On NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” last night, yet another alliance was about to be broken up. More on that in a minute…but first, it was makeover week, and that prompted each of the six remaining contestants to hoot and holler like crazy, especially big Michael. They each had $1000 to spend on clothes and had a limo pick them up, with some dude from a show on Bravo called “Shear Genius” making them over. And he did a great job, actually.

Sunshine looked like a chunky version of Beyonce….Koli looked like a Hawaiian Buddy Holly…Ashley lost a ton of midriff…Sam looked like a boxer…Daris looked completely different, and Mike just looked really good. Really, they all did. Then they were treated with a private performance by Ashanti…and we all were like, “Who?” I mean, she’s won at least one Grammy but what has she done lately? I’m just saying.

Then it was time for the Jacob’s Ladder challenge, in which they had to climb up said ladder over a 10 foot drop into a pool. Whoever stayed up the longest would win a 1 pound advantage at the weigh in, and whoever was the first in the water would have a 1 pound penalty. Ashley dropped in after 3 minutes, but Koli and Daris were at it for 2.5 HOURS. Holy crap. But eventually Daris gave way, and I think it’s because he had to pee….I mean, he asked if peeing from up there was considered peeing in the pool, so that’s what I think anyway. Of course, Bob Harper was pissed at Daris for giving up when he could have held on longer. Whatever, Bob!

After the last chance workout that we forwarded through, it was time for the weigh in. Koli went first and lost a whopping 15 pounds! With the extra pound that gave him 16. Then again, remember last week he had immunity and we thought he threw the weigh in by losing just 1 pound? Hmmm. Michael was next and lost 9, and so did Daris. Sunshine also lost 9 and then Sam just 2 pounds. That put Sam below the line and well below everyone else percentage-wise. Ashley lost 10 pounds, or 9 with the one pound penalty.

So it was down to Sam and Michael. Sam has already reached his goal weight, the first ever to do that on the ranch. But Michael started out at 526 pounds, and he’s lost almost 200 but still has a ways to go and could be considered a bigger threat. But Mrs. Mike pointed out the alliances…Koli and Sunshine would vote for Michael and Ashley and Daris would vote for Sam, making it a tie and thus sending Sam home because he lost the lowest percentage of weight. And that’s exactly what happened! You go, Mrs. Mike!

Sam, meanwhile, has reached his goal and is down from 395 pounds to 236…he’s lean and fit and knows we all know he is dating Stephanie…and they are now living together in Los Angeles. Good for them! Another Biggest Loser couple that will soon be making babies.

So we’re down to five and there are no more multiple team members left….it’s Daris, Michael, Sunshine, Koli and Ashley. Any of them could win, but I’m still saying it will be Michael or Daris. Let me know what you think in the space below, and see you all next week!

Last night on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” it hit me. There were 8 contestants remaining, and this season is dragging on like no other season before. It feels like we’re all trudging through the mud. But there was an interesting twist again. The show began with host Alison Sweeney offering up a temptation challenge. For this one day, the kitchen was closed and the contestants had to eat in this one room where there was healthy food as well as really unhealthy food. Whoever consumed the most calories this day would have the only vote at the weigh in, assuming that person didn’t fall below the yellow line. If they did, the voting would be like it normally is.

Koli consumed 4164 calories, making sure he won by a mile, and he did. Most of the others just ate healthy like they have been so far. Naturally, Bob and Jillian were pissed at Koli, but they helped him work off the calories. And Koli’s reasoning was he wanted to make sure Sam didn’t get voted off this week. Still, eating that many calories was risky.

Then came the main challenge, in which the contestants had to pile up colored bricks in order to make a “ladder” and then they had to climb a real ladder that was suspended in mid air and grab a flag at the top. The winner would have a 1 pound advantage this week while the person who came in last would have a 1 pound disadvantage. Daris won the challenge and O’Neal, because he fell and hurt his knee, finished last. But he came back after a short hospital visit.

Then the contestants were shuttled to the beach where they had a grueling, intense workout led by volleyball star Gabi Reese. Is that woman seven feet tall? Man, she’s big! But she sure can lead a workout.

O’Neal’s week then got worse when he found out his brother, who had been suffering from cancer, passed away. Jillian and Bob helped him cope and helped him take out his frustration and sadness in workout fashion.

Then, after forwarding through the last chance workout (sorry NBC), it was time to weigh in. Koli went first and lost 10 pounds, securing the likelihood of his having the only vote. Daris was next and lost 7 pounds, or 8, considering he won an extra pound in the challenge. Mike lost 5 pounds and Ashley 4. Sam lost 6, all but guaranteeing he would not be below the yellow line. Victoria lost 1 pound, all but assuring she WOULD be below the line. O’Neal was next, and you know all of America was pulling for the guy. He lost 8 pounds, or 7, considering his one pound penalty. Sunshine was up last, and she lost just 1 pound, putting her and Victoria below the line. Yikes, would O’Neal’s week become worse?

Well, Koli had his vote and he felt kind of bad that he had to choose between Sunshine and Victoria, but since everyone in the house now is not really a game player, you kind of knew he’d choose Victoria. And he did, citing that she hasn’t quite given 100% effort lately in the gym. She was taken aback, but Koli was right.

Victoria went home to Texas and has so far gone from 358 pounds to 240. Good for her! But now we are down to the final 7….the teams of Koli and Sam, O’Neal and Sunshine…and Michael, Ashley and Daris.
I think Daris is a dark horse here and would be a likable champion…but there are several episodes left. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of this season dragging, and I hope it doesn’t wind up going into June like the NBA playoffs!

See you next week everyone, and thanks for reading….

Last night’s episode of “The Biggest Loser” showed the workings of karma, but not the way you would think. It started out with Alison Sweeney giving the contestants a pop challenge, in which they had to balance a tray of quarters with one hand, and for each quarter they would get 10 bucks. The person still holding their tray won that amount of quarters times 10. They all showed that it was much harder than it looked, and after a grueling 45 minutes, Michael won the challenge and with 100 quarters won $1000. Total cereal, the sponsor, doubled that money and also gave runner-up Sunshine $650 for having 65 quarters on the tray. Then CNBC’s Suze Orman, a financial whiz, tutored the contestants on how financial health parallels physical health in many ways. She said how she predicted Danny to win last season and that this season she was predicting Sunshine to win. Then Danny made an appearance and worked out with everyone, and he looks great still!

Then after watching Jillian beat the crap out of Vicky in the gym, it was time for the main challenge, and it was pouring rain outside. They had to run up a muddy , rain soaked hill and pluck keys off of a string of balloons, and two of the keys would start two brand new cars. Whoever found those keys took home the cars! Wow. After a lot of mud, sweat and rain, Drea won the first car. Then O’Neal won the second car but of course gave the car to his daughter Sunshine.

After fast-forwarding rapidly through the last chance workout and all the heart-to-heart talks between trainers and contestants, it was time for the weigh in. Sunshine went first and lost 3 pounds, about half of what she expected. Koli lost 6, Daris 7, Michael 9, and Ashley 6. Vicky lost 5 and O’Neal 5. Then Drea lost 3, putting her and Sunshine below the yellow line. But wait, there’s more, and it’s Sam. Sam lost ZERO this week, putting he and Drea below the line, and keeping Suze Orman’s prediction safe for one week.

So it was down to Sam and Drea. Drea has been getting annoying lately, and I’m not sure I can pinpoint why. Meanwhile, I think they all love Sam, so this was a semi-obvious choice.

Sunshine chose Drea and Ashley chose Sam. Then Vicky, Koli and Michael all chose Drea, and that was it. So Drea went home to Michigan and she is now studying to be a personal trainer herself. Good for her! Oh, and about that karma. I was just thinking that either O’Neal or Drea would be going home after winning the car. Just a thought….

So we’re down to 8 contestants and inching closer to the final 4. Who do you like? It’s hard not to like Michael’s chances at this point…he seems to be hitting his stride at the right time. Okay, thanks for reading and see you all next week!

It’s getting testy on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” After last week’s challenges and weigh in, it’s clear that Michael is watching his back, as are Miggy and Migdalia. Meanwhile, Lance and Melissa are still liars, and nobody likes a liar.

As many of these episodes do, this one began with a pop challenge. But unlike most of the pop challenges, this one came with a prize of immunity at the weigh in. It also came with the power to assign various penalties to the other teams. For the challenge, they would each run the “presidential” mile around campus, and as they completed each lap, would insert a card into a slot that would either show a green check or a red x. Each check was a point, and the first team with three points won. As it went on, you got the feeling the red team was going to win…..I mean, we could all just feel it. And sure enough, they did. So in addition to immunity, they got to open three cards, each of which represented a penalty the red team could pass on to the other teams–no access to the gym, no elimination vote, and a 2 pound disadvantage at the weigh in. They gave the first one to John, since he did well working out in a pool anyway; the second one to Michael, since he was angry at some of the others after they accused him of loafing it; and finally, they gave the 2 pound disadvantage to the green team, who are angry and bitter even without that kind of pressure.

Then, after hearing about the crazy pop challenge, Bob and Jillian were pissed and then wanted to clear the air with Lance and Melissa, since they had called Melissa a liar at last week’s weigh in. But while Bob tried hard to accept that maybe they weren’t lying, Jillian couldn’t accept it, prompting Lance to say to Jillian, “I have no respect for you.” Awesome! But Jillian pointd out that even with immunity this week, Melissa would likely “miraculously” figure out how to lose a few pounds. The problem here, too, is that everyone on the ranch and everyone in TV land knows these two are liars and that Melissa was playing the game the last two weeks.

The next challenge was for each team to get on platforms and lift themselves 120 feet in the air. The winning team would receive phone calls from home, and they would also assign phone calls from home to three other teams. The gray team barely edged out the red team, and gave the other calls to the red team (much to the dismay of most of us), the bitter green team, and to John of the brown team. Say what you will about some of these contestants, the guys in gray are truly good people, and it’s hard not to root for them.

Then after a Subway product placement with Bob taking everyone for sandwiches, he then told them that their last chance workout would be an uphill climb, literally…up and down a mountain and back to the ranch, and then they would have to endure more of a workout from Jillian.

Before the weigh in, Miggy called Melissa out for gameplay, and of course Melissa denied that. Liar! Anyway, Lance and Melissa weighed in first and lost 6 and 11 pounds, respectively. Well, duh! Even with immunity, Melissa knew she had to save face a bit. Michael went next and lost 15 pounds to raise his total weight loss to 70 pounds so far, down from 526 to 456. Next up, the black team of Drea and Darrell, who lost 5 and 10 pounds, 2.37% and not enough for safety.

Next was the orange team….Cheryl and Daris each lost 6, or 2.38%. The pink team of Ashley and Sherry lost 7 and 4 pounds, for 2.11% and below the yellow line for the moment. Next was John, who lost 10 pounds, or 2.29%. Sam and Koli of the gray team lost a whopping 14 and 12 pounds, for a 3.78% mark and first place. Stephanie lost 6 pounds, or 2.54%. Finally, the green team weighed in, and lost 4 and 1 pound. With the 2 pound disadvantage, that meant 3 pounds total, or 0.67%. Jillian cited stress (i.e. bitterness) as the culprit, and Melissa was quick to point out that they would have been below the yellow line even without a 2 pound penalty. To which Migdalia replied, “Shut up!” Ha!

So Miggy and Migdalia pleaded their case to the other teams, but it as more like Migdalia demanding that everyone send her home. She wanted to see her family, because her husband is on his way to Afghanistan soon, but she said it to everyone in an angry, obnoxious way.

The red team voted for Miggy, because they felt she was the drama queen of the house (um, I’m thinking something about a pot and a kettle here). Orange, pink and Stephanie all voted for Migdalia, but the gray team as well as John voted for Miggy to even the vote. That left it up to the black team, and they decided to, reluctantly, honor Migdalia’s wishes and send her home. But everyone wanted to know why she couldn’t have asked them nicely. Exactly!

So Migdalia went home, with her baggage (literally)….and has lost 46 pounds so far, down from 265 to 219. Somehow, I don’t think she’s going to keep this up. There is just too much stress, drama and bitterness that is going to interfere with her weight loss plans. But we’ll see.

What do you all think of the drama? Much more than last season already…and it’s reminiscent of Vicki and Brady from a few seasons ago. Thanks for reading and see you all next week!