LOCHTE GETTING INTO THE SWIM OF CELEBRITY PR

More and more celebrities appear to be waging PR campaigns via social media and the press to land positions either as judges or contestants on top-rated network talent contests — and often succeeding. A day after Nick Jonas, of the pop group the Jonas Brothers tweeted that he was being considered to replace Steven Tyler on America’s Got Talent, Olympic gold-medal swimmer Ryan Lochte said in London that he’d like to become a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. Lochte also proposed that the show’s producers sign up Michael Phelps to compete against him. “I mean since I am so used to competing against Michael Phelps, yeah, I’d have him on the show,” he told reporters. A report on NBC’s Today show website said that when it contacted DWTS producers, it was told, “Nothing is in the works yet … but rest assured either [Lochte or Phelps] — or even better, both of them — would be welcome in the ballroom.”