Why do I love The Amazing Race? Well, it’s the little things, really.

Like the fact that my husband isn’t the only one who gives each team a nickname. The contestants nickname each other too. There’s the frat boys (Eric & Jeremy), the hippies (BJ & Tyler), the nerds (Dave & Lori), Ken & Barbie (Joseph & Monica)…the list goes on and on. Of course, the nicknames aren’t always flattering. For whatever reason, Lake & Michelle seem to feel the need to keep calling Ray & Yolanda “the black team.” (which, while accurate, just isn’t very p.c.) Turnabout is fair play, of course, as someone called Lake “Scott Peterson.”

I loved watching Fran & Barry walk up and down the bridge, desperately searching for the clue box. The cameraman who managed to shoot them walking past the box over and over again, without ever having them notice him (or the box) is a genius. Give that man (or woman) a raise.

Then there’s the shock of traveling to a country where no one speaks English, and the culture is very different from ours. I’ll be honest – I’ve never traveled out of the country. But when I finally do (and I just got a passport, so I can’t wait to try that baby out!), I will know that not everyone in the world speaks English. And different doesn’t always mean worse.

Of course, how could I forget the joy of watching John & Scott, who are attempting to overcome John’s fear of flying. Boys – this is the reason I’ve never applied for the Race. I would LOVE to do it, but I am fully aware of the amount of air travel it would involve. It’s just not worth a nervous breakdown. Of course, if they use their genie power, the airplane thing might just be a non-issue.

Overall, this looks like it’s going to be a great season. They’ve done a great job casting characters – teams that you actually want to watch. So far, I like BJ & Tyler, Joseph & Monica, and Eric & Jeremy. And I was kind of sad to see John & Scott be eliminated so quickly -- I would have loved to have seen genie power for at least a few more episodes.

Just like it was for the guys last week, the story on American Idol tonight was song selection. So many singers just chose the wrong songs, and it could really make the results show on Thursday interesting.

Some of the songs were good. Ok, really just two. I loved Kellie’s choice, and the judges were right – she is just so likeable. Her video about spinach salad, calamari, and dogs wearing clothes probably vaulted her to the top tonight. Melissa also made a great song choice that really showed off her voice. She should be safe this week.

There were others that sounded great tonight in spite of their song selection. I continue to love Katharine and Paris, even though the judges weren’t such fans tonight. The bottom line with them, as well as Lisa, is that they’re terrific singers. And once we start having “theme nights,” we’ll see their talents shine through. Ayla and Mandisa were good too.

Of course, for every great performance, there is usually one that isn’t so great. And there were a few bombs tonight. Kinnik was really hurt by her song choice – it just didn’t make her sound very good. And then there were the two that will probably be eliminated – Heather and Brenna. To be fair, Heather probably should have been eliminated last week. Her version of “Hero” was really rough – how she could choose a Mariah song is beyond me. When will these contestants learn that if you choose a song by a great vocalist, you can only pale in comparison. But if you choose a song by a decent singer, you can really rock out. Anyways, I think that Brenna will also be going home this week. It would be one thing if she could sing. But America is bound to be as sick as I am of that attitude with no singing to back it up.

So, it’s time to vote. And, as Ryan said at the beginning of the show, “please watch where your fingers end up.” Seriously. I rewound it three times. My vote tonight is for Katharine and Kellie…we’ll see if the guys can match up tomorrow.

The last of the shows for the night was a finale that was actually a finale…the final rose on The Bachelor: Paris. And it was a great ending to a really great season of the show.

The two girls left could not be more different. Their demeanor, attitudes, lifestyles, and personalities are on such different ends of the spectrum. Which is why, I think, that this season has been good television. Having two girls that are such opposites makes us really wonder what is going on.

We started with the girls meeting Travis’s family. Sarah connected with his family very quickly. And that’s important – anyone who thinks you can marry someone whose family you don’t get along with is in for a rude awakening. And it was in such sharp contrast to meeting Moana the next night. Even though Moana connected so well with his sister and brother-in-law, she just showed that strange side of herself to his parents. And she kept doing that annoying thing she does where instead of answering a question, she just starts to cry. Ugh. This brings me to my biggest complaint of the night – why did they have Travis’s nieces meet the girls? Yes, they are an important part of Travis’s life. But getting kids involved adds a whole other dimension to this – they just got to know someone (and maybe attached to someone) that they will never see again.

Then came shopping with the moms – a great twist this season. And not really because it was nice for their moms to be a part of the shopping. But because I always wonder where the girls stay in between dates and rose ceremonies – now I know that they put them up in apartments! (ok, I know it, I’m a nerd!)

So, the final dates seemed to have been planned by the girls this season, another great twist. You could really see the difference in their personalities from the dates they planned. This is where I really think Sarah showed that she is the right choice – her date seemed to be something that Travis would actually enjoy doing on any given Saturday. But her constant need to explain her feelings to Travis made me a bit nervous – why did she keep talking, instead of enjoying the moment? Of course, it could all be editing – maybe Moana was doing the same thing.

Finally, we get to the rose ceremony. And let me tell you, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I have been so hoping that Sarah gets the final rose, even though I know that I shouldn’t get so wrapped up in the lives of people who I have never (and most likely will never) meet. So when Moana got out of the limo, all I could think was, “please let them not be pulling a ‘we’ll-have-the-winner-get-out-of-the-first-limo’ thing like they did a few seasons back.” So when the “sad” music started playing as Travis was pouring his heart out to her, I actually yelped with joy. Moana just wasn’t the right girl for him. And we got a great (ok, not great for Moana) meltdown in the limo on the way home. Real tears – not the kind she’s been shedding when she doesn’t know what else to say. I hope that she talks to the therapists that they have on the show; and hopefully she will find someone that is really right for her.

Then up comes Sarah – and you can see Travis body language change completely. He looks happier, and like he is actually breathing. (which, Travis, you should know is a good thing!) I’m not ashamed to admit it – I shed a few tears when they finally kissed! And I loved how he explained the ring – it just continues my belief that he is the best bachelor ever. Such a gentleman (he seemed like he was the first one who didn’t take advantage of the overnight dates, if you know what I mean) to the end. What a wonderful fairy tale ending.

Who would have thought that I would ever be so glad to see Donald Trump? But after the debacle that was Skating With Celebrities, if I could have jumped through the screen and hugged him I would have. Thank you, Donald Trump, for The Apprentice.

This looks to be a great season. As the contestants introduced themselves, they seem to be the most qualified yet. In classic Mark Burnett fashion, we have another schoolyard “pick ‘em” to decide the teams. And just as I love it on Survivor, I loved it on The Apprentice. The teams seem to be evenly matched, and each has its own share of characters.

Oh characters. There’s Brent, the large and loud attorney who created his own diet and lost 100 pounds. (did he really suggest getting a karaoke machine??) Then there’s Lenny, “the Russian” (I love that Trump called him that) who doesn’t seem to have any real talent other than laughing at others. And who can forget Summer. Oh Summer.

How could she not make the phone calls that she said she would? While she might have had a valid point that calling during the dinner rush isn’t the best time, that’s no reason to not make the calls. And my personal pet peeve, why didn’t she pull her hair back? I just don’t think it’s professional to have you hair all over the place like that – it’s business, not a date.

Anyways, the task itself was incidental – you could tell it was going to be close. Both teams had reasonable sales plans, even if Tariq kept calling his giveaways “gift bags” (it would have helped a lot if he had called them duffel bags, so no one was thinking they were getting a bag full of stuff). And while I kind of thought that Allie’s team would win, it was no surprise how close it was.

My favorite part of the show is always the boardroom, and tonight’s was great. I loved that Carolyn looked at Summer and asked her flat-out what she contributed to the task. And I think that she said knowledge of the product, which would have made me a great part of the team. And Lenny & Lee lost a lot of my respect when they were laughing at Tariq – I think that speaks a lot less of them than of Tariq. And at the end, even though Summer ended up getting herself fired, it spoke highly of her that she tried to explain (at least it looked like she was trying to explain) the whole empty gift bags vs. duffel bags thing. Honesty will always get you far in the game of life.

So, it’s goodbye to Summer. And next week we get the battle of the wackos.

Skating With Celebrities hoodwinked me tonight. And believe me, they got me good.

But, before we get to the skating (which, by the way, took a painfully long time to get to), an Olympic side note. Did you see two (yes, two) members of the “cast” at the Olympics last week? John Nicks is the coach of silver medalist Sasha Cohen. (so you know that at some point in this show thinking, “I coach Olympians…what am I doing here???) And there was also John Zimmerman, cheering on his wife, Italian skater Silvia Fontana. He definitely had the look of “my wife is skating in the Olympics, while I’m skating with celebrities…sigh…”

So, back to the show. They are really stretching this one out – having commentary from the eliminated couples, footage of the training sessions, bringing everyone back to skate again (which, for me, really highlighted why the judges were ridiculous to not eliminate Bruce & Tai the first week). In fact, Kristy and Lloyd didn’t even skate their “short program” until 42 minutes into the show. SO tedious. For those of you who didn’t have the luxury of fast forwarding through some of this, well, I don’t know how you did it.

The actual programs (yes, there were actual programs in there) were good. John & Jillian started off showing that they were willing to throw the big tricks, even if it meant big risks. And their first lift didn’t go great – the pull-through didn’t really, well, pull-through. But they were still rewarded with big scores. Kristy & Lloyd countered with a very different program – slow, romantic, beautiful. Rumor has it that they’ve started dating, so the “romanticness” (yes, I’m sure that’s a word) was genuine.

So, you would think that since I noticed that Kristy & Lloyd didn’t skate until 42 minutes in, I would have realized that we wouldn’t be seeing the end of this tonight. But, I didn’t. I somehow missed the fact that even though Fox told us that tonight was the season finale, it was really only part 1 of the finale. Listen to me Fox – I’m not a fan of being tricked into watching your shows! It’s bad enough that I choose to watch this crap – don’t lie to me on top of it.

So, on to American Idol, with the first results show of the season. I love American Idol, but this show should really be called “Naked Cruelty.” Ryan Seacrest just has way too much power.

The show started with a group song, which is a first for this stage of the competition. The group songs usually don’t start until the results shows in the top 12. And it almost exclusively featured the guys, continuing Randy’s prediction that this is the “year of the guy.”

Then we start the real cruelty. Stand up, sit down…oh my goodness. And results are almost always after the break. And we can’t just cut two girls – we have to cut a girl, then a guy, then line the girls back up. Geez louise. Then, after you get cut, you have to sing again. That’s right, you just lost. Why don’t you sing the song that lost it for you for everyone? Live. On national tv.

And Ryan just finds new ways to mess with these poor kids each time. Stand up! Form two lines! Come on over here…oh wait, never mind – just sit down, you’re not going home.

So, we finally get some results, and there aren’t too many surprises. The girls aren’t a shock at all – Becky and Stevie just made horrible song selections. In fact, I think I predicted that entire “front line” of girls – any of them could have easily gone home. With the boys, even Bobby wasn’t surprised that Bobby was going home. But I was a little surprised that Patrick was voted off – my only guess is that the votes amongst the “mediocre guys” really got spread out thin.

We’re left with one more reminder to vote vote vote – you just can’t let your favorite go home. If only America voted this much for our leaders…

You’ve got to give it to the television producers. At 8:00 tonight (at least on the east coast) was Survivor: Exile Island, the first results show of American Idol, the finale of Dancing with the Stars, and the gold medal round of ladies figure skating on the Olympics. If that doesn’t cause your tivo to explode, I don’t know what will.

So, we’ll start with Survivor, mostly because that was the only thing tonight I watched live. And I’m glad I did – it was well worth it. The drama tonight was excellent.

We started at La Mina, who appears to be pretty together, except for the whole food thing. I don’t understand why they’re not doing more searching for snails and fruit. And why can’t they seem to catch any fish. Even if the fish they catch are the darn poisonous ones, why aren’t they cutting them up and using them for bait? They’re not going to last long without some food.

On the other beach is Casaya, who does appear to know how to gather up food. But that’s all they appear to know how to do. Shane appears to have come out of the worst part of his detox, and now can criticize the other members of the tribe. And, to be fair, there is a lot to criticize. Courtney seems far more intent on doing yoga than helping out with the tribe. And even though they took shots at Danielle, at least she’s doing more than Bobby – he’s just worthless. Every time we see him he’s napping. Except, of course, when he’s using the bathroom (and what was up with that??). It’s ridiculous.

So, on to the challenges. I love the challenges like tonight’s reward challenge that combine a puzzle with a physical challenge (that’s something Mark Burnett has tried to focus on the past few years – trying to make every challenge have both a mental and a physical element). And this was a good one – the tribes seem to be so evenly matched. Of course, I thought the shots of the girls’ bikini tops were a bit gratuitous, but, as my husband says, it brings in the ratings.

The immunity challenge was great too – I love the element of strategy with how quickly to dump the buckets of water. If you go too quickly, the water splashes a bit, and it could cost you in the end. And it was so close – if La Mina had just made the choice to go with speed instead of accuracy they would have won.

And then there’s Terry. How could I leave out Terry? First, he gets sent to Exile Island. And his tribe is lost without him. I mean really lost without him. They don’t seem to know what to do, and this makes Terry a real power player. No one even thought about taking him out while they could. Of course, it wouldn’t have mattered – Terry somehow managed to dig deep enough to find the hidden immunity idol. And they really did hide it deep – wow. So while he’ll be going into the merge with a target on his back, he’ll be able to make it through the vote (which will probably even out the numbers game at the same time). I can’t imagine how he won’t make it to the final four. We might be seeing a run similar to Tom from Palau where he plays a dominating game all the way to the end. I also wonder if future players who go to Exile Island will still be given clues…how much will that suck to spend a few days looking for something that isn’t there. Hee hee!

So, no real surprise that Ruth Marie went home tonight. And I liked that Dan stayed true to his word, even if it meant splitting with his alliance. Being a man of your word is never a bad thing.

After watching four seasons of American Idol, there are certain things that we’ve all heard a million times. And to be honest, most of them make no sense. “You worked it out tonight.” (huh?) “That was pitchy.” (ok, people with musical talent probably know what that means) And of course, “you’re my dawg!!” But the one thing that the judges always talk about that does make sense is song selection. And it was song selection that was the story on tonight’s episode.

See, song selection can make a good singer sound great. Or hide some weaknesses in a singer that’s not quite as strong. But it can also ruin your chance at American Idol. The prime example of this tonight? Bobby, who inexplicably chose to sing “Copacabana.” Can you imagine listening in to the conversation in his head when he settled on that song? Do you think he pondered other Barry Manilow classics as well? It’s really too bad, because he seems like a nice guy. But I can’t imagine that he’ll be back next week.

On the other end of the song selection spectrum were my two favorites – Chris and Ace. They chose songs that really highlighted their vocals, and brought the house down. Of course, the fact that they’re both, well, sexy as hell, doesn’t hurt either. I don’t know how they won’t make it through to the top 10.

I also really liked Elliott, although I don’t agree with Simon that he’s the best in the competition. Don’t get me wrong – he was really great. He’s definitely in the top 3, but I just don’t know if he’s number 1. I think that Taylor was really good as well – he’s got a strong voice, and he’s original.

By far the creepiest song selection of the night belonged to Sway. Did he really just sing the song that is his parent’s “song”? Does he not know what a “song” for a couple means? Not to be crude, but he may have been conceived to that song. Ewwwww…..

The rest of the performers? Well, they were just ok. Simon was in rare form tonight, especially with poor Kevin. Yes, Kevin is very appealing to older women. But Simon is forgetting that older women LOVE American Idol. And I’ve heard so many people talk about him and Taylor that I think they’ll both be fine.

My votes tonight? I’ll be calling for Chris and Ace. (even though Ace has exposed the fact that I know all the lyrics to George Michael’s “Faith” album…you would have thought that my husband would already know that…) And I think that Bobby and Gideon will be headed home tomorrow.

The singing has started on American Idol, and I, for one, could not be more excited.

Randy has been saying all along that this is the year of the guys, and he echoed that sentiment again tonight. But I think that the girls are going to give them a run for their money. There were some phenomenal singers tonight – they made the show really enjoyable to watch.

Who were they? Well, some there is no question about. I’ve been talking about Paris and Katherine for a few weeks now, and they certainly lived up to expectations. They were simply fabulous. I was worried about Katherine’s song choice, but she proved that she can sing with the big guns. Lisa has also shown that she needs to be included amongst the favorites. For a little girl, she has a HUGE voice. I so enjoyed listening to her sing – I can see her as someone who will get a recording contract whether or not she wins the competition.

There were two other performances that were quite good – not great, but really good. I liked Mandisa – her voice has a really nice quality to it, and I love that she shows that you don’t have to be a size zero to be an American Idol. Kellie Pickler was great too. I thought her performance was a lot better than the judges criticism showed.

Speaking of Mandisa, what is the deal with girls on American Idol choosing to go with just one name? There’s one every season, and I never really understand it. Especially because they start with their last names during the audition rounds.

Anyways, at the other end of the spectrum were the girls that really didn’t perform well tonight. It was rough for Becky anyways, as she had to follow up Kellie, but she just sounded off. She seemed like she was trying to be a rocker, when she should have just tried to sing the song. Heather was equally bad, and I think that the two of them will likely be eliminated tonight. She made a horrible song selection (what on earth would possess you to select a song made famous on American Idol?), and she didn’t sing it well. Simon summed it up best when he told her that she should have used the opportunity to make an excuse for her singing.

They weren’t the only two who could easily be eliminated this week. Stevie (who is way too thin…really…could someone please get this girl a sandwich?) is a strong singer, but made a disastrous song choice. She will likely be helped by the fact that she was forgettable – maybe people will forget how plain her performance was. Brenna was also pretty bad, although I have had more than enough of Brenna. Please, Brenna, grow up and act your age. And then there was Kinnik, who I saw sing about 20 minutes ago and I have already forgotten.

And don’t worry – I haven’t forgotten about Ayla & Melissa. They both sang well, but not great. And they are both going to be hurt by editing. Poor Melissa is hurt by the fact that tonight is really the first time we’ve seen her. And Ayla is being made out to be the perfect “golden” girl who gets everything she wants – why would she need this show anyways, when she can fall back on her scholarships? I hope they do well – and that the producers start giving them both a better shot.

Speaking of forgetting, how could I forget how old tonight’s show made me? First there was Becky who talked about getting a CD when she was little. They had CDs when you were little?? Ok, I know this makes me sound ancient, but when I was little my music was on records. Really. I didn’t get my first CD player until I went away to college. Yikes. Then Ayla talked about loving Mulan when she was little. Once again, I think I was in college when that movie came out. Sigh…

So, who am I voting for tonight? (because you know that I’ll log at least a few phone calls) I’ll spread some votes around – Paris, Katherine, Kellie, and Lisa. And I’ll be tuning in tomorrow to see if the guys can match tonight’s show.

Each season on The Bachelor they do this silly “Women Tell All” episode. Sometimes they are a complete waste of an hour. But with the big personalities this season, it was actually worth watching.

I try so hard not to get caught up in these shows. But my heart just broke for Susan. It’s hard enough to have all your family and friends watch you get your heart broken on national television. And to have your mom, as Chris Harrison said, “throw you under the bus” on top of that must hurt even more. So when the girls started to pile on, well, it was hard to watch. I wanted to shout at them “this is why Travis didn’t pick you!!!” It just speaks so poorly of them to feel the need to badmouth her like that. And when some of the girls tried to help her out, girls like Jenny jumped all over them as well.

Sarah B. got roughed up a bit as well. She got it from the girls, as well as the producers. Did they really need to show us all the footage of her drinking and being silly? It’s embarrassing enough to get dumped on national television – they really didn’t need to make it worse. She seems like a really nice girl – if she seemed a bit immature, well, it might just be because she is only 23. So if she’s acting younger than the other girls, well, it might be because she is a lot younger than the other girls.

Side note – it’s no surprise to me that Allie G. didn’t come to this show, knowing the reception she would get. But usually attending this show (or any reunion show) is part of the contract. So I want to know how she got out of it (or how much she paid as a penalty for skipping out). But I really liked how Travis handled the question about her – like a gentleman.

So, once Travis left, the talk turned to Moana, which just was strange. Apparently the girls now like her, and apparently, so does America. And even though I don’t like her, I’m almost glad to hear that everyone else does. If I’ve learned anything from watching way too many seasons of this show is that the person who everyone likes is never the one the Bachelor chooses! I don’t get what he sees in her, but, well, to each his own.

Until next week’s finale…

A little Survivor trivia for you. Every challenge on Survivor has a name. From “Fallen Comrades” (the trivia game about your tribe mates on the jury) to “Survivor Smorgasbord” (a.k.a. the gross food challenge), each carefully crafted challenge has a name. And I am so curious about the names of tonight’s challenges on Survivor: Exile Island.

First up was the reward challenge, which I would call “Survivor 500.” Surely you played “500” at the pool or on the playground when you were a kid. One kid would launch a ball, scream out a value, and all the other kids would try to catch it. It was really great playing in the pool, because you would have to dive to catch the ball. That was pretty much tonight’s reward challenge. But that’s ok, because of the fate of Bruce. Even though I was at home pleading with them to put Shane on Exile Island, La Mina made a strategic move and put Bruce back on Exile Island.

And what is going on with Shane? I understand he is going though some sort of detox, but you would think that 8 days in he would start to level out a bit. Maybe he really is just a nut job. (which would be where I would put my money) They have got to vote him off as soon as they get the chance. Oh – and a note about last week’s vote. On “Survivor Live,” Melinda said that the reason she and Cirie didn’t try to change votes last week is that there really was only about 10 minutes until they left when Shane announced he wanted to stay. Sorry girls – I guess you are smarter than I thought.

So that brings us to the immunity challenge, or “a reason for men to watch Survivor.” Come on. You really don’t think that that challenge was designed so that the producers and Jeff Probst could watch those girls wrestle in their bikinis? Anyways, even though I thought it was a bit gratuitous, I loved it. It was a great combination of physical strength and strategy. Because it was strategy that let Casaya win. Sure, Cirie was the gold medalist of that team (she actually sat on someone, and later just shoved Misty out of the way). But in the end, it was Bobby’s strategy that won it for them, as he let Ruth Marie run all the way before picking her up and touching the pad.

So it turns out that Misty didn’t find the hidden immunity idol (but I was SO hoping she had, simply because it would have meant that Bruce looked for it for 5 days…oh, Bruce). And the boys stick together to vote her out. It was probably a good move, both because it means that the alliance of 4 boys (men?) is really strong, and they realized just how smart she was. At some point, the challenges are mental, and they couldn’t beat her. Misty – I would take it as a compliment.

Until next week…

There’s something so cruel about tonight’s episode of American Idol. Yet I couldn’t tear myself away. Not too sure what that says about me…oh well, at least I didn’t try to pretend that I was appalled.

I wonder if Randy practiced the fine art of making someone think that they were cut when they really made it on. Because he had it down to a science tonight. Yeah, the others did it a little bit too, but Randy was the best. So mean, Randy, so mean. Yes, he did have his softer moments too. Like when Katherine McPhee made it, and she ended up kissing all the judges (“on the lips!!”). Which, by the way, was by far the best reaction all night.

Anyways, not much to say about tonight’s naked cruelty. My favorites made it, so I’m all good. Who? For the guys, I like Chris Daughtry and Ace. There’s a couple more who are really good as well (and my money is on the fact that the guy with gray hair will not be gray for much longer!). As for the girls, I like Paris Bennett, Katherine McPhee, and Kellie Pickler. They’re just really good, strong singers, and each have “the look.”

Next week we get to vote (and come on, don’t pretend that you don’t press that redial button 4 or 5 or 40 times)…

Irony was the name of the game in this week’s episode of Skating With Celebrities. And not because of the liberal use of the word “celebrity.” First off, you could be watching actual Olympic level ice skating – instead, so many of you chose to watch Bruce Jenner. That’s right, while the actual pairs figure skating competition was going on, millions of Americans watched “celebrities” skate. Oh, the irony.

The good news is that two of the performances were actually pretty good. Jillian & John were great again. I love the lifts that they did, especially after I watched the “things to look for in lifts” segment during the Olympics (yes, that’s right, I watched the real pairs competition…reality tv got the tivo). Did you know that one key to a lift is that the male skater should have the same speed when he ends the lift as when he started it (so keeping the speed throughout)? And John did a nice job of that. I don’t understand why their marks weren’t higher. This gets me to another bit of irony. They were marked down for doing some of the exact same lifts and spins two weeks in a row. Yet later in the show, those same judges commented that a pair should have a “signature move,” and do it each performance. Wait. So should they have done that crazy spin lift both times or not?

So that brings us to Bruce and Tai. More irony here, as the name of the game was speed. Did you see any speed? Because I sure didn’t. It was almost painful to watch. Kurt Browning must be at home watching this just baffled as to why he’s out and these two are in.

With the only fairly judged performance of the night (and maybe of the competition), Kristy and Lloyd’s performance was the highlight of the night. They were really excellent, and you can tell just how athletic Lloyd really is. And they really deserved the high marks to not have to participate in the skate off.

After the skate off (and come on, a skate off???), the irony was palpable. John Nicks (aka, “Simon of the skating show”) said, “In my opinion, you are the best skaters in this entire competition, but here you are, fighting for your lives to get to the next round. I don’t understand it at all.” You don’t understand it at all? Really? It’s because you and the other two judges keep giving them lower scores than other pairs. It’s because you keep giving Bruce & Tai high marks. You really don’t understand? Wow.

At least justice was served in the end, and the two best pairs are in the finals. It should make for an interesting show.

I know, I should be excited about last night’s episode of American Idol. After all, “groups” night is usually one of the best of the show. The drama! The politics! The choreography! But tonight’s episode just left me feeling flat.

First of all, what was the deal with the group with two girls and one guy? At first, I thought “wow – this is really neat that the groups aren’t all guys or all girls this year.” But they were. Why was this one guy in a group with two girls? Did they choose this group? Or was this the group made up of people who didn’t have a group (you all went to middle school, you know what I mean)? I just didn’t get it. The guy seemed nice enough, and I was glad that Simon recognized that he had been through quite the 24 hours – reason enough to move to the next round.

The only other real “drama” for the night was those darn twins. As I sift through my junk mail, and shred all those credit card offers, I always wonder who on earth would go through my trash to get this information. Now we know. Just listen to the two of them talk, then think “these are the people who get busted for identity theft.” Kind of puts it all into place, doesn’t it? I probably understood about half of what they were saying, and I’m guessing that they understood just about that much as well. Did one of the brothers really go into a rant and pull out of the competition because he didn’t understand that Simon had told his brother that he made it to the next round? And did they really let him back into the competition? Wow. Still don’t understand what the judges see in these two knuckleheads.

For the most part, it seemed like the groups got along well, which eliminated a lot of the good tv. And the drama that they did show, well, it seemed like it was manufactured by the producers. Like the ridiculous “Brokeback Mountain” parody of the three cowboys. First of all, could someone please tell me when people tire of making “Brokeback Mountain” jokes? Because I’m tired of them. And while they sounded horrible, I give huge credit to the older of the cowboys who comforted Garett (the little guy who sings for his turkey). That might be the first truly touching moment of this season. I wish I remembered to write this kid’s name down before I deleted the episode from tivo – he’s a stand up guy, and we need more people like this in the competition.

Then, we had the “a capella” day of singing. And for some reason that I still can’t figure out, we saw about three minutes of this. There’s been so much talk of how this is the first time that the Olympics are going up against American Idol, and yet Fox decides to only show three minutes of footage? They can stretch a results show into an hour, yet when they actually have people singing, we don’t see it. Go figure.

So the big twist is that three of the four rooms are going on to the next round. And it looks like the final cuts were made recently, which means that the judges have gotten a sense of which singers the public likes. Who knows if that will make a difference or not, but it does mean that they can avoid some of the problems that they’ve had in past seasons, where fan favorites don’t make it past the final cut. Should be interesting…

Just a word about why all my blog entries are (and are going to be) late and out of order for the next two weeks. As you all know, I am a reality tv junkie. And what is the best reality tv of all? SPORTS. And what is the best sporting event of all? THE OLYMPICS. So my tivo will be working on overtime for the next two weeks as I trade in my usual reality shows for the Olympics. Yes, I'll get to all of them -- I can't imagine missing American Idol or The Bachelor (or even Skating With Celebrities). But I'm going to watch them a little late. And trust me -- the Olympics are totally worth it.

That being said, I wasn’t sure how they were going to stretch out last night’s episode of The Bachelor: Paris into two hours (other than the excessive amounts of commercials). And of course, they really didn’t have two hours worth of show. But what they did have was really good – maybe the best overnight dates yet.

First off was the “let’s look back at other overnight dates” half hour. And while it was schmaltzy and unnecessary, I kind of liked it. I love this show, and I liked getting to look back on all the old episodes. And I didn’t realize that Charley and Sarah were still together (good for them…I really liked her!). But did anyone but me notice that there were some seasons missing? What ever happened to Meredith and Jen (who each did two seasons)? And Bob Guiney? I would have liked to have seen more of each season’s dates, not just catching up with the three “successful” relationships.

Anyways, on to tonight’s overnight dates. First, and I think I said this last week, I liked the fact that the three dates were equally exciting. There have been more than a few seasons where the one or two of the dates were way better than an another (and you always knew that the girl who got the “lame” date was the one who was going to get cut). Second, I really appreciated the editing of tonight’s episode. I really didn’t have any idea who was going to get the roses until they were actually handed out.

Now, I know that there is way more to what is going on than what we were shown. But from just what is on the show, I don’t know how he can not choose Sarah. They just seem like they match. I know, I shouldn’t get emotionally involved in this show. It’s really just a show – they’re not people I know (or will ever know). But I care, and I am so hoping for Sarah.

Anyways, I liked how the producers (I’m assuming it was the producers) had Travis address a “question” he had about each of the women, both in his moments where he was talking to the camera, and to each of the women themselves. It was a nice glimpse into what might have been going through Travis’s mind. I also liked how Sarah handled it – Travis even commented on how eloquently Sarah explained why she was different from the other girls without ever badmouthing them. (that’s the teacher in her!!)

So, the dates were all good, and I’m still not sure what Travis sees in Moana. I’m just hoping that he’s keeping her around because he can’t just fly back to Nashville with Sarah now. I saw Travis on both Ellen and Jimmy Kimmel Live last week, and even though he couldn’t say anything, I got the distinct sense that he and Sarah are sneaking off together all the time (they live walking distance away!). Of course, I’m always wrong, so he’s probably with Moana as I’m writing this, laughing at all the bloggers who are getting this so horribly wrong.

Next week is the “women tell all” episode, which means more footage of the crazy doctor from the first episode. Get your tivo set now…

Tonight I was reminded of a very important fact – just because you are chosen to be on Survivor doesn’t mean that you know how to play the game. It really is incredible to me that before going on the show people don’t watch as many episodes as possible, read every book on survival that they can get their hands on, and get in shape for the physical parts of the game. But they don’t. And that was made abundantly clear tonight.

Before we get to that though, there was the tribal mixup. I’ve read that Mark Burnett plans out the twists and turns before the game starts, but I’m guessing he chose which beaches to put the two tribes on based on what happened the first three days. Yikes. Anyways, I loved the twist that put Bruce on Exile Island. And he wasn’t just there for a few hours – he was there for three days. He missed a reward challenge, an immunity challenge, and all the drama at camp. (It looks like all the stays on Exile Island will be for 2-3 days…Misty was there last episode for 2 nights). And thank you to the producer for the Exile Island portions of this season (yes, there is a separate producer stuck out on Exile Island). Thank you for not showing us Bruce searching for the immunity idol – it’s nice to not know if they have found it (or are even looking).

The two tribes seemed evenly matched at the reward challenge. But at the immunity challenge, I think Jeff actually called Casaya’s efforts “inept.” (wow) And the losing really didn’t stop at the challenges. Their “brain trust” has lost it as well. I understand why they would try to convince Shane to stay – if he’s part of their alliance, they need him for the numbers. (the same thing happened in the Amazon season with Shana) But Aras walking up to the rest of the tribe and telling them about the alliance might go down as one of the dumbest moves in Survivor. Why isn’t it the dumbest? Because the rest of the tribe didn’t do anything about it!!!! Melinda and Cirie (who deserves to be voted off simply for thinking that that bathing suit was a good choice) never talked to the rest of the tribe to get rid of Aras or Shane. It should have been easy to convince the tribe to get rid of either one of them. But they sealed their own fate.

This is where we get back to people who seemingly have no knowledge of the game before they arrive on the island. If you’ve seen even just one episode of Survivor, you know that the key to a successful alliance is making it seem like the alliance isn’t there! You don’t just come out and tell the tribe who is in your alliance. I’m guessing that the exclusive club of former Survivor contestants all groaned at the same moment. Somewhere, Amber and Boston Rob are laughing.

Anyways, I think that La Mina is clearly a stronger tribe (even with the loss of the fishing spear, which is a whole other discussion of survival skills). And it looks like Shane will really melt down next week. Is it no wonder why “next time on Survivor” is one of my favorite parts of the show? :)

I know that the contestants on American Idol call the week of auditions in Hollywood “Hell Week.” But for those of us at home on our couches, well, it might just be the best part of the competition.

Even though the contestants hate it, Hollywood week really separates the good from the ok singers. So many of them went in with a big ego, only to find out that they just weren’t as good as they thought they were. They showed several guys like that – the guy who danced with Paula as he sang being a prime example. Yes, he was a good singer. But not anywhere near as good as some of the others. The younger of the two sets of twins were the same way.

Speaking of twins, the set that made it to the next round (the Brittenum twins) can’t make it but so much further. Did you hear that they were arrested for identity theft? I guess that they bought a car with a stolen identity. Fox is notorious for pulling contestants with questionable backgrounds, so even if they make it to the next stage (where the viewers get to vote) they probably will be replaced. But since Fox isn’t commenting, my guess is that they don’t make it to that round so it’s a non-issue.

Anyways, there were three real stand-outs tonight. Paris Bennett, who I truly believe will be in the final, was amazing again. When she was singing, not only did the other contestants applaud, many of them had that look in their eyes of “there’s no way I can beat this girl.” The other girl I really liked was Catherine McPhee. That’s the girl whose mother is a voice teacher. I would bet that they’re both in the top 10 – if nothing else, I saw an interview with Randy Jackson where he specifically mentioned both girls.

The other thing that Randy said in that interview (on The Daily Show, which might be the best non-reality show on television) was that he believed that this was the year of the guys. And, by far, the best guy tonight was Chris Daughtry. He auditioned in North Carolina, and my goodness was he good (and so good looking!). I would put money on him and Paris being the final two.

Next week is the group singing, which is always fun. So many of the contestants don’t know how to sing with a group, and really, there isn’t always enough room in the hotel rooms for three egos that size. My guess is that it will be worth a watch (and tivo the Olympics!).

As a general rule, I hate musical montages. And the one at the end of tonight’s episode of American Idol was really no different. But the montage signaled the end of auditions, and for that, I’m thankful.

Sure, I love watching the train wreck that is “bad singers who don’t realize they’re bad.” But this season it seemed like a lot of the bad singers knew they were bad. I mean come on. Some of them just had to be auditioning to get on tv. Or maybe to settle a bet with a fraternity brother. Either way, they didn’t think for a moment that they would actually make it to Hollywood.

Of course, there are those that thought that they could sing. But when even Paula starts shaking her head no while you’re singing, you know it’s bad. Like the guy in the Patriots jersey (and for future reference, please don’t wear a Patriots or Red Sox jersey when you’re going to be embarrassing yourself on national tv – it’s just not good for the rest of us in Red Sox Nation). Or the guy who sounded like Cher. Or the Clay Aiken look alike. You can’t sing. Get over it.

So, count me in as grateful for the end of the first round of auditions. Hollywood, here we come.

Before I say anything about last night’s episode of The Bachelor: Paris, you need to know something about my track record. The girl who I think is going to get the final rose is NEVER the girl who really does. Those darn ABC editors – they get me every time.

That being said, how can Travis not choose Sarah from Tennessee? They seem so perfect together! And their date was drastically different from the other three. Yes, I know that it was different circumstances because they live walking distance from each other. But still – they had dinner at Travis’s house, not Sarah’s parents (or Sarah’s). And it seemed like Travis knew that Sarah’s kindergarten class & sisters were coming to the park (while it was a surprise to Sarah). It was just a different vibe to the whole date – like it was a “real” date, not one for a television show. I so hope that she ends up with the final rose.

The other Sarah (Sarah from Canada) was really hurt by her hometown date. Travis is an ER doctor – how could he not be shocked to find out he is dating someone that still lives at home. And not that that’s such a bad thing – it’s just that she’s just so much younger than Travis is. I liked her family, and really, I thought that she was going to get one of the roses, despite the age difference.

Why would Sarah from Canada get a rose? Because I thought that there was no way Moana would. Her family just ate him up with their questions. And while it might be editing, Travis even commented on the fact that he didn’t know if he could go through another dinner like that one. I just hope that it didn’t come down to Moana’s “heartfelt” video message. Come on. Did anyone else notice that she sounded like she was crying, yet there were no tears? It seemed very planned – a last effort to get Travis to think about her, and not about the train wreck that was time with her family.

Finally, there was Susan. Loved the foreshadowing ABC – did they actually have Travis saying that something major would have to happen for Susan to not get a rose? Then we see her mom talking about Susan’s ex-fiancée? Wow. The only thing about that whole date was whether or not Travis knew that she was previously engaged. Because when he found out that Jehan was previously married, she got kicked to the curb pretty quickly. Hmmm. Anyways, the conversation between Susan and her dad about becoming an actress seemed pretty contrived – like a producer knew that it had been discussed amongst the girls, so maybe they could continue it for another episode. It might have been real, but I just don’t think so.

Next week are the romantic “overnight” dates – I like that they are all in Europe this time. (I hated when they went three different places – one date always seemed much better than the other two) And hopefully Sarah will continue to shine.

I admit it – I watched tonight’s episode of Skating With Celebrities. Even though I said I wouldn’t, I did. Sigh...

The upside of watching tonight’s episode was that the first two pairs were really good. Kristy & Lloyd were fantastic. The first lift, where he spun her around his head, was phenomenal. And the two to one handed death spiral was great. They got big, well deserved scores.

John & Jillian were great too. While it didn’t look like their program was as technically packed as Kristy & Lloyd’s (probably because of Jillian’s rib), there is so much chemistry between the two of them that you hardly noticed. I do, though, wonder if the judges awarded them scores that would tie Kristy & Lloyd on purpose.

One question about Jillian – during the tape of them practicing, she was wearing a pink cap with what looked like black electrical tape on it. What was on that cap that a producer made her cover up? And if she needed to cover something up, why didn’t she just take the cap off?

Anyways, Nancy & Dave’s performance actually garnered a response from my husband (who really hates this show). Well, more like a plea…I believe his exact words were “noooooo!” -- during the “shake it like a Polaroid picture” part of the song, of course. I did NOT need to see that! And what was up with Dorothy giving them a 9.1 for a technical score? Yikes.

Bruce and Tai capped off the evening with what was really a clever ploy for more airtime. For those of you who didn’t realize it, the song they skated to was by last season’s American Idol, Carrie Underwood. It was actually the big song she sang on the show. You just know that the Fox tie-in earned them a couple of extra points. And it was important, considering Tai forgot one of the most important rules of figure skating – watch out for the boards. She played it off really well though – I actually rewound it because I wasn’t positive if it was a mistake or planned.

So, Nancy & Dave went home because Bruce & Tai got more pity points (or, as my husband says, they are scoring on a curve) than they did. Hopefully next week they’ll go home too, and we’ll be left with two really good teams.

If you heard a some sort of noise around 8:00 tonight, don’t worry. It was me. Shrieking with joy at the start of Survivor: Exile Island. I told you I was a reality television addict. You should have believed me from the start.

I am so excited about Survivor, I don’t even know where to start. Ok, how about the teams. I love the concept of dividing by age and gender. First, it riled people up from the start. There’s nothing quite like thinking you’re young & strong & and a player, and then being placed on the “older” team. And dividing people initially into smaller teams changes the voting for the entire game. Even when the teams are mixed up (which looks like will happen quickly – maybe even next week) it will change the alliances.

Then there’s Exile Island. I don’t know which part of being there is worse – the fact that you are stuck on an island by yourself, or the fact that you aren’t with the rest of your tribe. You know that they’re talking about you back at camp. And it looks like you will be stuck there without food or water for a day or two.

Of course, there’s the hidden immunity idol. I loved the hidden immunity idol in Guatemala. But this one is even better. The fact that you can keep it until after you’ve been voted off changes everyone’s voting strategy. There’s so many ways it could play out. Knowing that a person has been on Exile Island, and has the possibility of having that idol, I think I would think twice about sending a vote that person’s way. And if you had the idol, you could swing votes your way, send a vote or two a different person, and end up getting them voted off. I love Mark Burnett.

Before I continue to gush about how excited I am, you might not know how the schedule for shooting Survivor works. The season that airs in the spring is shot in the previous fall – usually while the fall season of Survivor is airing. The upshot of this is that this seasons survivors most likely did not see Survivor: Guatemala, and don’t know about any of the twists from that season. This is important mostly because they don’t know about the hidden immunity idol from last season.

Ok, so there were a couple of stand outs on this season’s cast. First, the younger men’s team – when you thought that people would make fun of you because you couldn’t make fire, well, you were right. Come on – when you knew you were going on Survivor, why on earth didn’t you practice making fire? And what on earth was the problem getting your raft untied? There’s no reason, other than your egos, that you shouldn’t have come in first in that challenge.

And what about the older men’s team? You’ve got an astronaut and a navy fighter pilot (and how cool is that?), and Shane. Did he really say that he smoked 3 packs a day for 20 years, and is now cold turkey on Survivor? What made that sound like a good idea? He’s going to crack…and it’s going to be great television.

Over on the younger women’s beach, they’re not really making a statement about the state of women today. Did they get anything done? I know they don’t have flint, but they should have at least tried to get shelter started. They do seem like they are a force to be reckoned with on the challenges, in spite of losing the first reward challenge (which was really more about luck than anything else).

And Daniela, who spent the first night on Exile Island did remarkably well. I’m shocked that she ate worms (she must have REALLY been hungry), but I loved how she came back into the game. Just leaving everyone with a hint that she might have found the idol was enough to ensure her an extra day or two when it comes down to it.

And then there’s the older women. I am not an outdoors woman. I don’t camp. In fact, I won’t even stay at an Econo Lodge. And that’s ok. I know my limits. But it doesn’t appear that Cirie has that same ability. She’s scared of leaves? Wow. But I don’t think she’s even the one on her team with the worst judgment. Why would they vote off the one person who has some actual survival skills. Sure, Tina was a bit strange. But she knew what she was doing. And when it’s a team game, the best strategy is to vote off your weakest link. They better hope that a team shakeup happens sooner rather than later.

So who do I like early on? It’s hard to say, since I barely know their names. But I like Sally on the younger women’s team (the one who couldn’t fake love of a dead turtle), and Dan (the astronaut) and Terry (the fighter pilot) on the older men’s team.

One last word – if you’ve never watched “Survivor Live” – the internet talk show that’s on cbs.com on Friday’s, you should give it a look. I think it comes on at 2, but you can watch it later in the day in the archives. If you’re as into Survivor as I am, it’s a pretty good show, and a neat look into what life was like for the Survivors.

On tonight’s episode of The Biggest Loser, Bob finally tasted success. Ok, so “tasted” probably isn’t the best choice of words (although it’s making me laugh as I sit here and type), but tonight marked the first time a blue team has been crowned the winner. Go Bob!

I don’t think that tonight’s winner was ever really in question. You could tell throughout the episode that the blue team was far more dedicated to their workouts than the red team. Even one of the cousins on the red team (the one who lost a LOT of weight) talked in her video diary about the fact that not all of her teammates were working as hard as they could.

Even with the inevitable win by the blue team, I really liked tonight’s episode. The reason – the focus on more the “real life” issues that people have with controlling their weight. They talked a lot about the girl on the blue team who turned to cigarettes when she had to give up her sodas. She is certainly not alone – some people feel that if you stop smoking, you will gain weight. I loved that Bob questioned why, with all we know about the dangers of smoking, why anyone would light up.

They also talked about food journaling, and the danger of going to Burger King “just once.” Even Jillian will admit (I think) that truly going to Burger King just once is fine. It’s just that there’s a big difference between going once a year as a treat and going once to Burger King, and once to McDonalds, and having dessert just once…it starts a bad cycle.

The only real way to lose weight it to burn more calories than you take in – also known as diet and exercise. I love that this show promotes this, and the fact that regardless of where you are starting, you can lose weight. I guess the only thing better would be if I watched it while on the treadmill.

If you watched American Idol tonight, you have come to the same realization that I have – this is the problem with building up kids’ self esteem. We’ve worked so hard to build up self-esteem, and make kids feel warm and fuzzy that we’ve completely forgotten about working hard to build up talent. I’m more and more convinced that this is the problem. Maybe this really is this really the first time someone has told them that they can’t sing. See America – it’s really our fault. Ok, maybe not…

It’s just that the singers tonight were SO bad. And the show is completely dependent on the talent that shows up to audition. This is why some of the episodes are so much better than others – there’s really nothing that the producers can do about it. An episode with an equal mix of talent and, well, for lack of a better word, freaks, is much better than an episode like tonight. They just didn’t have the talent show up in Austin, and there was little the producers could do about it. Even the ones who went through to Hollywood weren’t spectacular – if they had auditioned in a different city, they may not have made it.

So, only one more night of this stage of the auditions to go, and they’re in my hometown of Boston. Now for me, this means hearing people who sound like “home” – I honestly can’t even hear the Boston accent, it just sounds good. (yes, my accent has faded over the years, except when I go home or to a Red Sox game…then it sounds like I never left!) But for people like my husband, who feel that a Boston accent is one of the most grating out there (like he can talk with that midwest-Wisconsin thing he has going on), the combination of the accent and the bad singing will be spectacular. I just hope I don't see anyone I know...