Nigel Lythgoe really, really wants "American Idol" to win an Emmy this year.

As a matter of fact, he told TV Line that if it doesn't happen this year, he doesn't think the hit Fox show will ever win.

"We were in everybody’s face for Season 10 and we got such good feedback that I would’ve thought if anyone is gonna win this year, it should be 'Idol,' if I’m being totally honest," the executive producer said. FULL POST

There's the critical review, and then there's the 140 character reaction.

These days, most of us rely on some combination of professional criticism and our Twitter timelines to figure out which new movie is worth 2 hours and the cost of a ticket.

Seeing that expectations were on the low side for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" ahead of its release last Friday, it wasn't looking good for the James Franco starring film. But it seems that critics and moviegoers returned from the flick pleasantly surprised. (Website Poptimal.com wins for the headline that says it all: "'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' review: Wait...what? It's good?!," and the L.A. Times writes that the movie may prove that reboots aren't always a bad thing.)

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Today's news you might've missed:

• If you want to rock one of Rihanna's ever-changing hairstyles, it seems you'll have to part with a pretty penny. Rumor has it the singer's fiery locks cost her more than $20,000 a week to maintain...which is at least two zeroes too many. [Bossip]
• Lindsay Lohan was in the house for Coldplay's tribute to Amy Winehouse during a concert last week, but when the starlet tried to get backstage, it sounds like the band told her "No, no, no." [The Superficial]
• We've seen Tom Hardy as Bane, Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, and now you get to see a little bit of Batman in action, thanks to this "Dark Knight Rises" scene filmed by a news station. [Huffington Post]
• The follow-up to next year's "The Hunger Games" has already caught a release date. "Catching Fire" will land in theaters on November 22, 2013. [The Hollywood Reporter]
• Without Heidi Klum, we're not sure how they're going to make this work, but we'll reserve judgment until we see the "Project Runway" all-stars cast in action. Check out the contenders at the link. [Coco Perez]
• Say it ain't so, Eric! Connor Paolo, who plays everyone's favorite younger brother, "Gossip Girl's" Eric Van Der Woodsen, is "heading off to college" next season...a.k.a., most likely out of our "GG" watching lives. Xoxo, Paolo! [Us Weekly]

As we noted in an earlier round of "Everyone's A Critic," it's hard to drum up a lot of enthusiasm for a new show when the basic selling point seems to be that it's just like another critically acclaimed program.

In this case, the '60s era ABC series about the drama and intrigue surrounding a crew of stewardesses and pilots, "Pan Am," has been referred to as the high-flying version of the similarly retro "Mad Men." But executive producer Thomas Schlamme would beg to differ.

"Television is about execution," he said during the Television Critic's Association summer press tour, according to the Hollywood Reporter. "It's not the time period it takes place in, it's not the characters. It has nothing to do with 'Mad Men.'" Plus, there's another obvious difference.

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Now that ABC has given "Celebrity Wife Swap" the green light, Entertainment Weekly reports that the midseason reality show is filling out its cast.

Among the "Wife Swap" contenders are none other than aging music stars and reality show vets Flavor Flav and Dee Snider. The two will reportedly swap spouses in an as-yet-unscheduled episode of the spinoff series.

Snider and Suzette, his wife of 30 years, have four kids together, and Flav asked for his current wife Liz's hand in marriage during a 2008 reunion episode of "Flavor of Love."

"Celebrity Wife Swap" is exactly what it sounds like - a Hollywood spin on the network's "Wife Swap" series, which has participants "switch lifestyles for a week." Back in May it was reported that ABC had ordered six episodes of the show and that casting was underway.

Who else would you want to see trade lives on TV?

Beyoncé may have Sasha Fierce, but Lady Gaga takes the cake when it comes to musical alter egos.

The new single cover for “Yoü and I” has just been released, and it features “Jo Calderone,” Gaga’s male character. Posing in sideburns and angrily puffing a cigarette, the outrageous pop star looks totally different… even for her.

"You will never find what you are looking for in love, if you don't love yourself," she tweeted along with the gender-bending images.

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As Kanye West was performing at the U.K.’s Big Chill Music Festival on Saturday, the outspoken rapper took to the stage for one of his signature rants, reports Gossip Cop.

"I walk through the hotel and I walk down the street, and people look at me like I'm f-–n' insane, like I'm Hitler," he lamented to the audience at the end of a monologue.

But all is apparently not lost: "One day the light will shine through and one day people will understand everything I ever did," he added. In response to this revelation, West received not enlightened cheers, but boos from the crowd.

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She’s the last person we’d picture as the biker type, but on Friday, Martha Stewart hopped on a hog.

The domestic diva posted a picture of herself on a Harley and tweeted about her ride to Bangor, Maine.

“We are off!!!” Martha wrote about taking to the road on a friend’s Harley-Davidson CVO Ultra Road Glide. “What fun!”

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We know it was the '80s, but even that can’t excuse this self-made music video.

“Mom-ager” Kris Jenner’s ode to her friends was posted on YouTube, and it’s comedy gold. From the cheesy lyrics (which Kris wrote herself, with credits also going to Kourtney, Kim and Khloe) to the OJ Simpson cameo, this is an amazing Kardashian relic.

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In what Billboard is calling a rare move for a major hip-hop album, industry heavyweights Jay-Z and Kanye West released their buzzed-about album "Watch the Throne" on iTunes today without any tracks being leaked. (Although the snippets from a New York listening party last week circulated the Web briefly, the Interwebs were quickly scrubbed clean, Billboard reports.)

In addition to the album, the record's single "Lift Off," which features Beyonce, is also making waves on the Web much as the track "Otis" did in late July.

On iTunes both the standard and deluxe versions are available (with the deluxe carrying four extra tracks), with the physical album arriving in stores on August 12. Reviews are starting to trickle in, and Time notes that "you can't fail to be impressed by the talent on display."

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