Over The Weekend – 03/31/08

Hi Everyone:

Hope you all had a nice weekend.  Weather wasn’t too bad here.  In fact, it’s supposed to go to 60 degrees tomorrow!!!

OK, let’s see how my weekend went and if I can give you any news.

George Michael (who has been appearing now and then on ELI STONE) will be in concert next summer at TD Banknorth on July 27th.

This Thursday, April 3rd, Jimmy Kimmel will celebrate his 1,000 Episode.The show will start at 11:35…wonder if Matt Damon will be on?

Watched NEXT on Saturday afternoon and wish I had the 2 hours or so back!!!  What the heck is wrong with Nic Cage????  The only decent movies he has made in the last 5 years or so have been those National Treasure ones and they were ‘marginally’ good.  (come on Nic, give us a decent movie…with a decent hairdo!!!!)

Just heard that LIFE will return next Fall with all new episodes.  Good deal.

Same with ARMY WIVES which will return to Lifetime this coming summer along with BURN NOTICE, MONK and PSYCH.

Have any of you been watching JOHN ADAMS on HBO?  If so, and you’re also a fan of DEADWOOD, don’t you think the music at the end of each episode sounds just like the music from DEADWOOD?  Just wonderin’!

Yesterday I watched INTO THE WILD.  The cinematography and landscapes of Alaska were breathtaking.  What a sad, sad story.  Still can’t understand why Sean Penn wasn’t given an Oscar nomination for either directing or writing of this magnificent looking movie….

AI News

Looks like David Cook is in ‘hot water’ over “Eleanor Rigby” which he sang on March 11th.  The band, Doxology, have it on their CD and, given the chance to say it was a cover, David chose to keep quiet leading people to believe it was an original….uh, oh….

More Ramblings:

Star Wars will be on SPIKETV starting this weekend. They are going to start from Episode One and go each night to the next one in the order it should be presented….

Tennis Player, Andy Roddick (Mandy Moore’s exBFF) is engaged to a swimsuit model named Brooklyn (kid you not) Decker.  She’s very pretty.

Here we go with the Pitt/Jolie ‘wedding watch’.  I guess they were in New Orleans over the weekend and, because they went to church, the paps thought they were getting married….not yet!!!

Oh boy, our shows are starting to come back after the Writer’s Strike.  Let’s take a look and see what we have to TiVo….

Tuesday, FOX, Hell’s Kitchen is back after AI. 9PM

              ABC, Dancing With the Stars, 9 to 10:02.

              FX, The Riches 10PM

Wednesday, CBS, Criminal Minds at 9PM

                    FOX, AI at 9PM

(By the way, you can jump on to ON DEMAND to catch all the CSIs which are also returning this week…)

Thursday, CBS, Without A Trace, 10PM

                ABC, Eli Stone, 10PM

Friday, FOX, Canterbury’s Law at 9PM

           SPIKETV:  Star Wars, Episode One

           SCIFI: Battlestar Galactic 10PM

Saturday, BBC, Torchwood at 9PM  (just a few more left then Robin Hood)

               SPIKETV: Star Wars, Episode Two

Sunday, FX, Dirt, 10PM

             HBO, John Adams (episode 5), at 9PM

             SHO, The Tudors at 9PM

              BBC, Wire in the Blood at 8PM with Robson Green (hubba, hubba!)

Sooo, that’s all I’ve got for now.  Hope I was able to help out a little.  I know I didn’t list all the returning shows .  It’s my ‘ball and bat’ so I’ll choose which ones to list!  Just kidding.

Have a great night.  Dancing tonight….

Talk to you tomorrow.  Joanie

Weekend To Do – Rumors/News, etc. 03/28/08

Goodaye Everyone:

Let’s see what I can give you that you may ‘not’ have heard!  Plus DVDs and Movies…..

Out on DVD this week

The Kite Runner

Stephen King’s, The Mist (2 disc special edition)

In Theaters

21 (with Kevin Spacey – shot in Vegas and MIT in Cambridge, MA)

Flawless (Demi Moore, Michael Caine, Nathaniel Parker (PBS movies)

story about a diamond heist

TV News

Amy Madigan is joining the cast of GRAY’S ANATOMY.  She will appear in the last 5 episodes starting April 24th.  Amy will play a psychiatrist at Seattle Grace.

PRISON BREAK has been renewed for a fourth season.

Robin Williams will guest star in the 200th episode of Law & Order, SVU.  He will play an engineer whose life has gone off track following a tragedy.

Episode will show on April 29th.

More people have joined the Joss Whedon (Buffy) DOLLHOUSE.  It stars Eliza Dushku in a seven episode drama that revolves around a group of young men and women, aka “dolls” who are imprinted with different personalities for different assignments and then lose the memory of it when the assignment is completed.  (I wrote about this show in an earlier ‘blog’)

Kelly Preston (John Travolta’s BFF) will be in four episodes of MEDIUM beginning April 14th.  She will play a business woman who invests/partners with Jake on his solar power inventiion.  This will cause tension between him and Allison.  These four episodes will be the final ones for Season 4 (WOW, I can’t believe this show has been on for four years!) – This sounds like it could be really good since there’s already tension with Allison and Jake.  If you’ll recall, on this week’s show, he wanted to take the kids’ college fund money to help with his patent, etc. for his invention and she’d have nothing to do with it…..

Tidbits:

Richie Sambora (Heather’s ex.) was pulled over for DUI last weekend.  Sad part about all of this is he had his daughter, Ava 10, in the car with him as well as his girlfriend and another juvenile.  I’ve read that Heather is finding it hard to cope lately because she hasn’t found much work.  It must be hard on Ava to have one parent depressed and another with a DUI!!

Robin Williams’ wife, Marsha, has filed for divorce after 19 years of marriage.  They met years ago while he was married to his first wife and she was the children’s nanny.  They married shortly after his divorce.  They have two children:  Zelda, 18 and Cody, 17.  He and Marsha founded Doctors Without Borders.  Too bad about this.  I’m sure he wasn’t the easiest guy in the world to live with but he does seem like a good and caring man.

Layla Ali (Muhammad’s dtr) is expecting (she just finished cohosting AMERICAN GLADIATORS)…she was also on Dancing With The Stars and was quite good on the show.  She married former NFL star Curtis Conway last July.

Country Western ’star’? Sara Evans is engaged.  Remember when she was on Dancing and had to quit because of a scandal to do with her husband and computer stuff….?  Well, she was divorced last September and she and fiancee, Jay Barker will marry this summer.  Talk about ‘not skipping a beat’!!!

As I did last week…let me finish with a recap of AMERICAN IDOL REWIND that was on last night.

First you see Simon hugging Chikezie and saying he hoped he wasn’t the reason for his being booted off.  Chikezie said he liked the R&B song that he chose.  JD said he will be back later in the night for an interview.

Then we have a recap of the show from Tue. nite.  It’s funny; when you see the kids sing again, you pick up little things that you missed when they first sang.  David Cook was awesome…no doubt about it.

Here we have Constantine (my cutie!) and Gina interviewing ‘celebrities’ (and we’re stretching here folks):  Shar Jackson (she was Kevin Federline’s BFF and has 2 kids with him…)  ohhh, there’s Danny Noreiga.  He said the performers were all great.  Josh Gracin from a former season who has done very well with his country/western CD.

Rueben Studdard (S2 winner) is interviewed.  JD asks if he still watches AI and Rueben says, “I TiVo it and then fast forward thru parts I don’t care about.  I don’t watch every week…”  He said that these kids are so lucky because his season, they never had a band, never mind a big stage.  JD asked him if he was ever professionally trained in music and he said YES…all thru school and college.  After that, he kinda stopped and let’s his heart pick his songs.  JD asked him how it came about that he is singing the “Going Bye Bye” song this year.  He said that Simon Fuller called him and asked if he’d like to come into the studio and cut a track of Kenny Loggin’s song, CELEBRATE ME HOME.  He said sure, he did, they liked it and it’s the song the kids hear as they ‘exit the building’!  JD asked him how he felt about being on Broadway…Rueben said he was nervous playing Fats Waller in AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ but he’s hoping the audience likes him.  (He was always like a big teddybear to us!!!)

Rueben then sings, FLYING WITHOUT WINGS, which must be off a new CD.  I really liked the song…first one of all the former AI performers that I liked.

Haley Scarleto also sang a song from her new CD.  She said that she writes songs that she can relate to.  For instance, if she’s not involved with anyone, she can’t write a romantic song.  She had a lot of fun with the AI Tour (which lasts the better part of a year!) and wishes she was back on tour.  JD asks her if the rumor is true that she ‘hooked up’ with Blake Lewis on New Year’s Eve.  She wouldn’t answer him!  She’ll be singing the National Anthem during Final Four Week.  She then sang Roy Orbison’s CRYING with her own spin on the song.  She was never a ‘big’ contender but boy is she pretty and has legggggs!!!!

Constantine and Gina then went out to the public and asked them who their faves were and you know that each picked a different one and then you see the contestant’s reaction.  It was fun.  Names of fan clubs are:

Brooke’s Bandwagon

Kristy’s Crushes

Ramiele’s Revolution

JD interviewed Chi’s parents:  Chi and Richard Eze….kid you not.

I guess he auditioned four times before he got to Hollywood Week in Season 6.  Chi himself said that David Cook was his BFF.  He also said that he sings…all the time….which I guess could be good or bad, depending on what you’re singing.  He said he likes Donny Hathaway and would like to be like him.

Anyway, that’s about it for AI REWIND….

FYI:  Don’t forget, if you have Showtime, THE TUDORS begin Season Two this coming Sunday night, March 30th at 9PM!!!!

Talk to you next week.  Joanie

AI – Top 10 Goes to 9 – 03/26/08

Good morning Everyone:

Well I have to say that I felt last night was a little strange for me.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Ryan’s suit tonight looks like a ‘flashback’ from the 60s.  Didn’t care for it as much as last night’s gray suit.  And…what’s with Simon and the ‘open tee shirt’???  He’s no Brad Pitt!!!!

Ryan talks a little about the songwriting contest and how to enter.

The Top 10 come out and sing:  Get Right Back To Where We Started From.  They always have a fun time singing the opening songs on Wednesday night.  I guess, the pressure’s off and they can relax…cause, let’s face it…the votes are in and it’s Bye Bye for someone….

They then do a segment on downloading songs on ITunes.  I’m not sure how it’s done but it sounds great.  They only have 90 seconds to sing a song on Tuesday night.  This way, you get to hear the whole 3 minutes or so of the song and you get a better idea of how they handle a whole song.

Ryan then does a recap of Tuesday night’s performances….

Let’s get started on who gets to sit on the ’stools’ and who goes to the comfy chairs.

Chikezie – Bottom 3

Brooke – Safe

Carly – Safe (she also tells everyone that, regardless of what you may hear, she is NOT pregnant.

A Ford Commercial is next: I WANT YOU TO WANT ME

David A. then comes to the stage – SAFE

David C. – SAFE

Syesha – Bottom 3 !!!!!

Michael Johns – SAFE

Gordon Ramsey’s back next week in HELL’S KITCHEN after Idol.  We must be going to a one hour show…

We then come to the phone questions which I won’t get into EXCEPT for the one where the girl says something about Simon being sexy/hot.

Simon (after everyone stops laughing) says, “It’s not what I say, it’s what other people say!”  Too funny.

Kimberly Locke from Season 2 (she came in third) is going to perform.  She looks terrific.  She’s taken off 40 lbs. in the last year and she and her partners have opened a restaurant called Croton Creek in Manhattan.

Dolly Parton will be the ‘mentor’ next week.

Kimberly sings her new single from her new CD.  It is called FALL and I’m not too crazy about it but then again, there’s not many of the songs that the ‘alumni’ sing that I like…just me.  After she finishes, Ryan comes out and pretends to go to the Judges for comments!

Ryan mentions AMERICAN IDOL REWIND and shows my ‘honey’ Constantine!!!

Commercial:  Canterbury’s Law is back on it’s NEW night, Friday at 9.

Idol Gives Back on April 9th.  Ryan showed some tape of where some of the money was spent right here in America.  It’s very inspiring.

Let’s go back to the elimination:

Ramiele – SAFE!!!

Jason – Bottom 3!!! (although, I have to admit that I did call it yesterday)

Jason is one hot ticket.  Ryan was talking to him about it and he was like smiling and saying that he had a feeling from the night before and all day that this was going to happen….with that said, Ryan sent Jason to the comfy chairs!!!!

Kristy Lee – SAFE (that patriotic song did it for her)

So now we have Chikezie and Syesha left.  I’m hoping that Syesha stays because I think she has a very powerful voice with a big range….

Anyway, when all  it said and done, it is CHIKEZIE who went home.

He’s a sweet guy and I feel that he will get a record contract.  Nice voice.  I’m sure we haven’t heard or seen the last of Chikezie!!!

So there you have it.  Another week down.  We now have the Top 9 who will be singing Dolly Parton songs next week.  Why do I feel that little ole’ horselady, Kristy Lee, will go thru another week????

Talk to you then.  Joanie

AI – Top 10 Perform – 03/25/08

Morning Everyone:

Last night the theme was for the Top 10 to perform a song for the year of their birth.

Ryan looks really sharp tonight…like him in the gray suit, tie, etc.

1.  Ramiele – born in 1987 in Saudi Arabia.  Will sing ALONE by Heart.

Not crazy about her or her outfit tonight.  Don’t think she has much of a chance of going much further in this competition.

Randy:  Not right voice for that song.  Pitchy.

Paula:  Big voice – give you credit for keeping it real.

Simon:  Not as bas as Randy said.  Then went on to say, “Ramiele, you’re going to go thru to next week again.”

2.  Jason – cute baby pic.  born: 3/25/87 in Dallas, Texas making it his birthday!  He will sing FRAGILE by Sting.  I like this song.  Smooth.  Has no umpfh to it though.  A little laid back for me.  Not his best.

Randy:  Good choice, like that song.   OK No jump out vocals.

Paula:  True to who you are but no WOW factor tonight

Simon:  You’ve had 2 bad weeks now.  You’ve got to shake us up again like you did with Halleluigh(?).  It’s time to take this more seriously.  Tonight you sounded like someone working the subway..you need to step up.   (a little harsh I thought…)

Ryan talked about the ’songwriting’ contest.

3.  Syesha born: 1/2/87 in Chicago.  She will sing IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN by Gladys Knight and the Pips – A WOW moment here.  Great job.  Great notes and presentation.  I really like this girl.

Randy:  Good moment – best ever!

Paula:  Remember this moment….pitch perfect

Simon:  End of song…not good.  There’s a limit to her vocal range.

4.  Chikezie – born 9/11/85 in LA. is from Nigeria.  Singing IF ONLY FOR ONE NIGHT by Brenda Russell – Not bad.  I like the song.  Good job.

Randy:  Old school presentation – didn’t care for it

Paula:  Good.  He’s a ‘throwback’ from the old days.  Textures…..

Simon:  Sang well but we need the ‘old’ Chikezie back with the personality.

Brooke born 6/21/83 – Will sing EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE by The Police.  Good hairdo.  Played the piano.  She’s very pretty.  But it’s just an OK job tonight.  Not thrilled.

Randy:  First 1/2 was good; all in all just OK

Paula:  Enjoyed it better than last week.

Simon:  I agree with Randy.  Should have been just you and the piano.  You’ve got to work it out.  Liked the Start and Restart..showed poise.

6.  Michael Johns born 10/20/78 in Australia.  Will sing:  WE WILL ROCK YOU – WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS – Great song…WOW!  YES!  LOVED IT!!!

Randy:  FInally….we get the big voice back….BEST

Paula:  You found your right song

Simon:  You…the first time I saw STAR quality.  Potential.  Only memorable performance so far.

7.  Carly born 9/12/83 in Dublin, IRE.  Oh boy, is her mum beautiful!

She will sing:  TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART by Bonnie Tyler

I don’t care much for this song.  She sounds loud to me tonight.  I’m just not feelin’ it.

Randy:  Song choice? No – OK

Paula:  You take every song I don’t like and make me like it.  Good job.

Simon:  Didn’t quite work for me.. half good; half didn’t work.  Lighten up.

8.  David A. born 12/28/92 in Utah.  Will sing WE’RE NOT GOING TO LIVE IN SILENCE by John Borman(?).  Never heard this song but it sounds like an old protest song from the 60s that could work now.  He’s a cute kid with a powerful voice but it wasn’t his best job.

Randy:  You can sing anything

Paula:  You can sing the phonebook and you’d sound great

Simon:  Didn’t care for it.

Sounded like a theme park performance….

9.  Kristy Lee born 1/18/84 in Washington.  She’s singing, GOD BLESS THE USA by Al Greenwood.  Well she certainly got the audience stirred up with this song.  Very patriotic and she sold it.

Randy:  Nice erformance.  Good choice

Paula:  I’ve seen better – pitchy

Simon:  Best performance by a mile.  Clever song choice in years.  It’ll keep you around.

10.  David C. (didn’t get his birth date) – will sing BILLY JEAN (don’t know which version) – it was COOL….great job.  I like this guy a lot.

Randy:  Most original of the night – BOLD

Paula:  Smart, knowing, brave…

Simon:  Brave move – AMAZING!

Soooo, there you go.  I liked Michael Johns, David Cook and Syesha.

Bottom 3????   Chikezie, Ramiele and Jason(!) …could be David A. too.

We’ll talk tomorrow and discuss the one who “Celebrates Me Home”!!!!

Joanie

Dancing With The Stars – 2 Gone – 03/25/08

Hi Everyone:

Sorry I didn’t get a review on Dancing from Monday night off to you but I had lazer surgery yesterday on my eye and, between the dialating and that, I couldn’t see a thing so I stayed home.

OK, let’s get started with Monday night’s dances which were either a Quickstep or a Mambo.

By the way, 37Million people watched last week…

Samantha looked good – nice hair and dress.

Tom:  There’s the lineup (after all the dancers came on stage).  Smiling on the outside but nothing but raw nerves on the inside!

1.  Steve Gutt and Anna – they will dance a Mambo.  Well he’s on the floor doing ups and downs and trying real hard to ‘mambo’.  He still looked stiff.

Len: Having fun.  Then he said something about cooking but the meal not coming out right…???

Bruno: Facial expressions are a bit much.  The technique is not so good.

Carrie Ann: Wasn’t your best dance so far but you had fun with it.

Judges: 6-5-5 = 16

The rest of the dancers were cheering for Steve.  Sooo, Tom says, “We’re making the world a better place – one low score at a time!”

2.  Cristian and Cheryl are doing the Quickstep (before I go further with this review, I just want to say that it is my STAR and not ENQUIRER that has the story about Cheryl and Drew in it….Disclaimer notice!)

The song is: Americano and it is very catchy and a great song for a Quckstep.  Cristian is much better this week.  Cheryl must have worked very hard with his posture and steps.  He’s terrific.

Carrie Ann:  A few missteps but OK.

Len: Speed was good and posture too.  Too many gaps between them.

Bruno: Watch your feet but good.

Judges:  7-6-7 = 20   (41)

3. Monica and Jonathan will attempt a Mambo.  Monica had to go to Japan last week so Jonathan went along so that they could practice (and boy does she need the practice).  She’s much better this week.  Not as stiff.  But still not a dancer.

Bruno:  Have to connect with the music.

Carrie Ann:  Difficult for her.  She attacked this week but still stiff.

Judges: 5-5-5 = 15       (30)

4.  Penn and Kym will attempt a Quickstep.  Penn is hysterical.  He came out with a small doll with pins in it with the #15.  It was too funny.  And then he did something with his tie….

Anyway, the guy has, as he says, feet like a BUICK and it just wasn’t working.  There’s no way he’s not going to go home tomorrow night.

Len: More practice and less tie stuff.

Bruno: Tricky tie stuff but 2 left feet.

Carrie Ann: Entertaining….

Judges: 6-6-5 = 17!    (33)

5.  Priscilla and Louis will dance a Mambo.  Priscilla has a leopard costume and looks hot.  There’s been talk about the facework she’s had done and how a group of Hollywood celebrities are suing the guy who is called, JiffyLube, for injecting them all with oil fluid, etc.  She is in the process of trying to undo the work.  That said, she worked hard this past week and moved very well.  Not quite as good as last week though.

Carrie Ann:  Glamorous – sexy!

Len: 2nd best dance?

Bruno: Very good – technique good.  Didn’t overdo it.

Judges:  7-7-7 = 21      (45)

6.  Shannon and Derek will do the Quickstep – Derek had Shannon work on her cardio this past week for stamina.  Pretty costume.  Derek is awesome.  Good dance.  Very smooth.

Bruno:  That’s what dancing is all about

Carrie Ann:  It was a difficult routine

Len:  Great Job – Best so far.

Judges:  8-8-8 = 24    (45)

7.  Jason and Edyta will dance the Mambo and boy did they dance the Mambo.  He is soooo cute and can he move.  I love watching him.

Len:  WINNER

Bruno:  You are the Mambo King – In control.

Carrie Ann:  A real contender who could WIN.

Judges:  9-9-9 = 27      (49)

8.  Marissa and Tony will dance the Quickstep.  I read that Marissa has taken off 40 lbs. before she started practicing but she’s the only one out of the group who hasn’t taken off any more weight.  I think I also read that she is having a baby by a surrogate mother…cool.  Excellent job.  She tried really hard to concentrate and not start laughing.

Carrie Ann:  Luv her – synchronisity was off.

Len:  Lovely, bubbly, a performer

Bruno: Fun to work with..I bet.  Did classic steps.

Judges:  7-7-7 = 21         (39)

Tom said, “We have Jimmy Kimmel in the audience with Guillermo.  Where’s Ben???”

9.  Adam and Julianne do the Mambo.  The guy has no hips.  I’m at a loss for words here.  It’s either him or Penn who will be going home.

Bruno:  Mambo?  He made him laugh.

Carrie Ann:  Entertaining

Len:  Brilliant – it was fun

Judges:  6-7-6 = 19          (34)

10.  Marlee and Fabian are dancing the Quickstep.  This girl is just amazing.  She looks good, works hard, and doesn’t miss a beat.  Great job.

Len:  Great potential, good musicality

Bruno: Incredible stage presence

Would like to have seen more.

Carrie Ann:  Great -

Judges: 8-8-8 = 24         (46)

11.  Kristi and Mark will dance the Mambo.  Kristi is a natural if I ever saw one.  She was laughing like crazy when Mark would show her to shake her hips but she finally got it.  Great dance; terrific job.  Unless she falls on her face at some point, I believe either she or Jason will win this thing.

Last week she received the best score of any couple in any season so far.

Carrie Ann:  So precise – terrific

Len:  Another great dance

Burno: Hit every beat – incredible

Judges:  9-9-9 = 27         (54!)

12.  Mario and Karina will dance a Quickstep

OK…I apologize for this but I was watching Deal or No Deal and wanted the girl to win the $1M sooo much, I forgot about Dancing….

Len:  said the footwork was not good but the upper half was good.

Carrie Ann:  Vibrant, charming.  He’s hot!

Bruno:  ?

Judges?

Let’s move on to last night’s ‘double elmination’

I have all kinds of stuff written down but I’ll just do highlights.

First of all, the Jonas Brothers remind me of Hanson and we all know how long they lasted! Cute guys but lacking much talent…girls love them though

They sent Cameron Matheson out to the streets in NYC with his “S” costume on to ask people who they think she win Dancing…it was funny.

Also, later in the show a group of acrobatic dancers, much like Cirque de Soleil, did a number that was absolutely wonderful.

OK….who goes home tonight:

Girls:   Monica

Boys:  Penn

No shock there.  I DID like Adam though when they talked to him.  He said that Julianne and Derek were like the “Stepford” family.  We should clone them!!!!

So there you have dancing….by the way, the girl on Deal had the $1M in her case but her fiance asked her to ‘deal’ for like $250K.

Talk to you next week.  Joanie

Over The Weekend – 03/24/08

Hi Everyone:

Hope you all had a nice Easter.  I was out sick on Friday so I couldn’t do my usual “Weekend To Do-Rumors” so I thought I’d play a little catchup.

Most of this stuff is probably ‘old news’ now but I thought I’d ‘throw it out there’ anyway.

In Theaters (this past weekend)

Horton Hears a Who (1st place)

Shutter (scary) I think came in 2nd

Ms. Petigrew Lives for a Day (not sure if that’s around yet)

Out on DVD

Atonement

Enchanted

I Am Legend

Love in the Time of Cholera

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising

OK, that said, I watched 2 movies this weekend.  The first on is called THE HOAX and it stars Richard Gere at Clifford Irving who wrote an auto-biography of Howard Hughes which turns out to be a fake.  Excellent movie; especially for those of us that can remember back when it actually happend.  Richard did a terrific job at Clifford Irving (even though there were no nude scenes in it!)  He loves to ‘pose’ for the camera.  In fact, yesterday I was ’surfing’ the channels and came upon AMERICAN GIGOLO which made him and Giorgio Armani both stars and there he was standing in front of a window FACING the camera…stark naked!

I also watched IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH with Tommy Lee Jones.  A truly heartbreaking story of a son who comes home from Iraq and is killed.  Tommy Lee Jones is excellent playing the father of this young boy.  And, let me tell you, if you are a parent OR have your doubts about what happens to these kids when they return home….watch this movie.  Very powerful.

Also watched ELI STONE on Thursday night…fun show and so well written.  Next week, for all of you George Michael fans, he will be returning to the show.

Saw the Red Sox arriving in Japan and there was Big Papi with these wicked cool sunglasses on with diamonds on the sides!

Also watched Week 8 of IN TREATMENT…one week to go.

Last night, I caught Episode 3 of JOHN ADAMS on HBO.  Terrific series.

Read in the paper how this woman won $1M by joining this website:

www.Jackpot.Rewards.com for $3.00 a week.  I think they give away a lot of prizes each week.  Something I’m gonna check into!

OK, let’s do American Idol Extra which I watched on the Reality Channel.

As you know, this past week Amanda Overmyer was voted off the show.  DJ Roberto interviewed her and she said she was shocked that she made it to #11.  She’s not the type of singer that AI fans usually vote for.  She knew she didn’t stand a chance of winning but was hoping for #8!  (she’ll probably be on the AI#7 CD as they put songs from the last 12 on it) but won’t be going on tour.  Her whole purpose in going on AI was to ‘get her face’ out there in hopes of someone seeing her and signing her up for a record deal.

People discussed that a second Beatles’ week probably wasn’t such a good thing.

Chris Richardson, the kid who looked like JT, from S6 was on the show.  He’s been on tour and loved it.  Has a new CD single out which he sang, “All Alone” accompanying himself on the piano.  (I think the kids will like it)  He said that he keeps in touch with Blake Lewis and Phil Stacy and has written songs for both their CDs.

Kevin Covais from S5, was also interviewed.  He’s adorable.

Also, Kellie Pickler was interviewed and said what a great joy it was to come on the show and perform.  She STILL felt like she was being judged!  She is touring with Rascal Flats and is having a ball.  She also just returned from visiting the troups in Iraq and it was life changing.  She is very good friends with Katharine McPhee and was a bridesmaid at her wedding.

They interviewed the Season 7 finalists and asked who they roomed with.

David Archeletta said that he rooms with Chikezie and that Chi plays music night and day but, luckily, it’s music that he likes.

Syesha and Ramiele

Brooke and Kristy Lee

David C. – Jason – Michael all room together and have a lot of fun hanging out.

DJ interviewed Simon and he said, ‘The last 2 weeks America got it right.  He also said that NO ONE SHOULD TALK BACK TO HIM!  Amanda would be remembered for her ‘banter’.

By the way, DJ interviewed Amanda’s mom and dad and, let me tell you, her mom is GORGEOUS.  WOW!  She must have had Amanda when she was 17!  Beautiful woman.  She also said that Amanda has ALWAYS had the gravelly voice from the minute she spoke!

NEWS

Halley Berry’s baby’s name is:  Nahla Ariela Aubry (it stands for drink of water)

Maggie Smith is battling breast cancer.

AI’s (Tainted Love) Danny Noriega will be performing on Rosie O’Donnell’s ‘gay/lesbian’ family cruise.  He’s thrilled and I’m sure will have a great time amd will be singing lots of showtunes.

Anthony Minghella, 54, died this past week.  He had cancer of the tonsils and neck.  He won an Oscar for The English Patient and was deeply involved in the new series, The Detective Agency, for HBO.

Eva LaRue (CSI: Miami) was married to John O’Hurley (DWTS) for two years….I didn’t know that!  I did know that she was married to her co-star on AMC, John Callahan, from 96 to 03 and has a daughtr, Kaya, 6 with him.

Brad and Angie’s twins will be a boy and girl and they will be fraternal because she took fertilitiy treatments to help her get pregnant.  She wants to deliver the twins in France where her mother came from.  I’m sure they’ll be looking to buy a ‘house’ there soon.

Jennifer Lopez’s and Marc Anthony’s twins, however, were conceived naturally and are ‘lookalikes.’

One last rumor going around…..Cheryl Burke and Drew Lachey were more than just dancing partners on tour this past summer.  I heard it denied on one of the gossip shows and then turned to my ENQUIRER and it said that all of the participants on the tour saw them being veryclose.  In fact, this is why her BFF, Mathew Lawrence, broke up with her.  Let’s hope this is NOT true.  I like Drew a lot and wouldn’t want to see his image tarnished…never mind his marriage to his high school sweetheart go down the drain.

I guess that’s it for now.  Talk to you tomorrow on tonight’s Dancing.

Joanie

SCI FI

The Stranded – creatd by Virgin Comics.  This new series centers on a group of people who discover that they are actually aliens who have extraordinary abilities (didn’t we already see this in The 4400???)

AI Results Show – 3/19/08 (Also Girls-Dancing..)

Morning Everyone:

Hope everyone is doing well today.  We had a bit of a shock last night but let’s count down to the latest elimination…

Ryan announced the ‘mentors’ for this season.  They are:

Dolly Parton, Mariah Carey, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Neil Diamond

2 good….Mariah and Neil…2 not so ‘interesting’

Here we go with another ‘promotion’.  Last year they had a contest, once again, to see who could write the ‘best’ song for the Finale of AI.  (You’d think they’d learn by now..the last two songs were horrendous!  Who can forget Taylor Hicks DO I MAKE YOU PROUD?!!!).  Hopefully we’ll do better this year!

The group sings other Beatles’ songs.  They’re having a good time with them.  Like Brooke’s hair tonight.  She must have ‘read my mind’.  Good choices of songs.

Let’s do a recap of last night’s performances….

Ryan will now call out one person at a time.

Brooke – recap of song and what the judges said….SAFE  -  Top 10

Carly – recap….Bottom 3!!

David A. – recap – SAFE – Top 10

Michael – recap – SAFE – Top 10

Now we’ll do the ‘making of’ a Ford commercial.  The kids had a fun time doing it although they looked mighty COLD!!!

David C. – recap – SAFE – Top 10

Kristy Lee – recap – Bottom 3

Jason – recap – SAFE – Top 10 (did he turn to the guys and say, “Let’s tour naked??? when he sat down?  Am I the only one who heard it???  If I’m wrong, I apologize but he was so happy and smiling I think he said it just to be funny….)

Ramiele – recap – SAFE(?) – Top 10

Now they answer some phone call questions.

Would Paula and Simon consider doing another KISS scene like they did in Season 2?  Simon said, “Yes because Paula is a great kisser!”  Paula said, “Don’t I get a chance to answer?”

Next question:  “Simon….why do you spend so much money on cars and not enough on clothes!!?” Everyone loves this question EXCEPT Simon.  He says he’s insulted by the question.  Will NOT admit he just spent $1M on a new car! (even though we’ve seen it in mags everywhere!).  Paula even said, “He drives the new car at night with the indoor lights on so everyone can see him!!!”  That was funny.

Here’s Kellie Pickler (who, as Ryan said, has ‘grown’ in many ways since leaving Idol) – she sings her signature song, “Red shoes” and is absolutely adorable   She’s touring with Rascal/Flatts and having a ball.

OK more of the elimination round….

Chikezie – recap – SAFE – Top 10

Syesha – recap – SAFE – Top 10 (I’m happy for her..she did well last night)

Amanda – recap – Bottom 3!!?? (I kinda saw this one comin’ but I thought she’d at least be in the Top 10 and tour.  I was picking Kristy Lee, Ramiele and even Chikezie to go home before she did)!

Bye Bye Amanda – you were a lot of fun but now you can play in the little lounge you were talking about on Tuesday night…sing with that Janis Joplin voice of yours Amanda.  (Carly was wicked upset because she was Amanda’s room mate).

One final thought, do you think Kristy Lee is this year’s “Sanjaya”?

Don’t forget tonight at 7 – Reality TV – Amanda will be on with the rest of the crew.

I have no idea what the ‘theme’ will be next week.  I guess we’ll find out next Tuesday….Talk to you later.  Joanie

——————————————————————————————

Dancing With The Stars – the Girls – 03/18/08

Sam has a pretty blue dress on tonight.  I like it better than the black ballgown from last night!  Nice hairdo too.

Let’s first do a recap of the men…..

Next Monday all the contestants will dance again and on Tuesday there will be one girl and one boy going home.

First up is Shannon Elizabeth (I know her more from Texas Holdem than acting!) – she will be dancing with Julianne’s bro, Derek Hough.

They will do a ChaCha.  Derek looks so young but what a good dancer!  Shannon has legs similar to Stacey Kiebler’s(?)!  She’s gotta loosen up a bit more though and be a little more graceful.

Len:  Great start – Love the short dresses but you’ve gotta use the legs more if you’re going to continue to wear them (and I hope you do!)

Bruno: Sexy minx! – Stretch the legs more.

Carrie Ann: She has energy and confidence.  Good job.

Judges:  7-7-7 = 21

Monica Seles (the tennis pro) is next and she will be dancing with Jonathan Roberts – they will tackle a Foxtrot.

Oh boy…she looks lovely but can’t dance a lick.  Talk about stiff.  Jonathan worked very hard to loosen her up but she was just too nervous and I fear this could be her only week in competition!

Bruno: Very romantic tone to the dance Engage the core center though.

Len: Romantic but not well done

Carrie Ann:  She struggled but tried very hard

Judges: 5-5-5 = 15

Then we have Marissa (from the stage version of HAIRSPRAY for which she won a Tony!) – she will be dancing with Tony (Love Tony) – they will do a ChaCha.  Boy is this girl bubbly, energetic and more than willing to try anything Tony asks of her.  Her only problem is that she’s sooo happy to be on the show that she lost her concentration 1/2 way thru the dance!

(saw Ricki Lake in the audience).

Tom was teasing Tony about his costume saying it looked like an ‘oil slick’!!!!!

Bruno: Eyepopping – but should have done more ChaCha (give her more to do Tony; she could be a very good dancer)

Len: Bewitched, bothered and bewildered!  More ChaCha please.

Carrie Ann:  Energy but where’s the ChaCha

(it looks like Tony is taking over for Max this year with the ‘open shirt’!)

Judges: 6-6-6-= 18

Priscilla Presley was next to dance and she is paired with Louis (who danced with Lisa Rinna a few seasons back). They will do a Foxtrot.  Now I didn’t hold out much hope for Priscilla.  1. because she’s 62.  2.  she doesn’t seem to have much of a personality. and 3. she really looked scared when Louis said he wanted to try a ‘death spiral’ – not that I blame her! – WELL, guess what folks, she was awesome.  Terrific job and a great spiral.  She’s gonna make us old folk get on that dance floor!

Carrie Ann:  Age is just a #.  Terrific

Bruno: Hot and sexy – watch the shoulders though

Len: – sorry I ran out of ink and missed Len’s comments.

Judges: 8-8-8 = 24   WOW! (saw LisaMarie in the audience)

Kristi Yamaguchi is next.  She is sooo cute and hasn’t competed in many years.  I believe she’s married to a pro hockey player and they have 2 daughters.  She will be dancing with Mark Ballas (who met his girlfriend, Sabrina on the show last season!).  They will be dancing the ChaCha.

Well let me tell you, she is definitely the STAR of this show!  A lot of people had chosen her to be the one to watch and they were so right.  Beautiful outfit.  Great dance steps.  Looked very comfortable out there.

Bruno:  Wicked!  Played it great.

Carrie Ann: Looked effortless.

Len:  Ice Maiden melted his heart.  Very talented.

Judges:  9-9-9 = 27   Good for you Kristi…Give Nancy Kerrigan a call!

Last to dance tonight is Marlee Matlin (who won an Oscar).  She will be dancing with the ‘new guy on the block’ – Fabian.  Marlee is profoundly deaf and needs an interpreter wherever she goes but let me tell you, that didn’t slow this lovely lady down.  She looked ‘hot’ and danced like she could hear every beat!  Terrific job.

Carrie Ann: Unbelievable!  Fluid – moves with ease

Len: Amazing – good job Fabian

Bruno: Music is running thru your blood!  Didn’t miss a beat!

Judges:  7-7-8 = 22

(I noticed that Sam was talking very fast to Marlee and the interpreter was letting those fingers FLY!!!)

Next Tuesday, the Jonas Brothers will be on.

Soooo, that’s it for the first week of Dancing.  Some surprises; some thought so’s!  I’m betting on Adam and Monica to go home next week.

Talk to you then.  Joanie

AI – Top 11 Perform – 03/18/08

Good Morning Everyone:

Believe it or not…we’re getting SNOW here where I am!  I’m sure it’ll melt by the time I head for home but it’s just ‘kinda’ over the top at this point!

Speaking of ‘over the top’, I’m not sure last night will go down in Idol performances as a ‘Top 10′; maybe a ‘Bottom 10′!  Somehow I feel these kids were not choosing the best song from the Beatles’ catalog to sing.  With ALL of the songs the Beatles wrote, it seems really odd that they would choose the songs that they did.  The only conclusion I can come to is that the group, as a whole, weren’t that familiar with the songs or just chose one for ’sentimental’ reasons…family, friends, whatever.  This obviously hurt them in the end.

We have 500 kids in the audience tonight…seems like more.

By the way, so I won’t forget…American Idol Extra at 7PM on REALITY TV on Thursday night….you will see who was voted off and other tidbits that are not shown on the regular show.

Ryan’s a little casual with his open shirt along with the suit.  Looks good though.  I notice Paula’s wearing ’sparkles’ tonight.

Ryan shows a quick retrospective of the Beatles’ over the years.  Amazing!

OK, let’s start the performances:

First up is Amanda – she says she LOVES the big stage that she is performing on now.  She will sing BACK IN THE USSR.  Good choice for her.  She doesn’t seem her usual ‘rock style’ tonight though.  Just OK.

Randy:  Little pitchy start but ended up OK.

Paula:  Sketchy start – ahead of the beat.

Simon:  Predictable, kinda mess.  Same thing week after week.  You’ve got to branch out and sing another type of song.  In danger of becoming boring.

Amanda countered with, “You only get 90 seconds to present your song so it doesn’t give you much of a chance to show what you’ve got.”  She then went on to say something about appearing in concerts and Simon told her she was a little ahead of herself.

Up next is Kristy Lee Cook.  She carries photobooks with her wherever she goes to help her cope with the fact that she’s away from home.  After this performance, I’m sure Kristy won’t be carrying those photobooks much longer…she’ll be going home!  She chose to sing:  YOU’VE GOT TO HIDE YOUR LOVE AWAY.  She had a weak voice.  She’s trying (looks very pretty) but I can’t see her standing on the stage next week!

Randy:  One of my fave Beatle songs.  Hit the high notes at the end.  Safe on the verge of boring.  (he’s starting to sound like Simon!)

Paula: Stick to the melody…you look good tonight.

Simon:  Needs something like hypnosis, musical wallpaper, no impact; however she was better than last week…(when she sang ‘countrystyle’ 8 Days a Week…how could you do worse???)

Then came David Archuletta who had a ‘blip’ last week on his song and is going to try much harder this week.  He will be singing THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD.  Ya know, the first part of this song it sounded like he and the band weren’t melding; however, they finally caught up with each other and he did a very good job.  What a voice David has!!

Randy: You brought ‘hotness’ back. Very nice.

Paula:  Best performance – purity

Simon:  Amazing. Absolutely made the point.  Chose the right song and know how to sell it.

Now we have Michael Johns who remembers his rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody during Hollywood week as his most memorable moment.  Michael will be singing: A DAY IN THE LIFE (one of my faves).  Well, I like Michael a lot but he just didn’t sound good tonight.  Wasn’t the right choice for him.  Of course we find out that he lost a good friend a year ago and that was his favorite Beatles song so we can understand why he chose it.  Nice sentiment but it’s not going to bring you to center stage at the finals.  Michael also said that it was a very hard song to contain into 90 seconds.

Randy:  Not a good nite for you.

Paula:  Rehearsal was much better.  Tonight…not so good.

Simon:  It was a mess.  Not the right song choice.  You’ve got to start NOW to choose the right song or you could be in danger of leaving.

Then we had Brooke White who went home to Halifax, NS over the weekend.  She thought last week was her most memorable moment and wanted to sing the same song again but they said, “No”!  She will be singing:  HERE COMES THE SUN – Hence,the yellow outfit!  Brooke is a very sweet girl.  We all know by now that she’s got a great head of hair; she’s just gotta comb it better!  Song was not her best performance.  OK

Randy:  Awkward – didn’t sound connected.

Paula:  Can’t help but smile around you – low notes were good

Simon: Performance was terrible.  Lack of connection. ‘wet’

REMEMBER PEOPLE:  Song Choice….

After Brooke came David Cook whose most memorable moment was last week’s performance of Hello.  It felt awesome, eurphoric!  Tonight he will be singing:  DAYTRIPPER (the ‘Whitesnake’ version).  I thought he did a great job.  He’s a helluva rocker and I LOVED the voice box touch into the microphone and the fact that he used his guitar.  I could hear David Coverdale’s influence all over the place!!!  Good Job David…

Randy:  Voice box solo was cool – loved it!

Paula: You’re Ready to Go and sell records.

Simon: Not as good as you thought you were.  Getting a little cocky.  Just an opinion…

Carly Smithson was next to perform.  Last week when Simon was reminded of Kelly Clarkson’s performance years ago, it reminded her of Season 5 when she auditioned and then again, last week.  Carly will be singing: BLACKBIRD  Thought it was a good choice.  Lovely vocals tonight.  She looks pretty too.

Randy:  Another great performance.

Paula: Amazing tone

Simon: Not a smart shoice of song.  Indulgent.

Carly then explained why she chose the song (because of the words and what it means to be a struggling singer in this business).

Jason Castro is next to perform.  His most memorable moment was when he sang HALLELUJIAH(?) and everyone liked it.  He will be singing MICHELLE.  It’s funny cause he speaks no French.  He likes the song though so he’s gonna give it a shot.

I thought he was struggling a little bit.  Almost sounded like he had memorized the song and was reciting it rather than singing it.

Jason has a beautiful voice though.  Just not his best night.

Randy: Good choice of song but I just dunno how you performed.

Paula: Distinct charm.  Seemed disconnect because he was away from his guitar.

Simon: Very weird show tonight.  Jason: Your face sold it.  If I was listening to you on the radio, I would have changed the station.  You’re a very charming guy.

Syesha Mercado was next to perform.  Her most memorable moment was Hollywood week when she had laryngitis but sang her heart out anyway.  Tonight she will be singing:  YESTERDAY (another fave song of mine)  Well, what a surprise Syesha!  You look beautiful.  Love the way you took your time so that we could enjoy the WORDS to this song.  Your voice was impeccable and I feel you were the best performance of the night.

You brought me to tears (kinda reminded me of Fantasia when she sang SUMMERTIME…or…Katharine McPhee when she sang OVER THE RAINBOW..both brilliant, showstopping performances!)

Randy: Very, very, very good job.

Paula: Beautiful job.  Showed your vulnerability

Simon: Best so far for you.  Chose the best song.  One that Brooke should have chosen (oh well).  This should keep you on the show.

Here comes Chikezie…his most memorable moment was last round in Hollywood.  He will be singing: I’VE JUST SEEN A FACE – He started slow and then was upbeat at the end.  He even went a little countrystyle.  I’m not into this performance.  I’m not feeling it!

Randy: Felt 1/2 and 1/2 – first 1/2 not as good as the last 1/2 – liked fast.

Paula: Showing who you are.  Pure pitch – ballad – whole scope ?????

Simon: Started OK then the rest was atrocious.  Not a song to be proud of.  Felt gimmiky….

We’ll finish the show tonight with Ramiele Malabuy – Her most memorable moment so far has been the friends she’s made while on the show.  She will be singing: I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER – It wasn’t a bad job.  Just not as good as others tonight.  I’m on the fence when it comes to Ramiele.

Randy: Loved performance…then said “OK”

Paula: Better than last week

Simon: Sounded like Chikezie on the harmonica.  Boring, mediocore. etc.

So there you have it.  All in all, not a good night for these kids.  They’re going to have to come back next week…SMOKIN’.  And the fact that Kristy Lee Cook says to Simon that next week, she’ll ‘blow your socks off’, ain’t gonna happen!

Bottom 3:  Ramiele, Kristy Lee and Chikezie  (some people will choose Michael Johns but I don’t think he was as bad as these 3).  Who’s goin’ home…..Kristy Lee…but it’s just ‘my opinion.

Kellie Pickler will be performing tonight.  Should be fun.

One more comment:  As good as these kids are, I feel none of them come close to Leona Lewis, the girl who won the British version.  Even David Archuletta would have to work mighty hard to beat this girl!

Talk to you tomorrow.  I’ll also have the Dancing – Girls ‘Review’.

Joanie

Dancing With The Stars – The Men – 03/17/08

Morning Everyone:

Wellll, Dancing With The Stars is back…I can’t believe it’s Season 6!!!

Tom is always fun but Samantha…we have Paula on AI and we have Sam on Dancing!!!  She was wearing a beautiful black ‘ballgown’ last night!  Seemed a little ‘dressy’ for me but, then again, she marches to her own drum!!

The Men danced last night and tonight we will have the Gals.

No eliminations this week.  Next week we’ll eliminate one man and one woman….

The 12 professional dancers performed “Let Me Entertain You” and were fantastic.

As Tom pointed out…”The New Kids Are Here!!!”

First up is Penn Jillette who will be dancing the ChaCha with Kym Johnson.  Penn is 6′6″ and has already taken off like 40 lbs. before the competition even started.  He definitely is in his ‘own’ world!  He’s a funny guy though.  When they started to dance, he hit the floor and slid between Kym’s legs.  Not an easy thing to do…especially at his size.  He did an admirable job.  I think he’ll be around for a few weeks.  Not because of the dancing but because of the entertainment he can provide!!!

Len – he has a flavor about him but watch the footwork.

Carrie Ann – Love the attitude and energy.

Bruno – Watch the footwork and you move like you’ve had hip replacement

Score – 5-6-5 = 16

Next up is Jason Taylor (of the Miami Dolphins) – GIRLS:  Do we ‘care’ if this guy can dance???  What a hottie!  His partner is Edyta.  He’s also got a great personality.  When they were rehearsing, he walked out with a pink tutu on (Tom said it’ll be all over YOUTUBE today!).  He and Edyta will be dancing the Foxtrot.  Guess what…the kid can dance.  Very smooth.  They danced to PRIDE AND JOY.  Enjoyed it very much (who wouldn’t!)

Len – Just about has the whole package

Carrie Ann – Fluid – nice hand pointing

Bruno – Graceful – good posture

Score: 7-8-7 = 22

Commercial for the next Nardia Chronicle movie:  Prince Caspian – it looks intriguing.

We now have Christian dela Piente who will be dancing with Cheryl Burke (Christian is a soap opera star on Telemundo as well as a pilot).  They will be dancing the ChaCha to Bang, Bang.  Christian was saying how he wished he was from Brazil (Helio…last year’s winner!)!  WOW!  He moved very well across the dance floor.  Another ‘hottie’, by the way.

Carrie Ann – chemistry – watch shoulders

Bruno – looked like he was riding a bike

Len – has 2 halves – top half needs work with the posture; lower half – legs are fine.  (Len said, “It was like looking in a mirror!!!! when he saw him..)

Score: 7-7-7 = 21

Now comes Adam Corolla who will partner with Julianne Hough.  Adam is hysterical.  Has absolutely no qualms about the fact that he knows nothing about dancing but is willing to learn.  Luckily, he has Julianne for a partner.  They will dance the Foxtrot to Mellow Yellow by Donovan which explains Julianne’s yellow outfit!!!  It was pure torture.  Poor Adam – no shoulders, feet are everywhere, etc.

Bruno: Julianne has a LOT of work to do

Len: Julianne has her work cut out for her

Carrie Ann: She’s at a loss for words!

Score: 5-5-5 = 15  (Adam turns to Julianne and says, “Don’t worry Julianne.  Now you’ll have all kinds of time to promote your new CD cause I’m outta here next week!!!”)

Next up is R&B singer, Mario who is all of 21.  He will dance with Karina (who, as chance would have it, is going with Mario Lopez!!).  They will dance a ChaCha.  While rehearsing, Karina hurt her neck and pulled a herniated disk and had to have an operation but she’s back before the show started.  Mario was just concerned because of the time he lost in learning the steps.  He shouldn’t have worried.  He was smooth.

Carrie Ann:  Was swooning and thought he was great.

Len: Work on the footwork for next week.

Bruno: (I didn’t hear what he said…sorry).

Score: 8-8-8 = 24

We ended the night with Steve Guttenberg (who should be home on the couch!).  He is partnered with Anna and they will dance the Foxtrot to LAZY RIVER.  Good song choice.  Steve tried his best but I don’t see him lasting too long.

Bruno: He looked like he graduated from the Billy Ray school.  Try and do better next week.

Carrie Ann: Musicality

Len: Looks like your ‘buying’? yourself.  Work on your technique.

Score: 6-6-6 = 18

Well people, that’s it for the Men.  Tomorrow we will have the Women.

——————————————————————————————

A few notes:

This weekend:  Went to see VANTAGE POINT….don’t bother.  It was awful.  Constant ‘rewinds’ (I kid you not) and by the time they solve the mystery, you don’t care!

Watched GONE BABY GONE and can’t recommend it enough.  Fantastic directorial debut by Ben Affleck and bro, Casey does a commendable job. Heatbreaking story.

Watched Oprah yesterday cause Simon was on:  He was introducing Leona Lewis who was the winner of the X Factor, the British version of AI.  What a voice on this gal.  She’s got a great career ahead of her.  (by the way, have you seen Simon’s new car yet?  It’s a $1M Bugati that goes like 250 miles an hour.  There is no other car in this category that is licensed to legally drive on the roads!)  He also helped a poor family whose daughter has cancer.  He paid off their mortgage for them and, even though, you couldn’t hear him, I think he whispered that he would be doing more too.)

Watched TORCHWOOD…luv that show.  Also caught the first two episodes of the seven part mini-series: JOHN ADAMS.  Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney are excellent and it is very interesting.

DIRT – whoa, it’s definitely back to it’s ‘usual’ programming!

THE RICHES tonight on FX at 10.

Halle Berry had a baby girl over the weekend - no word on a name as yet.

“Rumor” has it that Antonio Banderas and Laura Linney (the aforementioned, Abigail Adams) are filming together and are really enjoying the ‘kissing’ scenes.  Do I see Melanie jumping on a plane as we speak????

Carrie Underwood has been invited to join the Grand Ole’ Opry.  She was thrilled to be asked….(Randy Travis put forth the invitation).

Heather Mills received a total of $50M from Paul.  Small price to pay Paul.  I think she received a little over $30M in a lump sum and then property, cars, etc.  Bye, bye Heather….next time get a pre-nup Paul!!!

That’s it for today.  We’ll talk tomorrow on the AI show tonight.  I’ll have to tape the Girls on Dancing and give my review the next day.

Talk to you later.  Joanie

Weekend To Do – News/Rumors 03/14/08

Morning Everyone:

Looks like we’re going to have a fairly decent weekend here in New England!  That’s good news.  I’m so sick of winter; I can’t wait to hear the annoying churping of birds again!!!

Let’s see what’s going on this weekend:

In Theaters

Doomsday (THE INCREDIBLE HULK trailer will be seen with this movie) – it is a thriller starring Malcolm McDowell by the director pf THE DESCENT about a virus that escapes in Scotland (Jamie wrote about it on his blog www.dailypop.wordpress.com)

Horton Hears A Who (hope Jim Carrey has a winner here)

Sleepwalking – stars Charlieze Theron, Nick Stahl – Child abandonment by mother.  (I think the child is played by Abigail Breslin)

Out on DVD

No Country for Old Men (oh Joy…now we can watch it over and over!)

Bee Move

Hitman (I’ve been looking forward to seeing this but I hear it is NOT good)

Dan In Real Life – comedy with Steve Carrell

NEWS

Patrick Swayze’s doctor was quoted as saying this week that the actor has a very LIMITED amount of pancreatic cancer and they caught it in time.  The outlook for Patrick is very positive.  GREAT NEWS!

Nick Lachey is working on a Reality Version of FAME.  This will focus on students from School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinatti.  Nick graduated from here as well as Sarah Jessica Parker and Carmen Electra..(now, doesn’t that make you want to get an application to sign up?!)  The show will be seen on MTV – natch!!!

REMINDER:  The Riches new season starts next Tuesday at 10PM on FX.  Great series.  -  I also just read that WIRE IN THE BLOOD with Robson Green (luv him) will be coming back for another season on BBC America.  If you have this channel, you should give it a try.  It’s a crime drama that is very dark but well written and acted.

HBO and the Weinsteins and BBC have combined their talents to give us a new series entitled:  THE DETECTIVE AGENCY – it is a series based on Alexander McCall-Smith’s novels.  It stars singer, Jill Scott.  Anthony Minghella will write and direct the two hour pilot.  HBO has ordered 13 more episodes.  It will probably be on in late 2008.  Comment:  I don’t think I’ve seen a bad series that HBO has had their hands on!

Which reminds me, JOHN ADAMS mini-series starts this coming Sunday on HBO.  It stars Paul Giammatti and Laura Linney.  I saw the author of the book the series is based on on Charlie Rose and he is very pleased with the series.  That’s a good thing.  Remember:  You can go to ON DEMAND and watch anytime!!!

OK, let me close with this:

I watched AMERICAN IDOL EXTRA on Reality TV last night and it was pretty good.  Gina Glockson and Constantine were guest reporters helping out the regular host, DJ Roberto(?).  Anyway, it took place right afer the elimination on Wednesday night so they had David Hernandez on.  He said that there were ONLY 24 Beatles’ songs they had to choose from.  He wanted another song that another contestant chose so that’s why he chose I SAW HER STANDING THERE.  He agreed with the Judges that he overdid the presentation of the song but still thought he did a pretty decent job.  He is very grateful for the opportunity to appear before so many people and he is already getting calls from producers.  Right now all he wants to do is go home, rest, reconnect with his family and friends, NOT work at the pizza parlor again, and wait for the right contract to come along.  If he WASN’T bounced off this week, he would have chosen YESTERDAY to sing next week.  The perfect ‘theme’ night for him would have been R&B.  That’s where he ’shines’.  David also said that Chikezie was his room mate while he was on the show and he will really miss him.  They promised to keep in touch.

They also did an interview with Melinda Doolittle who came in 3rd last season.  She is so sweet.  She said that she and Jordan Sparks are good friends and, even though they are both very busy, they still find time to keep in touch.  She has a single CD out.  The song is MY FUNNY VALENTINE (hey….didn’t Constantine sing that a few seasons back??).

Anyway, she performed and was terrific.  Good to see her.

Oh boy…you’ll never guess who the MC is bringing onto the stage.  It’s SANJAYA!!!  The girls in the audience were going nuts.  Very sad.  He didn’t have too much to say but they made a big deal of him.

If that wasn’t bad enough, here comes WILLIAM HUNG to sing his new single..are you ready for this…ACHY BREAKY HEART.  Just shoot me now and get it over with!!!

They talked with the Vocal Arranger for the performers and he said that he is NOT allowed to help them choose the song they are going to sing.  It is totally up to them.  He then tries to help them perform it.  Sometimes they listen…sometimes they don’t.  He also said that sometimes they choose a completely different song than what he would have picked for them.

OK, that’s all I got this week….hope you all have a wonderful weekend and we’ll talk again next week…Dancing starts Monday and then more Beatles for the AI performers on Tuesday.

Joanie