I didn’t take notes, so I’ll let you all fill in the blanks this week.

But the good news is that Zayra is finally gone. The funny thing is, I kinda liked that song she sang last night, but it showed her major weakness off more than ever: She can’t sing in English. Her accent is way too thick. Singing in Spanish is easy — singing in English is atrocious. She’ll be a solid balladeer in Mexico, but she’s not going to make it to the pop or rock charts in this country.

Patrice dodged a bullet in the band’s hopes that she might break through next week. She’ll need the performance of a lifetime. She did “Celebrity Skin” last night.

And Magni rounded out the bottom three, singing “Creep.”

Yes, Patrice and Magni sang songs that Lukas previously did on the show. Patrice one-upped Lukas by remembering all the lyrics, though. You know that had to piss him off. Really, the guy is ticked off every time the camera points at him. He’s either scowling or rolling his eyes. He’s always thinking, “I’m better than these people.”

Supernova finally had their first performance last night, an event so major that they had to process the video of the performance to look like film. Oh, and they went full-on MTV and made sure to make enough cuts between camera angles that I was getting dizzy by the end. I know now that I won’t be buying their album, but the song sounded fine, for what it is. Dilana did a great job fronting the band for the number. She just looked comfortable. I don’t see right now how she won’t win this thing. She deserves to.

In the footage for ROCK STAR: SUPERNOVA’s trip to the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, we saw the rockers carousing in the same suite as we saw on the MY FAIR BRADY series not too long ago.

And on Monday’s HELL’S KITCHEN, we saw the final two chefs giving out samples to passers-by inside the Green Valley Ranch, home of AMERICAN CASINO.

Which reality series will cannibalize which series next?

Don’t forget: The SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE finale is tonight. Two hours of people hopping around, spinning about, and generally being goofy will determine America’s Favorite Dancer. No doubt, Mary Murphy will be there to “WOO!” throughout the whole thing. Mia might cry.

There’s hope for Benji fans: About.com’s poll has him ahead of Travis. Heidi and Donyelle are trailing far behind.

That’s the buzz in Tinsel Town!

• Hollywood Elsewhere •

The Envelope’s Tom O’Neill got Dreamgirls costar Jennifer Hudson to tell him about the filming of the scene in which she sings “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” — the classic tune that Jennifer Holliday sang in the original B’way stage version that ran in the early ’80s, and which won more or less won her a Best Actress Tony Award. [...]

O’Neill writes. “All early buzz indicates that Dreamgirls is about to transform Hudson into a superstar,” he adds. “[And] she’s already the frontrunner for the Supporting Actress Oscar.”

I was hoping she’d sing “Circle of Life” again for the movie. ;-)

Animaniacs – Time to go Wakko (again) – Volume 2 News!

. . .they’ve scheduled volume two for release on December 5. The 5 disc set will include another 25 episodes of the series, along with some zany bonus material (which should include some material shot at Comic Con). The set will sell for $44.98. . .

Wow, that’s quick! And I’m happy! One of these days, I’ll post some of the pictures of the Animaniacs crew that I took in San Diego. I got some great video of the panel, too, but I have a feeling you’ll see that on the DVD, so there’s no need for bad YouTube Flash-encoded video just yet.

Every week I vow to take less notes, write up less, and get this thing done quicker. Every week, I fail.

This week, the songs are all performed acoustically, which means the handy addition of four people on strings in the House Band, and a dedicated piano player throughout. I imagine we’re only a week or two away from the gospel choir now.

Zayra began the night with her original Spanish language song, “Lluvia De Mar.” For the first time in the competition, she sounded good. The girl actually does have a voice. I just think she doesn’t sing well in English, or maybe it’s just the rock styling. She sounded great, but she’s not right for the band.

And since it’s acoustic night, she had to play the guitar, too, while wearing a studded black bra and red drapery for a skirt.

Magni followed that up with an awesome rendition of David Bowie’s “Starman.” Oddly, he turned into Josh this week for his performance, kind of grooving up on stage and bobbing his head along to the music. He was the first to reach back for the Longest Final Note contest they seemed to have going in the show last night. You could see his veins popping on his forehead as he held that note. Impressive.

In case you didn’t know he was from Iceland, the pale and bald Magni wore a white suit. If it weren’t for the stubble on his face, the camera would have had a very hard time finding him on stage. He reflected so much light that I’m sure he blinded the front rows.

Patrice did The Police’s “Message In A Bottle.” She had a good voice, but her stage presence was off and the whole thing sounded karaoke. There wasn’t enough there there, you know?

Speaking of questionable wardrobe choices, Patrice rocked bicycle shorts. Huh.

I think the band should put her out of her misery this week. She’s not going to win, and the band just hammers her week after week. She’s managed not to cry in front of them yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

Lukas did Chad Kroeger’s “Hero,” best known as the Spider-Man movie hit single. He sat on a purple throne with his legs crossed while playing the guitar. As with many of the contestants last night, he pawned off any negative comments with, “Yeah, but we rocked in Vegas, didn’t we? I’m rock. I still haven’t recovered.” UGH

In any case, he sounded great. He closed his voice back down again — and Jason called him on it — but he rearranged the song nicely.

He also had duct tape on his arm to approximate a thick tattoo. He’s so punk.

Storm sunk to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” It was gravally and nasally and she grabbed her crotch, but the band loathed it. Dave compared it negatively to Marty’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time” performance last season. For sure, she could have done more with the song, but she did hit a hell of a long note at the end. I think Magni is still ahead at this point in the competition, though.

Tommy Lee said the song was “sauteed in wrong sauce.” Ouch.

I was shocked none of them compared her to a wedding singer afterwards. Maybe they edited that out?

Toby did Peter Gabriel’s “Solsbury Hill” with Gilby on guitar, and I hated it. He looked bored throughout the song. The arrangement was repetitive and boring. His attempts to pop the “boom boom boom”s failed for me. His drum playing at the end was a step up from the megaphone of last week, but it didn’t save it for me. It’s tough to compete with Gabriel’s voice, but I don’t think Toby was up for it.

The band wildly disagreed with me, though. They thought it was perfect. Hey, it’s their band. . .

Ryan did Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight.” It was fine. I wanted him to rock it a little harder when it went up tempo, but he still changed things up enough to be noticeable.

In some parts of the song last night, I thought he sounded like Michael Stipe, oddly enough. And if you want to talk about people with odd stage presences, there’s your man. . .

Dilana finished the night with “Cats In The Cradle.” I don’t know why we’re still carrying on with this competition. In my mind, she’s won it already. She’s got everything this band needs and wants. You can’t take your eyes off of her, even in the slower parts of the songs. She seizes every moment, not wasting a second of her stage time. She’s confident, and she has a strong voice.

She also had a wardrobe that included a cross hanging at crotch level. And, during the performance, we got to see just how little rhythm white women have — every time they cut to the audience, there was someone there looking lost and trying to clap along to a beat that only they were hearing. Or, it could just be bad editing.

The early bottom three: Zayra, Patrice, and Toby.

There are videos on YouTube of last night’s Shower Scene from the live feeds. I haven’t watched them yet, but I’ll assume some might not be safe for work.

You sick pervs.

In other news, Will is working Janelle like a viola. She’s handy to have around, but her time might be coming to an end. Will has proven he can work her to do anything he wants. The really funny thing is how Janelle thinks she’s got Will wrapped around her finger, while she continues to do everything he wants her to do.

Things are getting tangled up now, though, with the Legion of Doom starting to show their true colors and James being extremely vulnerable to his S6 alliance. Things are about to get really ugly in the house, I think, as the alliances break down and new ones form. I don’t think Chill Town is willing to vote out Erika to keep Janelle’s alliance. And they really don’t need to. Unless Mike and Will disagree on that, Marcellas will be gone this week, Janelle will feel all alone with Howie, and James won’t know which way to turn next. That’s when will ousts James, as he almost did last night.

Of course, the Coup D’etat power could change ALL of this in the snap of a finger.

Funniest moment last night: Likely, Will discussing how he’s going to rip out Janelle’s heart and squeeze it. After that, Howie trying to pawn off “Spool of Lies.” That came from a kid who doesn’t know what it means to pull the wool over someone’s eyes.

Bwah ha ha

Rockstar: Supernova writeup is coming up a little later today. Stay tuned. . .

So what’s out this week? It’s time to flash back to your childhood. It’s time for Saturday mornings to rule once again. Take a gander:

Full House: Season Four

Yeah, I watched it back then. So sue me. It’s not like I’m going to buy the DVDs, although I do occasionally admit to stopping at a rerun on cable TV to feel that warm and fuzzy feeling inside that the show gives me.

Hong Kong Phooey: The Complete Series (2-disc set)
Magilla Gorilla: The Complete Series (4-disc set)

Magilla never did much for me as a wee lad, but I dug HKP. That might just be because there weren’t so many episodes of it, so they didn’t show them constantly back in the day. I grew up partially on those Hanna Barbera cartoons on the USA Network on weekends.

The Jeffersons: Season Five (3-disc set)

I remember watching this as a kid, too. I don’t know that I got any of the humor, but I do remember watching it. And ALICE — don’t forget America’s favorite single mom of the late 70s!

The Weird Al Show: The Complete Series (3-disc set)

It’s the release of the week! This show died after only one season, but only because CBS decided to ditch Saturday morning programming in favor of more dreary news reporting and silly tips for dealing with your home life. Sometimes, you just want spatulas and balls of twine and rampant silliness.

Remington Steele: Seasons 4-5 (5-disc set)

That one’s for the ladies. . .

Rome: Season One

That one’s for the HBO-philes.

RV (widescreen) (2006)

This one’s for the families with children too young to recognize quality filmmaking and who might, thus, enjoy this tripe.

Scary Movie 4 (2006)

I admit it — I want to see it. C’mon, a Zucker Bros. brother directed it!

The Simpsons: Season Eight (w/Maggie Packaging)

It’s the jaundiced neighbors we’re glad we don’t have, or are frightened that we do. And the show was still funny in its eighth season. Most impressive.

Surface: The Complete Series (4-disc set)

Coincidentally, INVASION: THE COMPLETE SERIES is due out next week. These shows failed in one season. Who’s buying them on DVD right after their cancellations? Just the people who think they can bring their show back right away if they buy the DVDs they’ll never watch. Poor, deluded fools.

Next week: British comedy fans have “A Bit of Fry & Laurie” to look forward to. So do HOUSE fans, oddly enough, as their show gets a DVD release.

Not much else there interests me, but we’ll see what happens next Tuesday!

* The Gummi Bears are coming to DVD! Here are some menu screen shots.

* A high-resolution full color picture of London in the 1940s. Pretty cool.

* Elliot Yamin’s first single will be available by the end of the month. 20% of the sales will go to Juvenile Diabetes research.

And now, some Apple links:

* A first look at Mac OS X Leopard, which answered a few questions I had about “Spaces” (virtual desktops) and “Time Machine.” Good screenshots and examples of updates to existing architecture can be seen across the pages.

* Here’s a more detailed look at Spaces.

* Apple Mac Pro versus Dell. What can you get for your money? Which is better?

* Has Steve Jobs ever looked MORE uncomfortable than when he announced the Apple/Microsoft deal in 1997? Wow, tough room. Eep!

And the show’s a wrap. We have a winner. And she was very giddy about the whole thing.

Spoilers after the break:

(more…)

I just bought what I thought was a huge 200 GB hard drive not too many months ago. Ah, but progress marches on without me.

Best Buy has an external 500 Gig hard drive on sale this week for $230. It’s 7200 RPM and plugs in via the USB 2.0 port. The model comes from Western Digital.

NewEgg, meanwhile, has a 500 GB internal hard drive for $200. Again, it’s Western Digital and 7200 RPM. Since it’s not plugged in through your USB hub, I imagine it would be a little faster, too.

If that’s too rich for you, NewEgg also has a 320 GB internal model for $95 after rebate. ($105 before rebate.)

My itty bitty 80 GB primary hard drive on the Mac is starting to look so puny.

(All links from Digg.)

A look at today’s new DVD releases is coming up a little later today. . .

Since this blog is so badly dominated by reality television news and opinions lately, let me slip this bit of news in:

Dancing With the Stars 3 Is Cast!

It includes Tucker Carlson, Vivica A. Fox, Harry Hamlin (how cute, since his wife did so well last year), Joe (nee Joey) Lawrence, Mario Lopez (not a surprise), Emmit Smith filling the sports superstar slot, and — JERRY SPRINGER.

Click through for the rest of the cast.

I hope you all stuck around to the bitter end of the show last night, to see CBS getting all sneaky and showing us Mike Boogie and Erika in bed together without comment. It seems to be coming out via the live feeds that Mike and Erika are an item in the “real world,” but didn’t tell anyone about it before entering the house. Only Will knows. The producers didn’t know about this.

Or, at least, that’s the story Will is feeding the Live Feeds.

And now CBS is catching onto it. BWAH HA HA

Yes, it stinks that Janelle won the HoH last night again. She never should have played in the do-over to begin with. She left that game not due to the fault of the electronics, but due to an incorrect answer. She should not have been allowed to play again. But, hey, it’s all water under the bridge now.

The problem is, winning HoH for a third time paints a tremendously large target on her back. The only true ally she has in the house anymore is Howie. She may think that James is with her, but that’s only because he’s pulling off an incredible acting job, minus one or two slips here and there. (I hear there might be another slip in the Veto competition this week.) In any case, you have to know that everyone except Howie in that house is gunning for her now. She’ll be nominated every time she’s not in that garishly pink room upstairs.

If Danielle won the Coup D’Etat competition, then it’s really all up for grabs this week.

Of course, Will is the True Eye in the house. He picked up on the same thing I did — Kaysar has been voted out of the house three times in the last year. He’s just not that good of a player. Maybe this isn’t the reality show for him.

And, with one misplanted story about George swearing on his children’s lives, it looks like Chill Town buys another week in the house. Janelle, Marcellas, and George all have targets on their backs. The ultimate alliance of Will, Mike, Danielle, and Erika will take this house over. (We’ll see how long they let James tag along for.)

Funniest moment of the night: The blank looks on the faces of Howie and Janelle when James guessed “pull the wool over your eyes.” They really are dumber than advertised.

Holy crap! They finally released it! I’ve been tracking this product since May 2005. It’s been on the perpetual “Shipping Soon” list, but now it’s here: Griffin has the FireWave for sale. It’s a $100 add-on for your Mac to add surround sound. If you’ve got a 23 inch Cinema Display monitor and one of these bad boys, you practically have a home theater set-up with the right speakers.

Ironically, I’m not in the market for it anymore. I don’t watch enough DVD movies to justify the expense of the peripheral and the new speakers I’d need to buy.

But if you’re running a Mac Mini with your TV as your media center set-up, this might be a very handy addition to it.

The second season of HELL’S KITCHEN ends tonight. If you haven’t been watching the series this summer, you missed some of the greatest turnarounds and twists in a reality show in a while. The past two weeks have featured some great meltdowns, backstabbings, acts of long overdue vengeances, and duplicity I’ve ever see on reality TV. What Virginia did to Sarah last week ought to be immortalized in a Hall of Fame somewhere for reality TV. Sarah got her long overdue comeuppance in most dramatic fashion. And K-Grease wins Hall of Shame points for speaking his mind to Chef Ramsey after being ousted. Accusing the chef of having a crush on Virginia? Excellent TV!

Tonight’s finale comes down to Heather versus Virginia. It should be a no-brainer as to who will win their own restaurant. Simply put, Heather has the “mad cooking skillz,” while Virginia has the “mad game-playing skillz.” Heather has experience, capacity, and skills. Virginia has done just enough to keep herself out of trouble, all the while sucking up to Chef Ramsey and listening to what he has to say in their valuable one-on-one time. She’s just not very good at cooking on the line. Heather has her moments of being a little too catty, but she can cook rings around Virginia. No wonder she’s so happy at being in the finale — she’s up against one of the weakest competitors on the show.