The last time “American Idol” held auditions in North Carolina -- Greensboro in 2005 -- the state ended up with three singers in that season’s Top 10.

The Tar Heel state will get another chance to load the deck with homegrown talent on June 19, when “Idol” makes an audition pit stop in Charlotte.
 

Looking to add a little green to your summer TV experience? Check out Planet Green's new primetime docu-series, "The Fabulous Beekman Boys," which premieres tonight at 9 p.m.
 

I can't put into words here (without getting fired) just how much I hate Wes. So bear with me while I work through some things...

Wes is the biggest @$$*%# I have ever seen in my life, and this time we know for sure -- it was not about editing. In fact, I'm sure he's way more awful in real life than we got to see on the show. And his mother(s) and sisters are just as bad, in my opinion, openly deceiving Jillian on last week's hometown visit.

But more about that giant #$@*% in a bit. To start at the beginning, Jillian took the final four guys -- Kiptyn, Reid, Ed, and Jerkface -- to Spain.

Kate Gosselin (left) and her eight kids (plus her bodyguard, her nanny, and her TLC camera crew) have made quite an impression while vacationing along the North Carolina coast over the past couple of weeks.

The paparazzi stayed hot on their trail, reporting every move Kate and the kids made on their working vacation. The family relaxed on Bald Head Island (while Jon had drinks with women at bars in New York) and fans of the show (as well as fans of trainwrecks) have gone along for the ride, obsessing over Kate's bikini, her bodyguard, and her parenting style.

Please don't break out your parachute pants in celebration, but it looks like MC Hammer's long climb back is reaching a peak.

He's got a reality show.

I can't see how it will be much different from the Snoop Dogg, Luke Campbell, Coolio or Rev. Run efforts, but I'm happy for Hammer. He seems like a pretty good guy who just made a big mistake the first time around. He went broke trying to help people.

As long as they're giving away reality shows, why shouldn't he get some air time?

Yippee, 'The Amazing Race"is back. Now I can have exotic staycations!

The mix of teams is familiar with a few interesting characteristics thrown in. It's too early to care about names, so we'll proceed with just their labels:

The obligatory blonde team. This time they're flight attendants who think because they are blonde they can practically get away with murder in foreign lands. This is not the first time a blonde team has expressed that kind of sentiment. Do blondes really think they are that
desirable or is it just a defensive move against charges of dumbness?

The overachieving siblings. This time they're Harvard lawyers, although there's a nine-year age difference, so they don't seem unnaturally close.

The mother & son. The son is deaf and doesn't read lips, so he'll have to rely on his mother, which is a pretty typical mother/son relationship, no?

The patient waiting is over. Terrell Owens is dipping both toes into the reality TV swimming pool. Owens will star in his own reality show on VH1, which is scheduled to premiere this summer.

Cameras will follow T.O., the enigmatic Dallas Cowboys receiver, and sidekicks/publicists Monique Jackson and Kita Williams throughout the coming NFL offseason.According to PR Newswire, the women plan to revamp Owens' life.

Yeah, Lifetime's "Diet Tribe" has similarities with NBC's "The Biggest Loser" -- the dramatic pause before the weight's revealed, for instance -- but there are enough differences to make it worth while, if this is your thing.

The premise is this: 5 friends -- all over 200 pounds -- set out to lose 30 pounds before one of the friends' wedding. It all unfolds in 5 one-hour episodes, so it moves pretty quickly. It's not competitive, so you see how vital group support can be, and how your friends can set you back.

The women don't go to a camp; you see them in their everyday lives and interactions so you get more personal drama, and more of the truth of the roadblocks to weight loss, and the components of weight gain -- family dynamics and tensions, enablers, and good old self-sabotage.

There's a therapist, Stacy Kaiser (also the therapist on VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club") who has kept off 60 pounds for years, so the emotional component is dealt with.

And there's the rock-hard, easy-to-look-at trainer Jessie Pavelka, who is a good motivator but not much of a hugger. His awkwardness when the women first get on the scale, and some start crying, shows this.

I'll admit one episode in, I'm still interested. I'll be checking in Mondays at 10pm through Feb. 2.

Congratulations to Raleigh's Heba Salama and Ed Brantley who came out
OK on last night's "Biggest Loser" finale. And they brought the drama
too.

Ed, you might remember, last week asked America -- some say begged
-- to let his wife be voted in for the third spot in the finals.

America responded resoundingly: they voted 84 percent AGAINST Heba.