How do you solve a problem like Maria? - Week 2

Week 2 has arrived and last night all of our remaining Marias were "taken out of their comfort zone" and given songs that have been made famous by Canadians in this (almost) Canada Day

episode.

Donna is still rocking the house big time... she was one of the very few (there were only 3 performances that did anything for me) that seem to score big points with the Judges. Kyla did a nice job (but I am still convinced that she can't be Maria because she is too curvy and sexy... Maria isn't that top heavy usually or have cleavage) and Marisa redeemed herself after having to sing for her life last week. She impressed the hell out of me.

The show seems to be finding it's rhythm better this week and even Gavin seems to be more on the ball (there are the occasional awkward pauses or he has to run to get on camera), but I am still finding it very friendly as far as reality shows go and wondering if the girls will start cat fighting or being hyper competitive amongst themselves .. well ... this is Canada after all and I imagine that they will still end up being polite .. much to the disappointment of John Barrowman. Our dear friend seems to find us Canadians as talented but less ruthless than our counterparts across the pond ... and maybe that isn't a bad thing. I think that Jayme needs to go tonight.

Weekend Rant - Just one of those Best Weeks Ever

This week turned into one of the best ever on the tube. Not only was there brilliant and funny all week long, but playing catch up this weekend I saw some pretty fun stuff, the first being the final and deciding episode of Farmer wants a wife, and Matt decided to take Brooke to be his girl. After seeing his house more closely (and that weird hallway of dead deer looking at you) I changed my mind and although I was originally hoping for Christa, I thought Brooke was a better match. Matt sure made it seem like he as more interested in Christa, but I think he wants more of a puppy dog to follow him around so he made a good choice (and I think Krista dodged one here). If they do another round I could be sucked in to watch if the Farmer is really hot.

Celebrity Circus is a demanding as ever, and I am really impressed by the difficulty of the various routines the celebrities are performing. I was almost surprised that Wee Man was still around this week after his challenges last week but not that surprised that our Olympic athlete Janet got the boot.Yes she is physically capable but is not graceful enough. I did think it was a little ridiculous to have the elimination between her and Antonio Sabato Jr ( seriously, the guy is the hottest thing on the show and always gets high scores) and to keep it hanging until the end. It's a weird formula and this show has a strange pace sometimes. Stacey Dash won some respect and applause from me this week once I realized that the woman is over 40 (I honestly thought she was much younger) but it's pretty much a no-brainer that it will go down to her and Antonio for the win. Rachel did a good job on the tightrope (and kudos to the guys that carried her in that dangerous pyramid stunt), Christopher Knight was okay with his challenge but Wee Man just pointed out to me that penguins are not meant to fly with his routine and he must be the next to go... sorry Wee Man.

Flipping Out is as manic as ever -- and I am in awe of Jeff. This man is the poster child of OCD

and I can not get over his ability to centre his existence on one detail. The sandwich dilemma was funny enough (meatball or pepperoni?) but I hit the roof with the whole drapes drama. When Jeff started obsessing about " The drapes ... The drapes ... The drapes" I almost completely lost it. You better start treating Zola better though man because she deserves it and the whole portrait thing was just poor taste. Give the woman a break -- she has to deal with you Jeff and I can not imagine that she is getting adequately compensated for that. At least Jeff has gotten a taste of his own medicine with his psycho client and might learn the error of his ways eventually.

Doctor Who- The Stolen Earth is way up there on the list of Best Episodes EVER. Not only did we get the appearance of all of the more recent companions but it's a fantastically great story that ties together all of the clues that they have been leaving all season (and probably from earlier as well). I just love the way all of the spin off shows and their characters were tied in to this storyline so seamlessly, and better yet, managed to keep the same continuity that is/was happening in those shows. Torchwood is only the 3 remaining characters (Jack,Gwen and Ianto) who were there at the end of the season. Martha is still with the Unit as we last saw her, as Sarah Jane is doing her thing. The interaction between Jack and Sarah Jane is interesting and I am hoping to see more crossover stuff between the series, even though they are intended for different audiences. I am really loving Catherine Tate as Donna and she makes a great companion to the Doctor and complements well the others while being new and different.

The episode was so jam packed full of fun stuff that I'll list a few of my faves:

- alien bees -- I just knew it....

- Exterminate! (love those Daleks)

- The Shadow Proclamation

- Harriet Jones: Former Prime Minister and the subwave network

- the whole conference call thing with the gang calling the Doctor

- Paintball guns

- Project Indigo

- Rose and her big ass gun

- Captain Jack (and I love how Ianto gets jealous and how everyone finds Jack hot)

I was feeling so sorry for Rose being left out of the call to the Doctor (she was only an observer) but you could feel her heart calling out to him, the level of emoting in this series is astounding. You could feel the terror from the characters dealing with the Daleks, it was all very palpable.

I am still completely freaked out by the ending of the episode and all the cliffhangers .... you knew that it was too good to be true to see Rose and the Doctor reunite, and it was very bittersweet with the Doctor getting zapped by a Dalek and in a sense, dying in her arms.

Is the Doctor really regenerating in to another version? Will there be a faithful companion that will make the ultimate sacrifice (my money is on Rose for that one) ... I am seeing a possible exit and I think it may have to do with Donna and that weird Time Beetle thing from the previous episode Left Turn. When they were at the Shadow Proclamation, one of the attendants commented to Donna about something being on her back, and I wonder if Time Beetles have anything to do with Time Lords or the fact that the Earth is out of synch in the Medusa Cascade. I can hardly wait until next Saturday... like I said, BEST EPISODE EVER.

And on a final note, I checked out the GLAAD Media Awards on Bravo and was impressed with the entire presentation. Great work, and it's nice to see people like Kathy Griffin, Janet Jackson and Herb Ritts celebrated for their positive work with the gay community. I was in awe of some of the celebrities that participated and the subject matter was very serious for the televised portion. We go to see some of the other events as there were awards in several cities. I do have to say that Barbara Walters was humble and articulate in her acceptance of her award, and it was even more humbling to see Judy Shepard accept the Excellence in Media Award. She made it very clear that she was not celebrating her award and would trade it in a second to have her son back. We have made some steps but there is still a long way to go for equality and general acceptance in society, and as long as there is hatred, intolerance and violence towards the LGBT community there is still work to be done.

Kathy Griffin - In a land down under

Kathy continues this A listed season (seriously, this may be called the D List but our red headed firecracker is anything but D List) with a very gay flight to Australia for the very gay Mardi Gras.

Jessica has to deal with some personal demons of her own, a completely illogical fear of drag queens (kind of like having a fear of clowns) that Kathy mocks for all it's worth. Just brilliant stuff. There was a cute scene with Kathy and her mom (as usual with a glass of wine and wayyyyyyy too much make up) that was very touching and Kathy got sent off with her mom's blessing.

Kathy works her ass off for the 15 hour flight (ok yes, that is pretty D List as far as gigs go but it looked hilarious and exhausting) and Kathy keeps going on and on about how she does and will do almost anything for the gays. She is doing lots of mugging and taking photos and doing lap dances. It's all very endearing and I hope to hell that she will be doing the same thing when she comes to Montréal this July 17th for a 7 PM gala at the Just for Laughs Festival. (hint hint) ... I can not express enough how much it would mean to me to have a meet and greet photo op with Miss Fabulous...... I would literally explode!

Enough begging for this week ... getting back to the flight .... I do have to say that her breakfast service seemed to be quite abrupt (I don't think Kathy is much of a morning person) but once they hit the ground in Sydney it's non-stop as she does gig after gig, and has some fun and games with several of her A List friends.

In this possible "best episode ever", Kathy and Team Griffin meet up with Lance Bass and have a great visit to the zoo (loved Kathy trying to buy that Koala bear), Kathy hitches up with Carson Kressley (queerest episode ever) for Tea time with Olivia Newton-John. I kid you not... Olivia fricking Newton-John (who looks fab as usual) and the poor dear is shocked senseless by Kathy who tries out some new material and shocks the shit out of her. The whole c**t-features thing was too much .. those Aussies have a wicked sense of humour.

Kathy continues her time with meeting up with gal pals Margaret Cho and Cyndi Lauper (like I said .. best episode ever) where they go shopping for some gear at Priscilla's (like the movie - making me wonder if this is the gayest thing that I have ever seen?) before going off to be in the big parade for the very gay Mardi Gras. Kathy is having tons of fun with her gal pals (and it's nice to see her hanging with friends, and does she ever have some fun friends..) and you can see her admiration for Cindy. Margaret is actually the Chief/Grand Marshall of the Parade and has invited Kathy to join her on the big float. Of course Kathy works all of her magic to make sure that there are some Press opportunities and gets some decent press time with all her appearances.

In true D List fashion, Team Griffin fumbles the ball when it comes to the Parade and they end up not finding the big float with gal pal Margaret Cho (you would think it would be easy to find since it has the Big Poobah on it) so they end up crashing a few other floats and walking part of the route. I guess that is Life on the D List....

Shear Genius - Sheer Heaven!

Things zipped along quickly in the season premiere of the second season of Shear Genius. Me thinks that Bravo had too much fun with casting this round because there are so many wild characters.

Besides the sheer thrill of seeing Jaclyn Smith again ( yes there are lots of gay men who still have their crushes on some of these TV women), I couldn't get over the first quick cut challenge ... do your cut blindfolded with your model wearing safety glasses and a prayer. Yikes!

Charlie (as seen here), may not have won the first quick cut challenge or the "make me a cartoon star" challenge, but he quickly drew a line in the sand with his "I don't care if any of the other contestants like me, I am not here to make friends" remark. Gotta love a guy that is there to win, and he pushed the envelope even further by recreating Marge Simpson's hair ( "white trash, just like me" says Charlie) in a challenge that was intended to be inspired but not a literal translation of the character. All of the judges were fascinated with his work and he slid into the top 3 for this week.

Thankfully the ever so deep (and coated with 2 tons of sarcasm) Oshun (seriously, who names these people?) who kept going on and on about his Emmy nomination (which ballooned into 2 nominations later in the show) was chopped this week -- thank the gods for small miracles, but that chick with the bad colour job has got to go soon .. this is about hair right?

Mind you ... after seeing the preview for next week all I can say is OMG, Tabatha is back as guest judge and as bitchy as ever! I am very happy as she was one of my favorite contestants from season one. THEN they have the balls to show some of the stuff coming up this season and I almost wet my pants... OMG a Charlie's Angel Challenge? with Kate Jackson as guest Judge?? Can life get any better??? Yup it's official -- I am completely hooked again for this season.

Wipeout! The newest summer addiction

Last night heralded the debut of the most fun I have seen in ages.... ladies and gentleman, if you missed the premiere of Wipeout, check it out on the ABC site ( I was trying to add something to the page and it kept crashing) to see all the hilarity. I have not laughed this hard in ages and hope that we get a whole whack of episodes.
I was thrilled to see (and hear) that John Henson is one of the hosts on duty as he was throwing out the wickedest comments about the participants last night. He slayed me with his comment that one of the girls had the build of a garden gnome and the mouth of a trucker.. the guy is too much and I have very fond memories of him hosting Talk Soup all those years ago. I hope Joel over at the Soup gives you guys a shout out this week.
Things followed up nicely with " I Survived a Japanese Game Show " which was a good follow up.. and very weird show. Damn things are weird in Japan, but you have to love Mama-san and the Bug Splatter on the Windshield elimination round. What next?? I can hardly wait to find out!

How do you solve a problem like Maria? - Vote !

Things got off to an interesting start with the first week of performances and tonight will be the first elimination.

Albeit the technical glitches ( yup it was live, and it was interesting to see one of our Marias have to deal with a dead microphone) it was a fun evening. I enjoyed how each of the Marias sang a different song (not from the Sound of Music) that they had to belt out like it was musical theatre, and some of the Marias did an amazing job.

I love seeing John Barrowman as one of the Judges and hope they find their rhythm after the first week. It seemed rushed at times for the Judges to get in their opinion, and it looks like John is going to be the hard ass of the group. I was hoping that Elaine or Simon was going to take that role but it appears that Captain Jack is on board for that reason. If last night was any indication, I think that they got tons of votes (or had tons of technical issues) that kept the lines busy last night as I gave up trying to call in after more than an hour and went online to vote for ... drum roll please .... the fantastic Donna who gave me the shivers hearing her belt out " I am changing" from Dreamgirls that was unbelievable.

Here's hoping that she is still around after tonight -- what a voice and such presence!

Weekend Rant - Summer Series Bonanza

Summer is one of my favorite times of the year for Guilty Pleasures, there is no other time of the year that you will find tons of "filler" fluff that wouldn't make it to the airwaves in regular competitive market time.

It may not be a ratings bonanza, but Celebrity Circus is quickly becoming the show that I can hardly wait to see each week.... yes it is probably heavily influenced by the fact that the drop dead gorgeous Antonia Sabato Jr. is part of the equation, but I find the challenges astounding and really like how the "celebrities" are pushing themselves. As for the Judges ... it makes my evening with the whole " Night of a thousand accents" thing going on ( being from Montréal you have a certain ear and appreciation for franglais) -- our French Judge Aurelia makes the best comments about our performers that always seem to not make much sense and I love how Mitch is their "neutral -neutered Judge" and how Louis just gushes about the gutsy performances. That is some pretty dangerous stuff some of them are trying -- and my choice for the next elimination is the athletic but completely "non-graceful" Janet Evans ... I still don't see all the hype with Stacey Dash (who?), and Christopher Knight is still charming them after all these years. Rachel Hunter may have been a supermodel at some point in her life - but those legs and ass are looking pretty huge now and her last performance caught her in a few very unflattering positions that I would rather have sucked out of my consciousness. Thunder thighs may be on her way out soon as well.

Flipping Out started season 2 and Jeff is as much a whack job as last season, but has been hit on hard times with the real estate market crash and actually has to work for someone that is as fracked up as he is. He is so obsessive compulsive that he makes the most simple task a matter of life or death .. but is trying to control himself better. The situations and his supporting cast (love that Jenni) make it a hoot to watch and I always feel that I am not quite as fracked up after seeing how fracked up things are in his neck of the woods.

Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List continued the latest season with a hilarious episode that talks all about "merch", her Grammy Award Winning CD and trips to visit Tom's hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, and then Tiffany's hometown of Tracy, California where they will record the Grammy Award Winning CD with a very gay record label. Another great episode with the team hawking t shirts to get new Blackberries and a bizarre visit to a shooting range. Kathy is the new Rodney Dangerfield getting no respect during her employee exploitation tour.

Her team still have not responded to my request to meet when Kathy drops by Montréal to host a gala at the Just For Laughs Festival. Hello Team Griffin ??? A couple of Kathy's gays would love to meet her and heck, I get 10's of viewers daily at my site too! We promise to buy T Shirts and will purchase the Grammy Award Winning CD. Please???? Pretty please??

Maybe I'll luck out -- in the mean time I can hardly wait to see next week when Kathy goes to Mardi Gras in Australia. If it is as much fun as her hosting the Gay Porn Awards it will be another classic evening.

This week: I can hardly wait until the new season of Shear Genius starts up on Wednesday. From the ads I have seen it will be a bloodbath and I can hardly wait. Doctor Who just had a killer episode that featured Donna & Rose and next week it looks like a huge event with guest stars of Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures popping up. It doesn't get much better than that.

Reality Round Up - Are you the one?

The CBC started running the Canuck version of " How do you solve a problem like Maria? " this week, looking for the next lead of the Sound of Music on Broadway. I am a huge fan of the classic film and it is a regular holiday staple here. There are some very big names that are associated with the show such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, Simon Lee, Elaine Overholt and John Barrowman (yes he of Torchwood and Doctor Who fame) as the regular judges.
The hilarious Gavin Crawford (from 22 Minutes) is hosting-- and Gavin does have a completely nonchalant attitude towards the whole thing.My favorite contestants so far are Donna and Katie -- but we'll have to see how things develop as neither are the typical Julie Andrews look. I love the marketing for the show -- the simple M? logo and the catch phrase " Are you Maria?" make the concept sound simpler than it actually is. It looks good so far and has my interest, let's hope that now we are to the " Top Ten" situation and the voting will start that the real contenders step up and show us why they should be Maria.

So you think you can Dance ? has finally passed the selection process and we are now into the partner competition part of the series. I enjoy the competitions (and find that the dancers and choreography are even more difficult than last year), but am still looking forward to when half the herd has been culled and we are down to the final 10. That's when the competition gets really interesting. Is it just me or are the Judges being even more difficult this year? I know the game is up several levels, but I find the Judges too critical. Twitch and Comfort are a couple of my favorite dancers so far. Last week we lost the first couple, and this week it's kind of up in the air after several iffy performances.

Farmer wants a wife pulled a quick one last night and we are down to the final 2 girls, Christa and Brooke. It's funny... they are the 2 that I thought from the beginning matched well with hunky farmer Matt, and my heart has grown big on Christa (who I think has enough spark to keep Matt on his toes) and have gotten so tired of the ever virginal Brooke, who just seems to be trying too hard and not in the right ways. Here's hoping Matt chooses Christa... now in a perfect world I would love to see the gay version of this one...

Tori & Dean: Home sweet Hollywood started up this week and I am glad to see Tori back in the fast lane. I can't believe how pregnant she is (again) and looking forward to seeing if we will find out some of the back story of her return to 90210. Will things ever be cool with Mommy dearest? Dean is getting back in the acting gig and I can't get over how adorable Liam is.

Weekend Rant - Sometimes these re-makes actually work

I do have to give NBC credit for having the balls (and one might also think, lack of new ideas) in their recent wave of "re-imagining" 1970s TV shows. Since this has been (so far) very hit and miss as far as success goes, I had a lot of trepidation when I saw the first ads for Celebrity Circus. Would this be like the glorious " Circus with the Stars" that I fondly remember from my youth? Or will this fall in to the complete debacle territory that is populated by shows like Bionic Woman (RIP Jaime Sommers) and that really crappy Knight Rider movie that rumour has it is being green lit for a regular series.

I am happy to say that it is celebrities doing circus acts (and none of the easy fluff that they did when we were kids), and that the celebs are great (and who can go wrong with that Antonio Sabato Jr?), the routines and competition is fierce ... and the Judges are something else all together. I don't know where the hell they found them, but the combination of having a bitchy French trapeze artist/contortionist, an Olympic athlete and this way out there choreographer (Louie) that screams " gay gay gay gay gay gay gay". Literally. I mean he was coming on to hunky Antonio pretty heavy there...

I was pretty impressed and will be back for more -- now if someone could try to re -imagine Battle of the Network Stars (and not that crappy reality version) I would be a very happy camper indeed.

It was so thrilling to see Betty White being one of the guest celebrities on the last episode of Million Dollar Password. Talk about striking a great balance, not only did it thrill the fans of the original series but it showed the new viewers how it was done old style. Betty is still as phenomenal after all these years and and inspiration to us all.

Battlestar Galactica finished out this part of the season and have the gall to call it their " Mid- Season Finale" -- this is turning into the longest running final season ever and has me mildly peeved.... the storyline is so fascinating, the acting outstanding and we end up on Earth (? really?) that strangely reminds me of Planet of the Apes.... I was just waiting for that shot of the arm of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand and was getting revved up to scream. I am pretty sure that things are not quite what they seem ... I am still stuck on the point that D'Anna said that only 4 of the final 5 are with the fleet ( I wonder if the other is already on Earth?) it will be interesting to find out next year what the hell happens ... damn this show is good.

Kathy Griffin - The A - List Evening

Kathy Griffin kicked some serious butt on Thursday with her first episode of the new season of My Life on the D - List and hosting of the first ever Bravo A - List Awards. If I must repeat myself ... why does everything have to play on Thursday night? I have to spend Friday avoiding some of my favorite sites until I watch the results Show of So you think you can Dance? because there is no way in Hell that I was missing the season premiere of Kathy.

The evening started off with the Red Carpet show featuring the ever popular Tim Gunn (and it was great to see how everyone adores Tim and values his opinion) and the hilarious co -host Billy Eichner who stole the show ( seriously -- the guy gets away with explaining a gay leather bar in NYC to the viewing public and then tears a nice strip out of the so called Real Housewives by calling them on all their plastic surgery -- it was all too hilarious.)

I found it was kind of short (being only 30 minutes long), but it had great flow and enough Bravo celebrities (with the occasional regular mainstream celebrity thrown in) to make it interesting. I was thrilled to see some of my favorites from Project Runway and all the other shows like Step it up & Dance, Shear Genius, Housewives, Flipping Out and all the rest. I didn't get to see all of the different "celebrities" that I love and it made me wanting more, but I was in heaven none the less being the huge Bravo junky that I am.

After our glimpse at the Red Carpet, we get down to the first episode of the new season of the D - List ( a slightly expanded season this year with 10 episodes... better than 7 but still not enough for me) and Kathy is in full form. Following up from her Emmy win (and " Suck it Jesus" speech that created lots of notoriety), our beloved red head is going to be hosting the New Year celebrations in Time's Square with Anderson Cooper on CNN.

She is also dating Woz (Steve Wozniak - Apple co-founder) and is going to be presenting at the Producers Guild Awards. To me it sounds less and less like our dear Kathy is on the D - List.

Let the games begin ... Kathy and crew with Anderson Cooper (and playing drinking games every time she calls Anderson Cooper "Andy") was almost enough to make me pee my pants while watching Jessica get hammered. Kathy looked stunning and had I know she was on I would have caught her on CNN. Anderson Cooper is as adorable as ever and seems to be quiet the good sport. Kathy's mom is as fun (and drunk) as ever and it's nice to see them happy and moving on after dear old Dad passed on last year.

It's great seeing Kathy dating again, and you can't go wrong with an uber-geek billionaire. Woz seems really into Kathy and I love how she told him that he was just eye candy for the evening and to be available if she needs him.

Kathy at the Producers Guild Awards was too funny.... I love how she takes a strip out of Oprah ( and her boyfriend Gayle) and the show Planet Earth (which won the PGA award instead of her) and then slaying the crowd with her hilarious introduction for Simon Fuller the creator of American Idol. Paula Abdul please note: if you aren't there you give even more fuel to Kathy's fire and she was hot - hot - hot. Kathy really has a "take no prisoners" attitude and enforces a strict " offend them all" rule. The Goddess is coming here to Montréal during the Just for Laughs festival and luckily the Couch Potato will be seeing her LIVE for the first time -- I can hardly contain myself.

Anyways it was a great first episode... and the evening got even better with the A -List Awards that followed.

Major networks take note: This is how you do an awards show. No bad filler and lifeless host.

Not only did Kathy open with a great musical number (who knew she could sing?), but she promised to keep pushing the envelope until she was fired. I think Bravo knew what they were getting themselves into when it came to their host and I was surprised by how well the show flowed.

Since this is Bravo, most of the winners and nominees were from the Bravo/NBC universe, but there were some fun twists thrown in, like the Cook Off Quick Fire Challenge and the Fashion Show to raise funds. It's nice to see the "celebrities" offering their services for the event and it made it seem a bit more community oriented.

You couldn't get much gayer though -- there was the great spoof of the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake "Nipple-gate" fiasco and what other Awards show has recipients that think they are getting the Gay List award? It was hysterical. Any of our "mainstream" celebrities that won awards were very thankful and quite witty.

The strange note of the evening had to be Lauren Hutton getting the Fashion Icon award and being completely out of it -- 45 hours with out sleep? Yeah right....

Kathy had so much fun revelling in the spotlight that I hope they do an Annual Event, I am on board!

Post -Weekend Rant - Cody Steps it Up

Things worked out as I was hoping for at the end, and our Canadian boy, Cody, won the big prize and closed out this edition of Step it up & Dance. I am not sure that there will be another one (the series was pretty mediocre as far as flow goes, but at least had some interesting competitions).

Our final episode was fraught with the unknown. Our final four have to learn some new choreography (in no time -- just like real dancers!) to a Fergie song from the Sex and the City Movie soundtrack. If you win, you get to be in a video with Akon's protégé Colby. You know that there will be comparisons thrown around, and Miguel names all the dancers as characters and of course, decides that he HAS to be Carrie... after all he is the star. In a curious twist of fate, Liza (aka Miguel), has one of those dreaded dance injuries (twisted ankle) that can make or break a performance. Liza is unsure whether or not to continue (I am begging at home to just quit and leave, but alas, my pleadings fall on deaf ears) and in a final show of strength, Liza pulls off the dance number and does the solo.

Blah -- nothing to see really except Liza doing what Liza wants and since it's his style you can't say it was right or wrong -- I can just say it wasn't doing it for me. And oh yeah.... no fricking way in hell you are a Carrie Bradshaw either so on to the next....

Nick pretty much did the same thing -- his solo was cute, but he didn't advance past the " look at me grinning" part. At least he looks like a guy when he dances. Sorry Nick... but congrats on making it to the final four.

Mochi (my second favorite) was remarkable. She caught on to the new choreography in no time (like she usually does) and does a beautiful solo. She has such strength and incredible lines that I am pretty sure she has a good chance of winning it all... she has just won the last choreography challenge and will be doing the music video ( I am sure that the fact that she was the last woman standing had nothing to do with it...) ... all in all Mochi has done a great job and she is a clear contender for the win.

Cody does a great job in the choreography (as usual) and does a great solo, technically very difficult and pulls off a great performance. He has been the "Golden boy" for most of the competition (much to the chagrin of Liza) and is finally announced as the winner. I was hoping for the win and happy to see that some one nice, well rounded and a great dancer got the prize and not some preening prima donna who is technically stunted.

The competition was interesting --- now here's to see if Bravo will try it again with some modifications... or if this was a one trick pony that has now moved on to greener pastures. I get a better dance fix from So you think you can Dance? and although I may check out a second season, if it's the same formula (and those really bad introduction graphics) I will change my mind and skip it next time around... it just falls short.

30 Days - Working in a coal mine

It`s hard to believe that it has already been over 2 years since the last set of episodes, but Morgan was finally back last night with the 3rd season of 30 Days. I am glad he is finally back, as each episode is a fascinating view in to a lifestyle that I usually don`t know much about.

I was more than surprised with the insights into the life of a coal miner, and I was even more surprised to learn that half of the electricity in the USA comes from coal. The numbers are staggering and it gives a different perspective on the men (and women) that work in the industry, these are the people that keep the country moving, and I really liked how they kept pulling examples out and showing people that if you use electricity, you are benefiting from the hard work of these people.

And hard work it is, not to mention dirty,dangerous and bad for the health. There is some real touching issues in the episode, and seeing how his host family deals with the daily danger ( I love how the husband leaves a note each day for his wife in case he doesn`t come home), and how they look at the health risks involved in being a coal miner. Black lung will kill or affect most of them if they work for an extended period in the mines... and most of them work with the hope that their children will not have to do the same kind of work. It`s all very heartbreaking and it changed my viewpoint of miners and the job they do.

I did appreciate seeing the human side of the equation, but was heartbroken and disappointed with the lack of alternative offered and how the big companies are destroying mountains and poisoning the environment. The big companies say that there are not other options to suddenly replace half of the energy supplies to the States... and I don`t agree-- there must be other options and people need to start looking at the alternatives before we destroy our planet.

That`s what is great about this series -- it makes you think and certainly opens up dialogues... and that is a very good thing. Nice to see you back Morgan!

Weekend Rant - So you think you can Step it up and Dance ?

So you think you can Dance? has been back for the past couple of weeks (and several hours per week -- yahoo !) and the try outs have been amazing. There is some real talent out there and I am looking forward to getting down to the competitions as there are still too many fakes and flakes showing up for the auditions.

I hope some of those characters don't come back again (you know who I am talking about), but I am astounded each and every time by some of the amazing breakers and poppers who do those out of the world moves.

Besides ... it is such a hoot (and many a scream) to watch the try outs with Mary Murphy on board, who definitely makes it a worthwhile experience and it is simply the Best Dance Competition on TV. Bar none -- seriously.

Step it up & Dance has been finishing up it's first season with a bit of a rocky ride... last week was the non-elimination elimination round ...yeah that didn't make much sense to me either, nor more than bringing back Oscar and then dismissing him the week after for the same reasons that he had been eliminated for previously. The competitions are interesting and certainly creative as far as dance competitions go, and I am in serious infatuation with Cody, our hot Canadian boy. ( I am willing to forgive that he is from Surrey, being a former Vancouverite myself). I still think he has a chance of winning it all but the Judges have been more critical the past couple of episodes.

The weird thing about the series, is that they pulled a "Project Runway" and the competitors are sent off for a few weeks to choreograph a 1 minute solo. I don't think 1 minute is too long of a solo and I hope there is more to the finale than that-- and lo and behold my wishes are granted by another elimination round. Our dancers have to work with 2 of the Judges (Vincent Paterson and Nancy O'Meara) and they will be doing Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". The gang just recently danced to the Anniversary of Thriller and I am wondering where Bravo is getting all the love for MJ. Is there a reality show in the works for the former King of Pop?

Anyways the 5 are back... Cody, Nick, Miguel, Janelle and Mochi. All of them have been busy with other projects and getting their solo together. Miguel looks like a bad version of Liza Minnelli and Nick is looking pretty hot.... we get down to rehearsal (they have only 4 hours) and right away Liza and Janelle are feeling challenged due to their lack of technique. The competition is good for weeding out details like that and you can see the difference in the quality of the moves in this very tight, very technical piece. Nick, Cody and Mochi are doing well (as usual)... the Judges ask for more from Cody as they don't feel he emotes enough. I don't have any problems with his performance and find him breathtaking to watch. Mochi is as beautiful as ever and Nick does an amazing job, really shining.

Janelle is struggling- especially in her transitions and needs more technique. Liza is being all whiny about not keeping up with the basics and dancing from where it counts and has me bored senseless. I have no idea why this twit is still around unless it is for comic relief. After the final performance of the routine, we have guest judge Toni Basil ( oh Mickey!) which is so fine ... Nick wins, followed by Mochi and Cody and the bane of my existence Liza rounds out the final 4. Poor Janelle leaves (good luck) and we get to see the solo performances and the winner next week.

My heart is with Cody for the win, but my brain and money is on Mochi, she has been one determined competitor from day one and has proven herself time and time again.
You go girl !

Lost - Season Finale -- What a ride !

Lost finished up this tremendous season with a completely kick ass multiple episode finale -- so astounding that it has taken me a couple of days to absorb all of what happened and to be able to make some sense of all of it.

It was that good... and for you negative nellies that feel the story line is not going anywhere -- well you just missed the BEST EPISODE ever. I suggest you find it and watch as soon as possible.

Where to start? Flashing back to our "flash forward" ending from last season, we see the follow up to Jake and Kate's argument at the airport in the future, and see Kate leave again, only to stop her car and we finally get to get past this one moment and see more of what is going on. Our Oceanic six are all in bad places, and tired of living the various lies that they have propagated since their miraculous return. We finally learn the reasoning behind this elaborate hoax -- and it's a thrilling ride with tons of bumps and sharp corners (and giant mystery wheels) that was one of the best couple of hours of TV that I have ever seen.

Things are getting dangerous on the Island -- our various factions are scattered between the beach, the Orchid and the freighter. Locke, Ben and Hurley are off to the Orchid as per Jacob's instructions to move the Island. Our gang of mercenaries from the Freighter are waiting for Ben and need to bring him back alive to Widmore. The gang on the Freighter have discovered the huge bomb on board and know it is under the control of the mercenaries, and it can blow at any moment.

Ben surrenders himself to the mercenaries, and Locke and Hurley try to find the entrance to the Orchid. There is a great fight scene between Sayid and the nasty mercenary Keamy, where the ever mysterious Richard saves the day and pumps a few bullets into Keamy. For their help, Ben gives Sayid and Kate the helicopter as a way to leave the Island.

With Ben free, he makes it back to Locke and gang who have been joined by Jack and Sawyer. After Ben tells Jack of their plan to move the Island (received with much scepticism - Jack doesn't have the belief that the others do), and the guys leave Ben and Locke to get to their project. They go to a much lower level via an interesting elevator system and Ben gives Locke another Dharma Initiative Orientation Video to watch, this one explaining the Orchid, and it's unique properties and the experiments involving time travelling bunnies. There is this hilarious scene with our Dr. Hanso explaining the danger of metal objects coming in contact with the Vault in the video and Ben grabbing anything and everything metal in the room and piling it into the Vault at the same time. Keamy suddenly appears ( combination of body armor and the Island's unique properties it seems... ) and lets them know that he has a Dead Man's switch attached to his body. If his heart stops, a huge amount of TNT will blow up the Freighter and kill everyone on board.

Ben ignores all this, and attacks Keamy, viciously stabbing him in the throat and Locke is stunned and tries to save Keamy's life as to prevent the bomb from going off. Ben makes it clearly know that he doesn't care what happens to the others as long as he got his revenge. On the Freighter, they are trying to disarm the bomb, and are only able to freeze it from detonating, and are quickly running out of coolant. It's all going to hit the fan, and soon. Keamy dies and the bomb gets ready to blow up. Michael is using the last of the coolant to delay the explosion and tells the others to leave.

Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid, Sawyer and Lapidus are all on the helicopter and heading back to the Freighter, they have taken a few hits and are leaking fuel, so in an effort to make it back to safety they lighten their load and Sawyer jumps off to give the others a chance. He ends up swimming back to the Island and meeting up with Juliette on the beach.

The helicopter barely makes it to the Freighter, only to learn that they have to leave immediately before the bomb explodes. They quickly patch (thank god for duct tape) the hole and start pumping fuel. It's insane as Sun, Kate,Desmond, Jack, Hurley, Aaron,Sayid and Lapidus leave on the helicopter as Jin arrives too late. Christian appears before Michael and tells him that the Island is finished with him... and the bomb explodes. The Freighter is gone in no time and the helicopter is heading towards the Island. Sun is in hysterics.Someone give that woman an Emmy please, she is one of the most astounding actresses on TV.

Daniel was ferrying survivors from the Island to the Freighter, and was just on his way back to the Freighter with another group of what seemed to be all 'unknown' survivors (all wearing red life jackets which sounds a little Star Trek to me...).. Charlotte and Miles want to stay on the Island and all of our players are in their positions.

It's time for Ben to play the big card ... and move the Island.

After blowing up the Vault, there is a tunnel and cave on the other side. In this strange icy world ( what????), there are some strange hieroglyphics and a huge wheel-sprocket thing in the wall. Seriously -- and it looked like it had been there for a very long time.... there was some difficulties and Ben was quietly cursing Jacob for making him do this. In a herculean effort, he turns the wheel.... and it all glows white again... and the Island is gone. Poof - vanished -- leaving only ripples in it's wake.

Our Oceanic Six have no choice and hit the water in the helicopter. After breaking out a life raft they are rescued by none other than Desmond's beloved Penny (Widmore's daughter). Our Six know that they have to lie to protect the other survivors who are on the Island (where abouts unknown), and know that they are in probable danger because none of them were to have survived. They concoct a story that includes Boone, Libby and Charlie as other survivors... and Aaron is suddenly Kate's baby. There is a striking flash forward scene where Jack learns that Claire is his half sister (and Aaron his nephew) and another where Kate has a dream in which Claire tells her not to bring Aaron back to the Island).

The biggest shocker at the end being that (in a flash forward) we discover Locke (aka Jeremy Bentham) dead in a funeral home back in "regular" time.. meaning that he left the Island after some time and ended up dead.... does this mean that Ben can go back?

Of course... there is a ton of unanswered stuff about where and when the Island might be -- what happened to Daniel and his boat ? Is Desmond still his constant ? Is Penny in danger to be killed by Ben? Will the Oceanic Six go back to the Island? Will Walt keep growing? That flash forward of him meeting Hurley was freaky stuff... maybe we will see more of him next season but I am not counting on Michael... I think his story might be over but I can hardly wait until next season.. wait dammit -- that means 2009... arghhh!!!!