Time to pump up your fists once again and grab your hair gel, or hairspray, as the cast of Jersey Shore raises hell in South Beach and once again brings the most controversial hit show back to MTV.

The seven cast members,  Mike “the Situation” Sorrentino, 28, Angelina Pivarnick, 24, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, 22, Vinny Guadagninio 22, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, 25,  Jenni “JWOWW” Farley, 25, “Pauly D” DelVecchio, 28, and Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola, 22, unleash their egos on each other as the cast begins round two of dysfunctional living. If you thought season one was hard hitting with the arrest, the creepy stalker, the hook-ups, the break-ups, lots of animosity, and, the firing of Angelina in episode three, Season 2 is going to prove to be a lot more interesting.

Watching the first episode, ‘Goin’ South, shows that this season will do the same as last season, and undoubtedly even more.  Pandora’s Box has opened with the unpleasant surprise of the return of the self-proclaimed “Kim Kardashian of Staten Island,” Angelina, who returns, and tries to patch things up with everyone in the house.  However, she had permanently damaged all of the relationships with everyone in the house, especially with Snooki, JWOWW, and Sammi, after having “trash” talked each of their boyfriends.  In the previous season, Angelina had left during the third episode, because she did not want to work and because of personal problems she was having. Another bombshell comes into play with Season 2, as Sammi and Ronnie’s relationship comes into question when their potential break-up at the Season 1 reunion special isn’t true.  Continuing to fight and act as if they are in a relationship, viewers are having trouble understanding what type of relationship they actually have.  Will this relationship ever work out?

Mike, Pauly D, and Vinny the “MVP’s” of Miami have the same goal as they had in Season 1, which is to go out to the club and enjoy the night life.  These three have a definitive way of making one night stands a habit in South Beach and are quickly becoming enormous professional women players. The show, as a whole, is mildly entertaining to say the least.
Later on in Season 2, Angelina and Snooki have their own argument. A catfight escalates as both girls can’t stand being friends with each other. This wrestling match results in Sorrentino dumping a pot of marinara sauce on Angelina, according to US Weekly.

The questions to consider for the second season are as follows.  Will Angelina leave Jersey Shore Season 2 early again?  Is the relationship between Ronnie and Sammi over for good?  Are Mike, Pauly D, and Vinny going to find some normal girlfriends?  Will there be a Jersey Shore Season 3 and would it involve the same cast the past two previous seasons?

We will have to wait and see.

The Real Housewives phenomenon is making its way down the East Coast with a new group of catty women searching for their fifteen minutes of fame. This time around, Bravo’s hit series takes on Washington D.C. The newest cast is a perfect fit to the dysfunctional Real Housewives’ family, mixing the right amount of outrageous behavior and incredible wealth to result in what fans are used to: drama, drama, and more drama.

Let’s start with Michaele Salahi, whose name pronunciation has clearly been altered for attention purposes. You know her as one-half of the couple who crashed the White House State Dinner. Let’s just say that on the show, she is exactly what you might expect her to be: a bubbly, airhead who craves attention. If you’re placing bets now on which D.C. housewife will attempt a music career (after all, one from each season has), put your money on Michaele.

Then there’s Lynda Erkiletian, a seasoned divorcee who runs a top-modeling agency. She’s respectable in that she earns her own money, but she is definitely the back-stabber of the season. Michaele was her first target but probably not her last.

Cat Ommanney came to America from London, and as she says in the opening, she’s here for a good time, not a long time. How she’s going to have a good time is questionable, as she’s already made some enemies because of her brash, no-nonsense attitude. Cat’s taken some subtle shots at Americans, but apparently her biggest fault is that she likes George Bush (God forbid!).

Stacie Scott Turner, on the other hand, loves Barack Obama and will tell you that…over, and over, and over. She is a smart woman, though, with a hilarious husband and a sweet, welcoming family. When she invites some of her fellow housewives to her Aunt Francis’ for a soul food dinner, it’s a refreshing break from the entitled, upper-class people we normally see.

There has to be a nice girl, and this season, it’s Mary Schmidt Amons. Her biggest problem is her daughter’s mountain dog that sheds all over the house. Mary is a sweet person with a big family, and she will be the one who invites all the housewives to the parties, unintentionally (or so we think) stirring up all the drama.

You never can tell where a season of the Real Housewives will go, but Bravo promises the same antics its fans are used to. If you love the ladies of Orange County, NYC, Atlanta, or New Jersey, chances are you will enjoy the ladies of D.C. as well.

The summer may be winding down and school is back in session, but CBS’ most anticipated summer hit, Big Brother, is just getting started. The 12th season of Big Brother returned to the airwaves on July 8th to over 7.5 million viewers, according to TVbytheNumbers. That includes old fans (yours truly) and new fans alike.  The format for the show has been the same for the past ten years—but let’s takes a minute or two to refresh your memory.

The Cast Gallery for the CBS series BIG BROTHER 12, scheduled to air on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Cliff Lipson/CBS © CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Thirteen houseguests live together for seventy-five consecutive days. This season’s contestants include Andrew (a Jewish podiatrist), Annie (a Floridian bartender), Brendon (a swim couch with a Master’s in Physics), Britney (a hotel manager from Arkansas), Enzo (an Italian-American insurance adjuster from New Jersey), Kathy (a Deputy Sheriff), Kristen (a boutique manager), Lane (a Texan oil rig salesman), Matt (a diabolical super genius member of MENSA and web designer), Monet (a model), Rachel (a waitress/Chemist from Las Vegas), and lastly, Ragan (a college professor from California). Inside of the Big Brother house, there is zero interaction from the outside world. This includes no television, radio, music, newspapers, or even phone calls.

Every week, the contestants participate in various challenges that dictate life in the Big Brother house. There is the “Head of Household” competition, which saves one person from eviction that week and gives that person the power to choose two people for elimination, one of which will be evicted. Next, you have the “Have vs. Have Not” competition, which decides who gets to eat slop, take cold showers, and sleep in an insect-infected bedroom. Lastly, there is the “Veto” competition (the second most sought after power in the house), which allows one person to save a nominee (including themselves) from eviction. If the power of veto is used, the Head of Household puts up a replacement nominee. This power has definitely caused rifts in the house as unsuspecting house guests are blindsided and sent packing.

If you are just tuning into the show, here’s a little recap. About two weeks past the half-way mark, six house guests have left the House, with the remaining players being Brendon, Britney, Enzo, Hayden, Lane, Matt, and Ragan. In Week 5 of the competition, Rachel, the love of Brendon’s life, was evicted by a unanimous 6-0 vote, after a heroic but failed attempt by Brendon to try to keep her in the game. In Week 6, Brendon fought to avenge Rachel’s untimely departure (at the hands of Matt and Ragan) and became the Head of Household. This was much to the dismay of everyone in the house, including Britney. Brendon chose to put Lane and Ragan on the block, but Ragan saved himself by winning the Power of Veto. This caused Brendon to choose Matt as the replacement nominee. But, wait! Two weeks ago, Matt acquired the Diamond Power of Veto, which he received when he opened the mysterious, but often misleading, Pandora’s Box. So, who ended up being replaced by Matt: poor, unsuspecting Kathy who was evicted by a vote of 5-0. A little afterwards, the Head of Household competition took place and Britney took control of the house—much more than anyone could have imagined. This has proved to be very important because TWO people are being evicted this week. Everything lies in Britney’s hands.

The game is getting much more intense, as the numbers are dwindling and everyone’s fighting to stay alive. So, who will end up winning the $500,000 grand prize? Stay tuned on September 15th, where the winner of Big Brother 12 will be crowned!

NEW YORK – Robert “Joe” Halderman thought he had a $2 million secret and a surefire plan to cash in on it: Pay him, or he’d ravage David Letterman’s congenial, clean-cut image by revealing the late-night TV icon’s office affairs.

Robert "Joe" Halderman thought he had a $2 million secret and a surefire plan to cash in on it: Pay him, or he'd ravage David Letterman's congenial, clean-cut image by revealing the late-night TV icon's office affairs.

Instead, Halderman ravaged his own life. The former producer for CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery is expected to start a six-month jail term Tuesday after admitting in March to the shakedown attempt.

Letterman blunted the blackmail threat by divulging his workplace dalliances himself. His viewership hasn’t suffered, and his status was barely scuffed.

But celebrity lawyers and image-makers say it’s unclear whether the case will function as a cautionary tale that deters similar episodes.

Many luminaries would rather beat back or settle such matters privately than press charges that would air their dirty laundry, the experts say. Even if a threatened celebrity is willing to go public, few have the persona and forum to do it the way Letterman did: in a forthright, sometimes funny monologue on his own show.

“There are lots of people running around the planet thinking that blackmailing celebrities or prominent, wealthy people is a great way to make a living,” said veteran celebrity publicist Michael Levine. “The lesson of Letterman is: Every so often, you’re going to run into someone who isn’t going to play.”

But, he added, “Not all people are David Letterman.”

Stars ranging from Cameron Diaz to Yoko Ono have been confronted in recent years with people demanding money to keep photos or information private. Those are episodes that became criminal cases and public knowledge. Many others are kept from ever becoming known, attorneys say.

Los Angeles lawyer Mark Geragos said he has discreetly dealt with such situations for notable clients he won’t name, including several he handled after the Letterman episode.

“Most entertainers are loath to go public with these things if they can at all help it,” Geragos said.

Halderman, 52, isn’t expected to speak at his sentencing and declined through his lawyer to be interviewed. Halderman’s expected jail term and 1,000 hours of community service were set when he pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny.

He admitted in court that he tried to squeeze $2 million from the Late Show host “by threatening to disclose personal and private information about him, whether true or false.”

He presented the threat as a faintly fictionalized screenplay about Letterman — and backed it up with information authorities have said Halderman gleaned from reading his former girlfriend’s diary. She worked for Letterman and described an affair with him in the diary, authorities have said.

Halderman’s plea deal requires him never to discuss the material.

Letterman revealed on-air Oct. 1 that he’d had sex with women who work for him and disclosed the blackmail attempt. It was the first the public had heard of the case — prosecutors announced the charges the next day — and made it a story told largely in Letterman’s voice. Critics and public-relations experts hailed his disclosure as a master stroke.

“Letterman gave everybody, within what’s reasonable, what they needed to know to make up their own minds and decide what’s right and wrong,” said Winston-Salem, N.C.-based crisis-management consultant Rick Amme.

The case appears to have made little difference with television viewers. Letterman is averaging 4 million viewers this season, up 3 percent over last season, according to the Nielsen Co.

He was helped by not having to compete against Jay Leno for several months.

Still, Letterman has said the scandal took a personal toll.

“You take a look at the explosion, and it knocks you down, and you wake up every morning, and you’re scared and you’re depressed and sad,” the comic said Friday on “Live! With Regis and Kelly.”

“And you kind of got to let that knock you down and knock you down, and then pretty soon you’ve got to start knocking IT down,” Letterman added.

Halderman no longer has his job with CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery. The network also hosts Letterman’s show.

After getting out of jail, he’s expected to do his community service at New York and Connecticut organizations that provide job training to formerly homeless people and convicts getting out of prison.

LOS ANGELES – Shoppers can boldly go where no man has gone before when Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s collection of personal effects and show memorabilia go up for auction.

Hand-annotated scripts, costumes from the show and Roddenberry’s own studio pass are among the items available at the June 27 auction at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, administered by Julien’s Auctions.

Proceeds will benefit the Roddenberry Foundation, which makes grants to support children, education and the environment.

The original Capt. Kirk, William Shatner, is also getting in on the auction, selling his custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle, his Golden Globe nomination certificate and the plaque he was presented when he got a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 1983.

Shatner plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Hollywood Charity Horse Show, which helps handicapped children.

The 79-year-old actor said he doesn’t mind parting with his mementos and would do just about anything to benefit his chosen charities.

“I had the great fortune of doing the same thing with a kidney stone,” Shatner said. “I passed a kidney stone, and a company offered me … $75,000 for my kidney stone.”

Shatner donated the money to Habitat for Humanity.

“I handed the motorcycle over and it was a part of my heart, but that’s only figuratively speaking,” he said.

Highlights from the Star Trek auction will be exhibited beginning Friday at Ponte 16 in Macau, China, and Jun. 14-24 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Bids will be accepted in person, online and by phone.

The collection will be “very meaningful” to “Trek” fans, said Shatner, who cites the show’s optimistic themes as the reason it has endured for decades.

“It suggests that 300 years from now, mankind is still around,” he said. “It’s on a note of hope that not only will we be around, but we will flourish and be out there among the stars, colonizing.”

LOS ANGELES – Glee, the award-winning musical comedy about a misfit high school show choir, might be doing more for music than its fellow Fox juggernaut, American Idol.

GLEE: An uplifting series with biting humor that follows an optimistic high school teacher as he tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing the high school’s glee club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential. A special preview following AMERICAN IDOL will air Tuesday, May 19 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. The show will then premiere in the fall (date to be announced.) Pictured back row L-R: Jenna Ushkowitz, Dianna Agron, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Mark Salling, Chris Colfer and Amber Riley. Front row L-R: Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Jayma Mays and Cory Monteith. ©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Joe Viles/FOX

In its first 13 episodes, the show treated viewers to covers of songs by Neil Diamond, Rihanna, Kanye West, Barbra Streisand, Beyonce, Queen, Liza Minnelli and more. The music from Glee is a huge success in its own right, with more than 4 million digital downloads sold and two soundtracks already certified gold. A nationwide tour, Glee Live, featuring key members from the show’s cast, kicks off in May and has sold out, and the show is boosting sales for the original artists behind the songs.

Its stars are even featured on the current issue of Rolling Stone.

When the hourlong hit returns Tuesday for a nine-episode run, expect twice the tunes per show and even more mash-ups and musical diversity.

“Every single possible musical style and taste is going to be in there,” says Glee co-creator Brad Falchuk. “It doesn’t matter what you like — you’re going to find what you like and stuff you never heard of that you’ll love.”

But the commercial success of the Glee songs wasn’t a reason for the boost, he says. Instead, he said the decision was made because the music greatly enriches the show by giving viewers an emotional understanding of what the characters are going through. Falchuk says he and fellow show creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan intentionally upped the number of songs to a minimum of five per episode for the balance of the first season (three to five had been the norm).

Falchuk says Murphy, also creator of the cult TV hit Nip/Tuck, is the master behind the music: “He’s the iTunes library, the Rainman of music.”

This season, the characters will express their joy and frustrations through the songs of best-selling acts like AC/DC, the Beatles, Lionel Richie, Olivia Newton John and Madonna.

In fact, Madonna gets her own entire episode — a tribute to the Material Girl packed with 10 songs, seven of which appear on a separate soundtrack, Glee: The Power of Madonna, set for release Apr. 20.

Practically every member of the show’s cast can and does sing, recording their songs regularly at the storied Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles. The dozen actors comprising McKinley High School’s New Directions glee club sing several songs each episode, while other stars — including caustic cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), cranky football coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher) and neat-freak guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays) — chime in from time to time.

(Spoiler alert: Sylvester’s fans will love Lynch’s glamorous, unforgettable singing debut in the Madonna episode. She also duets with a legendary guest star later in the season.)

Producer Adam Anders arranges, records and mixes all the featured tracks — sometimes as many as 10 a week.

“I have eight studios going at all times on Glee,” says the 34-year-old, who counts Disney’s High School Musical and Camp Rock among his credits. “I have a partner in Sweden, and we basically get 27 hours out of a day because we have a nine-hour time change.”

The pair works around the clock to craft the songs, usually a couple weeks before each episode is shot. When the episode airs, they know immediately which songs are hits by simply clicking on iTunes.

“As a songwriter or producer, you never get that kind of instant reaction,” Anders says. “It’s really cool.”

Some bands covered on Glee have seen a resurgence in their own popularity. The cast’s version of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” hit No. 1 on iTunes when the show premiered and helped return the original 1981 version to the charts (that song also jumped on iTunes charts after it was used in the Sopranos finale).

“It’s a testament to how much the music is really affecting people and that a whole new generation is being introduced to these songs,” Falchuk says.

Still, the success of the music depends on the success of the storytelling, so script always precedes song.

“We never have a song and then say we need to find a story for this song,” says Falchuk. “The thing about a musical is what emotional experience do you want the audience to have by hearing that song at that moment?”

It’s those experiences that inspire sales success.

“The songs that sell the best are the ones where the integration of the story and music really worked, where there’s an emotional connection to what’s going on in the scene,” he says.

“It’s independent of genre. It could be classic rock or a musical, it’s just a song that made people feel good.”

LOS ANGELES – Kathryn Bigelow played field commander to bring her raw, relentless Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker to the screen.

The Oscars this year brought big wins for The Hurt Locker, Bigelow, Bullock, and Bridges.

After her film triumphed at the Academy Awards with six prizes and made her the first woman ever to win the directing Oscar, she graduated to diplomat with her deft handling of some uncomfortable personal questions from reporters after the show.

Bigelow’s rivals included a man from her past — ex-husband James Cameron, whose science-fiction epic Avatar also was nominated for the best picture and director that she won.

Backstage, Bigelow judiciously handled reporters’ queries about Cameron, who was seated right behind her at the Oscars and joined the standing ovation she received, clapping heartily and saying, “Yes, yes” after she won best director.

“Jim is very inspiring. I think he inspires filmmakers around the world, and for that, I think I can speak for all of them. We’re quite grateful,” Bigelow said.

Asked what she might say to Cameron about winning over him, Bigelow gave a big laugh and shrugged off the question.

“You left me speechless,” Bigelow said. She and Cameron were married from 1989-91, and Cameron won best director and picture for his 1997 blockbuster Titanic.

First-time winners took all four acting prizes: Sandra Bullock as best actress for The Blind Side; Jeff Bridges as best actor for Crazy Heart; Mo’Nique as supporting actress for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire; and Christoph Waltz as supporting actor for Inglourious Basterds.

Bigelow downplayed descriptions of herself as a female filmmaker throughout awards season. After the Oscars, she reiterated that sentiment but made it clear she was eager for other women to follow her lead in winning Hollywood’s top filmmaking honor.

“I hope I’m the first of many, and of course, I’d love to just think of myself as a filmmaker. And I long for the day when that modifier can be a moot point,” Bigelow said. “But I’m very grateful if I can inspire some young, intrepid, tenacious male or female filmmaker and have them feel that the impossible is possible, and never give up on your dream.”

Bullock’s win came a day after she won worst-actress for her romantic comedy flop All About Steve at the Razzies, a spoof of the Oscars that mocks Hollywood’s low-points of the year.

The Razzie win makes Bullock the only actress to receive that dubious prize and an Oscar on the same weekend. Bullock became one of the few Razzie winners ever to collect her trophy in person, showing up at the ceremony Saturday pulling a little red wagon filled with DVDs of All About Steve for the audience there.

Where will she keep her Oscar and Razzie?

“They’ll sit side by side on a nice little shelf somewhere. The Razzie maybe on a different shelf. Lower,” said Bullock, who was a great sport throughout awards season, joking about her worst-actress Razzie nomination. “You take the good with the not-so-good.”

The Oscar marks a career peak for Bridges, a beloved Hollywood veteran who had been nominated four times in the previous 38 years without winning. Describing his long career, he borrowed some lines from one of his most endearing and enduring characters, the laid-back bowler the Dude from The Big Lebowski.

“Ups and downs. What does the Dude say? Strikes and gutters, man,” Bridges said backstage. “I’m big on the Dude. I love him.”

Known mainly for brazen comedy routines and roles in lowbrow films, Mo’Nique startled audiences with a dark turn as a reprehensible welfare mother in Precious.

Asked backstage if things would change for her, Mo’Nique declared, “I am a standup comedian who won an Oscar.”

Austrian-born Waltz, a veteran TV and stage actor in Europe but virtually unknown in Hollywood before Quentin Tarantino cast him in Inglourious Basterds, reflected on his sudden Oscar celebrity.

“It’s mind-boggling. It’s fantastic. It’s very intense,” Waltz said. “And tomorrow I’ll probably be sorry it’s over,” he said.

The Hurt Locker scored a victory for war-on-terror dramas, which until now had found little favor with audiences shell-shocked by nightly news coverage of the action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The film stars Jeremy Renner as the ace leader of a bomb-disposal unit in Iraq, a man whose addiction to the adrenaline rush of war endanger his colleagues (Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty).

War films normally are the arena of male directors, but Bigelow has made action and stories about tough men a specialty, her films including the Keanu Reeves-Patrick Swayze thriller Point Break and Harrison Ford’s submarine adventure K-19: The Widowmaker.

K-19 was a 2002 flop, and it took Bigelow years to get back in action with The Hurt Locker, which premiered at the Venice and Toronto film festivals in September 2008.

While it pulled in $12.6 million domestically, a respectable showing for an independent film without big stars, The Hurt Locker is the lowest-grossing best-picture winner in this modern era of detailed box-office bookkeeping.

It took in less than one-fourth the haul of 2005 best-picture winner Crash, itself one of the least commercially successful recipients of the top Oscar.

Along with Avatar, the biggest modern blockbuster with $720 million domestically, the best-picture competition included the $200 million smashes Up and The Blind Side and the $100 million hits District 9 and Inglourious Basterds.”

Like Crash, The Hurt Locker was a rare film that swooped in from outside the Hollywood studios to earn the industry’s highest tribute. The Hurt Locker was acquired by Summit Entertainment after the film played at the Toronto festival, where Crash also was bought by distributor Lionsgate.

Joining Bigelow to collect the best-picture Oscar were Hurt Locker producers Mark Boal, who also won the prize for original screenplay, and Greg Shapiro.

A fourth producer — financier Nicolas Chartier, a key money man behind the film — was barred from attending as punishment for violating awards rules by sending e-mails to Oscar voters urging them to back The Hurt Locker over Avatar.

Oscar overseers said Chartier still will receive his best-picture Oscar, but at a later time.

“We haven’t spoken to him yet,” Shapiro said. “He sent me a very beautiful e-mail. He had a party thrown for him, and I think he’s very pleased.”

NEW YORK – Early indications are that an Academy Awards telecast where The Hurt Locker topped the popular Avatar for best picture was popular with viewers.

The Nielsen Co.’s overnight measurement of the nation’s 56 biggest markets gave ABC’s telecast a 26.5 rating and 40 audience share. That’s a 14 percent increase over the same rating for last year’s telecast, when Slumdog Millionaire was named best picture.

Nielsen is expected to give an estimate of the audience size later Monday. Last year’s telecast was seen by 36.3 million people. Each rating point represents 1,149,000 households, and the share means that 40 percent of the televisions being used at the time were tuned into the Oscars. The Oscars had a 29.4 rating in the New York market, Nielsen said. That was 11 percent above the average for other big cities and No. 13 among those cities.

NEW YORK – Production of the Fox network thriller “24″ has been temporarily shut down so that star and executive producer Kiefer (KEE’-fur) Sutherland can undergo surgery.

Shooting is expected to resume next week with Sutherland’s return. Twentieth Century Fox Television would not comment on the nature of Sutherland’s ailment, referring to it only as “a medical procedure.” The Los Angeles Times first reported the production halt and says Sutherland suffered from a ruptured cyst.

About six more weeks of production time remains for the season. Fox says no disruption is expected in airing the episodes.

Sutherland plays counter-terrorist hero Jack Bauer on the series. The show is now in its eighth season.

NEW YORK – By noon, it had been quite a day for Razzle Dazzle.

Fraiser, a 2-year-old dachshund is groomed backstage during the 134th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 15, 2010 in New York. There are 2,500 dogs competing at Madison Square Garden for the coveted title of best in show. The top prize will be presented Tuesday night. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

She’d already walked off with a repeat ribbon as the best bulldog at the Westminster Kennel Club show Monday, and now it was time for a catnap. So she put her big, wrinkled head down in her crate and tried to take a snooze.

No luck. Minutes later, the backstage crowd at America’s most prestigious dog show kept clamoring for a closer look. The 3-year-old bruiser woke, raised up and unleashed a full, throaty bark.

Co-owner Robert Speiser did his best to shield her from all the commotion, pressing his body against the front of her crate.

“Go back to bed, honey,” he whispered.

Madison Square Garden was steamy for the opening session of the two-day event. More than half of the 2,500 dogs were housed right off the main floor and thousands of fans jammed in on a holiday to see them.

“It’s a madhouse,” said Jane Bates, co-owner of a top golden retriever called Treasure.

Sadie the Scottish terrier loomed as the clear favorite to win best in show Tuesday night. Treasure, Razzle Dazzle, a crowd-pleasing puli and an alert Doberman pinscher were poised to contend for the silver bowl.

Judging began at 8 a.m. Monday, with 173 breeds and varieties competing. They included three newcomers: the Irish red and white setter, the Norwegian buhund and the Pyrenean shepherd.

The hound, toy, nonsporting and herding groups were to be judged Monday night. The sporting, working and terrier groups were set for Tuesday evening, with judge Elliott Weiss ready to make his best in show pick shortly before 11 p.m.

Clint Livingston hoped to be in that best of seven showdown.

He handles Treasure, along with 16 other champion dogs at Westminster. It’s a family affair — brother Brian brought 12 and sister Colette had four. Naturally, their mom and dad were in the business.

“She wouldn’t let me show unless I made straight A’s,” Clint said.

Lesson learned well. The valedictorian of his high school class in Texas, he began coming to Westminster in 1984 and has done his share of winning in best of breed and best of group judging.

With so many dogs, the family got its own corner grooming area, away from the pack of people and pooches. They also employed five assistants, and the constant whirl of brushes, clippers and blow dryers made it look like Livingston Spa.

This year, Clint is handling a petits bassets griffons vendeen, a long-haired dachshund, a German shepherd, a Chinese shar-pei and an Australian cattle dog, among others. Inevitably, the siblings wind up competing against each other.

At one point Monday, the boys found themselves in the same Australian shepherd ring. Brian took the top prize. Clint, meanwhile, dutifully dashed off to show his brother’s Finnish spitz.

Any gloating, bro?

“I might wink at him,” Brian said, smiling.