"Idol" sweetheart Kellie Pickler coming our way

Kellie Pickler is the latest in an ever-growing line of "American Idol" finalists to play Dutchess County, headed to Dutchess Stadium on September 14th.

Part of the inaugural "Hudson Valley Country Fest," the "Idol" Season Five finalist will share a bill with Trace Adkins, Andy Griggs, Cowboy Crush and Sarah Johns at the Fishkill ballpark. (Click here to get all the info on the show)

Kellie has an unbelievable personal story, culminating in this dramatic performance of her hit, "I Wonder," at this Country Music Awards performance from last November.

Stay tuned to "Sean's Space" as I'm working on interviewing Kellie as the show nears.

As for Trace, he gained even more popularity this past winter as the winner of "The Celebrity Apprentice," just falling short of Donald Trump's grand prize.

Still, Trace made even more money for his charity, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, with the release of the "live" version of his hit, "You're Gonna Miss This" following the series finale."

Trace came off as the darling of the show, proving you could both raise a lot of money for charity, but be a nice guy in the process.

"Now it's time to say good-bye to all our company..."

Stopping at the Poughkeepsie Galleria on my way to work today, I saw one of the saddest sights of my life: the bare walls of the Disney Store.
Sure, I'd heard for weeks that the store was closing. I'd even been in there in recent days, trying to snag a bargain here or there. Then I saw that "LAST 2 DAYS" sign, it really hit me. Ouch!

Even til the end, the Cast Member at the register today asked me for my "autograph" as she passed me the credit card slip for my final purchase. That made me happy ... but sad, too.

Anyone who's read "Sean's Space" knows, I'm a huge Disney fan. Hence, I'd often stop by the Disney Store (even if I didn't end up buying anything) as a way of sooting my cravings between what have become annual trips to Walt Disney World.

But now, I'll have to watch more of those free Disney World promotional, vacation-planning DVDs to get my fix.

Bye, bye, Mickey!

Bonne nuit, L'Allemagne!

For those who don't speak German (like myself), there's a little shout-out to our Eastern European readers!

What I also didn't know is that if you click here you can read "Sean's Space" in German ... at least I think it's German. Cool, right?

Apparently, this is how some folk overseas have read my musings about the New Kids On The Block, "American Idol" and "Sex and the City," among others.

The more, the merrier, I say. Empfang!

Have you heard? We're famous!

Yup! There are two Poughkeepsie references in the new "Sex and the City" movie!

I was just as shocked as (seen here from left to right) Samantha Jones, Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbs and Charlotte York Goldenblatt when I heard our dear town mentioned not once, but twice in the new flick!

After my "Ms. Big" saw the movie, she told me I had to look out for a pair of Poughkeepsie mentions. So ... I sat in the theater Sunday afternoon (I swear, I was the only guy in the place, but whatever!) and waited for more than an hour for Charlotte (she's always been my fav on the show) to say those three syllables: Puh-kip-see.

Without giving anything away, Charlotte (seen here as her alter-ego, actress Kristin Davis) mentions our hometown and then a few minutes later, Carrie says it, too!

Again, without giving anything away: The references are absolutely hilarious!

The Poughkeepsie mentions aside, the movie was pretty funny and was just like a 2-hour, 15-minute episode of the show. Though there were a few slow spots and clichéd moments, it was well worth the wait.

If you remember a post from a year ago, I've been a longtime fan of the show's writing (duh, I'm a writer!) so it was a treat to see the girls on the big screen.

Would I recommend the movie? Abso-frickin'-lutely!

(Yeah, I had to clean up that last part.)