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Bel Air's Julienne Irwin will perform at Monday's 2:05 p.m. Bowie Baysox game against the Connecticut Defenders. Irwin, a country singer who came in fourth on the second season of NBC's America's Got Talent, will sing the national anthem to start the game.
For tickets, call the Baysox box office at 301-464-4880.
The official cast of the new season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars was announced today. The cast is:
The season kicks off with performances on Sept. 24 and 25. Who do you think will be first to go?
It's patently obvious that the editors on Big Brother 8 are sick of Amber, and I can't say I blame them. The sniveling, the questions about what simple words mean, the delusion that the audience just loves her. (If only she knew the audience kept telling America's Player to get her out of the house!)
On Sunday, they showed a clip of her talking to Jameka about how she was thinking of going on Top Model because she really has the face and body and the personality for it. The editors followed up with a mean (but admittedly funny) montage of her making horrible faces and stuffing her mouth with food and bawling.
But nothing annoys me as much as dragging God into the game. And I think it's getting to the editors, too, because they showed clips of Amber on Sunday and last night fervently praying out loud and crying. Both of these prayers included the line, "God bless you, God," and both times, I laughed and laughed and laughed some more.
Bless yourself before you wreck yourself!
Again, I'm not mocking religion, just Amber, who has become this strange, self-deluded caricature. I'm tearing up just thinking about her! (Kidding.)
And a game update: Zach and Amber are on the block, and Eric won the POV and left nominations the same. So the town crier or ... the nondescript brunette dude will be out tomorrow.
Rock of Love has been fairly boring of late, I think largely because some of the show's most flamboyant characters were kicked off a few weeks ago. Apparently Rodeo and Brandi were adding much more to the house dynamic that it originally seemed.
The most (supposedly) interesting person left is Lacey, and she's just plain annoying. She's manipulating the house, she's bossy, she's a hypocrite. (The biggest example of this last is that she will scream and yell at all the other women about their animal products, but she never, ever says anything to Bret Michaels about his ankle-length leather or snakeskin coats. Last night, I noticed that at least part of the floor in the house they're staying in seemed to be covered in giraffe skin. But she uses her anger strategically and never aims it at Bret, who is among the biggest offenders.
Most everyone else is pretty boring. Jes is way too normal, pink hair notwithstanding. Heather is trashy and not that interesting. The remaining of the two Brandis is laid-back to the point of not really connecting with the audience anymore. Sam has so much baggage that I can't imagine Bret would pick her, even though they do seem to connect.
But I honestly don't care. As long as Lacey leaves soon, since I suspect she is being kept around for (supposed) entertainment value. The other women are so beaten down by her that they haven't done anything besides whine and mope for a while.
I suspect if she gets kicked out, the less whiny drama will ramp up again as the finals approach.
Blake Lewis, runner up on the last season of American Idol, signed a record deal with Arista, it was announced today.
In the Billboard.com story, he said:
"It's your favorite '80s mix tape," Lewis told Billboard.com last week of the album. "[It's] very inspired by Michael Jackson, Prince, Erasure, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, the Cure. It's all over the map, really -- very influenced by '80s hip-hop, old school breaks, whatever."
Maybe he and Butterscotch from America's Got Talent can get together for a beatboxing battle.
Today, I interviewed Louie Frase, whom you might remember from CBS's Pirate Master. The network pulled the show off the air in July and has been burning the remaining episodes off every Tuesday on CBS.com.
On this past Tuesday's show, Frase was "cut adrift" after his challenge partner, Ben, threw the competition so his allies Christa and Jay would win.
Check out the audio interview here.
I didn't watch it, and apparently no one else did, either.Fox has canceled the show Anchorwoman, which followed Lauren Jones (WWE Diva and Barker Beauty) as she attempted to work on a Tyler, Texas, news station, after one episode.
Did you watch? Will you miss it? (If so, you can still watch it online.)
(Photo courtesy of Fox)
Upon becoming the replacement nominee on Tuesday's Big Brother 8, Jen realized she was HOH Daniele's true target, and she felt betrayed. Her response to this betrayal? She cooked and ate dinner, despite being only 360 hours into her 720-hour "slop" restriction that she volunteered for during a previous power of veto competition.
She got fed up with Dick's smoking, particularly his habit of blowing smoke in her face to try to make her go away, hid her own clothes and then dug up his stash of cigs (four cartons' worth), dumped them out, stomped on them and poured bleach on them.
Because she violated the food restriction (which hasn't ever happened before), she was given a penalty vote. But that didn't matter much because everyone else in the house voted for her to go, too. She knew it was coming and gave a pretty bratty speech about how she was a nice, positive, honest person and that's why she didn't fit in with anyone.
But because Jen was out, Waldorf, Md's Jameka was safe and remains in the game.
As part of the veto competition, Amber and Daniele won the chance to leave the house, go to New York and compete on Power of 10 (that will air Tuesday before Big Brother). The biggest moment of self-delusion I have ever witnessed came when Amber interviewed that since she is such a positive person, she knew that the crowd would just love her and adore her and cheer for her. She clearly doesn't know how viewers are actually reacting to her. Besides Sunday's montage of asking for definitions of truly easy words all the time, there are also some choice clips from the live feeds on YouTube of her saying some pretty horrendous things about entire groups of people. These aren't edited and the language is harsh, so sadly, I'm not linking, but you can find them yourself if you want to. When she got in front of the audience, she was waving her arms around to everyone in this sad, "oh-you're-so-glad-to-see-me" kind of way. Yecch.
In the end, Jessica won HOH again, so the Eric/America-Jessica-Dick-Daniele alliance is sure to take out somebody else, unless things get all mixed up again. Which could totally happen.
People.com reports that Wayne Newton is set to join the next cast of Dancing With the Stars. The network, which is making the official announcement next Wednesday, didn't comment.
Interesting.
Who's in your dream DWTS cast?
Last night, I got to see parts one and two of the "restaurant wars" on Top Chef. (Last week, I'd only seen half of part one and missed all the drama.)
Based on part one, it seemed like the judges had spontaneously decided that there could be no winner and that they would have a do-over. But when they met with a decorating consultant, Christopher Ciccone (Madonna's brother), it turned out he was one of the (really rude and irritating) guests the first night.
And the team that won the quick-fire challenge got help from "a sommelier" for their second night opening their restaurant. (Not surprisingly, this was Steven from season one. For some reason, Dale and Hung acted surprised.)
Anyway, obviously, the "do-over" was clearly part of the plan the whole time.
As it turned out, Dale, Hung, Sara and Howie -- the outcasts who didn't get chosen for CJ's dream team -- ended up making a ton of alterations to their restaurant and winning the whole thing.
CJ's team -- him, Casey, Tre and Brian -- tweaked only a few things, and not enough, and ended up losing. Tre, who was acting as executive chef, and who also created an apparently horrifying salmon dish, got the boot. Too bad. Could have been Casey, who proved she couldn't chop an onion during the quick-fire challenge. Or CJ, who chose the team but then abdicated leadership entirely.
I sure thought Tre was going to be there at the end. What did you think of the results?
Host Jerry Springer tells Terry Fator, Cas Haley and Butterscotch they are safe, which means Bel Air's Julienne's Irwin is out.
She says she isn't disappointed at all and that she's just getting started. "I'd like to invest in your future," Springer says.
They look back at her journey on the show. During the montage, she starts crying when her father starts talking about how proud he is. "Julienne, we have loved having you on the show," Springer says as he hands her a ton of flowers. "Don't worry; you'll be hearing a lot about her," he tells the audience.
Next, Springer introduces a performance by Stomp Out Loud. He says it started as a street act, and now they're performing in Vegas. A big group of people make music with boxes, garbage can lids, their feet and more. It's very hard to describe, so check out its Web site here.
It's time for another cut. Cas Haley is safe, as is Terry Fator, which means that Butterscotch is out. Jerry tells her she has grown very much over the course of the show and, in fact, "introduced America to a new kind of music." I can only hope he is talking about her personal blend of music, because if he's talking about beatboxing, he's way behind the times (and I'm not even talking about Blake Lewis). She says she's seen her dreams come true, and then Jerry introduces a montage.
Next, is a performance by the "audition all-stars," doing Queen's "We Are the Champions." Shouldn't they be singing "We Aren't the Champions"? This is just tragic and embarrassing. Jerry comes out and calls them "The Jerry Springer Show Dancers." Sharon Osbourne says, "These amazing people are what makes this show No. 1!" Was she watching the same horrifying mess that I was? That was not something to brag about.
Speaking of which, next, David Hasselhoff comes out to sing "This is the Moment." Yes, the moment when you wonder why he became a famous singer overseas. And the moment when you are wonder when this song is ever going to end. After a strange finish, they cut to Hasselhoff's parents in the audience. Next, Jerry asks the other judges what they thought. Piers says he loves The Hoff. Sharon says, "That was absolutely fabulous." OK, whatever, can we just have the winner, please?
Bianca Ryan, last year's winner, gives the final two a personal message about how much the show has made her dreams come true. (A familiar refrain this evening.)
Next, montages about Cas and Terry while we draw closer to the 10 p.m. mark.
And the winner is ... Terry Fator. The last surprise is that he is going play the Jubilee Theater at Bally's Resort in Vegas, since playing Vegas is his dream.
Survivor: China starts on Sept. 20, and the cast was revealed today. Sure seems like they went for wackiest occupations -- grave digger! WWE wrestler! professional poker player! chicken farmer!
The only local connection I could glean from the bios on CBS was that Sherea lived in Maryland before middle school.
By the way, if you are keeping track, this is the 15th incarnation of Survivor.
Tonight, we'll see if Maryland Big Brother 8 contestant Jameka can win the power of veto and remove herself from the block. She and Amber are nominated, but head of household Daniele says her target is Jen.
I don't think anyone would be too sad to see Jen go. Or Amber, for that matter. We already know that she bawls her head off all the time, but on Sunday night, a montage revealed that she's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. She's constantly asking the meaning of words -- not hard words, but words like "defy" and "backdoor" and "superficial" and "integrity." That's just embarrassing.
Everyone seems to like Jameka pretty well, though, so I hope she will be safe. With the Eric-Jessica-Dick-Daniele alliance in place, though, I don't think she has too long left in the game. Maybe if Amber gets kicked out, Jameka can wrangle her way back into the game. We shall see.
On Sept. 20, Charla Foddoul and Mirna Hindoyan Buchinski will discuss their appearances on The Amazing Race 5 and The Amazing Race All-Stars at their alma mater, Towson University. The 6 p.m. event takes place in the University Union's Chesapeake Room. It's free, but registration is required. Call 410-704-2234 or email alumni@towson.edu.
Least shocking news ever: Creepy Lt. Andy Baldwin and his supposed beloved Tessa Horst from the last season of The Bachelor have called off their engagement.
I'll wait while you pick yourself up off the floor.
Yawn. I'd be more surprised if one of these relationships actually did work out.
This news got me to thinking about Age of Love and whether Amanda and Mark are still together. According to this interview, it's a yes, at least for now. (My favorite part of the interview is when they ask how she feels about all the controversy about her win -- all the people who think it shouldn't have been her. I read that question and was shocked that anyone actually cared that much about this show.)
As the finale of the season of So You Think You Can Dance gets started, all I can wonder is: Is host Cat Deeley getting attacked by fluffy racoons? Her dress is utterly ridiculous. On a two-hour finale whose point is supposed to be revealing the winner, I try to predict how much will be killer and how much will be filler.
If we have to do this for two hours, at the very least I hope we see some great dances this evening.
The Top 20 come out respelendent in white -- and with a few reminders of contestants long gone. (Oh, yeah, Jimmy! Oh, right, Ashlee!)
Cat claims there won't be only padding, and I hope she's right. The entire judging panel is in full force tonight, and guest judge Adam Shankman is in the audience. I think he might love this show as much as I do -- he was there last night.
Nigel Lythgoe name checks one of his favorite dancers, who is out in the audience -- Paula Abdul. He said there is one more loose end -- that last year a dancer named Claire Calloway was injured during Vegas and told she could return this season, but we never saw her this year. Turns out it was because she was having a baby, and she, too, is in the audience.
Then, mere moments after promises of no padding, it's a montage. Then, the Top 20 come out to dance Tyce DiOrio's Lion King routine.
Next, is Mary Murphy's favorite dance of the season -- Lauren and Pasha's Transformers inspired routine by Shane Sparks. After the reprisal, Cat has everyone give Lauren and Pasha a better sendoff since the studio was empty when they got kicked off Monday.
Hey, look, another montage. Then Brandon Norris comes out -- the hip-hop clogger. Oh, yay, he was amazing and I wondered what had happened to him. He is indescribable. I looked for a YouTube link to no avail. I hate it when that happens.
Nigel's favorite dance that he wants to see is Hok and Jamie's hummingbird and flower dance from Wade Robson. Another good choice. I'm not shocked to see that one since I had noticed Jamie's hair in the intro.
Jean-Marc Genereaux's request is Sabra and Dominic's "slow hip-hop" from Shane Sparks. I actually liked this one better the second time around.
You might not know this, because she's only mentioned it 456 times, but later, Cat Deeley is going to dance with Nigel Lythgoe. Just making sure no one misses out on this important piece of info.
Adam Shankman's favorite dance is Neil and Sara's disco to "Knock on Wood." What did they do to Sara's hair? Scary bangs! But fun dance. I won't have to save all the other shows on my Tivo if they keep doing all these great ones.
Montage of breaking.
Bryan Gaynor, a student with an extreme form of scoliosis, wowed the judges in the auditions with his unique robot/popping routine. He comes out to do it again. Did he get that movie role Shane Sparks promised him? He says he's going to introduce him to the producers soon. I hope that happens.
The Top 8 come out do reprise their Shane Sparks group dance. That's the one in which Lauren is dressed like Neo in The Matrix.
Nigel reveals that the alternates for the tour are Jesus, Anya, Shauna and Hok -- "so that means you might be able to see ... the hummingbird!"
Wade Robson says what he wants to see again is Lacey and Danny's samba. Another good choice. Sexay! Right after they finish, Cat says it's time to eliminate one of them from the competition. Lacey is out, and she seemed to know it was her, as she pointed to herself as the segment started. She smiles and cries during her montage.
Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls comes out to "sing." That's not what I'm watching for, so fast-forwarding is in order.
Shane Sparks' choice for the evening is Sara and Pasha's West Coast Swing. The first time I saw that one, I thought it was a little tricksy and gimmicky, but I've rewatched it about 15 times, and I'm glad to see it again.
Tyce DiOirio's choice is Danny and Anya's foxtrot.
Tony Meredith wants to see Sara and Jesus' routine with Wade Robson, with the newspaper and the song from The Triplets of Bellville. Hey, I'm just glad to see people with newspapers in their hands!
Mia Michaels' choice is one of my favorites -- Neil and Sabra re-enacting a business meeting (which is so much better than it sounds). After the dance, Cat calls Danny out there with them, too. So it's time for another elimination. And Neil is out, leaving Sabra and Danny as the final two. Like Lacey, Neil is just beaming. I think he saw it coming, too, and has come to terms with it.
When she's standing next to the other dancers, it's clear that Cat has been bronzed into submission. I hate that.
Next, the dancers (Top 10?) do the group Mia Michaels routine to Imogen Heap.
Mary introduces Cat and Nigel's performance. Then an animated bobblehead thing comes on. Seriously? Ah, yes, it's from JibJab. That was dumb.
Ryan Cabrera comes out to sing "I Will Remember You," one of songs they use for goodbye montages. OK.
Dan Karaty's choice for reprisal is Lacey and Neil dancing the Mia Michaels routine that was a tribute to her father.
Cat says 16 million votes were cast, and that the winner is: Sabra!
Hooray! She is amazing. And with Danny finishing second like his brother Travis did last season, that won't cause any sibling rivalry. Heh.
The comment from Rob just now reminded me. I saw about half of last night's Top Chef, which featured a first as far as I can remember. The contestants were divided into two teams and had to open and run a restaurant for one night -- a challenge we have seen previously. But as the judges tried to come to a decision, they realized that so much had gone awry with both teams that there was only one choice. Call it a soft opening and let them do it again the next night.
I actually didn't see any of the challenge, but it sounds like both teams made some tactical errors. I wonder whether it will be another even split if they both make the needed improvements.
What did you think about the judges' decision?
I'm about three episodes behind on recapping BB8 -- and this after my last post on the show said I'd been dragged back in, too. I think I spoke too soon.
So what has happened? HOH Jessica nominated Dick and Daniele, Dick won POV and took Daniele off the block, and Jessica put up Dustin (who had volunteered).
In the meantime, Dick fought with just about everyone, especially Maryland player Jameka. He tries to get underneath everyone's skin about whatever means the most to him. I assume he'll be out tonight, but who knows.
Oh, and the America's Player twist continued to wreak havoc with Eric's game, when he had to try to give Jessica the silent treatment. Now she thinks he is in on some plot with Dustin and Dick and doesn't trust him. Can't he just say no to some tasks? He's never going to make it out of there unscathed if this keeps happening.
Everyone screams, everyone cries, Dick yells at everyone ... it hasn't been a fun show of late.
And it's the last performance show of So You Think You Can Dance. The final four are Sabra, Lacey, Danny and Neil. They will all be paired up with one another over the course of tonight's show. Joining Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe at the judges' table is Dan Karaty.
Nigel says that the standard of performers has gotten higher and higher during this season's auditions, and that the choreographers got stronger and stronger, too. He adds that they will be back for another season next year. (Yay! I make no secret of the fact that this is my favorite reality show.) Cat greets Dan and says he was at the New York auditions, and that three of the four are from those auditions, which speaks to the level of talent in that city.
Next, there is a montage of the final four, starting with auditions, then to Vegas semi-finals, then highlights from the whole season. It really has been a great season, hasn't it? But let's get back to the competition.
...
The first of the dances is a Broadway routine with Tyce DiOrio for all four of them. It's to "Mein Herr" from the Cabaret soundtrack. It's crazy intricate and requires them to be very in sync and crisp, and boy, howdy, do these four dance well together. The close of the dance, they run over to the judges' table. It's a hit! Nigel says it proves that any one of the four could win it tonight. He says he would like to see Lacey show off her partner a little more. He says Danny is stepping up his performance side of things to complement his technical skills. He says Sabra is a different person every time she dances and that he adores her, and he adds that Neil is peaking at the right time in this competition. Mary calls them the fab four and says they were all tremendous. Dan says it doesn't even seem like they are competing with one another. He says the only advice he can give them is that, if they have another level to take it to, to do it.
Next, Cat introduces her one-on-one interviews with each contestant, starting with Lacey. She says she had quit dancing, but seeing her brother (last year's winner Benji) on last season's show inspired her to get back into it. She says her high point was the samba with Danny, and the low point was her solo a couple of weeks ago when she forgot all of it. She says she is thrilled to be a part of it all. She dances her solo, almost loses her dress, and falls onto three audience members. Nigel says she is fantastic, though there are times he doesn't always buy her performance and step away from the faces. Mary says she was much better prepared and she had a style and a plan, but that it's still not the best solo ever, but that's OK because she is such a great partner dancer. Dan says she's a smart dancer and knows how to work cameras, audiences and judges and that she's pure entertainment.
The first couple of the night is Sabra and Neil doing hip-hop with Shane Sparks. You know, by this point in the season, I've kind of exhausted my limited amount of dance knowledge, and I can't come up with anything new to say right now. It was good. It was fun. Did they achieve the level of chemistry that Shane seemed worried about in the intro footage? I'm not sure. But I continue to want Sabra to win this thing because she captured most of my attention in this performance. Neil says he doesn't know if they achieved the level of sexiness they were going for and that it wasn't as funky as he'd hoped, but it was a fun summertime thing. He adds that Neil was a little stiff and that he had higher expectations for Sabra's performance, but it "was fun." Mary says it was a fun number, but it wasn't that hard-hitting or "down," and that she is a little disappointed. Dan says we've seen them both do hip-hop and do it better previous in the season, so they need to, say it with me, take it up a level.
Lacey and Danny are next with Viennese walts with Jean-Marc Genereaux. It's a truly lovely performance (the Avril Lavigne song notwithstanding), with great spins and lifts, working to the advantage of both of them. Nigel: "It was so good." He asks Lacey how much she though about her hand position after his criticism last week, and she says she saw on the replay and almost vomited and thought about it so much that she even put a Popsicle stick in her glove at one point to help her remember. Danny: "She totally made that up. She made it up." Nigel says it's good she takes notes even if she lies about it. He adds that Danny did an amazing job. Mary says this is not the easiest dance, but they made it look effortless, even hitting all the lifts exactly right. She gives them a screaming standing ovation. Dan says he will take Mary's word for the technical side of things. He says he doesn't think anyone is surprised that Danny is in the final four: "You belong on this show." Of Lacey, he says that it's so much more fun to watch knowing that this lovely performances come out of the same person who is such a jokester during practice. "The two of you together aren't even fair," he closes.
Next, Cat interviews Neil. He says he started out as a gymnast and only later realized he truly wanted to be a dancer. He also says that he saw the audition notice for the show online and didn't really prepare that much, but apparently, it went well. He says he thinks his best performance week was Wade's "angel and devil" routine and that that was his turnaround week when he realized he needed to step it up. He says the salsa and tango were toughest for him. He dances his solo, and it's full of jumps and twists and turns. Nigel says he's realizing it's not all about tricks and he's getting better at linking the tricks with performance and personality. Mary says a few weeks ago, she wasn't sure about him, but ever since he danced a solo that saved him, he's been getting better and better. Dan says he is dynamic and owns the whole stage.
Sabra and Lacey are the first same-sex pairing of the evening. These routines are often among the most interesting of the season because the choreographers have to think outside their usual boy-girl boxes. Cat says they're working with Wade Robson, and based on a conversation with some of my friends, I wonder what weird thing they will have to be. Weird zombies? Weird models? Weird fishermen? He interviews that the routine will be about a mother fox and a baby fox. But will they be weird goth foxes? No goth, but it is strange, but more in the engaging way. The story is clear -- Lacey is the mother trying to support and nudge her daughter to freedom, and Sabra catches her footing and runs out into the world, but at the end returns to her mom. Nigel says it was extraordinary and that the best thing about art is that you can disagree about whether you like something. He says he didn't "get that" at all and that she could have been a velaciraptor for all he knew without the interview footage saying they were foxes. He says this makes it difficult to critique because they stayed in character the whole time. He says Sabra nuzzled really well, but it's a tough one to critique. Mary says it didn't showcase the best of their abilities, and so, like Nigel says, it was hard to critique. Dan says people will absolutely love this and people who do not, so "you're absolutely going to get both sides of it." He says their attention to detail was amazing, and that they did a great job.
Cat then interviews Danny, who says that his mom, Denise Wall is there at most of the performances screaming for him. She adopted him when he was 10, and she is also the mother of Travis Wall, last year's runner-up. He says he was scared when he went to the first audition in New York. He says his best routine was probably the samba with Lacey. He says he felt really misunderstood when people kept saying he was arrogant, and at first he wanted to withdraw more. But instead he realized he needed to communicate more through his movement. He dances his solo to Gavin DeGraw's version of "We Are the Champions." He does this series of jumping turns that is just out of control. I mean, really, it's perfectly in control, but it just doesn't seem possible, you know? After all the talk of arrogance, the song choice made me giggle a little, but it really worked with his movement. In the audience Denise and Travis Wall go totally bananas. The judges, among others, give him a standing ovations. Nigel: "There are no words." Mary: "You're just crazy, aren't you? ... WOOOOOO! ... I will never, ever get tired of watching you dance." Dan agrees and wants to know what is in the water at his mother's studio. "Passion," his mother mouths from the audience. Danny says he learned that he really, really loves dance during his experience on the show.
Then, Danny and Neil join Mia Michaels to learn a contemporary routine together. She says the story of the dance is that they are two princes battling for the throne and that when two men are dancing together, the energy is just crazy. In the pre-performance footage, there is so much focus on the jumps and the tricks that when the routine actually starts, it feels like it takes ages for them to really get going. The first third or half or so, they are sitting on these thrones, and I just wanted them to get up and start dancing. But it was a cool performance nonetheless. Nigel says it was great and they won him over, great technique. He says he wasn't sure which was Prince Harry and which was Prince William. Mary: "OK, I LOVED IT!" She says it was believable. She points out the little things, including Danny's annoying clapping in Neil's face (which for me brought nothing more to mind that Jameka clapping in Dick's face on Big Brother, which he now does to her all the time). Dan says they were really throwing down and that the athleticism was amazing. "You guys were just insane out there." I really think they could have gotten better seats for the families.
Cat's next one-on-one is with Sabra. She says she grew up in the Netherlands and Germany because her dad is in the military. She adds that the day of the first audition was among the longest of her life because she was in one of the last groups. When she got the ticket to Vegas, she was thrilled. Her favorite performance was the Wade solo that each of the Top 10 had to do. Cat asks her about getting dropped by Dominic, and they show the Hairspray performance again where her head hit the stage with a thump. Owie. She dances her solo, and there a couple of parts where I can't figure out if like her knee gave out and she was just covering with a flip to the floor, or if that was on purpose. I'm hoping the latter. Nigel says she has marvelous energy that she just has, and it's a piece of magic. Mary says even though she has only been dancing for four years, that she has everything to be the winner of this show: "You are a miracle." Dan says he was on the other side with her for a while, that he thought Dominic was carrying her for a while. But he says she holds her own and surprises the hell out of him every week and that she totally deserves to be there.
Neil and Lacey are next with the lindy hop with choreographers Nick Williams and Kristen somebody who never gets her name on the screen. It has a ton of lifts and throws and scary stuff, but they survive. Nigel says they succeeded and that they must be exhausted, but it didn't show at all. He adds that he told Lacey at the beginning to use her partner more, and she totally listened. Mary says they totally pulled it off, and that what they did was so difficult. They get the "hot tamale train" and a Mary scream. Dan says that is what he has been waiting for all night. It's fun and enjoyable, and he says if you aren't entertained by that, "then you're just a boring person." Heh.
Sabra and Danny learn the cha cha from Melanie La Patin, whom you might remember as Pasha's substitute partner when Jessi was in the hospital. She's been in the background on a ton of the episodes, but here she gets to take center stage. Based on the pre-performance interview, chemistry is not going to be a problem with these two. And holy crap! Earlier in the episode, everyone was talking about Lacey and Danny's samba being the sexiest dance of the season, but I think this cha-cha steals it. I can't judge their technique, but the performance was hot. Nigel asks if they have been partners before. They say no, and he says there were amazing partners. He says the technique for cha-cha takes yearns to learn, so "let's forget that." He says this was about personality and performance, and it was "superb, as usual." He says Sabra should think about taking up ballroom and Latin. Mary says the weight needed to be more forward, but that's all technical, but then halfway through, they just woke up and relaxed and showed off their strengths at the end. Dan says he won't question Mary's expertise and that at the beginning, he was waiting for something to happen, and then happen it did.
So what do you think? After all of that, I think it could be anyone's game. Nigel agrees, saying that all four of them deserve it. Mary says they all deserve a good night's sleep and some time to heal their bodies and that they each could take it. Dan says it's been a pleasure working with all of them, on behalf of all the choreographers.
Did you vote? Who are you pulling for?
Bel Air, Md., singer Julienne Irwin was the last finalist to learn she had made it into the final four on this season of America's Got Talent.
The 14-year-old country singer beat out the Glamazons (four zaftig singers), Sideswipe (a martial arts dance troupe), country singer Jason Pritchett and soulful singer Robert Hatcher for the last spot.
I'll be back with a full episode recap, but I wanted to get our local news out there ASAP since I'm behind on the episode.
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OK, let's start from the top. Tonight, the final eight are trimmed in half to the final four. These four acts will have the chance to perform for the final time, and then next week, we will learn who wins. Host Jerry Springer calls tonight the finale, but since we don't learn the winner tonight, I'm going to disagree.
The first person to find out he's safe is Cas Haley. His first performance will be chosen by the judges, and they go for "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You." His challenge is to be remembered more than Elvis or UB40. He sounds characteristically great and isn't reminding me of UB40's rendition at all. The Hoff says he rose to the challenge and brought his own style to the song. Sharon says he's found his comfort zone and that he's not as edgy on stage. Piers says it wasn't better than Elvis, but that he has grown into more and more of a star every performance.
Next is Butterscotch, who is assigned Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On?" She doesn't beatbox at all, and her voice doesn't sound quite as strong on its own. I don't think it was her best ever. The Hoff says they chose this song to see if she could pull off just singing, and he says she did. Sharon says her favorite part is her at the piano singing (which she did at the beginning), but that she handled the challenge. Piers says he missed the beatboxing, but she says it's coming in her next performance.
Then ventriloquist Terry Fator learns he's safe, and the judges assign him a more contemporary song (Piers' words), "Friends in Low Places." He can't have been totally unprepared for that since he already had a country puppet. The Hoff says he's unbelievable. Sharon asks if there is anyone he can't impersonate. He says, "Not that I've found." Piers says he finds country music boring at the best of times, and he says Terry rose the challenge and made it entertaining.
Now is the part that I watched first -- Julienne Irwin finds out she gets the final spot in the Top 4.
Jerry talks to the eliminated finalists. Robert says he feels like he got a good start and he's waiting for the record labels to call. Jason Pritchett says he has so much momentum. Jerry tells the Glamazons they must feel proud. One of them says thanks for the love and support from the audience. Sideswipe says they're excited to have had a chance to show America what they can do.
Then Julienne sings her judges' choice song -- "What Hurts the Most" by Rascal Flatts. Last week, they told her to "be 14," and I don't see how this song helps her achieve that. The low parts are a little rugged, but she closes very strongly. Hoff repeats exactly what he said in the clip before her performance -- that they wanted to see if she could handle a contemporary song. He says she did really well despite a "really tiny mistake." Sharon says it's a tough competition and tough acts to follow. She says she liked her singing that song but is looking forward to her next performance. Piers: "I really don't like you. ... I said you'd be going home, and you proved me wrong. I also said the reason you'd be going home was that your voice wasn't good enough for the final, and you just proved me wrong again." She says she almost had a heart attack when Jerry announced her as the last finalist through.
Cas Haley is up with his final performance (and his choice of song), "Sir Duke." There are like 14 other musicians up there with him! It's a fabulous song, and he does it up right. Hoff says he was fantastic. Sharon says she's a fan already and that all she can says is that she loves him and best of luck. Piers says Stevie Wonder is his musical hero, and that Cas matched him pound for pound. Pier says he wondered at the beginning of the show who the perfect winner would be and decided it would be someone who was humble, who loves his family and has something about the "pride of America" about him. He says he thinks Cas is now the pride of America.
Butterscotch's last performance is "Dance to the Music" with a ton more beatboxing. She's got a whole backup crew breaking all over the stage. She's adorable, but I like her performances more when they combine the beatboxing and the singing more. The Hoff says she was terrific and that it was her "best ever." Sharon says she is so multitalented and she can't even understand how she does all that sound herself. Piers says he has waited the entire competition for her to really own the stage and that she did it tonight and that she was absolutely in her zone. He says it was brave of her to do what she wanted to, though "it may not win the show."
Terry comes back with Winston the impersonating turtle (I missed Winston's original performance, so I have no basis of comparison here). Winston does a Roy Orbison impression, singing "Crying." Piers is grinning like a 12-year-old boy up there (like you can actually picture what he looked like at 12), and then he catches himself. Hoff says Roy Orbison is one of his favorites, and Winston was just awesome. Sharon says she thought Winston had a Ringo Starr wig on at first. Piers says he thinks Terry is going to be crying all the way to the bank because he's going to win a million dollars.
Closing the performance finale is Maryland's own Julienne Irwin. She says the judges usually say she picks songs that are too big or too old for her, and she wants to show Piers that she is good enough to win. Her final choice of song is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" because it's all about dreams. She says the show is a dream she doesn't want to wake up from. She is sitting on a moon up at the top of the stage. That shocked the heck out of me, and I couldn't figure out where she was at first. It's a countrified version of the song, and definitely among her strongest performances. (Nice time to trot that out!) The audience goes crazy, and she looks absolutely thrilled. Hoff says she started off a little shaky, but that she kicked it into high gear, "and that's what this competition is about." (This competition is about a lot of things to Mr. Hasselhoff.) "You are a star." Sharon says she doesn't know who's going to win, but that her parents must be very proud of her. Piers says he still doesn't think she has enough to win, but that was a very good performance. He adds that if people give votes to make him look stupid, she will get even more votes. Jerry asks her to talk to America, and she says, "I guess just send out the message of that song. I know there's so many kids in their rooms -- just like I am -- singing, too, and if you really persevere and drive, you can be here next year."
What did you think of the performances? Who do you think is going to win?
The Associated Press reports that a Broadway musical satirizing American Idol lasted exactly one night of its official run. Now, it's out. I wonder if the people involved keep hearing the strains of Daughtry's "Home" or Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" and can't figure out why.
The show opened with a group dance by Wade Robson to a Tom Waits song. It was typical Wade -- weird and entertaining and impossible to turn away.
The other notable moment was Debbie Allen stating that contestant Cedric from earlier this season will indeed be starting at her dance academy in September, and that his housing and schooling have been sponsored.
But what everyone wants to know is who is in and who is out. Lauren and Pasha were the unlucky (but to me, not that surprising) ones sent home, leaving a final four of Lacey, Sabra, Danny and Neil.
They will perform on Wednesday for voters and on Thursday, the winner will be announced. I'm pulling for Sabra, but I really like everyone who is left, I have to say.
Huh. All this time, when the captions on Big Brother 8 said "Evel Dick," I assumed it was a typo, but I guess he's styling himself after Mr. Knievel.
Anyway, I might have just gotten dragged back in to this train wreck. Dick and Daniele were sure they were getting Eric out of the house, but the vote split the other way, and Kail is out. Dick was furious, screaming at the people who he believed were going to vote to evict Eric, but none of them seemed to care. I think his act might be wearing thin.
Then Jessica won HOH, and since she's Eric's BFF, things shouldn't be as awkward for him with the whole "America's Player" thing, at least for a week. I just hope this group doesn't get too cocky. But they probably will. And then I'll be annoyed with the show again.
The most notable moment of the episode (beside Julie giving away an answer during the HOH competition when she called Eric "Nick" -- Nick was the answer) was Amber's total meltdown against Eric. Apparently at some point, she spilled some dark secret about a lie she had told her boyfriend, and for some unknown reason, Eric told Dick about how he had information on Amber that he was keeping in his back pocket to use against her at some point. What on earth would have possessed him to say that? Anyway, she confronted him in front of the whole house, and it was ugly. But since people voted for him to stay, I think there must have been some aftermath we didn't see.
Yes, I know if I was watching the feeds, I would know what that aftermath is, but I'm not that back on board with the show.
I think they need to target Dick because 1) I'm tired of watching him yell at everyone and 2) I think Daniele would play a much cleaner game without him. I feel bad that she's been saddled with this heavily tattooed emotional baggage.
Here's a short story on Brad Womack, the next Bachelor. Consensus around here is that he looks like a plastic version of a man, not a real person. Plus, why is this show still on the air?
In other Bachelor/Bachelorette news, the story also notes that the only successful pairing from the series -- Trista and Ryan -- just had their first child. Aww, how sweet.
I haven't been following Last Comic Standing religiously this season, but I have seen a few repeats here and there. I watched last night's show, on which the final eight comedians competed, and the head-to-head challenge ended up being between Debra DiGiovanni of Toronto and Matt Kirshen of London.
I was thrilled that Matt won because I haven't really found Debra that amusing at all. Her stuff just felt like you'd heard it all before on some generic Comedy Central standup special, while Matt's jokes sometimes catch you off guard. I much prefer the latter.
UPDATE: Hey, I just noticed that finalist Amy Schumer graduated from Towson University. We do have a local person on the show after all.
Each dancer will perform three times on tonight's So You Think You Can Dance -- two partner dances and one solo. And back as a guest judge is Debbie Allen, who was awesome a few weeks ago. So it promises to be a fun night.
Pasha's partner for the week is Lacey, and they draw hip-hop with Dave Scott and smooth waltz. In their hip-hop routine, Lacey is a mannequin for a large part of the performance, and Pasha has nerd glasses. It's an amusing routine, but I think it kind of wastes Lacey's talents since she is still for so much of it. But yeah, I will be watching it again. Nigel says it was a great routine and that it "brought your characters to life." Mary says this was crazy because she couldn't believe it was Pasha out there. Debbie says they were lucky to get Dave's name out of the hat and that they nailed it.
Sabra performs the first solo of the evening. It is -- as per usual -- fantastic, and she's adorable.
Lauren and Danny are partnered up, and they draw contemporary with Mia Michaels and disco. The contemporary routine is supposed to be very "alien." I think if they hadn't mentioned that, I wouldn't have seen that in the performance at all. Even with hearing that, I don't see it much. But it's still a moving performance (though I could have done without the Celine Dion). Nigel: "Incredible!" He adds that he feels Lauren finally reached her potential. Mary Murphy screams and adores it. Debbie says it was "passion and perfection personified."
Next is Pasha with his solo, and he's dancing around a dress form with an evening gown on it, which is ... odd. Does he wish it were Jessi?
Neil and Sabra are partnered for jazz with Mandy Moore and paso doble. The jazz dance is supposed to be evoke a 1980s business meeting. They dance together around a table, and my husband looks up from World of Warcraft just long enough to note, "Is it prop day on So You Think You're Dancing With the Stars?" The concept is a little out there, but it really works with the song ("Sweet Dreams" by the Eurhythmics), and they are great together. Nigel says he is very worried because he hopes the finale (next week!) comes up to the standard set today. Mary says she's still smiling and that it was "really so much fun." Debbie sums it up, "I like it like that."
Lauren dances her solo, and you know what? Her hamminess has annoyed me this entire season (somehow more than Lacey's), but she has really been dancing better and better. Sigh.
Lacey and Pasha's second dance is smooth waltz with Hunter Johnson. It's lovely and definitely lives up to its name. Nigel says the flow was absolutely beautiful. He says one tiny weakness was Lacey's hand position. Mary says it was "absolutely dreamlike." She says that Pasha freaks her out because he has adapted so well to the hard ballroom steps that are alien to Latin dancers typically. Debbie compares this to a love story and says that everyone wanted to be them. Basically, raves from everyone.
Neil's solo shows, to me, how much less he is relying on gymnastics, which he did a lot during the first part of the season.
Danny and Lauren come out to dance disco by Doriana Sanchez. And this one I found a little bizarre. I didn't like the song or really the choreography, but I thought they danced it well. Nigel says this was a really tough routine and that disco makes him happy to watch no matter what, and that he liked it. Mary says it was a ton of fun. She adds that Lauren looked like the queen of the 70s and that Danny is breaking out more than they've seen from him before. Debbie says they had fun so the audience had fun.
Lacey comes out to solo to "Le Disco," which is not very disco-ish. She is all over the stage, and it's doesn't feel like a partner dancer forcing a solo, which happens sometimes.
Sabra and Neil are the last duet of the evening, with the paso doble with Tony Meredith. The look amazing, and they both deliver exactly the attitude they are supposed to have. And the end is CRAZY -- Neil has Sabra hoisted over his head, and she is folded around his arms, holding onto her feet, and he lets go, and she kind of falls, in increments, to the ground. Insane and very cool. Nigel: "Wow, that was absolutely stunning." He also says he wouldn't have thought at the beginning, but does now, that either of them could win this thing. Mary credits Tony and Melanie's choreography and says that they "did tremendous." She says they are both back on the train, and Neil notes it's his first time on the train. Debbie says she was sure she didn't want to see the paso doble again (have I mentioned that I love Debbie Allen?), but that they were fabulous.
Danny is the final soloist, and he is great. (If I had more dance knowledge, I would have more to say about it, but I don't.)
Host Cat Deeley says that two dancers will be going home from the next results show, which is on Monday (anybody know why?). Then the final four will perform next week.
I don't really know who will be out. Pasha and Lauren? I just can't imagine that either Lacey or Sabra would be out, but who knows? What do you think?
I missed the first part of it last night, but it seems like Eric is in major jeopardy tomorrow night on Big Brother 8. He had to do so much manipulation and spin because of the "America's Player" twist that now, lots of people don't trust him. He still has a few allies, but I don't know if it's going to work out for him. If it does tomorrow, I still think it's all going to backfire on him soon.
Before the performances, two acts have to go home on tonight's America's Got Talent.
The acts going home are the Duttons and the Calypso Tumblers.
Robert Hatcher finds out he is safe and then sings "Let's Stay Together." He seems like a nice guy, and he has a great story, but I don't think he's that great of a singer. He does pretty well with the big notes, but the rest are so-so to me. The Hoff says it's terrific, Sharon says he was better than last week, Piers says it was a very, very good performance.
Bel Air's Julienne Irwin finds out second, and she performs "Crazy" by Patsy Cline. She says last week was not her best performance and that it was a tough song. She says it is tough being the only kid in the competition, but she wants to be taken seriously as a performer. She says this is like school and that if you make a bad grade, you don't complain and you buckle down and work harder. She dedicates the song to her friends, who help keep things in perspective. She handles the lower register of the song pretty well, which is difficult. Speaking of difficult, this is not an easy song. One of the lines toward the end is a little rugged, but she closes strongly. The Hoff says she did really well tonight. Sharon says the song is too old for her and asks her to sing something upbeat next week: "Be 14." Piers says, "I don't think you will be here next week. ... Your voice is not yet mature enough to win this competition. I think it may grow into one, but right now I've got to be honest. I think you're going home." She tells Jerry Springer that the reason she tried out for the show is because she is a huge baseball fan and loves the Orioles and that she wants to sing the national anthem. (Which we already knew, because she told David Zurawik that last week!) "They better give me a call," she says. Yeah, get on that, Orioles! That would draw some people in.
Ventriloquist Terry Fator learns he is safe. He does a Dean Martin/Tony Bennett performance with his puppet. OK, this guy's impressions are pretty amazing, and since he can't move his own mouth, it's pretty impressive. I might have some words to eat from last week. Hoff is feeling him. Sharon is glad they haven't seen everything yet. Piers says his puppet sings better than most of the singers in the competition and that he even sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" better than Tony Bennett. He says he would love to headline in Vegas.
Cas Haley says picking the right song is crucial and he's going with "Easy" by Lionel Richie. He does it with a reggae beat, and it's great. Nice twist on the song without rendering it unrecognizable, and he's got a great voice. The Hoff says it was great. He's so the Paula of this competition. Sharon says she hates to use a cliche, but that he made it his own. Piers says he listened last week and that he can win.
Cruise singer Jason Pritchett learns that he is safe. He sings "If Tomorrow Never Comes" by Garth Brooks. Piers Xs him when he does that yodely thing with his voice on a note. The Hoff says he came back from the Xing very well. He also uses the non-word "disconcerning." It's "disconcerting." Sharon says he was rude. Piers says, "The challenge was, are you more than a cruise ship singer? You're not."
The Glamazons are next with "It's Raining Men." This week, they have backup dancers, Chippendales-esque dudes. It's cute and fun, the usual. The Hoff loved it. Sharon says it was problematic at the beginning, and it was fabulous in the end. Piers says based just on their singing, they'd be going home because they aren't great singers. But on entertainment value, sex appeal, etc., they should be going to the final.
Butterscotch is told she's safe. She performs "My Funny Valentine." She's back at the piano, which I think is good for her, despite what Piers might have said in the past. I don't understand how on earth she manages to play, sing and beatbox at the same time. I think it's more impressive when she's at the piano, too, even though she's much quieter in this kind of performance. Before the judges, Butterscotch is crying (probably over the dedication to her grandparents). The Hoff calls her a jazz star. Sharon says the performance was breathtaking. Piers says it was a beautiful performance -- "it was a perfect performance."
Sideswipe is the last group to learn that they are safe. They bump up the theatrics this week, doing basically a pirate-themed story and adding some weapons to their repertoire. The Hoff likes it and says they showed what they were made of. Sharon says they listened and came back with something at a new level. Piers says they turned it from a sport into entertainment and that "it was electrifying."
The previews indicate that it's the final four next week, so four people would be going home. If that's the case, I fear a bit for our Ms. Irwin. But I hope if winning this competition doesn't come to pass for her that the O's listen to her story about singing the national anthem for them being her dream.
I decided to give Mission: Man Band a chance last night. That's the new show that follows four former boy-banders as they try to reclaim some of their former glory.
Despite being totally contrived in certain parts, it got off to an interesting start. Chris Kirkpatrick of N*SYNC is the host of sorts, and the other three guys move into his house. (Clearly, he has not squandered away all of his money from the boy-band experience.) Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees is a mover and a shaker who has been trying to get involved behind the scenes in the music business. Bryan Abrams of Color Me Badd seems to be having the most financial problems -- he's living in Oklahoma and appears to work with tires. But LFO's Rich Cronin has it the toughest -- in 2005, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and while he's doing a lot better, he's still taking a boatload of medication every day.
They're going to be working with a new manager and a producer to make something happen. But I don't think I will be watching.
The preview for next week's episode shows Chris Kirkpatrick throwing a big party and Bryan Abrams getting completely smashed. Why is this a deal-breaker? In the premiere, Chris interviewed, "I'm a recovering alcoholic. OK, drop the recovering part," and was a total joker about it. But it's not a laughing matter for Bryan, who is desperately trying to stay sober and who is married with a daughter and another child on the way. It infuriates me to see someone's recovery put at risk by this totally fake scenario because these are some seriously real circumstances.
Even if they end up making it big, will it be worth it if Bryan's at rock bottom again? I don't think so, and I don't think I can watch that be treated like a plot point.
So I'm done with this one.
Well, at long last, the "shocking finale" of Age of Love has aired. And was this ending really that "shocking"?
Not really: Mark picked Amanda, the 25-year-old hockey dancer, over Jen, the 48-year-old assistant to the Lakers owner. It really seemed like Jen might have won him over despite their 18-year age difference -- she is more outgoing and she definitely made more of an impression on his family. Jen and Mark definitely got closer over the course of the show, but he and Amanda had a connection at the very beginning. Still, Jen interviews that she thinks that Mark got scared and that "if I had been younger, I know he would have picked me."
So I guess kittens prevailed in this "cougars" vs. "kittens" scenario, but I still think the producers got exactly what they wanted -- a final two with one of each and a somewhat uncertain outcome.
Although I've been predicting for weeks that he would pick Amanda, and I definitely wasn't the only one.
Amber falls first, then motion-sickness prone Eric, then Maryland player Jameka.
While the ousted houseguests are watching the rest of the challenge, a plane with a banner flies by. The banner reads: "We [heart] Nick. Amber & Eric are liars! LNC is the Nerd Herd." In interviews, Amber and Eric are furious. Then Daniele says that the banner made a few things fall into place for her -- regarding who actually voted for Kail perhaps? Augh, this "America's Player" thing is driving me crazy.
Then Zach is out, then Dick, then Jessica (who I keep forgetting is in the house). Dick starts taunting Kail and Jen. Then Jen starts talking trash about Daniele being a cheater. Eric gets pissed and starts screaming at Jen to leave Daniele's relationship out of this. A bit later, Jen is out. Daniele promises Kail that they will backdoor Jen and she will be out, and Kail gets down, so Daniele wins HOH.
Then Daniele freaks out because she realizes that if she and Dick had persuaded only one more person, they could have kept Nick. She questions Amber, who freaks out. Jameka doesn't think it could have been Eric. Daniele feels like this vote is her getting "set up."
Everyone is a little weirded out about seeing all the photos of Daniele's boyfriend once she gets the HOH room. Then she tells her father she thinks Eric is the one casting the mystery votes. Uh-oh, America's Player might be in trouble. Eric later goes up to Dick and starts asking who Daniele thought cast the vote and goes person by person over who it could have been, closing with how it couldn't have been him since he wanted Nick out initially. But Dick didn't buy any of it.
The sad thing is that everyone thinks these votes are set-ups -- to make Nick look bad last week and to make Daniele look bad this week. But it's all stupid America telling Eric to vote for Kail and ignoring what his alliance is doing. Argh! He's so trapped. Daniele thinks that Eric is in an alliance with Kail and Jen since the beginning and tells Jessica that. Jessica is friends with Eric and is really troubled. Troubled enough that she tells Eric that she has a lot she could tell him. Then she does tell him the set-up theory and that if they win POV, he is going up.
He's furious.
Jen goes in to apologize to Daniele and to try to work out their issues. Daniele's response when Jen leaves the room is, "Oh, good Lord."
Eric then gets his next task, to get Jen nominated. He says he is thrilled. Cut to him talking to Dick in the back yard, saying, "Paranoia just breeds so much in this house." But the caption says, "Paranoia just breads so much in this house." Augh! Eric needs to stop talking to Dick because he doesn't believe anything he says anymore. They scream and fight. Yawn.
Nomination time. Jen and Kail are nominated -- again. But her plan is, most likely, to get Eric out.
Now it's just frustrating because it's not like they uncovered someone's insiduous plan. It's just Eric getting screwed over by this twist. I would have rather watched him play the game on his own. Oh well.
I'm really trying to stick it out with Big Brother this season, but they aren't making it easy.
I'm tired of watching estranged father and daughter Dick and Daniele (the only sworn enemies left in the house from the first twist) fight. I'm tired of watching Amber bawl about everything. I'm tired of watching great player Eric have all of his strategy undone by the "America's Player" twist. (Seriously, how is he ever going to make an alliance? He can't promise anything since he isn't choosing who he votes for or even campaigns for.)
Above all, I'm tired of the players talking about God's will in the Big Brother house. Amber and Kail have both talked about how God put them on the block to see how they handled the test. (I thought that was the HOH.) And I missed Tuesday's episode, but I hear that Maryland player Jameka decided that being chosen for the POV competition was a sign from God and that the whole game is pre-ordained.
Now, I mean no disrepect toward anyone's faith. I just have a really hard time with the idea that God cares about Big Brother (or sports or who wins Grammys or whatever).
Plus, I just don't see how he could find a way to care about this boring season.
Tonight's So You Think You Can Dance opens with a Shane Sparks routine that is clearly inspired by The Matrix.
Each of the dancers will do a solo in their own style, but they won't change the results since it's all about viewer votes now.
Results time: Half the contestants will be in the bottom four, which is new. The women are up first. Sara and Lauren are the bottom two. Then, it's the guys. Somehow, I missed the part where Lauren and Dominic actually made out at the end of their performance. I must have been typing. Yowza. Neil and Dominic are the bottom two.
Adam says he is surprised that Neil is in the bottom four. But that they should all be proud for making it this far out of more than 7,000 auditioners.
OneRepublic comes out to perform "Apologize" while the bottom four worry and stew.
Sara is out, and Lauren is still in it. I'm not that surprised, but I'm sad because I really like Sara and I'm indifferent about Lauren. Her dancing really is getting better, though. On the guys' side, Dominic is out, and Neil is safe.
Cat tells them this is the furthest in the competition any breakers have ever gotten. Sad that they are both out this week. Then Dominic mauls her.
I'm OK with this result. They are both great and adorable, but I think most of the rest of the remaining dancers are a smidge better than them because they have more training.
I heard Color Me Badd's "I Wanna Sex You Up" on the 90s channel on satellite radio on my drive in to work, and it reminded me that I wanted to look up the details of the show Mission: Man Band. The show premieres on VH1 on Monday and follows four former boy-banders -- Chris Kirkpatrick (N*SYNC); Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees); Rich Cronin (LFO) and Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd) -- as they try to re-create some of their fame in a new format.
According to the VH1 web site, the guys "will live together for one month, create new music, a dynamic stage show and perform as a new pop group."
It could really go in any of several directions -- it could be interesting watching them try to make it once again, it could be a total train wreck, or it could be totally boring.
What I do know for sure is that the title is uber-goofy.
I was talking to one of my coworkers about this week's America's Got Talent yesterday, and we agreed that the judges were way harder on local girl Julienne Irwin than most of the other singers. Robert Hatcher was kind of mediocre, and the judges heaped him with praise. Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff had nothing but kind words for Jason Pritchett, and I thought he was flat his whole performance.
And they all went nuts for ventriloquist Terry Fator. It's ventriloquism. Even the word itself is creepy! (Cue up angry emails from the massive ventriloquism-fan community.)
Maybe the judges were trying to stir more people to vote by being more critical with Julienne. (I've certainly suspected that on American Idol.) Maybe they were really tired by the end of the show -- they were brutal to Sideswipe, the only act to perform after Julienne.
So am I overreacting on behalf of our local contestant, or did the judging seem a little unfair?
Yay, Hairspray director Adam Shankman is back as the guest judge on tonight's So You Think You Can Dance. He was super fun last time.
Nigel points out that it is the highest-grossing opening "of all time" for a musical. Then we learn that each couple will dance twice this evening. (Hopefully not with a saccharine solo repeated 10 times over like last week!)
Danny and Sara are assigned as partners and draw Argentine tango (with Alex de Silva) and hip-hop. They start with the tango, to a remix of "Whatever Lola Wants." It's very stylized and sexy -- though it's a little odd because Dannys dressed to the nines in a suit and Sara is wearing thigh-high boots, a sparkly bra top and hot pants. It's like they got costumed for separate performances. But they do a tremendous job. Adam says he thought they would be a total mismatch, but "this was unbeepin real and so beepin hot." (He really did say beep.) He says Danny has "the best center I've seen in my life" and that he's the best male dancer ever on the show. Mary praises Dannys turns and talks a lot more and finally says, "I loved it." Nigel makes reference do it being a takeoff on the song's appearance in Damn Yankee, so maybe the outfits were an artistic reference I didn't get.
Dominic and Lauren are partners now, and they get krump (with Lil C) and rumba. Krump is first, and it's a really engaging routine with some interesting twists. They do a whole pretzel thing at one point, and at another, Dominic slides across the floor toward Lauren and she runs across his back. Adam is rendered almost speechless. For a moment. He says it was hot, though he isn't sure it showed off their strongest potential as dancers. Mary says the first part had a ton of energy but that it started to die off toward the end. Nigel says krumping is way tougher than hip-hop and that he didn't really get that differentiation in this routine. He also says he didn't like the music. He asks Lauren if she was meant to fall during the running-over-Dominic move, and she doesn't seem to want to admit it, but finally she does say she fell and was covering it.
Lacey and Neil will be dancing together for the first time. They draw Latin jazz (with Maria Torres) and contemporary. The first is Latin jazz, and in the interview footage, they are both worried about this lift called a "crunch," but when they're performing, they totally pull it off. It's a fun routine, and they seem to work well together. (For the record, Neil performs with no shirt.) Adam says that if Neil gets a ton of votes this week, he thinks the show is going to turn into So You Think You Can Dance in the Nude. Well, if anyone would go for that, Fox would. He says the great news is they are beautiful dancers. He tells Lacey that she needs to break the bad habit of staring outward and to look more toward her partner. Mary says the chemistry isn't there for her at all. She says it was forced chemistry. But she says there was some brilliant dancing inside, too. Adam starts talking again and agrees that he wouldn't think they wanted to tear each other apart, but that the dancing was still beautiful. Nigel finally gets a word in edgewise and says that he loved the music and the routine and that he didn't love either of their performances. He says they both danced too high.
Sabra and Pasha are paired together and they get Broadway (with Tyce DiOrio) and quick step. Their Broadway routine is from The Wild Party. It's fast and busy and tiring and fun and very Broadway. Adam says he didn't think he was going to like it because this kind of number usually needs a giant chorus, but he got really drawn in and really got surprised. He adds that Pasha was good, but the bad news for him was that Sabra was "a revelation." Mary says Sabra is always a revelation, and, "Pasha, tonight you were for me too. ... I just loved all of it!" Then she gives the patented Mary scream. Nigel says Tyce's choreography forces dancers to perform (character-wise) and that they showed why they are in the Top 8.
Sara and Danny are back for their second performance of the evening, a hip-hop routine with Shane Sparks. Danny says he is worried because Shane didn't want him in the Top 20. Shane says he thinks Danny changed his mind. They dance to "Push It," and there is an appropriate amount of pelvic thrusting given the song title, and a bunch of great moves, some of them amusing, too. Adam asks what they did to the wardrobe department to get them so angry (yes, I failed to mention their totally 80s madness outfits). Nigel says they look "not so much ghetto, more Sesame Street." Adam says they are the most versatile couple and could do anything. Mary says the dancing didn't do it for her because it wasn't hard-hitting enough. She also says they looked "too cute for this hip-hop." Nigel says they both went for it, but they didn't achieve it together.
Lauren and Dominic's second dance is the rumba with Tony Meredith. Their dance is to "Ain't No Sunshine," and it is very slow and sexy. I don't love Lauren, but she is getting better. Adam says the chaperones better keep their eye on these two after the show. He says he liked it, but it didn't feel like a rumba to him because there was a lot of posing. Mary agrees that this is a different rumba, but it had great lines. She did say that in the Latin dancing steps, they were a little off. Nigel says wardrobe made these two look wonderful. He adds that Dominic stayed in style and character with his face last year (unlike last week when he called him almost a caricature). He says that the choreographers have been making the dancers look good and playing to their strengths, and next week, the choreographers will be doing what they do best, and creating more of a challenge for the dancers.
Lacey and Neil are next with a Mia Michaels contemporary routine. Michaels says this dance is about a reunion in heaven between her and her father, who passed away two years ago. No pressure on the dancers to get this one right! It's very lovely and sweet. Adam thanks Mia for bringing something so personal and emotional out into the public. He says he is in love with what they just did, that they were acting in this whole other world rather than dancing and that "this will be going down as one of the best dance performances on television ever." Mary can't talk because she's crying and she makes a heart shape with her hands. Nigel says she is going through a tough time in her personal life, and she seems to break down more. He says they danced with emotion rather than technique and that it was one of the most beautiful things he's seen ever.
Then, the last dance of the night, Sabra and Pasha with a Tony Meredith quick step. It's quick. And full of steps. It's not that it's not good, but I was so distracted by how much my TV hated the stripes on their costumes (it looked like there was a big rip in Pasha's jacket, but it was just the pixels freaking out. Adam: "Awesome, great choreography ... great use of the stage." He also loved the attitude. "You freak me out, you are so good, young lady," he tells Sabra. Mary says that was a very, very difficult routine and that they "tore this up." Nigel says they needed something to cheer them after the emotional routine that preceded it. He says that with both of their routines together, they are the best couple of the night for him.
I feel so indecisive, but I pretty much liked everyone tonight, even the routines the judges were lukewarm about. What did you think?
