From fitness mentors to career gurus, celebrities have guides who’ve helped them to get discovered and stay on the path to stardom. Mentors help inspire us, motivate us, and keep us supported and confident.

Bottom line: it’s important in this industry to have someone who believes in you. Click here to start talking to our casting mentor Courtney! Get career advice and support from a pro today!

If you could choose any celebrity as your mentor who would it be? Leave a comment on this blog & tell us who & why! There are tons of them out there…Mariah Carey (she even has a summer camp for kids!), Oprah (of course), Usher…the list goes on!

Click here to start playing our mentor casting contests now!

By: Isabelle Dungan, InstantCast Editor

In this week’s Fantasy Casting, will you…
…be the next mega-mogul like Tyler Perry?
…break into showbiz like Shia LaBoeuf?
…rise to fame like Diddy?

Or will you go from…
…street to superstar like Notorious BIG?
…living in a car to red carpet like Hilary Swank?
…rural background to big city fame like Oprah?

…with the Top finalists in this week’s Fantasy Casting Contest!

Talk show hosts have been making news faster than their guests lately! Conan O’Brien has officially left New York, Oprah’s love doctor will be spinning off to talk to audiences on her very own couch, and Kelly Ripa may be leaving Regis’ side to host for TLC. Click here to stay on top of all the updates!

Three InstantCast members have really risen to the changing occasion, hoping one of these famous hosts will move along to open up a spot for them! VIP members Kayla Farris, Kyle Fogerson, and Bryan Peabody are all in the top running to take over the talk show circuit!

Do you think Kayla should join “The View,” Is Kyle more fit to replace than Conan? Would Bryan ask better questions than Tyra? Vote for your favorites now!

By: Nia Tran, InstantCast Staff Writer

Michelle Obama Shares Stage with Miley, Jonas Brothers [People]
Obama Girls Go Nuts for Miley Cyrus, Jonas Bros at Inaugural Concert [US]
Oprah & Obama Hit Buffet Together [Star]
Jay-Z Toasts Barack Obama At ‘Eve Of Change’ Concert [MTV]
President George W. Bush: Thanks for the (pop culture) memories! [EW]

By Alisha, InstantCast assistant editor

Nobody automatically becomes the next Oprah Winfrey or Ellen Degeneres. There’s no auditions scheduled for newcomers to host on network television in the best time slots. So where did the big money maker hosts come from? They definitely earned it from the ground up. Here are 2 common ways that TV hosts get started:

Comedy: It’s a natural progression to go from stand-up comedy to hosting, since many talk shows start with comedic monologues. This fits perfectly for hosts such as Jay Leno, Ellen Degeneres, Jon Stewart (seen here in 1996), and Conan O’Brien. All are known for their witty zingers and ability to make the audience laugh!

Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone struggles with weight–even TV’s biggest talk show hosts! It’s been all over the news: Oprah has gained 40 pounds.

Oprah admits she’s embarrassed to be tipping the scales at 200 lbs. She’s constantly struggling with her weight and declares she has officially “fallen off the wagon” and has vowed to keep track of her weight and health in the future.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week InstantCast celebrates TV’s hottest hosts. Of course, we must start with Oprah. After all, she has completely altered the medium of talk show hosting: she has created her own empire from scratch and is the most powerful woman in broadcasting. Rumour has it that her contract is up in 2011, but we know she’s not going anywhere…except up!

Check out Oprah introducing her YouTube channel: Read the rest of this entry »

Who watches Oprah every day and says, “I want to be her”? Or maybe you’re a Jon Stewart fan and think it would be great to just read off the prompter and do a ten minute interview at the end of the show. If only it was that easy!

To be a good host, you must…

1. Have a good reel. It’s the incredibly difficult situation where you can’t get work without having experience and you can’t get the experience without the job. But casting directors don’t want to waste their time auditioning someone they’ve never seen in action.

2. Be articulate and easy to understand. If we don’t know what you’re saying then you’re not a very good host. Accents can be endearing but if you have a thick one, you have to learn to tone it down.

There’s 2 more things a great TV host must have. Click here to find out!

By Casting Director Renee Godbout

This is probably the most pop-culturally active election in history. Technology has produced a new medium for political campaigning–the web. Websites like InstantCast give people of all ages and backgrounds nationwide the chance to promote themselves and their beliefs.

The YouTube video below is a compilation of celebrities expressing their support for Senator Barack Obama. From Oprah, to Matt Damon, to Robert De Niro, to Halle Berry, to George Clooney, this election has Hollywood stars using their celebrity status as a platform for political campaigns.

Don’t forget to cast your vote tomorrow!

Click here to get into the voting spirit on InstantCast!

By: Isabelle Dungan, InstantCast Editor