'DWTS' Winner J.R. Martinez: Rose Parade Grand Marshal

The Iraq war veteran-turned-"All My Children" star has been named the Grand Marshal of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade on Jan. 1, and has been personally invited to visit the Pentagon for a meeting with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
"His outlook on life is admirable, and we couldn’t be happier to have the chance to celebrate the New Year with him as we entertain the millions of fans around the world during the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game," president of the Tournament of Roses Rick Jackson said in a statement.
Read more: 'DWTS' Finale: The Kardashian vs. The War Hero
And while Panetta invited Martinez to the Pentagon in a congratulatory phone call after his reality show victory last week, he also wrote the vet a letter, telling him, "Over the course of this competition, your spirit captivated the nation and your victory sends a powerful message about the strength and resilience of our wounded warriors."
Martinez has also started writing a book, which he's currently shopping to publishers.
Cynthia Snyder, Martinez' representative, tells the New York Post his memoir will be "full of things people don't know," including, presumably, further details on his incredible recovery from the 2003 land mine explosion which burned him so badly he required nearly three dozen surgeries to recover.

Sure, he's got that mirror ball trophy, but J.R. Martinez is continuing to reap even bigger rewards from winning the 13th season of "Dancing With the Stars."

JR Martinez and Karina Smirnoff: Who Won Dancing with the Stars 2011

 
As soon as the Dancing with the Stars winner was announced last night emotions immediately began running high as to whether the right couple won.
JR Martinez and Karina Smirnoff were facing the finals with Rob Kardashian and Ricki Lake at the beginning of last night’s show. Ricki was eliminated first, leaving Rob and Cheryl to compete against JR and Karina in the finals.
While JR and Rob became really close friends on the show, it was clear that their dance styles and their journey’s on the show were very different. Rob, the underdog, was at the bottom of the leaderboard many times and he fought hard to make it into the finals. JR fought hard too, but in a different way.
JR was a judge favorite from the beginning because he possessed the drive and the skills to win the competition. It seemed as though he was a shoe-in to win the mirror-ball trophy until he injured his ankle heading into the semi-finals and ended up at the bottom of the leaderboard.
Regardless of his injury, JR continued to fight hard and persevere in the competition. Many agree that while JR was working hard in the studio, it was Rob’s family (most notable his 3 famous sisters) that were working the hardest to keep him in the competition.
 


At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves, who deserves the title more: JR and Karina (it was Karina’s first win ever as well – and she put her wedding on hold to focus on the competition) or Rob and Cheryl and Kim and Khloe and Kourtney and Kendall and Kylie?
I think most of us will agree that JR was the right choice.
Do you think Rob Kardashian deserved the title more than JR?
Click here for tons of comments from fans!

Five Iron Frenzy reunion: FIF posts new song, announces plans for new album due in 2013!

Update, 7:54 p.m.: Astoundingly, unless our eyes are playing tricks on us, Five Iron Frenzy appears to have already reached its Kickstarter goal of raising $30,000 to record its new album. Holy crap! That's got to be some kind of record. So far, this reunion seems to be off to a great start.So as promised, Tuesday, November 22, has indeed turned out to be a day that Five Iron Frenzy fans won't soon forget. Just moments ago, in case you missed it -- which is entirely possible, considering that the eagerly anticipated announcement caused servers to crash -- exactly eight years ago to the day that Five Iron Frenzy played its last show ever at the Fillmore Auditorium (we were there -- it was rad), the act has announced plans to record a new album with hopes of issuing the disc in 2013. Reflecting on the Rise and Fall of Five Iron back in '09, we never thought we'd see the day.
With that in mind, the outfit has posted a brand new song, "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night," which you can download for free on its Facebook page. The outfit is hoping to finance the whole endeavor with the generous support of its fans.
To that end, the act has set up a Kickstarter account to generate enough funds to record, mix, master and promote said album, and pay for all the associated travel costs. The goal has been set at $30,000. (Update: Astoundingly, as of 7:53 p.m. MST, 470 backers have already pledged $29,392!)
Earlier this afternoon, we spoke with Five Iron frontman Reese Roper, who is visiting his folks in Arizona (in the, ahem, Sonoran desert) for the holidays. And Roper, who now lives in Virgina, hinted that the reunited band has some other big plans in store for this summer. Live shows, perhaps? Hmm... you never know.
Earlier this afternoon, we spoke with Five Iron frontman Reese Roper, who is visiting his folks in Arizona (in the, ahem, Sonoran desert) for the holidays. And Roper, who now lives in Virgina, hinted that the reunited band has some other big plans in store for this summer. Live shows, perhaps? Hmm... you never know.

Dancing with the Stars Finale Rankings: Rob Kardashian Tops the Leaderboard! (Freestyle Videos)

Dancing with the Stars Season 13’s darkhorse, Rob Kardashian, has blown past the frontrunners and takes the lead at the top of the leaderboard. With three 9s for his waltz and three 10s for his freestyle, Rob and partner Cheryl Burke have a great shot at winning the Mirrorball Tuesday night. But, it’s not just the votes that will count now. They still have two more dances to get through on Tuesday’s Dancing with the Stars Results Show.
A fascinating event took place tonight: Derek Hough, pro partner to Rick Lake, was outscored not once. but twice in the freestyles. This is possibly the first time this has ever occurred. Remember, Derek has never been in a Dancing with the Stars Final that he hasn’t won. And usually, the finals are won in the freestyles. See the freestyle videos below. But again, we have two more dances to get through.
Let’s review the dances from part 1 of the Dancing with the Stars finale:
Rob & Cheryl  57
Waltz 27, freestyle 30
Rob’s first dance was a waltz. It was good, but not great. All three judges gushed but noted some footwork was mixed up. “You’re like the male version of Cinderella who made it to the ball” said Carrie Ann. For their promised old school freestyle, they did some old time/1920s dancing. Carrie Ann was of course "blown away." The other two judges thought it brilliant. They received perfect scores of 10s.
Ricki & Derek 54
Cha cha 27, freestyle 27
Their first dance, the cha cha, was good, but not great. Len though it could have been a bit more fluid, Bruno agreed but said Ricki had never been hotter or sexier. Carrie Ann said she was living the dance and looking fierce, but said there was some confusion with the arms.  They performed a combo quick step and salsa for their freestyle and it was pretty good except for the lifts. Ricki had not one, but two rough landings on dismount, but the judges only called out one of them. Those of you with sharp eyes caught the other one mid-dance. Len thought it was entertaining but thought Ricki lost it a bit in the quick step moves. Carrie Ann and Bruno marveled at how Ricki moved effortlessly between the two extremes of dance. It was a good dance, but not Derek’s typical wow factor freestyle.
JR & Karina 54
Cha cha 24, freestyle 30
JR Martinez and partner Karina Smirnoff were already a bit tense at the beginning of the show because their freestyle rehersals were not going well. Karina couldn’t get through the lifts, and the fear in her eyes when she talked about it was evident.  JR was given the Doc’s ok to dance on the ankle, much to his fans’ relief, but things went wrong in his first dance, the cha cha. I say it was the music. The band did a lackluster rendition of "Let’s Get Loud" which just didn’t work for their cha cha. The judges said his musicality was a bit off (and I blame the music!), Len said he messed up the New York move (Who noticed? Not me!), and Bruno at least said he liked the mood he set.  Len gave him a dismal 7, Carrie Ann an 8 and but Bruno pulled out the 9. When it was the time for the freestyle, I know I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t breathe until it was over. And YES! They pulled it off expertly and brilliantly. The crowd went wild, and sorry, but Ricki & Derek’s freestlye paled in comparison.  The judges responded appropriately with three 10s. And that’s what tied up JR and Ricki.
Now on part 2 of the Dancing with the Stars Finale event, the finalists will peform their season ‘favorite dance’ which will be ranked, not scored. Phooey. Come on! This whole phoney baloney rankings for the “favorite” dances is just to help the judges throw it to their favorite in case the votes don’t come out the way they want. And who do they want? I say Carrie Ann wants Rob, the show wants Derek, but overall, the people want JR.  After the rankings, the two highest ranked/scored couples (rankings + votes + Monday night’s scores) will have to perform an Instant Samba. And THAT will determine the Dancing with the Stars Season 13 winner!
The Dancing with the Stars Results Show will feature all the Season 13 contestants, plus performances by Lady Antellbaum with pro dances. The Dancing with the Stars Finale Results Show is a 2 hour live event, Tuesday, November 22 at 9 p.m. on ABC

The Dancing With the Stars Season 12 Winner is

 
It's been a Dancing with the Stars season to remember.
The injuries. The drama. The personal stories that moved us. The moves on the floor that thrilled us. A cast of stars so engaging and evenly matched that the field was as competitive as it was entertaining from the start.
But there could be only one Season 12 champion.
Somewhat surprisingly, given that she was just one point from perfection Monday and seemed like the dark horse to win, Chelsea Kane finished in third place.
That left Kirstie Alley, who ended up with five points less than the other finalists, but has been a fan favorite all season, up against Hines Ward for the crown.
Talk about anyone's game. Anyone willing to wager on this?
And the Season 12 Dancing With the Stars winner was ...
Hines Ward and his partner, Kym Johnson!
They jumped in the air and hugged as confetti dropped. The Pittsburgh Steelers star lauded Johnson, who fought through a bad neck injury this month, as "an amazing teacher" and thanked the judges "for giving us constructive criticism."
"I also want to thank all the fans," he said.
Kirstie Alley, who finished second along with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, said, "This the most extraordinary adventure I've ever been on in my life."
Still, she couldn't quite overtake Ward, a former Super Bowl MVP who proclaimed that DWTS is his Super Bowl this spring. Here's the MVP ...

David Cook Brings ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ Performance to ‘American Idol’ Finale

‘American Idol‘ is getting close to wrapping up Season 10, with the finale performance show airing tonight. After finalists Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina faced off in a singing battle for the gold, former ‘Idol’ winner David Cook performed his cover of Simple Minds’ 1985 hit, ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me).’

Cook, who was crowned the ‘American Idol’ back in 2008, covered the Simple Minds classic song as the official “vote off” song for the television show. The ‘Idol’ alum’s rendition of ‘The Breakfast Club’ theme song is the perfect fit to accompany ‘Idol’ runner-ups offstage, since the lyrics are sad and hopeful all at the same time.
As Cook sang in a dapper black-and-white suit with a matching guitar, a montage of ‘American Idol’ clips played onscreen behind him and his band. It was sort of sad seeing past contestants like James Durbin and Jacob Lusk in the video, but there were also funny moments, like when Casey Abrams smooched Jennifer Lopez.
David Cook will be releasing his album ‘This Loud Morning,’ featuring his single ‘The Last Goodbye,’ on June 28.