“GOSSIP GIRL” STAR ED WESTWICK AND HIS BAND “THE FILTHY YOUTH” LEND THEIR SOUND TO AN UPCOMING EPISODE OF THE CW’S HIT SERIES, AIRING JANUARY 2 AT 9PM

Gossip Girl

The CW’s freshman hit GOSSIP GIRL will feature music from series star Ed Westwick’s band, “The Filthy Youth. Westwick co-wrote (along with rhythm guitarist Jimmy Wright) and performed lead vocals on two songs, “Orange” and “Come Flash All You Ladies,” which will be showcased in the episode “School Lies,” airing Wednesday, Jan. 2, (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET).

In the January 2 episode, Serena (Blake Lively), Blair (Leighton Meester), Nate (Chace Crawford), Chuck (Westwick) and their entourage break into the school swimming pool for a night of fun, but when a member of their group nearly drowns, the school threatens to expel the person responsible for the break-in. Meanwhile, Chuck tries to enlist the help of Vanessa (Jessica Szohr) in his effort to blackmail Blair.

Ed WestwickWestwick, who plays sexy bad boy Chuck Bass on GOSSIP GIRL, is an emerging young British actor trained at the National Youth Theatre in London. He was recently seen in two high profile feature films, Alfonso Cuarón’s “Children of Men” and Anthony Minghella’s “Breaking and Entering.” His upcoming films include “100 Feet” and “Son of Rambow,” an independent film which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, selling to Paramount Vantage for the highest amount at the festival.

Formed in 2006, The Filthy Youth is an indie rock band that plays in and around London. In addition to front man Westwick, the band members include Jimmy Wright, Benjamin Lewis, Tom Bastiani and Jon Vooght. In describing the two songs selected for GOSSIP GIRL, Westwick shares that “Orange” is a song about being with your friends and “ripping it up,” and “Come Flash All You Ladies” is about certain women Westwick has met throughout his life. The band’s music is available via their MySpace page, www.myspace.com/thefilthyyouth, on which fans are encouraged to submit their own “filthy youth” pictures.

Filmed in New York and based on the popular series of young-adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, GOSSIP GIRL is from Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Paramount Television Inc. with executive producers Josh Schwartz (“The O.C.”) & Stephanie Savage (“The O.C.”), Bob Levy, Leslie Morgenstein (“Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”), and co-executive producers Felicia Henderson (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) and K.J. Steinberg (“The Nine”).

HIT DRAMA ‘ONE TREE HILL’ RETURNS FOR SEASON FIVE ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 8 WITH A TWO-HOUR PREMIERE FROM 8:00-10:00PM

The CW Network’s hit drama ONE TREE HILL returns for season five with a special two-hour premiere on Tuesday, January 8 (8:00-10:00 p.m. ET). Subsequent episodes will take over the 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET timeslot beginning Tuesday, January 15, following an encore presentation of CROWNED: THE MOTHER OF ALL PAGEANTS. REAPER will return to the schedule with original episodes later in the season.

The fifth season of ONE TREE HILL will be unprecedented in the annals of television drama, as the show leaps forward four years. Season four ended as the young characters graduated high school and season five begins, post-college, four years later. Some of the characters have found success while others have failed. Some are the same, some are very different. And while their storylines will actively move forward, the show will also dip into the past, returning to incidents and events of the last four years, sometimes for a moment or a scene, other times for an entire episode.

ONE TREE HILL was created by Mark Schwahn and is executive produced by Schwahn, Joe Davola, Greg Prange, Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins. ONE TREE HILL is a Tollin/Robbins Production in association with Warner Bros. Television.

SALEISHA NAMED THE WINNER OF AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL

America's Next Top Model

Saleisha

Saleisha Stowers, a receptionist from Los Angeles, was crowned the winner of the ninth cycle of The CW’s hit reality series AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL.

The three remaining models participated in a CoverGirl Wetslicks Fruit Spritzers commercial and print ad.  Cycle eight winner, Jaslene, surprised the girls for moral support and coaching during this important stage of the competition before the girls headed back for the penultimate elimination. While the judging panel had critiques for each of the girls’ performances, they were impressed by how Saleisha portrayed herself.  “Saleisha, I feel, is CoverGirl when it comes to who she is, what she stands for and how she portrays herself,” Tyra said. The judges decided that while Jenah took amazing photos, her strong personality made her unapproachable and ultimately led to her elimination from the competition.

The next day, Saleisha and Chantal met with Seventeen magazine editor-in-chief Ann Shoket for their cover photo shoot. Emotions ran high as both finalists realized their dreams were within their grasp.

The following day, Saleisha and Chantal faced off on in a Royal Fashion Show located outside of the Forbidden City. The girls passed through 500 extras and entertainers on stilts representing the past as they portrayed fashion of the future. “This is my destiny. I’m going to go out there and do it,” Saleisha exclaimed before hitting the runway.  While both girls impressed the judges, Saleisha presented herself as the more seasoned runway model.

During the final judging panel, the judges considered the runway challenge, as well as each girl’s performance throughout the competition.  While the judges agreed that both Saleisha and Chantal were strong contenders, Saleisha’s growth and perseverance gave her the edge. “When I was younger… I had low self-esteem and I just wasn’t happy with my life. I have grown into a strong young woman and I’m so happy with myself right now and the place that I am at,” Saleisha said after Tyra announced that she had become AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL.

In addition to a $100,000 contract with cosmetics giant CoverGirl, this year’s prize package for the winner of The CW’s AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL will include a contract with Elite Model Management and a cover and six-page fashion spread in Seventeen magazine.

The ninth cycle of the hit reality series AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL on The CW follows 13 young women as they attempt to prove they have what it takes to make it in the high-stress
world of modeling. Banks, who created the show, also serves as executive producer along with
Ken Mok (“Making the Band”) and Daniel Soiseth (“Hell’s Kitchen”).

DAVID AND JASMINE ANNOUNCED AS WINNERS OF BEAUTY AND THE GEEK

Beauty and the Geek

David Olsen and Jasmine Moore were revealed as the winners of the fourth season of BEAUTY AND THE GEEK, taking home the $250,000 grand prize.
Beauty and the Geek
For the first time ever, BEAUTY AND THE GEEK placed the decision of who should win in the hands of America, and the voters chose David, the LARP-er and his partner Jasmine, the nanny, over their competition, Sam and Nicole, who changed the game as a male beauty and female geek.

This season’s challenges saw the geeks rapping, beauties handling snakes and bugs, and teams working together to create their own superhero at Comic-Con. Teams also traveled to their partners’ hometowns to meet their friends and families.

To apply for the fifth season of BEAUTY AND THE GEEK, visit cwtv.com. Submissions must be received by December 11, 2007.

PROMAX/BDA, THE CW AND BLiNK LAUNCH 2nd ANNUAL COLLEGE PROMO COMPETITION: MAKING THE CUT 2008

Promax/BDA is joining forces again with The CW Network and BLiNK to launch “Making the Cut 2008.” This unique competition calls for undergrad college students to create and submit original multiplatform trailers and commercials for the chance to jumpstart their creative careers with a CW internship and invaluable exposure.

The competition kicks off December 3, and the finalists and winner will be revealed during a special panel at the annual Promax/BDA Conference, June 17-19, New York City. This time, students will have the opportunity to submit entries for The CW’s SUPERNATURAL, GOSSIP GIRL and SMALLVILLE.

“Making the Cut” is part of Promax/BDA’s ongoing educational initiative, an effort headed by Promax/BDA Committee Chair Kim Rosenblum, Senior Vice President Creative, TV Land, to engage students by introducing them to an exciting growth industry and the association that represents it.

“This competition, with its connection to America’s future creative talent, is an important initiative for the Promax/BDA organization,” said Rosenblum. “We are thrilled to bring the opportunity back, and we hope to attract even more students with this earlier launch date.”

“‘Making the Cut’ has been a great way to reach out and genuinely connect with the college demo,” said Anthony Armenise, Senior Creative Executive, On-Air Promotion, The CW. “Our Year One winner is excited about starting her internship with us, and we will build on that success with Promax/BDA and BLiNK by giving more students a chance to cut their promo teeth with us on buzz shows like GOSSIP GIRL and SMALLVILLE.”

Beginning December 3, 2007, undergraduate students may visit http://www.promax.tv/studentalliance to obtain the official rules and register for the competition. While participants will be provided with program footage from which to draw, they are encouraged to incorporate imagination and other visual tools available to them.

Promax/BDA and The CW will identify finalists and feature their work in a June 2008 special conference session produced by the competition’s creator, BLiNK’s Seth Berkowitz.

“‘Making the Cut’ puts Promax/BDA and The CW front and center in the growing field of viewer-created content,” explained Berkowitz. “Competitions like this are sprouting up all over the internet, but I’ll bet none of them produce the variety of entries we received from students on six different continents, or the quality of entry we saw from our winner and nine finalists. And I’m certain none offer as valuable a prize.”

Last year’s winning entry, from Stacey Young of Vancouver, Washington’s Clark College, has since then been shown both on CWTV.com and also on-air for The CW Network. Young’s work was personally reviewed by SUPERNATURAL creator Eric Kripke, who was “very impressed,” and she begins her internship in the spring.

Commented Young: “I had never done anything like the ‘Making the Cut’ competition before, so I really didn’t expect to win. I just thought of it as a fun project to do during my spring break. I am certainly glad I entered, though, because that fun project has now led to amazing opportunities.”

Promax/BDA will hold its 53rd annual North American conference June 17-19 in Manhattan’s Hilton New York Hotel. More details will be announced shortly.

FAMILY FRIENDLY PROGRAMMING FORUM TO CELEBRATE “THE 9TH ANNUAL FAMILY TELEVISION AWARDS” AIRING THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2007, ON THE CW

The Family Friendly Programming Forum (FFPF), an initiative of the Association of National Advertisers, celebrated THE 9TH ANNUAL FAMILY TELEVISION AWARDS, which will air as a special on Thursday, December 27, 2007 (9 – 10 pm EST) on The CW Network.

Phil Keoghan hosted the evening with appearances by Paula Abdul, LeVar Burton, David Cassidy, Kristin Chenoweth, Debbie Allen, Jack Coleman, Kenny Ortega, Monique Coleman, America Ferrera, Jeff Foxworthy,Vanessa Hudgens, Ryne Sanborn, Jordin Sparks, Kaycee Stroh, Ashley Tisdale, Tyler James Williams and more.

Awards were presented in 11 categories, the complete list of honorees includes:

Comedy – Ugly Betty
Drama – Heroes
Actor – Zac Efron
Actor – Kyle Chandler
Actress – America Ferrera
Miniseries or Special – Planet Earth
Movie Musical – High School Musical 2
New Series – Pushing Daisies
Cable Series – Kyle XY
Reality – Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?
Favorite Newcomer – Zachary Levi

THE 9th ANNUAL FAMILY TELEVISION AWARDS is the only awards show that recognizes outstanding programming for family viewing. The awards are given by the members of the Association of National Advertisers.
With over 40 national advertiser members, the FFPF is taking positive steps to increase family friendly programming choices on television. Their mission is to support and promote the development of “family friendly” television across all programming genres between the hours of 8 and 10 p.m., when adults and children are most likely to watch television together.

An important element of this awards show is that part of the proceeds help fund scholarships to encourage student writers to consider family friendly themes. To date, 49 scholarships have been awarded to promising young scriptwriters.

Additional information about The Family Television Awards and other initiatives of the Forum can be found at www.ana.net/family.

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