pimblr.com

A big American Idol dominates a night crowded with unscripted offerings, some of which are frivolous and some of which aren’t.
Stuff to watch or record
American Idol: The second annual Idol Gives Back episode, a concert to raise awareness of and to benefit various U.S. and international charities, is so big that all of it won’t fit in Fox’s usual two-hour prime time. It starts a half-hour early and is scheduled to include appearances by Idol alums Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry, and celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Miley Cyrus, Snoop Dogg and way too many other people to mention here. 6:30 p.m., KDFW/Channel 4
Big Brother: ‘Til Death Do Us Part: The “houseguests” have been trying to get James, the kid with the pink Mohawk (which sometimes looks really furry), out of the BB house for weeks — he even was evicted once, then came back, because of a controversial “twist.” He’s on the block again tonight, along with the relatively easygoing Sharon, so it isn’t looking good for James. 7 p.m., KTVT/Channel 11
America’s Next Top Model: The semi-obligatory clip show includes some unseen footage from this “cycle,” which for some of us — ahem! — would be every episode. If you’re not a regular ANTM watcher and you need some bait, here it is: “New York City firefighters [practice] their runway struts and [contestants have] wrestling matches.” 7 p.m., KDAF/Channel 33
Van Cliburn: Concert Pianist: As the 50th anniversary of Van Cliburn’s victory at the first International Tchaikovsky Competition approaches, KERA airs this profile of the Fort Worth-based pianist. Dan Rather narrates the program, which includes interviews with opera stars Marilyn Horne and Leontyne Price, and footage from a 1994 tour. 8 p.m., KERA/Channel 13
Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious: With new episodes of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill about to come to Mondays for a soapy double bill, Girlicious moves to Wednesday to make room. Tonight, the remaining contestants film a video during a sailing expedition, and yeah, that put thoughts of Duran Duran’s Rio video in my head, too. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just count your blessings.) 8 p.m., KDAF/Channel 33

star-telegram.com

CWU softball players Liz Wallace, left, and Mallory Holtman carry Western Oregon outfielder Sara Tucholsky around the bases after an unfortunate injury kept Tucholsky from running the bases under her own power. The story has gained national attention. Blake Wolf/special to the Daily Record
For the Daily Record
ELLENSBURG – The story of the Central Washington University softball team and its act of sportsmanship this past Saturday is receiving national attention.
The story of how Wildcat first baseman Mallory Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace helped Western Oregon outfielder Sara Tucholsky around the bases after an unfortunate injury during her home run trot was first told on ESPN.com on Monday. Since the story broke on ESPN’s Web site, phone calls and e-mails from numerous media outlets have poured in, as have generic e-mails from across the country complimenting the Wildcat student-athletes on their act of sportsmanship.
Jonathan Gordon, director of Athletic Media Relations at Central, said the story has grown into the biggest news event he’s dealt with at the school — surprisingly so. It was mentioned in the seventh paragraph of CWU’s 11-paragraph press release on the game.
Gordon did not contact ESPN, but by Sunday morning he’d received his first call from an online columnist with ESPN.com. And the calls have just kept on coming. This morning Gordon started fielding calls at 7 a.m. — an hour before he regularly reports to work — and didn’t event get a chance to catch his breath until 9 a.m.
“The attention is awesome for the university,” he said.
When asked why the story had taken off Gordon said he thought that the CWU players’ act of kindness and sportsmanship struck a chord with a nation hungering for good news.
“My opinion is that the way society is these days, you don’t see a lot of positive stories like this,” he said. “Even at a small school like this, it’s kind of justice, so to speak, that something positive can get the media attention.

kvnews.com

No surprise this week. Brooke White, who had been skirting elimination all month, was shown the door and then was nearly inconsolable as she sang herself off American Idol to Neil Diamond’s “I Am, I Said.” And speaking of skirting, Ryan Seacrest, Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson circled the wagons in defense of Paula Abdul, not specifically addressing her Tuesday-night gaffe but declaring that Paula is “part of our family” and that the rumors out there are not true. Earlier, Paula defended herself on Ryan’s radio program. Most rumors emerged from conspiracy-theory bloggers and tabloid media.
Who knows? Meanwhile, Jason Castro of Rockwall, along with David Archuleta, David Cook and Syesha Mercado, rock on for another week. If Jason makes it another week, American Idol will visit Rockwall.
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neighborsgoblog.dallasnews.com

By DON JENSEN
TAMPA — Before he stepped onto a racetrack or ran his first furlong, Adriano had owner Donald Adam’s eye.
"He was absolutely, stunningly beautiful," said Adam, who received photographs of his newly-born foal from Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. "They said, ‘Here’s one that’s going to be very, very special.’ "
Just how special remains to be seen.
Adriano, a chestnut son of A.P. Indy, will carry the teal- and blue-colored silks of Adam’s Courtlandt Farms on Saturday afternoon in the 134th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
For Adam, 73, a successful banker and philanthropist in the Tampa Bay area, it will be his second Derby horse, first as an owner.
"Winning this race is one of the most challenging events in sports," Adam said. "To be one of 20 horses in the Derby is very special in itself, and the opportunity to be (the) one out of 20 (to win) would be an incredible feat."
Adriano qualified by winning the Grade II $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes on March 22 at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. His victory in the 1 1/8th mile race on Polytrack raised his graded earnings to $310,000, 11th highest in the field. But the 3-year-old trainee of Graham Motion has doubters, who question his ability on dirt, and his demeanor.
In his only start on dirt in the Grade II $350,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 24 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Adriano suffered his worst loss, finishing ninth, 17 lengths behind Cool Coal Man in the 12-horse field. His other six starts — on turf and Polytrack — have produced three wins and a second.
Adam, a native of Bryan, Texas, is solidly behind Adriano, who has gone at least 1 1/16th-mile in every outing.
"The reason he ran on the grass early on was (because) we never felt he could run typically with the younger 2-year-olds that start in the sprints," Adam said. "He’s a long-striding colt that should be able to run most all day. I don’t think there’s ever been a strong indication that he could not run on the dirt, because if you look at his breeding, it would indicate that he should be able to handle it just fine.

tampabay.com

Ice cream maker Baskin-Robbins will hold its second annual 31 Cent Scoop Night to raise money for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the company said on Wednesday.
Canton, Mass.-based Baskin-Robbins will hold its 31 Cent Scoop Night on April 30 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at all of its 2,700 stores nationwide, including its sole Dayton area location on Springboro Pike, according to the company. During the event, the company, known for its long running branding platform touting its 31 flavors, will reduce the price of its 2.5 oz. ice cream scoops to 31 cents.
For the event, Baskin-Robbins will partner with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and donate $100,000 to the organization. The two organizations will also honor 31 firefighters from across the country who have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to community service through the newly created America's 31 Firefighting Heroes program.

bizjournals.com

WHAT TIME SHOULD A RUNNER GET THERE?…If registering Saturday morning or picking up your packet on race day, be there by 5 a.m. All other participants are asked to be there by 6:15 a.m. for the 7 a.m. "Run" start. Please plan to arrive early.
REFRESHMENT INFORMATION…Our expo will be open from 6 a.m.-11 a.m. on the east side of the stadium. Sponsors will be offering products and refreshments will be available for purchase.
WHERE SHOULD I PARK?…First off, carpool if you can. Parking for participants is available at the north end of Sun Devil Stadium on the north side of Rio Salado Parkway and in the parking structure between Wells Fargo Arena and the Sun Angel Track, but if you want to get the parking structure you are advised to get there by 6 a.m. Did we mention to please plan to arrive early? Please do note that exiting from the garage will be blocked until after 9:30 a.m.
WILL THERE BE A NATIONAL ANTHEM?…The national anthem is scheduled to be played at 6:50 a.m.
TRAFFIC: The 202 westbound ramp and eastbound off ramp at Rural will be closed at 6:45 a.m. and southbound Rural curb lane (Curry to Sixth Street) will close at 6:50 a.m. Rio Salado East from Mill Avenue will close at 7 a.m. Roads should reopen shortly after 9:30 am.
EASIEST WAY TO GET THERE, PLEASE…: If traveling on Highway 202 to Sun Devil Stadium, exit Highway 202 at McClintock. Head South to Rio Salado Parkway West. Runners starting at 7:00 am should park in Lot 59 (north of the stadium). Non-timed walkers starting at 7:30 am should park on the eastside of Rural (northeast corner of Scottsdale Road and Rio Salado Parkway).
PACKET PICK-UP: Packet pick-up will be available April 16-18 at the Sun Devil Stadium North End/Gate (please note: this is a different location than in years past), 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.. Also available race morning, Packard Drive at the Registration Desk, 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Packets include your shirt, race bib and last minute instructions as well as information from sponsors. They may be picked up for participants by other people, we encourage this for teams and groups. Kids Run shirts and bibs can also be picked up through April 19 at the north end.

asunews.asu.edu

Salt Lake Community College’s men’s basketball program picked up two of the state’s top senior guards when Viewmont’s Davis Emery and Davis’ Connor Van Brocklin signed with the Bruins last week.
Emery and Van Brocklin won’t need any introductions, as they’ve battled hard against each other in Region 1 the last couple of seasons.
They’re also first cousins.
Emery’s dad, Jeff, the Viewmont boys basketball coach, is the brother of Van Brocklin’s mom, Allyson. Emery and Van Brocklin have played together on AAU teams in the past, but never in as meaningful of a situation as they’ll find themselves at SLCC.
“It will be fun,” Emery said. “We’ve talked about how it’s weird that we get to go to college and play on the same team.”
Both players were being looked at by a few programs. Emery said that he and Van Brocklin decided early on in the recruiting process that if they were offered a place at SLCC, they would commit and sign to play for the Bruins on the spot. SLCC, coming off a second-place finish in the NJCAA tournament, has a lot of holes to fill from this past season’s team.
Emery and Van Brocklin are tight, and all the time they spent playing with and against each other on Van Brocklin’s Sport Court will likely pay off for SLCC coach Norm Parrish.
“We have a good feel for each other and what we’re going to do,” Emery said.
The two players engaged in a friendly rivalry while competing for Viewmont and Davis. Emery said they would occasionally talk during their games. If they were ever seen laughing during the heated games between the two programs, it was because one was making fun of the other, or someone else on the court.
“It never really got too competitive,” Emery said. “Connor is probably the least cocky kid you’ll ever meet.”

deseretnews.com

It had to come to this. It’s almost a dirty secret for American Idol that former contestants are way more likely to find a second life on Broadway than they are to become honest-to-God pop-stars. For plenty of this season’s early eliminations, the show was obviously just a stopgap on the way to being a name at the top of one of those subway posters. Broadway musical producers seem to look at the show as a farm-league even more than Nashville studio execs do. And so this week, the show came just shy of acknowledging its Broadway ties by recruiting giggling toffy frog-man Andrew Lloyd Webber as this week’s guest-mentor. As someone who’s successfully avoided ever seen an Andrew Lloyd Webber play, this was not a good week for me. The standard Idol quavery saccharine ballads were already broad and hammy enough, you know? Do we need to see these poor kids leaning any harder on their stage-smiles? Syesha Mercado, for one, bought into the exercise wholeheartedly. At the beginning of the show, she listed her occupation as actress, even though her acting experience apparently consisted of one line in a cheesed-out Florida lottery commercial. But her “One Rock ‘n Roll Too Many” was a straight-up Broadway audition, a bid for niche-market acceptance even more naked than Phil Stacey’s asskissy performance during country week last year. Also gunning hard for that Broadway money, weirdly, was David Cook, previously the show’s resident rock dude. His inner drama-nerd came out swinging last night on an eerily poised rendition of “Music of the Night,” and he didn’t even do one of those wobbly Layne Staley gurgle-yowls. Shit creeped me out.
For some reason, this was also the week everyone forgot their words. I didn’t notice Carly Smithson losing her way, but apparently it happened. It was pretty impossible not to notice Brooke White’s fuckup, though. She started the song, froze, asked the band to start over, and then finished up her “You Must Love Me” looking totally shaken and dead inside. Last week, I called Brooke this show’s Cat Power; the more she projects her wilting wallflower image, the more protective the show’s voters get. Since every one of my results-show predictions has turned out wrong, I’m not going to precog her exit, but I will say that if she does go home, it’ll be because she pushed that vulnerability thing way too far. Even Paula visibly struggled to find anything nice to say. The judges remained all over David Archuleta’s dick, even though he shanked his lyrics almost as hard. He didn’t actually stop the song, though; he just sort of inaudibly mumbled for a couple of lines. Nobody pointed it out, and I’m wondering whether Randy Jackson is just so afraid of getting booed that nothing could make him really go in on this kid. It doesn’t even really bother me that Archuleta forgot his words as much as it does that he’s pretty much sung the exact same song every single week on this show. Time pretty much stops when he walks on; those godawful dull two-minute warble-fests just stretch on into infinity. I can’t believe he’s winning this shit. David Archuleta is boring and he sucks and I hate him.

blogs.villagevoice.com

CATLETTSBURG, Apr 02, 2008 (The Daily Independent - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — – The man accused of being the infamous “Duct Tape Bandit” has been found competent to stand trial.
Boyd Circuit Judge C. David Hagerman ruled Tuesday following a closed-door hearing that Kasey G. Kazee was mentally capable of being tried on charges of first-degree robbery and second-degree persistent felony offender.
The judge scheduled Kazee’s trial for May 12.
Hagerman signed an order in October directing that Kazee undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center at LaGrange.
According to Hagerman, the competency hearing was moved from the courtroom to his chambers after Kazee’s attorney, public defender Brian Hewlett, raised the issue of whether his client’s psychiatric records were protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which prevents the release of certain medical information without a patient’s consent.
Dr. Stephen H. Free, the leader of the team at KCPC that evaluated Kazee, testified at Tuesday’s hearing, according to Hagerman’s order.
Free told the court he found no evidence that Kazee suffered from psychosis, the order states. He also said it was his opinion that Kazee did not lack the capacity to appreciate the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him, and that he was able to participate rationally in his own defense.
Kazee, 24, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which stem from an incident this past summer that generated national and international attention.
According to the Ashland Police Department, Kazee entered Shamrock Liquors at 13th Street and Pollard Road on Aug. 10 with his entire face and head, save for his eyes and mouth, wrapped in duct tape and his shirt pulled up over his head.
Kazee allegedly indicated to a female clerk that he had a knife and threatened to harm her if she didn’t give him the money in the cash register. The clerk complied and the robber turned and fled with his pockets stuffed full of quarters from the register, but nothing more.

tradingmarkets.com

PITTSBURGH - After Sean Avery’s performance against the Devils in the first round, which included an NHL rule change prompted after he faceguarded goaltender Martin Brodeur, the Penguins and coach Michel Therrien vowed to ignore the Rangers’ super-pest and his yapping in Game 1 Friday night.
“If he expects to talk to me, he’ll be doing all the talking, not me,” vowed Sidney Crosby.
“I’ll try not to get involved with him. Skate away,” said goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury.
“They’ve got some dangerous players who you’ve got to focus on and we don’t want to have any distractions. This is what he’s looking for,” Therrien said.
Avery was on his best behavior and his wrister nicked Fleury’s right shoulder and went in the net for his fourth goal of the playoffs and a 3-0 second-period lead.
“I don’t have to reel Sean in,” Rangers coach Tom Renney said before the game. “I expect him to compete as hard as ever.”
Jagr comes clean
Jaromir Jagr, who posted two assists Friday night - including a sweet one-handed feed from behind the net (while fending off Sergei Gonchar) for Scott Gomez’s goal that tied the game at 4 - made the most of his first playoff game since his deparure from Pittsburgh in 2001.
Jagr tried to clarify the circumstances of the split from the team with which he won two Stanley Cups.
“We went through the tough times with bankruptcy and the team didn’t have a lot of money,” Jagr said. “Marty Straka, Robert Lang, Alex Kovalev were free agents, all three of them. We weren’t going to be able to sign all of them. I thought, it’s going to be a lot easier for a team to trade one guy than let go three guys. That’s why I made the step. It’s going to be easier for the organization.”

newsday.com