Snog, Marry, Avoid: Stunning Punk Rocker “Make-Under”

Snog, Marry, Avoid is a British reality television show which focuses on transforming people who dress radically into the natural beauties that they are. They strip them of all of their crazy clothes and massive make-up, calling it a make-under, rather than a makeover.

On of the latest, shall we say, victims, was punk rocker Mel who underwent a complete and stunning makeunder for the show. (BTW, “Snog” means Kiss.) Reactions have been all over the place, with some thinking this is absolutely amazing and how beautiful she really is, to those who think she was just fine before and should be who she is rather than society dictate what she should be. Some are even angry with her parents (shown in the clip) for not accepting her and her punk look. Watch the video below and let us know what you think.

Lawsuit Filed Says Sony Music Cheated American Idol Winners Including Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed in New York charges that Sony Music Entertainment cheated “American Idol” contestants including Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood out of at least $10 million in royalties.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by 19 Recordings, a music company founded by “Idol” creator Simon Fuller.

The lawsuit says 19 discovered the royalty issue from two separate audits of Sony’s records.

Other artists named in the suit include Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry and Jordin Sparks.

Attorney Richard Busch, of the Nashville firm King & Ballow, says the legal action was necessary to protect the rights of 19’s artists.

A Sony spokeswoman said she had no comment on the lawsuit.

It’s Official: Cee Lo Green Leaves “The Voice”

In a “Voice” shake-up that maybe no one saw coming just 5 days before Season 6 premieres, original coach, Cee Lo Green, confirmed his exit from the reality competition Wednesday in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres. Green had been with the show for three straight seasons before taking a break (with Christina Aguilera) to allow for Shakira and Usher to fill their seats. He returned for the show’s fifth season, which will turn to be his last. He and Aguilera are sitting out the upcoming sixth season, premiering Monday Feb 24 on NBC.

“I’m not coming back at all,” he told DeGeneres. “I’m going to continue my relationship with NBC. I have a television show development deal with them as well and hopefully some other talk show opportunities for later in the year. But yeah, I’m going to miss The Voice, too.” Check out his announcement below and let us know what you think about his exit!

Cee Lo took to his official website to make an official statement.

“I’m officially announcing today that I won’t be returning as a coach on The Voice cycle 7 in the Fall. There are numerous reasons that led to this decision, which has been amicably reached with NBC, but I’m excited to be developing several other ideas with the network and my association with NBC remains strong. The Voice has been an immensely enjoyable experience for me and I can only hope I have enriched the lives of our viewers, the contestants, and the many friends I made there. I will always be there in spirit. Meanwhile, NBC and I plan to continue our relationship with several new co-ventures including a new music show, while we also explore our ideas for me to create and host a new show of my own. I will not go quietly into the night… expect more great music and entertainment done in my own unique unmistakable and undeniable way. The Voice has given me all the altitude and incentive to do just that. Thanks for the memories and make way for many more!”

– CeeLo Green

I think we will all miss Purrrfect the cat.

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Melanie Martinez (The Voice) Releases New Video

Uploaded just over an hour ago, Melanie Martinez has debuted her official new video for her track ‘Dollhouse’. It’s… Interesting. A bit dark and creepy for sure.

You all remember Melanie. She was the girl on Adam’s team with the two toned hair, half blond/half black on The Voice Season 3. There was uproar one week when Christina decided that Melanie was not paying enough attention to her critique and showed her disapproval. Melanie fans took to Twitter angry with Christina for being so rude. This was the same year that Cassadee Pope won for Blake’s team.

Give her new video a look and and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Fox Cancels “The X Factor”

Even “The X Factor” doesn’t have the X factor. Or maybe now it is the ex-factor. (See what I did there?) Late Friday evening, Fox announced that the struggling reality competition series will not return for a fourth season.

“American Idol” remains Fox’s sole singing competition. With the news, Simon Cowell, the ex-Idol judge who brought the UK series to America, released a statement.

“I’ve had a fantastic time over the last 12 years, both on The X Factor and American Idol. And apart from being lucky enough to find some amazing talent on the shows, I have always had an incredible welcome from the American public (most of the time!). Last year, for a number of reasons, I had to make a decision to return to the U.K. version of ‘The X Factor’ in 2014. So for now, I’m back to the U.K. and I want to thank FOX for being an incredible partner and I also want to thank everybody who has supported my shows. America, I’ll see you soon!”

Is it just me or is Cowell trying to make it sound as if it’s because he chose to return to the UK and not because Fox chose to cancel the show? The statement from Kevin Reilly, Fox pres, seems to sing a tune along those lines. “To all of us at FOX, Simon is more than one of the most prolific TV personalities of our time –he’s part of our family. A consummate showman and partner, there’s no one more passionate or creative than Simon, and we feel so fortunate to have enjoyed such a wonderful, collaborative relationship with him over the past 12 years. Unfortunately, there is no X FACTOR USA without Simon Cowell, but we understand and support his decision to focus on the international formats and on the next phase of his personal life. We wish him the very best, and it’s our sincere hope that we work together again soon.”

Will you miss the singing competition? Sound off below!

How TV Ruined Your Life: Aspiration

Making my rounds on the internet this morning and came across a video I haven’t seen before that made me chuckle. Mind you, it’s about a year old, but it’s fun and dare I say it, has a lot of truth to it. If you have the time, grab yourself a drink and cozy in for about 13 minutes. Then let us know your thoughts in the comments.

How TV Ruined Your Life is a six-episode BBC Two television series written and presented by English satirist and broadcaster Charlie Brooker. According to IMDB, How TV Ruined Your Life is a comedic documentary series in which Charlie Brooker uses a mix of sketches and jaw-dropping archive footage to explore the gulf between real life and television.

Survivor: The Yak’s Interview with Caleb Bankston

Caleb_BankstonToday the Yak interviewed Caleb Bankston the 26 year old post office manager/ farmer from Collinsville, Alabama. Caleb is engaged to returning player Colton Cumbie from Survivor One World. Previously this Yak interviewed Colton when he exited Survivor One World and found him to be hilarious, witty, extremely intelligent and quite charming. Although Jeff Probst questioned Caleb on the show as to how this mellow, laid back, easy going man could possibly have anything in common with the high strung, seemingly high maintenance Colton, I see them as the perfect yin and yang. As Caleb said on Survivor, “opposites attract.”

YAK: Congratulations Caleb on making it 30 days in the game although I have to say I’m a tad disappointed because I had you in the finals with Hayden.

Caleb: Thank you! It was a good run. Me, Hayden and Ciera were my final 3.

YAK: Have you always been a Survivor fan or only because Colton was on Survivor?

Caleb: I’ve caught several seasons of the show. I’ve never been as loyal as Colton. Colton has never really missed an episode. Growing up on a farm you know if you get home at 7:00 (back then it was on a Thursday night) you got to watch it, if not you just missed it. That’s kind of how it was. If I was home and was able to watch it, I watched it.

YAK: How did you really feel about Colton quitting?

Caleb: I was actually shocked about it but you know when Jeff (Probst) was grilling him I wanted to jump in but I didn’t want to disrespect Jeff at all. I knew what Jeff was going to say but it didn’t really matter what he was going to say. Nothing that Jeff pointed out or said would actually change my opinion about Colton. When Colton wanted to quit he made the comment that he’s changed and he’s grown since One World. There is definitely a different person than that. I understood. I got it. I really didn’t want him to be broken when we got home. I didn’t want him to stick it out in the game and go against who he wanted to be. That was my whole thing. As long as he stayed true to himself I wanted him to do whatever he wanted to do.

YAK: Who did you enjoy getting to know the most out there?

Caleb: I was really a Tyson fan since Tocantins. His kind of humor; to say whatever is on his mind. Colton is kind of similar to that.

YAK: You mean sarcastic and witty?

Caleb: (laughs) Yes I kind of gravitate towards that. I really enjoyed getting to know Vytas, Ciera, Hayden and John. John was a cool guy. Marissa and Rachel I wish I had gotten to know them more but they weren’t out there enough for me to get to know them. I felt like I got pretty close to John. Me and Vytas and Hayden were thick as thieves until the tribe swap happened and threw Vytas to the other side. Then we had to grab hold of Ciera and pull her in close.

YAK: What did you find the most challenging?

Caleb: I guess getting over those challenge jitters. You know you go into those challenges and the veterans have a little bit of an edge on you because they’ve walked up on day 1. They’ve been to their first challenge, their first tribal council. They kind of know what to expect. I think that’s why the first few weeks the “loved ones” tribe, we were ahead and then we just kind of lost it at the end. I think it was the jitters. I think it was the nervousness, everything getting to us and not knowing what to expect. Being there in the element and that feeling of euphoria.

YAK: Who do you think is playing the best game so far?

Caleb: Right now I think Tyson is playing the best game. I loved Hayden’s performance at that last tribal council. His back was against the wall and he came out swinging. I was loving it. That was my first tribal council as a jury member and that was a great first one!

YAK: During that last tribal council you jury members were laughing at some of the things being said.

Caleb: Yeah, Gervase should keep his mouth shut more at tribal council. He tends to step all over himself when he tries to talk and ends up burning a few bridges. That was pretty good. If they hadn’t have gone to rocks and Tyson had switched and voted Monica just to kind of avoid putting himself in danger, Ciera would have been the power player of the season. Since that didn’t work out and she tried to pull a move and it didn’t work, I think Tyson is running the show and he’s in a good spot to go to the end and win. Who knows?

YAK: What are you most proud of regarding how you played the game?

Caleb: I don’t know. I didn’t think the Brad Culpepper tribal council was that big of a thing. I was just feeling that way and I just went with it. I wasn’t thinking this will be a big move or anything. My thing was staying true and not letting anything bother me. Being able to let things go and separate the game from real life. Realizing that people who voted me out or did something, or flipped on me, it’s just a game and I don’t hold that against them at all.

YAK: That’s probably one of the reasons that you are well liked by fans and the other players, however you don’t think that announcing at tribal, “I’m voting for Brad” was a big move? It was pretty cool.Colton-Cumbie-Caleb-Bankston

Caleb: Watching it back, I did because Colton being such a big fan of the show explained to me why that was such a big move and he respected it a lot. That meant a lot to me that he was so proud of it. I left and I was all smiles because I actually had done something to help my alliance I felt. It wasn’t I’ve got to do this to make a big move. It was I’ve got to do this to secure my spot.

YAK: Is there anything you’d like to tell our readers or clarify, that was maybe lost in the edit?

Caleb: I’ve probably got more fans than Colton does out there. But for the fans, go easy on him. He’s not the bad guy, he’s really sweet. If you got to know him you’d all love him. I couldn’t make it to the end to get the million, but vote for me for Fan Favorite!

YAK: You and Colton have been together a long time now, when are you getting married?

Caleb: It’s four years now. We are getting married on October 11th in Connecticut. I’m really excited about it!

Being an outdoorsman Caleb really enjoyed his time on Survivor and would definitely do it again.

Thanks for talking with us today Caleb and congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

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What do you think about what Caleb had to say? Will you miss him on Survivor? Let us know in the comments below! Then, come on in and join us in the FORUM where we are discussing all your favorite shows and more!

Survivor: The Yak’s Interview with Vytas Baskauskas

survivor_vytas1We spoke with Vytas Baskauskas the 33 year old Yoga instructor/ Math professor from Santa Monica, CA on his elimination on Wednesday night’s episode of Survivor Blood vs. Water. Vytas is the brother of Aras Baskauskas (31) the winner of Survivor Panama.

YAK: Hi Vytas, thanks for talking with us today at The Yak TV and Reality News! Congratulations on making it this far on Survivor.
Vytas: I would have actually liked to make it further but thank you.
YAK: What strategy of yours are you most proud of in the game?
Vytas: I think that when the tribes swapped about 10 days into the game and I found myself on a tribe of all women and I was able to navigate through that minefield it was a very fortunate game play on my part. I didn’t play a perfect game obviously. I’m on the jury and I didn’t win but I had some good moments and I think that was probably one of my best moments. It was how I played since the beginning. If I ignored Katie from the beginning then as soon as we swap then Katie is going to go to her Mom and say Vytas ignored me. But, being in the majority alliance I made sure to stay friends with those in the minority alliance. I kept pulling Katie aside saying “Hey, even though you’re not with us, I’m with you and I’m going to keep you safe.” That really paid off in the end when the tribes swapped.
YAK: Then in Tina you had a big fan.
Vytas: Yes, then in Tina I had a big fan, because Tina’s big love is her daughter and Tina wants nothing more than her daughter to have children so that she can be a grandmother.
YAK: You were really well liked by the other contestants. In fact some have interviewed that if you made it to the end they would vote for you because they liked your story and generally enjoyed you. How hard is that knowing that if you had made Final 3 you really had a strong shot at the million dollars?
Vytas: I mean getting eliminated from the game is hard either way. I don’t think it makes it any easier knowing that I would have had a chance to win at the end but it’s tough. I had so much more game left in me when I got eliminated. I didn’t go into this game just trying to make it far; I went in wanting to win. Anything short of that would be a disappointment and it is a bit disappointing. I tried my best, I made some mistakes. In the end what can you do but just be grateful for the experience, because it was a fricken amazing experience.
YAK: Well now you and Aras are the only brothers ever to play Survivor?
Vytas: Yes, we are the only brothers to play Survivor, it’s so lucky.
YAK: Who did you trust the most besides your brother?
Vytas: You know in the beginning we had this guys alliance, besides Aras in the beginning I really trusted Brad. Brad and Hayden, these are guys that I knew were going to be honest with me. I really wanted to go deep in the game with them because Hayden was a big threat because he won Big Brother and Brad was a huge threat just being an NFL player. So these were guys who even though I knew I was going to have a big target on my back, I knew they were going to have a big target as well so I figured we should link up together. Then when the tribes swapped all of a sudden I didn’t get to work with them. Then I really got to work on a relationship with Katie and her mom. I really trusted Tina and Katie as well. They’re great people I really had fun getting to know them. Tina’s a great person, Katie’s an awesome friend and even Monica who I got to work with. Recently I went to Tampa and I got to see Monica and Brad. They have such a great family and I love them too. It’s really an experience where I made some good friendships that will last for a long time.
YAK: Would you have voted Aras out as we’ve seen Ciera do to her Mom?
Vytas: Probably not. It would have been much more as a last resort. I think Ciera had some better options before voting her Mom out. Ciera has been playing a good game though. She’s made it far and has made some big moves. That was a huge move to vote her Mom out. I’m happy that at least this has happened once during Blood vs. Water. You never know if it’s going to happen again. I don’t know if I would have been that quick to vote out Aras. It really shows other people that you’re willing to vote out your strongest alliance which makes people leery of forming an alliance with you.
YAK: Is there anything that you want to clarify or want the viewers to know that maybe we didn’t see or was edited out?
Vytas: No, I mean, there is so much we don’t see in the show. I just want everyone to know that I had a blast playing the game. I appreciate everyone’s support and the warm reception I’ve gotten from fans has made this experience so much better. It’s been really fabulous.
YAK: What do you think about Laura B. telling you that you were going home? Did you think that it could possibly be her kiss of death? She seemed so sincere and she liked you so much I felt actually bad for her.
Vytas: I did feel bad for Laura, because I like Laura. Laura is a woman who probably lives in the shadow of Rupert a lot and she probably doesn’t let herself out like that. I felt bad. She put herself out there and it kind of got thrown at her but that’s Survivor. When she was telling that to me I already had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen. What was I going to say “no, you’re wrong, that’s not who’s going to go.”? I mean we signed up for this game that’s sociopathic and her feelings were hurt I’m sure and I felt bad that I kind of had to be the one to do it.
YAK: What was the hardest thing for you out there?
survivor_vytasVytas: When Aras was voted out it was really hard. Not so much, it didn’t make me sad I was blown away. I’m sitting there with immunity feeling really comfortable and all of a sudden my brother gets voted out. I was completely blown away by that. Otherwise it wasn’t that physically demanding or rigorous. It didn’t rain and we had a beach with a bounty of fish and trees with fruit on them so we didn’t really starve that bad. I think for me what was hard was the emotion that came up. Like when I gave my brother a cheap shot, I was surprised I did that. Or when I cried when I hugged my brother, I’m surprised that happened. When I cussed out the whole tribe at tribal council while feeling protective of my brother, these are just authentic emotional experiences that are a little bit more raw because of the setting.
YAK: How has this experience affected your relationship with your brother are you closer?
Vytas: Yes we’re definitely closer after this. It’s been a long mend for our relationship. There were a lot of years where we didn’t get along at all. We’re less than 2 years apart so this was a big step forward for us, to be able to mend some things and grow closer. We’re never going to be perfect. All I know is that I love my brother a lot; he loves me and even though we will always have a healthy rivalry and we’ll fight from time to time, this is something that we can always share and a memory we can always look back on.
YAK: Sounds like you loved this experience would you do it again?
Vytas: I love Survivor. I’ve been a fan from the beginning. I’d like to go out there and see what it would be like without Aras, just on my own.
Thanks for talking with us today Vytas and come and visit us at The Yak TV and Reality News!

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So what do you think? Miss Vytas already? Leave us a comment below and be sure to come visit us in the forum HERE!

 

Survivor: The Yak Chats With John Cody and Laura Boneham, Latest Eliminated Castaways

SURVIVOR: BLOOD VS. WATEROn this week’s episode of Survivor Blood vs. Water two castaways were eliminated from the game.

John Cody (spouse Candice) the 30 year old WestPoint Graduate and Physician from Washington DC and Laura Boneham (spouse Rupert) the 44 year old merchandiser from Indianapolis, Indiana were both eliminated after 19 days.

John spent 12 of those 19 days battling it out on Redemption. Laura defied the odds after being voted out day one. Rupert took her spot on Redemption Island and Laura was sent to the returning player’s tribe to compete.

Prior to the tribes merging all three players on Redemption Island John, Laura B. and Laura M. were given one last challenge. The winner returned to the game and the other two were sent packing. Despite proving themselves to be tough competitors John and Laura B. were bested by Laura M. and were eliminated.
We were able to speak with John and Laura today to get their thoughts on their Survivor experience.

YAK: Congratulations you two on surviving 19 days!
Laura: Thank you! Thanks for having us.
John: Not long enough but it’s a long time (Laughs)
YAK: From speaking with your respective spouses did you think that you had a grasp on what actually being on Survivor was like? Was it what you expected?Laura-Boneham-300
Laura: My experience was that the physical side of the game was not as hard as I thought it would be because we had not much rain and the challenges, I really enjoyed. The social game however, I don’t think you can really prepare yourself for the dimension of this game especially Blood vs. Water.
John: It wasn’t that difficult of a season. There was no rain. There was plenty of food at the tribe camp. It was a little different on Redemption Island. The physical aspect surprised me that it wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, but definitely the betrayal you feel from people that you’ve hung out with for 7 or 8 days, that’s tough, it’s tough to get voted off your tribe.
YAK: Is it easier or harder being on Redemption Island physically? What about the difference between camp life and life at Redemption?
John: (laughs) In my mind it was definitely harder to be there physically. I mean the weight really started coming off when I went to Redemption. There’s no fruit, there’s very little reprieve from the sun. Everything that needs to be done you need to do yourself. So you’re getting all the water and boiling it. You’re doing your laundry. If you want to fish or gather coconuts and firewood you have to do it yourself, while tending the fire. All those things that you have help with in a tribe, you’re doing yourself. Doing that for 12 days was a long time! But, it was fine. Your body adapts. Yes, I was hungry and I was dreaming about food but you know you make do with what you have. It’s definitely harder to be on Redemption physically, but also mentally too. You have to struggle to keep your mind sharp and try to stay as connected as possible to the game. It’s mind numbing out there, you’re just sitting there waiting all day, sometimes 2 or 3 days for someone else to show up you have a duel which is exciting just to go back to waiting. Mentally Redemption Island is really difficult as well.
YAK: I imagine you also would be wondering what’s going on with everyone else?
John: Yeah, it was kind of funny Laura M.’s comment about being a kid who missed school for two weeks because of chicken pox and now no one wants to play with you. What I said many times out there is that when you’re on the tribe and at the tribe camp you get a lot of information and very little time to think about it. When you’re on Redemption you only get a little information and a ton of time to think about it. It’s a very different scenario. People come, people who get voted out usually don’t know as much as they think they know, but you just pepper them with questions and try to get as much information as possible about what’s going on, so that you have some kind of foothold in the game when you go back.
laura-boneham-survivor-CBSYAK: Laura, do you regret switching with Rupert or are you satisfied that you were able to have your own Survivor experience?
Laura: I am extremely satisfied that I got a chance to play the game. I was on my way out the first day unless I was like John and stayed on Redemption and tried to win my way back into the game. I am very grateful that Rupert was giving and gave up his game for me. It could have gone differently. He could have stayed in and maybe earned a little money for the family but that’s not what we’re about and he wanted me to have the opportunity to play the game like he had and wanted me to know what the experience was like.
YAK: You both are just a handful of people who together with your spouses are Survivor alumnae. That’s pretty exciting.
Laura: It’s really cool actually. We didn’t get to play together but technically we were in the game together.
John: It’s cool.
YAK: John, we didn’t get to see much about you and your immunity clues. Did you actually spend time looking or did you feel complacent in your position with your guys alliance?
John: It’s funny the reason I didn’t look for it as much as possible was because I didn’t feel complacent about my position in the tribe and I didn’t want my tribe to see me looking for it all the time. The one time I did go out and look for it was the night I got sent home. I casually went out and looked for it with Brad and was looking around camp. But the one time I really spent time looking for it about 20 or 30 minute was the night I left. It was a rookie mistake on my part. You don’t leave without it for tribal council. There really wasn’t much time to look for it. The only time we had over those two days, we had immunity challenge, tribal council, and Redemption island challenge. There was no break in the cycle to go and do that. I didn’t think it was going to be me going home that night but it’s funny my next play after receiving the clue to the idol that day was to share it with my alliance and say I think it’s important that we find this together and keep it for our alliance. You see how well that turned out for everybody. It certainly didn’t turn out well for Brad. Now immunity is not turning out well for Vytas because now he has a big target on his back. He’s done well getting around and avoiding that target the last couple weeks but I think that target may be getting a little too big for him now, we’ll see. (laughs) he’s worked some magic before maybe he’ll be able to save himself again.
YAK: This question is for both of you. Who was your favorite person to meet?
Laura: I would probably have to say getting to know Tina more. I had met her at events but getting to know her. We shared a lot together out there. I shared a lot of personal life and she shared hers and we had a lot of heart to hearts. She was part of my demise out of the game but I really enjoyed getting to know her.
Skin of My TeethJohn: It’s hard for me to say one person from my tribe because we really got along very well which is one of the reasons it was so devastating to go to tribal over and over again. Even the people we voted out early, Merissa and Rachel, we really liked them. We all got along very well. It kind of sucked that we had to keep doing that. But I’m glad I got the opportunity to meet Vytas, he has a good story and has overcome a lot in his life. That’s a refreshing story to hear. We are from two very different backgrounds and we got along really well. I have to say my favorite person was meeting Jeff Probst. I had met him before but it was different out on the island. (ed interjects: that would be mine! I have a thing for Jeff!) Laura and John both laugh. He’s a cool guy!!
YAK: How exciting was it to see your spouse’s after you left Redemption Island?
John: At Ponderosa? It was bittersweet for me. I fought tooth and nail for as long as possible to stay in the game.
YAK: Would you do it again?
Laura: I would definitely do it again. My daughter says Mom, you’re crazy! I’ve got the bug and I would definitely do it again, it was an amazing adventure and to be competitive, I’m so competitive and to be out there again and prove myself again and be one step closer to a million bucks, it would be great!
John: There’s no doubt in my mind. It was such an incredible experience. You feel like you leave so much on the table when you don’t get to the end. So I want to ante up again!
YAK: Thanks for talking with us today. You were both strong competitors. Good luck and come visit us at Yakkityaks.com!