Watching Reality TV

It’s been a while since we had an episode to watch! If you need to catch up, go check this post right here.

We’re finally back to “Amazing Race”! I don’t know about you, but even with the “Survivor” finale last week, I still missed my “AR”. I must say, it’s good to see Phil’s face (when isn’t it??). A&H got screwed last episode, who will be screwed this time? I can’t believe there are only five teams left! This season is drawing to a close very rapidly. Thank goodness for the new shows starting up in January, or I would be totally high and dry here. Anyhow, tonight the teams are departing from the Stone Cross Overlook in Dubrovnik, Croatia which is amazingly gorgeous. They learn they are heading to Ancona, Italy, with Ron and Christina in the lead. Basically, it’s not as simple as just driving to the airport. It involves cab, bus, and ferry. Whew! Kynt and Vyksin are very excited to be going to Italy (though they do refer to themselves as the “Pink and Black Attack” and that’s pretty sad). Of course, there’s your usual bunching at the bus station. But the first three teams are the only ones to make the first bus, as the other teams are significantly behind them. TK and Rachel make the second bus though, which is nice because I enjoy them. Nick and Don leave last and get the last bus. On the ferry, Kynt and Vyksin touch up their makeup. You know, cuz that’s important. The teams finally make it to Ancona and they all seem to be together so I guess they got bunched on the ferry.

Now they most drive to Empoli to find the next clue. They also get a Blackberry, on which they’ll be getting a message and they can’t use it for anything else. BOO! Everyone struggles to find the way there, a problem compounded by the dark. Some use maps, some ask locals to help out. And they all seem to get pretty different directions (I would trust the ones that say Bologna and Florence instead of the route through Rome, but what do I know?). TK and Rachel misplaced their clue. Gah. They search the car and can’t find it. They have to go back to where they stopped for directions to look for it. Double Gah.

Nathan and Jennifer continue on to Rome, mentioning they haven’t seen any other teams. TK and Rachel get their clue, thank goodness! Everyone gets their Blackberry messages, which is a note from their families sending encouragement and love. Aww. Very sweet. Everyone feels bolstered. All the teams going through Bologna get stopped in major traffic. The road? Is closed. GAH! Turns out, going through Rome was the right thing to do. Luckily, TK and Rachel also go through Rome so they’re on Nathan and Jennifer’s heels. Speaking of whom, they arrive Empoli first and have to take a number (it opens at 7am) and are surprised to find they’re the first team there. TK and Rachel arrive as the sun comes up. The other teams are just now making it through Florence. Vyksin gets lost. N&J and TK&R arrive at the clue box and find it’s a Roadblock. One team member must go up in a tiny plane and look for the word for their next destination spelled out below them. They have 30 minutes to find it before landing for fuel. When they land, they tell the pilot the word they found in order to get the next clue. There is a Fast Forward, but the teams don’t realize until they get there that they will need to get a tattoo in order to get the Fast Forward. N&J and TK&R both decide to forgo the FF. Okay, to call this an airplane is pretty much a laugh. It’s basically a motorized glider. While Nathan and TK are up in the air, the other teams arrive. Nick and Don decide to go for the Fast Forward. Everyone is appalled by how Ron yells at Christina. Vyksin is in tears from driving around and Kynt takes the wheel though he’s not very good with a stick shift. Nathan spots the word and he lands and tells his pilot it was “Vinci”. They get the clue and move on. They need to find the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci to get their next clue. TK still can’t find his word so he has to land and then go up again. Nick and Don arrive at the studio to find out about the tattoo thing. Don is very reluctant to go through with it. It’d totally go for it.

Don finally agrees to go through with it and they both get inked up. Nathan and Jennifer stop for directions on their way to Vinci, so far far in the lead. Christina spots her word while TK is still at a loss. Nathan and Jennifer finally find their clue box. Christina and Ron move ahead to Vinci. The Goths are still looking for Empoli. Don and Nick finish their tattoos and move on to the pit stop which is in Boboli Gardens in Florence. N&J get a Detour. They have to chose between Invention and Tradition. The former involves assembling a crane and using a mirror to read a clue. In the latter, they have to learn a flag routine. They chose the flags. TK has to go up for a third time. The Goths finally catch up and TK and Rachel are nervous. Nick and Don arrive at the gardens in first place, a little sore but winners of a trip for 2 for a 5 nights to Cancun, Mexico. Nice! I’d love that trip. Vyksin finds her word. Nathan and Jennifer fail to do the flags on the first try. They complete it on the second try though and get to move on to the pit stop. Ron and Chris arrive and chose to do the flags as well. TK FINALLY spots his word and he and Rachel get to move on to Vinci. Ron and Chris complete the flag routine and move on to Florence. The Goths choose to do Invention, unlike everyone else. TK and Rachel also choose to do Invention. The Goths fight in the car, so obviously I’m confused about who is doing what here.

Vyksin accuses Kynt of breaking their car, but it is broken. Vyksin is worried about repairing it but the “AR” people will replace it so they shouldn’t sweat. They decide to run to the Detour which they should have done all along. Ron and Chris arrive at the pit stop in third place, very gratefully. TK and Rachel get their destination from the Invention task and hurry on to the pit stop. The Goths complete the flag routine (so they didn’t chose Invention. I lied) and hurry on to the pit stop. TK and Rachel have a flat, but change it quickly. So it’s a race to the finish. After suffering so much bad luck, TK and Rachel make it to the pit stop in fourth place. They are literally floored. Unfortunately, this means the Goths are in last place. However, they get good news that it is an non-elimination leg. They’re still in it! The bad news is that the next leg will have a “Speed Bump”. It’s a task that only they will have to complete while the other teams move on. That’s awesome. They know they made mistakes today, and that they didn’t enjoy each other like they should. They resolve to try harder in the next leg. You go, Goths!

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.

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.

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!)

What a very satisfying end to a very satisfying week. If only all weeks of “American Idol” could be like this. Good music, great performances and deserving contestants being sent home. Those who were sent home were exactly who I thought should be sent home. And what we’re left with is the contestants whom I think have the most chance to win this competition and who are all fantastic singers. The next elimination is going to be a nailbiter. I’m going to make an early prediction however and predict that LaKisha leaves next. We’re really getting down to the wire though, and the next several weeks promise to be VERY exciting.

Yes, last night, Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson were sent home. Both were decent singers, but I don’t think either were in the same ballpark with any of the remaining contestants. Chris, in particular, was starting to really get on my nerves. There was just something way too “boy band” about him. A lot of people compared him to Justin Timberlake and I didn’t see that AT ALL. Phil was a sweet guy, but his performances were hit and miss and it was just time for him.

Next week, things promise to ramp up on the show and I, for one, am very interested to see what happens next.

Oh how I enjoy Tuesday night’s in Reality Land. They always seem to catch me by surprise too. I’ll be minding my own business, watching the evening news and our lovely satellite DVR will automatically switch over to “Deadliest Catch” at 6pm (gotta love the west coast). And last night was good, too. But heck, this is “Deadliest Catch”, it’s always good. Some of the boats had some rough luck last night, poor guys. Others seemed to be raking in the crab. I couldn’t help but root for the Maverick and it’s “newbie” skipper. I want him to do well on his first time out as a captain. Looks like we’re coming to the end, of king crab season at least. I wonder if they’ll do like last year and extend the show into snow crab season? Because as I recall, that’s when things got a little intense. If you still aren’t watching this show, even after my repeated urgings, then I have nothing to say to you. Nyah.

It was “rock week” on “American Idol” last night, headed by the fabulous Jon Bon Jovi. All the contestants had to sing Bon Jovi songs and I couldn’t have been happier. Of course, I wasn’t so happy when I heard what Chris Richardson did to “Wanted Dead or Alive”. I’m embarrassed that this guy is from San Jose, my hometown. Please tell me he’s leaving this week? I didn’t enjoy LaKisha too much this week either. She tended to yell her song and her outfit was especially distracting. But I enjoyed her “spicier” attitude and the kiss with Simon was TV gold. So I’ll forgive her. Jordin just needs to not ever do that to her hair ever, ever again. It was NOT her week. No, the best singers of the night were Blake, who with hair dyed black, sang a completely different and awesome rendition of “You Give Love a Bad Name”. I didn’t think that was a song you could beatbox, but apparently if you’re Blake it is. He rocked it and then some. And of course, Melinda was the bomb. I was half expecting her to end up like LaKisha but she really knocked it out of the park. She sang “Have a Nice Day” and she seriously ROCKED. I was very impressed with her performance. She and Blake are the clear front runners to me. I’m sure Jordin is up there too, but Blake and Melinda have a very bright future ahead of them, regardless. I thought last night was a great night on “Idol”.

I don’t have very long so let me quickly sum up the results for “Dancing with the Stars”: I was wrong. BOO. BOOOOOO!!!! I thought that Billy Ray so should have been the one to go home. Even BILLY RAY thought he should have been the one to go home, judging from the look on his face. Two more dances to learn? That’s got to be hell for him. No, poor Cliff Clavin was sent packing and I am all about BOOOing that. The results show didn’t seem overly padded for a change, and that was nice. It should be like that every week as far as I’m concerned. So yeah, John went home. BOOO!! (I’m still not over it).

You know, instead of “Thank God”? Get it? Har. I wake up this morning a happier person, a more fulfilled human being. All because America removed it’s collective head from it’s collective ass and finally voted that no-talent ass clown off the show. (Bonus points if you know where I got the phrase “no-talent ass clown”.)

It was a full hour, the results show last night. But unlike “Dancing with the Stars”, it didn’t feel especially bloated. And partially because I feared for Blake’s existence on the show, I wasn’t that desperate to get to the results. The “group sing” in the beginning of the show was nice, fluffy and completely without substance. The Ford video this week was particularly dumb. The questions of the contestants, the “what music are they into right now” filler was mildly amusing. The digs at Peter Noone were kinda off-color though, considering he did help them out mere weeks ago. But, whatever. I did enjoy the stuff with Dreamworks and “Shrek 3″ and actually am very jealous that they got to see the movie. I’m totally going to see that when it comes out, and not just because I have kids. And, am I just imagining it, or did Blake do a very decent Antonio Banderas?

So onto the results: Ryan split up the groups. Sanjaya to one side of the stage. Phil to another. And so on until it was Sanjaya, Lakisha and Blake on one side, Jordin, Phil and and Chris on the other. And both sides looked WORRIED. And I was WORRIED. Jordin looked VERY worried. It was pretty stressful for everyone involved. Then, Melinda. Where would she go? Because she’s as close to a “sure thing” as this competition has right now. Ryan tried being a total tool and making her “pick which side she thinks is staying”. Uh, no. She refused and sat in the middle of the stage. Good girl. Finally, Ryan revealed that she was safe alongside Phil, Jordin and Chris. And that’s when the focus shifted. Was it going to be Blake or Sanjaya? Because I didn’t truly think that Lakisha was in danger. I was so scared it was going to be Blake. But then, he was safe. And there was much rejoicing across the land. Even Simon looked downright giddy.

Yes, Sanjaya shed a few tears and warbled his way through “Something to Talk About.” I couldn’t hear it because I was too busy celebrating. What an awesome night on “Idol” indeed.

Yep, it’s that time again!

First up, we had “Deadliest Catch”, which NEVER fails to enthrall me. It’s on during dinner time around here, so we keep the television on. Though, I started thinking twice about eating dinner and watching it at the same time when one of the guys cut his finger pretty bad and they insisted on SHOWING it and then showing the doctor sew it back up again. Yeesh. Both the Cornelia Marie and the Northwestern are having truly crappy seasons. It’s surprising because they are always leading the pack. I find myself hoping that the tide turns for these fishing giants soon because I want to see them do well. Meanwhile, the “newbie” captain on the Maverick (please correct me if I’m wrong and that’s the wrong boat) is getting hazed right and left and it’s funny as heck. It’s nice to see everyone enjoying themselves, despite the ever-present danger inherent in the job. I’ll say it again, if you aren’t watching this show, you need to start. Discovery runs “marathons” of it all the time, usually on the weekends and it’s super easy to catch up. Just watch, you won’t be disappointed.

Now, for “Idol”. We all know the real story here: Sanjaya. And ya’ll? It’s over. It’s not even funny any more. He just HAS to go. He completely murdered Bonnie Raitt’s totally awesome “Something to Talk About” and I literally felt ill just watching him. It’s retarded. If there is a God, this boy will be going home. He. Needs. To. Leave. Period, end of sentence. Fun’s over. In other “Idol” news, Phil did not bother me as much this week. He wasn’t great (is he ever?), but he wasn’t awful either. I actually think I liked his performance better than Blake’s which has to tell you something because I loves me some Blake. Lakisha was so-so. Chris made me want to murder him. Melinda was completely fabulous. I like how she had her hair done this week, it de-emphasized her lack of a neck. She looked great. And she sounded even better.

Tonight was also the results show for “Dancing with the Stars”. It was nice to see not only Clyde in the bottom two (which, DUH), but Heather as well. Was she worse on Monday than John or Billy Ray? Not especially. But she did fall and I don’t like her. Two big strikes against her. It was nice to see, even though I knew she was safe. Because it tells me America ain’t falling for her bullshit either. Yes, it was Clyde that went home. Thank GOD. Next week we’ll get to see the remaining contestants do the Jive and the Swing. The Jive… eh, we’ve seen it. But I am looking forward to the Swing. That should be a lot of fun. Apolo and Julianne got the encore performance, rightly so. They’re just so fun to watch. Easily my favorite so far this season. I loves me some Joey too, but Apolo is the bomb. And, I’m still annoyed with how they drag out these results shows. Just GET TO IT. I’m getting old here, people.

Coming up tomorrow? The “Idol” results show. Will Sanjaya FINALLY go home (please oh please oh please)? If Blake goes home I may have to throw something through my television screen and then how will I watch my tv?

My dear friend Angela from high school is a HUGE “American Idol” fan. She’s also incredibly lucky because she goes to AI tapings all the time. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But even going once is a lot more than I get to go so she’s lucky in my book. Anyhow, she just got back from a taping (last week’s show) and here are her observations:

• Blake and Chris are totally adorable together. They sang along with Akon (who wasn’t there, it was pre-recorded) and had a secret handshake.
• Blake definitely had the most signs in the audience, although I think Mandisa had a sign for Melinda.
• I think Jordin hates Sanjaya. She was obviously annoyed with him.

  During the breaks the contestants just chilled on the couches getting their make up redone for the most part. Sanjaya and Jordin were seated next to each other, and at one point I noticed Sanjaya blowing in Jordin’s face. He wouldn’t stop and she looked really annoyed. Then she snapped at him, “Stop it! You’re so weird!” and turned to face the opposite direction. Rawr.

• Sanjaya physically attacked Ryan after the whole “stand up, sit down” thing.

  In jest, I’m sure. I only caught the aftermath, really, since at that moment I was fixated on Blake and Chris’ reaction to Chris being in the bottom 3. But then I noticed Ryan kind of stumble sideways and saw Sanjaya walking away with a grin on his face…. like he had gone over and pushed Ryan for torturing him with the results.

• J Lo got make up on Ryan’s suit when they hugged.
• The judges kept leaving during the commercial breaks. Odd. One time Paula had to literally run back to her chair and sat down at the very last second.

  There was a man in a wheelchair sitting next to me, and he had a dog to assist him. We were on the far right aisle near where the contestants sit on the couches to hear whether or not they’re safe. During almost every commercial break, the judges would walk down our aisle to go backstage…. to do lord knows what. They all stopped to chat with the man in the wheelchair and pet the dog. Simon actually stopped two or three times and was totally playing with the dog as if it were his own. It was surreal — Simon Cowell standing about 3 feet away from me smiling from ear to ear and being all happy and cute with a dog. Definitely not your typical image of Mr. Cowell!

• Simon and Ryan both chatted with Sharon Osborne in the audience.
• After the show, Pink recorded a performance that will be shown on a later broadcast. She’s awesome.

  I was thinking that Pink’s pre-recorded performance was going to be for the 2 hour “Idol Gives Back” special in a couple of weeks. However, I do remember them saying that it could be for IGB or for some other show. So maybe they don’t even know? Or maybe they were purposely being vague? The song she performed isn’t the same song that’s on the AI “hit list” site. Marc Anthony also recorded a little something (not a performance) for the IGB special that apparently will also feature Johnny Depp.

• Simon winked at me. It was weird.

  Simon was winking A LOT that night. In fact, when I watched my tape back, I noticed him do it on camera at least once, and I saw him do it off camera a couple of other times. I guess that’s his thing, to wink at people? (like Howie from BSB! lol) He smiled a lot too, surprisingly. Everyone seemed to be in a particularly great mood.

• Ryan and I shared a moment during the group song. We both did this: “HI!” It was special.

Thanks, Angela, for sharing that with me. It’s cool to get a “behind the scenes” peek at one of our favorite reality shows!

And, as a treat for you all, this fan video for you Sanjaya fans out there. Try getting this song out of your head for the next few days. I dare you.

Although, after the show on Tuesday night it was pretty obvious that Haley Scarnato was on her way out. Still, with “American Idol”, you never know. They love to surprise and shock us, get us chattering around the water cooler the next morning. So it wasn’t exactly a sure thing. But it was close. Yep, last night America sent Haley packing, at long, long last. I still contend it wasn’t her poor singing skills that got her the boot (because she’d been singing poorly all along), but her poor choice of outfit. While it was skimpy, as you can see in the photo on the left, it just wasn’t that attractive. Girl, when the only thing keeping you on the show is your looks, you don’t really want to take any fashion risks, mmkay? Ah well, I’m just glad that I don’t have to keep watching her stomp all over the stage in her super high heels any longer. Yes, I still have to suffer through Sanjaya, but the pain of that has been meted somewhat. I’ll predict that Phil goes home next week because we know that Sanjaya is never, ever leaving this show.

This is starting to be a regular feature here on Watching Reality TV. But Tuesday night is such a good night of reality, that I the first thing I want to talk about on Wednesday mornings is how annoying Sanjaya is getting and has Leeza gone home YET? So without further ado, let’s talk some “American Idol”, shall we?

Nice facial hair, eh? I guess he actually grew that? Weird. I guess he was going for the Latin Lover look or something. But looking at him makes me want to be ill so that effect was sure lost on me. Surprisingly, though, he wasn’t awful last night. Not as awful as Chris Richardson, in my opinion, who completely ruined his song choice of “Smooth”. The judges didn’t think it was bad but I sure did. Yow. Also not that great were Melinda Doolittle (yawn) and LaKisha (she could have done better). Haley was downright horrible. Seriously, I didn’t even think she looked cute last night. Something about her hairdo, with the fake eyelashes, the weird eyebrow shaping and the red lips just looked downright awful. And her singing, I swear, I felt like I was on a cruise ship. I expected a waiter to deliver me little drinks with umbrellas in them at any moment. I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Haley is going home tonight. Yep, I think this is her week.

The best of the night, by far, was Blake Lewis. He sung Marc Anthony’s “Need to Know” and he burned up the stage. He had it RIGHT ON. Easily, he’s the best of the male singers. I don’t think a guy has a chance of winning this thing this year, but if one did, it’d be Blake. Either way, I think he’s got a future. He’s just awesome. The judges thought he was pretty good too. It’ll be interesting to see how it shakes down tonight. I have given up all hope on Sanjaya ever going home. I’m thinking next year he’ll be there as an honorary judge.

What about “Dancing with the Stars”? I’m thinking they could take a few cues from “American Idol” in how they present the results show. They draw it out WAY too much. There just isn’t an hours worth of content there. They would be best served to present the next week’s dances and then get to the results. None of the silliness and pretty-footing they do. Just a thought. I mean, I know ABC wants to milk this cash cow as much as they can, but enough is enough.

So what are next week’s dances (see how I did that? Just like the Big Boys, I’m delaying the results for dramatic effect. I watch a little too much reality tv, methinks)? Next week we have the Samba and the Rumba. Ole! Personally, I can barely tell all the dances apart, so I just have to take their word for it. What I can tell is when I think a dancer stinks and there’s a few in this group that are just plain rotten.

Clyde Drexler is pretty rotten. Not only can’t he dance, but he can’t keep his mouth shut either. I’m going to make a bold proclamation and predict that he’s gone next week. He can’t be winning too many people over with his cocky antics and I think he’s just pissing everyone off, judges included. Mark my words, people.

And speaking of predictions, I was SO RIGHT. I love being right. While I suppose it doesn’t count as a legitimate prediction, Leeza Gibbons going home was something I’ve predicted for weeks, including Monday night. So bonus points go to me for that one. I’m just glad I won’t have to watch her struggle through another dance again. Next on my list are the loveable Clyde and then Heather Mills. I still don’t like her. ABC wants me to like her, but I don’t like her. Do you like her? Does anyone?

So the results show for “American Idol” was on last night. Sandwiched in between “Jericho” and “Lost”, it was a no-brainer on my tv schedule. And I thought, “Even if Sanjaya isn’t going home (which we know he isn’t), maybe they’ll finally get rid of Phil or Haley.” Right? NOPE.

No, Gina Glockson was sent home instead. I liked Gina. A lot. I didn’t harbor any delusions that’d she win the thing, as she is no Melinda Doolittle. But she’s not that bad and has been gaining momentum each week. I’ve always enjoyed watching her perform and I enjoyed her musical style. And when it was revealed she was leaving and her teary reaction… well I was pretty mad. There is NO way that Gina deserved to go. Yes, I was annoyed last week when Chris Sligh went home before Sanjaya, Phil and Haley, but at the same time, his talent was starting to wane in the competition. Gina was on the go. Her performance Tuesday night was spot on. So what’s the friggin’ deal??

I think America has lost their bleepin’ minds. Obviously, they kept Haley around because she’s cute and she all but flashed her boobs at us on Tuesday. I’m not entirely sure why they kept Phil. GRRR. Let’s not EVEN talk about Sanjaya (save for the fact that I love how everyone is misinterpreting Simon’s comments on his performance to be a compliment when they were SO NOT.). I don’t even know why I still watch this show, seeing as how it is obviously jacked to hell and back.