Sonyae Elise
Sonyae Elise was the queen of concepts on Platinum Hit, and her status took her all the way to victory in the songwriting competition. She repeatedly impressed judges with her clever wordplay ("Love Me to Life" was among her praised tracks) and keen understanding of what makes a pop song work. The 22-year-old winner was able to defeat even the most musically trained of her competitors, despite not playing an instrument herself.
Below, she discusses her victory, her prizes (which include a publishing deal with Sony and the Writers Camp, as well as a record deal with RCA/Jive), opening up on national television and her secret to understanding pop music so well...
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Johnny Marnell
Until he was eliminated on last week's Platinum Hit (Fridays, 8/7c, Bravo), Johnny Marnell seemed like the show's front-runner. But a song that was deemed a "miss" and an onstage showdown with antagonist Nick ultimately led to Marnell's demise. Below, he discusses his elimination (which, months after filming, he still disagrees with) as well as former castmate Melissa's allegation that Johnny's on-screen relationship with Nick was merely a "show-mance." That's not true, says Johnny, but doesn't mean you should believe everything you see on reality TV...
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Melissa Rapp
Once again, the contestant sent packing on this week's Platinum Hit (Mondays, 10/9c, Bravo) was the one who had contributed the least. At least that's what we were led to believe: according to Melissa Rapp, it was simply her time to go, and she couldn't hang on because she didn't bring the strategy that reality TV calls for.
Below, she shares her naive involvement in the genre, and her surprise at the machinations that were taking place all around her (alleging that Nick's attitude is a pose and that Jes and Johnny's relationship is contrived). While the narrative that goes "hindsight is 20/20" is common, especially for those chewed up and spit out by reality TV, Rapp articulates her experience particularly well, especially for someone who left a show about writing so early...
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Amber Ojeda
Amber Ojeda knew that this week's Platinum Hit rapping challenge would pose a problem for her, but given her emotional outpouring upon her elimination, she didn't know how much of a problem it would be. Criticized for not contributing enough and also for the supposedly small amount she did contribute (guest judge Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, for example hated her line that described "running rhymes through my head in my canopy bed") to Jackie's embarrassing rap about being white, Ojeda left the competition in tears and doubt. Below, she talks about getting her confidence back, how Kara DioGuardi offended her, Nick's lechery and why she thinks the warzone vibe of the show is counterproductive...
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Kara DioGuardi
Kara DioGuardi will join the ranks of Marilu Henner, Brooke Shields and Michelle Williams: All women who've portrayed Roxie Hart in Chicago.
VIDEO: Kara DioGuardi on dishing it out and taking it in
Beginning Sept. 5, DioGuardi will make her Broadway debut as...
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Kara DioGuardi
Kara DioGuardi stopped by our studio to discuss her current stint judging on Platinum Hit (Mondays, 10/9c, Bravo) and, inevitably, how it compares to her work on American Idol...
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Jewel, Kara DioGuardi
So far, watching Bravo's songwriting competition Platinum Hit hasn't been easy on the ears — and judge Kara DioGuardi knows it.
Sure, viewers sit through season after season of God-awful warbling on DioGuardi's old show American Idol, but on Platinum Hit, contestants are not only shaky singers, they're all performing their own half-baked, unproven material. In the first episode, one hopeful, Sonyae, screamed her hook for an original song about Los Angeles — refrain: "LOVE IT OR HATE IT! LOVE IT OR HATE IT! LOVE IT OR HATE IT I LOVE LAAAAA!" -- and it was pretty much a train wreck until DioGuardi named it the challenge winner!
"When I saw it as a viewer, I thought, 'Oh yeah, people are going to think we're out of our minds,'" DioGuardi says...
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The Daily Show, Jon Stewart
Our top moments of the week:
11. Worst Call for Help: On the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Teresa goes over to Jacqueline's house for help writing a letter to Teresa's brother, Joe. Unfortunately, pretty much all of Jacqueline's advice falls on deaf ears, as Teresa tells her, "You really don't know ... it's between me and my brother," and then proceeds to overstay her welcome by a few hours. Don't you have your own McMansion for this sort of thing?
10. Worst Plagiarism: During Platinum Hit's song hook challenge (its version of a Top Chef quickfire), Nevin whips up a...
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Robert E. Lee
Gettysburg (History, 9/8c, Monday)
Launching a four-year project to commemorate the Civil War, which is marking its 150th anniversary this year, History has commissioned action producers Tony and Ridley Scott to produce a two-hour feature documentary about one of the war's most legendary and costly battles. Airing on the night of Memorial Day, Gettysburg fuses CGI and action footage designed to render the conflict as real as...
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Jewel
What Project Runway did for fashion and Top Chef for food, Bravo's Platinum Hit (premiering Monday, 10/9c) does for music. In this case, the tried-and-true template of contestants rushing to jump through hoops for the sake of their aspirations feels even more immediate: unlike clothes you can't wear and touch or food you can't taste and smell, you can hear loud and clear the tunes these competing songwriters drum up per the show's challenges. What you hear is what you get, just as you're supposed to.
We spoke with the show's host Jewel...
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