What Would You Do: Putting the Reality Back in Reality TV

3/24/09 11:16 PM

I have finally found a new reality show that does need to bear a warning label from the CDC. ABC has struck gold with its new take on an old premise. Primetime: What Would You Do uses a Candid Camera type approach to see how people will react in various situations. This show goes further though—it allows people to examine themselves. This show features scenarios such as a woman being asked to leave a store simply because she is black. The store employees say that they have problems with “her kind”. The real highlight of the show is seeing what the bystanders do in situations like these. Thankfully all of these scenarios are staged because it would inevitable that fist fighting would ensue. At the end of the scene it is revealed to the bystanders that they are taking...

They’ve Gone Country

3/20/09 2:04 AM

I am still in shock about this season’s country week on Idol.  To cut right to the chase—It didn’t suck. When I first saw Randy Travis was going to be the mentor, I was under the impression that all the songs would be from his catalog (thankfully they weren’t). Travis brought plenty of wise advice for the contestants. You can tell he knows his stuff. He has been around since the dawn of time, so the contestants should feel privileged to work with him. I have never been a huge fan of theme weeks. They usually result in bad performances because the contestants are trying to force themselves into that week’s cookie cutter. While the theme weeks put a damper on the contestant’s identity as an artist, it does allow us to see their creativity when it...

Austin’s Picks for Idol’s Top Five

3/13/09 1:10 AM

  After seeing the first episode of the finals, I am going to go out on a limb and attempt to predict the top five. While I’m no expert, I have seen enough of this show to notice trends. I just hope Anoop knows when it’s time to pack it up and go home. Some contestants have a tendency to stick around long after you’re bored with them—you can thank votefortheworst.com for that. Here are my picks for the final five:   Allison Iraheta: This likeable girl knows how to sing. She powers through some of the toughest songs and make it look easy.  The tone of her voice is beautiful and it reminds me of another American Idol—a Miss Kelly Clarkson. She is my favorite to win, just because of her versatility as an artist. Not to sound too much like the...

Buy One, Get One Free Idol (See Producer for Details)

3/12/09 8:54 PM

Last night’s results show added yet another thing onto the show’s ever expanding rule book. First it was America picking the top twelve, then it was the wild card show, then it was the addition of one more contestant (making it the top thirteen). This show has more gimmicks than a used car commercial. Well we get one more—this time it is  “The Judges Save”. Now, at any point before the top 5, the judges can pull together and vote to keep the eliminated contestant in the show. While they can only use it once during the show, I hope they don’t use it to keep “Anoop Dog” around any longer. Since Idol was running long last week, at the very end of the show (right when TiVo’s stopping), Simon announced that the two remaining...

American I-Dull

3/12/09 1:17 AM

So with the first half of this week’s American Idol under my belt, I feel like there goes two hours of my life I will never get back. One element of the show that won’t seem to die resurfaced again this week. I am of course talking about the theme weeks. We are now at the stage of the competition where time seems to crawl. We have thirteen barely memorable faces all singing songs from a category that is so far out of left field, even the good singers struggle. This week was no exception. Watching contestants trying to make Michael Jackson’s songs their own was excruciating—sorry Simon I borrowed that word from you. These songs are hard to arrange to fit the music styles of these artists. If only Anoop had read my blog he would have known this and not tried to...

American I-Dull

3/11/09 12:58 AM

So with the first half of this week’s American Idol under my belt, I feel like there goes two hours of my life I will never get back. One element of the show that won’t seem to die resurfaced again this week. I am of course talking about the theme weeks. We are now at the stage of the competition where time seems to crawl. We have thirteen barely memorable faces all singing songs from a category that is so far out of left field, even the good singers struggle. This week was no exception. Watching contestants trying to make Michael Jackson’s songs their own was excruciating—sorry Simon I borrowed that word from you. These songs are hard to arrange to fit the music styles of these artists. If only Anoop had read my blog he would have known this and not tried to... 1 comment

23 Bimbos + 2 Tour Buses + 1 Has-Been = 1 Giant Train Wreck

3/7/09 3:22 AM

I have watched some vile things on TV in the last few years. I’ve sat through countless episodes of The Hills, Flavor of Love, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I would rather watch Kim Kardashian talk about the noises her mother makes in bed with Bruce Jenner than watch Rock of Love Bus. The fact that I would watch Kim Kardashian over anything has got to say something. Rock of Love Bus is the third installment of Bret Michaels’ search to find love—I guess as is standard at VH1, it takes at least three seasons. This show is not much different than in seasons past. The major difference is instead of having skanks—formally referred to as contestants—in a mansion, we have skanks on bus.  I only casually watched the first two seasons, but when I... 1 comment

She's Back…

3/5/09 1:38 AM

Well this week’s Idol was off to a good start. In this final round of semi-finals we saw some of the strongest performers yet. I was thoroughly impressed with many of the performances—yes pleasing me is possible. Wednesday night’s show was not as fortunate as Tuesday, however. It started off with the contestants screeching though Katy Perry’s Hot n Cold. Humm...and talk about song choice. The guys seemed less than enthused to be singing this song. But I really think it was the choreography that pushed this over the edge for me—it was reminiscent of my fourth grade play (synchronized leg crossing and all). Aside from that, the night went as predicted.  No shockers with the results. Who could honestly not vote for Scott McIntire—he is a good singer...