Jet and Cord

Jet (30) and Cord (29) are brothers and cowboys from Oklahoma. They were considered the underdogs at first until they finished in first place several times. Other teams started to see them as a threat and tried to step up their games to eliminate the cowboys, but the only team who has succeeded in putting them in last place were themselves. In the Seychelles leg, they found the Pit Stop but failed to decipher the map in the bottle they had to retrieve in their Roadblock. They had to go back to their boat, assemble the map and then run to the Pit Stop. Carol and Brandy, who were supposed to be in last place, overtook them and Jet and Cord came in at last place. But good news for them because it was a non-elimination race and they were still in a race but had to complete a Speed Bump, as well as the regular Detour and Roadblocks in the next challenge.

In the next challenge, Jet and Cord became the first team to start the race from last place, complete the Speed Bump, the Detour and the Roadblock and finish in first place.

Dan and Jordan

Dan (24) and Jordan (22) are brothers from Rhode Island. They have been very low-key during the race and have succeeded in finishing in a good standing, never coming in last but never coming in first, until they got to Singapore and they were the first ones to get to the Singapore Flyer, where they had to walk to the next capsule 541 feet above the ground. At that moment, Jordan realized he was afraid of heights. Dan, however, was able to convince and motivate Jordan to finish the walk and finish the Fast Forward challenge and come in at first place.

Who do you think will win this season’s The Amazing Race? And where do you think they’ll go next? Tune in to CBS on Sunday, May 9, 2010, at 8/7c to find out who will win one million dollars!

I don’t like Dancing With The Stars. I do, however, like my lovely wife. So sometimes, just to spend time with her, I will sit through an episode of DWTS. And I’ve just got to say: I don’t get it.

Dancing With The Stars, in its very title, promises two things: dancing and stars.  I saw very little of either.  Buzz Aldrin is many things: an astronaut, a national hero, a living legend.  But here are two things that he is not: a dancer or a star.  Really, raise your hand if you want to see this octogenarian strutting around on stage.

Then there’s Kate What’s-Her-Name of Jon and Kate Plus Eight fame.  Her big claim to fame is that she had a lot of kids, prostituted them on TV for money, and was such a emasculating shrew that her husband left her.  Did I leave anything out?  How’s that make her a star?  And to make matters worse, she’s a horrible dancer.  Really, really bad.

Which brings me to me next problem with the show.  The voting seems to have little to nothing to do with the dancing.  If it did, Kate would be long gone by now.  I’m sure that the people who voted for her had their reasons, but I’m equally sure that those reasons were not related to her dancing prowess.

There are a few bright spots to watching the show.  You get to see Erin Andrews twirling around in skimpy outfits without that annoying peep hole distorting the view.  Pamela Anderson is nice to look at, and there’s always the chance that she’ll say something incredibly stupid, which is mildly entertaining.  There’s also a short segment during which the always funny Adam Carolla mocks the show á la The Soup.

But for every bright spot there are ten minutes of dull talk, bad dance, and recaps of what you just saw.  My advice to ABC?  Replace the talking about dancing and have Tom Bergeron introduce some funny home videos of dogs saying “I love you” or fat guys falling down at weddings.  And more Erin Andrews, please.

Last time, we talked about the Golden Globe winners for Drama TV programs. This week, let’s talk about the comedy TV winners.

Best TV Series – Comedy
Glee

I’ve always included Glee in my previous Couch Tuber articles as one of the best shows that came out in 2009. However, this time, I’m not totally sure about the Best TV series win. I was rooting for The Office or Modern Family to win. I still think The Office has one of the best comedy writing in TV today. And Modern Family just gets funnier and funnier as it gets more absurd. But Glee was able to infuse comedy and music together on TV successfully, so I think they do deserve that award. The new season of Glee starts in April 2010.

Wednesday, 9/8c, FOX

Best Performance By An Actress
Toni Collette – United States of Tara

United States of Tara stars Toni Collette as Tara Gregson, a wife and mother of two and also suffering from dissociative identity disorder. When she doesn’t take her drugs or is under a lot of stress, she transforms into one of her multiple personalities, including T (a wild and flirty teenager), Alice (an old-fashioned housewife) and Buck (a loud, beer-drinking Vietnam vet who also happens to be male). Set in Overland Park, Kansas, her family supports her, except for her sister, Charmaine.

Monday, 930/830c, Showtime

Best Actor In A TV Series – Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock

Everybody knows Alec Baldwin. And everyone knows 30 Rock. And everyone knows 30 Rock is not the same without Alec Baldwin, although I’ve yet to watch a 30 Rock episode without Alec Baldwin. He’s still the best thing there, I believe.

Thursday, 930/830c, NBC

Next week, we’ll talk about the Golden Globe mini-series winners.

On January 17th, the winners of the Golden Globes were awarded in a star-studded ceremony in LA. Did your favorite TV stars and shows win the big awards?

Best TV – Drama
Mad Men

Since its premiere on AMC in 2007, Mad Men has garnered several awards, including the Emmys and Golden Globes for Best TV Drama Series, Writers Guild Awards, Producers Guild Awards and the AFI Awards for 10 Most Outstanding TV Programs for 2007 and 2008. Mad Men stars Jon Hamm as Don Draper, the biggest ad man and ladies’ man in the world of advertising. He struggles to keep his image intact while trying to keep up with the changing times of advertising and the new and young executives waiting to catch him.

Sundays, 10p/9pc, AMC

Best Actress in TV, Drama
Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife

Besting four other good actresses, including Glenn Close (Damages) and Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Julianna Margulies marked her return to TV with an award-winning performance as Alicia Florrick, the shamed wife of a politician involved in a corruption and sex scandal while in office. Catch her performance every Tuesday night.

Tuesday, 10p/9pc, CBS

Best Actor in TV, Drama
Michael C. Hall – Dexter

Michael C. Hall stars as Dexter Morgan, a forensic blood splatter analyst, working for the Miami Metro Police Department by day and doubling as a serial killer off-duty. His adoptive father taught him never to kill the innocent and only kill “the ones who deserve it”, which in this case includes killers who have escaped the traditional legal system or were never suspected in the first place.

Sunday, 10p/9pc, Showtime

Do you agree with the winners?

Next time: TV Comedy Winners

The newest season of Project Runway started out differently. Instead of introducing the new challengers and designers, they decided to bring back past contestants in an All-Star Challenge.

Some of the contestants and favorites include:

1. Daniel Vosovic

Season 2′s runner-up, Daniel Vosovic, has published a book since appearing on Project Runway called Fashion Inside Out in October 2008. He is planning to launch his clothing line on February 2010. He is also the winner of the Season 6 All-Star Challenge.

2. Santino Rice

Santino Rice is probably Project Runway’s most expressive and opinionated contestant ever. He finished 3rd in Season 2, behind Chloe Dao and Daniel Vosovic. Since the show, he has been creating Camel cigarette packs, designing clothes for an exclusive list of clients and preparing to launch his fashion line and clothing company.

3. Jeffrey Sebelia

Jeffrey Sebelia is the winner of Season 3 of Project Runway. He used his cash prize to expand his existing clothing company, Cosa Nostra.

4. Uli Herzner

Uli Herzner finished runner-up to Jeffrey Sebelia in Season 3. Since the show, she has designed clothes for different clients who loved her in the show. Currently, she has her own TV show, It’s Very Uli, on Plum TV.

5. Mychael Knight

Since Season 3 of the show, Mychael has created a custom line tee for Starbucks, appeared on Rip The Runway on BET and used his cash prize to launch his fragrance, Majyk.

6. Chris March

Since Project Runway, Chris has designed elaborate concert costumes for Madonna, Beyonce and Prince. He has since moved to New York City, where his creations have appeared on Entertainment Tonight, HBO, Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray, among others.

Glance at Nielsen ratings for almost any night of the week, and you are bound to find a reality show in its top ten list.  Listen to a conversation at the water cooler at the office, and quite often you’ll hear statements, such as, “Did you see Adam’s performance last night? It was excellent!” and “Oh my gosh! I hope he doesn’t offer her a rose next week.”

In addition to enjoying watching them, many people would love to have a role in one of these shows.  And with reality shows covering topics from cooking to dating to trivial knowledge to pet grooming and more, there probably is a show for the interest that touches you.  However, there are many people competing for these roles, and that is where New York Reality TV School can help.

Founded by Robert Galinsky, this school came to be after he worked with Jorge Bendersky.  According to Robert, “Jorge contacted me for some training in order to get a role on Animal Planet’s reality series “Groomer Has It”. I trained Jorge for six weeks, he went to LA, booked the show, finished in the top 3 on the series, further became a spokesperson for the channel and had an amazing experience! I knew then that my methods and insights were right on, so I founded the school and the corporate communications division.”

Since its inception less than a year ago, New York Reality TV School has grown quickly.  Offering a variety of workshops, classes can be quite full; some with hundreds of students.  However, if you learn better in a smaller group, there are other options, including one-on-one coaching.

So, what do students learn at this school?  “Our focus is making each person understand that they are the writer, director, producer, performer and editor of the appearance on the show,” stated Robert.  “So the key things we teach are: confidence, authenticity and knowing your story.”

New York Reality TV School has made an impact on the reality tv scene.  Angel Chang is part of the cast for Bravo’s “The Fashion Show”, and Jonathan Fable was a first place finisher on Fox’s “Hole in the Wall”, just to name a couple.

This school offers a unique education, as it helps students prepare for television.  Robert notes that what is even more important than the possible fame is what this learning does for individuals, “My favorite part of running the school is watching people grow more confident about themselves and learning that they already have greatness within themselves, they just need to dig down, find it and bring it to the surface so we can watch them shine!”

And now we’re down to the last four finalists of Rockstar: Supernova.

15. Phil Ritchie was one of the controversial finalists who were sent home during Rockstar Supernova. The host and band questioned his commitment when Phil Ritchie gave an interview with one of his hometown newspapers  and said that he was appearing on the show to “create free publicity for his band and he doesn’t even like Supernova’s music”. Well the band didn’t like it, and they sent him packing. After the show, he went back to his band, Lennex, which he also left in February 2008, to be on his own.

16. After the show, Jenny Galt started touring with The Satellite Party, which took her to Howard Stern’s show to a European tour to a Dave Letterman appearance. She has since left the band and reinvented herself as Army Of Jennys and has shifted from rock to pop music. She released an album under Army Of Jennys called Polygraph in 2008.

17. After the show, Chris Pierson went solo for awhile before forming his own band, CP Band. They released their debut EP called The Height of Paranoia. They have been touring since then and are currently recording their second album.

18. Since Rockstar Supernova, Matt Hoffer has formed his own band, which recently released their debut album, The Downfall Of An Empire. They are currently touring the US to promote their EP.

This concludes the Rockstar series. Stay tuned for more!

Click here to learn about contestants 10-14, click here to learn about contestants 5-9, and click here to learn about contestants 1-4.

We just finished the Rockstar: INXS series. This time, let’s talk about Rockstar: Supernova. Where are they now?

Rockstar: Supernova is composed of former Guns’N'Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and former Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee. They came on the show to look for a vocalist for their band. After 3 months, they chose Lukas Rossi, and they went on a world tour in 2007 to promote their debut CD, Rockstar Supernova. They went on hiatus in 2007.

So, where are they now?

1. Gilby Clarke produced the remake of Rockstar Supernova finalist Dilana Robichaux’s cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” for her debut album. Since the Rockstar Supernova World Tour, he has played in other festivals including the G-TARanaki Guitar Festival in New Zealand in 2008. He also was a part of the Rock’n'Roll Fantasy Camp, which toured North America.

2. Jason Newsted – In 2006, Jason Newsted was injured when he failed to catch a bass amp head. This resulted with a torn anterior labrum in his left shoulder and a rotator cuff and biceps tear in the right shoulder. He is still in a rehab program because of his injuries.

3. Tommy Lee went back and forth with Motley Crue, leaving them and re-appearing in their tours and albums. After Rockstar, Tommy Lee formed another music venture as an electronic music DJ with DJ Aero called Electro Mayhem.

4. Lukas Rossi out-sang 14 other finalists to become the lead singer of Rockstar Supernova. Since their hiatus in 2007, he released a four track album called Love and Lust and went on a North American Tour to promote it. He has since formed a new band called Stars Down, who are set to release their first album called Mood Swings.

Next up: the rest of the Rockstar Supernova finalists.

We are down to the last six finalists. Few people remember the first ones to leave a reality show contest. Mainly because they weren’t there long enough to create an impression.

11. Tara Slone, from Nova Scotia, Canada, first wanted to become an opera singer and started training in classical music when she was 12. At 18, she attended university, and that’s when she turned to rock music. Since the show, she has recorded two albums, with her latest one, Just Look Pretty And Sing, released March 2007. She is currently under contract at Orange Record Label and hosts the show, “Inside Jam”, in Toronto. She lives in Toronto with housemate, Suzie McNeil (a fellow rocker on Rockstar).

12. Heather Lutrell already had been enjoying a steady, solo music career  before she joined Rockstar: INXS. She released two studio albums, Drive It Like You Stole It and Grits n’ Pulp, before she even grabbed the Rockstar mic. Since Rockstar, she has released another studio album called Pomegranate and is currently on a promotional tour.

13. Daphna Dove, a German-born New Yorker, comes from a musical family. Her father founded the band The Scorpions while her mom was a famous singer in Germany. After Rockstar, she has been studying music therapy and has become a spiritual singer/healer. From rock music, she has now turned to an ambient/alternative mix of music.

14. Neal Carlson was born and raised in New York and started his rock music career in New York. There is little known of his career updates after Rockstar.

15. Wil Seabrook, from North Carolina, has been busy since Rockstar. After the show ended, he was signed by Mercy Records and released his second studio album, One Dozen Summers. He attributes Scientology and his involvement with the church in helping him achieve his success. He is featured on the Scientology website as one of the “Scientology Successes”.

16. Dana Robbins was the first one eliminated and is trying to make it as an actress in Los Angeles.

Click here to learn about the top 5 finalists, and click here to learn about finalists 6 – 10.

Next series: The stars of Rockstar: Supernova.

Back in 2005, a reality show featuring rockstars was aired. In 2005, INXS jumped on the reality show wagon and was the first band to be featured on the Rockstar series. Their show: Rockstar: INXS. Their mission: to find their next frontman. Fifteen singers joined hoping to become the next person to lead INXS.

More than three years later, where are they now? What’s happened to these 15 people? Was it a good move by INXS to go through the reality show route?

1. Currently on hiatus, INXS had a world tour after the show ended in 2005. Unfortunately, in 2007, they had to cancel the tour because of Garry De Beer’s medical conditions. Playing more than three shows in a room could permanently damage his playing hand. No word yet on their return.

2. JD Fortune went on to win the show and became the new INXS frontman. He toured the world as part of INXS from 2005 to 2007. Since INXS’s forced hiatus in 2007, JD Fortune has been working on his solo album, The Death Of A Motivational Speaker, set for release in 2008.

3. Despite losing out to JD Fortune, Marty Casey had no trouble building his career when INXS asked his band, The Lovehammers, to open for them on their US tour. Marty Casey is currently on a solo tour in New Zealand, for Canteen, a charity supporting young people diagnosed with cancer.

4. Mig Ayesa released his self-titled debut album, MiG, in 2007 in Australia and the Philippines. He also went on to star in the theater productions of We Will Rock You in Asia and New Zealand and Thriller Live in the UK.

5. Suzie McNeil was the last female singer eliminated in Rockstar: INXS. Since the reality show, she has moved to LA to concentrate on her music career. In 2006, she released her solo debut album to positive reviews. She went on to perform as one of the characters in the Canadian production of We Will Rock You. In July 2008, she announced her engagement to her We Will Rock You castmate, Scott Walters. Shortly after that, she released her second album.

Stay tuned for the other rockstars!