Category: TV (Page 459 of 595)

American Idol: Separation Among The Top 12

March 14, 2007 /

Last night marked the start of the finals of “American Idol” on the big stage at the Kodak Theatre with a huge band and a huge audience. Just as big were some of the performances, and there was a definite separation of classes between the talent that started to show.

The show started with a recap of some past winners and finalists who went on to nice careers, and then a bit on Diana Ross, who was the the focal point of song choice and coaching this past week. I would put Diana in the same category as a Stevie Wonder…that is, a living legend. So it was no surprise that most of the contestants were awestruck by her.

But on to the competition, and this week there were five classes of talent. Here is the recap:

THE REALLY GOOD

Melinda Doolittle has owned this class the last few weeks, but this time she had competition in Lakisha.
However, I’m crowing Melinda the favorite until she is actually dethroned, which may not happen. Melinda sang “Home” and it was, as usual, incredible. She is also the only singer in this thing that could pull that song off. I was thinking she sounded like a young Gladys Knight, and then Simon said that exact same thing. Randy said it wasn’t his favorite performance of Melinda’s but that it was strong, Paula said she is so exciting, and Simon said Melinda made a boring song fantastic. Amen to that.

Lakisha Jones sang “God Bless the Child” and was simply awesome. She had great control of her voice and the judges said so. Randy said it was sensational, and Paula said Lakisha looked beautiful. Simon said “You’ve got it” and that Lakisha and Melinda are in a different class of talent than everyone else. Again, amen to that.

THE GOOD

Jordin Sparks closed out the night in fine form, singing “If We Hold On Together.” At 17 years old this girl is talented way beyond her years. Randy said as much, and also added that he thinks this is a 3-singer race between Jordin, Melinda, and Lakisha. I’m not sure I’d go that far. Paula said Jordin has a natural gift, and Simon said it was a very very good vocal.

Stephanie Edwards sang “Love Hangover” and did a great job with a boring arrangement of the song. Randy said it was good but not Stephanie’s best. Paula didn’t like the arrangement and Simon said it was the wrong song choice and that she didn’t deliver last night. I’m not sure I agree with Simon. Thing is, Stephanie was still one of the best last night.

THE IN-BETWEEN

Phil Stacey redeemed himself a week after I thought he was going home. Phil sang “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” and really did a decent job. Randy thought it was boring but a good vocal, Paula said the arrangement wasn’t uptempo enough, and Simon said Phil has a tendency to shout in the middle of songs. I thought it was better than the judges gave Phil credit for.

Blake Lewis took on a classic, “You Keep Me Hanging On,” and as usual added his own flavor to the arrangement. Thankfully though, he didn’t add any beatboxing and just focused on singing. Randy said Blake was good but that he doesn’t need to change the arrangements all the time, Paula said it was good enough for Blake to have a hit with the song (big stretch), and Simon said he “didn’t get it.”
Still, Blake is way safe.

Chris Richardson was also pretty good with his version of “The Boss.” Chris is a really good performer who looks and acts a bit too much like Justin Timberlake at times, but he still can do better. Randy said he overdid the arrangement and some of the vocal runs, Paula said he was the best guy of the night, and Simon said if you take away the performance, it was a “dreadful” vocal. I’m not sure about that. I think Chris is safe for a while too.

Gina Glockson is at the bottom of this group, because I think she was kind of boring and pitchy with her version of “Love Child.” Randy said it wasn’t his favorite Gina performance and was pitchy, Paula said she knows Gina can do better, and Simon said it was just okay.

THE BAD

Look, I’ve been pimping Brandon Rogers all along, but he continues to be less than impressive every week as this competition moves along. This guy is a great singer, but he keeps choosing songs that are too safe. Last night he did “Can’t Hurry Love” and not only was it middle of the road, but he forgot the words in the middle. Randy said Brandon looked more like the background singer that he is, and Simon said it was “a complete letdown.” I can’t say I disagree, but I think Brandon should be safe this week.

Chris Sligh took a big dive last night. He made a complete butchery of the arrangement to “Endless Love” and didn’t even perform it that well. Randy said it was a mess, Paula said Chris is trying to hard to be contemporary, and Simon said Chris “murdered” the arrangement. Chris is way too good to be in this group, but he just didn’t have it yesterday.

Haley Scarnato sang “Missing You” and was pitchy throughout. She is a cute girl with nice legs, but the dress she was wearing looked really strange. And I think the producers were going too much for the Katherine McPhee look. Randy said it was a valiant effort, Paula thought it was pitchy, but Simon surprisingly said it wasn’t that bad, and that Haley had a nice stage presence. My take? I have to say that Haley has a shot at going home this week.

THE REALLY BAD

Sanjaya just keeps getting worse, doesn’t he? This kid has no business being on that big stage, and it has never been more obvious than last night’s rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Randy said it was “not very good,” and thats being kind. He also commented that at least dude has nice hair.
Paula said Sanjaya didn’t grab the audience, and Simon said the only similarity between Sanjaya and Diana Ross is their hair. Look, America has taken this kid as far as he can go, but it’s time to pull the plug. He is so glaringly bad.

Another thing to note is that there was more witty banter and gay-bashing going on between Ryan Seacrest and Simon. For some reason, it was pretty funny last night. The judges seemed to really have fun and laughed a little instead of bickering, which was kind of refreshing.

So your bottom 3……Sanjaya, Haley and Brandon. And I think Haley is saved by the fact that Simon had nice things to say, and Brandon is just a much better singer than Sanjaya. I hope that America gets it right and keeps Brandon around, and finally does the right thing with Sanjaya.

We’re also going to be treated to a Diana Ross performance tonight, and that will likely make Carrie Underwood look like the lightweight that she is.

So there you have it America, we’ll find out tonight just how good a collective judge of talent you really are…

American Idol, TV

Battlestar Galactica: “The Son Also Rises”

March 13, 2007 /

When Will had his father’s law books delivered to Lee a few episodes ago, I thought it was foreshadowing Lee’s involvement in the prosecution of Dr. Baltar, not his defense. As its title indicates, this episode was about Lee stepping out of the shadow of his father, even if he taking a step in the wrong direction. What good can possibly be served by helping to defend Baltar? The answer to this question will almost certainly become clear as the storyline wears on. Regardless, it should be interesting to see father and son in the same courtroom as members of the tribunal and the defense, respectively. I just hope they don’t drag the trial out too long; there are enough legal dramas on TV.

This week, we met a new character – Romo Lampkin (played by Mark A. Sheppard, who was last seen cutting up young women on “Medium”). Romo likes to wear sunglasses, even when meeting with the President, so I am going to refer to him henceforth as Horatio, as in Horatio Caine of “CSI: Miami.” For those of you wise enough to be unfamiliar with the character, Horatio also wears shades, and just loves to take them off or put them on to punctuate a dramatic point. (For a good laugh, check out this YouTube montage.) Anyway, Horatio is Baltar’s new lawyer and he was trained by Lee’s grandfather. What a coincidence!

There was no real news on the fate of Starbuck, but it’s highly doubtful that she’s gone for good. She may hang low until the finale, but we’ll see her soon. I feel for both Sam and Lee, though Lee still has a pretty good woman at home. I don’t think Starbuck could have asked for a better sendoff than having her husband injure his leg by drunkenly falling off of a viper. (Seriously.)

Battlestar Galactica, External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

24, Hour 13: They never look up

March 13, 2007 /

The title is a reference to the fact that the Russians were scouring their locked-down embassy for an at-large Jack (nice use of a belt on his part, but shame on both the guy assigned to kill him and the guy watching them both on VIDEO for not seeing Jack grab the belt in the first place), and when they finally checked out the room that he was in, they didn’t find him. Why? Because they never look up (Jack was hiding in the ceiling). Basically, Jack’s playing Quake while everyone else is playing Doom. And Jack’s in God mode. Is there a God mode in Quake? I just found a level called Cyberden in the Plutonia version of Doom, and it’s freaking sweet.

All right, show of hands: who’s having a hard time taking the Ricker (nickname courtesy of my “Silver Spoons”-watching wife) seriously? That whole brash, bow-to-me-or-be-reassigned thing was the most pompous performance in CTU history. Not even Chappelle (R.I.P.) was that much of a blowhard, and he blew hard. Even better, did you like his decision not to use body armor during the assault on the Russian embassy? Hell, even Jack wears a vest. What you tryin’ ta prove, son? Whatever it is, nobody cares, and once Jack is back at CTU, you can bet that he will give him the verbal equivalent of an open-hand slap in the mouth. Heck, when you’re actually rooting for Milo over anyone, there’s something wrong.

Senator Roark, meanwhile, has onions so large that he carries them around in a wheelbarrow. He strong-arms the Biscuit into backing his “Killing an Arab” policy, despite the fact that the senator himself knows that the Muslims were not responsible for the attack on the President. I thought for sure that the Biscuit would tell the truth when Roark asked him to lie, but this time, he caved. Perhaps he, like the rest of us, pondered what kind of beatdown Powers Boothe could give Peter MacNicol in real life, and thought twice about it. Does President Palmer even come back this year? After all, we only have 11 hours left. Would they ever allow a Commander-in-Chief to resume office that soon after an assassination attempt?

Lastly, we get to former President Buck Buck Brawwwwwk and the former First Lady of Crazy. Martha has a new boy toy, and it is no other than – bow chicka bow bow – Old Yeller. I had severe problems with this, since I figured their relationship, as First Lady and bodyguard, was a close one, but not intimate, we’ll-have-sex-as-soon-as-I-get-to-the-funny-farm intimate. Shows what I know about politics. If there is one thing I know about women – and man, do I know this – it’s that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially a batshit crazy one. With all of the camera shots of a knife here and a knife there, I was surprised that Martha didn’t telepathically send 20 knives flying into Chicken Little’s torso “Carrie”-style. Instead, she only needed one, and her response of “They should make me a hero” was blackly funny.

For those who don’t want to know about next week’s episode, stop reading here, but there was something that gave me hope that they had not completely underestimated our intelligence. As CTU is tracking the “drone” plane that houses one of the suitcase nukes, it is clear to them that someone within CTU is manipulating the action. Is this when they finally play the Nadia/Milo card? Does Nadia sell Milo down the river? Of course she does. Isn’t that what he’s been here for all this time?

24, External TV, TV, TV Action

Rome: “A Necessary Fiction”

March 12, 2007 /

Rome Titus Pullo

Quite a bit happened this week, and you can really sense that the series is getting ready to wrap up.

Octavian is busy trying to clean up the morality of Rome, but is having difficulty keeping his own family in line. In reality, it’s his own fault since he tried to keep Antony and Atia apart and was oblivious to Agrippa’s affections for his sister. Regardless, his heavy-handedness resulted in Antony’s banishment to Egypt and Agrippa’s decision to break up with Octavia, but not before she could drop a pregnancy bomb on Agrippa’s head.

Meanwhile, Octavian has his own marriage lined up, and it started with a great exchange:

Octavian: Tell me, how would you like to be married to me?
Girl: I would like that very much if my husband does not object!

Wow.

Maecenas was in the middle of everything this week and I was really hoping that Lucius would lay him out when they were questioning him about the missing gold.

Down on the Aventine, Titus’ world is turned upside down as Eirene dies from a miscarriage caused by Gaia’s treachery. Gaia is scary-hot, and it looks like she might work her way into Titus’ good graces. The only thing that could blow that deal is if the alchemist decides to tell someone about what Gaia bought from her. Kudos to Chiara Mastalli’s work in Eirene’s death scene – it was amazing. You could literally see the life leave her body.

Lucius’ discovery of his daughter’s betrayal leads to his decision to leave for Egypt with Antony. Titus was kind enough to take responsibility for his children and for the business, but it’s a lot to ask of the big man.

Mark Antony had a great line when Lucius asked to come with him: “You’ll not turn to drink, will you? You stoic types often do when disappointed in life.”

Memio’s makeshift alliance with the other captians runs into a brick wall on the Aventine. He underestimated Titus’ ferocity in the wake of his wife’s death. And did you see the way Gaia handled herself in the battle? She and Titus probably belong together. Even though she’s inherently evil and he’s inherently good, they both solve problems in the same way – with violence. Titus killed his competition when he murdered Eirene’s husband. Gaia did the same thing – only she did it intentionally.

External TV, Rome, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

The future of TV?

March 9, 2007 /

Watch out for Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, the guys who created Kazaa and Skype. They’re now working on P2P TV, aka Joost. Based on their track record, it wouldn’t be wise to bet against them.

In a little conference room tucked behind a bull pen bustling with new hires, Friis flips open the laptop. He pokes a few keys, locates a Wi-Fi network, hits a few more keys. Then, with a final click and the slightest little smile, he spins the machine around and … how about that: a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert, running full-screen. Another click. Razor-sharp footage of pandas munching shimmering stalks of bamboo. Click. Fear Factor, back from the grave. Click. Earth: Final Conflict. Click. Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Laptop TV! Not to mention desktop and palmtop. “It even looks pretty good hooked up to my plasma,” Friis says.

The vision: universal TV, running on a hybrid P2P platform—millions of exquisitely networked PCs fortified with traditional video servers. Free to viewers who download the player app. Friendly to content owners, thanks to industrial-strength encryption. Delightful to advertisers, adding pinpoint targeting to their all-time favorite medium. Everyone’s a winner!

The goal is to render DVD-quality pictures – no sudden freeze-ups or obvious artifacts – at around 400 Kbps.

The system will be capable of delivering HD content, but that requires the user to have a 2MB internet connection, so it might be a while before that part of the program is ready to go.

It’s an interesting project, but it will probably be a while before big media content is transferred over the internet at this quality. Nothing scares off the networks more than the possibility of piracy.

External TV, New Media, News, TV

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