Reality Check
Seattle's LaBelle still has shot at 'Idol' title

By Pamela Sitt
Seattle Times staff reporter

	Garfield High student Leah LaBelle has been competing on "American Idol."
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Leah LaBelle (Vladowski) may be down but she's not out. The 17-year-old Garfield High student made the wild-card round on last night's "American Idol," giving her a second shot at the finals. She'll compete for one of four open spots to round out the final 12 in a 90-minute wild-card show Tuesday (8 p.m., KCPQ-TV).

Jasmine Trias and John Stevens were voted into the finals last night after round four of the contest.

Meantime, "Idol" fans looking for a weekend fix should try "Nashville Star" on the USA Network. You don't have to like country music to get addicted to this show, which kicks off its second season at 10 p.m. Saturday.

"It's the best talent show on TV," says co-creator H.T. Owens. "All of (the contestants) are better than anyone on 'American Idol' or anyone on 'Star Search.' "

Sure, he's biased, but what's not to love about a show that last year crowned "a pot-bellied guy with a mullet who happens to sing like an angel"? Buddy Jewell won a recording contract as last season's Nashville Star and topped the Billboard Country Albums chart with his self-titled debut.

Forever ... Not: Even the ratings giant that is "American Idol" couldn't save "Forever Eden," which proved less than tempting to viewers in its two-night premiere this week despite its popular lead-in.

We're hopeful that Fox will put these Adams and Eves out of their misery quickly, and then we'll no longer be subjected to lines like, "She may be racist and ignorant, but I still might have sex with her." Honestly, who needs a script?

Fabio-lous!: Comedy writers could not have dreamed up a better ending to NBC's "Average Joe: Hawaii." Former beauty queen Larissa Meek chose a handsome hunk over an Average Joe — no surprise there — in this week's finale. But wait, there's a twist!

Promos had been hinting for weeks at a scandalous secret in Meek's past. Was she divorced? Bisexual? Did she used to be a he?

No: She used to date ... Fabio!

Her new hunk — who said he wanted to be an actor when asked what he sought from this experience — promptly dumped her, leaving Meek to contemplate the irony while huddled on a couch in pink sweats.

	AP Sylvester Stallone hopes to duplicate The Donald's success with "The Contender."

This & that: The original "Average Joe," runner-up Adam Mesh from the first season, returns to NBC for a matchmaking special March 15.

MTV's "The Real World" heads to Philadelphia for its 15th season, with 24 episodes set to air in the fall.

The seven strangers-turned-roomies are currently cavorting on-air in San Diego.

NBC has ordered 32 new episodes — two seasons worth — of "The Apprentice," starring real-estate mogul Donald Trump.

Mark Burnett, the big-time producer behind "The Apprentice" and CBS' "Survivor," is now working on "The Contender," a reality show for NBC starring Sylvester Stallone and aspiring boxers (to apply, visit www.nbc.com).

Says Stallone: "I'm going to be Donald Thump."

Pamela Sitt: 206-464-2376 or psitt@seattletimes.com

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