News Round-up

Top 10 Blogs for Soap Fans
I was asked to be a "guest author" on blogs.com and name the top soap blogs. My choices are listed in alphabetical order.

Michael Rady cast in MELROSE pilot
Michael Rady, who starred in both GREEK and SWINGTOWN, is the first actor to sign on for The CW's remake of MELROSE PLACE. Rady will play Jonah Miller, a cute and quirky 25-year-old aspiring filmmaker who films weddings and bar mitzvahs.

INTERVIEW: Y&R's Sharon Case (Sharon)
"It’s stress that causes her to do weird things and panic. These are really extreme circumstances, where people can blank out or do things unlike themselves, or freak out. They even could go blind, temporarily. I heard someone who was having a nervous breakdown got hysterical blindness in real life. I know of people who have gone blind from stress or illness, and things can happen temporarily to you. With Sharon, she does not remember moments of time, here and there."

GL's Stunt Coordinater does "Hamlet"
In preparation for Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School's Performing Arts upcoming production of "Hamlet," acting students were given "hands on" combat instruction by internationally acclaimed Fight Choreographer Rick Sordelet.

Sordelet was delighted to take a break from his busy schedule to be a guest artist for the highly touted Performing Arts Honors Program at the school.

He was the stunt coordinator for the films The Game Plan, Dan in Real Life and Hamlet and is the chief stunt coordinator for GUIDING LIGHT.

MY Sun's Top 10 Soap Stars
Readers of The Sun voted on their favorite UK soqp stars.

BBC's first ever all-black episode of EASTENDERS watched by 8.4million viewers
The show which included references to civil rights leader Martin Luther King and racism showed an increase of over one million viewers in comparison to last Tuesday's episode. And this week the show was up against Champions League football on ITV1 rather than it's usual ratings rival EMMERDALE.

Charlie Brooks "blessed" to be back on EASTENDERS
EASTENDERS star Charlie Brooks (Janine) has said she feels "blessed" to be back on the soap. The 27-year-old actress returned to Albert Square at the end of last year after almost five years away from the show.

Charlie said on THIS MORNING: "I'm so happy. I feel blessed to have a job in the current economic climate and things are falling into place for me. I love the EastEnders cast. I was 17 when I first joined and a lot has changed since then, but Janine is still as fun to play."

Television's quiet gray revolution
For years the all-consuming emphasis on reaching adults under 50 has imposed dictatorial constraints on TV casting, prompting a Logan's Run-like effect that expunged older performers. Look closely, though, and you'll notice a new wave of dramas is producing what amounts to a mini grey revolution, virtually waged on the sly.