As all fans of Dancing With the Stars get to see, a lot goes into the airing of each show. As a performer, Alanis confirmed that she had to run through 2-3 rehearsals before taking the stage last night. But when it came time to go live, she had to work on concentrating during her performance, “It was great performing on stage, it was a trip when a couple of beautiful people are dancing in front of me as was the case last night. I had to look away so I could stay focused on my lyrics and my song, because I was so [taken] with their dancing.”

But what were things like backstage last night during the semi-finals? “There was a lot going on, there was a lot of energy in the room,” Alanis says, “and a lot of people holding their breath, waiting for news. A lot of people walking by in very colorful costumes and there were a few mohawks last night. I had my son my son with me and he was very excited by some of the pink hair.”

Her husband was also with her last night for her return to performing and was able to greet her once she left the stage. “My main concern is if it sounds great, I’m such a sonic music person, and then secondarily how it looked. My husband is very very supportive of me, he’s an artist himself, so he understand the vulnerablities coming off stage wide eyed, ya know? He immediately said, ‘It sounded so good.’”

While she didn’t get to talk with her fellow singers also featured on the show that night, she did get to watch both Carrie Underwood and Mary J Blige’s, which she loved.

Alanis also admits to now being a fan of DWTS. “I’ve never watched the show,” she admits, “but after having watched it in order to do some research for last night, I can see how it can be very addictive and it would be very dangerous for me. It would be a slippery slope.” And yes, she admits she will be watching next week’s finale.

Backstage at Dancing With The Stars. Jason Orme, Julian Coryell, me, Mike Farrell, Victor Indrizzo, Cedric Lemoyne twitter.com/morissette/sta…

— Alanis Morissette (@morissette) May 16, 2012

- Heather Stas, CBS Local

Earlier this morning, Perez Hilton chatted with B96/Chicago about the new X Factor cast and Britney’s plans for herself.

“Britney showed up at an event in New York City yesterday to officially announce that she was joining the show, and there was a moment when Simon Cowell gave her the opportunity to speak, and she was very brief. She spoke for about 10 seconds and said ‘Back to you Simon.’ It was obviously scripted for her, and I was a little concerned,” Perez reported.

Brit knows that this is a huge gig, so she wants to look her best and maintain good health while on the show. Perez revealed, “Britney is determined now to get in better shape now that she’s going to be on X Factor full-time. One of her demands is that her her dressing room is filled with healthy stuff like prunes and figs.”

This opportunity is positive for Britney, and singing competition TV shows have proven to bring stars like Jennifer Lopez back into the spotlight and help their new music and tours become more successful.

What does does Perez think about her abilities as a judge? When discussing Howard Stern’s debut on America’s Got Talent last night, he said “I think that he’ll do a much better job that Briney Spears is going to on X Factor.”

-Danielle Clasing, B96 Chicago

The song seems to echo the mindset of the evil queen, played by Charlize Theron, who literally sucks the breath of life out of young women in the film to retain her beauty and youth. Snow White & the Huntsman hits theaters on June 1.

In addition to their soundtrack duties, Florence + the Machine have just announced a slew of fall U.S. tour dates.

9/14 – Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA

9/15 – Nikon at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY

9/16 – Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY

9/18 – Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden, NJ

9/19 – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

9/21 – Raleigh Amphitheatre, Raleigh, NC

9/25 – USF Sun Dome, Tampa Bay, FL

9/26 – BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, FL

10/1 – Starlight Theater, Kansas City, MO

10/4 – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, San Diego, CA

10/5 – Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA

10/7 – Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA

10/10 – Hard Rock Casino Presents: The Pavilion, Alburquerque, NM

-Courtney E. Smith, CBS Local

“The central theme is escape,” singer Tyler Green told CBS Local. “We always felt like it was such a marvel to be able to sit in the theater and escape in the darkness…and watch someone else’s life for 2 hours. We’ve always thought of our shows and our music as a way to forget your problems for 45 minutes or an hour.”

Tapping into elements of cinema and old Hollywood lead this foursome from Utah to explore what really appealed to them about Los Angeles. Glenn and guitarist Chris Allen are Southern Cali natives, born and raised but Glenn wasn’t a huge fan of the city when he was younger. “I used to fear L.A. a lot. I used to not enjoy it,” he commented. “It was too big and too vast. It seemed very cold and plastic.”

But the experience of living in Los Angeles while they recorded made Glenn fall in love with the city. “I love how Hollywood, the city, is actually very trashy but in a rad, novel sort of way.”

Bassist Branden Campbell is a fan of the rock ‘n roll history of the Sunset Strip, but says, “You need to remember too the earlier days. That’s where the Byrds came up, and Buffalo Springfield, the Doors playing at the Whiskey…a lot of those stars are associated with more grassroots music. You don’t think of the hustle and bustle of the Sunset Strip with that, but that was the scene man.”

Rockstar life may be the darkest side of Hollywood, but Neon Trees offered their own take on the seamy side of the strip. Drummer Elaine Bradley weighed in, saying, “I know that there are bands these days that point out the girl in the audience that they want the bouncer to go talk to, to bring them back to the bus so they can get whatever to happen for them that they want…but we don’t choose to do that. Not to my knowledge.”

Fans and groupies alike have flocked to the Sunset Strip for years to meet their rock ‘n roll idols. “I think of how many bands I used to go see at clubs and would make them gifts and wait for them outside,” Glenn recalled. “The ones that were rad to me, I still remember.”

Now that the tables have turned, and Neon Trees are on the receiving end of adulation from fans, they hold those memories in their mind as the ideal way to treat their own fans. “Every time we go out to meet [fans], I think about that and I want to be that for that person,” Glenn said. “You might not think of yourself as a hero or an icon, but some people look at you that way.”

-Courtney E. Smith

But, for an interview with CBS Local, they stopped in a quiet neighborhood downtown for tea at Sarabeth’s Tribecca. Their van driver remarked on how quiet the location was compared to all the other places they’d been that day. It wouldn’t last long.

Upon their arrival at the restaurant, located on the corner of Greenwich and Jay streets, Jay McGuiness jumped out of the van to have his photo taken under the Jay street sign. By the time their TwitPic was sent and the interview concluded, there were a few dozen fans waiting at the front of Sarabeth’s to collect autographs and kisses from Jay.

Looks like @jaythewanted found his home in NYC twitter.com/thewantedmusic…

— the wanted (@thewantedmusic) April 25, 2012

During afternoon tea time, Sarabeth’s is occupied largely by nannies and their small charges. The guys in the Wanted huddled in the back dining room for tea and cookies while explaining British slang. They noshed on the cookies and current scone plate, which came with a serving of rugelach — a Yiddish crescent pastry similar to a strudel. Siva Kaneswaran was a fan of the chubbie cookie, a soft, brownie-like cookie with walnuts, while Nathan Sykes single-handedly ate most of the scones. They drank English Breakfast tea.

The current scones brought up talk of two famous, and oddly named, British dishes: spotted dick, a steamed pudding served with currents or other dried fruits on a bed of custard, and toad in the hole, a sausage and Yorkshire pudding dish.

“Out of toad in the hole and spotted dick, I prefer toad in the hole but with no meat,” chimed in vegetarian Jay.

Max George surprised the group with his preference for spotted dick. “No, I like it…my mom used to make it for me.”

And the outspoken Tom Parker hit the nail on the head by interjecting, “The words spotted and dick should never be in the same sentence ever.” When pressed, he admitted a preference for toad in the hole.

After a bit of time in the restaurant, Jay and Siva mentioned their pre-fame careers as waiters. Jay admitted he was not the best waiter. “On my first day, say this was a meal and this was a woman’s pint, because I was serving her a pint,” he said, holding up a plate of cookies and a water glass. “I pushed it into her lap. I didn’t get much better.”

Jay still held on to the job for two years, which tells you all you need to know about service in British pubs. “Two years of being a terrible waiter,” Jay confirmed. “Good tips though.”

-Courtney E. Smith, CBS Local

The guys have performed on both American Idol and The Voice. On Idol, Max George jumped off the stage to give a little hug and a kiss to judge Jennifer Lopez. When asked why he didn’t do that to Christina Aguilera on The Voice, Max replied, “She’s was bit scary, to be honest.”

Tom Parker jumped in to add, “She’s a total bitch.” When pressed, he added, “She might not be a bitch in real life but to us she was a bitch. She just sat there and didn’t speak to us. Wouldn’t even look at us.”

The other guys made light of his comments and Nathan Sykes jumped in to remind them of how Christina appeared to diss Justin Bieber after his appearance as well.

The interview turned back to Max, who was asked what he was thinking when he jumped off the stage on Idol and kissed Jennifer Lopez. “Yeah well J-Lo’s hot. Christina’s nothing special so…” His comments elicited a round of “oohs” from band members and the audience.

That’s one for Jennifer Lopez, zero for Christina Aguilera — as far as the Wanted are concerned.

As announced this week. the band will be giving away tickets to see them perform live on the show on May 3 in Los Angeles. Fans should go to their website to register for a chance to win, just make sure you do so before Monday, April 30.

Coldplay will perform two songs on @AmericanIdol on 3 May. We have 100 tickets to give away to the recording – cldp.ly/cpaidol A—
Coldplay (@coldplay) April 26, 2012

Coldplay is currently underway with their U.S tour. In addition to their American Idol stop they’ll be all around California for a week starting tonight in San Jose.

– Heather Stas with additional reporting by Nadia Noir, CBS Local

Max George immediately confessed to CBS Local that he was a fan of Dracula as a child. Siva Kaneswaran enjoyed Interview With a Vampire. Nathan Sykes jumped in to say, “Twilight is great as well,” generating a surprised lift of the eyebrows from Siva.

Jay McGuiness said, “My babysitter was a big Buffy [The Vampire Slayer] fan and, although I was a bit too young, I thought it was great.” That prompted Tom Parker to voice his cheeky approval, saying, “Sarah Michelle Gellar, she’s a babe.”

And speaking of babes, we couldn’t help noticing that a large majority of the band’s music videos feature the guys paired off with hot ladies. “When we have our videos, they do often have girls in them and that is basically a requirement.” Jay said. “If we get a treatment that has no girls that’s the first amendment that we send back.”

Nathan chimed in to say, “Basically it’s because usually none of us — some of us,” he paused to offer a nod towards Siva, “don’t really get the opportunity to interact with hot females.”

“Being in a boy band and all,” Jay jokingly interjected.

“It’s just our sad little ways of getting our money’s worth,” Nathan admitted with a grin.

-Courtney E. Smith, CBS Local

TAGS:

(Getty Images/Christopher Polk)

It can feel like a necessity, especially in a world inundated with images of perfect looking celebrities. But what products do celebrities feel they can’t leave the house without?

Avril Lavigne told CBS Local, “I like black eyeliner and I like lip gloss. And I’m obsessed with mascara.” You’re not likely to catch her without them, even in US Weekly’s “Stars, They’re Just Like Us!”

-Courtney E. Smith, CBS Local

(Getty Images/Andrew H. Walker)

As a host and friend of Clark himself, Carson is particularly impacted by the loss and he took time out today on his morning show on AMP 97.1 in Los Angeles to share some of his memories and advice that the media mogul imparted to him over the years.

Carson interviewed Dick Clark a few years ago and there’s one story that sticks out in his mind.

Carson asked him about all the memorabilia he’s collected over the decades and to everyone’s surprise, Clark shared that he owned the door to the airplane that the Beatles flew in when they began their British invasion.

“That was Dick Clark. Who else would have the door that was on the plane that the Beatles flew on?”

It seems only fitting, considering that Clark has opened the metaphorical door for most of the world’s biggest artists since the 1950s.

From American Bandstand to $10,000 Pyramid to the American Music Awards, Dick Clark did it all. Carson believes what makes Clark truly great is that he trail blazed his own genre, much like Johnny Carson did with The Tonight Show:

“Dick Clark was television…Mr. Clark created it, built the business…ABC opened the door, he slammed through it. “

When Carson began developing the concept for TRL, he looked to Dick Clark’s career as a model:

“[TRL] was a countdown, obviously inspired by American Bandstand to some degree…This whole hour became about American teenagers. It wasn’t about me. It wasn’t about MTV. It wasn’t about anything else. It was about you being able to see your peers on TV when you got home. That’s what Bandstand was in the late 50s and early 60s. It was the first time, culturally speaking, American teenagers could view their peers on air…It was a looking glass into a generation.”

To this day, Carson lives by the advice Clark gave him years ago:

“Work. Don’t be afraid to work. I took the red eye to New York when we shot $10,000 Pyramid. Sleep later. Work and jump for the opportunities.”

I will always cherish the personal time we had together. I am indebted to Dick Clark and his legacy. My heart goes out to his family. —
Carson Daly (@carsonjdaly) April 18, 2012

-Sarah Carroll, AMP 97.1, Los Angeles