“I think people need to open their eyes and see what’s really inside instead of what’s the shell,” she explained to me over the weekend following an appearance at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City. “We’re good people, it’s just we take everything to the extreme.”


Wakile was carefully not to suggest the same stereotypes apply to all Italian-Americans, or even all those that live in New Jersey. But, she also pointed out that not all of the stereotypes are necessarily negative.

“I think we’re all passionate,” she said. “We love hard, we play hard, and we get angry hard.”

Of course, Italian-Americans love to “mangia” as well. Wakile is now in the desert business with her frozen cannoli kits that she sells through her website. The “Real Housewife” broke down the key ingredients for the treat.

“First of all, you gotta make it with a lot of love,” she explained. “Then you have your Ricotta, and confectionary sugar, and then you have your shell. And that’s pretty much it.”

Wakile told me that her favorite place to grab a cannoli in Manhattan is Ferrara’s.

Brady was just as beautiful then, but what held her back in my eyes was her inexperience. She admitted she dealt with social anxiety and even on stage told the audience how ridiculously nervous she was. I thought that if she was having a hard time with a local pageant in Hartford, Vegas might be too much at this stage.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I still feel we made the right decision. She would have competed against Olivia Culpo last year, who of course went on to win Miss Universe. I’d like to think that the extra year of going through the pageant system helped Brady move on to the USA crown, but then again, that would be pure speculation on my part.

“There tends to be a pecking order with the girls behind the stage that nobody really sees,” Culpo explained on “The Ralphie Show.” “You know who the frontrunners are because you know who’s working the hardest.”


Culpo cited examples of what some of the state qualifiers do to catch the judges’ attention, such as never removing their heels, sitting down, or nodding off during rehearsals.

“I never wanted to think of it as that, but I did want to think of it in terms of how hard I was working and I did know that I was working my hardest,” she responded when I asked whether she considered herself a lead candidate last year. “I wanted to work as hard as I could.”

These are big shoes for 19 year-old Brittany Stenovitch to fill. The Cranston, RI-native is from the same town as Culpo and will represent the Ocean State in this year’s competition. The reigning Miss Universe made no bones about the fact that she’s pulling for the contestant that she crowned.

“I gotta keep it real with my ‘Rhody’ peeps!” Culpo insisted.

The Miss USA pageant airs Sunday night at 9 on NBC. The event will be co-hosted by Giuliana Rancic and Nick Jonas. Internet sensation Katherine Webb, who competed last year as Miss Alabama USA, will not judge but will be in attendance. Webb found instant fame earlier this year when ESPN play-by-play man Brent Musburger commented about her attractiveness during the BCS National Championship Game.

“That’s an incredible story,” remarked Culpo. “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer girl.”

“This is what we call a paradigm shift in society right now,” T.I. explained over the phone in an interview with “The Ralphie Show.” “This is a generational shift where new people are coming in to power and there’s a new day and age; a new way of doing things.”

The “Whatever You Like” artist notes that anyone in business has to adapt to a changing climate.

“I’m in a very unique position where I have artists, including myself, I have producers, I have writers under my wing,” he said. “For me to go to any distributor and walk in any building and give them instant market share, and give them instant credibility, instant relevance, and also an already-made superstar, that’s going to take a considerable investment.”

With the feasibility in this day and age of recording and releasing music independently, especially under an already-known name, there’s no reason to believe that T.I. is simply showing a poker face. He told me he’d like to release Trouble Man II: He Who Wears The Crown by this December. If there’s no deal in place with a record label, the rapper insists that he’ll release it without a major label. Coincidentally enough, the first single, “Wit Me,” features his summer tour-mate.

“Wayne was in Atlanta man, and he hit me,” T.I. recalled. “I think he might have hit me about 5 in the morning, say he was on his way to the studio. So I was just up watching TV at the house and I was like, ‘Hell man, I’m not going to let him out work me, I’m going to the studio too!’”

The two superstars listened to tracks from T.I.’s Hustle Gang in-house producers. A beat produced by Cordale “Lil C” Quinn stood out from the rest, and shortly after hearing it both Weezy and TIP started cutting verses.

“We didn’t get out of there that morning… might have been about 9:30 in the morning,“ he said. “And (Wayne) was still working!”

T.I. says that Lil Wayne is “doing good” following reports that speculated various conditions of his health.

“He’s in awesome spirits,” TIP said. “One thing I can say, it has nothing to do with drugs, because I’ve been around him several times, shooting the video and on personal time and I haven’t seen him around or doing anything anywhere related to any kind of narcotics. I can attest to that.”

Her attorney, Vip Bhola, told TMZ that his client may have brain damage. All kidding aside, Jackson doesn’t necessarily doubt the story.

“There may be times when you are traumatized and you don’t know it,” the lawyer explained. “When you have brain injuries, you later consult a professional. You go to the doctor and they say, ‘Wait a minute. There’s something significant here.’”

But there’s another side to the coin, no pun intended.

“Miguel’s a deep pocket. He’s successful. He’s got some cash, and they’re looking to cash in,” Jackson speculated on another possible motive for the new wave of reports that have returned this story to the headlines. “What the facts are? What the truth is? That’s ultimately going to be for a jury to decide, if it moves forward and it goes that far.”

From a legal perspective, Jackson also mentioned the assumption of liability, which falls in Miguel’s favor.

“People who are at concerts assume a certain risk,” he said. “It’s sort of like being at a baseball game and getting hit with a ball. Can you sue the player? No.”

Leave it to Miguel to bring a new meaning to the term, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” We may find out sooner rather than later if the legal system agrees.

Apparently the former Disney actress really needed to set the tone for her forthcoming fourth studio release with a single that well, is a party jam. “We Can’t Stop” has been welcomed with both cheers and jeers; some proclaim “song of the summer” while others insist it would haven’t made a Ke$ha track-list.

Coincidentally the release is Cyrus’ first on RCA Records, home also to the aforementioned “TiK ToK” singer.

But, van Buuren cautions that while there’s “a list,” it is really impossible to compile “the list.”

“Comparing DJs is comparing apples to oranges,” he said. “You can compare me to other trance DJs, that’s fine. But it’s just very different music.”

The Dutch producer said that while he’s a fan of some of the more familiar DJs played on the radio, he would never place the type of electronic music found in their playlists.

“I know Afrojack. I know David Guetta. They’re good friends. I sometimes go and see their show,” he said. “Not to say that I don’t like their music, but it’s just not what I want to represent as a DJ.”

Like the aforementioned mixers, don’t be surprised if van Buuren soon hits not just the club sound system, but also the airwaves. The first single from his new album Intense, “This Is What It Feels Like,” is heading to U.S. radio. It has already gone top 10 in four different countries.

“Trevor was inspired with this song by his neighbor who was diagnosed with a brain tumor,” van Buuren said, referring to Canadian singer Trevor Guthrie who is on the track. “Fortunately that’s cured now; the neighbor is alive and she’s doing well. But he was shocked to hear (the diagnosis).”

As serious as the song’s roots are, the track’s music video is just as light-hearted. It features adult film star Ron Jeremy.

“It was a bit cheeky, wasn’t it?” van Buuren asked, while laughing. “It’s a little bit of a sad song, so I wanted to make a big contrast with that by having a fun video.”

In yet another sign that the EDM movement isn’t completely about partying, van Buuren called me from Las Vegas and revealed the one thing he always partakes in while in Sin City. You could say it involves staying on top of another list, arguably a more important one.

“I like the shopping here so I like to bring stuff to my wife and daughter,” he said. “They have some really cool stuff here. Sometimes they have sales and stuff and my wife always goes online and tells me what she wants.”

By this time, the buzz had already started around Adele with her album 19 and single “Chasing Pavement.” Sandé made the wise decision to use her middle name.

“I was featured on a rapper’s track,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘The name I pick here is going to have to be completely different.’”

Sandé went on to create her own name literally and figuratively in the UK. Her LP Our Version of Events was the highest selling album in the UK for 2012, moving over a million units. Now, she is making a splash across the pond with her hit single, “Next To Me.”

“I feel like a newcomer over here, which has been really fun,” she said. “It’s a massive country but we’re slowly kind of getting things rolling.”

For just beginning her U.S. run in January, Sandé has already accomplished quite a bit. “Next To Me” cracked the top 25 on six different Billboard charts, hitting number one at Hot Dance Club Songs. The singer performed at the “American Idol” finale, on “Dancing With The Stars,” “Today,” and at a special event in the White House. Sandé also covered Beyoncé’s “Crazy In Love” for the Jay-Z produced “Great Gatsby” soundtrack.

“I was asked if I’d like to come and do a version,” explained Sandé of her involvement with the project. “Brian Ferry and his orchestra had put together the 1920’s version. So, I was just honored to be involved with the project.”

She also made sure to seek-out Jay at the red carpet premiere in New York.

“I think he liked it. He seemed really cool,” she said. “I think because I did my own thing on it, and it was more suited for the film, then it worked.”

For those keeping track at home – yes, that’s events with Jay-Z and President Barack Obama in a month’s span. You could say Sandé’s plan to switch her name as to not cause any confusion worked out just fine.

“Only she can give you news on that,” Akon told me when I asked him about any type of album update. “I’m from a distributor side; I’m on the label side.”

The “Sexy Chick” singer explained more, revealing a bit about Gaga’s current deal.

“I was involved in the first and second album,” he said. “After that, like she’s more in control of her own content now so we just allow her to do her own thing. And then when the album is turned in, then that’s when I play the role as far as distribution.”

Speaking of distributing albums, Akon plans on doing just that with his own music soon. It seems his situation has stabilized following his record label, Universal Motown, folding in to the now Republic Records.

“Unfortunately, it does affect artists like myself when there is changes happening within the label,” he said, while also agreeing with my assessment that he could have gone independent if need be. He argued that despite his own name recognition and business acumen, he’d rather work inside a bigger machine. “If the system is broken, you can’t really move until they get it fixed.”

Akon says Stadium will be out by year’s end.

“He was a part owner for the Nets and now he’s one of Robinson Cano’s agents,” said Curry via telephone. “There’s a nice baseball-sports connection there, so I would love to interview somebody like that as well.”

Curry tapped former Yankees catcher and current YES co-worker John Flaherty as his first guest. The 11-minute long episode premiered Wednesday, and the former New York Times writer aims to release a new show weekly. “JCTV” is currently shot in black and white, with two handheld cameras, and in a more casual setting – all variables that Curry doesn’t see changing as the show moves forward.

“We want people to have a destination, we want people to care about it,” Curry explained. “I want to trend on Twitter like you did in New York last night!”

Yes, “#RalphieShow” did trend in to the wee hours of the morning, due to dedicated fans of the groups Emblem 3 and Little Mix. Curry joked that he could call in a favor with Jeter, and that isn’t as far-fetched as it might sound: the reporter and Yankee captain co-wrote a book together in 2000.

“I’ve been really disappointed a bunch of times,” Sheeran told me during an interview taped the weekend of the Billboard Music Awards. “A lot of people are d–ks.”


Sheeran estimates that for every five singers he meets, one is usually genuinely nice. At first, he thought it might be an American thing. Then he realized that it simply falls along genre lines.

“Country artists are wicked,” Sheeran said, using the term as a form of endearment. “I’m English, and I’m a massive hip-hop fan. I grew up listening to a lot of rappers. When I was at The GRAMMYs and I met some people, it was just a bit like… you know, I’m not asking for anything, just a handshake. Some people wouldn’t even shake my hand.”

The “A-Team” singer revealed later that the particular encounter he was referring to involved rapper Nas. Sheeran owns all of the star’s albums.

“It’s not that hard to be nice man, for 15 minutes,” Sheeran continued. “One of the nicest people I ever met was Paul McCartney, and he doesn’t have to be nice to anyone, because he’s Paul McCartney.”

Sheeran did have a great encounter last weekend at 95.5 PLJ’s Summer Blast-Off, where he and Gavin DeGraw ended up jamming on stage together and exchanging pleasantries over Twitter. Another massively successful artist who is great with people: Sheeran’s tour-mate.

“Most big artists do pay-for meet-and-greets,” Sheeran noted, explaining how Swift’s “Club Red” works. “She sets up a club, they put pizzas in it, there’s like a photo booth in it, there’s Coca-Cola, all of this cool stuff, and her team goes out in to the crowd every night and picks out the most dedicated fans.”

The songwriter says most of the time, the fans that weren’t able to afford the best seats in the house end up with an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of hanging out in Club Red with T-Swift.

“For her to do something like that every single night, to walk off stage and not even take a break… and go in to Club Red, and do an hour and a half meet-and-greet for 20 people is pretty cool,” Sheeran said. “Because it’s not just a picture and a ‘See ya later,’ it’s (more).”

Another one of Sheeran’s friends that doesn’t mind giving back is Harry Styles. The last time Ed and I spoke, he revealed the story of Styles buying Domino’s Pizzas for the homeless in Los Angeles. When I informed the singer that The Mirror UK and subsequently the world picked up the story, he smiled.

“You know what, I’m down with Papa John’s as well,” Sheeran responded. “Can we just put out a story about them? They do these cheese-sticks that are out of this world. We don’t get them in England.”

Literally and figuratively, the singer made an impact when he attempted to leap over a pit of fans and land on another platform of the stage. Miguel’s timing was a bit off, and he instead landed on a fan. No one was injured, although you could say he also checked off “wake them up” off the list.


Back in February, Miguel’s performance at The GRAMMYs made more of a figurative impact on Kelly Clarkson, who used her award acceptance speech to fawn of the R&B singer’s talents.

“I hope so, if she can find some time for me,” Miguel said of the prospects of a duet between him and the “Idol” winner. “It is just the hugest compliment. I’m looking forward to that time when we can get in the studio and hopefully create some great music.”

The “Lotus Flower Bomb” singer recently hopped in the studio with Mariah Carey for their collaboration, “#Beautiful.”

“Personally, (the collaboration) is life-changing,” he said. “Just working with Mariah Carey is a huge, huge honor. It was really tough; I’ll be honest with you. She can be very distracting, she’s a beautiful woman.”

Miguel hinted that it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that he would be on the final version of the song, saying that he was happy Carey “was keen on keeping me on the record.” He also credits “M.C.” with adding the pound sign in front of “Beautiful” on the title.

“For this song it was particularly fitting, only because the word that comes before beautiful (in the song) is an expletive that I can’t say,” he explained. “But pound happens to be the perfect symbol for the song. I’ll be honest with you, that was Mariah’s genius.”

“Can we have another question?” Swift responded when asked about Justin Bieber receiving Billboard’s ill-titled “Milestone Award” on Sunday night at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards. Swift answered a couple of questions from the media in the press room after the night ended. That of course, was not one of them.

Immediately I flashed back to the program and thought I knew why Taylor decided to dodge the question. Selena Gomez introduced Swifts’ performance of “22,” and the best friends sat next to each other all night. Of course, Gomez and Bieber recently broke up, again, for good… we think (hope?).

Then I flashed back to Saturday, backstage at the BBMA. Ed Sheeran, T-Swift’s current tour-mate on the “Red” tour, told me that Swift wanted to win the “Milestone Award” the most because it was a fan vote. You’ll hear my full interview with Ed later this week on “The Ralphie Show.”

But is Taylor’s snub of the Biebs simply award show sour grapes? She’s had her fair share of interesting moments at these events, but let’s not forget Swift was the big winner on Sunday night. The songstress took home eight awards, including Top Artist and Top Billboard 200 Album.

I still believe it’s the former: Taylor was not about to pay props to a kid that wronged her best friend. Regardless of how she answered, she would have made even more headlines than she did with her non-answer. Perhaps the T-Swift media machine wins yet again.

“I think it’s been really pushed that they wanted a girl to win,” Finch said of the competition during an interview with “The Ralphie Show.” He clarified that by “they,” he meant the show producers. “That’s fine with me, because I think the girls are extremely talented.”

“I think they set it up in a way,” the singer explained. “From ‘Hollywood Week,’ yunno they separated the boys and the girls.”

Long-time “Idol” vocal coach Michael Orland didn’t believe that the fix was in.

“That’s how America voted,” Orland said. “It didn’t matter. What did they pick five bad boy singers? I thought we had five fairly strong boy singers. I thought the girls gave stronger performances every single week.”

Season two finalist Kimberly Locke argued that while weaker male singers may have been chosen this year, she has found “Idol” to be one of the fairest shows on television.

“Every year there is a conspiracy, or someone thinks there is a conspiracy,” she noted. “On season two, on the chyron for the numbers, they put up the wrong number for the wrong contestant. The votes got all messed up. The following weeks to come, standards and practices were there every day.”

Locke noted that working conditions and equal camera time were also monitored carefully. The competition crowned it’s season 12 winner Candice Glover last week.

Jay Leno’s audience laughed as Mathews befriended some of the biggest names in Hollywood at star-studded events, and soon Mathews grew an audience of his own. He now is set to debut a new talk-show on E!, and is making the media rounds to promote his new book, “Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence.” His success can be attributed to not just Leno’s confidence in him, but also that of comedian Chelsea Handler.

“Most comics are kind of insecure,” explained Mathews. “So I’ve been luck with not only Jay Leno of course, but now people are seeing with Chelsea like, everyone can win. That’s something she says all the time. There’s room for everybody. When she’s gone, she lets me guest host her show.”

But the entertainer said that while Handler has a sweet side, she ultimately isn’t that different from what her audience sees on TV nightly.

“She’s exactly the same,” he said. “She is biting, and hilarious.”

Handler recognized Mathews rising star by offering him both the opportunity to write this book and shoot a pilot for the aforementioned talk show. His program will debut this fall.

“’Man Up!’ I define as this: yunno you are what you are what you are, and you have to celebrate what makes you different,” he said. “I think you have to use what makes you different to stand out… because that’s when things really happen.”

Mathews cautions that while his tale is one of a small-town boy who grew up on a farm and is gay, the moral of the story doesn’t concern your sexual orientation. But, when you look back at where entertainment was 12 years ago when Mathews first entered our TV sets, it is almost unfathomable.

“This is before ‘Will and Grace,’ before ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,’” recalls Mathews. “I remember being a kid and not knowing what a happy, successful, grown-up, gay person looked like.”

Now, all someone has to do is look at Mathews to see how one fits that description.

A new group of musicians will back Gomez on her upcoming tour; one of a few changes to her stage show.

“I wanted to get in to more performing than anything,” she elaborated. “I’ve tried to get better at dancing and getting more about the entertainment aspect of it, as opposed to more of just me and the band.”

Gomez’s “Stars Dance Tour 2013” kicks off August 14 in Canada. The trek will support her first solo album, due out this summer. The first single is “Come and Get It,” a catchy, mid-tempo song that sounds as if Rihanna could have sang it. Ester Dean, a frequent collaborator to RiRi, Katy Perry, and other pop stars, has a writing credit on the track.

“All artists inspire me, including her,” Gomez said of the Barbados-born singer. “That’s the best part of what I do. I get inspired by musicians that are older than me because I’m still kind of up-and-coming and figuring out what I want to do.”

Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato, two of Gomez’s friends, also inspire the artist, seemingly in more ways than one.

“I think what’s specific about those two individually is they represent the confidence of each things that they’ve gone through,” said Gomez, alluding to Swift’s relationships and Lovato’s stint in rehab. “I appreciate the fact that even as my friends, they’re able to share the things that they’ve gone through.”

So will Gomez take a cue from either on her next album? It doesn’t seem likely.

“It’s harder for me to do that because I tend to clam up about certain things, and I think it’s just because I’m a super private person,” Gomez explained. “But, there is a song on this record that was really personal to me.”

Trying to maintain her privacy in the spotlight is something the actress struggles with; Gomez admitted to me that she deals with anxiety over some of the headlines and hounding photographers.

“It’s never going to change,” she stated. “So even if I were to sit here right now and tell you guys everything that I’m going through, the media would twist it in some way, or they would make up a completely different story.”

Presumably, this is the reason why Gomez wouldn’t speak about Justin Bieber during our interview. The singer told me the coverage ultimately forced her to put “a guard up.”