Jennifer Hudson, 31, is joining gorgeous singers Katharine McPhee, 28, and Megan Hilty, 31, in the cast of Smash, and she flawlessly blends in to the show’s glamorous Broadway diva style. Each of these hot gals is giving Marilyn Monroe’s iconic style a try- and pulling it off seamlessly.

Though these talented ladies are all glammed up for their cover look, this style is far from being costume-y — it’s actually completely wearable! Jet black winged liquid eyeliner is the key trick that gives the ladies’ styles a completely retro glam nod. Thickly lined upper lids with softer underlined lower lashes instantly wake up your look with a wide-eyed feel.

Take a break from the heavy red lipstick and cake foundation if you are trying out this look. Paired with shimmering nude lip color and luminous, perfect skin, the singers show us how to keep the look modern and fresh. Edgy black lacquered nails offer a great finishing touch for this look: sleek and simple, the color adds drama without detracting from the sophisticated style.

Jennifer, Megan, and Katharine also show off bombshell waves that go on for days! Their long locks are soft and flowing, easily making for a sultry, modern style. Brush out your curls to get looser waves packed with sexy volume.

HollywoodLifers, who do YOU think wears retro hair and makeup best?

– Kristine Hope Kowalski

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Megan Hilty, 31, is a beauty fanatic. “I have to confess, I look for anything that has that little Allure sticker on it. I’m like, ‘Yup! Ok! Put it in my basket.’ I love trying new things all the time. I live on top of a Sephora so it’s bad,” she says.

Her faves: “Dry Shampoo. Klorane is my hands down favorite but Rene Furterer is great too. Neutrogena face wipes. L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Original Mascara. Boom. Or Maybelline New York Great Lash. You know what I just found? There’s this thing at Sephora called [Perfect Forumula] Pink Gel Coat. It’s like 30 bucks and instead of going and getting a gel manicure, you just put a couple coats on your polish and you’re not ruining your nails. You get to skip the UV rays and you don’t have to file the gel off, it just comes off easily. That’s my big beauty find.”

The biggest surprise: Megan does her own nails for TV! “I love doing nails. I used to do my mom’s and sister’s every Sunday night, just sit down and do everyone’s. So now I do it in the morning in my trailer while they’re working on my hair or something. Nail Polish has been a big thing because on set, they want to make a big thing about our nail polish. Every episode we have a new color. [Whips out iPhone and presents a picture of her hand, each finger done in a different polish.] I just did my nails at Sephora and sent my makeup artist pictures and was like, ‘Which ones can I get? Which ones do you like!?’”

Do you do any spa treatments or are you all DIY? “I love to go and get a facial or a massage. But there’s no time for that anymore so I try and do whatever I can at home, and anytime I need to go get a pedicure, then I’ll spring for the back massage they do there. There’s a place on the Upper West Side that I always go to. It’s amazing.”

HollywoodLifers, do YOU use any of Megan’s beauty faves? Sound off below!

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Karen (Katharine McPhee) may have nabbed the lead role in Bombshell‘s out-of-town tryouts, but when the musical finally comes to Broadway, there could be a very different face donning that awful Marilyn Monroe wig. Smash is currently filming its second season, and HollywoodLife.com snapped a photo — it’s filming two feet from our NYC office — that implies two major shakeups for Bombshell.

Scroll down to see the photo, and prepare to have your mind blown:

Not only is Ivy (Megan Hilty) credited as the show’s star, but Tom (Christian Borle) has been promoted to director! Meanwhile, Derek (Jack Davenport) appears to have been downgraded to the show’s choreographer. If Tom really does become the new director of Bombshell, it would certainly make sense for him to replace Karen with Ivy, since he was always a fan of the buxom blonde.

What do YOU think about this poster? Are you glad Ivy is finally getting the role she was born to play, or do you suspect this is merely part of a dream sequence? Drop a comment with your thoughts and theories!

— Andy Swift, reporting by Eleanore Hutch

Follow @AndySwift

More Smash scoop on HollywoodLife.com:

1. ‘Revenge’ Wedding Details, A ‘Smash’-ing Breakup & More TV Scoop
2. ‘Smash’: Katharine McPhee Previews Karen & Ivy’s New Season 2 Rivalry
3. ‘Hairspray’ Star Nikki Blonsky Joining ‘Smash’ Season 2 — Confirmed

If you thought Karen (Katharine McPhee) scoring the lead role in Bombshell would effectively put an end to rivalry with Ivy (Megan Hilty) on Smash, think again! ”There will definitely still be rivalry,” Katharine told HollywoodLife.com at the sixth anniversary benefit for Malaria No More on Nov. 8 in NYC. “We’ll see them pitted against each other in the future.”

One person Katharine’s character won’t be feuding with is Veronica Moore, played by fellow American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson.

“It was really fun working with her,” Katharine said of Jennifer, who appears in the first three episodes of season two. “No one can sing quite like her. She’s incredibly focused when she’s on set. She has a great work ethic, and I really respected that. She brings a great energy to the show.”

As for what Karen will be like, following her rise to fame as the star of Bombshell, Katharine assured us there will still be plenty of off-stage drama in her life.

“You’ll see her in a position of power,” Katharine revealed. “But she quickly realizes that it’s not as easy a ride to the top as she thought it was.”

Smash‘s second season premieres Feb. 5 on NBC with a special two-hour episode.

— Andy Swift, reporting by Eleanore Hutch

Follow @AndySwift

More Smash on HollywoodLife.com:

1. ‘Hairspray’ Star Nikki Blonsky Joining ‘Smash’ Season 2 — Confirmed
2. ‘Smash’ Season 2 Video: Jennifer Hudson Makes Her Big Debut
3. ‘Smash’ Star Megan Hilty Reveals Ivy’s Fate & Previews Season 2

Between (briefly) battling drug addiction, getting her heart broken and watching her dream role go to another girl, Megan Hilty‘s Ivy had a rough go of it on the first season of Smash – and her drama culminated on the May 14 season finale, which ended with her about to down an entire bottle of pills. Fortunately, Megan assures HollywoodLife.com that Ivy’s not going anywhere. In fact, she’s got big dreams for the blonde bombshell in season two!

“She lives,” Megan told me when we chatted at a recent Dr. Scholl’s Sole Space “Get Up & Go!” event in NYC. “I actually have a meeting with the new show runner soon [Josh Safran] soon, so I’ll find out exactly what he has planned for me.”

We won’t find out what Josh has in store for Ivy until Smash returns in early 2013 — I know, I know — but in the meantime, Megan has her character’s future all mapped out.

“I would really love to see Ivy get it together,” she told me. “I’d love her to have something she can really enjoy without feeling threatened by anything or anyone. And I’d like for her to get a really cool boyfriend — and not someone who’s attached to one of her friends. I’d really love it if he wasn’t in the business and he tried to take care of her. She wouldn’t know how to handle it!”

But Megan is thinking about more than just Ivy’s love life. She also wants to get her career back on track — and there’s only person who can help her do it.

“I’m starting a campaign to get Allison Janney on the show,” Megan revealed. “She can do no wrong, and she can sing and dance. She’s also the greatest person on the planet, so to have her on the show would be win-win for everybody. She could be Ivy’s manager, and that’s me being selfish, because then we’d have all of our scenes together.”

Now that Megan’s shared her hopes for season two, it’s time to share yours: What would you like to see Ivy do next? Should she try to patch things up with Derek, or find someone new? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments section below!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

Not only was the May 14 season finale of Smash the best episode since its critically acclaimed pilot, but it also served to reinforce a few truths I’ve come to accept during the course of the season: Ellis (Jaime Cepero) sucks, Dev (Raza Jaffrey) is a douche, Ivy (Megan Hilty) is chemically imbalanced, and Karen (Katharine McPhee) — well, Karen is a star!

Much to the chagrin of the rest of the creative team, Derek insisted that Karen play Marilyn in the final preview performance, adding an additional layer of stress to the cast and crew of Bombshell. As if it wasn’t enough that Tom (Christian Borle) and Julia (Debra Messing) had to pull a brand-new final number out of their collective butt, Karen had only a few hours to learn the entire show.

No one was more upset with Derek’s choice than Ivy, who decided to not-so-subtly reveal her affair with Dev at the worst possible moment, sending Karen into a Marilyn-style tizzy. After a brief nervous breakdown, she gave Dev back his engagement ring and broke up with him for good. Derek added an extra “f**k you” of his own, telling Dev, “She’s mine now.”

I’ve got to say, it felt really good watching Dev get his head handed to him. He’s been on the decline ever since the pilot, and I wouldn’t be too disappointed if he didn’t stick around for season two. Karen needs a guy who understands what she’s going through — or at the very least, she needs to be single for a while so Derek can try living out one of his little fantasies.

But it wasn’t all bad news on Broadway this week, as Eileen (Anjelica Huston) finally fired Ellis. He told her he was the one who poisoned Rebecca’s (Uma Thurman) smoothie — bragged about it, in fact — and insinuated he was the only one doing any real producing. Like the true cartoon villain that he is, Ellis vowed revenge before sauntering out of the theater, so it looks like we can anticipate plenty of weasel sightings in season two.

The rewrite and recasting for Bombshell clearly paid off, because Karen was sensational and the crowd loved her. But while she was belting her glorious final number, Ivy was preparing for a curtain call of her own: The final scene revealed the Marilyn-hopeful downing a bottle of pills, leaving her fate in question until the show returns in 2013.

What did you think of the Smash finale? Did it restore your faith in the inconsistent series, or will you not be tuning in when it returns next year? Was Karen the right choice to play Marilyn? And what do you think will happen to Ivy, post-pill binge? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments section below!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

I never thought I’d say this, but I think someone has finally surpassed Ellis (Jaime Cepero) in the race for the least likable character on Smash – and that person is Mr. Dev Sundaram (Raza Jaffrey). On the May 6 episode, after waking up in bed with Ivy (Megan Hilty), Dev actually had the nerve to re-propose to Karen (Katharine McPhee). And this time, she wasn’t “in tech,” so she said yes.

Of course, Dev wasn’t the only terrible boyfriend in Boston this week. Derek (Jack Davenport) continued sleeping with Rebecca (Uma Thurman), who suffered a literal (theater) death when no one applauded after the first performance of Bombshell. Apparently the audience wasn’t down with Marilyn’s death, even though — as Julia (Debra Messing) pointed out — Marilyn dies in nearly every re-telling of her life.

Speaking of Julia, reuniting with Michael (Will Chase) was even more awkward and stressful than she imagined it would be — especially with Frank (Brian d’Arcy James) and Leo by her side. And the more Michael tried to get back with Julia, the more she resented Tom (Christian Borle) for allowing the team to ask him back to Bombshell.

And just when you thought things couldn’t get any more out of control, Rebecca was rushed to the hospital after suffering a peanut allergy attack. But even after being released, Miz Duvall decided not to return to Bombshell. But as they say in the biz, the show must go on, which leaves us right back where we started after the pilot:

Who will take over the role of Marilyn just in time to save Bombshell – Karen or Ivy?

So who do you think poisoned Rebecca, and more importantly, who should replace her as Marilyn? Hit up the comments section with your thoughts and theories!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift

More Smash:

1. Recap: Are Karen & Dev Officially (Finally) Over?
2. Recap: Ivy & Karen Team Up Against Rebecca
3. ‘Smash’ Officially Renewed For Second Season

Am I crazy, or do Julia (Debra Messing) and Frank (Brian d’Arcy James) now have the most stable relationship out of all the couples on Smash? By the time the curtains dropped on the April 30 episode, both Karen (Katharine McPhee) and Ivy’s (Megan Hilty) love lives were in shambles as their boyfriends spent the hour getting handsy with other dames.

During out-of-town tech rehearsals for Bombshell, Rebecca (Uma Thurman) had a mini-meltdown when she learned that her Joe DiMaggio had dropped out of the show; and with so little time before opening night, there was only one thing to do: bring back Michael (Will Chase). In a surprising show of sensibility, Julia threatened to quit Bombshell if Michael re-entered the fold, only to have Frank and Leo encourage her to stick with it! I expected that kind of backwards logic from Leo — I still can’t believe he tried to smoke out of a vaporizer in the middle of Central Park — but I really had respect for Frank. Until that.

Speaking of cheaters, Dev (Raza Jaffrey) had himself a little mouth-on-mouth party with R.J. this week. Clearly wracked with guilt, he then decided to propose to Karen — and I couldn’t help but smile as she turned him down. The whole cheating thing aside, I’ve never really understood Karen and Dev as a couple. He was sweet and supportive in the pilot, but like most things on Smash, their relationship has been on a steep decline ever since. He’s controlling, he’s temperamental, and he doesn’t seem to understand what it means to date an actress.

In all his infinite wisdom, Derek (Jack Davenport) decided it would be a good idea to hook up with Rebecca in her dressing room, which didn’t sit well with Ivy. Not one bit. But her heartache ended up being the viewers’ good fortune, as she treated us to an intense performance of Rose Royce‘s “I’m Going Down.” I can’t say it was a great song for Ivy to sing at a hotel party — it was pretty much the definition of “buzz kill” — but I enjoyed it, for sure.

And that’s when things got cray. Dev slipped into a dive bar to wallow in his own stupidity, when a pretty young blonde caught his eye — a blonde named Ivy Lynn, to be more specific. He bought her a drink, and according to the promo for next week’s episode, they made a little history of their own. I’m surprised Dev didn’t recognize Ivy because I could have sworn he’d had at least seen her before, but hey, I’m not complaining. I’m just glad to see Karen and Dev on the outs.

What did you think of this week’s Smash? Are you glad Michael is coming back? Do you think he and Julia will rekindle their affair? And how do you feel about Ivy and Dev hooking up? Was it genius, or too random? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below!

— Andy Swift

Follow @AndySwift