On tonight's Dancing With the Stars, the contestants are taking on the jive and the tango.

First on the floor are Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez, with the jive. In the interview, she says this is the toughest dance so far, but also, "It's on." I notice a couple of bobbles, but generally, it's another strong performance from these two. Whether it's a classic jive, as Fabian promised? I'll leave that to the judges. Head judge Len Goodman: "Marlee, you never cease to amaze me. The jive is such a fast, difficult dance when you've got good hearing, and to dance as sharply as that without hearing, you did a great job." Bruno Tonioli says they lost their timing a couple of times, but overall, "a good job." Carrie Ann Inaba praises their chemistry and teamwork but mentions that Marlee should watch her hands. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30.

Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya prepare for the tango, but Anna gets so ill that she sends her husband Jonathan Roberts in to help train him, which is amusing. Anna dances enough for the both of them, almost, but Steve seems to be holding his own (largely with the intense look on his face), though I'm no expert on the technicalities. Before the judges get started, Steve stops and says he needs to prepare, runs over and puts on goggles and a steel bowl on his head. Um, OK. Carrie Ann says that was his best dance so far and he was completely determined. Len says he had great footwork and lots of improvement. Bruno agrees. Tom Bergeron sends them backstage, calling Steve "a little pothead." I think he meant bowlhead. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30.

Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke prepare for the jive by hanging out with a sea lion at Sea World. Yeah, I don't know, either. It's a fun, fast-paced performance. Bruno asks if they are on rocket fuel tonight. He says it was Cristian's best dance yet. Len says his legs were loose and arms could have been better, but it was his best so far. Carrie Ann says he has been showing improvement every week, and if he keeps this up, he's got a chance at this. Scores: 8-8-9, for a 25/30.

Mario and Karina Smirnoff work on the tango and try to balance that with Mario's schedule, as he mentioned in his interview with Sun TV critic David Zurawik. They dance to "Roxanne," but not the Police version; it's the version from Moulin Rouge. They've got drama -- and some seriously complex footwork. Mario said on Friday he was hoping to bring some acting chops to the performance, and I think he did. Len said the dance had a lot of flair, but lacked posture, footwork and his hold was bad. "Mario, I'm sorry, I've been a fan of yours for the past two weeks, but you've bitterly disappointed me tonight," he concludes. Carrie Ann says Mario has style, and that leads to high expectations, and they messed up in the corner. (I did notice that part -- seemed like they got so close to the audience, they ran out of maneuvering room.) Bruno says Mario is a charismatic performer and fascinating to watch. He says they gave a dramatic and strong tango, but they can do better. Scores: 7-6-8, for a 21/30. Mario tells Samantha Harris he needs to get more rehearsal time in and work more on his form (including listening to Karina more).

Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough work on the jive, with Shannon using some kickboxing skills to figure out some of the dance's kicks. For the performance, she still seemed to have some moments of gangliness, but it was an improvement over her first week's Latin dance. Plus: cartwheel. They're so tired afterward that they sit on the floor to listen to the judges' comments. Bruno says she came out and "went all the way." He adds that she needs to work on her control and precision. Len says there is no bluffing in dancing, and he saw a really good jive. Carrie Ann says Shannon is a surprise every week, and she's a ton of fun to watch. Scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30.

Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough are taking on the tango and having some trouble with it during practice, but they keep trying. They dance to "I Can't Tell a Waltz From a Tango" (great song choice), and Adam manages to keep it together somehow. It's not as painful as last week's attempt at the mambo, at the very least. Before the judges talk, Adam says the Julianne's "Sandy Duncan wig and friar's frock" are not helping their cause. Not that he wants to pimp out his 19-year-old partner for votes or anything. The judges are ready for him to shut up. Carrie Ann: "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but Adam Carolla was quite sexy out there." Bruno says he isn't a master technician, but he's getting better. Len says choreography is like makeup; "it can cover a multitude of sins." He says Julianne's choregraphy covered a lot of Adam's issues and made him look like a dancer. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30. I lose it because Bruno says "SE-VEN!" exactly like Len always does when that's his score. You might have had to have been there (or watched too many episodes of this show, like me), but it was funny.

Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani prepare for the jive, which Marissa says might be her dance during practice. They dance to Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" and give a boppy, fun performance. Len says what they did, they did well, but overall it was "a little bit careful." He tells her to come out and give it a little more "welly." Carrie Ann says she's going to be tough: "That was boring, you are so much better than that." She says Marissa is not giving her best. Bruno says it "was like a jive in cruise control." He tells her to flaunt her talent. I'm actually kind of wondering whether the weakness was in Tony's choreography -- if he wasn't pushing it hard enough. Scores: 6-7-6, for a 19/30.

Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel work on the dramatic side of the tango during practice. Their performance is very intense and passionate and, yes, dramatic. Bruno: "Priscilla Presley, starring in the hot cougar tango!" He says it was well-acted, had great choreography and was great. Len: "Passion, drama, fire and ice. Great!" Carrie Ann says it was great and totally believable, adding that the one thing she should work on is the posture of her neck. Scores: 8-9-9, for a 26/30.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska hope to follow up their 27/30 mambo with a great jive, but Jason isn't sure during practice. Their performance seems to be pretty on point, though not quite as energetic as last week. Also, during the parts where they are separate and doing synchonized kicking, you can see Jason thinking through the steps. Carrie Ann says it blows her mind that someone as tall as him can move as fast as he can, but that overall, she didn't see the same confidence as last week. Bruno agrees with Carrie Ann that Jason has some simply amazing lines during some moves, and he liked it. Len says he liked the lines and the tricks, but not the rest of it. "The kicks were sloppy. ... Jason, one week you're a rooster, the next week, you're a feather duster. That's life." Carrie Ann and Bruno balk and sound shocked. Scores: 8-7-8, for a 23/30.

Randomly, for the next break, Tom acts like he has something in his throat and hands the mike off to ... Survivor host Jeff Probst, who throws it to commercial. Well, OK, then. I don't know what that was about.

Last up are Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas with the tango. During practice, Kristi works on showing anger, since it's part of the dance. She maintains an intense expression during the performance (and her intense hairdo helps sell it, too), and their moves are good, as has become typical for them. Len says he liked it very much, and he tells Kristi she is a very good dancer, and overall: "It was a great routine; well done." Carrie Ann says no one can fault Kristi's technique, but her anger was one-dimensional. Bruno says it was sharp, clean and clear, but she needs to have more emotional engagement because "technically, you have nothing to worry about." Scores: 9-9-9, for a(nother) 27/30.

Who are you rooting for after tonight's performances? It was an interesting night since some of the previous top scorers took some hits, and some of the lower scorers did better this week. Is the tango the great equalizer?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Celebreality, Dancing With the Stars
        

So Natalie is HOH on Big Brother 9, and you know why? Because God wanted it, God is on her side, God loves her, etc.

I've long gone on record that God's probably a tad too busy to care about the outcome of reality TV shows (especially the second-tier ones), and I still believe that. I'm not saying don't ask for strength or clarity if you need it or whatever, but Natalie and her alliance naming themselves "Team Christ"? Nuh-uh. No. Come on. Give me a break!

No one gets out of this game without lying and backstabbing, and naming your alliance in such a game after Jesus is just plain crazy talk. Plus, these potty-mouthed, self-absorbed "houseguests" aren't exactly shining examples of Christianity. Or much of anything else.

But whatever.

In the end, Natalie put James and Joshuah on the block. But tomorrow's POV competition could change anything, so why ruminate on that for too long?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Big Brother
        

I missed the finale (sometimes even I get to leave my house on weeknights!), but it looks like Piers Morgan pulled out the victory on Celebrity Apprentice.

Did you watch? What did you think of the decision? I think Trump was too enamored of Piers' attitude to have given it to anyone else. But that's without seeing what happened last night.

And is it just me, or is the weirdest part of the video clip above Trump telling runner-up Trace Adkins that he will love him forever?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Celebreality, The Apprentice
        

Are you ready for tonight's finale of Celebrity Apprentice?

Or did you even realize that was happening?

It's down to Trace Adkins and Piers Morgan, who have to each do part of a charity event. (Also, Trump basically decided that even though everyone thought Carol Alt deserved to be in the final two, he wanted to see the two men battle it out. Wow, that's not sexist at all. *eyeroll*)

Anyway, if you missed last week, check out NBC's two-minute recap above, if for no other reason than to watch Trump's totally bizarre firing of Carol.

The live finale is tonight at 9 on NBC. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Have you guys been watching Top Chef? I've been watching but got a little behind on the blogging, unfortunately.

Last week, the contestants split into teams and created dishes for a fund-raiser at a zoo. There were some highs and lows, but in the end, Valerie was sent home. She was teamed up with Stephanie (who she already knew before the show) and Antonia. She made a blini dish that didn't really go anywhere, and her departure wasn't a huge surprise, but for me the most unfortunate thing was the relationship among the members of the team. The three women got very middle-school on each other. I felt like Antonia came in and became the alpha (the queen bee, perhaps?) and kind of pushed Valerie aside, and she never really recovered from that. Plus, it would have been nice if Valerie's teammates had told her they didn't think her dish was going to work, but they seem to have kept that to themselves. Oh, well.

On last night's show, the chefs were split into two teams to cook food for a block party in Chicago. The twist was, they had to get all their ingredients from the homes of the people on that block. Thankfully, many of them had already shopped for the party, so it wasn't like they got stuck with wilted lettuce and old sour cream or something. But still, much different from heading to Whole Foods.

The red team went for classic picnic type of foods (pasta salad, sliders, corn dogs), and blue decided to go a little more gourmet. Unfortunately, despite a whole lot of posturing, it didn't go that well for anyone.

At eliminations, the blue team got called in first and was taken to task for its problems, so the team members assumed they'd lost. But no, Stephanie's awesome drink and interesting dessert barely bought the team the win and Stephanie another personal challenge win. The red team went in to defend its choices, and it seemed like Zoi was toast (I'm no cook, but even I can make pasta salad). But Erik's corndogs -- which de-crispified during the trip from the kitchen to the party (sounds like Valerie's bellinis last week) -- put the target on him.

Hit the jump for a couple more videos. 

Valerie's goodbye from last week:

A recap of last night's episode, in case you missed it:

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 6:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Top Chef
        

I missed Tuesday's Big Brother (since it was on at the same time as Idol and Dancing With the Stars again), so I missed all the fun when Evel Dick terrorized the houseguests. Pity.

But I did catch up last night. Head of Household Adam had nominated James and Chelsia, trying to break up one of the few remaining "couples." But James won the POV competition and removed himself from the block. I didn't see the episode where this happened, but apparently Joshuah talked Sharon into volunteering to go on the block as a pawn.

So with James off and Sharon on, Chelsia apparently realized her time in the house was short. She decided to make the most of it and try to have fun and get to know everyone better and put the game aside. Wait, no, not exactly. Instead, she went on a brat parade and smashed all of Natalie's carefully decorated Easter eggs and snarked at everyone and gave a couple of the dumbest "why you shouldn't vote to evict me" speeches ever.

Which meant that even James voted for her to leave, making the decision unanimous.

The Natalie, of all people, won the HOH competition. She might not know how many letters are in the alphabet, but she better predicted how the viewing public felt about the contestants than any of the others did, and that's all it took.

I expect her Vengeance for Matty campaign to continue in full force. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Big Brother
        

It's that time again, and somebody is going to get cut on tonight's American Idol results show.

To celebrate the week's theme ("The Year They Were Born"), the contestants' group song is "Right Back Where We Started From." I was wondering how they would handle that.

But we're here for the results, so here we go:

Chikezie comes out on stage and finds out he's in the bottom three right off the bat. He is not surprised.

Brooke White is safe.

Carly Smithson addresses the fact that there are some pregnancy rumors, which she says are not true. She tells Simon that he was right that she had something on her mind during her performance last night -- she was wearing Spanx (that's body-shaping hosiery for those of you not in the know) and trying to look a little thinner. Anyway, she is safe, and she is relieved.

David Archuleta is safe.

David Cook is next. Ryan says he talked to Chris Cornell today and he loved David's take on Chris' take on "Billie Jean." Also, he is safe.

Syesha Mercado is in the bottom three.

Michael Johns: safe.

Before the last few finalists find out their fate, it's viewer question time. Sarah (not me, I promise) wants to know whether Chikezie is single. He says he is "very, very single." Nicole wants to know why David Archuleta chose "You're the Voice" last night out of all the songs from his birth year. He says because it's one of his all-time favorite songs. Ari asks Simon what she needs to do "to take Ryan Seacrest's job." Simon says the good news is, you don't need a lot of talent, so everyone has a chance. Caitlin wants to know who Brooke would duet with if she could pick anyone. She says John Mayer. Vanessa asks Simon whether he considers himself the "most attractive person on the show and why." He responds, "It's not what I say, it's what other people say." And then he cracks up.

Season 2's No. 3 finisher Kimberley Locke talks about her experiences since the show. Besides the singing, she's a part-owner of a restaurant outside Manhattan. She also talks about her weight-loss journey (she's lost about 40 pounds in the past year), and says she's working on her second CD. Then, it's singing time.

Back to the results. Ramiele Malubay is safe. Which leaves Jason Castro and Kristy Lee Cook. Ryan adds that he heard from Lee Greenwood, who loved Kristy's performance last night. Kristy is safe, and Jason is in the bottom three.

Jason, Chikezie and Syesha gather on the stage to find out their fates, and Jason promptly finds out he is safe. After a break and some squabbling from the judges, it's finally revealed: Syesha is safe, and Chikezie is going home.

He reprises last night's performance, and that's all for this week.

I'm not surprised -- if not this week, I think he would have been out soon. What do you think of the results?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (46)
Categories: American Idol
        

It's double elimination night on Dancing With the Stars -- let's get to the recap and see who's getting cut loose.

Judge Len Goodman says tonight's encore dance is Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska's mambo, which is a nice choice.

Then, it's time to start talking about who is safe: Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya are in. ("WOW," Tom says, mocking Steve. Hee hee.) But, of course, we've got to draw this out as much as possible, so that's all we get for now.

The Jonas Brothers come out to sing "Take on Me" while some of the pros come out to dance.

Back to eliminations: Jason and Edyta are safe, and so are Mario and Karina Smirnoff. After a break, it's revealed that Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough are safe, too, leaving Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson and Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke. At long last, Tom announces that Penn and Kym are out. That wasn't a huge surprise.

Now, the women get ready to find out. Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough are safe, but it's time for more filler.

First, Cameron Mathison runs around New York City asking people about the show. More entertainingly, there is an aerial dance performance by Cirque du Soleil dancers, followed by another Jonas Brothers song.

More safe couples: Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez and Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas. Then a break, then more results. Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel are safe, leaving Monica Seles and Jonathan Roberts and Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani. Going home are: Monica and Jonathan.

Next week, it's the tango or the jive.

What do you think about the departures? I don't think either one is that shocking. That'll come later in the season.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Celebreality, Dancing With the Stars, Maryland reality contestants
        

On tonight's American Idol, the Top 10 take to the stage to take on songs from "The Year They Were Born."

Well, I guess we're getting a little closer to modern songs. Kind of. I guess, really, it's mostly just 1980s night again.

Ramiele Malubay is up first. She was born in 1987, and her song is "Alone" by Heart. It is, of course, a huge song, but she belts it out and reminds us of the big voice that got her this far to start with. Judge Randy Jackson mentions that she's under the weather, but that regardless, it wasn't the right choice as far as he is concerned. Judge Paula Abdul says, "I give you a tremendous amount of credit and brave [sic]" for going through with it despite being sick. Judge Simon Cowell says, "I don't think it was as bad as Randy said. I thought the first part of the song was OK." He adds that if she survived on last week's "appalling" performance, she will be fine with this one.

Jason Castro was also born in 1987, and he chooses Sting's "Fragile." He's back with the guitar and looking a lot more comfortable. It's a lovely song, and he does well with it, but it's not a huge departure or anything. Randy says it was a very good choice of song, though he didn't do anything new with it, but still: "It was nice." Paula says he's staying true to who he is and his niche, but there wasn't a big wow factor. Simon says he's had two bad weeks, "and I think it's time for you to start taking this seriously." He compares it to someone busking outside the subway station. "You're not going to win if you keep doing that week after week."

Syesha Mercado is another 1987 baby. She sings "If I Were Your Woman." Except she sings it "If I was your woman ..." at the beginning (sorry, subjunctive!), but she goes back to "were" halfway through. (Hmm, upon doing a little research, it appears that Alicia Keys might have ditched the subjunctive on this song first. But enough about the grammar.) I think this is one of Syesha's best performances, especially lately. Randy says, "This is the best I have ever heard you sing, including when you auditioned. It was stellar, it was unbelievable. I am shocked." Paula says this is going to be the moment that everyone remembers as when "Syesha flipped it" and became a contender. Simon agrees that it was the best so far, but he thinks she was reaching her limit toward the end of the song.

Chikezie was born in 1985, and he sings "If Only for One Night." He tells Ryan beforehand that he was scared off of ballads for a while after getting ripped by the judges a couple of weeks ago, but he decided to follow his heart this week and sing something that was important to him. His voice sounds pretty good, especially after he warms up a bit, but for some reason the performance still doesn't do much for me. Randy says this came from a "very old-school" place and that he didn't love it. He missed the vibe and energy from some of Chikezie's other performances. Paula says he's a throwback, but "a good throwback." "I think that you did a great job." Simon says, "I think you sang it well. Having said that, the performance was actually very cheesy." After silencing the "wrap-it-up" music, Simon adds that he didn't see any originality.

Brooke White is a 1983 baby, and her song is "Every Breath You Take." Like Jason, she's decided to go back to her instrument, so she's behind the piano. She starts the first couple of words, then stops and starts again from the beginning. Once she starts, though, she's pretty good, though she starts rushing it toward the end. (I almost hate to bring this up, but doesn't her left hand look really odd? It looks pruney, like she was in the bath for too long, or like maybe she has a glove on or something? I've never noticed it before, and I'm a little perplexed.) Randy says he liked the first part, but he didn't love the arrangement toward the middle or end. Paula: "I enjoyed this performance so much more than last week's." She says Brooke has her own niche and her own voice, and she appreciates her consistency. Simon agrees with Randy, especially about the band joining in toward the end, which he says made it sound old-fashioned. Still, he says, she will be fine and through to next week.

Michael Johns is the first non-1980s person of the night -- he was born in 1978. He's taking on "two Queen classics." In 90 seconds? The first one is "We Will Rock You," and after a couple of lines, he launches into "We Are the Champions." I think he was right to go back to Queen (which he did so memorably in Hollywood week). This was his best in a while (as evidenced by the audience going crazy). Randy: "That was the best performance for me since you've been on this show." Paula says this was his moment, "and I'm so proud of you." Simon: "Michael, this is the first time with you that I've seen star potential. You just got it right. ... For me, it's the only memorable performance of the night so far."

Carly Smithson was born in 1983, and she's taking on "Total Eclipse of the Heart." I think she made the right choice with this song -- it really suits her range -- but the wrong choice with her final note(s). Randy says it was an interesting song choice, and that he didn't love the note at the end. "I don't like the whole rock thing," he adds. Paula thinks he's crazy and says Carly could take any song Paula didn't really like and make her a believer. But then I think Paula's crazy because she gives Carly credit for that last awful note. "That run at the end was not in tune, Paula," Randy rightly points out. Simon says that something didn't quite work. He says she seemed uptight and tense, which prevented him from enjoying the performance.

David Archuleta was born in 1990 (I am so old), and he's going to sing "You're the Voice," which I am pretty sure I've never heard before. (But hey, 1990 had some rough choices: Imagine if he'd gone with something off of 1990's Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em.) It's a big song and suits his big voice, though the song itself is fairly cheesy and doesn't feel too modern even though it's the newest song we'll be hearing tonight. Randy says it was a strange song choice, "but if you can sing, you can sing whatever." Paula says she was also confused by the song choice, but that he "could sing the phone book." Simon says he sang it well in parts, but, "I actually didn't like the performance at all. I thought it was reminiscent of a theme-park performance. It was one of those ghastly songs you sing with animated characters around you, and everyone joins in."

Kristy Lee Cook was born in 1984, and she is going to sing "God Bless the U.S.A." Are you kidding me? Come ON. Is this a "ghastly" Fourth of July parade in some small town? I take back what I said about David's song being cheesy. This is the cheesiest song in the history of the known universe. I can scarcely bring myself to critique her performance, but, uh, her last note was nice. Randy says it was "a great song choice, I love that song." He thought it was a great performance. Paula says she has heard better performances from her, but her voice is getting stronger. Simon says this was her best performance by a mile. "That was the most clever song choice I have heard in years. ... That's going to keep you in the competition." I have had a lot of Twilight Zone moments recapping this show, but this one might take the cake.

David Cook is a 1982 baby, and he is going to sing "Billie Jean." Yes, that one. But not in a Michael Jackson-ish way at all; it's a rock-ballad take on the song. His voice sounds good, but it's a little weird to me. He's definitely making it his own, but it doesn't seem to have much in common with the original. No one seems to mind that much, though. Randy calls him the most original, most bold contestant ever, and adds that with that performance, he might win the whole thing. Paula says he's brilliant, and she thinks he can win this. Simon: "David, that was brave. It could have either been insane or amazing, and I have to tell you, it was amazing." He's very happy with that, as you would imagine.

Who's in danger? Who's got it made? Who made you go, "Huh?" (Or was that just me?)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (58)
Categories: American Idol
        

Tonight, all 12 couples on Dancing With the Stars get to hit the dance floor, and then tomorrow night, two celebs will be heading home (in the first! double! elimination!).

The couples that did ballroom last week will do Latin tonight and vice versa. The night's dances are the mambo and the quickstep, and hometown boy Mario will be among those taking on the quickstep.

The first couple of the night is Steve Guttenberg and Anna Trebunskaya, who will be doing the mambo. Anna's mom Irina comes to help train him and reveals her love for Police Academy and yoga and that they also share a fear of Anna. Nice! So they perform, and Steve takes Irina's advice to have fun with it (not that he wasn't already doing that -- he seems to have an almost cultish devotion to having fun on the show), and it seems OK, but soooo cheesy. Judge Len Goodman compares his dancing to Len's cooking -- "I can see you're trying so hard, but it didn't work for me." Bruno Tonioli says all the effort went into the facial expressions and not the dance performance. He calls him out for his footwork and his posture and pretty much everything else. Carrie Ann Inaba says he was off musically, and it never really went anywhere. Scores: 6-5-5, for a 16/30, for a 34/60 with last week's scores. Speaking of cultish devotion, Steve says the show "makes the world a better place." Mmmmkay, Pollyanna.

Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke take on the quickstep, and he is working hard on his posture in the footage from their preparations. It seems to have worked, too -- he's standing up straight and keeps up with Cheryl during their performance, which ends with him doing a somersault and landing in a split. Carrie Ann says his shoulders "were like a whole new person." She adds, though, that his footwork could be just a hair sharper. Len says they "flew round that floor," and he agrees that the posture improved but says it wasn't a classic quickstep, and "it lacked control." Bruno says he captured the character, but he needs to work on the footwork. Scores: 7-6-7, 20/30, and a 41/60 with last week's scores.

Monica Seles and Jonathan Roberts got pretty bad scores last week, but hope to do better with the mambo. I give her props for taking on something so far outside her comfort zone, but she looks somehow really gangly on stage. Maybe she needs the posture lecture, too? Bruno says she is running "an alternating current," that sometimes she is on and sometimes she is off. Carrie Ann says she attacked it and really went for it, even though she can see it's really hard for her. Len says she needs to bring her speed and coordination from the tennis court onto the stage. Scores: 5-5-5, for a 15/30, giving them a 30/60.

Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson try to work on his posture while they prepare for the quickstep, but they have a problem with finding a posture bar that fits him. They put on quite a performance, but ... it's about the slowest quickstep I've ever seen. Len says he convinced him he was "having a go at a proper quickstep," but his feet "are terrible." Bruno: "The footwork was really, really, really bad." Carrie Ann says even if the footwork is bad, she still liked it, even though it was really odd. Then, on the way backstage, Penn slips on the stairs, though of course it could be a joke. Scores: 6-6-5, for a 17/30, and a 33/60 with last week's scores.

Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel prepare for the dance. She wants to be perfect during the mambo, but Louis wants her to let go. During the performance, she seems pretty spot on, maybe a little stiff here and there, but overall, she does a really nice job. (Though the crawling toward the camera at the end was a little bit creepy.) Carrie Ann says she has a "special alluring quality" that draws people into it. Len says she came out and performed, but it was perhaps a little "too precise." Bruno says it was technically very accomplished, but she should "go for the sexuality." Carrie Ann, however, thinks it's good she didn't overdo it in that respect. (Me too.) Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30, and a 45/60 total.

Shannon Elizabeth and Derek Hough get ready for the quickstep. Shannon says she thinks she deserved lower scores last week, and Derek thinks she's crazy. I really like the choreography of the dance -- they have some nice turns that use their legs (OK, especially hers) to their advantage. And a cute ending never hurt anyone. Bruno: "That's a performance! That's what dancing is all about! ... This. Is. What. We. Want. You're in the game!" Carrie Ann thanks Shannon because it was looking like a rough night. Len says their movement was great, and "best dance so far tonight." Scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30, and a 45/60 with last week.

Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska work on the mambo, though he hates it because of the speed. For her part, Edyta says she has seen his potential, so she is giving him the craziest routine she's ever given anyone. After watching these shows for a few seasons, it's funny. The first time someone has to do the really hippy movements or shoulder shimmies when Latin comes up, there's always a moment of, "Will this person be able to pull this off?" (I sure couldn't.) Jason does, and he seems to have adapted to all the crazy moves the Edyta threw at him. Len: "You're a winner." Bruno: "You are the mambo king tonight! Strong and gentle, sharp and smooth, always musical, always in control." Carrie Ann: "You're a real contender. I can only see you going up from here. This was up." Scores: 9-9-9, for a 27/30, and a 49/60 with last week's scores.

Marissa Jaret Winokur and Tony Dovolani had a hard time last week. She's really upset about messing up during the cha-cha, but she gets over it. Tonight, it's the quickstep. They are aiming for a classic dance, but still with a lot of fun. I think they pull it off. Carrie Ann says she's so much fun and she loves watching her, but she's so frustrated because she wanted more and wanted their synchronicity to be better. Len loved their bubbly attitude, and that they did the right thing by coming out and performing. Bruno says she lost her footwork here and there, but she did a great, classic quickstep and was much improved from last week. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30 and a total of 39/60.

Adam Carolla and Julianne Hough prepare for the mambo. Remember what I said earlier about hip action? Well ... Adam does not quite have the same moves as Jason. He does appear to be having more fun than last week, but it's still pretty awkward and terrible. Bruno says Adam has reinterpreted the mambo in a way he's never ever seen, but he at least made him laugh. Carrie Ann says he is entertaining, but it was not quite a mambo. (There is also some back and forth about whether Adam was calling out for his publicist "Mitch" after Carrie Ann's score last week, but, uh, let's not go there.) Len: "I thought it was brilliant." WHAT? "I loved it. ... I think part of the show is to be entertained, and that's what you came out and did." Scores: 6-7-6, for a 19/30, and a 34/60 total. (I was so shocked by that 7 that I swallowed a huge gulp of air along with some food -- hey, we're always multitasking around here. Seriously? A 19?)

Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez get ready for the quickstep, which is a little more complicated because they can't make eye contact like during the cha-cha, but they work on their cues. And the cues seem to work, because during the performance she is right on beat, as far as I could tell, despite the really intricate footwork that Fabian has her doing. Len: "I think you've got good potential to go a long way in this competition." He praises her musicality, though he thinks part of the dance wasn't truly quickstep. Bruno says she has incredible stage presence, and "you really are a contender," though he agrees that it was a mambo-ish quickstep. Carrie Ann also praises her musicality, but says she does need to work on her hold just a bit. Scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30, and a total 46/60.

Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas got seriously high scores last week (the highest ever for a first round), but during practice, she's having trouble getting used to shaking it for the mambo. However, though she doesn't look quite as comfy with the shimmying as some of the other contestants, she's still pretty darned good, so I think she's going to have to stop with the "I don't know if I can do it" interviews pretty soon or it's going to start to look a little disingenuous. Carrie Ann: "I think the other couples are going to have a hard time catching up with your scores." She says Kristi is so precise, it's hard to believe she's never done this before. "You just nail it." Len says she set herself a high standard last week, but, "You've done it again, fantastic." Bruno: "Fast, sharp, exuberant." Scores: 9-9-9, for a 27/30, and a 54/60.

Baltimore's Mario is last tonight, along with his partner Karina Smirnoff. They are doing the quickstep, as he mentioned in an interview with The Sun last week. During last week's show, Len told him he needed to work on his footwork, so they practice in the sand. On stage, it seems to have paid off -- their dance (to Amy Winehouse's "Valerie") seems quite precise, very speedy and entertaining. I worry that the last move might count as a lift (which is banned), but I never know how they are going to interpret these moves. Bruno: "It was Mario and the Queen of Sheba. I mean, that was so charismatic, you were so determined. You were focused in this performance, you did a fantastic job, I think you could be a winner in this competition." Len calls him out on his hold and says he needs to work on his finesse in the ballroom style. Carrie Ann says he is very charming on the dance floor -- "You just have this, like, you ... it's hot. It's hot. ... And the technique was good, the hold was a little off, but the muscles were good." Scores: 9-8-9, for a 26/30, and a 50/60 across the two weeks.

So who do you think is at risk? I can't imagine anyone but Adam or Penn going home from among the men. For the women, I think it's between Monica and Marissa (though I really hope that Marissa is safe because I think she could get a lot better).

But, as we've learned on this show, you never know how people's fan bases will play into the voting.

Tomorrow: double elimination, plus a performance by the Jonas Brothers.

(Photo of Mario courtesy of ABC)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Actually, this post isn't about American Idol, but rather some of the other versions worldwide.

First off, Australian Idol is apparently trying to find its own Michael Johns -- or at least, entice others of his caliber -- and is holding a round of auditions in L.A. for ex-pats living in the U.S. Those auditions will take place on April 13; more information is here.

But you must, must watch this video from Music Idol, Bulgaria's version of the pop competition. In this clip, a guy (who appears to be a finalist) attempts Michael Jackson's "Bad," but he's clearly learned the whole thing phonetically (which makes all of Jacko's little vocal idiosyncracies difficult to interpret), not to mention he can't sing. But the comedic value is there.

Check it out:

Check out more international Idol clips after the jump. You won't ever question whether this show is formulaic after seeing these.

Here's a clip from Afghan Star, Afghanistan's version of Idol:

Some Polish Idol, which is known simply as Idol:

A contestant gets so upset on German Idol about his dreams being "kaput" (my German is rusty, but I did catch that party) that medics have to be called in. And this one clearly has a Simon, a Paula and a Randy:

Here, a contestant named Gaetenne performs on Nouvelle Star, France's version of Idol:

If you find any choice clips, feel free to leave a comment with a link.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 6:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: American Idol
        

In case you missed it, Sun TV critic David Zurawik just chatted with Baltimore's Mario, the R&B star who made a big splash in his debut week on Dancing With the Stars.

Check it out here.

See more with Mario in Monday's Today section and more about Dancing With the Stars here.

(Photo courtesy of ABC)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

James' backdoor situation worked out just fine on Big Brother 9 last night -- Matt was evicted after a tie vote that forced James to break the tie and send him packing.

I was surprised to see Sheila stepping up and trying to manipulate everything yet again -- she really is playing this game. If only she weren't so annoying.

So, Matt is out, and Natalie is mad (or as mad as she is capable of getting, anyway), Adam is HOH, and who knows what will happen next.

Lots of scrambling and lots of lying, of course.

The other news from the episode was that Dick and Danielle Donato, the estranged father and daughter who were on last season, and were the final two, actually, still have a decent relationship. Aww. And Dick, who won last season, will show up in the house some time next week. Creepy!

Is that an upgrade from the mime who tortured the contestants a few years back?

(Photo of Matt courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Big Brother
        

Poor Airai. If people didn't stop randomly leaving the tribe, they would be in massively good shape on Survivor: Fans Vs. Favorites.

But no -- last week, they lost Jonathan to an infection in his leg and last night, Kathy left because she just mentally could not handle the game anymore.

Malakal had a brief moment of glory with its reward challenge win but went back to its losing ways at immunity challenge time, despite the lead that Ozzy built up for the team during the swimming portion.

The moments that stuck out for me the most were:

* Erik's puppy love for Ozzy, and Cirie's hilarious descriptions of it.

* Even Amanda acknowledging that Ozzy's cocky attitude was getting to be a little much.

* The goofy noises the contestants made during the shampoo reward challenge, which were a little too close to sponsor Herbal Essences' old commercials to be real.

* Ozzy pretty much single-handedly deciding that Tracy would go to Exile Island, even though she seemed to want the shampoo reward more than anyone.

* The total lack of footage from Jason and Tracy's time on Exile Island.

* James perplexed by all the complaining on his tribe, when life there has actually improved markedly since some of the "favorites" joined them.

Raise your hand if you thought at all that Malakal might actually take Ozzy out last night? I almost bought into it, but Tracy's abject plea made me realize that plot wasn't going anywhere.

So farewell, Tracy. And Kathy.

Looks like we might be down to just favorites if this trend continues.  

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Survivor
        

Come on ... do they really need an hour and two minutes to send Kristy Lee Cook packing? OK, I'm just guessing. But we'll see what happens on tonight's American Idol results show. (Spoiler: My guess was wrong.)

Host Ryan Seacrest reveals this season's mentors: Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Neil Diamond. Then he discuses this year's songwriting competition.

And what the world needs now is another group-sing medley. During which it seems that Ramiele's mike is off, which isn't very nice, and the cameraperson trips (or something). Even more, we need a montage from last night.

Now, results. Or at least some of them.

Brooke White is called forward first. She is in the Top 10. Then, Carly Smithson comes out and finds out she is in the bottom three. David Archuleta is next, and he is also in the Top 10. Michael Johns tells Ryan he is worried, and he finds out he's safe.

Then, not only the Ford commercial, but also the making of. Yawn.

David Cook comes out to find his fate. He's safe. Kristy Lee Cook says she thought it was her strongest performance so far, but Ryan says she is in the bottom three. Jason Castro is in the Top 10. Ramiele Malubay is in the Top 10, too.

Viewers get to call in, and Cheryl Ann wants to know from Simon, "Why do you spend so much money on cars and nothing on clothes?" He calls it a rude question and then says he has no ego. Jessica Reynolds wants to know whether Paula and Simon would ever consider filming a sequel to the kiss scene from the second season. Simon says yes because Paula is a good kisser. Mary Roberts wants to ask Ramiele want the last song she downloaded on your iPod. The answer: R. Kelly's "I'm a Flirt." Linda Neese wants to ask Michael Johns whether his experience has been everything he wanted it to be. He says everything and more, although, "apparently I peaked in Hollywood." Oh, darn, they are out of time.

Kellie Pickler, contestant from Season 5, comes out to perform after Ryan says she has "grown in so many ways." OK, Ryan, the plastic surgery is old news. Get over it! She sings "Red High Heels."

After the break, Elliott Yamin and Fantasia are shown in Angola, showing how some of the "Idol Gives Back" money from last year was used. 

Back to results. Syesha Mercado comes out to learn that she is safe. That leaves Chikezie and Amanda Overmyer. Chikezie is safe, and Amanda is in the bottom three.  

The bottom three gather on stage, and Carly Smithson is safe. She cries. Kristy Lee Cook is safe, and Amanda Overmyer is out.

If I were her, I would be mad they put the hair extensions back in for this.

And gosh, but the other finalists don't look too torn up about her departure, do they?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: American Idol
        

I just caught up with last night's eventful Big Brother (after three and a half hours of AI and DWTS, I was all tapped out).

Oh, James.

I get that he wants "sweet revenge" on the people in the house who voted him out (he got voted back in on a twist on last week's live show), but he's so easily led. He knew that three people voted against his return to the house, and Ryan and Sheila told him straight-up that they were two of them. Matt was the third, but he decided to lie about it, which made Adam mad, which mad Adam sound unhinged when he tried to tell James he'd voted to bring him back, which made James not trust him. (Yeesh, hope you followed that one.)

Sheila, on the block and trying desperately to save herself, told James that Adam was flying under the radar and untrustworthy and probably voted against him. James got all riled up about putting Adam on the block instead, but thankfully Sharon told him rightfully that Matt cast that third unknown vote. (She'd guessed it, but Natalie's pathetic lies to try to turn attention away from Matt sealed it for her.)

So at POV, James removed Sheila from the block and put up Matt.

Which is all well and good, but he pontificated for five years and didn't mention that the main reason was that Matt LIED ABOUT THE VOTE. Since James has spent so much time and energy discussing his word and how horrendous everyone else is for not following their word, he just looks ridiculous for breaking his promise to Natalie and putting up Matt. (Well, even more ridiculous than his pink-hawk or bow tie tattoo already make him look, but I digress.)

So what will go down tonight? No matter who stays or who goes, there is still a lot of drama that could unfold. Natale is peeved, it's inevitable that Adam will find out that Sheila sold him out, and it won't be pretty no matter what.

Huh. Who would have thought this season was going to get semi-interesting?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Big Brother
        

As the premiere of Dancing With the Stars continues, tonight the women get to take the floor.

But first, a manly montage. However, I already covered that ground last night, so let's get on with the show.

Shannon Elizabeth is up first. She says she is best known for her role on American Pie (which came out nine years ago, just for the record), but she's also a poker player. Her partner is Derek Hough. They take on the cha-cha-cha, dancing to Rihanna's "Shut Up and Drive." They've got speed and some technique, but you can definitely tell it's the early rounds -- Shannon looks like she is thinking really hard and seems a little tentative but she's playing to win. Judge Len Goodman says it was a great start to the season and very high energy. He tells Shannon that if she is going to wear outfits that short, her legs need to be very straight, and they weren't quite right. Bruno Tonioli calls her a sexy minx and says she has great natural extension, but she needs to finesse her technique a little. Carrie Ann says Shannon has energy and confidence and great legs. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30.

Monica Seles is partners with Jonathan Roberts, and their dance is the foxtrot. She says she wanted to do this because she didn't have a normal childhood and was definitely not a girly-girl, so this is like her prom. During the intro footage, it looks like she's having a tough time loosening up, and she calls herself "El Stiffo." I think, unfortunately, she didn't get very far beyond that, but clearly she tried. Bruno says she set a lovely, romantic tone, but once she started dancing, it was a little "Grace Adler." He says she needs to engage her core more. Len says it had nice moments in the story, but that he agrees with Bruno about the core. Carrie Ann gives her props for taking this on and says she can get it. Scores: 5-5-5, for a 15/30.

Broadway star (and Tony winner for Hairspray) Marissa Jaret Winokur is partners with Tony Dovolani and reallllly excited about it. They discuss the difference between Broadway dance, where you have to sell it to the whole audience vs. the more controlled movement you have in ballroom. Their first dance is the cha-cha-cha, to "Low," which I can only guess was only chosen because the lyrics include the word "shorty." (Also, Tony is wearing the sparkliest outfit in recent memory.) They have fun with it, though Marissa can't seem to shake the big facial expressions you need in Broadway and which feel kind of exaggerated on TV. They might have messed up a part in the middle, but still: fun fun fun. Carrie Ann says she loves Marissa's style and sass, but she doesn't think there was enough actual cha-cha content. Bruno says she had a ton of personality, but didn't show enough of the dance. Len: "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered." He says he was bewitched by their performance, bothered by the mistake in the middle and and bewildered that Tony didn't give her more to do. Scores: 6-6-6, for an 18/30. Samantha talks to her about the mistake and Marissa says she just got overwhelmed by all the audience screaming, and she kind of forgot what was happening next.

Priscilla Presley is partners with Louis van Amstel. She is nervous but wants to win. For their first dance, they take on the foxtrot. As shy and reserved as she seems, once they start, she is on. She does a really nice job when they are together in holds but seems to get a little tense when they aren't. But still, it was far better than I thought it would be based on their practice footage. Len says it was a proper foxtrot with no gimmicks or props. He warns Priscilla to watch her posture, but says it was great. Bruno says it was the first time he's seen star quality tonight. Carrie Ann calls her the queen of the dance floor and says it was great. Scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30.

Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and Mark Ballas are together for this competition. Kristi says she is doing this to take on a new challenge. She talks about the differences between the flat-footed nature of skating vs. dancing in heels. Seriously? She is jaw-droppingly good. Bruno: "Absolutely wicked! ... Timing, precision!" Carrie Ann says she made it look totally effortless, and that is perfection. Len: "The ice maiden has just melted my heart. ... You are a really talented ballroom dancer!" Scores: 9-9-9, for a 27/30.

Marlee Matlin says she is on DWTS to prove that just because you are deaf doesn't mean you can't dance. Her partner is Fabian Sanchez. They work together to figure out all their cues since she won't have the benefit of the musical ones. They take on the cha-cha-cha. I'd say that if you didn't know she was deaf, you definitely couldn't tell from her performance. Together, they really did pull it off. Carrie Ann: "That was almost unbelievable, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen. ... You were so fluid and moved with so much ease." Len says she had great choreography, but she does need to work on her arms. Still: "very, very good." Bruno says that even if she can't hear, the music runs through her veins. He adds that he counted through the whole song and she hardly missed a beat. Scores: 7-7-8, for a 22/30.

What did you think about the first women's performances? Who's in danger?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

Tonight, the remaining finalists will once again slaughter -- um, I mean perform songs from -- the Lennon-McCartney songbook.

You know, because last week was just awesome from start to finish? Yeah, not so much, but regardless, here we are again. We can only hope that the Top 11 handle it better this week. Let's see, shall we?

Host Ryan Seacrest claims that this is "by popular demand," but I guess they aren't listening to me (or most of the commenters from last week).

Ryan clarifies that this week's theme is actually the songs of the Beatles, though that's not what he said on Wednesday. And then we get another history lesson, reminding us who the Beatles are. (Of course, one of our aforementioned commenters claimed to have not known the Beatles' music until seeing some of it on last week's Idol, so perhaps I am being judgmental?)

Amanda Overmyer says her most memorable moment thus far was performing on the big stage last week. She's taking on "Back in the U.S.S.R." this fine evening. Her goal is to give it a bluesy, Southern rock feel, and while she clearly has a blast on stage, it still doesn't feel like she does anything new with it. (But I have a feeling this is going to continue to be an issue for most of the contestants tonight.) Randy Jackson says this was the perfect song choice for her, though a little pitchy at the beginning. Paula Abdul agrees that "it was sketchy at first," but when she connects, she is "quintessential." Simon Cowell says it was "predictable, it was a bit of a mess in parts, it's just the same thing week after week after week." Amanda tells Ryan that she thinks she has a minute and a half a week to show the audience what it would look like if they came to see one of her shows, so she's trying to show them a good time. Simon seems to think she means Idol tour tickets or something, but she clarifies that even if it's "some bar in Lafayette," it's all good.

Kristy Lee Cook talks to Ryan about how every night she looks through her photo albums every night to stay connected with home. Aww. She's singing "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," which she says she picked based on the title even though she didn't really know the song. She's turned it into a cheesy power ballad, which is an interesting choice. She brings some decent big notes, but I predict the judges are going to use the word "pitchy," too. Randy says this is one of his favorite Beatles songs, and the arrangement was "interesting" (we're on the same page), but kind of boring. Paula picks up on something else he says about messing with the melody and that sometimes it works better if you stick with the original arrangement. But it's OK, Kristy Lee, because "this is the best you have ever looked." (Does she ever say this to the men? "Oh, that was a weird choice, but gosh, you look so good in those pants, so don't worry your pretty little head about it?" Sorry about the eye-rolling digression here; I'll get back to the show now.) She adds that it was a little safe but good. Simon says she needs "something like hypnosis because the problem is you are not a good a performer. ... It's like musical wallpaper in that you notice it, but you can't remember. You're making no impact, apart from last week, when you were terrible."

David Archuleta says he has had a ton of memorable moments, good ones like singing "Imagine," and bad ones like forgetting his lyrics last week in front of millions of people. His choice is "The Long and Winding Road." He's back to his usual form, remembering his lyrics and hitting all of his notes. The audience goes cuh-razy. Randy says, "David Archuleta has brought the hotness back." He says he could take some liberties and add some runs if he wanted to. Paula says the purity of his sound is indentifiable (or something like that) and also, he can "rise above adversity." Simon says last week was a complete mess; "this week, I thought you were amazing. You absolutely made my point." He adds that you have to sell a song and make it memorable. "That was a master class," Simon says. Wow!

Ryan then is forced to do an "impromptu" iPhone commercial. Nice.

Michael Johns says his memorable moment is his performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" during Hollywood Week. I agree that that is the best he's been so far and that he needs to try to capture that again. His song this week is "A Day in the Life," though he says condensing it to 90 seconds is definitely a challenge. For me, it's kind of a mixed bag. Parts are good, parts are pitchy, parts he's dancing around kind of goofily (and killing his stage presence), parts are OK. All that in a minute and a half. Randy says it wasn't his best performance, and that he hasn't yet found the right song to show off his big voice. Paula says that during a dress rehearsal she heard, he was better, and that maybe the big stage or the ear monitors or something are throwing him off. Simon says it was a mess. "You didn't hit the right notes, the song went all over the place." He tells Michael he needs to sort himself out. Then Ryan brings up the ear monitors again, but it turns out Michael isn't. Then Michael adds that he chose the song to honor a friend of his who recently passed away.

Brooke White tells Ryan says she got to go home this weekend and visit with family. In the interview, she says her "Let It Be" performance is probably one of her most memorable moments of her entire life. Her song this evening is "Here Comes the Sun." So, hmmm. Her voice sounds good, as usual, but her performance is a little weird. She has no guitar and no piano, and she kind of dances around the stage, which ends up being pretty awkward. Randy says the performance "was really awkward for me," which hey, same page again. He says her little "woo" was really weird, and she totally agrees and says she didn't mean to do that, and wishes she hadn't. He adds that she really wasn't ever connected with the song and it "never quite gelled." Paula says it's good that you can't help but smile when she performs and that she showed off her low tones, which was nice. Simon says, "I thought the performance was terrible ... from the horrible dancing to the lack of conviction." She starts talking over him to tell the audience that it is OK that they can say these things since they have been so nice to her. Brooke, who needs to stop talking, says that, "This week was inevitable after last week."

David Cook says last Tuesday is his most memorable moment because of the rock concert feel. He says he is going to do "Day Tripper," based on a Whitesnake performance from back in the 1970s. That description kind of scares me, but this peformance I liked much better than last week's Nickelback-esque generic rock yawner (except for the part with the vocoder or talkbox or whatever it was; that was a little self-indulgent). Still, I will be glad when we get out of Beatles territory. Randy laughs and says he keeps it interesting and that even though it might not have been his best performance, it was solid. Paula says he is ready to go sell records. "I want to," he says. Simon says, "I don't think that was as good as you thought it was, actually. You looked smug throughout, and I thought the vocoder in the middle was just stupid." He says this was predictable.

Carly Smithson also says her most memorable moment was last week's performance. Her song for the night is "Blackbird," which her brother used to sing to her when she was a child and which she thinks will show off a softer side. And it does -- this sounds more like a performance than her much-praised take on "Come Together" last week, which felt like karaoke to me. Randy says it was another great performance, "very controlled, very emotive, very cool." Paula says she has amazing tone and that the arrangement was beautiful. Simon says it wasn't a very smart choice because it was "indulgent." I don't agree until she explains that the lyrics mean so much to her and the others who have been trying to break into the industry for so long (though she admits that is pretty corny). Simon says now he's very uncomfortable, but she clarifies that she means that now she feels like she is free and thankful for that.

Jason Castro says his most memorable moment thus far was singing "Hallelujah" -- particularly that his last note was bad and no one cared. He says he's singing "Michelle," and hoping he does OK with the French. He does (at least as far as I can tell), and the performance is typically sweet and heartfelt but very him. Randy says it was a good choice, thought a little subdued. Jason agrees that the week came very fast. Paula says he has a lot of charm, but that this was a little awkward. Simon says this is a weird show tonight -- "and I'm not sure it was such a good idea doing Beatles again because we had such a good memory of last week." But, he goes on, "Your face sold that. ... Your goofiness makes it work. ... But on the radio, it would be 'off.'"

Is it just me, or is this the longest episode EVER?

Syesha Mercado tells Ryan that this is a special week because her parents are here for the first time. She says her memorable moment was being in the bottom three last week, which gave her a kick that she needed. Her song this week is "Yesterday." I feel like maybe she starts too high or something -- her voice is really thin at the beginning, and except for a couple of power notes (and even those aren't exactly where they should be), it's boring. Randy says she took some liberties, and "in my estimation, very, very, very good performance tonight." Paula says she allowed herself to be very vulnerable, and that sets her apart. Paula adds that she should connect with the audience with her eyes more. Simon, "I thought that was probably your best performance so far. It wasn't incredible, but you chose the best song. ... That song and that performance should keep you in the competition."

Chikezie's most memorable moment was the first round in Hollywood Week. His song is "I've Just Seen a Face," and he plans to play an instrument even though he doesn't know how to play it yet. Say what? Said instrument is the harmonica, and after he plays a short riff, he speeds up the song and somehow seems to be singing it with a rock vibe, even though some of the instrumentation is very country. It's strange, and in stark contrast to the first part, which is slow and traditional, and not as interesting. Randy says there were good or bad parts -- he says he didn't get the slow parts, and the harmonica was weird, but the fast part was good. Paula says it is pure and on pitch when he sings a ballad and that he shows the whole scope of who he is by speeding it up. Simon: "It started off OK, and then you played the harmonica, which was literally atrocious, and it turns into 'Achy Breaky Heart' at the end." Randy says he was about five artists up there last night. "It was gimmicky," Simon closes.

Ramiele Malubay is the last singer of the night. She says her most memorable moment is making so many friends who are going through something that no one else can understand. Her song choice is "I Should Have Known Better" in an attempt to make the judges smile again since she bored them last week. She busts out some big notes at the end, but I think she would have been better served coming up with some of those at the beginning, too. Randy said it was "happy-go-lucky" and she showed off her confidence. Paula says ballads show off her range and she wants to see her back in the zone like when she sang Dusty Springfield. Simon says he likes her a lot, but "the track sounded terrible." He says she chose a mediocre song that didn't show off her abilities.

Somehow this wasn't quite as tragic as last week, but I will still be thrilled once we get these kids away from the Fab Four.

Who do you think is out? And who wowed you?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: American Idol
        

Well, here we are, back for the premiere of yet another season of Dancing With the Stars.

It's an interesting cast this year, and locally, of course, we're most excited about the presence of R&B star Mario among the contestants.

First up, the pros come out and put on a show to "Let Me Entertain You."

Then we're introduced to the stars, after which we learn that then men perform tonight, the women tomorrow and there's no elimination this week. Well, whew, because I was afraid for a minute that this was going to be on three times this week!

The first out on the floor aremagician Penn Jillette and Kym Johnson. In an interview, Penn says he isn't the youngest or most athletic, but he has the most stage experience, which he hopes will help. They seem to be having fun during preparations, and here's hoping that sense of fun comes with them during their performance. They start the cha-cha-cha with the longest feather boa I have ever seen. And it's true, he is super-comfortable on stage and performing the heck out of the dance, but it kind of feels more like a comedy show than a dance show. Still, it is entertaining. Judge Len Goodman says Penn captured "the flavor" of the cha-cha-cha, but, "the problem is your feet." Still, he closes, "well done." Bruno Tonioli says, "It was like watching a trailer for Shrek Goes Cha-Cha-Cha." Carrie Ann Inaba says he has great attitude but needs to work on the footwork. Scores: 5-6-5, for a 16/30. (Host Samantha Harris makes comments including the words "magical" and "do the trick," and I wonder if she really wants to use all her best lines in the first 25 minutes!)

NFL star Jason Taylor is partners with Edyta Sliwinska, and he says he signed up for the challenge. He interviews (and he tells Edyta) that he's concerned about having to go back to work in the NFL and so he doesn't want to lose his macho side. Their first dance is the foxtrot, and it's smooth and upbeat. For all his talk, Jason seems to handle the dancing pretty darned well. Len: "You are a good-looking guy. ... It's like looking in a mirror. ... You've got great posture, you moved across the floor well, you're elegant. ... The acting side is what you need." Carrie Ann says she expected he would be a little rough on the first dance, but he wasn't. Bruno says he's the most graceful tackler he's ever seen, but he adds that he needs a little more "drive." Scores: 7-8-7, for a 22/30.

Cristian de la Fuente and Cheryl Burke are partners this season. Cristian interviews that he is under a lot of pressure as a Latino because people expect him to be a good dancer, even though his country is Chile, which is known for sea bass and wine. They dance the cha-cha-cha, and Cristian seems to have overcome his problem with being "robotic," as Cheryl put it. Carrie Ann says he is well-suited to the cha-cha and that they have chemistry, but he needs to work on his shoulder. Bruno says he looked like he was riding a bike, he was so hunched over. Len says his hips down were great, but his shoulders and arms were a problem. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30.

Adam Carolla is partners with Julianne Hough. Adam says he signed up because it sounded humiliating, so he thought he should do it. For their first dance, they perform the foxtrot. He puts in a good effort, but you can tell this is not natural for him at all. But you can also tell that he's been working hard. Bruno compares it to "Will Ferrell with a bit of John Cleese thrown in. ... There is work to be done. ... Plenty." Len says Julianne has her work cut out for her, but his footwork was good. Carrie Ann says he had moments that were good and other moments that were ... not. Scores: 5-5-5, for a 15/30.

Baltimore's Mario is the youngest person in the competition at 21. He is partnered with Karina Smirnoff. During their preparations, Karina had to get surgery for a herniated disc in her neck, but she seems to have recovered before the live part of the season began. They are dancing the cha-cha-cha. There is no doubt that his concert experience helps him out because Mario can move, and he and Karina have amazing chemistry. Carrie Ann: "Dannnnnnnng! Wowwwww! Dang, you can dance. ... Ladies, this is the standard you have to watch out for." Len: "It was rhythmic, you had great hip action," but he tells him to work on his footwork. Bruno says he is a great dancer and a great performer. Samantha asks him about his dance experience, and he says he has no formal dance training, "just choreography" (I assume he means in concerts and videos). Scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30.

Steve Guttenberg is partners with Anna Trebunskaya this season. They praise each other's skills as a student and a teacher, and Steve says he's getting the dance in his head, he just needs to get his body to follow. They dance the foxtrot, and it's decent -- he's definintely using his acting skills to sell it, but his body seems to have picked up some of the steps he was worried about. Bruno says he put his heart and soul into it even though it started out like the "Billy Ray school of dance." Carrie Ann says there is something very adorable about Steve and that she likes his charm. She does tell him to watch his musicality. Len says he is the first one to come out and look like he was enjoying himself, but he needs to work on his technique. Scores: 6-6-6, for an 18/30.

Everyone gets another chance to dance before anyone gets sent home next week, but who do you think is in danger? I'm thinking Adam Carolla, although his radio fan base might prove me wrong.

Tomorrow, the women. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Looks like Danny Noriega took Rosie O'Donnell up on her offer for him to perform on her cruise.

Read more here. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: American Idol
        

For the second week in a row, a houseguest who thought he was evicted ended up back in the house -- and becoming HOH.

James, who was lied to by almost everyone and then evicted by a vote of 5-1, got voted back in on Wednesday when a majority of the houseguests went with "the devil you know" strategy when faced with bringing either him or a random previously evicted contestant chosen by viewers.

But they didn't count on an HOH challenge that was all about will and endurance. It came down to Natalie (who was willing to do whatever she could to keep Matt safe) and James (who was out for revenge), who stayed balanced on the disco-ball contraption pictured above for five hours. Natalie was starting to feel ill, and James promised her she and Matt would be safe, winning himself the competition.

The other dramas in the episode included Matt trying to pretend like he was one of the people who voted for James to come back in the house, which made Adam look suspect, and also made Adam mad. Also, Matt finally started to realize that he'd been treating Natalie awfully. We'll see how long his kind(ish) treatment of her actually lasts.

And the nominations? Ryan and Sheila.

Speaking of Sheila, I know the veto competition thing said she had to wear that unitard for a week, but it already seems like it's been years. Can she go back to regular clothes, please? Please??

(Photo of the HOH competition contraption courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Big Brother
        

Guest blogger John-John Williams IV reports:

On this week's Top Model, the girls went to a fire station for a little runway training with “Miss J.” The runway coach and show judge encouraged the gals to sashay up and down the runway with confidence. And he wasn’t afraid to join them to critique their bad technique. Gotta love Miss J and his/her ability to remain “fierce” and “fabulous” even in a room full of testosterone-filled firefighters.

Stacy-Ann, Katarzyna, Claire, and Dominique demonstrated very strong walks. Lauren was completely hopeless. And Fatima walked like a Clydesdale, according to Miss J.

Later, the contestants participated in a fashion show where they modeled Tuleh. Before taking the catwalk, the girls received a surprise pep-talk from Jaslene, the winner of Cycle 8. The girls learned that the best model during the fashion show would receive a photo shoot with Jaslene in Seventeen magazine.

Most of the contestants did a pretty good job, but there were a few pitfalls ...

Whitney wound up accidentally flashing the audience -- a la Janet-Jackson -- when her breast fell out of her top. Fatima also had her own wardrobe malfunction. She buttoned her sweater incorrectly. There was no serious skin shown, but it was noticeable that the outfit was uneven.

Lauren had one of the worst runway walks ever. She almost race-walked the runway. She barely paused at the end of the stage. She was just a quick Crayola-factory blur.

Miss J looked like she was going to kill Lauren. After the show, Jaslene lit into Lauren. She even asked Lauren if she wanted to be a part of the competition. (That ain’t good, fashionistas.) Lauren held it together during the criticism, but later broke down in a confessional.

Katarzyna was picked as the winner of the challenge. She picked Amis and Marvita to accompany her during the Seventeen magazine shoot.

The girls then went back to their pad for a little rest and relaxation. No such luck for the drama-queens of this cycle.

Whitney, Amy, Fatima, Marvita and Dominique got into a tiff about Amy’s need for privacy in the bathroom. It was a pretty trivial argument: Amy didn’t want any of the models to enter the bathroom while she was taking a shower. The real problem arose when Whitney started fanning the fire. I’m sure some of the black contestants were already angry with her after last week’s episode where she joined in with Allison who was caught making fun of black women.

This week, the cameras caught Dominique whispering that Whitney reminded her of “Southern, uncultured, white trash.” (Next week’s episode appears to be an extension of this week's squabble. In the preview, Whitney is shown proclaiming that she’s not a racist.)

I hope PETA wasn’t watching this week’s Top Model photo shoot. The girls were required to pose in a meat locker wearing garments made of meat. That means Whitney’s underwear was fashioned from a slab of beef. Anya’s bra was also made of animal flesh.

Surprisingly, none of the models objected to the shoot. (Smart of them!)

The judges loved Lauren’s photo. Miss J told her that she went from a “busted up runway model to a fabulous editorial model.” The judges also gushed over Anya. They marveled at her ability to turn out high-fashion photographs. They hated Amis, who should have looked into the camera as opposed to away from it. Fatima’s snarling-face photo did not work with the judges.

In the end, Amis and Fatima were in the bottom two. Amis -- with her tacky, tacky turquoise headband and hand-me-down sweatshirt hoodie – was given the boot.

Fatima sobbed and sobbed at her near exit. She vowed to improve upon the critiques dished out by the judges.

Next week’s dramatic fight between Dominique and Whitney should be entertaining. Can’t wait to watch!

Keep catwalking!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: America's Next Top Model
        

Did you catch last week's premiere of Top Chef: Chicago? I thought it was a pretty fun premiere, all things considered.

Tons of characters, lots of good food and some interesting challenges already.

For their first Quickfire, the contestants had to create a deep-dish pizza (being in Chicago, natch). Some had trouble with proportions and other issues, and some others created some unexpected pies with such ingredients as peaches and tea sauce (Richard) and Marmite (Mark). The judges divided them into a favorite group and least favorite group.

For the main challenge, the favorite group had to draw knives, then each chose a person from the other group to face off with. That person then got to choose the "classic" dish from a list that the two would cook head-to-head. The classics included such dishes as shrimp scampi, duck a l'orange and (painfully) souffle.

There was some posturing, a little trash-talking and tons of manic cooking. I enjoyed the moment when Zoi and Erik, who were both making souffle and not happy about it, bonded over the fact that their souffles were actually rising.

In the end, Stephanie won for her duck a l'orange, and Nimma went home after messing up salt quantities in her quickfire (not enough) and her elimination challenge (WAY too much).

I'm not sad to see her go. She exuded basically zero personality (and if you don't believe me, check out the exit video after the jump) and didn't seem interested in getting to know her fellow contestants, which would have been a tactical error if she'd lasted longer since there are typically a number of group challenges.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Top Chef
        

What did you all think of last week's Survivor: Fan vs. Favorites?

It was crazy seeing Jonathan Penner have to be medically evacuated. His injury during the previous week's reward challenge seemed painful but not horrendous, but once it got infected? Yeesh. He could hardly walk, and I swear he was slurring his words at the beginning of the episode. When the doctor told him he needed to get to the hospital stat or risk losing his leg or, in the case of a blood infection, his life, he didn't have much of a choice.

And when Chet, suffering from an infected wound to his heel, heard about Jonathan's departure, well, I'm pretty sure that's exactly when he gave up and decided to ask his tribe to vote him out.

I did enjoy Jason finding Ozzy's fake immunity idol and seeming to buy into it, then later declaring at the immunity challenge that he was pretty sure Ozzy had it already. However, seeing all that on the previews did kind of ruin it.

What do you think is going to happen next?

(Photo of Jonathan Penner courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Survivor
        

It's time for the first single cut on American Idol, where one of the 12 finalists will be sent packing.

Jim Carrey is there for some cross-promotion of this movie he is in, and he's also sitting so close to Ryan Seacrest's TelePromTer that it keeps sneaking into shots. Whoops!

Then Ryan announces that there was such a positive response to this week that they have changed next week's theme and are doing more of the Lennon-McCartney songbook. Why? No, seriously. Those amazing songs ate some of these kids alive, and it wasn't pretty. Why are we doing this again?

Before I can scream "whyyyyyyyy" for too much longer, the Top 12 come out for a cheesy group sing. It's Beatles, so the songs are good, but the dance moves? Cheesy.

Then, the contestants are in the hot seat ...

Ryan has Carly Smithson, Michael Johns, Syesha Mercado and Jason Castro stand. Carly is safe. So is Michael. As is Jason. Syesha, however, is in the bottom three. Randy and Paula say she should be safe, but Simon says she deserves to be in the bottom three. With that, she has to sing again.

Next, the contestants ruin the song "The Distance" with their commercial this week. Thanks, y'all.

Chikezie, Amanda Overmyer, Kristy Lee Cook and David Cook are asked to stand. Ryan calls Chikezie forward to see if he is sweating like last night and tells him he is safe. Amanda Overmyer: safe. David Cook is also safe. Kristy Lee Cook asks Ryan where her microphone is, but first, he has to go through all the judges' comments. He gives her the mike. She says, "I'm sorry you have to hear it again." I'm sorry, too. Again, it's not even really her voice. It's the viciously bad arrangement.

Then viewers call in with questions, and it is what it is.

Next up, Katherine McPhee comes out to sing George Harrison's "Something" accompanied by David Foster on piano.

Back to the results. David Archuleta, Brooke White, David Hernandez and Ramiele Malubay come to the front of the stage. David Archuleta is safe. Brooke White, also safe. Ramiele Malubay is safe, and David Hernandez is in the bottom three. He sings.

Syesha, Kristy Lee and David hit center stage. Ryan tells Syesha she is safe after dragging it out for a while.

First finalist ousted is: David Hernandez.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: American Idol
        

Last night, my television was trying to protect me from Big Brother. It was so pixely and jumpy that I missed about half of every sentence and didn't get a clear picture for pretty much the whole show.

But I was able to mostly figure out what happened. After Matt was mean to Natalie, some of the others opted to try to ally against Matt. Unfortunately, when Matt was nice to Natalie the next day, she spilled the whole story to him. He, in turn, told Ryan to expect a pitch to keep Ryan safe for two weeks if he put Matt on the block.

Still, it seemed like he was down with the idea, but at the veto meeting, after Chelsia took herself off the block, Ryan gave a speech that sounded like he was targeting Matt, but he shocked everyone and put James on the block.

But then on tonight's episode, Sheila stirred up some controversy. Sharon told Sheila that Matt had kissed her when she was HOH, which of course Sheila immediately told Natalie about. Natalie started saying how that meant she couldn't trust Matt, so she should vote out Sharon. Could this girl be more deluded? She acts like a needy 13-year-old!

Anyway, during the live portion of the show, the evicted houseguests were brought together to learn which of them would be going back into the house. (My favorite part was when Allison was answering Julie's question, but the audio was of Matt talking inside the house. Whoops!) The twist here was that despite being voted by America to go back in, it wasn't a given. The houseguests would have to decide whether to let the new person in (not knowing his or her identity) or to let the person they just voted out stay in instead.

Alex learned that he had been chosen by the voters to have the chance to re-enter the house. Back inside, James was evicted by a vote of 5-to-1 and left to talk to Julie, so I guess Natalie's plan didn't work. In his interview with Julie, James claimed that Sheila is playing the hardest of everyone, which I wouldn't have bought until tonight.

After Julie informed James of the twist and asked how he might react to the news that he could go back in the house, he said, "I would crap my pants, Julie." The very matter-of-factness of his statement was amusing.

The evil alarm went off in the house, and the remaining houseguests freaked out and ran into the living room. Julie told them they had to vote between the mystery box and James. They of course weren't supposed to talk to one another, but they were already babbling about how they needed to choose James. I assumed they would go for James since that wouldn't be a surprise, but the votes were more split than I anticipated, at 5-3. But James was still the winner.

Then, HOH. Ended up it was an ongoing one and wasn't finished when the show was over, so we'll see how it went down later.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 8:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Big Brother
        

It's finally the finals of this season of American Idol, and boy, are they hyped about the new set and lights. Ooh. Ahh. Can we get to the singing?

Speaking of which, tonight's theme is the Lennon-McCartney songbook. In case we don't know who they are, host Ryan Seacrest gives us a history lesson. Then the judges talk a little about the songs, including such insights as Randy Jackson saying, "Those boys put it down."

Syesha Mercado is the first finalist of the evening. She is going to sing "Got to Get You Into My Life." She and the band give it a little jazzy twist with lots of horns, and she seems comfortable on the NEW! BIGGER! STAGE! Randy says it was a nice arrangement, "kind of the Earth, Wind and Fire version?" She agrees. He says it was rough at first and then improved. Paula Abdul agrees that it started off pitch, but midway through, she sounded "great." Simon Cowell says, "I thought it was better than all right, Randy. I thought it was a great choice of song. I just think you looked really, really nervous. [OK, then.]" Syesha tells Ryan that she likes this stage because you can feed off of everyone's energy.

Chikezie talks to Ryan about moving from working security at LAX to being on this show. He adds that he was totally sure he was going home last week because "Danny's such a lovable guy." His song choice for the evening is "She's a Woman," but, "I'm putting my own funk on it." He starts sitting on the edge of the stage with some of the band, doing a hoe-down version of the song (fiddle included), but then he gets up, and it turns into a rock song. That was unexpected, and it kind of worked better than I would have thought. Randy: "I was thoroughly entertained! ... Chikezie smashed it!" Paula says he took a risk, and "the reward paid off." Simon: "I'm really surprised that I actually agree with these two. What I loved about it, other than the fact that you looked like you were completely drunk halfway through the performance, was that, unlike the first singer, you've actually changed in a week. ... I thought you were terrific." Chikezie is so excited that he runs around in circles, and Ryan goes a little crazy with him.  

Ramiele Malubay has chosen "In My Life," and says this song is for "my close friends who have left the show already." I hope she doesn't cry. She sounds pretty good, but the arm-waving from the audience right by the stage doesn't de-cheese-ify it at all. Randy says it was pretty, but also boring. "It just kind of laid there for me," he says. Paula says she looks lovely tonight, so you know criticism is coming. "It was pretty safe," she says. "... You could have gone in a lot of directions." Simon: "I was bored to tears throughout the entire song. ... It was forgettable, boring, and I expect a lot better from you because you're better than that."

Jason Castro sings "If I Fell" on this themed evening. It starts out just him and the acoustic guitar, but the band comes in with strings and drums a little while in. It's a simple take on the song, but it works with his voice. Randy: "I liked it, but I didn't love it. ... The switches in the melody kind of threw me a little." Paula says she disagrees because "what is so special and unique is that I feel your heart. ... You don't do all the riffs and the runs, and you don't have to." Simon says, "It was all a little student in a bedroom at midnight. ... Is he going to make the same impact as last week? No. ... Good enough to stay another week? Definitely, but not as good as last week."

Carly Smithson sings "Come Together," which she says she sings every week at the Irish restaurant where she works. She says she's going to change it up a little, but it doesn't feel like that much of a new take to me. Good voice, though, and the crowd goes bananas. Randy says, "That felt amazing, didn't it? ... Stellar performance." Paula says it was like "already watching a star." Simon: "Week after week, so far, I think you have chosen the wrong song. Until now. ... This reminds me, six years ago, exactly the same week, Kelly Clarkson."

David Cook is going to sing "Eleanor Rigby," and he's going to skip the guitar because he thinks it would be too much. The arrangement is very rock-n-roll, but I don't think it does a ton for him. I seem to be the only one who thinks so. Randy says this proves you can rock on Idol. Paula says this proves there is more than one horse in this race. Simon: "David, I thought it was brilliant. For two weeks now, ... if this show remains a talent competition rather than a popularity competition, you actually could win this entire show."

Full disclosure: At this point, I'm feeling such a diconnect with the audience and the judges that I go back and rewatch Carly and David's performances. I don't quibble with their voices at all; they sounded good. But I didn't feel the brilliance the judges are preaching. Maybe it's that these songs are so well-known? And while I really liked David's voice on the song, the whole thing just felt like a generic rock-band performance of this iconic song (Nickelback does "Eleanor Rigby"?), and it was strange to me. Shrug. Just my take.

Brooke White says her first Beatles album was Sgt. Pepper. Her song choice for the evening is "Let It Be." She opts to also play piano for her performance, which increases the difficulty level quite a bit. She seems pretty nervous but lets it go a little when the band comes in behind her. She looks like she's going to cry when she's done. Randy says this was like a "dream-come-true" moment for her and that he could imagine her learning it as a kid and thinking that one day she would sing this if she made it big. He adds that it was really heartfelt. Paula says her emotional connection "makes people fall in love with you." Simon: "I thought it was, again, one of the best performances of the night." By now, she is crying. He adds that it was believable. Talking to Ryan, she is still totally overwhelmed by the whole experience, and it's very sweet.

David Hernandez talks about his work and his school, but not the job that's been in the news. His song for the evening is "I Saw Her Standing There." His voice, as usual, sounds nice, but he doesn't really do anything new, so it feels kind of karaoke. It's tough not to with these songs, though, since they are so well known. Randy says, "For me, it was a little too overdone, so I was a little lost from the jump." Paula: "I feel like you kind of overdid it." Gosh, where have we heard that before? Simon: "I thought it was corny verging on desperate."

Amanda Overmyer is going to sing "You Can't Do That." She intends to speed it up and rock it out. And she does. Randy: "That is the true mark of great songs." He says she took a Beatles song to a Southern club and that it was a great. Paula is inspired to say that this is the best season of talent and that she is blown away. Simon: "I didn't think it was as good as last week, and I understood about 30 percent of what you said." He and Paula get into it about respect. Finally, he adds that she is a breath of fresh air in the competition.

Michael Johns says the song "Across the Universe" helped him through a hard time in his past and that is his choice for the evening. He does a nice job with it, but I don't really have anything more to say about it. Randy says he was waiting for something big to happen. "It was OK for me; a little sleepy." Paula disagrees, saying that it takes inner strength and confidence to just stand there and "sing brilliantly." Simon agrees with Randy, saying, "What's the Irish girl's name? Carly? Carly did something brilliant with the song, and that's what you should have done. It was a little monotonous. ... I'm still a big, big fan of yours," and he's frustrated that Michael hasn't had his big moment.

Kristy Lee Cook is going to sing "Eight Days a Week," but as a country song. But it's a country song on speed or something -- the arrangement is going so fast that I find it literally disorienting. Randy says he liked parts and liked the idea of the song, but that he feels like she was trying to force it. Paula: "Kristy, I didn't like it, and I'll tell you why. ... I didn't get it." Simon: "I thought it was horrendous. You sounded like Dolly Parton on helium. ... That song just doesn't work in that style." I think I am going to be haunted by the sounds of those manic strings.

David Archuleta says he wasn't that familiar with the songs of Lennon-McCartney (except, of course, for "Imagine," which he sang just a couple of weeks ago). He sings "We Can Work It Out." Well, the people who were questioning whether he was human know he is now since he totally forgets the lyrics twice. Oh, that was hard to watch. Randy: "This week, it was not on point. This is not your vibe. It felt really forced." Paula says this wasn't his best week, and that forgetting the lyrics was a problem, but they still love him. (Cue audience screams.) Simon: "That was a mess. You stumbled over the lyrics in the beginning. ... You shouldn't have done the Stevie version. ... It was your weakest performance so far."

It was an interesting night overall, but I think a lot of people are in danger: Kristy, Syesha, Ramiele, David Hernandez. I actually think David Archuleta's mistake is going to help him since people are going to be worried about him.

What's your take on the Lennon-McCartney evening?  

(Photo of the Top 12 at the "Horton Hears a Who" premiere by Stephen Shugerman / Getty Images)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)
Categories: American Idol
        

Ready for Monday's debut of the new season of Dancing With the Stars?

Marlee Matlin is. She talked with the Associated Press about her experience preparing for the show thus far. Check it out here.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Dancing With the Stars
        

Finally, the dumb couples' twist is over on Big Brother, which I hoped would make things more interesting.

But instead, on last night's episode, the guys got all macho and "bros before ..." well, you know, and decided they would dominate this place. Except maybe James and Chelsia, who either have feelings for each other and are still secretly allied or are both playing each other.

I suppose everyone else could unite against the dudes and try to take them down, but I can't really see them getting that plan together.

Speaking of which, Nataile is totally coming off as a stalker and dumber than a box of hair. She managed to say in the course of about five minutes that there were three colors on this thing in the guinea pigs' cage (there were four) and that there are 27 letters in the alphabet (she was counting the "and" in "y and z," and seriously, I wish I were making that up).

But the season is going to become even more boring if the guys just railroad all over everyone else. Yuck.

Oh, and let's not forget: Sharon and Chelsia are on the block. And on Wednesday, one of the evicted houseguests gets to move back in. I suspect it will be Parker or Alex, since they are the ones who really got kicked out because of their partners. Tomorrow: POV, etc.

I do hope it's not Allison who returns, although it might be funny to see her get evicted for a third time.

This show is making me mean.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Big Brother
        

On Thursday night, it was already time to mix up the fans and the "favorites" on Survivor. Of course, they did a schoolyard pick, and of course, Chet was last.

When the reconfiguring was done, the tribes looked like this:

Malakal: Ozzy, Joel, Amanda, Erik, Ami, Tracy, Cirie and Chet

Airai: Natalie, James, Alexis, Jonathan, Jason, Parvati, Kathy and Eliza

I guess I'm going to have to learn to spell these tribe names since I can't just call them "fans" and "favorites" anymore. Aww, nuts.

For their first challenge, a pair from each team was tied together, one with a flag on its back. The flag wearers were the chasees and the others were the chasers. The goal was to get three flags off the other team. Oh, and of course, there was this (stick-filled) obstacle course, which made the whole thing pretty brutal. Ami tweaked her knee, Jonathan ripped his knee open and Parvati got a fat lip. But the person who took the most abuse was Chet, who was lashed to Joel, who, dragged him around and ran him into things and was generally a gigantic jerk about it all. So Malakal lost the reward, but they got to stay on the favorites' beach, so things weren't looking so bad after all since there was an actual shelter there. And they have Ozzy.

Over at Airai, the favorites marveled at how awful the camp was, and the new team got ready to enjoy its reward. Then, a beautiful Survivor moment. They were happily cooking their meat and veggie reward in the bad camp, when suddenly, the tide came in and wiped out the fire. Too funny. Not so surprisingly, the next thing we saw was the faves figuring out where the new camp should be and building a new shelter.

For the immunity challenge, the banged up contestants were spared a physical challenge for one involving the usual tiles and puzzle. Malakal lost.

So, of course, it seemed like Chet was going home. No question, right? Well, Cirie didn't much like the idea of the weakest going home first since she'd be considered in that category. So she ended up manipulating all the votes again. (When will her teammates figure out they are being played by her and get rid of her instead?) Anyway, Cirie teamed up with Tracy and Chet and talked to some of the other tribemates about Joel's bad attitude and temper, and apparently he'd made enough of a bad impression that plenty of others turned against him, too. Bye, Joel.

My other favorite moment of the night was early in the episode. Ozzy was shown carefully hiding away the immunity idol from Exile Island, immediately after which they learned about the switch. He looked terrified that he was going to get sent to the other beach, and it was hysterical. But he ended up back at home, back with his idol.

I was hoping that the switch would mean that the couples would be separated (especially since I didn't sign up to watch Survivor: Til Death Do Us Part), but that didn't happen. Ozzy and Amanda are still together on one team, and James and Parvati are together on the other. At least their foursome got mixed up.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Survivor
        

In case you missed Saturday Night Live's sendup of Christian Siriano, you can check it out above.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Guest blogger John-John Williams IV reports:

While many of ya’ll were no doubt watching Project Runway last week, I was watching the other spectrum of the fashion industry — the models.

It was makeover madness on Top Model. And, I must admit that I was a little apprehensive when I heard that the models were heading to Wal-Mart for the makeovers. (Not exactly high fashion.)
I was pleasantly surprised, when I learned that the models were only going to the mega-chain to complete a Covergirl makeup challenge. (Claire won that one.)

The makeup challenge was only a tuneup for the makeovers, which were done at a local salon.

It wouldn’t be the makeover episode if a model was not displeased with her new look. (Remember Cassandra from Cycle 5, Jaeda from Cycle 7 and most recently Bianca from last season?) This year that distinction went to Fatima, who cried from the pain of her new long silky weave. I think the pain was worth it. The girl looks stunning. Can you say the next coming of Iman?

You know who else got a great makeover? Marvita. With the addition of a super long weave in the back, she went from semi-macho to glam.

Claire’s hair was dyed blond and buzzed along the sides for a cute alterna-chick look. Removing all that additional hair really draws attention to her face, which is a great thing. She has such an unusual look. Is she Russian? Is she of Asian descent? All that guessing is good. She’s memorable. She’ll go far.

I didn’t like Anya’s makeover. Her long platinum weave just didn’t sit right with me. Maybe it will take a few episodes to get used to it. Hope she stays around long enough to prove me right.
After the makeovers, the contestants got on a yacht for a photo shoot. This week, the hopefuls modeled lingerie from a clothing line by the legendary Elle McPherson.

I suppose the girls did decent for the most part.

Poor Whitney – the plus-sized model – was thrown into this God-awful outfit that completely covered up a good majority of her body. Her thinner counterparts on the other hand were dressed in traditional lingerie (Totally not fair; and Tyra made mention of this during the judging period).

Katarzyna looked a little cheap during her photo shoot. Judge Paulina Porizkova later said that Katarzyna looked like a Russian mail-order bride. (That ain’t good, folks.)

Allison – the Alyssa Milano look-alike from Waunakee, Wis. – bragged the entire episode that she had so much modeling experience. When  it came down to the photo shoot, she was over-posing and a mess.

Dominique was quite possibly the worse of the bunch. She was so stiff and nervous. Her totally lost the swagger she had shown up until that point. It wasn’t good.

Dominique’s saving grace was Tyra, who was not a fan of Dominique’s new shoulder-length hair style. It was the wrong color, Tyra said during the elimination round.

In the end Allison was sent packing. Her attitude totally stunk. She also made some racially charged jokes about black women to Fatima. (Can you say stupid?) She was also cocky as the dickens. She didn’t even say thank you to Tyra when she gave her a compliment. It was time for her to go.

Keep catwalking!
 

 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: America's Next Top Model
        

As if I haven't been spending enough time thinking about reality TV lately, I was perusing the frozen aisle looking for some dessert this weekend and came across the ice cream above. I don't know whether I'm ready for Idol-inspired ice cream. (Plus, wouldn't Bitter Tears or Sour Grapes be a little more accurate, flavor-wise? Perhaps not as tasty though.)

Back on the TV front, I'll be catching up with posts on Survivor and Big Brother today. Finally. Just so's you know.

(Photo by me)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: American Idol
        

Four more will go home this evening on American Idol, leaving us with the 12 finalists.

But first up, last year's runner-up Blake Lewis comes out to perform his new single live. Ryan Seacrest asks him for his advice, and he tells the contestants to be true to themselves and listen to the good comments from the judges. OK, then.

Before he starts revealing the Top 12, Ryan says more than 36 million votes were cast on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Ryan also congratulates Paula Abdul for having the No. 1 downloaded video on iTunes. OK, then. Let's get to the results.

First, a montage of the guys' performances from Tuesday (with Randy's references to INXS when Michael Johns was singing a Simple Minds song carefully excised). David Cook is first up, and Ryan tells him 1) that Lionel Richie loved his version of the song, and 2) that he is in the Top 12. David Archuleta is also in. Shall we make it a David trifecta? Not yet. Jason Castro is also through to the finals.

Time to switch it up and make the women nervous. First, montage from Wednesday. Brooke White is in the Top 12. Syesha Mercado is next -- Ryan asks the judges if they think she is through, and they all say yes.  They are right. Kady Malloy finds out that she is out. That's not a big surprise. Her exit footage pretty much proves Simon right -- she is funny and engaging on film, but boring live. She reprises "Who Wants to Live Forever," and it's about as off as last night.

After the break Ryan says that during next week's results show, viewers can call in live to ask questions. Huh. That should go well.

David Hernandez is through, so there's our trifecta. Michael Johns stands up next, and he's through to the Top 12, too. Luke Menard, on the other hand, is out. Being and Orlando Bloom lookalike isn't carrying him any further. He unfortunately has to sing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" again. Danny Noriega and Chikezie look miserable while they continue to wait.

Ramiele Malubay discovers she is safe after Ryan strings her along a little. Carly Smithson? Also in the Top 12. And she also totally ignores Chikezie who is trying to give her a high five as she goes by. Amanda Overmyer is also in the Top 12 (wha?), leaving Asia'h Epperson and Kristy Lee Cook to keep on waiting.

After the break, Asia'h Epperson is out, and Kristy Lee Cook is safe. Aww, shucks, I like Asia'h. In her footage, they replay her singing "How Do I Live" at her audition two days after her father's sudden passing, and seriously, she has to sing after watching that again? That is mean and not very fair. She decides to go for it, and actually, I think she did a better job with it through the tears than she did last night. Paula shouts out: "That was the best vocal you ever did."

Back to the guys. Danny is already crying because his friends are getting sent home. Chikezie is in the Top 12, Danny Noriega is out, and Ramiele is losing it (again).

So, to recap (the recap), Kady Malloy, Asia'h Epperson, Luke Menard and Danny Noriega have been cut, and now it's time for the finals. I'm surprised to see Asia'h out, but otherwise not too shocked. How about you?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: American Idol
        

Newsday was the the finale party for Project Runway last night and got to chat with winner Christian Siriano. Check it out above.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

So what’s is your next move?

Honestly, I’m really going to be working on my collection for next season. I’m going to show in Fashion Week again for spring. I’m just starting to work really hard on that. And it can be more of a show than you saw tonight. It’s going to be amazing. That’s the goal.

That’s the first purchase, a bed — and fabulous pair of shoes. I definitely need those.



It’s pretty amazing. She’s like a dream client and she’s such a muse. It was perfect. It was everything I wanted. Undeniably perfect.

I was competing against amazing designers. Jillian and Rami are so talented. I wanted them to know that I cared about them and I think the world of them. I was just humbled, really.

I think it was really respectful because we’re real designers, and it didn’t need to be that kind of show. It was a real fashion show during real Fashion Week. It was so much better.

You made a big splash on the show; is there more reality TV in future?

I’m not a big reality TV fan, but you never know. I could see a little sitcom or a little movie for me. We’ll see how it goes.

Posted by Tim Swift at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Finally, finally, tonight we find out who wins Project Runway -- and whether Annapolis native Christian Siriano is going to take home the big prize.

Back to the show. The three finalists show off their designs to Tim Gunn, who gives them a little feedback, although at this point there isn't much they can do.

Christian interviews that he thinks Jillian's collection is very innovative and that Rami's very talented and his work shows it, so it's messing with his head. This is a far cry from the usual, cocky Christian we've come to know.  

Next up, the final three start model casting for the runway show. Christian says he needs "strong, confident and amazing girls." Jillian interviews that she's never done a casting, so everything is a new experience for her.

Rami says some of the girls were great, some were OK and, "some were tragic."

The next morning, it's time to work out the makeup and do fittings. Christian interviews that he is over his nerves and totally excited.

They have two days to do the fittings, and the scene is total chaos.

Rami interviews that Christian's looks are all over the top and that he has a lot to learn about making clothes for women, not just for show.

Christian forces his models into some painful shoes, but he says if he could work them in his apartment, they can get over it. When they leave for the night, he tells them, "Look fabulous, be really skinny, don't eat."

Then Jillian starts second-guessing her choices of models. She has one she isn't sure about and she wants to swap.

Christian says she is just the most indecisive person ever and that it's her own fault for not casting with consistency in mind. Not to Jillian, of course.

The next day, Jillian continues to deal with her model issues, and the casting person tells her it's so last-minute, there isn't anything they can do. So she freaks out and complains and annoys everyone.

Then, hair consultations. And more fittings. And packing for the next day's show. Tim Gunn calls them together for "one last gather-round." He tells them the order is Jillian, Rami and Christian, and adds, "I am so proud of you, I don't have the words to express it. ... Just trust that you are superb, and you are, and you are an inspiration for me." Awww, I love Tim Gunn.

The next day, it's show time. In the early-morning darkness, the final three walk into the tents at Bryant Park and marvel at their luck. They group hug.

"It made me feel like I am officially part of the fashion industry," Jillian says.

Christian's models are running late and driving him crazy. Two of them are ridiculously late, then one finally shows. With seemingly minutes left, one model is still missing, and Christian is about to cry, literally. But she shows. WHEW!

Then, it's time for the show!

Jillian comes out and tells everyone this is her first collection. She adds that she was so inspired and hopes everyone else is inspired as well. She has these detailed, highly tailored pieces. She interviews how emotional it made her to watch her own show and see her own work on the runway. Toward the end, there are more dressy pieces, or rather, more dresses. It's so impressive to see what these guys can do when they actually have time.

Next, it's Rami's turn. He tells the audience that his collection "celebrates women," and thanks his family and closest friends. He has gorgeous pieces with lots of detailing, and you can tell he planned how each outfit would transition into the next during the show. There's quite a bit of black and pink toward the middle, but then it goes into browns and greens and golds. The pieces are lovely and a far cry from the constant draping he did during many of the challenges. I especially love the second to last piece, an intricate dress that I can't quite describe.

Christian is next. He thanks everyone for coming and thanks his family. "Ooh, everybody looks fierce," he can't help but blurt to the audience. He says he's so excited that Victoria Beckham is the guest judge because she is one of his fashion icons. He has lots of black, and lots of ruffle, and again, the amount of detailing is amazing. He has one dress that is feathers at the top and transitions into organza-ish ruffles toward the bottom. Crazy. He gets a standing o from Kit and Carmen, among others. (Here's some pics.)

In the interviews afterward, it's about a three-way split among the finalists. Everyone loves everyone's work! Poor judges.

Speaking of which, it's time for judging. They all seem pretty darned impressed. The finalists are called forward to talk about their lines. Michael Kors and Nina Garcia both tell them, "Bravo." Shout-out to the network?

Jillian talks about being inspired by the final challenge. Victoria Beckham praises her attention to detail. Michael Kors liked her knitwear and the feminine and modern look to everything. Heidi Klum liked the new shapes and designs. Nina says she took a chance, which was good, but that she maybe had too many influences and ended up with a disjointed line.

Christian says, "I wanted to create this kind of hard and soft effect, in a way." He's stumbling over his words, and Heidi asks if he his nervous. Victoria says she loved everything he did and that it was all her style. "Rather than fierce, I would say that you're 'major,'" she says. Michael Kors in particular praises the two-tone dress at the end that I attempted to describe above. He calls it "SPEC-tacular!" He says, though, that with that much black, it can get monotonous and can get lost. Nina also says it was a little repetitive. Victoria says he made her smile, "and I'm not easy to make smile." Christian tells her the ombre dress was for her.

Rami says he was inspired by Joan of Arc. Heidi says she loved the weaving he did, as does Michael Kors. Kors didn't love his "Brady Brunch colors," but he still showed every category of dress. Victoria says it was lovely and the detail was phenomenal. Nina says he has a strong point of view, and "that is fantastic." She says he tried to show some separates, but his strength is dresses.

The designers are kicked off the runway so the judges can dish.

The talk about Jillian's knitwear and her shapes, but Nina says she doesn't yet have an "identifiable signature." Nina says Christian "delivered constantly. It was a very well done show." Victoria loved it, but Nina calls him out for being overdesigned. Michael says Rami is "cerebral" and his clothes are great. Nina thinks he doesn't have the best taste in color.

The judges say they know who they think should win. So of course it's time for a break.

But now ...

Jillian is out, so it's down to Rami and our Annapolis boy.

And the winner is: Christian!

So what is next for our local guy? Stay tuned because we're supposed to talk to him in a few minutes. (Update: Read said interview with him here.)

Heidi Klum congratulates him and calls him "uber-fierce." Victoria says she would be honored to wear any of his clothing. He cries. Everyone smiles. It's so cute!

"Let me tell you, I am taking a VACAY. I need a breaky-break," he says. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Tuesday night on Big Brother, the big news was Matt and Natalie winning the veto, and also that a twist was in the air. The houseguests learned that when they heard an alarm, they were to gather in the living room and wait for more information.

Shelia and Adam were put on the block in place of Matt and Natalie, going against Ryan and Allison.

It was pretty obvious tonight that Ryan and Allison were out, since everyone had turned against Allison. And indeed, they were evicted. But when they tried to leave, the door was locked, and the alarm went off.

Then it was time for the big twist. The players are now playing as individuals, and only one of the members of the evicted couple would actually be leaving.

Funniest thing? When the alarm went off, Allison went crazy, thinking she was saved in the game. But as host Julie Chen explained the deal -- that the houseguests would immediately cast individual votes for either Allison or Ryan, and one would be out right then -- you could see it dawn on Allison that she was still going to be out. This came to pass pretty easily, as it was a 6-0 vote.

It was Ryan's lucky day, since he finally got separated from his partner who everyone hated and then he won the first individual HOH competition.

Before the show ended, though, Julie told the audience about one more twist. Viewers can vote on which of the evicted houseguests gets to come back in the house, and that person will let back in next Wednesday.

I don't really want to see any of the people back in -- that'll just make the show longer!  But I'm glad no one will be stuck with a partner they don't want anymore because all that whining was getting old. 

What do you think about the twists? 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Big Brother
        

Tonight on American Idol, the women take on the songs of the 1980s. So let's get to it.

The judges' interchanges with Ryan Seacrest are weird and awkward tonight, no? There's like zero audience response and lots of weird silences. Huh.

Asia'h Epperson says her most embarrassing moment (that's the question of the week) was being an extra on a movie about roller skating and totally falling in front of everyone. On stage, she sings Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." The song really suits her voice, and she's having a good time, but she's definitely not doing anything new with it. Randy Jackson says he recorded that song with the great Whitney Houston and that even though it was a tall order for her to take on that song, "It was hot." Paula Abdul says she wondered whether she could pull it off, and, "You nailed it." Simon Cowell says he isn't quite as enthusiastic and that "at best it was second-rate Whitney Houston." But, with Ryan's prodding, Simon says he thinks it was good enough to get her through to next week.

Kady Malloy tells Ryan that she was certain she was going home last week, and it was intense. She says her most embarrassing moment was ruining the song "Beautiful" at the ninth-grade talent show, followed by tripping over the microphone cord and setting off a lot of feedback. On stage, she sings Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever," but it's really rough at the beginning and way too subdued. After a bit, she gets a little more into it, but the energy never really kicks in. Randy says it's a "very interesting" song choice and that she did a "pretty good" job with it. Paula says this was her best performance to date. Simon says it was better than last week, but, "I'm still having issues with your massive lack of personality." He says she's like a robot when she sings and that she might be in trouble.

What song will Amanda Overmyer slaughter tonight? Her embarrassing moment is burning down her backyard pool by accident. Her song is Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You." It's OK, but sounds the same as usual. Randy says this is the kind of song she should sing; "well done." Paula compliments her face and hair and tells her this is her niche. Simon says, "I thought it was fantastic. I thought you absolutely nailed that song. In a way it was one of my favorite girl performances of this part of the competition." I thought it seemed kinda karaoke, but I'm not in charge.

Carly Smithson says her embarrassing moment was getting her leg stuck in a railing at the bar next door during a break from work. She sings "I Drove All Night." Or rather, she belts the heck out of it, and it's pretty good. Randy says she's smashing it every week; "I loved that." Paula says, "You are like a dependable dog." I think she's making fun of Randy's dude/dog. Simon says he still doesn't think she picked the right song; "You are million times better than that song. I'm trying to be constructive."

Kristy Lee Cook says when she was 7, she used to pretend to be a dog, like all the time. Her song this week is Journey's "Faithfully." The song works better with her voice than I would have expected, but she needs to open her eyes more. Also, the very last part of the song is a tad ragged. Randy says she brought up two things close to his heart: dogs and Journey. He says it was cool with a country lilt to it, and he actually really liked it. Paula says this could be a country hit for her. Simon says it was good they heard a country influence, but, "I still think your problem is that you're forgettable. ... At best, I can see you coming in 10th."

Ramiele Malubay says her embarrassing moment was riding her bike to her crush's house when she was a little kid and leaving her picture at his house, and then watching from afar as he and his mom laughed at it. On stage, she sings "Against All Odds," and she's great. That's all I have to say. Randy says it was another big song with big vocals, but that she needs to find her confidence and just go for it vocally. Paula says she has such pure voice, and it's lovely. I'm leaving out the part where she starts babbling about mutts. Finally, she cuts to the chase: "You deserve to be in the Top 12." Simon says it was very old-fashioned and that he would have liked to hear "a big-money note." He adds that he found it a little predictable and isn't jumping out of his chair. Ryan tries to get her to tell her personal inspiration for the performance, but she won't go there.

Brooke White talks about running out of church and throwing her arms around her dad's back and it wasn't him. How embarrassing. I don't really love these interview questions. Anyway, she sings an acoustic version of "Love is a Battlefield." I was afraid it would be really boring since she is not remotely a rocker, but it was actually really nice and better than I expected. Randy says he really liked it, even though she didn't bring anything new to it, which is weird because her take on it was pretty different. Paula says it was "a very wise choice." She says it would have been nice to have incorporated the band more and built it up. Simon disagrees and says that it worked because it was pure and simple and didn't involve the band. He says she did the right thing for the second week in a row.

Syesha Mercado is closing the show tonight. But first, she talks about giving a note to a boy she had a crush on in the second grade. Her song is Whitney's "Saving All My Love for You." She does a nice job with it, but still, taking on Whitney is always a risk around these parts. Randy: Good, good." Paula: "Sophisticated, lovely." Simon: "Predictable but good." Methinks they are out of time.

Who do you think is in danger? I think Kady for sure. Other than that, who knows? This was a big step up for the women over last week. 

(Photo of Asia'h Epperson courtesy of Fox)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: American Idol
        

In case you missed it, check out Abigail Tucker's story today on Christian Siriano. The Annapolis native and Baltimore School for the Arts grad is one of the Project Runway finalists who's up for the big prize tonight.

The finale airs tonight at 10 on Bravo. I'll have a recap of the show up as soon as possible after it's over.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Doesn't it seem like the American Idol guys just performed? I guess a whole week has gone by already. Let's see how they do tonight -- and whether they'll reference the David Hernandez as stripper situation.

Tonight's theme: the 1980s. Tonight's question: most embarrassing moments.

Luke Menard is first, and his moment is that his sister dressed him up as a girl when he was 8. Then, BOOM, time to sing. He sings "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," and he is so-so bad. (Sorry.) So bad that one of my cats goes crazy during his last high note. Randy Jackson asks him if he was having a good time. He says yes. Randy says it was all right, a little corny. Paula Abdul says she is surprised he picked that song, but that he has a "great instrument" and she loved his interpretation. If he has a "great instrument," I think it must be a guitar or oboe or some other thing he failed to bring with him on stage. Maybe Simon Cowell will bring us back to earth. Please? "I didn't like it, I thought it was weak, a bit girly. ... There is no chance you're going to make it through, not even to the Top 12." Yay!

David Archuleta is next. His embarrassing moment was when he was singing at a concert and his voice gave out, so his mom came up on stage to finish for him. Hopefully that won't happen ever during this show! On stage, he takes on Phil Collins' "Another Day in Paradise," and he's playing the piano at the start. His voice is clear and lovely as usual, although this song isn't really as touching as last week's "Imagine." But that would be a tough one to follow no matter what. Randy says it was an interesting song choice, but didn't show off his vocal prowess. Still, "it was nice." Paula says she was glad there were a couple of off notes because it proved he is human. Simon says it wasn't as good as last week and that he should have stayed at the piano. He adds that David should make sure to watch to mood and avoid so much gloominess.

Danny Noriega says his moment was when a friend tripped him going up the stairs at the movies, and he fell in front of his crush. He sings "Tainted Love," and I don't really even know what to say. Perhaps cue up the chorus of OK Go's "Good Idea at the Time"? Randy says there is good stuff and bad stuff. He says it started rough, but his arrangement was great, and then he was greatly confident at the end. "Come on with the vocals, you can do this." Paula: "You are this bright light in this competition. ... You've got great vocals." The she talks about his purple streaks in his hair for a while. Simon: "I thought it was horrible, the whole thing, absolutely useless." Danny responds "whatever," making the one-handed moose sign that Simon kept doing last week.

David Hernandez says he did a whole photo shoot with a giant booger hanging out of his nose and had to reshoot the whole thing. His worst moment wasn't the AP story today? I guess the show isn't talking about it. Anyway, back to the show. He sings "It's All Coming Back to Me Now." Many of his big notes are pretty good, but some of the lesser ones are a little rough. Simon says something off-mike but almost audible that sounds either like, "I like the way you stripped that back," or, "I like the way you scripted that." Not sure. Randy says it was a nice song choice, though a little sharp here and there. Paula says he is getting into his groove and becoming a really good performer. She adds that he has some of the best vocals. Simon says it wasn't as good as last week, and that he sounds better on soul songs, but he still "100 percent" secured himself a place in next week's show.

Going into the break, they tell us that David Cook is next, but after the break there is some kind of a snag with a guitar, so Ryan talks to Michael Johns. Michael says his moment was being dressed as a kangaroo for a rugby match and getting beaten up in front of 20,000 people. On stage, he sings "Don't You (Forget About Me)." It's pretty good, but so far on the live show, I haven't seen anything quite as good as the footage of him from Hollywood week. Am I off on that? Randy says "the Aussie boy goes home for '80s week" and compares him to Michael Hutchence. Uhh, I believe that was a Simple Minds song, and per Wikipedia, that band is from Scotland. Paula says, "You are the kind of artist who is defining who you are. ... This season, you all are unique and different, and you are no different." Well, OK, then. Simon says he liked it but didn't love it. He tells Michael he has "huge talent, but you haven't quite connected with the right song. ... But I really, really like you, and I think you're going to do very well in this competition."

David Cook shows Ryan that his guitar is now working. Whew. His moment was realizing in the middle of a talent show performance that he didn't know the second verse of the song and turning into a statue in response. On stage, he sings a rock version of Lionel Richie's "Hello." That's an unexpected choice, but it works better than I would have thought. Randy says he made an emo version of a very pop song, and he thinks it could be a hit. Paula says she loves seeing him on stage because she knows she will be in for a surprise. Then she repeats Randy's "hit" line. Simon: "That was a very brave thing to do, and I loved it. I like people who go out there and take a few risks. ... I really, really hope we're going to see you next week."

Jason Castro says his worst moment was in the middle of a date, he was trying to tie his dreads back when their food showed up, when one of the dreads broke off. Yikes. He takes on "Hallelujah," Leonard Cohen's song that is also widely known for Jeff Buckley's cover. It's a pleasant-enough rendition, but I guess for me it lacks some of the heft that the song can deliver. That song has had me in tears at other times, but not this time. Still, not bad. Randy says he did a pretty good job with it and gives him props for coming out without the guitar. Paula says he made it sound "so effortless with ease." Simon says Jeff Buckley's version of that song is one of his favorite songs of all time and that what Jason did with it was "brilliant." He calls it one of the best performances of the night and Jason's best so far.

Chikezie is last tonight. His moment was starting high school and going to the same bathroom all time and finally realizing it was the women's bathroom. He sings Whitney Houston's "All the Man That I Need," but changed to "Woman." (Apparently, Luther Vandross did a version of this song with the lyrics similarly changed, but for most people, this is all Whitney.) There's Simon off-mike again, saying something like, "It was good." This happened last week, too. Seems like a technical issue they might want to think about fixing. Randy says it was an interesting song choice, but Chikezie did a good job with it. Paula says his "vocals sound really good tonight." Simon says if it was a Whitney song it didn't work at all. He says it was "much more cabaret than last week. ... I don't think that was a very smart move." So what was that off-mike business?

Anyway, that's all, folks. What did you think about the evening's performances?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: American Idol
        

Tomorrow, at long last, we'll know whether Annapolis' Christian Siriano is the winner of Project Runway. To gear up for the finale, take another look at a clip from last week, when Tim Gunn visited Christian in his New York apartment to check on how his collection was going.

Who do you think is going to win? Who do you want to see win? 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

I'd read rumors, but the Associated Press reports today that yes, American Idol contestant David Hernandez was working as a stripper in a Phoenix, Ariz., bar that caters to a "mostly male clientele."

From the story:

The 24-year-old finalist from Glendale, Ariz., once worked as a stripper at Dick's Cabaret, appearing fully nude and performing lap dances for the club's "mostly male" clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan said Monday.

"He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here," Bryan said.

It's not clear whether a history as a stripper could disqualify Hernandez from the competition. In 2003, finalist Frenchie Davis was dismissed because of her appearance on an adult Web site; but last year, Antonella Barba remained in the competition after racy photos of her surfaced on the Internet.

Well, it's probably a good thing he didn't bust those moves on the AI stage. 

Does this affect whether you'll vote for him? Do you think he should stay in the competition? 

UPDATE: According to the Associated Press, Hernandez will not be disqualified (though no source is named). Here is a blurb from the story:

The Associated Press has learned that David Hernandez will remain on “American Idol,” despite his past as a male stripper.

Hernandez will perform Tuesday night as planned, said a person close to the show who is not authorized to comment publicly and asked not to be identified.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: American Idol
        

Did Yau-Man really have to go so soon? Before Parvati? Before Jonathan? Sigh.

That was two episodes ago, when the faves lost immunity, and Cirie found herself caught between two alliances. The non-couple alliance thought she was with them, but she'd also joined up with the Parvati/James/Amanda/Ozzy group. She went back and forth so much that I didn't understand why the two groups of four didn't just join together and vote her out. It's sure happened before with swing voters who get a little too high and mighty. But no.

Still, the votes went down really oddly: Among other things, Ami voted for Cirie, and Eliza voted with the couples against Yau. I'm still not sure what that's about.

On the most recent episode, the faves handily won the reward challenge (Hello! There was swimming, and they had Ozzy). Speaking of Ozzy, he found the immunity idol and hid a fake one in its place, all while Kathy was right there on Exile Island, not noticing at all.

Eliza wasn't feeling well, and her amazingly sensitive teammates took the time to discuss right in front of her how they wished they'd gotten rid of her instead of Yau. (Not even by accident in front of her; they just didn't care.)

Still, for the immunity challenge, the faves pulled together and overtook the fans. It seemed like Chet was going to be out of there, but Tracy managed to convince Joel that Mikey B was still acting like he was running the game and so he should be voted out.

Somehow, that worked, and it was hasta la vista, Mikey B.

Next week, it looks like the tribes are getting mixed up. I'm cool with changing up the alliances a bit. It was getting a little stagnant already, even though I haven't even figured out all the names of the people on the fans' tribe.

In the meantime, I really wish Jeff Probst would stop calling Jonathan "Penner." Yes, it's his last name, but the audience doesn't know him by that, so it's really disorienting. I'm sure he could manage to say "Jonathan" with the same amount of condescension.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Survivor
        

The more I see of this season of Big Brother, the more I really kind of hate everyone.

I'm tired of Joshuah going on diatribes and screaming at his target of the day. I'm tired of Allison acting like she's smarter than everyone and this manipulative player. I'm annoyed by Natalie's total vacancy (and annoying representation of my second home state of Oregon -- seriously, first Kail and now Natalie??). I'm grossed out by Matt's attitude toward Natalie (last night's footage of him lecturing her about not getting emotionally attached was immediately after she gave him a sexual favor, if what I saw on live-feed recaps is correct). Sheila's a huge complainer and so insecure. Adam's obnoxious, crazy-eyed and insensitive. Ryan's a lump; Sharon is kind of a nonentity. I guess James and Chelsia are OK, but the few minutes I watched of them on Big Brother After Dark were a big snooze. Not a lot of depth here, either.

The latest in the game is, Alex and Amanda were voted out, Sharon and Joshuah won HOH, the food competition was a huge waste of asparagus (long story) but no one is on slop, and the nominees are Ryan/Allison and Matt/Natalie. Yawn.

Host Julie Chen said "the game will change" on Wednesday. I assume that's when the couples will be split up since otherwise, we're closing on the finals.

Have you found anyone left to root for in this game?

(Photo of yelly Joshuah courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Big Brother