Events Calendar
In This Section
Americana reigns in home decor, along with renewed patriotism
Flowers flourishing and grasses browning
Ice Cube necklace cool on dog days
20 area students win Green Spaces awards
Learn to knit outfits for baby
Fireplace is 90% energy efficient
Here's the truth about laundry
Most Read Stories
Blogs:
Pets:
Summit teams up with Rescue Waggin' to save dogs
The Heldenfiles:
Songs for an American Day
Patrick McManamon:
For your Saturday entertainment …
Akron Zips:
Opponent outlook: Northern Illinois
Browns Bulletin:
Single-game ticket sales begin July 11
Tribe Matters:
Laffey making it tough on self
Cleveland Browns:
Stallworth test showed marijuana
Kent State Sports:
Men's Basketball Scheduling update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Updated: Free Agency: Another Gone - Apparently
All Da King's Men:
IPCC Already Wrong About Global Warming
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Wow….Sarah Palin Resigns Governorship
Akron Law Café:
Abraham Lincoln and the Fourth of July
Varsity Letters:
Highland senior receives honor
See Jane Style:
Picnic Wear
Car Chase:
Where do We Go from Here?
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Hate Crime in Fort Worth Texas: "That F***t had it Coming"
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Linda asks-where is the Ohio Chautauqua?
Sound Check:
Rundgren fans rejoice!: Second night of AWATS at The Civic added
HRLite House:
Morscruethal Behaviors or Just Lip Service?
Akron Gamer:
Hot link: Best of Nintendo at E3
Published on Friday, Feb 29, 2008
Idol Ousters. American Idol dropped four more contestants on Thursday night, starting with Jason Yeager of Grand Prairie, Texas. He had failed to impress voters with his rendition of Long Train Running.
Also dumped were Alexandrea Lushington of Douglasville, Ga.; Alaina Whitaker of Tulsa, Okla., who became very emotional when told she was off the show, and Robbie Carrico of Melbourne, Fla. Lushington's last song was If You Leave Me Now. Whitaker's was Hopelessly Devoted to You. Carrico, a former boy-band type who had refashioned himself as a rocker, went out on Hot Blooded.
The group of contenders is now down to 16.
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Debate Replay. MSNBC will rerun the Democratic presidential candidates' debate in Cleveland from 8 to 10 tonight. The two-hour block will also include the post-debate analysis led by Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews.
MSNBC will also replay the debate and analysis at 8 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.
The cable network has said the original telecast drew 7.8 million viewers, the largest audience for any program in MSNBC's 111/2-year history.
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Now About That Skyline . . . A reader asked me if the city backdrop seen during the debate was actually Cleveland. According to an MSNBC rep, it was not. She said the backdrop, which has been used in other televised debates as well, is ''an array of different U.S. landmarks.''
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Speaking of the Debate . . . You will recall that, during the debate, Sen. Hillary Clinton referred to last week's Saturday Night Live sketch in which debate reporters blatantly favored her Dem opponent, Sen. Barack Obama. Well, Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that the show has asked the sketch's writer, Jim Downey, to pen another Clinton-Obama sketch for this Saturday's show. And, with Juno star Ellen Page as the host, DHD is wondering if she might play Chelsea Clinton.•
Mayor's Debut. Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic will make his first in-studio appearance on NewsNight Akron at 9 tonight on WNEO/WEAO (Channels 45/49).
In the segment, to be taped this afternoon, Eric Mansfield and the Beacon Journal's Steve Hoffman will talk with Plusquellic about his sewer-system proposal and other topics. The telecast repeats at 1 a.m. Saturday.
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Smirnoff Surgery? Extra! is reporting that Dancing With the Stars pro Karina Smirnoff underwent back surgery on Thursday. (One of the show's correspondents is Mario Lopez, who was once paired with Smirnoff on Dancing.) She is expected to recover in time for the series' March 17 premiere, in which she is teamed with another Mario, the one-name-only R&B singer.
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Speaking of Dancing . . . ABC has renewed the series for 2008-2009 as part of a bundle of pickups of reality shows (or, as ABC calls them, alternative series). Also renewed are America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Supernanny and Wife Swap.•
Movies Lined Up. The Canton Palace Theatre has released its lineup of movies for showing in March. They are The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, Thursday; The Darjeeling Limited, March 13; I'm Not There, March 20, and The Savages, March 27.
Prestigious stuff there, with The Diving Bell, I'm Not There and The Savages getting various Oscar nominations.
By the way, the Palace is also showing There Will Be Blood — with Daniel Day Lewis' Oscar-winning performance — tonight, Saturday and Sunday.
Showtime for each movie is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $4.
For more info, go to http://www.cantonpalacetheatre.org or call 330-454-8172 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
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Pot, Kettle. TMZ.com recently took to task O.J. Simpson associate Thomas Riccio, described by the site as ''the sports memorabilia dealer who may have double-dealt and orchestrated the confrontation that led to robbery charges.''
''Riccio's making a nice living off O.J.,'' the site said. In addition to signing a book deal, ''we know he was paid $70,000 during his 'media tour' following the arrest, in return for mentioning a Web site.''
That was not TMZ. But the site goes on to admit ''Riccio peddled the audiotape of the hotel confrontation to . . . oh yeah, us.''
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in a blog at http://www.ohio.com. Contact him at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
Idol Ousters. American Idol dropped four more contestants on Thursday night, starting with Jason Yeager of Grand Prairie, Texas. He had failed to impress voters with his rendition of Long Train Running.
Get the full article here.

