Veronica Mars Joins Heroes Season 2

With the recent cancellation of Veronica Mars by The CW, Kristen Bell is available, and NBC didn’t waste any time grabbing her.

Bell will join a rapidly growing Heroes cast in a recurring role as a mysterious woman who could be on any side. In addition to her role on Heroes, Kristen will be the narrator on The CW’s new show, Gossip Girl.

This news follows closely on the heels of the announcement that Janel Parrish from Bratz will be joining the cast as the head cheerleader at Claire’s new school, as well as last week’s announcement that Nichelle Nichols will be the grandmother of a new hero played by Dana Davis.

Survivor: China Cast Revealed

We begin the one month countdown to season 15 of Survivor with the release of the cast list. A WWE wrestler, a guy named Chicken, and someone who lists his profession as former model are among 16 contestants who will be headed to Survivor’s first appearance in China.

Name: Aaron Resiberger
Age: 32
Hometown: Venice, CA
Occupation: Surfing Instructor

Name: Amanda Kimmel
Age: 23
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Occupation: Hiking guide

Name: Ashley Massaro
Age: 28
Hometown: East Northport, NY
Occupation: WWE wrestler

Name: Courtney Yates
Age: 26
Hometown: New York City, NY
Occupation: Waitress

Name: Dave Cruser
Age: 37
Hometown: Simi Valley, CA
Occupation: Former model

Name: Denise Martin
Age: 40
Hometown: Douglas, MA
Occupation: School lunch lady

Name: Erik Huffman
Age: 26
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Occupation: Musician

Name: Jaime Dugan
Age: 22
Hometown: Columbia, SC
Occupation: Student

Name: James Clement
Age: 30
Hometown: Lafayette, LA
Occupation: Grave digger

Name: Jean-Robert Bellande
Age: 36
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Occupation: Professional poker player

Name: Leslie Nease
Age: 38
Hometown: Tega Cay, SC
Occupation: Christian radio talk show host

Name: Michael “Frosti” Zernow
Age: 20
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Occupation: Parkour athlete/Student

Name: Peih-Gee Law
Age: 29
Hometown: Marina Del Rey, CA
Occupation: Jeweler

Name: Sherea Lloyd
Age: 26
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Occupation: Elementary teacher

Name: Steve “Chicken” Morris
Age: 47
Hometown: Marion, VA
Occupation: Chicken Farmer

Name: Todd Herzog
Age: 22
Hometown: Pleasant Grove, UT
Occupation: Flight attendant

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for full coverage of Survivor: China.

Big Brother 8 Episode 20

In typical Big Brother fashion, the balance of power shifted on Big Brother 8 Episode 19, and the side that was in danger the week before somehow won HOH. Now that Danielle’s in power, will we see something unpredictable happen, or will the nominations be pretty much as expected (again)?

The show starts off with Amber crying and crying some more… and then crying some more. Eric suffers even more fallout because of what America makes him do, yet somehow he still seems to be in a pretty good position.

Danielle gets no pictures of her boyfriend and a letter from Nick. No need to draw any conclusions here, as they’ve already been arrived at weeks ago.

A montage of all the words Amber doesn’t know. Scary. Eric then attempts to smooth things over with her, which probably isn’t necessary but couldn’t hurt. She acts tough in the diary room but eventually does figure out with Jameka that they’ve been sold down the river.

After watching the contestants play beer pong for a couple weeks (and Eric dress up in Jessica’s clothing), the food competition is a combination of beer pong and a toga party. (Yeah, these competitions are really planned out months in advance. We believe it. Honest.) In a close game, Amber, Jameka, Jen, and Danielle end up on slop.

America wants Eric to get Amber nominated for eviction. An easy task that thanks to Thursday is now in line with his gameplan. Dick seems to be really grateful to Eric for giving him a second chance in the game, but Danielle’s not so sure because she doesn’t trust him any more than she trusts anyone else (except her dad) in the house, which is not at all.

His next task is to give his childhood woobie to one of the houseguests. The logical choice here is Jess, but I don’t see how any answer could actually turn out bad for him.

Nominations for HOH:
Jessica-Safe
Jen-Safe
Dick-Safe
Zach-Safe
Eric-Safe

In yet another way too obvious nomination ceremony, Amber and Jameka are nominated for eviction. Amber believes she’s being nominated because everybody likes her, and Danielle wisely plays on that and tells both of them they have too many friends. At the end of the day, though, Danielle is actually targetting Jen and hoping that this time a backdoor doesn’t completely blow up in her face like it did with Eric. Will the nominations stick, or will someone get off the block and be replaced by Jen?

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live blog of Big Brother 8 episode 21, which airs Tuesday at 9/8c on CBS.

Bloggers Wanted

dingoRUE is a well known reality TV and Heroes blog, but in an effort to expand beyond that and become a broader source for TV news, recaps, and spoilers, positions for guest bloggers are now open.

Most shows that are on major networks in primetime will be considered for inclusion, but if you’ve got a show you’re just dying to write about and are not sure, feel free to ask.

If you’d be interested in writing about your favorite shows and sharing your views with other readers, head on over to the Bloggers Wanted page for more information.

Jordin Sparks Signs With Jive Records

Three months after winning American Idol 6, Jordin Sparks has signed a record deal with Jive Records, a division of Sony BMG, in conjunction with Simon Cowell’s 19Recordings. For the past decade, Jive has represented Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, whose fanbase was in line with where Jordin’s will likely be.

“American Idol has truly been a life altering experience,” Jordin said. “Signing with 19Recordings/Jive and Barry Weiss and his great team is hopefully the beginning of another dream opportunity for me to deliver the kind of meaningful music I love. I can’t wait to share this next chapter of my story with all the fans that have supported me so far.”

Jordin’s first single, Tattoo, will debut on August 27th, with a November release date set for the album.

So You Think You Can Dance 3 Winner

I was watching Big Brother, so I missed the first hour of this finale, but it looks like I’ve only missed an hour’s worth of filler. Excellent lesson from American Idol, even if this does at least look entertaining, with redos of some of the better routines of the season, including Danny & Lacey’s samba, Mia’s flower routine with Lacey and Neil, Pasha & Sara west coast swing, and Neil and Sabra’s table dance.

After months of dancing, we’re now down to the final 4: Neil Haskell, Sabra Johnson, Lacey Schwimmer, and Danny Tidwell. These dancers have all proved to be excellent, with another amazing showing last night.

Lacey, as the sister/cousin of two of last year’s final four, had a big edge early, and kept it with her consistently solid partnership work (despite lacking solos). Danny started out as a very strong dancer but with a reputation for being pompous, but has managed to improve that as time went on. Neil was probably saved early on based on looks/gymnastic ability, though I would suggest he’s stepped up his game the past few weeks and is the most improved. Sabra quietly built up her way to rave reviews week after week.

The first elimination hits just after an hour in. It’s between Lacey and Danny. Lacey has been eliminated. Not what I was expecting, but it goes to show it is anybody’s game.

Next up, Neil has been eliminated. So the winner will be either Danny or Sabra. We’ll find out after another 20 minutes or so has been filled.

And the So You Think You Can Dance season 3 winner is… Sabra, who has been one of the strongest most consistent dancers throughout the season.

Following strong ratings this year, So You Think You Can Dance will be returning for a fourth season next year. Stay tuned to dingoRUE for full coverage.

Big Brother 8 Episode 19

Following the nomination of father and daughter, Dick won veto in episode 18 and used it to remove his daughter from the block. In her place, Dustin was nominated. This leaves Dick with a best case scenario of a 3-3 tie, assuming Jen (the “ally” he detests) and Zach (the wildcard) vote for him. Ah, but then things get interesting thanks to America. America can potentially save Dick tonight by instructing Eric to vote Dustin out. Aside from the fact that Dustin’s never had much support as far as I can tell, Dick has had quite a bit, which seems to be going up after this week when a lot of people found his antics funny (for more than two seconds). I’m not so sure anyone’s going to actually want to run the risk of either forcing a tie or hoping for a stray vote, but it could easily happen and be one of the biggest moments in the game thus far. Granted, this wouldn’t make much strategic sense, but this year’s motto is pretty clear. Strategy? What’s that?

Danielle is touched by her father’s gesture with the veto. Jen couldn’t care less who leaves. Dustin thinks he’s safe but either way was dumb enough to offer himself up when it would have made more sense to put up Zach.

Eric’s got some splainin to do but has managed to bury the hatchet with Jessica. Until the next time he’s given a task. Zach cooks dinner for Jessica to kiss up to her and get the chance to try to talk some strategy and make a bond. He says he will vote however she wants. This may be one of the few attempts he’s made at this sort of gameplay this season.

America votes for Eric to try to get Dustin booted. Yeah, he’s about as surprised as I am, which is to say not at all. In between flirting, he makes somewhat of an effort to convince Jessica that Dustin’s a threat. Dick makes a deal with Eric that the two pairs (Danielle/Dick and Jessica/Eric) go to the end together. If this sticks, two pairs is very dangerous. Someone needs to pull in a third wheel. After that, Eric actually makes some logical points with the silly and broken puzzle pieces he’s been receiving as America’s Player, and does throw forth a more compelling argument about why Dustin should go. The fact that he and Jessica aren’t in bed with her talking about her boobs seems to help the conversation flow a bit better than the first one.

Because Dustin’s on the block, we get to see Joe again. Why? Didn’t this guy already get kicked out early because he was obnoxious? Much bitterness ensues, but with some valid points in there somewhere… I think.

Jessica tells Julie she trusts Eric and Jameka the most. She also says she has a great time with Eric but wants to remain focused on the game rather than having a showmance.

Votes to evict:
Amber-Dick
Eric-Dustin
Jameka-Dick
Danielle-Dustin
Zach-Dustin
Jen-Dustin

Well, the popularity contest voting influencing the game continues, as America saves Dick, and probably not for the last time this year. By a vote of 4-2, Dustin has been evicted. This has the potential to have a long lasting impact on the entire season. One interesting thing is that Jessica ultimately is responsible for Dustin’s boot because she could have controlled Zach, yet is also the only one who won’t be blamed.

Dustin’s clearly shocked that volunteering himself for nomination was stupid, and he jumps on the Eric is a weasel bandwagon. Dick believes he’s the reason Dustin has been evicted.

For the HOH competition, the house is invaded by a vertically challenged person, barbershop quartet, and a pirate on stilts repeating random phrases, along with some rabbits wearing playing cards and a living statue. Jameka can’t compete for HOH because of the veto competition sacrifice. Gee, it’s a true/false game based primarily on luck. Another big surprise.

Jen is eliminated on the first question.
Dick and Zach are eliminated on the second question.
Eric is eliminated on the third question.
Amber is eliminated on the fourth question.

Danielle is the new HOH. I’d believe Amber and Jameka are the main targets, but it’s unclear what Dick will do with his HOH power.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live blog of Big Brother 8 episode 20, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.