Telly Vision

The documentary ‘American Teen,’ which is showing at WestGate 8, is being described as a reality TV version of ‘The Breakfast Club.’

One blogger apparently called it ‘The Hills: Cornfield Edition.’

The documentary follows the lives of five seniors from Warsaw, Ind.: basketball jock Colin, nerdy band geek Jake, artist/musician Hannah, prom queen/snob Megan and heartthrob Mitch, who dumps girls by text message.

From my high school days, I could relate most to acne covered and monotone speaking Jake and depressed Hannah.

After watching this movie, which I highly recommend, you can also check out their pages on Facebook.com.

Check out the movie's website at www.americanteenthemovie.com

Here are two videos: one on the film's director and a red carpet interview with the cast.

The presidential candidates are doing everything they can to get their names out there. Remember all of the candidates on Tyra Banks' talk show?

Now, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama played basketball and spoke with ESPN anchor Stuart Scott at Grimsley High School in Greensboro, N.C.

You can watch at 6 tonight on SportsCenter and also during the 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. SportsCenters.

Here are excerpts from the interview:
 
Barack Obama: “My favorite player when I was a kid was Dr. J.  He had those old Nets shorts with the socks up to here. Those Converse Dr. J's, that was the outfit then.”
 
Stuart Scott: “If your vice president had to be an athlete, who would you pick?”

Obama: “Well, I'll tell you what. I'm a Chicago guy, so I'm thinking Walter Payton. ‘Sweetness.’ That guy had durability -- he could block as well as run. Michael -- doesn't lose, and, since I haven't won the presidency yet, that wouldn't be a bad teammate to have. I'd just keep on feeding him and figure he'd hit the last shot.”
 
Scott: “Because of human rights issues, there was a loud cry for President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Games. If you had been President, faced with that, what would you have done?

Obama: “Well, I said very early on that I don't want Olympics to be overly politicized. But, when a host country is violating human rights, I think we have to say something. It would have been an appropriate statement for the President to say that, ‘I will not go to the opening games unless we have seen some progress on the issue of Tibet.’ If all of us are silent all the time, then human beings all across the globe are being silenced and being oppressed in ways that I don't think captures the Olympic Spirit.”
 
Scott: “Congress played a vital role through its hearings, and baseball union and players union into more frequent testing for performance enhancing drugs and stricter penalties. When you were watching the hearings, what did you think of them?”

Obama: “I love baseball. Baseball is America's pastime. I'd like to see the baseball Commissioner handle this without Congress being involved. We've got a lot of stuff on our plate.”
 
Scott: “If the Cubs and the White Sox both make it to the World Series?
Obama: “I would be going.”

Scott: “Who would you root for?
Obama: “Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox, that's baseball. Southside.”

Is this a sign that "American Idol" is trying to get rid of Paula?

"American Idol" has added a fourth judge to join Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson.  Grammy-nominated songwriter Kara DioGuardi will join the three judges for the eighth season of "Idol." Has it really been eight seasons?

I like that Kara is a songwriter. Maybe, she can write the song for the winning Idol. Hopefully, she can also offer intelligent critiques rather than just say "It was just awright dawg."

Creator Simon Fuller said the show was "turning up the heat on 'Idol' this year." Does this mean no more Sanjayas?

Will fans like having a fourth judge? Will this step up the quality of performances from the "Idol" contestants? Will Paula, Randy and Simon like sharing their screen time with a newcomer?

I love the following quote from Mike Darnell, president of alternative programming for FOX. “For the past seven seasons, Paula has had to endure the experience of being the only woman at the judges’ table.  She’s been as an island of consideration and gentle criticism between Randy and Simon, offering her invaluable expertise as a performer and No. 1 artist to the thousands who have competed on 'American Idol.'  With Kara by her side, Paula finally has some back-up and now there is going to be a lot more ‘girl power’ on the show.”

So who is this Kara?

Here's her bio courtesy of Fox:  

"She is one of the industry’s most sought after songwriters and producers, DioGuardi’s songs have appeared on more than 100 million records. Her songs have been recorded by Grammy award-winning artists including Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood, Santana, and Pink. Scores of major recording artists including Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Pussycat Dolls, Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, Natasha Bedingfield, Jewel, Ashley Tisdale, Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks, Bo Bice, Clay Aiken, Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, Jessica Simpson, Kylie Minogue, Enrique Iglesias, Nick Lachey and Marc Anthony have also released DioGuardi’s songs. Over the last four years, she has been awarded 10 BMI Pop Awards for having written the most performed songs on radio. From her catalog of several hundred songs, over 264 have been released on major labels worldwide; and over 165 have appeared on multi-platinum selling albums. DioGuardi co-owns Arthouse Entertainment, where she develops and mentors fellow hit writers, producers and artists. 
 
 
I say "Let the games begin." This should be fun to watch. I can already see Simon and host Ryan Seacrest flirting with Kara and Paula looking even more bewildered.