I’m still an episode behind. Just got to watching the second episode last night. (And commented on it in last week’s discussion.) So I’ll start the slightly-late conversation for episode 3 here, in case anyone else cared to discuss. Hopefully, I can join in the fun in a day or two.
Same old story here: There are spoilers in the comments, but please do not discuss coming attractions. . .
This is the kind of material that could make it into the new “Sundry Thoughts” section of this blog. But I like me the Twitter, so I keep posting there. Here’s a round-up of some of those posts from the month so far. (Really, the last one of these Twitter compilation posts I did was January 29th!)
You can follow them all as they happen at this link.
This screencast for Viveza might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen for photograph editing. Couldn’t be easier. Me want it now.
I watch the PBA on ESPN Sundays hoping for one of four bowlers to show up:
Walter Ray Williams Jr.: The best bowler of all time, period. And since his style is the one that most resembled my own as a little bowler growing up, I got to easily model my own bowling style after his. Simple, straight on, nothing flashy. Why throw the big hook when a little bit of accuracy and ball control can get you there, instead. I just wish I had that accuracy and ball control. (And last I checked, it looks good that he’ll be on the TV finals today.)
Mika Koivuniemi: The heir apparent to Walter Ray? Too soon to tell, but an exciting bowler. He started out hard and straight, but has since added dimensions to his game. He can throw a big hook ball. He isn’t afraid to loft it ten feet down the lane if that’s what it takes.
Tommy Jones: Perhaps HE’S the heir apparent to Walter Ray. In his young career, he’s been Bowler of the Year once, and has an insane TV record, something like 31-7. He’s won better than ten tournaments already. He never shows his nerves, and he isn’t obnoxious about it. He’s not mouthing off. He’s there to bowl and does it well.
Chris Barnes: He’s the most exciting bowler on the tour right now. He makes television appearances with regularity, but is creative enough to find bold new ways to fail near the end of games. Most memorably this season, he blew a 50+ pin lead in the seventh by whiffing on a ten pin spare in the ninth frame of the Tournament of Champions finale. You can’t write crap like that! There ought to be a website, www.WhatFrameWillBarnesScrewUp.com to take bets on this kind of thing. He’s the PBA’s definition of schadenfreude. I’m sick of hearing everyone talk about what a great technical bowler he is. He only ever wins in his home state of Texas, and fails most everywhere else. It’s ridiculous.
Case in pointL He finally won one last week, beating out Tommy Jones. The tournament was held in Texas.
There are other interesting young bowlers like Sean Rashe and Rhino Page, but the above four are who I’m looking for. And Norm Duke. We haven’t seen him this season, but he’s always fun to watch, too.
On the flip side, if Patrick Allen is on, I’m turning it off. There’s nobody more annoying on television, with the possible exception of Pete Weber. Even Weber has calmed down a bit in recent years. Allen is just a jerk on the hardwood. If Allen comes up against one of the four bowlers named above, I keep it on, though. It can be terrific fun to root against someone.
Reminds me of politics, that.
Just noticed something cool: This site is fast approaching its 5000th blog entry, and its 15,000th comment. Not too shabby. I bet good money I’ll get to post 5015 before I realize I passed 5000, though.
R.I.P. HD DVD: Toshiba reportedly ends the war | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
Toshiba has not commented publicly, but a report on Japan’s NHK says Toshiba has made the decision to withdraw from next generation high-definition DVD production. […]The report also estimates that Toshiba will take a hit to the tune of “hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars” and will close factories in northern Japan.
An official announcement is due out during the week.
I can’t help but wonder if PS3 sales will skyrocket from this development. We already know that they outpaced XBOX 360 sales in January. . .
One more mini link dump tomorrow. Then, it’s some actual writing on Sunday. Promise! (It’s already done, so that’s how I know. . .)
Sometimes, a small thought comes into my mind that cannot be fleshed out into an epic 1000 word post. When that happens now, we have a Sundry Thought. It comes complete with comments, so feel free to post away! Let me know what you think. Be cruel.
We’ve had two episodes and the first eviction already this season. What do you all think? Let the spoiler flags fly!
One thing I’m curious about — if there are 16 contestants to start and they’re being eliminated in pairs and the first pair is already gone, just how do they plan on stretching this show out to three months? By my math, there’s really only 6 or 7 weeks left to go.
Spoilers after the break:
Orlando Sentinel - Fox to film 16 episodes of “24″ quickly by Hal Boedeker
Here’s some behind-the-scenes news about the seventh season. The show had finished eight episodes.”We’re filming the remaining 16 ASAP,” says Fox spokesman Chris Alexander. “The writers are back at work on scripts for 9 and 10 as we speak.”
But you won’t be seeing any of it until next January, anyway. At least we know there won’t be any last minute drama with Kiefer’s poor driving habits now. . .
And with the next president of the U.S. looking increasingly like either John McCain or Barack Obama, will 24’s notion of a female president seem like a quaint curiosity next January?
I fear there will be lots of people complaining about the paid advertising that is the opening this week. Did you know that Darth Vader has a new sci-fi movie coming out this Friday in which he jumps around from place to place? And, look, there’s Ryan Seacrest joining him in front of the green screen. ::sigh:: Such a sad waste of time. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing lots of commercials for that movie during the show, too. You know, IDOL really needs to cash in on such in-show advertising if they’re going to be able to afford to make this season. Lord knows the ratings can’t otherwise sustain this show.
Look, I don’t mind the in-show ads when it features the contestants. If they want to make cheesy music videos centered around cars, that’s actually fine by me. It’s more music featuring the contestants. This one tonight was just over the top annoying, unnecessary, and fast-forwardable. Dear Idol - TiVo was made for openings like this.
Oddly enough, I don’t fast-forward through Apple’s commercials. iPhones are so very very sexy.
Here’s the deal tonight. 50 go in. 24 come out. There’s an elevator. There’s a holding room filled with folding chairs. There’s an odd building arrangement in which the elevator lets people out into a hardwood ballroom. About thirty feet in sits a single chair in front of a fancy glass tabletop behind which sit the three judges in front of the usual background of previous Idol winners. Fantasia’s on Broadway. (She’s also sporting an insanely poor hairdo at the Grammys this week.) Carrie is singing on the Grammys. Jordin kicked butt at the Super Bowl. Kelly is arguing with her label. Then she put out a poorly-received album. Now she’s conceding with her label that they might be right. Her tour has been cut back. Ruben is one cheeseburger away from officially being a footnote in music history. Kat married a man twice her age, almost, though she looked good doing it. (And, hey, it worked for Celine!) And Taylor will be back to playing bars very very soon, if he hasn’t warmed up his beer-soaked harmonica already.
Fame is fleeting.
And I’m in a particularly vindictive/cynical mood tonight, aren’t I? The show is fun, but it’s about one in three winners of IDOL who have strong successes.
So, to tonight’s Top 24!
The first five contestants are DENIED. That makes sense, since I don’t remember them. In fact, most of the contestants you don’t recognize are cut. This is a GOOD THING. I feel bad for those who have made it through to America’s votes without any major airtime. People vote personality, personal stories, and initial impressions in the earliest rounds. Unless you have an Idol Moment, you’re toast if America hasn’t seen you yet. There are two or three of those in the Top 24. Good luck to them.
Carly Smithson is through. Conspiracy theorists take note. Let’s see if she makes it to the Top Ten. Let’s see if she becomes a lightning rod for controversy over the definition of “undiscovered talent.”
David Cook - lost without a guitar boy - is through. As is Amanda Overmyer — rock and roll nurse. She’s not a surprise at all.
David Archuleta is through. He’s another obvious choice for the judges.
Kristy Lee Cook was on the fence, I thought, particularly after repeating Amazing Grace. She’s through.
Brooke White is through, and I’m happy.
Danny Noriega — the second most flamboyantly gay guy in Hollywood Week — who we first saw a couple of seasons ago - is through.
Did you see the green tape on all the buttons in the elevator? Thats right, kids. Once you get in that elevator, the producers control the vertical. They control the horizontal, too. They’re gonna make a couch potato outta you. That’s what they’re going to do now.
(Points to the first commenter who recognizes that song.)
The Farmer Boy didn’t make it. I didn’t realize he had made it this far.
You think it’s a looong day in the holding room for all the contestants? Imagine being the families and friends hidden behind the curtain in the next room.
Michael Johns is through. The judges loved him. Will the American Idol carry an Australian accent this year? I don’t know, but I do think the balance between strong male and female voices is a lot better this year in the Top 24 than ever before. It’s a coin flip between which sex will win it in 2008.
Syesha Mercado — the one with all the lost voice issues — is through. I like her. Reminds me a bit of another earlier favorite who went home too soon, Nadia Turner.
Robbie Carrico — isn’t he the Britney Spears ex-boyfriend one? — is through.
Chezekie Eke is through. I know I just butchered his name but I can’t write that fast while looking at the TV screen. (Wait, I think I got it right!)
Asia(with the uneccessary ‘H) Epperson is through. AS is David Hernandez, who I think is Top Ten material. Simon disagrees and bitches the kid out after telling him he’s through. Odd.
Josiah Leming is the car-bound teenager who dismissed the band last night. He’s OUT! BURNED! I really thought the judges would let him through. I hope he comes back next year. He’s good, but the judges were right in letting him go. He’s just not mature enough yet. Then he cried like a girl in the front row of a 1988 New Kids On The Block concert.
Watching the show with the Mrs., a commercial came on with some sort Valentine’s Day theme. I turned to her quick, wide-eyed with panic, “Oh, crap, is that tomorrow?!?” She didn’t buy it. It was such a great gag, too. Men, try that one tomorrow on your wife/girlfriend.
This brings us down to the final two pairs. At the beginning of the show, I thought they would bring it down to Kyle Ensley versus Josiah. Instead, it’s Kyle versus Colton Berry. Who? Yeah, him. Thank goodness, the judges got it right. Simon got overruled. Simon WANTED Kyle in there, basically because he thought Kyle would make good reality television. SHOCKING. Colton Berry, the better singer, is through. Everyone is very cordial about the whole thing.
The final two girls are MSG singer, JoAnne Borgella and Cardin McKinney. I had lost track of McKinney, but I’m glad she made it this far. It was the hottie versus the, er, fattie. I’ve said it before — the singers this year were overwhelmingly good looking and skinny. (Minus David Cook, who’s got a huge forehead and thin ugly hair.) But JoAnne was clearly the better singer, and so the judges chose right again. Sadly, the eye candy had to go home. It’s a shame, because she could have been the next Haley Scarnato.
Should one of the chosen 12 girls not make it through due to ineligibility or scandal, I think Cardin might be tops on the replacement list.
Funny enough, as the girls were walking out, hand in hand, Simon said to Paula, “This is the point where I change my mind.” If I were Cardin, I’d be flipping out seeing that at home tonight for the first time.
Please note that JoAnne was first seen in the “Best of the Rest” filler hour. That extra hour is now very important for these contestants. They need that early airtime. Chikezie Eze was also on that show. As was Danny Noriega. Remember this for next year — that show is loaded with Top 24 material. Cardin was on that show, too, though she didn’t make the cut.
Next week: America votes! Let the games begin!
We already knew the show would be delayed until 2009 because of the writer’s strike. We thought that this would be a good thing. It would give Keifer Sutherland a chance to dry out.
But now it’s claimed a victim.
“24″ co-creator/executive producer Joel Surnow is leaving the Emmy-winning drama.
Surnow’s departure is effective immediately. He served as an executive producer on the first eight episodes of Fox’s real-time thriller’s seventh season that were produced before and into the strike but will not be creatively involved in the remaining 16 episodes, slated to begin filming shortly.
Surnow’s overall deal with “24″ producer 20th Century Fox TV was up April 30. This week, the writer-producer asked the studio to release him early, to which they agreed.
Given the way this season’s plot lines were sounding, it’s quite possible that Surnow was a visionary in creating the series, and now a visionary in getting the hell off the sinking ship. We’ll see next winter, won’t we?
Before I carry on — I forgot to mention in a previous posting that I saw Ace Young on the red carpet at the Grammys. He is still working on an album, it seems. Hunh. Never give up, kids. You, too, can become time filler killer on a basic cable’s live show. Play your cards right.
I’m typing this as I watch it. It will most likely be very long. You’ve been warned.
164 contestants came to Hollywood. Many of them, Ryan Seacrest points out, have grown up on the show. They’ve seen it all before. But this year is different. Call is the Sanjaya Factor. Everyone gets two chances to impress the judges. In the first two days, they have their first chance to sing a solo and get a pass to the next round. (Half on Day One, half on Day Two.) Sing poorly and you get a second chance on Day Three. Suck on Day Three and take the next flight home.
Oh, and they get to use an instrument, if they so wish. Judging from what we saw on TV, this was usually a bad idea.
Welcome to Hollywood, where the judges stop being your friend, stop looking for the positive, and start ripping you apart, limb from limb. I love it. Gladiators, to your stations! Prepare for combat!
Day One:
Starts with Brooke White, who played the piano (synthesizer) and did a bang-up job. She showed that she knows music, can hold a note, and can get through a song on stage even when she’s feeling incredibly nervous. She gets a bye to the next round.
Jake Mellema had the “guts” to play the drums. (As Paula points out near the end of the show, sometimes we make bad decisions.) Sadly, his song did nothing for the judges or anyone watching at home with the slightest sense of what music should sound like. He gets a second chance. As Simon put it, roughly, “Horrible horrible song choice. Horrible horrible presentation. Absolutely nothing redeeming in it other than we stopped it early.” The Lord High Master of Pop Drums and Vocals, Phil Collins, is safe.
David Hernandez becomes an early favorite, with “Love the One You’re With.” He sounded great — controlled, strong, and could even pull off the falsetto in small doses. He’s through.
It’s odd to hear the contestants this early backed up by a pianist, a guitarist, and a drummer. I like it, but it’s odd.
Rock and Roll Nurse, Amanda Overmyer had a bad car wreck days before Hollywood, resulting in some cracked ribs and multiple staples in her head. She made it through airport security, though, and did well. Simon is right in saying that she runs the risk of singing everything as if it were the same song. We’ve seen that problem before on this show. She says she knows what he means, but I’m not sure she’ll be able to change. I like her, but I fear she’ll be a One Note Wonder, and not the Great Rock Hope for Season 7.
Cardin McKinney (she dropped the “Lee” she used in auditions) forgot her lyrics, which is a damned shame for someone that cute. She’ll get a second chance on Day Three.
Argentinian (or was it Venezualan?) gigolo Ghaleb Emacheh stunk on ice with his guitar. I wasn’t so sure of him at auditions, and now I know he’s doomed to failure. It’s a lot of shouting, and the accent that he was warned about really showed through. I think this is our official first Crash And Burn of the season.
55 people are left to sing for their lives on Day Three.
Day Two:
80 more contestants are about to take the stage, Ryan informs us.
Josiah Leming (the teenager living out his car) thinks he’s awkward without the keyboard, which means he’s a dead man behind it now. (The hotel he’s staying in has a “Piazza Ballroom.” Please tell me that’s no relation to the pro baseball player. L.A. can’t be that desperate for heroes to name its ballrooms after, can it?!?) The Brit accent is still there. He’s very comfortable on the stage with the keyboard. He’s right. Simon is smiling. Maybe I can’t predict the editing on this show, after all.
Paula is crying. Simon says he’s the only memorable one. He is so through.
Danny Noriega - previous season loser - sings his song with the mic oddly away and to the side from his mouth. He’s through, but he needs a less girly haircut.
Carly Smithson is great, but she never opens her eyes. The Irish lilt is still there.
Commercial time: KUNG FU PANDA is a cute kung fu anthropomorphic CGI movie.
David Cook is a little shouty with his black guitar and green tongue. Really, his tongue is green. The soul path is getting to the point of cliche. I didn’t like him much. Kinda forgettable. Randy looked bored throughout. But they judges liked it — but Simon isn’t convinced. He’s alone in that. David is through. Ryan thinks Simon’s hating on (a) the hair and (b) the rocking.
Ouch, Jessica Brown is looking bad. Browny/Orangey bad. Tired? Bad makeup? I don’t know. The judges didn’t like it, but she’ll get a second chance.
Kyle Ensley is Dallas’ politician, the geek with the glasses, and the awkward demeanor. (He also plays with his gum when bored.) He sounds awful. He looks awful in the dockers. His singing is flat. Simon surrenders and walks out. Paula calls it corny, but says his spirit is needed in the performance arena. (Yeah, like Sanjaya’s.) He’s stuck hoping for a second chance.
Out of 164, only “an elite few” made it through to Thursday. And it’ll be vicious.
Ooh, an iPhone commercial.
LOTS more after the break:
I didn’t intend to watch The Grammys, but then I had an hour to kill, so I thought I’d rip through the three and a half hours on the DVR in that hour.
Not bad. I really expected worse. On the other hand, I probably skipped over all the annoying stuff. Still:
What else went on? What did you like and/or hate?
Augie De Blieck Jr. doesn't know when to shut up, which makes him the perfect blogger. That, and he reads a lot of other blogs. You can e-mail him, if you really wanted to.
