a few surprises

Summer TV is not throwaway TV like it once was. Previous summers I had mostly SYTYCD to get me through the TV off-season, but this season I have quite a few other shows that have made SYTYCD a little less exciting. Instead, here are the shows I look forward to each week:

Love in the Wild
I'm almost embarrassed to admit how much I like this show, but then I think about how great it is and NO, I'm not embarrassed! It's fun, the format is so incredibly smart, and each week has surprises, drama, and fun! There are a few couples I am really rooting for: Mike and Samantha, Miles and Heather. The challenges have been really interesting. I was so touched that Jess took herself out of the running not to break up any of the other couples with connections. I hate Ben for being a jerk to Brandee. And the show has definitely put Costa Rica on my radar as a near future vacation spot. Well, maybe. I could do without Snake Island and log rafting down crocadile river...


The Glee Project
Maybe this is the show I should be embarrassed to admit enjoying... But you know what, I admit to liking Glee, so whatever! Too late now. What is this show about? A competition show where a bunch of people compete to get a seven-episode arc on the next season of Glee. The casting director for Glee is the main advisor for the show and Ryan Murphy gets the final say on who gets eliminated. The main criteria for making it through to the following week: if Ryan thinks he can write a character for the contestant.

This show is what makes Glee great without what makes Glee horrible. What is that, you might ask? It has the fun musical numbers; it has fun, varied, colorful characters/contestants. What does it not have? Contrived storylines. I enjoy the "quickfire" challenges each week, where each contestant has to sing one line in a song that embodies that week's challenge. This week's, for example, was Sexuality and singing "Like a Virgin." A different week had Dancability and singing "Bad Romance." I also like the mini-music videos that they have to put together before being potentially eliminated. There are a good number of the contestants that I could really see on Glee, and I hope the producers consider bringing back more than just the winner for the show in the future. One of my favorites was eliminated last week, Marissa, but there are still a few that I'm rooting for.

There are 5 contestants left:
- Hannah: Chubby redhead who annoys me in personality, but is a character you can see on the show... Except Zizes already exists.
- Sam: Laidback rocker with dreads. Has been a street performer in LA. He's good looking but kinda annoys me, I can't quite place why.
- Lindsay: Oddly one of my favorites though she's one of those perfect looking, perfect girls. She has more story behind her -- she was adopted! -- but tends to stick to the surface and is very Lea Michele in many ways.
- Damien: Pretty boy and Northern Irish. He has the "foreigner" thing going for him and he's very cute in a boyband kind of way. He'd be a good Finn replacement.
- Alex: A gay, male version of Mercedes. Crazy range in singing, but his personality is annoying and his commitment to the process is lacking at times. It's amazing how many people he's outlasted in my opinion, but he would make for an interesting character.


ABC Family: Switched at Birth & The Nine Lives of Chloe King
Jenn already blogged about both of these shows. I had been a fan of Switched at Birth from the beginning and echo all her praises-- the portrayal of deaf culture and Katie Leclerc. But I also find that I really enjoy the contrast of all the characters, even if Bay can get annoying at times. I didn't watch Chloe King until reading Jenn's review actually, and now I'm hooked. Ahh, so good.


What a great summer of TV. :) Now I need to catch up with SYTYCD because I'm running out of room on my DVR!

American Idol revisited

So I know I said that I was giving up on American Idol but that was obviously a lie because I've watched the past couple of weeks since the themes weren't completely terrible. I can't say I'm really impressed by any of the contestants this year though. Some of my thoughts:

- I'm not on the David Cook love train. I think he sings and performs well and he is doing something different from your average American Idol contestant but it seems that all he's doing is turning every song he chooses into a rock ballad (with an existing arrangement) and really, I've heard it all before. His sound is very reminiscent of a lot of those "alternative rock" bands from the 90s like Our Lady Peace and Live and Fuel and Soundgarden and Bush...bands that I listened to back when I was in high school. So I find the notion that he's "unique" or "current" or "original" to be pretty preposterous and all the praise is actually majorly turning me off. Maybe he is among Idol contestants but in the grander scheme of things? Not so much. I did listen to a couple of songs off his solo album from a couple of years ago (at this site) and if it was like 10 years ago I might have been into it, but I got over that stage a long time ago.

- I've been finding myself really curious if these people can write songs as well as sing. I might be completely wrong here but Brooke especially strikes me as a singer-songwriter type, and I think that if she were allowed to always have the piano or the guitar and just do her own thing I might actually like her. She's been doing alright but I don't think having to do all these different genres and prove her versatility is really working for her. I really wish that American Idol would make them sing at least one original song like on Rock Star so we could get more of a preview of what kind of music they'd actually release. Who knows if I'd like any of it (since apparently I'm a music snob) but it'd be a lot more interesting than having to listen to 2 weeks of Beatles in a row or Dolly Parton (yeah I'm going to be skipping next week)...

Most satisfying Amazing Race ever

Okay, that might be an exaggeration, especially considering I didn't even start watching until a few seasons ago, but man was it awesome to see Nate and Jen Philiminated! And right before the final three! And on Jen's birthday!

I suppose that sounds a bit mean...I always feel kind of bad for hating people on reality shows because I mean, they are real people and these shows are unusually stressful situations and all, but Nate and Jen have spent the entire race bickering and being pretty terrible to eachother, and I would have HATED to see them win over any of the other three teams. Jen especially has just been ridiculously nagging and her sense of entitlement was just bizarre. I'm so glad I don't have to be all anxious during the finale next week worrying that they might win and have that like validate their relationship or something.

So yeah, I'm now happy with the final three, and wouldn't really mind seeing any of them win. I like that the two teams with the oldest people in the race are still in it, and that the requisite dating couple is actually functional. I'm not sure who I'm rooting for...I like that Ron and Chris have used the race to build their relationship, even though Ron was pretty terrible in the beginning; I like that TK and Rachel are so positive and calm and their comeback tonight to oust Jen and Nate was just awesome; and Don just cracks me up (don't really have much of an opinion on Nicolas). The tasks for next week look really crazy though, I'm excited!

Playing catch-up

I know, I know, I've been a bit delinquent with the blogging lately. So here's some random stuff on the shows I've been watching:

Gossip Girl: My favorite new show of this season, hands down. And I'm not afraid to admit it. New York Magazine loves it too, and their weekly recaps are totally hilarious. I'm kind of disappointed in what they did with the Vanessa character though. I might be completely making this up but in the books I thought she was a bit more...dark and sullen and edgy. The TV Vanessa is positively sunny, and she's not different enough from Serena to really be a good alternative for Dan. And the way they've set up Dan and Serena to be the like "it" couple for the series...I'm kind of not sure what she's even doing there besides giving random sage advice to Jenny. Oh well.

Friday Night Lights: I'm so glad Coach Taylor's back in Dillon. I thought the first couple of episodes of the season were just kind of too depressing but they've returned to more of a balance. I'm kind of meh on the whole Landry storyline...both Jesse Plemmons and Glenn Morshower are acting the hell out of their roles but I liked Landry better when he was the comic relief. And I'm sort of meh on him being on the football team...the episode where he saved the game and everyone was chanting his name was a bit much for me. I am glad that Julie has gotten over her heinous rebellious stage and apologized to Matt. But I'm also glad that Matt hasn't given into her. That new cheerleader is so just a random rebound though. Loved Smash inviting Riggins over for dinner, though I kind of wished we got some wisdom from Mama Smash. I don't really know what they're doing with Jason though...he keeps diving into things that he thinks will give his life meaning: first quad rugby, then coaching, but I guess he's still looking for something else. I did kind of like him as a coach though...

Ugly Betty: Soo....as much as I like Henry, all the Betty and Henry angst is getting kind of boring, and I almost want him to just go away so that Betty can get over him. I mean, that whole Wicked episode was kind of just terrible. (I'm actually still waiting to see Wicked on Broadway but I really didn't need to watch all those clips of the show.) Otherwise though, the show is still pretty awesome. I LOVE Marc and Cliff! It's just so cute and sweet and I'm just eating it up. And Victoria Beckham was actually pretty funny in this past week's episode. Oh, and did anyone else flash back to Caleb Nichol when Bradford keeled over at the altar??

The Office: I know that Michael's antics are kind of like the basis for this show, but I have to say that it's almost always the other stuff that I enjoy more. Sometimes the stuff that he and Dwight do is just so preposterous and stupid that I don't find it terribly funny. That said, I really liked the little tag at the end of this past week's episode where Michael and Jim have that really normal conversation. It was really refreshing to see that Michael's not insane all the time, and it was still funny.

Heroes: Finally got somewhere last week. And interestingly, Tim Kring, the show's executive producer has gone on record admitting that the beginning of the season pretty much sucked. Let's hope things get better from here on out. Although with the writers' strike thing there's a possibility of no new episodes after December...

Chuck: This show has really been growing on me these past couple of weeks. I don't know why nobody, including me, can stop comparing it to Reaper, but while Reaper's been suffering from bad pacing and repetitive storylines, Chuck's been getting more enjoyable by the week. Each episode has Chuck and Sarah and Casey going on some mission or whatnot, but the variety so far has been pretty great. Even the B-stories at the Buy More have been entertaining. This past week's episode we got to flash back a bit to when Chuck was at Stanford and how he got kicked out, which I really loved. I remember in the pilot I was having trouble buying Chuck as this socially inept person but now I totally see how he was really a pretty happy average guy at Stanford and it was him getting kicked out that just messed him up. I mean, I know that we've been told this all along but now I finally believe it.

The Amazing Race: It's back! I can't believe how long it took for me to get hooked onto this show...NINE seasons aired before I starting tuning in. This season has some interesting pairs, including those requisite bickering dating couples that you wonder how they ever decided that going on the race would be a good idea, and a pair of Goths who I wonder how long are going to keep up with their makeup. Fun times.

And finally, Project Runway Season 4 premieres this week! Am excited beyond words.

Stupid reality show roundup

I saw a blurb for this in this week's TVGuide and I feel like I have to mention it:
Mission: Man Band is a new VH1 new reality show in which "Chris Kirkpatrick (N*SYNC); Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees); Rich Cronin (LFO) and Bryan Abrams (Color Me Badd) will live together for one month, create new music, a dynamic stage show and perform as a new pop group."

Does this strike anyone else as just SAD? I was always pretty strong anti-boy-band but back in their day they were pretty unavoidable. That said I'm pretty surprised by how many former boy band members have actually made careers for themselves, (albeit on Dancing With the Stars type things, so maybe this reality show thing isn't such a bad idea) but this just seems a bit desperate to me. But of course it'll probably be reality comedy gold...

Also, apparently Laguna Beach is done and over and is beign reincarnated as Newport Harbor: the Real Orange County. I find it really amusing that now that the OC is over they're taking over the real Newport Beach.

And of course, season 3 of the Hills is coming. Don't ask me why I'm totally addicted to this show, although the continuing presence of Spencer is making it somewhat less enjoyable...

2007 Emmy nominations - surprisingly not horrible!

Sooo...every year I claim to not care about the Emmys but every year I pay attention to them anyway. This year, though, they changed the whole nomination process in hopes of fixing the problem of having all the same shows nominated every year and color me surprised but it kind of worked!

The awesome:

• Jenna Fischer for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series!!!
  
• Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Jeremy Piven, Kevin Dillon, Neil Patrick Harris, Rainn Wilson?! This is so the dream category!!!

The good:

• Nods for Sally Field and Rachel Griffiths on Brothers & Sisters.
  
• Writing and directing nods for Battlestar Galactica (and some other technical ones). Nothing in acting, but we'll take whatever we can get.
  
• Top Chef and Project Runway face off in the Reality Competition category!
  
• Tons of nods for Jane Eyre, which I totally fell in love with earlier this year.
  
• Haha, Mia Michaels and Wade Robson both got nominations for Best Choreography on So You Think You Can Dance!
  
• A bunch of nice Ugly Betty nominations. I wasn't really surprised by this though, the show is pretty Emmy-friendly.
  
• Everything Comes Down to Poo and Guy Love from the Scrubs muscial both nominated for Original Music and Lyrics

The bad:

• Grey's Anatomy for Drama Series, really? Even people I know who love the show agree that this season was pretty bad.
  
• At least Friday Night Lights got a directing nomination, but that's all. Sigh.

The weird:

• What is up with all the love for Boston Legal? I honestly didn't even know it was still on and people were actually watching it. And I mean really, Boston Legal over Friday Night Lights???
  
• Studio 60 got a few nominations as well. I mean, truthfully I did like the pilot but uh, talk about a show that lost steam.
  
• Ugly Betty for Outstanding Main Title Design. Um, if I'm not mistaken, don't they not have main titles? They just follow up an unattractive shot of Betty with a yellow screen and UGLY BETTY in huge caps. I mean, yes, it's extremely effective, but didn't seem like it was really a lot of work...

my current entertainment obsessions

1. BBC period miniseries. It all started with North & South and now I'm on a Netflix-ing spree. I finished Wives and Daughters last week (also excellent) and now I'm working on the new Forsyte Saga. SO GOOD! Have also queued up Our Mutual Friend, The Way We Live Now, Daniel Deronda, and several more...yay for Netflix!
   
2. Harry Potter. The last book comes out next weekend! My plan is go pick up the book on Saturday morning (no, I'm not crazy enough to do the midnight party madness) and hole up and read it that day. I've been re-reading some of the books and re-watching some of the movies to prepare.
3. So You Think You Can Dance! More posts on this to come, obviously.
   
4. General Hospital?? I used to watch this soap on and off during high school and suddenly I've gotten re-interested in it, thanks to SoapNet. And now SoapNet is going to be running a limited spin-off series, Night Shift, that's going to feature some of my favorite characters (Robin, Patrick, Jason, etc.) and be more of an episodic rather than serial format. Color me interested.
   
5. The trifecta of food reality shows this summer: Hell's Kitchen, Top Chef, and Next Food Network Star.
   

More food reality!

Hell's Kitchen: Unlike Top Chef, this show is decidedly NOT about the food. It's about Gordon Ramsay. And Gordon Ramsay's temper. Theoretically this should not be enough to carry a show, and I know that for a lot of people it isn't, but for some reason I find it all endlessly amusing. It amazes me how many hapless, crazy contestants they find every year, and how no one really learns. I mean, it's pretty much the same menu every year, every night, and yet they all find new and spectacular ways to screw up. Don't get me wrong, I'd be supremely nervous in front of Gordon Ramsay too, but uh, they signed up for this. But by the end, there really are some competent chefs that don't make me fear that they could be running a multi-million-dollar restaurant. Although I do wonder what that job really entails...

The Next Food Network Star: This show completes the trio of food-reality shows airing this summer. And truthfully, it might be the most interesting. Top Chef is really all about the art, evidenced by the fact that the winner still has to go off and make his or her career. And Hell's Kitchen is all business, the winner gets a restaurant. But here, it's about food AND personality AND money. The judges really have stake in the results: they have to give this person a show and of course they need this show to be successful, so they're extremely honest and there's no producer manipulation here: they ARE the producers. Plus it's really fun to see all the Food Network stars come and host challenges and give advice. They really are good at what they do, and it's nice to see their toned-down off-camera personalities. (Well, actually they're still on camera, but you know what I mean.) Rachael Ray especially cuts down on the bubbliness and becomes a much more normal person. It also gives a nice behind-the-scenes look at cooking TV shows in general...it's way harder than you would think. I mean, talk about multi-tasking! So no, the show's not as wild as Hell's Kitchen or as glamorous as Top Chef, but it's a nice little show.

On a side note, one of the contestants this year was a former child actress: Colombe Jacobsen. I had thought she looked familiar and when I looked her up it turns out that she had been in the Mighty Ducks movies!! I can't be the only dork who liked those...

American Idol bores me to tears...oh, and Jordin wins

So was last night's AI finale boring or what? And it really bugged me that they didn't get to announcing the winners until after 10PM. You're scheduled from 8-10PM, would it kill you to get to the important stuff?

Anyway, so Jordin won. No surprise there, really, and I was even kind of relieved. I really like Blake, but making him have to sing that godawful song again and release it as his first single would have just been too mean. He won't have the title hanging over his head, he won't have the future obligations to appear on he show, and he can just go do his thing. And even though I find Jordin a little irritating, I'm happy for her. I mean, the fact that she can sing "This is My Now" and really mean it pretty much guaranteed her win. Go Jordin, go and embrace your now.

Anyway, the show was also saturated with a ton of performances, as all the former Idol winners minus Fantasia were there, along with the rest of the Top 12 and assorted musical legends that I mostly had no interest in listening to. The only celebrity performance I was the least bit interested in was Green Day but even they were pretty boring. (I have to say I liked them a lot better back when they were grungy and punky, now they're just...blah.) I thought the Beatles tribute was alright, and I liked Melinda's number, but did we really have to watch Sanjaya again? I started watching the show from my DVR just after 9PM but I was caught up by 9:45 because of all the fast-forwarding I was doing.

Sooo yeah. That's all. Now throwing my reality competition energies into So You Think You Can Dance.

Upfronts -- Another take

I think what surprised me most about this year's upfronts were how few returning shows I'm going to be sticking with this fall. There's only Brothers & Sisters, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Ugly Betty, the Office, Scrubs, Beauty and the Geek, and Friday Night Lights. There are plenty of new shows, though, and it seems that there are two trends: sci-fi twists, and glamorous rich people...

NBC

• So glad Friday Night Lights is renewed, but are they really putting it on Friday? I know, it's kind of fitting because of the title of the show, but Friday at 10PM? Not sure how that's going to work out.


• Chuck sounds like Jake 2.0, so I might like it.

ABC

• SO EXCITED for Pushing Daisies. I recently watched the full Wonderfalls series on DVD and I'm a huge huge fan of Bryan Fuller and I'm so happy to see Lee Pace back on TV. I'm still kind of worried though, because it really seemed like it could be too quirky for network TV.


• I'll probably check out Big Shots because Michael Vartan is in it, haha.


• Still can't really believe that they're actually doing the Cavemen show.


• Dirty Sexy Money might end up being a guilty pleasure?

CBS

• Really really surprised and pretty upset that Jericho was cancelled. More on that later though.


• Um, Moonlight is Angel. Is it not?

FOX

• New Amsterdam seems to be another version of Angel too. What the heck?


• Kitchen Nightmares. Gordon Ramsay. I am so there!


• The Search for the Next Great American Band. This seems to be an extension of American Idol, but is this for rock bands or just like singing groups? I'd much rather see Rock Star come back...


• The Return of Jezebel James, scheduled for mid-season. Amy Sherman-Palladino, Parker Posey, and Lauren Ambrose? Kind of sounds like the dream team, but early reports say that it was a bit disappointing. Will definitely check it out anyway though.

CW

• Pretty relieved that Veronica Mars was cancelled, because all the talk about the show coming back in all sort of different incarnations was just ridiculous and worrisome. I'm pretty eh about the state of the show right now, considering how much I LOVED the show first season. But more about that later with what's now apparently the series finale.


• Yeah, like Mira, I will not be able to resist Gossip Girl. Yes, I read some of the books. Yes, they're trashy. Yes, I'm too old for it. But yes, I will watch it. I also hear that Kristen Bell will be narrating the show as Gossip Girl. She's one of the few actors that I can take hearing voiceovers from, so that's a good sign.


• Life is Wild sounds like it's going to crash and burn like Runaway.


• Reaper could be good. Is this the return to teen genre TV that I've been waiting for?

American Idol takes a huge nosedive

Wow. So I know that the Bee Gees are like a classic and important American band but did we really need to hear two Bee Gees songs from each singer last night? I thought that when we got down to doubling up on performances that they did two themes per week. But man, last night was just ROUGH. Maybe I was coming down from the high of Bon Jovi night, but this was really really boring. And pretty much everyone was extremely unimpressive. I even have to admit that Blake, my favorite, was horrendous. I really don't have anything good to say about any of the performances last night actually. Last week I thought that we were down to a really respectable final four and THIS is what we got? Suddenly I don't think I even care who's going to win anymore...

Also, adding to the not caring...I registered to listen/vote for the songs in the American Idol songwriter contest and they all suck hard. I couldn't even bring myself to listen to more than a few seconds of each song. Blah.

American Idol meets Bon Jovi

I've been looking forward to this week all season and while I'm a little disappointed that it turned out to truly be Bon Jovi week with only Bon Jovi songs instead of rock music in general, it really didn't disappoint.

First, the good. Actually, the awesome. I thought Blake was fantastic. I predicted that this would be a good week for him, and I just LOVED it. Simon was spot on when he said that half the audience would hate it and half the audience would love it, but I don't think that the people who liked Blake before were turned off by this performance, so I'm pretty sure he'll be safe. I know there are people who will probably complain about the beatboxing and how this is a singing competition, but Blake's bringing more to the table than just singing and I really appreciate that. He doesn't just insert his singing style into the songs, he really puts a lot of thought into arranging and mixing them up. Go Blake!!

Also really good was...Lakisha? I was pretty surprised here...last week I would have said that she'd be going home but this week she really stepped it up and for the first time I didn't think she was cold. Melinda was also predictably good. I thought she was so funny, asking Bon Jovi for advice on how to rock, haha. I also applaud her for picking one of the more recent songs, she's generally been going for the old stuff so far, so this was a nice change of pace.

So the rest. Phil went first and honestly now I can't even remember what he sang or how he sang it. I don't remember thinking it was bad though. Chris sucked. I've been wanting him to go home for weeks now and if he doesn't this week then I obviously I just don't understand. And surprisingly...Jordin finds herself as the worst of the night. I don't really know what happened there but it wasn't good. At all.

Two people are going home tonight. I really don't know what's going to happen here. Last week after they announced that two people were going home this week I immediately thought Lakisha and Chris. But Lakisha's "comeback" yesterday really complicates things. Could Jordin be in danger?

Oh, and uh, what was up with George and Laura Bush at the end? Talk about two worlds colliding...

American Idol - Send Chris home, PLEASE

Once again I want Chris to go home. I really just can't stand watching him anymore. I think Lakisha is more likely to be in trouble though. I personally voted for Blake a couple of times. No, he hasn't been knocking it out of the park these past couple of weeks but I'm still really convinced of his musical talent, and I want him to get to Bon Jovi week!

American Idol country week recap

I'm not a fan of country music in the least, so I hadn't really been looking forward to last night's American Idol. I mean, I'd heard of Martina McBride, sure, but before the show I couldn't name a single song by her. Anyway, the night really wasn't that bad. There were even a few surprises, starting off with Phil. That guy really is a vampire, because he totally rose from the dead of his last two performances and I was almost moved to vote for him. (I did try a couple of times but the lines were all busy and I didn't have enough patience to keep trying.) I'm not sure why neither I nor the judges realized before this that country is his thing. He's still not going to win this, but I was pleasantly surprised. Jordin stepped it up and she'll definitely be sticking around. Sanjaya sucked. Really a bizarre song choice. I have no idea if the judges' negative comments will help or hurt him, but once again I can't see him getting voted off this week. Lakisha had a bad week. Bizarre song choice here too. She might be in danger. Chris, just no. No, no, no, no, NO. Every other week he sort of starts to grow on me but then he keeps putting himself back on my shit list. Go home, Chris. GO HOME. Melinda finally looks and sounds YOUNG! Blake was sort of out of tune and was kind of drowned out by the band but I still like him and I'm sure he's safe.

American Idol goes Latin

So...two posts in a row about the same show basically means I've been slacking and not posting on other shows. Sorry about that. But reality is so easy to sum up!

This week was boring. Surprisingly I liked Jennifer Lopez though...she was supportive and constructive and seemed really into it. Blake was my favorite. The diva trio, Melinda, Lakisha, and Jordin were all fine, but nothing really to write home about. Chris R. isn't irritating me as much as he used to, but the world does not need another Justin Timberlake! I gotta give kudos to Sanjaya for being the only to one to actually sing in Spanish on Latin night and no, he wasn't horrible, but his vocals were being drowned out by the music the entire time. What have I been saying all along? Weak voice! Oh, and the facial hair was beyond creepy.

The verdict? Haley and her short shorts need to go home NOW. Or Phil. Either one and I'll be happy...

Idol quick hits

I still feel like Blake really has the chops to make a career for himself in this business, but he really hasn't been blowing me away lately, maybe because he's being forced to sing all these songs in genres that don't really fit him? Sometimes I don't understand why he's here at all...he should be fronting some 311-ish band in a garage.

There's something about Phil that's a little creepy, which totally worked for him last week singing "Every Breath You Take," but he was still creepy this week, singing a love song so...not so good.

Melinda hits it out of the park yet again but she's still skewing old to me, and I really don't know what kind of album she'd put out or who'd go to her concerts...

Chris R. almost made me forget why I can't stand him. Almost.

Jordin was surprisingly good yet again. In some ways she's still the cutesy teen but she actually backs that up with talent and she's the most marketable of the bunch.

Gina's performance was...fine. Nothing really to talk about but it solid. She still gets a little screamy, but I guess that's just her style.

Sanjaya. What can be said about him? Putting aside his crazy hair and inexplicable crying girl fans, his vocals are just weak. I'd prefer to not have to watch him anymore, but there are still plenty of other people that need to go too, so I'm not outraged yet.

Like Haley. Simon was right on when he said that her performance was "pageanty". (Last week I said Haley's performance reminded me of Joey Potter on Dawson's Creek...I was referring specifically to when she sang "On My Own" for that ridiculous pageant during first season.) She's just a pretty girl who's not a half-bad singer...but that doesn't mean she belongs on American Idol.

I really want to like Lakisha because her vocals are amazing and her stage performance isn't bad either but for some reason she's still cold to me.

Shows that I watch but never seem to blog about:

1. Ugly Betty: I'm still really loving this, should definitely write about it more often.

2. How I Met Your Mother: Am super glad that Ted and Robin decided not to move in together. I'm not sure how long they're planning on dragging this relationship out, but the show has been extremely funny and innovative this season and the cast just has great chemistry that gets better every week.

3. The Amazing Race: All Stars. I was pretty thrilled when Rob and Amber got kicked off, not because I hate them with a passion like some people, but because it was just a great twist. Am not so thrilled that somehow Charla and Mirna have somehow taken their place as the frontrunners. I just don't understand their crazy antics and accents coupled with their eerily serene and controlled interview segments in which they seem convinced that they're the only nice and honest people on the show. I'm rooting for Danny and Oswald because they're funny and generally positive and pretty good racers on top of that. Also wouldn't mind seeing Dustin and Kandice do well...I didn't like them all that much last season but they've been floating under the radar this time around despite a few dumb moves.

4. Jericho: This falls into the category of not very good dramas that I watch because I want to know what happens. I still think the show has a great premise, it's just that the execution is kind of nothing special. It's in the same timeslot as Friday Night Lights and Bones, and I really feel bad for not watching Bones, but oh, well...

5. Heroes: So I like this show too. But I'm not super invested in it, like I am with Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars and Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Galactica (the shows I seem to be blogging about most this season). It's entertaining enough but a few things are holding me back. The first is all that Niki/Jessica nonsense. And the second is Sylar. I don't know, sure, he's creepy, but I don't find him to be all that great of a bad guy.

6. Brothers & Sisters: I've been meaning to do a "second chance" blog on this because I went back and watched the entire season to date on ABC.com and I've gotten really into it. I think I go through this sort of process with every Greg Berlanti show (Everwood and Jack & Bobby before this). I think the first couple of episodes are pretentious and sentimental but then later on I somehow get lured back to it and discover that it's actually really good.

7. Top Design: I know, I know, I said that I probably wasn't going to watch it anymore, but it's kind of interesting. No way near as good as Project Runway or even Top Chef, but it's still pretty watchable. I don't care who wins but the designs are fun to see.

8. The Hills: Ummm yeah. For some reason I just love this packaged reality stuff that MTV does. This season has focused a lot on Heidi and her beyond-irritating boyfriend Spencer, but I think Lauren's been growing up a lot and has started standing up for herself, which is really nice to see.

9. Wildfire: Yeah, even more ridiculous teen TV shows. I'm not sure why I subject myself to this one, considering I can't stand Kris anymore and Matt and Kris are boring together, but well, I blame the DVR. In fact, I blame the DVR for most of this list. I don't know if and when they're having a 4th season but I should really seriously consider not watching it. Enough is enough, right?

10. Instant Star: ....or not. It's official, I watch too many teen shows. Anyway, this season seems to be THE season for Jude and Tommy, since she's finally turning 18. It's still a bit ick when you think about it because Tommy's got to be in his mid-twenties at least, but they're kind of hot. Jude's always been pretty self-righteous and I feel like it's been getting worse lately, but the show is still fun.

11. Dancing with the Stars: Well, I watched the first two episodes this season. I don't know why, considering I didn't watch any of the previous two seasons. I'll probably drop it eventually now that a lot of other shows are returning after March hiatus.

Gwen Stefani does American Idol

One reason that I don't always enjoy American Idol is that the singers always tend to choose all these older, classic songs that I'm kind of just not interested in. So when I heard that it was Gwen Stefani week, I was super excited, not because I'm a huge Gwen Stefani or No Doubt fan, but this meant that everyone was going to have to sing some more contemporary songs. Overall, I really enjoyed the performances last night, I recognized and/or liked nearly every song (except for one, but I'll get to that later). Anyway, here are my verdicts:

Lakisha: Sang Donna Summer's Last Dance. Was really glad to see her sing something more upbeat, and she showed that she can move pretty well on stage too. But I still don't really see much personality in her. Her vocal chops are obvious, but I feel like that star quality is sort of absent.

Chris Sligh: Sang the Police's Every Little Thing She Does is Magic. Oh, Chris. He was kind of a frontrunner early on but he's kind of slipping more and more every week. His vocals sounded ok here, but everything was just off. Off the beat, that is. I feel like he's kind of in danger here.

Gina: Sang the Pretenders' I'll Stand By You. I've been a Gina fan for a couple of weeks now, and I thought she was really great last night. Absolutely the perfect song for her. I voted for her!

Sanjaya: Sang No Doubt's Bathwater. This was the one song I didn't recognize. Was it a single? Channeling Simon Cowell, this was dreadful. And I'm not even gonig to go there with the hair. Nice kid, but please get him off my TV.

Haley: Sang Cyndi Lauper's True Colors. There wasn't anything really wrong here, it was just boring. Kind of reminded me of whenever Joey Potter sang on Dawson's Creek.

Phil: Sang the Police's Every Breath You Take. Biggest surprise of the night, I thought it was actually really good. I don't think he has any chance of winning but I'll take him over Haley or Sanjaya any day so I voted for him too.

Melinda: Sang Donna Summer's Heaven Knows. As with Lakisha, it was nice to see her do something upbeat as well, but with both of them doing Donna Summer this week, these two need to start distinguishing themselves from eachother. I still think she's got the best vocals here, but she's so consistent it is kind of getting boring.

Blake: Sang the Cure's Love Song (311's arrangement?). I really appreciate what he's trying to do but I'm not always blown away by the results. Not really a difficult song, but I liked it and I'm glad he cut out the beatboxing this week.

Jordin: Sang No Doubt's Hey Baby. A very curious choice for AI, but I really liked it. It was just really fun and I'm just glad she's gotten away from the cloying Disney-Land-Before-Time stuff.

Chris R: Sang No Doubt's Don't Speak. I don't think he's horrible but honestly he's probably my least favorite after Sanjaya. His boy-band-R&B-Justin-Timberlake thing really really just doesn't work for me and I find myself cringing every time he opens his mouth.

American Idol keeps chugging

So last night was perfect proof of why even though I enjoy watching American Idol, I'm never going to be a huge fan. The first singer up, Blake, sang 311's "All Mixed Up," which the none of the judges recognized but praised for being "modern."

First of all, wasn't this song popular what, 10 years ago? I'm not a huge fan of 311 or anything, but really, if the judges have never heard of this song, it shows that they've been completely out of touch with "modern" music for a really long time and it shows that they'll probably never be that interested in it.

Blake's been my favorite so far, but I'm not sure that he even really belongs here. I appreciate the variety he brings and he definitely is talented, but I can't see him winning at all. It's the same way I felt about Chris Daughtry last year. Although even though Chris got kicked off early, Idol did basically launch his band into instant success (although I find his music to be kind of laughably horrible, actually, though pretty much what I expected from someone who chose to sing Creed and Shinedown on the show). So maybe Blake can do that too, because he's definitely someone who needs a band. I mean, can you imagine him singing one of those sappy cookie cutter songs that the show makes the winner sing? You couldn't imagine Chris Daughtry singing something like that either.

Anyway, due to DVR conflicts, I've seen the guys sing a few times so far but I haven't seen the girls yet. Not too many of the guys have been that impressive so far, excepting maybe Chris Sligh and Sundance, though the latter really should not have attempted to sing Pearl Jam last night. I'll watch the girls tonight, but I think what I'm really waiting for is Top 12 and the theme nights (which will hopefully be good this year).

one word for Top Design: eh

Just wanted to note quickly that I checked out Bravo's latest competitive reality show, Top Design. And....it's no Project Runway or even Top Chef.

I mean, first of all, HGTV already did this reality show, it was called Design Star, and I didn't like that one much either. But here, Todd Oldham is some kind of weird meld between Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum and his voice was kind of driving me nuts. The judges all seem kind of bitchy (has anyone ever even heard of Elle Decor magazine?) and I don't know, I just can't get excited about interior design. Truthfully, I never thought I could get excited about fashion either before Project Runway, but one episode of that and I was hooked. Here? Not so much. I'll probably watch a few more episodes (this is the problem with having a DVR, watching bad TV is entirely too easy) before I make my final judgment, but honestly it's not looking that good.