Here we are, halfway home. A few things before we begin this week: one, the theme is "The songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber," and beyond Phantom, which I've seen twice, I couldn't name you another ALW song, except the famous one from "Cats." Two, they have seriously overloaded the stage with band members this week. The contestants have about three square feet to work with. Three, each contestant is only singing one song, which means they have plenty of time to fill and each should be allowed to sing more than just 90 seconds of the song.
Syesha is up first, and she sings "One Rock and Roll too Many" from a musical that is not Phantom. She handles the space issue by starting out the song on top of a piano. I think the beginning is lovely and seems to fit her voice, but as the song goes on, it really exposes again how weak her voice is, which was her problem in the early weeks. And then she starts yelling, and it is a lot off pitch. That went downhill fast. Randy thinks it was her best performance yet. Whaaaa? Randy, this was the perfect time to use "pitchy!" Even Simon was swayed. The yelling? And the pitchiness? The weak voice? Ehhhh, I'm not buying it. I think the over-praise is in reponse to the article this week pointing out what we already knew: singing first is the kiss of death in some rounds. They over-compensated for what was a mediocre performance.
I recognize this song! This is the famous Cats song, "Memory." Jason didn't know that a cat sang the song in the musical, despite its title. Give him a break...when this was taped he was probably gearing up for 4/20. Anyway, I think this has "disaster" written all over it. He is totally not cut out for this song, it is way too big for his voice. There are some really good parts and some really, really awful parts. Randy uses the word "trainwreck." This was such a poor song choice. Paula...is an idiot. I quote: "It was really wise of you to choose this choice. It really identifies your unique being as an artist." Simon goes the "child at a wedding" route, and the crowd doesn't even boo all that much. Meh.
Brooke is singing "You Must Love Me" from Evita. It looks like ALW gives her some solid advice for the performance. She's without a piano this week, and she stops and starts over one line into the song. There's a terrible 3 second pause -- that has never really happened on Idol before, before she starts up again. I'm torn with Brooke now. I think she's working herself into a mental panic before every performance, and it's showing, but when she can settle down and give a full performance, she's great. The crowd and judges are kind of stunned, even Paula has to grasp for words. Simon seems to realize what a fragile emotional state she's in, and keeps the criticism to "I think you'll be disappointed in yourself." If she's voted out tomorrow I would really hate for her sing-out to be to "You Must Love Me."
David A. is up next. "Think of Me!" I love this song. ALW doesn't know how a boy can sing this song meant for a diva. David has altered the arrangement of the song, and vows to work on keeping his eyes open during his performance. You know, I never thought about that. Maybe that's why most of the time I fawn over his voice, but the performance leaves me strangely cold. The change of arrangement is a little off-putting, but the singing is incredible as usual. His eyes were open most of the time, too. Randy proclaims him "the one to beat." Paula deems it "perfect." Simon says it was one of his weaker performances. Hmmm, I think this is Simon's reverse psychology at work here. Yes, I buy into the theory that Simon is a manipulative bastard, and this is his wake-up call to David's legions of teenybopper fans. You may have a different take on it, of course.
Ugh, they put David C. in the pimp spot. I swear, if he wins...
Anyway, Carly is next and she is singing "Jesus Christ Superstar." I want Carly to be better than she is. I mostly enjoyed her performance, but she veers dangerously into shouting territory on some of the bigger notes. I thought it showed a lot of her personality, and while she's still treading the line between having fun and utter desperation, I think this came down just on the good sign of the line. Judges? Liked it, with Simon proclaiming it one of his favorites of the night.
David C. is singing "Music of the Night" from Phantom, which sounds like a great choice for him. ALW isn't convinced, only saying "maybe it will work." David has a great voice, which is why I don't understand all of the nonsense he puts into his other performances. I mean, WOW, this is fantastic, if you just listen to it. Randy says it was a "molten hot lava bomb." Does the Pentagon make those? Simon wants him back in his RAWK box. Noooooo, that ruins him!! Don't listen to him, David! If I were a contestant, I would hate the advice from the judges. Make the song your own, but don't step outside the pre-made box we place you in. God.
Rankings:
David C.
David A.
Carly
Syesha
Brooke
Jason
I forget if they do bottom three tomorrow. If they do, I'm thinking Brooke, Jason, and Syesha. Brooke is going home, as much as I'd like Jason to go after that mess of a performance.
Showing posts with label recap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recap. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Dancing with the Stars, Week 7
Jason is doing the cha cha. In practice, Edyta decides Jason needs to be more comfortable dancing on his own, so she takes him to a freestyle dance class. He is easily a foot talle than everyone else in the class, but he does well, becuase he has a natural rhythm about him. I love their routine, as usual. His footwork is great, and his arms are good most of the time. He does much better on his than anyone else in this competition except Kristi, so it'll be interesting to see how everyone handles that. Len notes that she went a bit off-tempo, as does Bruno, Carrie Anne critiques the bit of awkwardness in his arms. He gets a bit lower than usual with a 8,8,8 for a 24.
Shannon and Derek are totally dating. And wow, they're not really trying to hide it either. Derek brings her flowers, they go to the beach and Derek dances with his shirt off and they roll around in the sand together. They're dancing the rhumba, hence the romantic set-up. I think Shannon does a great job with the dance. Her lines are getting a lot better, Derek is choreographing to her strengths, and they have genuine chemistry on the dance floor. I don't think it was her best, but she's improving so much each week that it almost doesn't matter. Bruno says that they were "sizzling," but tells her to work on to footsteps. Carrie Anne tells her to work harder, but praises her work ethic. I always feel so bad when Shannon gets a negative critique, because she takes it so hard.
Before their scores, Tom tells us that they will be celebrating their 100th show in 2 weeks, and it will included performances by Mel & Maks, Mario Lopez, and Apolo and Julianne!! Yay Apolo! Shannon's scores are 8s across the board, to tie them with Jason with a 24.
Marlee had a tough week last week. She and Fabian are learning the mambo, which is Fabian's favorite. Then the Fonz shows up to tell her how great her spirit is. She looks fantastic, but again, I think she missed a couple things, or stepped off of the beat at some point. Carrie Anne was a bit disappointed. Len tells her she is an insporation, and then tells her it was uncomfortable. Same with Bruno. They're disguising their critiques around praise for being deaf. She gets straight 7s for a 21.
Cristian and Cheryl are foxtrotting. They look fantastic in shades of pink, but the dance is not good. Cristian is concentrating too hard on the counting, and then when he stops doing that, he's missing steps. Cheryl does her best, but this is not one of their better ones.
Band! The lady is in orange spandex and a gold headdress this week. Len tells Cristian this was his best dance, and then threatens to "show his bum in the supermarket" if Cristian is in the bottom two this week. Bruno (and I) choose not to think about that, but unlike me, praises the dance. I really didn't think it was that good, especially the footwork, which both Bruno and Carrie Anne loved. Before the break, they show us a preview of the group country dance coming up tonight. It looks like absolute mayhem. I can't wait! After the break, Cristian gets three 9s for a 27. Boo. It was not better than Jason's dance.
Marissa is next, and she's doing the Viennese Waltz. They seem to have a great time together. During the dance (which I enjoyed very much), I finally realized why all of her dances looks so odd, which was probably very obvious to everyone else from, like, Week One. Her legs are so much shorter than his, so all of the strides he's taking are just too big for her, which I think accounts for the fact that a few times in this dance, it looks like she's running to keep up. They miss one hold, and their ending is very complicated and kind of wobbly, but overall I liked it. It also looked like the wardrobe department figured out how to dress Marissa, because she's wearing a dress that doesn't make her look like a tree stump. Aww, she and Tony are so excited. All three judges praise her, and she gets a 9,8,9 for a 26.
Kristi hung out with Tiger Woods this week. Yeah, I guess that's cool. She and Mark are doing a jive. They try to play up the fact that Kristi has club feet as a child to make it seem like she has a weakness. I don't buy it, ABC! She won Olympic gold on those feet, I think she can handle the disco ball trophy. They do an adorable jive and while Mark does more of the work than usual this week, they were fantastic. Carrie Anne gives them a standing O before they get to the critiques. She says it was her favorite dance this season so far. Len calls it a buffet and a "tasty smorgasboard of dance." Great word usage there. Bruno raves. I'm feeling a perfect score. And there it is. A 30. Mark lifts Kristi into the air, but stupid Samantha has to pull her down. They were just having fun!
Paula Abdul is there. I'm thinking she could be a potential contestant next year, if her other gig keeps losing viewers.
Mario thinks he can go head-to-head with Kristi. Not if she keeps dancing like that, you can't. He and Karina are doing the rhumba this week. They are dancing to, no joke, "Let's Get it On." I wonder how the other Mario (Lopez, and Karina's boyfriend) feels about this. Karina is wearing red underwear and what looks like half of a white sheet. Also, this is very uncomfortable, but let's just say that with his tight pants...you can clearly tell which way Mario dresses. And we'll leave it at that. The dance is almost unwatchably sexy. The crowd loves this one. Len, however, calls Karina a strumpet and Mario a gigolo. Oh, Len. Stop being old. Bruno puts us back on track by calling it "fabulous." Carrie says it was better than good sex. I could not make this shit up. Wow. They get a 9,9,10 (their first of the competition) for a 28.
But wait! We still have the rodeo-themed group dance yet to go! A personal theory of mine: most everyone looks hotter in a cowboy hat. The stars all prove it in this montage. Kristi is elected head of the sheriffs and Jason the head of the outlaws. He tells her that the town ain't big enough for the both of them. Kristi tries to stand up to him, but sadly for her, he just picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. Later on, he picks up Derek and fake-smashes him into the bar. This looks like so much fun. This dance is the funniest thing I've seen this week. For one, it is to "Cotton-Eyed Joe." Two, it's total chaos. Shannon flips Derek, Mark & Kristi do a lift I think I've seen in figure skating pairs competition, and they all do cartwheels. Jason rocks my socks, and he and Edyta do an incredible no-hands lift. I'll try to find it on YouTube, because it needs to be seen. Tomorrow someone has to go home, though. And it's getting hard to choose.
Top 3: Kristi, Mario, and Marissa
Bottom 2: Marlee and Cristian
Going home: I have no idea. I don't think Cristian has a fan base, but then Len had to go and make his threat. Marlee's too inspirational, so maybe Shannon?? I hope not.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Dancing with the Stars, Week 5
It's Latin Week! I spent the whole episode looking forward to Jason's performance, and debating whether or not I would rather have him do a rhumba or a samba. Hmmm, maybe I've picked a favorite.
Mario is up first, and he and Karina will be performing a samba. Instead of devoting every spare second to practicing, he goes to hang out with "his good friend" Stevie Wonder. Stevie's not going to help you with your posture, is he, Mario? They're dancing to "A Tisket, A Tasket." For a samba? Really? Mario looks more comfortable than he has sincce week one, but I still don't think he's getting any better. He's just trying to get back to as good as he was that first week. His "hip action" is great and he moves with a lot of confidence in the samba, though.
When they're done, Tom reminds us about the band. Why does that one woman always wear a headdress and spandex? Is that the next new fashion thing that I'll have to ignore, a la stretch pants and giant sunglasses?
Anyway, the judges loved Mario's samba. Len tells him to watch his feet. Mario gets a 9,9,9 for a total of 27.
Priscilla is next, and she and Louis will be performing a rhumba. She has chosen to wear an odd, sparkly shawl that makes her look 20 pounds heavier than she is. I think this was her weakest performance. She does a very impressive split in the beginning--how many 60-year-old women do you know that can do that? But her hands are bad, and their final hold is really, really shaky. Len rips it apart. 7,7,7 for 21 total. Even with the low score, I wouldn't count her out yet. The old-lady vote can be pretty potent. (See: Osmond, Marie)
Marissa and Tony will be performing the samba. What is it with Tony's shirts this year? For weeks now, he's had the most bizarre fashion choices. Maybe he's trying to distract from the fact that his partner is not very good, even though I think this is their strongest performance yet. It still has the same problems as some of their earlier dances: it's too slow, and there are too many hip-hop moves. The judges give moderate praise, and give her three eights for a 24.
Cristian and Cheryl will be performing the rhumba. In practice, Cheryl criticizes Cristian for not being manly enough, and then sticks him in a pink satin shirt. Here's the thing about rhumba: it's a slow dance, so I can never tell how much movement around the floor is a good amount. Because it looks like Cristian is just standing there while Cheryl spins around him. Len calls it "very competent." The judges are tougher this week than they've been, probably because the scores were so high last week. Carrie Anne says they weren't "erotic" enough. Can you say that in the 8 o'clock hour? They get a 7,8,8 for a 23. And going back to his dance after watching Jason's, Cristian's was like being served broccoli when you were expecting chocolate. (Not good.)
Marlee and Fabian dance the samba, and for the first time, you can see how Marlee not being able to hear really affects their dance. She stumbles a bit and gets off the beat a couple times -- maybe because the samba is so rhythm-dependent. Her "hip action" isn't great, and their hold is a bit off. The judges all carefully critique her, by which I mean they all say she's so "inspirational," and then they tell her what she did wrong. She gets a 7,7,8 for a 22.
Kristi has had two kids! And she looks like that! Wow. She and Mark will be dancing the rhumba, which Kristi says she's a bit nervous about because it's such a sensual dance and she's married and a mommy. She calls Mark a "hot young thing." Sing it, sister. He can even make the lavender outfit he's wearing look good. I can't even take notes when I watch Kristi. It was amazing and beautiful. The judges agree, and she gets a 9,10,10 for a 29.
Shannon and Derek had to suffer through another health scare this week, when Derek comes down with food poisoning on Monday morning. He's well enough to dance their samba. Going into it, you kind of knew Shannon wasn't going to do well with the hip rolls and Latin beat of the samba, and while there are some nice moments, the dance as a whole is a definite step down from last week. Carrie Anne makes a great point, though: she really went for it. Shannon's scores are 8,8,7 for a 23.
Finally! Jason and Edyta are doing the rhumba, and it's going to be amazing. During the dance, my notes are just a bunch of exclamation points: his hips! his hands! he's so graceful! How can this guy be a football player?! Maybe Kristi doesn't have this thing so wrapped up, after all. I really think that if Jason keeps getting better, we'll have a real battle on our hands. He gets three nines for a 27.
Top Three: Kristi, Jason, Mario
Bottom Three: Marlee, Priscilla, Cristian
If I had to guess: Priscilla hangs on for another week, Cristian goes home.
Mario is up first, and he and Karina will be performing a samba. Instead of devoting every spare second to practicing, he goes to hang out with "his good friend" Stevie Wonder. Stevie's not going to help you with your posture, is he, Mario? They're dancing to "A Tisket, A Tasket." For a samba? Really? Mario looks more comfortable than he has sincce week one, but I still don't think he's getting any better. He's just trying to get back to as good as he was that first week. His "hip action" is great and he moves with a lot of confidence in the samba, though.
When they're done, Tom reminds us about the band. Why does that one woman always wear a headdress and spandex? Is that the next new fashion thing that I'll have to ignore, a la stretch pants and giant sunglasses?
Anyway, the judges loved Mario's samba. Len tells him to watch his feet. Mario gets a 9,9,9 for a total of 27.
Priscilla is next, and she and Louis will be performing a rhumba. She has chosen to wear an odd, sparkly shawl that makes her look 20 pounds heavier than she is. I think this was her weakest performance. She does a very impressive split in the beginning--how many 60-year-old women do you know that can do that? But her hands are bad, and their final hold is really, really shaky. Len rips it apart. 7,7,7 for 21 total. Even with the low score, I wouldn't count her out yet. The old-lady vote can be pretty potent. (See: Osmond, Marie)
Marissa and Tony will be performing the samba. What is it with Tony's shirts this year? For weeks now, he's had the most bizarre fashion choices. Maybe he's trying to distract from the fact that his partner is not very good, even though I think this is their strongest performance yet. It still has the same problems as some of their earlier dances: it's too slow, and there are too many hip-hop moves. The judges give moderate praise, and give her three eights for a 24.
Cristian and Cheryl will be performing the rhumba. In practice, Cheryl criticizes Cristian for not being manly enough, and then sticks him in a pink satin shirt. Here's the thing about rhumba: it's a slow dance, so I can never tell how much movement around the floor is a good amount. Because it looks like Cristian is just standing there while Cheryl spins around him. Len calls it "very competent." The judges are tougher this week than they've been, probably because the scores were so high last week. Carrie Anne says they weren't "erotic" enough. Can you say that in the 8 o'clock hour? They get a 7,8,8 for a 23. And going back to his dance after watching Jason's, Cristian's was like being served broccoli when you were expecting chocolate. (Not good.)
Marlee and Fabian dance the samba, and for the first time, you can see how Marlee not being able to hear really affects their dance. She stumbles a bit and gets off the beat a couple times -- maybe because the samba is so rhythm-dependent. Her "hip action" isn't great, and their hold is a bit off. The judges all carefully critique her, by which I mean they all say she's so "inspirational," and then they tell her what she did wrong. She gets a 7,7,8 for a 22.
Kristi has had two kids! And she looks like that! Wow. She and Mark will be dancing the rhumba, which Kristi says she's a bit nervous about because it's such a sensual dance and she's married and a mommy. She calls Mark a "hot young thing." Sing it, sister. He can even make the lavender outfit he's wearing look good. I can't even take notes when I watch Kristi. It was amazing and beautiful. The judges agree, and she gets a 9,10,10 for a 29.
Shannon and Derek had to suffer through another health scare this week, when Derek comes down with food poisoning on Monday morning. He's well enough to dance their samba. Going into it, you kind of knew Shannon wasn't going to do well with the hip rolls and Latin beat of the samba, and while there are some nice moments, the dance as a whole is a definite step down from last week. Carrie Anne makes a great point, though: she really went for it. Shannon's scores are 8,8,7 for a 23.
Finally! Jason and Edyta are doing the rhumba, and it's going to be amazing. During the dance, my notes are just a bunch of exclamation points: his hips! his hands! he's so graceful! How can this guy be a football player?! Maybe Kristi doesn't have this thing so wrapped up, after all. I really think that if Jason keeps getting better, we'll have a real battle on our hands. He gets three nines for a 27.
Top Three: Kristi, Jason, Mario
Bottom Three: Marlee, Priscilla, Cristian
If I had to guess: Priscilla hangs on for another week, Cristian goes home.
Friday, April 11, 2008
A-FRAKKING-MAZING
Battlestar Galactica: Season 4, Episode 2. "Six of One"
I love this show. I loved this episode of this show.
I loved that Roslin actually shot at Kara...and when she missed, her bullet landed directly in the middle of a picture of her and Bill.
I loved the scene between the Admiral and Kara in the brig. He can be so terrifying (a la "Torn," but he clearly loves her still).
I loved "We're going the wrong waaaaay!"
I love Katee Sackhoff, probably more than is healthy.
I LOVED HeadGaius. The conversation between real Gaius and the Gaius in his head was priceless. I think I prefer two Baltars to one. But what happens when HeadSix comes back? Does Gaius get two imaginary friends?
I loved the rec room scene and the toast to "missing friends." I thought it was a nice call-back to the final scene of "Scar."
I loved that the show took five minutes to show a conversation between Adama and Roslin. These two know how to hit each other where it hurts, and while seeing Madame President break down is never easy, Mary McDonnell really makes you feel her pain.
The scene between Lee and Kara in the brig, and what it meant for the two of them. I really, really hope it wasn't good-bye forever, but if it was...
"I never could say no to anyone."
"Except me."
"Especially you."
"Good luck on your journey, Lee Adama."
"You too, Kara Thrace."
...what a way to say farewell to Starbuck and Apollo.
I loved Lee's Galactica send-off. I cried, of course. But for those who have been invested in this character since the beginning, that moment meant so much: it was a goodbye to life that he never really wanted to lead, but now that it's time to let go, it means giving up everything that has defined him since the beginning of the series. I can't wait to see where they take Lee's character. And, bonus: I love that Jamie Bamber can wear civilian attire now.
I loved the beginnings of the Cylon civil war. I can't wait to see what happens now that the Centurions are self-aware. What happens if the Centurions destroy the models? Does the Cylon race just return to what it was before?
I love that Six is the boss of everything. I love this new incarnation -- I think her name is Natalie-- and I love how she is totally distinct from every other version Tricia Helfer has created up until now.
I love that we finally can pair numbers to faces: Cavil is One, Leoben is Two, D'Anna is Three, Simon is Four, Doral is Five, Six is Six, and Boomer is Eight. I wonder why they skipped Seven? Speaking of numbers, I totally thought that Six was going to unbox the Threes, and D'Anna was going to walk through the door, not the Centurions.
I love that Tigh basically pimped Tory out. Am I wrong in thinking that she slept with him on her own volition? I mean, I don't think she had to do that, it was just something about the way he talked about life's harmony got to her.
I love that Adama let Kara go, in defiance of Roslin. I love that Helo helped.
I hate that there are only 18 more episodes.
Perfection.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
American Idol Results: When Eight Become Seven
Yeah, Idol Gives Back was on last night. No, I didn't watch the whole thing. I mean, two-and-a-half hours of utter nonsense? No thanks, I had much better things to do, like hate Donte Greene and win intramural basketball championships. Apparently, Teri Hatcher sang and Miley Cyrus performed twice. Man, too bad I missed it.Tonight, though, we get back to the business of kicking people off the show. The first thing they do is remind us about Idol Gives Back. I didn't care last night, I sure as hell don't care now. Ryan says they've raised $60 million, which is $16 million less than last year. Until FOX starts donating its advertising revenue, I will continue to be bitterly cynical about this whole thing.
The Top 8 sing a song called, not kidding, "Shout to the Lord." What happens if they don't believe in the Lord? This song is terrible. David Cook is doing some sort of vocal gymnastics behind the chorus. Ooh, and now it's Carly's turn. If I wasn't typing, I would be fast-forwarding.
OK, now there's this montage to "I'm a Believer," and there's a lot of celebrities mouthing along to the song. Carrie's gay friend Stanford! Vinnie Jones! Kobe Bryant with a patch on his face? Dr. Phil? George Lopez? Cat Deeley, I miss you! Michael Chikilis! Some lady grabs her boobs. Classy. That guy from 'The Riches'! Rob Schneider...he's still famous?
Aaaaand, here we go. Results. Brooke is out first...I am really worried for Brooke. She makes a funny joke about maybe being at her sister's wedding on Saturday, and then she's safe!! Yay!
David Cook: Ryan tells him that "[he] looked humble, walking out here tonight." Uh...sure? I often walk humbly. David is safe, of course. Come on, he's the new Daughtry. America isn't messing up this early.
David A. (MY EARS!!) Holy crap, they're getting worse by the week. The screaming, my God. It's not like this kid is Justin Timberlake. Calm down. Duh, he's safe.
After a follow-up report from Forrest Whittaker and his wife, Ryan announces that Jordin Sparks will be performing...WITH CHRIS BROWN!! Wooo! I love this song like whoa. Seriously, everything that Chris Brown has done lately has come into frequent rotation on my iPod. It's like he can do no wrong. He can even make me care about Jordin Sparks.
After a Fordmercial, which involves splatter paint and Michael Johns doing the whitest white-man dance I have seen in ages, it's back to the results. Jason Castro is so stoned. It's not even up for debate today. Ryan asks him a question, and all we get is "Mmmph, idunno, hmmmmph. Brownies? What brownies?" Illegal drugs or not, he's safe. So out of our remaining four (Syesha, Kristy Lee, Carly, and Michael), three are in DANGER. I'm thinking they're going to tell the next person they're safe, which would leave the three in the back to be the bottom three.
And I hope I'm not right, because the next person Ryan calls is Kristy Lee. Yeah, she was half-decent yesterday, but: "Eight Days a Week!" Yodeling! I won't forget it, no matter how many crappy country ballads she sings! Dang, I was right. She's safe. I hate life.
Your bottom three: Michael, Syesha, Carly. I guess it was to be expected. With Michael landing in the B3, only the Davids have avoided the B3 every week.
AHHHH! Hillary Clinton is speaking to me!!! Make it stop!! Whew, it's John McCain...and now Barack! All three presidential candidates tell us to donate, blahblahblah.
What is Randy wearing? Some kind of Hawai'ian shirt? Is he trying to tell us that he secretly misses Jasmine Trias? Wow, that's about as bad as Paula...oh wait, Paula tops him with a beige ruffle-type thing.
Wow, Ryan does the elimination all at once. He tells Syesha and Carly that they're safe, and then does the meanest thing that's ever been done on this show. He says, "Last year at Idol Gives Back, we didn't eliminate a contestant. This year....we will be saying good-bye to Michael Johns." That is harsh, Ryan. Don't give the poor man hope.
Eh, I'm not that shocked. He went first, he wasn't that memorable, and I don't think he had the fanbase that others did. Do I think Syesha, Krsity Lee, and Jason should have gone before him? Absolutely. But at least he gets to sing "Dream On" as his elimination song. The irony there is tremendous.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Reality Wrap-Up
I goofed tonight and forgot to set the VCR to tape Idol and Dancing with the Stars. A quick look around the Internet tells me that Adam Carolla finally said good-bye on DwtS. And thanks to rickey.org, I was able to listen to the Idol mp3s from tonight's Top 8: Idol Gives Back edition of the show.Here's what I heard:
Michael Johns performs "Dream On," and I love this song because it plays over the end credits of "Miracle," and I'm always crying inspirational tears while the credits are rolling. But Michaelis no Steven Tyler, and his voice just does not hold up to the higher notes. Meh.
I cannot fathom why someone would choose to sing one of the winning 'Idol' anthems. They are, hands down, some of the worst songs ever written. Yet that is what Syesha Mercado has chosen to sing tonight: Fantasia's winning ballad from S3, "I Believe." For the second week in a row, she has made the most incomprehensible song choice among the Idols. Syesha is over-reaching, I think. Her voice isn't good enough for the songs she's singing.
For the second week in a row, I love Jason Castro's performance. What's wrong with me? He sings the Hawai'ian version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," complete with ukelele, andit works perfectly for him. He sounds fantastic, so much better than Katherine McPhee's overwrought and over-praised version from S5.
Kristy Lee sings "Anyway." This is the thing about Kristy: she's Kellie Pickler. She's blond, she's cute, and she's a terrible singer who is destined for the Top 6 because she sings country music. Thi performance actually wasn't terrible, I enjoyed it more than anything else she's done.
I had a few weeks in a row where I really liked David Cook's performances, and I was wondering if there was something wrong with me. He comes back this week with "Innocent" by Our Lady Peace, and it is a hot mess. The beginning sucks, the high notes suck, and he only kind of pulls it together for the chorus and bridge near the end. This is the worst I've heard him sing, and I think it was the worst of the night.
Oh, the desperation. Carly sings "The Show Must Go On." Oh, dear. Freddie Mercury you are not. This is such a strange performance: sometimes she's over-singing and it sounds strained, and other times she's not singing enough and gets drowned out by the background singers of doom. She tries to belt the big notes at the end and fails. Maybe THIS was the worst performance of the night. I liked Nicole Kidman's version in "Moulin Rouge" much better.
Is "Angels" the one Robbie Williams song that actually crossed over to America? I can never remember. David Archuleta plays the piano and sings the song. The beginning is rough -- a lot of the notes sound too low for him, but then he hits the chorus, and his voice just soars. This kid. Depending on the suckiness of the songs on his album, I may actually buy it. (Maybe just one or two songs on iTunes)
I was bored just listening to Brooke sing, so I can't imagine what it was like to watch. I thought she was pleasant to listen to. Meh.
Top 3: Jason, David A., Kristy Lee (I know!)
Bottom 3: Brooke, Carly, Syesha
Going home: My head says Brooke, but my heart doesn't want to believe that.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Dancing With the Stars, Week 4
I'm half-paying attention to the NCAA Championship game, but tonight we need to remember what happened five years ago: 81-78. The greatest night of my life.
Moving on to less tear-inducing moments, the fourth week of everyone's favorite ballroom dancing competition showcased some great dancing, some inflated scores, and a comment about swan mating. Here we go:
After going last or next-to-last for the first three weeks, Kristi and Mark lead off the show with a paso doble. Before she even starts to dance, I'm feeling a 10. She's due. For the seond week in a row, they get the award for "Most Bizarre Music Selection." I don't think a techno version of "Blue Monday" by Orgy qualifies as ballroom dancing music. Maybe they're purposely handicapping her with bad music, because that's the only way she can be stopped? The routine is great, as usual. She has a small misstep near the end, but she's still in a class by herself in this competition. I was right: first 10s of the year come from Carrie Ann and Bruno, for a score of 29.
Sweet, the Vietnamese Fighting Waltz! Or Viennese Waltz, as it is known to those who didn't see Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance. Priscilla and Louis do a fairly quick waltz, and her steps are great, but her upper body is weirdly stiff and the hold just looks off to me. Bruno points out her shoulder/line problem. Carie Ann compliments her facial expressions (...with a straight face) but then goes back to the "lift" nonsense from last year. You can't do a lift in a waltz when Carrie Ann is watching, she will dock you for it. Carrie Ann and Len take a point off for the lift, they're given a score of 22.
Adam and Julianne are doing the paso. He comes out on a unicycle, in full Zorro gear, including mustache, cape, and mask. It's typical Adam: not good, stompy, and Julianne does most of the work in an effort to distract from her terrible partner. After its over, Julianne says, "That was friggin' awesome." I don't know if "awesome" is the word I would use, but OK. Carrie Ann says, "I've never seen one like that before." That's what she said. The judges try not to say he was terrible, but he was. He gets a 19.
Did you know that Marlee was deaf? I know, they haven't mentioned it in the past few seconds, but have no fear, the show reminds you by saying that she has trouble keeping her balance because she's deaf. I didn't get to watch the whole dance, because my VCR crapped out in the middle, but the judges seemed to have liked it for the most part. She gets a 24.
Mario tries to recover from his off week with the paso, which going in, sounds good for him. What is with the music tonight?!?! They're dancing to "Higher Ground" by the Chili Peppers, and again, it's a dancetastic version or something. Bad music aside, I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was because they spent so much of the dance apart, but it seemed disjointed. The judges were impressed, though Len thinks he was out of control a bit. I agree with that -- Mario's a very powerful dancer, and sometimes it becomes too much. He gets a 8, 7, 9 for a 24.
Jason and Edyta give my favorite performance of the year. I had to stop and rewind because I was in awe of how great Jason's hands were. This guy is a football player, but his wrists and hands were better than 75% of the girls on my dance team in high school. He carries himself so well on the dance floor, and he and Edyta really made the dance sensual. They're connecting with each other as the competition goes on, and it's showing on the dance floor. They stumble slightly near the end, but they recover so quickly that it really isn't noticable. Bruno sums it up nicely by saying, "It was like a majestic swan intertwined in a mating ritual." I can't do any better than that. They get a 10, 9, 10 to match Kristi with a 29.
Cristian and Cheryl get the paso. They're both wearing these bizarre pleather outfits with capes. Cristian yells at various points during the routine, but overall, Cheryl is doing most of the work. Bruno says Cristian made the dance "very Latino." Maybe cause...he...is? I think they're overscored with a 9, 8, 9 for a 26.
Disaster alert! Derek was practicing last week for the results show and pulled a muscle in his neck! The ambulance came and it was all very dramatic! Shannon had to practice with Jonathan while Derek had to sit out all week with a brace on his neck! How will they ever recover?!?! The answer is: very well. Derek is back out on the dance floor with Shannon and they put together their best routine of the season. They dance to "Keep Holding On," by Avril, which makes it two weeks in a row that a DwtS couple has done the same dance to the same song that Danny and Anya did on SYTYCD last year. Unlike Marisa's jive last week, Shannon and Derek bring themselves to within shouting distance of the awesomeness that was Danya. Shannon's arms are getting so much better from week to week, and she even pulls off a nice spin on one foot near the end of the dance (which Danny and Anya also did...better). Shannon's totally in my top three favorites, I'm so glad she's getting better. Len thinks it was the best dance of the night. They get a 9, 10, 9 for a score of 28.
Marisa and Tony finish up with a paso doble. Tony is wearing yet another strange outfit, this time black pants and a poofy red cropped jacket. This is definitely the best Marisa has been all year, but it's the first time I've noticed just how short she is and how awkward that looks with Tony. She gets her best score of the year: 24.
Overall, I think the scores were too high tonight, and the scores aren't reflecting the sizeable gap between the top tier (Kristi, Jason, and Shannon) and the next step down (Cristian, Mario, Marlee, and Priscilla).
If I was a betting woman, I would put money on Adam finally going home, but I wouldn't be surprised if Priscilla or Marisa got the boot.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Welcome Back, BSG
Some thoughts I had while watching the season premiere:Kara's adventures in time-traveling: Moore & Eick and Cuse & Lindelof must be friends. First there was "Heroes" and the discussions of space and time, then there was the magical island where time moves differently, and now there's Kara Thrace's wormhole experience. It actually reminded me a lot of the movie Contact, where Jodi Foster meets the aliens for 16 hours but it was really only a few seconds. I really like that Kara has no clue, but I wonder if she remembers the part Leoben played.
Also, that revelation in "Razor" ("Kara Thrace will lead the human race to its downfall") is looking a lot more important right about now. What happens if they follow her? I still think the series ends with them showing up in present-day Earth's atmosphere, and Bush orders up some nuclear missiles and kills them all. Side note: the question of what time period they'll find Earth in is fascinating to me. Do they arrive before us? Or do they find the remains of our civilization and start over?
Tigh "shooting" Adama: I totally bought it at first. And I loved the way it was shot, with the kind of slow, dream-like quality.
More thoughts later, but I'm off to the Carrier Dome for a full day of lacrosse. Go Cuse!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
American Idol Results: Nine to Eight
This. is. American. Idol.
Your Top 9 sing Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," and generally do a pretty miserable job of it. Michael Johns is wearing a black shirt with Dolly's face on it. Hee. In other wardrobe news, I kind of noticed this last night, and again tonight: David Archuleta dresses really well. I don't know if he's picking out the outfits, or if his crazy stage-dad is, but he always looks really, really good. And he's 17! Why can't college boys dress that well? Someone forgot to tell my generation that you can actually wear something besides a disgusting baseball hat, a ratty t-shirt, and sweat pants to class.
After a pointless recap, Michael is summoned to center stage. He's safe. Archuleta is safe. (The shrieking! My ears!) Carly is safe. Good start.
They answer questions from viewers again, which seem a bit more intelligent this week, honestly I'm not really paying attention at this point. We do learn that Jason, Michael, and David Cook are roommates. Does that mean David Archuleta was rooming with Chikezie and David H., and now has a room to himself? That's cool for him. I wonder if the Idols root for their roommates to get voted off so they can have more room to themselves?
Something called the Clark Brothers is performing a country/hoedown version of "This Little Light of Mine." Isn't this a lullaby? Or a church song or something? It's really, really odd.
More results! (That is why we're here, after all.) David Cook is safe. Ramiele is FINALLY in the bottom three. Kristy joins her 10 seconds later. (Side note: I'm happy that Kristy's in the B3, because she's the worst singer left, but really, it just makes me angrier about last week. Did singing "God Bless the U.S.A." REALLY buy her that many votes?? I mean, last week is the only week she escaped the bottom three. It makes me very depressed that so many people were inspired to vote for her, solely due to that insipid song.)
And who doesn't want to see what the Idol has-beens are up to? Let's check in with Bucky (S5), Phil (S6), and Bo (S4). They're all having varying degrees of success in and around Nashville, and they all have albums to promote. Bucky says, "Idol was the smartest thing I've ever did." I bet it was.
Results! Syesha sang Whitney badly, but she's safe. Jason and Brooke are left, and it's SO Brooke in the B3; there's no way Jason's psycho fans didn't vote like crazy after last week's scare. And...it's Brooke.
Dolly comes out to sing about Jesus, and at the end she says "Hallelujah, Simon!" Aw, then she says to Ryan, "I've got Jesus, and you have Simon." And he's all Ryan needs, Dolly. Can she come back every week?
Onto the serious business. Brooke, Kristy, and Ramiele: they're roommates, too. Brooke is very emotional, but she's safe, and we're left with a dream bottom two: Kristy and Ramiele. I win no matter what. Ramiele goes home. Stop crying, you've still got the tour.
Next week: The Top 8 and Idol Gives Back. I know I'm a horrible human being for saying this, but I'm really not all that impressed with IGB. They raised$ 76 million last year, but that seems piddly, especially for a multi-gazillion dollar company. I'm going to try and do some math, so bear with me here: Last I heard, FOX charges $400,000 for a 30-second commercial during Idol. Say the show is 44 minutes long, which leaves 16 minutes for commercials, which equals 32 30-second commercials. 32 times $400,000 is $12.8 million. And they air what, 45 episodes of Idol a year? That's $576 million from just commerical revenue alone.
This is a long way of saying I probably will give the mute button a real workout next week. Maybe it will be Kristy Lee's time. One can only hope.
Your Top 9 sing Dolly Parton's "9 to 5," and generally do a pretty miserable job of it. Michael Johns is wearing a black shirt with Dolly's face on it. Hee. In other wardrobe news, I kind of noticed this last night, and again tonight: David Archuleta dresses really well. I don't know if he's picking out the outfits, or if his crazy stage-dad is, but he always looks really, really good. And he's 17! Why can't college boys dress that well? Someone forgot to tell my generation that you can actually wear something besides a disgusting baseball hat, a ratty t-shirt, and sweat pants to class.
After a pointless recap, Michael is summoned to center stage. He's safe. Archuleta is safe. (The shrieking! My ears!) Carly is safe. Good start.
They answer questions from viewers again, which seem a bit more intelligent this week, honestly I'm not really paying attention at this point. We do learn that Jason, Michael, and David Cook are roommates. Does that mean David Archuleta was rooming with Chikezie and David H., and now has a room to himself? That's cool for him. I wonder if the Idols root for their roommates to get voted off so they can have more room to themselves?
Something called the Clark Brothers is performing a country/hoedown version of "This Little Light of Mine." Isn't this a lullaby? Or a church song or something? It's really, really odd.
More results! (That is why we're here, after all.) David Cook is safe. Ramiele is FINALLY in the bottom three. Kristy joins her 10 seconds later. (Side note: I'm happy that Kristy's in the B3, because she's the worst singer left, but really, it just makes me angrier about last week. Did singing "God Bless the U.S.A." REALLY buy her that many votes?? I mean, last week is the only week she escaped the bottom three. It makes me very depressed that so many people were inspired to vote for her, solely due to that insipid song.)
And who doesn't want to see what the Idol has-beens are up to? Let's check in with Bucky (S5), Phil (S6), and Bo (S4). They're all having varying degrees of success in and around Nashville, and they all have albums to promote. Bucky says, "Idol was the smartest thing I've ever did." I bet it was.
Results! Syesha sang Whitney badly, but she's safe. Jason and Brooke are left, and it's SO Brooke in the B3; there's no way Jason's psycho fans didn't vote like crazy after last week's scare. And...it's Brooke.
Dolly comes out to sing about Jesus, and at the end she says "Hallelujah, Simon!" Aw, then she says to Ryan, "I've got Jesus, and you have Simon." And he's all Ryan needs, Dolly. Can she come back every week?
Onto the serious business. Brooke, Kristy, and Ramiele: they're roommates, too. Brooke is very emotional, but she's safe, and we're left with a dream bottom two: Kristy and Ramiele. I win no matter what. Ramiele goes home. Stop crying, you've still got the tour.
Next week: The Top 8 and Idol Gives Back. I know I'm a horrible human being for saying this, but I'm really not all that impressed with IGB. They raised$ 76 million last year, but that seems piddly, especially for a multi-gazillion dollar company. I'm going to try and do some math, so bear with me here: Last I heard, FOX charges $400,000 for a 30-second commercial during Idol. Say the show is 44 minutes long, which leaves 16 minutes for commercials, which equals 32 30-second commercials. 32 times $400,000 is $12.8 million. And they air what, 45 episodes of Idol a year? That's $576 million from just commerical revenue alone.
This is a long way of saying I probably will give the mute button a real workout next week. Maybe it will be Kristy Lee's time. One can only hope.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
American Idol, Top 9
Best thing about this week's American Idol: TWO new Mac commercials!
This week is Dolly Parton week, and Dolly herself is there to "help out" the remaining nine contestants. The whole episode is completely rushed for time, which is amusing, considering that every other year they've managed to fit the Top Ten into one hour.
Brooke is up first, and sings with her guitar this week. The song starts out pretty rough, gets better, and finishes awesome. I just love Brooke, I think. Randy thinks she had pitch problems, Simon says it lacked emotion, and the crowd boos. Seriously: shut up, crowd.
I decided this week that since the pre-ordained front-runner hardly ever wins, it's going to be the other David who takes the crown this year. Plus, I think that "America" realizes that it effed up big-time in Season 5 when Daughtry got booted before the finals, and now it's trying to right its wrong with David C. Anyway, tonight, C. gives another solid performance -- with his own arrangement this time. He also got a haircut and grew a beard, which makes him look less doughy and mildly cute. Randy uses the word "false" when he means "falsetto." The judges like the performance.
Ramiele: What does this girl have to do to get kicked off?? Her voice is so thin, and she gets out-sung by the background singers again. I miss Chikezie. Simon deems it "forgettable." Word.
You all know I can't stand Jason Castro, right? Tonight, he sings my favorite Dolly song, "Travelin' Thru." And I LOVE it. The whole stoner vibe just works with this. I mean, I think I'll have to listen again, but that may be one of my favorite performances of the year. Randy thinks it was pretty good; Simon hated it.
You all know I can't stand Jason Castro, right? Tonight, he sings my favorite Dolly song, "Travelin' Thru." And I LOVE it. The whole stoner vibe just works with this. I mean, I think I'll have to listen again, but that may be one of my favorite performances of the year. Randy thinks it was pretty good; Simon hated it.
Carly sings a very pretty ballad, and she sings it well. I don't know if it was captivating, but it was nice enough. Paula babbles incoherently, and Simon's like, 'God, shut up.' Simon tells Carly to start dressing like a star. Hee.
David Archuleta starts singing, and I get chills within seconds. He is just so good. Paula says he was "glorious." Simon agrees. The crowd agrees. I agree. You can't even hear his numbers over the shrieking.
Kristy Lee is going to do well this week, isn't she? And then we'll have to listen to her for another week after this. Poo. She sings; it's whatever. If she didn't leave after "Eight Days a Week," she's not leaving now. After the judges go 'meh,' Ryan compliments her on her French pedicure. Oh, Ryan. I'm so glad you know these things.
Syesha sings a Dolly/Whitney hybrid of "I Will Always Love You." I have no idea why people sing this song. It is never, ever going to be as good as Whitney. Syesha cheats her way through, and sings Dolly's version for a while, and then she goes for the *bass drum beat* *cymbal crash* "AND IIIIIIIIIIII will ALLLLWAYYYYS LOOOOOOVE YOOOOOUUUUU," and it all falls to pieces. Simon tells her she's not as good as Whitney. Duh.
Michael "I STILL need a haircut" Johns finishes out the night, and I got a phone call, so I didn't hear the whole performance, but Simon liked it a whole lot.
My tastes have been completely at odds with the voting public's so far this year, but here's what I've got:
Top three: David A., David C., Jason
Bottom three: Ramiele, Kristy Lee, Syesha
"War on the Floor" Week 3
I can't take credit for that snappy headline, that belongs to Samantha Harris, the dull host. This week, the stars will be performing either a jive or a tango.
The judging seemed very...funny to me this week. Clearly, I'm not enjoying the same performances as the judges, and it's really obvious this week. More on this later.
Marlee is up first with the jive. Her shoulders and feet are a little weird, but the choreography by Fabian is great and almost covers up all of her timing issues. I just enjoy watching her dance. And with Fabian, they just make a great team. The judges aren't as impressed, however, and give her a 21.
Steve does a tango with Anna, but Anna was sick all week, so he practiced with Anna's husband, Jonathan. As Steve says, "he's a little hairier than Anna." On th dance floor, I think Steve gets a bit stompy and flubs the ending. Then he puts a bowl on his head to face the judges. Is this a Police Academy thing? The judges loved him, and somehow give him the same score as Marlee. He was definitely not that good.
I really only need one word to sum up Cristian and Cheryl's jive: manic. Sometimes that's a good thing, like when he controls his footsteps and gets the fast-paced footwork under control. Sometimes it's very, very bad: like the scary smile that's pasted on his face until he starts thinking about the steps, and at the end, when he almost completely loses track of Cheryl. It tread a fine line, and I didn't think he stayed on the good side of the line. Judges go slightly bananas for it, and give him a 25. I'm not feeling it, dawg. (/Wrong reality show.)
Mario. Mmm, tight pants...I've talked about my shallowness before, right? Anyway, this guy commands the dance floor, totally owns it. I thought it was a strong and powerful tango, the judges rip it apart. Len chides him for his posture and his missteps. (Which, what? They were waaaay less noticable than Steve and Cristian's mistakes.) Len gives him a 6, which is lower than the score he's going to give ADAM in a little while, but Mario gets a 21 overall.
Derek and Shannon are doing the jive. Her costume is a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, and her hands can get better, but she is really, really growing on me. She's improving every week and working hard. She has to sit down to receieve her critique because she's so winded. The judges mostly love it, and she gets a 24.
Adam does the tango. And obviously, Julianne's choreography is awesome and actually makes him look like a half-decent dancer. However, he's still bad, and the judges seem to lose themselves and give him a 21. Then Adam tells the gays in the wardrobe department to dress Julianne sluttier. Not in those exact words, but close.
I just don't know what to think of Marissa. I feel like she should have come out and really rocked the jive tonight, because what else is Hairspray but one big jive? However, it was boring and lacked content, again. I don't know if this is all her fault, or maybe some of the blame should go to Tony, or maybe the INSANE heels they have her dancing in, but I agree with Carrie Ann. She should be better, and she's not. Plus, Danny and Anya jived to "Girlfriend" on SYTYCD last year, and it was a million times better. Judges give her a 19.
Priscilla tangoes. She's abnormally stiff, and Louis looks like he's forcing her from place to place around the floor, which I know that's OK in a tango, but it just looks wrong here. I'm just meh on her. The judges aren't. They love her. A 26? Really?
Jason! learns how to jive this week. I love how, in their practice montage, he and Edyta seem to be having so much fun, and that it's always the big football player that collapses of tiredness, while the teeny-tiny dancer is still on her feet demanding to do try again. The song is pretty slow, but he does a great job with the footwork and stays light on his feet. Len grumps a bit, but the other two liked it: 23.
Kristi closes, and even before she starts there are two major WTFs: her hair, which is plastered to her face, and Mark's suit, which is bright red. The music begins, and it gets even weirder. The music is this odd techno nonsense, but thankfully the dancing is just good enough to distract from it. I don't think the their tango was as good as their last two, and the judges actually hand out a bit of criticism, but she still ends up with a 27 for the third week in a row.
Bottom three: Adam, Marissa, Steve
Top three: Kristi, Jason, Shannon
Going home: Marissa
The judging seemed very...funny to me this week. Clearly, I'm not enjoying the same performances as the judges, and it's really obvious this week. More on this later.
Marlee is up first with the jive. Her shoulders and feet are a little weird, but the choreography by Fabian is great and almost covers up all of her timing issues. I just enjoy watching her dance. And with Fabian, they just make a great team. The judges aren't as impressed, however, and give her a 21.
Steve does a tango with Anna, but Anna was sick all week, so he practiced with Anna's husband, Jonathan. As Steve says, "he's a little hairier than Anna." On th dance floor, I think Steve gets a bit stompy and flubs the ending. Then he puts a bowl on his head to face the judges. Is this a Police Academy thing? The judges loved him, and somehow give him the same score as Marlee. He was definitely not that good.
I really only need one word to sum up Cristian and Cheryl's jive: manic. Sometimes that's a good thing, like when he controls his footsteps and gets the fast-paced footwork under control. Sometimes it's very, very bad: like the scary smile that's pasted on his face until he starts thinking about the steps, and at the end, when he almost completely loses track of Cheryl. It tread a fine line, and I didn't think he stayed on the good side of the line. Judges go slightly bananas for it, and give him a 25. I'm not feeling it, dawg. (/Wrong reality show.)
Mario. Mmm, tight pants...I've talked about my shallowness before, right? Anyway, this guy commands the dance floor, totally owns it. I thought it was a strong and powerful tango, the judges rip it apart. Len chides him for his posture and his missteps. (Which, what? They were waaaay less noticable than Steve and Cristian's mistakes.) Len gives him a 6, which is lower than the score he's going to give ADAM in a little while, but Mario gets a 21 overall.
Derek and Shannon are doing the jive. Her costume is a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, and her hands can get better, but she is really, really growing on me. She's improving every week and working hard. She has to sit down to receieve her critique because she's so winded. The judges mostly love it, and she gets a 24.
Adam does the tango. And obviously, Julianne's choreography is awesome and actually makes him look like a half-decent dancer. However, he's still bad, and the judges seem to lose themselves and give him a 21. Then Adam tells the gays in the wardrobe department to dress Julianne sluttier. Not in those exact words, but close.
I just don't know what to think of Marissa. I feel like she should have come out and really rocked the jive tonight, because what else is Hairspray but one big jive? However, it was boring and lacked content, again. I don't know if this is all her fault, or maybe some of the blame should go to Tony, or maybe the INSANE heels they have her dancing in, but I agree with Carrie Ann. She should be better, and she's not. Plus, Danny and Anya jived to "Girlfriend" on SYTYCD last year, and it was a million times better. Judges give her a 19.
Priscilla tangoes. She's abnormally stiff, and Louis looks like he's forcing her from place to place around the floor, which I know that's OK in a tango, but it just looks wrong here. I'm just meh on her. The judges aren't. They love her. A 26? Really?
Jason! learns how to jive this week. I love how, in their practice montage, he and Edyta seem to be having so much fun, and that it's always the big football player that collapses of tiredness, while the teeny-tiny dancer is still on her feet demanding to do try again. The song is pretty slow, but he does a great job with the footwork and stays light on his feet. Len grumps a bit, but the other two liked it: 23.
Kristi closes, and even before she starts there are two major WTFs: her hair, which is plastered to her face, and Mark's suit, which is bright red. The music begins, and it gets even weirder. The music is this odd techno nonsense, but thankfully the dancing is just good enough to distract from it. I don't think the their tango was as good as their last two, and the judges actually hand out a bit of criticism, but she still ends up with a 27 for the third week in a row.
Bottom three: Adam, Marissa, Steve
Top three: Kristi, Jason, Shannon
Going home: Marissa
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Quickie Recap: American Idol Top 10
Trying to get this in right before the elimination show begins...
At work today, one of the women who I always talk about the show with described last night's show as "full of fantastic performances." I was like, "ehhhhh," and she jumped all over me. "What about the rocker?"
"Wellllll...."
"Oh, he was awesome, and Syesha! She was fantastic!"
"Actually, she bores me."
"What?!?!?"
And on it went. I was underwhelmed by AI's Top Ten, and found absolutely nothing worth writing home about, starting with Ramiele. Heart's "Alone?" Are you kidding me? That is Carrie's song, and she's dead before she even begins. She digs her grave deeper by blowing notes, letting the background singers overpower her, and shouting too much.
She was followed by Jason Castro, back with his guitar, and doing the same thing as the two weeks before. John Mayer does this better. Jack Johnson does this better. The annoying guys in my dorm sophomore year did it better. Next!
Syesha does an UNHOLY baby cry during her clip package. Good Lord, that was terrifying. As noted above, I find her deadly broing, even though I think she sang this very well.
Speaking of deadly boring, Chikezie! Lets me down by singing a ballad and totally toning down everything that I love about him. Paula comes out of her drug-induced haze long enough to make an intelligent comment, which is that Chikezie has so many geat textures to his voice. So true, and I just hope he can make it through this week so we can hear more of them.
Brooke returns to her piano for "Every Breath You Take," and puts on a really cool performance. The judges knocked the second half of the song and its arrangement, but I think Brooke has found a niche that she excels in. It's kind of a Vanessa Carlton/Norah Jones-type thing, but I would buy that CD.
Michael Johns (CUT YOUR HAIR) sings a very strange Queen mash-up, and gets all sorts of crazy lighting to go with his ROCK SONG. I put it in caps because he's clearly trying to prove that he can do all sorts of things, and ROCK is one of them. Overall, it's not terrible.
Carly is terrible. She way over-sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and I think her trip into the bottom three last week increased her desperation into palpable levels, and it's definitely showing on screen. Yikes.
David Archuleta sings the cheesiest Up-With-People song this side of "We Are the World," and that was a poor choice. He's already cute enough to be a singing stuffed animal, so singing songs about finding your voice and singing out and bopping around while you do so probably don't detract from that image. He sings it well, of course, but still.
Kristy sings "God Bless the U.S.A." Aaaand keeping with the no-profanity rule we have on this blog, that's all I have to say about that.
David Cook sings a rock version of "Billie Jean." I think he does a good job of sticking with his schtick, but how many more weeks until it gets old? I enjoyed it more than most.
Elimination is beginning now. I think Ramiele finally goes, with Kristy and Chikezie joining the bottom three.
At work today, one of the women who I always talk about the show with described last night's show as "full of fantastic performances." I was like, "ehhhhh," and she jumped all over me. "What about the rocker?"
"Wellllll...."
"Oh, he was awesome, and Syesha! She was fantastic!"
"Actually, she bores me."
"What?!?!?"
And on it went. I was underwhelmed by AI's Top Ten, and found absolutely nothing worth writing home about, starting with Ramiele. Heart's "Alone?" Are you kidding me? That is Carrie's song, and she's dead before she even begins. She digs her grave deeper by blowing notes, letting the background singers overpower her, and shouting too much.
She was followed by Jason Castro, back with his guitar, and doing the same thing as the two weeks before. John Mayer does this better. Jack Johnson does this better. The annoying guys in my dorm sophomore year did it better. Next!
Syesha does an UNHOLY baby cry during her clip package. Good Lord, that was terrifying. As noted above, I find her deadly broing, even though I think she sang this very well.
Speaking of deadly boring, Chikezie! Lets me down by singing a ballad and totally toning down everything that I love about him. Paula comes out of her drug-induced haze long enough to make an intelligent comment, which is that Chikezie has so many geat textures to his voice. So true, and I just hope he can make it through this week so we can hear more of them.
Brooke returns to her piano for "Every Breath You Take," and puts on a really cool performance. The judges knocked the second half of the song and its arrangement, but I think Brooke has found a niche that she excels in. It's kind of a Vanessa Carlton/Norah Jones-type thing, but I would buy that CD.
Michael Johns (CUT YOUR HAIR) sings a very strange Queen mash-up, and gets all sorts of crazy lighting to go with his ROCK SONG. I put it in caps because he's clearly trying to prove that he can do all sorts of things, and ROCK is one of them. Overall, it's not terrible.
Carly is terrible. She way over-sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart," and I think her trip into the bottom three last week increased her desperation into palpable levels, and it's definitely showing on screen. Yikes.
David Archuleta sings the cheesiest Up-With-People song this side of "We Are the World," and that was a poor choice. He's already cute enough to be a singing stuffed animal, so singing songs about finding your voice and singing out and bopping around while you do so probably don't detract from that image. He sings it well, of course, but still.
Kristy sings "God Bless the U.S.A." Aaaand keeping with the no-profanity rule we have on this blog, that's all I have to say about that.
David Cook sings a rock version of "Billie Jean." I think he does a good job of sticking with his schtick, but how many more weeks until it gets old? I enjoyed it more than most.
Elimination is beginning now. I think Ramiele finally goes, with Kristy and Chikezie joining the bottom three.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Dancing With the Stars, Week 2
The Mambo & The Quickstep
Now that each couple has tackled a Latin dance and a ballroom dance, we're starting to see a real divide between the contenders and the pretenders, with a few couples yet to find a designation.
Pretending: Monica Seles is terrible. She's very nice and all, but she clearly has no natural rhythm and it's painful to watch. The mambo is better than last week's foxtrot, but not by much.
Penn Jillette is terrible and annoying, which might be worse. His quickstep was more clomping than dancing and then he wouldn't shut up when the judges tried to critique him.
Adam Carolla seems to try a bit harder this week, but though I love Julianne's mambo choreography, he's still bad. And then Bruno gives him an 8? Wha?!?!
Contending: Shannon moves into a contender position this week on the strength of her quickstep. Derek is doing a great job with her, and I think she's gaining confidence.
Jason Taylor is fantastic. His mambo is incredible, he's charismatic, and, oh yeah, he's sexy as all get out. The judges go (rightly) nuts for it and he's rewarded with a 27.
Marlee does it again this week, this time with a quickstep. The judges rightly compliment her musicality. She's definitely hanging around for awhile.
Kristi and Mario keep their front-runner statuses, Kristi on the strength of her mambo and Mario with his quickstep. This competition is still Kristi's to lose, in my opinion.
Still deciding: I know Steve Guttenberg isn't the greatest dancer, and his mambo wasn't anything to write home about, but he's so gosh-darn endearing that you almost don't care...almost. He's certainly willing to give his all for every dance and looks like he's having fun doing it, but he's not good.
Cristian and Cheryl's quickstep seemed a bit off, and though he's towards the upper end of the talent pool here, something's missing, and I don't know if he's totally connecting with the audience. I feel very 'wait and see' about him, and I think he's still headed for a middle-round exit.
I know Priscilla did a good job last week, and was pretty good again this week, but seriously, I just cannot get past the whole face thing. When she did that stupid tiger crawl on the floor, I almost peed myself in fright.
Marissa...starts crying when she talks about last week?? And then comes out and does an okay quickstep, but I'm with Carrie Ann, I was hoping for more from her. Also, I was really distrcted by her perma-smile -- maybe relax it every once in a while?
Elimination info will be up shortly: I've still got to sit through American Idol. Blech.
Now that each couple has tackled a Latin dance and a ballroom dance, we're starting to see a real divide between the contenders and the pretenders, with a few couples yet to find a designation.
Pretending: Monica Seles is terrible. She's very nice and all, but she clearly has no natural rhythm and it's painful to watch. The mambo is better than last week's foxtrot, but not by much.
Penn Jillette is terrible and annoying, which might be worse. His quickstep was more clomping than dancing and then he wouldn't shut up when the judges tried to critique him.
Adam Carolla seems to try a bit harder this week, but though I love Julianne's mambo choreography, he's still bad. And then Bruno gives him an 8? Wha?!?!
Contending: Shannon moves into a contender position this week on the strength of her quickstep. Derek is doing a great job with her, and I think she's gaining confidence.
Jason Taylor is fantastic. His mambo is incredible, he's charismatic, and, oh yeah, he's sexy as all get out. The judges go (rightly) nuts for it and he's rewarded with a 27.
Marlee does it again this week, this time with a quickstep. The judges rightly compliment her musicality. She's definitely hanging around for awhile.
Kristi and Mario keep their front-runner statuses, Kristi on the strength of her mambo and Mario with his quickstep. This competition is still Kristi's to lose, in my opinion.
Still deciding: I know Steve Guttenberg isn't the greatest dancer, and his mambo wasn't anything to write home about, but he's so gosh-darn endearing that you almost don't care...almost. He's certainly willing to give his all for every dance and looks like he's having fun doing it, but he's not good.
Cristian and Cheryl's quickstep seemed a bit off, and though he's towards the upper end of the talent pool here, something's missing, and I don't know if he's totally connecting with the audience. I feel very 'wait and see' about him, and I think he's still headed for a middle-round exit.
I know Priscilla did a good job last week, and was pretty good again this week, but seriously, I just cannot get past the whole face thing. When she did that stupid tiger crawl on the floor, I almost peed myself in fright.
Marissa...starts crying when she talks about last week?? And then comes out and does an okay quickstep, but I'm with Carrie Ann, I was hoping for more from her. Also, I was really distrcted by her perma-smile -- maybe relax it every once in a while?
Elimination info will be up shortly: I've still got to sit through American Idol. Blech.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Dancing with the Stars Week 1:Women
I forgot to mention this in the other post, but the pro dance to begin the season yesterday deserves to be mentioned. It was awesome. If you can find it on YouTube, I highly recommend it.
So, to the ladies:
Shannon Elizabeth: her legs are crazy long. She's paired with Derek, who I thought really helped Jennie along last year, and Shannon definitely looks like she has potential. Her arms aren't terrible, and she has nice extension sometimes. Like Len (I think it was Len) pointed out, with legs like those, you better what sure your toes are pointed and extended fully. I think the score of 21 out of 30 was fair.
Monica Seles: Aaand maybe Adam Carolla will stick around for more than one week, because Monica was terrible. There were so many things wrong with that performance, I don't know where to begin. I feel bad for Jonathan. The 15 should have been lower.
Marissa Janet Winokour: Well, she certainly has lots of energy. I was really disappointed in the routine, though. I think she has the natural talent, so why would Tony choreograph a routine that didn't show it off? They stayed glued to the same section of the dance floor, possibly because her heels looked about 4 inches tall. She's short, deal with it! And while everyone enjoys a nice pair of sparkly pants from time to time, Tony's may have crossed into the realm of too distracting. The 18 was fair, but hopefully it'll get better
Priscilla: Can't. look. at. face. I'm afraid it'll turn me to stone. From what I saw through my half-closed eyes, she did a pretty good job. The choreography was tough and she dealt wth it very well. I don't know if I would have gone as high as a 24, but not bad. I wonder how well she'll do with some of the quicker numbers.
Kristi: I think we have a winner. Wow. I mean, Mark is a great partner to have, but Kristi just blew everyone else out of the water. Her 27 is the highest first-week total ever. Well-deserved.
Marlee: I actually watched the intro for once because I was so curious as to how she would, you know, hear the music and keep the beat. I really liked the "Fabian is my music" answer -- that makes so much sense when you think about it. And she was good! It even got to my cold, hard heart: I admit I was touched and even a bit inspired by her. Her arms are kind of wild, but of course she'll improve. Her score was a 22.
After the first week of competition, I think Mario and Kristi established themselves as the ones to beat. Next week, they all dance on Monday and the elimination is on Tuesday.
So, to the ladies:
Shannon Elizabeth: her legs are crazy long. She's paired with Derek, who I thought really helped Jennie along last year, and Shannon definitely looks like she has potential. Her arms aren't terrible, and she has nice extension sometimes. Like Len (I think it was Len) pointed out, with legs like those, you better what sure your toes are pointed and extended fully. I think the score of 21 out of 30 was fair.
Monica Seles: Aaand maybe Adam Carolla will stick around for more than one week, because Monica was terrible. There were so many things wrong with that performance, I don't know where to begin. I feel bad for Jonathan. The 15 should have been lower.
Marissa Janet Winokour: Well, she certainly has lots of energy. I was really disappointed in the routine, though. I think she has the natural talent, so why would Tony choreograph a routine that didn't show it off? They stayed glued to the same section of the dance floor, possibly because her heels looked about 4 inches tall. She's short, deal with it! And while everyone enjoys a nice pair of sparkly pants from time to time, Tony's may have crossed into the realm of too distracting. The 18 was fair, but hopefully it'll get better
Priscilla: Can't. look. at. face. I'm afraid it'll turn me to stone. From what I saw through my half-closed eyes, she did a pretty good job. The choreography was tough and she dealt wth it very well. I don't know if I would have gone as high as a 24, but not bad. I wonder how well she'll do with some of the quicker numbers.
Kristi: I think we have a winner. Wow. I mean, Mark is a great partner to have, but Kristi just blew everyone else out of the water. Her 27 is the highest first-week total ever. Well-deserved.
Marlee: I actually watched the intro for once because I was so curious as to how she would, you know, hear the music and keep the beat. I really liked the "Fabian is my music" answer -- that makes so much sense when you think about it. And she was good! It even got to my cold, hard heart: I admit I was touched and even a bit inspired by her. Her arms are kind of wild, but of course she'll improve. Her score was a 22.
After the first week of competition, I think Mario and Kristi established themselves as the ones to beat. Next week, they all dance on Monday and the elimination is on Tuesday.
American Idol Season 7: Top 11
Here's how I watch American Idol without wanting to kill myself: I don't watch until the Top 12. I tape the show and then fast-forward through all of the parts that don't involve singing or judging. This way: no recaps, no minimal Seacrest, and no faux-drama in the contestants' clip packages. I like to think this makes it easier to judge on just performances and not on any personality quirks or sympathy twinges.
So here we go with the Top 11.
Amanda Overmeyer is singing "Back in the U.S.S.R." She asks us if we're ready. I think so, or else I wouldn't be watching you. She's really shouty and loud and it's just not working. This is bad, right? After some waffling from Randy and Paula, Simon agress with me, calling it a "mess" and tells her she's getting repetitive.
Kristy Lee Cook should have been forbidden from ever singing again after what she did to "Eight Days a Week" last week. Instead, she narrowly avoided elimination and is back to serenade us with "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." Sample lyric: "I can see them laugh at me." No kidding. She's bad on the high notes, misses all of the low notes, and boring as heck. Even Paula can only summon up a half-hearted, "Well, at least you look nice!" comment. Simon compares her to "musical wallpaper." I love you, Simon. Shut up, crowd.
David Archuleta has apparently recovered from his memory lapse of last week and is performing "A Long and Winding Road." Ooooh, this was beautiful. His voice is incredible. And he's adorable. Randy says he brought the hotness back. If you say so. Simon tells him he was amazing, and CLAPS. Whoa. David is adorable some more. He's like a boy Polly Pocket!
Aussie Michael Johns sings "Day in the Life." He still hasn't done anything about his weird hair. His performance isn't great, but it's not terrible either. Judges? They were underwhelmed. Simon uses the "mess" designation for the second time tonight.
Brooke White gave my favorite performance from last week, and she's singing "Here Comes the Sun" tonight, dressed in bright yellow. She "woos" in the beginning. And it didn't get better from there. She looked really, really awkward without the piano. The judges kind of rip into her, and she looks really sad. Awww...sympathy votes!
David Cook is singing "Day Tripper" and playing guitar. Let me say this: I think David is a very, very poor man's Chris Daughtry. So it's entirely strange that I loved this performance, even with the Frampton-esque voicebox and the faux-hardcore! poses at the end. I really, really enjoyed that. After waffling from the first two, Simon doesn't think it was all that great. The crowd boos him. Shut up, crowd. Shut up, Paula.
Carly Smithson is singing "Blackbird." This was beautiful. I think it was perfect for her voice. Randy pronouces it"cooliosis." Uh...if you say so, dude. I liked the whole thing...right up until she started talking back to Simon, who didn't like the song. When will the contestants learn?
Jason Castro a.k.a. "The Dirty Hippie," is singing "Michelle." His whole stoner vibe is a take-it-or-leave-it type thing, and I choose to leave it. I don't think his voice is all that strong, he looks frighteningly like a female friend of mine, and he has negligible stage presence. The screaming women in the audience disagree. Simon kind of agrees with me (and that's all that matters), and he tells Jason that the only reason he'll last another week is because some people think he's pretty.
I don't remember Syesha from last week, but now she's singing "Yesterday," accompanied only by one guitarist. It's good, I guess, but it's nothing that's going to make me remember her for next week. Judges are lukewarm-to-positive, with Simon saying he thinks that performance saved her for another week.
Chikezie is singing my favorite Beatles song, "I've Just Seen a Face." I just saw "Across the Universe," and I love Jim Sturgess's version, too. Chikezie, meanwhile, slowed down the whole first part of the song and then midway through kicked it up to a kind of barn-stomping hoedown. Even with the arrangement, I love it. I like his voice, and it's rough and growly and kind of perfect for this song. After waffling from the first two judges, Simon says he didn't like it.
Ramiele (who?) is singing "I Should Have Known Better." Eh. You can hear how thin her voice is, and the wiggling she's substituting for "dancing" is distracting. Simon sums it up nicely, calling it "amateurish."
Top 3: David A., Carly, David C.
Close behind: Chikezie
Bottom 3: Amanda, Kristy Lee, either Jason or Ramiele.
Going home (and not on tour): Kristy Lee
So here we go with the Top 11.
Amanda Overmeyer is singing "Back in the U.S.S.R." She asks us if we're ready. I think so, or else I wouldn't be watching you. She's really shouty and loud and it's just not working. This is bad, right? After some waffling from Randy and Paula, Simon agress with me, calling it a "mess" and tells her she's getting repetitive.
Kristy Lee Cook should have been forbidden from ever singing again after what she did to "Eight Days a Week" last week. Instead, she narrowly avoided elimination and is back to serenade us with "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away." Sample lyric: "I can see them laugh at me." No kidding. She's bad on the high notes, misses all of the low notes, and boring as heck. Even Paula can only summon up a half-hearted, "Well, at least you look nice!" comment. Simon compares her to "musical wallpaper." I love you, Simon. Shut up, crowd.
David Archuleta has apparently recovered from his memory lapse of last week and is performing "A Long and Winding Road." Ooooh, this was beautiful. His voice is incredible. And he's adorable. Randy says he brought the hotness back. If you say so. Simon tells him he was amazing, and CLAPS. Whoa. David is adorable some more. He's like a boy Polly Pocket!
Aussie Michael Johns sings "Day in the Life." He still hasn't done anything about his weird hair. His performance isn't great, but it's not terrible either. Judges? They were underwhelmed. Simon uses the "mess" designation for the second time tonight.
Brooke White gave my favorite performance from last week, and she's singing "Here Comes the Sun" tonight, dressed in bright yellow. She "woos" in the beginning. And it didn't get better from there. She looked really, really awkward without the piano. The judges kind of rip into her, and she looks really sad. Awww...sympathy votes!
David Cook is singing "Day Tripper" and playing guitar. Let me say this: I think David is a very, very poor man's Chris Daughtry. So it's entirely strange that I loved this performance, even with the Frampton-esque voicebox and the faux-hardcore! poses at the end. I really, really enjoyed that. After waffling from the first two, Simon doesn't think it was all that great. The crowd boos him. Shut up, crowd. Shut up, Paula.
Carly Smithson is singing "Blackbird." This was beautiful. I think it was perfect for her voice. Randy pronouces it"cooliosis." Uh...if you say so, dude. I liked the whole thing...right up until she started talking back to Simon, who didn't like the song. When will the contestants learn?
Jason Castro a.k.a. "The Dirty Hippie," is singing "Michelle." His whole stoner vibe is a take-it-or-leave-it type thing, and I choose to leave it. I don't think his voice is all that strong, he looks frighteningly like a female friend of mine, and he has negligible stage presence. The screaming women in the audience disagree. Simon kind of agrees with me (and that's all that matters), and he tells Jason that the only reason he'll last another week is because some people think he's pretty.
I don't remember Syesha from last week, but now she's singing "Yesterday," accompanied only by one guitarist. It's good, I guess, but it's nothing that's going to make me remember her for next week. Judges are lukewarm-to-positive, with Simon saying he thinks that performance saved her for another week.
Chikezie is singing my favorite Beatles song, "I've Just Seen a Face." I just saw "Across the Universe," and I love Jim Sturgess's version, too. Chikezie, meanwhile, slowed down the whole first part of the song and then midway through kicked it up to a kind of barn-stomping hoedown. Even with the arrangement, I love it. I like his voice, and it's rough and growly and kind of perfect for this song. After waffling from the first two judges, Simon says he didn't like it.
Ramiele (who?) is singing "I Should Have Known Better." Eh. You can hear how thin her voice is, and the wiggling she's substituting for "dancing" is distracting. Simon sums it up nicely, calling it "amateurish."
Top 3: David A., Carly, David C.
Close behind: Chikezie
Bottom 3: Amanda, Kristy Lee, either Jason or Ramiele.
Going home (and not on tour): Kristy Lee
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Dancing with the Stars, Week 1: Men
First of all, damn you ABC for not putting the full episodes of DwtS on your website. I had set my VCR to record, not realizing that the time was still off from "springing ahead" last week, and missed the whole show. And tonight, I'll be at the SU game at the same time American Idol and DwtS are on. What is a blogger to do?
Turn to YouTube, of course. I wasn't very surprised by any of the performances tonight. Adam and Penn were terrible, Steve and Cristian were middling, and Jason and especially Mario seem like they're the guys to beat.
I realize Kym has a lot of experience with dancing around her partner (see: Springer, Jerry and Cuban, Marc) and she showed off that particular talent again last night with Penn, who stomped around the dance floor while Kym tried her best to draw attention away from him. He's justly punished with a score of 16 out of 30.
Jason seemed pretty nervous, but like the judges pointed out, he had great posture in his foxtrot and will probably only get better as the season goes on. Once he loosens up a bit and gets used to the steps, he'll be great. His score of 22 is well-earned.
Cristian and Cheryl were up next, and while his footwork was pretty good, his hunched posture was really distracting. Cristian's also the least well-known contestant, so hopefully he'll hang aound a couple weeks, because it seems like he'll only get better with time. Score: 21.
The producers must be getting back at Julianne for winning twice in a row, because clearly she will not be extending the streak this year with Adam Carolla. He was awful, and his score of 15 reflected that.
Mario was amazing. He clearly has natural rhythm and dance ability, and pretty much established himself as a front-runner. He's rewarded with the highest score of the night, a 24.
Steve Guttenberg is so clearly happy to be here that you kind of ignore the fact that he's not a great dancer. His foxtrot wasn't the greatest, but you know he'll do whatever he can to get better for next week. Score: 18.
Bring on the women! Bring on Mark Ballas and Johnathan Roberts! Recap of the second night will be tomorrow, once I find everything on YouTube again. Also, American Idol Top 11 tonight: will Archuleta recover from his disastrous first week? Will Seacrest annoy the poop out of me? Will I ever learn how to spell Chikezie's name without looking it up first? (Answers: Probably, definitely, and no.) Stay tuned.
Turn to YouTube, of course. I wasn't very surprised by any of the performances tonight. Adam and Penn were terrible, Steve and Cristian were middling, and Jason and especially Mario seem like they're the guys to beat.
I realize Kym has a lot of experience with dancing around her partner (see: Springer, Jerry and Cuban, Marc) and she showed off that particular talent again last night with Penn, who stomped around the dance floor while Kym tried her best to draw attention away from him. He's justly punished with a score of 16 out of 30.
Jason seemed pretty nervous, but like the judges pointed out, he had great posture in his foxtrot and will probably only get better as the season goes on. Once he loosens up a bit and gets used to the steps, he'll be great. His score of 22 is well-earned.
Cristian and Cheryl were up next, and while his footwork was pretty good, his hunched posture was really distracting. Cristian's also the least well-known contestant, so hopefully he'll hang aound a couple weeks, because it seems like he'll only get better with time. Score: 21.
The producers must be getting back at Julianne for winning twice in a row, because clearly she will not be extending the streak this year with Adam Carolla. He was awful, and his score of 15 reflected that.
Mario was amazing. He clearly has natural rhythm and dance ability, and pretty much established himself as a front-runner. He's rewarded with the highest score of the night, a 24.
Steve Guttenberg is so clearly happy to be here that you kind of ignore the fact that he's not a great dancer. His foxtrot wasn't the greatest, but you know he'll do whatever he can to get better for next week. Score: 18.
Bring on the women! Bring on Mark Ballas and Johnathan Roberts! Recap of the second night will be tomorrow, once I find everything on YouTube again. Also, American Idol Top 11 tonight: will Archuleta recover from his disastrous first week? Will Seacrest annoy the poop out of me? Will I ever learn how to spell Chikezie's name without looking it up first? (Answers: Probably, definitely, and no.) Stay tuned.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Guest Blogging The Wire Series Finale
"-30-"
This was written by Reed Buterbaugh, who found a hotel with HBO and then kindly wrote this up for us. Enjoy.
Here in the Bahamas, I was told that my hotel would have HBO. Iwouldn't have gone if I knew I was going to have trouble watching this epic event of the series finale. But when I got here they said they didn't have it. I got a discount on the room, but what was that worth; I needed to see the show. I treked through the Nassau area, finally finding a hotel lobby that would have the show available. I proceeded to spend the entire day there. When In Treatment came on I was pumped: the countdown had begun.
The finale had its moments. First of all, I felt the entire season was rushed. The problem with season five was that they didn't develop the newspaper angle enough and made the characters one-dimensional. Gus is good, Scott is bad, and the bosses, well, Simon echoed McNulty's thoughts on the bosses. The finale gave us everything we could have really asked for. It echoed the theme of the entire season: just how far you can go on a lie. Carcetti is governor now because of a lie. Everyone got promoted. For now I'd like to just share a collection of thoughts on the finale since my Internet time is about to expire.
I felt the first half of the episode was really strong because it had that traditional conflict that the show is so well known for. Afterwards they just put a bow on everything for us. I think that ending a show may be the most challenging thing out there. How many times does a show's finale disappoint? Marlo showed his true colors when he asked Levy, "So I get to keep the crown?" He's all about power. It was funny seeing him in that suit. A great moment when he smacked that kid in the face.
The best momentof the season and possibly the series was when Slim Charles shot Cheese, and said that was for Joe. I've always loved Slim Charles, and seeing him do what was right was great. Also, I would pay anything to hear the meetings between him and the Greek.
The entire week I was worried about Michael. I wanted more Michael in this episode, but seeing that he's the new Omar will make things interesting. The McNulty fake wake was interesting, I saw it coming. It was like Simon knew that his cult following would expect a McNulty suicide so he teased us with it.
It's unfortunate that it ended but it had to. Simon has said that he had nothing more to say and I think that's about right. Michael is Omar, we've seen that. Dukie is Bubbles: we've been there. Daniels is a lawyer, we know how they work. And Sydnor is the new McNulty, everything is back where it started. Can't wait to rewatch it when I get back.
[Jenn's note: I just spent four hours struggling through a crappy Internet connection and poor resolution to watch the finale online. I'll have my thoughts soon. Thank you, Reed!]
This was written by Reed Buterbaugh, who found a hotel with HBO and then kindly wrote this up for us. Enjoy.
Here in the Bahamas, I was told that my hotel would have HBO. Iwouldn't have gone if I knew I was going to have trouble watching this epic event of the series finale. But when I got here they said they didn't have it. I got a discount on the room, but what was that worth; I needed to see the show. I treked through the Nassau area, finally finding a hotel lobby that would have the show available. I proceeded to spend the entire day there. When In Treatment came on I was pumped: the countdown had begun.
The finale had its moments. First of all, I felt the entire season was rushed. The problem with season five was that they didn't develop the newspaper angle enough and made the characters one-dimensional. Gus is good, Scott is bad, and the bosses, well, Simon echoed McNulty's thoughts on the bosses. The finale gave us everything we could have really asked for. It echoed the theme of the entire season: just how far you can go on a lie. Carcetti is governor now because of a lie. Everyone got promoted. For now I'd like to just share a collection of thoughts on the finale since my Internet time is about to expire.
I felt the first half of the episode was really strong because it had that traditional conflict that the show is so well known for. Afterwards they just put a bow on everything for us. I think that ending a show may be the most challenging thing out there. How many times does a show's finale disappoint? Marlo showed his true colors when he asked Levy, "So I get to keep the crown?" He's all about power. It was funny seeing him in that suit. A great moment when he smacked that kid in the face.
The best momentof the season and possibly the series was when Slim Charles shot Cheese, and said that was for Joe. I've always loved Slim Charles, and seeing him do what was right was great. Also, I would pay anything to hear the meetings between him and the Greek.
The entire week I was worried about Michael. I wanted more Michael in this episode, but seeing that he's the new Omar will make things interesting. The McNulty fake wake was interesting, I saw it coming. It was like Simon knew that his cult following would expect a McNulty suicide so he teased us with it.
It's unfortunate that it ended but it had to. Simon has said that he had nothing more to say and I think that's about right. Michael is Omar, we've seen that. Dukie is Bubbles: we've been there. Daniels is a lawyer, we know how they work. And Sydnor is the new McNulty, everything is back where it started. Can't wait to rewatch it when I get back.
[Jenn's note: I just spent four hours struggling through a crappy Internet connection and poor resolution to watch the finale online. I'll have my thoughts soon. Thank you, Reed!]
Friday, February 22, 2008
Lost Season 4, Episode 4
"Eggtown"
Five down, one to go. Now that we know the identity of five of the Oceanic Six (because Aaron counts, right?) we can examine the ridiculous amounts of new information and new questions this episode delivers.
First, what happened to Claire? From Kate's roommate in Otherville to...what? Giving up Aaron to Kate? Did Claire meet some kind of grisly end on the island? Is that why future Jack is clearly uneasy about going to visit his half-nephew? Is Claire still alive, just trapped on the island?
Secondly, in Kate's flashforward, which depicts her trial for her pre-island crimes, we see Jack take the stand as a character witness. He tells the jury that only 8 people survived the crash, and Kate acted like a hero in the crash aftermath, dragging people to safety and saving his own life. So now we know their lie. I think the true burning question this season will leave us is: what happened to the people left behind on the island, and what happened to make the Oceanic Six to lie about it?
Back on the island, Locke has assumed control over his group, without much flexibility, to mask his internal self-doubt. He's holding Ben in his basement and Miles in the boathouse. Kate wants to go talk to Miles, but Locke won't let her. Naturally, Kate won't take no for an answer, so she tricks Hurley into telling her where Miles is being held. She gets in to see him, and apparently wants to know if she's still considered a fugitive back in the real world, but Miles won't tell her until he gets to see Ben.
Kate teams us with (or "uses") Sawyer to distract Locke long enough to get Miles down to Ben's cell, where Miles demands $3.2 million dollars from Ben to keep his employer from finding out that Ben is alive. Given that he's currently imprisioned, Ben asks for a week to gather the money. And the more clues we get here, the more I start thinking that Ben is some kind of international criminal mastermind. I mean, he can just give away $3.2 million?
Anyway, Kate gets caught by Locke with Miles outside of Ben's cell. Kate is banished from Locke's colony, and Miles gets a grenade in his mouth with the pin removed. Which probably sucks a whole lot, if you think about it. He can't go to sleep!
And Kate, upon hearing of her banishment, goes and hangs out with Sawyer in his bedroom. And, like all straight women with a pulse, she cannot resist the power of a shirtless Josh Holloway, and they start making out. The morning after, we find out that Kate is definitely not pregnant, which Sawyer is happy about. Kate doesn't take his reaction very well, and announces that she's going back to the beac. Sawyer (rightly) calls her out on her bullshit, saying that he'll just be there waiting until she gets mad at Jack and comes crawling back to him. This earns him a slap in the face, which...for Christssakes, Kate. What the hell is wrong with you? Jack is whiny and obnoxious, Sawyer is at least funny, sarcastic, hot, and obnoxious. Make up your mind, I'm getting sick of the triangle.
In other news, Daniel and Charlotte play a memory game, and Daniel...has no short-term memory? Or something?
And also, the helicopter never got back to the boat, according to Regina on the frieghter. Uh-oh. I have a feeling it's got something to do with the time differential between the island and its bubble and the outside world. But next week's ep is Desmond-centric, so I'm sure we'll see what happens there.
I have to say, this season has hooked me into the show as much as I was during that exquisite first season. The new structure has me counting the minutes until the next show.
Monday, February 18, 2008
The Wire, Season 5 Episode 7
"Took"
The serial killer calls again: McNulty, Lester and Sydnor team up and use a voice modulator to call Scott and follow it up by sending him a picture of Larry. Scott understandably wigs out, and the resulting fallout sends both the Sun and the BPD into a tizzy. The police department finally turns on the faucet of money, and now McNulty's got more manpower and resources than he knows what to do with. Most importantly, though, he gets a tap for cell phone pictures. By the end of the episode, Lester starts receiving the pictures: they're clocks. Since the time of the clock never corresponds to the actual time, we've finally found a code that can stump Lester. At least for now, anyway.
As fallout from McNulty getting excess overtime, the other dectectives start approaching him on the sly and asking for a few hours to cover their other cases. He agrees, in part because he's pleased they're doing police work (not of the fake kind), and because I think he's really starting to feel guilty about how broad this thing has become.
Omar is still hobbling around out on the streets, calling out Marlo. He runs into our old Season 1 Barksdalie, Sevino, and Sevino ends up with a bullet in his head. Then Omar, who just seems increasingly desperate for revenge at this point, robs Michael's corner. And if we're scared for Michael's life, Michael's even more scared, refusing to look at Omar, lest he be recognized from the shoot-out at Monk's apartment.
As for those actually doing legit police work, Bunk has Carver bring Michael in for questioning in connection with the murder of Bug's father. Michael, naturally, is too smart to say anything incriminating.
Carcetti raises $92,000 in one morning for his gubernatorial campaign; too bad his day had to be ruined by news of Larry's kidnapping.
At the Sun, it's the same old "liar, liar, pants on fire" dance between Scott and St. Gus, with Scott churning out one self-serving piece after the other, with both Whiting and Klebanow there to back him up. Meanwhile, a whole bevy of reporters has been assigned to cover the serial killer case and the homelessness issue. Fletch gets to go out on the street to find some homeless, and runs into Bubbles at the soup kitchen, who informs him that there aren't actually a whole lot of homeless in soup kitchens.
In other news, Clay Davis has acheived something remarkable: he has overtaken Levy and Herc as my least favorite character. He hires a high-powered attorney, gets up on the stand, and begins to cry (literally) about how he was just stealing money to help out the po' folk in his district. The jury eats it right up, and Bond's slam-dunk conviction (and his mayoral dreams) go up in flames. It never bothered me so much when Stringer or Avon got away with their crimes, but I just cannot stand the thought of Clay Davis, obvious crook, staying out of jail.
Quick Hits:
Loved Dukie's dance moves. And that he's looking for an actual job.
Excuse me for being shallow for a second, but: can we have more of Lance Reddick in tank tops? I mean, we haven't had McNulty shirtless in awhile, so is that too much to ask?
Kima & Elijah's moment at the end of the episode was adorable, especially after watching her struggle with her furniture all day, which led to the line of the episode, "What brand of scotch are you using?" From McNulty, of course.
And, I've already seen Episode 8 (the wonders of OnDemand), and I have to say, I don't envy Allie for having to write the recap...to say the episode packed a bunch would be the understatement of the year.
The serial killer calls again: McNulty, Lester and Sydnor team up and use a voice modulator to call Scott and follow it up by sending him a picture of Larry. Scott understandably wigs out, and the resulting fallout sends both the Sun and the BPD into a tizzy. The police department finally turns on the faucet of money, and now McNulty's got more manpower and resources than he knows what to do with. Most importantly, though, he gets a tap for cell phone pictures. By the end of the episode, Lester starts receiving the pictures: they're clocks. Since the time of the clock never corresponds to the actual time, we've finally found a code that can stump Lester. At least for now, anyway.
As fallout from McNulty getting excess overtime, the other dectectives start approaching him on the sly and asking for a few hours to cover their other cases. He agrees, in part because he's pleased they're doing police work (not of the fake kind), and because I think he's really starting to feel guilty about how broad this thing has become.
Omar is still hobbling around out on the streets, calling out Marlo. He runs into our old Season 1 Barksdalie, Sevino, and Sevino ends up with a bullet in his head. Then Omar, who just seems increasingly desperate for revenge at this point, robs Michael's corner. And if we're scared for Michael's life, Michael's even more scared, refusing to look at Omar, lest he be recognized from the shoot-out at Monk's apartment.
As for those actually doing legit police work, Bunk has Carver bring Michael in for questioning in connection with the murder of Bug's father. Michael, naturally, is too smart to say anything incriminating.
Carcetti raises $92,000 in one morning for his gubernatorial campaign; too bad his day had to be ruined by news of Larry's kidnapping.
At the Sun, it's the same old "liar, liar, pants on fire" dance between Scott and St. Gus, with Scott churning out one self-serving piece after the other, with both Whiting and Klebanow there to back him up. Meanwhile, a whole bevy of reporters has been assigned to cover the serial killer case and the homelessness issue. Fletch gets to go out on the street to find some homeless, and runs into Bubbles at the soup kitchen, who informs him that there aren't actually a whole lot of homeless in soup kitchens.
In other news, Clay Davis has acheived something remarkable: he has overtaken Levy and Herc as my least favorite character. He hires a high-powered attorney, gets up on the stand, and begins to cry (literally) about how he was just stealing money to help out the po' folk in his district. The jury eats it right up, and Bond's slam-dunk conviction (and his mayoral dreams) go up in flames. It never bothered me so much when Stringer or Avon got away with their crimes, but I just cannot stand the thought of Clay Davis, obvious crook, staying out of jail.
Quick Hits:
Loved Dukie's dance moves. And that he's looking for an actual job.
Excuse me for being shallow for a second, but: can we have more of Lance Reddick in tank tops? I mean, we haven't had McNulty shirtless in awhile, so is that too much to ask?
Kima & Elijah's moment at the end of the episode was adorable, especially after watching her struggle with her furniture all day, which led to the line of the episode, "What brand of scotch are you using?" From McNulty, of course.
And, I've already seen Episode 8 (the wonders of OnDemand), and I have to say, I don't envy Allie for having to write the recap...to say the episode packed a bunch would be the understatement of the year.
Lost, Season 4 Episode 3
"The Economist"
In a word: Whoa. In a few more: this season is the greatest thing since...season 1.
First things first: we have a new member of the Oceanic 6 club: dear old Sayid. And in his post-island life, he's an assassin, who falls in love with another assassin in order to get to her boss, but she shoots him first, but then (cause he's Sayid and could beat up Chuck Norris with both hands tied behind his back) he shoots her and kills her, and it turns out he's actually working for BEN. And Ben wants him to kill MORE people, who are apparently all connected somehow. Crazy.
But back on the island, there are hijinks when Sayid goes off to fetch Charlotte, because Frank won't leave the island until she's safe. Kate and Miles travel with him, and they head to the barracks, where they know Locke & Co. are located. And indeed, the Locke party does show up at the barracks, but not before they make a slight detour to try and find Jacob's cabin. Ben rightly supposes that Locke is looking for instructions on his next move, but all they find at the site of the cabin is some kind of salt/sand/gunpowder mix on the jungle floor.
When Sayid, Kate, and Miles arrive at the barracks, they find Hurley tied up and shoved in a closet. Hurley tells them that Locke was heading for Ben's house. As they look around, Sayid finds a secret passage behind a bookcase (like Narnia!) and finds Ben's secret lair. Passports, thousands of euros, traveling suits: it appears to me like Ben frequently travels off the island for as-yet-unknown purposes.
So it turns out Hurley was lying, it was really just a set-up for Team Locke to capture Sayid and crew. Sawyer and Kate have a nicce heart-to-heart, and he reminds her that if she goes back, she'll likely find a jail cell waiting for her. Come to think of it, so will Sawyer -- he killed that guy at the seafood stand. He basically asks her to stay on the island with him and play house. Awww. (SKATE FOREVER, WOOT!)
Sayid trades Miles for Charlotte and heads back to the chopper, after telling Locke that he's going to get on the boat and figure out what the Boaties are all about. He and Charlotte get back to Jack, Frank, and Daniel. By now Desmond and Juliet have also shown up. Sayid tells Jack Kate decided to stay with the other group (a.k.a. Sawyer). Jack looks...displeased with this news. Teehee. Desmond wants to get on the chopper, and with Frank and Sayid, there's room for one more. Charlotte stays to do some experiments, so they take Naomi's body back. We fade out on the chopper heading out over the water to...what? Safety? More danger on the freighter?
Three epsiodes in, and the questions I most want answered right now are:
What's up with time on the island? Daniel's experiment with the rocket showed that there's at least a 31 minute difference between the island and the freighter. But what does it mean?
Who is Ben, really? Why is this strange group after him? How did he get off the island? Why is Sayid working for him in the future?
Now that we have 4 of the 6, whoare the reamining two? Are they Kate's "him" and the guy in the coffin shown in last year's finale? This is the real stinker: why didn't anybody but Jack want ot go to that funeral?
Even though I want answers, I know they're not coming right away, and it's stupid to assume that they will. If anything, this season has convinced me that the producers actually do have a plan, and with the given end date, they are executing it. I've learned to take the show as it come and not get hung up on the minutae of the twists and turns.
In a word: Whoa. In a few more: this season is the greatest thing since...season 1.
First things first: we have a new member of the Oceanic 6 club: dear old Sayid. And in his post-island life, he's an assassin, who falls in love with another assassin in order to get to her boss, but she shoots him first, but then (cause he's Sayid and could beat up Chuck Norris with both hands tied behind his back) he shoots her and kills her, and it turns out he's actually working for BEN. And Ben wants him to kill MORE people, who are apparently all connected somehow. Crazy.
But back on the island, there are hijinks when Sayid goes off to fetch Charlotte, because Frank won't leave the island until she's safe. Kate and Miles travel with him, and they head to the barracks, where they know Locke & Co. are located. And indeed, the Locke party does show up at the barracks, but not before they make a slight detour to try and find Jacob's cabin. Ben rightly supposes that Locke is looking for instructions on his next move, but all they find at the site of the cabin is some kind of salt/sand/gunpowder mix on the jungle floor.
When Sayid, Kate, and Miles arrive at the barracks, they find Hurley tied up and shoved in a closet. Hurley tells them that Locke was heading for Ben's house. As they look around, Sayid finds a secret passage behind a bookcase (like Narnia!) and finds Ben's secret lair. Passports, thousands of euros, traveling suits: it appears to me like Ben frequently travels off the island for as-yet-unknown purposes.
So it turns out Hurley was lying, it was really just a set-up for Team Locke to capture Sayid and crew. Sawyer and Kate have a nicce heart-to-heart, and he reminds her that if she goes back, she'll likely find a jail cell waiting for her. Come to think of it, so will Sawyer -- he killed that guy at the seafood stand. He basically asks her to stay on the island with him and play house. Awww. (SKATE FOREVER, WOOT!)
Sayid trades Miles for Charlotte and heads back to the chopper, after telling Locke that he's going to get on the boat and figure out what the Boaties are all about. He and Charlotte get back to Jack, Frank, and Daniel. By now Desmond and Juliet have also shown up. Sayid tells Jack Kate decided to stay with the other group (a.k.a. Sawyer). Jack looks...displeased with this news. Teehee. Desmond wants to get on the chopper, and with Frank and Sayid, there's room for one more. Charlotte stays to do some experiments, so they take Naomi's body back. We fade out on the chopper heading out over the water to...what? Safety? More danger on the freighter?
Three epsiodes in, and the questions I most want answered right now are:
What's up with time on the island? Daniel's experiment with the rocket showed that there's at least a 31 minute difference between the island and the freighter. But what does it mean?
Who is Ben, really? Why is this strange group after him? How did he get off the island? Why is Sayid working for him in the future?
Now that we have 4 of the 6, whoare the reamining two? Are they Kate's "him" and the guy in the coffin shown in last year's finale? This is the real stinker: why didn't anybody but Jack want ot go to that funeral?
Even though I want answers, I know they're not coming right away, and it's stupid to assume that they will. If anything, this season has convinced me that the producers actually do have a plan, and with the given end date, they are executing it. I've learned to take the show as it come and not get hung up on the minutae of the twists and turns.
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