Lori Acken, Author at StayTuned Magazine

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition finale: Brianna wins!

December 11, 2012 Lori Acken

We’ve reached the end of the road Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition fans. The final curtain. And Abby’s determined to send the best dancer possible to the Joffrey Ballet School on the wings of her good reputation and name. How determined? This determined: Determined. We start with Mads calling dad to report the good news of her place in the final three and to check in on Grandma. Coreen tells us that Madison has been in dance since the age of 3 and competing since age 6. The duo are hoping for victory so Joffrey can be a stepping stone to Madison’s […]

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap: Cirque du No Way!

December 4, 2012 Lori Acken

And we’re down to the final four on this week’s Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition! Abby even knows who she’d pick for a winner — a dancer with Amanda’s feet, Brianna’s strength, Asia’s face and Madison’s leaps and turns. But given that no such creature exists, let’s get on with the competition. This week, the challenge is balance. The theme is The Circus. And the product placement is Paramount’s only-in-theaters 3D movie experience Cirque du Soleil’s World’s Away — which the girls are going to be the very first people to get a peek at. But this isn’t just a special treat for […]

VH1 airs “Miss U Much” sneak peek this Sunday

November 30, 2012 Lori Acken

If you were young and pop-culture obsessed in the ’90s, Catherine Reitman has your dream job. The 31-year-old actress and comic was tapped by VH1 to go on excellent adventures with some of the era’s most well-known stars, and give viewers a revealing look at what their youthful icons are up to now, in the network’s upcoming series Miss U Much, which debuts with a sneak peek this Sunday, Dec. 2 at 10pm ET. From paddleboarding with Baywatch stud David Chokachi (while not-so-happily wearing the famous red swimsuit) to singing karaoke with Saved by the Bell’s Mr. Belding, Dennis Haskins […]

Dance Moms Season 3 first look!

November 28, 2012 Lori Acken

All kinds of good news, Dance Moms fans! Season 3 looms near! During last night’s episode of Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, viewers were treated to this hilarious Flashdance-inspired “video” teaser for the new season, which premieres Tuesday, January 1 at 9/8CT. The clip also served to soothe the frayed nerves of series faithful worried that some of the original moms had jumped ship — most specifically Kelly Hyland. And though all of the little dancers were disguised in matching Jennifer-Beals-do wigs, making it hard to say for sure, it does appear that Maddie, Chloe, Mackenzie, Nia, Paige, Brooke and Kendall […]

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap: Flexible’s Pending

November 27, 2012 Lori Acken

Well, Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition faithful, we have just two episodes left until the Dec. 11 season finale and five dancers remain — Brianna, Amanda, Asia, Madison and Jordyn. Anyone care to make an early prediction? Will face vanquish form all the way to the end? Will Robin finally realize that we’re not actually casting the Pussycat Dolls junior troupe? Let’s find out what happens tonight. We start out with everyone expressing relief at being in the Top 5 and the realization that it will only get tougher from here. Coreen reiterates her shock at Hadley’s ouster over Asia’s. Kristie says Asia overheard Madison […]

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap: Not-Fair-y Tales

November 20, 2012 Lori Acken

I’m actually on vacation this week, but it would be a crime to skip a week of togetherness in the name of Abby Miller, now wouldn’t it, Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition fans? I would miss you. Plus, since I’m on my own time, I can have TWO beers or possibly three and, even more than usual, appreciate it when… … Abby shows up right off the bat, sporting Kevin and also a princess crown. Now I’ve seen Abby sport some pretty strange stuff in her hair during the Dance Moms days, so I just assume it’s a particularly creative choice of […]

“Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition” recap: Face The Music

November 13, 2012 Lori Acken

The first thing we get to launch this week’s Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition is a spankin’ fresh Yvetteism to wash away the negativity of last week’s almost-rumble in the Los Angeles Theatre jungle. Which is, “You’re either in, or in the way!” So let’s find out who’s who. We start by dropping in on a few mother/daughter pairs in their luxury hotel rooms to listen in on their pep talks. Yvette wants Hadley to hold her high after last week’s epic dance-assigning disaster that nearly cost Yvette her teeth — or at the very least any affection she may have had for Los […]

Yvette Walts talks “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition,” her hopes for Hadley — and THAT situation with Kristie Ray

November 13, 2012 Lori Acken

Suffice it to say that no one is more surprised than Yvette Walts to discover that the primary villainess of Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition is not the notoriously starchy star of the show, Dance Mom’s Abby Lee Miller — but rather the bubbly blond Walts herself. The Evansville, Indiana, native and 28-year dance industry vet says she thought her 12-year-old daughter Hadley was vying for a spot on a new reality show called “My Kid Can Dance” and had no idea Miller would be even be involved when they hopped a plane for Los Angeles. But Abby Lee was only one […]

TLC’s “Jersey Brides” say @#$! yes to the dress

November 12, 2012 Lori Acken

If TLC’s Bride Day Friday’s are just a tad too tame for you, maybe you should say yes to the network’s new Jersey Brides, instead. Set at Bijou Bridal‘s Paramus, New Jersey, location and starring the store’s owners, adorable sisters Joyce and Julie Jou (that’s them below) — plus their good-natured consultant and dress designer Leigh Price — Jersey Brides spotlights the lively dress pursuits of ladies whose primary goal is Jersey’s special brand of pizazz. Or as the Jou sisters put it: “Bling. Boobs. And booty.” In the first half-hour, viewers will meet Jessie, a lifelong Jersey girl who says that she […]

Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition recap: The Politics of Dancing

November 7, 2012 Lori Acken

Last night on Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition — the show about children striving to win a dance competition — we had the mother of a six-year-old physically aggressing another mother and challenging her to a sidewalk brawl for the second time, and a dance teacher turned judge telling a kid she wants to break her ankles. And you thought monitoring the election results was scary. Let’s recap. After a little fussing from a few mothers and Hadley, Abby and Kevin show up to inform the girls that, because there are only eight dancers left, well, pretty soon it’s going to feel […]