Ashley and Jill Dobson on the red carpet!

Plenty of cowboy hats and a couple of boots made it onto the red carpet at the CMA’s tonight, as all the country stars dressed to the nines to celebrate the night and honor their peers. 

To name a few we caught up with… Reba McEntire, who wore her own “Reba” line dress! A shiny black floor length gown fitting for county royalty. The multi-tasking star discussed all her latest projects and from clothing to furniture and of course new music this year, she’s been busy.

Several former American Idols made there way over too like Diana Degarmo in bright pink and Danny Gokey (who we spoke to already earlier in the day, but we wanted to know how his first CMA red carpet was going!)  

The Judds (Wynonna and Naomi) came by too and made sure to recognize Veterans Day. They also spoke with us about working together and what this year means to them since 25 years ago today they won their first award as The Judds at the CMAs. 

Now the show is going on and we are backstage waiting for all the winners to tell us if it really is an “honor just to be nominated” or… if its always better to win!
Stay tuned for more from here at the Sommet Center in Nashville.

Sesame Street celebrates its 40th anniversary Tuesday. FOX News visited every kid’s favorite neighborhood to chat with Elmo, Grover and Abby Cadabby. It was great to get a behind-the-scenes look at the people who bring these furry friends to life. Our cameraman had to be very careful not to show too much – we didn’t want to ruin the Elmo mystique for any young fans! Speaking of young fans, I prepared for the interview by getting question suggestions from my nieces and nephews. And of course, I couldn’t help but mention my “research team” to Abby Cadabby, Grover and Elmo:

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The characters all told me that they love to learn. Abby Cadabby told me, “”The thing about learning, it happens all the time in every single moment.” Grover proudly told me he can count to 20. And Elmo said, “Elmo loves to learn. It’s really cool!” Sesame Street Executive Producer Carol-Lynn Parente says education has been the top priority since the start, but, “The methods we’ve used to teach the curriculum, the ABCs and 123s, that’s changed a lot over the years.”

Sesame Street also focuses on current concerns, such as obesity, with segments on healthy eating. The show has had its criticisms through the years, from this recent report, all the way back to its inception. Parente tells FOX, “If you look at those early years of Sesame Street, there was lots of concern that we were creating short attention spans in kids because the show was so fast-paced, because it was modeled after commercials and advertising. But if you watch those shows now, they look so slow-paced.” Parente also tells me that since the show has been around for so long, some of its original viewers are now parents and even grandparents, who can enjoy Sesame Street again with the little ones in their lives. The best part of our visit — I now have the answer to the age-old question, “Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?”.

Reporting from Sesame Street: FOX News Crew Jill, Ravelle, Brian & Rich

Backstage Blog from Laura Ingle

For a fan of Rock N Roll … it just doesn’t get bigger than this!!

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert was the kind of line up that you could only *dream* of making up, just for fun to see who you could think of pairing up on stage to jam.

Who better to tell the story of Rock and Roll (the show’s concept), than the people who have lived it best, along with a little help from their friends.

The shows, featured Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, U2, Paul Simon, Metallica, Jeff Beck Band, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Friends, Simon and Garfunkel, Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger… Each band, had it’s own dream list of performers to bring up on the big stage.    Stevie Wonder, jammed with Smokey Robinson, John Legend, and Sting.   At one point, Stevie Wonder busted out a tribute to Michael Jackson and played “The Way You Make Me Feel”  … the place went nuts.  I was standing in the “stage right, house left” area and looked up and saw actor Michael Douglas, his actress wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, actor and concert co-producer Tom Hanks, and his actress wife Rita Wilson dancing in the aisles.  They were really going for it… laughing, singing and had their hands up in the air.  When I looked closer, I saw that Yoko Ono, Robbie Robertson, and Dennis Miller were in the same section (though Miller, Robertson and Ono were not partaking in the dancing in the aisle fun)

Another amazing musical moment; Crosby, Stills, and Nash with Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, B.B. King and Jackson Browne.  Hard rockers Metallica provided a heavy metal dream come true when they invited  Ozzy Osbourne on stage.  One of the more honest, and respectful moments came when lead singer James Hetfield admitted, “We’re not the most jammy kind of band, we’re kind of a tight little unit, we don’t usually let people in”.  Hetfield smirked, then smiled, then asked Ozzy to come on out.   One of my favorite things to see Ozzy do when he performs is that “frog jump” thing that he does – and he did it repeatedly while singing “Iron Man” and “Paranoid”.  What a Rock moment that was.  Look at the bottom of this post for Ozzy talking about his daughter’s upcoming wedding, he really sounds like a concerned dad!    Metallica also had  Ray Davies of The Kinks, and Lou Reed join them on stage.  I mean honestly, isn’t this all enough to make your head spin?

So who’s idea was this anyway?  Well, the team that put together the 2 day event is also quite impressive. Joel Peresman, the CEO of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame pulled in the creative might of actor Tom Hanks, his producing partner Gary Goetzman, singer-songwriter Robbie Robertson, and Academy Award winning-screenwriter Cameron Crowe to produce and film the event for HBO.

Tom Hanks having fun in the press room

When Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson came by the press room Thursday- Hanks talked about helping put this show together like a true music fan. He said he is just like the rest of us, “happy to be in the same venue as all these artists.”

As Tom Hanks was wrapping up his time in the press room, someone asked what his favorite song of 2009 is so far, and why… he cracked everyone up when he said “That Ring On It” song… Check out the video below … (he was referring to Beyonce’s hit song, “Single Ladies” (Put A Ring On It”)

The anniversary show will be presented Thanksgiving weekend on HBO — with lots of behind the scene interviews and unscripted moments.   As Bonnie Raitt said when asked what it was like to be a part of the show and backstage with so many artists… she said “all I can say is… there’s a LOT happening in the hallways around here”.   Indeed.   

Can you imagine what it was like to hang out backstage with U2, while Bono was chatting up Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, and Fergie before they all went on stage? 

Check out the slide show at the bottom of this blog from the second night (photo credit Kenny Kramme), and these select shots from Thursday. I wish you could have been there with me, but with this backstage blog pass, doesn’t it feel a little like you were?    Rock on!

Sounds of Silence

James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt in Press Room

Backstage in the Press Room: Crosby Stills Nash

Stevie Wonder backstage at Rock Hall of Fame concert

Laura hangs with Little Stevie Van Zandt

Laura and John Legend after exclusive interview with Fox!

Check out the shots we got in the Press Room during the 2nd night

Here’s Ozzy on what it was like to be asked to play with Metallica – what he thinks of his daughter getting married, and why. 

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The rollout of horror film “Paranormal Activity” has been called the “marketing story of the year” by The New York Times. The ultra-low-budget film cost about $15,000 to make. Early studio estimates show it raked in about 7 million dollars over the weekend.

“Paranormal Activity” has been marketed more as an “experience” than anything else, with the trailer mainly showing terrified moviegoers reacting to scenes, rather than the scenes themselves.
Ad Age credits part of the success with “letting consumers play distribution chief,” rather than studio executives.

It originally played in college towns with midnight shows only. But the film’s website added a feature to allow fans to request the movie be shown in their area. Demand grew for the “Paranormal Activity,” leading it to open nationwide Friday. The online buzz also included chatter about the film on social networking sites such as Twitter.

“Paranormal Activity” is being compared to another small budget film with huge box office returns, “The Blair Witch Project.” That film was made for about $25,000 in 1999. Since then, it has banked more than 140 million dollars.

There are several celebrity scandals breaking this week, and I’ve got the latest for you on Fox News Radio and right here on the web!

Kate Gosselin of "Kate Plus Eight"

My daily radio entertainment wrap-up, “The Daily Dobson,” is focused today on TLC network’s top-rated show, “Jon and Kate Plus Eight.”

The network announced today that the show will drop Jon Gosselin from the title.  The reality show will now be known simply as “Kate Plus Eight,” and will mainly feature Kate Gosselin and the couple’s twins and sextuplets, with occasional appearances from Jon.

Roman Polanski’s recent arrest in Switzerland on a 1977 statutory rape case – and his battle against extradition to the US – is another story we’re covering on Fox News Radio.  This topic also led to heated discussions on the Strategy Room Entertainment Hour.

Jill Zarin of the “Real Housewives of New York” joined the panel and debated all the hot topics with us today.  She also dished on meeting Kate Gosselin recently and called Kate “cold as ice.”  Celeb feud alert!

Jill Zarin of "Real Housewives of New York"

Tune into the Strategy Room Entertainment Hour LIVE weekdays 12-1et and stay tuned to Fox News Radio for all the latest news from Hollywood and beyond.  And, as always, we want to hear from you.

Click “comments” below and share your thoughts on Polanski, Jon and Kate, The Real Housewives and more!