Here is the wonderful opening number Ugly Betty’s Vanessa Williams performed at the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards last night.

Basically, Vanessa sang a re-worked version of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”, with new lyrics singing the praises of various daytime stars.

The coolest part was the video playing simultaneously that inserted Vanessa into all of the shows she was singing about.  Some of the video work was VERY good, in others it was obvious that Williams was inserted.

The best line (and scene) was probably “I know that Ellen approves”.  Vanessa really showed of her comedic skills at that point.  When she looked at the camera it was impossible not to laugh out loud.

I thought overall Williams did an excellent job with the material she was given.  Her dance with Gilles Marini was not quite Dancing With The Stars season finale good, but it was good nonetheless.  She looked wonderful in all of her costume changes (I counted five).

As a whole, the show was entertaining, although it got a little uncomfortable about 45 minutes in when the show was obviously running behind, and they rushed through everything.  I felt as if some of the nominees and winners were shortchanged.  You just can’t fit an awards show into 2 hours.

All was made well, though, by the spectacular Sesame Street number.

Good job, Vanessa!  You’ve got a future in hosting, if this acting and singing thing doesn’t work out! 

Here are some more revealing (in more ways than one) set photos from this week’s filming of Ugly Betty.  After all, I promised you a pic of Michael Urie as a hot dog bun.

But there’s more – apparently America Ferrera’s Betty was made to do all sorts of, shall we say, interesting things that day.

Pulling a rickshaw with Marc and some couple of substantial girth?  Is this some sort of initiation?  Possibly.  At first I thought it was the case that Marc had some power over Betty – he had something she wanted or had info she didn’t want revealed.  But, Marc himself dresses up as a hot dog bun (something Marc would NEVER do willingly):

But, it wasn’t just Betty – check out Brooklyn Decker pedaling the rickshaw, giving a ride to two shirtless men:

OK. maybe she just posed with the rickshaw and the shirtless men, but wow.

Wow.

And, who is this guy?

(Image: SplashNewsOnline.com)

Looks like a relaxed Sam Waterston. 

More info and pics after the jump.

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Brooklyn Decker, the 22 year old model and wife of tennis star Andy Roddick is going to have an appearance on an upcoming episode of Ugly Betty.

According to Page Six, the beauty just signed to play Betty’s co-worker, Lexie, We have no further info on the role at this point.

This past Wednesday, Brookyln tweeted, “Working on an amazing set!! Can’t tell you guys what it is… Just yet. But I can tell you.. I’m loving it and can’t wait to spill the beans!”

Then, today, Brooklyn added:  “Secret’s out! Im shooting a guest role for UGLY BETTY! Can’t give any details. But this is so unreal.. I’m beyond excited!”

I have a feeling that, at least for a few episodes, Ugly Betty will be doing better in the male 18-54 demographic. 

Imagge: SplashNewsOnline.com

 Ugly Betty’s Vanessa Williams will be hosting the 36th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards from the Orpheum Theatre in Hollywood this Sunday.

I normally skip the Daytime Emmys, but I’m not going to miss this one.

Vanessa is going to dance with Dancing With The Stars runner up Gilles Marini.  Also, in addition to introducing guests who will hand out 17 awards, she will open the telecast with a parody number.  Vanessa has become quite the comedienne.

On top of that, the award ceremonies have moved from the Kodak Theatre to the downtown historic landmark, where Judy Garland performed her vaudeville act in the ’30s and where “American Idol” has held auditions.

"We’ve returned the glamour to these awards to match the glamour of that old theater and beautiful building," said executive producer David McKenzie, president of Associated Television International. "The Orpheum is one of the greatest assets we have in this city and we need to preserve all of these theaters that exist downtown."

About hosting the Daytime Emmys for the first time, Williams says,  "Live TV is wonderful because it’s like theater, so there’s a certain energy that you certainly have when something is being performed live — and I’m always up for an opportunity to perform.  I think having a musical theater background lends itself to being versatile in terms of not only reading copy but, in my case, being able to break into song. And that’s always my comfort zone."

There will be a tribute to “Guiding Light”, which goes off the air on Sept. 18 after 72 years.  (I didn’t know that!)

Also, “Sesame Street," which turns 40 this year, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Sandra Oh ("Grey’s Anatomy"), who played a Cookie Fairy on the PBS show last year. Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Gordon and Oscar the Grouch will perform. 

40 years – dang I feel old.

Here’s one part I like:  there will be a fashion show segment featuring couples from all of the soaps in a nonstop photo shoot, anchored by Tyra Banks.  This pays tribute to the behind-the-scenes costumes and makeup folks.

The Daytime Emmys air on the CW at 8 p.m EDT.

Image: Fame Pictures

The ALMA Award nominations were announced yesterday, and a quirk of fate caused an interesting matchup to occur.  Ugly Betty Executive Producer Salma Hayek is nominated in the Best Actress in a TV Comedy category for her work on 30 Rock.

Guess who else is nominated in this category?  Ugly Betty stars America Ferrera and Ana Ortiz. 

Will Ferrera lose once again to someone on 30 Rock?    Just kidding.  Hayek was VERY funny on 30 Rock and would deserve the award if she wins.

There’s no TV Movie Drama category, or certainly Ortiz would have been nominated for her work in Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story, as was the case with the Imogen Awards.

The ALMA Awards, in their 15th year, celebrate Latino achievements in film, TV and music.  This year they will be hosted by Eva Longoria Parker.

Salma is also receiving a special achievement award, the Anthony Quinn Award for Industry Excellence. 

For the testosterone set, Ugly Betty’s Tony Plana and Mark Indelicato (yeah!) received nominations as Best Actor in a TV Comedy. 

Also of Ugly Betty note: alum Freddy Rodriguez was nominated for his work in Nothing Like the Holidays, along with co-star Elisabeth Peña.

Ugly Betty honorees in the behind-the-scenes category include Salma Hayek and Silvio Horta as executive producers, and hairstylist Mary Ann Valdes.

The ALMA awards will be held/filmed September 17 at the Royce Hall Auditorium at UCLA and will air Friday, September 18 (8:00 to 10:00 p.m., ET/PT), on ABC.

See the whole list of nominees at the official website.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

I’m not even going to guess what this is about.  OK, not really – that’s what we do here.  What is known is this: America Ferrera was in Midtown NYC today filming an Ugly Betty scene dressed as a hot dog.

When you think about it, the ridiculous cultural confusion of “Taj Mah Hot Dog” is classic Ugly Betty.  Of course, the menu behind Ferrera actually says “Delicious Meat Substitute Hot Dogs”, so I guess that makes a little more sense.

Ferrera is wearing a bit of an Indian costume to go with the hot dog she’s wearing.  Although I have never seen shoes like that before.

Word is that Michael Urie was also involved in this scene (no pics of Urie, sorry.  I wonder if he played “straight” to Ferrera’s craziness, or was he in, say, a hamburger suit?)

UPDATE Michael Urie was indeed in costume, actually as a hotdog bun. I might post a set because he looks so silly, but here are a couple at the Daily Mail.

My first instinct is that this is something Cal Hartley put Betty up to, but I can’t picture a scenario where Hartley would wish to help an establishment called “Taj Mah Hot Dog”.  No, I think this is something Betty is doing on her own, for some strange reason.

Call me intrigued.  I can’t wait to see what this is all about!

More BettyDog pics after the jump.

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In case you haven’t heard, Third Rock From The Sun’s Kristen Johnston has been cast for a guest role on Ugly Betty.  Most of the headlines say that Johnston ‘replaced’ American idol’s Paula Abdul, but since the deal with Abdul was never done, and we have no idea if it was ever even close, ‘replace’ just doesn’t seem like the right word.

BTW, EW reported that Abdul had a private jet as one of her demands  for her Ugly Betty appearance.  What the?

Johnston will be playing the role that was rumored for Abdul, though – Helen, the new office temp.  She will be bonding with Becki Newton’s Amanda. 

In fact, according to Johnston, her character is “Amanda in 10 years.  She’s still trying to get into the right clubs, wearing tight dresses… tragic. I think [Helen] sees herself as Samantha from Sex and the City. Except, of course, she’s a temp.

(As an aside, I’ve known MANY people like Helen.  I have yet to meet a person who actually lives as Samantha or Carrie from SATC.  But, I digress).

I love what Johnston told Ausiello: "I’ve always considered myself a poor man’s Paula Abdul.."  I don’t care who you are, given the situation, that’s funny.

Michael Urie tweeted this morning that he began filming with Johnston this morning.  The thought of Marc and Mandy and an “older Mandy” together just tickles me to death.  I really believe this is going to be a great character.

Too bad Helen is going to be a temp.  But then again, Urie was not supposed to last more than one episode, either.    We’ll see. 

Image: SplashNewsOnline.com

Friday evening, the 24th Annual Imagen Awards were held, and Ugly Betty once again took home awards in many categories.

The Imagen Awards were established in 1985 by Helen Hernandez and producer Norman Lear to encourage and recognize positive portrayals of Latinos in the media.

America Ferrera won Best Actress in Television (an award I was surprised she did NOT win last year).

Ana Ortiz won best supporting actress in Television; she has long deserved recognition for her great work in Betty.  Based upon the spoilers we’ve heard thus far, I think this coming season will offer more opportunities for accolades for Miss Ortiz, if Betty can survive the Friday night curse.

Speaking of Ortiz, Betty did NOT win Best Primetime Television Program because it was beaten by  a TV movie that Ana Ortiz co-starred in: Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story.  We first told you about Ortiz’s work on the docu-drama here.

Perhaps the greatest honor of all, though, went to Ugly Betty executive producer Silvio Horta, who was presented the Creative Achievement Award.

Interestingly, Beverly Hills Chihuahua won Best Feature Film. 

Noticeably absent were the categories of actress in a feature film and supporting actress in a feature film. They were eliminated from contention this year because they failed to meet the minimum number of entries required for award consideration.

Congratulations America, Ana, and Silvio!

Source: Hollywood Reporter

IMage: Newscom

Remember when we reported about an Ugly Betty casting call for a UN interpreter?  I guessed at the time that the show would be filming outside the UN, and had several guesses what that might mean to the plot.

Well, it gets a little juicier with this news: Ugly Betty filmed inside the United Nations building this past week.  Well, actually, in the basement, but still, it turns out to be quite a coup (pardon the pun).

According to the Inner City Press, about five dozen film crew members worked in the basement of the UN on August 19th and 20th.  Apparently, it used to be near impossible to film at the UN – even Alfred Hitchcock was once turned down.  But recently, both Law and Order and a panel about Battlestar Gallatica have filmed there – now Betty.

They can do this because the UN is in transition, there are renovations occurring all over and workers in various UN offices are being relocated (I think, temporarily).

We even know a bit a WHAT they were filming, which leads to a lot of speculation as to how it fits into the plot.  It’s spoiler-ish, so I’ll include it after the jump.

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Here are some new photos from the set of Ugly Betty filming on location in midtown Manhattan.  Hat tip, B&B (and UglyBettyFan).

It appears that Eric Mabius’ beard will indeed end up onscreen, at least for a while.  Daniel is obviously distraught (as expected), and Betty seems to need comforting, too.

This outfit is more season 3 Betty than the new, more stylish Betty we’ve been promised for season 4.  It’s not that the top doesn’t match in general, but the floral pattern and crazy shoes just seem overdone.  Betty’s hair IS perfectly straight, though. 

I’ve said it before, Mabius looks great when he’s in his usual designer suit, but he also does casual quite well.

It appears that one side of Betty’s glasses are taped as if they had been broken; I wonder what the story is with that?

Finally, in this photo set was a strange one of a rather odd looking dog – the caption just said “America Ferrera’s dog”.  Now, I’ve seen photos of America’s dogs visiting her on the set before; the ones I have seen are big dogs.  My guess, based on the way the dog is “dressed”:  maybe it’s part of the scene?  Regardless, it’s cute.

More pics after the jump!

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