Jennifer Lopez

Shallow Pool: Adding Musicians (and Silly Theme Songs) to TV's Splash

As often as I've been complemented on my taste in music, I've been ridiculed for the horrible television programs I sometimes watch. Case in point: my DVR's arteries were recently clogged with episodes of the ABC celebrity competition, Splash. For those who may have missed it, Splash was a taped an ... More >>

American Idol Returns, Selling More Drama Than Music

If you can believe it, American Idol kicks off its twelfth season tonight on Fox. But not just on Fox. Here is how One India Entertainment, "India's No. 1 Language Portal," announced the news at 18:03 IST (India Standard Time) today: MUMBAI: After the successful run of The X Factor USA while cashin ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 3: Sylvia Casares of Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen and the Reason People Call Her Houston's Enchilada Queen

Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen 6401 Woodway Drive Tel: 713-334-7295 www.sylviasenchiladakitchen.com This is Part 3 of a three part Chef Chat series. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here. This week, we became acquainted with a woman who plunked down all her life savings into a restaurant at the ... More >>

Hearts and Minds

With Argo, Ben Affleck asks us to love Hollywood again.

Top 5 People Who Should Be Judging American Idol

Over the weekend American Idol, struggling to remain relevant in the face of the televised singing-competition series it spawned like The Voice and X Factor, announced its final judges' panel for the upcoming 12th season that begins in January. According to Entertainment Weekly, joining the previous ... More >>

A Few Things You Didn't Know About "Oh! Susanna"

On this day in 1847, legendary American songwriter Stephen Foster debuted the song "Oh! Susanna" to a crowd at the Andrews' Eagle Ice Cream Saloon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. "Who gives a tin Enchirito about something we sang in grade school?" you're shouting because you're a weird shouty person wi ... More >>

Last Night: Pitbull at The Woodlands

Pitbull Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 2, 2012 "I went from eviction and food stamps, to baggin work wet & damp, to a passport flooded with stamps. Now its Voli everywhere I land." -- Pitbull The date was December 1, 2006 -- or as I like to call it, the night I almost died at a Pitbull c ... More >>

Musically Speaking, What Is the Best Zodiac Sign?

Sometimes some musicians just can't even be put in the same sentence as one another. Depending on people's musical preferences. It's hard to compare and can be a bit confrontational. But one thing is for sure the day on which someone is born can't be changed. And then that's where astrology comes in ... More >>

Marcie Chapa Gives Freedom Over Texas a Beat

With all due respect to pop-country stars Sara Evans and Billy Currington, the real show-stopper at the City of Houston's Freedom Over Texas July 4 celebration in Eleanor Tinsley Park Wednesday might be the Ernest Walker Band, the jazz/R&B/funk/Latin table-setters whose ranks -- all of them with Hou ... More >>

Burger Bracket 2012: The Final 4

Now that our Burger Bracket judges have all finished signing their new endorsement deals with Lipitor, the Final 4 have been chosen. Each of the Final 4 burgers represents a favorite Houston style of burger: Fast Food, Extreme, Veggie and Fancy-Pants burgers. And all will compete against each other ... More >>

To Selena, With Love: A Conversation With Widower Chris Perez

Do you remember when and where you heard the news about Selena? I do. I was riding the school bus when a classmate, listening to the radio on his Walkman, shouted "Selena was shot!". "How terrible", I thought to myself, thinking that maybe she was just wounded, but for sure she would recover. "No br ... More >>

No-Fun Number Ones: The Worst Chart Toppers Since Tiffany

It's no secret that chart success is no real guarantor of musical quality. Hell, "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" went number one way back in 1952, pissing kids off so badly that they had to invent rock 'n roll. Twenty-five years ago this week, however, Billboard reached a new low when m ... More >>

Iggy Pop, the Bordeaux Connoisseur: The Funniest Food Requests on Riders

ITO EN, you're all that I wanted in a tea.​The next time someone calls you a picky eater, direct them to Weezer's backstage rider for their 2010 tour. Weezer demands that both regular and Canadian bacon be available for breakfast, that there be almond butter but no peanut butter, that there m ... More >>

Top 5 Healthy and Unique Smoothies

ilovemypit​For nearly two years I lived without a blender. I know, talk about a hardship, right? Well, the dog days are over, because I have been reunited with one of my favorite kitchen appliances once again and am making up for lost time. In addition to being a blender enthusiast, I also h ... More >>

Idol Beat: Fail To The King, Baby

Coming to a county fair near you...​I'm going to hate tonight. For unlike these other liars on Idol who - to a one - claimed to have grown up in a Motown household, I really did grow up on Carole King. I have great fondness for Tapestry, which was in regular rotation when I was a kid, and have ... More >>

Idol Beat: Langone Daddy Gone

We'll always have "Hello."​In what is surely a testimonial to my following, someone obviously heard yesterday's plea to show some love for the rest of Aerosmtih's catalog (there was a "Sweet Emotion" sign in the audience at the Nokia). My people...you never disappoint. In other news, what's t ... More >>

Idol Beat: Paul McDonald Got Voted Off, E-I-E-I-O

Idol's beard levels have now dropped by 50 percent.​I realized last night I've been writing about this damn show for nigh on three months now without making the obligatory comment about the size of Jennifer Lopez's ass. So here it is: During the introductions to this week's elimination show, I ... More >>

Burn the Floor

Why Is Chelsea Handler Rappers' Favorite TV Personality?

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Fat Tony, Kyle Hubbard, Real Elliot Ness Not Inv ... More >>

Bono, Gaga And ZZ Top Write Like Raymond Chandler? Who Knew?

​Ask anyone who really knows Rocks Off, and they'll probably tell you we can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes. We proved this once again earlier this week, when we updated our Facebook status with a plea for someone to explain to us what in tarnation a "meme" is. We should have waited ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Believe It Or Not, There Are Worse Ideas Than Kim Kardashian As Lara Croft

I can't wait to hear her English accent.​It's been a rough week: we found out the BP oil spill may spread across the Atlantic Ocean and threaten England's blessed shores (which, let's admit it, would be pretty hilarious) and dealt with the campaign in Afghanistan supplanting Vietnam as America ... More >>

The Week In TV: New Cable Shows Worth Watching

​I'm confused by the weather, recovered from South By Southwest, and forbidden from re-enacting Ghost. This was the week in TV Land: • I'm a week behind on HBO's The Pacific. This is my own fault; between this show and others, sometimes things get put on the back burner. The good news is t ... More >>

No Reservations: Outer Boroughs

Photo by duluoz_cats​Regretting having spent almost his entire life in Manhattan with nary a trip to the four outer boroughs, Anthony Bourdain took on the robust culinary scenes of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island in this week's episode of No Reservations. It seemed like a familia ... More >>

Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demol ... More >>

Not Your Father's N-Word

Eight months after its "burial," the American language's most dangerous epithet is more popular than ever in hip-hop

SXSW Extra: What's In My Pockets (Again)?

Loco Comedy Jam

Mike Robles heads up Latino laugh-fest

Get Inside. It's Summertime!

Your guide to the season's hottest films (and the other ones, too)

Same Old Story

Sequels, prequels and threequels headline Hollywood 2007

Jeannie Ortega

No Place Like Bklyn

Cat Scratch Fever

The Pussycat Dolls

Party in the AM

Mariah Carey

The Emancipation of Mimi

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Hog Heaven

Get your motor running at the Lone Star Biker Rally

Constricted

A PG-13 rating squeezes the life out of Anacondas

Connect the Dots

Laura Lark takes a jab at women's magazines

Not the Sweetest Thing

What a bad feeling -- and taste -- Honey leaves behind

Friends FLY Free

FLY and Sandra Organ Dance Company wing it at Miller

Money and Masa

A few words with underground rapper/tamale kingpin Chingo Bling

Phat Chance

Steve Martin almost gets Down with Queen Latifah, but they mostly strike out

A Toothy Grin

Horror fans have good reason to smile at Darkness Falls

Fear Factor

But just think, no one hates TV more than Trent Lott

Christina Aguilera

Stripped (RCA)

Se Habla Ska

SoCal's Voodoo Glow Skulls bring a Latin tinge to Kingston's sounds

The Theater Shopping Network

Apparently What Women Want is a feature-length commercial

Outta Sight

"Delicious" and "SugarCube" say goodbye

Raw Power

Stooges add to punk lore with the release of a seven-CD box

Amplified

Punk: The Same in Any Language