Dish Of Salt: Thursday TV Dish

By Laura Saltman

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --
“American Idol” said goodbye to red headed Texas cutie Lacey Brown last night. This morning Lacey chatted via conference call with reporters about her experience on the show.


So Long Lacey
Many contestants admit that on the night they are eliminated they get the vibe that their number is up and Lacey was no exception to that. “Something about it. Something was off,” Lacey told reporters this morning. She said last night she even told her fellow contestants prior to the show taping, “‘Look, I’m going home.” So, when the time came for Seacrest to read her name she was prepared. “It wasn’t a downer moment for me. I wasn’t upset. I was just like ‘OK.’ It wasn’t that I had made peace with it. It’s just that I had gotten used to it.”

Lacey said the first thing she plans to do when she returns home to Amarillo, Texas is visit her favorite Starbucks. Then she will hopefully get to work, “I really see myself doing more of like a pop, folk mix of an album,” she said.

Next week, the Top 11 Idol hopefuls will tackle Teen Idol week. FOX hasn’t released anymore details than that but I’m assuming they will be singing songs by old school artists like Johnny Mathis, Frankie Avalon and David Cassidy as well as current teen sensations like The Jonas Brothers and Justin Bieber, perhaps?

By the way - big slap on the hand to host Ryan Seacrest who spoiled the eliminee for some of his Twitter followers, when he revealed that Lacey would be on his radio show in the morning, prior to the show airing on the West Coast. Bad Ryan! Fortunately, I was inside the taping already.


My “If I Can Dream” Pajama Party
This week I had a chance to visit the “If I Can Dream” house. This is the Internet show created by “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller. Five aspiring artists were picked to live together in a house and have cameras follow them as they try to pursue their dreams of becoming actors, models or singers - with the help of some Hollywood power players brought in by Simon and his producing team.

Every Tuesday a new episode of the show airs on HULU. Watch the latest
I had a blast visiting the cast and hanging in the house with them for an old school pajama party. I started the night off at the Dream studios where I met up with Executive Producer Michael Herwick who gave me a tour of the show’s control room. The house has 60 cameras mounted throughout and are monitored 24/7 by a team inside the control room.

Next, my camera man Ralph and I got a personal escort from one of the show’s aspiring singers, Justin Gaston. We jetted up to the house (about a 12 minute drive from the studio) in a green Ford Fiesta outfitted with cameras. From this point on, everything that happened was being filmed and airing live on their Web site.

I was greeted at the door by the other cast mates - Amanda Phillips, Ben Elliot, Kara Killiman and Giglianne Braga. Being inside the house was definitely a surreal experience. You don’t really get a sense that there are cameras everywhere. Every once and a while you see one mounted on a wall or something. It’s easy to forget the cameras are there, which can quickly get you into trouble! I tried to be on my best behavior!

Next, I got a tour of the house from Justin and Amanda. Check it out HERE

Then, all six of us headed into the kitchen where we chowed down on banana splits and Justin wound up with a face full of whipped cream. I think anytime a group of young people, a kitchen and whip cream are involved, someone is bound to get hit with whipped cream! But the best part of the night was when Justin wound up getting tossed in the pool in his onesie pajamas (which reminded me of Buzz Lightyear). Amanda fortunately spared me, but Justin was all wet when Amanda yelled, “Gee Justin. You really made a splash in your onesie!”

Justin told me has a little crush on Lacey Brown, whom I happen to know from talking to her at the “Idol” top 12 party, is single. I’ll be interviewing her tomorrow morning so perhaps I will play matchmaker! They both have the same boss, right? Check back to see if Lacey’s interested tomorrow.


“Glee” On Oprah
Oprah Winfrey is finally jumping on the “Glee” bandwagon with the rest of us Gleeks! On Wednesday, April 7, the cast of “Glee” takes to the “Oprah” show stage for a fun-filled hour of behind-the-scenes secrets, revealing interviews, unseen backstage moments, and a show-stopping performance. Plus, the “Glee” cast will surprise their biggest fans! Don’t want to wait til April 7? Check out my fun interviews with the cast last week at Paley Fest