barry manilow

Hey, Brigitte here with TV Squad Daily. I'll be covering the TV stories I find interesting each day, Monday through Friday, in this video blog.

Today: on TV Squad Daily:

• Barry Manilow regrets causing all this fuss about refusing to appear on The View.
  
• Kid Nation premieres tonight.
  
• BFF! Despite turning down an invite to appear on her show, Rosie O'Donnell said Oprah is a "force of nature."
  

The video's embedded below, or you can subscribe to this podcast via our feed. Plus, you can also download the file directly.

I'm not at all amazed that another week brings another controversy to The View, but I am a little surprised at who is involved this time.

Singer Barry Manilow has refused to appear on the show today because he didn't want to be interviewed by Elizabeth Hasselbeck. At first I thought this was one of those "taken out of context" things, but Manilow himself told TMZ.com: "I strongly disagree with her views. I think she's dangerous and offensive. I will not be on the same stage as her." He explains more on his site.

It's a little odd because he actually was on the same stage with her more than once the past few years. Maybe he sided with Rosie in the Daytime Talk Show Wars (TM). I'm sure the gals on the show will be talking about this today and tomorrow. And all you readers can begin leaving your many comments below right about....now.

I was going to do a post on how odd it was that Barry Manilow appeared on both Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray the other day, at the same time (live on Martha's and taped on Rachael's show), but one thing happened that I didn't realize when I was switching back and forth between each show.

Martha actually called Rachael out on it, live on the air!

According to the NY Post, Martha said this:

Dick Clark caused a bit of a stir earlier this year with his appearance on his New Year's Rockin' Eve show, the first time he appeared on TV after suffering a stroke in late 2004. But he's stayed off the air since. Now comes word that there will be a musical tribute to him at this year's Emmy ceremony, to be broadcast by NBC on August 27.

Barry Manilow is set to perform his version of the American Bandstand theme "Bandstand Boogie", for which he and a co-writer wrote lyrics sometime in the mid-'70s. Of course, Clark hosted and produced Bandstand for over 30 years.

Gotta tell you, the words "musical tribute" sound very final to me. I mean, yeah, Dick's still with us, but it really sounds like the music and TV industries both acknowledge that we're not going to see much of him anymore. That reminds me: anyone find a health update on Dick? We really haven't heard anything since the New Year.

[via The Futon Critic]

A few weeks back, I talked a lot of crap about contestants who blamed their poor Hollywood Week performances on being sick. Well, I take it all back. I'm sick with a capital "ICK." I've OD'ed on NyQuil, and (unlike Paula) I think it would be wrong to slur my way through evaluations that include references to moths and salads. So, I apologize in advance for the brief commentary and the lackluster witicisms that are as stale as Ryan's running "Kevin is a stud muffin" gag.

Just like Elliott, I've never been a Fanilow, but...