Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Dancing with the Stars: And the Mirror Ball Goes To... (5/24/11)

After ten weeks of competition, it all comes down to this. One last round, then we have a winner.

Favorite Dance

Chelsea/Mark
Dance: Viennese Waltz
Judge's Score: 30 (89)
My Rating: 5
Thoughts: The Harry Potter tribute was even better this time than last. Well done!

Kristie/Maksim
Dance: Cha-Cha-Cha
Judge's Score: 30 (84)
My Rating: 5
Thoughts: First dance was vastly improved and impressive. Loved everything
about it. Amazing!

Hines/Kym
Dance: Paso Doble
Judge's Score: 30 (89)
My Rating: 5
Thoughts: What else can be said? These two are incredible! An amazing finish!

After that they combined the judges scores over the last two nights and all the fan votes from the Monday night.

Third Place: Chelsea/Mark

Okay honestly I didn't expect that one. Kristie/Maks really got alot of votes from the fans for them not to finish third.

Top 2:
Kristie/Maks
Hines/Kym

Winner:
Hines/Kym

Like I said last night, it was a tough choice but the right couple won in the end. What a season!

American Idol: The Country Filled Finale (5/24/11)

Ladies & Gentlemen, this is the finale. Three rounds, two original songs and one of the toughest finales ever.

Round 1: Favorite Performance of the Season

Scotty
Song: Gone
Watching him sing this makes me smile. Even better than the first time.
Rating (out of 5): *****

Lauren
Song: Flat on The Floor
Alot of fun big time. They are not going to make this easy are they? Very awesome!
Rating (out of 5): *****

Round 2: Celebrity Picks

Scotty
Picked By: George Straight
Song: Check Yes or No
You can't teach that kind of storytelling technique. He is going to be a country star for years to come. Well done again!
Rating (out of 5): *****

Lauren
Picked By: Carrie Underwood
Song: Maybe It Was Memphis
Simply beautiful. I really enjoyed that. Well done for a girl who had some voice problems coming into the show.
Rating (out of 5): *****

Round 3: Their First Single (Original Song)

Scotty
Song: I Love You This Big
This was a perfect song for him. Perfect story. This will be a mega hit win or loss.
Rating (out of 5): *****

Lauren
Song: Like My Mother Does
Ladies and gentlemen your new Mother's Day song. Totally amazing!
Rating (out of 5): *****

Well I have no idea who's going to win. Honestly I don't. We can't lose either way, but I'm going to give the edge to Scotty. I don't really know why, just because.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

AHL Calder Cup Playoffs-Calder Cup Finals (Pick)

Binghamton vs. Houston
Pick: Houston in 6

AHL Calder Cup Playoffs-Conference Finals (Results)

Eastern Conference
Charlotte vs. Binghamton
Pick: Charlotte in 6
Results: 4-0 Binghamton

Western Conference
Hamilton vs. Houston
Pick: Houston in 6
Results:4-3 Houston

Glee Top 10 (Season 2)

Last year on the morning of the final Glee episode of season one, I made a Top 10 list of the best songs of the season.  So since this is the season two finale, I'd do the same thing. So in a season filled with theme episodes, it's been a very up and down year for the music. With that being said...

10. Forget You (Holly and New Directions)
The original verison of this song might just be one of favorite songs in the last year. But when it got performed on the show, it brought it to a different level and brought the show up with a new modern feel. It was well done and has been on my MP3 player ever since.

9. Welcome Christmas (New Directions)
If there is one thing that is difficult to do is to make a Christmas special different and interseting. If that doesn't work, borrowing one of the most famous stories works too. That's what Glee did. They did their version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which turned into a combo of the original cartoon and the Jim Carey movie. This song ended up not being on their Christmas CD, but it turned into the best song of the entire show. It was the best Christmas song I had heard it years. It was the first time the group had sung as a real choir. So beautiful.

8. Thriller/Heads Will Roll (New Directions and The Football Players)
When you get the honor to have your show air after the Super Bowl, you have to go all out, that's just what Glee did. After a wild show, full of really good storylines, we get this performance. The halftime show for the high school football championship game. Besides being a great song, the performance was very entertaining.

7. Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch-A Me (Emma)
During a up and down Rocky Horror episode, there was one performance that stood out. Watching Emma sing this song to Shue might have been one of the hottest moments of the whole season. On top of the song, every female in America was jealous of her for getting Will topless and dancing on him.

6. Raise Your Glass (The Warblers)
There had to be one Warblers song on this list. They were such a HUGE part of the season this year, especially Blaine and Kurt's relationship. This was the song they sung at Regionals and for me was their best sung and well performed performance of the season.

5. Take Me or Leave Me (Rachel and Mercades)
Just based on the fact that these two are by far the best singers on the show, this was the first time they actual got a chance to truly duet together. It was the second ever Diva-Off and the best female performace of the season by far.

4. Just The Way You Are (Finn)
This might have been one of the weirdest song selections on paper, but in context it was one of the best. By the song, it would seem this song was sung to Rachel, but in fact it was sung to Kurt after their parents got married. It was first real big heartfelt moment of the season.

3. Pure Imagination (New Directions)
So how did one of the last songs of the season make this list? Mainly because it was of the most impactful. This might be the turning point of the series, not just the season. It was sung at Sue's sister's funeral, that New Directions put together, and was sung over a great video montage of Jean's life. It hit Sue so hard and for the first time she stopped hating Will and ND.
2. I Wanna Hold Your Hand (Kurt)
Okay, this might be the best solo of the series so far. When Kurt's father ended up int he hospital, assumingly on his deathbed, Kurt decided to dedicate this song to his dad. If you watched this performance and didn't get emotional, you don't have a heart.

1. Loser Like Me (New Directions)
Noting that I have yet to hear any of the songs for tonight's show, this is the best song of the season by far. It was the first original group song ever, it was catchy and is a song that more people can relate to than any on the show in the past. This performance is the anthem of this show, and told the story of the series up to this point. It's also the song that won Regionals for them.

That's that. Yes I left out some great performances, and not everyone is going to agree with this list, but hey you can't please everyone right?

Celebrity Apprentice: And The Winner Is..... (5/22/11)


Who wouldn't want to walk down
the street with these guys?
After two months, Sunday night we got to the finale of Celebrity Apprentice.

Part of me wants to talk about the challenge, talk about the returning stars, the song and especially the finish.

I'll take it step by step.

The Video
Jon's video was funnier and overall better than Marlee's. I just didn't enjoy the placement of Geoffrey Holder, maybe I'm just too young to appreciate it. I thought getting Dee Snider was bigger.

The Can
I thought it was pretty close. But I really like Jon's but honestly you couldn't go wrong either way.

The Presentation/Event
Well I gotta say that Marlee's event was more personal and organized. I really enjoyed the Harlem Globetrotters. Jon and Star both messed up with Def Leppard's rider and started the show too early. To Jon's credit I give him credit for breaking out the gutiar and performing to kill time. That was a great display.

Extra
Despite this NOT being a fundraising challenge, Jon actually made over $260,000 because some big time friends decided to donate. No one is crazy enough to say no to this money.

Then came a moment that I didn't expect. Jon wrote a song called For The Kids. So in a reality tv competition first, the two competitors actually performed together. Jon sang, Marlee signed and then if it couldn't get anymore heart-wrenching and amazing, they were helped by the Deaf Choir of New York. It was probably one of the most amazing moments I've ever experienced and it left me speechless.

Then came the big moment. It was tough, no one ever said it wasn't going to be. This might have been the toughest choice. But in the end, the right person won, Jon Rich was named Celebrity Apprentice.


Top 10 Gary Busey Lines:

I couldn't resist one last Gary Busey sub-section. In honor of the finale, and the fact that Gary did return for the finale, I am making this countdown:
#10 "A righteous truth, A-R-T is the defination of art. Because you need heart for the art and the art brings the heart."

#9 "What we did better is what we did on the day of the task."-Gary
"What do you mean?"-Donald
"It means we did better on that day,"-Gary.

#8 "Like freedom, Facing Real Exciting Energy Developing Out Miracles."

#7 "I know nothing's free but my heart to your heart is free."

#6 "I think they should be used to be looked at to be usable."

#5 "Pizza makes you put on your clothes like you're a fish"

#4 "The team I have, everyone is like a different color of the rainbow."

#3 "Where the pepperoni lands that where the miracle will happen!"

#2 "There were no mistakes made. If there was a mistake made, it was to understand that a mistake is a gift so you just brush it away and achieve it in another way."

#1 "It's like having the best ingredients in the world to make the best cake you can make. It's gonna come out tomorrow, it's gonna be warm and fluffy and put a drop, put a scoop of chocolate or vanilla ice cream on that cake, it'll melt, and oh yi-yi-yi, it'll be fun to eat!"

Well that's it for this season. I gotta say this has been a fun ride, even though it has been tough to keep up with this show in here. The season just ended and I already can't wait till next season!

Tough Enough: Talk The Talk (5/23/11)

Well this week Tough Enough was about charisma. In the wrestling world, despite what TNA thinks, you have to be entertaining and the one way to do that, outside and inside the ring, is with good or great charisma.

There were two stages of competition.

First the competitors had to lead a tour on a bus on Hollywood Boulevard. Bill had brough Pysch's James Roday to help judge the competition. I'll summarize this whole thing by saying that everyone seemed very uncomfortable, especially Christina and Andy, except for Jeremiah. He shined and was the star of this challenge.

Then at the gym was the big challenge. First they got to wrestle with Stone Cold's special guest, The Rock. Yes I wrote that right, Rock actually got in the ring and wrestled around with the rookies. It was actually a pleasure to watch. Then afterward, instead of leaving, he stuck around to help Stone Cold, Bill and Trish judge the contestants as they cut promos on Bill. I will say that all the guys did a good job, AJ though stood out with the best promo of the night, Christina was by far the worst.

Then it came down to elimination time.

Bottom 3
  • Christina
  • AJ
  • Andy
Well this wasn't a big surprise. What was a HUGE surprise was Andy breaking down and blowing up on Stone Cold. It's EXACTLY what he wanted. Austin finally lit the fire under Andy's ass and he was given one last chance.

Eliminated: AJ and Christina

Well that's that. We are now down to three men. This should be fun.