Watching Reality TV

FOX’s “On the Lot” was easily the most anticipated new reality show of the summer.  Now that it’s begun, a lot of people are left feeling disappointed.  So, it’s time at last for the second most anticipated new reality show to premiere.  I’m talking about CBS’s “Pirate Master”, which debuts tonight at 8pm.  Also auspicious?  It was seven years ago tonight that CBS debuted that little show we call “Survivor”.  That has got to be some good reality karma, you think?  The premise of the show is:

“16 modern-day pirates as they embark on a high seas adventure around the Caribbean island of Dominica in search of hidden treasure that will total $1 million,� according to CBS. They “will live aboard a massive 179-foot pirate ship� and “will go on extraordinary expeditions and decipher clues along the way,� winning “[g]old coins — real money that the pirates can take with them beyond the show.�

It may not be a hit, but it sure sounds like a lot of fun to watch.   It’s got to be more fun than “On the Lot” has been.  The American public deserves some harmless, interesting and totally absorbing fun, don’t you think?  And what can be more fun than a bunch of people running around pretending to be pirates?  I ask you!  I know I’ll be tuning in, how about you?

It may be summer, “American Idol” and “Dancing with the Stars” may be over but there is still some warrant for a Wednesday Reality Roundup. For one thing, we still have “On the Lot” to talk about. I still believe in this show. I think the new “American Idol”-esque format is working for it. A lot of other critics out there are hating it and that’s a shame because I think it’s so much more interesting now than it was last week. Anyhow, last night was the “results show” from the previous night’s films. I was a little disappointed and surprised by the way the voting turned out. I expected “Replication Theory” to at least get in the top three. And I was hoping that Kenny (Wack Alley Cab), Hilary (Bus #1) and Jessica (How to Screw in a Lightbulb) would be the ones leaving. And NONE OF THEM DID. Instead it was Carolina (Deliver Me), Claudia (Blind Date), and Phil (Please Hold) who went home and I’m just dumbfounded.  I was also perturbed to see Getta Rhoom in the top three for the night.  While I didn’t think it was as bad as the judges said the previous night (and, oh by the way, they totally don’t think that way about it now), I didn’t think it was one of the best.  ARGH.  I want this show to have a chance people.  But in order for that to happen, we’ve got to think smart on this.  We have to actually pay attention and vote for the best films.  AND NOT FOR THE WORST.  Who the hell voted for Wack Alley Cab?  I think you need professional help, whoever you are.  So, we’ll be back next Monday for more films.  I have hope for the future.

Let’s not forget that “Deadliest Catch” was on last night as well.  And the reason I live “opie” season was in full effect with giant waves threatening to swamp the boats and wash the deckhands off the into the Bering Sea.  And that makes for some pretty good television as far as I’m concerned.  The Northwestern finally got some really good luck in the form of super-full crab pots which is great news for them after last week’s engine failure.  A greenhorn aboard makes a big mistake by trying to prank Edgar and that goes over about as well as a lead balloon.  Dummy.  So far, Opilio crab season hasn’t seen any fantastic yields and the boats seem to be struggling more than anything else.  Still, it’s all good television.  And I’d forgotten that the special, “After the Catch” was on afterward.  I tried to watch but what with getting dinner and putting children to bed and other distractions, I wasn’t able to watch as much of it as I would have liked.  But it looked like an interesting conversation between the different captains and Mike Rowe (the narrator of the series) on some of their experiences.  I think it’ll be on next week too, so I hope to catch it then.

So that’s it for now.  Enjoy your Wednesday!

Wow, what a difference a few days (and some really poor ratings and reviews) makes!  Last night’s “On the Lot” was a completely different show and I mean that in the best way possible.  Instead of the “Apprentice”-like format from last week (and we all know how I feel about “The Apprentice”) we had something much more akin to “American Idol”.  In fact, if it hadn’t been for the judges and contestants, I probably wouldn’t have recognized this as the same show.  Best of all?  We finally got to see some of these films!  It was “comedy week” and each of the 18 directors had a 1 minute short film to show us.  And it felt a lot more like a film festival than a cheesy reality show and that really worked for me.  I’m not going to go into all the films and the nitty gritty details (the show was two hours long last night, I’d be sitting here typing all day and we’d have a fricken’ novel on our hands).  I will point out my three favorites and the three films that I voted for last night.

The first was “Dance Man” by Adam Stein.  This guy left Harvard Law School to make movies and from the looks of this short, he made the right choice.  I thought it was hilarious.  The short was about a man who could not speak, but instead had to communicate via dance.  We saw how this disability affected his life, including his love life until finally he met a woman who also communicated via dance and they lived happily ever after.  It was, in a word, hilarious.  The judges loved it as well and didn’t have a bad word to say about it.

Zack Lipovsky, our resident special effects guru from last week had a little film called “Danger Zone” about some bad ju-ju going down in a safety lab.  The entire short was shot in 360 degrees and one take.  It was amazing to watch and pretty funny.  The judges nearly wet themselves over this guy and I don’t think he’s going anywhere for quite a while.  He’s got talent, I’ll give him that.

Sam Friedlander had the final short of the evening and it was called “Replication Theory”.  Basically, it details the history of people blaming their farts on other things by replicating the sound.  Sounds goofy but it totally worked.  Loved it and I don’t generally tend to go for that sort of humor.  But it was delivered with such honesty and friendliness, you couldn’t help but enjoy it.  The judges loved it too, despite the farting.

Who do I think will be leaving us tonight (tonight??)?  I fear the future of Kenny Luby (his short was PAINFUL), Hilary Weisman Graham (her short was just disgusting) and Jess Brillhart (her short was confusing).  I don’t know if we’re going back to last week’s format or not.  I’m sort of hoping not because last night’s show was SO much fun for a change.

I hope everyone is enjoying their relaxing holiday weekend. I won’t be posting any reality TV  goodness today, in observance of the holiday. I’m instead going to be spending the day with my family and basking in the warm weather we’re having. And trying to explain to my son why people consider that summer has begun with Memorial Day and not on the proper first day of summer that doesn’t come around until near the end of June. Seven year olds can be so literal sometimes.

So go enjoy a barbecue with your friends and family appreciate the fact that you didn’t have to go in to work today. Also, take a moment to think of all those magnificent soldiers who gave their lives for this country throughout history. That’s who this day is really for, after all.

We had the second episode of “On the Lot” last night and we got to see some of the fruits of the contestants labors. The 24 hour short film challenge went pretty well, from the clips that I saw. Particularly the one that capitalized on Zach’s talents as a special effects guru. Some were a little off and I was particularly pleased to see the judges call out the team that did the overly stylized by content free short film. We need to see a lot less of that in Hollywood. Sometimes I think movies are called Artsy and Hip because people want us to think they’re Artsy and Hip and that drives me nuts. Anyhow, that’s my issue and not related to last night’s show (much). A bunch of people are eliminated, including Hannah Sink which makes me happy because her name bothered me. Yes, I can be that fickle. Leave me alone. Then the contestants got another challenge: make a short film in ONE HOUR. They’re given the set, the script and a bunch of actors and they have one hour to put it together. I’d tell you when to tune in for the next episode except that I have no idea when it will be. Frankly, I’m a little worried about “On the Lot” because so far its been rather boring, we’ve seen far too little of the films and I haven’t really seen anything to make me care yet. This could be a great show, and I’m just really not seeing it yet. Bummer.

“So You Think You Can Dance” aired it’s season 3 premiere episode last night. It, much like “American Idol” focuses on the auditions at the beginning. So among the people who, you know, can actually DANCE, we had the people who think they can dance. And apparently, much like singing on “American Idol”, a lot of people on “SYTYCD” think they can dance. And they can’t. YIKES. But that’s part of what makes the show so fun. We even had the cranky judge getting all up in some guy’s grill about his complete lack of talent and how this guy is wasting everyone’s time and yet, here they are, showing this whole thing on television and taking time away from the people who can actually dance. So, whatever. People are weird, and this show proves it.

We knew it was going to happen. I mean, after the performances last night, it was all but guaranteed. Sure, I tossed a vote or two Blake’s way, because I’m contrary like that. And because I enjoy Blake. But Jordin was the perfect package for “Idol” and it makes sense that she won. But you’ll forgive me for not watching the actual crowning take place because, DUDE, the “Lost” finale was on and it was hella good. It was right that Jordin won. I would have been happy to see Blake win, but it probably would have felt a little false. No, this result was written in the stars. Good for her. I hope she goes places. I hope all of the final four contestants go some place and I think they certainly will. Even dear ol’ Blake. He’s just too likable and talented not to succeed.

And that puts an end to yet another season of “American Idol”. I imagine we’ll see Simon, Randy and Paula yet again come Fall.

On another note, heh, apparently I made some people angry yesterday by referring to Taylor Hicks as a “fricken’ hack.” For clarification’s sake I just want to say that a) this is my blog and my opinion and if I think Taylor is a hack then I’m gonna say so and b) ya’ll need to go get a life, PRONTO. Because unless Taylor is paying you $5 everytime you defend him against the multitudes that must rip on him on a daily basis, I don’t see what you’re getting out of it. And also, I think it’s pretty funny. You better believe I’m going to mention Taylor Hicks and his status as a “fricken’ hack” as much as possible from here on out. I just never expected people to get their undies in a bunch over a reality television contestant. Seriously? That’s hilarious.

Oh dear me. This is almost too much reality for one girl to take. We start off, as usual, with “Deadliest Catch”, that most awesome of Discovery Network shows. The weather is wicked being that it is January and this is Alaska. The waves are nuts and the boats are getting knocked around like toys. Makes for some awesome television, let me tell ya. A rogue wave knocks one of the boats and actually busts up the “spooler”. Thank goodness no one was on deck when it happened or everyone would have been in big trouble. At another point in the show, one of the deckhands gets his leg got caught in the line on the trap and if he hadn’t moved so quickly, the guy would have been yanked overboard. Yikes! Meanwhile, things are looking pretty bad for the Northwestern. Just when their luck was looking up and they started raking in some SERIOUSLY full crab pots, the boat starts acting up. Some investigatory work is done and basically, the engine is kaput or trying to become kaput (it all is a bit over my head, actually). The long and short of it is, the Northwestern is hatin’ life. Which is awful cuz I love those guys. Starting next week: we’ll get to watch a miniseries that takes place after the show called “After the Catch” where the nutjob from “Dirty Jobs” interviews the different captains and finds out the behind the scenes scoop. Sweet! Sign me up!

Then, we moved on to “American Idol”. Talk about being down to the wire. After some banter about Paula’s broken nose, we get to the nitty gritty. Blake won the coin toss last episode so he chose to go first. He starts off with his completely awesome rendition of “You Give Love a Bad Name” by Bon Jovi which is even awesomer than the last time. Even Simon is effusive about the performance. Jordin chose to sing “Fighter” by Christina Aquilera and I thought she got a little “screechy” during the middle of the song. Definitely wasn’t her best song. So round one went to Blake, hands down. But the next round, he chose “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5 and she chose “A Broken Wing” by Martina McBride, which you’ll remember she rocked rather soundly the first time she sang it. So even though he did a great job with his song, Jordin smoked him during this round. The last round, I thought, was rather unfair. The Idols were told to sing the winner of the songwriter competition’s song, called “This is My Now”. I wouldn’t say it was made for a woman (because it wasn’t), but it was definitely far better suited to Jordin’s style of singing rather than Blake’s. He was frustrated with the song, obviously, but shrugged it off. Jordin did a little better (but I still thought she sounded flat, probably the song’s fault and not hers) and finished off with tears in her eyes, guaranteeing her a healthy chunk of the sympathy vote. Whatever. I so voted for Blake, it’s not even funny. We are treated to Daughtry singing “Home” live on the stage at the end of the show, a very fitting tribute. And I’m still upset that he didn’t win his season. Taylor Hicks is a frickin’ hack. Ahem.

Now, here’s where things got interesting. We had the “Dancing with the Stars” finale and results show (Two hours though? Seriously? What do they think this is, “American Idol”?). But we also had the premiere of “On the Lot” which simply MUST be watched. Praise the heavens for Tivo, is all I can say. “On the Lot” looks like a really promising show. We had the usual reality premiere drudgery, where we’re introduced to a mob of contestants and everything is still rather confusing and disjointed. However, we were introduced to the judges, who are awesome. We have Carrie Fisher, Brent Ratner and Gary Marshall, quite the big-wigs in my opinion. I was impressed. The first task was to take a basic story premise and pitch it as a feature film to the judges. Some people dropped the ball in a rather horrifying manner, while others stepped up and one guy gave such a good pitch that Gary was ready to hire him on to do the flick when he was done. The eliminations were painful, but necessary and fair. Painful only because I know it had to be so disappointing for those who were hoping for more from this experience. The show will be on next on Thursday and we’ll see the contestants’ first big efforts: a 2 1/2 minute short that they had literally NO TIME to put together. As a team. Yeah, should be fun. I know I’ll be tuning in.

On “Dancing with the Stars”, what else is there to talk about other than who won? I was pleased to see Apolo and Julianne take home the trophy. They deserved it. Laila was a good dancer, but she and Maks lacked the chemistry and all around enjoyment that Apolo and Julianne had. Joey had flair up the ying yang, but he lacked the skills to beat Apolo. Overall, it was a very satisfying end to the show. Just don’t tell that to Laila or Joey. In her words, Laila was pissed to be booted out in third place. And Joey looked very obviously disappointed to come in second. But they had to know the audience loved Apolo. So yay! That’s the sort of reality finale I like to see. However, maybe in the future they can cut it back to one hour tops because two hours for that stuff was TORTURE. They didn’t have near enough content to fill a full two hours and it was awful having to suffer through the drivel to get to the good stuff. Think about that next season, ABC.

Well, I went into last night’s show a little nervous. I’ve been rooting for Apolo and Julianne all along and I was afraid they would drop the ball this evening. This is a very important performance, being the last one before the finale tonight and I was worried that either the pressure would get to this energetic duo or that the judges would backlash against them. And after the first round of dances, a “judge’s choice”, it seemed like my fears were well founded.

The judges chose the paso doble for Laila and Maksim and they delivered nearly perfectly and the scores reflected that. For Apolo and Julianne, they chose the rhumba, a dance which has never been their strong suit, and they received scores lower than I would have liked. In the interest of fairness, Joey and Kym danced the cha cha but received an 8 in their scores for not concentrating on the content of the song. It was a fun dance though, Joey sure knows how to deliver the fun. Going into the second round, I was nervous for my favorite pair. I needn’t have been. Laila and Maksim’s freestyle performance fell short of fabulous and they received a rather low score for it. Interestingly enough, Joey and Kym got a fantastic score for their freestyle performance and it was enough to put them into second place on the leaderboard. It was Apolo and Julianne, though, that received the 30 for the evening for their awesome freestyle (set to “Bust a Move” ha!) and catapulted them into first place.

So it turns out the backlash and the dropping of balls was saved for Laila and Maksim instead of Apolo and Julianne. I shouldn’t be pleased by that, but I am. It all rests on the fans. And I do think the fans will turn out for Apolo tonight. I expect he’ll be the one to win this. I imagine Laila will come in second, but I don’t want to discount the Nsync fanbase out there. Joey could pull off second. We’ll find out tonight!

NBC’s “The Apprentice” had some pretty abysmal ratings this last season. And when “The Apprentice” was left off the fall schedule announcement that NBC made this last week, Donald took that as a sign. So what did he do? He quit. Rather than be fired (heh) by NBC, he chose to try to save face and get out while the getting was good. And while NBC has made no definite proclamations about the reality show, saying that they were still discussing the future of the show and there was a possibility of a spring run, we all know that “The Apprentice”’s time had come. Donald says he is “moving on from ‘The Apprentice’ to a major new TV venture.” Whatever that might be.

I wish I could say I was disappointed by this news. But I’m not. For one, the show was way past it’s prime. For another, Donald is a chump and I was tired of looking at him.

While the rest of were left to pick up our jaws off the floor on Wednesday night, Melinda Doolittle says she “had an idea” she’d be eliminated from “American Idol” and “was kind of prepared”. Maybe she’s selling herself short (again, something she was famous for during the competition) or maybe she had good reason.

“You know, when [Idol host Ryan Seacrest] called me up front — just by the nature of the show and how it normally goes — I kind of had an idea that it would be me,” Doolittle revealed during a conference call with reporters on Thursday. “So I was kind of taking deep breaths and kind of ready to go to the next step. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought I was possibly going to lose it, but it was a happy occasion because I made it this far. I’m kind of glad it turned out that way.”

Once again, she shows what a healthy, positive and mature outlook she has on life. I adore that girl, I really do. I know she will be going places. It’s a shame, the way the voting system is set up on the show, that contestants who will appeal to maybe the older vote are at a disadvantage. I love Blake and all, but the “Blaker Girls” weren’t likely to throw many votes Melinda’s way and they were the ones voting for hours at a time Tuesday night.

“First of all, I was up against two amazing contestants. That was part of it to me. I love [Idol 6's Top 2 finalists, Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis] and I think they did a fabulous job on Tuesday night,” she said. “But also, I know that I was probably getting a little bit of the older vote — which is great — and I had a lot of people come up and say, ‘I voted for you five times last night it was so good!’ Sometimes [older Idol viewers] might not spend the full two hours voting or anything like that, and that’s okay. But I really feel like personally I won because of where I ended up in the competition.”

Lastly, I learned something new about our favorite ousted Idol; she’s been wearing wigs all this time. Seriously! I don’t know why I didn’t figure that out before. But here’s the question; why did she wear that one in the beginning that made her look like she was 40? Cuz that was just wrong. At any rate, Melinda is going to be missed. I can’t wait to see what she does next with herself.

Well knock me over with a feather. Last night I feared, FEARED for Blake’s continuation in “the game”. It made sense that he’d probably be the one to go home, even though I enjoy him immensely. And the only thing I thought that could save him would be Jordin getting the boot. So when I saw Jordin was safe I assumed the worst for our beatboxing friend. And then, the unthinkable. Melinda? You’re going HOME. Holy freakin’ cow. I can’t say that anyone out there saw that coming. And if anyone tries to tell you they knew it, they’re LYING. Because that was a SHOCK. (And, for future reference, I can’t take that kind of shock minutes before “Lost” comes on because by 11pm I will have aged 10 years.) And this was after Simon pleaded with America to send Melinda to the finals. Unbelievable.

You know what I think happened? I think when Simon said that, all the Jordin and Blake fans got (rightly) worried. And the majority of voters, worried their favorites might get the boot because obviously Melinda would be staying, voted in droves. And the result is the worried fans outvoted the Melinda fans and… poof. She’s gone. Just like that. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Melinda Doolittle though. The woman is far too talented to just fade into nothingness now. I hope by this time next year to see her doing some big and brilliant things. All of the final three have a future, but I really hope she gets her dream. Damn, that was a bummer.

So who’s going to win this thing? Anyone’s guess. I’m through predicting!

I am back in business, ya’ll! And I couldn’t be happier. I spent all of this afternoon trying to get everything reinstalled and set up the way I like it again. I still have a lot to do, but at least I’m able to post again. The only other computer available to me (when he wasn’t taking it to work with him) was my husband’s laptop and the keyboard on that is WAY too tiny to type on. I’d get through a paragraph only to accidentally select and delete what I’d just written. BAH! Anyhow, I’m happy to report, things will be getting back to normal around here. I’m so sorry for the lack of posts the last several days and thanks so much for being patient!

Firstly, we have last night’s “Deadliest Catch” episode. I LOVE the snow crab season. LOVE it. It always seems to be a big ramp up from the king crab season. The weather is nastier, for one thing. We were introduced to a bunch of new greenhorns tonight. Which, correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t you rather be a greenhorn during king crab season than snow crab season? Seriously? Should be interesting to see how they all do. There was also a sequence tonight where someone on another boat got gravely ill and the coast guard had to be called out to rescue him. The guy was literally on his last legs. Lord knows what was wrong with him. But it was intense. We should have some good moments coming up, looks like the weather is going to make things interesting sooner rather than later.

“American Idol” is really getting down to the wire and I’m a little scared. Because I love everyone who is left and I don’t want to see any of them go. But one of them HAS to go and that really bums me out. Tonight, the first songs were selected by the judges. And the contestants did pretty well with them, but Melinda is the only one to really hit it out of the park. Fair enough. The next songs were selected by the producers and Jordin didn’t do maybe as well, Blake did better and Melinda, yet again, did a fabulous job. Tonight we had THREE songs and the third set were the contestants favorite songs. Aww! Fun! Melinda and Jordin did okay and Blake did a really fantastic job and wowed even Simon. But when it comes down to it, it looks as if the judges favor the women in the final two. Simon especially hopes to see Melinda in the final two, no matter what happens. I hate to think of any of these talented people leaving, but I fear it will be Blake. Which is a shame because he’s a fantastic singer and he takes wonderful risks and really tries to keep himself modern in a competition that will often “age” and make corny your average talent-seeker. But I guess we’ll have to wait for the results show. *bites nails nervously*

Yep, it was as expected. Ian and Cheryl were sent packing tonight and rightly so. I mean, how could they overcome the sheer awesomeness that was the other three dancing teams from Monday night? I mean, COME ON. Though I’m still smarting over Len calling Apolo’s fantastic cha cha “raunchy” because it was probably the single most awesome dance I’ve ever seen on that show. I’m hoping he wins because he’s simply fantastic. But then again, the judges have a thing for Laila. She’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know. Her partner, Maksim, kinda bugs me. I think he’s sort of a jerk. So if I had to predict, I’d say it’ll be Apolo for the win. But then again, I’ve been saying that for weeks now so this should be no surprise to you. I was not sad to Ian go, but I will be sad next week. I feel it might be Joey going home (as it should) and that sorta makes me sad because he’s so much fun to watch. But we are getting down to the wire and it’s time to get serious. Dangit.

So yay! I’m back in business! I’m so happy to have my laptop back, I could spit.

You probably have noticed that I did not post on Friday. That is because on Thursday, my laptop went kaput. My husband took it into work on Friday to work on it and decided the hard drive was fried. So while Dell ships that out to us, I am without a laptop. It’s the equivalent of cutting off my right arm, or at least, that’s how it feels.

So, in the meantime, I’m unable to update you all on all the reality TV news out there, especially last night’s “Survivor” finale. But you can tune into Television Without Pity’s perfect recaplet. I hope to be back in business as early as tomorrow but I can’t make an guarantees, unfortunately (ack, have to reinstall EVERYTHING). Thanks for your patience!

I was beyond, BEYOND glad to see Blake stay last night on “American Idol”. If it had to be anybody, I was glad it was LaKisha. That said, I was so, so sad to see her go. Especially after the cheesy interview segment they always run in these recap episodes. I felt like for the first time that season, I really got to get a glimpse of her personality. And watching her talk about how she used to get busted in school for talking, that was just adorable. She truly is a gifted singer and I know she’ll have a career after this. Watching her sing “You’re Gonna Love Me” again in the montage reminded me of just how good a singer she is. It’s just a shame that she never really brought it again after that song. She’s got talent though. She’ll go far. I hope she goes far. She deserves it. *sniff* Now I’m all sad.

But, I was glad to see Blake was safe. He didn’t have the best week, so I really hope he brings it next week. We really need to see him step up to the plate or I fear he’ll be next. Wow, a final two that’s between Melinda and Jordin? That’s just crazy talk there. Who could possibly pick?

Yep, there’s no denying it, we’re getting down to the end. These eliminations are getting brutal because everyone is just really, really good. And that is how it should be. Dang, I love this show.

Yep, it’s that time again! God, I love Tuesday night’s. It’s like sin dipped in chocolate and wrapped in whipped cream, isn’t it? So let’s get started with “Deadliest Catch” because it just very well might be my favorite thing about Tuesday nights. Last night was the end of the king crab season, with all the crews racing to the “finish line”. And for a good while, it looked like Blake, the newbie captain of the Maverick, would be taking home the captain’s wager. The Maverick was raking in the crab and even had to toss back about 5 thousand crab in order to not come in over quota. Of course, when the crab was tallied up at the end of the line, Blake found out that he was off his count by about, oh, 5 thousand. OUCH. The Northwestern, Farwest Leader and Wizard all brought in the big bucks, with each crew member earning over $35,000 for a few days of amazingly difficult and dangerous work. But what excited me the most? Next week we see the beginning of the snow crab season. The crews head back out in January (as opposed to November during the king crab season) and the weather is, shall you say, a bit more interesting. I love snow crab season. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

On “American Idol”, we had “disco night” courtesy of the Bee Gee’s and Barry Gibb in particular. And was I the only one who was surprised at how much Barry Gibb sounded exactly like Sean Connery when he spoke? That distracted me all episode long. Anyhow, many of the idols chose Bee Gee’s songs even though Bee Gee’s songs should be sung only by Bee Gee’s. And judges realized this when their ears were assaulted not once, but twice by each of the contestants. Not all the songs were Bee Gee’s however. But I’m still smarting from LaKisha’s unfortunate rendition of “Stayin’ Alive”. And that is just a crime against nature. A lot of our favorites did not have good night’s last night. Melinda didn’t have a very good night. LaKisha had a horrible night. Even dear, dear Blake didn’t impress anyone with his beatboxed disco classics. Though I had to give him props for taking another chance. I did find myself agreeing with Randy when he told Blake that he didn’t have to beatbox EVERY song. You know, feel free to switch it up some. Gah. But he did pretty well with the material he had. Jordin scored the only high praise of the evening. And it was high praise indeed. Barry Gibb himself said that her rendition of “To Love Somebody” is the best version of the song he’s ever heard sung and he’s heard hundreds of artists sing it. The judges practically fell all over themselves with the raves on her performance. Unfortunately her second song of the evening wasn’t as fantastic, but we forgive her for the first song was loverly. Now, who will be going home? I want to say it’s going to be LaKisha. A lot of people feel like Blake is in the hot seat and I really hope he is not. I honestly feel it is LaKisha’s time to go home.

Then, on “Dancing with the Stars”, everyone’s fondest wish was granted when Billy Ray was FINALLY sent packing. But first, we had to endure some nailbiting as Joey was in the bottom two with him. Joey, honestly? Not Ian? That didn’t make any sense to me. And, yet again, we had to endure an entire hour of fluff to get to the meat of the show. I’m starting to get really annoyed with this overblown results shows. I have half a mind to only tune into the last ten minutes and call it good. But at any rate, Billy Ray is gone and we don’t have to watch him slack his way through any more dances. Praise the Lord! We don’t have to hear him complain about having to learn new steps either. Double Bonus! I’m really scared for Joey though. I hope last night served as a wakeup call and the fans will be calling in for him in droves next week. I’d sure hate for him to leave before Ian, who I feel is the next who should go.

Until next Wednesday… keep it real. (geddit? ha!)