Survivor, arguably one of the innovators of modern reality television, is celebrating a milestone this spring: its 20th season!
Naturally, the show’s producers had to do something monumental to bring viewers from previous seasons back to watching CBS’ hit show. They’ve succeeded by pitting the game’s all-star roster of heroes against some of the most hated villains in Survivor history.
On the side of good are the likes of muscly gravedigger James Clement (from the China and Micronesia editions), hippie Rupert Boneham (Pearl Islands and All-Stars) and country boy Colby Donaldson (Australia, All-Stars).
On the dark side of the island, the Villains’ roster includes Jerri “Man-eater” Manthey (Australia, All-Stars), “Boston” Rob Mariano (Marquesas, All-Stars) and Ben “Coach” Wade (Tocatins).
Anyone who has watched any season of Survivor knows there are many aspects to the game. There are the grueling physical challenges, the unpredictable tropical weather and, most importantly, the ever-changing social game, where players build alliances only to pick off their competition through a series of Tribal Councils.
Some players have approached the game with integrity and pride, while others have exhibited deception and anything else it takes to win the show’s million-dollar prize. Now, as the two sets of traits battle it out, who will come out on top?
Who do you think the tribe will pick as sole survivor? You can find out by registering to play at Predicto.com. Along with being able to vote on surveys just like this, you’ll receive texts when the answers are revealed. Want more Predicto? Become a fan on Facebook!
Standing at 5’6” with vital stats of 39-24-34, Jenny McCarthy has been an object of fantasy for millions of young men all over the world over. Her October 1993 centerfold in Playboy when she was 20 years old catapulted the busty blond bombshell to superstardom. She was crowned Playmate of the Year, and soon after started doing hosting work for TV shows on Playboy’s cable channel and MTV. She went on to star in movies, host her own TV talk show, became a mother and authored books. She also does advocacy work, particularly raising funds for autism, and is one of the most famous vegans in the world. Not bad, eh?
She’s a superstar, which is a far cry from her initial dreams of making money from Playboy modeling to pay for college. Through the ’90s, she was one of the most desired women in the world. People thought that getting on in years would slow her down, but it didn’t seem to hinder her work. Even in the current millennium, she still keeps herself scintillatingly hot in her 30s and she continues to do parts in films while still being a mother to her son, Evan.
There are many girls today who still can’t hold a candle to her vibrant sex appeal as she nears 40! Apart from doing movies and TV work, she’s been writing books on parenting and pregnancy.
What keeps her in the showbiz game isn’t simply her looks — true, it’s in large part to her sexy body — but it is also because of her larger-than-life, brash yet down-to-earth simple persona that just continues to grab people’s attention.
Now there’s talk of completing the circle. Amid the news that Hugh Hefner is close to settling down, and rumors of how a trend is arising towards choosing cover girls who aren’t as young as in previous years, interesting speculation has come. The word on the street is that Jenny McCarthy could be set for a return to the cover of Playboy magazine, even after four cover appearances between 1993 and today. Yes, she’s still got it! And there may be an announcement forthcoming!
Even as the movie was being filmed, there was a lot of hype surrounding Avatar. The groundbreaking sci-fi adventure flick took award-winning director James Cameron only two weeks to write and more than ten years to produce. He first thought about Pandora and the Na’vi way back in 1994, inspired, he says, by every single science fiction story he had every read. He couldn’t bring himself to transpose his screenplay to the silver screen immediately because he believed the technology at the time was not advanced enough to fully bring his vision across.
So, like a sower planting seeds for future fruition, Cameron pulled strings around the movie industry, encouraging the innovative development and use of filming for 3-D, performance capture and enabling the seamless integration of real life actors with computer-generated imagery. He even invented his own movie camera system so he could shoot Avatar exactly the way he wanted. The result? A visual feast of a film that drew hoards of moviegoers into IMAX and 3-D theaters all over the world.
Nearly three weeks after its worldwide premiere, Avatar moved from a runaway box office hit to the second-highest grossing film of all time. Perhaps due to the higher movie ticket prices of 3-D cinemas, the movie grossed more than a whopping $1.3 billion, a good chunk higher than top-grossing film No. 3, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. It still has a long way to go before it overtakes the all-time box office ruler Titanic, but with the movie still running ongoing, and with an extended showing under way, some say it just might be possible for this sci-fi hit to push the historical drama to No. 2 — which, by the way, also bears James Cameron’s name in the movie credits.
Titanic grossed $1.8 billion when it debuted back in 1997. It was a film that went against the trend of James Cameron’s movie projects. Now that the director has released a film that he came up with and sits perfectly in his comfort zone, will he be able to outdo himself? Will Avatar dethrone Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time? 69% of Predicto Mobile voters say this is a definite possibility. If 20 days can rack up more than a billion dollars from moviegoers around the world, what more could it do in a month?
The puck-ish stars of ‘Big Time Rush’ — Kendall, Logan, James and Carlos — are melting hearts on the new Nickelodeon series about four hockey players who set out to become teen idols. They gave us a power play of pop predictions, including their take on Adam Lambert, this year’s Grammy Awards and what the future may hold for the members of that “other” boy band, the Jonas Brothers. Plus, find out which celeb crushes the four hotties are harboring in this interview exclusive!
Domino’s Pizza has a soft spot among pizza lovers across the country. The fast food giant is embedded within our pop culture. Whoever has not heard of the Noid? And the famous topping-laden pies have appeared in numerous movies and TV shows. What the pizza chain is most known for is its speedy delivery service – it ranks number one in providing the best pizza deliveries. Towards the end of the year, Domino’s has decided it wanted to be number one in taste too. So they gave its flagship product a major makeover. Domino’s famous pizza is now made with an entirely new recipe. The question is, will it be a hit or will it flop to the fast food floor like a piece of over-stretched pizza dough?
According to Patrick Doyle, Domino’s president, it took two years of research, with customers taste testing nearly 50 blends of crust seasoning, 15 sauces, and dozens of cheeses, for them to create their brand-new pizza recipe. The result, he says, is a major improvement from the previous servings. The crust now delivers a flavorful kick with a little garlic and parsley in it, the sauce is a little sweeter with a hint of red pepper, and the cheesy coating made from shredded rather than diced cheese.
It’s only been a week since the quick-service pizza chain started serving their new pizza and already, the country’s abuzz with mixed reviews.Some Domino’s Pizza loyalists say they loved what they had before and didn’t understand what needed changing. Others, mostly those who have already tried the new Italian fast food concoction, say that the pizza is worth taking another bite out of.
It is still too early to see the impact of this radical palate change in Domino’s Pizza. Some critics fear the pizza parlor risks going the same way as Coke did back in 1985 when it decided to change their soda formula: Failure. Domino’s says there is no such possibility because according to statistics, they’re already at the bottom of the barrel. There’s no way to go but up.
Still Predicto wants in on the pizza predictions. 76% have voted YES to Domino’s success. What do you think? Will Domino’s new, more flavorful pizza tickle the palate of all the pizza eaters? Or will people find it too ‘different’ for their taste? Check out the latest polls and participate! Visit Predicto today!
The Predicto TV team was invited to many great events throughout 2009. No matter how exclusive the guest list, sometimes it seemed everywhere we went, members from the cast of ‘The Real Housewives of New York City’ were in the house.
The ladies had plenty to share with us, but the number one topic was usually whether or not controversial Kelly Bensimon will be back in 2010. A lot of Predicto members voted to kick her off and even those who didn’t made sure to let us know they weren’t supporting her with their votes. Member “kristileigh” for instance commented that Bensimon would NOT be dumped, but added “Kelly has some issues.”
Issues aside, the girl appears to be a survivor. As the Bravo series’ third season nears its premiere, we’re already hearing that Bensimon is at the center of dramaand tossing barbs at mom-to-be Bethenny Frankel. See what other juicy morsels the ‘Housewives’ offered up to our cameras – check out Episode 55 of Predicto TV now!
Zhu Zhu Pets. No, no, we didn’t swear at you in some exotic language. Zhu Zhu Pets are the new must-have toys that are all the rage these days. These furry, robotic hamsters have been a darling of millions of toy shoppers.
Marketed as “recession-friendly pets,” Zhu Zhu Pets give would-be pet owners everything that is fun about owning a pet, but without any of the hassles that come with actually keeping real-life hamsters. They are small. They are furry. They are adorable as they move and scurry, especially when set to “Adventure Mode” and they explore the environment. Those who want to do less chasing and more petting can set them to “Nurturing Mode” and they will coo and purr. That’s all they need to know — on top of how they never need to eat, sleep or take a dump.
The theory has been a hit. Zhu Zhu (or “little pig” in Chinese) Pets began selling at $10 per toy clip, but had faced massive shortages, prompting a surprising 400% markup to $40 per toy.
Criticism has hounded these toys, however. Some say that part of why people give pets to children is to teach them responsibility — something an electric hamster doesn’t really impart, aside from regularly replacing batteries. Web cartoonist David Willis recently lampooned the toys in his Web comic, Shortpacked!, citing the point of buying a toy hamster when a real hamster will do.
More damning are allegations that the toys are not safe. Zhu Zhu Pets have been cited by consumer watchdog groups for containing more than the allowed levels of the metal antimony. U.S. federal safety regulators from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, however, announced on December 7 that the toys were safe and cleared them of the antimony level issues. Still, some groups such as GoodGuide insist that their methods for testing are different and thus will yield different results from that of government tests.
The hardest working man in show biz, aside from James Brown and Ryan Seacrest, has to be Dick Clark. After hosting American Bandstand for some 30 years, running a production company and hosting “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” each year, among other projects, Clark has his plate full.
He also celebrated a big milestone recently when he turned 80 years old. The hard-working Sagittarius might consider himself to be 80 years young given his spry personality and hefty workload, but others have been verbalizing different opinions.
See, folks tend to believe in the whole “out with the old and in with the new” mantra that’s commonly associated with New Year’s. They don’t see Clark as representing new beginnings, new ideas and new resolutions. Basically, they think he’s too old.
To squelch some of this nay saying, the ubiquitous Ryan Seacrest has, since 2005, been co-hosting (and filling in) for Clark during the dropping of the ball. Whether naturally or enhanced, Seacrest brings a youthful energy to the show, and likely a few million American Idol viewers, too.
Do you think Dick Clark will host next year’s soirée? Make sure you visit Predicto.com and register for the text message-based mobile game that has everyone predicting the outcome of sports, pop culture, news and entertainment events. Along with being able to vote on surveys, including this one, you’ll get updates when the answers are revealed.
Sign up today — and get more Predicto by becoming a fan on Facebook!
If the names Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and The Count don’t bring back memories that make you smile, you must have missed out on Sesame Street, the beloved children’s show. Either that or you didn’t have a TV when you were a child.
Created by the Sesame Workshop (or more fondly remembered as the Children’s Television Workshop) back in 1969, the show was built on the idea that television — long believed to be an entertainment device — could actually serve as an educational tool. Within years, the show would become a worldwide cultural phenomenon. It would be lauded for its ability to teach young people the basics of reading and mathematics, and promote good values among children.
The belief, as author Malcolm Gladwell wrote about was that “if you could hold the attention of a child, you can educate them.” That theory seems to hold water and a big part of the massive popularity of Sesame Street has been the characters in the show. Sesame Street is famous for the Muppets characters on the show, all created by Jim Henson. These puppets are a large part of the success of Sesame Street and characters such as Ernie, Bert, Grover, Kermit the Frog and more all have their own place in the collective memories of people everywhere.
This popularity has led to spin-off merchandising. Toys, clothes, lunch boxes, shoes and other accoutrement for children were all licensed and made money. This even extended to the world of video games, beginning with games such as Big Bird’s Egg Catch for the Atari 2600, and continued with Sesame Street: Big Bird’s Hide and Speak for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and Elmo’s Number Journey for the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64.
Formerly an entertainment medium for children, the video games industry now caters to older demographics. In recent times, video games were said to carry a certain social stigma, following high-profile media discussions about them exposing children to violence, sex and other mature themes. Games for children have floundered critically, not just because of the more mature tastes of players, but also because most games for children have been criticized as inferior gaming experiences.
“Make mine Marvel” or “Die-hard DC”? For the uninitiated among you, we’re not speaking a foreign language. No, we’re talking about one of the biggest rivalries of all time — equal to if not greater than such legendary battles as the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, cats vs. dogs and Tupac vs. Biggie.
This, friends, is the eternal battle of comic books: Marvel vs. DC.
DC is the industry powerhouse that’s home to iconic heroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash. Marvel is the underdog that rose to superiority and counts among its ranks the likes of Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man and the X-Men.
In Hollywood, however, these distinctions often mean little. Halle Berry, for example, played Storm in Marvel’s X-Menfranchise and DC’s Catwoman, while Ryan Reynolds is set to play Marvel’s Deadpool and DC’s Green Lantern.
But what happens when Stan “The Man” Lee, the creator of Marvel’s most well-known heroes, says he wants to do a cameo in the next Batman flick put out by a competitor?
Lee is no stranger to film, having made brief appearances in nearly every Marvel motion picture in the last decade. But will he have crossover success by making an appearance in the next, yet-to-be-confirmed adventure of the Caped Crusader? 51% of voting Predicto Mobile members say yes!
What do you think is going to happen? Visit Predicto.com to register for the text message-based mobile game that has everyone predicting the outcome of sports, pop culture, news and entertainment events. Along with being able to vote on surveys, including this one, you’ll get updates when the answers are revealed.
Sign up today — and get more Predicto by becoming a fan on Facebook!
We know how much you love celebrity gossip – now make your opinions heard! Predicto is your source for one of the most popular spicy celebrity gossip blogs on the Internet! You can also participate in exciting SMS survey blogs right from your own cell phone. At Predicto, we bring you the week’s hottest news and recap your predictions. Connect with the Predicto Mobile community and join in the fun today!
Survivor, arguably one of the innovators of modern reality television, is celebrating a milestone this spring: its 20th season!
“Make mine Marvel” or “Die-hard DC”? For the uninitiated among you, we’re not speaking a foreign language. No, we’re talking about one of the biggest rivalries of all time — equal to if not greater than such legendary battles as the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, cats vs. dogs and Tupac vs. Biggie.
Lee is no stranger to film, having made brief appearances in nearly every Marvel motion picture in the last decade. But will he have crossover success by making an appearance in the next, yet-to-be-confirmed adventure of the Caped Crusader? 
