DC FORUM Special: Here's To The 2010's

A Word From The Editor...
BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Today marks the 3,652nd and final day of the decade that began in 2010 and ends here on this New Year's Eve 2019... and to say that this second decade of the 21st century and third millennium would be more than just a simple understatement. It's been that kind of decade, just as it was with the first one that began when we rang in the year 2000 nineteen years ago this day, and we are only hours away (at least in the United States and North America) of ushering in the new year. And for those of us who spent our Friday nights watching TGIF, the memories of Barbara Walters saying, "This is 2020" will be all over the place as we begin the new year.

For me, I've had a chance to mature a bit into my thirties as a product of being an eighties' baby, and this decade has seen me make a progression into becoming more open in our technologically driven world of ours - fittingly enough for someone who calls Silicon Valley home. I've expanded my social media reach from just being a simple, small thing among my circle of friends that began on MySpace and then Facebook (and even to this day, becoming a friend on that account there remains "by invitation only"), to now having many channels for which I can communicate with a larger group of friends out there in this world. As we enter 2020 come midnight tonight, my social presence consists of Twitter (two accounts), Instagram, YouTube, SnapChat, Facebook, Periscope, Tumblr, Vimeo, TikTok, Twitch, Flickr, MySpace and many others.

Perhaps, the most important asset I have now is the place you're at right now in reading this. Seven years ago on the advice of one of my good friends in the Twitter sphere Andrew Kirk, I got to launch this very blog site, which at first was gonna be just a mere site on the web for someone who loves to write. Eventually, it's grown to become a gathering place for those who follow this fan's passion of watching MTV Reality television and whatever else I have on my mind around the world of pop culture... and you and I have shared many dates in nearly 1,100 of these posts of joining me here on DCBLOG to "See For Yourself." And recently, I've pursued another passion of mine of video production to have my own YouTube channel to showcase my skills in videography.

For what seems like the past three years or so, I have promoting at the end of this year that I would have a year-end Reality Debrief, something that in 2014, '15 and '16 would see me go from being a reporter to being a voice of a fan, and having Andrew on to talk MTV Reality at the end of the year. Despite all efforts, the planned 2017 and 2018 installments of the Debrief have yet to get off the ground, and I'm still holding out hope of one day getting on someone to discuss this MTV world from Invasion of two years ago right up to War of the Worlds 2 this year. Once I get things together, you'll know when our long-planned fan discussions will finally be posted on here... we hope it won't get to save it for the very last post we ever get to do here.

Instead, as we bid farewell to the 2010's today DCBLOG has been able to devote well over 1,000 posts related in a way to the MTV beat... no wonder why I look at it as the gold standard in this blogging sphere, and right up there with some of your favorite MTV podcasts as essential content for those in the fandom. I've spent thousands of hours in the last seven years perfecting all of these posts that covers this community and always fascinating world. You can't imagine all of the hard work I put into making this all happen, as I've been able to earn my stripes in pursuing this favorite hobby of mine - and no one works just as hard as I do. Obviously, there's nothing that I enjoy or makes me happy than being in my own element of offering this talent to all of you out there.

With that in mind, we'd thought about how we wanted to close up this decade... and felt that this small FORUM post was appropriate to put a bow on the 2010's. For us here at DCBLOG, we've always thought of ourselves as a supplementary site of sorts... yes, we've done traditional coverage with recapping episodes and offered opinions, previewed every season of major series we follow and review other shows on occasion, introduce so many newcomers to this world in our Who Are These Newbies? series, and brought you an all-access pass to a few of the season-ending reunions. The blog, as well as my YouTube, uphold my never-ending commitment to quality and excellence, and there's plenty of great content to come there. But two aspects of our wide-ranging coverage stand out the most, and has helped to give us our unique identity in this marketplace.

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore - Pride Week, and Mattie's Arrived!

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Instagram @GusSymrios

Welcome on back to the final SocialPulse post of both this year of 2019 and this decade of the 2010's. And while you might be relieved or bummed that another year in the fifth major pro sport has wrapped up, we're sure those of you in Challenge Nation will be well occupied now until we begin the ramp-up to Season 35: Jemmye just took over the Ex On The Beach winter cabin in joining Marlon and Nicole there, and a competitor from War of the Worlds earlier this year, Gus, and his show Floribama Shore providing some company for us now until then.

In the past two weeks, Mr. Gus Gus has found himself at the heart of the biggest storm to strike this group - fittingly enough during hurricane season in Florida, as a once tight bromance he's had with Jeremiah has dissipated out into the Atlantic Ocean. This comes after an explosive fight with the two a couple weeks back along with him breaking up with his girl back home... and last week we found more coming out of perhaps how flawed #JeriGus was - think, what happened to Adam & Ryan of AYTO Season 1 or Laurel & Cara as examples of who friendships can fall apart.

At the end of Week 5, another twist and a page right out of the Jersey Shore playbook: Gus deciding to spend a moment with Jeremiah's girl, Kristen, at the bar... it's something MVP and Ronnie like to call a "robbery." And this week, the tale with her doesn't end - guess what happens when she tries to become one of the girls in the house. It's Pride Week in SPB - which means the LGBT community is out in full force, and the housemates will get to meet up with a girl Gus to know so well on that Challenge season ten months ago, and returns to a familiar spot on Thursdays.

After the jump, it's Mattie's turn to take over Floribama Shore... thanks for joining us this Sunday.

DC SocialPulse: Ex On The Beach Peak of Love - "Boo Year's Eve"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Well, here we are: 2019's last weekend, and the final two installments of the DCBLOG SocialPulse of the 2010's... it makes us want to pinch ourselves saying that. Back in the first week of February, we had the perfect storm: a redemption season of The Challenge with War of the Worlds, the Floribama Shore cast's last dance in Panama City Beach, and two notable entrances: Kailah to Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club, and Angela to Season 2 of Ex On The Beach. And this week, another pair of epic entrances with those familiar to Challenge and MTV Reality fans as we mark the final week of our episode coverage of this explosive decade.

First, Ex On The Beach has been delighting us with its first winter-themed season in the five years of the global franchise as we get to cuddle with our loved ones during Cuffing Season at the Peak of Love. And last week, we had our second Fire Week - this show's take on AYTO's Getaway Date and the summertime Crush week, and the two Brits to come over from the UK to the American EOTB went on a lunch date... but Callum & Georgia's date was crashed by her ex from her 2018 series of Love Island UK, Niall. Marlon got heated in the chalet a bit during our first party of the winter, a UFO-themed extravegenza inspired by Storm Area 51 this past summer in the Las Vegas desert.

This week, it's our second Ice week, and the winter version of the summer Cut ceremony where one ex will have their time cut short a month into operations at the Peak - and things may get heated there among the most notable couple of our interest to this site. Two singles will find themselves fighting over that ex from an island overseas. But for the week's Ex entrant, you have to rewind a bit to the start of this very decade when she was packing to go what would be her home, and the Sauna of Secrets will await her and her ex over a mystery that brought them here... just as the house gets to celebrate New Year's Eve -- check that, "Boo Year's Eve."

All the action, reaction, and interaction of Week 4 of Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love awaits you here after the break. But first, love and the holidays are in the air as a pair of Challenge sweethearts decide it's time for them to officially become each other's perfect match right in time for Christmas. Thanks for joining us...

DC ExtraTime: AYTO Meets Lady Gaga

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

This past summer, it was the turn of The Hills to return to the MTV spotlight with New Beginnings, as fans welcomed back Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port, Heidi Montag & Spencer Pratt and their assorted friends & significant others, along with Tommy Lee's son Brandon and the lady whose show inspired its predecessor Laguna Beach, The O.C.'s Mischa Barton. Watching the drama unfold there brought us back in time of sorts to when we were ten or so years younger, and we were reminded also about the very place where this show is based: Hollywood and Southern California.

If you watched both the original series with Lauren Conrad (and later Kristin Cavaliari) and its relaunch, something was common: cameo appearances by some of the biggest stars in showbiz -- after all, you can't go anywhere in Tinseltown without perhaps random spotting your favorite stars. Both iterations of The Hills featured Audrina's one-time boyfriend Ryan Cabrera, while LC's passion for fashion saw her work with designer Marc Jacobs. Colton Haynes was seen modeling for Teen Vogue two times on the show before he starred on Teen Wolf, while a deleted scene emerged years ago of Kim Kardashian making a cameo. And two future reality stars -- Scheana Marie Shay and Tom Sandoval -- were spotted at a club and at a photo shoot before they became fixtures on Vanderpump Rules thanks to working for Real Housewife Lisa Vanderpump's SUR restaurant.

But perhaps, the single most significant guest appearance during the six-season original run of The Hills took place during Season 4 in 2008, and provided a harbinger of what was to come for music in the next decade. In Episode 5 of that season, a then up-and-coming singer named Lady Gaga took the stage at an event at Area club thrown by Interscope Records. People's Revolution boss lady Kelly Cutrone saw something about the rising star when Lauren and Whitney were working for her that night, and the ladies were backstage just before the Mother Monster went up on stage. Gaga needed some assistance moments before her big gig when the zipper on her catsuit broke, and LC had to come to her rescue to fix that suit before she performed "LoveGame" that night.

Fast forward over a decade later, and Gaga has become a megastar that everyone knows nowadays. It's remarkable considering how she got to earn her way to stardom singing at open mic nights in New York City, being in school adaptations of Broadway plays, working as a songwriter after Def Jam let her go after being signed out of school, and then getting Akon's help to sign with Interscope. A year after her Hills cameo, "Just Dance," "Poker Face" and her debut album The Fame shot Gaga into the stratosphere... and her provocative body of work, her striving to be anything but conventional in her music and being progressive in visualization has helped her to being the global star she is. She has amassed nearly 30 million records sold, almost 150 million sales of her singles and many records and awards - along with headlining a Super Bowl halftime and her own residency in Vegas. Plus, there's her growing acting career with A Star Is Born with Bradley Cooper, and the Hotel season of the American Horror Story franchise which netted her an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe Award. And she has long been an advocate for the LGBT community, and the foundation that bears the name of her song "Born This Way" has advocated in prevention in youth bullying.

IG @MaxGentile/@Ambaaa_

Gaga has also added the role of entrepreneur to the titles of singer, actress and advocate, including her beauty brand, Haus Laboratories. Earlier this fall, Haus launched its first, vegan-friendly makeup line on Amazon, which comprises of 40 products including liquid eyeliners and lip gloss, among other items. Haus and Amazon launched a temporary pop-up store at one of the Southland's most prominent shopping districts, The Grove in L.A., as she sported a dress designed by Christian Cowan, a pink ponytail, a custom headpiece curated by Marina Hoermanseder and wore ruby and pearl on her hand as she met the paparazzi and fans there at The Grove.

And two of those who were lucky enough to not only see her but also have a moment with the Monster was on this year's season of Are You The One? - the revolutionary season of the love experiment casting an all-LGBT friendly cast of sexually fluid singles. The most notable romance during this summer's season 8 of AYTO involved Ohio State grad turned EDM fanatic Max Gentile and a retired member of the armed forces, New Yorker Justin Palm. Max and fellow castmate, Amber Martinez, had the chance to meet up with Gaga at the Grove earlier this month, and Amber captioned in Instagram, "Such an honor to be in the presence of this iconic legend right here🥰." And Max added, "Gaga for President."  Next up for Gaga: her sixth studio album in 2020.

View this post on Instagram

Gaga for President

A post shared by Max (@maxgentile) on Dec 6, 2019 at 9:00am PST

View this post on Instagram

Such an honor to be in the presence of this iconic legend right here🥰

A post shared by ambaaa_ (@ambaaa_) on Dec 6, 2019 at 11:26am PST

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC ExtraTime: Before They Were MTV Stars - The Lighter Side of the Ninja

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

When fans look back on 2019 in The Challenge, they can think of this year as one of redemption. After the long, dragged out trilogy and the bitter taste of its last act on Final Reckoning last year, many longtime viewers were just about ready to move onto other things. But after the first & second installments of War of the Worlds, and both producing third titles for C.T. Tamburello and Jordan Wiseley and a popular rookie champion in Turabi "Turbo" Camkiran, we leave this year a little more satisfied with The Challenge than we were twelve months ago around the Christmas tree.

War of the Worlds represented, to a certain degree, a reboot for this show, and it & its sequel introduced us to a slew of people from outside the MTV system in continuing to stretch its wings beyond just its American borders. Those from Britain continued to pour into this show after debuting on Vendettas including that fascinating personality known as Bear, while the Big Brother universe expanded in the same year of CBS & Viacom's reunion as Season 19 champ Josh Martinez showed that you can be emotional as he is and still back it up to be a consistent contender.

This year's female Challenge rookie contingent saw promise for this next generation: Georgia Harrison went from being on Love Island to be a finalist on WOTW1 and also put up a good sophomore season. Someone who competed with her in the final this spring, Mattie Lynn Breaux, will join fellow rookie Challenger Gus Smyrnios and the rest of his southern mates tonight on Floribama Shore. And another woman who made it all the way not just there in Namibia was also the only rookie of that season to get another crack at the cash on WOTW2 in Thailand.

It's because of The Challenge's winningest player as far as rings are concerned, Johnny Bananas, and him trying his luck at the most treacherous obstacle course on television for his first season hosting NBC's 1st Look, that the MTV fanbase opened their eyes to American Ninja Warrior. An alum of two seasons of ANW and a few spinoffs of the franchise, Natalie "Ninja" Duran, competed with Georgia, Mattie, Turbo, Cara Maria, Hunter, Theo and Wes in what was called the toughest final ever on the show, and she was the only female to make it to the end despite not cashing in 4th place.

Ninja made quite a mark in her two seasons competing on The Challenge, and she knew that she had to adjust to a whole new mindset being in the house itself, in addition to doing what she does best and compete. She was part of the fall's most-memorable elimination when she and Laurel went toe to toe in a closely contested battle that, for a moment, thought that the one-time queen of one-on-one battles had won... only for receipts to prove that Ninja had gotten the puzzle correct - and she won. And Ninja then made it to the WOTW2 final on an U.S. team with Ashley, Cara, Kam, Leroy, Paulie and Zach, though they fell short of the top prize to the Brits... though she no doubt felt happy for the one she grew with the strongest being part of the winning side in fellow Asian Dee Nguyen.

The Look: MTV's No Filter - Tana Turns 21

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

On two occasions here, DCBLOG has featured the most viled pair of brothers in the world of social media and the global platform known as YouTube. In December 2018, Jake Paul invited some friends over for a $10,000 made-for-YT game of trying to be the longest to stay in a tub full of Icy Hot, and the one who outlasted him and everyone else was Taylor Selfridge from Are You The One? Season 5 and Ex On The Beach Season 1, and now a mom in waiting with MTV king Cory Wharton. And midway through The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2, we featured his older brother, Logan, when during the press tour of his recent boxing rematch with rival YouTuber KSI in London, he ran an eventual champion of that just-concluded season, two-series EOTB alum Rogan O'Connor.

The Paul brothers have earned a reputation for creating videos that are always must-see viewing, wild antics that have attracted tabloid attention, and being two of the biggest stars in the world of viral videos and social influencers. Often times, it's controversy that brings in the buzz for both Jake and most particularly Logan, but nothing seems to have totally brought them down... anything from two attempts to create a supergroup of social influencers under their wing under the banner of "Team 10," to those two fights. And this past summer, Jake brought his talents to MTV for a new venture, but only as the supporting act to the person who was the subject of so much attention during what was the biggest moment in this viral world this year -- and it happens to involve his girlfriend turned wife.

Tana Mongeau was born during the heat of a typical Las Vegas summer in June 1998 and spent her childhood, adolescence and early part of her adult life in the desert. But it wasn't almost three years ago this winter that she would become known for the first time when, already having been a vlogger on YouTube for two years and where her "Storytime" bits have become her signature series, she posted a controversial video addressing the time when a person she was on tour with, fellow YouTuber iDubbbz, uttered the N-word in front of her, and was forced to say sorry on her channel weeks later - both garnering a cumulative total of 10 million views. And it was during this time that she was being investigated by the feds after someone supposedly hacked into her email accounts about a possible terrorist plot at McCarran International Airport in Vegas.

On Memorial Day 2018, Tana announced her own convention, TanaCon, taking place simultaneously with what is the most prestigious conference in the video tech community, VidCon, in Anaheim, CA outside Disneyland. The beef she had with VidCon (now owned by ViacomCBS) was that she was snubbed and restricted in past events and proceeded to go on her own and invited Shane Dawson, Casey Neistat and other influencers for TanaCon. But when thousands of people came to the door the weekend of June 22-23, they endured hours of standing in the 80° heat and with a lack of food & water... and the sunburn, dehydration and one being hospitalized turned this event into another Fyre Fest, and the immense criticism led to lawsuits and an apology from the organizer herself.

Tana's life outside the vlogging circle has seen her date notable exes: rapper Lil Xan who dated her for some time (and who later dated Noah Cyrus and now YouTuber Gabby Parsons, as well as having had a pregnancy scare last year), then teen pop star, actress and model Bella Thorne during the ordeal of TanaCon and continued for two years, and she had a few months' affair with Justin Bieber lookalike Brad Sousa before she began dating Jake. And Tana, like the Pauls, has also released music in having released several singles during this same time frame... one which has seen her YouTube videos be viewed over 921 million times by her 7 million subscribers (on two channels) there, plus nearly 5 million followers on Instagram and almost 2 million on Twitter.

Last year, Viacom's Digital Studios unit made Tana the subject of a new reality series created solely for MTV's YouTube channel entitled, MTV No Filter: Tana Turns 21, and where cameras will get to follow her and her friends through life as a vlogger, in the studio, partying like rockstars and the ultimate of all transitions for anyone in their twenties: becoming adults. The series' synopsis reads, "Viewers and fans will get to follow Tana through friendships and struggles as she takes on the next phase of her life. She just turned 21 in June and celebrated her birthday with a shocking public engagement to fellow YouTube creator Jake Paul. From learning how to drive and launching her own line of merch to starring on MTV's Wild 'N Out and now becoming a Featured Creator at VidCon, there’s never a dull moment."

The summer begins for her trying to rebuild her reputation in the community post-TanaCon, along with some personal demons in having endured those bad breakups. But it's when she finds her rebound guy in Jake and her getting her boobs pierced that roommate, Ashly, may worry that she may have found the wrong man. It takes some time but ultimately Tana & Jake get engaged, then decide a wedding date and add in a twist: an agreement on the legality of their nuptials - hence, the immense scrutiny that surrounded them all summer long right until they got to say their "I do's" in front of family, friends and a record streaming audience to everything that goes down on wedding night - and yes, that includes that fight.

But along with the main event, the undercard events include her 21st birthday... but like what has been the case at any big party in Siesta Key, no party can take place without drama going down: she and Jake get into it over the invitation list. And after the mess of the previous two years, the organizers that realize that the made a huge mistake of not realizing how big she has become in this world, and is named a Featured Creator at the 2019 convention. Those events and more are chronicled in Season 1 of Tana Turns 21... and the entire season is embedded below to binge on.

DC ExtraTime: Tyranny Goes On A "Blind Date"

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We are a few weeks into Season 4 of the American version of MTV's global dating franchise, Ex On The Beach, and for the first time in any variation of the series, the backdrop is not a sandy beach in a tropical paradise and its stars are not doing tanning beneath the sun in their swimwear. In time for "cuffing season," the New Zealand resort town of Queenstown is the venue for the franchise's first winter-themed season, Peak of Love... and so far, this winter playground has seen familiar MTV faces join some of reality TV's most well-known personalities -- two newbies from Britain -- for a winter break in the snow gone bad - at least for a few of them this early on in the winter.

It was at this time in December 2016 that the cast of Are You The One? Season 5 were anticipating the launch of their season. But while the entire cast (twenty-two in total, more than the usual number of 20) were interacting with us on social media ahead of their season, they also had to make sure to carefully hide the fact of the enigma that they've had to live with since they left the matchup patio in the Dominican Republic: the heartbreak of being AYTO's only cast to lost the game for not aligning the entire house with all the perfect matches that would win them love and money. But as it turns out, with a two-time Challenge finalist in Kam Williams, a baby coming for Taylor Selfridge and many other achievements since then, they've been able to move on past that infamous moment just fine.

The arrival to our shores of Ex On The Beach from the UK and overseas not only brought a new wave of competitors to The Challenge and a spot of premiering after the relaunch of Jersey Shore, it's also represented another chance at love for those who we've enjoyed on MTV. This very fact is most especially true for Taylor's AYTO5 cast with Derrick Henry (now a bonafide dating show star), Alicia Wright and Andre Siemers on the first season, and Shannon Duffy on Season 3 earlier this year.

Tyranny Todd is now the sixth person from her AYTO5 cast to get a second chance at romance on our MTV screens - and who we last saw her get into it with Alicia on the reunion after they lost $800 grand on national TV. But in a year where romantic reality programming has become a buzz word in the TV industry this year, you probably don't know that her trip to Ex On The Beach is actually her third time being on a reality dating show.

In the prelude to her trip up to the Peak, a few weeks before her MTV return Tyranny had a chance to go for love again on a series that actually predates most of the romantic love-fests we've been enjoying this year, and one that began its run when she was a kid growing up in Augusta, GA two decades ago. For the start of this tale, you have to go back to when to when dates among people who've never even met before became more just than a local activity.

DC On Sport: Dubs on Parade

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

At the end of the 'Pulse of The Challenge: War of the Worlds 2 Reunion on Saturday, this blogger gave out a tease of someone munching on some chips... but it's not just anyone even me who loves to go snacking everyday. It happens to be the co-host of that very reunion and the man who sat next to Justina Valentine to all the fireworks of the last act of this Challenge decade. And this post goes to press in a week of significance in his favorite sport where it plays a slate of high-profile games on Christmas Day including its season debut on free, over-to-air network television.

It's no secret that I am a huge sports fan, and that the one sport I gravitate to more is basketball and the NBA... and like those here it's the Golden State Warriors that are my top hoops team. Despite my Olympics love affair, hoops has been the preferred sport in my household before I was even born, and it dates back to when my parents moved to America from the Philippines where basketball was and still is their preferred team sport in the nation that gave the world Manny Pacquiao. The first sporting event I ever attended was a Warriors preseason game in 1993 when Chris Webber made his home debut, and two succeeding times I went up to the Town I got to watch LeBron in action in his first stint with the Cavs in 2006 (and went to a strip club after the game) and during the Dubs' historic win streak the same night Ronda Rousey got knocked out four years ago.

Those of us here in the Bay Area have had it all good with the Giants' World Series run at the start of this decade, and it may be the case again with the 49ers returning to prominence with, perhaps, the road to the Super Bowl for the NFC may go through Levi's next month. You can imagine that I was over the moon excited when the Warriors won it all in 2015, devastated by that Cavs comeback the following year after that 73-9 regular season, and redeemed with KD leading the Dubs back the following two seasons. Those of us, Warriors fans, had nothing much to cheer about for a long time -- and in a way, what we're going through right now is a rough stretch. But thanks in part to the investments the team's new ownership group of Joe Lacob & Peter Guber, GM Bob Myers, bringing in Steve Kerr as coach, and forming a team built around Stephen Curry, the Warriors finally became a power in the NBA to give it top billing in where we live.

While it's one thing just to watch and celebrate with your friends a hometown team winning a title, it's another to go to a victory celebration a few days after they hoist the trophy and spray champagne in the locker room. It's there that you really get the full sense of what it's like to be in the euphoria of a championship, and it's a measure of how sports can unite a city and its surrounding communities. For the largest gathering of people in America in the modern era, it was three years ago that five million people lined the streets of Chicago when the Cubs celebrated their first World Series title in 108 years. Three million New Englanders came together to revel in the Red Sox's historic World Series triumph twelve years earlier, where both that and the Cubs' drought-ending titles were headed by GM whiz Theo Epstein. And of course, there are the many ticker-tape parades that take place in New York City when teams there win a title.

Last year for the 2018 Warriors championship, I got to cross off an item off my bucket list when I took a day off from work to join my sister, cousins, brother-in-law and a few relatives to take the trek up north from the South Bay (where I live) up to Oakland to attend the Golden State Warriors' victory parade after they won their third NBA title in four years and the back-end of back-to-back crowns. Like many others, we stood in the crowd all during the morning and early afternoon to watch the Warriors parade and see the players and well-known's go passing by us, and got to live through this unique experience that I got to see first-hand for the first time. For anyone who lives and breathes sports as much as I do, typically the local teams matter more than any other... and it should be on any fan's bucket list to experience one of these parades at least once in your lives.

I got to take video of this celebration which I then uploaded onto my YouTube channel during the offseason of what would be the last of those three NBA titles for the Dubs. That includes the man who hosted the War of the Worlds 2 reunion in Nick "Swaggy P." Young, and we've put his video last because of what my cameras caught with him that you'll want to stick around the entire post for. Enjoy...

DC SocialPulse: Floribama Shore - "Bro-ke Up"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

These past seven days in MTV Reality have seen us say farewell to a decade of Challenges with Zach & Jenna getting engaged in front of the Rockefeller Christmas tree, Alex become the first in Siesta Key to become a dad, some fireworks on the Teen Mom reunion, and the British couple having their date interrupted on Ex On The Peak. But the week's most explosive drama went down not on the War of the Worlds 2 reunion, but down in Florida... and that's where we bring you the Pulse now of Floribama Shore, where one of those who we saw on WOTW 1 is one-half of this week's overarching talking point.

So far this winter, we've had a long-distance relationship go the way of the dinosaur, one roommate leave temporarily for tonsils surgery, a graduation party and a new way of puking inside the taxi... and obviously, there's the new digs and surroundings of our favorite southerners in St. Pete Beach outside Tampa Bay. But last week, things began to unravel for this always tight house: Gus returning to him being single and the always present presence of Nilsa making for some old feelings in the house. But it's when she brought a guy back home from a night out at the bar and the clubs that now have seen the first true test of what true relationships can be for any group of friends turned family.

When you look around the whole MTV Shore franchise, history may suggest that it's not officially a series in this global ecosystem without having a fight take place in the house itself. At the end of last week, two guys who became close in the first two summers and who then moved in afterwards out in Arizona went down a path that no one expected when they left Panama City Beach, but is something that two guys from an original MTV cast can relate to very much. And while the ladies and the other two guys not involved in the drama both watch and then look to separate themselves from the biggest fireworks to ever hit the house, it's safe to say this house and the dynamic of this group will never ever be the same again.

After the jump, a bromance breaks up in the Sunshine State, as DCBLOG bring you the Pulse of Week 4 of Floribama Shore from SPB...

DC SocialPulse: Ex On The Beach Peak of Love - "De Niall Is Not Just an Ex"

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Welcome back... as we speak to you here on this Saturday, December 21st - the home nation of our newest female Challenge champ, Australia is experiencing the longest day of the year as attention down under is on the oppressive heatwave that's triggered immense wildfires in most of the country as the firefighting efforts rage on. On the opposite end of the spectrum, in the Northern Hemisphere this day is the winter solstice - the longest night of the year just four days before Christmas... and in that spirit, Ex On The Beach's winter-themed Peak of Love season is in full swing.

The Peak opened for business at the start of the month and saw a girl rested from her Challenge upset loss in elimination, Laurel, turn her attention to dealing with her ex, Nicole. And last week, they were given the first passes up the stairs in Chalet EOTB to what is known in the summer version of this show as the Shack of Secrets, but here is the Sauna of Secrets. There, the news was spilled to them of the firefighter's affair with Allie to begin this winter and that will only complicate things with her and them the rest of the way. Oh, there was the first elimination week of the winter in Ice Week where Callum's ex was the first to get the boot, and Daniel's ex Sydney came in from Vancouver and they had a most interesting backyard date.

This week, the alternating order of operations sees Fire Week go back into the offerings for one of the singles to go on the getaway Hot Date, and for that British chap that may represent more time for him & our resident Islander to get to know each other... but even here, no one is exempt from getting a surprise in Ex land, even with our shift up to the mountains. The resident Real Worlder is catching the attention of multiple exes and one of them is definitely not happy about it as another ex comes into the Chalet. And we also have the first installment of what is always an anticipated part of every Ex On The Beach season: the house party... and for the first one of this winter, think of one of the big things that happened in this year of 2019.

After the jump, the 'Pulse of Week 3 of Ex On The Beach: Peak of Love... plus more on two sets of MTV lovebirds having a baby and an engagement ring. Thanks for joining us...

DC SocialPulse: The Challenge War of the Worlds 2 - The Reunion

*** Advisory: DC SocialPulse contains adult language, objectionable content & spoilers for some readers. Viewer Discretion is Advised. Due to its length, take frequent eye breaks if you're reading this top to bottom. ***

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Hello again and welcome to the 172nd & last installment of the DCBLOG Challenge SocialPulse of the 2010's - one that began for us with Rivals II. For you fans in Challenge Nation, these ten years began in Canada, ended in Thailand and have seen so many twists and turns along the way in the sixteen seasons (and three mini ones) since Fresh Meat II. Out of hundreds of competitors, 29 different champions were crowned on both the regular series and the Champs vs. Stars/Pros mini trilogy in nineteen different countries, including those from four different nations relishing in the champagne in the last two seasons alone. And the winners & finalists on the sixteen normal seasons have pocketed just over $8 million in prize money, plus donations of nearly a half-million to charity in the friendly battles with athletes & celebs.

War of the Worlds 2 wrapped up last week with a result that was definitely unlikely at the season's midway point: after a strong regular season, perhaps on paper it would become a foregone conclusion that Team USA with Ashley, Cara Maria, Paulie, Leroy, Kam, Ninja and Zach would just steamroll the Brits en route to the $1 million. But the mid-season game-changer of two of their own being turncoats turned things around for a seemingly underhanded Team UK, and Jordan and Tori joined CT, Dee and Rogan for the 2-day marathon to the money. Paulie's gas-out on Day 1 was emblematic of the Americans having too many players on their side, and the Brits took advantage of having two of the season's strongest competitors to ultimately take down the win. With that, CT wins his third Challenge in the same nation where he won his first two; Jordan also accomplishes his own triple crown, while sophomores Dee and Rogan collect their first.

All that's left to do in this Challenge decade is to recap and discuss this season with Champs vs. Stars alum Justina Valentine and NBA Champ Nick "Swaggy P" Young, once again taking place across the pond in London. From betrayals and blowups, to hookups and the competition itself, no stone will be left untouched. After the jump, the Pulse of this last act of War of the Worlds 2, so join us...

Who Are These Newbies? - Ex On The Beach Peak of Love: The Brits

Reposted in Shorter Form from Original Post on Thursday

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

♥ GEORGIA STEEL - Love Island UK 🇬🇧

This year, Love Island became a true global TV phenomenon when CBS debuted the series in the U.S. over the summer and joined reality powerhouses Big Brother, Survivor and Amazing Race in its roster. In Britain, the original iteration of this franchise gave us War of the Worlds finalists Georgia Harrison & Theo Campbell and a rookie on WOTW2, Idris Virgo. Next on its docket is its first series to air during the British winter next month when South Africa hosts Love Island 5 during the heat of their summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and one of its most successful alumni (and Idris' fellow Islander from that summer of 2018) is its first representative to go from Islander to going onto the Beach, no less the first one from overseas to come to America and its own EOTB.
   Georgia Steel grew up in Thirsk, a small neighborhood in North Yorkshire in the Northwest of England, where she balanced studies of entering the acting world at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London with working as a waitress at the Chelsea location of UK nightclub brand Popworld. She was in a three-year relationship starting at age 15 until going to college in the capital became too much to handle a long-distance affair. Georgia described herself as being a "party animal" who calls her bottom her "best asset" along with her natural lips and eyes, and she's used her Instagram to best show off her outfits of the day both by the pool and before a club night.
   When it comes to relationships, Georgia's ideal date night would be of going out for a drink and then heading to the club... and after having a bad date at a seafood restaurant she will want to make sure to check that menu of the kind of food she and him would like. But she's also one who doesn't like guys who are cringy: "Cringy really turns me off. I like someone who's real and treats me like a lady. I also like someone who is manly, protective and fun. It’s good if they have a bit of banter about them." But most importantly, Georgia touts loyalty as her best attribute, something that she had to deal with after her biological dad, British horse racing jockey Rodney Lappin, divorced from her mom when she was age 4, and she told The Sun that her parents' separation had an impact on how she handles both her love life and herself.

   It was in drama school that, according to her mom Sharon, that she was begged by the teachers themselves to audition for Love Island in which, "It's a good stepping stone for Georgia, It's the best opportunity." And her daughter was chosen for Series 4 of Love Island UK in summer 2018, but she arrived in the Balearic Islands and the famed villa later than the first set of singles who came to Spain, as the first two newbies during the summer's first week and one of four to have gone to college. And she looked to reverse fortunes after dating someone well known but it's best to keep it all inside: "I went on a date with someone famous – but a girl doesn’t tell her secrets. He was quite into me. But I let that go. All I'll say is they had famous relatives. I'm very out there but when it comes to my private life I’m quite reserved."

   Once she moved in on Day 4, a public vote saw one of her two exes this winter, Niall Aslam of Coventry in the West Midlands, go on a date with Georgia and they stayed together in the first re-coupling ceremony until he quit the following week. She then coupled with Londoner and eventual 3rd place finisher Josh Denzel in Week 2 before he got close to a makeup artist & eventual final partner Kazimir Crossley. That helped bring together Georgia with her other EOTB ex, Sam Bird from Norwich in East Anglia, and they went on dates with other islanders (including one week involving that aforementioned Idris) the following two weeks. When Week 7 came along, Georgia and Sam were apart in the villa and were thrown a twist of not being allowed to pick each other in that week's recoupling... but when they did not choose other islanders both Georgia & Sam were dumped two weeks from the end, and it was the start to their magical but later doomed relationship - more on that when he comes to New Zealand.

Who Are These Newbies? - Ex On The Beach Peak of Love: Bachelor & Botched

Reposted in Shorter Form from Original Post on Thursday

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

♥ DANIEL MAGUIRE - The Bachelorette & Bachelor in Paradise 🇨🇦

In the MTV lens, Canada has given us plenty of good stuff from across the border: 2-time Challenge champ (and 1/3 of JEK) Evan Starkman, Are You The One? funnyman turned YouTube chef Zak Longo of Season 3, and the foursome who popularized the bucket list in the cast of 2010 series The Buried Life. A competitor on last season's War of the Worlds, Torontoian Shaleen Sutherland, was the lone Canadian in Africa, but she's far from being the most well-known Canadian suitor in the entire Bachelor Nation that spans almost 40 total seasons in America and many more overseas.
   Another Challenger from earlier this year, Chase McNary, was on the first EOTB season two years after JoJo Fletcher rejected him on the last getaway date of her Bachelorette season... so did "Bad" Chad Johnson on Ex 2 the season after and the fireworks he brought to his time going for roses. Their Bachelorette season also included Siesta Key's biggest newcomer Robby Hayes (by way of his fling with queen Juliette Porter), the one who won JoJo's heart Jordan Rodgers (for whom he & her host Paramount Network's Battle of the Fittest Couples), and the third Bachelorette to get chosen for Ex On The Beach.. and who like his predecessors also went for love on Bachelor in Paradise.
   From the same region where Laurel, Cara Maria and the Fresh Meat 2 class got their initiation, Daniel Maguire grew up north of Vancouver in Lions Bay, British Columbia to eventually become a model, personal trainer and bodybuilder with a psychology degree. In his original bio, he named "honesty, experienced and friendly" as his best attributes and doesn't see himself as a romantic, though he make up for it in having "good manners and do little things which a girl would love," which includes being a good cook. Daniel is also humbled by two life-changing events: ten years ago, his dad was paralyzed in a mountain bike crash, followed four years later by his son getting into a near fatal motorcycle dust-up of his own. That experience told him to do what he can to live life to its fullest, including enjoying everything B.C. has to offer, and having spent three years living & traveling overseas including trips to Africa, South America and Asia - and who on the move again out of country as this EOTB season begins airing back home in North America.
   In deciding to jump at the chance to experience something new, fun and to fall in love, Daniel made quite an impression on Bachelor Nation almost from when he moved into the Villa De La Vina that summer of 2016. It all started when he entered the house in a dark outfit, then proceeded to strip it all off and jump into the pool, making for an awkward but most entertaining start to his Bachelorette campaign. Of course, who can forget the bromance Daniel had with Chad in him being Bad Chad's only ally in the Villa... but that all dissipated when a mention of a ruthless dictator in front of the resident pot stirrer hastened their demise as fast as any Bachelor romance (or to put it in MTV words, what happened to Gus & Jeremiah last week on Floribama Shore). And when JoJo sent Daniel on his way out in Week 4, he did not leave quietly - both visually and verbally.

Who Are These Newbies? - Ex On The Beach Peak of Love: The Singers

Reposted in Shorter Form from Original Post on Thursday

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

♥ ADORE DELANO/DANNY NORIEGA - RuPaul's Drag Race and American Idol 🏳️‍🌈

For a show that has brought us big name stars since it began here, unlike the first three seasons of EOTB USA, at first Peak of Love may have no clear headliner with prior ties to MTV as a way to bring their fans over to this new experiment, ala Cory, Farrah or Aubrey. But considering the roots of our first subject and her big following - as well as premiere week coinciding with Viacom & CBS' re-merger, it was an easy call to lead off this season's introductory posts than with someone who became a huge star on a show that's become an icon to those in the LGBTQ+ community - one which has the Pride flag wave on AYTO and The Bachelor in addition to EOTB.
   Daniel Noriega grew up east of Los Angeles in Azusa, CA and while he was in elementary school he came out at 12 years old, the same time that he began to write music as a solace to where he grew up in a largely Hispanic community. As someone who loved to sing and dance and who had a fandom for Britney and Chris Brown, Danny represents one of the dozens of success stories of those who have achieved greater fame because of their exposure on American Idol, and he auditioned twice: in 2007, the then 18-year-old went on Season 6 (Jordin Sparks' season), where he sang in front of the iconic trio of Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul & Simon Cowell, and made it to Round 2 in Hollywood but got cut. But he earned a second chance the following year on Season 7, where as the last person to audition in front of the originals down in San Diego, Danny performed Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" and his flamboyant & lively persona struck a chord with them.
   Him getting another chance to impress Randy, Paula & Simon was more than good enough for Danny to advance again to Tinseltown, but not before his clapback at Simon became viral and landed him on E!'s The Soup. This time, he cleared the second hurdle to the shortlist of fifty singers who made to the last day of Hollywood Week, and the judges gave him a ticket to Phase 3 and performing under the bright lights of the small stage before the live shows. He performed Elvis' "Jailhouse Rock," among others, to survive the following two weeks of the semifinal section of each Idol season, before making it to the Top 16 - and a weak performance of an 80's song proved to be the difference in him placing in Week 3's bottom two, missing a spot of joining winner David Cook, runner-up David Archleta and the rest of that year's Top 12. But as a consolation prize, he appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show and performed on Rosie O'Donnell's cruise ship.