The show is starting here on the East Coast and this post will be regularly updated as it airs. They're in Omaha, Nebraska, tonight. Well, that's different.
Paula was delayed, so we get witty bits. Well, maybe not so witty. A guy is going to explode and infect everyone with his happiness. His name is Chris and he carries a bag, never a good sign. Well, the bad, not his name.
He wants to do anything and Simon eventually says he can go for being the correspondent for the local FOX station talking about the show. @@
Jason Rich, a farm worker good-looking dude, is being featured. He doesn't seem to be a joke. I bet he can sing. Uh-oh. He can sing, but the nerves are getting to him. He forgot the lyrics to the song he chose. He's from a town of 500, so he's nervous. They let him through to Hollywood with a warning not to do it again. Paula is still missing.
Welp, she's here! And it's into a whole series of bad auditions with forgotten lyrics. And women are arm wrestling in the waiting area. A thrill a minute. A girl goes up against Ryan Seacrest and Simon backs off away from the challenge. Rachael Wicker is her name, arm wrestling and singing her game(s). She sings a country song. Simon thinks she sounds or looks old ... one or the other or both. He says no while Randay and Paula say yes.
Now Sarah Whitaker, an ex-wrestler, is featured. I guess there's not a heck of a lot for women to do in Omaha? Oh, my. She sings like a cross between Julie Andrews and the Wicked Witch of the West. Simon thinks she's strange. She is.
Okay, Ryan questioned the decision, so he's been thrust into Paula's chair while Paula takes his place. Samantha Sicley is the first guinea pig. She sings a Nora Jones song ... not bad at all. Ryan critiques her movements and Paula takes over once again. She made it through to Hollywood.
Into a bunch of good auditions, but only snippets of them. Lotsa Hollywood a goin' on.
A girl with a sob story. She's estranged from her father. Tears, tears. Angelica Puente is her name, but can she sing? She mimics the original Celine Dion and pleads nerves. She's through to Hollywood. Simon and Randy want her to be herself. Paula urges confidence. Wrong door. (It's actually the other door tonight.) Aw, her father tells her on the phone that she's always been his American Idol.
It's rocker time. David Cook thinks he brings something different to the table. He goes for "Livin' on a Prayer." Yes, he can sing. He's onto Hollywood.
Johnny Escamilla compares himself to James Brown. He goes for "Shout." He's scaring me with his flowing sparkly shirt and er ... movements.
After a bunch of "Stuck in the Middle" bad bits, I'm ready for a good audition. One person left -- Leo Marlowe. Hmm ... he has a good sense of humor and can sing. He makes it through.
19 made it through to Hollywood from the Omaha auditions. Tomorrow it's off to Miami. The crowd looks very different from Omaha.
A store window in Westfield, NJ. While they also do fortune telling at the shop, what I want is the flying monkeys sign. At times my own personal squad of flying monkeys could come in handy. But with my luck, they'd go out on strike for better wages and benefits.
In today's TV Newsy Bits:
- I'll be getting a post up to live blog the American Idol audition show as it airs here in the northeast. Or am I mid-Atlantic? It depends to whom you're speaking, I guess. Anyway, the post will be up around 8 PM if you want to share your comments on the show.
- Lots of new programming on the cable stations tonight -- truTV (which should have stayed Court TV) has two episodes of The Real Hustle on at 10 PM ET/PT, Discovery has a new Dirty Jobs on at 9 PM ET/PT followed by Some Assembly Required at 10, TLC has a new Bussey Bunch on at 9 PM ET/PT and a new LA Ink on at 10 PM ET/PT, A&E has an hour of new Parking Wars (two episodes in a row) starting at 10 PM ET/PT.
- Celebrity Spider is reporting that CBS has ordered two more seasons of Survivor. (Yay!)
- Wild Bluff Media has an article which outlines the time frame leading into the new season of Big Brother.
- Don't forget! Lost returns on Thursday night with a two-hour show! Of course, that will throw Celebrity Apprentice to the wayside (most likely) -- I'm not sure how I'll deal with both of them and then Survivor arriving on the 7th of February. Something has to give. I'll have to fire Donald, I guess.
Today's random pondering:
Why don't men wear fedoras more often?
Today's musical non-sequitur:
City lights, the pretty lights
They can warm the coldest nights
All the people going places
Smiling with the electric faces
-- "Neon Rainbow" by The Boxtops
Well, she was supposed to be on last week, but finally here she is. Let's see if she spills any dirty little secrets, eh? So far they're talking about how much time she spends in California vs. New York. Now they're talking about last night's SAG awards and an actress out of hand in the audience.
C'mon, talk Big Brother!
Finally. David is talking about how much he doesn't know about BB, but knows it originated in Holland. Julie tells him the original premise of ten strangers and each week they vote out one of their own. Now there are twists since the fourth season. Yes, there are live feeds, Dave. She said threee months ... was it a slip? Will this be a regular run of a season? Hmmm...
Fake clip time of a nakde woman playing bongos as the After Dark show.
As usual, she spilled no beans, gave no insight.
But Zoetawny made me a cool new logo!
Author Becky Anderson was kind enough to send me two signed copies of her first novel, IN STEREO WHERE AVAILABLE. One I sent out just yesterday to blog reader Jennasmom, the winner of my big book giveaway contest.
Okay, I must admit that my reading tastes generally lean more towards mysteries or horror rather than chick-lit. Nonetheless, I found the book entertaining, possibly because it included one of my other entertainment interests.
You see, the author didn't just approach me on a whim. She's a reality show fan much as all of us are here at this blog. Becky has never missed an episode of Survivor, so how could I not give the book a chance, right?
The protagonist in the story is Phoebe, a 29-year-old virgin looking for love and finding it in one of the most unlikely places -- a wrong phone number from a guy looking to talk to a woman named Karen. But Phoebe's twin now not so identical after various enhancements is also sort of seeking love. Well, more like seeking fame with love and fortune, too -- in a reality television show.
Now, that's some show author Becky Anderson dreamed up. It's sort of a Big Brother meets The Bachelor meets Survivor with a war of the states thrown in! To be honest, if Becky approached reality television producers, I swear The Belle of Georgia could be a hit! Twelve women vying for the attention of two men, one of them named "Rhett" for the show. The challenges show that the author is no stranger to the reality television genre!
Who finds the true love? Yeah, you can almost predict it. However, it's certainly worth the ride. I think it's a laudable first novel and hope to see more from this author in the future. Or, perhaps, maybe she could create a reality television show or two!
IN STEREO WHERE AVAILABLE is available (but not really in stereo) on amazon.com and the official website for the book is here. Buy it. Read it. Let me know what you think!
I haven't seen Roofus the Cat lately, but I'm sure he's street-savvy enough to be taking shelter from the weather. I told you about the defunct Budget Car Rental place and the elderly gentleman who feeds the feral cats adjacent to Roofus' rooftop territory. If you click on this photo, it will enlarge. That's a cat on the counter looking out the door and cat food in a dish on the sidewalk. From what I can see inside without going up and peeking in the windows (and having the man yell), he has industrial size bags of dry cat food and cases of canned food in there as well as cats who seem to come and go somehow. Since Roofus wouldn't even have to cross a street to get here, I'm sure he takes advantage.
In TV Newsy Bits:
- The SAG Awards, unlike the Golden Globes, will actually take place tonight. From a press release I received -- As a build-up to the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards presentation, TNT and TBS will present a special live webcast of the red carpet at tnt.tv and tbs.com, as well as through the TBS and TNT domains within the Kaneva virtual world. The webcast, which will open with SAG president Alan Rosenberg and SAG Awards nominee Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) announcing the recipients of this year’s new Stunt Ensemble honors, will be hosted by Entertainment Weekly’s Dave Karger and comedian Jamie Kaler, co-star of TBS’s acclaimed comedy series My Boys. Karger and Kaler will cover the red carpet arrivals of this year’s nominees, past winners and other attendees. Following the Red Carpet Pre-Show, the webcast will shift backstage to the press and photo rooms, where this year’s SAG Awards honorees will answer questions from reporters and pose for pictures with their Actor® statuettes.
- I wrote a bit about a few of the reality shows on A&E for a TV Squad article.
- This Reality Wanted interview with Erika Landin (BB4 and All-Stars) is a few days old, but gives a bit of insight to casting on the show.
- Speaking of Big Brother casting, there have still been no announcements and I don't expect anything until the first week of February. What we do know is that there will be 14 in the house (rather large group, expect some double eviction weeks as this season may not run as long as the usual summer season) and the theme is "my dirty little secret." Okay, that could be ax murderers for all we know!
Today's musical non-sequitur:
I don't give a damn about a greenback dollar
Spend it as fast as I can
For a wailin' song and a good guitar
Are the only things I understand.
-- "Greenback Dollar" by Hoyt Axton
