Video Beat EXTRA - JAY LENO & LARRY KING AMERICA'S BEST

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Commitments Continue to Rock & Soul with Collector's Edition DVD - Holly Valance on DOA (Dead Or Alive) - Recommended TV Listings

Sunday June 8, 2008

TALK SHOW HOSTS JAY LENO & LARRY KING ARE THE BEST

When it comes to interviewing guests there are none better than Larry King and Jay Leno. We've written about King's skills several times as he has the knack of obtaining sensitive information without being obtrusive.

This past week King interviewed Ed McMahon who has been a well know host of Star Search as well as being the announcer of the Tonight Show and the sidekick of Johnny Carson who was recognized by many as being the best television talk show host ever.

Understandably the now 85-year-old McMahon made a lot of money during his career but during an interview with King last week he revealed that he is close to losing his house and is $644,000 behind on his mortgage payments on a house valued at $6.25 million in Beverly Hills, California. Considered to be a millionaire he and his wife owe their problems to not watching how they spend their money.

For Asian viewers JAY LENO is a lesson in American comedy. Leno is also a gifted interviewer and is the current host of the Tonight Show after taking over for Johnny Carson when he retired. He opens his show with a monolog followed by two guests from the entertainment business and winds up the program with a musical performance from an act.

Last week singer/actress Hilary Duff was one of his guests. Leno is on the CNBC network twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday. The show is a delayed telecast of a show previously aired in the USA. Please see schedule below.

COMMITMENTS ROCK & SOUL ON

The widely acclaimed Commitments film was a hit in 1994 and continues to be warmly received. The MGM channel aired it several times during the month of May and they aired it again today Sunday June 8. We've recommended that you pick up the video and add it to our VCD collection as it is a hit with great soul music from the Joe Tex, Wilson Pickett era.

Since the film is so popular with the MGM network there's a possibility that it will air again during the month of June. Given its Southeast Asia to ask for a specific date and time is out of the question as the networks in this region are well known for scheduling by the seat of their pants.

Since the film the band has been touring and made a DVD "The Commitments Collector's Edition" in 2004. The Commitments Collector's Edition DVD is jammed with never-before-available bonus features including commentary from the original films director Alan Parker, making of featurettes, "The Commitments: Looking Back" retrospective, two new songs, music videos, & more. The DVD includes Bonus footage of the band members past and present. As a result of the performance The Commitments were seen coast to coast a cross the USA on the Fox Television Net work and Globally on CNNs Front page of their Entertainment section.

HOLLY VALANCE

A few weeks ago we reported that former recording star Holly Valance turned actress and was appearing in the hit TV series Prison Break. As it turns out Valance appeared in only five episodes of the series but has been working in other film projects.

Her Prison Break episodes are over but Valance can be seen in her acting role in DOA (Dead On Arrival) that aired today (Sunday June 8) on the Star Movie channel and will most likely be rerun throughout the month. The DOA role is one that Valance treasures.

Her web site noted that she moved to Los Angeles to focus on her acting after she gave up on her pursuit of a music career. She has resided there for over 4 years. Valance landed the dream role in 2005 for the DOA film. She is a huge martial arts fan and trained for months full time in WuShu Kung Fu before shooting the action flick, a style she'd always admired. She studied Muay Thai since the age of 14 had to relearn a basic roundhouse kick to fit the new style. After four months in the Chinese desert, which she says was one of the hardest things she's ever had to do; the girl-power fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants movie was received particularly well by young girls.

"It was great to be the hero's instead of the cute girlfriends. We were the tough ones, and it was all real."

As it turns out for Valance her acting career came before music. The now 25-year-old multi talent was born in Melbourne, Australia May 11, 1983. Her mother Rachel is from England and her father Ryko Valance from Serbia Montenegro. She began a modeling career at age 12 when she discovered she was too young legally to get a job at McDonalds where all her friends worked, and always very ambitious, had to find some other way of earning money. Never really passionate about modeling but successful, she continued until the age of 15 when an opportunity arose to audition for her childhood favorite TV series "Neighbors". Valance was given the role of bolshie 'Felicity Scully' and would remain a show favorite for 3 years from 1999 to 2002.

She tried her luck as a recording artist from 2002-2004. She was on the London Records roster from 2002-2003. Valance's first single as a recording artist was a cover of Turkish singer Tarkan's "Kiss Kiss", released in 2002 was a mild hit. As a DJ I played it on the Caltex Drive Time Show in Cambodia which is how I became familiar with her talent.

Controversy arose when the director's cut version of the music video "Kiss Kiss" drew attention when it seemed that Valance appeared to be dancing naked, but in fact she was wearing flesh colored panties but no top. The footage was then digitally retouched adding strategically placed lighting effects. The song was nominated for 4 ARIA awards. Her next single, "Down Boy" peaked at #2 in the UK and at #3 in Australia. Her second album "Desire" wasn't well received. She made a few performances for the promotion, but it was canceled due to poor album sales.

Following legal problems with her manager/boyfriend, and poor sales from the album State of Mind, Valance was dropped from her recording company. Though she planed to release another album it never happened.

Valance said she is no longer interested in recording music because "No one can make any money. I think everyone is suffering in the music industry. It wasn't just me. I do something until it's not fun any more and then move on. Music wasn't fun any more."

She then landed roles in successful show's like "Prison Break" as sneaky Czech stripper Nika Volek, a memorable role in HBO's "Entourage" playing perfect 10 Model 'Leanna'. In 2007, she appeared in the TV series Shark and Moonlight.

When Valance is not shooting film & TV Holly says she enjoys going to boxing/kick-boxing bouts and hiking in the canyons of Los Angeles. Yoga is also becoming an important part of her life. Valance is a huge fan of dance and trained in jazz ballet from the age of 7. She says she loves the nightlife in Los Angeles and dreams of one day owning her own club.

As a massive fan of Electro, Valance wants to create one of the hottest dance clubs in Los Angeles, the music style a rarity there. She claims that she's a bit of a tomboy at heart and is also car crazy, loves card games and shooting galleries (almost non-existent in Australia).

As a model Valance signed a £3 million deal with the hair products company Schwarzkopf Live to front the new line aimed at an early teen to early 20s market. Valance was seen modeling Cosmic Blue, Sahara True Blonde, Hypnotic Red as well as XXL dresses and XXL hats (each color has a strap line which referenced other popular culture artists). The adverts could be seen across the United Kingdom at bus stops, shopping malls, on buses and in magazines. Though her recording career is in the past Valance says that she enjoys living in Los Angeles where she will continue to pursue of her acting craft.

Valance's film credits include:

'Taken' (2008) -Diva

'Shark' TV –Christina Shaw 'Every breath you take' (1 episode 2007)

'Moonlight' TV –Lola 'B.C' (1 episode 2007)

'Prison Break' TV –Nika Volek (5 episodes 2005-2006)

First Down (2006) - Scan (2006) - The Key (2006) - And then there were 7 (2005)

Sleight of Hand (2005) 'DOA: Dead or Alive' (2006) - Christie Allen

'Entourage' TV –Leanna (1 episode 2005)

'My Maserati Does 185'

'CSI:Miami' TV –Kay Coleman (1 episode 2004) 'Addiction'

'Neighbors' TV –Felicity Scully (1999-2002)- Australian Series

TV SCHEDULE

Note: The shows listed are for the Cambodia - Thailand time zone. Check your local listings for time and date in your area.

MONDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

TUESDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

WEDNESDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

7:00 PM - TRIBE - DISCOVERY CHANNEL

THURSDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

FRIDAY

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

SATURDAY

3:00 PM - JAY LENO - CNBC

7:30 PM - HI NET WORTH - (financial magazine show) - CNBC

9:00 PM - JAY LENO - CNBC

SUNDAY

3:00 PM - JAY LENO - CNBC

5:00 PM - LARRY KING - CNN - Airs daily

8:30 PM - HI NET WORTH - (financial magazine show) - CNBC

9:00 PM - JAY LENO - CNBC

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