It was definitely one of the best days I have ever had!

I knew the baby shower would be fun, but I truly did not realize just HOW INCREDIBLE of a day it would be. The shower was given by three of my girlfriends...Courtney Thompson, who has been a friend of mine for 10 years now, Karen Knopp who is the makeup artist at Access Hollywood, and Nicole Allowitz who is the wardrobe stylist at Access (we spend so much time together every day we have forged tight friendships! )

The day started with the shower hosts and I getting ready in a room at the Viceroy, the venue where the shower was held. What a blast we had laughing and reminiscing as we pulled out the mascara, blush and hairspray! Then we proceeded down to the room where the shower was held.

My girlfriends had so kindly thought of EVERYTHING, all with special meaning...from decorating with little bunnies because bunnies will be a predominant decoration in my nursery to all the fun "you're having a girl" stuff to the guest registry book to help me remember every moment...even a cake made out of donuts!!! (because that is one thing I have been craving lately...or let's say my baby girl has...sounds better for the baby to crave the donuts(-: ).

I've been inside the Idol tapings so many times before but had never seen the Walt Disney Concert Hall. So, even though I had a ticket for both, I chose to head downtown and spend my evening with Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen was great as usual, if not under used.. sitting inside watching Kelly Clarkson, IL Divo, Rascall Flatts, Josh Groban and Earth, Wind and Fire perform was definitely the better seat! It's nights like these when I remember why I love this business.

There was not a dry eye in the house when Josh Groban sang with the African Children's Choir. They were brought out during the commercial break and received a standing ovation even before they sang one note. Watching it back on TV later, I can tell you what you saw was nothing compared to the power of seeing it in person. Josh's voice is absolutely beautiful and hearing the harmony of the choir together inside a venue with such strong acoustics was magical. When it was all over the audience erupted in what seemed like never ending applause. Women were bawling. Grown men were crying.

Clearly, the crowd was not the country music kind. I was feeling the love for Rascall Flatts. I love me some country music and sang along to every word of "My Wish." Two women in front of me stood up and danced along while the rest of the crowd seemed slightly uninterested. I think by the end of the song most were converted to Flatts fans though!

The crowd, who had paid up to a $1,000 for the best seats, had to watch the action at the Idol stage on huge theater type screens. To me the most memorable moment came courtesy of Paula. When she appeared on stage with Ryan after her taped piece, the entire 2,000 plus audience let out a huge gasp upon seeing her in that push up dress. Men began whistling and cat calling her like she was passing a construction site. I guess it was the size of the screen that made the size of her um, girls seem so big because according to my spy at the Idol taping, no one noticed there. Someone in the control booth must have noticed. When I watched the west coast feed back, they had placed a Dial Idol banner with the phone number over most of her talking.

by Keith Freshwater, Access production assistant

Before looking forward, let's take a brief look back at last week's episode, "Catch-22."

Some may be thinking my prognostication that “the parachutist” would have information about the 815’ers was incorrect. I thought as much after watching, but then I found a spoiler from tonight's episode that, if true, confirms my original claim. And this is a whopper of a spoiler, so big that I hesitate to even mention, but then I would be denying myself the opportunity to say, "I told you so" next week. But, I'll save that for the end.

Last week's episode, "Catch-22," once again left our office divided -- most just could not care less about Desmond. I have to admit, when I first saw Desmond as a monk, I groaned (Get it? He says "brother" all the time), but I've always liked Desmond's story, particularly the Desmond-Penny love story that has become a central plot-point to the “Lost” universe. I felt that the episode was a preface, a start to an arc that hopefully will payoff in the finale.

As far as Charlie's near-demise, who didn't get excited when he ended up on the business end of Rousseau's arrow? But what exactly was the point of Desmond saving Charlie? Has time now been altered? Or was this more insight into Desmond's character? He, like Locke once did, has lost his faith, and therefore, failed his "test." I think the ramifications of this decision will become clear in the future. Charlie's not off the chopping block yet.

I predict he'll still meet his demise in a few episodes, and it'll involve the other end of the cable on the beach.

When something sounds too good to be true... it usually is. This well supported theory was proven to me yet again when I was asked to go to a shoot with Randy Jackson and the Top 6 Idols yesterday. The pitch from the publicity company was that Randy and the Idols would be taking part in the Giffoni Hollywood Film Festival and we would get them in a recording session for the "American Idol" album. I had a sneaking suspicion something was not right. FOX publicity will not allow national TV outlets to ever interview the Idols during the show, except when it gets down to the bottom two. This special stuff is reserved for FOX affiliates who in the past complained that they don't get anything and the national shows get all the good stuff. They won the battle and now local affiliates get everything and cable shows with minimal audiences like "American Idol Extra" and "Idol Tonight" (because of their Fox connection) get special footage. The big entertainment shows that have millions and millions of viewers are left to fend for themselves. The show doesn't need promotion is the excuse we always hear. Am I bitter about it? Obviously, but I tell you this because this whole reasoning is why I knew something was up yesterday. Surely, Fox didn't know that Access Hollywood was coming? The publicist claimed they did. I was still not convinced but drove the thirty minutes to the event anyway.

One night down and 'Idol Gives Back' is great. It is a bold endeavor because most often a TV franchise LIMITS its risks as it gets bigger. To risk too much with content is to risk profits. 'Idol' is showing immeasurable confidence and the result is humanity.

At the least, this is a courageous undertaking. At the most, this could be an invaluable night of influence on a younger generation to help others.

I am voting.

Now to 'Dancing With The Stars'.... Heather Mills gets the boot....are you shocked?

I am shocked twice over: first, I thought she was a reborn American heroine, an underdog who has recreated herself in America. (Remember, she has been largely vilified in the UK for her adversity with Paul McCartney). To that point, I thought she would have been with us for a while longer.

NOTE: Major Spoilers for Tonight Attached - DON'T READ if you don't want to know.

For the first time in what might be "American Idol" history or at least a really, really long time, a Top 12 performance show has been pre-taped. Producers felt they needed more time to rehearse for their big 2 hour "Idol Gives Back" show. So, the Idols had one less day to rehearse their songs and I had to give up my first free Monday night in months. A bike ride and dinner plans were on the horizon when I get an email that an Idol ticket has become available at 3pm. The catch was I had to be there by 4:15 which means I would have to cancel my plans. So, I pissed off my friend and darted over the hill not wanting to pass up what has become a rare opportunity this season for me. Needless to say after arriving to the studio by 4:15, waiting for someone to meet me for fifteen minutes and then finding out upon getting inside the studio it was still 49 minutes to show time, my mood was less than jovial. I think I may have had my fill of "American Idol" tapings and I've only been twice this year. Last year I went like twenty times.

Let the first timers have the seats. They appreciate it more.

Somewhere inside of me is a twelve-year-old little girl trying to break out. It's because I'm not ashamed to admit I love watching the Disney Channel. Forget "Seinfeld", "Friends" or "Will & Grace" re-runs. I've seen them all. Now when there is nothing on TV, I can always count on Disney for some mindless, cute, cheesy, funny sitcoms. First, it was "That's So Raven." Then "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." Now I get a chuckle out of watching "Hannah Montana."

It started when I visited the set, back in February, to talk to Billy Ray Cyrus about his "Dancing with the Stars" training. I loved his humble attitude towards the show, his southern charm and quick wit. I figured that would help his fan base on "Dancing," but I had no idea just how far he would get on the show thanks to his loyal "Hannah Montana" followers. He's not even the star of the show. That honor goes to his 14-year-old daughter, Miley Cyrus.. the biggest thing in pre-teen celebrities right now. For those who don't have children or who are not secretly tuning into the Disney Channel, the show revolves around Miley Stewart, her dad Robby and trouble-making brother, Jackson. Miley lives a double life as a secret teen pop sensation... aka Hannah Montana.

Alec Baldwin's words on his 11 year old daughter's voicemail are vile and incomprehensible.

No matter how manipulative or subversive she MIGHT be, she is a child and his calmer head must prevail. The choice of language is also inconceivable.

But if Kim Basinger did leak the voicemail, her actions reek of wrongdoing. They appear reprehensible. As so often happens in divorce, the child becomes a ping-pong ball. It sure feels that she's sided with her mother, but how much of that is due to gut wrenching, maternal manipulation, we don't know. The way the media can cut into sealed information is precise and I'm afraid we'll soon know.

The ex-Baldwins are the polar opposites of the ex-Willis's. Kim and Alec could use a good sit down with Bruce and Demi about "putting the children first."

by Matt Smith

Flash back for a moment if you will to September 5th, 1972, to the Olympic games and the Munich massacre. Jim McKay had to go on the air live and give the play-by-play account that 11 Israeli athletes had been taken hostage. Imagine sitting there as a broadcaster, knowing fully that in the end you would have to be the one to tell loved ones that they were either alive or dead.

Later that day, his heart heavy, McKay looked into the lens of that camera, realizing that somewhere out there parents were undoubtedly watching:

"I've just gotten the final word. You know when I was a kid, my father used to say our greatest hopes and our worst fears are seldom realized. Our worst fears have been realized tonight. They've now said that there were 11 hostages; two were killed in their rooms yesterday morning. 9 were killed at the airport tonight. They're all gone."

So, I'm listening in on this conference call this morning with reporters talking to our favorite bad singer, Sanjaya Malakar. I keep pushing the volume higher and higher because it's tough to hear him. I even yell at my office mate to get off his speaker phone because I can't hear Sanjaya speak. He is so soft-spoken. I'm thinking to myself how shy he sounds and how surprising that is from a contestant who seems so calculating about his song choices and appearance every week.

There are questions about his song choices. He wanted to sing "Mercedes Benz" this week but it didn't clear. Whether or not he truly wanted to win, "Everyone one of us wants to win but I was more focused on the learning. Basically I saw this as my Junior and Senior year of High School. I got a lot further than I ever expected to."