Wednesday, May 16, 2007

BULLETIN: 'Big Brother' - Evil Dr. Will on Ablow NOW


Will Kirby is on the Dr. Keith Ablow (whatever) show right now in the NYC area. Check your local listings! It's FOX5 here in the NYC area.

Ah, the PuppetMaster! He's with his lady love, Erin Brodie. No Janelle mention as of yet.

The show is all about reality television couples, so if you're around and can catch it... I think a few of the blog readers here might be interested.

They're going into a Biggest Loser couple now.

Will says he's currently shooting a show called Doctor 90210 with the E! network.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

'American Idol 6' - The Final Three Sing to Win

Jackie's TV Blog, American Idol
It's hard to believe the season is almost over, isn't it?

It's down to three contestants -- Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis, and Melinda Doolittle. Weeks ago it seemed like the finals would be all-female, but Blake's been hanging in. Will it be his last week?

Tonight the contestants took rounds, each singing a song. The songs were a judge's choice, the producers' choice, and the singer's own personal choice. They also visited their hometowns but, if memory serves, we saw a bit less of that this year than in previous ones. So, it was three contestants, three songs, even three phone numbers. However, there will only be one American Idol in the end. Who will it be?

Although they took turns singing their songs, I'm grouping them by singer here. Why? Um... well, because I can. Yeah, that's it! (Actually, it's easier for me, plus I think it focuses on each singer a bit better.)
Jordin Sparks in the Final Three
Jordin Sparks started each round. Her first song was the judge's choice and the judge who chose was Simon Cowell. He selected a song with which I'm not too familiar -- "Wishing on a Star" by Rose Royce. I thought she was in good voice and it was a fine performance, but the song itself didn't thrill me too much. It did show off the quality of her voice.

Randy was wowed. He said it's time to be in it to win it and that it was a very good vocal. Paula thought Simon chose a good song. Simon said she sang brilliantly although he didn't care for the arrangement. It wasn't the version he wanted.

For the producers' choice, Jordin sang "She Works Hard for the Money" by Donna Summer. Again, good. She rocked it, but I don't know... something seemed a bit off with her tonight. Her voice was in good form, but perhaps it was the song choice.

Randy thought it was nicely done. Paula said it was fantastic. Simon said it was a very good performance, then commented on the arrangement again.
Jordin and Jordin
For her own choice round, Jordin did something I thought was a bit odd. She chose a song she has already performed in the competition -- "I Who Have Nothing." I think, in comparison, she's upped her game. But I don't think repeating songs is a great idea in the final three. She sang it beautifully, mind you. I'm just wondering about the second time bit.

Randy thought it was her best performance of the night (it was). Paula thought it sat well with her voice. Simon said there was no disputing that she sang it very well, but it was old-fashioned for her age. It seems to me that he said the same thing the first time she sang it.
Final Three - Blake Lewis
Blake Lewis had the second slot in the rounds of three. In the judge's choice, Paula Abdul chose "Roxanne" by The Police. That, to me, is a good choice in one way - Blake can be a bit Sting-ish vocally. But, I also thought it was almost too safe, something I didn't hear from the judges. He did it very well, I thought. With Blake, I think a lot of what has got him to where he is, is that he's an entertainer and performer more than a vocalist. A Sting vocal, he can do just fine.

Randy thought it was a great performance, hot. Maybe that's hott with two t's. Paula said he did her proud. Simon said it was good, not great.

Blake the Fashion TrenderFor the producers' choice, Blake sang "This Love" by Maroon 5. Now, in my opinion, this is the kind of song Blake can shine while performing. I thought it much better than "Roxanne" not only in fitting his talents, but in the performance itself. And, to me, Blake is about performance.

Randy thought it was cool, the kind of song he should have on an album, nicely done. Paula said he was in his element. Simon preferred it over the first song, said it was good and "not copycat."

For his own song choice, Blake chose Robin Thicke's "When Will I Get You Alone?" I probably like Blake's performance better than Thicke's because I at least enjoy Blake while Thicke just does nothing for me.

Randy said it was alright. Paula thought it was a great performance and a great song. Simon really liked it. Simon also likes that Blake takes risks and is having fun.
Melinda Doolittle in the Final Three
Melinda Doolittle was the last to sing in each round. Randy Jackson chose her first song -- Whitney Houston's "I Believe In You and Me." Okay, I think I've mentioned before that I'm not into Whitney Houston, not at all. But Melinda carried this song off so that even I liked a Whitney song. Yikes! The judges always frown upon contestants trying Whitney Houston songs, but this seems to be a test of some sort.

Randy said it had a high level of difficulty, but she blew it out of the box. Paula thought it was amazing, fantastic, and the her best performance all season. Simon said it was her best performance and difficult. He declared her the winner of Round One - the judges' choice round.
Melinda Rocks It
Again, I think the producers made a perfect song choice -- "Nutbush City Limits" by Ike and Tina Turner. Wow! She rocked! I hope Tina was watching. (Now, there's a star they should have on the show. She can still kick it unlike many of the older-generation singers they use as mentors.) Not a note missed, perfect vocals.

Randy called it a great, stellar performance. Paula just sat there repeatedly babbling "we love you." Simon said he loves that side of her and another brilliant performance. But when asked who won the second round, he declared it a tie.

For her own song choice, Melinda chose "I'm a Woman." Again, perfect vocals and great stage presence. She also sang the song earlier in the season. What's up with that, girls? She was my favorite from the beginning and she remains my personal favorite. And, it's also most likely that she would be the only one whose music I would buy. Jordin maybe someday, but Melinda a definite.

Randy loved her range and said she could sing the phone book well. Paula said something off-kilter about how she's celebrating her dream. Simon said that if he could give an award into the finals for consistency each week, it would be hers.

At the end of the show Ryan did something I thought a bit unfair. He asked the judges who should be in the finals. Randy said it would be the two girls (which could backfire on him if Blake voters work extra hard to save him), Paula refused to say, and Simon wants "my girl Melinder."

Me? I want Melinda, too. And I don't put an "r" on the end of her name! But, in looking at this group, they each bring something a bit different to the table. I think all three will make it in the business no matter who is chosen to be the first place winner.

Your thoughts?

Whatever Will I Watch Tonight? - Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Oh, such a dilemma! Well, tonight's not the big dilemma it has been on previous weeks, I'll admit.

At 8 PM ET/PT, there's this week's American Idol 6 with the top three contestants (Melinda, Blake, Jordin) singing three songs each. I'll be watching that, taking notes and photos, then getting an entry posted later on this evening.

Not into American Idol? There's more!

At 8 PM ET/PT, American Idol not withstanding, there is a repeat of Dancing With the Stars on ABC. The CW has a new Gilmore Girls. NBC has a new Dateline airing. The entire CBS prime-time block is taken by The 42nd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.

9 PM ET/PT brings us a repeat Law and Order: Criminal Intent on CBS, a new House episode on FOX, the (new) Dancing With the Stars results show on ABC, a new Veronica Mars episode on CW, and a new Deadliest Catch on Discovery.

Then, at 10 PM ET/PT, there's a new episode of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit on NBC, a new Boston Legal on ABC, two new back-to-back Real World episodes on MTV, and The Shield on FX is new, too.

My personal line-up is American Idol, still undecided for the next hour, L&O: SVU at ten o'clock. I haven't been watching Dancing With the Stars, but many of the blog readers do. If you want to join in on the show discussion and (probably) get East Coast Spoiler information on tonight's boot, head to the comments area of the blog discussion post for the show during or after the show airs on the East Coast.

I also received some screeners from TBS (Tyler Perry's House of Payne) and TNT (The Closer)... so I have to watch them and report back to you in addition to my regular television addiction. Both shows will air this summer, but I'm anxious to check out the screener from The Closer! (Yay.)

What will you be watching tonight?

Monday, May 14, 2007

'Heroes' - "Landslide" - A BulletPoint Report


Yikes, the season finale is next week! I think you can guess where I'll be on Monday night. I'm so addicted to this show. Is there a 12-Step Program for Heroes withdrawal?

As I've grown to expect, tonight's show was yet another nailbiter.

Anything less and it wouldn't be Heroes, right?

Here's the skinny on the happenings, not necessarily in the order in which they happened for the sake of clarity:
  • The show opened with Sylar saying, "Boom." Apparently he's now liking the idea of blowing up millions... or .07% of the world's population.
  • At Kirby Plaza, Peter Petrelli learned to control the absorption of Ted (Radioactive Hands Dude) Sprague's powers. A good thing because he had just given Claire the go-ahead to kill him.
  • HRG (Mr. Bennet) didn't realize that Peter was Claire's uncle.
  • The FBI is after Bennet, Parkman (mind-reading ex-cop), and Sprague. They've labeled Sprague a terrorist.
  • HRG wants to destroy the Walker Tracking System (Molly the Kid!) with Parkman.
  • He instructed Peter, Claire, and Sprague to go to a small town.
  • "I'm in!" said Sprague.
  • HEROES - Sylar Has a New Power
  • "Me, too," said lurking eavesdropping nearby SYLAR.
  • Meanwhile, Hiro believes he's failed his mission. His destiny was a mistake. Sylar's too powerful.
  • Ando found a sword repair shop in the Yellow Pages.
  • Hiro called them. "You have the fate of the world in your hands."
  • In Nathan news, Linderman was giving him another pep talk.
  • Nathan seems torn. He doesn't want to make the city into a nuclear wasteland, nor let his brother explode.
  • Linderman told Nathan that his (Nathan's) father had great power. He did all he could do to heal the world, but he had to give up.
  • Nathan's wife arrived in the room. He told her he would give her the greatest gift, then held her hand.
  • Voila! It's a miracle! She finds out after Linderman left that she can walk once again. (Can I get a hallelujah?) Of course, she realized it just as she told Nathan he didn't have to sell his soul to Linderman. It looks like her soul is in question now.
  • Back to Peter, Claire, and Sprague... as Claire dreams of being a caped superhero, Peter picks up on Sylar being around with his own powers.
  • They run, but get surrounded by the FBI who capture Sprague.
  • Peter and Claire run some more.
  • Agent Hanson of the FBI talks to Sylar (who identified himself as Isaac Mendez). He called in the tip on Sprague.
  • "Thank you. Most people don't get involved," she told him.
  • "I'm not most people," he replied. Understatement, I say!
  • Let's go back to Ando and Hiro again. They found the sword-fixing shop.
  • They also found Hiro's father once again.HEROES- Hiro's Dad played by George Takei
  • Ando wanted to leave as he was sure Hiro's father would stop their mission.
  • And, of course, he'd die.
  • It turns out that Hiro's father (played by George Takei, Lt. Sulu on Star Trek), knew about Hiro's powers all along.
  • Hiro's father is on his side, just didn't think he was ready.
  • Ninja training in action as Hiro and his Dad practice.
  • Hiro's father told him that he will kill Sylar the next attempt. The sword isn't important, the journey is. He will save the world.
  • Alas, Ando bought a sword and took off to continue the mission thinking that Hiro was going to be sent back to Japan.
  • Switching characters again -- I think Candice (the illusionist) might really be an obese woman. She hinted at it and ate tons of junk food while with Micah.
  • Micah told her she could use her powers for good.
  • "You could be a hero."
  • Micah told her Linderman was bad. "He's going to heal the world," she replied. "I didn't know it was sick," said Micah.
  • Linderman arrived and told Micah he needed to do one little thing which would save many lives, then he could go home to his parents. He'd give them lots of money and they could all live happily ever after.
  • Candice turned into a chubby black woman and took Micah to the polling station.
  • She told the woman at the booths she was teaching him about democracy and was allowed to bring him into the voting booth.
  • She then told him to use his power to tell all the computers to give Nathan Petrelli a landslide victory.
  • He did it. "Can I go home now?"HEROES - Micah
  • Ah, but D.L. and Jessica are in NY looking for Micah!
  • They talked to Nathan who seemed to be wavering a bit about Linderman, but felt powerless to do anything about him.
  • "You were going to kill him. Let us finish it!"
  • Then the news came in -- Nathan Petrelli won the election by a landslide.
  • All the action headed to the Kirby Plaza. Micah was held by Candice there.
  • Mohinder Suresh was curing Molly Walker so she could use her people/hero tracking powers once again.
  • The trouble is, Thompson, Bennet's ex-boss at Primatech Paper is in charge of the operation.
  • The other trouble is, Parkman and Bennet are in the building to destroy the Walker Tracking System (Molly!).
  • Molly was previously saved from the boogeyman (Sylar) by Parkman.
  • Parkman had no clue it was Molly that was the tracking system.
  • Bennet knew it was a person, but didn't know it was a child.
  • Ah, but before that, DL and Jessica met up with Parkman and Bennet in the building. Jessica to Parkman, "Didn't I once throw you out a window?"
  • They split when Bennet told them where to find Linderman.
  • Thompson tried to catch Parkman and Bennet, but Bennet set up Parkman.
  • "What am I thinking now?" Thompson asked Parkman as he sneaked up in back of him and put a gun to his head.
  • "Your last thought," Bennet said as he shot Thompson.
  • Then it became a standoff in Molly's room with Mohinder pointing his gun at Bennet and Bennet aiming at Molly.
  • HEROES - Standoff with Mohinder and Bennet
  • No shots fired, standoff unsolved in this chapter.
  • Back to Ted secured in the FBI truck...
  • Sylar caused the truck to crash with a flick of his hand.
  • It overturned and Ted was hanging upside down as Sylar did his brain-taking thing to get his nuclear-hands power.
  • Peter and Claire came upon the truck afterwards and knew it was the work of Sylar.
  • Back at the Kirby Plaza, DL and Jessica found Linderman and demanded their son, Micah, be returned.
  • Jessica sent Linderman flying across the room into a wall.
  • Linderman had a trick up his sleeve.
  • He gave Jessica money, 20 million dollars, to kill DL.
  • Jessica would do it, but Nikki wouldn't. Jessica turned back into Nikki.
  • "You should have taken the money," said Linderman as he shot DL.
  • Then DL phased his hand into Linderman's brain.
  • Now, both Linderman and DL are dead. I think.
  • As Nathan gave his acceptance speech, it hinted once again that he might be at least thinking of the right thing.HEROES - Sylar Practices His Boom
  • He mentioned Peter and making a difference for the greater good, world is sick, it can heal.
  • As he gives the speech, Sylar is atop the DeVeaux Building with the Empire State Building in the distance.
  • He's practicing his radioactive hands.
  • "Boom," he says, smiling at the thought.
Sylar quietly saying "boom" creeps me out.

TV Newsy Bits - Monday, May 14, 2007

Jackie's TV Newsy Bits Tonight's season finale of How I Met Your Mother has a touching real-life bit within it. The show is a must-see for a Brookyn (NYC) couple. Well, the man worked to get his fiancee-to-be a part as an extra on the show and planned to propose to her while in California. When he told the folks at the show his plans, they set it up so that the proposal would be a scene in the finale. Everyone on the staff knew about it, but the young woman didn't. It was a huge surprise for her.

It's a good thing she said yes to the proposal, eh?

In other TV Newsy Bits:
  • Due to last night's finale, there's a cyber-ton of Survivor: Fiji links out there! Reality News Online interviewed Yau-Man Chan and Earl Cole. Oh, they also interviewed Cassandra, Boo, and Dreamz. They also have a transcript of the five castaways' appearance on The Early Show. Oh... and they also have a write-up of the reunion show!
  • If you're a Dancing With the Stars fan, please stop by the blog discussion post and chat with a great group!
  • We saw Survivor castaway Alex's nasty side a bit the other day, but did we forget about this news story I linked a while back?