First off, there are some scenes from the new season interspersed with the interview. 

Vanessa talks about the physical changes in Betty, and gives some specifics (I like the phrase “her silhouette is changing”).  She says the socks are going to go (I guess that will be later this season) and that we’ll see Betty’s legs for the first time.

She hints about “a couple of relationships from her past” – these are Connor and Nico, I’m guessing.  She says that Grant Bowler emailed her saying he’s looking forward to coming back (with all the bedroom scenes with Williams, that’s a no-brainer ).

They then go into Wilhelmina’s struggle to keep her job at Mode, and show a pretty funny scene where she insults Claire and asks her and Cal Hartley do go ahead and fire her (which ends in a surprise).

The wait is almost over – Friday is almost here!  From the looks of everything, this is going to be a great beginning to season four!

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Wow – what an absolutely beautiful, classic dress.  It’s from Rafael Cennamo, and this color is not only daring, but quite perfect for Vanessa.

But, what absolutely makes this look work is the incredible makeup by Sam Fine.  For an in-depth look at how Fine worked around the challenge of not only a very hot day, but this wonderful dress as well, check out this post.

“Because Vanessa’s dress choice was such a strong color, this forced me to re-address the neutrals I had in my kit,” admits Fine. “I wanted to go for a little more color in the cheek, as well as the lip, so I needed to find the perfect coral-pink shade, because true pink can be hard to wear.”

She was so perfect – she looked like a perfect porcelain doll – albeit one with great charm and humor.

Of course, Vanessa didn’t win Outstanding Supporting Actress (again).  It’s hard to be mad at the fact that the very deserving Kristin Chenoweth won.  I think Vanessa’s going to have one more chance, though.

But, congratulations to Williams for the nomination, and for showing the youngsters how you do the red carpet!

Images: SplashNewsOnline.com

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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! 

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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

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I love Vanessa’s casual look. She always looks fabulous in jeans – that vigorous workout of hers really pays off with this look.

And Jillian?  To paraphrase Herman’s Hermits:  Miss Williams, you have a lovely daughter.  She (Jillian) is 20 years old, and takes after her mother in the beauty department.

Jillian (Hervey) is Vanessa’s daughter, along with sister Melanie (22) and brother Devin (16), from Vanessa’s former marriage to then-manager Ramon Hervey II.

I’m so used to Williams doing these sort of events with daughter Sascha, I had to look twice when I saw Jillian in the photos.  Hervey really does the denim dress quite well.

Vanessa was on the Wendy Williams show yesterday (there may be video soon ), and she said that the much anticipated musical episode of Ugly Betty WILL happen.  Woot.

As for beauty. Vanessa’s still got it, IMHO.

Image: Newscom

So, are you going to see the movie? 

Images (unless otherwise noted: Splashnewsonline.com)

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Williams was at Grand Central Station yesterday, encouraging women  to donate their clothes to Dress For Success, an organization that donates clothes and gives advice to women to help them succeed in the workforce.

Vanessa said, "I am representative of working women, of women that want to look their best, who want to look and express their success in the way that we can and we want to help women that are in need and give them a start to look their best too. "

Sponsors of yesterday’s event committed $250,000 to the nonprofit organization.

Way to go, Vanessa!

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I lovelovelove this dress!  Perfect length, perfect cut, and I’ve always loved gradients in dresses.  As usual, Williams looks absolutely beautiful.

The launch party was held at Warren Tricomi salon in NYC, and many celebrities were there; not only Vanessa, but Taraji P. Henson, Iman, Deborah Cox, RuPaul, Wendy Williams, Cynde Watson, Llyod Boston, Mikki Taylor, AJ Crimson attended, amongst others.

Fine is passing some of his secrets to the rest of us:  The Basics of Beauty is a step by step guide to creating great faces, just as he has for Williams, Halle Berry, Brandy, Tyra Banks, and countless others.

Vanessa seems to have had the busiest summer of the Ugly Betty cast so far, at least by appearances.  It seems she’s been everywhere!  (not to discount Michael Urie’s Tempermentals run, or Ana Ortiz’s baby-carrying ).

Pictured here are Iman, Sam Fine, Deborah Cox and Vanessa Williams.  I must say, Mr fine has an impressive clientele!

Images: SplashNewsOnline.com

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I absolutely LOVE the title track from Vanessa’s CD (The Real Thing).  The more I hear it, the more I want to hear.  She also performs Just Friends, which is also a nice groove.

The feedback trouble at the beginning of Just Friends was unfortunate, but it happens to the best of sound techs in smaller rooms.

Ana Ortiz can bee seen in the crowd shots thoroughly enjoying herself.  Michael Urie, seen briefly, also seems to be enjoying the music.

It occurred to me listening to Vanessa sing that she wouldn’t make it past the first round on American Idol, which is a shame.  Not that Williams can’t sing (far from it), but Idol encourages a certain style of over-singing that leaves no room for Vanessa’s subtle smoothness.  That’s a shame – we may never find the next Vanessa Williams because every young singer is out there practicing vocal acrobatics and full-throttle volume singing.

But, before you remind me that this isn’t a music blog, let me just say that Vanessa looks fabulous, and I like her in her “singing” hair (she pulls it back when she’s in singing mode).

I’m so jealous of those of you who were there!

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This one she performed as more of a duet, with Darius de Haas.  I thought he did a fantastic job on the harmonies.

I didn’t realize till I heard this performance that this was a “cheatin’” song.  Being from Nashville, I’m kind of a connoisseur of these things -  Just Friends sets the perfect tone, allowing for the balance between guilt and desire.  And, once again, you can hear Babyface’s touches all through the production.

I did not watch the broadcast; did this have an interview segment as well?  I’d love to be able to post a video of Williams speaking about her new album.

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This is a wonderful song – my favorite so far from Vanessa’s new album.  What a true diva!  (And I mean that in the best sense of the word).

She has not lost any of her wonderful, crystal clear voice.  In fact, it might have even improved with age.  I know only a few singers who can keep pitch so perfectly in a live performance.  In fact, I had to watch twice to make sure she wasn’t lip syncing.  The trumpet in the horn section didn’t quite hit one of the notes in the intro – it was very much a live performance.

And that dress – it’s perfect for her.  I don’t know if I’ve seen her in this color before (what do you call that?  mauve?  plum?), but it looks wonderful on her in full length, and it would be cool if Williams wore it more often.

If you get a chance to see Vanessa perform live this summer, take it!   What a treat!  (There’s no mention of a tour at her web site, but she will probably perform here and there.  Singers sing – we can’t help ourselves)

This probably won’t be the last video of Williams this week – she’s on a whirlwind of activity promoting the album: ET, Jimmy Fallon, The VIew.  I may or may not post William’s appearance on The View tomorrow – it depends on how annoying the ladies are. 

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