Donald Driver faces uncertain future

Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson and trainer Mike McCarthy both enjoy watching veteran wide receiver Donald Driver compete on “Dancing With the Stars.”
There is no promise he’ll be on the roster by the time training camp rolls around.

Driver is the leading receiver in contract history with 735 catches for 10,060 yards. But he turned 37 in February and said after the Packers’ playoff loss to the New York Giants that he wasn’t convinced whether the team would bring him back for the final year of his contract.

Asked about Driver’s future Saturday, Thompson stopped short of guaranteeing that Driver’s spot was safe.
“I would never speculate on something like that,” Thompson said. “He’s dancing right now. Doing well, too.”

McCarthy said there was “no reason to speculate on that.”

But, McCarthy did say he and his family are having fun watching Driver’s dancing.

“Of course,” McCarthy said. “I didn’t comprehend it was such a tough thing for a man that they ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ And if I’m not at home, we have to DVR it and watch it as a family. We’re rooting him on and voting eight times like you’re supposed to. He’s doing a immense job — keeping in shape, that’s for sure. 

Not that that was ever a problem with Donald. It’s a great experience for him and his family.”

The Packers previously have made tough decisions on two veteran players in the past week, releasing security Nick Collins and left tackle Chad Clifton.

Clifton is coming off an injury-filled 2011 season, and the team was concerned about Collins’ capability to return from a season-ending neck injury.

“That is something you never get used to,” McCarthy said. “That was a hard week starting with Chad on Monday and Nick, both with medical situations that led to that conclusion.”

McCarthy said Collins’ decision was mainly personal.

“Ted Thompson and I sat down and the last question gets asked: If Nick was your son, would you let him play?”

McCarthy said. “So that’s why we made the decision we did.”

Dancing with stars Result: Good Knight, Gladys

We said goodbye to Motown Week, as well as to a Motown legend on Tuesday night, as Gladys Knight was sent home behind the sixth week of the “Dancing With the Stars” Season 14 competition.

Parting with the Empress of Soul was such sweet sadness. Professional dancer Tristan MacManus offered sweet words for his fallen star. “I’ll probably miss Gladys as much as I miss Ireland while I’m here,” the lucky attraction said in the video compilation. “And I really miss Ireland.” Aw! How grand.

OK, so Gladys may not have been the best dancer in this season’s program. She was such a immense, effortlessly cool, life-affirming attendance on the show. Yes, Gladys wear sequins and rhinestones, as is befitting this ballroom universe, but her smile and inner glitter shone just as bright. In the words of host Tom Bergeron, Gladys showed us during these six weeks that she really “out-Pipped them all.” And how fit that her departing song was her own “Midnight Train to Georgia.” Here’s hoping she’ll come back and sing it herself before the season is through. Snap, clap, move and groove!

Gladys and Tristan were beat out by member bottom-two dwellers Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower after a dance contest jive for their lives. But the verdict was not agreed: Carrie Ann chose to save Gladys, while Len and Bruno opted to keep Roshon.

The concluding hour of Motown Week started with an cheerful Motor City medley courtesy of the Harold Wheeler band that featured the dance talents of Val Chmerkovskiy, Peta Murgatroyd, the “DWTS” cast and choreographed by Louis Van Amstel.

There was a segment that interviewed the stars on the mental and physical toll that being in this opposition exerts. Injury-plagued Maria Menounos feels like an old lady, William Levy’s determined he's not going to let ankle pain take him out of the contest. Gladys wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to run the routines in her head. Katherine Jenkins can’t let her nerves get to her, or else she can’t do well. Melissa Gilbert knows that she’s going to have to tap into great that she’s never had to before.

The AT&T Spotlight Performance focused on the glorious story of Michaela DePrince, a 17-year-old who was adopted as a child by a supportive American family from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone, originate dance, and has since started studying at the American Ballet Theater School to become one of the most promising ballerinas in the country. And her dance performance, to Natasha Bedingfield’s pared down rendition of “Wild Horses” and accompanied by Adé Chiké  Torbert of “So You Think You Can Dance” celebrity, was made all the more meaningful by the story that inspired it.

“SYTYCD” was also represented in force during this week’s Macy’s Stars of Dance presentation a celestial contemporary piece by the Shaping Sound Company choreographed by Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini and Teddy Forance. The whole thing was similar to a classical painting come to life, flowing and lovely and lighter than air. The string rendition of David Guetta and Usher’s “Without You” by ensemble Aston also helped to usher in next week’s Classical Week.

Motownphilly’s back again -- Boyz II Men returned to the ballroom stage to execute their new single “One More Dance,” accompanied on the dance floor by castaways Dmitry Chaplin, in all his bare-chested glory, and ginger Anna Trebunskaya, her skirt in tatters, dancing similar to they were the last couple on Earth.

What did you think ballroom fans? Were you as sad as I was to see Gladys go? Should the judges be unanimous in their Dance Duel decisions? Is raunchy the same thing as too sexy?

Celebrity Birthday..

Composer-musician Jan Hammer is 64.
Actress Olivia Hussey is 61.
Singer-guitarist Pete Shelley of The Buzzcocks is 57.
Actor Sean Bean (“Lord of the Rings”) is 53.
Singer Liz Phair is 45.
Rapper-actor Redman is 42.
Actress Jennifer Garner is 40.
Singer Victoria Beckham of the Spice Girls is 38.
Actress Lindsay Korman (“Passions”) is 34.
Actress Rooney Mara is 27.
Actress Dee Dee Davis (“The Bernie Mac Show”) is 16.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/17/2752169/celebrity-birthdays-on-april-17.html#storylink=cpy

Justin Beiber's quotes and perceptions on Jesus Christ

"I don't have to go to church."  Quoted by this World famous Canadian Pop Star, Justin Beiber, disclose his religious thoughts and awareness about God and his Power to change a 1994 born baby to struggle with many old Singers and Pop stars.

On a controversial note, the development of Beiber as a singer is critically praised by some people and logically hated by many who points out Beiber's over-matured lyrics and pronouncing defects in his songs as well as for his dialogue in interviews.

He also said once, “A lot of people who are religious, I believe they get lost. They go to church now to go to church. I'm not trying to disrespect them, but for me, I center more on praying and talking to him,"

Justin Bieber quoted “always put God first, because without him we wouldn't be here", clearly portrays his ability to offer all his efforts and fame to the happy feet of God.

Out of all about Justin news and quiz about his huge growth as a teenager, Justin Bieber's tattoo gives Jesus a leg which additional describes him well as an individual and also a religious believer of The Almighty.

Childrens want to be famous

 But pre-schoolers are moving away from dreams of gender-based careers, with a growing attention in fame and celebrity changing the way youngsters consider their futures.

Hit TV shows such as Dancing with the Stars and MasterChef have invaded pre-schools, with chefs currently being regularly added to the job wish list of both sexes.

The upcoming London Olympics are expected to drive athletic achievements on to the toddler radar.

Early education expert Maria Cozis said the major modification for modern toddlers was a subtle move away from definite gender-based jobs.

She said “Now the girls don't always say they want to be a princess,".

"I have had boys who want to be dancers.

"And we have seen a change with MasterChef that has finished chefs and cooking very popular."

A global survey of 4600 children by developmental charity ChildFund found many kids in developed countries long to be famous, dreaming of being singers or actors or professional athletes.

Only 9 percent of kids want to be teachers and 8 percent doctors. It is the reverse in developing countries where 22 per cent want to be teachers and 20 percent trust to become doctors.

Child psychologist Kimberley O'Brien said present interests guided pre-schoolers.

She said they were interested in outfits and accessories, such as firemen's helmets and tiaras, and had no genuine idea of what a job actually involved.

She said "Up until four is the age of imaginary play and so you see lots of princesses and superheroes,”

"But once kids start big school, from the age of five onwards, they begin to drop that interest and are more influenced by older kids than they are by imaginary figures out of story books."

Many kids were often interested in numerous careers at an early age, Ms O'Brien said.

"They might want to be a dancer, a hairdresser and save animals," she said.

"They are not really sure about the idea of having one job the whole time."

Ms Cozis said television, touchable jobs such as chefs and firefighters and exciting situations encountered during daily life had a big shock on children.

"It is what they notice around them," she said.

"In Surry Hills a group of kids go to cafes and they role play that. One of the little girls wanted a florist shop because that is what she sees."

"Fairies, mermaids, princesses or just being a mum or dad are well-liked.

"If they show an interest (in a career) we try to expand that. We have parents who are dentists, photographers and builders and some of those occupations are simple. But careers like lawyers and accountants are hard to explain.

"We covered space previous year so we had a lot of astronauts and scientists. We had one father who was a cartoonist and subsequent to he visited the kids were busy doing cartoons."

A survey of children at the centre last year revealed occupation aspirations included paleontologist, mountain climber, spy, tennis player, builders, and Hollywood actor.

Other children hoped to grow up to be dancers, super heroes, a "normal girl", a model, a t-rex, a tiger, an All Blacks player, helicopter pilo.

'Dancing With the Stars' results: Jack Wagner eliminated

Results shows are stiff. And as Tom said, with a cast this good, “every week it’s going to harm” when a star is ceremoniously launched out of the Mirrorball’s orbit. It’s hard to speak goodbye when everyone’s upped their game. And it’s further hard when you’ve seen that star don a satin Big Stick of a shirt, shed tears for his newly discovered daughter, and rehearse diligently backstage right before his presentation, like this week’s booted contestant Jack Wagner did.

If Len had had his way, the producers would all have agreed a pass and no one would have to go home this week. But Tom quickly turned down that demand. And it was the TV actor and pop star that improved with each show with the lovely Anna Trebunskaya, yet remained on the lower end of this ballroom curvature, which got served this week. Perhaps his competition standing suffered because he didn’t have quite the wow thing to win him votes. But Wagner received his walking papers from Mirrorball manor house courteously, saying he had a huge time and “it was fun to test” himself. At least he got to share the story of his daughter and offer his dance to her.

And for the second week in a row, the other pair in the bottom two was Gavin DeGraw and Karina Smirnoff. Keep this up, and the singer-songwriter will be a basis in the new “dueling dances” segment, where the bottom two couple dances one last time for the judges.

The “entertainment-packed show” kicked off with a performance by Seal, who sang a pared performance of Bill Withers’ “Lean on me” that started a capella and ended with a singing group and the dance accompaniment of Troupe members Emma, Oksana, Kiki and Henry.

 

The tears didn’t stop with Monday night. Continuing with the genuine theme, the AT&T Spotlight concert focused on Julia Ivleva, a ballroom dancer and friend of husband and wife team and “DWTS” pros Anna Trebunskaya and Jonathan Roberts. Julia, who was too frail to dance, watched from the sidelines as Anna and Jonathan choreographed and danced a waltz in her respect. “We are so inspired by Julia’s example ... of life and surviving,” said Anna. “We just want to contribute to that example with everybody.” And it was a beautiful praise, sincere and emotional and a lovely tribute to their friend and fellow dancer.

The Macy’s Stars of Dance performance was a high-octane show choreographed by Misha Gabriel and Nick Bass featuring cool cats, including “So You Think You Can Dance” alums Travis Wall and Twitch and “Footloose” star Kenny Wormald dressed in suits dancing like smooth criminals to the metallic tunes of the Grooveline Horns trio and the Harold Wheeler band.

“DWTS” and Gavin DeGraw friend Rascal Flatts returned to the ballroom, this time to slow things a bit and sing “Changed” while Tony Dovolani and Troupe member Sharna wrapped themselves approximately each other and did a lot of lifts, including a “Dirty Dancing”-style triumph at the end.

What did you think ballroom fans? Shocked at who was eliminated this week? Are you “chuffed to bits” for Rock Week next Monday? What about the dancing battle? Would Gavin look better in a porkpie hat or a fez? As Maria Menounos said to Derek Hough after Monday night's performance: Can we get some beer and nachos now?