Dancing With The Stars – 04/28/08

Hi Everyone:

It’s raining again here in New England but we need it so it’s OK…and ya don’t have to shovel it!!

Last night Sam wore a strapless gown that looked like a pattern of seagreen colors.  Very pretty…hair, earrings, etc.  Now, if she could only take voice lessons we’d be golden!  Tom was Tom; always entertaining.

There will be 2 dances tonight – one ballroom – one latin.

Three more weeks to the finals!  Seems like this season went by very fast.  Not that I’m getting ‘old’!

First up is:  Marissa and Tony who will dance a Tango.  Boy for a chubbette, Marissa certainly gets around.  She was terrific and looked like she was really into the ‘dance’.  Tony, as usual, did a great job.  I think he gets a kick out of Marissa.  She’s not the least bit pretentious.  What you see is what you get!

Len:  Your best dance!!

Bruno: It had drama, passion, and also disdain.  Great job.

Carrie Ann: You did a lot of stretching for this.  It’s a new side of you. GOOD

Judges:  9-9-9 = 27 (and, of course, Marissa went bonkers!!!!!)

Next we had Cristian and Cheryl who will dance a Viennese Waltz.  Love the bit with his daughter.  She’s adorable.  They did an admirable job but Cheryl has to get all those extra steps in while Cristian is standing there.  I suppose it’s the ‘pros’ way of showing their partner in the best light but sometimes I disagree with it.

Bruno:  You’re South America’s Clark Gable.  Interplay was brilliant.  It was a pleasure to watch.

Carrie Ann:  Wanted a little bit more energy (where Bruno jumped in and said…it’s a WALTZ!).

Len:  It had romance but not enough waltz.

Judges:  8-8-9 = 25  (a little high for me)

Now we have our current leader, Kristi and Mark who will dance a Viennese Valtz.  Kristi takes Mark to the skating rink where you watch him stumbling around and, of course, Kristi gracefully skating around the rink!  The waltz had very nice lines – it looked more like the classical waltz.  I thought it was beautiful and the costumes were terrific.  It had a story.

Carrie Ann:  Performance was good but technically it was a bit off.

Len:  The start was too long.  We didn’t need the props (umbrella)

Bruno:  It was like Madame Butterfly.

(Len said to Bruno….Your air is causing Global Warming!!!)

Judges:  9-8-9 = 26 (that’s the lowest mark she has received this season)

Mario and Karina will dance next to a Foxtrot.  (Saw earlier in the night on a gossip show, that she had a ROCK on her left hand from a very ’special’ friend!)  It looks like Mario is struggling with this dance.  He has two dances to learn this week plus the choreography for his new video coming out…a lot on this kid’s plate!

Len:  You show great maturity for someone who is only 21.  Loved the start but it was not elegant enough.  Well done though.

Bruno:  Youthful vitality!  Control but it was a hard dance to learn.

Carrie Ann:  Difficult routine to conquer.  Good job.

Judges:  8-8-8 = 24

Next we had the ‘couple’? – Derek and Shannon who will dance a Tango.  They are so cute together.  Derek is really being tough with Shannon this week.  Trying to get her to move her hips more.  The costumes were gorgeous.  She has improved a lot from last week.  I thought they did a very good job…

Bruno:  Fascinating – great dance.

Carrie Ann:  Best dance yet.

Len:  Flexed the knees, passion, terrific job…well done.

Judges:  9-9-9 = 27 (they were thrilled!!!)

Next comes hottie Jason and the ‘flexible’ Edyta who will dance the Quickstep.  WOW what a beginning..he reminded me of Drew Lachey when he jumped over Cheryl’s head to start the dance.  Only difference here is Jason is 6′6″!!!  The costumes, once again, were terrific.  It was just an unbelievable job.  I loved every part of it.

Carrie Ann:  You are larger than life.  Fave so far!

Len:  Tenacious as Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith who both got to the finals.  You were terrific.

Bruno:  Performance of the night!

Judges:  10-9-10 (Edyta lifted her leg!…Len!!!???) = 29

We now tackle the Latin Round

First up is Marissa and Tony who will dance a Rumba.  They did a terrific job.  Loved the outfits and it was a great song to rumba too.

Bruno:  This is definitely a ‘woman’s’ dance.  It was romantic but I’d like it to be a little bit more dirty!

Carrie Ann:  Beautiful.  Showed your confidence. Great

Len:  You’re acting out of the dance was very good but it needed more hip action.  More ‘willy’?

Judges:  9-8-8 = 25 – 2 dance total of:  52

Next is Cristian and Cheryl who are dancing a Samba.  This is another case of more Cheryl, less Cristian.  Not as good as the first dance.  Uh oh.  Looks like Cristian hurt his arm.  After the dance was over, we found out that he had a severe muscle pull.

Judges:  7-7-7 = 21  2 dance total of:  46  (I have a feeling Cristian will be able to nurse that arm for awhile)

Kristi and Mark are next and they dance a ChaChaCha.  It was a slow start but, once they got going, they were very good.  Liked the hip hop touch.  It was risky but worth it.

Len:  Like the middle part.  Don’t like the sways, bugaloo, hip hop stuff

Bruno:  Excellent – contemporary spin.  The kids will love it.

Carrie Ann:  2 Snaps Up  Excellent – Great hip hop action.

Judges:  10-8-10 = 28  2 dance total of:  54

Here come Mario and Karina who will dance a Mambo.  Now I can see Mario smoking up the floor with this number.  Love the red costumes!

They had good moves.  Liked it.

Bruno:  The devil is in your hips!  You are in your comfort zone with this dance.  A lot of passion.

Carrie Ann:  You were ON FIRE!

Len:  Wonderful.

Mario said it was a great dance for him because he is a musician and could feel the ‘music’ in his feet with this one.

Judges:  9-9-9 = 27   2 dance total of: 51

Now it’s Derek and Shannon’s turn to do a Mambo

Loved it when Derek ripped his shirt…reminded me of Maksim last year.

It was very sexy and she certainly tried to move her hips.

Carrie Ann:  Your lines are awkward because you have such long legs.

Len:  I think I died and went to heaven (when they thru themselves on the desk!).  Your gangelly(?) but the hips were better.

Bruno:  You were working the tushy (which Shannon said was FAKE!).  You looked awkward though…again with the long legs.

Judges:  8-8-8 = 24  2 dance total of:  51

We end the evening with Jason and Edyta who will dance a Paso Doble.  OMG—-he just jumped over Edyta’s head onto the dance floor.  It reminded me of Drew and Cheryl but this guy’s 6′6″ and it was awesome AND…they’re dancing to the theme of Monday Night Football and they even have the costumes to match the music…how clever.  WOW!!!!!

Len:  We had 12 great numbers tonight.  You came out attacking.  It’s funny how we both have the same body…I can understand why you want to ‘pose’ it!

Bruno:  Master and Commander (Russell…).  A real winner.

Carrie Ann:  Unconventional music number.  Edyta had a foot off the ground though.  It was like a Fearless Matador!  Fun…

Judges:  9-8-9 = 26  2 dance total:  55 (this week’s front runners!)

So there you have it.  Tonight we’ll lose another competitor.  I think it will probably be Cristian and Cheryl.

We’ll also have Kenny Mayne back with Jerry Rice so that should be fun.

Next week is going to be a BIG show cause it will be their 100th Episode!

Talk to you later.  Joanie

Over The Weekend Stuff – 04/28/08

Hi Everyone:

Hope you all had a nice weekend.  The weather was pretty good here in New England.  Today is rainy though….that’s OK…it’s a Monday and we have to work anyway!

Let’s see..what did I watch this weekend:

Friday night I watched the season premiere of DR. WHO with (bug eyes) David Tennant.  It was kooky (as most of them are) and at the end, who appears but Billie Piper who is supposed to be in an alternate universe and the Dr.’s not supposed to be able to find her.  This year his companion is Catherine Tate and I’m not sure how it’s gonna play out…

Saturday I watched “REIGN OVER ME” with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle.  If you’ll recall, my friend Patti and I saw this movie in the theater and ON DEMAND it’s about 20 minutes longer.  We both thought Adam did a wonderful acting job in this very serious, sad film  It is definitely worth your while to watch it.

I also watched ROBIN HOOD – back on BBC.  Great series.  Love the acting in this.  It has drama and comedy melting together in a perfect mold.  Terrific.

After ROBIN, I stayed with BBC and Graham Norton’s new variety series started another season.  Graham doesn’t back away from insulting any one…Queen, Prime Minister, etc.  He had Tony Curtis and Kevin Bacon both on.  Tony has got to be in his 80s and is NOT looking well.  I’m not sure if he’s fighting cancer but he’s as bad as Lex Luther and it looked like they had to paint eyebrows on him.  He’s much bigger now too.  Still, once he opens his mouth…it’s Tony…telling stories of the old days.  Graham did NOT have Kevin do his Footloose dance BUT he did have the audience get up and do it for him.  Kevin had a funny story about ‘fans’ on youtube.  One is by someone who posted A TRIBUTE TO KEVIN BACON (if you go on to youtube, it is on the ‘3′ page).  Absolutely hysterical.  He said, “That’s what he gets for surfing himself!”.  Well Graham had someone find the youtube tribute and we all watched it.  Thankfully in the UK, they’re not has restricted as we are in the US, so we watched it alllll!  Very funny.

This is a heckuva segway, but I also watched some very inspiring movies on the HALLMARK Channel too.  They were all written by Janette Oakes who is a Christian writer.  They were exec. produced by Michael Landon, Jr. who also directed a couple.  His dad would be very proud of them.  If you’d like to watch them, they are all on amazon.com and the names of them are:  LOVES ENDURING PROMISE; LOVE COMES SOFTLY; LOVES LONG JOURNEY and LOVES ABIDING JOY.  Wonderful, inspirational – great stories.

Not much else, ohhhh, I’m thinking of buying the H20 Steamer Mop.  Does anyone have one?  They look great.  My neighbor brought one down for me to see yesterday and it looks very handy.  AND good for the environment as you only use water….

OK, well Dancing is back on tonight.  Two dances this week.

Tomorrow is Neil Diamond on AI.  I’d LOVE to see David Cook sing SWEET CAROLINE.  I bet he’d get the whole audience rockin’!!!!

Talk to you tomorrow.  Joanie

Weekend To Do – News/Rumors 04/25/08

Hi Everybody:

I have sooooo much stuff here.  I hope I won’t repeat myself cause I took some of last week’s news that I didn’t post and brought it forward to this email.

Let’s see how ‘feeble’ my poor mind is!

First…DVDs out this week

Charlie Wilson’s War (Julia, Tom, Phillip-Seymour)

Cloverfield (this is the one where the cameras are very shaky!)

The Orphanage (my son saw this one and said it is very good)

The Savages (Laura Linney (luv her) and Phillip-Seymour)

In Theaters

Baby Mama (Amy Poehler and Tina Fey…looks funny)

Deception (Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor)

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (came out last week but looks hilarious!)

Let’s do some TV News

Jimmy Fallon has been chosen to replace Conan O’Brien when he leaves his post at Late Night Host to move to Jay Leno’s chair in May of 2009.  It’s one Boston native to another and as much as I would like this to work I seriously have my doubts.  I honestly don’t see Jimmy lasting very long.  I wonder if Arsenio Hall is available????!!!!

ABC

Lucy Liu will join the cast of Dirty, Sexy, Money when it returns this fall.  She will play an attorney.

SHO

The Tudors will return for a third season (be still my heart..Jonathan Rhys Meyers!!!!).  The producers are so happy with this series that they said they may very well keep the series going thru all six of Henry’s wives!  One could only dream….

ABC

Alyssa Milano (Charmed) has been offered the lead in an untitled comedy for ABC.

Nathan Fillion (Firefly) has also been offered the lead in a series called THE CASTLE.  It’s about an author who helps solve crimes with the police.

Oh my….when will someone come up with something ORIGINAL!!!

MOVIES

Guillermo Del Toro will direct THE HOBBITT and it’s a prequel.  Exec. Producer Peter Jackson is thrilled.  Guillermo will move to New Zealand for 4 years just like Peter did.  THE HOBBITT is a much lighter movie than LOTR.  Lord knows when this movies will hit the theaters.  Guillermo still is in post production of HELLBOY II coming out in July.

Oscar Winner Tilda Swinton has signed to do an Italian language film called I AM LOVE.  She plays a foreign society matron in Milan who calls for a chef.  Shooting will start this summer.

X FILES has a movie title:  I WANT TO BELIEVE.  Of course this was the poster behind Mulder’s desk when they did the series.  In Theaters:  7/25

Richard Gere has signed on for a pair of projects.  Biopic for Amelia Earhart and a cop drama ‘Brooklyn’s Finest”.  In Amelia, he’ll play her husband.  Amelia will be played by Hilary Swank.  Shooting will start soon.

“Brooklyn’s Finest” is a story which culminates with 3 copes at the same deadly location despite their different career paths.  Antoine Fuqua (King Arthur) will direct.  The movie also stars Don Cheadle and Ethan Hawke.  Could be out Thanksgiving…

NEWS

I won’t do my Ashlee Simpson ‘breaking new’s cause we all know she’s engaged and more than likely – pregnant.  All I want to know is how Pete Wentz got the money to buy that ROCK on her hand!

Gary Dourdan (Warrick Brown) is leaving CSI at the end of the season. I’ll miss those beautiful eyes!  In other news on the show, William Peterson has signed for ONE MORE SEASON and, a limited amount of shows.  He wants to do other projects.

Ohhhh, that Cadillac commercial I was babbling about a few weeks ago.  Someone wrote and said it might be Martin Henderson.  But I saw it again and I think it’s Brian Bloom who played Dusty Donovan on As The World Turns years ago….some more beautiful blue eyes!    They DO have another commercial that looks like an SUV Cady…..

Torchwood’s season finale was last week and I’m still reeling over it.  We lost two members of the team.  Lord knows what they’ll do next season.  By the way, I was ’surfing’ some Andrew Lloyd Webber stuff earlier this week and discovered that Capt. Jack, John Barrowman, is quite a singer.  Worth checking into.

——————————————————————————————

AMERICAN IDOL EXTRA

Well I watched AI Extra last night and frankly, found it boring so I’ll just breeze thru the highlights (even though I’ve got allll kinds of notes here).

We saw Simon hugging Carly saying, “I told you – a gave you a compliment which was the KISS OF DEATH!”  Funny.  Randy gave her a big hug and said she was terrific.  He said that, “Tonight you sang your butt off!”  We meet Carly’s mom who is a very pretty, charming woman.  Her hubby…who is covered with tattoos but seems like a nice enough guy.

Later on in the show, Michael Johns came out to surprise Carly.  I guess they are pretty good friends.  He said, “You have no idea what you’re in for now.  Everywhere I go, people want my pic, autograph.  They even sit outside my house.  My wife and I are very private quiet people so I’m not sure what they’re looking for.”  JD asked if he had an announcement to tell us and he said that he has been asked to attend the ESPN Correspondence dinner which will be at the White House!  He also said that he had a ball doing Ellen…loves Ellen.

There was other stuff too but nothing wicked interesting.

So I guess that’s it for the weekend.  Hope everyone enjoys the lovely weather and we’ll talk again next week.

Joanie

AI Results Show – 04/23/08

Morning Everyone:

It’s another beautiful day here in New England…going to be in the 70s.  I’m not getting ‘comfortable’ with it though.  I’m sure I’ll be needing the spring jacket before summer comes.

I’m trying to compose myself because I didn’t sleep all night over the Results.  That said, let’s take you step by step of the show.

Over 38M people(?) voted last night.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was at the piano as the Top 6 performed: ALL I ASK OF YOU.  OK, enough with the ‘marsh’ pit please.  Those hands in the air are annoying to me just think how they must drive the contestants wild!!!  I thought all but Syesha and David Cook were struggling with this song.

Ryan said this week is the last chance for the songwriting contest.

We then did a ‘recap’ of last night’s performances.

Ryan then sat with ALW and talked about his experience mentoring the Top 6.  He said that he enjoyed it very much.  Felt bad for Brooke flubbing the beginning of her song because she was ‘flawless’ in dress rehearsal.

(I think the problem with Brooke is – and I’ve read this elsewhere – is that she is very uncomfortable with the large venue she has to perform in.  I think her niche will be small clubs of 1200 or so people.  I do believe she will have a career).  ALW also talked about Jason’s choice of MEMORY.  He couldn’t believe that he chose that song…it was curious to him.  Probably the strangest of all the years he’s been in the business..and that’s saying a lot.

Ford Commercial:  TAINTED LOVE – once again, cute and it looked like they had a fun time.

President and Laura Bush had a message for all – to say THANK YOU for the $65M that was raised in IDOL GIVES BACK night and how much it is going to help people in Africa as well as our country.

OK, let’s do some results – Ryan calls out the 2 Davids….Cook and Archuleta.

He recaps some more about their performances and the judges comments and then sends both to SAFETY…no surprise there.

Next week, by the way, Neil Diamond will be mentoring the Top 5!  I wonder if they will have the kids choose a song from the last 5 years say for the Top 4???  Could be different!

Next we have Leona Lewis, Simon’s new star.  Her single is #1 here and in other countries.  It’s called BLEEDING LOVE and it’s on the radio all the time.  I love this girl’s voice and she’s very pretty but what’s with the BIG production number (flames shooting, etc.???).  Didn’t need that.

(Next Monday both BONES and HOUSE will be new!!)

Now we go to Broadway and interview Clay Aiken and Tamyra Gray who are 2 of several former Idols who have done or are doing Broadway.  Clay’s in SPAMALOT and Tamyra is in RENT.

Let’s do more results:

Ryan asks Syesha and Brooke to come to center stage.

Once again, Ryan talks with Brooke about her start/stop/start song and what the judges feel.  Also how well Syesha sang her song.

Ryan then said, “America voted and….Brooke YOU are safe.  Syesha, you are in the Bottom 2!!!”  How surprising is that???

Ryan asked how come to Paula and she said, “It’s gotta be a strong fanbase out there that sometimes pulls you thru.!”

Let’s finish the Results.

Ryan calls out Carly and Jason.  Now..here we go with my comments.  Jason is walking out and you can see that he is nervous (which he should be considering what an awful job he did on his song the night before.  Ya know..he had all week to read all he wanted to about ALW and which song to sing and for him to say that he didn’t even know the song was sung by a cat is just an insult to ALW if you ask me…BUT, then again, it’s just my opinion!).

So they talked about Carly’s song choice.  She didn’t credit ALW but she should have cause it was a great song for her.

Jason, on the other hand, is saying “all I know, is I DON’T want to have to sing!!!”

Well, guess what folks…he didn’t have to cause HIS fanbase voted him to SAFETY and left Carly in the Bottom 2…unbelievable.

Ryan then has Carly and Syesha sing again.  And…they are both terrific.

We find out that they are room mates and are both comfortable with whoever goes home.  They both feel they’ve had an awesome ‘ride’ and feel that this experience is one they will never forget and will be a big boost to their careers.  PLUS…they do go on Tour this summer.

OK…Carly or Syesha???? – CARLY – your journey ends here tonight. etc., etc.

Randy said, “I hope this isn’t getting into a ‘popularity’ contest again!”

Well, something has to be done about the way the public votes.  I wonder if there is any way that you, as a fan, can vote ONCE only.  Obviously, if you are home and have a land phone as well as a cell..you can vote TWICE.  But I think that should be sufficient.  What drives me crazy are these ‘fans’ voting for TWO HOURS for their favorite.  This, obviously, is not fair and it does indeed, become a popularity contest.

Come on Simon Lythgoe…let’s fix this for next season please.

I’m off my soap box now.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Remember, AMERICAN IDOL REWIND is on tonight at 7PM.  If you don’t get the channel (REALITY), I will do my review, if not tomorrow, then on Monday.

Joanie

Dancing – Results Show – 04/22/08

Hi Everyone:

Well last night wasn’t much of a surprise so let’s see if I can ‘whip’ thru the highlights…and filler!

Sam looks lovely once again in a hot red number with the hair pulled back.

Len chose the crazy hoedown number so see again.  I chose that time to check and see how the Red Sox were doing against the Angels.

Tom was saying that the 100th episode of Dancing was coming up in a few weeks and that a lot of the past contestants were going to be visiting.

OK, here’s Ashlee Simpson singing her new single from her new CD. She’s a very pretty girl…think I’ll check back on the Sox game. It’s 6-5 with the Sox on top – You go Jacoby Elsbury….

Millions voted on Monday night so let’s get some results.

One couple is saved – the other will be in the bottom 2.

Derek/Shannon – Saved (oh thank heavens…I want to see more kissing!)

Marlee/Fabian – Bottom 2 (I somehow predicted this)

OK, Tavares is now pitching for the Sox and the Angels get a run to tie it up – 6-6 uh oh. – therefore, Terry comes out and pulls Tavares and puts in Okejima(?).

I come back to the show and Derek’s got lipstick kisses all over his face!

See the passion – Sam says (Tom says…here we go again!)

Now we get a number from RIVERDANCE.  They are terrific but no one can do this play better than Michael Flatley – the KING of Riverdance!

Now we go to the third round of kids competing; these two couples are 13 and 12.  First up is Brandon and Britney who dance a ChaCha and are very good.  The next couple named Austin and Liza will dance a Samba.  She’s beautiful!  They are also very good but the Judges chose Couple #1

Let’s do more results:

Two more saved:

Marissa and Tony (surprise)

Cristian and Cheryl (guess Len doesn’t have to show his bum in the supermarket afterall!)

Let’s do the rest now:

Kristi and Mark

Mario and Karina

Jason and Edyta

Kristi and Jason are saved; Mario and Marlee are the Bottom 2.

Scary music – dim the lights – Couple going home tonight is:

Marlee and Fabian

She is quite a remarkable and fearless woman.  Good for you Marlee.  I’m sure she has inspired a lot of people to get up and dance.

See ya next week.  Joanie .. by the way – the Sox won 7-6

AI – Top 6 Perform – 04/22/08

Goodaye Everyone:

Well I think I heard that Ryan said only 4 more weeks until the FINALE!  Kinda makes sense since it’s almost May!

They brought the band down to the stage tonight since Andrew Lloyd Webber is mentoring the Idols.  Good idea.  I noticed that he is in the audience too…strange lookin’ guy, huh?  Not to say he’s not talented.  I do find it hard to believe that he was married to Sarah Brightman!  He certainly made her career, casting her as Christine in Phantom!

He paired with Tim Rice when he was 17 and they’ve made beautiful music since.

Andrew brought the Idols to Las Vegas to the Venetian Room where he has the whole stage setup for The Phantom of The Opera.  Very impressive.  He said that his songs are story driven (makes sense) and that the contestants have to remember that.  Ryan asked Randy what he thought of how the contestants would do.  Randy said it will probably their toughest night of the season.  Ryan asked Simon too, commenting that, over the seasons, one of Simon’s jabs to the contestants is that “You belong on Broadway” and not in a good way!  Simon said it was true that he had said that in the past but tonight he said these kids have to make each song their own and give it a contemporary spin (don’t know if Sir Andrew liked that!).

First up is Syesha – I have great expectations for her since she is an actress/singer and should be able to project one of Andrew’s song very well.  She has chosen to sing:  One Rock and Roll Too Many – never heard of this song but Andrew seems to like her take…after he tells her to get more animated with it.  Don’t just SING it; feel it.  By the way, she looks gorgeous tonight.  Well, she didn’t disappoint.  Loved Ricky Minor helping her out too!

OK…I had to STEP AWAY from my ‘review’….it’s Secretary’s Week and Steve and Lenny took me out to breakfast.  Lenny tried to look me in the eyes and say, “This is for all the hard work you do all year…..”  But he couldn’t do it!!!!  Those of you who know me…know how funny that statement is.  But…I’m back so let me compose myself and try again.

Syesha:  She did a terrific job.  I’ve always liked Syesha anyway and this was definitely her venue.

Randy:  I feel tonight was your best.  You’d make a go of it on Broadway.

Paula:  I know this is a big part of your love of singing/performing.

Simon:  Very sexy.  One of your strongest – had personality.

Next up was Jason – when I heard he was going to sing MEMORY from Cats, I got a twisted feeling in my tummy.  Everyone knows this song and it is made for an ‘old lady cat’.  Betty Buckley got a Tony on Broadway for her work in Cats (in fact, was that her in the audience with Ryan!?).  Anyway, Andrew also had his doubts about this number too.  I think he thought Jason would pick something from Amazing Coats, or whatever.   Anyway, I liked his suit.  I fear for Jason after this performance.  He didn’t sound good at all.  Almost like he was singing a song he never should have tackled.  I dunno…..

Randy:  It was a trainwreck…you knew that from the minute you started.

Paula:  This song was made for a female ballardeer.  Thought it was a wise choice though…?

Simon: It felt to me like you were a young guy at a wedding and your parents asked you to get up and sing a song you wanted no part of.  It definitely was not your style.  -  Randy countered with:  you are a good looking dude though.

I gotta tell ya, Jason is so laid back it’s hysterical.

Next we have Brooke who Andrew let outta the bag that he thought would be the ’surprise’ of the night.  She is going to sing YOU MUST LOVE ME from Andrew’s new Evita play.  He said that she is a natural actress and he likes her.  He also tells her that she has to sing the song with a lot of passion.  This is the story of an old lady who is singing to the love of her life..very sad.  Well…Brooke had a rough start in that she started, stopped the band and started over (uh oh).  Once she got going though, I thought she did a beautiful job.  I could hear the passion/heartbreak in her voice.

Randy:  Not great. But admire you for listening to ALWebber though.

Paula:  Should NEVER start/stop and start again.  You have to keep going.  Liked the way you didn’t overact the song.  It was emotional for me.

Simon:  The song became uncomfortable for me.  I think you’ll be disappointed when you watch it back.

Ryan asked why she stopped and started and she said, “To tell you the truth, I simply lost the lyric.”  Well, unfortunately I see her in the bottom of the pack for tonight now.

Next we have David A. who will sing THINK OF ME from Phantom.  Andrew told him that he had to have a ’soul’ while singing this song and to keep his eyes open.  He said, “I notice whenever you sing, you close your eyes.  There’s nothing more annoying to me than watching someone sing with their eyes closed.”  David said he would try.  Well, let me tell you, I just sat back, listened and LOVED IT.  Great job David.

Randy:  Exactly what this show is about — ‘you’re the BOMB’!

Paula:  Perfect pop ballard (don’t know how that set with Andrew)

Simon: Pleasant but weak.  It was a bit forgettable.

Now we have Carly who was going to sing another number but Andrew talked her into singing JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR.  He said, “With your powerful voice and those tattoos, and Irish brogue, this is the song for you.  You don’t want to sing a mushy, girly type song.”(or something like that. – Carly came out ’smokin’ and was just awesome.  The song was made for her.  I’m so glad she listened to Andrew.  She ‘tore it up’!

Randy:  No surprise you were that good.  Great job and I like the outfit.

Paula: Loved it and loved the chorus too.

Simon: A little shouty in the middle but one of the best tonight.

She then held up a tee shirt that said, “Simon liked Me (this week)”

Last but surely not least is David C. who will sing MUSIC OF THE NIGHT from Phantom  Now…I gotta tell ya I didn’t think he could pull this one off.  I honestly think that Andrew felt the same.  However as Andrew said, “This is a very sexy song.  You need raw passion to pull it off.”

Well David had all that and more.  All I can say is WOW what a great job.

Randy:  Amazing dude.  HOT!

Paula:  This proves that you are well rounded.

Simon:  Too rounded off for me but you made the most of the song you were dealt (hmmmm????).

So there you have it.  Who will go home tonight?  Depending on their fan base, I would venture to say that either Jason or Brooke will be exiting the building….

Talk to you tomorrow.  Joanie

American Idol EXTRA – 04/21/08

Hi:

I watched American Idol Rewind on Friday night and, for those of you who don’t get the REALITY channel, here’s what happened.

We have JD Roberto interviewing Kristi Lee Cook on her voting off of the show.  She was cool with it.  She said something bad and something good happened to her.  JD asked what that would be and she said that she got engaged and showed everyone her ring.  She told the story of how her boyfriend, Andy Dobner, came up to her after the show and asked to talk to her.  She was trying to think what she did wrong now… They looked everywhere for a private place (Security is everywhere with the Idols).  Finally they found the sauna which had been turned off and went in.  He proposed and she said YES.  JD asked if he went down on one knee.  She said there was no room.  He called Andy up on the stage and asked him to propose to Kristi Lee properly….which he did.  He got down on one knee and she said YES again!  She said that she’ll miss Brooke the most because she was her room mate but she’ll see everyone this summer when they all go on tour.

Kristi was saying that when her boyfriend was coming to visit a while back, she was wondering how she was going to pay for a room for him and Brooke stepped up and said that he could stay at her place and her hubby and Andy have gotten to be the best of friends!

JD asked Kristi if she had planned ahead for Andrew Lloyd Webber week and, if she had, what song had she chosen.  She said that she had and she would have sung, DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA!!!  She said she doesn’t have to worry about it now!  (wonder if someone else will sing it?)

Bo Bice was on the show.  He looks good.  He has a new CD out.  He’ll sing his single from it in a while.  He said that he was kinda upset when he saw that the Idols could use instruments this season.  He would have loved to use his guitar when he sang.  JD said, “You had to compete the year that Carrie Underwood won!  How tough was that!?”  Bo said that Carrie certainly deserved to win and has proven that since…just look at her career and all the awards she has won.  Bo’s CD, See The Light shows who he really is.  There’s a video on VH1 that is #1.  He did it in Nashville (his home now).

Constantine said that Bo is one of his best buddies and looks healthy afer going thru a couple of tough years.

David Cook goes to see Michael Johns when he can.  Amanda and Carly still hang out together.  Jason said that he wants to get to the beach soon.  He misses it a lot.  He has a girlfriend now folks so that takes him off the singles race now!

Bo Bice sings his new single, I’M GONE and it’s terrific.  I always thought that Bo was a talented guy as well as a genuinely nice guy…don’t find too many of them nowadays!  I always thought of him as an “Allman Brothers” type of singer.  Anyway, this is country style and I loved it.

——————————————————————————————

Some more Idol stuff:

Saw an interview that 60 Minutes did with Simon and it was the FULL 60 minute interview.  It was VERY interesting.  He’s an executive with Sony BMG and his division sells as many CDs as Bruce Springsteen.  AND, they both have contracts amounting to $100M each!  Not bad for a guy who used to live with his parents years ago when his business went belly up.  Rupert Murdoch’s daughter was the one who convinced her dad to bring IDOL to FOX.  No one wanted any part of the show.  His daughter loved the UK version and boy, is he happy he listened to her!  IDOL is now shown in 30 different countries where they ALL have their own IDOLS!!  AND…Simon gets a piece of the action from EVERY IDOL.

They asked Ryan and Randy what Simon is really like and they said, “What you see is what you get. The guy can be nice or obnoxious, depending on the mood he’s in.”  Of course neither one of them would be as wealthy as they are without him!  The interviewer asked Simon is they ’setup’ some of those terrible auditions we see at the beginning of each season and he said, “We set nothing up.  These kids truly believe they are good.  I ask them…”What do your parents think of your voice?”  And almost all of them say that they think it’s great.  PARENTS..stop lying to your child.  Help them NOT to embarrass themselves…

Anyway, it was a good interview.  -  One more thing:

I don’t know if you caught Simon and Andrew on one of the gossip shows last night but when Simon asked Andrew who he thought was going to be a surprise (naturally they’ve already filmed the mentoring by now), Andrew whispered in Simon’s ear (BROOKE), Simon seemed genuinely surprised and Andrew coulda smacked him for saying it out loud.

Anyway, Idol tonight….let’s see how the kids do!!!

Joanie

Dancing With The Stars – 04/21/08

Morning Everyone:

I was sick on Friday so there was no Weekend/News/Rumors, etc. and yesterday was Patriot’s Day so I didn’t do the Over the Weekend stuff.  So here I am, back with the Review of last night’s Dancing….

Sam looked beautiful, once again, in a lovely black number; hair was down, jewelry, tasteful….then she opens that mouth of hers!!!!

We have seven couples left and they will all be doing different dances tonight plus a ‘hoedown’ number at the end of the show.

First up is Jason and Edyta – OMG, Jason is sleeveless tonight!  He is sooo hot…they will be dancing (like who cares!!!!) a ChaCha.  He was having trouble with the rhythm so Edyta took him to a hip hop session to learn to move better.  It seemed to work but he was still doing a lot of poses for Edyta to do her acrobatics.  Still….it was OK by me.

Len:  Captured the movements on the floor.  Timing was off a little though.

Bruno: Good – got cheeky, missed the timing and footwork.

Carrie Ann:  Hot Lines – Arms were off though- Need BIG movements.

Judges:  8-8-8 = 24  (generous of them!)

Next we have Derek and Shannon who will dance a Rumba.  They are so smooth together.  She has such long legs that it’s hard for her to get some of the steps though.  Derek does a terrific job helping her out.  They went to the beach to try and learn the steps there…and to relax (hence, the pics that we’ve seen!).  Again, too many poses and not enough dancing.  LOVE Derek.  I’d hate to see them go home just yet.  (Saw Shannon on a poker show last Sunday…she lost but did very well last year!).

Bruno:  Very romantic, sizzling.  No hip action though.

Carrie Ann:  Great potential.  Gotta work at it though.

Len:  Liked the start.  “Come on baby…light my fire!”  Pleased overall.

Judges:  8-8-8 =24  (once again, a little generous)

Anyway, Samantha was grilling the heck outta them to see if there’s a romance.  Shannon was saying what good friends they were and Derek was just smiling…..Tom said that, next weekend, Sam will be grilling inmates at Gitmo Bay!!!!

Now we have Marlee and Fabian who will dance a Mambo.  Marlee is getting very frustrated and down in the dumps so she called on her good friend, Henry (the Fonz) Winkler to come and help her out.  He gave her quite a pep talk and she felt much more confident afterwards.  Still, it’s a tough dance for anyone, never mind someone who can’t hear.  Every week she just blows me away!  She looked beautiful too.  Loved the makeup. – Nice job – Good effort.

Carrie Ann:  Looked amazing.  Connection looked a little forced though.

Len: You do wonderful considering the limitations you have to deal with.

Bruno:  Timing was off.  However, what you do for the show is amazing.

Judges: 7-7-7 = 21  (uh oh…)

Next up is Cristian and Cheryl who will dance a Foxtrot.  He just couldn’t get the steps.  His arms were all over the place so Cheryl brought him home with her and he practiced in the pool and then thru her in!  They’re costumes are beautiful..they remind me of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire even though the dancing didn’t!  He was much better than last week.

Len: “If you two wind up in the bottom 2 this week, I’ll show my butt in the supermarket!!!” (Tom hoped it would be in the frozen food section!) Excellent job.

Carrie Ann:  You went from rigid to refined.  Very Good

Bruno: Cristian at his dashing best!  Excellent.

Judges:  9-9-9 = 27  (good for them…kinda)

Here comes cute, bubbly Marissa and dashing Tony who will dance a Vienesse Waltz (I can never spell that right!).  Marissa was having problems with the spins so Tony took her to a gym and made her get on this ‘loop’ and spin like crazy! I didn’t care for much of this routine.  Didn’t like her dress.  Thought she was awkward in the spins.  Not enough grace and elegance in this dance…

Bruno:  Kept head and balance was good.

Carrie Ann:  You were on a wave!  Good job.

Len:  Pleased me – had confidence.  Danced like a true Princess.

Judges: 9-8-9 = 26  (again…a little high for me)

Marissa was sooooo happy, she couldn’t stop laughing.

Tom said, “Cheer Up!”

Kristi and Mark are up next and they will do a Jive.  Here we find out something we didn’t know about Kristi.  She was born with club feet.  She’s had operations over the years and has learned to live with them and push herself to overcompensate…Yeah…like an Olympic Gold Medal and the fact that she’s blowing away the competition here!!!  The jive was probably their best dance so far.  In fact, I’d say, it was the best dance for every competitor so far.  Excellent Job Kristi.  Good teaching Mark.

Carrie Ann:  Hail to Kristi…Favorite Dance so far.

Len:  Like a buffet.  A little here, a little there and all satisfying. Excellent

Bruno:  Top Notch HD!!! Excellent – Fave to date!

Judges:  10-10-10 = 30  the first 30 of the season and they deserved it!

We’ll finish the night with Mario and Karina who will dance a Rumba.  Mario calls his little brother who shows him some cool moves (I think he’s like 5!).  They tried but I just didn’t feel it tonight.  It must have been just me though cause….

Len:  A little too steamy for him.  Not enough steps.

Bruno:  HOT!

Carrie Ann:  Better than good sex!

Judges:  9-9-10 = 28  (they did a lift….)

When they all did the hoedown, I was just too tired.  The girls were the sheriffs and the guys were the outlaws.  There were a lot of lifts and flips and cartwheels.  It seemed VERY confusing…not the best.

Tomorrow night we have Ashley Simpson singing and two more couples (the little ones) to dance for us….as well as a Riverdance number.

Talk to you tomorrow.  Joanie

AI Results – 7 to 6 – 04/17/08

Morning Everyone:

A beautiful day here in New England.  We can enjoy every minute of it; until we pass a GAS station!  Don’t get me started….

Before I start with the Results Review, I have an Idol story and information to tell you.

Last week, when Jason sang Over The Rainbow, a lot of people were wondering, I’m sure, where that version came from.  Well, if you go to www.amazon.com and type in music and Israel Kamakavoivro Ole (that middle name is tough but they’ll be able to pull it up for you), you will see a lot of CDs by this very talented Hawaiian.  After looking thru the list, I recommend Alone in IZ World.  I believe IZ is his nickname…enjoy.

Now, here’s another David Cook story.  PEOPLE mag said that after David sang his song on Tuesday night, they went to commercial.  He immediately jumped from the stage and hugged his brother, Adam who was sitting next to Teri Hatcher and her daughter Emerson Rose.  I think David’s tears were in thanks for the Judges’ comments and the overwhelming feelings for his brother.  The Judges came over and hugged Adam too.  -  On a lighter note, for those of you who watch SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (great show which will be back in May), it seems that Lacey Schwimmer and David have become friends over the last few weeks…cool!

OK, that said, let’s start the show:

Again…Ryan’s got that stupid hairdo and a SUIT on again!  I thought he’d be more relaxed on Results night.  Anyway 36M votes were cast last night.  Let’s see if America ‘got it right’ this week.

Ryan said that Mariah will perform and, one of our favorites, Eliott Yamin, will perform.

The Top 7 then come out and sing ONE SWEET DAY.  This is a really nice song and they do a very good job.  Good way to start the show.

I liked Carly’s part of the song.

We then do a recap of last night’s show.

OK, let’s get down to business:

Ryan calls Jason Castro onto the stage and asks him to move to the LEFT HAND part of the stage.

He then calls David Cook out and asks him to step to the RIGHT HAND part of the stage.

Now he calls Carly Smithson out and asks her to move to the LEFT HAND of the stage.  (Simon says to Carly that she needs that extra push to move her along.  She’s a very talented singer….hmmm.)

Next is Kristy Lee Cook who Ryan asks to move to the RIGHT HAND part of the stage.

So now you have Jason and Carly on the left and David and Kristy Lee on the right…interesting.

I think I know where he’s going with this..they do this at this point of the season where they are down to a few.  They’ll call out the rest of the group EXCEPT for one…then Ryan will ask that one person to come to the center of the stage and, after telling that person that he/she is SAFE, then has to move to the Top 3…LEFT or RIGHT????

Now we have a Ford commercial; music is BREAK FREE.  I could relate seeing that it is in an office atmosphere and everyone wants to BREAK FREE!!!!

Now let’s welcome a good friend of AI, who will sing his new single FREE…Eliott Yamin.  Boy does he look terrific.  Nice song too.  Always liked Eliott.  After the song was over, he lifted his hand and it said WE MISS YOU MOM.  His mom passed away recently and he told Ryan that this was his first appearance without his mom in the audience cheering him on.  He misses her very much.

Let’s go back to the Center Stage with Ryan:

He calls Syesha Mecardo out and asks her to move to the LEFT HAND part of the stage.

Then he calls Brooke White out and has her step to the RIGHT HAND part of the stage.

Only David Archuleta is left…hmmmm.  So now you have your Top 3 and your Bottom 3.  Which side will David choose????

Let’s do some phone calls.

Joan wants to know if Kristy Lee was able to buy back her hore.  Kristy says, “No and the man who bought the horse does NOT want to sell it back to me!”

Someone asks what the first records were that the Judges bought when they were young….Randy says Led Zepplin, James Brown, Beatles.

Paula – Jackson 5, Earth, Wind and Fire and Carole King’s, Tapestry.

Simon says – Paula’s STRAIGHT UP (of course we know he’s kidding!)

They then have some banter about the songs….move on.

How about a question for David Cook:  Are you single?  David says, “Which camera am I looking into and then looks right into it and says YES!”

Let’s have a song from Mariah Carey now.  She’ll sing a cut from her new CD, EMC, squared(?) – called BYE BYE

WOW does she look terrific.  She’s got a little bit of weight on her but it looks healthy and sexy…love the short skirt.  The song ain’t bad either!

Commercial for SPEED RACER – in theaters on May 9th.

OK the groups are back.  Ryan brings David A. out and he is SAFE.  Ryan asks him to stand with the Top 3 and, of course, David sits at center stage saying he can’t do it.  Ryan then asks Syesha and David Cook to switch sides of the stage and announces that the Top 3 this week are Jason, David and Carly.

He then announced that Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber will be mentoring the contestants next week.

Alright already….Syesha – SAFE   Brooke – SAFE which means that Kristy Lee will be going home tonight.  She moves to the Judges table and proceeds to sing directly to Simon…it was funny.  We can’t feel too badly for Kristy Lee though.  Hopefully she’ll get her horse back.  AND…we know that Randy wants to do a country style CD with her.

So everyone have a good week and we’ll talk again next Wednesday.

Joanie

Dancing – Results Show – 4/15/08

Hi Everyone:

Well we had another results show last night and sent another couple dancing to the Exit!

Sam looked beautiful in the mauve(?) gown.  Very classy…then she opens that mouth of hers that drives me crazy.  Maybe it’s just me though.

First we do a recap of last night’s dances and Len chooses Kristi and Mark to dance again.  Again, great job!

Ozomatli(?) play a song and the pros dance.  WOW!  It was fun.

Let’s do some results:

Kristi and Mark – SAFE (no duh??!!!)

Cristian and Cheryl – You are in the Bottom 2 (wooohoooo!)

Now we have two more dances from little ones and they are both terrific but I liked the second couple better.  She’s only 8 and how poised can ya get!  They wind up choosing them to dance another week.  They’ll have a winning couple at the end of the season.  Wonder if they’ll give them a miniature sparkling ball????

By the way, what’s with Bruno’s hair tonight?  Does he have the same stylist as Ryan Seacrest????

We now have a segment on coping the day of the show.  Some cute comments…once again, FILLER!

Here comes James Blunt to sing for us…..

Let’s save some more couples:

Mario and Karina – SAFE

Marissa and Tony – SAFE   (I wish I could pick the lottery as easy as I’m picking these couples!!!!)

Tom’s a riot..the teleprompter guy had the wrong card up there and he had to start again!

Tom says, “Here we go.  Dim the lights…start with the scary music.  Who will be sitting on Jimmy Kimmel’s couch tonight???”

Shannon and Derek   SAFE (they’ve had a lot to deal with…good for them)

Marlee and Fabian     SAFE

Priscilla and Louis – Bottom 2

So now you have Cristian and Cheryl and Priscilla and Louis in the Bottom Two….who will leave us tonight…..!!!?????

It’s Priscilla and Louis (darn I was hoping for the other couple!  there’s always next week).

Next week the couples have two dances they have to learn.  That’ll be tough for some; not for others.

Have a good week everyone.  See you again next Tuesday.

Joanie