After singer Carrie Underwood gave 12-year-old Chase Kurnick his first kiss during a recent concert, Chase said on "Today," "I wasn't just going to go up there and get a little kiss on the cheek. If I'm going to get it, I'm gonna get it right." OHN SHEARER / Invision / AP
Twelve-year-old Chase Kurnick told the "Today Show's" Willie Geist and Savannah Guthrie that while he has brushed his teeth, he hasn't washed his lips.
Nope, not gonna.
Not after singer Carrie Underwood called the young fan to the stage - he was holding a "Will you be my first kiss?" sign - and planted one on him.
Chase's life hasn't been the same since, he told the anchors. Back at school, "It was crazy," Chase said. "It took me like five minutes to get to one class down the hallway. They were just fist-bumping me, high-fiving me - everyone's like 'I'm so jealous.' "
When the Grammy-winning singer asked how the smooch would be taking place, Chase replied plain and simple: "Lip to lip."
"This is the smartest kid ever!" Underwood said. She and the crowd laughed.
And then she kissed him.
Said Chase on "Today": "I wasn't just going to go up there and get just a little kiss on the cheek. If I'm going to get it, I'm gonna get it right."
Sweet Tennessee
It's all about those place names it seems, and what could be more sweet than "Tennessee." That's the name of the baby boy actress Reese Witherspoon and husband James Toth welcomed into the world Thursday. Tennessee James Toth, to be exact.
A little history on the name Tennessee: Linda Rosenkrantz, co-founder of Nameberry.com, told Huffington Post that the name was mostly used for baby girls in the 1880s and 1890s.
Kirstie Alley talks Gaga
After Lady Gaga posted those nearly nude pictures of herself on her Little Monsters website in response to recent criticism over some summer weight gain, "Dancing With the Stars" competitor Kirstie Alley has come to the defense of the 26-year-old who last month acknowledged she gained 25 pounds.
"She was so freaking skinny that (25) pounds would make her a what, size 2?" said Alley, no stranger to media attention to her weight, to People magazine. "There's an insanity here. I know it's a pressure on her. I know it is. It's really hard to play that game."
On her website, Gaga encouraged fans to also post pictures of themselves to "celebrate (their) triumph over insecurities."
In other news
Ring the alarm! Beyonce is not having a baby. This from her husband Jay-Z after the Internet went wild with rumors that the "Irreplaceable" singer was pregnant with a second child.
And singer Katy Perry, a once girlfriend of the late actor Johnny Lewis, is said to be "devastated" after news broke that the 28-year-old was found dead last week in a driveway from an apparent fall - all after a strange chain of events that included an alleged fight with two men and the beating death of Lewis' 81-year-old landlady.
Perry, who was recently named Billboard's Woman of the Year, dated Lewis from 2005-2006.
Entertainment Weekly reported Tuesday that the Coen brothers may be executive producing a television adaptation of their Oscar-winning film "Fargo."
And last but not least, TLC has confirmed that the love-it-or-hate-it show "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" starring Alana Thompson will be coming back, with the network having requested more episodes of the hit series that outshined GOP convention coverage.
I happened to catch the show by accident while working out recently. Will I be searching around to catch more episodes? Much more unlikely than likely.
Original Print Headline: Underwood gives tween the ultimate lip service
Music
“I am thrilled and honored that so many of George’s friends are coming to what would have been his last concert, but is not a fitting tribute,” says Nancy Jones, the country music legend’s widow, in a news release. “George loved these artists and before passing had actually wrote letters to almost all of them.”
While performing in her home state of Texas over the weekend, the Grammy winner confirmed on Facebook that she is opening a second Pink Pistol location in her hometown of Lindale.
