Get Real

underwater excuses from model wannabees

2009-11-05T23:00:00.000-08:00

The girls seem to be all buddy-buddy on ANTM this week!

At their challenge this week, the girls met Marisa Miller and she gave them tips on how to pose in their bikinis. And she told them how to be sexy for men but not over the top for women. She even had them practice in a makeshift shower! Haha.

And then she led them to Nigel where he introduced them to their next photo challenge! They were going to jump off a cliff and had to look sexy and graceful!! Um, right! And they only have one shot at it. Wow! The winner of the challenge would get a chocolate pearl necklace valued at over $5,000 and the most frames at the next photo shoot! And that winner was…Nicole!

So, Nicole got the most frames. And she chose Sundai to get the next most frames, followed by Laura, then Jennifer, and Erin getting the least amount of frames.

Russell James would be their photographer this shoot and it’s going to be underwater! Oh, and poor Laura was freaking out but she started to get better as she calmed down. Of course, Nicole completely rocked it out. Jennifer really did better than I thought she would. Sundai really needed to get over her problems because she just had ever excuse in the book. Thankfully, it seems like Erin didn’t do so well.

I am at a crossroads here – I really dislike Erin so I want her to go home. But I also think that Sundai does not deserve to be in the competition. She hasn’t done anything yet to prove that she has what it takes to stay here.

Marisa Miller joined judging panel this week, which is interesting since she already has some knowledge of the girls. Sundai’s photo caused her to look a million miles long, but her face is completely hidden. Laura’s photo was not too bad and you could not tell at all that she struggled during the shoot. Jennifer’s picture was her best yet and she looked just gorgeous in it. Once again, Nicole’s photo was beautiful and interesting. Erin performed exactly how I expected her to – poorly. She could have done better but she’s now just trying to act out and get attention.

Wow, Jennifer had the best photo this week! And for once I saw the competitive edge in Nicole. She seemed a little upset that she didn’t get best photo. But she and Laura were safe, leaving Sundai and Erin in the bottom two. This is Erin’s third week-in-a-row being in the bottom two.

Ugh, Erin is like Christopher from Project Runway! I don’t know how they keep managing to scrape by!! So, sweet little Sundai was sent home. I’m not too surprised or disappointed by this. I don’t think Sundai was that strong and she never won anything so it makes sense for her to go home. I just hate Erin and want her to leave!

weight loss heads to washington

2009-11-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

The Biggest Loser gets political!

Alison surprised the contestants with a week-long trip to Washington, D.C. But, of course, they wouldn’t be on vacation! They would be trying to inspire others and help fight the obesity problem in America.

And she threw another surprise at the contestants – they are all playing for themselves from here on out!

For their first challenge this week, each of the contestants needed to gather people to join in on a public workout with Bob & Jillian at the Washington Monument. Whichever person had the most people to come out would win a special prize and take their group out to Subway for lunch. And Liz edged out Allen by one person!

After the challenge, the contestants met with some members of congress to talk about their stories.

Then they made their way to Constitution Gardens for the start of their main challenge. The challenge had four legs to it and whoever won them all would get immunity at the weigh-in. Since Liz won the pop challenge, she has the opportunity to skip one of the first three challenges if she wishes. Phase 1 had the contestants running a mile. The top 6 finishers in the mile would advance to the 2nd Phase. Rebecca came in first, followed by Daniel, Allen, Amanda, Rudy, and Liz. They would all compete in Phase 2 while Danny, Tracey, and Shay had the pleasure of knowing that they could finish a mile.

For Phase 2, the 6 players would race halfway down the Watergate steps to collect 17,000+ pennies in their collection tube. Those 17,000+ pennies represented all of the pounds lost on the show so far. Liz smartly sat this challenge out, which meant only three of the other competitors could advance to the next stage. Rudy finished first, with Daniel in second, and a very close call put Rebecca into the next Phase over Allen.

Phase 3 was set in front of the Washington Memorial. Four pedestals with very narrow ridges waited for the contestants and they need to balance on those 2 ½” ridges while holding a pilates ball over their heads. The two contestants that balanced the longest would move to the final competition. Daniel and Liz could handle the balancing act, leaving Rudy and Rebecca to duke it out for immunity.

The final Phase required Rudy and Rebecca to take 206 steps in front of the White House. Rebecca asked what the 206 steps signified and found out that The Biggest Loser has had 206 contestants so far. Rebecca easily won this challenge and won herself immunity for the weigh-in.

And of course, the show wouldn’t leave out the others in rewards. So, everyone received a special invite to the White House and met with the White House kitchen staff. They cooked a healthy lunch in the White House kitchen.

Ooh, this week they had their weigh-in at the Lincoln Memorial. Here is how the weigh-in broke down:

Rebecca: -4 pounds, *immunity
Shay: -9 pounds, 2.24% loss, under 400 pounds
Tracey: -3 pounds; 1.52% loss
Daniel: -11 pounds, 4.04% loss
Allen: -9 pounds, 3.44% loss
Danny: -12 pounds, 3.48% loss
Rudy: -9 pounds, 2.64% loss
Liz: -3 pounds, 1.36% loss
Amanda: -7 pounds, 3.27% loss

This means that Tracey and Liz fell below the yellow line and risk elimination. No surprises here, Tracey was sent home. Finally, her stupid mistakes and choices in the beginning of the game caught up with her!

the athletes leave the dance floor

2009-11-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

DWTS’s last double elimination picks off the weakest links.

Though he just completed his best dance of the season, Michael Irvin received the lowest combined score this week and was sent home. Then the other bottom two couples, Aaron & Karina and Mark & Lacey, had to battle it out on the dance floor. I am so shocked that Aaron & Karina were in the bottom after their performance from last night!

Sadly, Mark & Lacey were sent home after the dance battle. I feel bad for Mark because I think his Samba would have been better if Lacey didn’t have to sit that one out for being sick. But I guess someone needed to go.

hip hop's legacy goes contemporary

2009-11-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

More top performances and two more goodbyes on So You Think You Can Dance.

Risking elimination last week due to injury, Noelle came back to dance with her partner Russell. And this week they have a Hip Hop routine from newest choreographer, Jamal Sims. Well, Russell certainly lucked out this week with Hip Hop and he looked pretty comfortable up there, even in his preppy tennis outfit! Noelle, on the other hand, was a little weak. She did respectable in some part but some parts were really awful.

Power couple Ashleigh & Jakob had a Viennese Waltz from Tony Meredith & Melanie Lepatin. Aww, it was so sweet. It totally was like a couple’s first wedding dance. It was so sweet and innocent but passionate. And it really seemed like it was just a dance for them and no one else. The judges had a few criticisms here and there but I personally just loved it!

Bianca & Victor were lucky enough to get a Tyce Diorio Broadway number. Hmm, I think the characters and choreography overpowered them this week. They did so well last week and I think it was lost a little bit this week. I started to like Victor more during the end but I think Bianca was a little too confident throughout the whole thing and didn’t live up to it all.

PYT’s Mollee & Nathan had a Bollywood routine next and I wonder if my theory from last season about every Bollywood routine being good will ring true here. Yes, still works! But I think they danced it really well and the choreography was really exciting. Love them and their dancing.

Ugh, my least favorite guy on the show, Phillip, had the Samba with his partner, Channing. And Tony & Melanie did not hold back on the choreography one bit! I think that Channing did a lot better than Phillip did – she just seemed more comfortable with it all. And Mary called Phillip out on not being a good partner for Channing and I’m glad someone did it!

And now my least favorite couple, Karen & Kevin, got a NappyTabs Hip Hop routine. This is in Kevin’s comfort zone so I hope that its good but I just really don’t like Karen. Wow, this was probably the dirtiest routine I have seen from Tabitha & Napolean! They did really well, as much as I hate to admit it. I started to like Kevin more here but miss Karen is still going to be my Janette from last season.

Uh oh, Kathryn & Legacy pulled a Contemporary routine from Stacey Tookey. I really hope that Legacy can handle this because I just love him. Well, I think he succeeded! It was just beautiful and well danced by both of them! Okay, it’s official. They are definitely my favorite couple this season!

New couple Pauline & Peter were so lucky that they got a Wade Robson Jazz routine! I don’t know if it’s possible to fail while dancing a Wade Robson number. I think not. It was really clever and sharp and interesting. I think Peter had more personality with the routine and found the little nuances of the routine while Pauline was still safe with it.

Ellenore & Ryan were the last couple of the night and they finished things off with a Tango from Miriam & Leonardo. I am hoping that I can like Ellenore after her brash arrogange last week. Oh, but I felt so bad for her! Her dress got caught in her shoe! But she kept it going and didn’t let it stop her. It was a good routine and well danced. I am beginning to forgive Ellenore for last week and I will give them another chance.

Now the judges need to choose the bottom two guys and two girls because there is no results show this week due to the World Series. And they were Noelle, Bianca, Victor, and Phillip. Can’t say I’m surprised by any of the choices.

Well, Noelle definitely left it all on the table during her table. That is what a Bottom 4 solo should be! Ugh, and Victor’s solo was so dynamic and powerful. I just loved it! Bianca did really well with her solo and showed a lot of variety and humor in her solo. However, not doing it for me at all was Phillip. Maybe my wish of sending home my least favorite guy will come true!

Oh my goodness I am so shocked that the judges sent Bianca home. I definitely think that Noelle did well in her solo but I thought the judges would have preferred Bianca. Not so shocking is the fact that the judges sent home Phillip!! Hooray for that, at least!

dwts nears a perfect 30

2009-11-03T20:00:00.000-08:00

The stars face two dances and two eliminations this week on DWTS.

Dancing first this week was last week’s dance off winners, Michael & Anna. They had a Foxtrot and I’m not sure he can muster the elegance and fluidity needed for this. Well, I just hated the song so it made it hard for me to enjoy. But I think he did pretty well and probably the best he’s ever done. In fact, he scored a 23/30, which is his highest score!

Donnie & Kym took the floor next with the Quickstep. Gosh, it’s no wonder that the Osmond is so beloved – they have so much charisma! Donnie is so fun to watch and you can’t help but to love him. I thought he did really well with this routine. Unfortunately, there were some mistakes that apparently only the judges could see and they ended up with a 24/30.

Mark no longer had Lacey this week because she was clearly ill with the flu. For the actual performance, Chuck Liddell’s old partner Anna, danced with Mark. Here’s hoping it’s a good routine! Ooh, and they had a Samba this week! You know Lacey would have killed that. Hmm, it was a little awkward and it makes me a little sad! He was doing so well last week. But he definitely gave it his all to put as much personality in it as possible. This definitely hurt him with a score of 19/30! I hope they get some audience votes.

Apparent front-runners, Mýa & Dmitry, had the Foxtrot. And who did Dmitry call in to help inspire Mýa? Cloris Leachman!! Haha. Well, though I may hate to admit it, I think they really did well this week and certainly channeled old Hollywood. Too bad for them, Len did not like the routine. Not too surprising since Dmitry likes to push the envelope with his choreography. They still ended up with a 25/30 which is the highest score so far.

Aaron & Karina danced next and this week they had a Jive. Wow!! His feet were moving a mile a minute! It was like he was a teen idol from the 50s or something. It was really fantastic and this is the closest I think we have come to a perfect 30. They got a 29/30!!

My remaining faves, Kelly & Louis, heated up with dance floor this week a Salsa. Well, at least I’m hoping they heat things up. It was definitely high energy and she did really well. I just hope it’s enough for her to stay. They scored a 24/30 which puts them right in the middle of things.

The last solo dance of the night belonged to Joanna & Derek as they took on a Rumba. Hmm, since it’s another “sexy” dance, I’m sure she will do well and that the judges will love it. Okay, I thought she did well and I think she actually outdanced her natural sexiness, which is good. But I thought Derek’s choreography was a little jerky in some places. They scored a 27/30 which is pretty good.

Now for the team dances: Team Paso (Aaron & Karina, Mýa & Dmitry, Mark & Anna, Michael & Anna) vs. Team Tango (Joanna & Derek, Kelly & Louis, Donnie & Kym).

Team Paso seemed to have some issues during rehearsal with too many egos in the room! But they pulled it together and it was a pretty good performance. They received a 24/30 which will be added to each of their individual scores.

Team Tango seemed to have a better moral and work ethic. But does that translate into a good dance? Yes, it does! Their synchronicity was better and I think their solos were better, too. It was absolutely fantastic!!! As a team they got a 28/30, which will be added to their scores.

herring...and onions? no thank you!

2009-11-02T20:00:00.000-08:00

Windy weather and swinging clubs prove difficult on The Amazing Race.

The teams are now flying to Amsterdam and it’s a fight for the best flight at the airport. Looks like all of the teams are catching a midnight flight. And while all the teams sat down in the airport and chatted, Sam & Dan decided to come out to the rest of the teams. No one seemed too surprised and everyone took it well.

When the teams arrived, Brian & Ericka couldn’t get their car to start. But all of the other teams made it to the dam at the same time. From there, they had to travel to Martinitoren for their next clue. Once they got there, one member had to climb all of the stairs in the spire and count all of the bells. When they had their final number, they would get the next clue.

Father-son team, Gary & Matt made it down first and made their way to Vierhuizen de Marne for their next clue. However, they got stuck while getting directions, so Sam & Dan and Meghan & Cheyne made it out before them. All of the teams got the number of bells right on the first try except for Brian & Ericka. This was just not their leg of the race!

Sam & Dan made it to the Detour first and they had to choose between: Farmer’s Game, where they had to swim across a creek and play a version of croquet/golf, or Farmer’s Dance, where they had to hit a bell, learn a traditional dance, and then eat some traditional herring and onions! I would totally choose the golf one to avoid the herring and onions!

Turns out, Sam & Dan are really good at golf and were the first to leave for the Pit Stop. Meanwhile, Meghan couldn’t get a handle on the game and Brian & Ericka were still at the spire counting bells! Haha, and then Gary & Matt changed their minds and switched to golf after their realized they needed to eat herring!

On her fourth attempt, Ericka correctly counted 62 bells and made her way to the windmill, while Sam & Dan reached the pit stop and came in first place! Maria & Tiffany had over 30 attempts at the bell and still couldn’t ring the bell at the top, so they headed to gold. Not surprisingly, the Globetrotters hit it on the first try and made their way to the dance. Brian & Ericka finally caught up but forgot to get the bikes so they were walking to the dance! Haha!! I loved watching the Globetrotters dance! Maria decided to give up on the golf and they went back to the dance and continued with the bell. Oh my gosh! And then they decided to go back to the golf because they couldn’t ring the bell! And now, Brian & Ericka made it to the dance and rang the bell on the first try and succeeded in the dance. But I think they are going to be in trouble for not using the bikes.

And it did get them in trouble. They incurred a 30-minute penalty while they waited for the girls to finish with the gold challenge. After waiting 30 minutes, Maria & Tiffany still couldn’t complete their challenge and Bryan & Ericka took the last place on the race.

only the best can out-sew the best

2009-11-01T20:00:00.000-08:00

It’s a blast from the past on Project Runway.

Ooh, the designers are facing away from the runway when Heidi introduces their challenge. And when they turn around, each designer had their best look on the runway. Their challenge would be to create a companion piece for their best outfit. And poor Logan is the only one who has never had a winning look!

The chosen best looks were: Logan’s first Red Carpet look; Althea’s model challenge mini-tuxedo; Christopher’s VMA dress; Gordana’s wedding dress re-make; Irina’s Dynasty-tastic gross Aspen look; and Carol Hannah’s Christina Aguilera gown.

Okay, once again, I am really tired of Irina’s arrogance. And, really, Christopher? You want to just make your VMA dress but longer? Isn’t that exactly what your Victorian Vampire dress looked like?! I’m interested to see Logan’s new zipper dress and hoping that he can finally pull out a win!

Althea gets pissed after she sees that Logan’s collar is all made of zippers and apparently that was what she did on the Christina Aguilera challenge. I don’t even remember that! But she was cohorting with her bestest frenemy, Irina, to find a way to approach him about it. But instead of confronting him, she tells her model about it! And now Irina is complaining that Althea’s sweater is copying her design from last week! Well, one thing I know for sure is that Irina will not be quiet and I bet she will say something.

I don’t know what Heidi was wearing at elimination cause it was not cute! But I like how her silver metallic Bermudas matched Logan’s silver metallic skinny jeans! Ooh, and judging this week is Nick Verreos from Season 2, along with Nina Garcia and actress Kerry Washington.

Once again, Christopher fell in the bottom! It’s just awful and too reminiscent of his other pieces. And Irina’s outfit was too similar to her other outfit. Ugh, but lame judges loved it. FINALLY, Nina had a bad comment and thought that the dress looked cheap! Haha. The judges just hated Gordana’s outfit. I can’t say that I disagree because Matar looked so drab in it. Carol Hannah’s dress really wowed and I think she hit a homerun here. Even though she only does dresses, I’m okay with that! I mean, look at Uli from season 3. Poor Logan didn’t wow and I think this is the end for him. I think Althea did a great job and it was a perfect companion piece to her winning outfit. Now, surprisingly, it was Heidi who brought up the similarities between the oversize sweaters and Irina’s diva-tude really came out.

Althea won this challenge and I am so happy!! And I just loved seeing Irina’s face when the judges announced it. Oh, wow, Christopher is in! I would really hate to see his line of short and long bedskirt dresses coming down the runway. I hope he doesn’t make it to Bryant Park. So, it’s between Gordana and Logan for the bottom. Hmm, and Logan was eliminated. I saw this coming and it makes me sad.

steakhouse cooking vegetarian style

2009-10-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Finally, there's a threat to the Voltaggio brothers on Top Chef.

Greeting the chefs this week was Paul Bartolotta, a celebrated Italian cuisine chef. He introduced their Quick Fire Challenge of reinventing the TV dinner based on a popular TV show. Michael V. had Cheers, Jennfer had The Flintstones, Robin had Sesame Street, Eli had Gilligan's Island, Kevin had The Sopranos, Bryan had Mash, and Michael I. had Seinfeld.

Jennifer failed on her dish, as she knew she would, as did Robin. I really want Robin to go home but Jennifer is killing me with her mistakes! Bryan and Kevin were on the top this week and both of them are proving to be forces to be reckoned with. Kevin ended up winning and I think he could be a real threat to breaking up the Voltaggio brothers in the finals.

For their Elimination Challenge, the shefs would get to cook in craftsteak, which is Tom Coliccio's kitchen!! Naturally, they thought they would be cooking meats and steaks since he owns a steakhouse. Robin is dreading this challenge and that bodes well for my wishes to send her home.

The chefs were in for another surprise...Natalie Portman was in town and thwy would be cooking for her! But the real surprise is that she's a vegetarian, which is a little tricky for a steakhouse. This really threw the chefs for a loop but some were more confident than others. Robin, for example, was so confident, that she cooked a dish that she's never done before!

Robin dind't get all of her plates completed and missed the garbonza beans on three plates. However, her main issue was a too salty seasoning. Eli had a radish salad and some eggplants with smokey lentils. Michael V.'s dish was beautiful to look at and Natalie seemed to live the tastes of it. Jennifer, once again, was not confident in her dish. Ugh, and she was saucing the plated with a shaky hand and got sauce everywhere. Michael I. seemed so ecstatic to be serving for Natalie but his execution was not up to par. Bryan really messed up and didn't finish his plating, leaving a very bare plate. It looked like garnish!! But his dish did inspire some double entendres for the amusement of the dinner guests. Kevin's dish certainly isn't pretty to look at but I bet it's delicious.

None of the chefs really wowed this week and it's going to be hard to choose a winner and a loser. Kevin, Michael V., and Eli were called out at this week's best chegs. I think Michael V. has this one in the bag. Ooh, but Kevin won! I think it was probably a close call between Michael and Kevin. This just goes to prove that Kevin is definitely a threat to the brothers.

On the flip side, Robin, Jennifer, and Michael I. fell into the bottom. Michael I. hit some criticism for not having a protein on the plate. Robin just kept talking and talking! She does not know when to stop talking and she doesn't know how to cook either. Jennifer didn't really have anything to say about her dish becuase she knew it was crap. Oh, Mike was sent home! I still wish Robin had gone home but Michael I. was never my favorite.

destination: model island

2009-10-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Petite models jetset sent to a petite location on ANTM.

When the girls arrived home from judging panel, they found their home completely red-taped off. They were told that their place was so dirty and disgusting! And, frankly, it was! I would hate to live there and they should be embarrassed. But, it was just an excuse for Tyra to tell the girls that their destination for this cycle was going to be...wait for it...Hawaii. That destination deserves no exclamation point from me. And I constantly use exclamation points! (<--- case in point)

Their first Hawaiian Tyra Mail said something about "catching a break" and the dumb girls thought it meant something about fishing. However, I'm betting it's something about surfing. Oh, and it looks like I was right! So, the girls learned to surf. I gotta say, they picked it up pretty quickly!

And that turned into a Photo Challenge. The models had to pose while surfing with some pretty hunky surfers! Poor little Laura was just turning into a tomato under the sun. Erin took home the win and she chose Nicole and Brittany to go with her on the helicopter tour of Maui. I'm surprised she chose Brittany because I thought they hated each other! But Erin is totally the kind of girl who would following the saying "keep your friends close and your enemies closer." And leave it to her to complain about her prize not being good enough.

For their real photo shoot, the girls found out that Tyra was shooting them. Hmm, the girls needed to portray two different races. This was justified by the fact that a lot of Hawaiians are hoppa, or of mixed race. Hmm, weird! But I think it could be quite beautiful and interesting to see.

Challenge winner, Erin, really fell apart on set and I'm not too surprised. Laura just turned it out and it was so beautiful. Laura completely didn't look like herself and it was very National Geographic. Jennifer did not do so well in the beginning but really improved toward the end. Brittany got stuck in her head and was just too posey. Sundai finally came out of her shell and seemed to do well.

Joining the judging panel this week was Kirsty Hume, international supermodel. Not surprisingly, Nicole took home the best photo of the week. It was so fierce and really beautiful. She was followed by Jennifer, Laura, and Sundai. That left frenemies Brittany and Erin in the bottom two together.

Ugh, Erin stayed and Brittany was sent home. I think Brittany really wanted it more whereas Erin expects to win.

a weight loss face-off

2009-10-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

The Biggest Loser was a night of major losses both in pounds and in teammates.

Rudy found himself shocked when Dina didn't come back through the doors after elimination. He was sad but it seemed like it was a team decision. But the Blue Team knew that this team had planned to send her home all along.

Alison told the contestants that each person would be weighing-in head-to-head with a person of the opposite team. They face-off of the scale and whoever lost the most percentage would win a point for them team. The team with the fewest points at the end would be sent to the elimination room.

So, who got to choose the face-offs? Whoever won the Pop Challenge! Each team had a limbo-style bar and two small disks hanging above them. A member from each team would need to bob under the bar and hit the disks. Only one person from each team could compete at once and they could only compete once durig the entire competition. The first team to make 500 hits would win.

Tracey and Abby faced off first with Abby really making a lead. But she started feeling injured again and stopped at 20 hits. Shay took her place and went to 104 while Tracey finished her 100 hits and traded with Allen. When Shay finished, Danny took over but his slower pace allowed Allen to take a lead. Amanda started picking up the pace for the Black Team and outlast Liz on the Blue Team. So, Rudy took over for Liz and it was a battle between him and Amanda. She did a good job of keeping up, but the Black Team left Daniel to finish the last 150 points! When the Blue Team hit 400 points, Rebecca came in to finish it off. And finish it she did!

The Blue Team's win allowed them to make the choice of the face-offs for the weigh in. This is what they chose: Rebecca vs. Amanda, Tracey vs. Abby, Allen vs. Danny, Rudy vs. Shay, Liz vs. Daniel. Hmm, this should be interesting! I personally like the Blue Team more but I hope that Tracey loses her weigh-in because I like Abby more.

Amanda just completely lost it and broke down.I'm not sure what happened. I don't know if it was the pressure of the face-off or knowing that she really was starting to make a difference in her life and there was no turning back.

The contestants met Alison at a baseball diamond and received a message from Derek Jeter. Scattered around the outfield were 2000+ baseballs that they needed to collect and throw at the larger-than-life-sized photos of their opponents. Once a team member had 316 baseballs in their photo booth, they were out of the game. Abby and Tracey needed to sit out again on this challenge.

The first player out was Allen, followed by Amanda. Rebecca was out next and then Daniel. That left Shay, Danny, Liz, and Rudy still in the game. Sweet little Liz was the sole remaining Blue Team member left after Rudy was picked off. I am starting to get really annoyed with Shay and her "underdog" talk. The Black Team won their first challenge and their prizes were a cooked lunch from Curtis Stone and a 2-pound advantage.

While Abby was working out, I think I saw the most human moment from Jillian. She stopped Abby from exercising to ask her how she was doing and Jillian just talked to her as another person and not as her trainer.

Now it's time for the weigh in and here's how it broke down:

Rebecca vs. Amanda

Amanda: -4 pounds; plus 2-pound advantage

Rebecca: -9 pounds

+1 point Blue Team

Tracey vs. Abby

Abby: -3 pounds

Tracey: -5 pounds

+1 point Blue Team

Allen vs. Danny

Danny: -12 pounds

Allen: -8 pounds

+1 point Black Team

Liz vs. Daniel

Daniel: -5 pounds

Liz: -7 pounds

+1 point Blue Team - Blue Team officially wins weigh-in

Rudy vs. Shay

Shay: -9 pounds

Rudy: -14 pounds - lost 101 pounds in 7 weeks!

+1 point Blue Team

So, it was a dramatic night with Tracey now under 200 pounds, Rudy lost over 101 pounds with Dane there to see his record broken, and now Abby sacrificing herself. I really hope that she doesn't go home because I just love her! I think Daniel needs to go home. Obviously something is not working for him here and maybe he needs to figure that out on his own.

At elimination, Abby was certainly expecting to go home. I really hoped that her teammates would have gone against her wished but they didn't and Abby was sent home.

new pairs, new dances, new moves

2009-10-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

So You Think You Can Dance is doing things a little diferent this season.

First, there was a performance show Monday night to "get to know the contestants" better and see who got paired with who. My DVR somehow missed that and I'm kinda glad for it. That just means that I will be surprised tonight by the pairings!

Also, because of the MLB World Series, the first two weeks mean no results shows and voting for your favorites. I like this new sped up process! So, after the Top 20 perform tonight, two dancers will be going home.

Hmm, this just seems so weird to be watching this in October and not July. And now Adam Shankman is a permanent judge which means some longwinded critiques for sure!

Now, onto the first pairing...Channing & Phillip. Ugh, I hate Phillip. He seems worse than Brandon from last season in terms of arrogance. I hate looking at his face!! Choreography Jason Gilkison had his work cut out for him by teaching this pair the Jive. There was just no chemistry with this pair, though I think Channing did well with it and looked like a cute little bird. Okay...next!

Ashleigh & Jakob came next with a sultry Broadway rutine. I know that Ashleigh always fell into her husband Ryan's shadow but I've always liked her! And thye got to work with Tyce Diorio! This definitely was one of Tyce's more toned down danced but I loved it! This is a power couple for sure.

The next couple is Ariana & Peter. She seems a little boring and blah while Peter is an unconventional tapper. Ooh, but they have a Hip Hop routine by NappyTabs! Hmm, well, in my opinion, he did a lot better but she was not so convincing. I think Ariana is completely forgettable but Peter has some chance at going much farther.

Noelle & Russell were the next couple, but complications arose for them from the beginning. Noelle injured herself this week so she can't compete. And they had a Foxtrot by Tony Meredith to tackle. So, in Noelle's place, Tony's partner, Melanie, danced with Russell. I think it would only be fair to send Noelle home tonight due to her injury. Russell, on the other hand, was very surprising in this dance and did quite well.

Following them was Bianca & Victor. Now, she is great, but Victor is a little unknown in this competition so far. Oh, gosh, but they have a Travis Wall Contemporary piece!! Oh, this better be good and live up to Travis's genius. Ah, it was so good!!! Everything that a Travis Wall piece should be.

Hmm, unknown couple Karen & Kevin had a Cha Cha with Tony Meredith this week. She seems like an over-the-top ballroom diva and Kevin is a model who dances. BUT they danced to Push It from the Glee cast!! Honestly, I think the Glee cast could have danced this better than this pair and sang it at the same time! Not impressed at all. Ugh, and she was on the Hot Tamale Train. Come on, Mary! Do not let her be this season's Janette.

Ellenore & Ryan had a Contemporary routine from Sonya! Ugh, I like Ellenore until she started getting all cocky on us. You should watch your words, miss, and not seems so much like an expert on dance already. It was a good routine, though. Great, in fact. I just wish it hadn't been ruined for me by stupid Ellenore's arrogance.

The newest couple, Pauline & Brandon, took on a Smooth Waltz from Jason Gilkison. Now, I say newest couple because Brandon just recently joined the Top 20 after front runner Billy Bell had to back out due to poor health. And Pauline, if you remember, didn't even perofmr the last two rounds in Vegas week due to an injured ankle. So, there is a lot going against this couple. Well, they certainly had chemistry and it was super cute to watch. But, it wasn't completely up to par for the judges.

Kathryn & Legacy went primal with a Dave Scott Hip Hop routine. Oh, this was fantastic! So creative with the caveman theme and so well danced by the pair of them. This is probably my favorite couple of the season so far!! I have always loved Legacy and now I love him even more. And Kathryn really surprised me. Love it!!!

Last for the night was my fave boy ever, Nathan, and his partner, the sweetly annoying Mollee. And they had the dreaded Disco from Doriana Sanchez. Gosh, it was so fast and just jammed with tricks and lifts. I don't know how they did it! And they have to be the youngest pairing this season so for them to do a Disco seemed strange. But it was awesome! They may be my second favorite couple.

Now the judges needed to nominate two guys and two girls to dance for their lives. They called out Ariana, Brandon, Pauline, and Russell. Not too surprised by any of these choices and I really hope that Ariana goes home. She's a bore-fest! And I want Brandon to get another chance in this competition.

No surprise, Ariana's solo was boring and predictable. Russell killed it in traditional Krumping style. Loved it! Pauline didn't wow in her solo and I feel like she is way better than that. Oh, I just loved Brandon's solo! I want him to stay!

Hmm, I was right! Miss Boring, Ariana, was sent home. I can't belive that she would have made it to the Top 20 over Ashleigh! Ah, bummer. Brandon got sent home but I thought that Nigel's quest to allow him to come back next season was very fair and nice.

not all good things come in twos

2009-10-28T08:00:00.000-07:00

Double eliminations mean double trouble for the stars on DWTS.

So, I was almost right with my predictions last night. All three stars that I named actually were in the bottom three, just in the wrong order. Melissa Joan Hart had the lowest scores of the night and she was booted out of the competition. Then, Louie Vito and Michael Irvin battled it out ballroom style to stay in the competition. Sadly, my favorite little hobbit of a dancer, Louie Vito, was nixed.

Now we head into another double elimination week and things are not looking good for some of my favorites! Eek.

mambo marathon madness!

2009-10-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

With two weeks of double eliminations looming, the stars on DWTS stepped it up to marathon status!

Dancing the first Jitterbug of the night was Mýa & Dmitry. Will she be able to show some personality in this dance? Ugh, at least 30 seconds in the beginning of the dance were wasted to nonsense and "storytelling"! And Mýa was thinking too much about it that it didn't really come off as being genuine. Bruno must have been watching a different dance than everyone else because he loved it while I completely agree with Carrie Ann's and Len's comments. They ended up with a 24/30 which I think was better than she deserved.

Melissa & Mark took the stage next with a Waltz. Hmm, it seemed a little stiff and not flowy enough. I think this could put them in serious danger. But she did look beautiful. Unfortunately, that just isn’t enough to get great scores. None of the judges particularly loved the performance and I can’t say that I blame them! Needless to say, they didn’t do so well with the scores because they received a 20/30.

Mark & Lacey danced a Jitterbug next and gosh was it just the cutest thing ever. It was just crazy full of energy and I think he just keeps getting better and better.The judges just loved it and gave them 26/30 which is the best of the night so far!

Bottom Two feeders Aaron & Karina had the Waltz this week and you know they were hoping to redeem themselves with this dance. Haha, Aaron kinda looked like Yu-Gi-Oh on the dance floor! But he danced really well and I think it was a really beautiful Waltz. I think this dance could definitely boost his scores and audience votes. They got a 25/30 which is really good! But I’m still waiting for that one perfect 30 dance to come and hopefully it comes tonight.

The pair of nine lives, Michael & Anna, somehow managed to live another week in this competition and danced a Waltz this week. I’m not so sure that Michael will be able to pull off the elegance needed for a Waltz. Ugh, and I hated Anna’s dress. Aww, he is just so fun to watch and he seems so happy! He did better than I expected him to but the judges were left a little confused. For once, Len loved the dance with Carrie Ann and Bruno were not so pleased. The duo scored a 20/30 which really puts them in danger.

Kelly & Louis had the Jitterbug and I think she will really well with this dance! It certainly was cute but I think a little safe. Maybe that was due to Kelly’s foot injury. It could have been better but I think it was a good effort. She just needs to stop being so scared about performing and she will win this competition! Oh no, the judges scores put her at a 20/30 which is no good at all.

Eek, my favorite cutsie couple of the season, Louie & Chelsie, have the Jitterbug this week and I greatly hope that Louie can finally make it this week. Oh, well it was certainly very cute and high energy. But I think Chelsie fell in the middle of it! And they kissed at the end…so cute! Hmm, they got a 21/30 which is not the worst so perhaps they have some life in them yet.

After last week’s stumble, Joanna & Derek are hoping to make their way back up the leader board. I think it was probably the best Waltz of the night but still nothing perfect score worthy. They tied for the top spot with a 26/30 and only one couple left to dance.

Last week’s highest scoring couple, Donny & Kym, took on the Jitterbug this week and I can just bet that it’s going to be good. Gosh it was cute and exactly what a Jitterbug should be! I think this could that perfect dance I’ve been waiting all season for!! But alas, it was wishful thinking. They only got a 24/30 and I think they deserved a higher score.

And now for the Mambo Marathon! So, this is going to be typical dance competition style where all couples dance at once and when a coupe receives a tap on the shoulder that means they’re out. The first couple out gets 2 points and the last couple standing gets 10 points. Here is how the marathon broke down:

Michael & Anna: +2 points
Louie & Chelsie: +3 points
Melissa & Mark: +4 points
Kelly & Louis : +5 points
Mark & Lacey : +6 points
Donny & Kym: +7 points
Aaron & Karina: +8 points
Mýa & Dmitry: +9 points
Joanna & Derek: +10 points

Now, I have to slightly disagree with the judges’s choices. I think that Aaron & Karina were the best and Mýa & Dmitry didn’t actually do that much and weren’t trying all that hard.

Predictions for tomorrow: Michael will get the lowest score and Louie will lose the dance battle to Melissa.

a slide worth its weight in gold

2009-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

A spot in the Amazing Race could be worth its weight in gold.

Meghan & Cheyne were the first to depart and headed toward the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club for their next clue. The clue instructed them to row an inflatable dinghy to a yacht to meet a sheikh who would give them a watch, per traditional Arab custom. The time on the watch would be the combination to open the briefcase they chose before departing for the Yacht Club. Inside the briefcase was their next clue.

Meghan & Cheyne rowed to the yacht and back before any of the other teams caught up with them. And they were smart enough to realize that the time on the watch was the combination, so they lost no time finding their next clue in the briefcase, instructing them to head to Abra Station, a water taxi station.

The next eam to arrive was Brian & Ericka and they should maintain a pretty good lead over the other teams, especially since the Globetrotters arrived at the wrong Yacht Club! So, father-son team Gary & Matt were able to move ahead a bit with the absense of the Globetrotters. And when they got their, Big Easy couldn't figure out how to row the boat!! Instead of using the oars, he decideed just to use his oversized arms! Too bad he couldn't figure out the combination and I felt so bad for him! In fact, all of the teams made it out before them.

Upon arriving at Abra station, the teams faced their first detour: Gold or Glass. In Gold, the teams would need to weigh out exactly $500,000 worth of gold by paying attention to the exchange rate, which is constantly changing every few seconds. In Glass, the teams would need to assemble 12 hookahs from a crate. Meghan & Cheyne chose the Glass challenge. While Meghan was struggling with the Hookah's, Brian & Erika headed to the Gold station and realized that the challenge seemed harder than it looked. This detour seemed to get all of the teams in a panic, causing Brian & Erika to change their plan and go with Glass.

At the Gold station, the math skills of Maria & Tiffany combined with Dan & Sam's calculator caused them to easily pass through the round and head to the Atlantis Palm Resort for their next challenge. They had to go down the large waterslide at nearly a 90˚ angle and travel through a tube that went through a shark tank. After making it down the slide, the teams had to race to Dolphin Bay Beach for the Pit Stop.

After nearly 3 different attempts, Brian & Erika finally completed the Hookah challenge and made it the Pit Stop behind Meghan & Cheyne (who made it first), Maria & Tiffay, and Sam & Dan. Arriving 6th a the water slide, Mika & Canaan met their worst challenge yet. Mika is afraid of both water and heights so this was literally this worst challenge for her. Now, I do think that she was being a little childish and she had to wear some water floaties, Canaan was acting very rude to her. He actually tried to throw her down the slide! It was horrible and I bet her parents and fmaily and not going to be too hard to see that little skirmish on TV!

Once the Globetrotters arrived at the slide, Mika & Canaan had 2 minutes to complete the challenge and the time passed. So, the Globetrotters, who didn't help matters by making Mika more afraid, made it down first. Mika decided not to complete the challenge and they were the last team to arrive, thus being eliminated. Hmm, not sure how that relationship is going to pan out after the show!

travel through fashion...but don't go to greece

2009-10-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Project Runway travelled to the ends of the Earth through design and inspirtation.

The designers met Tim on Rodeo Drive in Michael Kors's shop! They were given 7 different locations that have inspired Michael Kors in the past and their challenge was to create a look inspired by that look.

Carol Hannah chose first since she won the last challenge and she chose Palm Beach. Nicolas chose Greece, Althea chose St. Tropez, Gordana chose New York, Irina chose Aspen, Christopher chose Santa Fe, which left Logan with Hollywood.

Irina is thinking that her $150 budget is not enough to make a winter outfit. Well, then why did you choose Aspen!? Ugh, I hate her guts. And she is not the only one feeling the pressure. All of the other designers know how important this one is with Michael Kors being the main critic and judge on this one. And with only one day to complete the challenge, this is only adding to the pressure of it all!!

In a not good showing, Tim didn't have anything really positive to say about any of the outfits. And then Nicolas started freaking out about his top because it was too Grecian goddess. Um, hello! Your inspiration is Greece! As long as you're not too literal with it, having your top be a little Grecian looking is okay!

Milla Jovovich served as this week's guest judge!! And staples Michael Kors and Nina Garcia were both back so it felt like a regular Project Runway show.

After the runway, Althea was called out as being safe, leaving all of the other designers on the runway as the best and the worst designers this week. I'm not really sure how much the judges liked Irina's design. They had some good things to say about it, but at the same time called it 80's and a fantasy. Christopher hoped that this week would be his redeeming week, but that did not happen for him. He should have listened to Tim's advice that the rest of the garment needed to be as interesting as the belt because it definitely wasn't. The accents on Carol Hannah's dress really sold the judges and they loved the simplicity of it but also praised the choice of her print. Nicolas's version of Greece did not translate to the judges. New York worked well for Gordana and her dress and necklace worked really well. Poor Logan didn't push the envelope this week though his outfit was well made. Like Michael Kors said, it's clothing but not fashion.

Ugh, stupid Irina won this challenge. This is going to cause her already inflated ego to get even bigger. So, the three remaining men in the competition all risked elimination! Looks more and more like a woman is going to win this season. And with that, Nicolas was sent home.

Seriously, Christopher must be on his last life in this competition because he was saved yet again! Not that I wanted him to go him over Nicolas, but he is just way too lucky. So, off goes the crazy little costume designer that could (or couldn't). And his exit got Milla emotional and that just caused me to love her more than I already did!

restaurant wars = brother woes

2009-10-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Tensions were afire on Top Chef.

Rick Moonen served as the guest judge this week and introduced the first ever Tag Team Quick Fire Challenge. To test their teamwork, of course. Upon drawing knives, the cheftestants relaized that they were all blank. But Jennifer's said First Choice and Michael V.'s said Second Choice. Jennifer chose Kevin, Mike I., and Laurine while Michael V. chose his brother Bryan, Eli, and was stuck with Robin.

Oh man, this seems impossible! All four chefs on a team had to create a dish and they would only have a few minutes each. And they were not allowed to discuss the dish and while they weren't cooking, the other chefs had to remain blindfolded! This certainly seemed challenging for the chefs and I don't know which team will win. Jennifer's Team won and they had the chance to split $10,000 for the High Stakes Challenge or "let it ride" to each win $10,000 if they won the Elimination Challege, which is...

Restaurant Wars!! Jennifer's team decided not to do a dessert because none of them felt confident with it and I think that's a fair choice. The Voltaggio brothers definitely had some tension between them and sharing a team with Robin didn't help matters for them and Eli! This will really be interesting to see how things turn out in the kitchens.

Each team had to have a front of house person. Jennifer's team went with Laurine and the Voltaggio team went with Eli. The Voltaggio restaurant was named REVOLT, for Robin, Eli, VOLTaggio. It was interesting, but the judges were not so impressed with the name. Turns out Robin was right in thinking that the name brought to mind revolting. The first dish did pretty well with the judges, particularly Michael V.'s chicken, but they struggled to get out the 2nd dish in a timely manner. But once it game out, Michael's second dish wowed again. Too bad his attitude in the kitchen didn't wow his teammates. Thankfully for this team, their desserts turned out well and they may not fall under the curse of desserts during Restaurant Wars.

Jennifer's team called themselves Mission to represent simplicity and refinement. When the guests arrived, both kitchens were a little behind and not ready to serve people. Laurine's hostess skills weren't too great and the judges definitely took note. Once again, the second course came out late, but it seemed to be more of an issue than the last team. Jennifer was responsible for the two main fish dishes and the judges were not happy with these dishes. Kevin struggled with the heat of the lamb but he did well with the pork dish. And while the team thought it was a good idea not to include a dessert, the judges found themselves missing that dish. I think it's pretty clear that this team will lose.

The REVOLT restaurant crew was called out first, which meant good news for them. Toby made sure to comment on their name and the fact that Eli was clearly underdressed as the front of house manager. But all of the chefs were praised for their dishes. Michael V. ended up being the winner and I completely agree. His dishes were amazing, well, from what I could tell, that is! He won a signed copy of Rick Moonen's book, as well as the $10,000 that the Blue Team gambled from the Quick Fire Challenge. He chose to split the money with his team.

Now for the losing Mission restaurant. I think that Laurine will be sent home because her dish wasn't super great and she was a horrible hostess. No one on the team escaped critcism. Man, just when I thought that Jennifer was back on the top of her game, she does this and risks being sent home! While the other team was touted as the best restaurant in the history of Restaurant Wars, I think this team could be the worst! Thankfully, Laurine was sent home and I agree. While I don't like Mike Isabella, I didn't want Kevin or Jennifer to go home because they are just too good.

I can't wait for next week when Natalie Portman guest stars!

your top 20 dancers are...

2009-10-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

So You Think You Can Dance goes from 152 dance to the Top 20.

Ooh, the show has a new intro. I like that you can recognize some of the past dancers like Phillip, Jeanine, and Kherrington (maybe?) but not sure if I like the look of it.

After some tough days in Vegas, the remaining 38 dancers waited backstage to find out if they would make it to the Top 20. And deciding their fate was Mary Murphy, Nigel Lithgoe, Adam Shankman, Debbie Allen, Mia Michaels, and Tyce Diorio.

My early favorite, Nathan, found out his fate first and I just know that he's going to make it. He's just too fantastic not to make it! And, of course, he did! Aww, sweet little Georgia peach, Kathryn McCormack, kept crying and her voice just got higher and higher as she got more emotional. And it just kept going when she made it into the Top 20. The show met a first this season by putting a Krumper through to the Top 20! And for another first, Bianca Revels became the first tapper to ever appear in the Top 20. In fact, two other tappers joined her! B-Boy legend, Legacy, made it to the Top 20, also, and I'm so happy for him.

The final men's space came down between two ballroom dancers. That last space went to Ryan, who had to see if his wife would take the final woman's space. And that final woman's spot also came down to two ballroom dancers. Surprisingly, Ashleigh also made it to the Top 20 after contemporary dancer Paula Van Oppen turned down the offer because she was always contractually obligated for a movie. Lame.

Tune in next week for the first performances of the Top 20!

lights, camera, covergirl

2009-10-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

ANTM goes Lights, Camera, Action!

Monotone miss Nicole started to let her hair down, and spinning around, after she was told that she didn't have a great personality. And of course this into a challenge where the girls meet Lara Spencer of The Insider and comedian Ant. They all took a page from Lara's book and interviewed Ant, who was pretending to be different fake characters each team. And, wow, did Nicole completely bomb! After their "practice", Ann Shoket, EIC of Seventeen Magazine, told the girls that they were going to be interviewing Jessice Lowndes from 90210. And the winner would get to be in a fashion spread in Seventeen.

And poor Laura is dislexic and she had to read from a teleprompter! And what do you know? They played some tricks on the girls and had the teleprompter stop in the middle of the interview! Laura was the hands down winner and she chose Jennifer and Rae to join the photo shoot with her.

For the shoot this week, the girls found out that they would be filming their first Covergirl commercial. And this time, they had to write their own script! They received little packages with products and a timer because their commercials could only be 25 seconds.Ugh, and lame-o Teyona met the girls gor their commercial. It just made me remember how much I hated her and how much Allison deserved to win last cycle!

Nigel was directing this shoot and Jay coached them on their scripts before they went out to Nigel. Nicole had a really great script and she did better than I expected her to. Sundai was just horrible!! Jennifer was just a pro on it and was so incredible natural. Aww, Laura really struggled with the lines but I think she had a sweet little script. Brittany ended up being the monotone one on this commercial and it was not pretty. Rae also struggled and she was completely forgettable. She is starting to show that she is the most boring person ever. After being so confident, Erin really lost focus and failed on this shoot! She kept crying and messing up.

Ugh, ultra-lame, Kim Kardashian was the guest judge this week. What the heck does she know about being a model!? Seriously, this is the worst cycle for guest judges. Jennifer won best commercial of the week and i am not at all surprised. She did so well. That put Rae and Erin in the bottom two and I really think that Rae will go home. She was just so horrible with her commercial and she is just so boring! No one would ever want to cast her or remember her for that matter! Erin is actually a good model and has personality so I was not surprised that she was saved by the judges.

swimmers and the dance floor just don't match

2009-10-21T23:28:00.000-07:00

Another star bites the dust on DWTS.

Though he did better this week, Aaron Carter found himself in the bottom two again this week. But he was saved when it was announced that Natalie Coughlin was the one to go home this week.

I'm really surprised by this news because Natalie is such a good dancer! I think she just didn't show it enough in her face when she danced. We'll see how the Mambo-Off works out next week!

some "losers" get sent home

2009-10-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

The Black Team found themselves shocked when Tracey walked through the door instead of Coach Mo on The Biggest Loser.

Ugh, I am so sick of Tracey. "Oh, I'm so happy to be on a treadmill." I seriously hate every word that comes out of her mouth!

For the first challenge, the teams would have to find all of their four keys hidden somewhere in the sand. And they would need all four of the keys to open the four locks on the treasure chests. Since Tracey and Abbey still needed to sit out due to injuries, the Black Team needed to choose another player to sit out. Amanda volunteered herself since she doesn't like sand, haha! The teams had no idea what they were going to be playing for, but they just knew that it was going to be a big reward.

After 10 minutes, no one had gotten their keys yet. I didn't know that the keys were inside boxes that were really deep! Danny was the first to get his box out of the sand after 20 minutes of digging! Once he unlocked his lock, he went to help Daniel open his box. Alan was smart to help Rudy after he got his key because now both Rudy and Alan can help the other Blue Team members to get out their boxes. That paid off when they got to Liz's case next and then all three went to help out Rebecca. With 40 minutes gone by, Rebecca opened the last lock for the Blue Team to find out that their prize was...

Tickets Home! If they wanted them. They got to choose to take them, as a team, or give them to the Black Team. So, they decided to send the Black Team home to see their families for a whole week. Danny was right when he said it was a sweet pain. Yes, they would get to see their families but that meant they wouldn't get to have their trainers for a whole week. This should be interesting.

But, before we get to the strategic pitfalls of these trips, the waterworks were on full blast as the contestants created their families. I didn't even know that Shay was married and had step-children!

Back at the ranch, the Blue Team had a major workout with Bob! I hope that they do well this week so that they don't lose the weigh-in and look stupid for sending the other team home. Though it looks like the Black Team is staying pretty motivated while at home because they know the odds are against them. More than one player seemed to have an epiphany of sorts throughout the week and I hope that translates into good numbers for everyone.

Now it was time for the weigh-in and I think both teams are dreading it a bit. Here is how things broke down:

Blue Team

Alan: -8 lbs.
Rebecca: -5 lbs.
Tracey: -4 lbs.
Liz: -4 lbs.
Rudy: -14 lbs.
Total: -35 lbs.; 2.56% loss

Black Team

Amanda: -6 lbs.
Shay: -5 lbs.
Abby: -4 lbs.
Dina: -5 lb.
Danny: -15 lbs.
Daniel: +1 lbs.
Total: -34 lb.; 1.98% loss

So, the Blue Team's choice proved to be a good one for them as the Black Team would be heading to elimination. Danny had the highest percentage of weight loss, so he had immunity for this elimination which made things a little bit better for him. It seems like the Black Team is not on the same page with their decisions, completely opposite from the Blue Team last week. Sadly, Dina was sent home. I think she kept to herself a little too much and wasn't as "inspirational" as Daniel was. I really hope for her sake that she can do this at home because she was just starting to get confidence and feel like she deserved to stay on the ranch.

it takes an osmond to tango

2009-10-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

Passion and power reigned on the dance floor on DWTS.

Oh no!! What the heck is going on with Samatha’s hair?! It looks like some awful cavewoman style. All she needs to do is wear Logan’s outfit from Project Runway and she would have a pretty convincing Halloween costume there!

Back to the dancers, each couple would be dancing two dances this week! They would be dancing either an Argentine Tango or a Paso Doble and then the group Hustle.

Taking the floor first was Natalie & Alec with a Paso Doble. Hmm, I gotta say that the song this week really hurt them. It was just not a Paso Doble song and I think it sort of made all of the choreography seem a little gimmicky. They danced to American Woman and the song was so upbeat and fun that their serious attitude while dancing just didn’t fit. They scored a 22/30 which is a bit lower than last week but still not too bad.

Aaron & Karina narrowly missed elimination last week and they are hoping that their Argentine Tango will keep them safe this week. Wow, I have to say that this was really good! It definitely had that mature sexiness that Karina was trying to get out of Aaron and the choreography itself was quite amazing. Aww, and he was so nervous to get the judges results! They got a 24/30 which is a pretty good upgrade from last week.

Undoubtedly the weakest pair in the competition, Michael & Anna took on a Paso Doble. Another really horrible song for the Paso Doble but much better danced. This was by far Michael’s best dance and for perhaps the first time ever, I thought Anna’s choreography was good! HAHA! Michael actually put a nickel between his butt cheeks to get the right posture for the dance and he gave it to Bruno as a momento of sorts. Everything definitely seemed to pay off because he received a 21/30 which is their best score of the season.

The Argentine Tango should be a piece of cake for Mýa & Dmitry. After all, she was in Chicago and the style of her main number in the movie is not so different from this. No surprises here. It was fantastic and Dmitry definitely knows how to choreograph a Tango. After all, he was nominated for an Emmy for his tango involving fellow pro Chelsie on SYTYCD. They received a 27/30 and I am just waiting now for that perfect 30 dance.

Mark & Lacey danced the Paso Doble and they surely went for theatrics! But I think it played really well because I think this was certainly Mark’s best dance. He was strong, confident, powerful, and sexy – just like what a man should be when dancing the Paso! They scored a 26/30 which is way up there for this couple.

Donnie & Kym danced the Argentine Tango this week and I sincerely hope that he can pull off the passion required for this dance. This dance really showed how good of a dancer Kym is! And Donnie did really well with keeping up with everything. I think he is just getting better and better. WOW! With the highest score so far, they received a 29/30 with two tens from Carrie Ann and Bruno!

Aww, the sweetest little couple ever, Louie & Chelsie, danced an Argentine Tango and I hope that the honest chemistry these two have translates on the dance floor. Well, it certainly did. It was the most intimate they had been on the dance floor yet and it was almost just too much to handle. Sure, I might be a bit biased because I just love these two but it was just so perfect. These two jumped 6 points from last week, scoring a 22/30.

Melissa & Mark had the Argentine Tango also but ran into some problems when Mark got sick during rehearsals. I hope that doesn’t bring them down this week! They had some big shoes to fill after last week bit I think these two are working better as a pair after it because they were incredibly in sync with each other. Hmm, I didn’t see any missed steps that Bruno was talking about. They scored a 23/30 which drops them a bit from last week but not too much.

It looks like the guyliner proved popular for Kelly & Louis because he wore it again for the Paso Doble! Oooh, they danced to one of Ozzy’s songs and I think that totally helped with the performance because it was so high energy. She’s continuing to grow each week and the fans really seem to love her. She got a 24/30 which is her highest score yet.

A new partnership was formed this week for the last Argentine Tango of the night. With Derek Hough out sick, Maks filled in as Joanna’s partner. Well, she certainly had the femme fatale character down and it sure was nice to see Maks back on the dance floor! It was a little shaky in some places but they did pretty well under the circumstances. Wow, they still got a 24/30 even after a major misstep in the routine.

And finishing of the night was the group Hustle. It was fun to see all of the costumes. It really felt like a 70s era variety show! Aw, it really was super cute.

Predictions: Sadly, I think Louie & Chelsie may be going home. But I still love them so!

dubai is a land of contrasts

2009-10-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

The countries on The Amazing Race prove to be lands of contrast for the competing teams.

Sam & Dan headed off first since Justin & Zev were eliminated at the last leg for not having Zev’s passport. They were the first to leave for their newest destination, the world’s tallest building in Dubai. However, they weren’t told that Dubai was the country and the teams had to figure that out on their own.

All of the teams made the same flight through Bangkok and it was a race to the water fountain at the Address Hotel for their next challenge. The teams were split into two groups of four and made their way to the 125th floor! I thought they would have to repel down the building or something but all the clue said was that they needed to find a marked car in a parking garage next door! Well, there was the option of the Fast Forward, but still! Nothing like what it could have been.

Stupid Lance & Keri got lost again while looking for their car. They get lost doing the stupidest things sometimes. I want them to just leave.

Meghan & Cheyne took the risk of going for the Fast Forward and they were the first team to arrive. So, if they complete it, they can skip all other tasks and go straight to the Pit Stop. In order to complete the task, Cheyne needed to drive in a racecar and complete an entire lap on a racetrack in under 45 seconds! Luckily for Meghan & Cheyne, he completed the track in 40 seconds! So, they headed straight for the Pit Stop at Souk Madinat Jumeirah, an Arabian-style resort.

The other teams headed to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve and drove 4x4s to some awaiting camels. Once they found the camel, they needed to search for water in the desert in some select urns throughout the desert. Oh man, this looks so hard! This would be such a nightmare for me because you could so easily get lost!

Back in the desert, Brian & Ericka completed the water search first and they showed such grace by telling the other teams where the water was. I hope it just doesn’t come back to bite them in the butt later because they are so nice! The teams that completed the water search they headed to Ski Dubai, a huge indoor ski resort!

Oh, but as they were leaving, Maria & Tiffany drove over a stake and broke their radiator. Sam & Dan decided to wait with them since the girls helped them get water when their ladle was broken. Since their car was considered inoperable, a replacement car was sent for them.

Upon arriving at Ski Dubai, the teams hit a Detour. They could choose to Find a Snowman, where they search in a huge snow mound for a tiny little snowman, or Build a Snowman, where they needed to bring snow to the heat and build a traditional snowman. All of the teams chose to find a snowman and it seems so impossible! Brian & Ericka found the miniscule snowman first and headed to the Pit Stop.

Yay! Lance & Kerri were eliminated from the race. I know I shouldn’t rejoice in other peoples’ misfortune but in the case, I can’t help it!

sequined panties do not make christina aguilera happy

2009-10-18T17:06:00.000-07:00

The designers get “Dirrty” and sparkly on Project Runway.

Aww, poor Christopher, is crying because he’s been “misunderstood” lately. To be honest, his attitude is bothering the crap out of me. He’s becoming too much of a diva from his early successes.

The designers met Tim Gunn and Bob Mackie, famed fashion and costume designer. Following in his footsteps, the designers were challenged to create an elaborate stage costume à la Bob Mackie. And their design needed to tailor their look to Christina Aguilera. I don’t know why they chose her. Maybe if they chose Beyoncé or even like Taylor Swift…just someone who would actually have need of a bedazzled stage costume!

Haha, Nicolas is like is design heaven right now because he is a costumer. I hope for him that he doesn’t fail on this one but I secretly hope for myself that he does fail because I hate him.

Gordana struggled with having immunity and still making a dress worthy of the judges. The designers really seem to be split on this challenge with some just loving it and going a little too gaga over it and some absolutely hating it. I hope that Irina’s ego-tastic attitude gets knocked down a few notches this week because she is getting on my nerves!

This week featured two guest judges, as Bob Mackie filled in for Michael Kors and Chrisitina Aguilera herself judged the designs. Nina Garcia was back this week and I can’t wait to hear what she has to say about some of these garments!

Irina was saved this week and Gordana thanked her lucky stars that she had immunity for this challenge because Heidi basically told her that she would have been eliminated otherwise. Carol Hannah’s struggles this week paid off because the judges just loved her dress! On the other hand, Shirin’s struggles showed on the runway and her dress was a disaster! Althea hit another home run and I think she will make it to Fashion Week for sure! For the third week in a row, Christopher completely missed the mark. Nicolas succeeded this week and got off without a comment from the judges about it looking too much like his Ice Queen dress. Logan fell into the bottom this week and I think he just didn’t know how to push it farther.

Ooh, Carol Hannah won this week and I have to agree. She did really well and I think she deserved it. Plus, that means that Nicolas didn’t win so that has to be good. Now it’s down to Christopher and Shirin for the bottom two. I am not really sure which of these two will go home. Shirin ended up going home and I’m a little bummed because she’s actually a good designer.

I think that puts Christopher on like his 4th life in this competition now! I am really hoping that Irina goes home next week or at least lands in the bottom three because I am sick of her.

pairs cooking, anyone?

2009-10-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

It’s all about food pairings on Top Chef this week.

Charlie Palmer greeted the chefs for their Quick Fire Challenge and he revealed that he has worked with the brothers, Bryan and Michael V., before. Hmm, I wonder if that intimidates the other chefs! Their challenge required them to pair a snack item with a dish and this definitely got the chefs nervous.

Jennifer seems to be losing composure slowly. This is particularly bad because she is clearly the best female chef in the kitchen. Robin, Ash, and Jennifer were in the bottom this week for the Quick Fire and that’s only surprising because of Jennifer. She is so good normally! On a better note, Kevin, Bryan, and Eli landed on top with Eli taking the win.

The Elimination Challenge had the chefs pulling knives to determine what part of a pig they would be cooking with! Then, they had to pair the pork with Pinot Noir. They had to prepare 150 tasting portions of their dish! To help prepare for their pairing, the chefs got to taste 9 different Pinots and chose one of them as the inspiration for their dish.

Okay, while I think that some of the chefs could be a bit more civil with Robin, I do agree that she is annoying as heck! She just needs to learn to stop talking sometimes. Stop using your “life experiences” and age as an excuse and influence for your cooking. Just cook and shut up!

Finally, Jennifer made her way back to the top as she was called out for a favorite dish a long with Kevin, Michael V., and Bryan. It really seems like it’s going to be down to these four chefs in the end because they are constantly the best chefs in the elimination challenges. Can we please just fast-forward to them being in the top?? Please? Anyway, Kevin’s Pork Leg dish caused him to win his 3rd elimination challenge and the chance to be a guest chef at the 2010 Pigs & Pinot event for Charlie Palmer.

The bottom chefs this week were Ash, Laurine, and Robin. I hope this is Robin’s week to go home because she is just not a chef! Yes, maybe she can cook but that doesn’t make her a chef by any means. She’s surprisingly quiet at judge’s panel and maybe she should take a note of this. Ash’s surprise at being in the bottom is stupid. He constantly second guesses himself and is in constant awe of the other chefs. He just needs to go home, too. And Laurine was really dumb to make what she did. Again, can we please just fast forward to the Top 4??

Ugh, Robin escaped another week and Ash was sent home. This is certainly going to piss off the other chefs like none other!

what happens in vegas, well...

2009-10-15T23:58:00.000-07:00

Vegas Week continues on So You Think You Can Dance!

Last season’s new choreography, Laurieann Gibson, took the remaining 77 dancers through a Jazz Routine. Hmm, it looks like this was a really tough round with a lot of early favorites being cut. And a lot of people looked really bad, too, so it’s no wonder they were cut!

After making it past most of the choreography rounds, the remaining 69 dancers were split into groups and were asked to create a routine on their own. This is always the most volatile round were some people completely lose it and some really shine.

Overall, it seems like most groups performed well which is quite rare for this show! Even the group with Molly Gray and her injured ankle made it through, though just barely.

Next up was the most intimidating round of choreography…Contemporary with Mia Michaels!! As a viewer, this is perhaps my favorite round because I love Mia so much and I also like to see Mia freak out of people! Oh, B-Boy master Legacy is the last hip hop dancer to take the stage in Mia’s choreography and I am hoping so much that he makes it. And he did!! Yay!

For the final round of choreography, the dancers had perhaps the second toughest choreographer on the show – Tyce Diorio. And yes, that means they were doing Broadway! I’m a little bummed that the girls’ routine seems to be the same as last years’ West Side Story theme. But, the routine is still amazing and really showed if people can perform and dance at the same time. Some people didn’t live up to the choreography and some didn’t live up to the performance.

That leaves us now with solos from the remaining dancers and determining the Top 20! During Billy Bell’s solo, Adam Shankman was just losing it but the beauty and passion and strength of it all!

Oh no!! I thought that we were going to find out the Top 20 tonight!! Oh, bummer. Well, till next week!

go-see or go home

2009-10-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

It’s Go-See day on Top Model!

The girls were split into teams of two and had to drive around LA for their Go-Sees. These Go-Sees are a little lame because they aren’t just fashion designers but jewelry and other things. Kara lost out on her first Go-See because she doesn’t have pierced ears and that’s apparently a no-no in the fashion world. One of the Go-Sees was for an ad-agency, which was interesting, since that seems to be the main line of work for petite models. The agencies seemed way more harsh on these models than I have seen in past cycles.

As it came time for the models to arrive back at Wilhelmina by 4:00pm, Sundai and Rae missed the deadline. And their excuse? It would have been too early for them to arrive if they didn’t go to the last Go-See. Horrible excuse! Each of the remaining models received their feedback and all of them had good and bad comments. Nicole ended up winning and for her prize, she received an item from each of the designers she saw including a booking for a national commercial.

Okay, this is probably really mean of me to say, but sometimes Kara’s face looks very lopsided. There are times when it just looks stunning and edgy and sometimes where it looks like half of her face is melting off! I don’t know what it is, but it sure is weird!

For their photo shoot, the girls all thought they were going to do a Victoria’s Secret challenge. Oh, they were so wrong! They were doing a shoot with martial arts weapons and they were going to be hanging from wires! Haha, so wrong! They all got some training with their poses and then took a series of poses on the ground and in the air to create a composite of three poses.

Nicole started things off and she was looking really good. Jennifer surprised and really excelled this week. Erin looked like something straight out of a fantasy movie or something! Laura really knew how to work her nunchuks on the ground and in the air! Kara had some very apparent problems and she just looked like a hot mess. And while Brittany looked like a fish on a wire, she seemed to photograph well. Rae also struggled a bit and just looked dead in the eyes. Sundae also had some problems and just kept making excuses for everything.

This week’s guest judge was Jessica White. Ooh, most of the girls were doing really well until Kara came along. Oh man, her photos were horrible! And Sundai didn’t do much better with her shots. Hmm, okay, I’m a little surprised that Tyra didn’t mention Rae and Sundai being late for the Go-Sees. That is not like her at all. And this week’s best photo belonged to… Nicole!

That left Kara and Sundai in the bottom two. I think both of them should go home because I don’t think either of them can win this competition! Sundai ended up staying and I was not too surprised. But I was surprised that nothing was mentioned about her being late for the Go-See! So, Kara left and I feel bad but she clearly has a lot of work to do.

and the winner of hell's kitchen is...

2009-10-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

The final three battle it out for to be the head chef at the araxi restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada on Hell’s Kitchen.

For their challenge, each chef pulled a plate that represented a different type of national cuisine since the head chef at araxi would be serving people from around the world during the 2010 Olympics. They had to cook an entrée blending the flavors of that cuisine in just 45 minutes. To help judge the challenge, Chef Ramsay brought in three chefs who are masters of the three cuisines: Chinese, Indian, and Mexican.

Ariel’s attempt at Chinese didn’t really wow the judges. Kevin cooked a Mexican dish but he forgot to plate the mole sauce. Well, without that, it’s no longer really a Mexican dish! A rattled Dave presented his Indian dish last and I’m pretty nervous for him. Surprisingly, Dave won the challenge hands down! As his reward, Dave won a full set of cookware as well as being treated to a lunch of signature dishes prepared by the three guest judges.And Dave got another surprise in that his fiancée and sister got to join him for lunch.

During dinner service, each chef would get to lead the kitchen and run the hot plate. This is really when you get to see which chef has the ability not only to cook but also to lead a kitchen. It appears as if everything is moving smoothly as Kevin takes over the reins. He did pretty well and even spotted the test that the sous chef gave him. But, he kept sending back Ariel’s lamb and I’m not sure if it was actual quality control or if it was his being overconfident.

Next up on lead was Dave. Oh no, it was like he was pretending to be Chef Ramsay but I don’t know that it was good. He didn’t notice either test that sous chef Scott prepared for him, which is not so good. But he did get things moving quickly and improved very fast.

Ariel led last and she had a lot to live up to after the boys. She also missed one of the tests sent her way but she did get dishes out to the diners quickly. She continued to improve but Kevin called her on her inability to call the order correctly.

At this point, I am really not sure who is going to make it to the Final Two after this dinner service. Each chef needed to choose which chef they thought didn’t belong in the finals. Kevin chose Ariel, Ariel chose Kevin, so it sort of came down to Dave’s vote. Dave also chose Ariel. In the end, Chef Ramsay chose Dave and Kevin to make it to the final. I’m sad that Ariel didn’t make it, but I agree with his decision since I think that Ariel has slowed down as of late.

Kevin and Dave were then whisked off to a challenge! They were given 45 minutes to create a dish worthy of the araxi restaurant and bar. They were judged by five elite judges and whoever got three votes would be the winner. In a 3-2 win, Dave’s Rack of Venison with Sour Cream and Chive Parsnip Purée won out over Kevin’s Lobster Tail and Corn Pudding.

For their secret ingredient shipment, Dave and Kevin found their old competitors waiting for them. As the winner of the last challenge, Dave got to choose first. So, the teams broke down to Ariel, Robert, and Suzanne on Dave’s team and Van, Amanda, and Sabrina on Kevin’s team.

Both Kevin and Dave got to create their own menu of three appetizers, three entrées, and three desserts. While Kevin’s dishes looked gorgeous and appetizing, they also seemed a little complicated and I think his new sous chefs are going to have some problems with his dishes. On the other hand, Dave’s dishes are very simple and might not have enough flair to win over the diners.

In Dave’s kitchen, Robert served up the appetizers against Amanda in Kevin’s kitchen. So far, Amanda is struggling on apps and she failed to get out the first ticket of scallops. This caused him to switch Amanda and Van on their stations. Ugh, this just reminded me of why I hated Robert! Just because he got called on his dish, he decided that he needed to mess with Dave. Maybe this is why Dave’s in the final and you’re not, Robert!

Dave really had control on his kitchen and he remained relatively calm. His leadership skills were on fire tonight! Kevin, on the other hand, was getting too frazzled and was not communicating well with his team. Granted, Amanda was not helping him out at all by going so slow and messing up, but half of that was Kevin’s fault for not communicating the order correctly. Luckily, when he reached his breaking point, he calmed down and didn’t blow up.

I really think that Dave has this thing in the bag. He clearly showed more control in the kitchen and better leadership skills.

And the winner of Hell’s Kitchen is…

DAVE!!! He has been my favorite chef for almost the entire competition and I am so glad that he won. Until next time my fellow sadistic foodies!

black and blue all over again

2009-10-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Crazy Tracey reigns again on The Biggest Loser and it is a terrible reign indeed.

Straight off their weigh-in, the contestants faced another temptation challenge. In a roulette style wheel, 36 silver trays were laid out. And the contestants found out that from this point on, they are no longer in pairs but will be Blue vs. Black. And one person would get to pick the teams. Ugh, I sincerely hope that Tracey doesn’t win this!! Only one space had the golden ticket to win the power whereas some other plates had good and bad things. They could win $1000 or suffer 1000 calories.

They each had the opportunity to choose and all but Abby chose to play. The player with the highest percentage of weight loss went first, which was Rudy. And what do you know?! It’s a piece of cake worth 1000 calories! After some eating of cakes and donuts, Tracey stepped up to the wheel. Oh, and what do you know?! She got the Golden Ticket. Aaahhh, I hate her!

So, how did Tracey’s choices go down? Well, let’s see! Haha, Tracey chose Bob as her trainer and he was not excited about it! So, Tracey kept her Mo on her side and she kept Daniel and Shay together. But for every other team, she split up the pairs. Not many people were happy about this, including Bob and Jillian. Everyone knew that Amanda wanted to be on the Blue Team and to be with Bob. So, of course, Tracey put her on the Black Team with Jillian. And she had the gall to act sad and say that she couldn’t stand it!

Naturally, everyone was pissed with Tracey, me included! I’m just hoping that this will now push all of the competitors to work hard so that they can kick her out. I gotta say that I just love Liz’s revenge plan!! That sweet little Southern grandma just got sour! On the other hand, Dina felt the pressure of no longer having a partner to rely on and couldn’t find the strength to believe in herself.

For their first Black vs. Blue Challenge, the teams had to carry a teammate throughout an obstacle course. They could change the player at any time when needed. The winning team would win a video message from home. The Blue Team got off to an early lead but the Black Team certainly kept pushing. The Blue Team ended up winning and got their videos from home.

Rebecca wanted to give her video to Dina, who has children and a family at home. She was extremely touched, but Dina refused so that she could get the confidence she needed on her own. Aww, Liz brought Danny down to watch her video with her but she tricked him by showing him his own family viedo!

And here is how the weigh-in went down:
Blue Team:

Tracy: -7 lbs
Coach Mo: -6lbs
Allen: -7 lbs
Rudy: -8 lbs
Rebecca: -7 lbs
Liz: -8 lbs
Total: -43 lbs; 2.56 % lost

Black Team:

Abby: -5 lbs
Dina: -6 lbs
Amanda: -6 lbs
Danny: -10 lbs
Daniel: -11 lbs
Shay: -16 lbs
Total: -54 lbs; 3.05% lost

Okay, I am really sad that the Blue Team is below the Yellow Line because I like so many of them but this could mean that Tracey is going home! Liz had the highest percentage of weight loss for the Blue Team so she had immunity for elimination.

Ugh, Coach Mo decided that he should go home because he has put up such low numbers. And that was enough to convince the Blue Team to send him home. Oh, I’m so sad and angry at the same time! I hate Tracey even more now.

the iceman go-eth

2009-10-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

Let's see which star will be Two-Stepping off of Dancing with the Stars.

Okay, so Shakira performed and we found out that the newest Bachelor is Jake from last season's The Bachelorette!! I'm so excited cause I loved him on the show!

Anyway, in the end, one of my faves, Chuck Liddell, was booted from the competition.

And gosh, I would really have loved to see him do a Paso Doble next week!

forbidden dancing not so exciting

2009-10-13T18:03:00.000-07:00

Four new dances on DWTS could lead to some crazy performances!

Dancing first were Chuck & Anna and they had the Two-Step. Ooh, and they can do lifts this week! I bet this pair will do some good lifts since Chuck is so strong. I feel like this was right at home for Chuck – he looked so comfortable this week! Super cute and I think his best performance so far. I think the judges liked it well enough but I suppose that his dancing ability is not as much up to par compared to some of his competitors. Hmm, he got a 17/30 which is not so good but I hope he makes it through to next week!

Melissa & Mark took to the floor with a Charleston! I don’t know if I am feeling Mark’s moustache. It’s a little creepy and a little too much like a villain in a Dudley Do-Right cartoon! Oh cute, they made it like a black and white theme on the screen! It was very vaudeville and I loved it! Ooh, this was by far Melissa’s best dance! She was just living it up and totally believable – so cute! Wow, she got her first 10 from Bruno and she ended up with a 28/30!

The first couple to dance the Bolero was Natalie & Alec. I have no idea what a Bolero is or how it is supposed to look. Well, it was certainly beautiful to watch and it looked like they danced it well but what do I know?! Haha, Bruno told her to channel her inner Sharon Stone à la Basic Instinct to get sexier. Well, I liked it! She got a 24/30 which is a really good score so I think she will surely be safe for the week.

Aaron & Karina danced the Lambada, also known as “the forbidden dance.” Seeing how shaky he was last week with the Rumba, I’m not sure how sexy he will be in the Lambada. Hmm, he looked a little silly ding this dance. If I’m not mistaken, this dance is like what Patrick Swayze did behind closed doors in Dirty Dancing. Well, he was no Patrick Swayze in my opinion. But his confidence did seem to be back after last week. The judges were not so impressed either and gave them an 18/30. Ouch.

The second Two-Step of the night belonged to Mark & Lacey. Ooh, his family came to visit and he has the three cutest little kids ever!! It was a little stiff and it looked like Mark was anticipating each move too much. I think it was better than last week but not his best. Hmm, the judges seemed to like it more than I thought they would. Looks like Mark will live another week after receiving a 22/30.

In what looks like it could be a Cabaret moment, Kelly & Louis took on the Charleston. Ooh, and I was right, it is from Cabaret! I didn’t know that Kelly auditioned for the lead in Chicago on Broadway and got it but was given a different role since she couldn’t dance. I am really looking forward to this! Aw, well it was certainly very cute. She got a 23/30 and I think she will certainly be here next week.

Gross, Joanna & Derek got the Lambada. Why is she always getting the sexy dances?! She doesn’t always dance the best but she’s just naturally sexy so she doesn’t even need to try to dance. I hope she doesn’t skate by on this one again. Okay, this definitely had the sexiness and rauchiness that I think Bruno and Len were looking for. And I have to give Joanna some credit because she actually danced this one pretty well. I would still like to see her dance a non-sexy dance and see how well she fares. And without knowing too much about what a Lambada is, I think they got it completely right. They received a 26/30 and I’m surprised they didn’t get a perfect 30!

Dancing the last Charleston of the evening was Donnie & Kym. I think this dance is right up Donnie’s alley because I can completely imagine this as being something he and Marie would have done during their variety show days. Oh, it was so cute and darling. Very good, indeed. They got a 24/30 which was perhaps a bit generous since I don’t think it was better than Kelly’s dance.

Last week’s lowest scoring couple, Michael & Anna, danced the Bolero next. Tony Dovolani came to help Michael and it made me realize how much I miss Tony on the show!! Please producers, get him a better partner next season! Overall, it was not a bad performance but it made me realize how much I really don’t like the pro, Anna. She’s just so boring and I hate her choreography. They received a 16/30 and this puts them at the bottom of the board once again.

Yay, my faves Louie & Chelsie are dancing the Two-Step! And for a little lesson, they went to Ty Murray’s ranch. I just want to eat them up, they are so cute. Hmm, I’m not sure how much actual Two-Stepping was in there but it was fun to watch. I have a feeling that they are going to get a low score on this one. Well, I think they will still make it through to next week because everyone just loves them. So, they ended up with a 16/30 and that keeps them tied for the bottom.

Of course, Mýa & Dmitry are dancing the Lambada and I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic. Woah, the make-up department went a little grease happy on Mýa’s body! I can’t believe I am saying this but I liked Joanna & Derek’s Lambada better than this one. I thought they would have completely knocked this one out of the park but I felt like all of the sexiness was too contrived. Maybe I’m wrong but we’ll see what the judges say. The judges seemed to love it but I’m not so convinced. I feel like she is becoming like last season’s Gilles where the judges are just too mesmerized by her. So, she got a 28/30 which tied her with Melissa & Mark for the top of the leaderboard.

Predictions for tomorrow: I think Michael & Anna will be sent home.

passport lost

2009-10-12T19:29:00.001-07:00

It’s off to Cambodia on The Amazing Race!

Once the teams make it to Cambodia, they needed to make their way to the Foreign Correspondents Club to meet an Editor and whisper to them for their next clue. All of the teams left around 6:00pm Vietnam time and found out that there were no more flights that night to Cambodia. So, they had to spend all night in the airport until their flight left the next day at 12:25pm!

However, the last two teams had to wait until 2:15pm for their flight. And those last two teams were Lance & Keri and Justin & Zev. Now, I really like Justin & Zev but not so much for the other team. After waiting on standby for the early flight, both of the other teams made it on the same flight, pitting everyone against each other once again. But of course, Lance decided to be a jerk about it! Ugh, I hate him.

Wow! And Justin & Zev were the first team to arrive to at the FCC. But Sam & Dan were the first to get the clue from the assignment editors. Their clue had a photo of Jackie-O and they needed to use that photo to figure out their next destination, which was the Royal Hotel. Oh my goodness! So many of the people didn’t know that it was Jackie-O in the picture! They all thought it was some Queen! Haha.

Once the teams got to the Royal Hotel and found Jackie-O’s suite, they got their next assignment – a Detour. Their two options were Cover, where they had to sell 4 helmets to a family of four on a motorcycle, or Wrap, were they needed to find a shopkeeper at the Russian Market who would give them an intricate scarf and they would need to find a woman wearing an identical scarf somewhere in the market.

Justin & Zev were the first to make it to Royal Hotel and I’m so glad for them! I thought most people would choose the Cover choice but almost everyone chose Wrap! And Justin & Zev made friends with their cab driver so he was helping them the entire time. They found their scarf lady and then made their way to Wat Toul Tom Pong, a beautiful looking palace, for their next clue.

At the palace, the team had to complete a Road Block, where one team member had to dress like a monkey and act like one!! Zev was a pro at this! I love that he is not letting his disability get in his way. He’s so cute. But he seemed to have some trouble with the last task and kept falling off the log. Dan & Sam ended up completing the task a little fast and were the first to leave for the pit stop at Wat Phnom, a Buddha shrine.

Oh yay! Justin & Zev are Team #1!! But oh no, they lost Zev’s passport! And after overcoming last place and making it to first place, it’s just such a bummer! Luckily they made such a good connection with their driver because he met them to find Zev’s passport. The only way they could stay in the game was for them to find the passport and make it back before the last team arrived. Unfortunately, that did not happen and they were eliminated. I really wanted this team to win the whole thing!

ex-brides take a walk down a different aisle

2009-10-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

There goes the bride on Project Runway!

So, Irina now has a major complex about winning two challenges. I hope she gets a major blow this week!

Ooh, it’s a wedding dress challenge! Oh, and it’s interesting! Each of the new models are women who are recently divorced and want to turn their wedding dresses into hip new outfits for their new single lives! Since Irina won the last challenge, she would get to choose first.

Ugh, squeaky little Shirin has to complain about her model because she has the simplest dress and not a lot of fabric. Okay, granted she has the least amount to work with but she didn’t need to look so upset about it in front of the client!

Tim told the designers that they would have just one day to complete the dress and the winner would win the last immunity of the season. After meeting with their divorcées, the designers got to go to mood with a $25 budget and a limit of up to 2-yards of fabric.

Aahhh, I love that Tim said the word cougar!! And I love even more that he knows what a cougar is!

Alright, well at least Shirin is now acting better and moving forward. I am really worried for Logan because he seems to be way too scattered in his design. I think Gordana is off to a good start but only the runway will tell!

Along with Heidi and Michael, Zanna Roberts of Marie Claire and Tamara Mellon, founder of Jimmy Choo, sat on the judges panel.

Althea, Carol Hannah, and Nicolas were safe this week, leaving all of the other designers out on the runway. The judges just loved Gordana’s dress and I completely agree! The color is great and the details are just amazing. Ugh, and Christopher’s dress is like a bubble dress just too literally. I don’t know what he was thinking. Oh no, the judges slammed Epperson’s design and criticized it as being too Oktoberfest or Pirate Wench. I have to agree. That corset was not well made and laid in the completely wrong place on her body. Shirin’s change of attitude ended up being great for her because she had one of the best dresses! Her stitching on the dress was fantastic and I think she was smart not to get too far into what her client wanted. Logan’s outfit made Heidi think of Oktoberfest again. Oh, I hope Logan doesn’t go home. Irina made another great dress and I really hope she doesn’t win because I don’t want her to keep getting more arrogant.

Yay!! Gordana won this challenge and I think it was completely deserved. Plus, it means that Irina didn’t win. Oh, and thankfully Logan was saved! I think Epperson’s outfit was hideous and I didn’t really see him getting much farther in this competition anyway.

a top chef's home sweet home

2009-10-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

It’s time to get homey on Top Chef.

Jennifer is feeling sick but she decides to continue on. That makes me a little nervous because I wouldn’t want to know that the chef cooking my food is sick!

Tyler Florence met the chefs as this week’s guest judge. For their Quick Fire Challenge, the chefs had to take three keywords to make a dish, similar to how the website cookstr.com works. And to choose the three words, they used a slot machine! How very Vegas of them! Plus, this is a high stakes challenge, but what is at stake will be revealed later.

Kevin won the challenge and he is on a roll! He has won a lot of challenges so far. As his high stakes, he was given a choice to take either immunity or $15,000 from the M Resort. As a smart and confident chef, he took the money.

Oh, gosh! The chefs would be hosting a home-cooked dinner party at their home with just 3-hours to prepare! The Chefs would be working in pairs and received their ingredients from very well-known and accomplished chefs.

Haha, Michael I. is working with Robin, which is his worst nightmare and their ingredients were from Takashi Yagihashi. The other pairs were Ash & Michael V. who had Nancy Silverton, Eli & Ashley who had Govind Armstrong, Jennifer & Kevin who had Tom Douglas, Bryan & Laurine who had Tyler Florence.

Jennifer & Kevin and Laurine & Bryan were called out as having the best dishes. Kevin & Jennifer’s dish of short ribs and a tomato cardamom sauce got rave reviews from the judges and guest judge Tyler Florence. The beef was cooked and seasoned well and everyone really loved the gravy sauce. Bryan & Laurine’s dish really outshone the other halibut dish belonging to Bryan’s brother. For the second time this episode, Kevin’s dish won but Jennifer’s sauce was the real highlight of the dish so she won the prize and $10,000 from Macy’s!

For the bottom, the judges called out Michael V. & Ash and Eli & Ashley. From the get go, Michael V. took responsibility for his dish and the overcooked fish. Ash ended up throwing himself under the bus a little bit by saying that he was okay basically being a sous chef to Michael. I think that could get him sent home because he just said that other chefs are better than him. Though, by the way the judges were ripping apart Ashley & Eli’s dish, I think one of them could be going home. Ugh, and Ashley got sent home! She was just starting to get better and really do well.

let's go to vegas!

2009-10-09T09:27:00.000-07:00

We’re heading to Vegas with So You Think You Can Dance but first we will make a pit stop in Utah!

Yay, Mia Michaels is back to help judge the last round of auditions in Salt Lake City.

Wow! The show started off with a bang from Bryan Boyer who performed a crazy good b-boy routine. But oh no, someone hoping for a change of luck did not get it. Tristy Mirci was in 25 car accidents in the span of 3 years and her dancing was really just basic and it was almost more sad to watch this than the people who are clearly bad.

Uh, a “burlesque” dancer decided to do a strip tease on the stage! And this is perhaps a little mean of me to say, but she looked a little manish! Haha, and nobody in the audience clapped at all!

Iveta, a ballroom dancer, got Mary crying at her audition piece.

Hmmm, another horrible and crazy audition was performed by a guy named Pascal. I don’t even know how to begin to describe what he was doing on the stage! It wasn’t even dance but I don’t know what it was!

Turns out, Utah has a lot of ballroom talent to show off. Lee & Josh really lit the stage on fire but she lost a toenail in the process! Ugh, it was awful to see.

Yay, we are finally off to Vegas!!! Uh, one of my favorite auditions from last season belonged to Nathan Trasoras. So why wasn’t he in the Top 20? Because he wasn’t old enough. But he is old enough now and just as fantastic…even more so! Oh, I loved it to pieces! Ooh, and Eleanor Scott gave another fantastic solo that was so unique and fun!

The solos left 41 people cut and 111 still in the competition to learn some NappyTabs Hip Hop!! Early faves made it through the first round of choreography, but we’ll see if they make it through a Louis Van Amstel Cha Cha! Oh, but one Billy Bell suffered the first injury when his partner hit his nose with her elbow and he started gushing blood! Ugh.

Oh, I am so sad and heartbroken! Ryan Kasprzak got sent home after the ballroom! I can’t say I’m surprised because he didn’t perform very well but I just don’t know how he did so well last season but not here! Ugh, so sad.

kids take over the kitchen

2009-10-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, the cutest little thing came out to pretend to be Chef Ramsay on Hell’s Kitchen! It was like a cute little mini-me version of Chef and he had the accent down perfectly! So, cute!!!

But, down to business, Chef Ramsay had the four remaining chefs cook a fine dining vegetarian dish to serve 80 guests in just 1 hour! Gosh, that’s ridiculous! Kevin cooked a mushroom crepe, Tennille made a mushroom stuffed eggplant, Ariel cooked an eggplant lasagna, and Dave made a polenta tower with goat cheese and red peppers.

So, as the chefs complete their dishes, the guests arrive. And boy did Chef Ramsay play another trick on them. These so called finicky eaters were a bunch of little children who hate vegetables! The kids would have to eat each dish and then rate them from best to worst. In the end, Tennille edged out Dave for the win in this challenge.

While Tennille got all spruced up in Beverly Hills for a lunch with Chef at Nobu, the other three chefs had to clean the kitchen and dining area which was a complete disaster after the kids. Um…okay, the people at the salon that styled Tennille basically dressed her up to be a Whoopi Goldberg look-a-like!

During dinner service, Kevin just kept pushing out his appetizers with no problems. Tennille had some issues with her scallops and her inconsistency showed once again. Ugh, but Dave hurt himself again while on the meat station for entrées! This makes me so sad because he is so clearly in the top two here. His determination is really impressive but the permanent damage that his may possibly do to his wrist is not looking good.

Just when it seemed like things were going well, Tennille screwed up once again on her Sea Bass and Halibut. Not for the first time this season, Chef Ramsay had to take Tennille to the back room to knock some sense into her. She was just falling apart all over the place.

The dinner service was pretty good in comparison compared to other nights but there were still some problems. Tennille completely faltered and Dave’s precarious situation could put things in trouble for these two. Ooh, and Chef didn’t even ask for nominations because he sent Tennille home straight off.

As the chef’s celebrated making it to the final three, Chef called them all down and scared them into thinking that Dave wouldn’t make it. But then Chef Ramsay called out some family members to cheer up the contestants.

b-boys teach some pretty good modeling lessons

2009-10-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

ANTM proves that models and posing go together like peas and carrots…wait, do those go together??

The girls met Benny Ninja at a dance studio to learn how dancing can help the girls to pose. And guess who was also there to help them? Lil’ Mama!! Oooh, and JabbaWockeeZ!!! Haha, only on Top Model could JabbaWockeeZ and Lil’ Mama appear and teach models a lesson! Haha!!

Oh, gosh! Haha, the girls would have to perform after JabbaWockeeZ! They broke off into three teams and each team had to perform three emotions through dance – happiness, sadness, and anger. Team 1 was Jennifer, Kara, and Rae; Team 2 was Laura, Brittany, and Sundai; and Team 3 was Ashley, Nicole, and Erin.

Okay, miss dancer thing herself, Ashley, is thinking that she could win this challenge because she is a dancer. But, she is going too literal with this and she is making it too complicated. This isn’t a recital, Ashley! You’re still modeling!

Team 1 did pretty well but they were a little scattered. Team 2 was really good with the sadness and anger part. Needless to say, Team 3 was really bad because of Ashley. Oh yeah, did I mention that the winning team would get $17,000 worth of jewelry?! Team 1 ended up winning the challenge and the jewelry!!

For their photo shoot, the girls flew to Las Vegas and met on the Cirque du Soleil stage of Mystère. Ooh, and the girls found out that they would be shooting in groups of three. So, Group One was Jennifer, Rae, and Brittany. Group two was Sundai, Erin, and Nicole. That left Laura, Ashley, and Kara in Group Three. I am really interested to see how these shots pan out because they sure do look crazy good!

On judging panel this week along with the regulars was Josie Maran, who is only 5’6”. Now, I completely recognized her but I didn’t know she was so short! Brittany, Rae, and Jennifer came out first. Oh gosh! And Tyra was way harsh on Jennifer and told her that she brought the photo quality down. Ouch. Laura, Ashley, and Kara came down next. Once again, Tyra called out Ashley as being the worst of this group. And it was true! Sundai, Nicole, and Erin were last. For this group, Nicole was the weak one but she still managed to look good I the shot.

So, best photo went to the best group, which was Brittany, Rae, and Jennifer. Well, Jennifer better thank her lucky stars for being in that group! I think Laura should have won best photo because she was the best by far! Oh, thank goodness! Kara escaped the bottom two and Ashley got sent home. Finally!!

Um, okay…this exit song of some wannabe R&B singer crooning “Top Model” needs to go away! I never want to hear that again and it needs to be done with!

two dancers on the outs

2009-10-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

It's time for another star to leave on DWTS so let's see who it is!

The only good thing about this lengthy results show was a performance from the JabbaWockeeZ! So, with that aside, we were surprised with the exit of Tom Delay due to injuries. I guess we saw that coming but was what shocking is that he would have been safe otherwise! Ugh. And instead of just leaving the show at that, things proceeded as normal and Debi Mazar was kicked off the show as well.

So, two more stars down. And for all of you out there who may have voted to keep Tom in the competition, you can now be rest assured that you wil get to see him dance the Texas Two-Step on finale night. I suppose that might make some people excited...some.

losing weight while eating out?

2009-10-07T20:23:00.000-07:00

The wrath of crazy Tracey continues on The Biggest Loser!

So, Tracey couldn’t understand that her backstabbing toward of Shay was wrong!! Ugh,I hate this woman!

Bob and Jillian were not happy with what happened last week but they were not going to go easy on these contestants. They wanted to prove to them that they needed to continue fighting about it.

And now for more drama with Tracey. She found out that she can’t do any exercising at all. I do feel kind of bad for her because the need to exercise is one of the biggest reasons she is here. But maybe it’s a little bit of karma coming her way?! Just saying!

Oh, gosh! For a big challenge, Alison told the contestants that their entire kitchen would be locked up for the week. They needed to order out for every meal and they were responsible for getting the healthiest options for themselves.

And this all led into a Pop Challenge! Each team was presented with three dinner options and they needed to choose which one was healthiest. The winning team would get a year’s worth of healthy groceries! Dinner A was the healthiest dinner, leaving the Orange Team, Pink Team, and Brown Team to battle it out for the win. To win the groceries, the three teams needed to guess the number of calories in Dinner A. And the winners were…The Pink Team!

Bob and Jillian then took the contestants to a Mexican restaurant for dinner to teach them how to go out and order. Things seemed to go well at the restaurant and hopefully everyone learned a good lesson about eating out.

For this week’s physical challenge, they went to a water park. Each person would grab onto a handle bar hanging above a platform. Gradually, the platform would slant and leave the contestants basically holding their own weight. Abby and Tracey couldn’t compete this time around. The winning team would win immunity at the weigh-in. After a lot of people dropping within the first minutes, the remaining competitors were Dan & Shay from the Orange Team, Julio from the Black Team, and Alan from the Green Team. After hanging for ten minutes, it came down to just Daniel and Alan. In the end, Daniel won the challenge and won immunity for Shay and himself.

Bob and Jillian were really worried about the food that the contestants were eating this week so they just went after them in the Last Chance Workout. Okay, I understand Tracey being frustrated about not being able to work out but I am really interested to see her actually workout in the gym when she is healthy. She keeps saying how she wants to be on the treadmill and running with them. I hope that when she can workout that she doesn’t complain about being there after this. Especially with Coach Mo working extra hard to keep them safe this week and possibly overexerting himself to do it.

And now it’s time for the weigh-in. So here’s how things played out:

Orange Team: -5 pounds; 0.69% lost; *immunity
Green Team: -10 pounds; 1.97% lost
Blue Team: -16 pounds; 2.57% lost
Brown Team: -11 pounds; 1.74% lost
Purple Team: -12 pounds; 2.21% lost
Black Team: -4 pounds; 1.09% lost
Pink Team: -9 pounds; 1.86% lost

With some overall low numbers on the scales this week, the Black Team and Brown Team fell below the yellow line this week. In the end, Julio was sent home and I really hope that he can make it at home.

meet me in rio...on the dance floor

2009-10-06T19:56:00.001-07:00

We’re heading to Brazil on Dancing with the Stars!

Tonight, the stars would be battling some sexiness on the dance floors by dancing either a Rumba or a Samba. I gotta say right now that I can’t believe Tom Delay is still here. He needs to leave immediately!

Mark & Lacey stepped on the stage first with a Rumba. Well I know Lacey will be pretty sexy with this and I think Mark definitely has it in him to be sexy, too. Okay, I was kind of disappointed with this actually. It wasn’t bad, but I have seen sexier Rumbas on So You Think You Can Dance!! Turns out the judges agreed with me and he got a 18/30 which is not so good at all.

Joanna & Derek are dancing a Samba and I think this is going to be too easy in terms of sexy. She’s naturally sexy but I don’t know that it really translates into good dancing. Okay, she wasn’t as good as I thought she would be and I’m kind of glad for that. I think she was getting away with just being pretty in the beginning. Unfortunately, the judges were loving it and once again I think they are just looking at her face and her hips. They got a 23/30 and I greatly hope that others do better.

One of last week’s best, Mýa & Dmitry, took on the Rumba and I think this is going to be good! Now this had the passion and sensuality that I expect from a Rumba! It was really steamy and I think the judges will like it. They scored a 27/10 and they received the first tens of the season from Carrie Ann and Bruno!! Not too surprising, but wow, nonetheless!

One of my faves, Melissa & Mark, danced the Samba. I’m a little worried about this from the practice session we saw. Well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be! And she definitely showed improvement from last week. She got a 19/30 which is not the worst of the night but I think Melissa definitely did better than that.

Okay, this next couple is my new favorite couple of the season! Louie & Chelsie danced a Rumba. They are soooooooo cute and I just want them to be a real life couple and not a dancing couple! Ahh, I can’t take it! I just love them and I love how they always hold hands. Well, Carrie Ann and Bruno loved the sexiness. Len ruined them with a 5 but they still ended up with a 20/30.

I was surprised to find out that Debi & Maks were in the Bottom 2 last week and I’m glad they were saved. I just hope their Samba gets them better scores. And Maks’ last partner, Spice Girl Mel B, came to give them a pep talk! Hmm, the choreography didn’t much lend to a Samba and I wonder if the judges will fault them for it. Oh no, they got a 17/30 and that is the lowest score so far.

Donnie & Kym danced the Rumba next and I’m a little worried about how sensual he will be with it. It was definitely a more romantic Rumba than a sexy one and I happen to think that Len will like it. It’s true that it needed more passion but I am greatly surprised that it warranted a 21/30. Other couples were much better than them, in my opinion.

Michael & Anna had to tackle a Samba and I am not sure how this will go. He’s quite entertaining but can he dance a sexy Samba? We shall see! Haha, it was like Soul Samba! He totally knows how to sell a performance even if he doesn’t dance it perfectly. Oh gosh, they only got a 14/30 and I don’t think it deserved that at all. I think he will still be safe.

Another of my fave couples, Natalie & Alec, took on a Rumba and I think this will be good. Natalie is proving to be a very good dancer and I hope that she does even better this week. I found out that Edyta and Alec are married when Edyta came in to give Natalie a few pointers on being sexy with Alec. I thought she did really well and it was definitely sexy. Wow, they scored a 26/30 and she just keeps rising!

My new crush, Chuck Liddell, and his partner Anna got the Samba and I can’t wait to see it! Aww, and he got a pedicure with his daughter to get in touch with his feminine side. So cute! I just love hos he takes everything on with such a good attitude. Okay, so he got a 17/30 which is not the lowest score but I hope it doesn’t get him in trouble.

Frontrunners, Aaron & Karina, had the Rumba and I honestly see them doing well. But if Aaron over-performs like he did in the practice session, then it’s going to be a problem. Hmm, I think he was overdoing it and it wasn’t his best performance. I think he was just really nervous about this performance and living up to the week before. They scored a 21/30 which is a pretty big drop from last week.

Tom & Cheryl were next but it turns out that Tom has a stress fracture in his foot. He’s not giving up but I don’t know if it’s the best decision. And now, he has a stress fracture in both feet but he wants to keep dancing. Oh, I am so nervous to watch this Samba and I really don’t want him to get hurt in the middle of it. Surprisingly, besides him counting out the steps in the beginning, he did pretty good! You couldn’t even tell that he was injured. Hmm, he got a 15/30 and that’s still not the worst! I hope America sends him home, though, because I don’t think he can continue dancing.

Kelly & Louis closed the night with a Samba and I think she did much better than last week! I was so proud of her for getting through it and just getting some more confidence. She scored a 20/30 and she’s slowly making progress again.

So, my predictions for tomorrow: Debi & Maks will be in the bottom again but I hope Tom & Cheryl go home so Tom doesn’t have to suffer anymore.

broken giraffes and vcrs

2009-10-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

The race around the world continues on this week’s The Amazing Race.

Gary & Matt, the father and son team, were the first to leave for Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Once they made their way there, they needed to get find the golden water dragons for their next clue.

Okay, some of these teams are clueless! They thought they were already in Ho Chi Minh City. Um, if that were true then your clue wouldn’t tell you to make your way there!

The Globetrotters got to the dragons first. Once they retrieved their flag, they got a bullet with a stamp inside. The stamp was the clue of their next destination, the Ho Chi Minh City Post Office. After getting to the post office, they arrived at the first Pit Stop.

Haha, stupid Lance & Keri couldn’t figure out that their clue was inside the bullet!

The Pit Stop had them choose child’s play or word play. In child’s play, the teams would need to take a cement animal and carry it through a park and collect 5 balloons throughout the park. In Word Play, teams had to head to a sight deck of a hotel to look on a large roundabout and identify 6 Vietnamese characters on the moving vehicles. Once they got the right characters, they needed to get someone to unscramble the letters to spell out the Vietnamese word for independence.

Flight Time & Big Easy went with child’s play and were doing pretty good with it. It seemed to be the popular choice for all teams, except Marcy & Ron. They chose word play and did pretty well with it but they are just a little slow. Justin & Zev made the mistake of going with the giraffe, the tallest animal. Oh no! Their giraffe fell over and it broke! That meant they needed to pick up all the pieces in order to continue.

After the Pit Stop, teams had to head to Dien Co 008 for their next clue. Once there, it was time for a Road Block. The chosen team member would need to break down two VCR’s and separate them into two piles. The Globetrotters finished first, followed by the San Diego team! The crowd was just loving Tiffany since she was the only girl to take on the challenge.

The Reunification Palace was the site of their Pit Stop and it was a foot race to the mat. Flight Time & Big Easy just barely outran Meghan & Cheyne. Aww, and in the end, the newly dating couple Marcy & Ron came in last. They were certainly cute but just not nearly as fast as they needed to be for this race.

blues on the runway

2009-10-04T16:54:00.000-07:00

Fashion reigns supreme on this episode of Project Runway.

After last week’s episode of Models of the Runway, the designers now have to deal with having a new model that they have never worked with before.

Heidi’s clue to the designers about their next challenge was so vague. She only told them that it would be very colorful. Turns out, their challenge was to create two looks that were in blue and that would fit with the brand I.N.C., which is sold exclusively at Macy’s. The winner would be commissioned to create a holiday look for I.N.C. to be sold in Macy’s and online.

Each designer had to sketch out their designs and pitch them to Martine Rearson, the EVP of Macy’s I.N.C. brand. She would then choose the top 5 designers to be the team leaders for this challenge. And they were: Irina, Althea, Carol Hannah, Christopher, and Louise.

Then, this is how the choices of teammates broke down: Althea chose Logan, Christopher chose Epperson, Louise chose Nicolas, Irina chose Gordana, and Carol Hannah ended up with Shirin.

Right before the designers headed to mood, Tim announced that because the prize of this win was so big, there would be no immunity.

Ugh, Nicolas is so stupid. He needs to calm down and get over his hatred for ruffles. Louise’s outfits were chosen for a reason so obviously the head of I.N.C. doesn’t have a problem with ruffles and neither should you! And now Christopher is getting so cocky about the fact that Tim said he was on his way to reinventing the shirt dress. Key words… “on his way” not “you’ve done it!”

Yay, Michael Kors was back as a judge this week! Sitting in for Nina Garcia was Zanna Roberts and Martine Reardon served as the guest judge. Althea & Logan were safe, leaving all of the other teams still on the runway.

Louise & Nicolas and Christopher & Epperson had the lowest scores but the judges wanted to talk to the best teams first. Carol Hannah & Shirin went first and Carol Hannah explained her style concepts. The main compliment to Carol Hannah’s work was her attention to detail and her ability to make wearable clothes. Irina was very glad with her clothes but their teamwork was not so good and it was evident on the runway.

Next out were the bottom two teams. Louise took the wrong approach to her critique from last week about being less subtle. Christopher seemed very intimidated and concerned by being in the bottom two. I think he just got way too confident by Tim’s comments.

This week’s winner was Irina because of her dress but her attitude of working in a team did not impress me. Louise ended up being sent home this week and I do agree.

I wish Nicolas didn’t have immunity because he probably would have been sent home along with Louise. His continual behavior of throwing people under the bus is not cool. Christopher was barely saved this week and his cockiness is getting on my last nerves.

dancing in the dirty south

2009-10-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

Now time for two more rounds of auditions on So You Think You Can Dance!

The first city was Atlanta and sitting in with Nigel and Mary was Lil’ C!!

Billy Bell went first and he had only been dancing for 5 years! I don’t think you could tell at all because he was really good. At least, I thought so. The judges thought so, too, and he went straight to Vegas.

Turns out Atlanta has a lot of good dancers but none of them are performers! How frustrating. But some who did have performance ability was a guy named Travis who was on The Wade Robson Project. I remember watching that show and thinking he was not so bad but now I feel greatly ashamed by that thought.

Things started looking up after that with some really beautiful and amazing performances. And finishing off the night was Anthony and Antwain Hart, twins who have auditioned before. After choreography, only Anthony made it to Vegas, which is really sad because I think Antwain was the better performer but he couldn’t pick up the choreography.

Matthew “Boogie Links” Pollard started off Day Two, and it almost seemed like he was more interested in picking up ladies than perfecting his dancing. Jessica Jensen took the stage next and she only had one hand due to a rare form a cancer she had a year and a half ago. She’s clearly a good dancer and I wonder how her disability would affect any choreography for her.

Jonathan Bryant thought his solo was dope and that his personality was just so alive that he would be a standout. He may have the personality but he doesn’t have the dance ability. And his “personality” is really just masked arrogance! Needless to say, he didn’t make it to choreography or Vegas.

Moving a bit west, the auditions made their way to New Orleans and the guest judges on this leg were Adam Shankman and Lil’ C.

Shelby “Skips” Skiper took the stage first and showed off the New Orleans Bounce. It was definitely interesting to watch and something completely new. Naturally, Lil’ C was loving it. He made it straight to Vegas but I don’t know how well he will do with other types of choreography. And things seemed to be on a roll for New Orleans.

Ugh, “life of the party” Eric Le Blanc was actually pretty entertaining in his solo. But his energy, manufactured by 6 energy drinks a day, is clearly just a mask for something else. Ugh, it’s too much and I need him to get off the stage right now.

I gotta say that I like how this year’s choreography round was ballroom based. Because I feel like this is the hardest style for other dancers to master and it’s a good way to tell how they might do in Vegas week.

Kimalee Piedad introduced a new style of ballroom to the show by performing Theatre Arts. It’s basically like Ice Dancing minus the ice and the skates. It was really beautiful and showed her strength incredibly. She went straight to Vegas and I think she could be a really strong contender.

another dinner service from hell

2009-10-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to get serious on Hell’s Kitchen with only 5 chefs left.

For their first individual challenge, the chefs needed to focus on presentation. Their judges for this challenge would be Chef Ramsay as well as the editorial staff of Bon Appetit Magazine. The first round consisted of the dishes being judged solely on presentation. Then the two best dishes would be judged on taste by Chef Ramsay and the Editor-in-Chief of Bon Appetit.

Tennille came in last place, followed by Suzanne. Ariel and Kevin ended up in the Top 2, leaving Dave to watch. The judges loved both Kevin’s and Ariel’s dishes, but only one could win. In fact, the dishes were so good that they couldn’t choose a single winner so they both won! That’s pretty rare for this show. Both of the winning dishes were going to be featured in the magazine.

The three losing chefs needed to do some community service at a street in LA. Dave’s hand once again started to swell up and hurt him. I really don’t want him to leave because I think he could potentially win this game. But at the same time, I can’t even imagine the amount of pain he is going through.

Surprisingly, these chefs still have never had a perfect service. So, a perfect service is exactly what Chef asked of them! Dave was on cold appetizers, Tennille on hot apps, and Suzanne on fish. They worked pretty well together on the first order, but Tennille’s mistake on the risotto set everyone back. Suzanne’s scallops weren’t helping things out. Turns out that Kevin’s prep for the risotto messed up Tennille’s station but each of them should have noticed the mistake and made up for it.

Finally, the appetizers are getting sent out and it’s time to move on to entrées. Ariel is on meat station with Kevin on garnish. The first chicken dish came out raw and Suzanne undercooked her fish. Just when it looked like things were looking up, Ariel sent out the lamb that was burned on one side and raw on the other. Chef could barely stand to see everything that was in front of him. It seemed like the chefs just weren’t communicating with each other and timing was getting off completely. Finally, dinner service was completed but that didn’t make things any better.

All five of them had to collectively come up with two chefs to name for elimination. They decided to nominate Ariel and Suzanne. Yes!! Chef sent Suzanne home and it’s about time!

beauty is apparently all about your face

2009-10-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

The models learn a lesson in beauty and competition on this week’s Top Model.

The girls met with a make-up artist this week for a teach on doing their own make-up for a casting call or a go-see where they will need to make themselves over really quick. They were told that they really only needed four tools: concealer, blush, mascara, and gloss. Good to know!

Then they met Nigel and his wife at Walmart. Ugh, lame…why Walmart?! They needed to use the Covergirl station, shoes, clothes, and grab their photos. The girls with the overall perfect look would win. But the last girls to hit each station would be eliminated and Nigel and Crissy would only judge the first three girls to cross the finish line.

Gheesh! Erin is being super harsh and pushing people throughout the store! She ended up in the final three along with Bianca and Sundai. Sundai was the winner and she got to be on the Covergirl portion of the Walmart website and $1000 to spend at Walmart. Ugh…I have mentioned this store’s name more times than I have ever shopped at it!

For their photo shoot, Tyra served as their photographer and she told them they were going to take beauty shots. She mentioned that plenty of petite models make a career of taking these kinds of shots. Each girl would be wrapped around in a scarf so that the main focus is on their face.

At the end of the photo shoot, Tyra named the best photo right there! The girl with the best photo would be immune from elimination at panel. And the winner was Brittany! AND she got to do a photo shoot with two male models for www.tryabanks.com. Man, some of the other girls were way pissed and jealous about that win!

Guest judging this week was China Chow who is a petite model herself. A lot of the girls had good and bad comments for their judging. I guess that shows that they are learning and that they are doing some good things but still have a few little things to work on.

Ugh, so the Bottom 2 was Bianca and Ashley. I really wanted Ashley to go home because she is getting a major diva-tude and I am sick of her. But I think Bianca deserved to go home because she clearly had no talent!

no such luck for kathy

2009-09-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

A third star is kicked off Dancing with the Stars tonight and fingers crossed its Tom Delay!

The results show was full of performances including one from cutie Selena Gomez of Wizards of Waverly Place and annoying-as-heck Joss Stone.

Blah, blah, blah…the third star to be kicked off DWTS is…

...Kathy Ireland.

Bummer! That means another week of Tom Delay. I hope he’s not this season’s Cloris Leachman.

a big game of would you rather

2009-09-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

My fingers are crossed that this is not a bad week for the contestants on Biggest Loser.

Before the contestants entered the gym, they were given an ultimatum by Alison – they could either choose to keep the trainers for the week or get a 2-pound advantage at weigh-in. Only one team would get an advantage while the others kept their trainers. Tracey ended up taking the 2 pounds so that no one else would get a higher advantage. However, she did not consult her partner on this and that did not win her any points with Coach Mo, the other contestants, or Bob and Jillian. Especially Bob and Jillian!

Okay, I think Tracey is crazy! She is cra-zy! Bob and Jillian were not happy at all with this choice! They decided to pull the Purple Team aside to figure out what was going on in her head to guide her to make this choice.

Abby found out that she had micro-stress fracture and I gotta say that her determination and drive is amazing! For anyone else, they probably would have been a disaster but I have complete faith that he will work everything out.

Alison presented the contestants with another Would You Rather game and their first temptation. She asked them if they would rather control their diet or control the game. During elimination this week, only one person from each team would weigh-in and the winner of this temptation challenge would choose which person that would be. When the contestants lifted their silver dishes, they found mini-cupcakes worth 100 calories. In order to win the challenge, you had to eat the most cupcakes in 10 minutes to get control of the game.

Antoine decided to eat a cupcake and I that pushed Tracey over the edge and she kept eating and eating! Sean was very surprised to find out that his partner, Antoine, ate some cupcakes. Antoine ate 2 cupcakes and Tracey ate 4, so she ended up winning. And she hated herself for it in the end. Uh, duh! Why would you eat cupcakes on The Biggest Loser?! And when Coach Mo asked her what she was thinking, she just had a look of disbelief on her face like she couldn’t believe that he would ask her such a thing! It’s official – she is definitely crazy!

Oh, Bob and Jillian were pissed! Jillian couldn’t even handle it and she didn’t know what to say to her. And she’s right – why waste the trainers’ time?!

Now that the teams know that Tracey has this power, they are all worried about who will be the chosen person to weigh-in for their team.

For their challenge, the contestants were faced with a massive incline and the chance at immunity. Each team would need to get 500 pounds to the top of the incline in order to raise their team’s flag. They could either carry two-5 lb. weights from a shorter distance or 25 lb. from a longer distance. Since Abby and Tracey are still injured, Allen and Coach Mo only had to compete solo and get just 250 lb. to the top, along with Julio who had no partner.

It’s neck and neck between the Pink Team and the Green Team. I would be happy with either team winning but by Allen winning, he secured the win for him and Abby!

During the last chance workout, Bob latched on to Amanda and made her work really hard because she has struggled the most at weigh-in. And Jillian pushed Dina just as hard.

At the weigh-in, Jillian laid into Tracey once again and I completely agree with every word she said! Coach Mo needs to know it’s okay to be angry at Tracey for her decisions and Tracey needs to know that she made two of the worst decisions ever in the game.

Here is how the weigh-in played out and which player’s weight counted:

Green Team – both players: -9 lbs
Black Team - Julio: -7 lbs; 1.87%
Brown Team – Liz: -4 lbs; 1.62%
Blue Team – Rudy: -12 lbs; 3.00%
Pink Team – Amanda: -5 lbs; 2.08%
Red Team – Sean: -6 lbs; 1.46%
Orange Team – Shay: -6 lbs; 1.35%
Purple Team – Tracey: -11 lbs; 5.26%

Even though Tracey lost the highest percentage of weight out of everyone, not a single person cheered for her. Not even Bob or Jillian. Tracey’s choices put the Red Team and the Orange Team below the yellow line. And it looks like an entire team will be going home instead of just an individual person.

Everyone knew that Shay couldn’t go home and the Red Team decided to sacrifice themselves so that she could stay. I wish so much that Tracey could have gone home because she made such horrible decisions this week. And she seemed to have no remorse for it or understand that she was behaving just so vile.

All of the teams honored the wishes of the Red Team and voted them off. Even though everyone knew it was coming, it was still the saddest elimination ever! Sean & Antoine did not deserve to go home but I think their determination and sacrifice will help them when they get home.

the show must go on

2009-09-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

It’s time for the stars to go head-to-head on Dancing with the Stars.

Filling in for Len this week is Moulin Rouge director Baz Lurhman, who also directed the spectacular Strictly Ballroom.

First up and dancing the Jive was Joanna & Derek. She is doing all of the moves but she doesn’t look as smooth as I think she should. Granted, it is only Week 2, but I think she has a lot of pressure on her because of her performance last week. She ended up with a 20/30 which is definitely lower than last week.

Natalie & Alec took the stage this week with the dreaded Quick Step. Apparently, Natalie has a breathing problem because she is used to holding her breath for so long while swimming. She definitely seemed calmer this week and she definitely showed a lot of potential. Natalie received a 21/30 which is pretty respectable for Week 2.

One of my faves, Chuck & Anna, got the Tango and I think he will do really well since the Tango. Ooh, and they danced to Seven Nation Army! Well, personally, I enjoyed it and I think I have a little school girl crush on Chuck! They ended up with a 19/30 which is a big improvement for them from last week.

Oh, yay! Melissa & Mark are taking on the Jive! I bet this is going to be really cute...at least I hope! Oh, and it was! Super adorable and I think she actually did a pretty good job. She also ended up with a 19/30 and it seems like the scores are going to stay around this area.

Michael & Anna decided to push themselves really hard with the Quick Step this week. I really feel like Anna is getting a little overwhelmed by being a pro on this show so I hope she does better this week with the choreography. But Michael was surprisingly light on his feet during this dance and Anna did much better with adding content. They scored a 20/30 for this week falling right into the middle of the pack.

The most volatile couple of the season, Debi & Maks, performed the Tango and this surely seemed like the best performance for them. However, they chose to perform to the Moulin Rouge version of Roxanne which is pretty risky considering the man that created that original and amazing performance is now judging them! I think they did the best they could and it was really steamy. You can still see her nervousness and I hope that she eventually gets more confident because she is really good. They received a 21/30 putting them at the top of the leader board along with Natalie & Alec.

Cutie couple of the season, Louie & Chelsie, had the Jive and they are so cute and young it just has to be good. Ahh, I just can’t get over how cute they are!! I love them to pieces. The judges were a little harsh on him, but he really is good and I think that America will keep him in with votes. They scored a 19/30 which still keeps them with the rest of the pack.

Aaron & Karina performed next and they had a drum intro from Animal from Sesame Street. They had this cute little vaudeville routine going on during their Quick Step. He is doing really well and I think they will now take the leader board. The judges totally loved it and they gave him a 27/30! They just blew everyone out of the water!

Another fave couple, Kelly & Louis, danced the Tango this week and I hope she keeps her momentum from last week. I think she did well but I think that the pressure she was feeling from last week got to her. I hope that this week is the only week where she loses confidence. She ended up with a 19/30 which is still at the bottom of the bunch but I think others may do worse.

Performing another Quick Step was Kathy & Tony and they had a cute Cinderella theme going on. She is definitely graceful, but a little boring to watch. She scored an 18/30 which is the lowest score so far.

My final fave couple, Mark & Lacey, took on the Quick Step and I hope they do well. Aw, I thought it was cute and they did pretty good. I agree that his footwork was not the greatest but he covered well. Wow, Mark scored a 21/30 which puts him up there in the leader boards.

Mýa & Dimtry danced a Jive and I think she will do well. She looks über cute too in a complete 20’s style look. Their song was really risky but the dance was really good! It was like near perfection! The duo scored the second 27/30 of the night!

Tom & Cheryl took the stage next and I really hope they don’t do well so they can be kicked off already! They danced a Tango and needless to say, it was not sexy at all. Tom ended up with a slight stress fracture in his foot and I think it ended up hurting him in the end because he almost dropped Cheryl in the final hold and I think he may have hurt himself. He ended up with 18/30 leaving him at the bottom with Kathy.

Rounding out the night was Donnie & Kym doing another Jive. He actually did really well in this dance and I think he had just the right amount of theatricality and dance skills. Wow, Donnie eked out a 25/30 with a 9 from Baz! So he bridged the gap between the leaders and the rest of the pack.

My predictions for tomorrow: either Kathy or Tom will go home but I hope that it’s Tom.

and they're off!

2009-09-28T18:31:00.001-07:00

While dance crews battled for the top prize, contestants embarked on the first leg of The Amazing Race.

The teams this year range from teammates from The Globetrotters, a former Miss USA, plenty of couples in varying ranges of their relationships, and some family ties.

Wow! The teams found out that one team would be eliminated during the first challenge and wouldn’t even get to leave the starting point. The first clue had the teams searching hundreds of license plates for only 11 plates with the correct Japanese symbol to get them to Japan.

Eric and Lisa, the married yoga teacher couple, came in last place and didn’t even make it on a plane to Tokyo.

Maria & Tiffany, professional poker players, decide that they are going to tell people that they work with a homeless organization in LA because they think people won’t help them if they know that they make a lot of money playing poker.

Nashville couple Mika & Canaan got to the Tokyo Tower first and found themselves on a Japanese game show!!! Haha, oh how stereotypically Japanese!

HAHAHA and they had to play a game called Sushi Roulette! The game required one player from each team to sit at a table and eat whatever dish of sushi was in front of them. But, some of the teams got a Wasabi Bomb which is basically just a roll of wasabi!!! And they needed to eat it in just 2 minutes. Once they ate a Wasabi Bomb, they get to leave the show and move-on. But they have to keep playing until they eat the Wasabi Bomb. Once the teams finished the game show, they had to take the flag in front of them and lead 20 Japanese audience members through Tokyo’s busiest city crossing.

Surprisingly, most of the teams did well with their Wasabi Bombs except for Maria. She failed during her first attempt, just barely missing the 2 minute time limit. The other teams were frustrated with her because she was taking away the chance for them to win. The Yellow team also had some trouble getting the Wasabi Bomb down.

San Diego couple Meghan & Cheyne were Team #1 on this leg! Aww, and all the Japanese women from the audience were loving the Globetrotters, especially Big Easy. He was just so big. But at the same time, they were having some trouble getting their team to the pit stop. In fact, so did some other teams who had been leading their teams much longer.

Mika & Canaan were the 10th couple to arrive and they were missing one of their audience members. Luckily, she was just around the corner. Maria & Tiffany also were missing two of their audience members and decided to check-in without them. Lucky for them it was a non-elimination leg so they just incurred a 2-hour penalty and they must perform a speed bump in their next leg.

For the next leg, the teams needed to go to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The teams seemed to be divided on their approaches to getting flights. Some chose to go to the hotel first to buy tickets online or go to the airport. Turns out there was no advantage to either way because all teams got on the same flight.

While at the airport, the other teams found out that Maria & Tiffany are poker players because someone else in the airport recognized them.

Once the teams landed in Vietnam, they had to get on a bus to Cai Be. There were two buses and the teams on the second bus paid extra for their bus to leave early and catch up with the first bus. Regardless of when they left, both buses missed the dock time so they had to wait until morning. Looks like those teams on the second bus paid extra money for nothing!

During their next challenge, the teams needed to gather mud to fertilize a tree on a fruit farm. Maria & Tiffany had to perform their Speed Bump of creating the traditional dish of Pho. They succeeded on their first try and then made their way to the mud. All of the teams were having trouble with the mud because it was so thick.

Meghan & Cheyne finished first and made their way to the Cai Be field for their next challenge. When Justin & Zev finished with their tree, Justin fell into the river and possibly lost his clue. This error made it possible for Maria & Tiffany to catch up.

During the Road Block, one member from each team needed to move a group of 100 ducks over a bridge and back in just 10 minutes. But if they didn’t make it during the time limit, they had to relinquish their space and wait for another team to finish first.

Brothers Sam & Dan, finished the duck challenge first and headed toward Masaac III, the boat that would be their next pit stop. Father-Son team, Gary & Matt, were Team #1 on this leg.

Jessica & Garrett came in last place on this leg. I think this couple has a lot of problems and I’m not so sure that this helped them in their quest to determine whether or not they are marriage material.

and the winner of abdc is...

2009-09-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

We are finally at the finale of America’s Best Dance Crew and it’s down to Afroboriké and We are Heroes.

This is another results show that I can’t stand because I just want the results. So, fast forward through group performances from all of the nine crews and we get to a combined performance from the final two crews.

Fast forward again and now we are at the results.

The winner of Season 4 of ABDC is…

WE ARE HEROES!!!

Finally, a female crew wins the show! See you for Season 5 in January!

boston can dance

2009-09-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

So You Think You Can Dance hit the streets of Boston for the first time.

Yay, Tyce Diorio is joining Mary and Nigel for judging!

Teddy Todholm took the stage first and it was such a cute performance. It was so unique and you get a feeling that it was completely him to the core. AND he performed to the same song that Jeanine & Jason danced to for Travis Wall’s piece! He’s such an awkward little kid and he’s making his way to Vegas.

Jean Lloret started a little slow in the beginning but slowly got Mary screaming for his crazy B-boy skills. Without even listening to him or interviewing him, he was sent straight to Vegas. And after a bunch of boys proved their worth, Channing Cooke made it to choreography and started off some momentum for the girls.

After a married ballroom couple made it straight to Vegas, creeper Gene Bersten hoped he could do the same with a solo Latin ballroom performance. He’s clearly talented and knows what he is doing, but he is trying too hard. And he is just way too conceited.

At this point, I am ready for Vegas week already!! Hurry up!

the chefs work up some magic

2009-09-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

Some magic is brewing in the kitchen of Top Chef.

Kinda lame…Michael Isabella decided that everyone should wear red scarves to honor Mattin. Um, he was not as good as you think. But Padma got a laugh out of it…mostly because she was surprised by how many scarves Mattin had packed!

Michelle Bernstein greeted the chefs and gave them their challenge. They needed to create a duo dish that represented their struggles as a chef to fulfill the devils and angels on their shoulders.

Many of the chefs were surprised to find out that Robin’s simple dish won the Quick Fire. I think perhaps they all underestimate her simplicity as a chef. Being simple can be a really good thing sometimes but it can also be bad and I think the other chefs are resentful of that.

The chefs then got another surprise when Penn & Teller met them in the kitchen. They presented the chefs with their Elimination Challenge, which is to deconstruct a classic dish. Some of the chefs felt really good about the challenge, but others, like Jennifer are really struggling with the deconstructed part of the challenge.

While serving the dishes, it appeared that a lot of the chefs misinterpreted deconstruction with reinvention.

Kevin, Ashley, Michael V., and Jennifer were called out to judges table as the winning dishes! Jennifer’s surprise at being up there was a little insulting. She kept thinking that it was not up to her standards but maybe she just doesn’t fully understand how deconstructed is supposed to be. I’m glad she didn’t actually win for that. Instead, Kevin won! I’m glad that Ashley was up there, too, because I want her to keep getting better and better.

On the flip side, Ron, Ash, and Laurine were in the bottom. Ash really tried to convince the judges that he deserved to stay despite his poor dish. Laurine may have saved herself by knowing the problem of her dish was overcooked fish since the judges tend to feel for the chefs who know what their problems were. Ron’s inability to deconstruct his dish at all should send him home but I think they may send Ash home. Oh, surprising! They actually sent Ron home and I’m happy with their decision.

designers take over hollywood

2009-09-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

The designers on Project Runway head to la la land.

For their challenge this week, the designers met Tim Gunn and Collier Strong at a Hollywood sound stage. They each drew a film genre and were asked to create a character to fit in that genre and creating an outfit. The genres were: Action/Adventure, Film Noir, Period Piece, Western, and Sci-Fi.

Irina, Louise, and Althea all chose Film Noir, Nicolas and Ra’mon took Sci-Fi, Christopher and Gordana went with Period Piece, Carol Hannah and Logan chose Action/Adventure, and Shirin and Epperson got stuck with Western.
Ra’mon’s outfit is reminding me too much of a green Mystique and not in a good way. Epperson is doing well with the Western. I think Gordana is in major trouble.

The judges this week were John Varvatos, Zoe Glassner from Marie Claire, and Arianne Phillips who was nominated for an Oscar for her costume work on Walk the Line.

The designers left on the runway were Gordana was once again criticized for being too boring and safe with her design. Her own vision is not coming through in her work and she is just making herself out to be a seamstress rather than a designer. Nicolas’s concept and outfit was fantastic. It was a dress made for Tilda Swinton and it was a cross between Narnia and Fifth Element. Louise completely missed the mark in her Film Noir genre. In fact, all of the Film Noir outfits were horrible. Christopher’s outfit was perfection and I completely fell in love with his vampire concept!! Ra’mon failed with his concept and design – it ended up even worse than his jumpsuit! For having the hardest genre of them all, Epperson completely surprised everyone with his thoughtfulness to the period and the character he created. The dress was fantastic and beautiful.

Hmm, surprisingly, Nicolas won this challenge! I’m not upset about it but I thought that Christopher should have won. The bottom two fell to Ra’mon and Louise. Again, surprisingly, Ra’mon was sent home.

no big surprises on the dance floor

2009-09-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

Potential ballroom dancing dreams are cut short for two stars on DWTS.

Ugh, it’s the return of dreaded results shows that I cannot stand. Kelly & Louis reprised their beautiful Viennese Waltz at the top of the show on the request of the judges.

Blah, blah, blah we got a recap on the performance. Fast forward through Sean Kingston’s performance.

Ashley Hamilton was the first star booted off the show and I feel bad for his partner, Edyta. She never seems to get good partners.

Skipping over Miley Cyrus’s newest music video, I actually enjoyed the next part which was a performance from the case of The Lion King.

Then came the really sad part…a wonderful tribute to Patrick Swayze.

Back to the results and it was revealed that Macy Gray would be leaving for the women. Can’t say I was surprised, but I was surprised that Kelly & Louis were in the bottom three!

two humble exits from the kitchen

2009-09-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

It’s time to return to Hell on Hell’s Kitchen!

Now that Suzanne has moved over to the Blue Team, Kevin basically told her that they don’t trust her or want her on the team. And the women confronted Sabrina about her weak services.

Chef Ramsay had a video message for the remaining chefs from the Araxi restaurant in Whistler, British Columbia. He had a challenge for them that would really determine who could head this restaurant. They had 15 fresh ingredients from the Whistler region and they needed to create three dishes using all of the ingredients but not repeating them.

Sabrina was being stupid and didn’t tell her teammates that the protein they were using was actually venison not lamb. Stupid, petty games will not win you a prize!

Sasha Cohen and Johnny Moseley, two major Olympians, helped Chef Ramsay to judge the dishes. For the first round, the Blue Team won wish their Salmon dish. Tennille messed herself up by introducing the dish as lamb instead of venison. Despite her mistake, the Red Team won that dish. The blue dish just barely eked out the competition. But neither teams did all that well with the ingredients.

For their punishment, the women on the Red Team had to clean up at a farm while the Blue Team met Mark Peele at his restaurant Campanile.

During dinner service, the teams got to create their own menus. They got to create three appetizers, three entrees, and three desserts. The Blue Team was really happy with their menu but the Red Team was struggling. Van continued to mess up on his scallop dish and Ariel kept undercooking her pork ravioli.

Oh no! David hurt his left hand again and I really hope that this doesn’t send him home. He is one of the best chefs on this show.

Everyone seems to be messing up all over the place and I can’t believe that this is happening with only 7 chefs left. It doesn’t leave much confidence for any of them to be a head chef at a first rate restaurant. Because of the problems both teams had on the halibut, both kitchens were shut down early. Each team had to give nominate one person for elimination.

The Red Team nominated Sabrina and the Blue Team nominated Van. Chef Ramsay sent Sabrina home and for her I think it was only a matter of time. I did like her but I agree with his decision. Before they left, Chef told them that they would be facing their toughest challenge to date in the morning.

Now that they are into the final six, the Black Coats came out and now they were all one team. The chefs were challenged to recreate dishes simply from seeing and tasting a dish. They were paired in twos: Dave & Suzanne, Tennille & Kevin, and Ariel & Van. This is something I could never do – I would be horrible at figuring out what ingredients were in a dish and then recreating it!

The teams were really close with their dishes. It was pretty impressive on how they managed to do this and especially that all of them were really close. Dave & Suzanne ended up winning because they correctly guessed that the sauce had passion fruit in it. Suzanne was stupid and bragged about her win to the other chefs and Dave was smart enough to shush her!

While the other chefs prepped for dinner service and the special couple’s night, Dave and Suzanne visited Chef Ramsay’s LA restaurant and a meal prepped by Season 4 winner, Christina.

Kevin was designated to cook tableside during dinner service. Suzanne screwed up on her hot appetizers section which caused delay for Kevin while he was on tableside service. Van started sweating so much that it was dripping in the scallops he was preparing. Suzanne and Van kept messing up on the appetizers and slowing down the entrées. Tennille stepped up to the plate and ran the entrée station. Chef Ramsay just got so frustrated with Van’s inability to cook the halibut. Then Ariel burned her garnish and that seemed to be the last straw for Chef. He ended up leaving the kitchen and the restaurant in general with Sous Chef Scott. Not a good sign with the top six!

The chefs in the kitchen stepped up and Tennille took control of the entrée station again. Surprisingly enough, the chefs continued and did well. Except for Suzanne who refused to do anything else. She was afraid to “put her name” on any of the dishes without the approval of Chef Ramsay or Sous Chef Scott. That doesn’t sound like a head chef to me!

Chef Ramsay came back into the kitchen with Sous Chef Scott and immediately sent Ariel, Suzanne, and Van out of the kitchen. Van is going insane over this and it’s a little scary! Meanwhile, Dave, Kevin, and Tennille finished service.

Chef Ramsay named Tennille, Kevin, and Dave as the best chefs and they had to collectively decide which two chefs needed to be nominated to leave. They all agreed on Suzanne and Ariel. But when it came time to nominate, Tennille said she thought Van should be up there instead of Ariel. I think that’s what Chef Ramsay wanted to see, as well, and he called all three up. Van ended up leaving and he was actually quite humble with his exit.

models walking tall

2009-09-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

It’s a walk-off on Top Model!

I wonder if that’s the real reason why Courtney was sent home early…because she wouldn’t have been able to walk.

The girls met Miss J and 9-Yea old Diva Davana who is a Miss J in the making! She is über fierce and her name suits her to a tee! Anyway, back to the contestants. They got their runway teach and their outfits had them matched in twos. I am betting that they are going to be walking against each other!

Ashley has been complaining about each and every person in the house! I can understand her talking about Bianca because she should have gone home. But Ashley isn’t doing good enough to be putting down girls who are being called first and second at panel!

The ladies got to walk in a fashion show in Malibu wearing Kevan Hall designs. And they would have to walk next to models who are closer to 5’10”!! And whoever won would get to be in an editorial for Seventeen magazine. Some of the models really succeeded, like Kara and Brittany, while others like Ashley and Lulu failed. Brittany won so take that Ashley and Lulu who thought she needed to change her look! Brittany chose Laura and Kara to be in the advertorial with her.

Okay, though I am still not a huge fan of Bianca because I think she needs to learn how to be professional if she wants to make modeling her profession, I am keeping my fingers crossed that Ashley goes home.

For their photo shoot, the girls’ challenge was to make their proportions seem as long as possible. Poor Brittany struggled with the other girls watching her. A few other girls stood out, like Kara, Erin, and Rae. Thankfully, Lulu bombed as well but Ashley started doing well. Bummer.

Jaime Rishar, another petite model, served as the guest judge on this week’s panel. Erin killed this shoot and I am starting to see her potential now. Bianca did not do as poorly this week, so she will be safe, I’m sure. Brittany completely bombed and I sincerely hope she doesn’t go home. Sundai greatly improved, as did Laura and Jennifer. Nicole blew it out of the water and she was fantastic. Lulu also did poorly and I’m secretly glad. Kara did really well. Rae also did just okay and Ashley didn’t do quite as well as I thought she did.

Yay, Kara got best picture! I’m glad that she is starting to pull forward. Oh no, the bottom two is Lulu and Brittany. I really hope that the judges don’t make another mistake and send Brittany home. Oh thank goodness, they chose to keep Brittany!

girls just want to have fun

2009-09-23T19:58:00.000-07:00

Now it’s time for the ladies to hit the floor on DWTS!!

Debi Mazar, who reminds me of a 50’s Barbie doll, took the stage first with hottie Maks! They took on the Salsa as their first dance and she seems pretty fiery so maybe she will do pretty well. She was having so much fun with it but she was little bit all over the place. But I liked her a lot and I think she’ll stay. The judges ended up giving her a 16/30 and I think they were really harsh!

Melissa Joan Hart and two-time champion Mark Ballas hit the floor with a Viennese Waltz. I am totally rooting for this pair!! Ahh, it was like watching Sabrina dancing at the prom or something, but instead of dancing with Harvey she was dancing with Mark! It seemed to be mixed results from the judges but they gave her 18/30 which is not too bad.

After falling off the music radar, Mya re-emerged on the dance floor with partner, Dmitry Chaplin. I think she will do well since she has danced before. And she definitely did well and the choreography was really well done. Len did not like the choreography and Bruno went crazy because he was loving it! She ended up with a 21/30 and she would have scored higher if not for Len’s low score. Definitely a contender, this one!

Supermodel and now business mogul, Kathy Ireland performed next. They danced the Salsa and she was a little stiff with it. I think she could get better eventually if she stayed a few weeks. She ended up with a 16/30 and she is now tied for the bottom. That’s okay, Kathy. I’m pretty sure that Macy Gray will be much worse!

Natalie Coughlin of Olympic swimming fame also took on the Salsa with Season 1 winner Alec Mazo. Wow, she is good! She’s like a natural dancer. She still needs to work on her concentration face because she definitely would forget to smile. But she is really good! Natalie scored a 19/30 and I think that’s not too bad.

Oh no, it’s time for Macy Gray. This is going to be a little rough and she is doing a Viennese Waltz. Plus, she was on tour during the entire training period. Perhaps this is mean to say, but it was like someone doing the Waltz while being high! She was enjoying it in her own head and on a completely differently level than everyone else. But at least she seemed to be having fun and she finished! Okay, so she got a 15/30 and she is definitely at the bottom of the pool.

Joanna Krupa paired with Derek Hough. She’s going to be a good dancer, I can tell. And she’s definitely sexy, being named the sexiest swimsuit model, so her Salsa should be good. She was cute to watch! She seemed like she was so excited to be out there but also nervous about her performance. Wow, and she got a 24/30 which is the highest score so far!

My next fave pair that I am rooting performed the last solo dance of the night. And that pair would be Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel. Aww, she was graceful and ladylike! And she seemed so elated to be out there, it was adorable! And her parents were in the audience and they were just in tears. Len even said it was the best Waltz of the night! She got a 23/30 and she has the second highest score of the show!

Now onto the relay dances! The first dance up was the Foxtrot and it featured Debi & Maks, Kathy & Tony, Natalie & Alec, and Joanna & Derek. Hmm, it’s hard to say how they will end up. I think they all did really well. I think the judges will give Joanna the highest score though I think it should go to Natalie. Kathy & Tony came in last, followed by Debi & Maks, Natalie & Alec came in second, and Joanna & Derek pulled off the 10 points.

The Cha Cha relay ended the night with Melissa & Mark, Mya & Dmitry, Macy & Jonathan, and Kelly & Louis. Mya and Kelly were clearly the best and Kelly did way better than I expected! Macy, sadly, did the worst, but that was to be expected. I’m not sure if the 10 points will go to Kelly or Mya, but I am pulling for Kelly. Naturally, Macy & Jonathan came in last, followed by Melissa & Mark, Kelly & Louie captured the second place, and Mya & Dmitry walked away with the 10 points.

Stay tuned for the results!

losing is a team effort

2009-09-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

Week Two at the ranch proves difficult for some of the contestants on Biggest Loser.

The contestants were told that they had the chance to keep everyone above the yellow line. BUT in order for that to happen, the fifteen remaining contestants needed to lose a combined total of more than 150 pounds. That is more than 10 pounds each and everyone knows that Week Two on the ranch is the hardest week. And if they didn’t achieve this goal, then two players would be going home.

Bob and Jillian did not like this 150 pound challenge because they feel it was just and impossible feat. And they know more than anyone the terrors of Week Two.

Mo went to the hospital to visit his partner, Tracey, to see how she was doing. She seemed to be doing so much better from when we last saw her and she was glad to see that Mo was her partner. Meanwhile, Shay started to get fed up with Julio for not pulling his weight and working out. She finally decided to confront him about it because she didn’t want to be sent home.

Tracey finally entered the ranch and officially joined the game! She seemed so positive about being there and she was thankful for everyone. She had a 1:1 with Bob to learn about her nutrition since she couldn’t do the same workouts that everyone else.

Then the contestants met with celebrity chef Curtis Stone to learn about healthy food options. After their lesson, Alison would quiz them and if they got 5 questions right, they would get a 15 point advantage at the weigh in. Now that’s a big deal! The contestants were having trouble remembering everything he said and the stress of their 150 pound challenge was weighing on all of them.

In the quiz, the Purple Team got the first question about portion size correct and the Orange Team followed suit by getting the cooking without oil questions right. Sadly, the Brown Team got their question right and we found out that a traditional Caesar Salad from a restaurant has 1010 calories! On a roll, the Pink Team got the pasta question right. Darn, and the Green Team got their question about soda calories wrong. The Red Team also got their question about desserts wrong. Thankfully, the Blue Team pulled through and got the protein in snacks question right so the group won the 15 point advantage!

For the challenge, the contestants needed to walk from raft to raft via balance beams. Each balance beam would get smaller as they went to the next raft and they needed each team member to get to the designated raft before they could move on to the next. The first raft awarded 5 extra pounds towards their goal, as did the second raft. The third raft would get them phone calls from home, and the last raft got them 10 more pounds. But if any single person fell into the water, then the challenge was over.

They all made it to the first raft and received an extra 5 pounds. On the second leg, Abby struggled in the middle but made her way to the raft safely. Everyone else made it, too, and they got another 5 pounds. The biggest challenge was making it to the third raft so that everyone could get phone calls from home. Everyone’s desire for this prize really brought the team together and it was quite touching. The last beam was only 6” wide and it got the contestants really nervous. Shay’s nerves almost got the better of her, but they all completed the last leg and got another 10 pounds!

Ugh, those phone calls home were so heart wrenching!! Tears all over.

Going into the Last Chance Workout, the contestants’ spirits were a little lighter knowing that they only had 115 pounds to lose instead of 150! But then Bob and Jillian burst their bubble because, to them, 115 pounds, is still a lot to lose for Week Two. They know that if they push the contestants this week, then they are going to suffer next week with low numbers and possible gains.

My fingers are crossed for the weigh-in! Here is the breakdown of the weigh-in:
· Pink Team: -10 pounds; 105 left to lose
· Purple Team: -19 pounds; 86 left to lose
· Red Team: -19 pounds; 67 left to lose
· Green Team: -21 pounds; 46 left to lose
· Brown Team: -22 pounds; 24 left to lose
· Blue Team: -22 pounds; 2 left to lose
· Black Team: -19 pounds; GOAL MET!
· Orange Team: -23 pounds; ORIGINAL GOAL OF 150 LBS. MET!!!

Here’s hoping that Week Three isn’t the new Week Two…

let's hear it for the boys

2009-09-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

It’s Day One of the newest season of Dancing with the Stars!

Tonight, all of the men will take the stage and it all started with a performance from the male pros to a rousing The Boys are Back in Town. I’m so excited for Louis Van Amstel this season after his work on SYTYCD and of course I still love Mark Ballas!

Oh, and Samantha’s horrible hosting skills started from the beginning! I love to make fun of her.

This season, I am rooting for MMA Fighter Chick Liddell, Melissa Joan Hart of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame, Kelly Osbourne, the most decorated female Olympian Natalie Coughlin, and Iron Chef “chairman” Mark Dacascos.

Aaron Carter was the first to dance and he looks soooo different from the little Carter brother I remember from years ago. He and pro partner, Karina Smirnoff, did a Cha Cha for their first dance. And, wow! He is really good! He is going to be a major threat this season because he can clearly dance. Aww, and all of the Backstreet Boys were in the audience to cheer him on!!! How cute! He scored a 22/30 which is admirable for the first performance.

From the cage to the dance floor, Chuck Liddell danced second with partner Anna Trebunskaya. They had to tackle a Foxtrot and from the first look, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is anything but elegant! Aw, and he was concentrating so hard! The judges just melted for him though they know he still has a long way to go. He scored a 16/30 which really isn’t great but I bet he’ll be safe.

My favorite Japanese food host, Mark Damascos, paired with Lacey Schwimmer for a Cha Cha. And they did a Japanese them!! Love it!!! And what do you know, he is good! Well, that is not surprising to me but I’m glad for it! And Gilles from last season seemed to love it because he was on his feet afterwards! He came in at a 21/30 just under Aaron Carter.

George Hamilton was in the audience to support his son Ashley Hamilton. Now, I would hardly consider him a star because I don’t know who he is and I’m semi-obsessed with celebrities. He was paired with Edyta Sliwinska, who also danced with Ashley’s dad in Season 2. He’s pretty rough but finding out that he was in a wheelchair not too long ago from a brain surgery makes up for it. And he’s pretty endearing. He’s not a typical celebutante like I thought he would be like. He ended with a 15/30 but I bet he outdoes Tom Delay!

Donnie Osmond partnered with Kym Johnson and being his sweet Mormon self, he kept getting embarrassed during the intimate parts! The two danced a Foxtrot and he did pretty well. The only reason I am not rooting for Donnie because I expect him to be really good and I want to see someone else win. Though, I dearly love Kym and I want her to win finally! The judges gave him 20/30 leaving Aaron still in the lead.

Chelsie Hightower paired with shortie Louie Vito, a pro snowboarder who is a favorite for the 2010 Olympics. They are both so little so they look like a little high school couple! It’s the perfect mixture of adorable and awkward. They also took on a Foxtrot and they were so cute. That is all I will ever be able to say about this pair because it’s true! Bruno is right…he’s a dancing hobbit!! The judges left him with a 19/30.

Michael Irvin from the Dallas Cowboys took the stage next and he was paired with the newest pro, Anna Demidova. Aw, and his motivation was to beat Jerry Rice! He is so lovable and such a football player, I love it. The air sizzled with their Cha Cha and he was such a joy to watch. The judges slammed the performance and I think Anna’s choreography brought them down. Even I noticed that it was a little too simple. Wow, he got a 13/30! Fingers crossed that Tom Delay does worse.

Okay, this is perhaps really mean to say, but I am kind of glad that Cheryl Burke got paired with Tom Delay. Perhaps she can learn not to be so cocky when she doesn’t have a sexy partner like Gilles or a champion like Drew or Emmitt. I’m surprised he’s even on the show but he had way more personality than I ever expected. The judges awarded him a 16/30 and I’m shocked that he’s not the lowest.

Now that all of the men have danced, they each took a second turn on the dance floor during a relay dance. They would be ranked from 1st to 4th within their group. First was the Salsa Relay and it was between Ashley & Edyta, Chuck & Anna, Donnie & Kym, and Louie & Chelsie. I think Donnie did the best by far and Ashley was the worst. Chuck and Louie both did surprisingly well. Donnie & Kym got 10 points, Louie & Chelsie got 8, Chuck & Anna got 6, and Ashley & Edyta for 4 points.

The Viennese Waltz Relay ended the night with Tom & Cheryl, Mark & Lacey, Michael & Anna, and Aaron & Karina. This seemed a little harder to judge on who did better since it seemed more difficult. I think either Aaron or Mark will get first. Samantha is horrible at killing time! It’s just way too awkward. Tom & Cheryl placed last, Michael & Anna got 6 points, Mark & Lacey got 8, and Aaron & Karina maintained their lead with 10 points.

So, predictions on who goes home…either Ashley or Tom. We’ll see after the ladies take the stage tomorrow.

the heroes of the dance floor

2009-09-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

It’s down to the final three on ABDC! Can both crews featuring females make it to the top??

Well, maybe! Afroboriké toppled over usual B-Boy faves, Massive Monkees, and the locking girls, We are Heroes. The challenge for this week required the crews to dance through decades of dance and 5 dance legends that included James Brown, Rock Steady Crew, Paula Abdul, Usher, and Lady Gaga.

Afroboriké’s first performance was not too bad. They did really well with Lady Gaga and pretty good in the Paula Abdul section. The b-boy pats were a little rough, but that was to be expected. A lot of their transitions were super slow but it was not the greatest. They did much better last week so they are lucky to be guaranteed into the finals!

Now Massive Monkees and We are Heroes battle it out for the final position in the finale. The boys took the stage first. Naturally, they just killed the b-boy section! And they surprisingly did well with Lady Gaga. But the Usher part was way rough and their goal of hitting the Paula Abdul section didn’t go as well as they had hoped. It was like they lost steam by the end. They didn’t disappoint, but they definitely left the door open for the ladies.

We are Heroes just killed it! They knew exactly what they had to do with this challenge and they did it. There was nothing wrong with that performance! They weren’t too intimidated by the challenge and they took each section for what it was. I would be so surprised if they lost out to Massive Monkees.

Did the judges put the ladies through to the finale ensuring that a crew with girls would actually win the show? Or did they go with the typical B-Boy styling and cop out? Yes, they did!! We are Heroes has made it to the finals which means no more B-Boy champions! But I do still like Massive Monkees and I’m glad they were so humble with their loss.

The Last Chance Challenge had Afroboriké and We are Heroes constructing their own song and performance to get America to vote for them.

Afroboriké performed first and they went tribal. I thought it was good but I was missing the sexiness that they usually put out. I was expecting more Salsa and latino-style dancing and this seemed more like African dancing and Maori tribal moves.

Once again, We are Heroes killed it! That was probably one of the best performances ever on this show! They literally lit the stage on fire! But the fire effect definitely wasn’t needed because these girls outdanced everyone and themselves a million times over. They will for sure win. They have to!

If only I voted on Reality Shows, I would be clogging up the phone lines with votes for We are Heroes. But we will see if everyone feels the same way I do!

extra! extra! read (and design) all about it!

2009-09-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

It’s sew time on Project Runway!

Now that designers are leaving one by one, the drama is growing! People are now really critiquing and criticizing one another. Let the fun times begin, hehe!

For their challenge, Heidi gave them the clue of “black and white.” Of course that is no help at all! But then they met at the LA Times office for their challenge. They met Booth Moore, accredited fashion critic for the newspaper. They would need to use old newspapers as the fabric for their outfits. What a good and interesting idea!! There are going to be some really good designs and some really bad designs!

The designers could use dyes, paints, and markers for their paper and could also use muslin as a base but it could not show on the outfit.

Okay, for any designer that is going for an “origami” theme, get some creativity! Oh gee, paper dress…origami…okay! Um, no…that is too obvious! I’m also tired of these people who are so “inspired” about working with paper and this opportunity. Uh, no one was stopping you from using paper before! Whatever.

This week’s judges were Zoe Glassner of Marie Claire, Tommy Hilfiger, and Eva Longoria Parker. The runway show surely was unique! As predicted, some of the designs were really good and some were….well…just not.

The designers asked to stay on the runway were Johnny, Nicolas, Christopher, Althea, Gordana, and Irina. I really liked Logan’s dress so I’m surprised he’s not up there. Althea’s dress really was just fantastic and she proved that her win last week was not a fluke. I would never have thought that her dress was made of paper. Gordana’s dress was not faulted too much except for being boring. Her construction was really well done but the dress itself was nothing to rave about. Irina’s trenchcoat was praised by the judges and that makes sense because it was really good. Johnny’s dress ended up being compared to a hooker outfit…not so good. And he continued to spin the lie about his dress being ruined by an iron. Nicolas threw him under the bus a little but his dress was not praised either. Christopher’s dress came next and I, personally, am not wowed by it. I like the bottom of the dress, but I don’t like the bodice though that is what the judges loved.

Irina ended up as the winner of this challenge and I kind of agree. I personally liked Althea’s the best, but since she had immunity, I think it’s good to share the wealth. Now for who goes home…I hope its Johnny. He has been on a downward spiral since Week One. Yay, I was right. Johnny only has himself to blame on this one.

Ooh, I loved Tim’s anger at Johnny’s lie! I’ve never seen him so flippant about sending a contestant home or seen him talk trash about them once they have left! Love you, Tim! :)

cowboy up, chefs!

2009-09-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

It’s time to head south on Top Chef!

Tim Love served as the guest judge this week and he surprised them with their challenge. America got to choose the Quick Fire ingredient and they chose cactus. Once again, it was a high stakes challenge and the winner would receive $15,000 but no more immunity.

The chefs sure did have a hard time with this challenge since most people have not worked with it before. I think this is going to be hard to choose a winner and loser in this challenge. Mike Isabella ended up being the winner. I’m not too sure how I feel about his recent winning streak since he is not my favorite chef there but he definitely is talented.

The elimination challenge had the chefs cooking a rustic meal for 12 cowboys but Tim Love reminded them that it still needed to be high-end. The chefs would have no idea what their equipment will be like or the conditions – they only know that it will be on a ranch! Plus, the chefs would only have 1hr 15mins to cook!

Uh oh! Tom spit out Mattin’s dish. That is going to send him home for sure! And he definitely was not the only one to struggle with this challenge. Ash and Robin completely bombed as well. But many of the other chefs did really well. This will be another tough choice for the judges.

Once again, the brothers were on top along with Laurine and Ashley. Bryan won once again and that’s his third win!

Now for the bottom dishes: Robin, Ron, and Mattin. I think it’s going to come down to Robin and Mattin because their dishes were just so bad. I gotta say that I’m loving how harsh the judges are being this season, especially Padma! She is just ripping into them and I love it! Mattin ended up being sent home and I completely agree with the choice. He has not been a good chef throughout this season and he was super annoying!

round two of auditions

2009-09-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

For the first time, So You Think You Can Dance heads to Phoenix for auditions.

Mia Michaels joined the judging panel for rounds of auditions. Gosh, do I love Mia! :)

The first “pair” of auditions was Shorty and Biggie and boy was it just silly and a waste of time. Yes, they were kind of entertaining but it wasn’t anything serious for the show. On the other hand, Sasha Mallory came next and stole Nigel’s heart.

An extremely touching story was that of Allison Becker. She was diagnosed with spinal meningitis and is deaf, but she still dances. And she’s not bad, either. She is kind of quirky and modern in her style but she can definitely perform. Her technique is not the most advanced but they all put her through to choreography. I hope she makes it!! And she did, hooray!

Um, once again we had another same sex dancing pair. I hope they are better than last seasons’ auditionees. I still don’t really understand how it works with leading and following. They are definitely better than last year and it was actually pretty beautiful.

Oh gosh, this guy Jarvis is crazy! He seems pretty genuine in how excited he is and he’s not the worst dancer ever but he’s just crazy! And his crazy antics led to more crazy auditions, one after another after another.

Thankfully, Kelsey White came along to break up the craziness but it still wasn’t good enough to make go straight to Vegas.

Jonathan “Legacy” Perez took the stage next and he is apparently a b-boy legend. After seeing only just a few seconds of his audition I would have to agree with that! He ended up making it to Vegas and it will be interesting to see what else he can do choreography-wise.

See you next week for Boston!

second chances for all

2009-09-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

It’s time for another season of The Biggest Loser! So let’s meet the contestants!

Okay, they are just in the opening credits and what to expect from the season and I’m already crying!! Thank goodness I’m not wearing mascara today!

Before the contestants ever made it to the ranch, they had their first challenge! They had to race the last mile of last season’s marathon. Whoever won would receive immunity for this week’s immunity plus they would get to choose their partner and that partner would also get immunity. And before they started the race, they got another surprise. Dan from last season would be joining this season to finish what he started.

Daniel ended up winning the race but not everyone fared so well. Tracey couldn’t walk and everyone came back to literally carry her across the finish line because her legs were like Jell-O. She couldn’t keep her eyes open and she wasn’t responding to the paramedics’ requests to open them or squeeze their hands. It was such a wake-up call for the other contestants because they knew that could be any one of them.

Now it was time for the contestants to choose their teammates. Since Dan won the challenge, he got to choose his teammate first. He chose Shay and she was ecstatic. Allen chose Abby, Amanda chose Rebecca, Rudy chose Dina, Antoine chose Sean, Liz chose Danny, Alexandra chose Julio, and that left Mo and Tracey together.

From here, the contestants went to their first weigh-in and got to meet Bob and Jillian for the first time. Shay ended up being the heaviest contestant ever on The Biggest Loser, weighing in at 476 pounds. She was among four other contestants that weighed in at over 400 lbs.

The contestants found out that this season they would be trained by both Bob and Jillian. I’m not sure how this will work but maybe it will be good for them.

More shocks came when the contestants met with the doctors. Sean found out that he has Type 2 Diabetes and he never knew. Shay found out that her “real age” is 45 when she is only chronologically 29. It was definitely eye opening for them.

Mo needed to weigh in for the purple team alone since Tracey was still in the hospital. Daniel and Shay weighed in first and they lost a total of 29 lbs! The Pink Team, Amanda and Rebecca lost a combined 24 lbs; Rudy and Dina on the Blue Team lost 36 lbs; The Red Team, Antoine and Sean, lost 40 lbs; Danny and Liz of the Brown Team lost 34 lbs; The Green Team, Allen and Abby, lost 34 lbs. also; Julio and Alexandra of the Black team lost 26 lbs; and last, but not least, Coach Mo weighed in for the Purple Team and lost 19 lbs. So, that leaves the Black Team bellow the yellow line and one of them will be going home.

For voting, the Purple Team, Brown Team, Blue Team, and Green Team all voted to keep Julio so Alexandra was sent home.

I can already tell that this is going to be a hyper emotional season. Tissues, please!

and more to love's lucky lady is...

2009-09-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

Who will Luke pick to be his fiancée on More to Love? Let’s see!

For the finale, both Malissa and Tali will meet Luke’s family and visit him in his hometown. Tali’s date was first. She seemed to be very relaxed and comfortable with Luke and just the day-to-day things. Tali’s main concern about meeting Luke’s family was all about her difference in religion and the fact that she grew up in a completely different world.

Luke’s grandmother seemed very approving of Tali’s situation and of her, in general. Ooh, awkward, there was a “grace” before dinner! Luke’s dad is a little wacko but in the end, he seemed to like Tali’s genuineness. She actually seemed really calm with his family until his dad starting grilling her on the religion issue. I think they both handled the situation really well and it really solidified their relationship.

Next, Luke had his date with Malissa. It’s interesting that these girls are completely different from one another and I really don’t know what the family will think about Malissa. Luke took Malissa to a pool hall and it turns out she is a total pool shark! I bet this is going to be a big deal when it comes to decision time….which is lame because I don’t know if they will be a good lasting couple.

Here is the thing I don’t like about Malissa: I think she wants to be the last person standing in the end because I think she is trying to prove to herself that she can win and be desirable. Since she didn’t grow up being heavy and now that she is I feel like she needs to prove something to herself. She even admitted that she wasn’t planning on trying to find love but just for the experience. Luke’s dad loved Malissa but since he’s a little crazy, that doesn’t seem to mean much, in my opinion!

Luke’s mother surprised the final two girls in their house. Both Tali and Malissa were in their pajamas when she came to visit. It was very strange because it seemed like Malissa was on the defensive the entire time and had to keep one-upping anything Tali said. I think that Luke’s mom prefers Tali but she is a little hard to read. I can’t believe that she was ever married to Luke’s dad because they are polar opposites!

In the end, the parents each like a different girl, so, of course, Luke doesn’t know what to do. Isn’t that always the case with every dating show?!

On their last date together, Tali told Luke that she loved him and I’m pretty sure that he said it back to her. I really hope he means it and chooses her because if he doesn’t then he shouldn’t have said “I love you.”

Malissa had the final date with Luke before elimination. I just think she acts too immature to be his wife. She’s still like a little girl who just wants to get her way all the time. Ugh, this is lame. Malissa told him that she loved him and he said it back! How can he say it back to both of them?! At least on other shows they don’t say it until the end.

Okay, if this is anything like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette then the first woman out of the car is the woman he doesn’t choose. So, if that’s the case, then he won’t choose Malissa since she met him first. But we’ll see. Oh, it turns out this show does follow the same pattern! That means that Luke chooses Tali!!! Yay!

Aw, it was so cute at the end when he proposed! It was so clear that they just completely love each other and they were both just so happy to finally say it to each other.

and the winner of big brother is...

2009-09-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

It’s finally here and we will soon know the winner of Big Brother 11!

The anxiety was high in the house with the final houseguests remaining. Natalie is trying to garner votes since she has no choice in the Final Two. I’m not sure how this Final Three scenario will work and I really just wish that Natalie was never even in this position.

When Michele entered the jury house, she was surprised to find out that everyone else there also hates Natalie. I bet she was also surprised to know that everyone there would have voted for her over Natalie! Ouch! That just rubs some salt in the wound. Things are looking good for either Jordan or Kevin.

Oh no! Now I’m worried that Jordan doesn’t have a shot at winning because the jury doesn’t think she’s done anything. Her best bet really is to take Natalie to the finals because at least she’s won more than Natalie has.

It’s now time for Part Three of the final HOH competition! Aaah, Kevin and Jordan tied in the game where they had to guess the end of statements made by the houseguests! So it went down to a tiebreaker where they had to guess how many total votes to evict have been made in the house, including tie breakers. Kevin put 80 and Jordan put 50. And the answer was…51. Jordan won HOH!! Yay!

So, Jordan evicted Kevin and that was for sure her smartest move. Aww, and Kevin was really sweet about it. He knew that it was the best move for her and he definitely had no hard feelings. I am not sure who he will vote for, though. I can see him going either way, so I’m not sure.

The jury had some tough questions for Jordan and Natalie. I think it’s pretty clear that Jessie won’t vote for Jordan and that Jeff will vote for Jordan.

The votes have been cast, but we still have to wait for the results! It seems like Lydia actually voted for Jordan, but I dunno! I think America’s Vote will go to Jordan for sure. Aahh, I can’t wait! And I really don’t care to hear from Braden, Laura, Casey, or Ronnie so let’s just hurry up!

And the winner of Big Brother 11 is….JORDAN!! Hooray! This is how the votes broke down: Jessie, Lydia, Michele, Jeff, and America voted for Jordan while Russell and Kevin voted for Natalie. And to top it all off, Jeff won America’s Favorite player and received $25,000.

Another show down and another happy result! :)

vmas challenge the crews

2009-09-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

It’s the VMA challenge this week on ABDC …

And it all started off with a group number in tribute to Michael Jackson. The group number was awesome and I bet that Shane had a hand in choreographing that piece! Aw, cute, in the end, the judges were imprisoned in a cell. Oh, but I was wrong! Tabitha & Napoleon choreographed the group number!! I should have known it was there choreography but I honestly didn’t think that they would choreograph it with Shane being part of this show. Love it! :)

Wow, only four crews remain! Finally, We are Heroes made it out of the Bottom 2! These ladies were given Madonna’s infamous Vogue routine from 1990. The whole piece was Victorian inspired. This will be a nice homage to Vogue Evolution who just left the competition last week, though I bet they’re wishing they could have made it to this week’s challenge. The vogue-ing and the locking that these ladies did was amazing! Though, it wasn’t there best routine and I just hope that they are safe for next week.

Afroboriké got Britney’s I’m a Slave 4 You and this is totally the perfect routine for them. There is going to be a whole lot of sexiness going on here, that’s for sure! This crew rocked it and they knew exactly how to master this task. This crew just gets better and better each week. I am now totally rooting for them and We are Heroes. I never thought this crew would make it this far, but they are certainly proving me wrong! I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it to the finals.

Massive Monkees and Rhythm City had to battle it out in the Bottom Two this week. Both of these crews are really good, so it will be tough to see who goes home. Massive Monkees got N’ Sync’s It’s Tearing Up My Heart and I bet this is nerve wracking for the boys since J.C. is a judge! I think the pressure of this performance got to the guys because it was uncharacteristically sloppy of them. And they definitely did not hold a candle to N’ Sync’s choreography. The judges loved it but I am not sure if it will be good enough. Yes, the audience was on their feet but I think that was more for the nostalgia of the boy bands days! We’ll see…

Rhythm City closed the show with a performance to Chris Brown’s Wall to Wall. I wish they had not chosen Chris Brown as one of the artists, but oh well. Well, this crew came at it hard and I am definitely on J.C.’s side – they killed it. I really hope that Rhythm City stays because I think they offer something different, whereas Massive Monkees, while good, are too much like Super Crew from Season 2.

Oh, darn, Massive Monkees made it. Well, I still like them but I hope someone other than a B-Boy crew can win the show.

models rule the runway

2009-09-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

Fashion reigns supreme again on Project Runway.

For their challenge, the designers had 13 women waiting for them in the workroom and their only challenge was to make these women very happy! Of course, the girls were their models! BUT, the models were their clients. They were invited to a very important industry event and they needed to dress to impress for agents and high fashion people.

The designers had $100 to spend at mood and just one day to complete the garment! This is going to be a big challenge for these designers. Epperson lucked out in that his instincts were exactly what Matar, his model, wanted and he was completely right in letting go of the bright orange idea. Logan is worried that his dress looks completely different from the other dresses. But I think that Koji, his model, is a different girl and this dress completely shows off her own style and personality so I think he will be okay. Shirin is struggling with her model’s idea of having a royal blue jumpsuit with gold rope accessories. I sincerely hope that she strays away from that idea!

This week’s judges panel has some new faces. There was American designer Marc Bouwer, Marie Claire Editor Zoe Glassner, and designer Jennifer Rade.

The designers remaining on the stage were Logan, Althea, Johnny, Qristyl, Epperson, and Carol Hannah. The judges really enjoyed Carol Hannah’s dress and the challenges she took with it. It was a really good mix of edgy and sophisticated. Darn, Logan’s dress was in the bottom! He said that he almost changed the skirt from an A-Line to a pencil and he sooo should have done that! It would have given the edge he wanted but also a hint of elegance. I hope he’s safe! Epperson’s dress was a smash hit! Matar loved it and the judges felt like it was a new twist on a simple design. Oh no! Johhny’s dress was touted as wearable but nothing special. I kinda have to agree on this. Qristyl’s design was a disaster and she totally aged her model. I completely agree on this and I think she needs to go home. Althea hit a homerun with her suit. It was super sexy but sophisticated at the same time.

Althea was named the winner of this challenge! I completely agree and she totally deserved to win! Yes! Logan is safe and Qristyl is out. I think it was time for her to leave because she has done nothing worth celebrating so far and Logan has way more talent.

french foodie takeover

2009-09-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Time to see what trouble the chefs are getting in today on Top Chef!

The chefs met chef Daniel Boulud at the Wynn Hotel in his restaurant. Their Quick Fire Challenge required them to make a winning dish that included Escargot as their main protein. This was a high stakes Quick Fire, but instead of the winner getting $15,000 the loser would go home! Mattin felt very confident in this challenge, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if he didn’t do well because he wasn’t creative enough with his dish.

The top chefs of this challenge were Jennifer, Kevin, and Mike I. Kevin ended up winning and he is proving himself to be a force to be reckoned with. Jesse, Robin, and Ashley were the bottom three chefs but before their fate was revealed, they got a second chance. They got 20 minutes to create an amuse bouche. Man, the ladies are not doing so well on this season! Thank goodness they have Jennifer because she seems to be the only winning woman in the kitchen. Jesse ended up being sent home and I’m disappointed. She started off being in the top with the first Quick Fire Challenge and has gone down ever since then.

For their Elimination Challenge, each chef chose a knife that had either a traditional French protein or sauce. They then needed to pair up the proteins with the sauces to create a six course French cuisine. Kevin, as the winner of the Quick Fire, didn’t have to compete in the challenge and, in fact, he got to dine with the judges and the table of famous French chefs! Lucky him!

The chefs were surprised that they would be working in Joël Robuchon’s restaurant and cooking for him, along with Daniel Boulud, Hubert Keller, Jean Joho, and Laurent Tourondel

Overall, it seems like the chefs did well and any mistakes that occurred seemed to be from the nerves that the chefs had for cooking for such esteemed professionals. The top dishes were to be expected – they belonged to Bryan, Mike I., Michael V., and Jennifer. I could have told you that before their dishes were even served! Both dishes had great complexity and creativity. In the end, Bryan’s execution of the trout got him the win. And not only was he the winner of this challenge, he was invited to work in Joël Robuchon’s restaurant for one week.

The losing dishes belonged to Hector & Ash and Mattin & Ashley. How embarrassing for Mattin to be up there considering that he is a Frenchman! Ash & Hector at least seemed to understand why they were up there and knew their mistakes. On the other hand, Ashley & Mattin didn’t communicate with each other. I hope that Mattin goes home because this should have been his week to shine and he didn’t live up to it. Oh darn, Hector was sent home! I thought he was a really good chef, too!

it's like tap heaven

2009-09-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it’s time for So You Think You Can Dance?!

Since we’re just in the audition stages, there won’t be too much to comment on, but hopefully we’ll see some really good talents. The first audition city was Los Angeles. The judges for this leg of the tour are Nigel, Mary, and Adam Shankman.

Okay, first up was Cole Clemens and the judges all though that he was doing his piece without music but he was really just doing like a performance art piece that included some spoken word. The bad thing is that he looks like he could be a good dancer but his audition was just way too bizarre!

Mollee Gray took the stage next and she is just a cute wholesome girl from Utah who also happened to be principal dancer in High School Musical 1, 2, & 3. And she certainly was good. Good enough to make it to Vegas, in fact!

Aahhh, so excited! Ryan Kasprzak was back!! Love him soooo much and I surely hope he makes it to the Top 20 this year. He is such an amazing tap dancer and a tapper has never made it to the Top 20. Bianca Robles, who also narrowly missed on the Top 20 last season, “battled” Ryan on the stage and it was fantastic! Naturally, they both made it to Vegas!

Christopher Aguilar chose to perform to a Chicago medley and it wasn’t good. It was fun to watch but not for the right reasons. And he definitely wasn’t the only one to be an embarrassment on the stage.

So, far it’s looking to be a good season!