Winners All Around

So the last of the big shows wrapped up this week in a flurry of excitement. No big surprises, but a few good shows to end the season.

First was the final rose on The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. Andy took both girls home to meet his parents in Pennsylvania. You just knew that Tessa would get the final rose after Bevin told his grandparents that she does research on the sexual dysfunction of menopausal women. She also let his conservative family that she was raised in the Bahai faith. At this point she was toast. And after Andy told both girls that he loved them (can you imagine how he explained this to Tessa Tuesday?) he dumped Bevin and proposed to Tessa. It might be the first time that the girl I wanted to get the final rose actually got it. Supposedly she's moving out to Hawaii to be with him; I give it six months.

Next was the finale of Dancing With the Stars. It was actually higher rated than Idol, which is pretty crazy, except for the fact that the finale was good. (more on why Idol's wasn't later) I'm pretty bummed that it's over, but ecstatic that Apolo won. He's such a good dancer, and completely deserved it.

Finally, there was the two hour love-fest that was the Idol finale. So much of it was actually un-watchable. If they want to be more relevant, having Bette Midler and Tony Bennett perform does little to achieve that goal. And while I enjoyed the Beatles medleys, I wonder how many of the teenagers watching actually recognized the songs. They dragged it out for two hours before they even started to get to the results. And this was where anyone who was watching on tivo (insert your name here) got screwed. The result was read exactly 2 hours and 4 minutes in to the show. The show was supposed to be two hours long. That's right - they kissed their own behinds for so long that they nearly didn't get to the actual point of the show, leaving many to not hear the anti-climatic finish where Jordin was crowned the winner. (and we saw Blake look rather relieved)

This is one of the many reasons the ratings were down this season. This, and the fact that compared to last year, the talent wasn't nearly as good. For this, I have to blame the judges. There were such talented performers that we saw in the early rounds who seemingly disappeared during the Hollywood round. I also think they need to look at the voting process, especially in the first round of voting. They went to the guys and girls format a few years ago, and I don't think it produces the best possible top 12. I think they would be better served by going back to how they did it the first few seasons, where the top 24 were divided into three groups. Each group sang once, and two or three were voted through to the next round. Then there was a final week where the judges brought a few back to sing again (including some who had been originally cut in Hollywood), and each judge put a singer through (plus a singer or two voted on by the fans). And I understand that they will never go to a voting system like So You Think You Can Dance? or Dancing With the Stars where the judges votes get combined with the viewers, but they need to do something (maybe limit how many votes each phone line gets?).

With that, I'm off for a few weeks. I'll be back once the summer replacement shows get going (or earlier if I have a lot to say!)...enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and GO RED SOX!

The Bachelor...really...

Yes, I'm still watching The Bachelor. In fact, I haven't missed a minute. And honestly, I haven't really written about it because someone else out there is doing it much better than me. I am a huge fan of Bill Simmons (the sports guy), a writer for ESPN.com. His wife (the sports gal) has been keeping a running blog of the season, and she does it far better than I could. Seriously. Check it out.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=bachelor/070508
I hope he chooses Danielle, but I'd be happy with Tessa too. If for no other reason than to watch Bevin's head explode when she doesn't get a rose. Ha!

Drama on the Bachelor

Oh the drama! The girls get woken up by a drill sergeant! The girls have to run in place! The girls have to appear on television without makeup!

Of course, we all saw the previews, so we knew that someone was going to go down during the boot camp. And right there in the middle of the tire run, Bevin sprained her ankle. Now, don't get me wrong - I have sprained my ankle. In fact, I've worn that same brace and used those same crutches before. It hurts like holy hell. But it's certainly not "ambulance worthy." I also turned to my husband (who was dying because he promised to not make any snarky comments as I watched...he made it about 10 minutes in...) and said "I bet that some of these girls are going to complain about the extra "alone time" Bevin gets now. And sure enough, they did. Come on girls - aren't we better than this?

The group dates were fairly predictable. Andy seems to be all about any date where the girls will have to wear bikinis. I love to think about the planning of these dates (imagine the conversation..."Andy, do you think you would like to take a mud bath with 5 gorgeous mostly naked women?" "well..."). And we got to see plenty of footage of Stephanie South Caroline realize that Andy is kissing more than just her. Ha! The second group date was surprising only in that the girls were so covered up. And I was really bummed that the two girls going on the 2-on-1 date were two that I actually liked. Well, I really just liked how Andy pronounced Peyton's name. (I wonder how he chooses who goes on dates like that...do you think that he probably was ready to get rid of Peyton anyways? Do the producers choose? Do you think I think about this way too much?)

We're still at the point of the season where the girls are all still blending together, but Amber seems to be a front-runner. I like Tessa as well. And yes, I can't believe I care.

The Bachelor...

...yeah, I love it. It's such a guilty pleasure. For those of you who are new to my blogs, I'll repeat myself about this show. Yes, it's horribly degrading to women. Heck, it's degrading to people in general. And the show isn't very well produced. But it's great television. I don't know why.

The bachelor this season is, as always, the greatest bachelor yet. I just picture Bob Guiney at home shedding a tear each time they say that. Andy seems nice enough, though I'm not sure why he needs to go on the show. (somehow, it doesn't seem to fit that such a perfect guy would still be single at 30) Anyways, he's totally enthralled with the girls, and makes funny comments about "Operation Soulmate."

We're still early on in the show, but there are a few girls I like - Amber, Tessa, Stephanie Kansas (which cracks me up that he calls her that), and Nicole. And I'm so not a fan of Bevin and Stephanie South Caroline. Not sure why, they just rub me the wrong way.

back from break with a few things on my mind

So, I'm back from Spring Break, and I really hadn't planned on blogging about the episodes I missed (I know, you're all crushed). I really just watched lots and lots of baseball (go Red Sox!), and caught most of my reality shows on tivo the next day. But I have a few things that I just have to get out of my brain and on to the internet.

First, there's Survivor. I have never hated a contestant before. I've hated how some play the game, or the character they choose to be on the show. But they all seem like nice enough, decent people in real life (see Jerri Manthey...hated her on the show, seems nice enough in the real world). But I think I actually hate Lisi. Did she not understand that the things she was saying in her confessionals would be aired on national television? I have a real problem with how mean she was. And I think I could have even forgiven her as it being in the "heat of the moment" if i hadn't seen her on "Survivor Live" the day after she was eliminated. The hosts asked a few times about things she said in the confessionals, clearly giving her the opportunity to use the "I hadn't eaten and I really didn't mean it" line. And each time, Lisi affirmed what she had said on the island. She affirmed that she was on a team of losers (hello! You SUCKED at challenges!), and that she didn't like Dreamz. She also still doesn't understand that Ed's name is Edgardo, NOT Eduardo, and said that Boo is the reason that Moto keeps winning. I can't stand her.

Speaking of people I can't stand, there's Sanjaya. Sure, it was funny at first. But now it seems like he's decided he's going to win, and it's just not so funny. I understand that the judges have realized that by slamming him they're only giving him more votes (hence the "I'll take a different approach" approach last week), but they need to accept that Sanjaya's in it for the long haul, and go back to being honest. Either that, or come up with some sort of reason that he needs to drop out. Whatever works.

Still watching Dancing With the Stars, and excited that The Bachelor is back. And last night's episodes of Apprentice and Amazing Race deserve their own blogs. More to come later tonight.