Saturday, June 30, 2007

Paris Hilton on Larry King Live

OK, I'll admit it - I caught part of this interview. I had it on my DVR so I watched the first part... but it became obvious he wasn't going to really drill her so it got pretty boring after awhile.

If you're interested, here are the few points I thought were sort of interesting:

  • The "medical condition" she had in the beginning when they briefly let her serve her time on house arrest was claustrophobia
  • Her cell was 8'x12' with a metal bunk bed, a toilet, and a sink - she stayed in hers alone
  • She ate all her meals in her cell which were provided to her through a slot in the door
  • Lunch was a bologna sandwich - just bologna, two pieces of bread, and mayo
  • Dinner was the only hot meal of the day which the inmates referred to as jail-slop
  • Supposedly the other inmates were nice to her
  • She only had one hour a day outside her cell
  • During that hour, she could meet with her visitors and she was only allowed two a day
  • She wore an orange jump suit while in jail

That's all I can remember for now... oh and she didn't say "That's hot" at all - good for her!

Game Shows

Does anyone else find it interesting that there are two new karaoke-related game shows coming to prime time? I think it's a good idea and would probably be a fun family-oriented show to watch... I wonder which one will be the bigger hit? I think the one on NBC is called "The Singing Bee" and the one on Fox is called "Don't Forget the Lyrics"?

Is anyone else suspicious about the contestants on these shows and other ones like "Deal or No Deal" or "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader"? They're not like the ones you see on the classic game shows like "Wheel of Fortune" or "Jeopardy" or "Family Feud" and stuff. It seems like the people on the newer shows are all actors or wannabe actors and it totally bugs me. I want the every day Joe Schmoe! Otherwise, I feel like I'm being scammed.

Thoughts on SYTYCD

Well, I'm a little late but I wanted to talk about this week's SYTYCD episodes (sorry, John! Time to get on the Cat Deeley train and join the rest of us fanatics! heehee...)

My favorite performances by far were Hok and Jamie's Wade Robson piece and Dominic and Sabra's rumba.

Who else was worried when Wade described his choreography as "a love story between a hummingbird and a flower"? I was expecting his comment to be followed by one of those record scratch sound effects with a dead pause. But I was wrong. That piece was amazing! I think guest judge Debbie Allen described it perfectly when she said that was something she could have seen as a Cirque de Soleil performance. The choreography was perfect for them. I even thought Jamie was really good even though she sort of annoys me in her interviews with her chipmunky voice.

Here is their performance:


Next one... Dominic and Sabra. This what I love about this show... seeing b-boy Dominic totally rock it as a ballroom dancer. And I know this sounds corny, but watching Sabra dance really is a delight! :) She's just so delicate and dainty and pretty... like a little tinkerbell or something, heehee! I'm glad I have a DVR now... the first time watching the show I was totally watching Sabra but then watched it again to watch Dominic and he totally nailed all that hip moving and stuff without being too overtop. Which was really impressive considering the way he totally hammed it up when they were done with all his posturing during the judging... oh my gosh did that crack me up!



Anyway... I actually was disappointed that Jessi was eliminated. Her solo performances were always her weakness... even in the early audition episodes, I couldn't figure out what her talent was besides being all sultry when she danced... but she always nails her choreographed pieces! I wanted Lauren to get the boot - I don't get the hype about her. Plus her eyebrows bug me. AND she picked a K-Fed song to dance her solo to! The horrors...

And it's so sad that Jesus got the boot... I loved his story about how his town all chipped in to support his study of dance. I hope Cedric goes home next week. He was AWFUL in this week's contemporary piece. I mean, Mia Michaels actually choreographed him to sit in a corner for a good portion of the piece! Shauna deserves a better partner... like Neil (*hint, hint*)!

On a random note, I loved that we were able to see the actual cha cha piece between Pasha and Jessi. (BTW - I am totally crushing on both Pasha and Danny!) I think it was great that the former ballroom champion / current choreographer's assistant filled in for Jessi during the competition show, especially considering the not-so-nice comments made about her afterward, but you could see we originally got the watered-down version of the full choreography.

Without Jessi:


With Jessi:


And weren't the "ambition" interviews sort of interesting? Sabra wants to be a comedian? Shauna wants to be a techno singer? Lauren wants to work for NASA? Who knew!

Finally, let's talk about Fergie's performance. Her outfit was ick but I thought she looked pretty during the close-ups... and normally I always think she looks sort of rough. And you know how she sang the "clean" version of "Glamourous"? You know where she goes "send your broke broke home"? I thought it was funny when she let the audience sing that part and they all totally belted out "send your broke ASS home" - heehee!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Highlights from Last Night's SYTYCD

Yes, that's the abbreviated version of So You Think You Can Dance... anyway, I found some clips of some of last night's most interesting routines.

First, the one with Lacey that I mentioned in my previous entry:


Then there was this cool "pop jazz" routine from Wade Robson (c'mon, everyone knows Wade, right???)


And the jive routine that got high marks from all the judges:

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Kathy Griffin, So You Think You Can Dance, and The Sopranos

OK, I know people hate her and find her completely annoying but I will admit it - I LOVE Kathy Griffin. I think she is absolutely hilarious. So of course, I am thrilled that season 3 of her show, My Life on the D-List, has just started up again on Bravo.

Kathy recently divorced her husband and now is looking to date again - except this time, her main goal is to get coverage in the tabloids. It's hilarious to hear her explain it.

Anyway, her first date for "publicity"? Why, it's Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys! No lie. I'm surprised he signed up for this, especially since AJ McLean was Kathy's first choice. (And by the way - ew, Kathy. Brian was always my first choice, then Nick, Howie and Kevin are a toss up, but AJ would definitely be last for me.)

The date was pretty funny. Here are some quotes from Kathy during this episode:

"Nick is almost as black as Justin Timberlake. And that's as black as you can get."

(to Nick) "I swear if I have to open one door, I'm gonna kick you in the balls. 'Cause I'm a lady, goddammit."

(in reference to Nick only being 27) "I'm not about to molest this boy if there's no paparazzi taking pictures."

Anyway, that show makes me laugh. Here's a clip from a previous season that to this day still makes me cry from laughing so hard! Basically, one of her dogs keeps running away from her property, so Kathy hires a professional to help her train her dog.



I'm also loving that So You Think You Can Dance is back, too. Especially that we're now at the performance shows. Haven't picked out my favorites but I'm really starting to like Lacey, kid sis of last season's winner, Benji. She was all over that Mia Michaels routine. Although it sort of reminded me of one of my favorite performances from last season - Ivan and Allison dancing to "Why" from Annie Lennox. (And here's another cute routine from that couple.)



I'm still trying to figure out Mia's choreography - the whole lyrical style is not really my thing, but her routines are always the most interesting and emotional.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see the dancers try different styles than what they're used to. For example, I'd like to see Hok do anything besides breakdance or hip hop - ballroom on lyrical would be interesting with him. You could see how dancing hip hop was a challenge for latin ballroom dancer, Faina.

Finally, what's up with the Sopranos? I've never watched the show but everyone is talking about it lately. Was that episode the series finale (as opposed to the season finale)?

Bye Bye, Mr. Wizard...

Dude - do you guys remember Mr. Wizard from Nickelodeon??? I used to watch that show all the time when I was in grade school. Especially when I was desperate for ideas for all those science fairs.

Well, I guess Mr. Wizard just recently passed away. So sad... I think he really did make learning fun. Didn't they used to blow up stuff?

http://www.mrwizardstudios.com/

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Song from JC Penney commercial

I recently helped one of my friends locate a song from a commercial she had heard over and over again. It's a cool song so I thought I'd post it here, too, in case anyone else was curious.

This is the JC Penney commercial with the mother and daughter walking where they grow up through different stages of life.



The song is an iTunes exclusive - a "live session" by Joshua Radin called "Only You."

Kate Walsh is really funny

Check out Kate Walsh's appearance on David Spade's show on Comedy Central. She must be one of the coolest actresses in Hollywood... in this clip, she is hysterical!



I wasn't sold on her Private Practice show, but she's cool... I'll give it another try.