Although Simon Cowell is usually difficult to impress, one contestant on UK's 'The X Factor' managed to blow away the judge. 27-year-old Danyl Johnson hit the stage with an energetic performance of The Beatles' 'With a Little Help from My Friends.'

Cowell smiled and clapped during the audition, finally giving a standing ovation.

"That was single-handedly the best first audition I have ever heard," Cowell said. "He could be one of the best contestants we've ever had," Cowell added.

X FACTOR 2009 WEEK 1 - DANYL JOHNSON
by littlemisssoccer

'View' Star Sherri Shepherd Drops 41 Lbs.

According to the latest cover of OK! Magazine, Sherri Shepherd has "lost 41 pounds, dropped 10 dress sizes and cut 10 inches off her 5′1″ frame." During her intense four week overhaul, 'The View' co-host hired a trainer and changed her diet completely.

While she admits she still has a long way to go, she's happy with her current figure. "Yes, my thighs still rubbed together, my arms still had some jiggle, my sides still had some spillover... I didn't look like Kim Kardashian, but I felt good." Shepherd said.

New Heart Fuels Strongman's Hopes

Jim Murphy, 29, might not even be alive right now. But thanks to a 2007 heart transplant, he has bounced back from a dangerous health crisis and plans to compete Saturday in the Massachusetts State Strongman Championship, a contest he won three times before heart disease set in.

The Boston Globe chronicles how Murphy has triumphed over a condition that almost ended his days as an athlete.

In 2005, Murphy was preparing for a strongman competition in Las Vegas when he got winded doing a simple chore for a friend. Later that year, he began feeling dizzy and out of breath. When he went for tests, doctors told him he may have had at least one heart attack. His heart was enlarged, had a huge blood clot and was failing.

So they put him on medication and installed a pacemaker. But in 2007, Murphy's pacemaker quit, and his kidneys and lungs began to fail. Doctors put him on a list to receive a heart transplant. Days later, he got the news that he would receive the heart of a young man who had been killed in a car accident.

Murphy was back lifting weights within three months after the surgery. "It's like nothing ever happened to me," Murphy said. But he can't drink alcohol or eat salt, and he must take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of this life.
His doctors say he's now in perfect health. But it's unclear how long that will last because scientists don't have much data on how long transplanted hearts last.

Murphy plans to marry in August 2010, and he hopes to win his strongman title back. He is preparing to compete in the state strongman championship Saturday, but if he loses, defeat probably won't sting like it once did.

"It's a miracle, really," he said. "I shouldn't even be here.’"

Read the full story on boston.com it's truly inspiring!

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2009/08/04/at_29_strongman_competitor_is_fueled_by_grit_glory_and_a_new_heart/?page=1

LeAnn Caught in the Act (of Golfing)

After splitting with their respective spouses, LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian have taken their budding romance out in the open.

The pair, who allegedly had an affair on the set of their made-for-TV movie 'Northern Lights,' were seen golfing together in Valencia, CA.

Both Cibrian and his wife Brandi Glanville and Rimes and her husband Dean Shermet split about a month ago.

Before the splits, rumors of a relationship between the 'Northern Lights' co-stars followed both marriages.

This is just one big HOT MESS! I mean come on. After months of denials and the like.

Producers 'Not Aware' of Reality Star's Violent Past

The production company behind one of the reality shows that featured Ryan Jenkins, now wanted as a suspect in the murder of his wife Jasmine Fiore, says that in the future it intends to be more careful in its screening process.

"51 Minds was not aware of Ryan Jenkins's record when it cast him on Megan Wants a Millionaire. Obviously, if the company had been given a full picture of his background, he would never have been allowed on the show," says the statement.

"The company did have in place what it thought was a thorough vetting process that involved complete background checks by an outside company for all contestants on its shows. Clearly, the process did not work properly in this case. 51 Minds is investigating what went wrong and taking steps to ensure that this sort of lapse never occurs again."

Jenkins, 32, remains at large and is believed to have crossed the border into his native Canada.

Forgive me for not believing them but WTF? I mean come on they are suppose to run background checks on these people so you mean to tell me that his past legal problems of abuse from Canada didn't show up? No, what happened here is that they either 1) Got that information and failed to take it into consideration or act upon it because they wanted "ratings" or 2) The information was on the report BUT someone in the casting process disregarded it. I hear that he's suppose to be on "I Love Money 3" as well. Guess if that's the case they will have to either re-shoot or run a disclaimer when it eventually airs.

Did Pauly Shore REALLY 'Pull a Bale?'

New footage from MovieSet of 'Bio-Dome' star Pauly Shore pulling a Christian Bale-style freakout on the set of his new movie has us scratching our heads. When producers are heard chatting on-set, the actor loses his cool, shouting profanities and demanding, "Have you ever been on a movie set before?" Shore has used a hoax for publicity before. Watch the video below (WARNING: strong language) and decide for yourself.

Heather Locklear In Talks to Reprise Melrose Place Role

Earlier this month, an exec on the CW’s new Melrose Place announced that “the door is always open” for Heather Locklear to return.

Now, it looks like Locklear is taking a tentative step toward her old address. PEOPLE has learned that the actress is now in talks to possibly reprise her role as the conniving ad exec Amanda Woodward on the upcoming revamp of the popular ’90s series.
Locklear, 47, would join a cast that includes original series stars Laura Leighton, Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett and Daphne Zuniga, as well as new addition Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.

“We’re huge fans of hers,” executive producer Todd Slavkin said of Locklear during the CW’s portion of the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour. The most important criteria for inviting alumni back, he said, was: “Does it feel organic? Does it not feel contrived? That’s really what’s important to us.”

The CW and Locklear’s rep declined to comment on the reported talks. And no word on whether another famous face from the original show — say, Jack Wagner, who played her lover, Dr. Peter Burns — might also be back to share screen time with Locklear, his real-life girlfriend of more than two years. – Alexis Chiu

Would you like to see Peter and Amanda reprise their roles on the new Melrose Place? I know that I would just LOVE to see Heather Locklear back as vixen Amanda Woodward. And who knows, if Melrose Place 2.0 works out perhaps CW could redo Model's Inc; and give it a treatment that it never got on FOX.