October 31st, 2003
Jessica performs in Dallas - pictures
I added some pictures from Jessica's performance and autograph signing in Dallas on October 29th :)



Fans stand by Jessica Simpson during local appearances
Die-hard "Oh my god I'd kill to meet Jessica Simpson!" fans have had a bit of a rough year. Just ask devotees (and aspiring pop stars) Stephanie Brown and Maddie Arellano, both ninth-graders at North Junior High.

Sure, the face of their blond idol – local gal and Barbie incarnate – has been plastered everywhere. But it's more for her verbal oopsies on her MTV show, Newlyweds, than for her soaring vocals.

Wednesday, Jessica came home – first for a meet-and-greet at NorthPark Center, then for a concert at her old high school, J.J. Pearce, as part of an eight-city tour. "Everyone's like, 'Are you gonna go?' " says Maddie. Like, of course she was. "And they said, 'Oh, Jessica's so stupid.' "

"Yeah," Stephanie says. "If we pull a ditzy thing, they're like, 'You're pulling a Jessica.' "

No matter. When Ms. Simpson graced the red-curtained stage of the Pearce auditorium for nine songs and a question-and-answer session, the girls joined the T-shirt-and-jeans-clad audience of 1,000-plus people in the high-pitched shrieking you can only get from adoring teen fans. Handmade signs and shirts, captured by MTV cameras, proclaimed: "We Love You, Jessica!" and "Will You Marry Me?"

Others read: "Jessica, We Don't Eat Buffalo Either" and "Tuna or Chicken: Who Cares?"

Though Ms. Simpson recently released In This Skin, her third batch of sugary pop confections, the students could recite more easily her TV foibles than the lyrics of the album, the sales of which have been lackluster.

Cameras trailed Ms. Simpson and her husband, former boy-bander Nick Lachey, to produce a recently ended season of made-for-groaning-at-your-TV moments. She builds a laundry mountain on the floor of their Southern California mansion. She declines buffalo wings – because, she says, she doesn't eat buffalo. Most notoriously, she wonders if the Chicken of the Sea brand is chicken or tuna.

Her cluelessness has branded her as America's Blond Bimbette of the moment. Hence, several rows down from Ms. Simpson's adoring fans, sophomore Laura Raden says: "It's kind of embarrassing that she graduated from here. She's perceived as an idiot."

That set off the Great Jessica Debate: Is she an idiot?

"She's kind of dumb," says junior Chelsea David.

"Do you know her personally?" asks Lizabeth Orton, a hairstylist from Garland.

"OK, I seriously believe she's not that stupid," says Chelsea, "because no one could be."

Ms. Orton leans back in her chair: "I figure if you go from 15 to a grown-up within a year, it's hard. Everybody's different when they're on TV. If she's got enough heart to come back to her hometown and do a concert for free, that says something."

A minor deity in the world of blond pop goddesses, Ms. Simpson did receive a raucous reception at both stops. At Pearce, she did a little bump-and-grind with a boy plucked from the student audience while belting "I Wanna Love You Forever." At Foley's, she cascaded down an escalator to the flash of cameras.

After the hourlong mall appearance, Ms. Simpson strode toward the blue Jaguar waiting to whisk her away. How does she feel about the stupid-gal rep?

She smiled: "I love it. I have more fans than ever. Being a dumb blonde is a good thing." [Source:DallasNews.com]

Is feminism dead? 'Newlywed' Jessica Simpson cashes in with marketing deals
When we last saw Jessica Simpson, the clueless blonde wife and sometime pop singer featured on MTV's Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, she was looking to cash in on her "dumb blonde" image. Little did we imagine that she'd be so successful so quickly.

E! Online reports that Jessica has reached a marketing agreement with SIgnatures Network Inc., the marketing company that also represents her pop tart rival Britney Spears, to launch an exclusive new line of health, beauty and fashion products for her under the name "Just Jessica." According to the NY Post, the approximate value of the deal is $3 million in just the next few months.

Why Jessica? Said the CEO of SNI, "Young women can really relate to her." But why? Because she says, in her own words to MTV, "lots of ditzy things"?

USA Today focuses on the nature of Jessica's appeal. Shock radio host Howard Stern, for example, is quoted as saying, "I don't care if she's dumb. That only makes her hotter." The conclusion is that Jessica is the latest successful "dumb blonde," in the tradition of Jean Harlow, Marilyn Monroe, Suzanne Somers and Carol Channing, who was famously quoted in 1955 explaining her success thusly: "I didn't have to be bright. All I had to do was be blonde."

Jessica's success -- and her purported appeal to young women -- would seem to indicate that feminism, with its emphasis on the intelligent, competent woman, has been swept aside by an anti-feminist wave with Jessica riding its crest. At least, that's how corporations seem to see it.

Says the president of SEI again, "Ever since we announced the deal, the phone has been ringing off the hook from companies who want Jessica for endorsements." Such companies as a bank (which wants her for a "newlywed" credit card), a furniture manufacturer ("newlywed" furniture) and a greeting card company (the 'wit and wisdom' of Jessica Simpson) are looking to hire her if the price isn't too steep. Says the CEO, ""We don't recommend anything to Jessica unless it means at least a million net to her."

Perhaps Lorelei Lee, the "heroine" of the 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, was right when she said, "A girl with brains ought to do something else with them besides think."

The second season of Newlyweds began taping on October 26. Jessica, however, is trying to strike while the iron is hot, filming or no filming. One endorsement job that she wants is for Chicken of the Sea tuna. The company has little interest, perhaps because her endorsement fee is simply too rich -- or perhaps because it's hard to believe that people would eat more tuna based on an endorsement of a person who can't tell the difference between tuna and chicken.

Jessica isn't taking her rejection lying down. "I really want to be the mermaid on their can," she says. "You'd think they'd want that after their sales went up 10 percent. If Chicken of the Sea doesn't want me, I'll do Starkist. I know tuna will be involved in there somewhere." Nothing like brand loyalty from a potential endorser.

Jessica's ego has extended to making public pitches for movie projects, too. According to ComingSoon.net, Jessica made a public pitch on CNN's Larry King Live to be cast as Jeannie in a big-screen remake of the 1960s TV hit I Dream of Jeannie, and her domineering father/manager Joe Simpson says that "she'd be one of [the movie studio's] top contenders" for the part.

We think Jeannie would be a perfect part for Jessica (although we personally would avoid the movie as if it were Gigli). When Jessica wasn't needed to cast spells, she could lounge by the pool in her "Jeannie bikini" -- something that she proved on Newlyweds that she was already good at doing. [Source:RTV World]

Simp's word is her blonde
Vapour-headed yankee ditz queen Jessica Simpson has got a sense of humour after all - although she probably wouldn't be able to spell it.

The micro-skirted papstrel turned telly totty - once a special guest of MegaStar Live, no less - has pitched her peroxide pertness firmly in the camp of The Blonde, and all that entails.

In a chat with MTV, the increasingly cultish heroine squeaked that she doesn't take offence at blonde stereotypes, claiming she's 'smart' but just happens to say 'lots of ditzy things'.

And mountainously-bazonkered Simpson's rep as a full, fly-blown brain-ache has been televisually enhanced by appearances on the show Newlyweds with beefcake hubby Nick Lachey.

Mind-fugging Simpo gems - previously reported on MegaStar - have included when she quizzed Nick on whether 'Chicken of the Sea' tuna was really chicken.

She also mused where buffalo wings came from - chickens or buffaloes - and laid out $750 for two bras and two pairs of pants - without asking how much they cost in advance.

But in a witter to MTV she showed hidden depths. Honest.

"I just had to let my guard down and let people take shots at me, because it was just going to happen.

"But then you know, for some reason, the ditzy blonde thing is endearing to people...like you love to watch Cameron Diaz in Charlie's Angels, or Goldie Hawn in Private Benjamin, or Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, because they're a total mess, and they're goofy, and you love them at the same time.

"Hopefully I've become one of those characters."

Here's hoping, Jess. Reese Witherspoon could have some competition for Legally Blonde 3 by the look of it. [Source:MegaStar.co.uk]

Ashlee Simpson Cuts LP And Tries Reality TV, But She's No Jessica Clone
Homer, Marge and the kids better watch out: Another Simpson family is out to take over primetime.

Jessica Simpson's "Newlyweds" is returning for a second season and now MTV is shooting a pilot for a reality program about her sister, Ashlee Simpson.

The as-yet-untitled show will also be set against the backdrop of the music industry, as the "7th Heaven" star is recording her debut album.

Ashlee, who signed with Geffen Records a few months ago and is eyeing a June release, is working in a studio she built in the loft of her apartment.

"I didn't want to go to some fancy place, I just wanted to do it where it feels real," the younger Simpson said, phoning on a recent afternoon as she did dishes. "That's where I feel most comfortable."

Ashlee's co-writing and co-producing the album with Sugar Ray drummer Stan Frazier and producer Steve Fox, who worked on the band's recent In the Pursuit of Leisure.

"I met Stan when I was dancing with my sister," she said. "We were doing the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Afterwards, we were talking about music and I was starting this band with some guys and he was like, 'Dude, I want to work with you, we should write a song,' not really thinking we would actually get together. Then I got back and he called and I went over there and the first song we wrote we just had great chemistry."

Ashlee, whose voice has a Janis Joplin-like rasp, considers the '60s rock icon a major influence, along with Stevie Nicks, Blondie and Hole. "I know [Courtney Love] might be going a little crazy right now, but I still love her," she said.

One singer she does not compare herself to is her sister. "Jessica and my personalities are so different," Ashlee said. "We've always, always been into such different music. In fifth grade, I was obsessed with Green Day and was always going to punk shows, getting in the pit and gettin' dirty."

The punk influence will certainly shine through on Ashlee's as-yet-untitled album, along with other styles she favors.

"I love Mick Jagger, so some songs have a little '70s in it," she explained. "I love '80s rockers, so it has a little bit of that. The best thing about making an album is creating a sound. That's the fun part for us. I think people might be shocked."

Ashlee's unsure about the first single, but has a song she's particularly fond of called "Sucks to Be You." "It's a punk song," she said. "It has horns and everything."

So far, she's not worked with other producers or musicians, but she would love to get Dave Grohl on a track. Jessica, however, need not apply.

"No, not for this album," she said about the chance of dueting with the elder Simpson. "I would love for us to do something together some day. I would love to do a movie."

As a matter of fact, the sisters are negotiating a project together, but Ashlee refused to elaborate because it's not finalized.

In the meantime, expect to see Ashlee on the second season of "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica," which will begin next year.

"Whenever I was back, I just wanted to let that be their thing," Ashlee said, explaining her mysterious absence from the first season. "I do come around. She is my sister."

As for her opinion of the show, "I watch it all the time," she said. "I'm very fascinated with it." [Source:MTV.com]

Another Simpson Signs with MTV
Having foisted Jessica Simpson on an unsuspecting world with "Newlyweds," MTV is now working with her younger sister.

Ashlee Simpson will shoot a pilot for an MTV reality show about her entry into the music business. She'll also be dropping by the second season of "Newlyweds," which is scheduled to begin early next year.

The 19-year-old Ashlee currently co-stars on The WB's "7th Heaven." She's working on an album with producer Steve Fox and Sugar Ray drummer Stan Frazier that she says will be different from her older sister's pop music.

"We've always, always been into such different music. In fifth grade, I was obsessed with Green Day and was always going to punk shows, getting in the pit and gettin' dirty," Ashlee tells MTV.com. Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger and Hole are other favorites.

Ashlee says she stayed away from the "Newlyweds" cameras in the show's first season because she wanted her sister and husband Nick Lachey's show to be "their thing." She was, however, a regular viewer.

"I watch it all the time," she says. "I'm very fascinated with it." [Source:Zap2It]

October 30th, 2003
Angel Ball 2003 pictures
I managed to upload them at last! Here's over 200 pictures from the Angel Ball 2003 :)


Larry King Live HQs
I added 2 HQ pictures of Jess & Nick on Larry King Live.


Jessica Simpson Was Relaxed On Her Wedding Day
While looking back on the year, Jessica Simpson told Launch.com that she had a stress-free wedding day with 98 Degrees star Nick Lachey. "You know, it's hard not to get stressed out, but I was the most relaxed bride, and I think that made me enjoy it so much more," she said. "I remember every single detail of my wedding day. A lot of people have to go back and watch their wedding video to remember things because they were so stressed out, and I remember everything. I just let myself have fun--I put the stress in other people's hands." Read more. [Source:Popdirt.com]

US Weekly scans
I added scans from the November 3 issue of US Weekly, thanks to Lisa for scanning them.


Nick Explains Candy Corn To Jessica
ballersfantasy writes "Earlier in the week Jay Leno was talking about the plans some celebrites have for Halloween. He went on to say Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees had to explain to wife Jessica Simpson that candy corn was not a vegetable." [Source:Popdirt.com]

Nick And Jessica's First Anniversary
Us Weekly spoke with 'Newlyweds' Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees and Jessica Simpson on their 1st wedding anniversary which occurred Sunday (October 26). The pair were in Atlantic City where Simpson recorded a concert for Donald Trump's 2004 reality show. "I'm not familiar with Atlantic City, so I'll have to do a little investigating, but we'll make it special," Lachey said. Jessica added, "I wake up early, and I don't let Nick sleep, because I don't like to be alone." As for working on the special day, Simpson added, "Being with Nick is all I really care about." [Source:Popdirt.com]

Jessica Represents What Wives Want To Ask Their Husbands
The New York Daily News spoke with Jessica Simpson's father Joe at the G&P Foundation for Cancer Research's Angel Ball on Monday to ask about his daughter's sometimes airheaded persona she presents on the MTV hit 'Newlyweds'. "She was able to do this show because she has nothing to hide," he explained. "I believe that Jessica represents all the questions that women across America want to ask their husbands but are afraid to." Meanwhile, danger-prone Jessica spilled ink on her light blue Luca Luca dress just moments before performing at the gig, but was able to slip into a backup Roberto Cavalli dress and take the stage as scheduled. [Source:Popdirt.com]

Meet Jessica Simpson In Person!
Jessica Simpson is on tour to promote her latest CD "In this Skin." Jessica will make a special appearance before each concert at Tommy Juniors locations to perform her smash single, “With You” and to sign autographs. Check out the dates below to find out when she's coming to a city near you. Purchase Tommy gear at the event and you'll get special access to the VIP line to get an autograph and meet Jessica!

10/24 Atlanta, GA
Rich's-Macy's, Lenox Square Mall
4:00-5:00pm

10/29 Dallas, TX
Foley's, North Park Center
4:00-5:00pm

10/30 Oklahoma City, OK
Dillards, Penn Square Mall
4:00-5:00pm

11/01 Kansas City, KS
Dillards, Oak Park in Overland Park
4:00-5:00pm

11/07 Charlotte, NC
Belk, Carolina Place Mall in Pineville
4:00-5:00pm

11/10 Chicago, IL
Carson Pirie Scott, Chicago Ridge Mall in Chicago Ridge
3:30-4:30pm

11/11 Minneapolis, MN
Herberger's, Rosedale Shopping Center in Rosedale
4:00-5:00pm

11/15 Tampa, FL
Burdines, Brandon Town Center in Brandon
12:00-1:00pm"

Jessica Simpson's 'Magic' Credit Card
Us Weekly quotes 98 Degrees star Nick Lachey commenting on his wife Jessica Simpson's spending habits. "We're still working on the credit card," he said. "She thinks it's a magic card... We're working on the concept that you have to actually pay for it." [Source:Popdirt.com]

Air To The Throne
SO who's the dumb one? Jessica Simpson says "platy-mu-pus" instead of "platypus" - but she certainly knows where to sign a deposit slip.
Just yesterday, the 23-year-old star of MTV's "Newlyweds" announced a deal with Britney Spears' merchandising company that should net her more than $3 million in the next few months alone.
This week, she and her husband, Nick Lachey, will go into production on the second season of "Newlyweds," which hits the air in January.
And next week, she'll be on the cover of Rolling Stone, as a housewife in stiletto heels, holding a Swiffer.
Until this summer, the former gospel singer was just one of a dozen almost-famous Britney wannabes.
But on the heels of her hit TV show, she's the talk of Hollywood, and fortune is bound to follow.
"The money is just kicking in for her," says Dell Furano, CEO of Signatures Network, which also licenses products for Ozzy Osbourne, The Beatles and Kiss.
"Ever since we announced the deal, the phone has been ringing off the hook from companies who want Jessica for endorsements."
A furniture company wants Simpson and her husband to endorse a line of chairs and tables for newlyweds.
A bank wants them for a newlywed credit card.
And there will most likely be cell phone covers, posters, calendars and T-shirts in time for the holidays - if the money's good enough.
"We don't recommend anything to Jessica unless it means at least a million net to her," says Furano, who is especially excited about a line of greeting cards that would feature the "wit and wisdom of Jessica Simpson."
It was Simpson's hilariously airheaded quotes, of course, that made "Newlyweds" the buzz show of the season.
In one episode, Lachey offered her some Buffalo wings, and she told him she didn't eat buffalo.
Of course, her most famous head-scratcher was that Chicken of the Sea quote.
"Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish?" she asked Lachey on one episode.
"I know it's tuna, but it says chicken. By the sea."
The quote became a favorite around water coolers and in Internet chat rooms after Simpson said it - and now that, too, is paying off.
Last week, Simpson met with Chicken of the Sea managers at their San Diego headquarters, and even sang the company's old jingle, "Ask any mermaid you happen to see/ what's the best tuna, Chicken of the Sea."
Contrary to the rumors, Simpson has yet to sign as Chicken of the Sea's new spokesperson - although she'd like to.
"I really want to be the mermaid on their can," she says. "You'd think they'd want that after their sales went up 10 percent."
For the moment, that's not likely, says Don George, the company's senior vice president for marketing, who instead attributes the recent spike in sales to "a quality control initiative."
"She's helped a great deal in introducing the brand to kids," he says, "but I don't think she'll be our spokesperson."
His hand may be forced, however, because Furano has been fielding calls from other tuna companies interested in signing Simpson.
"Two different companies have sent Jessica cases of tuna fish to try out," he says.
And Simpson admits her loyalty goes only so far.
"If Chicken of the Sea doesn't want me, I'll do Starkist," she says.
"I know tuna will be involved in there somewhere." [Source:Yahoo]

October 29th, 2003
I'm back
Ok guys here is the deal: my computer messed up again and I had to take it to service one more time. So I was offline since Wednesday, I know there is a lot to catch up, I will try and do my best to add all the pictures and news etc. I am hoping my computer is finally fixed this time ugh lol Thanks to my dear friend for updating while I was offline :* :)

Angel Ball HQs
I finally uploaded the HQs from The G&P Foundation for Cancer Research Salutes The World of Entertainment and Media at the 2003 Angel Ball arrivals & performance, there are 92 of them :D Click the thumbs.


Jessica Simpson Thinks Dumb-Blond Jokes Are Funny
Jessica Simpson may just be America's favorite dumb blonde right now — and she doesn't mind. Really.

Laugh at the singer all you want — even call your goof-ups "doing a Jessica" — and she promises she won't take offense. If anything, she hopes that eventually people will realize that you can be smart and silly at the same time — which is how she sees herself.

"I'm smart," she said. "I just say lots of ditzy things."

Simpson's been criticized for her intelligence (or lack thereof) based on comments she's made during her married-life-on-display reality show "Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica," in which cameras catch her sometimes hilarious off-the-cuff remarks to her husband Nick Lachey. Her most famous blunders are featured in now notorious "Newlyweds" episodes where she confuses the content of the Chicken of the Sea tuna fish brand for actual chicken, and suggests Buffalo wings are made of actual buffalo meat.

"Everyone has their moments when they stick their foot in their mouth," Simpson laughed. "I just say things right as they come to my head. I don't stop myself and think, 'Should I say this?' Nick is always like, 'Jessica, close your mouth! Why do you say everything that you think of?' "

Of those now golden moments, Simpson said that her confusion was reasonable, not idiotic.

"I knew that it was tuna fish," she said. "I was just really confused because I liked it, and I hate fish, and I thought for a split second there, that maybe it was chicken. Maybe I was confused, and maybe what was really in the can was chicken. And you know, of course, that made me a dumb blonde."

Needlessly adding to confusion, she said, is when identifiers and brand names are misleading. "The buffalo thing, that's the stupidest name in the world," she contended. "Why name it a Buffalo wing if it's not buffalo, you know?"

But confusing chicken for tuna could have its payoff — Chicken of the Sea told Simpson during her recent visit to their San Diego headquarters that sales of the brand have gone up ten percent since she mentioned them on the show (see "Jessica Simpson Solves Age-Old Mystery: Chicken Of The Sea Is Tuna"). And the pop star and the tuna company are in talks to have her become their new spokesperson. "I would love to be the next mermaid on the can," she said. "I think that would be hysterical."

And ever since that and her other notable blunders, making a goof has entered the common parlance as "doing a Jessica." Simpson sees it as an honor, not an insult. After all, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Mandy Moore — her pop peers — don't have slang named after them yet.

"You know what's so funny? A fan will come up and start to work her camera and try to take a picture and she goes, 'Oh, I just did a Jessica!'" Simpson laughed. "I was at the radio station this morning, at Z-100 here in New York, and one of the DJs messed up and said, 'I just did a Jessica!' and didn't realize I was sitting right there. I think it's funny when people think of me when they mess up, when they say something silly or off-the-wall."

Taking it all in stride, Simpson hopes to fight back some of the dumb blonde stereotypes and show off some of her smarts on her upcoming Ivy League tour with Lachey (see "Jessica Simpson Is Going To Harvard — No, Really"). But even if she goofs, she said, it'll make for great television.

"Legally Blonde, you know," she joked. "It was my dad's idea. He was just like, 'You should just go head to head with the smartest people; it would make for a great show.' And it will. And I'll probably stick my foot in my mouth. A lot. But it would be fun to know that I can be on the same level, at the same time. It depends on how MTV edits it, but I think people will see that I am smart, as well."

Even if they don't, well, that's OK. If she goes down in the annals of pop culture history as a dumb blond, her only hope is that it's as a loveable one.

"I just had to let my guard down and let people take shots at me," she said, "because it was just going to happen. But then you know, for some reason, the ditzy blond thing is endearing to people, like you love to watch Cameron Diaz in 'Charlie's Angels,' or Goldie Hawn in 'Private Benjamin,' or Lucille Ball in 'I Love Lucy,' because they're a total mess, and they're goofy, and you love them at the same time. Hopefully I've become one of those characters." [Source:MTV.com]

Does Jessica Simpson Really Dream of Jeannie?
Ah, we knew there was a catch. Earlier this month, Jessica Simpson said on Larry King Live that she would be starring in the film adaptation of the hit TV series I Dream of Jeannie. TV Guide talked to both her manager/dad and Columbia Pictures.
According to the Newlyweds star's manager-dad, Joe Simpson, yes. With Columbia Pictures moving forward on a film adaptation of Jeannie, Pop says, "she'd be one of their top contenders."
And here's how sure the "Irresistible" vixen feels she's right for the part. Earlier this month, Simpson took a risk by making a very public plea to Sony on Larry King Live, telling guest host Ryan Seacrest she really wants to be Jeannie. Talk about chutzpah!
However, a studio exec stresses, "we're talking with a wide range of actresses and not negotiating with anyone."
At least it confirms that a movie is in development! [Source:TVGuide.com]

October 27th, 2003
Us Magazine Celebrates Jessica Simpsons Wedding Anniversary photos!
Check out these 9 new cute photos of Jessica recieving a cake from Janice Min, US Weekly Editor, and Jann Wenner, Chairman of Wenner Media for her 1 year anniversary with Nick. :) Click here to check them out!

October 26th, 2003
Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary to Jessica and Nick on their first year of marriage - full of albums, majorly sucessful reality shows, and much more! Here is to many more years of marriage! :)

October 22nd, 2003
Entertainment Weekly scan
Lisa sent me a scan from Entertainment Weekly, October 24 issue, check it out here, thanks Lisa :)

ET on VH1 caps & video
Jessica was featured in Star Sightings, ET on VH1 at the Toopalooza event, check out the caps below. Download the video here.


Nick on set of Britney's new video!
Making of Britney's new video "Me Against The Music" aired yesterday and guess who visited her on the set? Nick Lachey! I will have the captures up soon.

October 21st, 2003
Jessica to appear at VH1 Big in 2003!
Second Annual Show to Feature Performances by Outkast, Shania Twain, Pharrell, Matchbox Twenty and Kid Rock With Appearances by Vivica Fox, Jessica Simpson, Paris and Nikki Hilton, David Spade, Paula Abdul, DL Hughley, Joe Rogan and 'The O.C.' Cast, Among Others 'VH1 Big In '03' Premieres on November 30.

From Bush on the flight deck to Michael Jackson in his tree, from Ashton and Demi to Queer Eye's Fab Five, from freedom fries to gastric bypasses, "VH1 Big in '03" is a total recall of 2003 -- jamming the biggest people, moments and trends of the year into one enormous spectacle. Taped at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheatre on November 20, "VH1 Big in '03" is a two-hour comedy/variety show that will celebrate, comment on, and otherwise skewer the biggest people, trends and moments of this year. Doing away with the traditional awards show format, VH1 will give awards for categories that capture the year in music, news, politics, arts, and gossip. "VH1 Big in '03" airs on VH1 November 30 at 9 pm*.

Outkast, Pharrell (from the Neptunes and N.E.R.D.), Matchbox Twenty, Shania Twain and Kid Rock are already confirmed to perform at this year's show, with appearances by Vivica Fox, Paris and Nikki Hilton, Jessica Simpson, David Spade, Paula Abdul, DL Hughley, Joe Rogan and cast members of "The O.C.," among others. Additional presenters and performers will be announced shortly. Read more.

Calendars
I added 2 new calendars for November, they are lovely! Thanks to Piter :) I also updated the NYC October 6th gallery.

Jessica Simpson Visits Chicken of the Sea
Pop star Jessica Simpson said she won't be confusing tuna and chicken any time soon, especially after dropping in on a Chicken of the Sea company staff meeting. On a recent episode of her MTV reality show "Newlyweds," Simpson didn't know if she was having chicken or fish while she was eating "Chicken of the Sea" tuna. Company officials heard about the gaffe and aimed to set Simpson straight.

"We wanted to bring her down and make sure she understood the difference, and told her the story of how the brand name originated," Chicken of the Sea senior vice president of marketing Don George said Monday. He said he would love to talk with Simpson about her becoming a company spokeswoman.

Simpson said she's good-natured about the flak she's received for the mistake, as well as for other mix-ups on the show like thinking buffalo wings are made of buffalo meat.

"I think it's fun. I've made a mess up on national television and everyone has been giving me a hard time about it, but it's better just to sit back and laugh at yourself," she said. "I do have my ditzy moments." [Source:ABC News]

Jessica Simpson Heads To Harvard
Pop beauty Jessica Simpson and husband Nick Lachey are taking their MTV reality show to Harvard Law School next year.

The trip will be filmed as part of their smash hit show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica and Jessica's father Joe Simpson thinks scenes of the blonde hitting a trail of Ivy League schools will inspire the same enthusiasm as the Reese Witherspoon movie Legally Blonde.

Joe says, "(Newlyweds) is all about showing that Jessica's just a regular person and the Q+As are just another extension of that. Her album is about having self-esteem and the message is that anyone can achieve their dreams." [Source:Teen Music]

Dormraiders caps
I added 60 captures of MTV Dormraiders, check them out!


Pictures
I updated all of the 2nd Annual Royal Plantation Celebrity Golf Classic to benefit St. Jude Children's Reseach Hospital picture galleries with new pics! The links are under previous updates. I will also put them in the gallery soon. I also added 2 more sets from the European shoots: Oslo hotel in 2001 and Sweden.


October 20th, 2003
MTV's Homecoming Dormraiders video!
Nick and Jessica appearanced on MTV this weekend for MTV's Homecoming Dormraiders. A student at Tulane University, with help from Nick, raided three freshman girl's dorms while the girls, with Jess, looked on. Check out the video here! Captures will come tomorrow. :)

Rare Maxim picture
I just found a picture of Jess I haven't seen before, it's very sexy - check it out by clicking the thumbnail to the right.

Simpson Gets Answer To 'Chicken Or Tuna?'
Pop Star Surprises Chicken Of The Sea Employees
SAN DIEGO -- Pop star Jessica Simpson surprised some San Diego Chicken of the Sea employees Monday, 10News reported. The company invited Simpson, (picture), to a staff meeting so it could explain to her the contents of the product. She accepted the invitation.
During a filming of her reality TV show, "The Newlyweds," Simpson asked if Chicken of the Sea was chicken or tuna.
Don George, senior vice president of marketing, gladly explained the product.
"People thought, 'Well, I know what chicken tastes like and this tastes like chicken.' So, (we decided), let's just make this White Star's Chicken of the Sea." explained George. "Well, that caught on so it ultimately became Chicken of the Sea."
"You explained that way better than my husband," Simpson replied to George.
George said he hopes Simpson is now a customer for life but would not comment on the possibility of Simpson becoming a spokeswoman. [Source:The San Diego Channel]

New HQs
Jessica attended the Chicken Of The Sea conference today, check out the HQs below.


Striking Out With Style
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that bowling has become the hot entertainment trend in Hollywood, with Kelly Osbourne, Geena Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Fred Durst, Toni Collette, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Rowland and Jessica Simpson all rolling up to the opening party of Lucky Strike in May. "I love bowling!" Ozzy's daughter gushed. "It is so much better than being at a club. Clubs are so generic and predictable most of the time." The trend is hitting Australia too. Read more. [Source:PopDirt.com]

Jessica Simpson Is Going To Harvard
According to MTV News, Jessica Simpson is going to Harvard and other Ivy League schools to perform and host a question-and-answer session with students in early 2004. The trip will be filmed for the second season of 'Newlyweds.' Jessica's manager and father, Joe Simpson, said the idea was inspired by 'Legally Blonde.' Before the Ivy League tour, Simpson will warm up with a similar string of concert and Q&A events at high schools across the country. That outing begins October 23 in Atlanta and visits Dallas, Oklahoma City, Charlotte, Orlando, Tampa, Chicago and Kansas City before ending November 11 in Minneapolis. Along with the tours, Simpson has been busy meeting with movie producers about a number of projects, including a big screen adaptation of 'I Dream of Jeannie'. Read more. [Source:PopDirt.com]

Jessica in Oslo 2000
Here are pictures of Jessica in Oslo, promoting Sweet Kisses. Click the thumbs.


Jessica in Oslo
I added 3 gorgeous pictures of Jess when she was promoting her album Irresistible in Oslo in 2001, click the thumbs.


October 19th, 2003
Even more new pictures!
I added 15 pictures of Jess & Nick from the 2nd Annual Royal Plantation Celebrity Golf Classic to Benefit St Jude Childrens Research Hospital - Afterparty. Click the thumbs.


More new pictures!
I added 4 more pictures from 2nd Annual Royal Plantation Celebrity Golf Classic to Benefit St Jude Childrens Research Hospital - Beach Party and 3 new pictures from yesterday, from 2nd Annual Royal Plantation Celebrity Golf Classic to Benefit St Jude Childrens Research Hospital in Jamaica, click the thumbs below!


Jessica Simpson is really smart - at least her parents think so
Simpson's mom, Tina, tells Us magazine her daughter was a "straight B student" in high school.
One of her teachers says Simpson's "heart was somewhere else," but her dad says she wasn't a standout student because she was bored. He says, "For high IQ kids, that's what happens."
Her dad is even taking her on a speaking tour of Ivy League colleges.
Simpson herself is continuing her education, most recently by reading a book called "Vocabulary Cartoons." Simpson says, "I want to broaden my vocabulary. I found this book of words, where they use them in, like, sentences." [Source:KTRK]

October 18th, 2003
With You animations
I added 13 animations of With You video, check them out, they're cute :)

New pics!
Jessica & Nick attended 2nd Annual Royal Plantation Celebrity Golf Classic to Benefit St Jude Childrens Research Hospital - Beach Party yesterday, check out the pictures below.


Glamour scans
I wanted to add those yesterday but my computer was giving me hard time again :/ Anyway here are HQ scans from the November issue of Glamour magazine, thanks to Lisa for scanning them for me :)


Jessica Spoofs Herself in New Video
Pop singer Jessica Simpson is making fun of herself in her new video "With You" by spoofing moments from her hit MTV reality show "Newlyweds." The singer will be seen performing domestic chores and learning to play golf, while wearing T-shirts emblazoned with her biggest faux-pas on the show. She wears one with 'plata-ma-pus' written on it - her spelling of platypus on the show - and another with 'Stinky a**,' which she dubbed herself after one toilet visit on the series. Simpson also gobbles tuna and buffalo wings - spoofing scenes in which she thought tuna brand "Chicken of The Sea" was made from chicken and buffalo wings were from real buffaloes. She explains, "It's fun to be lighthearted about stupid things you say." [Source:ClearChannel.com]

October 17th, 2003
US Weekly scans!
Here are brand new US Weekly scans, October 27 issue, huge thanks to Lisa! Click the thumbs to see them all - cute pics!


US Weekly cover preview
I'm sorry for not updating more yesterday, due to heavy traffic on the server I still wasn't able to upload all the With You captures, I'm uploading them now. I also have the preview of the new US Weekly cover with Nick and Jessica here! They look so pretty, thanks Angie :)

Tulane student gets his 15 minutes
I had a big list of obnoxious questions for Richard Katzberg, a Tulane University student who stars in MTV's "Homecoming Weekend" programming block, which premieres at noon Saturday.
Katzberg was recruited on-campus to participate in "Dorm Raiders With Nick and Jessica," so I figured he was fair game.
Did Nick and Jessica bicker in your presence?
Did she burp or break wind in your presence?
If yes on either, was it, you know, hot?
Like that.

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson currently star in "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," an MTV reality series that purports to take viewers behind the scenes of the couple's young marriage.
Currently MTV's best-rated show, "Newlyweds" is also one of the most-watched shows on cable that's not a sporting event, pro wrestling, a "Law & Order" rerun, a Nickelodeon kiddie show or "Trading Spaces."
Recently renewed by MTV, the show's first-season finale airs at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
So far on "Newlyweds," viewers have seen a case study in passive aggressive marital relations as practiced by two severely spoiled pop-star weenies.
Simpson, a teen-diva-type, and Lachey, a member of the faded boy band 98 Degrees, are to the McManor borne.
By limo, usually, or gratuitously wide-bodied SUV.
While Lachey rolls his eyes or flat-out flees the scene, Simpson flashes a mental "Vacancy" sign that has charmed the nation's video voyeurs.
She also has displayed a totally liberated attitude about belching and farting on national television.
Cut here to a shot of a Barbie doll weeping in embarrassment and shame.
According to the portrayal captured on "Newlyweds," Simpson doesn't know that canned tuna isn't chicken or that buffalo wings don't come from buffaloes.
No wonder their peers believe that it's OK to swipe music on the Internet.
If CD sales and concert re- ceipts fund the "Lifestyles" lifestyle for these boneheads, both synthetic creations of the American recording industry, downloading a tune or 2,000 seems totally righteous.
To pile on "Newlyweds" at this point is gratuitous.
Then again, a dogpile like this comes along all too seldom.
This is just about wicked glee; there's no latent societal implications to parse whatsoever. Yet, out went most of my snarky prepared questions when Katzberg called me back.
And there were some good ones.
Does watching "Newlyweds" make you want to never get married?
Have you ever had impure thoughts about Jessica?
Have you ever had impure thoughts about Nick?
Is Jessica's music, in your opinion, the shizzle?
After hanging with Nick and Jessica, did you retreat to The Boot to chill with your dawgs?
All gone. Alas. He'd suffered enough.

A junior finance and communications major from Sacramento, Calif., Katzberg was minding his own business on campus one day about three weeks ago when an MTV producer flagged him down.
Katzberg filled out a questionnaire, and was later visited at home for a follow-up interview. He was not told at first that Simpson and Lachey would be involved. It wouldn't have mattered, anyway. Katzberg had never seen "Newlyweds."
The premise of "Dorm Raiders," meanwhile, is for one participant -- him, in this case -- to select a date from a field of would-be dates by examining each dates' living space, be it dorm or off-campus hovel.
During the shoot, Lachey accompanied Katzberg on his room-tossing rounds. Later, Simpson watched that footage with the dormers.
The payoff comes when all participants finally meet to settle up -- he to pick a "date," the date-ees to scorn him for manhandling their brassieres.
Katzberg said he's not worried about becoming a figure of national ridicule, which was one of the prepared questions I did get around to asking.
"I knew exactly the kind of stuff I was getting into," he said. "The show's kind of lighthearted. I'm not really too worried about it."
As for Lachey and Simpson?
"They were nice enough," Katzberg said. "I really didn't talk with her that much. He was pretty cool, straightforward, normal."
"Dorm Raiders With Nick and Jessica" is one of four programs scheduled to air during Saturday's "Homecoming Weekend" block, details of which remained as fuzzy as a Jessica Simpson term paper as of this column's deadline.
According to an MTV publicist, none of the "Homecoming" block's other three titled programs -- "Boiling Points," "Undercover: Hooking Up On Campus" and "Crashing With Nick Cannon" -- has anything to do with Tulane, though various "host" segments shot on campus will play throughout the two-hour special, which repeats at midnight Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday.
It is there, evidently, that footage will air of the performance by the hip-hop combo OutKast, captured during halftime of Tulane's Saturday game against the University of Houston. [Source:Nola.com]

Jessica Simpson's Dreaming of Jeannie
Pop star Jessica Simpson continues to talk up her hopes of breaking into the movie business. According to a number of media reports, Simpson recently appeared on CNN's Larry King Live and told guest host Ryan Seacrest (oh, the humanity!) that she is in negotiations with Columbia Pictures to star in a big-screen adaptation of I Dream of Jeannie... *blink*... yes, you read that right.

Obviously, the sultry singer would portray Genie Jeannie, the role made famous by Barbara Eden during the show's 1965-1970 run on NBC.

The original series told the story of an astronaut, Captain Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman), who finds a strange bottle while stranded on a desert island. He opens it and frees Jeannie, a genie, who goes home with him after the pair are rescued. [Source:Film Force]

October 16th, 2003
Toopalooza fan pictures
I got 13 pictures of Jessica performing at Toopalooza event made by Angela, thanks girl! Click here to view them or visit the gallery, section Fan Pictures!

October 15th, 2003
Total Request Live captures!
Here are 42 beautiful captures of Jessica on TRL today. She looked beautiful, as always! She talked about the show and they even had a "Jessica's World" segment where they asked her about some of the things she says on her show. Click the thumbnails below.


"With You" video!
Jessica appeared on MTV's Total Request Live today to premiere her new video, "With You". You can download the video here! Interview captures are coming up!

Justin, Jessica Simpson, Nickelback Urged By U.K. Group To 'Come And Get It'
It's not unusual to hear artists griping about not receiving their royalties on a timely basis. The idea of a royalties organization hounding artists to come collect their cash, however, is pretty unheard of.

Yet that's exactly what's happening in England, where the U.K. Collecting Society PPL is hunting down Justin Timberlake, the Backstreet Boys, Jessica Simpson, Nickelback, Prince and many other artists to pay them airplay royalties.

Currently, the society owes at least $450,000 to American musicians and songwriters, a spokesperson for the organization said. More than 25,000 artists have registered for royalties, but more than 5,000 of them, including the aforementioned as well as Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Don Felder, Donna Summer, Ice-T and Salt-N-Pepa, have not yet applied to receive what's owed to them. The main reason for this is because airplay royalties work differently in the U.K. than in the U.S., and many acts are unaware they're owed cash.

In the United States, ASCAP and BMI distribute airplay royalties to an artist's publishing company, which distributes the money to the songwriter. In England, any musician who played on a track that was commissioned or written in Europe, Australia or Canada is eligible for payments from a group known as POS. To receive royalties, musicians must fill out a Collecting Society application and provide a copy of their identification.

The spokesperson for the society wasn't allowed to specify how much individual artists are owed, but revealed that a single spin on a major radio station in England would yield between $30 and $45 in airplay royalties. Half of that goes to the label, but with a big hit, an artist can accumulate dozens of spins per day per station, and that adds up.

The law allowing musicians to receive U.K. airplay payments went into effect in 1996, and for the past six months the Collecting Society has been contacting managers and labels to notify them what their artists are owed. The Society started campaigning in the U.S. at last year's South by Southwest convention in Austin, Texas, and will make an appearance in New York on October 21 at the City Conference at the Maritime Hotel.

According to U.K. law, an artist's right to airplay royalties expires seven years after the money was first collected by the Society. However, the organization has not yet exempted any acts from owed royalties. Unclaimed money is put into a bank account where it earns interest until it is collected. Musicians who have performed on a track that has received U.K. airplay can visit www.royaltiesreunited.co.uk to see if they are owed airplay royalties. [Source:MTV.com]

Jessica in magazines
Jessica and Nick will grace the cover of US Weekly mag on Friday; Jessica will also appear on the Rolling Stone cover! YAY! Also I'm getting the high quality mpg of "With You" music video, it will be posted very soon!

"Newlyweds" Coming To Detroit
Channel 955 is proud to present America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and Mojo In The Morning are excited to welcome MTV's biggest stars to our float! With cameras in tow, Nick Lachey will be riding on our float which is themed "Sounds Of Motown." Jessica probably didn't like the float's original theme: "Chicken Of The Sea." [Source:Mojo In The Morning]

Newlyweds on DVD Coming This December!
"My friend just told me today when she went to Wal Mart she saw on those TV's they have in the electronics department they were playing a list of the DVD's set to be release in December and Newlyweds was listed!" Thanks Shay! :)

VH1 Driven for Jessica!
Yay! At last! Jessica will have a Driven Special on December 15th, that is so awesome! :)

Larry King Live captures
Jessica and Nick appeared on Larry King Live last night! I added captures from that show and wow, she looked amazing! Click here for the transcript.


Poor dumb rich girls
For those who thought Jessica Simpson might possibly be the least-brightest bulb in the universe, there has been a stunning development. Rich party girls Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are making a run for the title like nobody's business. Read more.

Access Hollywood - With You preview captures
Access Hollywood previewed Jessica's new video "With You" which will be a spoof of her on the Newlyweds! Check out the captures below.


Raised by a pack of French poodles
You have probably heard about Jessica Simpson’s tangle with canned tuna. It happened during the premiere episode of MTV’s “Newlyweds,” a reality show chronicling the early days of pop semi-diva Simpson’s marriage to Nick Lachey, late of the boy band 98 Degrees. As Jessica pondered the meal she was enjoying in front of the TV, she asked her husband, “Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish?” As it turned out, she was confused by the label that read, as she recalled it, “Chicken by the Sea.”

JESSICA’S APPARENT STUPIDITY has now spawned a secondary phenomenon: the armchair analysis of whether it’s possible that she — or anyone — is as dumb as she looks. She recently showed up on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” admitting to being a ditz but chalking it up to a brand of appeal she tried to sell as reminiscent of Lucille Ball. Her father was likewise recently quoted in the press suggesting that she isn’t dumb, she’s just “playing into” her role as a stereotypical empty-headed blonde.
Clearly, this is not the case. It’s not as if tuna is the only food to trip her up. She once declined an order of Buffalo wings with the fairly grave statement that she doesn’t eat buffalo. As a friend of hers pointed out, it had apparently never occurred to her to wonder, given her understanding of the etymology, where on a buffalo you would find the wings to begin with.
Other life essentials like clothing tax her as well. She flitted out of a lingerie store without realizing that she had just dropped over $750 on two bras and two pairs of underwear. As she stood on the sidewalk outside the store and realized what she had done, she made a panicked, guilty, utterly pitiful phone call to Nick, who suggested that she look at the price tags next time.

WHY THE FASCINATION?

By now, the point is not so much whether Jessica is dumb as it is why her particular brand of dumb is so mesmerizing. After all, she is hardly the first person on reality television not in line for a genius grant.
Regular viewers of the genre have seen people who can’t follow the simplest of instructions, people whose poor grasp of language certainly rivals Jessica’s mistaken belief that there was an animal called a “platy-ma-pus,” and people whose raging egos blind them entirely to how they are perceived by others.
Moreover, it isn’t as if she flies so high that a chink in her armor should be all that newsworthy. She and Nick are B-list pop stars at the moment. Both have hits in their pasts, but her most recent CD, “In This Skin,” peaked at tenth place on the Billboard chart. After six weeks, she’s parked at number 78 — just behind the Steve Miller Band. Her book-signing featured on “Newlyweds” looked like it attracted barely enough fans to field a football team. Nick, having left his band, is now trying his luck as a solo artist. His impact has yet to be felt.
So their show isn’t exactly a look at the hopelessly washed-up in the tradition of “The Surreal Life,” but it’s hardly a “Don’t Look Back”-style documentary about people who are actually accomplished, either. No, Nick and Jessica are somewhere in between, living the sunny, bland, cash-soaked existence of the lame duck celebrity.
Past successes have earned them a certain term during which fans — mostly girls, in both of their cases — will continue to ask for autographs now and then. There’s limited interest in their new projects, though, because their successors have already been elected.
The public places they visit are sure to greet them noisily (“Welcome, Nick & Jessica!” proclaims the sign at Cincinnati’s King’s Island amusement park on the day they drop by), tacitly acknowledging that at least some people know who they are, but very few will notice them without being given a friendly nudge in the right direction.

POOR NICK
So if it’s not about toppling idols and it’s not about pitying those who have entirely fallen, where does the fascination with Jessica’s foibles come from? For one thing, she actually inspires the occasional flash of sympathy, or at least pity, if only because she’s trying so hard in a world-of-her-own kind of way. Jessica is no callous, punishing vixen — at least not on purpose. She cares enormously about what Nick thinks of her. She pleads with him not to make fun of her, frequently quizzes him about whether he thinks she’s sexy, and yells for his help when she doesn’t know what to do. Nick — who seems like a surprisingly normal guy at least some of the time, even moving his own stuff in a U-Haul truck from his condo to their enormous new house — often seems utterly baffled by her. It’s hard to imagine how this can be, given that they had a lengthy courtship and it seems likely that she acted the same way before they were married. The qualities that drive him crazy now are too integrated into her personality to be either manufactured or recently acquired. Sometimes, in fact, watching Nick choke on his frustration is as entertaining as watching Jessica herself. When they were moving Nick’s things into the house, Nick and his brother Drew carted a particularly unwieldy piece of furniture up the wide, winding stairs, sweating and struggling all the way. Jessica, for reasons known only to herself, pitched in by complaining about the decision to move the thing upstairs in the first place. As Nick heaved it up a few more inches, he muttered to Drew that at times like this, he was glad he didn’t have a gun, because if he had one, he might shoot himself. Drew paused, chuckled, and asked, “Why would you shoot yourself?”

RAISED BY POODLES
Jessica is also distinguished by the appalling depths of her inexperience. Sometimes watching her is not so much like reading a tabloid as it is like watching “The Jungle Book.” If it were possible for a little girl to be isolated from society and raised in the wild, not by wolves but by a pack of French poodles, she might turn out something like Jessica, who simply has no concept of what happens during the daily life of a normal person. Tired of having to hang up her own towels, she asks a friend whether there are special “maids for celebrities.” Called upon to empty a vase of dead flowers into the trash, she falls apart. She can’t imagine hanging pictures on the wall of her own home without the help of a designer. In fact, when Nick does a little low-key decorating in the new house while she’s away, Jessica is irritated primarily because she is unable to figure out whether she likes it or not. She takes the position that she and Nick are unqualified to decide what should go where. They don’t know what looks good, she argues. She returns to her mantra, which she repeats over and over in a variety of situations: “Can’t we hire someone?” It’s true that reality television is often little more than an opportunity to watch a fool act like a fool, and Jessica is no exception. Still, this kind of entertainment is never as tempting as when it indulgently hints to us that we are right about everything. Yes, the nice person does often finish last. Yes, if you don’t scam your fellow man, he will scam you first. Yes, some people will do anything for a buck. Yes, the nice guy does often get dumped for the creep. And in the case of “Newlyweds,” we are reassured that celebrity is not a meritocracy. That fame at 16, had we experienced it, might have twisted us into freakish balloon animals until we couldn’t so much as buy groceries without a personal assistant. That it’s just as well we never hit it big. Jessica’s level of semi-fame is perfect for this purpose. If she were living the very high life of a very successful person, she might be having so much fun that it would be hard not to envy her. If she drops much lower on the totem pole, it will be hard not to feel sorry for her, given her obvious lack of preparation for any role in life other than the one she has now. For the time being, it is just right to watch her bubble through her daily life, not very bright but also not very relevant. We just knew we didn’t really want to be rich and famous. [Source:MSNBC News]

Is Jessica Simpson Really Dumb?
You have too been watching MTV's Newlyweds. Don't front! With their careers as pop stars on shaky ground, hunky 98 Degrees dude Nick Lachey and "dumb blonde" Jessica Simpson signed on for a reality TV show about their marriage. Some grumps called this a desperate grab for publicity. Well, maybe so, but Newlyweds is the second-highest rated cable show after Sex and the City. And it's just been renewed by MTV for a second season. Joe Simpson — Jessica's dad, personal manager and executive producer — is one proud papa. Even if the show's portrayal of his sloppy, doofy, primadonna daughter isn't very flattering.

"What's happening here is Jessica knows she's on camera," he insists to TV Guide Online. "Since she was a little girl, people have been calling her a dumb blonde, [so] she begins to assume the role that everybody expects of her. That doesn't mean that's who she is. It's a part of her personality, but it's one that she's enhancing on the show. It's nothing that's not real, but she unintentionally exaggerates."

Uh huh. While clearly biased, Joe denies Jessica's TV antics are spoiling her image for fans. Instead, he generously compares her comedic talent to Lucille Ball's. He also thinks her imperfections are boosting her likeability (and album sales). "We did the show because everybody had seen Jessica as only a Barbie doll, because she does have beauty that separates her from the average person. She has a six octave range, so she also has a voice that not everybody [has]. So a lot of America didn't relate to her. We did this show so that people would see that, hey, she's just a normal kid."

Perhaps, but she sure is a pampered kid, accustomed to maid service and having her own way about things! Watching Nick scold Jessie for her slovenly ways is a guilty pleasure. "She'll never like cleaning," Joe admits. "Jessica always had someone else to do that, so she didn't have to. And she didn't go away to college — which is the first place kids begin to take responsibility — because she was on the road [singing]. Her marriage is her college experience." [Source:TV Guide]

October 14th, 2003
With You @ Oprah caps
I added 50 captures of Jess performing With You on Oprah yesterday, click the thumbs.


La princess
When Justin Timberlake hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend and spoofed Jessica Simpson's gold-dipped appointment as the world champion of all things princess and completely clued-out, we knew we were on to something.

Pop star and lead of the new MTV reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica (Simpson's husband is solo artist and one-time 98 Degrees member Nick Lachey), Simpson has become far more (in)famous for her televised domestic delusions than her bubble-gum pop.

She is also single-handedly shining her high-voltage spotlight on the daily quandaries of tiara-wielding, logo-loving divas everywhere.

And as much we cringe at her Newlyweds one-liners and laundry dilemmas (the MTV show chronicles the couple's first year of wedded bliss), we secretly love the rollercoaster.

After all, we each have a princess in our lives who keeps life interesting -- tears, tantrums, silk house coats and all. [Source:The Province]

Jess and Nick on Larry King live tonight!
Watch Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey for the full hour on CNN's Larry King Live tonight, October 14 at 9 p.m. EST. For more information, click the banner below!


Oprah videos
Yesterdays interview on Oprah is available for download! Head over to Video section :) Thanks to Beth for the video! The performance is coming, she did great!
Edit> I added the performance!


MTV's 'Newlyweds' makes real star of Jessica Simpson
A few months ago, Jessica Simpson was just another second-tier pop princess, below Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and even Mandy Moore on the bubble-gum sexpot ladder.

Simpson was almost-kinda-famous. Maybe you'd hear one of her pop confections on the radio (she's actually a talented singer), or you'd see her big giant blond Barbie head smiling from magazine layouts, or you'd read an item about her and Nick Lachey -- but it's not as if Simpson was achieving big-time crossover success. She seemed about a year away from a slot on "Celebrity Fear Factor."

But that was before "Newlyweds," the hottest show on basic cable, with much better ratings than O'Reilly and three times the viewers as Larry King.

Out of nowhere, Simpson has become the surprise breakout TV star of the season. She's more fascinating than Ozzy Osbourne, more embarrassing than Paris Hilton and funnier than all five Queer Eye guys put together.

And she's making this sensational splash simply by being herself -- a bratty dimwit.
"I know it's tuna, but ..."

When I first heard about MTV's plans to do a show about Simpson's and Lachey's marriage, I couldn't imagine that they'd be interesting reality fodder. This squeaky-clean, white-bread couple seemed about as far from the Osbournes as you could get.

But after the first episode of "Newlyweds," I started getting e-mails and calls from readers telling me I had to check out Simpson. The consensus was that saying this woman is as dumb as a box of rocks might be viewed as an insult -- to the box of rocks.

"Jessica Simpson is the stupidest woman on the planet," said one reader. "Either that or she's the best actress ever."

Around that same time, radio hosts began to play sound bites of Simpson, as she asked questions like, "Is there, like, maids for, like, celebrities?", bragged about the foul odors she was creating in the bathroom and talked about working on her housekeeping skills: "I'm working on putting the toilet paper on the thing. I don't even know what it's called."

But the classic moment, the sound bite that will be around for years as a radio staple -- was Simpson's now-legendary encounter with a bowl of Chicken of the Sea.

Jessica: "Is this chicken what I have, or is this fish? I know it's tuna, but it says chicken. By the sea."
Nick [as if talking to a 5-year-old]: "A lot of people eat tuna, a lot of people eat chicken, so it's like 'Chicken of the Sea.' "
Jessica: "Is that stupid? Why is it called Chicken By the Sea? Or of the sea?"
Nick: "You act like you've never had tuna before."
You simply cannot manufacture a bit that wonderful.
Where the buffalo roam

"Newlyweds" has been renewed for a second season, and I have it in permanent TiVo rotation.
I've seen Jessica belch like a Packers fan who has just downed three brats and five beers. I've heard her complain, "I have to pee!" as her husband tries to golf. I've heard her announce she's "going to drop a couple of kids in the pool," which has nothing to do with swimming and everything to do with her just having wolfed down some fast food. I've watched her explain that she won't have a buffalo wing because, you guessed it, she doesn't eat buffalo.

Jessica, on some backyard visitors: "Why were there mouses?"
Jessica, on what happens after you die: "Rigor who?"
Jessica, after learning what "rigor mortis" means: "Wow. You learn something new every day."
Jessica, discussing sea life: "Platypus? I always thought it was 'Platamapuss.' "
Jessica, after learning about the existence of the LPGA: "I bet half those women don't have boobs."
Jessica, on doing your own laundry: "It's fun putting it in, but then . . . you have to fold it. That's what I really don't like."
It's fascinating to watch this pampered 23-year-old as she struggles to handle new ideas, old ideas, any idea. And you can't help but feel for her exasperated husband as he comes to realize that even the most desirable virgin in the universe can drive you crazy if she's obtuse and pouty ALL THE TIME. This woman seems incapable of having any thought that doesn't revolve around herself. It's almost otherworldly.

Not that it's all Jessica's fault; as she explained on the show, when she was growing up, her mother never once required her to make her bed or clean her room. She's used to having things done for her, and at least she's trying, in her own pathetic way, to figure out how to use a mop and do laundry on her own.

But Simpson is such a whiny, low-rent diva that you don't feel bad about laughing at her misadventures. Regular guys dig the show because it illustrates that life with a fantasy babe isn't necessarily a dream come true, and regular gals are fans because it confirms that at least some blond bombshells are complete idiots.

This is the feel-good-about-ourselves show of the year. [Source:Chicago Sun-Times]

Oprah mpg
I have the Oprah interview with Jess & Nick and Jessica's performance of With You in high quality mpg format, I am uploading them as I write this so stay tuned :)

Jessica Simpson Outed As CIA Agent
According to the Borowitz Report, Jessica Simpson was outed today as a CIA operative, according to a source familiar with the leak, marking another embarassing incident for the White House. According to the source, Simpson's astonishingly dense performance on 'Newlyweds' was "just an act – a very, very convincing act, but an act nonetheless." The source added, "Jessica was acting like a total dimwit to lull the enemy into a false sense of security. The CIA was hoping that, over time, Jessica Simpson would be able to smash al Qaeda." Read more. [Source:PopDirt.com]

October 13th, 2003
Quick news
Kelly Clarkson, 'NSYNC's Lance Bass and JC Chasez, Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, Fabolous, Ice Cube, Sugar Ray's Mark McGrath, Bow Wow, and Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson will be among the presenters at the 31st annual American Music Awards on November 16 in Los Angeles. [Source:MTV.com]

Jess & Nick on Oprah
Jessica and Nick appeared on Oprah today, click here & here for the pictures.

Video Of Justin Timberlake On SNL
NSYNCBrazil.com has video of *NSYNC star Justin Timberlake from his appearance on Saturday Night Live last night. Skits include Punk'd, Newlyweds (Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson), Omeletteville, Little Brother Danny, Justin's opening monologue and performance of 'Rock Your Body', and his performance of 'Senorita'. Download and watch here. [Source:Popdirt.com]

Toopalooza HQs
I added 14 HQ pictures from the Toopalooza event, click the thumbs to view them all.


October 12th, 2003
Justin as Jessica on SNL
Last night on SNL Justin Timberlake made a parody of Jessica, you can view the vidcaps of the spoof here.

Nick Defends Jess On SNL
Last night's Saturday Night Live featured a segment on Jessica Simpson and 98 Degrees star Nick Lachey, where Nick defended Jessica's intelligence. Read on for a transcript of the skit. [Source:Popdirt.com]

New scans
Lisa sent me a bunch of new magazine scans, they include Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, In Touch Weekly and Rolling Stone! Check them out by clicking the thumbs below, thanks again Lisa!


Toopalooza
Jessica performed at Toopalooza event on October 11th, check out the amazing pictures below!


MTV's reality: The young and the tasteless
Two gorgeous, gullible fools have unwittingly given us front-row seats to the train wreck that is their celebrity marriage.
The handsome young man stands with his beautiful new bride, enacting that age-old marital ritual -- the recounting of his day's events. On this particular day, he has discovered a dead mouse in the swimming pool.

''It was all, like, stiff and rigor-mortised,'' he tells her.
''Riga-who?'' she replies.

The camera moves in. The emotions are easily read on our hero's face. First, puzzlement, then amusement. And, finally, the sinking horror that comes with this realization: I have married the stupidest woman on Earth.

''You know -- when you die, and your body gets all stiff,'' he tells her, hoping for a light bulb to turn on.
''Learn something new every day,'' she mumbles.

There is simply no light bulb there.
This is one of the many sublime moments on a show full of them: Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, MTV's reality show following the lives of the recently hitched pop singers Nick Lachey (of 98 Degrees fame) and Jessica Simpson. (The show airs at 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays on MTV.)

Only a few episodes old, the show is fast turning into the most valuable cultural document of our young century: It's both a study in our modern celebrity obsessions and a scathing attack on the celebrities who fuel them, Us Weekly and the old Spy magazines rolled into one addictive package.

Nick and Jessica are young, gorgeous, spectacularly wealthy, enviably privileged -- and, ultimately, two gullible fools who have unwittingly given us front-row seats to the train wreck that is their celebrity marriage.

LIKE BERGMAN BUT NOT

What's so terrific about Newlyweds is that it is a very contemporary gloss on a decades-old genre: the warts-and-all anatomy of married life. In 1973, director Ingmar Bergman made Scenes From a Marriage, a six-part television miniseries that followed a fictional married couple as they tore at, and finally tore apart from, one another. Scenes From a Marriage (released in the United States as a 2 1-hour film) is transfixing in its grasp of the nuances of the envy, hatred and jealousy that swirl inside a married couple's home.

I like to think of Newlyweds as Scenes From a Bennifer -- insofar as it's just like the Bergman model, except it's about really silly people leading very shallow lives. All the envy, hatred and jealousy are here, but in deliciously inane, star-studded permutations. Watch Jessica get mad at Nick for checking out other women's backsides -- women who happen to be the wafer-thin dancer/models hired to appear in his new music video. Watch Nick blow up at Jessica for ruining his afternoon golf outing by complaining of her golf swing, ``My boob gets in the way. My boob makes it curve.''

Oh, to have these people's problems! Except that's the brilliant joke here -- you wouldn't want these people's problems, not for a multimillion-dollar record contract. Newlyweds seduces us with its glimpses into the tinted limousine windows of the rich and famous: their fabulous vacations, their photo shoots, their recording sessions, their expansive Hollywood Hills homes.

But the more we see, the more we understand this relationship to be built on a foundation of ego and image. There is only token affection expressed between the two newlyweds; more often, you simply see Nick irritated and bored with Jessica -- grateful, for instance, to be able to escape to a Playboy Mansion party and to turn off his cellphone from Jessica's incessant nagging.

You also see Nick and Jessica allowing envy and competitiveness to consume them, without their even realizing it. Take the moment when a father and daughter ask Jessica for her autograph, while she and Nick dine at Tony Roma's Ribs. Nick tries to make light of the fact that no one wanted his autograph, but a hint of real resentment flashes across his face, and it leaves a nasty aftertaste.

How could it possibly be otherwise? When you measure a marriage by how famous it is going to make you, how can the less-famous partner be anything but enraged at the other? This isn't a marriage so much as a public relations campaign -- a point brought home by the omnipresence of the cameras in their home, by the very existence of the show.

This is what Bergman did. He showed how two people's goals in a relationship can vary and how a collection of small resentments can expand and destroy like a cancer. He gave us a blueprint for a breakup. Newlyweds sends the same idea spinning into the media age: If you've ever wondered why even the most successful celebrity marriages seem to last about as long as a Lord of the Rings movie, then here is your guidebook.

MEAN-SPIRITED

But Newlyweds breaks apart from Bergman -- in the end, it's not an attack on marriage so much as it is an attack on the institution of modern celebrity. Following the success of The Osbournes, any number of famous folk thought they could cash in by having the cameras obsessively study their private lives. What Nick and Jessica could never have expected was that the cameras would turn on them.

So we relish Jessica's whiny, spoiled-brat inability to pick up after herself. We delight at Nick having to put up with her pestering him about how he spends too much time with his brother Drew. Mostly, we laugh at what spectacularly stupid thing Jessica will come up with next. She doesn't realize that ''Chicken of the Sea'' is not actually chicken. She always thought ''platypus'' was pronounced ''platymapus.'' She thinks buffalo wings are made from, well, buffalo.

That sometimes makes Newlyweds rather mean-spirited viewing -- surely Jessica never bargained on becoming the American poster child for imbecilic hot chicks. But this mean-spiritedness feels deserved -- and, for the ordinary Joes like us watching the show, it is extraordinarily cathartic.

Not just because Nick and Jessica achieved success in spite of their rather dubious singing talents. And not just because we live in a world that heaps limitless rewards upon the dumb, the young and the beautiful. But also because these two newlyweds had the hubris, and the vanity, to think that we would be interested in seeing every moment of their lives on television.

Well, yes, we are interested in their lives, but there's nothing to be ashamed of. That's the genius of the show. Instead of exalting these would-be idols, it gives them what they deserve. And instead of making us feel cheap about our celebrity thirst, Newlyweds lets us feel haughty and superior. It's called eating your star-gazer cake and then getting to shove it right back into the celebrity's face. [Source:Miami Herald]

October 11th, 2003
Updates
I added a bunch of new affiliates, visit them they are awesome :) I also updated other Jessica links section.

Jessica and Jojo
I added 8 pics of Jess at Jojo's studio on August 4th.


99.7 DJX Birthday Bash pics
I know I'm late with these, but due to computer problems I wasn't able to upload them before. Here they are:
bb19_42.jpg bb19_43.jpg bb19_44.jpg bb19_45.jpg bb19_46.jpg


Justin Timberlake will spoof Jessica Simpson on SNL - 10/11
From NickCfan: "They interviewed Justin on ET and showed a clip of him rehearsing for tomorrow's SNL. There's a Newlyweds parody and Justin is playing Jessica Simpson. He said something on the lines of "You may call me dumb. You may call me stupid" And they have someone playing Nick , with his arm around Justin and Justin said "And I'm his wife..""

MTV renews critically-praised 'Newlyweds' for an additional six episode season
The Hollywood Reporter reports that MTV has ordered a second season of its surprise-hit summer series Newlyweds, focusing on the celebrity marriage of former 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey, 29, and "pop tart" Jessica Simpson, 23, who had the smash hit "Irresistible." The second-season order consists of an additional six episodes, which will air in 2004.

The first season run of Newlyweds, which ends on October 21, has drawn some of the strongest positive reaction so far for a celebrity reality-documentary. Many of the reviewers focus on Jessica's complete cluelessness about even the simplest items and Nick's resultant frustration directed at her. A review from Christopher Kelly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram compares Newlyweds to the classic Ingmar Bergman miniseries Scenes from a Marriage, as the couple drifts farther apart each day.

Jessica doesn't know that "Chicken of the Sea" tuna isn't really chicken, and she passes up "Buffalo wings" because "I don't eat buffalo." In one exchange captured memorably on tape, she doesn't hae any idea what "rigor mortis" is. Kelly describes Nick's reaction thusly:

The camera moves in. The emotions are easily read on our hero's face. First, puzzlement, then amusement. And, finally, the sinking horror that comes with this realization: I have married the stupidest woman on Earth.

The Boston Herald portrays Nick's dilemma in equally stark terms:
How many guys have married a helpless Barbie doll because he got off on the idea of taking care of her and later just sent up a silent prayer that she would get a grip? Welcome to the dark side of "to have and to hold."

Because of the ever-present cameras, the foibles of both are visible, in all their gory detail. Thus, when Nick complains to Jessica about the mess in the house, we see her decide to clean up -- only to spill the yucky water in the used flower vases and then have no idea what to do next. We see Nick's fleeting looks of hurt and anger when people recognize Jessica but not him. We hear Jessica complain incessantly about how her "boob" messes up her golf swing. And, ultimately, we learn that, in the unreal world of Jessica and Nick, the fact that she's become the "American poster child for imbecilic hot chicks" didn't keep her away from a second season ... and that Nick apparently has no desire to protect her from further humiliation.

Whether a second season can live up to the first in questionable. As discussed in The Oregonian, Jessica's father denies that she's "a dumb blonde," and so we expect that she'll try to look less clueless in a second go-round. However, based on the first season, Jessica may be setting herself up for a task that she can't accomplish. [Source:RealityTV World]

October 10th, 2003
More NYC pics
I added more pics of Jess and Nick in NYC, click here.

Award for SK.net!
SweetKisses.net is Site Of The Month at Red Hot JLo! :)

Nick And Jess Have Become 'Everyone's Guilty Pleasure'
B.J. Sigesmund of Us Weekly was on CNN's American Morning on Thursday to discuss Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's 'Newlyweds' MTV reality show as part of their 90-Second Pop, Culture Watch segment. Sigesmund said to host Bill Hemmer, "Bill, it's become everyone's guilty pleasure, and I know you're watching it too. You're sneaking it in. It's gotten huge ratings, and it's because, unlike the Anna Nicole show or something like that, even though she's sort of dumb and kind of a spoiled brat, there's something endearing about her, something charming about Jessica Simpson. And it's funny to see Nick sort of get annoyed by her and put up with her. And I think, also, everyone is fascinated with the first year of marriage within a celebrity marriage." Read more. [Source:Popdirt.com]

'Newlyweds' Exposes The Fraud Of A Modern Celebrity Marriage
Christopher Kelly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram shared his thoughts on 'Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica', and the interaction between 98 Degrees star Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. Kelly writes, "Only six episodes old, the show is fast turning into the most valuable cultural document of our young century: It's both a study in our modern celebrity obsessions and a scathing attack on the celebrities who fuel them, Us Weekly and the old Spy rolled into one addictive package. Nick and Jessica are young, gorgeous, spectacularly wealthy, enviably privileged -- and, ultimately, two gullible fools who have unwittingly given us front-row seats to the train wreck that is their celebrity marriage." He added, "When you measure a marriage by how famous it is going to make you, how can the less-famous partner be anything but enraged at the other? This isn't a marriage so much as a public relations campaign -- a point brought home by the omnipresence of the cameras in their home, by the very existence of the show." Read more. [Source:Popdirt.com]

Jack And Kelly Osbourne On Last Call
Jack and Kelly Osbourne were on Last Call with Carson Daly on Wednesday night to promote their new 'Osbournes' DVD and talk about how Jack is doing after rehab. They also expressed their disappointment with Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's MTV reality show 'Newlyweds', saying they just copied what they did with their show. But they felt sorry for Jessica, because the show makes her look like an idiot. [Source:Popdirt.com]

Nick And Jessica Profiled On CNN This Morning
CNN's 'American Morning' is going to have a segment on 98 Degrees star Nick Lachey and wife Jessica Simpson's MTV reality show 'Newlyweds' later this morning. We'll post a transcript later today. [Source:Popdirt.com]

October 8th, 2003
Jess & Nick in NYC
I have new pics of Jess & Nick in NYC from October 6th, check them out here:
NYC October 6th :: NYC October 6th [HQ]
I didn't add them to the Gallery yet, I will tomorrow, because I am tired :)

Much Skin, Little Substance
Yushaimi Yahaya of The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) reviewed Jessica Simpson's new album 'In This Skin'. Yahaya writes, "Think I’d rather sit in this stuffy room than spend my hard-earned dough on Jessica’s third album. This is cold, definitely nowhere near 98 degrees." Read more. [Source:Popdirt.com]

Keep it Simpson
Fleetingly-famous US pop floozie Jessica Simpson is gaining a cult following in her native land after a stream of dunderheaded screen outbursts.

The mountainously-bazonkered telly tease - married late last year to a man, for her sins - has been making intellectuals everywhere consider doing a Derren Brown, thanks to several sawdust-brained pearlers springing unbidden from her pretty little head.

Pausing from a lucrative Ivy League university lecture tour on particle physics to adjust her sauce-shelf, the one-time MegaStar Live guest has been blethering the first thing that comes into her head as the star of MTV's Newlyweds, alongside beefcake (obviously) hubby Nick Lachey. [Source:Mega Star]

Jessica Back for More Buffalo
Who knew that watching MTV could make you feel smarter?
If you are aware that Chicken of the Sea is, in fact, tuna fish, that platypus is not pronounced "plat-a-ma-puss" and that buffalo wings are not made of buffalo, well, you're a genius compared to Jessica Simpson, star of MTV's Newlyweds.
And now you can continue to pit your wits against the sexy simpleton. MTV has picked up a second 10-episode season of Newlyweds.
The reality show chronicles the daily life of Simpson and her hubby, Nick Lachey, as they struggle with the challenges and obstacles of everyday life in the land of the rich and famous.
It's so hard to be a 23-year-old pop-star bride, who's rich, gorgeous and married to a doting husband, who finds even your prolific burping and farting adorable. The things you have to figure out on your own these days...Why on earth aren't there special Yellow Pages listings for maids for celebrities?
Luckily, she has found a partner marginally brighter than herself to explain such challenges as the garage-door opener.
Formerly one-fourth of boy band 98 Degrees, Lachey has been doing his own laundry for years now and knows to look at his credit-card receipts before signing them. He can shake his head indulgently when his wife mistakes fish for chicken and chicken for buffalo; he knows the difference.
The baffling rhetoric displayed on Newlyweds somehow makes it compulsively watchable; last week's installment averaged 2.5 million viewers. The first season's finale will air on Oct. 21, five days before the couple's one-year anniversary. Here's hoping the show's IQ won't go up as Lachey and Simpson enter their second year of wedded bliss and second season of unintentional hilarity.
Also picked up for a second season by MTV was Snoop Dogg's Doggy Fizzle Televizzle.
The variety show stars the rapper in comedy sketches featuring plenty of pimp 'n' ho humor. It's something akin to Comedy Central's The Chappelle Show crossed with Fox's '90s hit In Living Color.
As schoolteacher Mr. Dizzle, Snoop teaches his pupils some variations on classic nursery rhymes: "With a knick-knack bitch snap give a ho my bone/These li'l hos came roaming home." As an Arby's drive-thru worker, he takes orders in his trademark izzle-speak, befuddling his customers.
Doggy Fizzle Televizzle is a gizzle tizzle and worth a wizzle. Last week's show was watched by 1.3 million, improving ratings in the 10 p.m. time slot by 30 percent. The new six-episode season debuts in 2004.
MTV has also renewed its landmark reality series Road Rules for a 13th season. The premise of the show remains the same: six strangers, all under 25 and pretty much guaranteed to dislike one another. They pack themselves into an RV and travel around performing "challenges," while having their lives taped.
The challenges executed by the camera-hungry RV dwellers often involve climbing to high places, eating disgusting things or getting naked. Generally, they are fairly inept at these tasks with the exception of the nudity, at which they tend to be pretty good.
In recent seasons, a teammate or two gets voted off and is replaced by an equally forgettable castmember. The eliminations are always the most riveting moments of the show, due to the increased drama factor.
The trio of shows will join the already-renewed Real World, Punk'd and The Osbournes in the network's new lineup.
Not making the cut was The New Tom Green Show. Veteran MTV shockster Tom Green should have stuck with suckling cow teats and building obscene sculptures on his parents' lawn. His talk show was canceled after 23 episodes, due to declined ratings. [Source:E! Online]

'Primetime' Player
[...] Speaking of deadly sinning, Tulane University will be a featured school during MTV's Oct. 18-19 "Homecoming Weekend."

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, married stars of MTV's unintentionally hilarious reality series "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," have already shot their spot on campus (they help a Tulane student find a homecoming date).

But MTV's cameras will roll again at Tad Gormley stadium during Saturday's football game against the University of Houston, for replay the following weekend.

Pregame activities begin at 8 a.m. Kickoff is 1:30 p.m.

And as a special reunion treat for the class of 1953, the very popular hip-hop combo OutKast will perform at halftime. [Source:Nola.com]

Inanity, thy name is Simpson
She's blond. She's beautiful. She burps.

She's Jessica Simpson, third-tier Britney-style pop singer turned reality-TV sweetheart. On MTV's "Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica," the 23-year-old has emerged as the goofiest cult icon of the season. The show chronicles the married life of Simpson and her hunky hubby, Nick Lachey, the 29-year-old veteran of 98 Degrees, a soul-pop group overshadowed by boy-band superpower 'N Sync. But aside from revealing just how mundane even semi-famous people can be (with their money, they chow down at Tony Roma's?), "Newlyweds" has made Simpson an unlikely buzz-generating machine.

Simpson's baffled reaction to canned tuna -- "Is this chicken, what I have, or is this fish?" she mused while pondering a can of Chicken of the Sea -- is already a much-repeated hoot. Her gross bodily functions (belching, gas), general confusion (she thought "platypus" was "plata-ma-pus") and free-association whining ("You're saying all the wrong things . . . do you like my shoes?") prompt eye-rolling impatience from Lachey and snarky discussion among viewers.

Online examples include "The Official Jessica Simpson Is an Idiot Club," in which a poster notes, "She's an utter moron." Bloggers debate whether Simpson's "hotness" cancels out her "stupidity." E! Online offers "The Wisdom of Jessica Simpson," including her post-meal comment: "I have bubbles in my tummy. . . . It's just air. It's not stink. Promise."

USA Today and Entertainment Weekly have also taken shots at Simpson's out-of-it utterances, such as: "I don't eat buffalo. It's not (buffalo)? Then why are they called buffalo wings?" A TV Guide cover asked the question, "Is Jessica really that stupid?" posing the question to her father, who's also her manager and a producer of "Newlyweds." "Since she was little, people have been calling her a dumb blonde, and sometimes she assumes that role," Joe Simpson said. "But that's not who she is."

TV viewers have more time to come to their own conclusion. The show, which airs at 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays, features its season finale Oct. 21. But MTV announced Monday that the series has been renewed for a second season, with new episodes beginning in 2004. Can "Newlyweds: The Marriage Counseling Sessions" be far off? [Source:The Oregonian]

October 1st, 2003
On TV, Jessica's a hit, but her CD's a flop

Looks aren't everything.
Consider the latest album from Dallas Cowgirl look-alike Jessica Simpson.
The singer has a hit MTV "reality" series, "Newlyweds," which tracks her relationship with hubby - and fellow cutie-pie pop star - Nick Lachey. But that hasn't stopped Simpson's third CD, "In This Skin," from taking an ugly turn.
Just before the TV series began, the album made its debut at an impressive No. 10 on Billboard's Top 200 Album list.
Since then, the show's ratings have soared. "Newlyweds" is drawing an average of 2.4 million viewers each week, with more of them in the coveted 12-to-34-year-old group than any other cable show in its time slot can claim, including "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."
But Simpson's album has plummeted. After just five weeks, it has flopped to No. 62 in Billboard, moving a tepid 16,087 copies in the last week.
The show's hook has become Simpson's somewhat naive approach to the factual side of life.
In one episode, she allowed us to believe she thought buffalo wings came from actual buffaloes. In another, Simpson paid what some might put down on a used car for two pieces of lingerie, and didn't notice the tab until later.
While this sort of thing may make viewers titter - it has become a running joke on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" - it has made music fans take her about as seriously as they do Anna Nicole Smith.
The problem hasn't been lost on Lachey's record company.
Originally, Universal was set to release Lachey's debut solo work ("Soulo") in mid-September. Now it has decided to put the album off until Nov. 11, the better to hedge its bets and build momentum for the single, "This I Swear."
While Simpson's music plays a minor part in the show, Lachey's "Swear" opens every episode and serves as its theme song - a move that now looks pretty darn smart.
In other bomb news: Two formerly big-selling hard guitar acts have just gone soft. Alien Ant Farm and Adema hit it big with their first works in 2000. Their followups have flopped.
Adema sold 653,000 copies of its debut, also called "Adema." But its second effort - aptly named "Unstable" - has gone missing from the Top 200 in just five weeks, after moving only 63,000 copies.
Alien Ant Farm's stumble is even steeper. The group's debut CD, "ANTology," sold 1.9million copies two years ago, driven by a clever cover of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." But the new "TruANT" left the charts in just five weeks after selling just 56,000 copies.
Both bands were snubbed by rock radio, which supported them last time around. While metal bands like to say their audience comes from touring rather than radio, this proves that even hard guitar acts still need an airwave hit to click.
[Source:New York Daily News]

Jessica Simpson I.Q. quiz
Question: How clueless is Jessica Simpson?

Answer: People are tuning in to MTV's "Newlyweds" (tonight at 10:30 p.m.) just to see what the ditzy pop star will do next.

The show is a chronicle of her marriage to singer Nick Lachey of 98 Degrees fame. Cameras follow the young couple as she grapples with basic tasks like doing laundry and he tries not to lose his temper.

Below are some classic Jessica moments from this season, plus a few we made up. Can you identify the real ones? More important, could Jessica?

1. True or false: She refused to try a buffalo wing, explaining, "I don't eat buffalo."
2. True or false: She took her Louis Vuitton handbag on a camping trip.
3. True or false: She thought the plural of mouse was "mouses."
4. True or false: She assumed you can listen to AM radio only in the morning.
5. True or false: She mistook a plastic bag on the beach for a jellyfish.
6. True or false: She had trouble figuring out how to use a garage door opener.
7. True or false: She didn't know how many beers were in a 12-pack.
8. True or false: She asked if she was eating chicken or fish while consuming Chicken of the Sea.

Julie Hinds, Free Press staff writer
ANSWERS: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 are true; 4 and 7 are false.
[Source:Detroit Free Press]

More Newlyweds animations
I added 9 more animations from the Newlyweds, they are really funny and cute! Thanks to Criss :)

[Click here for past news]