I seem to have developed a love-to-hate-him relationship with Coach on Survivor. When did that happen?

More fabulousness from the Wadester tonight:

-- His hair color is not growing out in the most flattering way. Tough to maintain highlights in the Brazilian highlands!

-- Upon winning the immunity challenge (sigh), he shouted, "Dragonslayer!" Then, back at camp, he says to J.T., "Did you hear me say, 'Dragonslayer!'?" Yes, we all did, dumbo. Then he began to pontificate about how he won because of all his meditation and mental toughness. I actually suspect it's because he spent all his Friday and Saturday nights in high school playing Labyrinth.

-- Mr. "I Will Change Survivor and NEVER Lie in This Game" totally lied. He and Debbie asked Sierra about getting their old tribe back together in an alliance, and she basically said, "Uh, you voted for me last night; why on Earth would I ally with you?" And Debbie screamed and cried. Then he proceeded to tell J.T. about how Sierra tried to reunite and he said no, that made him sick to his stomach to even think about and blah blah blah. Meanwhile, Sierra told Stephen what really happened. Thankfully, they recognized that Sierra was probably telling the truth, but apparently she was so annoying that they voted her out anyway.

-- I think Coach might be the first person to quote Jesus' "They know not what they do" line at tribal council. Seriously? (At least, I think that's what he said. I was in the middle of a coughing fit from laughing at all the eye-rolling. And no, it's not swine flu.)

-- I adore that Coach is sure people are allying with him because he is strong and mighty, when in fact, Stephen said to J.T. it was good to keep him around because he's weak in every way. (Sadly, that was before his immunity win.)

I have to say ... when this season started, I was not really feeling it, but the past few weeks have been wildly entertaining. Darn it, Survivor, you got me again!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Survivor
        

Ryan Seacrest introduces tonight's American Idol results show with the news that more than 47 million votes were cast last night. So he has the results! Of course, we won't learn them for a while.

Simon Cowell says after watching last night's show back, he thought everyone did a really good job and says that was the best Top 5 show ever.

For the group sing, the contestants take on "It Don't Mean a Thing" and "I Got Rhythm." 

Then we get a video clip of Danny and Allison's birthday celebration, which started out as a cake-baking session and ended in a food fight. Ryan gives Danny, who is said to be the food-fight culprit, a maid-service bill for $6,000. They didn't clean up after themselves? Nice.

Anyway, results: Matt Giraud is sent to the right side of the stage. Danny Gokey is sent to the left side. Allison Iraheta goes to the left, Kris Allen to the right. Adam Lambert is asked to choose which group he thinks he belongs with. He clearly hasn't watched all the previous seasons -- people have refused to choose! He goes over with Allison and Danny.

Sorry, Adam! Allison and Danny are safe, and the bottom three are Adam, Kris and Matt. So it's Matt going home, right? Of course we have to wait.

First guest performance of the night is Natalie Cole with "Something's Gotta Give." Then Taylor Hicks sings a song off his new album. OK. Results, please??

Ask and ye shall receive: Kris Allen is safe. Whew.

Guest performer No. 3 is Jamie Foxx, with "Blame It." Is it just me, or does the audience totally fail to sing the lyrics back to him when he points the mic at them?

The real results, finally: Adam is safe, and Matt is out. That was pretty much a duh moment after last night, don't you think?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)
Categories: American Idol
        

The surprise mentor for this week's American Idol -- with the Rat Pack theme -- is Jamie Foxx. He talks to the Top 5 about how the singers of that era were communicating a lifestyle, not just a song.

Kris Allen is up first. His song choice is "The Way You Look Tonight." He delivers an understated, clear-voiced performance. He starts out slow, and then the band and the tempo kick up a little in the middle, but he finishes smoothly. Randy Jackson says he likes to see at this point "who's in it to win it," and he thinks tonight was Kris' best performance so far. Kara DioGuardi says he set the standard really high today and calls him a "dark horse" in the competition. Paula Abdul says he has made the transition to sophisticated gentleman and contemporary crooner. Simon Cowell says he isn't as enthusiastic as the others, though it was good. He calls it "wet" and compares him to a spaniel. Then he says he doesn't think Kris can win this competition. I don't know about that, and neither do the people buying iTunes tracks.

Allison Iraheta turned 17 yesterday. She's going to sing "Someone to Watch Over Me." During practice with Jamie, she talks about how she's too young to have a boyfriend, so he tells her to think about how her family watches over her during her performance. It's nice to hear her taking a rather traditional approach to the song since we've mostly heard rock-vibe performances from her. Randy says she sings like Pink, but "with like 9,000 more octaves." In short: He loved it. Kara says it was a gut-wrenching rendition, and "if that doesn't land you in the finals, I don't know what will." Paula says it was good to hear how she approaches a ballad, adding that she had an alluring and tender sensibility. (Paula totally has a writer this season, don't you think?) Simon asks if she thinks she can win, and she says she believes they all have the chance. 

Matt Giraud is stoked that it's Rat Pack week, saying that he studied jazz. His song tonight is "My Funny Valentine." It's a little rough -- he has a bunch of patches where he's totally flat, though the end half is pretty strong. It's a little late in the competition for that, though. Randy says that is one of the hardest songs ever, but for him it was a little bit pitchy. "It didn't quite come together for me." Kara says tonight, he has to be the leader of the pack, but he didn't seem emotionally connected to the song. He balks. Paula loves the changes he made to the song. She thinks it was pure and simple and excellent. Simon disagrees with Randy, saying that it was "the only believable, authentic song I've heard tonight." Oh, whatever. He's just trying to make them look less dumb for using the judges' save on him.

Danny Gokey is taking on "Come Rain or Come Shine." He starts out very straightforwardly, but goes a little jazzy with it about halfway through. It really works for him (and the crowd). Randy says he was worried it was a safe choice, but then he realized Danny could have an album of songs like that and win. "This is a singing competition, and you can sing!" Kara says he brought the Rat Pack swagger tonight, and that he finally showed his creativity. Paula: "Stellar, stellar performance." Simon says he came out to prove a point, and he did -- with his vocals and his performance.

Adam Lambert is doing "Feelin' Good" with a rock edge. It's Adam-ish, which is to say big, theatrical, calculated, technically proficient. I still wouldn't buy his album. But I know the judges disagree. Randy says it was "a little theatrical, a little too drama-filled, a little too Broadway," but still good. Kara says he is confusing and shocking and sleazy and superb. Paula says watching him is like watching the Olympics, "and you're Michael Phelps." (Thanks for the search term, Paula!) Simon says complaining about Adam being theatrical is "like complaining about a cow mooing." He adds that Adam makes it clear that he wants to win and has a point to prove every week.

I think Matt's toast. And maybe Allison, even though I thought she was pretty good tonight.

What say you?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: American Idol
        

I joined tonight's Dancing With the Stars already in progress. So ... some stuff happened at the beginning, but I missed it. It's OK. We're only here for the results anyway.

First, Robin Thicke performs. 

Backstage, Samantha Harris interviews Melissa Rycroft about her injury. She says she's started a new treatment and is hopeful that she can dance next week. Samantha oh-so-deftly says that Melissa was at the bottom of the leaderboard, but right over here she has Lil Kim, who was at the top. Not at all awkward!

Results! Lil Kim and Derek Hough are safe. After some other segments ... more results: Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower are safe, too.

Robin sings again, and Pasha from So You Think You Can Dance is one of the pros performing. All right, have any ballroom dancers from SYTYCD not been on DWTS?

Results again: Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke are safe. This means that Team Tango is safe.

After the break, it's time for the pros' competition. Is anyone really excited about this? Afton and Genya do the quickstep, and the judges pretty much loved them. Mayo and Anya are next, doing the jive. Judges loved that, too. Can I have my results, please? 

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas are safe, leaving Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough and Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani in the bottom two. 

And the ousted couple is: Chuck and Julianne. They've done better the past couple of weeks, but I'm not totally surprised.

What do you think?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
        

Apparently, there was some sort of glitch with iTunes the other day, and the sales numbers for the American Idol contestants' tracks were made public for a short time.

And apparently it came as a big shock to a lot of people that Kris Allen was second in popularity, only behind Adam Lambert. I guess they expected to see Danny Gokey there?

I don't think it's that surprising -- have people been paying attention the past couple of weeks? Kris has been getting stronger and stronger, not to mention, he was the only contestant to even do a remotely current song during week before last's "songs from the movies" theme.

I get why the folks at AI are frustrated that the numbers were momentarily public, but I don't understand why everyone is acting so surprised about Kris.

What do you think?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: American Idol
        

Tonight's Dancing With the Stars features a team dance as well as the usual performances.

The first strangeness is that during the introduction, Tony Dovolani comes down the stars without his partner Melissa Rycroft. More injuries? Yikes. Tom Bergeron explains that she is unable to dance due to an injury that will be discussed later.

The team dance will be the mambo vs. the tango; that's coming later, though.

Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke are up first with the lindy hop. In the rehearsal footage, they had some trouble with their lifts thanks to Gilles' painful shoulder, but a cortisone shot helped him out a bit. (He still dumped Cheryl on her head during practice, though.) Their performance is a lot of fun and a little bit goofy -- Gilles has a giant pompadour. And while it is fun, it seems like this isn't Gilles' strong suit. Acting doofy kind of takes away some of his sex appeal. Head judge Len Goodman says he has made the French famous for Lindy hop. Bruno Tonioli says he has shown his versatility and his sense of comedy. Carrie Ann Inaba says he showed off a new side and did fantastically well. Scores: 9-9-9, for a 27/30.

Lil Kim and Derek Hough work on putting the "Queen Bee stamp" on the paso doble during rehearsal. Though they were initially concerned that this didn't fit her style as well as the rhythmic dances, Lil Kim kills it. She brings her strength and intensity to it, and it works quite well. Bruno: "The bitch is back, and she means business! ... It was a classic, classy paso!" Carrie Ann says the paso showcases her strengths and shows how far she's come. Len says the competition is about coping with the dances you aren't so good at, but she surpassed all his expectations. Scores: 9-9-10, for a 28/30.

Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough hope to replicate last week's success in this week's cha-cha. I don't know -- they seem to be doing pretty well, but they are starting to bug me a little. I think having a real-life couple dance together is difficult because you end up having all these judgments about their chemistry -- it should be natural, but there's a learning curve with the dancing, so it's not always totally there, and then sometimes it's too in-your-face like a couple of weeks ago. I appear to be the only one, though. The crowd loves him, and the judges, too. Carrie Ann says he is totally in the game. Len says this is turning into a fantastic competition, and he adds Chuck is getting stronger and stronger. Bruno says he had "great bum action." Scores: 9-9-8, for a 26/30.

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas work on the samba and get some help from Mark's mom, Shirley. Shirley pointed out that she was swinging her arms "like a baseball bat" and helped her find fluidity. Len says good isn't good enough, and he thought it lacked hip action and that the dress was doing most of the work. Bruno says it was a nice samba, yes, and she's not a wild child, but it was good. Carrie Ann says she saw a solid performance, nailing every step, making no mistakes, and adds that Shawn is adding a sexy vibe to her repertoire. Scores: 10-8-9, for a 27/30.

After the break, we get an update on Melissa. She had a rib injury that has been plaguing her, and this week, it got so bad that she cannot perform tonight. She is apparently visiting the doctor right now. We still get to see her and Tony's rehearsal for the jive. At the doctor, she learns that she has a hairline fracture of her ribs. Ow! Melissa and Tony did get to do their rehearsal, which we get to see, and which they will be judged on. It's not even a dress rehearsal, which is terrible. Bruno says it's unfortunate they don't get to see the real performance, and the arm and kicks are "marked," which Carrie Ann explains means are reined in for rehearsal. Len says it's like judging a racecar driver on a warmup lap, and it's not really fair, but it's what they have to work with. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30.

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower are doing the salsa this week. During rehearsal, he gets a little help from Dmitry Chaplin. He and Chelsie also make Ty get a spray tan. Ty says he got so sunburned when he was 9 that he had third-degree burns, so he doesn't much like the sun beating down on him. I hear you, Ty. He's quite adorable and trying so hard. He has some great moments, and a few awkward ones, but they sell it pretty well. Carrie Ann woooooooos and says he's so inconsistent, but he did a great salsa. Len says he's had the wildest ride, with highs and lows and twists and turns. He says, though, unless Ty nails the group dance, it's time for him to "hit the trail." Bruno says his hip action came from the knees, and it wasn't a true salsa, but he was still entertained. Scores: 9-7-8, for a 24/30.

Team dance time!

Team Mambo is up first -- that's Shawn and Mark, Melissa and Tony and Chuck and Julianne. (In the performance, Lacey Schwimmer is filling in for Melissa, with only two hours' notice.) So, mambos is the party dance, right? They fulfill that, for sure -- the whole thing is a ton of fun, and the surprise at the end had me half creeped out and half laughing hysterically: To one-up Gilles' sure-to-come shirtlessness, the men rip off their outfits at the end to reveal sparkly leotards matching their partners, and, for some reason, white stockings. Yeah, I don't know. But I laughed so hard I scared my cats. Len says it was entertaining and that Lacey did a great job for having merely minutes' notice. Bruno says it's nice to see men who shop in the women's department. Carrie Ann says the end was a little much, but that overall, she thought the music overpowered them and was more fun than their performance. Scores: 8-8-9, for a 25/30.

Team Tango is next -- that's Kim and Derek, Ty and Chelsie and Gilles and Cheryl. Team Mambo was right about the shirtlessness. When the performance starts, Ty and Gilles are both shirtless, leading Lil Kim onto the floor. When it's time for their solos, though, they have jackets on again. Basically, it's another super-entertaining performance, though this one seems a little more in sync. I'll leave that to the judges, though. Bruno says they were like a pack of voracious raptors. Carrie Ann says she thinks Team Tango takes it, and that their syncronicity was amazing. Len says Lil Kim had a blunder and Gilles' footwork was atrocious, but Ty proved himself. Scores: 9-9-10, for a 29/30.

The group dance scores will be added to the individual scores, which will be combined with viewer votes to determine who is going home tomorrow.

What did you think about tonight's performances?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Dancing With the Stars
        

I haven't been posting much about Celebrity Apprentice because it really hasn't been that exciting -- it's just a clash of egos week after week, and there are only so many ways I can say "Annie Duke annoys everyone" or "Clint Black annoys everyone."

But last night, Melissa Rivers got fired, and she went ballistic. So did her mom, Joan. Don't believe me? Check out the video above.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: Celebreality, The Apprentice
        

Thanks to reader etucker for the heads up: Remember a few months ago when Dane Patterson from The Biggest Loser was getting a lot of guff for being portrayed as having completed a marathon when that's not quite what happened? And then he wanted to make up for it by doing the Country Music Marathon in Nashville?

Well, he did complete that race. It was this past weekend. You can read more about it at OK Magazine. (Which, by the way, totally fails to address the controversy part of things.) There's a little more info at Runner's Web, too.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: The Biggest Loser
        

The final four teams had some interesting tasks to deal with on tonight's Amazing Race.

First, they had to fly to Beijing, though everyone was on the same flight, so it wasn't that dramatic.

After landing, for the Road Block, one teammate had to drink two cups of medicinal tea and endure a 10-minute -- and apparently very painful -- foot massage. Seriously, they were screaming and moaning in agony.

Then it was Detour time. The teams had to try their hands at Olympic-style events. In Sync, they had to try synchronized diving, jumping off a springboard and landing feet-first in the water at the same time. In Swim, they had to make like Michael Phelps and swim the 400M individual medley (though they'd each only have to do 200M, so it really wasn't individual) in a Speedo Laser Suit.

Sync was a total bust -- Tammy and Victor tried again and again and couldn't get it together (so to speak). Kisha and Jen tried it a couple of times, but Jen's total fear of the water hampered them.

Cara and Jaime got through the Swim task reasonably quickly and finished first. Margie and Luke did the same (though Margie remarked that she couldn't breathe in the super-tight suit, which made me wonder how much it really helps the Olympians. Bet theirs fit better, though).

Tammy and Victor shifted gears and switched to Swim. In the meantime, Jen totally melted down and cried about wanting to go home, but eventually her sister persuaded her to "finish strong" and get back in the water. They switched to Swim as well.

Cara and Jaime finished first for the first time, but doh! The leg wasn't over -- Phil gave them another clue and told them to keep on going.

Cue the "To be continued ..." sign.

I was actually surprised how much trouble everyone had with Sync. I think it was one of those tasks that sounded not too terrible, but in reality, it was tough tough tough. I did keep yelling at the screen for them to count together. That's what the divers do in the Olympics!

Oh, well. It's not over yet!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: The Amazing Race
        

So Susan Boyle, who has garnered a lot of attention for her Britain's Got Talent audition, showed up with a new look at her home in Blackburn, Scotland, today:

As a refresher, here is her original look:

P.S. Caption Call is in on the fun, too. Caption Susan's hairbrush picture here.

PHOTOS: Top: AP Photo / Andrew Milligan; Bottom: AP file photo

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

If you can believe it, I took an evening off from television last night (baked strawberry bread and talked to my best friend for two hours -- how refreshing!).

So I didn't see last night's Survivor until just now. And how sweet it was.

I mean, of course it would have been better to see Coach going home because I am totally over him. But having part of his so-called "Warrior Alliance" go home unexpectedly was pretty awesome, too.

Tyson is good for sound bites and entertainment around the fire, but he also seems to be a giant jerk (telling Sierra she was too dumb to have masterminded last week's failed plot? Jerky!). That wasn't why Forza took him out, though -- it was all about his physical prowess and back-to-back immunity wins.

So howzabout we get Coach next week? He tried to take out the, what? The dragon's princess bride or something? (Maybe he was comparing Sierra to Princess Peach from Super Mario Bros.) Before he leaves, whenever he leaves, we will surely be treated to him berating JT and the other members of what he thought was his alliance for being untrustworthy and liars.

I still can't believe this guy, the one who has told such outlandish stories about his past, claims to never lie. Please. But enough about that.

The game just got a lot more interesting, and huzzah for that!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Survivor
        

So who will be the two casualties of disco week on this week's American Idol? We'll see in about an hour.

Host Ryan Seacrest says that more than 45 million votes were cast this week, the most this season. Sounds like lots of repeat voters, as usual. 

It turns out that Paula Abdul choreographed the group dance. I guess because of the more complex dance moves, they are definitely lip syncing, but they handle the moves pretty well, even in their 70s-era finery.

Back from the break, Ryan's ready for some news, but the girls are still changing clothes. Whoops! It's OK -- they have plenty of filler, including the Ford commercial, to burn time with.

Lil Rounds is directed to the far side of the stage, but not to the stools, just to the side of the stage. Then, abruptly, Ryan tells her that she has been eliminated. She rallies quickly and sings "I'm Every Woman" again. The judges give her a standing ovation. Paula says she sang "brilliant" tonight and is going out on top of her game. (Paula, I still really want you to learn about ADVERBS!) Simon says he is a big fan and that he is going to miss Lil's family yelling at him every week. Hee hee.

Freda Payne then comes out to start off a medley of disco hits, starting with "Band of Gold." Um, I'm going to pull a Paula here and say that Freda looks fantastic and leave it at that. Thelma Houston is next with "Don't Leave Me This Way." She sounds better, but it's a little creepy when she sings, "Simon, please satisfy the need in me." KC from KC and the Sunshine Band hits the stage for "Get Down Tonight."

Kris Allen is safe. Adam Lambert? Safe. Danny Gokey joins the safety patrol. Anoop Desai is in the bottom three and has to go over to the Stools of Potential Doom. That leaves Matt Giraud and Allison Iraheta. Matt is safe; Allison is in the bottom three. 

David Archuleta returns to sing "Touch My Hand." Afterward, Ryan drags him over to talk to Anoop and Allison. He's out of breath from having just sung but he manages to tell them that lots of people who haven't won the show are still living their dreams. 

And the second outed singer of the evening is ... Anoop. He sings again, and he's actually a lot better this time. 

Now it's goodbye montage time. Bye, Lil and Anoop.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: American Idol
        

For me, things changed a lot on last night's The Biggest Loser.

I've enjoyed Mike and Ron's father-and-son dynamic and seeing them change their lives together -- and hopefully laying the foundation to change Mike's brother Max's life, as well. But it became markedly clear last night that for them, it's all about the game.

After the weigh-in, Kristin and Helen were below the yellow line. Ron had promised Kristin he would never vote for her, and he kept his promise, but he also counseled Mike to vote for her, causing a tie, which led Kristin to go home anyway. And he had the gall to act surprised in the voting room about Mike's vote.

But for me it all changed when Kristin accused Mike of acting like he has the win all tied up; Allison asked Mike if it was true that he thought he was going to win, and he said yes, yes he did. Really? Has he been paying attention? I mean, yes, he has a lot of things going for him -- his dad still being in the game, and largely controlling it, for sure, but also that he is only 18, so his body should be much faster to react to the sea changes that are going on. But hasn't he learned that anything can happen? Laura got injured so badly she can't walk! Out of nowhere! And hasn't he noticed Tara, who has been winning challenge after challenge after challenge? I don't think she's going to slow down much once they leave the ranch.

I don't know -- I was just really turned off by his declaration. And really, why is Ron still there? He's been below the yellow line, what, six times? Now, all of a sudden, I am frustrated by them.

I was also sad to see Kristin leave -- she's just so happy and thoughtful about what she's going through. (I do have to admit, though, that she started to get a little cloying this week. Still, I'm happy for her.)

So I guess I'm rooting for Tara. She is working hard, and yeah, she's playing the game, but it seems like her focus is still on the life change.

What did you think about last night's show?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: The Biggest Loser
        

I missed this last night, but @marylandzoo on Twitter got me in the loop. Staff members from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore were featured in a "Pound for Pound Challenge" segment on last night's Biggest Loser.

You can see the video here.

A recap of the episode will be posted later!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: The Biggest Loser
        

Who's going home on tonight's Dancing With the Stars? We'll see ... eventually.

The reprise of the evening is last night's group dance, of course, which was goofy but a lot of fun at the same time.

Then there's a montage about how many calories the stars burn and what they could eat as a result, followed by a performance by Natasha Bedingfield. Lacey Schwimmer and Dmitry Chaplin dance during the song, and it's lovely.

After the break, the Macy's Stars of Dance performance seems to have begun already. Ahhh, live TV. Is it just me or have there been a lot more problems with the cues on these live shows this season? Anyway, as a result, I have no idea what group this is. Anybody else know?

Results! Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough are safe. So are Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani and Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas.

After the break, Tom and Samantha give the details on a new competition -- some pros will compete for a guaranteed spot on next season. The first pros are Afton DelGrosso (you might remember her sister Ashly) and Brent Borbon. Len loved them, but Len thought Afton had a little more flair. Bruno liked them, too. Carrie Ann thinks Brent had a good TV presence, and she loved Afton, too. But it's all up to viewer votes.

Next are Anna Demidova and Mayo Alanen. They waltz, and while it's nice, I think they're at a disadvantage because the waltz isn't as flashy as the cha-cha, which Afton and Brent did. You know Americans -- especially reality TV voters -- love flashy. Carrie Ann thought it was beautiful and adds that Mayo had a "distinguished character," and Anna had understated star power. Len loved it, too. Bruno calls it "a waltz at its classic best." 

Snow Urbin and Genya Mazo are next. Genya is Alec Mazo's (winner of Season 1) brother, and it's not stated, but Snow was on So You Think You Can Dance in 2005. Bruno says Genya enhances his partner and that Snow should be called Fired. Carrie Ann loved them both. Len says it is easy to "not look masculine" in the rumba and he didn't have that problem at all. He thought Snow did a nice job, too. The judges' comments are kind of boring since they don't have any say in how things go. 

Next, nope, sorry, not results. It's Celtic Woman.

Results: Lil Kim and Derek Hough are safe, as are Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke.

That leaves LT and Edyta Sliwinska and Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower. Tom says that doesn't mean these are the bottom two teams, but one of them is going home. Weird. Anyway ... Lawrence and Edyta are eliminated.

LT grins like crazy, and Tom says he's a terrible actor -- he's obviously happy to be going home and back to golfing. LT says Edyta was amazing and taught him everything he knows about dance. "I don't know where the hell I'm going to use it, but ..." Edyta asks for golf lessons in return. 

That wasn't a big surprise. What do you think?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Uh, for some reason WBFF is showing King of Queens instead of American Idol. That's kind of weird, no?

Thankfully, I'm in Howard County, so five minutes in, I flip over to the D.C. affiliate just in time to see host Ryan Seacrest introduce the first performer. Yikes!

So!

Lil Rounds is first, with "I'm Every Woman." She is wearing a unitard, but she's rocking it as well as one can! I thought she did a pretty good job with such a big song. Judge Randy Jackson doesn't dig it, though. He doesn't think it showed off what kind of artist she can be. Kara DioGuardi says she doesn't think it was worth the wait for her to sing Chaka Khan. Paula Abdul says yesterday Lil was on total vocal rest and applauds her for recovering so well. Simon Cowell says Lil looks so sad, and then she starts talking. It's Simon's turn! He says he thinks it's her last week because she was too copycat and the arrangement was a mess. It seems to me like they are being extra-hard on her tonight. I thought that was better than she's been in a few weeks.

I switch back over to WBFF; it's all better now. Whew!

Kris Allen says he was worried about disco week, but he thinks it worked out OK. He's doing "She Works Hard for the Money." He takes it all acoustic -- he's on guitar, there are two guys playing drums, and another guy on bass. It's a whole new song, but it's good. I wasn't sure what he was going to do with disco week, but he made it work. Kara says he took a real risk, but it paid off big time. She says it sounded like it could be on a record now. Paula says it had a classy Santana vibe, going on that while a lot of women shop in the men's department, not many men can pull of shopping in the women's department, but, "It was a perfect fit." Heh. Simon says it was a polar opposite from the first performance -- "It was original, it was well thought-out, it was not karaoke." Randy says he knows who he is and he just proved he's ready for the big time.

Danny Gokey is next with Earth, Wind and Fire's "September." His voice sounds pretty good, as usual, but it's such a standard approach after Kris' that I kind of feel bad for him. He mixes it up a little toward the end, though. Randy says he worried about the song choice, but he still turned it into something that really worked for him. Kara was worried, too, but he's an incredible vocalist and always on pitch. Paula says he always takes his range a step further than she thinks he can and he showed off his agility. She adds that he has one of the sexiest voices ever. Simon can't fault the vocals, but says he didn't get any "star power" from the performance, which he thought was a little awkward and clumsy.

Allison Iraheta is going to sing "Hot Stuff," but she turns it into a rock ballad. Also, she appears to be wearing a latex outfit. She sounds good vocally, but it's a little weird. Randy says he didn't love the "overindulgent" arrangement, "You're one of the best singers in the competition." Kara agrees about the arrangement, but the performance and song choice were right on. Paula says, "The word compromise is not even in your musical vocabulary." In other words, she liked the arrangement. Simon says she would always be an underdog on disco night, but, "That was a brilliant performance."

Adam Lambert tells Ryan he's doing "If I Can't Have You," and of course, there will be tweakage. He does it as a ballad, and he's brought out the suit and pompadour again, looking slick. Paula cries, as she tends to. Randy says he is showing his range, and that he is "ready right now." Kara just says he is brilliant and inspiring. Paula says he took a disco song and didn't make it cliche (in a lot more words than that). Simon thought for sure he was going to do Donna Summer, but he was original and unexpected and memorable. Not to mention, he says, the vocals "were immaculate." He credits Michael Orleans for helping with the arrangement.

Matt Giraud, who got saved last week, decides to go literal with the choice of "Stayin' Alive." He's dressed like Justin Timberlake circa 2003, and he does a soulful twist on the song. It's actually his best performance in weeks (the last note excluded). Randy says he didn't love the song choice or arrangement, but Matt showed that he can sing. Kara says he "brought disco back," and she was glad to see him move and his performance was solid. Paula says he picks songs like she bowls, and this was a strike. She says he saved his own life, and he's staying. Wow, really? Two people are leaving, and she has predicted that just about everyone is staying. Simon says it came across as a bit desperate, and he didn't hear any originality. 

Anoop Desai sings "Dim All the Lights." Why did all the boys stop shaving? So, his voice sounds great (except the last note, eep), but the lyrics are a little repetitive, and it doesn't really show him off that much. Randy says again that he didn't like the arrangement, but his voice sounded awesome. "Nice, baby, nice." Kara liked the choice and the beat and thought it sounded like it could be on the radio. She adds that he's hitting his stride. Paula says he looks fantastic, and that his vocals were great. She adds that he should smile more: "You've got beautiful teeth." Simon: "That was mediocre at best. I prayed that the tempo was going to come in; it did. ... Genuinely, that was your worst performance by a mile."

Call me crazy or boring or whatever, but I expect a bottom three like last week: Lil, Matt and Anoop. 

What do you think? Who did you like? Hate? Agree with? Disagree with?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: American Idol
        

It's been a busy few days in the reality TV sphere, and I'm hardly the only person writing about it, as it turns out.

-- First up, American Idol's Paula Abdul is going to be on ABC News' Nightline on Thursday. In this clip (which you can also view above), she talks about how she found out about the addition of judge Kara DioGuardi this season. (Ouch.)

-- David Zurawik reports that Project Runway finally has a premiere date: Aug. 20 on Lifetime. Read more here. He also has more on Blagovejich being denied the request to appear on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here.

-- I posted the clip of Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle auditioning and surprising the heck out of people last week. Several others here have weighed in since then: Classical music critic and Clef Notes blogger Tim Smith; Unleashed blogger Mary Corey; Columnist Susan Reimer (who is also the Garden Variety blogger, but there's no Boyle there).

-- I didn't get to watch Style Network's Running in Heels, which followed three Marie Claire interns, but Tim Swift of Swift Picks tells me it was a lot of fun. The Evil Beet has an interview with Talita Silva from the show.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Seven stars have made it to the seventh week. The costumes, at first glance, look especially atrocious; that's because the stars designed them this week. (The women are definitely more covered up!)  And ... this episode features the group dance! Lucky us!

First up are Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani. They are performing the Argentine tango, which is the perfect dance for her to bring out her "inner man eater," Tony says. The couple go to Teri Hatcher on the Desperate Housewives set for inspiration. Is her character an inner man eater? I wouldn't know. I only saw Season 1, and Hatcher's Susan was pretty clumsy and googly-eyed for neighbor Mike. As for their dance, the music is cool, and so is the dance. She has fabulous lifts (if a bit balletlike) and some awesome footwork. Judge Len Goodman thought it was fantastic. He said he saw a "hint" of a blunder. Judge Bruno Tonlioli disagrees about that blunder. He says her legs were like "magic tools in the hands of a master." He says, "Let's do it over again." Judge Carrie Ann Inaba says it was the best Argentine tango they've seen. I agree. Scores: 10/9/10 = 29

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska have horrible costumes. Awful costumes. The couple take a trip to the golf course, so Edyta can see how hard it is to do something you're not trained in. Now ... back to the studio. They work on being graceful, not heavy, for the waltz. Smooth, not groove. While dancing ... wait ... she takes off the dark blue Cruella de Vil cloak to reveal a gorgeous blue-toned dress. Tricky, tricky! The dance is better than I expect; it is lighter than usual. Bruno says that he got the romance right, and that the waltz reminded him of Dr. Zhivago. He says he lost balance and was a bit clumsy at times. Carrie Ann says she saw more freedom in his movement. Carrie Ann notes the gorgeous dress. Len said it was tender and elegant, but noted that Edyta's dress got in the way a bit. He was shocked at how well Lawrence performed it. Scores: 7/7/7 = 21

Lil' Kim and Derek Hough are doing the rumba. Derek thinks he needs to tone down Kim's sexiness to make Len happy. A tough challenge! Derek stresses out a bit about the choreography. All that stressing pays off. I think it's a gorgeous rumba. They have great chemistry and are really fun to watch. But Carrie Ann says it was understated and underwhelming. She says she needs to bring her best game forward. (What do I know?) Len says parts were great, but that she must go with what she knows. "Don't try to please one person," he says. Bruno says it was a good rumba, but it was like a margarita without tequila. "Give it to me!" he says (not the tequilaless margarita). Scores: 9/8/9 = 26

Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough will do the samba. Chuck goes to a country music fest in Alabama, where he is performing. He tries to rally fans to vote for him. In the studio, Julianne says she's going to focus on the technique. "All I want is a nine!" Chuck screams. The practice pays off, because it's their best yet. It's so fun to watch, and Chuck gets to perform a lot of great choreography. I finally feel like I'm watching dancers, not a young couple trying to dance. Len is really excited. "I liked it a lot!" he says. No dirty dancing this week, right Len? Bruno says Chuck was working "those hips like you never have before!" Carrie Ann does a little dance. Seems there are some good scores on the way. Scores: 9/9/9 = 27

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower are doing the waltz. Ty says it's a bit awkward because Chelsie is like his adopted daughter, and the waltz is supposed to be romantic. He also likes that he can hold onto Chelsie again. Cute! Jewel comes in during practice to "help," and he dedicates their dance to her. During the performance (woah, weird camera action!), you can tell Ty is more comfortable than he was last week. It's a fun waltz to watch, too. "Sweet" is probably a good word to use here. Bruno says that last week Ty was in the gutters, but that now he's back in the game. Carrie Ann says Ty was a beautiful frame for her to dance with. She says his frame and posture were great (Len echoes this), but says just occasionally he got the "I'm afraid to be out here" look. Len says it has more rise and fall than a ... bride's nightie? I tried to rewind that three times, and that's what I heard. Scores: 8/8/8 = 24

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas are doing the cha cha. First, we see her getting the Sullivan Award in New York, then she needs to pick up another award in Iowa (where they end up practicing). She's really tired and not picking up steps as quickly. Back in Los Angeles, they cha cha to Michael Jackson's "PYT." It's Shawn, so naturally, it's awesome. It might be my favorite choreography of the season; she's sharp yet smooth. I'm loving Mark's Jackson-esque socks and shoes. Carrie Ann enjoyed it. She says that she gets caught up in Shawn's technique, but tonight the gymnast pulled it all together. Len, again, agrees. Bruno says he's starting to see a young Debbie Reynolds or Mitzi Gaynor. He finally sees the "cheeky devil" he's been looking for. Scores: 9/9/10 = 28

Last up are Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke with the Viennese waltz. Cheryl says it's time to show the calm side of Gilles, so they visit a synchronized swimming coach. The resistance in the water helps him realize how fluid the dance needs to be. (Side note: Gilles has made Cheryl look a bit like Belle from Beauty and the Beast.) The dance is really good. It's very flowing and beautiful. Len said it had romance and great rotation. He tells him to work a bit on his footwork, but, overall, it was superb. Bruno says that it was glamorous and that Gilles managed to put some sex in it. Carrie Ann said Gilles is the most graceful male contestant she's seen. She says she's nitpicking, but he needs to watch his posture. Scores: 9/9/9 = 27

It's time for the 1960s-themed group dance! (Mark brings a cardboard cut out of Shawn. Ty is dressed like a '60s hippie! Ha!) We see the stars practicing. They do the monkey, alligator and mashed potato. There are a lot of hysterical looking people. Lawrence says it's like "Dancing With the Clowns." There are several references to time machines.

After the commercial break, it's time for the dance. They film the beginning in black and white, which just doesn't work for me because black and white in HD is just not the same. But, then, it fades to color, and I have to say, this dance is a vast improvement over the late 1980s rap number of last year. No one is painful to watch (ahem, Susan Lucci), and the choreography is super cute. Bruno says it was fantastic fun. Carrie Ann says the girls nailed it. Len says he's not going to pick out one person; it says it was fun and energetic, and it took him back to 1964 when he used to go clubbing. And that's what we leave with. The image of Len clubbing in 1964.

Who do you think is going home? I think Monday's contest was the toughest yet.

Posted by Carla Correa at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Dancing With the Stars
        

Did you watch last night's Amazing Race? The big drama wasn't the elimination -- Mark and Mike finally got sent home -- but the infighting between Margie and Luke and Jen and Kisha.

At one of the clue boxes, Jen kind of charged Luke a little, he blocked the way and threw an elbow at her. She called him "a bitch" and even signed it, though he didn't see that. Margie did, though, and she was not happy.

Upon arriving at the next clue, Luke seemed to run right into Jen for no reason, which seemed a little excessive. At this point, both teams were getting really angry.

That escalated through the rest of the episode. Margie and Luke, Jen and Kisha and Tammy and Victor all finished at the same time, and M&L and J&K started having it out on the mat. Luke signed angrily; Kisha laughed a little. At that, Margie went ballistic. To be fair, at that point, Kisha apologized about laughing, but it didn't seem that sincere.

So overall, everyone was wrong. Luke was blocking the way at first; the elbow was a little much. Calling him a "bitch"? Also a little excessive. Luke slamming into Jen at the next clue? Definitely uncalled for. Kisha laughing also totally uncalled for. Yuck. At least Mike and Mark aren't in the final four!

What did you think?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
Categories: The Amazing Race
        

Here's John-John on last week's ANTM. -- SKK 

Last week's episode began with the girls taking on the role of being a creative director for a South Pole Jr. photo shoot featuring one another. 

Aminat ran into problems when she was matched with her enemy Natalie. She took too long styling Natalie, which resulted in Natalie not being ready for the photo shoot. Mr. Jay Manuel wasn't too pleased.

Teyona exceled when she styled Celia. Allison also exceled when she styled Aminat. London struggled with Allison; Mr. Jay didn't like London's style.

Teyona won the challenge. As a result, she picked Celia and Aminat to join her in a Seventeen magazine spread.

The next day, Mr. Jay came to the Top Model house at 5:30 a.m. and surprised the girls with the news that they were going to participate in a special shoot with R&B singer Ciara, who dropped by the house a little later. All the contestants hopped in Ciara's stretched pink SUV limo and went to the set of the shoot.

Once on set the girls learned that the shoot required them to act like crazed fans attempting to get near Ciara.

London, who had been lamenting about her weight gain for weeks, hated the shoot because all the models were required to wear a bikini wrapped in microphone wires. (Don't even ask.) Mr. Jay didn't do her any favors by taking her to the side to talk to her about her weight. He told her that a top model needs to treat her body like a temple. (Lord have mercy!)

Mr. Jay said that Aminat was the worst of the day. (Can you say foreshadowing?)

Before the judging began, the contestants found out that the top six finishers were off to Brazil for the next part of the cycle. That unfortunately meant that the next castoff would not be joining them.

The judges were not pleased with Aminat. They liked Celia, and Teyona. Miss J Alexander ripped up London for her weight. The judges praised Fo's body angles. Allison also got favorable review.

The judges voted that Teyona had the best photo followed by Fo, Natalie, Celia and Allison. It was down to Aminat and London in the bottom two.

Tyra Banks told Aminat that she had a strong body, beautiful skin, and face. She also said that Aminat might be limited to runway modeling. London on the other hand had beautiful bone structure and "smiling eyes." Tyra also made a comment about London's weight gain.

In the end, it was London's weight gain that sent her home. She later said that she would continue to model. 

Posted by John-John Williams IV at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: America's Next Top Model
        

Survivor host Jeff Probst blogged about last night's show -- OK, mostly about Coach -- for EW.com today, and it's the funniest thing I've read in a long, long time. Read it here.

Here's a snippet:

I am seriously considering a show called The Dragon Slayer. It's about a guy who lives in a world that exists solely in his own mind, and thus is invisible to the outside world. While it is the year 2009, the Dragon Slayer dresses like he's just returned from one of those Renaissance fairs where he's just finished eating a turkey leg the size of a small dog. We'll simply follow his daily life, where every time he leaves his home offers the potential for a life changing, near-death, journey. Every episode concludes with his signature line:

Coach: "Hence my name, the dragon slayer."

 It gets better; trust me. Go read now. Laugh. Laugh some more. And have a great weekend!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Survivor
        

Indy car driver Helio Castroneves, who was the champion of Dancing With the Stars in 2007, was acquitted on tax charges today.

Read the Associated Press story here.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

I was off yesterday and missed the announcement, but the American Idol tour dates have been announced, and the Top 10 will be in the area not once, but twice.

The tour will stop at Washington's Verizon Center on Aug. 4 and Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena on Aug. 5.

Tickets for the whole tour go on sale at 10 a.m. May 9.

You can read more, including the whole tour schedule, here.

(Photo by Ray Mickshaw / Fox)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: American Idol, Local appearances
        

They were so close.

They had a plan.

They had the votes.

And for some reason, the dumbos left on Survivor lost their chance to take out insufferable blowhard Coach and took out Brendan instead.

Oh, fine. They blindsided Brendan so they could get rid of him, his likeability and his immunity idol in one fell swoop.

But why oh why do we have to keep dealing with Coach? Now he really will believe he was the mastermind -- oh, I'm sorry, I mean the dragon-slayer. How many times did he call himself that last night? At least three, if not more.

I just cannot deal with this character any more. I was bouncing in my chair with excitement, waiting for him to be blindsided, so I was really, really peeved when they flipped the script.

But honestly, does anyone believe that story he told about being airdropped in a military helicopter into the Amazon, being taken prisoner by a tribe of people about 4 feet tall, being beaten and tortured, escaping out the back door and paddling away with his life? Give. Me. A. Break.

And this is the guy who has claimed he will never lie in this game.

Coach, you are not the dragon-slayer, you aren't a samurai, and as Bucky pointed out for us last week, you don't even appear to be a coach anymore since your job as listed on the CBS website is posted as open.

Edited to add: I highly recommend following Coach on Twitter. No, it's not really him, but the hilarity factor is high.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Survivor
        

Who's going home tonight? You all had a lot of predictions based on last night's episode, but the general consensus was that it will be Lil.

After a whole lotta filler, we shall see for sure.

Starting with the weekly Ford commercial they are forced to do, this one to "Freeze Frame." Then, group sing: They sing "Maniac." OK ... results, please?

Allison Iraheta is safe. So is Adam Lambert. Anoop Desai, however, is in the bottom three. 

Everyone else gets to wait while Jennifer Hudson performs. There is a long segment about her history since Idol, including, of course, winning the Grammy and the Oscar. (This includes no mention of her recent tragedy -- her mother, brother and nephew were murdered last year.) In the interview before the performance, she says this is her first time performing on the show since she was eliminated, so it's like "coming full circle." She might have been eliminated prematurely, but she's done all right, don't you think?

Ryan does a quick interview with Anoop, who is pretty clearly frustrated. Anoop says he didn't expect to be there, and he got good feedback yesterday. Paula says she is a little surprised to see him there, and Simon, asked if he deserves to be there, says, simply, "Yes."

Kris Allen and Lil Rounds are asked to stand. Simon interrupts to say that he didn't get a chance to talk last night, "But Kris, you were brilliant." True. Lil talks to Ryan about how she is somewhat frustrated because when she sings the work of an artist who she should be like, they think she sounds too much like them, and when she tries to stretch, they don't like that, either. I understand where she is coming from, but at the same time, I think if her performances had been better the past couple of weeks, they wouldn't have picked on her as much. Anyway, there's the ole switcheroo, but Kris is safe, and Lil is in the bottom three. 

So that leaves Matt Giraud and Danny Gokey. No surprise, Danny is safe, and Matt is in the bottom three. 

If you've lost track, that means we've got a bottom three of Matt, Lil and Anoop. Matt and Lil are no surprise, but I am not that shocked about Anoop either. Who did he think would be there -- there is hardly anyone else left! Anyway, immediately, Anoop is told that he is safe. He still looks pretty peeved. He's going to have to rein that in a little to avoid putting off voters.

Then Miley Cyrus performs. OMG, Hannah Montana! Or whatever the appropriate reaction is supposed to be. I would rather just see who is getting eliminated, mmmkay?

Ryan asks Simon whether they would consider using the save this week. Simon says they would on one of them, and it would probably be a surprise to that person. "So it's Lil?" Ryan asks. Of course, he doesn't answer. And of course, they would only consider it. I still think it's not happening.

"After the nationwide vote of over 36 million," Lil is safe, and Matt is out. So now Matt has to "sing for his life." He sings; the crowd chants "save." 

Simon says he wasn't as good as last night, and he doesn't think Matt has any chance of winning. But, for some reason he then tells him it's good news.

So Matt is safe. That means two people are going home next week, and, Simon says, next week is disco week.

Ugh, really?

So that was ... anticlimactic, all things considered. Wasn't that supposed to be super-dramatic? What do you think about them using the save on Matt?

In other news, miracle: They finished on time!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: American Idol
        

Lots of tears are shed throughout every season of The Biggest Loser, but I would be willing to bet that last night's episode might have provided the largest volume ever.

First, there was the weekly challenge: The contestants had to cross a 700-foot canyon using two wires, and at times they were as high as 10 stories in the air. Filipe got a good start, and was determined to win in honor of his cousin Sione, who went home last week, but challenge-dominator Tara came from behind. And Mike conquered a longtime fear of heights and placed in third.

The big news of the episode was that it was makeover week. The contestants headed over to Macy's to get their new look, and who was there to guide them but Tim Gunn? All the finalists found outfits for their new bodies, thinking they were going to be attending a Hollywood movie premiere. Helen cried about feeling pretty for the first time in a long time, and she wasn't the only one.

At movie premiere time, shocker! The finalists were reunited with their family members, all of whom were stunned by the appearance of their weight-loss fanatics. But the most tears were shed by Mike and Ron's family, especially Mike's little brother, Max. Max, 16, seemed totally overwhelmed by the idea that now he was going to be the only "big one" in the family since his brother and his father have lost so much weight. Everyone cried (yes, that includes me). Mike reassured him that they would help him when they got home, which on the one hand seemed like he could really use more help than that, but on the other, if the other two people if your household with big appetites start eating healthfully, that should only be positive.

That movie, by the way, was a total sham. Instead of a film, the contestants and their families got a sneak peek at footage from throughout the season, including the initial weigh-ins, which led to, you guessed it, more tears. (See a bonus scene from the event above.)

Even with all of that, the majority of the tears were saved for the end of the episode, when Laura learned that she was injured. She'd been having shooting pains in her leg for a while, and the doctors discovered that she had a serious stress fracture at a pretty bad place in her hip. It was called the most serious sports injury anyone's gotten on the show before, and she learned that if she didn't take it super-easy, she could end up needing major surgery.

So this sounded bad, but somehow to me didn't seem incredibly dire, until it was time for the weigh-in. When it was Laura's turn, Mike and Filipe had to carry her to the scale. Then it really became clear how hurt she really was. Unfortunately, this meant she hadn't been able to work out at all, and she gained 3 pounds, which put her in the bottom two with Kristin.

At deliberations, Laura begged to stay, and Tara pled her case, too, saying she didn't have support at home. Kristin defended herself very well, saying that if they kept Laura, it would be a cowardly move -- that they would be keeping her only because she wasn't a threat. Kristin added that she wasn't there to win the money, she was there to get healthy, get her life back and start a family.

Apparently, the plea worked because Laura got voted out. It looked like she got lots of medical attention from the show, so maybe the no-support-at-home thing wasn't an issue in the end.

In the "Biggest Loser Moment" footage, Laura had maintained her weight loss since leaving the ranch, despite not being able to work out very much. She'd also managed to avoid surgery by doing lots of physical therapy. So that was good. I hope for the best for her, though. She was having such a tough time on the show, and like trainer Jillian said, she was just beginning to make progress.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: The Biggest Loser
        

I'd seen this posted in a few places, but always when I was without headphones. But just now I finally got a chance to check out this audition video from Britain's Got Talent.

You know how it is: Frumpy lady walks out on stage and declares that she wants to be a star, then she sings, and it's, as Simon Cowell would say, dreadful. Delusions on parade, as usual.

Well, not this time. This woman Susan Boyle comes out, and as soon as she sings the first note ... oh, just go watch!

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
        

So, tonight, Dancing With the Stars gets started right away with Lil' Kim and Derek Hough dancing the jive again. ("Jailhouse Rock"! Hee! And, thankfully, no costume issues tonight that I can see.) If only the results would come so quickly ...

We're reminded of the standings -- cute-as-a-button Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower on the bottom, along with Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer. They laugh about the fact that Steve-O did what he thought was his best dance, but he got one 4. Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough comment on their raunchy rumba (I agreed with judge Len Goodman on that one -- ick). And so on and so forth ...

Next up ... musical theater! Some of the cast of the Broadway revival of West Side Story perform "America." How does their sound carry? I don't see any microphones.

Samantha Harris asks Kim about what it's like being the first to knock Gilles Marini out of the top spot. She says she feels good but isn't taking anything for granted. Samantha then asks Melissa Rycroft about the group dance, which she'll participate in next week if she's not kicked off tonight. She says it will be fun and be nice to dance without pressure. (Oh, man, the group dance is so cheesy.) Ty says he didn't do his best dancing last night (thus 6s instead of 9s). Samantha asks Steve-O if he thinks he'll be saved by his fans again despite his low marks. He says he's just thankful for the experience, or something to that extent.

Host Tom Bergeron makes an interesting note: Steve-O's 4 was the lowest mark given in this week in the history of the competition.

After a brief recap of the scores, Kim and Derek and Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska are asked to step down to the center of the stage. K&D are safe (no surprise), and so are L&E.

Rascal Flatts is now performing "Goodbye" from their new album, Unstoppable. My TV-watching partner-in-crime and I proceed to have a discussion about how reality TV is unstoppable. Julianne and Tony Dovolani dance along.

There's now a clip about the costumes; the stars will be "designing" the costumes next week instead of the pros. Some of the ideas: show skin (Gilles), show less skin (Lawrence), leotardlike (Shawn Johnson), leopard (Steve-O), denim (Ty).

More results: Shawn and Mark Ballas are safe; so are Melissa and Tony.

After more interview time with Samantha (this time about costumes: "As long as she doesn't give me her pasties, I'm fine," Derek says of Lil' Kim.), we get more results ... oh, I got ahead of myself. We have a Macy's Stars of Dance performance choreographed by original Pussycat Doll Lindsay Allen and featuring Carmen Electra. Oh, goody. They (they being Carmen and dancers I've never seen) dance to "Stuff Like That There."

Rascal Flatts (yes, again) perform the Beatles' "Revolution." Karina SmirnoffAliona Vilani, dressed in a military outfit, and Chelsie, dressed in silver and black, dance, Aliona with Artem Chigvintsev and Chelsie with Mark Ballas. They had partners, but I couldn't tell whom they were. Can anyone help me out? (Edited to add: Thanks for the help, commenters!)

Now an expert talks about body language? Really? Please give me the results. Please. Shawn's shrugging means she's insecure. Ty holds on to Chelsie for security. Melissa is fearful. Gilles is humble. Samantha finds this segment funny.

And finally ... Gilles and Cheryl Burke are safe. We find out the fate of the others after a break, but first we get a weird musical cue, and the commercials don't come in soon enough. We hear Tom say, "Well, that was abrupt!" Clearly he didn't know he was on TV. Funny!

The next couple safe is Chuck and Julianne. There is no dance off tonight for Lacey and Steve-O and Ty and Chelsie. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba says they'll lose his graceful determination. Len says they'll lose Ty's charm. Bruno Tonlioli says Ty should be back.

And he is. Steve-O is dunzo. He says he met a lot of challenges and made a lot of mistakes. He grew as a person, and is thankful for his fans. He says Lacey was patient with him, and that he tended to "manstruate." Steve-O leaves us laughing!

Posted by Carla Correa at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Dancing With the Stars
        

Tonight's theme on American Idol is songs from the movies, which explains why Quentin Tarantino is there. He's apparently a superfan, and he even gets to join the Top 7 on stage for the uber-dramatic intro today.

Before the singing, Simon Cowell says it was because "the girls" talked too much that they overran last week (eight minutes!), which is totally stupid. It's just that there are too many of them (judges, I mean). That said, each finalist will only get feedback from two of the four judges this evening. 

Tarantino was a guest judge in season three, in case you were having deja vu. He met the Top 7 to help them figure out what songs they should sing. In fact, he says, he will directing them.

Allison Iraheta worked on "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon. When she first starts out, she's pretty quiet, but going into the chorus, she works it a little more, and even more toward the end. Paula Abdul says she has "vocally championed Adam since day one," but "you possess the same special sauce that he does." Simon Cowell says it was barbecue sauce she was talking about: hot and spicy. He goes on to say that she is the "girls'" only hope in the competition. Well, unless Lil does something spectacular starting tonight, duh.

Anoop Desai is going to take on "Everything I Do, I Do It for You." Quentin tells him to "rough it up" as much as he can. In the performance, he does a little, but it's mostly very smooth, and it really works for him (though his face gets a little overwrought at times), and it wasn't a soundalike performance. Randy Jackson says he was worried about the song choice, but he did a really good job. "Congrats!" he closes. Kara DioGuardi says he's found "his place," taking pop songs and adding soul to them. She adds that the changes to the melody really worked. 

Adam Lambert is going to sing "Born to be Wild" from Easy Rider. He tells Quentin he is going to do something electronic with it. Hmm, interesting. He works the entire stage, interacting with the band and the backup singers, but for me, it's more back to his theatrical side. I mean, it's interesting, and he hits every note, but it seems more like a stage show than a singing competition. Paula: "Take it all in, my dear. The reason, Adam, that you're shaking up this whole competition is that you dare to dance in the path of greatness. You do. And I'm going to tell you: Fortune rewards the brave, and you're one of the bravest contestants I've ever witnessed, ever." Simon: "Adam, I think you've got to learn to express yourself." Snerk. He says vocally, it was great, but at times it felt like watching the Rocky Horror musical, adding that it won't be as popular as last week's performance.

Matt Giraud gets interviewed by Ryan, and is it just me, or they should just skip this segment if they are having trouble fitting the show in time? He's going to sing Bryan Adams' "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" from Don Juan DeMarco. He has some good moments, but he, unfortunately, has some really off-key ones, too. Something just seems off-kilter about the whole performance to me. Randy Jackson says it was an interesting performance and that he had a rough patch that didn't work at all. He also calls him out for doing "all that stuff" with a simple melody, and he lost more than he won with his changes. Kara says it has to be a masterpiece if he's going to flip a song like that, and it didn't work. (It seems to be killing Simon that he can't offer commentary -- he is making weird faces the entire time that Kara is talking.)

Danny Gokey also has an interview segment with Ryan, and he tells him that he bought a guitar because he was bored. He's going to sing "Endless Love," with harp accompaniment. It's nice, but where are the glasses?? Paula says she thought at first it should have been in a different key, but he gave a beautiful rendition nevertheless. Simon says he can't fault how he sang the song, but he's disappointed by the harp and the very traditional rendition. Still, he says the song clearly means a lot to him personally, and he congratulates him for that.

Kris Allen is singing "Falling Slowly," from Once. Oooh, nice choice. He talks with Quentin about whether he should play guitar during his performance or not. He doesn't, but that's OK because he does a pretty great job with it. Randy says for him, it never quite "caught on" even though he loves the song. He says it was "pitchy from note one." Kara says it was one of his best moments ever, even though it was an obscure song. Next to last, as usual, means hardly any feedback. Gee, if only they had, I don't know, not chatted with the judges for three minutes coming back from the commercial? Who is directing this mess?

Lil Rounds sings "The Rose" with a gospel twist, and her performance is kind of all over the place. Paula says the song has the most beautiful lyrics and that the road has been very long, but it's been worth taking, "especially when you've made it this far, Lil." Huh? Simon says the song was "too soft, too middle of the road." He says she is not the artist they met seven or eight weeks ago. She says they told her to be an artist, so she put her own bead on the song. But, Simon says, it's a Bette Midler song. 

Shockingly, the show is running late yet again, but at least this time it wasn't so late that performances were cut out of the hour. 

Anyway, what do you think about the night's performances? I think Matt and Lil are in trouble. We'll see tomorrow. By the way, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Hudson will be there.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)
Categories: American Idol
        

There is some wardrobe madness going on on tonight's Dancing With the Stars -- even more than usual -- for performances of the rumba and the jive.

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower are first, and they've been assigned the jive. During rehearsal, they spend a lot of time trying to loosen Ty up (last week, his paso doble was compared to a Transformer, and rightly so, as even Ty agrees). To help him out, Chelsie has choreographed a Texas-two-step-themed jive, and that seems to help, but you can still see how hard he's trying to loosen up, which defeats the purpose a bit. Still, though, definitely better than last week. (On the wardrobe front, Chelsie is wearing a sequined tube top styled like the American flag.) Head judge Len Goodman is first with comments, and he says it's like Ty is bewildered and not sure what he's doing there, though he gives it his all every week. Bruno Tonioli says the line dancing was good, but "then the jive started." He says he went after it like a wild animal, but he really tried hard and he really is a gentleman. Carrie Ann Inaba says it was an exciting jive, but he never really found his footing. Scores: 6-6-6, for an 18/30.

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas are the first to do the rumba. In their rehearsal, Mark re-creates a prom for Shawn, who is missing her real one for the show. It was probably cooler than her real high school prom would have been. They do tend to get over-romanticized in movies. Their performance is truly gorgeous. Bruno says it was so beautifully pure it was "almost angelic ... and yet again I could sometimes see the hint of the devil." She says she should work on her hip action a little more. Carrie Ann says she could see the discomfort in her eyes at the beginning, but at the end she was more comfortable. Len says for him, sometimes the rumba is too hot, but he thought this was just right. I'm with Len. Scores: 8-9-9, for a 26/30.

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska are hoping to have fun with the jive, but at the beginning of rehearsals, LT is not having any fun at all. Then Warren Sapp comes to visit and give him a pep talk, after which Lawrence promises he is going to let it out in his performance. Regarding Edyta's bizarre sparkly legwarmer-like things, I can only say, "Ain't That Peculiar," which happens to be the song they are dancing to. I find her legwear so distracting that halfway through the performance, I have to rewind to the beginning to pay attention to the dancing. Lawrence seems like he is trying to loosen up, but there are these weird pauses in their choreography, and every time, you can tell he is thinking so hard about what exactly to do next. Carrie Ann says he got his groove back and that this was way more enjoyable to watch (though yes, they did a lift). Len says he showed off a lighter side of her personality, but he would like to see more lightness in his footwork. Bruno says he is alive and kicking and that "the reboot worked." He says LT was on beat all the way through the dance and never lost the beat. Scores: 7-7-8, for a 22/30, their best score yet.

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani hope to recover from a semi-disastrous paso last week with a romantic rumba. And they definitely seem to have fewer problems than last week. Len says it was clean and precise and featured interesting choreography that he liked. His only criticism is to make the dances slightly more earthy and less balletic. Bruno says her body can assume incredible shapes, but he wants to see more of "Melissa the Maneater." Carrie Ann says she was impressed by the emotional quality of the dance and says in future dances she should not be afraid of pushing her hip action a little further. Scores: 9-9-9, for a 27/30.

Lil Kim and Derek Hough are doing the jive, and she's (sort of) dressed like a police officer, and he's (sort of) dressed like a prisoner. Heh. They dance like crazy to "Jailhouse Rock," and it's a ton of fun (though I was a little concerned we were going to have a bit of a wardrobe malfunction with Lil Kim's lil top -- and in fact, the edge of a pastie is showing by the end of the performance. Yikes!). Bruno says he is guilty, "Arrest me, frisk me, take me!" Carrie Ann just stand up and screams and gives her a hug. She gestures so wildly that one of her diamond bracelets flies off. Len says it was fun and had energy, but that Derek got so caught up with the story that it didn't have enough jive. Scores: 10-8-10, for a 28/30. 8?? Come on, Len!

Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer are taking on the rumba, and Lacey is basically wearing underwear and a robe for her costume. In rehearsal, they are concerned because they have such a brother-and-sister relationship. Yeah, so that basically makes their whole dance awkward -- and the underwear-as-costume isn't really helping the situation. Carrie Ann says there was something oddly mesmerizing by the performance, and she thinks it's because of his honesty and commitment, though, yes, they have to work on his grace. Len says you can't confuse movement with dancing, and there wasn't any hip action or footwork at all. "It was no good," he says. Bruno says, "Thank God for Racy Lacey. ... But the dancing is bad." Scores: 7-4-5, for a 16/30. 

Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke have to discard much of the sexiness and seriousness for the jive this week. Well, not all of it, since they are dressed in leather and ... mesh, I guess. Their dance is super fast and intricate (and since they are performing to "Dance, Dance," it doesn't really have a 1950s vibe at all, but that's not their fault). It seems like maybe he loses the beat a few times -- you can see Bruno in the background counting the beat, which he always does, but it's way more obvious this time for some reason. Len says there were a lot of the qualities of the jive, but he "went a little bit wrong" on part of the dance right in front of him. He says it's a little frantic. Bruno says it was so fast and furious, but that if he had gone faster, he would have been at the speed of light. He says because of the speed, he loses part of the sharpness of the steps. Carrie Ann says he showed that he could be showy as well as sexy, though she says his arms were a little odd. Scores: 9-8-9, for a 26/30.

Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough are wearing a lot of lace, though of the two of them, only Julianne is wearing thigh-high lace stockings. They were concerned about not having chemistry, but that wasn't a problem. Bruno says he would like some more of that, please, and Carrie Ann cheers along with him. He adds that Chuck upped the raunch factor, and it was a step in the right direction. Carrie Ann says it was the most passionate and sexy number of the night, but yes, they do need to work on the footwork a little. Len says parts of the dance were more suitable for the bedroom than the ballroom. He adds that Chuck has some good lines and then bad lines, and it's confusing. Scores: 8-7-8, for a 23/30.

What did you think? Ty and Steve-O are in trouble, I think. Though I've certainly thought that of Steve-O before and been wrong. 

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

Just noticed this Associated Press story on our site, which asks the question above. It cites Lil Kim, Steve-O and Denise Richards as stars who are trying to get an image makeover on the show.

What do you think?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 4:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Celebreality, Dancing With the Stars
        

I'm really kind of frustrated that we are down to the top five teams on The Amazing Race, and the same people keep making dumb, dumb mistakes and still getting through.

Last week, Mark and Mike got two 30-minute penalties for hiding parts from the other teams and failing to follow the instructions in one task, but they still managed to check in ahead of Mel and Mike.

Last night, several teams made the mistake of not making sure they had their bags at the end of one task -- Kisha and Jen tried to check in without their bags, their pack with their passports and travel documents or even Kisha's shoes. They were sent back out to retrieve their bags before checking back in.

Mark and Mike also didn't have their bags (though they did have their pack with the passports) and the were split over whether to go back for them. Eventually, they did, though they were flat out of money because of all the extra cab fare. They got through it by offering personal belongings (compass, watch, flashlight) in exhange, but this is apparently very against the rules. (Has that always been the case? I seem to recall teams doing this in the past.) But nowadays, that gets you a two-hour penalty, and because they did it twice, Mark and Mike racked up four hours of penalties.

But they lucked out again -- it was a nonelimination leg. Had I thought about the fact that we were down to the final five teams, I would have predicted that, but I didn't, so I just got extra mad. Why couldn't the nonelim been last week?

Last night's episode did clear up a few things for me: I'm rooting for Margie and Luke and Tammy and Victor. (I wasn't sure who I was for after Mel and Mike's departure.) Also, karaoke-in-traffic tasks should happen way, way more often.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: The Amazing Race
        

I couldn't make it out to the Survivor auditions in Catonsville yesterday, but Sun reporter Scott Calvert did.

Here's his story on the event.

Were you there? What was it like? What was your pitch to get on the show?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Survivor
        

I am starting to think there has never been a reality TV character as delusional as Coach on Survivor: Tocantins.

There have been people who have believed they were running the game and who have even declared such, but never with as much fervor as our soccer coach/conductor.

The first scene after the credits on last night's episode featured him standing in the ocean, meditating (with lots of arm gestures) while dramatic classical music played. (I should ask Tim Smith what it was, if I can find a clip!) And for the rest of the episode, every time he did an interview, there was accompanying music that really heightened how self-important he was being. It's clear the editors don't like him, and that he gave them lots to work with, but it was beyond entertaining. (It's about time -- this season had felt like a dud thus far, but I think they got me last night.)

But as for plot, well, it was merge time. And, one might have thought, time to see how the secret alliance forged at Exile Island among Taj, Brendan, Stephen and Sierra was going to play out. Except Brendan and Sierra totally failed to even speak to Taj or Stephen, so they were out in the cold. In the meantime, Coach talked to JT about forming an alliance. JT thought he could bring in Stephen, which he did, and Coach brought in Tyson and Debbie, and they were all going to target Brendan.

Stephen mentioned this to Taj, who brought up the fact that the rest of the folks were going to vote for JT, so if Brendan played the hidden immunity idol, JT would be going home. So Taj and Stephen figured out if they split the votes four for Brendan, three for Sierra, then one of them would go and JT would be safe. This was related to JT, who passed it along to Coach.

Spectacular cut to Coach, talking about how he masterminded the whole thing, and it was going to be so perfect and amazing, and how he was the dragon-slayer. (I could not make this up.) Yes, if being told about a plan is masterminding it, then yes, he sure did!

Sadly, in the end, all the machinations made no difference because Joe (Remember Joe? I almost didn't, though I did decide he reminded me of Johnny Drama from Entourage) had a cut on his leg that had gotten so infected, he had to be taken out of the game for treatment. So there was no tribal council.

Tyson probably had the most hilarious soundbites in quantity for the episode, but my favorite quote was Brendan on Coach: "He told me, 'I kind of started the whole samurai thing,' and I was like, I think they've been doing that for thousands of years!'"

All this week's plotting is probably for naught, as it looks like Brendan and Sierra will wise up and actually talk to their alliance-mates in the next episode. Whew.

(Photo courtesy of CBS)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Survivor
        

On tonight's American Idol, we'll learn who the Top 7 are -- and whether the show is going to apologize to Adam Lambert for officially being over before he even got to perform.

(I'm playing a little catch-up after celebrating Passover, so this won't be quite as detailed as usual. Please bear with me.)

The theme last night was "year of their birth," and Frankie Avalon comes out to sing "Venus," which is from Simon's birth year of 1959. (He of course claims to have been born in '69.)

The group song is from "the year Idol was born," 2002: "Can't Get You Out of My Head." They definitely aren't lip-syncing this one, and large swaths of it are just terrible. Allison sounds good, though.

To fill some time (they better not go late again!!), we get a behind-the-scenes look at the making of their music video for Ford, this week to Britney Spears' "Circus."

Ryan asks Adam, "for those who saw it," how he felt about getting a standing ovation from Simon Cowell last night. He says he appreciated the gesture and was honored. No one says anything about the whole running-eight-minutes-late thing.

Then, results time. Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Anoop Desai are all asked to stand. Ryan asks the other judges, who didn't get to talk last night, what they thought about Adam's performance. Duh, they loved it. (But in more words than that.) Adam is safe. One of the others in the bottom three, and it's Anoop. Kris is safe.

After the break, Flo Rida performs "Right Round." There are dancers and confetti and album promotion. You know, the usual.

More results: Danny Gokey is safe. Matt Giraud is, too. Scott MacIntyre, however, is in the bottom three. Allison Iraheta and Lil Rounds stand up. Allison is safe; Lil is in the bottom three.

So, in case you've lost track, that's a bottom three of Anoop, Scott and Lil. I think that's a pretty fair bottom three. Simon says there is one person in particular they would "consider" saving. Which means they won't. (Just so you know.)

Kellie Pickler comes out to perform. It's a little pitchy, dawg, but her dress is cute.

One person is safe right off the bat. Ryan fakes them out, saying, "That person is Anoop, stay where you are, Lil, head to the couch." That's not nice, Ryan!

After the break, "after 34 million votes, only 30,000 separate the two of you." The person with the lowest vote total is Scott, so Anoop is safe. Scott sings for his life, redoing last night's performance without any guitar this time. He has fun, but also some really, really rough patches. Simon says two people think he should stay and two think he should go. Um, he should go. Simon says he really likes him, but they have to consider whether they need the save in a future week. Simon finally makes the decision (or at least pretends like they haven't already decided). He is out.

Paula wants to have a last word, telling him how inspiring he is.

So that wasn't a shocking cut, in my opinion. What do you think about the results?

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: American Idol
        

Someone's going home on tonight's Dancing With the Stars, betrayed by the paso doble or the Viennese waltz.

Lil Kim and Derek Hough have the reprise request of the evening, performing last night's Viennese waltz again.

Results: Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas are safe, as are Lil Kim and Derek Hough.

After the break, it's Etta James, with "At Last." Sometimes I fast-forward through these performances to try to catch up, but not this one. Karina and Maks perform with her, and they are fab.

Results, part two: Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke are safe. So are Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer, who are shocked.

More, after the break: Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough = safe. So, too, are Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani. 

Montage. Meh.

The Macy's Stars of Dance event of the night is next, followed by a performance by Disney star Demi Lovato, which includes dancing by Benji Schwimmer (brother of Lacey and from So You Think You Can Dance).

More results: Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower are safe, which leaves David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson and Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska in the bottom two, and in the dance-off.

David and Kym's re-dance is first. Len Goodman says he liked it last night and tonight, but there was a little more expression. Bruno Tonioli says he was more composed and focused and a bit of an edge. Carrie Ann Inaba says she felt the connection between them tonight much more than last night. Scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30 (last night was a 22).

Lawrence and Edyta are next. Bruno says they have only seen the tip of the iceberg of what he can do and that he needs to work on being more connected with the music and his partner. Carrie Ann says he had intensity and power on the dancefloor. Len says he saw real improvement. Scores: 6-7-7, for a 20/30 (same as last night).

These scores will be combined with last night's viewer votes, and then, at long last, we shall see who is going home. 

And that is: David and Kym. Wow, really? I think it was a fan-base issue, huh? What do you think about the results? I'm pretty shocked Steve-O's still in it.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Celebreality, Dancing With the Stars
        

Tonight's American Idol will have the Top 8 singing songs from the year they were born. This pretty much makes it '80s night, except for Allison Iraheta, who was born in 1992. Last week's theme was similarly wide open, and the finalists made some weird choices, but it remains to be seen how they do with this one. Let's see, shall we?

Um, who is random stone-faced dude in the audience? He kind of looks like a Blue Man Group guy out of makeup.

Host Ryan Seacrest embraces the theme wholeheartedly, introducing the judges with baby pictures. Awww, cute. We'll see the contestants' pictures, too. Simon Cowell claims the picture they put up is not him. Then Ryan's picture shows up, too.

Danny Gokey is first, and the oldest, born in 1980. He kind of thwarts the whole theme by singing Mickey Gilley's version of "Stand by Me." This means it starts kind of slowly (and frankly, it's a tad on the whiny side at the very beginning) and then gets all jazzy about halfway through (and this part suits his voice way more). But I'm still irritated by the song choice. Randy Jackson says he didn't love the arrangement, but he's such an amazing singer, he made him love it anyway. Kara DioGuardi agrees about the arrangement but says he killed it at the end and "turned it on its head and made it your own." Paula Abdul says he has set the bar so high everyone else is going to have to run as fast as they can to catch up. Simon laughs at Paula's technical talk and then says the beginning was good, the middle was lazy and the end was terrific, and that's all he has to say about that.

Kris Allen was born in 1985, which he is all about, choosing "All She Wants to do is Dance." He has also chosen a jazzy arrangement, and he's on the weird part of the stage where he is totally surrounded by the audience and has like zero personal space. I hate that part of the stage, but he gives a great performance even though this is an odd arrangement. Kara says it felt like "jazz-funk homework," like it was a class assignment to interpret a song. "It was," Simon chimes in. Paula says he's heartfelt and genuine and changed up a very one-note song. She adds that he is one of the most likeable contestants they've ever had. Simon calls it indulgent, boring and forgettable. He goes on that he came across as a guitarist who wanted to sing. Randy agrees that it was self-indulgent because the arrangement made them lose track of him as a singer.

Lil Rounds was born in 1984, and her mother clarifies that she was named "Lil" after her grandmother Lily, so her name's not Little, as Simon called her a couple of weeks ago. She's taking on Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do With It." Toward the end, she changes up a few of the runs, which is good because she was on the verge of a total soundalike performance. Paula says she looks hot tonight (uh-oh). She says this was the week that it was important that she take some liberties and go outside the box. What? They have been telling her to get back in her box for the past three weeks, and rightly so! I get what she's saying, that's it's a little too karaoke, but her statement is weird. Simon says it was a second or third-rate copy of Tina Turner and that she was even mimicking how she walks. He says she's either getting bad advice or making bad decisions. Randy says they all love her and her voice, but that Tina is not her, and it's not clicking. Kara says she's struggling to make the leap from singer to artist.

Anoop Desai goes all mea culpa for his cocky overreaction to the judges' critiques last week. He was born in 1986, and he's going to sing "True Colors." I'm not sure about the choice at first, but his voice is a lot stronger on these ballads than the up-tempo songs that he seems to like singing more. Randy says he pulled it back and gave a very nice, controlled vocal. Kara says he controlled the song and didn't let it control him, and that he interpreted the song with soul. Paula says the choice was flawless and "where it sat in your voice was magical." Simon says he's a singing yo-yo and going down and up. He says it wasn't fantastic and then kind of mocks him for apologizing about last week.

Scott MacIntyre was born in 1985 and says he always wanted to be a train engineer when he was a little kid. His song choice is "The Search is Over." He adds a little bit of a rock vibe (he's playing guitar), but his voice is just not there at times, especially when he tries to take it to falsetto. Kara commends him for playing the guitar and taking on a very difficult song. She adds he had some good moments and some off moments. Paula gives him credit for getting out from behind the piano, but says reaching for some of the high notes, he screeched a bit. Simon suggests going back to the piano next week because the song was horrible and the guitar playing "wasn't much better." Randy says everything was "just all OK" and didn't show him off as a star. Scott says he wanted to show versatility before he goes home.

Allison Iraheta's mom says she talked all the time when she was a baby, and she actually took her to the doctor, who said not to worry, she was going to be a singer. That led to voice lessons, and now here she is. She was born in 1992 and is singing Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me." Aww, no Pearl Jam? Darn. But the song actually works really well with the quality of her voice. Paula says it only takes one note to know undeniably that it's Allison, and you can't put a price tag on it. Simon says it was very good and they just need to "sort you out a bit and make you a bit more likeable." He is worried that her personality is not coming through. Randy compares her to Kelly Clarkson, which, yes, she has reminded me of her for a while now. Kara says she took "adult content" of that song and made it young and believable, which takes true talent.

Matt Giraud was also born in 1985, and we see footage of him in a play when he was a kid that's pretty funny. He sings "Part Time Lover." Well, please, please be better than Kevin Covais. And he is, but honestly, that song and Idol will always call Kevin to mind. Forever. Randy says he was one of the best of the night. Kara calls him unbelievable. Paula says "standing O!" Simon says it was a million times better than last night. Apparently, we're running out of time, so Matt gets the short critiques. That's always so unfair!

Adam Lambert is last, and the show is actually supposed to be over before his segment even starts, the show is running so late. He was born in 1982, and he's going to sing "Mad World." He does a haunting version of it, a la Gary Jules' version from Donnie Darko. I haven't been in his corner for most of the season, but this is a brilliant choice and a really great performance. Simon says he is the only one who gets to talk because they are out of time, but words aren't necessary: He gives him a standing ovation. (The video links might not last long, but for the moment, you can see clips of his performance here. iTunes has a pre-order available for the video, as well. Not sure when that will go live.)

What do you think about the night's performances? I hate to say it, but Adam just totally stole the show. (And unfortunately, a bunch of people probably didn't get to see it because of how late the show went.)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (34)
Categories: American Idol
        

For the next season of Top Chef, it's all about the well-known, not the unknown, as 24 chefs vie for the prize on Top Chef Masters, which debuts June 10.

You can read the full press release here. Neil Patrick Harris, Zooey Deschanel and the producers of Lost will be among the guest judges.

The competitors, who will be competing for charity, include:

- Rick Bayless - Frontera Grill, Chicago, Ill. (pictured)

- Wilo Benet - Pikayo, San Juan, Puerto Rico

- John Besh - Restaurant August, New Orleans, LA

- Graham Elliot Bowles - Graham Elliot Restaurant, Chicago, Ill.

- Michael Chiarello - Bottega Restaurant, Yountville, Calif.

- Michael Cimarusti - Providence, Los Angeles, Calif.

- Wylie Dufresne - wd~50, New York, N.Y.

- Elizabeth Falkner - Orson, San Francisco, Calif.

- Hubert Keller - Fleur de Lys, San Francisco, Calif.

- Christopher Lee - Aureole, New York, N.Y.

- Ludo Lefebvre - Ludo Bites, Los Angeles, Calif.

- Anita Lo - Annisa, New York, N.Y.

- Tim Love - The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Fort Worth, Texas

- Rick Moonen - Rick Moonen's RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nev.

- Nils Noren - French Culinary Institute, New York, N.Y.

- Lachlan McKinnon Patterson - Frasca Food & Wine, Boulder, Colo.

- Cindy Pawlcyn - Mustards Grill, Napa Valley, Calif.

- Mark Peel - Campanile, Los Angeles, Calif.

- Douglas Rodriguez - Alma de Cuba, Philadelphia, PA

- Michael Schlow - Radius Restaurant, Boston, Mass.

- Art Smith - Table Fifty-Two, Chicago, Ill.

- Suzanne Tracht - Jar, Los Angeles, Calif.

- Jonathan Waxman - Barbuto, New York, N.Y.

- Roy Yamaguchi - Roy's Restaurants, San Diego, Calif.

(Photo courtesy of Bravo TV)

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Top Chef
        

On tonight's Dancing With the Stars, the remaining couples will take on the Viennese waltz and the paso doble.

Samantha Harris seems to have her voice back, which is good for her, I guess. (P.S. Did you know that because I posted last week that I find her annoying, that means I'm just jealous because she's so pretty? Thank you, random e-mailer. It turns out that I just think she's annoying. And if you think I'm the only one, go back to previous weeks and check the look on Maks' face during the backstage interviews. Just sayin'.)

Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough are up first, and they've drawn the waltz. In rehearsal, Chuck has a tough time at first grasping how big the movements have to be, but once he starts mocking it, Julianne says he's finally doing it right. In the performance, he still looks slightly uncomfortable with the big movements, but he's trying hard and smiling hard the whole time. Head judge Len Goodman says Chuck has come out of hibernation and upped his performance level, but he still needs to finesse his footwork. Bruno Tonioli says he is emerging from Julianne's shadow and that he was in command. Carrie Ann Inaba disagrees and says he lost his focus at times and also his confidence, so that frustrated her. Scores: 7-8-8, for a 23/30.

Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska are the first to try out the paso doble. In rehearsal, he says he is having trouble getting the rhythm of the dance because it doesn't match up with the beat of the music. In the beginning of the performance, he seems to have it down pat, but during the fast footwork in the middle, he looks a little off. The end is pretty strong, though. Bruno calls him the prince of darkness and then totally disagrees with me, saying he started like a block of granite, and then he got his feet moving and did better, but didn't stay with it through the end. Carrie Ann says he seems to have a limited range of motion, but he worked within it and did a good job working with a very difficult piece of music. Len says he brought intensity, but the dance quality is still "not really there." Scores: 6-7-7, for a 20/30. 

Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas did too many tricks for the judges' taste last week, so this week they are all about technique for this week's Viennese waltz. And it works -- just very lovely. Carrie Ann says they proved that simplicity is sometimes the way to go. Len says the showed off a lyrical romance, but the footwork wasn't quite right -- she didn't "step forward on her heels." Bruno says she is "sweetness and light and pretty as a picture." He gives her a little note on keeping her shoulders down in future performances, too. Scores: 9-8-9, for a 26/30. Samantha says that must be the comeback they wanted. They don't point out to her that it's only one point higher than last week, so don't call it a comeback.

Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani prepare for the paso doble, and she keeps laughing and making non-serious faces. During the performance, though, she looks appropriately intense, and so does their dance. Len says he coped well with a very difficult routine very well, though there were a couple of little "blunders." Bruno says she went for it in a difficult routine, and though she made mistakes, she looked stunning. Carrie Ann says the choreography was stunning, but Melissa couldn't quite get her footing at times. Scores: 8-8-9, for a 25/30.

David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson are next with the waltz. Kym vamps is up in red, and David is working his character, too, as they dance to "I Put a Spell on You." Bruno says the spell worked at times, but that at times when he lifted his leg, he looked like a dog at a lamppost. Carrie Ann says he seems frustrated because there is a disconnection -- that Kym and David aren't moving quite in unison and it's distracting. Len liked the story, the performance and the choreography. Scores: 7-8-7, for a 22/30.

Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke prepare for the paso. Gilles is excited because he hopes he can use his martial-arts background to bring strength to the dance. On Twitter, Ryan Seacrest posted that he had heard that Gilles would be showing a lot of skin, and that's no lie. Gilles starts the dance with no shirt on, but one of the first moves of the performance is Cheryl putting on his jacket. In rehearsal, they were concerned with living up to last week's perfect score, but I'm expecting good numbers from this one: They had intensity, some seemingly complex footwork, and again, amazing chemistry. They get a standing ovation, including from Carrie Ann and Bruno (the latter of whom is doing pelvic thrusts as he cheers for them. OK, then). Carrie Ann says it was breathtaking and almost brought her to tears. Len says he found it a tad hectic at times, but he loved the passion. Bruno says Gilles is going for the kill. "That was more than a dance, that was a battle for supremacy!" Scores: 10-9-10, 29/30.

Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer are taking on the Viennese waltz, and he is dressed like a mime for some reason. It's oddly sweet and earnest for them, but it seems to work for them. Len says it was his best dance (but "I've always been negative about you, so don't get overexcited"). Bruno says his timing was on tonight, but technically, he has work to do yet. Carrie Ann says he brought emotional sweetness to the dance, adding that he should work on his posture if he is back next week. Scores: 6-6-6, for an 18/30.

Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower are in the paso doble crowd. He's familiar with bulls, so that should be good. Well, it should be. But unfortunately, to me, Ty looks like he's kind of stomping around and seems more awkward than the past couple of weeks. Bruno says he did it all, but it was "robotic and metallic," so he looked like a Transformer. Carrie Ann wants to know where here little dancer went. Len says this dance wasn't quite up his alley, but he's stiil doing better than in week one. Scores: 7-7-7, for a 21/30.

Lil Kim and Derek Hough close the show with their Viennese waltz, which is nice and sweet and gets another standing ovation. Carrie Ann says she was beaming like her mom the whole time because she was so proud. Len says it had a floaty quality and nice musicality, but he says her footwork was a little lacking. Bruno says he smiled the whole time because she made the waltz look sassy and sexy, and he'd never seen that before. Scores: 9-8-9, for a 26/30.

It was another night of good performances -- not quite as many high points as last week, but way fewer low ones. Who did you like? Dislike? Vote for? Let me know in a comment below.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: Celebreality, Dancing With the Stars
        

I'm playing a little catch up since technically I'm on vacation (can't you tell?). I finally got to watch Sunday's Amazing Race last night, and ... sigh.

I so, so wish Mike and Mel had decided to follow the pack when everyone else figured out where the statue they were seeking was located. But they trusted their cab driver, who turned out to be clueless, and got so far behind, they couldn't catch up, though they came close.

This leg of the race took teams to Phuket, Thailand, where they had to go to the zoo, take a picture with a tiger and take part in an elephant show, and then on to a detour choice of running a rickshaw for 2 miles or sorting and filling barrels for a fishing boat.

The boneheaded award for the episode goes to Mike and Mark. Mark (I think!) decided to somewhat hide the tire pumps at the rickshaw challenge, and then they misread the clue and followed their cab in the rickshaw to the next destination, which was explicitly prohibited. They reached the pit stop first but incurred two 30-minute penalties for the two missteps and ended up checking in in third place. I wish they'd been last.

The winner for ugly American behavior this episode probably goes to Jaime, who admitted she had no patience, but who looked terrible screaming at the little old man in an herb shop who had to open one of 99 drawers for them as they searched for a clue. Ugh, it was awful. Bonus: Now I can finally tell Cara and Jaime apart. (Oh. Um, well, as long as we're being mean, I might as well admit that I laughed when Cara and Jaime called Mike and Mark "the Tweedles," as in Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Even moreso after they got two penalties.)

And scariest moment of the episode? Definitely Margie passing out on the finish mat after she and Luke checked in. She ran a large portion of the rickshaw challenge because she and Luke couldn't communicate when he was running and she was sitting behind him. This show has been to so many insanely hot destinations, I'm surprised that doesn't happen more often, frankly. But she was OK after a few minutes, so that was good.

I'm bummed, though, that Mel and Mike are out. I was rooting for them, hard.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: The Amazing Race
        

Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba will be an honorary judge at the national ballroom dancing championships this weekend at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel in Baltimore.

Read Mary Carole McCauley's interview with Inaba here.

Among other things, she says that if you want to see the real deal of ballroom dancing, this weekend's USA Dance event is the place to be:

"TV has a tendency to dumb down and simplify," says Inaba, who will be an honorary judge of the competition. "What you see on our show is a watered-down version of ballroom dancing. The first goal of any television show is to entertain."

If you want to attend, here's the info: The USA Dance 2009 National DanceSport Championships will be held 8 a.m.-midnight Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, 202 E. Pratt St. Tickets, $10-$35, are available at the door or at usadancenationals.org. For spectators attending nighttime events, business or dressy attire is requested.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Tonight's American Idol opens with host Ryan Seacrest telling us that 36 million votes were cast. Craziness. In addition, we learn that Lady GaGa and David Cook will be singing, albeit not together. (But isn't that a disturbing thought?)

There's banter with the judges, mostly not that exciting, but Ryan does ask Simon Cowell who he would send home. He says he thinks Anoop, Megan and Matt might be in trouble.

This week's Ford commercial is notable mostly for its TOTAL CREEPINESS! Panels of parts of the finalists' faces are mixed and matched with one another, and it calls to mind "If They Mated" segments from the Conan O'Brien show.

For the group sing, the Top 9 take on Journey's "Don't Stop Believin.'" So last week, we found out (officially) that they were lip syncing the group sings. What's the verdict on this week? Seemed more natural than week before last by a lot, but maybe they got some coaching on making their lip syncing more, um, believable.

Results time! Well, first Ryan makes them do impressions of one another. Then it's results time. Megan Joy Corkrey, Matt Giraud and Kris Allen are asked to come to the left side of the stage and wait. Then Adam Lambert, Lil Rounds and Allison Iraheta go to the center of the stage. Lastly, Scott MacIntyre, Danny Gokey  and Anoop Desai hit the right side of the stage. Ryan asks which one of the groups "could be the bottom three"? Which of course means nothing.

After the break, David Cook performs! Afterward, he gets a surprise: his platinum record for his debut album.

Then it really is results time. Maybe. Kris is safe. Matt is made to think he's in the bottom three, but he is safe. That leaves Megan. She is in the bottom three, and she runs toward the stools cawing and waving her arms (like Rockin' Robin? I don't know). On to the next group. Lil is safe. Allison is in the bottom three. Adam, the last in his group, is safe. Danny is safe and heads to the Couch of Safety. That leaves Scott and Anoop, who I am sure will have to wait through some commercials and performances. Anoop says he thinks he is in the bottom three. As it turns out, he is right (and I am wrong), as Scott is taken to the couch and Anoop goes to the Stools of Potential Doom.

The bottom three have to wait through Lady GaGa's performance of "Poker Face." 

Going to break, Simon tells Ryan that only one of the bottom three is worth saving. I'm going to assume that's Allison (as does someone in the audience, who shouts out her name). 

After the break, Allison learns that she is safe. Whew. 

The lowest vote-getter is Megan, who has been mugging for the camera since she found out she is in the bottom three. She keeps telling everyone to "not forget the caw." What the heck? Asked if they will consider saving her, Simon says since she said she doesn't care (which she said earlier about not caring what Simon says), they don't either.

She does her final sing-off right to the judges, and it's pretty much awkward all around, especially the dancing. I don't understand why she's being so smart-alecky right now. This is her chance to garner attention and maybe get a record deal or something. 

She tells Ryan she has a couple of things to say: She says she loves everyone, including America, and then she tells her baby she's coming home and starts crying. She continues to cry during her goodbye montage. Awww, I can't handle crying. Farewell, Megan!

Next week, by the way, the contestants will sing songs from the year they were born. So, it's mostly going to be '80s night, then, with a little '90s.

So what do you think of the results? I'm not shocked, and clearly Megan wasn't, either.

Posted by Sarah Kickler Kelber at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
Categories: American Idol