American Inventor

Tonight is time for American Inventor, the second of the shows that I have just gotten around to watching now that March Madness is down to the Final Four (GO GMU!!!).

The concept of the show itself is interesting. But it is extraordinarily clear that it is from the same producers as American Idol. It is set up exactly the same. From the Ryan Secrest-like host, to the judging panel, to the shots of convention centers full of people shouting “I’m the American Inventor,” it’s almost the same show. I think they may even be using the same city shots from Idol. It’s distracting to watch it’s so similar. Just because it works on Idol, doesn’t mean you should reproduce it frame by frame.

There are a couple of places where the shows differ, and they don’t differ in a good way. For some reason, American Inventor feels the need to switch between cities. It’s hard to follow when they hype the fact that they’re in New York, then they’re in Chicago, then all of a sudden they’re in San Francisco. The other thing that is confusing is the structure of the show itself. On Idol, when you make it through to the next round, you know exactly what is happening – you’re going to Hollywood. Getting through to the next round on this show is significantly fuzzier. We know that in the end 12 inventors are going to get money to produce their products. But what happens in between then and now? They keep passing people through to the next round, without ever telling us what that next round is. Strange.

Just like on Idol, American Inventor has its share of contestants that are great, and contestants that really shouldn’t be on the show. Most of them are silly – like the stripper wrap and the bladder buddy. But I guess there are a few that are actually interesting.

So on to tonight’s episode. Tonight was the first time that I saw a product that I would actually buy. Alas, it didn’t make it through to the fabled next round. That’s right, I would buy the bra. No, I don’t have breast implants. But the woman who invented the bra missed a huge market – her bra looked like it would be a lifesaver for anyone with larger breasts. I would buy it. I would buy 10 of them. I hope she really does make it – she could make a mint.

The other thing I found interesting is that for every invention, Doug seems to be an expert in the field. Clearly, I’m not the only one who is amused by that – the producers did a great “Mr. Know It All” bit. And maybe he really does speak from experience – the producers never tell us what he’s invented, just that there are tons of his inventions in everyone’s house. Even so, it’s annoying. Really annoying. I’ll take Simon over Doug any day.

So one more week of this round...I guess that gives them a little more time to figure out what the next round is.

We’re down to ten on Survivor: Exile Island, and you know what that means – it’s time for a merge.

Now, if you’ve watched any season of Survivor, you know what happens when the tribes merge with uneven numbers. The tribe that has the number advantage always thinks that they are going to sail through. And they are almost never right. Even if one or two of them gets picked off, it’s unlikely that they really will all get picked off one by one. Don’t you remember last season in Guatemala? Dani ended up winning it all, even though she came into the merge seriously outnumbered. So it’s no surprise that the six members of Casaya are overly cocky (and they are really cocky – having a meeting to decide who to vote for might come back to haunt them…remember, there is a jury…); but I won’t be shocked when the numbers flip on them either.

The thing I am surprised about is how the tribes merged. To just have one tribe pack up and move to the other beach doesn’t help the situation with one tribe feeling like they are in power. And why did they pick Casaya beach? It seemed like camp at La Mina was a lot nicer.

So as soon as the “merger feast” (which, by the way, the contestants from Guatemala have got to be upset about, since they didn’t get one), the scrambling by La Mina began. Trying to get Bruce to flip was an easy move. But I’m surprised that they went for Shane and Cirie as well. It would have seemed like an easier move to try and get the girls to hook back up with Sally to vote out Shane.

Speaking of Bruce, nice hit with the machete. I don't know why his face was down there while Nick was cutting the rope, but he's really lucky that it just hit his tooth. And I guess that the scene that they showed us with someone being evacuated isn't until later. Drat.

The other thing I was really surprised about was the immunity challenge. It would have made much more sense for Terry to not win it. If Nick or Austin would have won, then the votes would have gone for Terry. (and a side note – did you see Nick’s abs as they were getting ready to leave for Casaya? Oh my goodness…) There’s a chance that Bruce wouldn’t have voted for Terry. But if he had, and the La Mina members had voted for Shane, then Terry could have pulled out the Immunity Idol, and Shane would have been gone. I think that it would get him further in the long run. I did think for about 4 seconds that maybe Terry would give the Idol to Nick, but in the end Nick is the last survivor voted out without getting on the jury.

With all the excitement of March Madness, I just got around to watching my tapes of Unan1mous and American Inventor. And not a moment too soon, I guess…since there are new episodes on already. We’ll start with Unan1mous...

From the moment it starts, you know that this is going to be quite a show – after all, the voice over is done by the same person that did the voice over for Paradise Hotel. And if you thought that Paradise Hotel messed with people’s minds, well, they have nothing on this show. So the basic premise is that they’ve locked nine people in a bunker where there are no windows, no clocks, just a strange purple light and no sense of time at all. There’s no outside contact – not even a host to stop by occasionally. Just a creepy voice in the bunker, and a host on a giant video screen (it’s actually J.D. Roth, who has been on lots of bad game shows and is a producer of the show). They’re told when to eat, when to sleep, and when to go to “the inner circle.” And they will be messed with more than any contestants have ever been messed with before.

The “game” itself seems simple – there is a $1.5 million prize, but to win it, the others will have vote to give it to them unanimously. Of course, it’s not that simple. First, if a contestant wants to leave they can. Except that when they leave, the prize money is cut in half. And when they don’t have a unanimous vote, there are “consequences.” All of a sudden, colored folders rise out of the table, and they contain the innermost secrets of the contestants. They are told to select three at random and read them aloud. Whichever secret they decide is the worst, that person will be identified and cast out of the game. Note to contestants – any reality show application that makes you write your innermost secret is probably not a show that you want to be on.

And there are characters on this show. There’s Kelly, the conservative Republican minister (who has forgotten that ministers are supposed to be kind to others). And Jameson, the gay activist. And my personal favorite, Jonathan, the “self-described womanizer” who is faking testicular cancer to try to get people’s votes.

Tonight’s episode started with more psychological games. The contestants decided that being in a mental institution was the worst secret, and Richard was “cast out” of the game. As if that weren’t enough, he has to wear the “outcast” outfit for the rest of his time, and he doesn’t get to go home. Oh no. He still has to stay and be a part of the voting. Now, while it might be in his best interest to vote along with the group (simply to get to go home), he could really mess with the game and vote for someone else just to get back at them.

Is anyone else at this point totally creeped out by the game? With the creepy voice, the creepy lighting, and the creepy redheaded guy, there’s something very odd about this show. I am just shocked that this made it past the best practices guys at the network. These contestants are going to need some serious counseling when it’s all done.

So, it’s time to vote (since the creepy voice told them to), and they have decided to give the money to Steve. They all realized that he deserved it, and voting for Steve gets them all out of the bunker. Of course, we had to know that someone would change their vote – otherwise the show would only be two episodes long. So we knew that someone was changing their vote – I was just surprised that it wasn’t Richard.

So Kelly wants out, and, of course, we won’t find out what happens until next week. At this pace (1-2 shows made out of each day in the bunker), they won’t last more than a week down there. Hopefully the show lasts longer than that…

It’s time for someone to go home on American Idol. And with only 30 minutes, you would think that they would have to cut right to the chase. If only…

First, we get to see them going to a premiere of a Fox movie (wait, what network are we watching?), getting made up in a photo shoot, and singing in a really horrible Ford commercial. Then a performance by Shakira and Wyclef, which, for what it’s worth was really good, but not sure why it was there. I did love the look on the judges faces as one of the rappers came a bit too close. Paula loved it, but Simon wasn’t so amused. It was a great look. And why are they having guest stars sing on results night this season instead of the big group songs? Not that I’m complaining…just wondering.

Of course, when we finally get to some results, we’ve wasted so much time that Ryan just tells us straight up that the front row is all safe. No surprise with Chris, Taylor, and Paris, but I am a little surprised that Kellie is safe. And I guess that Mandisa’s voice trumped her song choice.

So we get to the top row, and no surprises at first – Elliott is safe, Lisa is back in the bottom three. And not really surprising that Ace is in the bottom three either…he’s cute, but he didn’t sound great last night. Then we get to Bucky and Katharine, and somehow, Katharine is in the bottom three. And when someone gets sent “back to safety,” it’s Ace that gets sent back, not Katharine. Very strange. Although I was a little bit pleased that Simon talked about the fact that watching the show back, Katharine didn’t sound nearly as good as she did in person (so it wasn’t me…).

Finally, we get to the result, and Lisa is going home. She seemed like she knew it, and she took it really well – it’s nice to see someone her age act so much more mature than her age. And next week’s theme is country…maybe Lisa is glad she’s going home now.

It’s time for The Amazing Race! Speaking of AMAZING, did you see my hometown Patriots this weekend? That’s right, the George Mason Patriots are in the FINAL FOUR! Everywhere you go around here are GMU signs…lots and lots of those highway signs have been set to say “GO GMU!”, and there is confetti all over the median strip near the Patriot Center. But my favorite is a giant banner across the street near campus that reads “Congratulations GMU! Good Luck in the Final Four!”. Except that “Final Four” is in a completely different color on a completely different color background – kudos to whoever realized that they could reuse the Elite Eight sign by pasting over the words “elite eight.” Nice cost cutting Mason fans. But really, go GMU! I’m totally on the bandwagon (but, to be fair, I’ve been on it for a few months…I even went to a game this season…) and they really do have a shot against Florida. Woo hoo!

Anyways, back to The Amazing Race. The frat boys seem to be one of the luckiest team to ever play this game. The only team that I can think of that had the same kind of lucky run were Rob and Amber. The big difference though is that the other teams like Eric and Jeremy – they all sort of ganged up on Rob and Amber. (this being said with the knowledge that I may be the only person outside of their families who loved Boston Rob on each of their shows). Even though they made a mistake at the beginning with booking the flights, they somehow managed to still get on the early flight. Of course, Lake and Michelle couldn’t – they went from being one of the first teams to one of the last. If only Michelle knew how to work that pesky internet.

Once again, a detour with a choice that involves luck. I know that the choice with the bell was hard, but if you’ve watched any of the other seasons, you know that choosing the detour with the finite amount of time is a better choice. And that was true with this one too – a team like Lake and Michelle could have done the physical task much faster than the laundry. Of course, there was the gratuitous shot of Fran and Barry walking past the clue box again. I wonder how many times they’re going to do that. Funny how that never gets old.

So, there’s a yield ahead, but there’s only two on the race. I don’t understand why – having more than two yields means that there’s actually strategy involved. Same with the fast forwards – I loved how in the early seasons they were on every leg. There was a lot of strategy involved with choosing to go for one. It also meant that a team in the back could actually get out of the back pretty quickly. Without it, a team that makes a big mistake early on can get stuck at the back. And with only two yields, I’m a little surprised that a team earlier on didn’t yield one of the stronger teams in the back. And why Lake and Michelle yielded Dani and Danielle is beyond me. They aren’t a threat to them – why do it? Other than the anger issues that Lake has, of course. Seriously, that guy has got some serious issues.

Speaking of issues, why did Lori and Dave have so many problems with the puzzle? It boggles the mind that Lori worked for so long to try to put those random extra pieces into the puzzle. Why didn’t either of them notice that all of the other puzzles had two extra pieces sitting on the ground? For nerds, you’re not as smart as you think.

So, after getting pointlessly yielded, Dani and Danielle came in last and were eliminated. A show of hands of who thinks Eric and Jeremy might yield Lake and Michelle to get back of them? If you don’t have your hand up, maybe it’s time to…

We’re down to 10 on American Idol, and it’s “songs of the 21^st century night.” That’s right, a theme that’s not really a theme. Go ahead contestants, pick something that’s been popular in the last 6 years. Melissa and Kevin have got to be kicking themselves that they didn’t do this the first week. It also means that we’re out of contestants who awkwardly try to figure out how to hold up enough fingers to tell us to vote for contestant #11.

Lisa started off the night with a Kelly Clarkson song, which wasn’t a great choice. Heck, it wasn’t even a good choice. Lisa is good, but she’s not nearly as good as Kelly Clarkson. And you need to know your audience – Idol viewers love Kelly Clarkson, and have probably all heard her song. They know that Lisa’s version paled in comparison. Oh well…she was going to be in the bottom three this week anyways.

Did Kellie really explain the “story” of the song to us? It’s country music – we can figure it out. I’ve never heard the original, but her version sounded decent. I agreed with the judges – two in a row with bad choices. This is her wheelhouse, so she needed to knock it out of the park on this one (can you tell that baseball season is only days away?). Why she didn’t choose a more popular, challenging song is beyond me.

Ok, maybe this theme is harder than I thought. They’re singing songs that we all know, and we all know how they should sound. So we know how great Train is, and Ace didn’t do the song justice. And Ace – “Drops of Jupiter” is hardly a “rock” song.

Wait a second – did Paula just ask Ace to tell her one day how he got that scar? And even though she didn’t think anything of it, Randy and Simon instantly thought of the Corey Clark scandal…you can’t just ask him like that! Someone has GOT to fix the delicate balance of her medications…

I’ve never heard of the song that Taylor sung, but it was great. Finally, someone who understands the whole song selection thing. I totally disagreed with Randy – it was great to hear such a good song, especially after the previous three. And it was nice to see him not dancing around like he was having a seizure.

Speaking of song selection, I’m not a fan of Mandisa’s. She sounded good – she always does, really. But I’m not sure if choosing a religious song is really the best choice. I’m guessing that there are more than a few who won’t vote for her simply because of the nature of her song. And Paula talking about worshiping at the “church of Mandisa” probably didn’t help that situation.

Now, I might be one of the biggest Chris Daughtry fans out there. So, of course, I loved his performance. But I agree with Simon – it might (might) have been a bit indulgent. Of course, earlier in the show Simon talked about whether or not their performances could hold up to their contemporary counterparts, and this definitely holds up. And the fact that he’s such a hottie doesn’t hurt either.

Katharine’s performance I just didn’t understand. She is such a good singer, and the judges seemed to like her tonight. But I didn’t think it was that great. It got better as it went on, but it started really rough. Maybe this is why I don’t sing in public…or maybe it just didn’t sound as good as the judges thought.

Ok, I think Bucky just sang, but all I heard was mumbling. Go figure.

If, by some chance, you had your eyes closed while Paris was singing, you definitely heard the best performance of the night. She sounded fantastic. Of course, if you’re like most people, you were watching. For some reason, Paris thinks she can dance like Beyoncé. She’s wrong. And to whichever stylist is doing her hair – what is wrong with you? She is such a cute girl – stop making her “uncute.” Please.

Finally, we wrap up the show with Elliott. I wasn’t a huge fan of his song, but I appreciate the fact that he didn’t just sing the song. Hopefully people enjoyed it as much as the judges – I like Elliott and I hope he hangs around.

So I guess that songs of the 21^st century was harder than I thought. Hmmmm. So tomorrow night is results…my prediction? I think that Lisa’s luck has run out. The rest of the bottom three? That’s tougher…probably Bucky and Kellie, simply because they’ll split the country vote. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ace or Mandisa were in the bottom either.

I’m such a nerd when it comes to reality television. I love all of it, and when it comes time for “scenes” (you know, scenes from the next week’s episode), I get so excited. But it’s such a pet peeve of mine – when the scenes and the show don’t really match. And for whatever reason, this is what played out on tonight’s episode of The Apprentice.

You see, in last week’s scenes, they teased the fact that tonight’s task involved advertising for a cruise line. The thing that they highlighted was the fact that if the teams didn’t get off the ship in time, they were stuck. And thanks to some clever editing, it really did look like one of the teams didn’t make it off, or at least had a problem with the task because of the time constraint. Of course, that wasn’t the case -- the time was barely a factor.

Anyways, both teams created reasonable advertisements for the cruise line, focused on the idea of “freestyle” cruising. And Synergy won, even with the fighting between Roxanne and Andrea. Their advertisement was just better – no one wants to go on a cruise with someone covered in seaweed. And their reward was amazing – I have never seen so many diamonds in one spot before. Did you see them? Holy moly. (and did you see the locks on the vault – I would SO love to see Ocean’s 11 crack that…)

So it’s time for the boardroom. And it looks for a brief moment that we will be rid of the annoyance that is Lenny. Sure, Lee seems to be in gold medal contention for best kiss-up. But the whole idea was Lenny’s. But for some reason, Dan chooses to bring back Tarek and Lee – not Lenny. Now I’m not on The Apprentice – I think we all know I wouldn’t last one task. But even I know, that when Trump asks you “would you like to bring back Lenny?”, you bring Lenny back. I mean, come on. And why does Tarek constantly get picked on? Is Trump really that insecure in his own intelligence? (imagine that thought process…Trump silently thinking “who’s smart now, Mensa boy?”) And I think that Tarek is right – his teammates know that he’s vulnerable, so they always bring him back.

So, because Dan didn’t bring back Lenny (which Trump essentially told him to do), Dan gets the axe. And we’re stuck with another week of Lenny-isms. Great. Thanks a lot Dan.

It’s cut night on American Idol, or “let’s see how long we can make these kids squirm for.”

Of course, it’s no surprise that we have to sit through a Barry Manilow tune first. Are we really supposed to feel bad for him that he flew to LA on his own dime to help the contestants? Cry me a river. Anyways, the Idol producers can’t be too pleased that Barry made it sound like they tape the performances on Monday. Not sure if they do or not, but the performances last night weren’t live, so they could have been taped Monday, I guess. And did you see Chicken Little talking during the performance? Really classy Kevin.

Speaking of classy, I loved that they brought back Bobby to meet Barry Manilow. I guess that’s what he gets for losing the competition by singing “Copacabana” as his one song.

So, finally, some results. And let me just say that I tried to vote for Chris last night. I really did. But nearly two hours after the show I still couldn’t get through. So no surprise that Chris was safe – his fan base is secure. Ace is safe this week…so is Elliott, Katharine, Mandisa, Paris, Taylor and Kellie. That’s right, Ryan just ran through the contestants that were safe all at once. I guess the Barry Manilow love-fest took longer than expected.

The bottom three, however, was expected. They are definitely the next three to go. And it wasn’t a surprise that Lisa was “sent back.” And finally, finally, Kevin Covais is going home. (if I owe you a “shout out” for not voting for him, please let me know!) I’ll give him some credit – he didn’t cry when he got the news – he acted a lot older than his age.

Next week? Songs of the 21^st century…really?

The camera work on tonight’s episode of The Amazing Race showed why this show keeps winning Emmys. As Wanda and Desiree were looking for an exit for Munich, their cameraman shot to their rear windshield and caught the sign to Munich the other direction. Brilliant.

But before we could get to that piece of fun, we had what the contestants thought was the end of thought the last leg. Instead, it was just Phil giving them a clue to fly to Germany. But once they got to Germany, they had another detour and roadblock. So I’m not really sure what the difference was between a “to be continued” leg versus a non-elimination leg (which was what the Russia leg really was).

Anyways, I loved the tasks in Germany. The test track was amazing, even though there is no way I could have done it without losing my lunch. I loved that the teams were having a blast and screaming, while the drivers had the look of “this is what I do for a living." Just a normal Tuesday for the test drivers.

So then we get to the brilliant piece of photography, as Wanda and Desiree drove around in circles. And for some reason, Dani and Danielle followed them. Really – once you realize that the team you are following is lost, maybe it’s time to go at it alone. And really, this is a lesson for life, not just the race…see, you learned something today from my blog. You’re welcome.

Speaking of learning lessons, anyone who watched the season with Rob and Amber should know that it’s perfectly acceptable to pick up a local to use as a guide. There were a few teams that did it before them, but Rob and Amber did it everywhere they went. So I was glad to see Lake and Michelle learned that lesson, even if the guy they picked up was a bit drunk. Having a local guide you will always help.

Anyways, after the product placement roadblock, we got one of the sillier detours. There’s no reason to have chosen the bottle breaking, other than the comedic value. The dancing was so much faster, and the dance instructors seemed to be extremely liberal when deciding if they did the dance perfectly to receive the clue. Of course, maybe you just wanted the chance to break a bottle over someone’s head. Always choose the roadblock with the defined time frame – the ones with the element of luck could really get you in the end.

And in the end, Eric and Jeremy continued to dominate, finishing with a big lead on the other teams. And their “friends” Dani and Danielle pulled it out in the end, meaning that a cameraman has been assigned to film them hooking up (which, depending on your perspective, might not be such a bad gig). And Wanda and Desiree were eliminated. Not such a surprise, since they weren’t one of the strongest teams, but they really were one of the more likeable teams. I’m sorry to see them go.

We were really lucky on tonight’s episode of American Idol. It was 50s week, and we somehow escaped a Barry Manilow night. Somewhere, there’s a producer that loves us. Of course, Barry did spend time working with each contestant, but that’s fine. We still didn’t have to sit through 11 bad versions of 11 bad songs.

Before they started singing, it looked like almost all of the contestants looked like they had spent some serious time with the show’s stylists this week. Hair looked better, makeup looked better. outfits looked better. Gosh – I wish I had a stylist to help me out every day.

Mandisa started the show off showing us exactly why she is one of the best singers in the competition. Even after Barry gushed about how she could come sing with him if the whole Idol thing didn’t work out, she exceeded expectations. That was a great performance.

For all the love that Barry poured onto Mandisa, Bucky’s time was in stark contrast. Did you see the expression on his face as Bucky was rehearsing? It’s similar to the look on Simon’s face – just wondering how he is still in the competition. He just wasn’t very good – a bottom three performance for sure.

The thing about Paris is that she’s a great singer. And when she sings songs like “Fever,” you can really tell. She was really good. She is just someone who really needs to work on her song selection – songs like tonight can win her the competition. Songs like she’s been singing can get her knocked out way too early.

If you’ve seen Walk the Line, you know how Johnny Cash sang “Walk the Line.” And you know that what Chris did was completely different. His performance was amazing. It’s sure to be a single on his first CD. I loved that he didn’t just sing the melody – he really did something unique. I can just seem him learning that tonight’s theme was 50s, and him sitting down and figuring out how he could sing the 50s without sounding like the 50s. What a great performer.

My other favorite, Katharine, also sang amazingly. Ella Fitzgerald is SO hard to sing, and she did a great job with it. I can’t believe I actually agree with Paula – Katharine is one of the only contestants who could pull that performance off. And Simon was right – she really turned into a star. Fantastic.

Two weeks in a row with themes that are great for Taylor. In his powder blue suit he just rocked. (and thanks Taylor for keeping the “woo” count down again tonight – none during the song!) He was far better than Simon gave him credit for.

Now, it’s halfway through the show, and all I can think about is how good the contestants are this season. But, this just highlights the fact that there are still several singers in the competition that don’t live up to the rest. And I kind of feel bad for them. I feel bad for Paula too – why do they let her go on tv so drugged up or drunk or high or whatever it is that makes her act like that? I think that Randy tried to throw it to Ryan Seacrest about 12 times as she and Simon were arguing.

Anyways, Barry loved Lisa, and with good reason. She’s a really good performer – way better than you would think a 16 year old would be. Although did you see the woman in the front row who appeared to be giving Lisa a “golf clap”? Come on – unless you’re related to one of the other performers, you can really do better than that. Sadly, Lisa is the weakest of the women that are left, and she’s bound to be the next girl to go.

Speaking of the next to go, why is Kevin still on the show? I love “When I Fall in Love,” and there he was, in his buttoned-up polo shirt, just ruining it. Yuck. For all you people that are voting for him, what will it take to get you to stop? What if I’m extra nice to you? Would you like me to mention your name in my blog? (as in “you know what? __________ is a really great person!”) Just name it, I’ll try to do it – just stop voting for him!! (phew!)

I like Elliott. He’s one of the best guys in the competition. And I loved that he wasn’t a “fanilow” when he started – and really, how many guys his age are? He’s so genuine – that’s one of the things I like about him. And I agree with Simon – vocally, he was fantastic.

How does Barry Manilow not know Patsy Cline’s “Walking After Midnight”?? That’s one of the most famous country songs of all time. I don’t care that you’re from Brooklyn – you should really know Patsy Cline. Anyways, I digress. It was a great song choice for Kellie – it really matched her voice. And while someone fixed her hair, she seems to have over done the makeup a bit – please, someone, help this country girl out! She sounded great though, and I love that she is so excited by everything (and even stopped to notice the pickle sign – twice).

Ace finished the night off with a really good rendition of “In the Still of the Night.” It’s such a great song, and I honestly wasn’t prepared to like a “new” arrangement of it. But it was good – way better than I expected. And Ace has his whole “sexy look” back, so he should hopefully be safe for another week.

What a show what a show. Of course, I’ll be voting for Chris and Katharine again this week. I’ll probably also call in for Mandisa, Ace and Elliott a few times as well. And the bottom three should be Bucky, Kevin, and Lisa, with one of the two guys going home. At least, I can hope so.

I do love a good pun. So when I saw that the title of tonight’s episode of The Apprentice, well, I had to giggle -- “Cereal Killers.”

Why the pun? Well, we’re back to a task where the contestants design an ad campaign for a new and improved product. Tonight’s product? Some sort of new Grape Nuts cereal. And like every other task like it, it would be judged by the executives at Post (or whatever company makes the product) – of course, usually Trump knows the names of the execs. Tonight, he introduced them by saying “your names please?”. That’s just got to make you feel good.

Right away at Synergy, it was clear that Brent was going to be a problem. And Tammy quickly put him in charge of clothing to keep him out of the way (which in itself is funny if you look at how Brent dresses). And she did a great job tactfully explaining to him that he wasn’t the image they wanted to portray to the executives for a healthy cereal. I think I would have just said “Seriously? You? But you’re such a fat slob…”.

On both teams, they figured out that they could get attractive models very cheap by just going out on the street. We know that Gold Rush paid their model $200 and a track suit; Synergy might have paid even less. Of course, I was impressed that Gold Rush got their model to just get into the van with them – I suppose that the NBC cameras helped a bit.

In the end, Synergy’s ad just wasn’t great for a billboard, even though they probably had a better concept. And I think that their ad would look great in a magazine – just not on a billboard. I also loved that Trump couldn’t wrap his brain around why you would assume that the older man was her father – what’s the age difference between him and his newest wife by the way?

I almost forgot – kudos to the cameraman (or woman) who caught the show that was Brent being late for the presentation. Nothing quite like big Brent walking around in his underwear, or carefully combing his hair so it looks like he slept on it. If I were his team, I would have just left him behind. I hate being late.

Anyways, going in to the boardroom, Brent was looking good – because he didn’t have any responsibilities, the loss couldn’t be pinned on him. As they walked in, I kept saying that his team needed to have him be project manager, follow his directions, take the loss, and finally be rid of him. But in the boardroom, Brent just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. For some reason, he felt the need to say that Tammy stunk, and proceed to slam Andrea as well. It was just a train wreck. If you’ve ever watched The Apprentice, you know that the best approach is to keep your mouth shut. No one was attacking Brent – no one was even talking about him. He completely brought the well-deserved criticism upon himself. And it’s no surprise that when Trump finally says the magic words to Brent – “you’re fired” -- you actually can see everyone else on the team breathe a sigh of relief. Thank goodness.

Overall, it was a surprising night on American Idol. But I have to say, the most shocking part of American Idol tonight was that it was only on for half an hour. With the ratings it has been getting, I would have bet money that Fox would want to stretch it out for at least an hour (maybe even two…)

But first, Stevie Wonder tries to undo some of the harm that the contestants did to his songs last night. I just loved that when Ryan asked him about the final 12, his exact words were “I’m just trying to help the situation.” Wow.

We start the actual results with a shocker – Ace is in the bottom three, Kevin is safe. Who is still voting for Chicken Little? So is Kellie Pickler. At least I understand that even though she didn’t sing very well last night, America just loves her.

Melissa is the second member of the bottom three. Not a shocker that she’s in the bottom, but wait a minute! Look at her shirt! No belly button showing! So at least if she leaves tonight, we finally have that matter cleared up.

Then we get to Bucky and Lisa, and somehow, Lisa is in the bottom three as well. She is such a good singer – it just doesn’t make sense.

Ryan sends Ace back to safety, then quickly lets us know that Melissa is going home tonight. So, while the bottom three was a shocker, Melissa going home isn’t. She was probably better than Kellie and Bucky, but not as loveable. And the people who are voting for Kevin, well…still don’t get what’s going on there.

So, with that I focus all of my attention to one of my favorite times of the year – March Madness. Partially because I LOVE college basketball, and partially because it means we’re just a few short weeks away from Opening Day. (and a big thanks to Bud Selig for scheduling that on my birthday again this year – who knew you cared enough to get me such a big present?). Go Duke & BC…with any luck I’ll be watching an ACC rematch in the NCAA finals!

We’ve got our top 12, and what’s the first theme night on American Idol? Why, it’s Stevie Wonder night! Please, someone, fire the producer who made that decision…

See, Stevie Wonder is one of the greatest singers of all time. And his songs are hard to sing. Very few of the performers on American Idol can even come close to doing his songs justice. Of course the judges didn’t really like many of the performances – the producers set them up for disaster. If they really wanted to do a Stevie Wonder night, they should have waited a few weeks.

So, some things I noticed tonight. Did anyone else see Kellie wave to her friends about two lines into her song? She really is “just a country girl.” And I hope that I’m not the only one who thought that Kellie and Bucky had the exact same hairstyle tonight. Simon says Jessica Simpson, I say Kellie Pickler. They really should have been advised against that.

Did Mandissa really have Ryan take off her shoes and sing barefoot? That’s got to be an Idol first. And we still don’t know the answer to the question of whether or not Melissa owns any shirts that don’t show off her belly button. Darn her for wearing a dress tonight. Of course, her dress did show her belly button (because, really, why not?).

Kevin seems to be taking the whole “I’m a sex symbol” thing way too far. Does he not realize that he really does look like Chicken Little? What on earth do people see in him?

Even though the show started out shaky, it finished strong. I loved Katharine McPhee. You can tell that she really can sing, regardless of the song. And she was the first singer that the judges actually enjoyed. Taylor also sounded really good – this week’s theme was made for him! I just wish that he would have played the harmonica along with the singing! Paris rocked – she just rocked. And, as always, I love love love Chris. Not only did he sound great, but he really made the song his own. Sigh…

Of course, I’ll be voting tonight…all of my votes will go to Katharine and Chris. They really should be the final two. They are just head and shoulders above the rest. And my guess for the bottom three? Kevin, Melissa, and Bucky. And I think that this was the last performance for our very own Chicken Little.

I have a big problem with tonight’s episode of The Apprentice. And it’s not what you might think.

My problem has nothing to do with the task – in fact, I really liked the task (but more on that later). The problem I have is the timing of the task. Why was a task scheduled on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish holiday that Lee and Dan were off celebrating)? Rosh Hashanah is one of the most sacred holidays of the year. Observant Jews do not work – they spend the day in synagogue. It would be like planning a task for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Why place Lee and Dan in that awkward situation instead of postponing the task two days? It makes no sense to me. Trump was clearly aware of the situation (George was off for the holiday as well), yet didn’t change the scheduling. And for Lenny to question why they would put their faith above a television show is absurd. He should have been fired just for that.

Ok, off of my soapbox. I did like the task. Yes, it was full of product placement (and why do we always have to have product placement?), but there was more to the task than the truck. Planning a corporate retreat is a lot more involved than just creating an advertising campaign. I loved Synergy’s concept, and the fact that they had a theme. Tariq over at Gold Rush understood that too – too bad his teammates didn’t. You knew that they were going to lose when you heard that their concept was to have a horse and carriage, models, and a comedian. Yikes. Even with Brent and his busy work, you knew that Synergy would win. I think that at this point, Andrea and Allie have got to be favorites to win it all.

Not a favorite to win it all? Lenny. Oh Lenny. What is the deal with Lenny? First, he’s being ridiculously disrespectful by questioning Dan and Lee’s choice to observe Rosh Hashanah. Then we hear him talk about how he’s Jewish too, and he’s like the Israeli army. (what?) And of course, we get to see him “do everything” at the event. My guess is that if the cameras weren’t there, and they hadn’t signed a million page contract, Lenny would have been slugged by now.

The other person who I don’t understand is Tariq. Why is Trump always so hard on him? My only thought is that it is editing – either because he really messes up in a future episode OR because he ends up in the final two (and they want to throw us off). You heard it here first.

So, we get to the boardroom, and for some reason Theresa doesn’t bring back Charmaine, even though the two lowest parts of their retreat (the models and the comedian) were her responsibility. Bringing Charmaine back would have bought Theresa at least another week or two. So, Theresa is gone, and Tariq promises to step it up (even though Trump adds “if you can”). Very very strange.

Next week – “The Brent Show.”

You know, it’s called Survivor: Exile Island. But it really should be called “The Shane Show.”

Shane appears to have never watched the show before. First, early on, he made an alliance and swore on his son’s life to uphold it. Why you would make that kind of a promise in general on Survivor is crazy in itself. And to make a promise like that so early in the game is even crazier. So when Shane decided he wanted out of his alliance, he couldn’t just not vote with them (and it wasn’t even like the need to vote had come up). Oh no. He had to come back from Tribal Council and flip out.

Quick note – did anyone else notice that Danielle was cuddled up against Aras in the shelter? Hmmm…

Anyways, the girls realize that it’s time to get rid of Shane. Of course, with the set-up of the challenge, throwing the challenge might not have given them the opportunity to vote off Shane. And I loved the set-up. Win the challenge, and you win a huge reward, immunity, and the ability to essentially assign immunity to one member of losing tribe. It was a great challenge – a nice mix of physical and mental. The last time there was a puzzle challenge, I didn’t understand why they didn’t start to strategize while the pieces were being collected. So I was glad to see Sally & Dan figuring things out while their teammates were running. I really thought that they would just crush Casaya. Of course, it’s Survivor, so Casaya pulled out the win. That’s right, the astronaut couldn’t figure out the puzzle. Dan, you’re so going home. And no real surprise that Sally got sent to Exile Island.

Back to “The Shane Show.” To catch you up, Shane has quit smoking cold turkey. The first week or so of Survivor he essentially went through detox, complete with all the crazy withdrawal symptoms. So what does he do as soon as he gets the chance on the reward? He somehow gets himself a cigarette. Wow. Of course, he’s all hugs and smiles – can’t wait to see what happens once his mood swing rollercoaster goes back down the hill.

Over at La Mina, all four prove to be stand-up guys. They talk it over, and Dan knows he’s going home. And it seemed like they truly didn’t want to do it – they have so much respect for him. And well they should – Dan is someone who has really earned the respect of those around him. I’m sorry to see him go.

No new episode next week…looks like a recap episode and a week with no Survivor as March Madness has two weeks with games on Thursdays. It’s ok…I’ll be cheering for Duke until Survivor comes back…

One last night of naked cruelty on American Idol for us to name the ever elusive top 12.

But first, we’ll have a performance from last year’s runner-up. Bo Bice (or, as my favorite radio gods Don and Mike call him, Bob Ice). And while he sounded good, I think that there are some guys this season that could outsing him in a heartbeat. It’s got to make guys like Chris, Elliott, and Taylor feel pretty good to hear him and know that his album has sold so many copies. If he can go platinum, well, it will be easy for them.

So, we finally get to the results. First, Ryan will bless us with the knowledge of the lowest vote getter amongst the girls. And he started like usual, recapping each girl’s performance and the judges comments. But when he got to Kinnik, he just stopped and told her she was the lowest. It was as if a producer was somewhere giving him the “hurry it up” signal. Oh well…we all knew she was going home anyways.

Next up is the lowest vote getter for the guys. And once Kevin is told that he didn’t have the lowest total, well, Will must have known it was him. Oh Greg Brady, we knew you well.

Finally, we get to naming the top 12. And no real surprises to start – Paris, Katharine, Kellie, Mandisa, Lisa – all fantastic singers. And I loved watching them congratulate each other, like they were genuinely happy for one another. Of course, no surprise that they made Ayla and Melissa sit through the break to find out that Melissa was the final member of the top 12. I can’t say that I’m too surprised – Melissa’s performance Tuesday was better than Ayla’s. And it seemed like this may be the first thing in her life that Ayla wanted that she didn’t win or get. Good thing she has that full basketball scholarship to fall back on. (oh…did I say that out loud?)

No commercial break before we start to figure out the top 6 guys. And, like the girls, the first few are no surprises – we all knew that Taylor, Ace, Chris would be in. Heck, the three of them, along with Elliott, could be the final four. I don’t know which was more shocking – the final guy, or the fact that somehow the Brittnum twins, clad in what appeared to be spacesuits, were in the front row. And even though my husband just said “bye bye Bucky,” Gedeon is going home.

On to the top 12…

It’s the last night until the top 12 on American Idol. And the guys know that it’s time to lay it all on the line.

Gedeon started the night off with a really bad rendition of “When a Man Loves a Woman.” How bad, you ask? Well, let’s just say that I would rather listen to Michael Bolton’s version. I know that Randy and Paula talk about him being unique, and Simon didn’t think it was horrible, but you need a lot more than being unique to win. Of course, he’s full of “personality,” so he’ll probably make it through.

After Ryan addressed the rumors about Katharine on last night’s show, I was really hoping that he would address the Chris rumors as well. After last week’s show, members of Fuel (whose song he sang) publicly complimented him. And some websites are even reporting that they offered him the lead singer job with the band. Of course, he’s tied to his Idol contract, so even if it’s true, it would be a stretch. Tonight’s performance was another phenomenal one. He is just so good – I love listening to him. He is in a different league than so many of the other contestants.

I just don’t understand Kevin Covais. Everyone loves him. Well, everyone but me. He sounds a bit like a muppet. It was a horrible song choice – he better hope that the grannies get the vote out tonight. Will better hope that he can take some of those granny votes too. Ugh. I would be shocked if he doesn’t go home tonight.

Bucky’s performance was fine, but really forgettable. In fact, I forgot about it. I had to just go back and add it into this blog. Go figure.

Tonight’s “woo” count with Taylor – 2 at the end of the song, 3 after. And with the serious lack of “woo”s, the song was excellent. He’s a force to be reckoned with – I can’t imagine how he won’t make the top 12.

Elliott’s “secret” from his video clip is that he’s deaf in 1 ear. Which makes his singing even more impressive, really. I loved his song – he’s another one who will sail through to the next round.

We finished the show up with an odd choice by Ace – it’s not everyone who would choose to sing a Michael Jackson song. But he did a good job with it – and with those “looks”…well…

So the bottom three will be Gedeon, Will, and Kevin (although I wouldn’t be shocked to see Bucky in the bottom three as well). And this was probably the last night for Will & Kevin. On to the top 12…

After watching tonight’s episode of The Amazing Race I’m a little confused. Are Eric and Jeremy looking to get some on the race? Meet a girl or two? Have a little sex? Because there’s nothing sexier than guys who would choose a night with a cute girl over a million dollars.

Am I the only one who thought that their constant pursuit of women was a bit ridiculous? It’s one thing to talk about how cute your competition is (and that’s their whole angle anyways) , but did we really need to see that much footage of what they hoped to do with them? Really?

Ok, so I just read that back and I do realize that I sound like I’m 90 (read it in an “old person voice” – it’s quite funny). I’m not even 30…ok, if you want to “tap that ass,” who am I to judge?

Anyways, this leg seemed really short. And while I know that they have to edit a leg down to an hour, it just seemed like they only made 2 or 3 stops. I did like the roadblock, especially the element of choosing which tower you wanted to climb. Why no one realized to climb the third tower is beyond me.

The rest of the leg just seemed really quick to me. They repelled down the building, rode on a bus, climbed the waterfall, and were done. Although I did enjoy that David and Lori chose the “press it” detour because he had done the experiment before. See – that’s nerd power coming right through!

So no real surprise (or loss for that matter) that Lisa and Joni were eliminated this week. It was a VW bug, not a time machine. It just shouldn’t have been that hard.

It’s American Idol night, or awkward conversation between Ryan Seacrest and the judges. Oh, how I love this show.

Paris started the show off with a really horrible song choice. See, the thing with Paris is that she is an excellent singer. But for some reason she chooses songs that seem to hide her voice rather than show it off. She really should choose a harder song, by someone current, where she can show off her voice. Especially a song that some of the others can’t even attempt. I would love to see her sing some Alicia Keys – that is, if she makes it through to next week. I know, how could one of the best not make it through? Well, did you not hear her performance tonight?

Lisa was up next, with a similar performance to Paris. She has such a beautiful voice; she just needs some help with song selection. Maybe they don’t get help with that until the next round – someone needs to help her now.

Melissa sang next with what was a really good song for her voice. I know that Simon thinks that she booked her flight home, but she just might stick around one more week. And I hope she does, because I would really like to see if she will ever wear a shirt that doesn’t show off her belly button. We get it – you have nice abs. Now wear a better shirt.

Speaking of shirts, we have a strange mini-interview with Katharine before Kinnik sings – apparently there are rumors that she is dropping out of the show and that she’s pregnant. And I admit, I was thinking that too – the shirts that she has worn the past two weeks look like maternity tops. But she’s staying put, and thankfully someone helped her to pick out a much more flattering outfit tonight. Let’s all breathe a giant sigh of relief over that.

Anyways, now we get to hear Kinnik butcher a song by Alicia Keys. Ugh. It’s not a good sign when Simon tears into your performance and the crowd doesn’t boo. They knew how bad it was too. She really did book herself a flight home, even though Simon says that with everyone.

I love watching the reactions of the other contestants, both in the “dog pound” (which I have really had more than enough of, thank you very much) and up on the balcony. Paris and Kellie rocked out to their competitors performances. And over with the guys, the biggest reaction of the night came for Katharine’s performance. She brought the house down. She was fantastic. Definitely the best performance of the night so far.

So, it has to be rough following up Katharine. But I don’t feel to bad for Ayla. I don’t know why, but something about her bothers me. I think it’s because she’s so the “perfect” girl from the “perfect” family – I don’t think that viewers can really relate to her. And her performance was just ok. Of course, I did enjoy seeing her stand in those crazy heels next to Ryan – she looked like she could just crush him.

We ended the night with two great performances – Mandisa & Kellie. Even though they are so different, they are alike in two important ways – they have great voices and great personalities. They are both so likeable, and combining that with great vocals will get them both far in the competition.

So, who will make the top 12? Well, there’s who should be in the top 12, and there’s who will be in the top 12. A few there’s no question about – Katharine, Mandisa, and Kellie will most likely be the top 3. Lisa and Paris should also be there, and hopefully people will vote for them based on their overall talents, and not just tonight’s performances. So that leaves who I think should be the bottom three – Kinnik, Melissa, and Ayla. And I think that Melissa will squeek out one more week.

On The Apprentice tonight, we learned about text messaging. Wait. Did Donald Trump actually explain to us what a text message is? Oh boy…

The task for tonight involved creating a text messaging campaign for the new Fusion razor. They didn’t show a whole lot of the task itself (which is probably a good thing), but they did let us see some of the characters.

At Synergy, Brent continued to be a distraction, and actually seemed to threaten one of his teammates. And when his entire team decided that he should be sent home, Pepi didn’t have the guts to do it. I don’t know which is worse – the distraction that is Brent, or Pepi not doing anything about that distraction. If they lose, Pepi could go home for not dealing with him.

The big story at Gold Rush seemed to be Lenny. What is the deal with Lenny? I can’t stand listening to him talk. It has nothing to do with his strange accent – it’s what he’s saying. At what point did he become an expert? And aside from his ridiculously negative comments, the way he talks to Lee and his teammates is just so disrespectful. Someone who is disrespectful will never get far in business. Of course, I’m guessing that he’ll last awhile on the show – he’s in half the previews for this season.

So, after getting a late start (which I really don’t understand why they wouldn’t be up and out as early as possible), Synergy hit the streets in their bathrobes and slippers. Which, in my town, would cause some attention. But in New York, no one really noticed. Somehow, instead of switching locations or game plans, the idea was to have Brent dance to attract text messages. Brent – I hope you read this – your “dancing” and “robotics” are not talents.

In the end, it wasn’t a huge surprise that Gold Rush won, or even that they won by such a large margin. I was, though, pleasantly surprised at their reward. A moment on my soapbox – there are organizations throughout the country like the one highlighted tonight. You can donate your suits to these organizations to help out men and women who have fallen on hard times. You probably have a suit in your closet that you don’t wear – donate it tomorrow.

Anyways, I appreciate the fact that we got so much boardroom footage. And even though the editing was a little bit funky, Trump was on his game. And with Bill and Ivanka (where are George and Carolyn??), Trump was really the star. In the end, Trump fired Stacey & Pepi. I understood firing Pepi – he really didn’t do a good job leading the team. But Stacey over Brent? If Brent had kept his mouth shut, the entire task would have gone differently. And Brent’s smug little look as he boarded the elevator at the end was enough to make you hurl. My only thought is that because Trump knows that he won't last long, he and Mark Burnett (who does consult on the decisions) decided to keep Brent around for the good tv. It's the Omarossa factor, really. Sigh...

After Monday’s tease, tonight was actually the finale of Skating With Celebrities. And my favorite part has nothing to do with the show itself.

You see, my husband hates shows like this. He sits on the couch, reading a book, claiming not to be watching. And when it’s time for someone to be eliminated, he always says that he wants them to be “launched into the sun.” So when John & Jillian did their first performance, I wondered out loud (to no one in particular, really) if this was the performance where she tried to flip around through John’s legs. And all of a sudden my husband replies, and tells me which performance this one was. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

Anyways, the show itself was fine – having all the skaters on the ice together was rather painful. And there was far more “filler” tonight than skating. But finally, we got to skating.

Kristy and Lloyd, in spite of way too many ruffles on Lloyd’s costume, skated a strong, clean performance. It was high energy, and they threw in all the “big tricks,” including a great spin at the end (with Kristy being spun around Lloyd’s head by only one arm!). They just skated great.

John and Jillian’s performance was so different – a slower, romantic performance. It had a totally different feel – really beautiful, rather than a bunch of tricks strung together.

So the scoring? Well, for me, it really comes down to whether you placed a higher emphasis on the tricks or the artistry. I would give it to Jillian and John – I think they were so consistent throughout the entire performance. And just because Jillian fell, well, she fell because she took a giant risk.

In the end, it went to Kristy and Lloyd, even though neither team could do the math quickly enough in their heads (oh, come on). And I guess the real losers are people like me, who invested seven hours of my life into it. Just think of what I could have accomplished in seven hours. Wow.

Is it wrong that my favorite part of tonight’s results show of American Idol was the fact that I got the results right? I hope not, because I was right…and that’s what really matters, isn’t it?

We started off the night with another group number, which focused on the girls this week. Even though I’m not a fan of the big group songs, the one thing it really does is show off just how much of a gap there is between the talent of some of the contestants. It’s amazing to go from Heather to Katharine – such a huge difference. We also got a performance by Carrie Underwood, which, thankfully, shortened the amount of time that Ryan Seacrest could drag out the results for.

Speaking of results, when we finally got to them, did it seem to anyone else that the judges (or at least Paula) seemed to have had a few drinks beforehand? You know it’s bad when Ryan actually has to remind them that they’re on live.

So the naked cruelty is dialed back a bit this week – none of the nonsense of lines, and rows. Just pulling out the bottom three. And for the girls, it was exactly who I thought it would be. And thank goodness, Brenna is finally going home. America was, in fact, sick of her attitude. And no surprise that Heather went home too – her vocals just aren’t as strong as the other girls.

Over on the guys’ side, it looked like Ryan had a little more time to fill, so he asked each guy if he thought he was safe. Which, I think, there is no good way to answer. So Ryan pulls out the bottom three, and surprisingly, Kevin is in the bottom three, not Will. I think even Will was surprised about that. But no surprise that David and Sway ended up going home (even if the judges said it came down to fortune cookies).

So next week is our last chance to get rid of singers before the final 12. And hopefully the judges will sober up by then.

The challenge team worked overtime for tonight’s episode of Survivor: Exile Island. And for my money, they earned every extra dollar they made.

First was a reward challenge that didn’t look nearly as hard as it was when Probst introduced it. It seemed simple enough – toss the items from the boat to the baskets. But once it started, it was clear how hard it really was. They got tired – quick. A few stuck out – Terry was a champ again, no big surprise there. But so was Bobby (after a disastrous performance by Bruce). The other person that has been really strong in the challenges is Cirie – she is a lot stronger than people give her credit for. Anyways, the challenge was a close one again, and it was no surprise that Terry got sent back to Exile Island. And really, if it’s just going to be Terry and Bruce spending time there, it won’t be as much of a twist.

What was a surprise was what happened after the challenge. Over at La Mina, beans turned out to not be the best choice for food. While it was the better choice in the long run because of the added protein, the rice would have been much easier on their stomachs.

It was far worse at Casaya. It was already tense at camp, what with Bruce spending his time and energy on building a Zen garden. And when he faced off with Aras about the use of his time – very Zen. So when they got back from the challenge to find their camp was flooded, well, they didn’t cope very well. Oh, Bob Dog. Is it not enough that you don’t do anything at camp? But to go ahead and drink the tribe’s bottle of wine because the space you “reserved” wasn’t there? One of the worst Survivor moves ever. And Bruce, to not own up to it, that ranks right up there as well.

Next was a fantastic immunity challenge – diving for puzzle pieces in caskets. On Survivor Live last week they talked a lot about challenges that involved diving down. Apparently they are WAY harder than they look. Between diving in salt water, the waves, and the lack of food & water, they are extremely difficult. So I was surprised that Dan was on the boat diving instead of on the beach solving the puzzle. It would seem like his strength would be the puzzles. It turned out ok in the end, but it was still a strange choice.

So, finally, Casaya has to go to tribal council. And there’s no question that it’s going to be Bruce or Bobby. But, of course, there is the Shane element. There’s always the Shane element. So in the end, Shane throws a vote to Aras to keep with his promise (and who asks someone else to swear on his own kid’s life?). And we say goodbye to Bob Dog, who just didn’t seem to care. Can’t wait to see him on Survivor Live tomorrow.

I want to thank the guys of American Idol. I don’t know how they did it, but they chose so many of my favorite songs, and, for the most part, sang them so well. Sigh…what a great night.

Who knew that I wasn’t the only one who loves “If You’re Not the One” by Daniel Bedingfield? (the song that Ace sang) I wasn’t a fan of the crazy high note, but it was a great version of the song. And what about Elliott singing “Moody’s Mood For Love”? A big risk, but one that really paid off – he sounded amazing. And we can’t forget my favorite, Chris, singing some Fuel. Wow. Simon was right – his was a performance that would hold up to anything else out there. Simply amazing.

There were others that sang selections from my list of favorite songs. Taylor showed that “Easy” isn’t just a song from a commercial. It’s such a great song, and he did a nice job with it. I just wish he would cut out the constant “woo”ing. Ugh. I also love “Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks, and I think Bucky did a great rendition.

There’s not much to say about Gedeon – I thought he was good, but not nearly as good as the judges made him out to be. He’s unique, and I think that’s a really good quality in this competition. But I don’t know if that can carry him all the way to the end. Then there’s Kevin. Here’s a fun trick with Kevin – when he sings, close your eyes. It is creepy. The voice and the look just don’t match. I think he’ll go far – for some reason, people love Kevin. He’s got a good voice, but I just wish he wouldn’t dance. It’s scary.

So that leaves the other end of the spectrum, or the guys who seemed to have missed my memo about my favorite songs. Our resident “rat pack” of Will and David disappointed a bit, and probably ensured that they won’t make the top 12. Sway also delivered a weak performance, made only a little bit better by the shot of Taylor singing along in the balcony in the background. Two of these three will be going home tomorrow.

Hypothetically, I’ll be voting for Chris – hypothetically because it’s nearly an hour after the show, and I still can’t get through. He is just phenomenal – I guess I’m not the only one who thinks so. I’ll also throw a few votes to Ace and Elliott, if for no other reason than to thank them for their song choices. And I think we’ll be saying goodbye to our rat pack duo tomorrow.