Drew's Turn To Lead ?

It's HERE! The Dancing With The Stars finale is upon us tonight - and after an amazing performance on Thursday night, Drew Lachey has a strong lead. As I predicted back in Week One of the competition, it has come down to Stacy and Drew...although Jerry still has a small shot of winning (more on that in a moment). Stacy has been my pick to win this thing since the beginning, but she now has to overcome her lackluster "freestyle" performance in order to best Drew. I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of her professional partner, who choreographed their boring "Saturday Night Fever" routine. Besides the lift at the end, their routine was very...well...routine. Nothing special AT ALL. Drew and even Jerry took chances and really wowed the judges. Should be interesting to see how it all plays out tonight.

The judges scores make up 50% of the performers total score...the viewer votes make up the other 50%. HOWEVER, in the event of a tie (which is VERY possible), the tiebreaker is viewer votes. So really, viewer votes are more important than the judges scores. That being said, there is still one dance left to scored by the judges tonight - but the judges' leaderboard will most likely stay the same...Drew, Stacy, then Jerry. That means Drew gets 3 pts, Stacy gets 2pts, and Jerry gets 1pt. There are 6 different ways the viewer vote can play out. I'll lay them out for you..

Scenario #1: Drew, Stacy, Jerry...WINNER = DREW
Scenario #2: Drew, Jerry, Stacy...WINNER = DREW
Scenario #3: Stacy, Drew, Jerry...WINNER = STACY
Scenario #4: Stacy, Jerry, Drew...WINNER = STACY
Scenario #5: Jerry, Drew, Stacy...WINNER = DREW
Scenario #6: Jerry, Stacy, Drew...WINNER = JERRY

As you can see, Drew wins in 3 of the 6 scenarios, Stacy wins in 2 of 6, and Jerry wins in 1 of 6. Scenario #6 is most intriguing because all 3 finalists would tie with 4 points. Jerry would win on the tiebreaker!

Now that I've laid it all out for you, I'll give you my official prediction. I'm 3-4 on the season so far, and we'll count the finale as TWO because two people will be "eliminated" tonight. As I've said from the start my pick to WIN is...STACY KEIBLER. Drew deserves to win based on last week's performance, but I'll go out on a limb and say Stacy wins the viewer vote this week - and that's enough to win it all!

What do YOU think?

'Dancing' Semi-Final Selection!

I'm currently 2-4 on my Dancing with the Stars elimination picks - but I've hit two in a row and I'm looking to make it three! Last night's show demonstrated three REALLY good celebrity dancers...and one not so good. Stacy, Drew, and Lisa are all spectacular - but Jerry Rice is out of his league right now. His effort and dedication are to be applauded, but he's just not as talented a dancer as the others. Jerry is a boyhood idol of mine so he always gets a couple of my votes each week. That being said, I think Jerry's got a very big fan base...at least bigger than Lisa Rinna does. For that reason, and that reason only, my pick to leave the competition this week is...LISA RINNA!

Lisa deserves to move on. She is improving every week and she's shown that she does indeed belong in the finals with Stacy and Drew. But Lisa has been in the bottom two before (while outscoring Jerry with the judges). I fully expect Jerry to be in the bottom two with Lisa this week...but I think the votes will save him again.

What do YOU think?

INXS = Excellence !

WAYV Presented INXS at Borgata Saturday night. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that INXS has a new lead singer, JD Fortune...who was the winner of the hit TV show INXS: Rockstar on CBS. The picture you see here is JD with Supermodel, Maxim, Stuff, and GQ covergirl Joanna Krupa - taken at the WAYV meet & greet before the show!

So after seeing the show Saturday night, does JD have what it takes to be the new front man for INXS?

YES!

Of course he will be compared with Michael Hutchence - the original voice of INXS - who has really become something of an icon since his death. Comparing JD to Michael is not only unfair - it's pointless. Michael, God rest his soul, is not coming back - and the other 5 original members of INXS want to move forward as a band. In my view they've made an excellent choice in JD Fortune. The guy can sing - plus he's got all those intangible qualities that a lead singer needs to really be "the guy".

Heather DeLuca, a bunch of contest winners, and I were lucky enough to hang with the band a bit before the show. The guys were all very gracious and seemed genuinely happy to be meeting all of us. Everyone got autographs and pictures with the band. Heather also did an interview with the guys that will be available shortly on demand at www.951wayv.com . Thanks to our friends at Epic Records and Borgata for helping make everything run smoothly.

I got to go up on stage before the show for a quick "welcome" announcement - which is always fun. Before long the show was underway, and I was hard pressed to find anyone actually SITTING in their seats. They were too busy dancing!

Here's a copy of the setlist from the show Saturday night:
1. Suicide Blonde
2. Devils Party
3. Mystify
4. Disappear
5. By My Side
6. Afterglow - (this will be the next single...so listen for it on WAYV!)
7. Taste It
8. Original Sin
9. Hungry
10. Never Let You Go
11. Need You Tonight
12. What You Need
13. Kick
14. Devil Inside
15. Pretty Vegas
Encore
16. New Sensation
17. Never Tear Us Apart
18. Don't Change

Dancing With The Stars Week 6 !

We're more than halfway through the season of Dancing With The Stars on ABC and I finally got one of my elimination picks right. If I play this right I can still finish the season above .500 after my dreadful 0-4 start. Now I'm 1-4 and looking to keep my newfound momentum going!

After 5 of the 10 "stars" have been eliminated, there seems to be a clear cut pecking order amongst the 5 stars left. Clearly Stacey and Drew are the top 2 dancing stars...they each earned perfect scores of 30 tonight! That makes two straight 30s for Stacey (who remains my pick to win it all). Lisa has a solid hold on the #3 spot. She's a step behind Stacey and Drew, but she's improved every single week and looks to be a threat to make some noise in the semi-final next week. That leaves George and Jerry (a personal favorite). These guys are both class acts, but it's obvious to me that they just aren't as good as the other 3. Jerry is a world class athlete, and I've been very impressed with his transition to the dance floor - but he can't begin to compete with Drew or Stacey on this playing field. I think George has done all he can do. His bag of tricks may finally be empty. He's been in the bottom 2 before, and I fully expect him to be back there again tomorrow night. In fact, my Week 6 Dancing With The Stars Elimination Pick is.......GEORGE HAMILTON.

I've Seen A Million Faces...

Wow! Bon Jovi ROCKED Boardwalk Hall last night! Thanks to everyone at Island Records for their generosity in hooking us up with all those on stage passes for our listeners! Many thanks to the crew at Boardwalk Hall for making sure everything ran smoothly from start to finish. All of us at WAYV are very proud to be associated with Bon Jovi. There aren't many artists out there that elicit the kind of response we get from our listeners everytime we do something with Bon Jovi. Thanks to all of our on stage winners for wearing the shirts - it was like a sea of WAYV up there on that stage last night! Also thanks to eveyone who made signs that DIDN'T get picked to join us on stage last night...and there were lots of them! We appreciate you showing you WAYV colors...I just wish we could have taken you ALL up on stage with us!

The view from the stage is an amazing one - not only beacuse you're just feet away from the guys in the band...but because you really get sense of what it's like to BE in the band when you're looking out at a sea of faces. We had lots of happy WAYV listeners last night...and we're thrilled to be able to give these kinds of opportunities to you. I'd say the most satisfying part of my job is being able to do these kinds of things for people. It's obvious that Bon Jovi means SO much to some people. We had listeners break down and cry in the radio station lobby when they found out we were upgrading them to on stage passes. Being able to bring that kind of joy to someone is like nothing else in the world. So - we will keep these kinds of promotions going. We pride ourselves on being able to give you prizes that money can't buy, and that you otherwise would not be able to experience. Speaking of which (plug alert), we've got your exclusive opportunity to meet INXS all day today on WAYV. They're doing a "WAYV Presents" show at Borgata on Saturday - and we've got your free tickets and backstage passes - so tune in!

Have A Nice Day!

Is This The Week I Get One Right ?

I am 0-4 this season on picking who will get eliminated each week from ABC's Dancing With The Stars. I must confess I thought I'd be doing a whole lot better than I am with this. Well - since I said I was gonna do it each week...I'll forge ahead. And maybe THIS will be the week where I get it right! Tia Carrere has been a bottom dweller a couple of times before, and she finished last with the judges this week - so she's the obvious choice. Even though the obvious choice hasn't usually been the one leaving the show, my pick this week is......TIA CARRERE.