Recently the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced that it has approved a new Emmy Award category for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. The competitive shoe will be on the other foot when the hosts battle it out with each other at the 2008 Emmy Awards. The category is open to hosts only so "reactive participants or judges" are not eligible to receive the award (sorry, Paula Abdul.)

Hosting is no easy task: each week these women help us wade through the competitive waters of posing, food plating, dating and hem lines. Let’s hope that some of these ladies have a chance at Emmy gold when they go up against some of the already assumed male nominees (I’m talking to you, Seacrest.)

Padma Lakshmi

Cookbook author, model, recent Hot 100 listmaker, and an ambassador for the United Nations Development Fund for Women: what is not to love about Padma Lakshmi? The TV host of Bravo’s Top Chef has the dutiful tasks of explaining elimination challenges and sitting at judges table critiquing the creations of talented chefs each week. A typical day for Padma may include discerning which tastes better: braised and grilled beef short ribs with mushrooms or a truffle and cognac cream macaroni and cheese? Talk about Sophie’s choice.

Padma balances respectability and likeability among the contestants despite having to be the one to deliver her signature send off to the ousted chefs each week: “Please pack your knives and go.” See, she even says “please.” What other host on reality TV has that kind etiquette? … continue reading

Generally, I see Fashion Week and events like it as nothing more than overpaid stick-people walking around in clothes I wouldn't want to be buried in. So the likelihood of me paying attention to anything related to the fashion industry is somewhere in the area of slim and none. (Sorry, Project Runway addicts; I've tried.)

However, thanks to Dorothy Snarker, about this time last year I stumbled across a fashion event I could learn to love. For the past five years, New York's Fashion Week has kicked off with the Heart Truth's Red Dress Collection. The event is designed to raise awareness about heart disease among women. And it involves beautiful ladies strutting their stuff in fabulous red dresses by some of the industry's top designers. Last year's celebs included a coy Kelly Ripa.

Kristin Chenoweth was there, with her little dog too.

This year's event, which took place on Feb. 1, included an equally stunning list of beautiful ladies. The group included some talented Latinas, a few singers you might have heard of, one L Word connection, a runway veteran in a skimpy little dress that came in a bag and a First Lady who can't tell red from white.

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