Happy Ides of March, y’all! Time for another edition of Only in Jersey!
If it’s filming in Jersey, takes place in Jersey, or is about celebs from Jersey, you will find it here.
So, as expected last night, in the wake of revelations that contestant Jermaine Jones had a violent criminal past and several outstanding warrants for his arrest, “American Idol” kicked the Pine Hill native to the curb. During a sit-down with producers Nigel Lythgoe and Ken Warwick in the episode, Jermaine said he had a reason why he didn’t divulge his run-ins with the law. “I just was scared, nervous,” he revealed. “I didn’t want to get judged, I didn’t want to get penalized for anything that happened in the past.” And while the producers said they would’ve worked with him had he been honest from the get-go, to find out about it after the fact was unacceptable. “We are not allowed to have anybody that has an outstanding warrant against them on the program and you’ve got four of them against you,” Nigel told Jermaine. The segment concluded with a rehearsal clip of Jermaine singing “Somewhere Out There.” It was a sad finish to a promising start. But perhaps Jermaine will find that New Jersey is the “somewhere out there, out where dreams come true.”
Dr. Jennifer Melfi may have been primarily concerned with the health of her psychiatric patient, Tony Soprano, in ‘The Sopranos,” but her alter ego, actress Lorraine Bracco, has made her own health a top priority. And she has her late parents to thank for it.
Lorraine Bracco signed copies of her memoir, "On the Couch," during her appearance in Martinsville, NJ, on Feb. 19./ Photos by Ava Gacser
“I don’t want to put off anything until it’s too late like they did,” Lorraine confessed to a crowd of about 250 during a Somerset Medical Center program entitled “Talking about Your Heart!” held on Feb. 19 at the Martinsville Inn.
“I want to be healthy,” she said, adding that she quit smoking years ago. “I want to do whatever it takes me to enjoy my children and my future grandchildren.”
Lorraine lost both her mother and father to heart-related diseases within 11 days of one another in November 2010. That time – and the many months of illness leading up to it – was a “huge roller coaster ride” for her.
Ava Gacser is a freelance writer in Central New Jersey. She is a former television columnist and features writer for several Gannett-owned daily newspapers in New Jersey.
Ava is an avid couch potato with a special affinity for reality TV, and she can't believe how many shows feature New Jersey residents!
She was a member of the Television Critics Association from 2005 to 2010.
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