DC FORUM Special: #DCBLOG - 1000 Posts and Counting

A Word from the Editor...
BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

And so, here we are. With this post here on a Friday in the last weeks of the dog days of summer, we have now officially reached four figures in the amount of posts that DCBLOG has been able to offer. And this can't come at a more busier and hotter time than during a California heatwave and in the midst of the busiest year for this person to follow the primary focus of this site... something that I have been following now for the past twenty years.

It was six years ago this spring that a good Twitter friend of mine who shares common Northern California roots with me, and who just got engaged to his girlfriend last month, sent me a suggestion in the DM's. There, Andrew Kirk recommended to me that, instead of blowing up everyone's timelines with live tweets of episodes of MTV Reality programming as I see it watching episodes later, just simply launch a blog where I would be able to cover them without annoying everyone else on their app... back when things were fairly calm in this world of ours.

Little did I know back then that just writing on the shows I have watched and loved, as well as some occasional stuff outside of it, would become than just a hobby on the side. Since it launched on Mother's Day weekend in May 2013, me and this DCBLOG site have grown, but yet I continue to treat it and nurture like the pet you have in your room everyday, and who devotes time, effort and focus to make it as good as it can possibly be. And both this fan and those of you in the web who read this site and share these shared passions have enjoyed a regular weekly date ever since.

Whether it's on this site or when I'm given a task outside of this universe, I give everything I have, maybe 110%, to whatever the assignment may be... and it shows when it comes to this site. It might be no secret that I might consider myself to be a hard-edged, no-nonsense kind of blogger... one who is not afraid to push people to get the job done or else, and who occasionally has used this site to call out people for their B.S. like other fans do on their social accounts. If you've seen the work of fearless journalists like 60 Minutes' Mike Wallace, then that epitomizes my drive to excellence and doing everything possible in my own right to get the story... even as the circus taking place in our nation's capital has put the media in dire straits.

But when you get down to it -- beyond the thousands of hours in these six years devoted behind the scenes to researching, to watching the episodes, compiling all the social interaction and everything that comes with this craft of writing & editing this stuff, it's the content and the outstanding work that is posted on here that matters more than anything else. DCBLOG has been able to churn out 1000 posts in the course of 75 months covering mostly these shows I watch religiously -- plus occasional off-topic and non-MTV related material such as me winning $2,000, and it has become in my mind (and in some ways, you reading this) the gold standard blog site for this MTV fandom. There's no better beat to cover, one that seems to have been tailor made for a page like this.

In the past, I've had a chance to explain how this site handles its work and detailing the approaches I take to make this site stand out in this world full of Twitter beefs, Stans, the many podcasts and webcasts that recap the shows and interview the hundreds of people we've watched for so many years, and dozens of other sites that are in this field of covering this MTV Reality beat. There's no need to rehash things from the past, but from writing about the commitment to quality, attention to detail, and an emphasis on storytelling and looking for fresh angles no other site can get, they help to define what this site is. So are the hundreds of original, well-told stories too many to mention, and being able to document the biggest moments as everyone saw it that also number in three figures.

This is not always a perfect self-profession: there are still a lot of posts that I worked on that have still not yet seen the light of day because, just like the 24-hour news cycle, things can change quite a bit and we plow along in this jungle like everyone else whenever anything comes up. Even earlier this summer, I took a break from the grind of posting things regularly to take a several weeks' hiatus in between seasons and my last vacation since, after all, I do need some time to reflect and relax before getting back into this - I am like everyone a normal guy but one who deserved some R&R. So much work put in over six years deserved to have a month's rest like I had in June.

When I was asked in a paper what my dream job would be when I was ready to graduate high school long ago, I wrote that working in journalism or in the media would be my ideal environment. Officially, that dream is still very much that: no company related to broadcasting, journalism or digital media, large or small, has yet to have this well-skilled person on their roster... but thanks to the hard work I put into this site as well as my work in the video & photo world (as seen on my YouTube and my other platforms), then it's just a matter of time before that will come along -- I do have the talent and the skills to be able to have that dream job.

For now, there is no better element for me to be in than doing what I do best: getting to have this site for all of you to see, read and enjoy my outstanding work. Being able to do this for what is now 1,000 posts in the course of the past six years & three months is a blessing, a privilege and a great pleasure. As evidenced by the messages I get frequently from social media, it's your support that makes this all happen -- and without that, reaching this milestone would not have been possible.

So, thank you for checking out this great site that keeps on getting better... it's been quite a ride, and we're not anywhere from being finished. And the best part about doing DCBLOG is: we get to begin the next 1000 posts of this incredible journey this weekend. Talk to you then.

(Mic Drop)

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

Who Are These Newbies? - Ex On The Beach Season 3

Because of the heavy presence of graphics and video, this post is best viewed & experienced on desktops and advanced mobile devices.

EXTENDED POST - 22 Mins.
BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

We are in the midst of the Summer of Love in the world of reality television: traditional summer staple Bachelor in Paradise, the new U.S. version of Love Island that just concluded, and in the minds of fans of MTV Reality, Season 8 of Are You The One, and Season 3 of the American take on MTV's global franchise, Ex On The Beach.
   To us here at this site, it's not officially a new season of either EOTB or The Challenge until we get to answer a burning question you and other fans have whenever we get to begin watching once again when it premieres: "Who Are These Newbies?" We feel that you, the fans, should get to know a bit more about anyone who crosses into MTV lines for the first time when they are cast on the "ultimate relations__ show" or if they're competing with TJ Lavin and friends as as a first-time rookie or as a returning veteran.

For Ex On The Beach, we've brought this preseason Challenge tradition over to this show to answer this question by informing you of anyone of particular interest that comes over from reality TV and the pop culture spectrum into the EOTB house. Like we do with the fifth major pro sport, we offer these people the proper welcome and the respect that they deserve, for which we have profiled over 100 of them in our years covering the MTV beat, most recently the international newcomers that came to the War of the Worlds Challenge, and with more to come in its sequel. And our goal is to help MTV fans like you get to know to them, show you who they are, what they're about and the backstory of their time on reality TV before they come to the EOTB house.
   Anywhere you go, the Ex phenomenon often casts those from other reality series in the native homeland, as well as outside of what the Brits call "factual entertainment," all for the sake of putting them through hell for a few months for our viewing pleasure and enjoyment. And after featuring the new dad of the MTV Challenge family, a Teen Mom, a Big Brother houseguest turned Challenger and others, season 3 of the American adaptation of this format won't be any different. The cast here is once again over 20 of them in all - 25 to be exact, with over half of them having appeared on reality TV before and eight being familiar to MTV fans. But unlike last season, there's those who haven't appeared as yet on reality TV and are making their debuts here.

For our EOTB 2 Newbies posts last time out, we featured six singles (Chad, Cheyenne, Corey, Janelle, Maya and Morgan) and five exes (Murray, Cory, Jay, Monte and JD) - and as it was with War of the Worlds it was split into two parts. Here, we will have just this one post to profile five singles on their own, two other singles who as a pair of twins will count as one for the sake of this site, and one of the notable exes who came into the house straight off of a breakup.
   But as is tradition, you will not be seeing those who came from other MTV Reality shows being profiled in this post. That includes two AYTO alumni with the same first name, one who was in love on her original Real World, and their related exes coming into the house at various points during this season... only if they cross over into The Challenge as a rookie do we get to write about them again. Do search around this site to learn about them, their progress and backstory.
   So once again, we at DCBLOG are here to answer that question, "Who Are These Newbies?" ... this time it's for Season 3 of Ex On The Beach USA. And after the jump, we begin with the one who comes here with the biggest profile - both in the MTV world and in the mindset of the casual viewer.

DC FORUM - "The Luckiest Man in All of Reno"

From the Editor...

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Back in April in this site's story in Bradley Cooper, his now-ex and their family photo bombing two members of the Ex On The Beach Season 2 cast, the post began in our usual style with some analytical perspective that didn't relate to the our primary beat of covering MTV Reality shows. There, I made reference to something that seems to happen just about as much as the Warriors making the NBA Finals and the Patriots playing in the Super Bowl: me traveling out to Las Vegas on a near-annual basis. So much has happened in my nine previous adventures to Sin City: meeting 'N Sync's Joey Fatone, seeing Mike Tyson and Pete Rose, and everything else during this journey, for which whenever I go out to Vegas next, it will my tenth time going there.

As someone who doesn't gamble as much as his parents do on a weekend, it's a rarity for me to go inside a casino and play whatever game is out there for me to play on the floor. In fact, I am stringent and conservative when it comes to gambling: my strategy has been to play just the coin games and to not place maximum bets on any game out of risk of losing so much so fast like most everyone else who go to Nevada, Atlantic City or the casinos near whey they live. And whenever I'm in Vegas, gambling plays an equal or lesser role as I also juggle doing sightseeing along the Strip, doing any shopping and everything else in those three miles.

On Father's Day weekend back in June, I've got to experience something that had never happened to me in the eight times I've gotten to gamble there since the modern era of #DCVegas began twelve years ago. That would be of winning an amount so big it spurs an incredible reaction from those who play these games of chance that would change their life and become superstars in their inner circle. And it would take a moment like this to have something take place that would never happen in regular circumstances: hearing the voice of yours truly as one who doesn't like hearing himself in playback and would never speak whenever I'm recording video on my phone or a regular camera.

Here's the story: I had been playing just light on the slots after we had lunch on the Saturday afternoon of my Reno weekend, going about my business on the casino floor at the city's largest hotel, the Atlantis. We came to Reno for the reason that my cousin and her fiance were getting married, and I had only a few hours to gamble and just hang out before I went upstairs to our hotel room there and dress up - one of the handful of times where I get to do so. Just before 3:00, I placed a voucher worth $11 into a game called "Crazy Money Deluxe" with the intent of only playing a couple rolls before heading over to the gift shop and buy a snack. What happened next is embedded below, as it unfolded live on my social media channels.

DC ExtraTime: The Challenge/Big Brother Invades Love & Hip-Hop

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

Love and Hip Hop: Hollywood cast

Back in June, DCBLOG spotlighted the one & only Cardi B. when she made out with Nurys of last season's EOTB in the opening scene of her video for "Press," all amidst the legal proceedings the rapper went through earlier this summer. Their makeout came weeks after the biggest moment no one ever got to see at this year's MTV Movie & TV Awards: Johnny Bananas reportedly crashing the acceptance speech of the cast of VH1's Love & Hip-Hop franchise when they were chosen over The Challenge, Jersey Shore, The Bachelor and Vanderpump Rules for best reality show.

Since the addition of a fourth city to make VH1's highest-rated franchise a year-round one every Monday, the rotation sees the newest addition of the Miami series kicking off the year in January, followed by Atlanta in Spring, the current season of Hollywood in the summer, and wrapping up with the original New York series in the winter... all, of course, starring the titans of the hip-hop and R&B world in their Hills-like drama. And in California, Brandy's brother Ray J. has been the one constant of the Hollywood series, and where Keyshia Cole and Soulja Boy have also appeared as have one of the biggest acts of the 2000's, B2K, who have recently reunited amidst BTS & boy band mania.

For Season 6 of Love & Hip-Hop Hollywood which premiered this month, the show's roll call has been changed quite a bit. A protege of Ice Cube, YoYo, is among the newbies joining the SoCal squad this season as someone who champions female empowerment in a genre where more and more women are joining the hip-hop game led by, of course, one of LHH's biggest alumni. Last Monday's episode saw her officially join the cast in her first appearance on an episode as a regular cast member, all as she threw a party that turned into a staredown between two beefing cast members: wife of rapper A1, Summer Bunni, and singer Lyrica Anderson.

One of those who were watching in the background of the drama that took place at YoYo's initiation party in the Love & Hip-Hop community was someone who we last saw on Ex On The Beach earlier this year go through a breakup via a lie detector machine on the reunion, Jozea Flores. We first saw him on The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars I as one of the stars who competed on that season, then became the first of them to come onto the main show itself on Final Reckoning being partnered with cult figure Da'Vonne Rogers.  Below, he shared his three seconds of fame.

View this post on Instagram

Last nights @loveandhiphop episode was lit !! Who else saw the me and @missterray double cheetah prints 😜🔥 #lhhhollywood

A post shared by JOZEA FLORES (@jozeaofficial) on Aug 13, 2019 at 10:35am PDT

Him going to YoYo's party and taking a selfie with castmate, influencer and an alum of BET's College Hill, Ray "Misster Ray" Cunningham, marked Jozea's second time on VH1 after he and Da'Vonne were spotted in the audience at the Season 10 finale of RuPaul's Drag Race two weeks before Final Reckoning began last year. And on a side note, this took place during a big week for MTV's corporate parent that may have big implications for the entertainment industry in its totality.

With Jozea and Mama Day being Big Brother alumni, this past week Viacom agreed to merge, once again, with CBS and creating the media industry's latest mega-conglomerate after both companies first aligned two decades ago, splitting up in 2006 and being brought together again by the family of Sumner Redstone, chairman of controlling shareholders National Amusements. This comes on the heels of Disney's purchase of 21st Century Fox, AT&T taking control of Time Warner Media (HBO, Turner and Warner Bros.), and NBC's parent Comcast buying British giant Sky... all as a giant called Netflix has helped alter the viewing landscape from when CBS and Viacom were last married.
   If what happened with their fellow BB18 alums Natalie Negrotti and Paulie Califiore crossing over to MTV on Vendettas and Ex On The Beach was a sign of things to come, then the merger news with the two companies that held joint custody of their reality TV journey is that day and moment CBS and MTV had in mind when they decided to expand The Challenge's draft pool and whoever is out there to endure hell in paradise on EOTB to eventually just about anyone in reality land. Like any other media deal, the CBS & Viacom alliance now creates a powerhouse with programming, platforms, promotion and possibilities that will have everyone step up around the industry, while simultaneously transforming it once again.
   A reporter who follows MTV closely, US Weekly's Emily Longeretta, brought up one of those possibilities of more alumni from Survivor and The Amazing Race, plus the islanders of Love Island USA, joining Big Brother houseguests on The Challenge, and vice versa at the Eye. Cord-cutters may rejoice at these shows being available to stream on CBS All-Access if they want to pony up $6 a month, or save up and binge for free on Pluto TV (like they will when an all-Challenge channel debuts with War of the Worlds II in two weeks). We could see the same CBS reality shows air encores or their after shows on MTV, among other things that are now possible with this union... just part of Viacom and CBS kissing & making up in time for a new challenge awaiting the two companies.

- I AM DC
#DCBLOG

DC SocialPulse: Ex On The Beach S3 - Getting Sixed by the Beach

*** 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 the weekend comes to a close here this late in the summer, things are heating up for those in the MTV Reality game with a new Challenge season now over a week away, and plenty of other things going on now and will be revealed when the music world gathers next week in New Jersey for the Video Music Awards. That includes Season 3 of Ex On The Beach, where last week the spotlight was on an alum of a singer and actor, Cameron, as he saw his musician ex, Alexis, come on shore and create a threesome among them and his crush in the house, Geles. The ongoing telenovela that is #Shanthony continued to roll along, while the Billy's ex Cara was given the Cut.

If you've followed the whole run of the lone Challenger to move into the house at the start, then you know Devin has had his moments in his seven previous MTV stints: him saving his AYTO cast with those infamous red Solo cups after he played Kiki, his obsession with Johnny Bananas, hearing the wrath of Cardi B's sister on Champs vs. Stars, and the Final Reckoning food fight. This week adds another moment to that list, as it's Crush week in the house with no worries about any Exes getting cut. But there is someone familiar to MTV fans invading the beach this week at this week's Ex entry, all while the resident heartthrob puts some moves on one-half of the twins... all as the first house party of the summer (and soon to be, autumn) takes place

After the jump, the Pulse of Ex On The Beach, plus MTV lovebirds get married, more reaction to last week's AYTO and more as your weekend comes to a close here.

DC SociaPulse: Are You The One? Season 8 - "Games Players Play"

*** 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 hey there, it is the weekend - and for many of you, the last one before a new year in college and school begins. We here are headed towards the end of our summer in the MTV Reality calendar, but the good news is we're only a couple weeks away from the start of fall in the fifth major pro sport. Before that, we have the Pulse to bring you here of Are You The One? Come One, Come All.

When we were last with our sexually-fluid group in the Hawaiian islands, they recovered from the first blackout in a matchup ceremony since Season 5 two years ago (and thus, the first one of Terrence J.'s hosting tenure) with not just the first upward movement in the beams but also a first Truth Booth match. And as the house tries to build on that momentum, two annual traditions of any AYTO season took place: the getaway challenge seeing those know the singles better than we do of family, friends and exes popping in via skype to spill some dirty secrets. We also had Kai's latest trip to the Boom Boom Room cause more riff, as well as the other tradition: a party.

That party is the time where the house gets down and dirty under the night sky, and there's more of that on this week's quest for love. And THAT guy and his player ways is once again causing everyone to pick up the pieces and do what they can to tell him that what he's doing to them may not get them to the $750,000 - for which they face their seventh matchup this week. For another guy here, he tries to put his player ways behind him to make the hashtag #Rage the one that perhaps will bring them to eight beams.

We'll find out that and much more after the jump on the Pulse of AYTO Season 8, plus meet the show's biggest new fan. Thanks for spending part of your Saturday night with us...

DC ExtraTime: Anthony - Master of the Hookup

From during The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions in Spring 2017,

featuring a key figure from this week's episode of Ex On The Beach, 
which DCBLOG will be featuring the Pulse of ahead this weekend.

BY DC CUEVA                      

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

IG @A_Bartolotte

Hooking up: to many its definition flat out means, "to make out or have sex with someone." It's officially defined as casual dating or a casual relationship between those who've had casual sexual activity without necessarily looking into having a more formal relationship and the extra commitments of doing it long-term, and many of these relationships last just a few days or a few weeks. There's even a culture called a "hookup culture" where having hook-ups and one-night stands are commonplace, especially in colleges across the country. As students make their way down south for Spring Break starting this weekend, this will become all the more prevalent in hotels & apartments being filled by them, often with plenty of alcohol available along with kissing.
   And on television, it has evolved into an art form over the 25-year life span of the MTV Trifecta ecosystem spanning four shows and many people too many to count who we have seen kiss and engage in sexual activity for everyone to witness in their living rooms. When the now-famous shower scene took place on The Real World Miami in 1996 - and then when the show headed to Las Vegas for the first time fifteen years ago, it's now become par for the course to see young people hooking up in the comfort of our homes on a television platform outside the pleasure-land of premium channels and pay-per-view.
   And of course, since Are You The One? debuted three years ago, this has been brought to another level in combining what MTV viewers love about The Real World and The Challenge with romantic reality shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. In AYTO's five seasons on the MTV airwaves, we have seen many couples forged because of that show, and though four three of them still exist and only one of them is a true perfect match (one we'll look at later during this cycle), there is one person who has been able to hook up for as often in that house full of singles.

On Season 2, Anthony came in as that frat guy who took a break from the same university at where both Theo of this Challenge and Jimmy Garafalo went to, and made his mark by hooking up with not 1, not 2, but NINE girls once the confetti fell after the group came back from two blackouts to win the money - for which Anthony had a hand in their plans. He hooked up with Jenni, Briana, Ellie, and several other girls before the science settled with him and Alexandria - among the nine girls he locked lips with...it's in the bottom video of the two below.
   Anthony's most notable hook-up in the AYTO house came in Episode 5. When the group was in need of starting anew following the first-ever matchup blackout, Anthony and the group played a game of Truth or Dare - just as their Season 1 predecessors did earlier that year. But this time, when it time to come to his turn, Anthony would kiss not one, but TWO girls without giving up his seat in the living room. And it came in front of everyone including someone we'll be seeing in a few weeks in Ellie. Check it out below.

After that hook-up with Christina and Jessica, he would then get into a heated fight with Layton when the two were playing for Jenni, and after that second blackout he would take the lead in the house's strategy, and eventually with getting three Truth Booth matches they won the money...without getting penalized in losing money for having a blackout as we've seen since.
   Ant's not alone when it comes to kissing multiple girls: of course, we've seen Tyler, Andre and Ozzy kiss multiple girls this season; last year that title fell to Giovanni and Asaf; and Season 3 saw Chuck get close to several girls (including his current girlfriend Britni) and Alec kiss three girls in the premiere itself.

- I AM DC

#DCBLOG

DC ExtraTime: Two Pros, a Two-Time Champ, and a Surf Stop

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB

A few weeks ago marked the one-year-to-go marker until 2020's biggest summer blockbuster: the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan, as the world's largest populated city and metropolis will next host the biggest event in all of sports. A number of events will be making their debuts on the Olympic program in skateboarding, surfing, 3-on-3 basketball, sport climbing and karate, while two other sports return to the program after they were removed from the Games the last time it visited Asia, in baseball and softball - two strengths of the host nation in the former being a national sport and the ladder having won the last gold medal contested in 2008 in Beijing.

In 2017, and in the first year of any Olympic quadrennium that comes after a Summer Olympics take place and before a Winter Games, MTV brought together ten past champions of The Challenge for a special miniseries version of the fifth major pro sport to answer the question of who is the best - Challenge vets or professional athletes? The group of sporting pros included WWE & UFC star C.M. Punk, NFL linemen Shawn Merriman and Kamerion Wimbley, and WNBA star Candice Wiggins. But key in that season were the inclusion of several Olympians: out & proud freeskier Gus Kenworthy, two-sport Olympic veteran and future Celeb Big Brother favorite Lolo Jones and a British decathlete whose stint on two spin-offs predated the Brits' invasion of the regular Challenge show, Louise Hazel.

There were two other members of that first class of Champs vs. Pros/Stars who competed on the spinoff series, which gave everyone reason to compete in the name of charity, and whose get-together in the Southern California sun not long ago with one of those who they competed with two years ago that prompted this site to take a second look.