Front Row Features Staffer

Hollywood – It was a harsh night for the remaining three male contestants on “American Idol” as Nicki Minaj ripped their performance apart. Burnel Taylor, Lazaro Arbos and Devin Velez sang The Four Tops’ “Sugar Pie Honey Bunch.” Unfortunately, the performance was not sweet as sugar as Lazaro Arbos forget the words and pitch problems abound. Minaj said the trio performed like it was Hollywood Week and then told the boys to get off the stage.

Backstage in the press tent, Devin Velez defended the overall performance especially his portion of the trio’s performance. Velez says the voting is all on America and not Nicki Minaj. We’ll have to see if America agrees with Nicki and saves any of the boys from elimination.

Front Row Features Wire

Hollywood – It’s been a whirlwind of appearances and performances for Jessica Sanchez. However, her return to the “American Idol” stage is the icing on the cake as she performed last Thursday (March 21, 2013) with Ne-Yo during the Top 9 results show. Sanchez performed her new single “Tonight.” In this interview clip, Sanchez speaks with correspondent Chris Trondsen about her return to “American Idol” and her sold out concert in the Philippines.

Jessica Sanchez’s new album “Me, You and The Music” drops on April 30, 2013. Pre-order is available at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/me-you-the-music/id624893785

Front Row Features Wire

Hollywood – As the competition of the Top 10 of “American Idol” Season 12 begins, Candice Glover is on cloud 9. Asked what she thought of her critiques, she repled, “Oh my God!” It was the first standing ovation of the night from all the judges sans Mariah Carey. Apparently, Carey chided that her outfit was too tight to stand up. Front Row Features’ Chris Trondsen joked with Glover saying, “We need to get her a looser skirt so she could give you a standing ovation.”

Candice added, “Wear a stretch one so it moves when you do.”

Aside from tight skirts, it was all accolades for Candice Glover. The results show for the first live competition of the Top 10 airs tonight, March 14, 2013 on Fox.

Hollywood – It was a busy weekend as music artist Coco Jones joined in the celebration of music act Mindless Behavior’s film premiere “Mindless Behavior: All Around The World” and album release this past Sunday, March 10 at Universal City Walk. Coincidentally, Coco also celebrates the release of her new E.P. “Made Of” this March 12. The E.P features her current hit single “Holla At The DJ” which sold over 100,000 digital single downloads along with over 1 million views of the music video.

While on the red carpet of the Mindless Behavior event, Coco revealed that the song that she would holla the dj at this moment would be Drake’s “Started From The Bottom.” This young artist definitely started from the bottom and moving to the top as MTV dubbed her the “Young Beyonce” and Radio Disney had her single hitting their Top 5 charts for 5 weeks in a row.

Hollywood – Hundreds of girls could not contain their excitement as teen music act Mindless Behavior arrived at the Universal City Walk for the premiere of their film “Mindless Behavior: All Around The World” along with the celebration of the release of their album by the same name. Young celebrities from YouTube and Hollywood came out for the celebration. The quartet featuring teen sensations Prodigy, Roc Royal, Ray Ray and Princeton have recently toured with the likes of Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys and Justin Bieber and is currently in the midst of their own 25-city headlining tour.

Following up on their debut album “#1 Girl” that topped the chart at No. 2 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and sold over 290,000 copies, 5.5 million ringtones, and over 845,000 singles, their sophomore album “All Around the World” features the single “Keep Her On The Low,” just released on March 12 with a special exclusive deluxe album containing four bonus tracks- available only at Target and Target.com

Front Row Features correspondent Chris Trondsen spoke to Mindless Behavior about the excitement of their premiere and what they like about girls.

The film opens nationwide at AMC Theaters on March 15.

Front Row Features

HOLLYWOOD— Lea Salonga made her mark on the world stage as a singer and actress, originating the lead role of Kim in the hit musical “Miss Saigon.” She also made history as the first Asian actress to play the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical “Les Misérables” on Broadway.

Even though she does not appear in the new hit movie musical adaptation of the Broadway hit, Salonga is nonetheless proud to have been part of the “Les Miserables” legacy.

“The movie has become such a monster hit which makes everybody that has been a part of Les Miz at any point of its  history feel proud to have been a part of it,” she said.

Watch the full interview as Salonga expounds more on the film and Asians as part of the “Les Miserables” history below.

The cast of “Spartacus: War of the Damned” interviewed by Chris Trondsen of Pacific Rim Video Syndicate. ©Peter Gonzaga/Front Row Features Wire.

By PETERSON GONZAGA

Front Row Features

HOLLYWOOD—Spartans took their war against Rome to the streets of Los Angeles as the Starz original series “Spartacus: War of the Damned” held its Los Angeles premiere at the Regal Cinemeas L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles Tuesday.

Celebrating their final season with a mix of emotions, the main cast members came together to pose for photographers and talk to the media on the red carpet.

For Manu Bennett (who plays Crixus), it was a moment of reflection as he talked about Andy Whitfield, who played the original Spartacus on the series and died of cancer in 2011.

“I just want to say hello to his family,” said Bennett. “Hey Lucy. Hey Indigo. Your father is our Spartacus always and still. He is with us here now.”

He added, “As a person, as a father, a human being, it really accentuated the tragedy involved with cancer. Somebody so young and so talented could have their dreams and their life taken away like that. It something that was very tough for us and we had to work diligently through it.”

Liam McIntyre, who replaced Whitfield as Spartacus, says he found big shoes to fill.

“I had a big responsibility to fill the legacy of Andy Whitfield last season,” he said. “It was a difficult journey for me.”

It was also hard for the other actors who worked closely with Whitfield. As the cast moves on to the final season of the show, many echoed that there will be more blood and more fights.

According to former “Xena” star Lucy Lawless, who plays Lucretia on the series, “You’re going to be on the floor in puddles. It’s gonna shock you and the people who walk away from it are triumphant. It’s amazing!”

The series premieres on Starz Friday, January 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.—additional reporting by Chris Trondsen of Pacific Rim Video

Full interview clips from the red carpet courtesy of Pacific Rim Video are listed below:

Manu Bennett (Crixus)

Lucy Lawless (Lucretia)

Todd Lasance (Julius Caesar)

Christian Antidormi (Tiberius Crassus)

Ellen Hollman (Saxa)

Barry Duffield (Lugo)

Joel McHale, celebrity guest

Romola Garai stars in “The Crimson Petal and The White.” ©BBC/Acorn.

By ANGELA DAWSON

Front Row Features

Prostitution. Insanity. Infidelity. Those are some of the subjects delved into in “The Crimson Petal and the White,” a provocative four-part miniseries about an ambitious young prostitute and her wealthy john, set in Victorian England. The Gothic melodrama is based on Michel Faber’s international bestseller. The title comes from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s 1847 poem “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal.”

The 2011 BBC series, which earned five BAFTA nominations earlier this year, including best miniseries, made its American debut on September 10 on Encore’s “The Big Miniseries Showcase.” If you missed it, never fear, the entire four-part series, along with bonus material, is available through Acorn Media on DVD. Bonus features include 11 minutes of deleted scenes, interviews with stars Romola Garai and Chris O’Dowd, director Marc Munden and key crew members as well as character biographies.

Garai, best known for her performances in “The Hour” and “ Atonement,” stars as a smart and stunning redheaded London prostitute, whose madam happens to be her psychotic mother (played by “The X-Files”’s Gillian Anderson). Not content to spend her life on her back earning paltry wages, 19-year-old Sugar (as she calls herself) sets her eyes on William Rackham (O’Dowd), the feckless heir to a perfume business.

Rackham is thoroughly enchanted with Sugar, and soon pays to be her sole client.  Just one problem: Rackham is married, but his wife’s fragile mental condition keeps him from engaging in sexual relations with her.

Sugar fulfills Rackham’s needs both physically and intellectually, though his class mentality and sexist attitude occasionally show through. Eventually, he moves Sugar into a pied-a-terre, where she enjoys a comfortable but solitary life—her sole function to service Rackman whenever he feels like showing up.

Fearing he will grow weary of her, Sugar puts on a brave face and ignores his occasional insults and indifferent attitude. One of Rackham’s secrets—he has a young daughter!—is revealed halfway through the series, and Sugar’s growing curiosity about Rackham’s family life leads her to seek them out surreptitiously.

“The Crimson Petal and The White Flower” on DVD. ©BBC/Acorn.

One day, she boldly suggests she should become the child’s governess, and surprisingly Rackham eventually agrees to the proposal. Moving into Rackham’s manor house reveals more to Sugar than she expected, though, and she finds herself becoming more and more sympathetic and loyal to her lover’s family members than to her lover. With matters boiling to a head, Sugar has to make some important decisions that will affect not only her own future, but also the lives of those around her.

“The Crimson Petal and the White” isn’t your garden variety Victorian era miniseries. Though set in the 1890s, it has a very modern feel. The performances, particularly Garai’s, are outstanding, and the story is bound to leave the viewer unsettled, while rooting for the unconventional protagonist. Warning to parents: there also is some nudity, sexual situations, violence, course language and disturbing images, so bear that in mind before popping in the DVD. Aside from superb acting and direction, other notable aspects of this miniseries are Lol Crowley’s rich, dreamlike cinematography and the haunting score by Cristobal Tapia de Veer.