‘American Idol’ Premiere Part 2: TV Recap

There was some big talent in the Big Easy on Part Two of the Season Premiere of “American Idol. “In fact, there wasn’t a lot of debate among the judges when it came to the yeses because anyone who got a ticket to Hollywood deserved it.

The show was bookended with two strong performers.

More after the jump.

Is Japan Losing Edge on Vending Machines?

It’s enough to make you cry into your ramen. First, the bullet trains aren’t 100% perfect, and now Japan’s losing out on its vaunted vending machine innovation.

Or so it would appear from this week’s stories on the arrival in Tokyo of a vending machine that sells gold. Despite all the hoopla here, Japan wasn’t the first place to set up gold vending machines. The first such machines were sighted in Germany in June 2009, and installed in Abu Dhabi a year later. Even the slow-going U.S. beat Japan’s innovators by a month.

Did ‘American Idol’ Slander the Bronx?

The feel-good story of an “American Idol” contestant’s journey from gritty Bronx to glitzy Hollywood didn’t feel so good to the Bronx borough president.

In a statement expressing his disgust — titled “American Idol’s Slander of the Bronx” — Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. alleged Thursday that the popular television show portrayed his beloved borough as a crime-infested dump.

More after the jump.

Michael Jackson Estate Sues Memorabilia Website

The estate of Michael Jackson on Thursday sued the operator of a website, alleging that it was selling memorabilia related to the late pop star without authorization.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, accuses entrepreneur Howard Mann of “arrogant disregard for the Estate’s rights and the law” in his operation of JacksonSecretVault.com, which sells a variety of photographs, books and calendars. The lawsuit calls those offerings, as well as other uses of Jackson’s name, likeness and music, “illegal.”

More after the jump.

Why Singleton Olivia Munn is on ‘Perfect Couples’

Olivia Munn says that of all the six lead actors on the new NBC sitcom “Perfect Couples,” she’s the only one who isn’t married or in a serious relationship. But she says she still has something to contribute when it comes to discussing characters and storylines. “I can talk about relationships that don’t work out,” Munn says.

Munn is best known for her job as a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (She’s also contributed work to Speakeasy). For people who aren’t all that into nuanced political and social satire, she’s best known for her not-so-nuanced photos in Maxim. (She was also a former host of G4 network’s pop-culture tech program “Attack of the Show!”)

She says the comedy on “Perfect Couples” is a lot like the humor on “The Daily Show.” Both shows “are spotlighting the embarrassing qualities we all have but are too embarrassed to talk about,” she says.

More after the jump.

Sundance 2011: Lance Weiler Brings A ‘Pandemic’ to Park City

Lance Weiler is interested in unorthodox ways of telling stories. The writer/director’s film “The Last Broadcast” was the first film to be digitally distributed to theaters back in 1998 and Weiler has created ARGs — alternate reality games — for other films he’s worked on.

Weiler is bringing a similarly complex storyworld experience to Sundance 2011. His short “Pandemic 41.410806, -75.654259″, about two children dealing with their mother’s mysterious “sleeping sickness”, is playing in the festival’s narrative section and more importantly, is a key part of “Pandemic 1.0″, an immersive and multi-media project that is being showcased in the fest’s New Frontiers section.

Lady Gaga Debuts Remix From ‘Born This Way’

Grammy-winning singer Lady Gaga debuted a remixed version of a track from her coming album “Born This Way,” at the Thierry Mugler Men’s fall-winter 2011/2012 ready-to-wear fashion show yesterday in Paris. Gaga created the remix, which includes a video, for Nicola Formichetti, the recently appointed creative director of Mugler’s ready-to-wear lines, not to mention Gaga’s personal stylist and the man responsible for the infamous meat dress.

The video was directed by fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco and shot specifically for the event, Formichetti’s first menswear collection show. The web-only film features Rick Genest, a Canadian model more popularly known as Zombie Boy, whose face and body are tattooed to resemble a skeleton.

Watch the new video after the jump.

‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother’: Review Revue

Speakeasy is just about Tiger Mothered out, but after all the advance controversy over the past two weeks, Amy Chua’s memoir, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” is now being reviewed. Will book critics find her writing as flawed as some find her parenting style? A roundup of critical opinion after the jump.

Michelle Obama’s State Dinner Style

What does one wear to a highly-watched State Dinner thrown in honor of Chinese President Hu Jintao? If you’re Michelle Obama, it’s a sumptuous crimson and black Alexander McQueen gown.

Dieting Tips From a Former Goldman Sachs Analyst

Neither snow nor freezing rain could keep Divya Gugnani from the New York launch of her book “Sexy Women Eat: Secrets to Eating What You Want and Still Looking Fabulous.” The former Goldman Sachs investment banking analyst-cum-entrepreneur met nearly 100 of her fans during a cocktail party at Pranna Restaurant in the Flatiron district last week.

From behind the bar, Gugnani created three cocktails; “Drinkable Dessert” a Chambord, Korbel, lemon juice and fresh blackberries concoction, “Sexy Strawberry Smash” which blends tequila, lime juice, club soda and strawberries, and “Luscious Lemonade” a gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and water mixture. As she shook and stirred, Gugnani spoke about attending the French Culinary Institute and earning an MBA from Harvard, where she worked on a project with Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, the founder of Gilt Groupe.

“I always like to meet entrepreneurs, women I respect,” said Wilkis Wilson as she sipped a “Drinkable Dessert,” adding, “what’s better on a snowy night then getting a taste, some tips and tricks just for Gilt City members, from a woman who is a successful businesswoman in her own right.”