Weekend Rant – Dance Fever

This summer has been absolutely fantastic so far with the competition on So you think you can Dance? This series seems to get better with each round, and the quality of dance (and dancers) just keeps getting better and better. I can only imagine the difficulties that our Judges are having deciding which guy and girl have to leave each week as we cull the herd down to the Top Ten as all of the dancers are very talented. At least the voting seems more proportionate to the talent and not based more on the cuteness factor of the contestants as so far there have been a couple of the really cute guys eliminated which was almost surprising considering the screaming going on in the audience at the broadcasts, and that was just Mary Murphy.

This week was extraordinary with an incredible number by Mia Michaels, that Randi & Evan did an amazing job with and Evan is really starting to grow on me. There is something damn sexy about those droopy eyes he has and he gets into character and inhabits each dance. Janette & Brandon did an amazing and very surprising Rock/Hip Hop number that showed how much talent Brandon has. The guy is not getting credit for his ability and I hope that Mia and ‘lil C have noticed his progression. I am still rooting for Kupono & Kayla and was happy with their new partnership. I was even happier when they didn’t have to Dance for their Lives and changed partners once again.

Once we got around to Elimination, I was happy that Jonathon was gone (too much gymnastics and mugging to the camera) and sorry that Asuka had to leave, but one of the girls had to go and she was the most limited. The next few weeks will be tough ones… there is some amazing talent.

I was more than pleasantly surprised with the first hour of Triple Sensation and seeing the first 6 Finalists for Toronto chosen for the Master Class part of the competition and the ultimate prize of the Middlefield Scholarship for the Performing Arts worth $150,000. I was astounding to see the performance ability in these young performers (they are between the ages of 16 and 26) and their stage presence. The judging panel is pretty high brow with Marvin Hamlisch as part of the crew (that’s a big name in musical theatre) and while it is much different than any of the American style competition shows, it was a fascinating watch and I plan on following it’s progress over the next few weeks.

Kathy Griffin has been becoming a tad more predictable with this season of My Life on the D List and her so called A List friends and their get together as part of Kathy’s grooming for the A List. It seems that all of these guests find Kathy abrasive and useless, so I am trying to figure out if Kathy wants to be the new Rodney Dangerfield and get no respect, or is she really trying to improve her image but resisting change. This season does have more of her mom (thankfully) and less of Team Griffin (which is not a bad idea) and tons of guest stars who add a different vibe. Paula Dee was funny (and it was a hoot to see Michael McDonald again) but the guests are overshadowing the star and that is not the smartest thing. It does seem that Kathy is learning more about schmoozing with the public and that is a good thing. It’s still not as fun as before… me thinks that Kathy is wearing out her welcome and I don’t expect to see an Emmy win this year.

The Fashion Show is boring me to pieces and I am only watching to see how it finishes off. I could not believe the whole Halston fiasco and Reco’s tears of shame, it was all stupid and pretty much like the other episode where the magical Honduran elf didn’t know what the whole Mean Girls thing. I still don’t think that Sumo Barbie will win either, and really hope that Daniella will win, she seems to have some of the best fashion sense so far and isn’t this whole show supposed to be about ready to wear? Some of the designs don’t look that user friendly to me… buh bye darling, I can hardly wait until Project Runway is back.

Top Chef Masters is a great competition, and the episodes are a great mix of nerves and ego as our Masters battle each other. I was laughing my ass off at our French Chef Ludo Lefebvre getting bleeped every 10 seconds for his time management issues. It would have been funnier for us if he as cursing in French and it getting past the American censors, but Ludo, like many French people, thinks that the F word can be used as an accent piece in conversation when it should only be used sparingly, like a rare spice. If the show was in French it would not have been edited for content, it’s just too funny.

Things finally ended with the I’m a Celebrity Get me out here ! experience and while I was surprised that Sanjaya was not in the Final 2, I was not surprised that Lou won as he played very well and seems to be a nice guy. I don’t think it will do much for his acting career but he seemed to be in it for his kids and the charity that he was playing for and not there to stroke his ego or be an idiot. The Reunion aspect of the show show was hilarious as you can feel the disdain between Janice and everyone else and there were tons of snippy comments being bantered back and forth.Heidi and Spencer are still the 2 biggest knobs that I have seen on the tube in aeons and hope that the San Andreas Fault opens up and swallows the Hills real soon. That would be poetic justice wouldn’t it?

Weekend Rant – Get ME out of here!

I have been laughing my ass off watching the insane antics on I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here! and all of the stupid and ridiculous challenges that seem to put more flora and fauna in danger than the so called celebrities. The Snake strike challenge was too much and was it any surprise that the snakes were trying to escape? The whole mud pit challenge was just as whack with the crocodiles that seemed to be everywhere at the beginning and then conveniently gone after. After all of that I was almost crying when poor Janice got ousted at the end of last week. I was really hoping to see her hang around and get tortured a tad more before losing. If I am rooting for anyone, it will be our sexually ambiguous singer Sanjaya to win the cash for his charity, but does he seriously think that he is straight? – even Janice can read the writing on the wall with that one but he is so much in denial and it is all just as clueless as his singing. I still don’t understand why the other Baldwin is still there but it is such a car wreck of a show that I can’t help myself… I just love bad TV. I can hardly wait until it ends, it’s sucking up too much of my valuable time!

Speaking of which – I am starting to get peeved that I can’t find some of my favourite shows online and can no longer see this season of Tori & Dean- Home Sweet Hollywood – it really sucks as the files are usually available on line and I may have to wait for the show to come out on DVD to catch up – I never understand why some shows are harder to find to download when you think that the producers want people to see the show – too bad for them and it looks like I am losing something off the Watch List.

So you think you can Dance ? is really burning up the screen this round (and I can’t believe that they will start the next round right after this one – it doesn’t give much time for this winner to be America’s favourite dancer, but the competition is so stunning that I can hardly wait for more. My biggest concern was on the performance night and I saw that it looked like Cat’s old stylist had done another bad choice with that hideous red dress that she was wearing. Thankfully it was not around for the Results night, but if she starts wearing all those hideous gowns again she will need some serious fashion therapy. After last week’s poor showing, I was in literal awe over the beauty and flow (and not to mention the emotion) of the beautiful Waltz that was performed by Asuka and Vitolio. I am still surprised by the curious and strangely almost incestuous relationship between SYTYCD and Dancing with the Stars (and that terrible Superstars of Dance show) that are all produced by Nigel and Co. It’s just weird and wonderful to see dancers leave one show for another and to see choreographers like Louis Van Amstel come over to this show. I do have to agree that this show has probably done more for dance than others and it really is turning into an incredible showcase of world dance.

The Judges have some very tough decisions, and this week I disagree again with their choice of guy that was eliminated, I thought that Max did an incredible job with the Brian Friedman choreography (just amazing) but because he was a “different” character (meaning he seemed kind of gay) was the reason that he got bumped. Jason should have been hitting the road after that terrible Shane Spark’s number (I was not a big fan of Shane this week and thought he was the weakest choreographer) and Phillip was closer to elimination with his troubles with the Tango. A few of the guys really stepped it up and I was stunned by the speed of the disco number and Brandon – wow – I assumed the guy was a gym bunny and it seems all those muscles are hard earned dancing.I was happy that Kupuno was not eliminated this week (he had a close call though) as he has a certain style and flair all his own, and I love how he can adapt to different styles. He was a tad lazy in his solo and that was problematic. I was pretty sure that Ashley was toast after a lacklustre solo (it was not even close to dancing for her life) and was not surprised that she was booted. The competition is great this year and it has already been astounding to watch. I was raving over the Mia Michael’s number that opened the results show and can hardly wait to see her take on one of the couples, and it was so cute to see home land girl Stacey Tookey hitting the US show after being such a success on SYTYCD Canada.

I was thrilled with the return of I survived a Japanese Game Show this week after the latest instalment of Wipeout. I am still fascinated with the Japanese culture and their weird shows, and Majide is still as wild and fun as ever. It’s really hard to take some one seriously when they are dressed in some of the ridiculous costumes (the rabbits were hilarious) but I love all the creatively humiliating costumes and wacky wacky games. Those Japanese people are damn strange sometimes… they really like to humble the Americans and I know that they love seeing the big guy Bobaloo in tights and running around as much as it probably frightened me. I will be watching with much gusto how things work out and to see Mama-San and Judge Bob deal with these poor contestants. It is a bit more interesting that the winners get some really fun prizes and that the losers will have to do same damn disgusting ones, so it should hopefully eliminate some of the worst players to start with. Luckily it was the prima donna Kimberly that got eliminated this week and Sayonara, back to America for her. It will be fun to see how badly the other players want to win. Hard to say who can win, but Drew is the big kind of athletic guy that might be able to do it, but you never know… hai majide!

Burn Notice has been so much fun to watch this season, and it feels better than the awkward chemistry of last year. Michael seems to be getting more at ease with his friends helping out, there seems to be better sparks with Fiona (and those 2 are so great together) and it feels like the first season again. I love Michael’s deadpan explanations on how he can MacGyver things together and all the different insights into being a spy, and how he can observe and piece things together and make it work for him. The stories have been building up some great tension with the new thorn in Michael’s side, dear Detective Paxson, who seems to think that it is her mission to know all about our ex Spy.The show has this sexy feeling to it that goes perfectly with Miami and is just the perfect fare for the hot season.

I am still playing catch up with a few things and enjoying the relaxed summer schedule, and looking forward to seeing some of the last episodes of Samantha Who? (I think it was stupid to cancel the show, it was well written) and more of Better off Ted, one of the funniest things that I have seen in quite awhile. I have been finding the Expedition Africa show interesting as I am fascinated with the land and culture, but am starting to find the cast of characters a tad stunned. They all seem way out of their element for so called professionals that have done this a million times before, but they all seem so poorly prepared for things like wild animals and the search for water. I am not sure if it is the editing that drags down the episodes, but there is weird chemistry between the cast of characters and the flow is just strange. Good premise and poor execution, it kind of reminds me of Pirate Master from last season.This week will also premiere Triple Sensation on CBC and the premise looks interesting for a reality show as it is anchored in the performing arts and is the search for the next and best Broadway type performer who can sing, act and dance. The first episode will decide if I chose to follow this journey as well. Here’s hoping the show is interesting and it showcases some more of the fabulous talent here in Canada!

Weekend Rant – Celebrity Madness

I don’t think that I have had as much fun as I have the past couple of weeks with the disaster know as I’m a Celebrity get me out of here and the 3 nights per week that it has been hitting the airwaves. Although I still have a problem with all of the Challenges involving live animals and insects, the show is so bad that it is good. Janice Dickinson is the best-worst player (I love how she steals from all the other contestants) and has her convenient illness that prevents her from doing the majority of the Challenges. The public seems to love her and want to see her do the wacky stuff, and I have to say that I was in hysterics with the Operation inspired Challenge that got our Celebrities shocked silly (although it appears that Daniel Baldwin has previous experience in this field as he knows beforehand that he can take a lot of juice – I wonder if it was shock therapy or did dude get tasered before?) and it was hilarious to watch Janice get zapped. It’s mean I know but it was damn funny and there were no animals harmed in the process.

I am pleasantly surprised with Sanjaya and his jungle fever, but feel bad for the guy for being treated like Janice’s slave (his words, not mine) and he is being eaten alive by the bugs. It’s hard to say who will last, but he seems better positioned to hang around than some of the others. I was happy that we were down a Baldwin after this week’s elimination, and was laughing my ass off as Janice kept screaming out to Perez Hilton and fighting back against Prop 8 as the Baldwin was eliminated. I know there was no love between the 2 of them and you can tell the a certain supermodel has those narcissistic traits that you come to expect with those model type people. What the producers of this show should do is get Tyra Banks to come out and join the party so we could watch her and Janice try to be the centre of the universe at the same time and watch the time space continuum fold in on it’s self and watch the Universe as we know it be destroyed.

I will say that I really hope that Spencer and Heidi are gone for good after their back and forth appearances on the show. Enough is enough and they should try to get some real stars for this show instead of someone with a tad of notoriety. Seriously. What a bunch of knobs.

  So you think you can Dance? was on fire this week and I really love how the choreographers are pushing the dancers this year. If you don’t like Mary Murphy you will absolutely hate this show but she is the real barometer of how the show is doing and how cute the guys are. Mary talks about her Hot Tamale Train, but the louder she screams means the higher the alert level on the Mary Cougar Scale. I was in literal hysterics when the whole Botox comment went over the airwaves and Mary fessing up to being part of the club (like almost all the women on TV) and watching Adam covering his scream. It was priceless, and this show would not be near as fun sans Mary. I don’t always agree with the Judges but I have a ton of respect for this show.

I thought the choice of the 3 couples in trouble was pretty spot on,but disagree on their choice of who went home as I really felt that Jonathon should have hit the road instead of Tony, but that point is moot as neither of them will make it to Top 10, the competition is fierce this year and Evan is a lot better than I expected… and it’s nice to see fan favourites back like Wade Robson, who pulled out a memorable crash-test dummy number that was as weird and wonderful as a Wade creation is. The man is a twisted genius and I loved all of it from the robot dog to the great performances by Ashley and Kupono. Amazing stuff… I can hardly wait to see Mia put some of the dancers through their paces.

The Next Food Network Star started off this week and you can tell there are a few front runners so far, Eddie may be damn fine but he is way too corporate, I really like Michael but think he may be a tad too flamboyant for the network, and think that Jeffrey is really charming the Judges. Not too be too stereotypical, but our contestants that resemble Michelle Obama and Margaret Cho seem to have a foot in the door (especially Debbie who bombed in the first challenge and there was that whole angel food cake fiasco…) and I don’t think that our nutritionist will be around for long. I hope we have someone interesting win this year, I didn’t really see last year’s winner appear that often after winning and wonder if he really did connect with the viewing public.

Kathy Griffin was back with My Life on the D-List this week and the season opener had Kathy in Vegas with the über fantastic Bette Midler. Things are different this year and Jessica is gone (rumours abound) and Kathy is more in A-List training mode than D-List it appears. There isn’t any real or interesting chemistry between Kathy and Bette (and I wonder how much she got paid to do this) and it feels contrived. If anything else, I really go the impression that Bette is not a big fan of Kathy and I love how she said that Kathy makes her look tame in comparison. Bette used to have quite the reputation for being vulgar and out there. There may be more big stars visiting this season but I think the D-List phase is finishing up for Kathy and she is just going to be know as a trash talking celebrity more than anything else unless she finds a balance. It’s bad when the rising star looses contact with their fan base and roots and is no longer grounded. I think the Emmy wins have gone to her ego …

Weekend Rant – Summer Hits & Misses

Things have finished up for this past season’s shows and all in all it was a pretty blasé end of television season. If not for well written shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica and Pushing Daisies (all almost finished or cancelled), things would have been much worse and I have some trepidation for the upcoming fall schedule. I could rant left and right about the problems with this past lukewarm season, but there is so much on right now that is rant worthy that it would be much more interesting to get to that.

Make me a Supermodel has completely fracked my mind with the last couple of episodes and the departure of 2 of the better contestants and then the unbelievable win by the guy with the least experience. Branden is no supermodel and I can’t believe that Jonathon did not win. I am calling this blatant patriotism as it was the only American contestant that won as Jonathon is from England and Sandhurst from Trinidad & Tobago. Bad bad reality show – and bad ending.

I have been following (albeit with a slightly guilty conscience), the reality train wreck that is I’m a Celebrity, get me out of here ! and am in total shock over the delusions of Spencer and Heidi (irk) who seem to think that they are better than the other reality losers on the show (what a joke), and the editing is worse than the choice of “Celebrities”. I know that I am concerned when Janice Dickinson seems to be the voice of reason and was in hysterics with her whole bronchitis thing that was going on. Yes Janice, nice to see that all those years of finishing school have paid off – I don’t know what was more funny, Janice freaking out after someone bitched at her (how ironic) or her lack of etiquette. Supermodel? irk again! Anyways the 2 dimwits have quit and/or left several times and now want to come back again – just shoot the 2 idiots and put them out of all of our misery please. Spencer & Heidi must die – they must be taken out of the gene pool before it’s too late.

The other big problem with the show is the use of animals and insects in their Fear Factor influenced challenges. It seems pretty damn stupid to have live rats that can bite you in a challenge, the health risks are incredible and it seems very unethical to have frogs or tarantulas that can be crushed or killed by contestants in their efforts to complete their challenge. I hope these things are protested and changed, the so called challenges don’t need to push the envelope quite as far as that.

So you think you can Dance? has blown back on the schedule and finished up the audition process with the final culling in Vegas. I still prefer the kinder and gentler audition vibe that was on the Canadian version (back this fall), but per usual there are some astounding dancers in the Top 20. My upfront favourites are Kupono Aweau and Jason Glover for the guys and Asuka Kondoh and Karla Garcia for the girls. I am looking forward to seeing them work with the choreographers, and really hoping that some of my favourites (like Wade) will be back this year. As hard as Mia is on the dancers, I can hardly wait to see what she churns out this year, with her current hard edge her dancers may be in for more than they can handle. Intense can be interesting.

I have been laughing my ass off at Wipeout, and can’t believe how hard the challenges are becoming for these poor contestants. The much harder (and thankfully very padded) obstacle course now has so many bumps and surprises in it (Plank in the face is too hilarious) and any one who makes it to the end is a winner in my book, it looks fun and exhausting. I will be checking out the home-grown version this fall as the version Québécois will hit the airwaves.

I am still catching up on a few series and waiting for a few more to come back for this summer – postings will probably be weekly depending on the free time, it’s summer after all and it’s time to be outside!