'American Idol 6' - The Los Angeles Auditions

Am I get Idol-jaded? They sent a lot of folks through to Hollywood (from basically Hollywood) tonight, the most from any city in the auditions so far. They sent through 40 people! And, with the exception of one who wasn't really a contestant at all, I wasn't all that impressed with any of the good ones shown. Yes, they can sing, but none rocked my world.

On the other hand, after last night's disappointing Odd, Los Angeles brought new blood to the American Idol Odd Squad. Guest judge Olivia Newton-John sat in on the panel and was treated to some of those audition hijinks we've come to love and adore... or not.

Tonight's Most Notable of the Odd

As easy as pouncing a mouse, Martik "Panther" Manoukian leapt to the top of the Odd Chart. Full of attitude, snarling, sound effects, hissing, and what tried to pass for cat-like moves, he mesmerized the judges.

He claims to have studied extensively and boasts of many talents, dreams and goals.

He can't sing a lick, so he should think of grooming himself for a new career. Hey, maybe he can team up with Ian Bernardo and be a comedy act in the dive bar circuit!

We never got to hear Sophat really sing. He probably can't sing. If he could sing, he wouldn't have to wear an onion (or is it a banana... maybe a plantain) costume.

I apologize for the quality of the shot, but thought it still conveyed the very essence of Sophat and preserved it for eternity.

Or not.

I actually liked Phuong. Oh, she really can't sing that well or anything as far as American Idol goes. But I enjoyed her spunk and personality. I felt sorry when she said her mother told her she wasn't "TV pretty."

Hey, she's pretty in her own way. I've noticed in the years of watching American Idol that the looks seem to matter so much more for the women than they do for the men. Oh, I wish this girl could have blown them all away with her voice. But, um... no.

Darold and Cavett (Sparkle) met at a bus stop. I wonder if it was a wet day and he shared his umbrella. The question is, does Darold have a grillfriend for life? The way she was hitting on Simon was even making Simon blush. It must be his man-boobs turning her on, right?

As things turned out, neither could sing. I guess they'll have to keep investing in their grills and sharing the love.

The closer for the show, Eric Mueller, was a true case in study for the show. He spoke with confidence. He told Ryan he studied and practiced four to five hours a day for two years in preparation for his audition debut on the show.

And, then he sang. Mind you, I'm using the word "sang" quite loosely here. It sounded a bit more like a nasal moose-in-heat call. Or, perhaps aliens have taken over his voice.

Wait, no! He taught himself to sing using Randy and Paula's DVD! Bwahaha! Simon had lots of fun with that one. But, dang, if Eric seriously thinks he can sing, that's scary. It's almost like Martik thinking he can sing.

A Very Touching Moment

Sherman Pore's appearance on the show was one of the most emotional ever in the history of the show. No, he wasn't a serious contestant. But he wasn't an Odd, either.

His love of twenty years had suffered through cancer. They shared a love for the show. To brighten her days, he started a petition to be able to sing a song for her at the audition. It gave them both something to make them smile and a goal.

Alas, she died two days before the audition. Sherman still sang his song and dedicated it to her -- "You Belong to Me." In the end he said, "I am a winner." And, he sure is. Not only that, but he didn't even sing too badly. What a dear!

In between Sherman and the Odd, there were some decent singers. But, as I mentioned at the top of the article, none really impressed me. Paula came across as quasi-loopy at times and I don't know if it's all an act or not. The judges weren't really cruel to anyone. There was a girl whose mother was one of Dean Martin's Golddiggers. They showed Ryan Seacrest's star on Hollywood Boulevard way too much. Yeah, it was Hollyweird, saved by Sherman Pore, a salt-of-the-earth kind of man.

Next, it's onto San Antonio.

Whatever Will I Watch Tonight? - Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2007

Tonight's a mixed bag of new and old, season finale and auditions. Thankfully, there's enough on to keep me watching for the evening!

The 8 PM ET/PT programming includes a repeat C.S.I.: NY on CBS, new Friday Night Lights on NBC, new Bones on FOX, new George Lopez followed by a new Knights of Prosperity on ABC. Oh, and the CW Network has a new Beauty and the Geek. I'm still a bit undecided, but I think the Bones episode will get my vote tonight. I don't follow any of the other shows, per se. I wouldn't mind seeing the new Knights ep, but don't wish to sit through George Lopez to get at it. Oh! PBS has America's Ballroom Challenge! Um, no... not for me, but I bet some folks will love it. One of these days I'll watch Beauty and the Geek, but I'm not feeling it tonight.

At 9 PM ET/PT, my plans are pretty laid out. American Idol, the Los Angeles auditions, runs for a mere hour on FOX. You know I have to watch and write about it later. CBS has a repeat of Criminal Minds while NBC has a new Deal or No Deal. I like the former, but just cannot get into models opening briefcases giving someone who's not me cash. Now, if they were giving me cash, I'd feel entirely differently about the show. According to Jim and In Case of Emergency are new on ABC, neither of them thrill me at all.

In the 10 PM ET/PT hour, there's a new Medium on NBC, a repeat C.S.I.: NY on CBS, a new Primetime on ABC. Um... okay. Sometimes I watch Primetime, but they've been on a catching pedophiles kick as of late and it's turned me off. But I have other TV plans anyway. I'll be watching Top Chef on Bravo. It's the season finale and I've actually watched most of the shows leading up to it tonight as I caught them on one of the marathons. This is a good show that I don't always watch, but it certainly catches my attention when I come across it. Of the two finalists, I say "go, Marcel!" The other guy seems a bit too pompous to me although Marcel has his own attitude moments.

What will you be watching? Are you American-Idoled out already?

TV Peeves

I'm a huge television fan, as you might have guessed. Now, there are some things on the tube that I don't watch at all just because they hold no interest for me. That doesn't mean they're bad; it just means I'm not interested. I'm talking about programming such as soap operas, most sports, Jerry Springer, and such. Oh, wait. The last one might be actually "bad."

But, I don't fuss or whine about them because I know that some folks do enjoy them and they have their own fan base. Of course, the fan base for the last one may be a bit sordid, but who am I to judge? My name's not Simon Cowell and I ain't no judge no how no way.

However, there are some things which irk me in programming I do watch. So, please allow me the opportunity to get the peeves onto cyber-paper and out of my system.

• New York City does not have a blue tinge. Perhaps NYPD was blue, but the city's atmosphere is not. In its first season, C.S.I.: NY did the blue-tinged bit and now Heroes is doing it. Stop it. NYC isn't blue and, if you're going for some sort of "gritty-city" effect, it's not working. Plus, it makes photo-taking for my blog harder. I'm in and out of Manhattan a lot. Trust me, sometimes it may smell funny, but the air isn't blue.
• Another NYC-related rant... I generally don't watch the local FOX news for the most part. But, since I've been watching American Idol, I can't help but to catch some of the local FOX5 blurbs and sometimes even the show itself. This is New York City. We're supposed to be on top of stuff, right? How can they not understand the concept of what a blog is on FOX 5 News at Ten? Yo, FOX5, listen up! What I'm doing right now isn't a blog... it's a blog entry or a blog article. Comments are not blogs. Your viewers are not blogging to you and you are not reading their blogs unless you're reading a whole actual blog (such as The (TV) Show Must Go On...). A blog is a collection of entries, usually with comments (responses), updated regularly so the newest entries appear at the top. You are reading your viewers' comments, not their blogs. I realize there is a section to create blogs on the website, but you're over-using the term and the comments read on the air aren't blogs. "Blog us now!" Go blog yourselves. Sheesh.

What's been irking you on TV lately?

'American Idol 6' - The Birmingham, Alabama Auditions

The Birmingham auditions, in addition to being an hour shorter than many of the other audition shows, were different from previous shows. The Odd weren't quite as odd, more contestants either could sing well or couldn't sing well at all.

It was an odd night indeed. So, bear with me as this might be an odd report.

Tonight's Most Notable of the Odd

That's right, it's Simon Cowell's shirt! Yes, he wears those teensy-sleeved t-shirts each week. Although I don't believe I've mentioned them before, they annoy me. They're odd on men who actually have biceps, odder on Simon Cowell. In this pose, most folks with a shirt like that look a bit muscular. Nope, not Simon!

Make him stop.

Can you tell I wasn't too impressed with the Odd?

Then there was Victoria Watson's hair. And, her mother's hair. The locks prompted Ryan Seacrest to regress to his cheesy jokes, something (if I'm being honest), I sort of miss a bit.

"What brings you hair?" Ah, vintage Seacrest!

I felt sorry for Victoria when she was rejected by the judges. No, I don't think she was right for the competition, but her voice wasn't that bad. She would do well in chorus or choir, I think. Simon's comment about only a voice her mother could love was a bit rough. She wasn't a total non-talent like many going through the audition doors. Oh, well... hair today, gone tomorrow.

I don't get this one at all. A 50-year old woman, dressed in Big Bird attire, with a name of Fowler. She wasn't funny, couldn't sing, wasn't even near the age she gave (26) and I don't even really want to give her attention.

Yeah, she might be a hoot as a friend. Yeah, she seems like a nice enough woman.

But, what the hell is she doing on American Idol?

There were a few other Odds, but nothing truly original. The last contestant of the second day, the show closer for tonight, just irked me. I did like the Simon "call me" interaction with Brandy Patterson, but that was all I liked. Wait... the floor excuse was a new one.

There Were Some Good Ones

Yes, Chris looks like he should be in the Most Notable of the Odd, but he's my new favorite. His jokes are perfect and he can sing very well.

If he doesn't make it on American Idol, he could do well in stand-up comedy. "Some people think I look like Jack Osbourne. But when I look in the mirror, who do I see? Christina Aguilara!"

Many more went through to Hollywood. One of them had such an odd sob story that the story itself made me twitch to put it in the Most Notable of the Odd. But, if it's true, it's a horrible thing to live through as a child. "My Daddy shot my Momma because he caught her cheatin' on him, then he shot himself. He's paralyzed from the chest down. I take care of him and my grandma." Eep.

Twenty made it through to Hollywood. Most (of the ones we saw) just didn't come off as all that memorable to me. Tomorrow's auditions come from Los Angeles. Bring it, L.A.!

'Heroes' - "The Fix" - A BulletPoint Report

When I watch Heroes, I feel the same sort of excitement I held as I watched the first season of Lost. Perhaps a bit more as I enjoy the graphics novels (read that as comic books) medium.

I have several friends in that industry and have dabbled in it a bit myself, albeit not quite the superhero genre. Comic books or graphic novels are a bit like soap operas. I have somewhat of a short attention span when it comes to continuity for long-lived characters. But, with an hourly television drama, I can indeed keep with it. (Just don't ask me about the Fortress of Solitude or pre-crisis or stuff like that.) "Can we ever change what we really are?"

Here's the BulletPoint Report on the latest Heroes episode, "The Fix," to get things up to snuff. These aren't necessarily in the order of appearance on the show, some are by storyline.

• We found out that the new hero, The Invisible Man, has encountered others like Peter, who can see him.
• In the Matt Parkman (cop who can read minds) storyline, he told his wife about his power, got suspended from work, and found out his wife's pregnant.
• Sylar's in bad shape hidden at the Odessa location (Primatech Paper). HRG (Mr. Bennet) instructed his henchman to keep him alive as per his boss.
• Zach is working with Claire once again. She's tired of lying to everyone (but him).
• She sought help from The Haitian and got a clue that her mother, Meredith Gordon, died in a fire 14 years ago in Kermit, Texas. He knew nothing about her real father.
• They lied to her father, HRG, and told them they were school science partners on a manatee project. A side note: she used wind chimes to signal The Haitian. He told her this would be their last meeting.
• Hiro seems to have lost his powers. He feels he must have the real sword to get them back. Ando and Hiro went on a mission to deliver an Isaac painting to the mysterious Mr. Linderman. They were pursued by really bad guys in a van.
• Mohinder and Nathan Petrelli agreed to work together to find Peter -- it was a reluctant agreement on Nathan's part. Despite the fact that the Invisible Man told Peter that he'd never see him again, he showed and hid Peter from Nathan and Mohinder Suresh.
• Ando got himself kidnapped by the Really Bad Guys and Hiro wouldn't desert him. He tried to take Ando's place, but ended up kidnapped with Ando.
• Niki was visited by a shrink in her padded cell. The shrink wants to explore the MPD factor (probably for her own means as well as Niki's). Niki refused to bring Jessica out to play. The shrink used the threat that she'll never see Micah again. (I don't like the shrink.)
• D.L. phased himself into Niki's cell trying to figure a way to phase both of them out. Niki refused to go.
• D.L. can't find a job, can't get money. He let Micah down as Micah knew his Mom had done whatever she had to do to support him. Micah took matters in his own hands and used his power to make a substantial withdrawal from an ATM. (Now if I tried that, it would probably come out of my own account! Overdraft fees, ack!)
• In a heart-tugging moment, D.L. and Micah talked and Micah promised he'd try harder. Then he dumped the money out for his father. "You know how you and Mom both have a secret? "I have a secret, too."
• HRG got a call that Sylar died. "Package him up." He wasn't happy. But, did Sylar really die? Heh.
• The kidnapped Ando and Hiro were told by the Really Bad Guys that they were the wrong ones for the mission, then offered first class tickets back to Tokyo. "You cannot bribe a hero. My spirit is unbreakable," replied Hiro. So, the Really Bad Guys brought Hiro and Ando to their boss. Uh-oh. It's Hiro's father, played by George Takei. It was the briefest of glimpses and that was the end of that storyline for the episode.
• Claire called all of the folks named Gordon in Kermit. She struck pay dirt. Her mother didn't die. However, her mother told her that she thought Claire had died.

• But, remember Sylar? Oh, he's not dead, either. He killed the lab dude, then confronted HRG when he came for "the package." You could see the shunt in the back of his head. "How's Claire?," he asked Mr. Bennet.
  

There you go. Those were the happenings. In the teaser for next week, Claire's real mother is on the phone to her real father telling him "our daughter found us." Of course, that leads me to the thought that Claire's real father might be Linderman? Hmmm...

I'm so loving this show! I got another note from Primatech Paper, giving me a password to look into the Mr. Bennet's files sort of how Zach and Claire were doing. The easily-revealed file was about an upcoming hero - a woman who can intercept transmissions and rado waves.

I noticed there were four files there, but the password given me would only open one. However, there were highlighted numbers/letters in her file. I put them together into a password and found it went to the last file of the four -- Sylar's file. In his file, nothing was highlighted, so I can't get into the middle two files. The site even (mock) yelled at me threatening me with legal action if I kept trying to hack their files. Uh-oh.