Former New Orleans Hornets Honeybee, New Orleans VooDoo Doll, and good friend of the blog, Rachel Vicknair will be on "The Amanda" starting later this month.
GET ORGANIZED THIS NEW YEAR WITH THE STYLE NETWORK’S NEW DOCU-SERIES “THE AMANDAS” ON MONDAY, JANUARY 30 AT 8PM ET/PT
Hurricane Katrina Victim and Organizational Queen Amanda LeBlanc Transforms Lives One Cluttered Room at a Time
Start the New Year out right with organization tips from Amanda LeBlanc and her team in The Style Network’s new docu-series “The Amandas,” which airs Monday, January 30 at 8:00pm ET/PT. This extreme perfectionist and organizational specialist leads a team of young and fashionable organizers to create meticulously functional living spaces with a focus on style and aesthetics. Having lost it all in Hurricane Katrina, LeBlanc knows firsthand what it means to live and thrive with less and helps her clients to let go of the past in order to create elegant, efficient and stress-free environments.
A wife, mom and entrepreneur, Amanda’s desire for perfection has turned her obsession with organization into a lucrative business and growing empire. With her mini army of “Amandas” comprised of spirited Southern women – who don’t always share Amanda’s drive or common sense – and her right-hand man, Dustin Canez, Amanda works around the clock to create structure and exquisite design. Arguments are inevitable within this outspoken group, but Amanda manages to keep the peace and push people to achieve their best with her down-to-earth sense of humor and charm. Each episode, Amanda will meet with a new client to lend her expertise, whether it’s for a blue-blood socialite looking for someone to turn her walk-in closet into a peaceful sanctuary or a single mom whose hoarding has turned her house – and life – into ruins. From garage, to nursery, to attic and even food truck, no space is off-limits for “The Amandas.”
Meet the Cast:
Amanda LeBlanc – Amanda LeBlanc is the owner of “The Amandas”- a professional organizing company whose clients range from borderline hoarders, to overwhelmed soccer moms, to wealthy socialites, to high profile CEOs and celebrities. Amanda is an OCD, detail-obsessed, organizing guru and self-proclaimed “control freak” who combines intimidating sets of neurosis with a gentile charm to effectively manage her team. In 2005, Amanda and her family lost everything to Hurricane Katrina so she is acutely aware of the difference between what one needs and what one wants. After the tragedy, she picked herself up, opened her Birmingham, Alabama-based business while continuing to serve clients in New Orleans and Atlanta.
Dustin Canez – “The Amandas” team would not function without Amanda’s right-hand man and personal assistant, Dustin. Her eyes and ears and even her snitch, Dustin keeps the other five women on track while also managing Amanda’s stress level and work schedule.
Taylor Davis – Taylor is determined, outgoing, and independent and also happens to live with Aunt Amanda! She has inherited the organizing family gene and tries to live up to her aunt’s high expectations, but at 19, her teenage behavior sometimes causes friction with her disciplined aunt.
Savannah Cernosek – Priding herself as the spunky organizer with a great sense of style, Savannah’s go-getter attitude has put her steps above the rest of the team. Sarcastic and occasionally ruthless, she has been known to give attitude but always endeavors to stay professional… especially with Amanda!
Rachel Vicknair – Drop dead gorgeous, Rachel holds the beauty pageant titles of Ms. Louisiana State and Ms. New Orleans. She is strong, outgoing and determined to become Amanda’s number two. With all the qualities of an excellent organizer combined with killer looks, will Rachel reign supreme among the other ambitious girls?
Havilah Malone – As a former corporate manager, Havilah is outspoken, passionate and tenacious, which are all qualities that Amanda holds dear. Always one to speak her mind, she won’t put up with any nonsense as she climbs to the top of Amanda’s ladder.
Alicia Lewis – This brainy beauty, with three college degrees already under her belt, isn’t afraid to think out of the box and bring new ideas to the table. She is always ready to take up any challenge with the skills she has mastered by working with Amanda. However, don’t be fooled by her sweet and quiet disposition. She can always use her clever wits and know-how to outshine the bunch!
Southwest cheerleading coach Sabrina Tiller is set to appear on MTV’s MADE reality television series as a cheer/dance coach. The former Tennessee Titans Cheerleader and Memphis Grizzlies dancer filmed the show in Illinois for four months. The show will air on Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 2 p.m. on MTV.
Tiller found out about the MADE auditions through a mass email from the alumni president for the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders. “At first I was skeptical but the next day I sent in my resume, photos, certifications and everything required to be considered. I love motivating young ladies and helping them reach their full potential through the art of cheerleading and dance. To be given the opportunity to do it on national television was something I couldn’t pass up!” said Tiller
Although applying for the position was like applying for a regular job, much more was required. After two phone interviews, Tiller was videotaped while answering the interview questions which included performing a cheer! Tiller competed against a huge number of coaches from around the world for this specific position. The long selection process included lots of paperwork and background checks. “It took so long that I thought they had forgotten about me,” said Tiller.
After all the paperwork was signed, Tiller was flown to Illinois to meet her MADE student, Alexis, whose goal was to not only audition for her high school’s hip-hop dance team, she also wanted to lose weight and gain more confidence!. “Filming was very interesting,” said Tiller, who is no stranger to the camera after numerous commercial appearances and also a role in the Memphis-based movie N-secure. “I thought, oh the cameras should be the least of my worries. Well, reality show filming is much different to say the least. Cameras were rolling all the time, catching every move including some embarrassing things I couldn’t delete!” Tiller and Alexis met for training on and off after school in the evenings, weekends and holidays. Since there was such a short amount of time to finish taping the show, Tiller took advantage of every moment. “We had good and bad rehearsals,” said Tiller. “There was a lot of sweat and tears that went into training. Many of the lessons I taught Alexis had little to do with dancing and she found out that training to be a dancer was harder than it looked!”
Tiller hopes the recognition will attract more qualified cheerleaders to her cheer program in Memphis, “I have no idea what funny, sad, and/or crazy moments will make the show but there were definitely some hit or miss moments, some even included calling everything off!” “ I hope everyone will tune in to see how close Alexis got to accomplishing her goals and I also hope my current cheerleaders are able to watch the show and be inspired to do more and take on new life challenges!”
The search is on for fun outgoing brides in Miami or the Florida Area who have not purchased their wedding dresses for a NEW TLC Bridal Show.
The producers are looking to film brides shopping for a dress the week of October 24th. Brides must be available for a whole day of filming and a half a day for a bridal portrait shoot.
Interested parties should email Brandy@northsouth.tv for more information and to set up an interview.
The first is with a Chicago-based producer and screenwriter, who has a first look development agreement with a noted production company that is a prolific content provider to numerous television networks. The proposed show, featuring a pair of ex-Professional Cheerleaders as mentors and coaches, is under consideration at a handful of networks that the production company has agreements with. If the production company agrees to pick up the show, the compensation plan is to pay the talent comparable to AFTRA minimum cable TV rates. The show is currently being produced in Chicago.
Here’s what they need: An ex-NFL or ex-NBA Cheerleader (Unfortunately, No Arena Football, College or Minor League Cheerleaders), 28-38, Open Ethnicity, with at least two years of cheering experience, based in the Midwest (preferably Chicago, Milwaukee, or Indianapolis), with a STRONG personality. No previous acting experience is necessary, but candidates must provide verifiable proof of professional cheerleading experience.
They would like to get talent on tape by and selected by Friday, June 17th, so any interested parties would need to respond before Saturday, June 11th.
Due to the confidentiality of this project, candidates will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
The second opportunity is with a documentary film production company based in New York. (You don’t have to live in NYC, anywhere in the US is fine.) They are currently working on a film about the American health care system, and are looking for someone who works as a pharmaceutical sales representative for a section of the film devoted to the history of the pharmaceutical business and where it stands now.
Ideally, they are looking for a current or former cheerleader who is passionate about her profession, who can give a vivid representation of what the job is like. Financial compensation for an interview will be provided.
Email me (james@procheerleaderblog.com) for contact details.
This is the war whoop of Jaime Edmondson and Cara Rosenthal as they roar off the starting grid for their second odyssey on “The Amazing Race.” It’s an opportunity the former Dolphin cheerleaders dreamed of but never thought would come to pass.
“We heard they weren’t fans of all-star editions,” said Rosenthal, who lives in Boca Raton. “That was a bummer.”
When they got the invitation, there was no hesitancy to re-up.
The subtitle of the season, which begins Sunday in HD for the first time, is “Unfinished Business.” It could have been coined with Edmondson, 32, and Rosenthal, 28, in mind. They will be competing against other teams that have gotten close to the $1 million grand prize. But none came as close as the two redheads.
The big payoff seemed within their grasp in the final leg of Season 14 when a confused cabdriver in Hawaii cost them the time that relegated them to second place.
“That was really frustrating because we’re such competitive women,” Rosenthal said. “In many ways we have been haunted by the second-place finish. We were convinced we were going to win.” At the time their first runner-up finish was the best ever for a two-woman team.
It’s the what-if’s, such as “What if we had chosen a different cab driver,” that make the loss so hard to shake, said Edmonson, of Fort Lauderdale. “Thinking about that is more difficult than if we had made a mistake ourselves.”
There’s really little advantage to having had the full experience, Edmondson said. “There’s only so much you can do to prepare because so much of it is luck.” One thing they did pick up: “We learned we didn’t need such heavy backpacks.”
Though they share the same intense competitiveness, they are opposites in many ways, Edmondson said. “Cara probably has more fun than me. She tries to make friends with everyone and is laidback. I’m so not that way. I’ll harp on the smallest detail and beat myself up on it. It’s just my personality.”
“I think that’s what makes us a really good team,” Rosenthal said.
They’ve also taken dramatically different career paths. Rosenthal is studying to be a lawyer. She said she is grateful to her professors and the administration at Nova Southeastern for working with her to allow her to participate in another “Amazing Race.”
The CBS reality show opened an unanticipated door for Edmondson. A former cop, then a model, she was approached by Playboy to appear in the magazine. “I thought I was being punked,” she said. “I was a 30-year-old redhead. I thought that ship had sailed for me a long time ago.” She had no compunctions about posing, and became the January 2010 Playmate of the Month.
Rosenthal had the same opportunity. “They asked us both originally,” she said. It just didn’t feel right for her. But she’s not being judgmental toward her traveling partner. “I thought it was great. I bought the first issue that came out on the newsstand.”
Edmondson now lists her occupation as Playboy Playmate. It’s a full-time job, she said. She just got back from appearing at the magazine’s Super Bowl party in Dallas. “There are events like that all year long. It has been a great adventure.”
The 18th edition of The Amazing Race will air in 2011, but the contestants started racing last month. If you want to know the Pro Cheerleader connection, click the link below. Continue reading The Amazing Race #18 Spoiler
Brenda Lowe had at least one shocking thing to say about her experience on Survivor: Nicaragua … NaOnka is nice.
No, she says she means it. Brenda
I asked the 27-year-old paddleboard company owner whether she felt genuinely close to NaOnka or hanging out with her was just part of Brenda’s strategy.
“No, I genuiniely did. What people don’t see is that, believe it or not, this is a shocker, she is actually a nice girl. She’s sweet and she’s kind and she’s funny, and I know all about her life and her past, and I felt like we were girlfriends, the way I was girlfriends with Kelly Purple. I thought that that’s the way that it was out there.
“I really did trust her, I really did, really really did trust her to the point where I was like, there’s no way this girl would vote for me.”
But, of course, we all know that NaOnka did vote to have her friend’s torch snuffed. And that Brenda voted for Na, calling her “my real true enemy.”
But on Tuesday, she said there were no hard feelings. Really.
She thinks the turning point for Na came in an exchange we didn’t see on TV, when their mutual ally Sash was off ziplining and eating with the other guys for winning a reward challenge.
“I did sort of talk to NaOnka … and I was like, ‘Look we might not be able to trust Sash depending on what he says after he comes back from this challenge.’ She looks at me and she’s like ‘Really?’ And I’m like ‘Yeah, really, we gotta be prepared to take him out if we have to’ and she’s like ‘Wow.’
“Luckily Sash came back very trustworthy and I said, ‘Listen Na, forget about what I said, we can trust him.’ And she’s like, it was already too late, she went and told Sash, and she was already starting to get paranoid about me thinking too much and thinking about even taking out Sash, our friend.”
Nor does she blame NaOnka, she says, even though in the end Na and Sash took our their friend Brenda.
“I mean she’s playing a tough game. Everyone is playing a game whether we see it or not. And they must be playing a better game, because they’re there and I’m not, so I think that says something about them. I just underestimated most everybody out there, I think.”
When it comes to her other formerly staunch ally, Sash, Brenda believes he must have been in another alliance unseen by her and the TV audience. Otherwise, why would he have put himself at risk by allowing her to be voted off?
“These people are trying to target you by targeting me,” she says she told Sash.
“I was like why? Why? Sash is smart, why would he allow this to happen? But it has to be that he has other alliances, it just has to be like that.”
We also talked about the whole issue of scrambling, a word Brenda said she hates. She was ribbed by Jeff Probst at tribal council for not “scrambling” to save herself.
“There was a reason why I didn’t scramble and this is why. It was frustrating to watch the whole episode. It’s like, there’s a reason why, Jeff. You can’t expain it right then and there, but my strategy for staying in the game was going to the people who had incentive to save me, which was Chase and Sash.
“And Sash more than anybody because he had the idol and I could have used it for him to save me really. And I was trying to show them, ‘Look, I’m loyal to you. I’m not talking to Benry, I’m not talking to Fabio, I’m not talking to Holly and Jane, I’m talking to you and you only.’ …
“So if I was go scrambling it would have killed it, they would have seen can’t trust Brenda, what is she telling these people, and not having a big enough incentive to save me.”
There’s one other thing Brenda would like to set the record straight on: the impression that she’s arrogant.
“I definitely see it when they only show certain soundbites and if you see a guy who’s as sweet as Chase and me saying not the nicest things about him, um, yeah you definitely see it and a lot of people might not understand my personality or the way that I looked at it.
“This is a game, if I feel confident I’m gonna feel confident, that’s just the way I am. Some people like it and some people don’t like it. I really hate arrogance and it’s a little upsetting that I came across that way to anybody.”
Playing Survivor was a dream come true, said the former Miami Dolphins cheerleader and beauty pageant winner, who counts paddleboarding, mountain biking and swimming among her hobbies.
“I’m a competitor. I love physical things. I love playing games. I make competitions out of who can run fastest to that mailbox … So for the ultimate game like Survivor and having to do the challenges and plus having to do alliances and all that, plus c’mon the prize is a million dollars.
“It was a no-brainer and, like I tell people, I would have done Survivor for free.”
The bad part, as other castmates have complained, was the lack of sleep.
“The sleeping, it just drives you nuts. You’re exhausted and then to have rain that doesn’t stop and you’re freezing cold and everyone around you is miserable. The energy in the air is depressing. And that is the worst.”
Still, if she got the chance she’d do it again in a heartbeat.
I learned, I saw and felt and lived the mistakes, and know what I would do a lot differently, so yeah, I would love that second chance.”
Raiderette Kelly was a contestant on VH1′s Don’t Forget the Lyrics playing on behalf of the Oakland Police Activities League.
Raiderette Kelly stands with Don’t Forget the Lyrics! host Mark McGrath.
Raiderette Kelly here to tell the Raider Nation about my whirlwind and fabulous trip to TV land in Southern California! I was chosen to represent the Oakland Raiderettes as a contestant playing for a charity on the hit game show Don’t Forget the Lyrics! The following is a little bit about my journey to Los Angeles and my “movie star for a day” experience!
The show’s producers decided to have a “Cheerleader Week” theme. Football’s Fabulous Females were chosen to be 1 of 4 cheerleader groups to compete and play for charity on the show. When I heard about this opportunity, I thought I would be an ideal candidate because I love karaoke and can entertain a crowd. The producers held interviews where we were quizzed on our knowledge of lyrics, sang 2-3 popular songs, and were asked about our lives outside of the Raiderettes. When I was chosen to be a representative, I was thrilled and began to study lyrics like a mad woman.
The charity I picked was the Oakland Police Activities League (Oakland PAL). The organization provides free education and recreational activities to Oakland’s youth and provides positive mentors to keep kids safe and off the streets. I was excited to participate on the show for such a meaningful organization and I wanted to get them as much money as I possible.
July 22, 2010- At 3 AM, my alarm went off and I jumped out of bed. I felt a surge of energy and excitement, with a hint of anxiety. I managed to do my hair, makeup, put on my Raiders gear, and was off to the San Jose airport.
During my one-hour flight to LA, my nerves began to set in, and it showed to the point where it was noticed by the man next to me. We conversed about my trip and he tried to reassure me that I would do great. I became more relaxed when he started quizzing me on songs. He would sing one unfinished line from a song, and I would finish the lyric. It probably looked silly to the other passengers, but it definitely calmed me down. We finally arrived in LA and I was off to The Culver Studios.
Upon arrival, I was greeted by my producers, Iris and Bobby, and was shown to my dressing room. From then on, it was a quick moving day. I met other contestants including a 49ers Gold Rush cheerleader and a Sacramento Kings dancer. We all sat in on a meeting explaining the game rules, what they look for in a contestant, and what not to do while on tape. The main points that were instilled in us were to sing loud, entertain and be loveable. I was glamorized by the hair and makeup team, put on my official Raiderette uniform, and sang my heart out in a practice session with my producers.
Raiderette Kelly poses with Don’t Forget the Lyrics! creator Jeff Apploff.
Mark McGrath, lead singer for the band Sugar Ray, is the new host of the syndicated version of Don’t Forget the Lyrics! As they say in the commercials, “You don’t have to sing it well; you just have to sing it right.” The top prize is $50,000, and the contestants sing 4 songs of different genres ranging from Country, Rock, Pop, and various decades. The contestant chooses a genre, picks from two song options, and is told by Mark how many words are needed to complete the lyric. Music is played and the song’s lyrics appear on a screen for the contestant to sing. When the music stops, the contestant must finish the phrase correctly in order to earn prize money. The levels of prizes go from $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, and $10,000. If a contestant misses a lyric, they stay at the same prize level and pick a new category. After a contestant sings all 4 songs, they have the option to sing an “Encore” song, which is usually a more challenging song and requires you to provide 10-15 lyrics. Done successfully, one could go home with $50,000!
After my practice session, I was ready! I applied things learned from the Raiderettes while being a contestant, including my traditional “Raiderette run,” entertaining performances, and even my high kicks (I thought this might be really funny to have Mark McGrath participate in the kicks as well! I guessed right – it was hilarious). Even though I threw in some goofy dance moves and may have cracked on a few high notes, I had a great time and rocked that stage! Although I can’t tell how much money I won for Oakland Police Activities League, I can tell you this: I did my very best and LOCKED IN THOSE LYRICS! Tune in for my episode airing on VH1 on Friday, November 19th. Check your local listings for the time.
Start the New Year out right with organization tips from Amanda LeBlanc and her team in The Style Network’s new docu-series “The Amandas,” which airs Monday, January 30 at 8:00pm ET/PT. This extreme perfectionist and organizational specialist leads a team of young and fashionable organizers to create meticulously functional living spaces with a focus on style and aesthetics. Having lost it all in Hurricane Katrina, LeBlanc knows firsthand what it means to live and thrive with less and helps her clients to let go of the past in order to create elegant, efficient and stress-free environments.
Rachel Vicknair – Drop dead gorgeous, Rachel holds the beauty pageant titles of Ms. Louisiana State and Ms. New Orleans. She is strong, outgoing and determined to become Amanda’s number two. With all the qualities of an excellent organizer combined with killer looks, will Rachel reign supreme among the other ambitious girls?
