Headlines: La’Porsha Renae Readies Debut Single

Tonight it’s a 3 hour television marathon on CBS as Survivor: Millennials vs Gen X premieres at 8:00 and Big Brother crowns a winner, beginning at 9:30 pm. Steven will be live blogging both.

Billy Eichner joins Hairspray Live! – Comedian and Difficult People difficult person Billy Eichner is the latest actor to join the walloping cast of NBC’s Hairspray Live!, EW has learned exclusively. Eichner’s role is small but special: He’ll pop up in Hairspray’s second act as Rob Barker, a local TV newscaster for Baltimore’s WZZT who reports on Tracy Turnblad’s escape from the law and her attempt to integrate The Corny Collins Show. – Read more at Entertainment Weekly

LaPorsha Renae Gearing up to Release Single

Toyota replaces Nissan as auto sponsor of ‘The Voice’ – Toyota has signed on to be the exclusive auto sponsor of NBC’s “The Voice” for the next two seasons. The automaker replaces Nissan, who was the official auto partner for four seasons of the reality singing competition. Kia also was an early sponsor of “The Voice.” Toyota is the first marketer to take advantage of NBC Universal’s advertising offering on Snapchat. As part of the deal, Toyota is sponsoring “The Voice” Snapchat story, which consists of five, short-form videos that feature user-submitted performances. Based on these submissions, “The Voice” coaches select a contestant to appear on the broadcast premiere of the show. – Read more at Auto News.com

Studdard stars in premier of ‘The Bold & Sanctified’ – The role of R & B star, Petey in the “Bold & the Sanctified II” came at the right time for “American Idol” season-two winner Ruben Studdard. “I was looking to getting back into acting. It’s a Christian-based play with a great message and that works because I’m Christian,” explained Studdard, 38, who was born in Frankfurt, Germany but raised in Birmingham, Ala. “The character is based loosely on who I really am. Petey is an R & B star who is close friends to the pastor. I think I can draw on a lot of my personal experiences to bring this character to life.” – Read more at the Pittsburgh Courier

Pia Toscano on Hollywood Medium Tonight

America’s Got Talent Winner Grace VanderWaal Says She’s Just a Normal Kid – So what does the tiny, ukulele-strumming singing sensation from Suffern, New York, like to do in her free time? “Whenever people ask me this, I kind of realize how bland I am!” VanderWaal tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “I like to read. I like to hang out with my sister. I like to ride my bike a lot.” “I like to bike to my friends’ houses and they always tell me how crazy I am to bike to their houses,” she continues. “That’s really about it!” – Read more at People

Jake T. Austin Reflects on Dancing With the Stars Exit: “I Wish I Could’ve Done Better” – “I wish I could’ve done better. I mean, there’s mixed emotions. Overall I’m really lucky, I’m really happy,” Austin told us after he was eliminated. “Just a little bummed out, other than that this was an awesome experience.” – See the Video at Entertainment Tonight

Will Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X Defy or Reinforce Stereotypes? – “What you’re going to see on this season is two things,” Probst, a self-identified Gen Xer himself, says. “What I saw this season was, all of the stereotypes that are attached to Millennials are true. But what was revealed to me is, they aren’t bad things. No more so than when Gen Xers came around and the Baby Boomers criticized Generation X for their new ideas. It’s just a sign of the times. “The Millennials are kids that are technology-based, and they do want more passion in their life, and they don’t want to be told what to do all the time. You can label that as bad, or you can not judge it and just say, ‘This is where we are right now.’ The undeniable truth is, Millennials, for all of the bad stereotypes attached to them, are changing the world in many great ways.” – Read more at TV Guide

The People Behind The Apprentice Owe America the Truth About Donald Trump – In the interest of giving the public as accurate an understanding as possible of a leading presidential candidate, NBC’s news division should upload the raw footage from The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice to the web. Let voters see what Trump was really like while the show was being filmed, for better or worse; let them judge if the hours that they spent with the billionaire left an accurate impression or constituted a false portrayal of someone less presidential than he seemed. – Read more at The Atlantic

About mj santilli 34835 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!