I first saw the cult classic at a midnight movie showing for a dollar. The poster and plot description was none too riveting, so we assumed it would be a boring movie but whatever, it was a night out. Ten minutes in, we were rolling in the aisles with the other five people in the theater. The clumsy characters, awkward silences, and empty terrain combined to make the perfectly unexpected comedy.

Well, the gang’s all back in the new animated sitcom Napoleon Dynamite, as part of Fox’s Animation Domination line-up. I was rather skeptical at first; Fox is trying so hard to keep up with the times, they’ll add any cartoon to their primetime. Not to mention the movie’s most endearing qualities were the slow build-up to all the jokes and the random silliness cutting through the silence. To translate such humor to a cartoon, where everything has to keep moving to jam-pack enough punch lines to fill twenty minutes, could only smell disaster to either the new show or the cult franchise as a whole.

Once again, my expectations were, fortunately, wrong. While the show does move much faster than the movie, and the jokes are way more off-the-wall (Napoleon smashing a sink and Tina the llama gulping down a whole rooster), the characters are still endearingly aloof, simple, and monotone. The entire original cast has returned, including Jon Heder as Napoleon and Efren Ramirez as Pedro. Even the film’s director Jared Hess is back on board along with The Simpsons writer and producer Mike Scully. The only complaint I have about the production cast is no LaFawnduh; the creators want to show Kip with his past failed Internet relationships before bringing back his future wife. Also the now cliche one-liners such as “Dang it!” and “Sweet!” are used whether they’re funny or not, making the self-reference rather tiring.

All in all, I think the animated series will be much like the movie: a mixed bag of Love It or Hate It. It’s different enough from the movie to where some cultists may not like it but original from other primetime toons in that it’s family-friendly. College students may turn it off and watch Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. But children in junior high, high school, even elementary school students who are normally alienated from their parents during Family Guy or American Dad can now join the adults in the living room. The humor is funny for everyone without being vulgar, offensive, overly-violent, or sexual. It could flop worse than Uncle Rico’s football career back in ’82, or it could set new trends for primetime television. We’ll have to see if the writers have the skills to make our wildest entertainment dreams come true.

Most people probably know you from the hit soap opera “Days of Our lives,” as the Character ‘Troy” What has been your experience working on such a well known soap opera? What was it like working on set and with the other cast members?

Working on Days of our Lives playing the character “Troy Winston” has been a blast! Every actor I have worked with on the show has been amazing. I have learned quite a bit from some of the veterans. It definitely has been a great experience.

You’ve appeared in a POM Wonderful commercial that’s set in the desert. Was it really filmed in the desert? If so, which one and what was that experience like?

I filmed the Pom commercial in desert out in Nevada. So yes we did film in the desert. It was about 106 degrees out and I actually wasn’t feeling to well that day. So it was a bit of a challenge filming but it still was an amazing experience to say the least.

How did you feel on your first photo shoot?

On my first photo shoot I felt like it was something I would look forward to doing more of in the future. So it was a sign that I was heading in the right direction for a career that I would enjoy.

In your opinion, what has been the best and most exciting movie and photo shoot you were involved with?

Well I would have to say the most exciting film I have done so far was American Cowslip because I got to work with so many great and legendary actors such as Val Kilmer, Cloris Leachman, the late “Peter Falk”, Rip Torn, Diane Ladd, Bruce Dern, Lin Shaye and bunch of other great actors. It was an amazing experience I must say. As far as photoshoots, I would have to say when I shot for Nivea in CUBA. Just shooting in Cuba alone was a surreal experience!

What’s the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do before going to bed?

First thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do before I go to bed, I would have to say is brush my teeth and or get on facebook..lol

When did you first think that you wanted to be a model?

I first wanted to be a model probably when I was 19. I got introduced to a modeling agent through a friend.

Can you tell us about your exercise and workout routine? Eating habits? How do you keep up with it while managing your career?

Well my career allows me time for exercise and eating good. It kinda comes along the job. My exercise routines have changed over the years but most recently I do the p90x workouts. They are brutal but are a fantastic way to really sculpt your body. As far as eating habits I can’t say I stick to certain foods or diets but I try to eat in moderation.

You own a beautiful dog called Foxy. What kind of dog is she? How long have you had her? I own a six month Chihuahua and she’s my baby.   Do you take her to work?

My little baby Foxy is a 3.8lbs Pomeranian and my girlfriend and I have had her for about a 1 yr. I take her to auditions from time to time if I can.

What can fans expect from you in the future? Are there any upcoming movies, tv shows, or photo shoots that you’re involved with?

Well I’m in pre production to start a Vampire film. Its called “Dance with a Vampire” its a remake of the 1989 Roger Corman film” Dance of the Damned”. I will be playing the lead Vampire. I also have another film in pre production called the “Gift Horse” with same director (Mark David) from the film American Cowslip that I did with (Val Kilmer). Two very cool projects that I’m very proud to be part of. So sometime next year my fans will get to see some new stuff from me.

Are you on Twitter or Facebook? Do you have a website?

I have all three. Facebook, twitter and a website (erikfellows.com) check them out!

Thanks so much for doing this interview. It’s been great to be able to talk to you. I look forward to doing it again.

Thanks again for the interview it has been my pleasure to answer the questions. Look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Get to know some of the insight about the movie by the man who’s book helped make it the success it is today. Get his take on the casting and find out why she was called “The Iron Lady”.

Instead, Lizard Lick Towing became one of the anchor segments for a new reality show,  All Worked Up, on TruTV.  From that point on, Lizard Lick Towing’s popularity grew, which spun them into their very own show.  Lizard Lick Towing exposes all of what the crew does and what they deal with on a daily basis.

The show is currently in its third season and can be seen every Monday night at 10:00 PM (EST).

Lizard Lick Towing‘s popularity stems from a few elements.  It’s taped in a real southern neighborhood -something many people can relate to.  Also, the show’s lovable cast, with their “real” and “charismatic” personalities that we fall in love with, make each episode delightfully entertaining to watch.  And, of course, there is plenty of  the usual day-to-day drama that confronts the Lizard Lick team.

Ron Shirley, the co-owner of Lizard Lick Towing, takes his best buddy Bobby Brantley on some amazing adventures, deep into the North Carolina backwoods and repos cars from people, including the Army rejects.  You never know what they will encounter next.

Throughout the years, the folks from Lizard Lick Towing have been threatened numerous times with various weapons- guns, knives, and even the occasional flame thrower.  Under an extreme circumstance once, the crew was even held up in their office with a hand grenade.  They’ve repossessed everything from high-end collectible cars to surfboards and even deer.

In Season 2 we saw an ex-fiancé of Bobby Brantley’s, Micky, return and woo Brantley away from Lizard Lick.  Her first run-in with the team, even before the show aired, she stole thousands of dollars from Lizard Lick and broke Brantley’s heart.

When she came back, she put a real kink in the friendship between Brantley and Ron Shirley.  Basically, Mickey tried convincing Brantley that he was better off without Lizard Lick.  Brantely was eventually given an ultimatum by Shirley, and he chose to leave the team.  That choice cost Ron and Amy Shirley a dear friend, and nearly their business.

“Me and Bobby are tight as a frog’s butt and that’s water tight,” says Ron Shirley, and with that statement and an act of friendship, Shirley accepted Brantley right back into the Lizard Lick family.  They are now trying to save their ailing business.

One of the greatest aspects of the show is that it’s real.  The Shirleys and Brantley are not paid actors.  Lizard Lick Towing actually exists in Lizard Lick, NC.  Unlike many other reality shows out there today, what you see is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

TruTV also allows the Lizard Lick crew to just “be themselves”.  “When you see us bickering, it’s real, and when you see us loving, it’s real,” says Ron Shirley about the show.  The owner adds, “I really like that TruTV allows us to be ourselves.”

That means that when you watch this show, they are not acting and it isn’t scripted in any way.  The crew of TruTV tapes Lizard Lick as they are, as if no cameras are present.

Life of a Repo Man

Unfortunately, we’re in tough economic times.  Even some of the most well-off individuals find themselves in tough times, struggling to pay their bills.  When that happens, you may see Ron Shirley and Bobby Brantley come to your home, to take your ride.

“At one time, we were one of the most hated people in the community,” states Shirley.  He recalls a time when he had to check over his food to ensure it was only food he was eating, and walking down the street meant being glared at with powerful stares.  However, he didn’t blame them because his  job requires taking from people at their lowest times.

Since the show, that has changed.  When he pulls up in their driveways, he generally is met with a handshake and is asked for an autograph, especially at the local watering hole around town.

 From episode to episode, we’ve seen many life and death attempts on their lives.  Shirley states that what you see is the bad end of his job, but not all jobs are like that.  Sometimes he’s in and out before the owner even knows the car is gone.

What you may not know is why Shirley and his team don’t pull a gun or taser out on these whack jobs that attack them when they are confronted.  Well, the answer is quite simple.  In North Carolina, repossession companies can’t carry a gun or knife in their car.  The insurance company takes it to another level and says they won’t cover them if they have a bat, pole, taser or any other kind of weapon.  So to avoid being blacklisted, they rely on their intelligence, a skilled plan, and a friend who can fight!

Because of the fact they are not allowed to carry protection, and Ron Shirley has a family who depends on him, he has no problem saying that he’s pulled back a bit.  A few years ago he would have gone into location like a cowboy riding a tornado, without much care, but not when others are counting on him.  You could say, his family has helped tame his wild side.

When I asked Shirley about the situations he’s run into he replied, “It’s not the people who wave guns and knives in our face and the loud ones that we really worry about, they are usually all smoke in the mirrors;  instead, we worry about the silent ones who give you one warning and walk off.”

The repo business is a tough profession that takes a certain personality to master.  It has its good days and its bad days, and what you see on Lizard Lick Towing are the days that we should be thankful we’re safe behind a desk!

If you want to see a true reality show, portraying the real lives of repo men in totally unscripted situations, then I encourage everyone to turn into Lizard Lick Towing on TruTV.  It’s probably one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time.

If the Shirleys and Brantley show up to your residence, you can bet …. “You’ll get licked!”

Now I sit down after work and watch TV and wonder “WOW, sitcoms have grown stupid”.  Don’t get me wrong, they are good but they fall far short of the quality the sitcoms brought back in the 80s and 90s.  To me it almost seems like these people are being so fake and acting so stupid on these shows; almost as if the writers and networks feel that they feel they need to downgrade the content to amuse a less intelligent audience.  Just look at the commercials, they’re no different.

So what changed over the years?

Today I had the esteemed pleasure to talk with a star of one of my favorite sitcoms of all time, Soleil Moonfry, who played Punky in Punky Brewster.  This particular sitcom undeniably defined my generation, and its a show that is still revered by people my age today.

In talking with the star we talked about her show and during that answer she said something that made me think, “Punky Brewster used to not only be funny, but it taught us valuable lessons, I don’t know if you remember when Cherry got stuck in the abandoned refrigerator but that show taught us the value of CPR” said Moonfry.

And that is what changed!

She hit the nail right square on the head.  These shows had comedy in it, they were still fun and whimsical yet they taught a lesson.  They also took real life situations kids, young adults and adults faced in real life and brought them to life giving them something to connect to.

Today’s shows seem to portray sex, broken families, disfuction at it best, glorify bad morals and values, and have actors playing roles that make them look too fake, like they are trying too hard to be funny.  The morals in the story is usually “don’t do what they do” or “this is exactly why you don’t do drugs” etc…

Actors back in the day like Punky Brewster or Full House made it seem like they were an actual family, they acted so well it seemed like you put a camera in their home and watched them live their lives.  Sitcoms were not all comedy, it had drama and sadness intertwined; and that was OK.  You learned things, you cried, you laughed and you came away at the end of each episode feeling generally better about your life.  Most importantly, families came together and spent quality time with each other watching these shows.  Parents would talk to their kids after the show and explain what they watched.

Now parents are in other rooms watching one of several TVs in their house because they can’t stand to watch the “stupidness” their kids are watching.  Mom doesn’t want to watch the skankilly clad shows her husband is watching and Dad doesn’t want to be bored by the chick shows his wife is watching.  There is no togetherness and shows don’t cater to the whole family.

Sure, I like watching mindless stupidness from time to time, but I also enjoy learning things and actually thinking about what I am watching; but those days are a thing of the past.

Our society has changed over the years and maybe these shows have to keep up with the times to be more modern.  I believe that these shows could tone down the disfunction, and implement learning and values with comedy as the older shows did and still stay modern.

Back when Punky Brewster blairing on televisions across the country, you couldn’t cuss or swear.  I have yet to find shows, shy of children shows, that don’t include cussing or cursing – and even implied or full nudity and sex at times.

If we want to fix our tomorrow, maybe we should look at the shows of yesterday and expose our children to entertainment with a meaning!

Fact or Faked:  Paranormal Files is a uniquely developed concept admist the more “typically done” shows on the unexplained.  Fact or Faked isn’t just about a group of ghost hunters who go out and simply film their investigations in the darkened corridors of old, abandoned buildings.  There’s a whole lot more to this series.  In each episode, a team of paranormal experts review various viral videos and photographs which may possess unexplainable and strange phenomenon.  The videos and photos are mostly submitted to the team, although some of the footage is searched out by the show via the Internet.  The team, led by former FBI agent Ben Hansen, looks over the photos and videos in the hope of finding whether they might be faked, or possibly authentic, paranormally speaking.  If the footage is deemed worthy enough for further investigation, the team will then travel to the destination at hand (which may be out of the country, in some cases) to try and replicate the paranormal activity reported.  The group will also attempt to test out various theories through experiments to see if the phenomenon was manipulated in any way.  Once the testing is complete, the members will discuss their findings back at their headquarters in Los Angeles.   When investigating, the team of six will divide into two seperate groups, allowing coverage of more than one case.  For instance, three members of the team may take on a UFO case out in a Nevada desert, while the remaining few will visit a notoriously haunted bed and breakfast in Vermont.  In the end, all members will share what they have learned on their cases with one another in what is called The Situation Room.

On a show such as Fact or Faked:  Paranormal Files, good teamwork is crucial for obtaining significant research and evidence.  I recently was given the great honor of catching up wiht the show’s team leader, Ben Hansen.  Hansen enthusiastically discussed his role within the group, and how his esteemed colleagues help make the show so successful.  Jael de Pardo is a journalist, Bill Murphy acts as a lead scientist, Austin Porter is the stunt expert, while Lanisha Cole offers her expertise in photography and Devin Marble gives support as a tech specialist.  The team meshes well, and brings forth good chemistry and harmonious cohesion.  Cole and Marble are the team’s newer members, replacing former photographer, Chi-Lan Lieu, and effects specialist, Larry Caughlan, Jr.  According to Hansen, team members sometimes need to move on and so they must be prepared to let go and bring in new experts as needed.  “We have open calls for new members all the time.  You just never know when someone will need to leave, and so we are always looking for new additions to the team,” explains Hansen.  Cole, the newest member this season, was the perfect fit in the area of photography.  Hansen states, “She always has a camera with her.  It’s great for a lot of behind-the-scene photos we are doing right now.”

Though some team members have come and gone, Hansen has no intention, himself, of leaving anytime soon.  He loves where he’s at in regards to the show, and is looking forward to Season 3 with great anticipation.  For Hansen, this is a dream job.  “I have had a life-long interest in the paranormal,” confides the team leader.  When Hansen was a child, he started to become passionate about the unknown, especially after watching a certain movie.  “I was around eight-years-old and I watched E.T.  After I saw it, I laid awake that night thinking about life on other planets.  My dad bought me a book on extraterrestrials, but I hid it.  I thought it was geeky, and I was embarrassed to show anyone else the book.  I also very much became inspired by UFOs because of my grandfather.  He worked at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  Later on, while I was in college, I got into ghost hunting.  I would go out on ghost investigations and it was then that I got my first EVP.  I guess I probably should have been studying instead,” Hansen says with a chuckle.  Post college, Hansen started working in law enforcement and investigated child sex crimes, among other things.  “I love criminal investigations,” states the former FBI agent.  “I always watched X-Files when I was growing up, so I thought, ‘Why can’t I do both?’”  Hansen further states that he uses many of the same skills on Fact or Faked that he did while working in the FBI.  He considers interviewing witnesses to be one of his strengths while investigating.  “After doing an analysis of a video, I need to talk to the witness or the source.  Replication of the video only gets you so far,” explains Hansen.

I asked the show’s leader what is the one place he would love to investigate that he hasn’t had a chance to as of yet.  “I would go to Roswell.  I am really into UFOs, and it would be amazing to investigate there,” answers Hansen.  “There is a supposed autopsy video of an alien at Roswell.”  Now, that would be quite a piece of footage for the team to review!

So, what does it take for Hansen and his team to analyze their submitted videos and photos back at their California base? “First off, I don’t like the word, ‘debunk;’ instead, I like to use the phrase, ‘verifying paranormal claims.’  As far as what to look for in footage, well, that’s a good question.  The human mind has different levels of intellect.  The mind can only keep track of four variables, including logic and emotion.  To me, if I look at something and it just doesn’t feel right, then I break it apart logically.  Then, there are the signs of c.g. (computer graphics) and there are also the psychological aspects.  If I see a video where the camera is set to a certain spot in a room, to me, it looks like the person filming may be staging something; by getting the viewer to look in a specific area, as if something will be happening there.  Also, majority of hoaxing videos are brought to us and not the other way around.  If we go searching the Internet for footage, it’s different.  If someone seeks us out to show their video, it very well could be faked.”

When it comes to hoaxes, some can be quite involved and elaborate.  One case, in particular, comes to mind for Hansen.  “On our show one of the most amazing hoaxes was that of the Dr. Jonathan Reed alien case out of Washington.  We still get comments from Reed’s group, and he is still striving to revisit his case.  What amazes me is the extent he goes through to talk about it,” states Hansen.  Reed is infamous for his tales of alien encounters.  Many in the field consider him to be a showman of sorts, and even worse, a fraud.  Apparently, as one of Reed’s stories go, he was once walking through a quiet Washington forest with his dog.  Suddenly, the dog became spooked and broke loose from his leash.  Reed tries to chase after his pet, but can’t get to him.  Eventually, he discovers a gruesome scene.  Reed’s beloved pet is being ripped apart from limb to limb by an alien-like creature, only a couple of feet away.  Reed runs up to the creature and smacks it on the head with a large stick, knocking it to the ground causing it to bleed.  Soon after, Reed sees a floating object, much like a spaceship, that measures  3 feet by 2 feet.  In addition, after the dog died, Reed claims that the alien turned its bloodied body into ash.  So, he grabs a video camera and starts filming everything going on around him.  Meanwhile, Reed starts vomiting in the background, and can be heard breathing heavily on camera.  He then takes the alien back to his house, wraps it in a blanket, and puts it in a freezer.  Shortly after, Reed decides to take a nap but is too restless to sleep.  He goes back over to the alien body and starts to film once again.  Most who view the footage adamantly believe it to be nothing more than a hoax, albeit an elaborate one.  Some disagree, however, and claim the video to be legit, noting the convincing blinking of the alien’s eyes in one scene.

Hansen believes that paranormal hoaxers have been around for centuries.  Doctored photographs of spirits and ectoplasmic images were commonly seen during the Victorian Era.  “This was like an early version of Photoshop,” laughs Hansen.

Though there are plenty of fakes out there, Hansen also notes that there are videos and photographs that just cannot be explained, especially some of which are seen on Fact or Faked:  Paranormal Files.  “I like the cases that leave me perplexed, including one that will be seen in the spring season.  It’s about a woman in the U.K. who disappeared.  It involves alien abduction.  I can’t really say too much about it, but you do know now that I never could understand the case and I am still intrigued by it,” confides the investigator.

As mentioned earlier in this passage, some footage needs a more detailed investigation, which warrants a visit to the actual site where the activity was experienced or recorded.  Theories need to be tested in order to ensure the evidence filmed is indeed, authentic.  Scientific gadgets and impressive pieces of equipment are used during this part of the research process.  Everything from inflatable spaceships to high-tech thermal cameras are utilized, and many of these devices are worthy of a James Bond movie.  Team members must be prepared for just about anything when investigating a para-claim.  So, how do these guys think of such involved and highly detailed theories and experiments?  “A lot of what you see is through our viewers’ suggestions which are found online.  We try out their ideas, even if the experiments seem over-the-top and ridiculous,” explains Hansen.  “We’ve even called Disney before for information on holograms.”

When the team is not looking for mermaids or is busy searching out life on other planets, they are spending time with people who love them best- their fans.  For Hansen, meeting fans face-to-face is his other great passion.  “I love to break away from filming and meet my fans.  This brings me satisfaction.”  Hansen and his teammates get to visit their Fact or Faked fans at a variety of national paranormal conventions set up throughout the year, and also by organizing ghost hunts with the public.  Hansen, and sometimes other members from the team, will host paranormal investigations and allow their fans to participate.  One of Hansen’s last ghost hunts was at the very haunted Ft. Mifflin in Pennsylvania.  Hansen has worked with the cast of the hit show, Ghost Hunters, and is planning a large investigation set for March with Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango.  Sometimes Hansen leads his public investigations alone, while other times he will join forces with other team members or paranormal celebrities.  “It really depends on the size of the event ultimately,” states Hansen.  “We love bringing the investigations to our fans and allowing them the the chance to learn.”  Participating on an investigation with highly skilled researchers such as Hansen, is a truly great way to gain experience and insight as a paranormal investigator.

Though many aspects of the paranormal are not fully understood, and we often encounter numerous faked or hoaxed pieces of evidence in the field, one thing is for certain-Hansen and his team of experts are the real deal.  Knowledgable, credible and highly professional, the cast of Fact or Faked:  Paranormal Files  is one to be watched for many more seasons to come… and that, after all, is a fact.

Fact or Faked:  Paranormal Files  can be seen on the SyFy Channel on Wednesday nights, 10/9c.

There are only two weeks left of Season 2, so catch these last great episodes while you can!

If you would like to connect with Ben Hansen, look for him on Twitter at BenHansen00.  Or, you can become a fan of Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files by going onto syfy.com/factorfaked/twitter.  If on Facebook, you may look for Ben Hansen or go to www.facebook.com/FactOrFaked   

If you would like to make arrangements to do a ghost investigation with Ben Hansen, please contact Kim Rebman at penkavak@yahoo.com for more details. 

For more information on the show or if you are interested in submitting a video or photograph to the team, please visit www.syfy.com.     

Photos for this story were granted by NBC Universal.  Copyright 2011 NBC Universal, All Rights Reserved.

From 1993 to 1997, Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-head ruled the airwaves with sarcastic jokes at music videos and soft-action antics that made us believe and wish that these things actually happened. Their next-door neighbor, for example, had his house graffitied, his lawn fricasseed, and his tool shed sodomized so often he changed his name and likeness and moved far far away. Tom Anderson grew hair and became Hank Hill, regional manager of Strickland Propane on the award-winning animated sitcom King of the Hill. Hank became an iconic character all by his Lone Star lonesome. But now, almost twenty years after the original premiere of Beavis and Butt-head, Mr. Hill will return to his roots because the lazy half-wit misfits next door are back and better animated than ever!

MTV will be airing brand-spanking new (heh-heh, spanking!) episodes of “Beavis and Butt-head” every Thursday night at 10 p.m. The premiere last week heralded the pair in the movie theater, making wise-cracks at “Twilight” much to the chagrin of the nearby girls. Later they learn in school that the rebelliousness and strength of the undead have always been attractive to women, so the boys stalk the town streets for werewolves. They find an HIV-ridden bum, bribe him to bite them, and the audiences are jumping out of their chairs in triumph, “Beavis and Butt-head are really back!”

But now that MTV is no longer about music but fluff and fake personalities, what will the boys make fun of? Oh, what indeed! “Jersey Shore” is expected to be a regular victim (“You’re the best grandma in the world, Grandma JWoww.” “Heh-heh, yeah…please don’t hit me again!”), as well as “16 and Pregnant,” “Real Life,” and, yes, music videos. The simplistic action will also stay true to the early 90s version, as the boys will continue to be inept at literally everything except self-mutilation and vandalism against unsuspecting townsfolk.

The new digital age, where the latest thing is the fad for only five minutes, could use commentators as simple and to-the-point as Beavis and Butt-head. The voice of the early 90s has now become the voice of the Internet, and while impaling their own hands with screws and seeking bites from hobos, many can agree that they match the intelligence of many Internet commenters and reality show stars, but are, like, way cooler.

I know I should look away, but my brain needs these colors, these pixilated shapes flashing and dancing and telling stories that, however dry and overdone, still entertain. I am still able to forget my reality and stare at the screen, open-mouthed, my intelligence flopping to the floor with every drop of drool.

All of a sudden, a sound fills the room. It’s like an extremely old engine, an ancient machine straining to breathe. Wind gusts, blowing everything around in the living room. I recoil, clutching my couch, for my zombified state has me too inebriated to remember how to run.

An image fills my television: A wooden blue phone booth, with POLICE BOX written across the top. From it emerges a man who looks surprisingly attractive in a bow tie, suspenders, and slacks. His hair is short but he has long bangs, a wide smile, and wise eyes that reveal the depths of his fun-loving, nerdy soul. He holds out his hand to me and says in a smooth British accent, “We’re going to catch ourselves a monster.”

Filled with a refreshing fascination, I take his hand and enter the box. It is larger on the inside, containing a circular room with a massive computerized column in the center. He calls this whirring, sparking ship the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space).

The man’s name, as I would come to learn, is the Doctor (currently played by Matt Smith), the last of his species known as the Time Lords from the extinct planet Gallifrey. Since the show first aired in 1963 the Doctor and his TARDIS have travelled through the vacuums of time and the horizons of space. Since those campy low-budget classics, the Doctor has died and regenerated (i.e. change actors) eleven times, each incarnation befriending new and unique companions. Armed with his quit wit and intimate knowledge of literally everything, he has saved humanity more often than we’ll ever know.

Each of his incarnations has distinguishable appearance, style, and personality, ranging from cranky old grandfather to distinguished literary gentleman to elated mad genius. With outstanding special effects and unique, invigorating storytelling, Doctor Who is as unpredictable as hurricanes on the moon; a journey with him will never leave a person the same, fictional or otherwise. Characters turn up stranded on a parallel universe, heroes become corrupt and murder villains who had just learned compassion, and the Doctor’s past is literally his lover’s future. Before I realize it, I have subconsciously slid to the end of my chair and am no longer breathing. Nothing else matters to me than the Doctor saving Madame du Pompadour from clockwork robots and when he says not to blink or look away from the stone angels, I obey!

People continue to be drawn to the Doctor, even after almost fifty years on air, radio, and print. His is among the longest-running science fiction shows in television history, a cult phenomenon and a cultural icon in Britain. Perhaps it’s because of his unwavering faith and admiration in humanity’s ability to literally pick up the pieces and survive on whatever they can. Maybe it’s the fact that he has the answers but sometimes doesn’t pull through; the Doctor can’t always save everyone and often causes trouble for those who would otherwise be at peace. He is not a flawless being by any means, but his morals, determination, and personal depth are infectious. For television’s virus of predictability, the Doctor is most certainly in.

Like a freak show frozen in time, Obscura houses unusual and one-of-a-kind items; everything from a human skull to a taxidermied cryptid.  Bizarre antique medical instruments, turn-of-the-century masks, Victorian hair jewelry and amusement park fortune teller heads make up just some of the shop’s inventory.

Co-owners Mike Zohn and Evan Michelson share a passion for these hard-to-find items, many of which are downright creepy.  Zohn discovered his love for antiques back when he was just a teenager and was learning how to drive.  While cruising down a quiet street, Zohn got lost and stumbled upon an antique store housed in an old barn.  His curiosity led him inside and almost instantly he was hooked.  Shortly after, Zohn started buying antiques and began learning about rare and strange artifacts such as taxidermied animals, circus and sideshow souvenirs, and natural history artifacts.  Zohn didn’t just buy for his own personal collection; he supplemented his salary as a photo researcher and editor by purchasing items he could later resell as profit.  Whatever money Zohn made, he then put towards antiques that he really wanted.  And before long, Zohn had a plethora of artifacts collected.  So much so, he knew he either had to seek help for a hoarding addiction, or open a shop.  As it turned out, a shop was Zohn’s best option because the stock photo company where he worked, started to crumble.  For the former photo researcher and editor, taking a job with antiques was just a temporary fix until Zohn could find a different, and perhaps better, job.  That was fourteen years ago.

Today, Zohn wakes up before sunrise in order to find all the magnificently eccentric artifacts his Obscura Antiques and Oddities showcases.  And when Zohn is not stocking up on femur bones and coffins, he gives lectures on 19th Century taxidermy automata.

Obscura’s other owner, Evan Michelson, is an avid collector and a museum aficionado.  What many don’t know is that Michelson was a hardcore rocker back in the 1980s.  Her first band was considered a goth/industrial/post-punk group known as Killer Weasel.  The rockers were famous for being pyromaniacs and for dousing their audience with blood.  And though the blood was fake, rumors began to abound that a few audience members died during Killer Weasel’s first show.  According to Michelson, “it was all good from there.”  During this time, the blood-loving rocker chick found her husband (a graphic artist/musician/composer/animator) while perusing through junk.  Both were looking for instruments to add to their industrial bands.  Michelson progressed from post-punk to cyber-punk in the 1990s, and then joined in with a fetish band, where she played in dungeons.

Michelson’s love for the dark and morbid came long before her gothic rock days.  She has always had a fascination for anatomical/medical antiques and for artistic depictions of the extremes of human experience.  Michelson became intrigued with how “art melds with pain and ectasy” and also the esthetics of grief.  Funerals, cemeteries… Michelson loves them.

During the week, she attends various markets and auctions.  With such a strong passion for the macabre, Michelson has earned the nicknames, Morticia Addams and the Death Lady.  And when she is not presiding over the shop with Zohn, Michelson is acting as a scholar-in-residence at the Morbid Anatomy Library where she conducts weekly lectures.

Just where would a shop like Obscura Antiques and Oddities be without a knowledgeable buyer?  Ryan Matthew is a collector and can trace his passion for finding artifacts all the way back to his childhood.  He would go out into the woods as a young boy and find trinkets that he would keep as treasures.  Eventually Matthew progressed  to baseball cards and then went on to accumulating horror movie props.

Today, he keeps a prized collection of Victorian taxidermy, skulls, skeletons, and early industrial lighting.  The avid buyer is intrigued by the medical field and taxidermy, and is very hands-on with his studies.  Over the years, Matthew has collected various animal skeletons, some of which were made into skeletons by his dog.  Matthew would clean the bones and then would attempt to rearticulate them.  He would “figure” the skeletons out by studying the specific animal at hand.  With a passion for osteology (a love of bones) and for Victorian taxidermy, Matthew has purchased at least one human skull off of Craigslist.  He would then disassemble and rearticulate, making the skull a Beauchene or an “exploded” skull.

There is no surprise that, as a buyer, Matthew travels quite extensively, where he looks for great finds at flea markets, auctions, and even yard sales.  Sometimes people will bring items to him.

Matthew’s best discovery was Mr. Woofles, a Victorian taxidermied house dog set in a glass museum case.  Mr. Woofles was won at an auction after a very long and rainy drive, followed by an agonizing buyers’ battle.  And though Matthew owns the much sought after Mr. Woofles, there is one other artifact he would do anything to own.  “At Mr. Potter’s Museum of Curiosities, there was an amazing anthromorphic diorama of taxidermy kittens having a tea party that I would most likely faint if given the chance to buy,” gushes Matthew.

It isn’t just the owners and buyer that bring magic to Obscura Antiques and Oddities.  More so, it’s the colorful and quirky clientele.  The collectors selling and the curious buying, are often oddities in themselves.  Though it may be obvious that a shop such as Obscura would strongly appeal to the Addams Family, it is not unusual to see soccer moms and business men scouring the shelves.  For Obscura, there is no such thing as a “typical” customer.  Zohn and Michelson routinely welcome tattooed artists, black-lipped goths, and pierced musicians into their shop, but also cater to school teachers and office professionals.  Some of Obscura’s more famous clients include Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the Mutter Museum, Ralph Lauren, and Danny Elfman.  Whether the customer is wildly eccentric or conservatively demure, one common interest is shared- an appreciation of the strange.

Some of the city’s more artsy and creative individuals will come in looking for an inspirational purchase.  Buying a new pair of blue silk Manolo Blahnik heels can be great shop therapy for a girl feeling blah.  Well, in this case, a mummified cat might be the perfect mood lifter for a struggling artist.  Perhaps a buy from Obscura is intended as a gift, rather than something to just put near an easel or in a recording studio.  Some visit the shop for birthday and Christmas gifts, while others look for anniversary presents for their special someones.  After all, nothing says love like a set of rotted human teeth.

Obscura Antiques and Oddities is such a bizarre little shop, and is so popular with tourists and locals alike, that it has become the star of the hit series, Oddities, which airs on the Science/Discovery Channel every Thursday at 10:30 p.m.  The show, which sparks great water cooler conversation, exposes what goes on behind shop doors daily.  A friend of mine turned me onto watching it recently.  I DVR-ed one episode, and that was all it took for me to get hooked.

I have always dreamed of owning a store much like Obscura.  All of my life, I have had a strong appreciation of antiques.  I feel that each period piece tells its own unique story.  And I’m not just an antiques lover; I am also very much into all things morose and funereal.  My favorite holiday has always been Halloween.  Instead of going to a park for a picnic, I’d rather have lemonade and sandwiches in a graveyard.  As a young child, my dream job was to work one day as a chambermaid at DisneyWorld’s Haunted Mansion.  So, yes, Obscura would be the perfect shop for me to own.  Sadly though, I would probably have to close as I would surely not be able to sell a single item; I’d want to keep everything for myself.  How could one part with such delightfully ghoulish wonders?

So, here I am, giddy with excitement, watching my first ever episode of Oddities, living vicariously through Zohn and Michelson.

Genesis, a very eccentric but loyal customer to Obscura, came into the shop to sell a trumpet made out of a human thigh bone.  The ceremonial instrument was said to be used in rituals to call upon spirits and also is considered to possess healing powers.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen or heard of before.  Zohn and Michelson felt it would make a perfect addition to the shop, however, they wanted Genesis to “play” it first.  After a few very sour-sounding attempts, the bone trumpet blew out a semi-respectable note and a deal was made.

Next off, an artist came in looking for -you guessed it- an inspirational artifact.  When offered a skull, the pierced, dark-haired dude disappointedly shook his head, denying the piece.  Skulls were just too common for this guy.  After shrugging off a few more medical antiquities, Michelson dangled the carrot, so to speak.  There it was, looking the wide-eyed customer right in the face.  A pig head with brain matter “exploding” out of the top of its head, covered by a glass dome.  “This one is definitely speaking to me,” grinned the very pleased musician.  This little piggy went “wee, wee, wee all the way home” with the rocker dude for the bargain price of $1,000.00  Who knew that pig brain matter could be so creatively inspiring?  I’m so glad this guy held off for one of the rarest pieces in the shop.  Skull, schmull…boring!

Obscura Antiques and Oddities collects and deals in the weirdest of weird; from the “medically interesting to macabre.”  So, it was no wonder that shrunken heads would be inevitable on an Oddities episode.  Considered to be one of the rarest objects in the business, shrunken heads are worth a pretty penny, at least for the real ones.  There are plenty of fakes in the market right now, and many are hard to determine whether they are real deal.  Typically a replicated shrunken head is one made of animal skin and hair.

A gentleman on this particular episode walks into the shop, presenting his most prized possession, a shrunken head.  Though it’s an amazing, one-of-a-kind artifact, the customer did not wish to keep it and came to sell.

First, Zohn must make sure the head is authentic.  If it is, it could fetch up to $30,000.  With its dark skin, whiskery hair and sewed-up mouth, the tiny head is disturbing.

After Zohn had a shrunken head expert examine the artifact, its owner was updated with the exciting news that what he has is indeed legit.  The historian felt the owner could easily be paid $10,000 for his find.  Zohn would not be able to clear the purchase just yet though.  He had to first get his lawyer’s approval.  Dealing in real human flesh can be highly illegal and that is not something Zohn is prepared to get involved in.  Depending upon what the shrunken head was used for at one time will determine its fate as of today.  After doing some shrunken head research, Obscura’s lawyer found that this particular head was intended for commerce, considered to be a “tourist head.”  If it was to be used ceremonially, then it would be forbidden to sell.  However, since it was to be used for selling in the first place, Obscura could make the purchase.

Thrilled, Obscura announced the good news to a very happy and relieved client.  Unfortunately, a $30,000 price tag could not be awarded.  Neither was one for $10,000.  Offered $5,000, the head strong owner wouldn’t take less than $8,000 and felt that a negotiation was in order.  In the end, the gentleman left Obscura without his shrunken head, but did have $6,000 more in his wallet.

The episode didn’t stop there.  One man, an obsessive taxidermist, called Zohn out to his residence to show off his mounted collection.  His apartment looked like a hunting lodge.  The man promised Zohn that he had found a cryptid, the elusive Jackalope.  Not exactly the Chupacabra or Bigfoot, Zohn wasn’t too impressed when he saw the fuzzy, bunny-like creature with antlers staring back at him, expressionless and stuffed.  The man excitedly recalled the day he found and then killed the strange hybrid.  He claimed that he was in the woods, taking a potty break, when he heard rustling in the brush and saw a creature.  He shot and killed the supposed Jackalope.  Zohn, finding the humorous tale hard to swallow, got the so-called Jackalope hunter to re-hash his story and tell it the way  it really happened.  It was then that the slightly embarrassed man deflated, and admitted he found it for sale at a gas station instead.  Still, Zohn made the buy for his store, and got a date besides.  The taxidermist finagled lunch with Zohn, and in addition, got over $200 for his little critter.  I could only wonder if Mr. Jackalope got to tag along for lunch, too?  Seems only fair to me.

All in all, my first Oddities episode was well worth watching, and as I said before, I’ve been a fan ever since.

And if you should ever find yourself in New York City, be sure to stop by and say hello to those fun folks who make Obscura Antiques and Oddities so very weird and wacky.  Whether you’re shopping for a new skull to add to your collection, a stuffed cryptid, or you desperately need a vampire killing kit, Obscura has just that morbid little piece.  A nightmare to some; a dream come true for others, but one thing is for certain… Obscura Antiques and Oddities “ain’t your grandma’s antique shop.”

So kick the mudane to the curb, be prepared for the bizarre and open your mind; you’ll be pleasantly surprised once you enter into the world of the medically macabre.

For more information, go to:  www.ObscuraAntiques.com , info@obscuraantiques.com, or at www.obscuraantiques.blogspot.com

If you have an item you may want to purchase from Obscura, or would be interested in selling, contact Mike Zohn at Mike@obscuraantiques.com.

Obscura Antiques and Oddities

280 E. 10th St., New York City

212-505-9251

Open 7 days a week, 12-8 pm

Special thanks go to the Discovery Channel’s web page.

So what if the Jersey Shore really is in its last season?  For some, it is good riddance, while for others, it is just too sad; our guilty pleasure, no more.

Though the shore gang will entertain curious audiences once again with their newest season, some die hard fans believe that Season Three might have really been their last.  For those not so familiar with the reality show, Season One started out on the famed Jersey Shore, but then producers brought the overly tanned twenty-somethings south.  Season Two episodes showed the big haired  New Jerseyans dancing and drinking all over the streets of Miami’s tropical South Beach.  Season Three reunited the cast with their former home on the Jersey boardwalk.

Now, with Season Four set to film, producers are back to changing locales once again.  This time they are looking abroad.  Florence, Italy will play host to the reality stars this time around, so let’s all pray the Tuscan town is ready.

There is no doubt that drama is synonymous with the Jersey Shore, but this time the tension started way before the cameras began to roll.  The first problem that arose was due to salary disputes among the cast.  Shocker, huh?  This season, Snooki, the Situation, and the rest of the gang demanded higher pay-per-episode than in previous seasons.  The cast members had pushed their salaries to over $10,000 an episode, after threatening to shut down Miami’s Season Three production, even before it started.  The Shore’s Ronnie, Sammi and Vinny were the first to come to terms with the established Season Four salaries and signed off on their contracts early on.  However, the remaining five decided to put up a fight and hold out for more money.  The dispute over episode pay resulted in the original April 18th film date being postponed to sometime in May.  A recent report states that all cast members were finally able to come to an agreement on salary.  It is unclear what the final negotiation was, but according to TMZ, everyone was “pleased with the outcome.”

In addition to their raises, some of the Jersey Shore cast will also be starring in their own MTV spin-off shows.  Gee, I wonder how much they asked to be paid for those episodes.  Well, in their defense, hair products have become expensive these days and we all can assume that seven nights a week of club hopping can be draining on the ol’ wallet.

It’s not just  money that has caused issues with the MTV production.  Italians living in Tuscany are not happy that the Jersey Shore crew will be walking their historic streets and dining in their five star restuarants.  Those living in Italy claim to be outraged that MTV is bringing their “insulting show” overseas, possibly tainting their beautiful city of Florence.  The locals say that Jersey Shore depicts Italians as “guidos” and “guidettes.”  According to columnist Roberto Del Bove of New Notzie, “They embody the worst stereotypes of Italians, multiplied by thousands and Americanized.”

Florence, the capital city of Tuscany, is prided for being hip and fashionable.  It’s a walking town and is easy to get around nearly everywhere by foot.  Florence is beautiful, historical and so not, well, the Jersey Shore.

The mayor of Florence, Matteo Renzi, has laid down some strict rules for the cast to follow while filming.  Renzi simply wants for his city to be treated with respect and portrayed on television in a positive light.  The mayor’s rules include the following:

1.  No filming in bars, clubs or anywhere else that “promotes the reckless consumption of alcohol.”

2.  The cast is prohibited from being filmed while drinking in public.

3.  Florence cannot be portrayed as a “drinking town.”

4.  The cast must interact with authentic Italians in Italian settings and promote Italy and its “culture and good food.”

In addition to the above, Renzi does not want historic buildings filmed with the cast, but does understand he cannot totally restrict MTV from using the city as a backdrop.

No public intoxication?  No clubs or bars?  We are talking about the cast of Jersey Shore, right?  If JWoww can’t be filmed urinating behind a bar inside of a club, then what’s the point of watching this new season?  And what about Snooki?  No more sitting in the backseat of police cars?  Maybe Season Three really was the Shore’s last season.  What will get fans to tune in now?  Authentic Italian culture, outdoor cafes and priceless works of art?  Um, yeah.  And without the clubs and bars, where will the Situation find all of his late night bedroom guests?

And speaking of bedrooms, MTV is keeping the cast members’ new residence a secret.  All that is known is their new home will not be anything we’ve seen in the past seasons.  There will be no beach house, nor will the group be staying in a hotel.  Some viewers speculate the cast will be staying in a hostel, but mum is the word til the season’s official premiere.

It is hard to know at this point how Season Four will pan out for the Jersey Shore crew, but one thing is for certain, we’ll keep watching.  For me, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself for an entire season without Ronnie and Sammi fights.  Though one is to wonder, will they yell in Italian now?

Week after week, she stood and faced the judges to a standing ovation drowning out the judge’s comments.  Jackie would tear up with joy and emotion, because those cheers were for her; and who wouldn’t at the age of 10.

Jackie is an exceptional singer, a voice so pure and innocent; yet powerful and heartfelt delivery with every octave that 10 year old sang.  Yet even in person, each week the judges remarked “I can’t believe that came from you.”

Yesterday surfing some video commentary on Pandora.tv I ran across a segment about Jackie.  It stated that America has questions about weather or not she really sang on “America’s Got Talent” or was she just lip syncing to a seasoned professional?

Howie Mandel set it straight she was not lip syncing when he asked her to do an improv note; yet people still think she has got to be a fake.  What I can’t seem to understand is why when someone is good at something, no matter how good, we have to challenge it’s validity. 

Last year during my interview with Jackie, I asked her to sing “How Do Angels Fly” a song off her debut album.  Jackie was more than happy to belt out a chorus from that song, and not only was it amazing, it was really Jackie; sure the sound quality is weak over the phone, but her singing wasn’t.  She had no idea I was going to ask her to do it, so there was no way to prepare ahead of time.

America, Jackie is the real deal.  I said before you have to see her to believe her and now America knows what I meant.  She brought that show to a whole new level, yet I am still baffled that she didn’t win; but all of us at The Expressionist are so proud of you Jackie.  We want to see you shine, and we know that show was exactly what you needed.

If you missed America’s Got Talent, watch her amazing performances on YouTube, and to buy her CD, go to http://jackieevancho.webplus.net/

This season also had a new judge, Ellen DeGeneres.  A woman who undoubtedly loves music, and dances to a new song each and every weekday on her show.  I thought she did alright for her first season.  I noticed the first 24 she seemed to mimic Randy’s criticism a lot, almost to the word.  I never really saw her disagree with Randy, except for one time with Tim.  Was she the most qualified?  Let’s see, Simon and Randy are two huge entities in the music recording field. Randy played bass with Journey, and Simon has produced some of the world’s top artists.  Kara was a Grammy winning song writer and vocalist.  Ellen?  She loves music.  Odd in many ways, but she did better than most thought.

The final episode of Season 9 didn’t have any gaudy lip-syncing, bikini flashes, or unnecessary hype.  Instead it was filled with great performances by Janet Jackson, Cristina Aguilera, Joe Cocker, Alanis Morissette, Chicago, Michael McDonald, and amazingly enough, the very lucky Bret Michaels.  It’s really what the show needed after last year’s debacle.

Season 9′s finalists were both chosen in Chicago.  You had Lee DeWyze, and Crystal Bowersox.  Each are completely different in sound and personality, but each knows exactly what recording artist they are.  Both Crystal and Lee were good choices for this year’s finale, and I still say both were a MUCH better choice than last year.  Over the past nine seasons, Idol has only given the world really four successful Idols, and five duds.  Sure, they may have had a little success, but the runners-up in that year have surely out performed them.  Reuben had some success, more than some, with most of it being in the gospel genre.  Fantasia and Taylor Hicks were complete flops.  It’s still a little too early yet, but I only heard Adam Lambert on the radio and nothing from Kris Allen.  Would this year be different?

If I had to compare these finalists to anyone, I would say Lee was a good example of David Cook, and Danny Gokey from Season 8, whom he has a striking resemblance to.  Crystal Bowersox would match well with the great Janis Joplin and sounded phenomenal in her duet with Alanis tonight.  Sure, each one has their strengths and weaknesses, but either way, I would enjoy this year’s winner over last year’s.

In the end, Lee DeWyze won Season 9 despite a weak performance in the final contest, and not being consistent all season.  He found his rhythm in the last few weeks which really was his saving grace.  Crystal never was in the bottom three.  She continued to blow the judges away week after week, and was the sure winner of this year, again another major upset.  I don’t know if people voted for Lee because of his good looks, or just because he was the underdog.  We’ll see if America picked them right, because on voting lately, America has let us all down majorly.  I don’t want to see a sixth flop and Crystal outdoing Lee in the long run.  I mean, the winner is supposed to be the best, the one that America is dying to see in the stores and will rush out to get their new release when the time comes.  Somehow that never seems to happen unless your Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson.  Jordin Sparks has done well for herself, but not nearly as popular as those two.

Only time will tell, but I have a good feeling Idol will never be the same, and many will stop watching it next year.  I have seen LOTS of disgust over the winner; they like him, but they know Crystal is the better of the two.  There won’t be harsh criticism in there either unless Gordon Ramsay comes to judge Idol.  I think the show is in the books.  It will go down as one of the most popular reality shows in history, but like most, I won’t be watching next year unless they get one hell of a judge to replace Simon.

Congrats to Lee and Crystal.  We wish you all the best on your future endeavors.

The Rolling Stones are classic. I don’t know anyone that hasn’t heard at least one of their tunes, and probably those that have know at least one song by heart.  They have been performing since the 60s, giving them more than 40 years of songs to choose from.  The problem with songs from this band isn’t the fact they are hard, but that the Stones are so famous that changing the song could be suicide.  And for those that do the song the way the Stones did, they will be compared to them almost like karaoke.

Each performer brought their A-game to the stage, in hopes it would show.  For three performers their performances were far from perfect.  In the bottom three was Paige Miles who happened to be suffering from laryngitis but managed to belt out some pretty intense notes. In fact, many didn’t even know she was sick.  The others joining her were Lacy Brown singing “Ruby Tuesday” and Tim Urban singing “Under My Thumb.”

For me, I could see Tim being in the bottom three; I didn’t like his performance at all.  The vocals were all over the place, and he gave the song a Jamaican type sound which I usually applaud but this was a train wreck in my opinion. Knowing that Paige was sick, and couldn’t practice till she hit the stage, I figured she would be in the bottom three but felt she would be safe based on past performances.  Lacy, I was really surprised for, as she has had trouble finding herself in the competition, however, I really enjoyed her unique voice.  She was far better than Tim was that night and better than Paige, but for some reason America didn’t think so and voted her off.  This surprised Tim when he was the safe one in the bottom three leaving Paige and Lacy facing elimination.  I think he really expected to be going home as did I.

The judges decided not to use the save on Lacy, and sent her packing.  I knew they wouldn’t this soon in the competition.

As for the guest performances, I enjoyed the return performance of David Cook.  His vocals were hot, and he took the stage like we never have seen him do before on American Idol with his rendition of “Jumping Jack Flash.”  On the other side we had two female guest performers including Orianthi singing her hit “According To You,” which was another great performance.  She once played guitar for Carrie Underwood, American Idol Season 6 winner.  Then we heard Ke$ha sing her hit “Blah Blah Blah.”  For me, she looked ridiculous out there, and the song was horrible.  I don’t know how this song ever got on the radio, and how it boosted her to this kind of level in the music industry.  Shame on American Idol for this performance.  I was glad when it was over.

Captain Phil was out at sea fishing when he was struck with the fatal stroke, but managed to get medivac’d to the nearest hospital.  Phil actually survived the ordeal for a few days and looked as if he would be OK.  “Dad started to sit up and responded to us; he was able to grab our hands and fingers.” says his son.  “We really knew how tough he was, and thought he was going to be OK.”

Phil died from complications from the stroke on Wednesday. 

In the past season, Captain Harris was stricken with a blood clot that passed up his legs, through his heart and ended up in his lungs where it was successfully removed.  The doctors were amazed he survived at all; and warned him that going out to see, and having something like this happen again could prove to be fatal.  Phil was suffering from a genetic problem that caused these clots, his mother died young from the very same thing.

Phil was a fisherman through and through, he loved the harsh conditions of the Artic Sea, and loved fishing with his boys.  Its the reason he came back to work; something he’s been doing since he was 10.  At least he went doing something he loved with the boys he treasured.

The future of the Cornelia Marie is in the air, his eldest son was the captain of the ship on his first blood clot incident and may take over for his father.  They may decide to retire the ship all together; but that is still to be seen.

Captain Phil’s legacy will live on in the treterous waters of the Artic Ocean and forever play on the reruns of Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch.”

The Simpsons are a disfunctional family by every stretch of the means.  Bart, the oldest, is a crude, sassy, back talking, and disrespectful troublemaker.  His sister, Lisa,  is a straight-A, liberal genius with a heart of gold.  Maggie, the baby of the family, will probably never grow up and never speak.   Then you add in a dimwitted, drunken father named Homer, and his wife Marge, who keeps the family a bit level headed.  With these kinds of characters, you have one of the funniest cartoons in the nation.

Matt Groening is a genius.  He created a town called Springfield that is filled with so many characters of all nations, religions, and social statuses and then combines them into one town.   The jokes of the cartoon will offend probably just about everyone, so don’t feel singled out.  Despite the diversity, it allows us all to relate to someone in the cartoon.   Like it or not, the Simpsons family is a model of the modern American family; we just don’t want to admit it.  We all have a Bart or a Lisa in the family, and we all have a Homer too somewhere if you dig deep enough.

Want some more amazing facts about this series?  The Simpsons have completed this January, 450 episodes.  Each one of those episodes was completely different than the previous, and never overlapped a topic once.   The jokes are new each show, while maintaining the standard themes of each character.   I don’t know how the creators made that possible for all these years.   The show is also the longest running cartoon in U.S. history, and has won just about every award given including a Guilder Award.

Today, The Simpsons is a household name and the characters’ faces show up on just about every kind of merchandise you can imagine, including bottle openers.  Since the first show appeared, they have come out with two video games, the first which appeared in arcades and on the original Nintendo Entertainment System.  In 2007, the Simpsons family starred in their first ever full length motion picture.   Heck,  they are the only non-living actors/actresses with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Simpsons were considered vulgar back in the early ’90s and most stations boycotted them.   The current president at the time, George H.W. Bush, even mentioned them in a speech as something we should not model our families after. That would soon change as America grew more and more tolerant and what you see now on television makes the Simpsons look like saints.

To enhance the awe of this amazing show, some of Hollywood’s brightest stars have made guest appearances on The Simpsons, including Bill Clinton.  Everyone wants to be a character on the popular cartoon because if you land on the Simpsons, you’re one of the in-crowd.

This series has set a huge milestone for animation in general, to which many people have tried to match the bar The Simpsons have set.  Creator Seth MacFarlane of The Family Guy said he got a lot of inspiration from The Simpsons for his hit cartoon. If you watch the two shows you can see how similar they actually are.   Matt Groening states that the trick to the comedy is to “do what you think is funny, don’t worry about who you will insult or what others think because in comedy you always insult someone.”  That is the mantra that has made the success of these lovable yellow characters, and that mantra has oozed over into The Family Guy as well.

Love them or hate them, The Simpsons are here to stay, and will probably be here for another 20 years.   It wouldn’t be America without this family.  This is Homer’s world!

Since the mid-1960s, Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass created these timeless classics. It started out with Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,  which aired in 1964 on NBC.  The sponsor was General Electric (G.E.).  This doll like classic was narrated by singer Burl Ives, featured in the film as “Sam The Snowman.”  The series has several original songs such as “Silver and Gold,” “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” and “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.”  This mini special is the longest running television special airing every year for 45 years now.

The amazing success of Rudolph led to many other specials produced by the Animagic studio such as Santa Claus is Coming to Town in 1970, narrated by Fred Astaire, and Mikey Rooney’s voice was that of Kris Kringle. This special, like Rudolph, utilized the stop-motion production.  That process can be seen with the robotic or choppy like movement of the characters. Some other great specials produced by this studio using this same process were The Little Drummer Boy, The Year Without A Santa Claus, Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey, and The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold.

Rankin and Bass also used traditional cartoon animation to create a few timeless classics, one of their most popular being Frosty The Snowman in 1969.  Narrated by comedian Jimmy Durante, this classic has run every year since its creation, elapsing 40 years.  We all love watching this terrible magician, tread hell or high water to return that magic hat to his possession.  In the end, he does manage to retrieve the hat and temporarily kill Frosty, but Santa comes and saves the day.

Though stop-motion animation is what got Rankin/Bass famous, the traditional animation made a huge impact for them as well producing classics like Cricket on the Hearth, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, and The Stingiest Man in Town (their version of A Christmas Carol).

Today, adults and children alike revere these classics close to their hearts.  When many people pick on adults for watching kids’ stuff on television, nobody will pick fun of you for watching these.  What’s even more magical is how they bring out memories of Christmas past for the viewers, as well as making the older generations feel like children again.  Honestly, ask anyone and they will tell you the same thing, “It’s not Christmas until I see Rudolph and Frosty on TV.”

When I was younger these shows used to play two or three times a year, but within the last four to five years you will find they play these specials one time, and usually right after Thanksgiving.  If you miss them you better go to the store to buy the DVD, because it won’t be shown again in the year.  If you want to see these shows, best advice I can say is to look at your local TV Guide the week of and the week after Thanksgiving and mark them down on the calendar.  They are seldom played close to Christmas. With DVDs out now, it’s more profitable for the studios to have you buy them than to play them on television.

For those who do watch these specials, they will tell you the same thing.  Watching them on DVD is great, but not the same because one of the things that makes them so special are the holiday commercials, something that definitely is not on the DVDs.   So share a piece of your childhood memories with your children.  Sit down in front of the TV, get out the hot chocolate, snuggle into your PJs, and watch the magic that Rankin and Bass can only make.  Watching the smiles on your children’s faces will be a new memory for you to remember for years to come.

If you watch her talk show weekdays at 4:00 PM, you will see she enters in gallant fashion, a long dance to some new pop song that is rocking the charts.  It’s fun, and that is how DeGeneres is.  I wouldn’t expect anything less from a comedian.  However, on her show I have seen her sing over and over again, and she herself admits she can’t but tries, and I so agree.

So, where is the magic for her on American Idol?  If this was So You Think You Can Dance or Dance Your Ass Off, you know she would be a better fit.  DeGeneres will be the first to say music is her life, but is it the beat she likes or the careful ear to ensure it’s sung well.  I have a feeling it’s more the beat, but what do I know.

DeGeneres, I think, was brought to the show to ease some tensions a bit on the judges panel for the contestants.  You have the very truthful and downright nasty Simon Cowell.  There’s Randy Jackson, who is more smooth with his criticism but recently has been just as hard.  You also have Kara Dioguardi who can be sweet and encouraging one minute, but then turns into a raging bull the next minute almost to the point of being bi-polar.  And of course there was Paula Abdul.  It seemed that no matter how bad you were, she made you feel good about the performance in some way and gave helpful advice.  It balanced out the panel for contestants that just got their heart destroyed by the other three, so at least there was some solace in one.  DeGeneres has that same personality so I feel she will either ease the singers or unintentionally embarass them, as that is what comedians do.

Personally, I think this is showing how desperate and vulnerable American Idol is becoming.  They needed Kara Dioguardi to be in a two piece bikini with a contestant last year.  They lost their rock in Paula Abdul which really angered Americans everywhere. And then there are the accusations from past contestants and observations from the audience that the show is rigged.  If they don’t pull something great out of their dark abyss, American Idol may be in the history books after May of 2010.  At least you know Ryan Seacrest won’t be jobless.

I have no problem with DeGeneres; I think she is a wonderful person and humanitarian, however, the equation for this concoction just doesn’t compute.

The show is based on a sixteen-year-old girl who is a Straight-A student and band geek that gets pregnant on her trip to band camp one summer.  She returns home to face the scrutiny of her peers, feel the anger of her parents and then watches her life change before her very eyes.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager does depict an unwelcomed scenario in a typcial modern family, but the show goes a bit further.  It puts the parent and teenage viewers in this family’s shoes.  You see the struggles she deals with, and how her parents react.  You see how hard it was for her in school, and how the pregnancy impacts her entire life.  You walked with her while she debated adoption, abortion, or whether she should keep the child.  In the end, what you see is the perspective of the parent and the teen played out before your eyes.

In this particular show her parents forgive her and support her keeping the child and all her friends volunteer to help. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always happen.  This season a new pregnant girl comes to the school, whose parents disowned her and kicked her to the curb, bringing back some reality and the other end of the spectrum to the show.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager also encourages abstinence, and sends the message that teenage pregnancy is a choice which can be avoided.  However, it points out the intense peer pressure our children are under in school to have sex and to be popular through sex.  It wasn’t always like that in school, but it has become more and more prevelant even since I been in high school back in the mid-90s. 

This show accurately shows the reality of peer pressure in schools among peers.  The show is a great eye opener for parents, and a tool to show how “unglam” it is to have a child while still a child.  If you can’t talk to your child about teenage sex, sit with them and make them watch the show.  It’s a great show, with good values.  It will give you a chance to spend some quality time with your children and have some fun doing it.

Monday night at 8:00 PM every week this show airs.  It is an hour long, so get your popcorn ready and spend some quality time teaching your children by example.  And don’t be afraid to talk to them afterwards about what you just saw.

After Trudy’s death, he went insane and had to leave the SF Police force; it enhanced his OCD and his brilliance as a PI.  This season, Monk will solve the case that has baffled him for years and can finally put Trudy’s fate to rest.

While doing so, each week, we find him getting better and better with his OCD and Mr. Monk is actually cutting loose.  So is USA, cutting loose their #1 hit series with the conclusion of the last episode of the final season.

The punishment for the men was to prep each kitchen with the ingredients of the winning plates, then go to the store to get some fresh ingredients.  While the women were out on the beach learning volleyball from a US Olympic volleyball medalist, the men got on a crazy looking bike and had to peddle their way to the local market.  When they returned, Robert about collapsed.  He was white and light headed and thought he was going to vomit.  The medical staff for the show immediately rushed him to the hospital for treatment, especially with his heart condition.  The men were now down one team member.

Dinner started off good for the women as they pounded out the appetizers, while the men couldn’t get the risotto right leaving them in the red team’s dust.  However, the red team had troubles of their own.  Tennille couldn’t get the portions right making Ramasy irate.  He asked her to hit the road, when she lashed back at him.  Ramsay got in her face and offered her the chance to leave or get back in the kitchen.  She wisely chose choice number two.

The women also ran into a problem- the pork chops they cooked were raw, and so were the lamb chops.  It was not looking good for the ladies.  While on the blue side, Jim couldn’t cook the meat at all; it was mess up after mess up.  Finally, Ramsay threw in the towel, shutting the kitchens down.

He was disgusted with both performances and said both teams lost.  The streak for the ladies is not looking good as they only won one time so far.  Each team was to chose one person for elimination.  The red team chose Sabrina because of her meltdown on the meat station, although she has been one of the most steady performers.  Tennille was another candidate because of her insubordinance towards Ramsay.  The men thought they would get a reprieve and nominate Robert who missed the dinner service.

When the red team told Gordon Ramsay who they chose, there was no rebuttal from the chef, however, he was not too pleased when the blue team nominated Robert.  He said that if Robert misses another dinner service he will be eliminated, but he will deal with that if and when the time comes, instead it’s not fair to place him up for elimination based on a performance that couldn’t be judged.  So, they chose to put Andy up who also had a ghastly night in the kitchen.

Ramsay said the one going home was an easy choice, so both Sabrina and Andy bowed their heads awaiting their fate. However, Ramsay said the one going home would be Jim and pulled him out of the safe line.  He told Jim there was no fire, no passion, and it’s just wasn’t going to happen.  Jim was okay with that, stating he is a pacifist and if that didn’t stand to Ramsay’s standard then that was okay because he didn’t falter from who he was in the end.

This week’s challenge was a unique one.  They were planning a welcome home party for a soldier returning home from Iraq after 13 months.  The chefs met his wife, who was planning the surprise party, to discuss her husbands likes and dislikes.  Gordon chose two chefs, one from each team, to sit down in private with his wife and himself to discuss his likes and dislikes; Ramsay chose Robert and Suzanne.

In Gordon’s office they discussed the plan of action.  She told them he loved Lobster and that had to be on the menu.  Robert piped up and said “does he like southern homestyle cooking?”  She said absolutely, that’s what they were all about.  Robert’s specialty is just that, southern homestyle cooking.  Finally they wrapped up, Robert and Suzanne would now have to convey what they learned to their teams.  This was to test their ability to work together as a team and communicate.  They had 45 minuets to prepare 2 entrees and 1 appetizer that would fit the war hero’s fancy and the likings of his wife.

Robert got together told them what they liked, and that they like homestyle southern cooking, spicy and surf and turf.  Suzanne made up her own menu and told her team what she wanted to prepare.  Tennille asked to do some kind of gumbo type dish, but Suzanne absolutely denied her.  On the blue side, Robert let the guys all have input and agreed upon it if he thought it fit in the realm of what the family wanted.

The 45 mins were up, the first dish to be tried was the appetizer.  The red team won this dish, being a shrimp salad, with a Caesar style salad.  The men won the second dish, the first entree.  A surf and turf lobster tail and NY Strip steak.  It came down to the last dish, both were very appealing to his wife, but she fell in love with the blue team’s second entree; giving the blue team the win.  Angered and frustrated the women went back to the dorms to prepare to redecorate the dining room for the celebration.  They were very upset that Suzanne didn’t listen and decided to do her own thing, because what she saw win on the blue side, they also suggested to Suzanne.

For the dinner service, the men completely ate up the women.  Before the women had their last appetizer out, the men were already half way into their entrees, and none came back.  By the time the women were getting out their first entree, the men were done and the women still couldn’t get one entree served.  Ramsay asked the men to go and get the entrees out for the women to satisfy the rest of the party.

Disgusted in the women’s performance, and citing how Tek completely destroyed the service, and how the women could not work together as a team, he chose them as the clear cut losers.  Each one, had to come to a consensus on who would be put up for elimination.  Tennille got the opportunity to announce who was to be put up on the line, the team chose Tek and Tennille.  Tennille was very upset with the decision and told Ramsay so.  He asked her to step forward with Tek, then asked who she would put up for elimination; without hesitation she nominated Amanda.  Gordon asked Amanda to come up, and asked Tennille to do the team a favor and step back into the line.

Tek pleaded for her chance to stay, and so did Amanda.  Gordon kept grilling into Amanda that he saw no more passion.  ”I look into your eyes and I see the fire is gone.  Your done madam.”  Amanda started to break down but fought back that was not the case.  It looked like Amanda was going home, but Ramsay decided to give Amanda another chance and eliminated Tek.

We also learned why the season came so fast after the last season just ended.  Normally the show starts in January, but Ramsay’s new restaurant will be in Vancouver, and will be one of the prime spots for the 2010 Olympic athletes and bigwigs.  If the show started in January, they wouldn’t have a chef in time for the Olympics.

Each team had to make the sausage six links to the specified width.  The women got off to a blasting start. Tennille actually got her act together (for this week at least) and managed to bang out the first sausage for either team.  The women took a commanding lead; three of the six sausages needed to win the challenge to one of the men.  The men were not going down without a fight.  They managed to get within one before the women brought it up to five.  The men jumped on it and tied it up, but Robert and Jim couldn’t seem to get even one sausage made.  Robert was doing his part, but Jim couldn’t manage to get his end together.  The women brought up their sixth sausage but Ramsay rejected it.  Never fear, another woman team brought up the sixth sausage that had six perfect links to win.  Ramsay was very upset with Robert and Jim.  The punishment was to clean the entire dorm.

In the dorm, Robert was insulted with Andy’s comments about master chefs who can’t make sausage.  Robert got right into his face, which almost came to blows but he managed to constrain his emotions and got back to work.  Meanwhile, Dave’s wrist ended up breaking and he needed a cast.  He didn’t want to give up, so Ramsay let him go get it fixed and return.

The night’s dinner was demanding because they were feeding some of Hollywood’s elite.  The teams were strong throughout the whole service and there wasn’t much that went wrong.  However, for the women, the weakest link was Tek who screwed up the first order and slowed the women down.  While for the men, it was Andy who screwed up the meat sending his team down to a stand still.

At the end of the night, the men were starting to struggle because of the meat mess ups, but then comes Dave who gets them back on track and the morale they needed to catch back up to the women.  The competition was tight; whoever got all the entrees out, would win.  The women were one dish away with the men from winning, but Lovely messed up the garnish which allowed the men to run to the pass and get the last entree out to win.

What we saw tonight was Robert taking the lead for the men.  He showed the same spirit and quality that got him to the top three for the men last year.  We saw another break down by Lovely and the women, who can’t seem to get anything going this year. Ramsay was highly impressed with Sabrina and said she was the best of the worst, so had her choose two chefs to go home. Before he dismissed the teams back to the dorms, Suzanne got the largest balls ever and asked Ramsay for a play-by-play of how the women lost.  Ramsay was not impressed, making Suzanne think she would be put up for elimination.

Sabrina didn’t need to talk to anyone, she knew exactly who she was putting up tonight.  Her choices were Lovely and Tek. Ramsay asked Lovely why she should be kept in Hell’s Kitchen, being the third straight night she’s been put up for elimination (this is the third night meaning she has been in the bottom two each night).  Ramsay said he made his decision, then called for Suzanne.  Suzanne turned pale white expecting Ramsay was going to override Sabrina’s choices.  Instead, the head chef surprises everyone when he says, “Sabrina, who would you send home?”  Sabrina replied, “Lovely.” Ramsay said he couldn’t agree more and sent Lovely home.

The season premiere ran two weeks long in a two hour debut.  It started out a bit different from the rest of the seasons because it started out with a challenge and usually challenges come the second week of the new season.  For the first time, the challenge was a group effort because they would all cook their signature dishes and the team with the most accepted by Ramsay wins.  Out of a group of twenty, only nine dishes were acceptable by Ramsay.  It came down to a 4/4 tie before the last two contestants got their chance to show what they had.  Ramsay looked at the red team’s dish and was very disappointed, but fell in love with the blue team’s dish making them the winner of the challenge.

The blue team got their reward while the women had to stay and prep and clean Hell’s Kitchen.  The women were none to happy but they managed to memorize the dinner menu.  The blue team, after they got back, had the opportunity to learn the menu but decided to play around instead.  This decision was not the best choice for them, as they would find out in the next day’s first dinner service.

It was the worst dinner service of Hell’s Kitchen.  The women knew the menu but couldn’t cook anything to save their lives, while the blue team fumbled around doing things on the fly but managing to do the same as the women.  Another first came during the dinner service.  One contestant was asked to leave before the service was through, and he was on the blue team.

Gordon Ramsay also asked Robert, who left last season with health issues, to be his guest while he and his wife enjoyed a meal at Hell’s Kitchen.  Robert graciously accepted.  It was good to see he was doing okay.  Robert left last season in the top three for the men; he honestly he had a great chance of being one of the finalists.

After Ramsay ousted the blue team’s contestant, he went out and asked Robert to rejoin Hell’s Kitchen and take his spot in the blue kitchen.  Robert accepted, and it’s the first time a contestant has ever come back.  Unfortunately for Robert, it was too late. Both teams couldn’t get an appetizer out to the floor and for the first time in Hell’s Kitchen, entrees were not served.

Ramsay said both teams lost and chose to send Melinda home, as the red team did the worst of the night and didn’t send out one appetizer while the men did.  Robert was asked to join the red team to even them out.

The next day, Ramsay opened up with the usual challenge.  This challenge was to clean and prep shrimp for some shrimp cocktails.  Each one had ten minutes to clean as many shrimp as they could.  This contest was close, as the blue team won by only one shrimp, because Tennille blew her prep.  She was slow and still managed to only have two acceptable shrimp out of eight. The red team would then have to clean all the shrimp in prep for the night’s dinner service.

Again, this dinner service was a fiasco.  Tennille and Van worked the floor prepping a shrimp dish right at the tables, something different for the enjoyment of the patrons.  However, Jean-Phillipe was none to happy with Van.  Van refused to listen to Jean-Phillipe which made him lose his cool, causing the two to come to blows in the kitchen.  Ramsay, who already had a disaster in the kitchen with the failing chefs, took it to both Van and Jean-Phillipe.  Tennille served some raw shrimp to a pregnant woman which jeopardized the red team’s chances to win.  A mess up like that to a pregnant woman could have made her very ill.

The chefs were so bad on both teams that no entrees were served again and the ones that were, came back.  Ramsay made each table shrimp cocktails and that is all the dining room ate that night.  Ramsay shut down the kitchen in disgust and said both teams were losers.  Each team was to choose two members for elimination.

That night, Ramsay asked the red team which two they chose, and they unanimously chose Tennille and Amanda.  When he asked the blue team, Joseph said they know who they are and why.  Ramsay asked him to tell him the two and why again and Joseph completely lost it.  He threw off his jacket and got right in Ramsay’s face, asking him to take it outside and that he is “nobody’s bitch.”  Ramsay quickly told Joseph to “get the hell out” and Joseph, who was one of the best in the kitchen, threw his chances away over something so stupid.  After he left, the blue team put up Tony and Andy.  Ramsay asked the two women and two men to step forward and ended up asking Tony to leave.

Now the men are down in chefs, so Ramsay brought Robert back to the blue team.

At 2:00 AM, the chefs get woken up by sirens.  Frantically, they run down stairs thinking Hell’s Kitchen is on fire, only to be greeted by hundreds of firemen just calmly standing around.  Ramsay tells the troops that they lack team work and aren’t well prepared, therefore, asking the fire department to show what readiness and good teamwork looks like.  He asked the chefs to go inside and cook pasta dishes for the firefighters as the challenge.

The women this time came together as a team, in a close one again, beating the men by one dish.  Finally, the women have something going right for them, losing the first two challenges and two dinner services.  The men must stay and scrub the fire trucks outside.

While the women were in a relaxing spa, the men cleaned the trucks, but this challenge would hurt two of the blue team’s chefs, Andy and Dave.  Dave got his hand caught in a crevice of the truck which caused his wrist to swell, while Andy sprained both his ankles as he went back inside Hell’s Kitchen.  This was not looking good for the blue team.  Both contestants were taken for X-rays and found they only had some torn ligaments and sprains.  Both decided to continue in Hell’s Kitchen.

This time for dinner, both teams were on the ball.  They had some mess-ups but both managed to get a full dinner service complete.  The comment cards showed Ramsay that they finished but were far from perfect.  The women had an 81% approval, while the men had 83% and won the night based on the comment cards.  The women were to put two up for elimination, and they chose Tennille and Lovely.

In the end, Andy left Hell’s Kitchen because he was just not mobile enough, though he gave it a valiant effort.  Ramsay did not send any of the women’s choices home because Andy left that night.  They got a stay of execution, but Ramsay said neither Lovely or Tennille have a chance to win.

It was a crazy three days, and two weeks of the new season.  Already many firsts have occurred and the fur flew, so if the rest of the season is as good as the first two shows, it is going to be great.  Last year’s contestants really didn’t impress me and so far, neither do these.  I hope someone emerges to make me believe they deserve to be the winner.

Ju’Not said outright, without hesitation, American Idol is rigged.  He goes on to say that he feels he was not brought back for the wild card round because of his constant questioning.  To elaborate, the show hires one of their lawyers on your behalf to negotiate with their lawyer on your contract. Ju’Not stipulated in his interview, how fair is that?  Is that lawyer really looking out for your best interest?  He said that during that process the lawyers were like “just sign the contract,” but Ju’Not continued to ask questions.  He didn’t want to sign anything that would jeopardize him or his family’s future, and who would blame him.

Ju’Not doesn’t believe he was unfairly voted off but he does know they had the power to choose who got the second chance in the wild card round, and the way he fought them and questioned them in the contract phase, he feels had a huge impact on their decision.

During the interview he also stated that American Idol does pick who gets eliminated, because of ratings.  He feels Kris Allen is talented and deserved to win, but it was all Adam, Adam, Adam.  Then, out of the blue, here comes Kris to beat out this superstar.  Kris was almost eliminated five times and was one of the most boring contestants ever, at least that’s all I ever read on the blogs and Facebook comments from viewers.  Nonetheless, that is still someone’s opinion, so how did he win and why?

Right at the time when American Idol contestant Adam Lambert started to lose support, was around the time the picture of him kissing another guy surfaced.  How would it look if, heaven forbid, a gay man win the contest.  The ratings would be through the floor, Idol’s image would be in the trash, and that is something they wouldn’t want to deal with, right?  So here comes a good down home Southern guy to beat out the fierce and flamboyant Adam, kind of like Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant.  We can’t say that any of this is true; we are just setting up a scenario.

The same thing happened with Clay and Reuben.  Many people believe Clay was robbed, so much so that on New Years Eve,  it ranked the top two story of tragedies on the TV for 2002.  Despite that, it made for a good story and kept the people on their feet.  It could be worth giving a contestant, who they know won’t make it far, the chance to win because it will get a swamp load of viewers next season. Case in point, Taylor Hicks.

Personally, I do believe Ju’Not saying this show is rigged.  Kris facing elimination week after week, comes back to defeat the two best contestants this show has seen in a while, is stunning.  It caused American Idol to remain in the headlines, it infuriated many viewers, and now sets up for a great Season 9 next year.  I’ve seen this happen year after year, like with Sanjaya.  Clearly, he was out of his league but made it to the top six, beating out many talented people that should have eliminated him.  It kept viewers coming back to see when he would finally say goodbye. 

To make it more believable, Ju’Not and other former executives have commented on this, supporting the notion that American Idol is rigged.  Ju’Not also says, “The show has writers, we are actors, it’s all on ratings.”  He couldn’t be more right.  Seriously, who would tune in next year if there wasn’t a controversy this year with Kris and Adam?  People are angered and will watch to make sure that doesn’t happen again… and who knows, we may see Kara in a bikini again!  Still, it’s up to you on what you want to believe.  Is Ju’Not just disgruntled and talking out of anger to ruin the show like it ruined him, is it a publicity stunt with his new CD set to release tomorrow, or is it the truth?  The world may never know.

It doesn’t surprise us here at The Expressionist, we knew Kara Dioguardi was eventually going to rule out Abdul and take her spot.  That’s what Abdul thought too beginning last season, but dismissed the notion before the start of the season saying “the fourth judge will help American Idol.”  She is probably wishing she never said those words.

Randy Jackson finished his contract deal right after the end of Season 8, and is locked down till 2011 (so that’s good news for Idol fans; the show is scheduled till 2011 at least.)  Ryan Seacrest signed a 45.6 million dollar deal making him the highest paid reality TV host in history.  Kara Dioguardi signed up last year for four seasons, bringing her to the 2011 season.  Simon Cowell is in contract negotiations, but there is a lot of talk in the tabloids, E! TV and other sources saying that he will not return, and he’s not putting that fire out either.

This season could prove to be completely new on the judges table, if Abdul isn’t there to lift the spirits of those with a bad performance, they are subject to the wrath of Cowell (if he returns), a more harsh Randy Jackson, and the claws of the fierce Dioguardi.  If Cowell and Abdul for some reason don’t return, I would say we can kiss this show goodbye, because many people tune in to watch Cowell despite how arrogant he is, he is usually right.

Idol has gone through some major drama over the last few years, some including Abdul who was accused of sleeping with one of Season 2′s contestants.  The people are still outraged over Clay Aiken, Chris Daughtry and now Adam Lambert’s losses saying they were fixed.  Maybe it is time for the show to be in the archives, or maybe they just need to get it right.

If Abdul isn’t back, the show won’t be on much longer.  I personally think they wanted someone to tear the kids apart, and they wanted someone younger with more sex appeal, hence the bikini stunt on the finale last year.

Leno made a logical choice for Carson who wanted his show to go on; he started it in 1962, and couldn’t see it end.  Leno was a fill in for him on many nights during the 30 years he anchored the show, so he had the experience and talent that Carson trusted.

Jay Leno was known for his witty one liners that Carson was famous for, and that helped keep the Tonight Show a hit for another 17 years.  On Friday, the show will have a third anchor in Conan O’Brien.

O’Brien has many of the same qualities that Leno and Carson did.  He had his own celebrity late night talk show self-titled, “Conan O’Brien.”  Like many talented celebrities, he too was a guest on numerous occasions on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno in the last 17 years.

Many believe Conan O’Brien will do a great job on the show, and that Carson will be proud of his next successor.  If O’Brien is as witty and funny as he is on his old late night show, he will have no trouble pulling the reigns on this one for another 20 years.

This year, however, they allowed a judge save.  That meant if a contestant got voted off, more than likely people did not vote for them because they felt they were safe. Therefore, the judges, if they felt the contestants were ousted before their time could save them.  The question remains… does this really help?

Season 8 of American Idol had probably one of the worst upsets in the show’s history; it really was the strongest that survived, but lost the match to the person he just knocked out.  The entire nation was in shock and felt angry, but somehow the lesser of the two talents won by American votes.  That’s what really makes me wonder how “honest” this show is.  Do they actually get that many votes, or do they eliminate contestants to cause a riot for publicity purposes?  Let’s take a stroll down through the seasons and take a contrasting look at the winners, then we’ll decide what’s going on.

Season 1 – Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini

In the season finale, Texan Kelly Clarkson won the first American Idol contest.  She battled fun-loving Justin Guarini who was equally as talented.  Since the show’s completion, Clarkson has produced three Grammy award-winning platinum albums, and has become a household name.  They even made a movie with Clarkson and Guarini called “To Kelly From Justin.”  The movie was a bust and it forever branded Guarini as just the runner-up, living in Clarkson’s shadow.  We haven’t heard from Guarini again.  Our vote: AMERICA PICKED RIGHT.

Season 2 – Reuben Studdard and Clay Aiken

This season was the season that gave American Idol a lot of controversy.  Jennifer Hudson was the third runner-up, leaving the masterful voice of Clay Aiken to the soulful voice of Ruben Studdard.  Many said it should have been Aiken and Hudson up in the finale.  Aiken gave a perfect performance through his three songs, while Studdard got mixed reviews on two of the songs.  In the end, Studdard won the American Idol crown, blowing the country away.  Don’t get me wrong, Studdard was good, but he was no Clay Aiken.  Aiken tended to fit more with a variety of genres and ages than did Studdard.  Since the show, Studdard has produced two CDs; his first one sold better than his second, and he solidified himself into the Gospel genre.  His songs were short lived on the radio and now we hardly hear anything about him.  Aiken has out sold just about every Idol except maybe Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood.  His album went platinum, and he had Clarkson open for him on their tour in 2003.  Aiken produced a smash hit Christmas album, and did some cover songs for his third album.    You still hear from him, and his songs have ranked on the Billboard charts. He has completely blanketed Studdard’s career.  It was voted as the year’s biggest tragedy, and caused a lot of controversy for the American Idol show.  Even Jennifer Hudson produced a CD and won a Grammy for it. She also won an Oscar and has performed on Broadway.  Our opinion: AMERICA WAS WRONG.

Season 3 -  Fantasia Barrino and Deanna Degarmo

This season was a joke. Fantasia Barrino, who was almost voted off three times, comes back and ousts some very prominent Idols who now have a bigger career than she does, to battle Deanna Degarmo for the Season 3 crown.  Barrino screams more than Tina Turner and has actually turned me off to her singing.  We all knew Degarmo was by far the better singer, but popularity wise Barrino had that street.  In the end, Barrino blew away Degarmo, and dropped from grace.  Her first and only album tanked and she is now playing in The Color Purple on Broadway.  Degarmo decided singing wasn’t for her, but she does show up once in a while.  Her CD outsold Barrino’s, but she never cut another.  Actually, both contestants were flops which brought this season to almost a complete loss.  I heard Barrino only once on the radio and it was a duet with Macy Gray for a Christmas song.  After the song aired, the DJ came on and apologized, as he said he got more requests NEVER to play that again than he did to play it.  Our opinion:  AMERICA WAS WRONG

Season 4 – Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice

This season started a controversy because an outside group claimed to help the third place contestant who had no talent, make it to where he did.  They said they did this by spamming the lines.  They also claimed this resulted in Fantasia Barrino’s win the year before.  Nevertheless, Bo Bice, the heavy classic rocker, was set to square off against the hot country singer from Oklahoma. In the end, Underwood won the season and made one hell of a career for herself.  You will find her on just about every modern, country, and contemporary station out there.  She has gone triple platinum, won a few Grammys, CMA Awards, Kids Choice Awards and in 2008, was named the youngest member ever into the Grand Ole Opry.  Bice went on to record a few songs before a vicious illness took him out of commission.  After a few years he came back and released an album that has been played on the radio much like Underwood.   This season totally redeemed itself, and it was the first time many Americans agreed that both contestants were so talented and so well liked, it didn’t matter who won.  We agree: AMERICA WAS RIGHT

Season 5 – Taylor Hicks and Katherine McPhee

Just when we come off a great season, we get another Fantasia Barrino/Deanna Degarmo situation.  Katherine McPhee could out sing Taylor Hicks; she had far more talent.  Hicks, until the last four weeks, couldn’t sing a song without forgetting the lyrics.  It was a train wreck.  In the end, Hicks won the American Idol crown.  McPhee disappeared into the night, and so did Hicks.  He didn’t cut his first record until 2009 because he had to get formal training and rediscover himself.  He has been the WORST Idol to date.  What was worse was in this season the second biggest controversy came to life as Chris Daughtry was eliminated in the top five, losing to Hicks.  Since then he has out shined his season’s winner and is all over the radio. Daughtry’s first album went platinum and has sold over one million copies.  He should have been the American Idol.  It was this reason the judges added the save.  Our vote: AMERICA WAS DEAD WRONG

Season 6 – Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis

Irregardless of how this season turned out, it would redeem itself for last season.  This was a great season, and in the top three were some of the most talented singers to date: Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis and Idol favorite, Melinda Doolittle.  When the top two were announced, it shocked everyone that Doolittle was eliminated, for she was the strongest up there and the one the judges fared would be in the finale.  That set the stage for Sparks, the lovable and innocent Pop/R&B singer vs. Blake Lewis, the incredible beat boxer.  America voted and Sparks would go on to win.  She has since produced an album, her songs are everywhere on the radio and she is set for success.  Lewis decided to produce and write music and is quite a success as well, from what I hear.  Melinda Doolittle is said to have fallen victim to the overachiever haters of America.  The judges basically said she could do no wrong, and America put an end to that.  In the end, American Idol crowned a very talented singer.  We agree:  AMERICA WAS RIGHT

Season 7 – David Archuleta and David Cook

This season was a split.  Both were talented beyond their measures and both had unique styles.  David Archuleta could sing anything from Barry Manilow to Justin Timberlake, while David Cook was a grunge rocker with a breathy voice.  In the end, Cook won, shocking everyone a bit because Archuleta had the better and cleaner voice.  Many say that Cook was the redemption of rocker Bo Bice, who was eliminated in Season 4.  Since the show ended, both have produced a great CD, and both are getting TV and radio time.  I’d say this was a win-win situation.  Our opinion: AMERICA WAS RIGHT

Season 8 – Kris Allen and Adam Lambert

This season has rocked America and is causing some major uprising.  It seemed that all the contestants could sing except maybe Megan Joy.  Kris Allen, however,  thought of quitting the show because he ended up in the bottom three at least five times and the bottom two, twice.  He got bad reviews from the judges even up to reaching the top three, which he squared off against the two everyone said would be in the finale, Adam Lambert (Punk/Shock Rocker) and Danny Gokey (Rocker from the Midwest).  Not too shocking that Lambert made it, but it was odd that Allen beat out Gokey to compete in the final two.  All the judges basically said for Allen to “pack his bags” on the top three performance.  Gokey was five times more talented than Allen who had no charisma on stage, but was a decent singer.

In the finale, Lambert out shined Allen.  He nailed two of three songs, while Allen only nailed one.  Lambert was told he would be “iconic and legendary” in a few years.  We thought it was in the bag.  At the results show, Allen was in the center spotlight, and got to duet with Keith Urban.  It was good, but lacked a lot of feeling.  Lambert got out on stage and did a dynamic performance with both Kiss and Queen complete with pyrotechnics, crazy costumes and guitar smashing.  It totally made you forget that Allen even performed that night with a celebrity. Lambert knocked Allen out onto the mat both nights.  When it came to the results, 100 million votes came in crowning Kris Allen the American Idol.  People were speechless, and the look on the judges’ faces said it all.  Lambert clearly won, but Allen took home the victory and the title.

Since the show, Allen confessed he doesn’t know why he won.  He says he didn’t deserve it and that he considered quitting.  At the top five, Lambert faced a rumor that he was gay, thus denying it. It still took him off his pedestal despite the rave reviews from Simon Cowell who gave him a standing ovation, the only one done on American Idol today.  Many people say that this news, true or not, convinced many conservative Americans in a time where there has been a war on gays, to not vote for him.  I truly believe it.  Lambert was almost eliminated that night, and was in the bottom two in the top three.

There are also rumors going around that there weren’t one million votes. It was just a way to revive the thirst for American Idol who had to do a lot of shaking up things to keep going another year.  The problem is it was at Lambert’s expense.  They knew he would be a major success beyond Idol so they probably figured if this was the case, that he would be okay.  I don’t think they would have done it had it been anyone else.

With the one million votes, if they were legit, there is speculation that a country superstar had his claws in it, pursuading the vote so he could sign the American Idol.  Is that true?  Don’t know.  This brings up the spammers again- did they pick Allen and sail him to victory? That theory is very plausible, especially on a night when most Americans felt Lambert had it in the bag.  It was an easy spam if they did it.  

In the end, this has caused a major uproar.  Since the show, Lambert has been asked by Kiss and a few other major legendary bands to tour with them, and he has been offered a contract.  No surprise there.  I think we will have another dud Idol, who will fade away and forever be in the shadows of Lambert.  Our opinion:  AMERICA WAS DEAD WRONG

So with those comparisons, we had more controversy and more runners-up outshining the Idol winners, which shouldn’t happen if they are picked right.  I think American Idol should do as follows:

1. Allow computer votes, but you will need an account to log into.  It will allow you only one vote per account, such as with the hit show, “Dancing With The Stars.”
2. Allow only one text vote, any other votes will be disqualified.
3. Allow only one phone vote, again with an account.  

This would successfully kill the spammers and put that myth to rest.  It will allow a true count, not a spammed count by some love-struck teenager voting on looks and not on voices.  It would give an accurate count that can be justified if something like Season 8 arises again.  American Idol is in a lot of hot water from what I can see- the judges are fighting, Simon Cowell said he may not be back, and Idol threw in Kara Dioguardi as an extra judge because of Paula Abdul’s antics. This season, Idol had Abdul sing and bikini-clad Dioguardi flashed American in the finale.  If they need to do this, you know the show’s in trouble, especially since the Idols have been for the most part, duds.

Let’s face it though, Allen is a good singer but he’s not great. He will be probably end up being one of those Idols you will hear on the radio a few times, then they drop off the face of the earth.  He will never be in the same class as Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson, yet he will far surpass Taylor Hicks and Fantasia. Allen may even sell close to, but not as many, albums as Jordin Sparks. In the end, he will be a semi-forgotten Idol.  I’m afraid to say Adam Lambert will outshine and outsell him hands down.

It’s strange that in the final competition, Lambert was quoted by judges Kara and Paula as “soon to be legendary, and iconic” yet somehow lost to a man who is good, but will never see comparable fame.  Lambert out performed any Idol on stage this year, he out sang anyone with his wide range of vocals and he is probably one of the most talented contestants this show has ever seen.  I think people may have just thought Allen needed it more than Lambert, which he did. If Allen didn’t win this competition, we would never see him again with the exception of the American Idol tour.  This victory may have proven this is not a singing competition. Or, perhaps, it may be a competition more about looks and popularity, because Allen is a better looking man than Lambert.

I thought it was a tragedy that Danny Gokey wasn’t in the finals with Adam Lambert, and now I am speechless.  However, Kris Allen is a good singer and we must congratulate him on his win.  We must not take that away from him, and his fans should be elated.  My anger is with the flaws this show brings and why so many better singers and performers wind up losing to people we never hear from again.  Aren’t you sick of the fact that three Idols are doing well out of eight, while the people they defeated are doing five times better than they are?  That isn’t supposed to happen.

This proves to me that the outside groups that flood the lines for the under dogs are working well.  If you don’t believe it, believe it, because of what I saw tonight. Lambert out shined Allen with his performance featuring Kiss, and proved to me that this group exists.  Do you even remember Allen’s solo with Keith Urban?  Lambert got up there with Kiss and looked much like the legend he was there with; it was like night and day with these two contestants.

So now we wait for Season 9, and let’s see who does better in the aftermath of this win, Adam Lambert or Kris Allen.  My bets are with Lambert.

Those boxes are television ratings.  It’s sad to know that we have to rate programs because our morals and values as Americans have stooped so low that we allow anything and everything on television.  These ratings are there to help parents decipher what is appropriate for our children to watch. However, there is one small problem-where can you find out what those ratings mean?  It’s not like a movie where it’s rated G to X.  So let’s educate ourselves on these important ratings we all see but have no idea their meaning and maybe, we can effectively use them when it comes time to watch television.

TV Y -  This rating means it’s appropriate for all children (examples are PBS, Disney, Nick JR).

TV Y7 -  This is appropriate for older children, generally seven years and older.

TV Y7 FV – Same thing, execpt it’s fantasy violence, which means it’s graphic but it’s not real violence. It’s similar to what we see in some of our cartoons.

TV G – Rated clean for all audiences, any age.

TV PG – Parental guidance suggested.  Same as in movies, it may contain some lewd language, or have some sexual content without nudity or implied sex.  Violence, etc.

TV 14 – You should be at least fourteen years of age or older, and parents are STRONGLY cautioned.  This would be the equivalent of an R-rated movie.

TV MA – Mature audience only. These will have some nudity, graphic surgery scenes or mature situations, such as excessive swearing, intense violence, etc.

So, that’s the television rating system.  Now that you have a better grasp on what those letters mean we can now decide what is appropriate for our children, or even ourselves, to watch.  Some of us don’t want to see something rated TV MA; it may not be for the faint-hearted.  It’s a shame that someone came up with this system to protect us from what’s on television, yet there was never anything readily available to define it.  We hope this enhances your enjoyment of television, and we also hope it helps you create special time with your children by turning it into a fun-filled evening without any surprises you might have to explain. At least now you have some warning.  For more info see www.tvguidelines.org

 Danny and Paula throughout the tenure on the show never were put up for elimination and both had produced well, despite their teams’ miserable contestants.  Paula helped the women win the most challenges this year and Danny was the strongest leader in the kitchen, but you won’t be able to convince Ben of that.  These two deserved the chance to win it all, and they proved if you just keep a level head and do your job well, you will go far.

Tonight they had their chance to shine. Paula chose a very beautiful design for her dining room; it was a place I could sit and relax in for hours while dining on five star rated food.  Danny had a different approach; very simplistic but still impressive, as he combined his love for the sea with an elegant five star atmosphere.

Paula had probably the worst kitchen mates possible with the likes of Lacy, but she did have Andrea who came in third, despite having major trouble throughout the competition. Paula also had LA, who was probably the most stable on the line.  Danny got Ben, Carol and Giovanni.  The problem most of them had with these contestants was that they couldn’t cook before and now they are bitter they got kicked off.  Was sabotage in the air?

Danny, during the first two hours of dinner service, had a strong start despite a few set backs. He did get his team focused and they managed to produce for him and made up for the errors.  Paula, unfortunately, had a team of idiots. Lacy was a screw up and couldn’t get the garnishes right.  Andrea overcooked the Halibut and that really set her back.  Paula tried hard to get her team focused and wanted to jump in and do it for them, which hurt her in the long run.  Amazingly, she got the team together and acquired her voice and dominance, but was it too late?

Ramsay said this year was the hardest choice of all; both contestants were even in their culinary skills, running the kitchen and in personality.  It really came down to how they managed to get themselves out of jams in the kitchen and with the customers’ comments.  In the end, Danny won the prize and at 23, now has a $250,000 paycheck and is the head chef of the Borgata (a five star restaurant) in Atlantic City, NJ.  Congratulations to both Danny and Paula, as they each did a fabulous job and redeemed this season of Hell’s Kitchen!

Danny got his pick from Paula while back home in Milwaukee.  She chose for him “Dance Little Sister.”  On his choice he chose “You Are So Beautiful.”  His performance on Paula’s pick was good but didn’t win him many accolades from the judges.  His performance of “You Are So Beautiful” totally redeemed him in the judges’ eyes, as they were blown away by the vocals.

While in Little Rock, Kris got his song choice from Randy and Kara who chose “Apologize.” On his choice he chose the song “Heartless.”  For the judges pick, he performed it well, but it lacked some luster that Randy and Kara pointed out.  They wanted him to try something different and to rearrange the song a bit and make it his own.  His rendition of “Heartless” was amazing, and I agree with Randy; it was better than the original artist.  Simon had him written off with his first performance of the night, which had all the judges arguing, but he said that “Heartless” may have kept him in the competition.

Adam was in San Diego when he got the text from Simon, who chose “One” for him.  Adam’s choice was “Cryin’” by Aerosmith.  Adam, as usual, completely blew the judges away and showed the people that he is in a leauge by himself.  He had a flawless vocal night and an amazing stage presence.

Tonight, 88 million votes came in to decide the finale.  The people chose Kris and Adam to compete for this year’s coveted American Idol title.  Danny somehow lost to Kris and will take third place.  I have no idea how that happened, since Kris has scraped through this competition by the skin of his teeth.  Everyone thought it was going to be Danny and Adam, but that isn’t going to happen!  I think Kris was hoping Danny would win, than to take on the powerful and charismatic Adam, but it will be a great fight!

Next week Tuesday, they go head to head, starting at 8pm.  On Wednesday we crown the new American Idol in a two hour special.

Slash said it best: “To do rock, you must feel it.  If you don’t feel it, the sound is fake.”  That’s exactly what happened to Danny who was a bit out of his league this week.  He made a blood curdling scream at the end of his performance trying to nail a powerful conclusion which the judges cringed at. Needless to say, after the show he would also see how ridiculous he sounded. Kris got poor reviews from the judges as he generally does each week, but his sound was good. The only thing he had trouble with was feeling the music to make us believe in it.  Adam and Allison were in their element; their powerful rock voices and flamboyant dress made this week their own.

The top four also got another treat this week; they got to do a duet with another Idol contestant.  Danny and Kris teamed up, and Adam and Allison combined their forces.  It was no surprise that Adam and Allison killed the competition with their rendition of “Slow Ride.”  The judges were in awe and Adam actually made Allison a better performer in that duet; she fed off his experience on stage.

On the results night we had a star studded line up with Slash performing along with the top four contestants. Paula Abdul took the stage for the first time in eight seasons on the verge of her debut album. Chris Daughtry came back for the first time on the Idol stage since his surprise elimination, debuting his new single. We also had the great reunion of Los Angeles’s very own, No Doubt.  However, once the smoke cleared from the amazing performances we would send one Idol home, while the other three would get to go home for a celebration.

Ironically, Kris was the first safe Idol but like Seacrest said, it’s not in any specific order.  He then sent Adam to the top three leaving Danny and Allison.  This was the closest that Danny has ever been to elimination.  America voted with 65 million cast votes and sent Allison home.  Personally, I felt that Kris deserved to go home more than Allison, but that’s American Idol for you.

Next week Adam, Kris, and Danny go home to a celebration then return to the stage to perform a judge’s choice and a personal choice song.  The top two go on to the Season 8 Final, which will take place at the famed Kodak Theatre.  My prediction is that Kris will be eliminated leaving the two power houses, Adam and Danny, to battle it out in another nail bitting final.

The final two contestants are Paula and Danny; the only two who stuck to themselves through most of the show, becoming silent threats to everyone that participated.  These two were never put up for elimination when their team lost, although their names did come up when asked to choose two for elimination.  They provided a solid, steady performance throughout season eight making them worthy candidates for this year’s final.  Paula was the only one whom Ramsay chose to be in the final, leaving Andrea and Danny up for elimination. I don’t think there was any doubt in Ramsay’s mind who was going home.

This week the final two will prepare their menus, decorate their dining areas and compete in the final challenge (the winner of that hasn’t won Hell’s Kitchen in the last two seasons).  They also choose from the eliminated contestants to cook in their kitchen. Watch out though, Ben and Lacy are back and sabotage could be on the horizon.

In a season I am surprised to see still going, Paula and Danny lead Hell’s Kitchen.  It’s the first time that two contestants in the finals hail from the same state; they both come from Florida.  Tune in this week for part one of the season eight finals of Hell’s Kitchen. Be sure then to tune in next week for the actual dinner service.

The contestants really did a good job this week. There were two that seemed to have some weaknesses, which involved Kris who Randy said was pitchy, and Matt who took a ballad by Bryan Adams and made it a little more his own. The judges liked the vocals but said he over did the song a bit. Anoop had a great night, and Adam got raves on his performance but Simon said it was reminiscent of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Adam liked the comment and said he didn’t think it was an insult.

Idol’s stage had some great acts perform live for the audience. One show was the now “Miley Cyrus” who has decided to put Hannah Montana to rest. She sang her song “The Climb” for our listening pleasure. The song was great, and it’s nice to see that Miley has evolved from Hannah and is growing up. If she was unable to step out of her alter ego, childhood persona she was doomed to be a washed up singer or out of work child star. She showed amazing growth as an artist. However, I did see that her on stage performance was a bit boring. Maybe it’s because the song is a ballad, but her style needs to still evolve with her as well. 

Another great act was Jennifer Hudson, who in the last few years had seen some great moments like winning an Oscar and Grammy for her first ever album, and movie role. On the bad side, there was a huge family tragedy in her life that shocked the whole world and her loving fans. Jennifer went out with some serious poise tonight, coming back for the first time on the stage she was eliminated from. She is one of the idols who actually did something for herself and out shined her season’s victor, Fantasia. Jennifer looked beautiful, her voice was stunning and I can see why people said she was robbed of the American Idol victory.

In the end, America voted and three contestants had to face elimination. This week, Lil Rounds, Anoop Dasi, and Matt Giraud got the call to the cold metal seats. Anoop had a great performance and really shouldn’t have been there, but when you look at the talent on the chairs across from them, their best performance looks mediocre at best to the rest. Kris, though, I felt should have taken the seat and not Anoop. For Anoop, it was a good feeling to know he was not the bottom two and got to sit down and wait to see who was going home.

America voted and sent Matt home over Lil Rounds. Matt got his chance to impress the judges and spare his time on stage for one more week, and believe it or not, they allowed him. Matt was saved by the judges. Is this a good thing? Next week is disco, the one week that kills the idols unless you can act the genre, and two idols will be sent home.  Matt will be kind of the “lame duck” of the show. It will be interesting to see how far he can go now.

This is the week that could kill Adam or Danny. They better hope they perform one heck of a show and have enough support to get them through to the next week, which it seems like they do but you never know.

We also saw something this week we never saw before and some of us didn’t see at all, unless you were in the audience.  The reason is that American Idol ran over an hour, which meant some DVRs did not record the ending.  So, for those of you who didn’t get to see it, here’s what happened.  Simon Cowell gave Adam Lambert a standing ovation, and in the last seven years, has never done such a gesture for anyone.

Some of the contestants that had a good performance but were lacking some life were Anoop Desai, Scott MacIntyre, Lil Rounds, and Kris Allen.  The bottom three for this week were Anoop, Scott and Lil.  Anoop is no stranger to the bottom three, however, it was Scott and Lil’s first time to feel the heat.  I was shocked because Kris’s performance was horrible and he surely deserved to be in the bottom tier this week, but it shows that he has the crowd’s support.

After America’s 35 million votes, they decided to send Scott MacIntyre home.  The judges truly like this contestant, but they said his showmanship is listless.  Scott is blind and can’t move around like the others so his performances will be a little dry, but his voice is stellar.  The judges were deadlocked about keeping him; two wanted him stay and two wanted him sent home.  The one judge that wanted Scott to stay was Simon, but Kara and Randy wanted to send him packing.  Simon made a decision based on the divided panel and ended up making it the end of the road for Scott; a decision he said was very tough for him.

Paula said a last word to Scott, praising him for his courage and determination. She said he is an inspiration to us all and his voice will take him far beyond Idol.

Scott was not going to win this competition, but he did leave too early.  I feel Anoop, Lil Rounds or Kris Allen were far weaker than Scott was, and they should have used the save for Scott.  I think they are saving the save for two more weeks in case Danny or Adam find themselves eliminated.

When it first started, I can almost guarantee no one had an idea it would earn the title for the longest running show in American history.  With over 16,000 television episodes it set a standard that none have been able to challenge.

It’s not everyday a soap opera goes off the air.  The last major one was “Another World” almost fourteen years ago.  Many of the soap operas that are still programmed have been around since the incorporation of television, set around the housewife.  It’s nice to see that kind of programming can run for so long and not have repeat story lines.

“Guiding Light,” a television icon, will be surely missed.  Watch while you can, and when you do, realize you are watching a show that started on the radio, which no other surviving show can say.

TRIVIA INFO:

The soap opera got it’s name because it was sponsored by dish soaps typically. “Guiding Light” was the soap that put that term to light for all others.

The contest this week was a taste test; to be a good chef you must have an impeccable palette. Chef Ramsay challenged the chefs to a blind fold test to see if they could guess the ingredients. Surprisingly, Robert and Giovanni didn’t get any of them right and Lacy failed too; but the surprise was Carol.  She got most of the ingredients in the Minestrone soup correct sending the red team to victory. Their reward was that they would be in a TV Guide photo shoot, taken right at Hell’s Kitchen. The blue team’s punishment was to wait on the red team and prep both kitchens for the night’s dinner service.

The dinner service had two celebrities in the house, so the pressure was even more intense. Paula, for the red team, had appetizer duty and screwed up her first risotto, but she managed to get on track and banged out the rest of the appetizers. On the blue side, the appetizers really did fly out of the kitchen with Robert on the station, but that would come to a screeching halt for the entrees.

Lacy was on the blue team’s meat service, which did her in. I don’t know what was more raw, her meat or her back side after Ramsay laced into her. She completely had a breakdown, confusion set in and she told Chef Ramsay she couldn’t cook meat. Ramsay screamed in shock, “You can’t cook bloody meat, GET OUT!” and threw her out of Hell’s Kitchen, or so we thought. He went back into a storage room and yelled at her for a few moments, before bringing her back on to the kitchen floor. Lacy would only last a few more minutes before Ramsay told her she wasn’t good enough and took her jacket. The men were down to three, but came together like never before and beat the red team on dinner service.

The red team had a complete lack of communication between Andrea and Carol. Their feud is becoming toxic, and ultimately cost the red team the win. Carol had a breakdown on the meat as well and couldn’t cook the Beef Wellington to save her life. She wouldn’t communicate with Andrea, so Andrea’s food was over or under cooked. The kitchen was at a stand still and Chef Ramsay pulled the plug and sent all the guests home.

Ramsay is completely disappointed in both teams, but the men did win, coming from behind to out serve the entrees with three less people. Chef Ramsay sent the red team back to nominate two people for elimination. The team was in complete agreement on Carol, but were conflicted with the other nominee. It came down to Andrea or LA.

When Ramsay first asked who the red team had nominated, Paula said they weren’t in agreement which really set the chef off. He said that the team’s communication was horrific, and that once again they have failed as a team. Paula said the nominees were Carol and LA. Then Chef Ramsay asked who the other was and that was when Paula nominated Andrea. So Ramsay asked Carol, Andrea and LA to come forward. He asked the team which nominee was in complete agreement and they all said Carol. He asked Carol who she thought the other one should be, and Carol actually said Andrea over LA, unlike the rest.

In the end, Chef sent LA home. He said he chose her for two reasons, lack of communication and lack of leadership necessary in a person running a five star kitchen. Carol and Andrea were spared, but their feud could cost them both the Hell’s Kitchen win. For the first time on the show two people were sent home, Lacy and LA.

Smokey Robinson gave advice this week, which should help the contestants. Smokey was in the original Temptations and has made a career for himself as an individual act with songs like “Tears Of A Clown, and “Ooh Baby, Baby.”  His falsetto tone made him a legendary performer and got him into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

The contestants got on stage and tried their best; however, some were just not that great. Simon predicted that Megan Joy would be going home. Personally, I don’t know why she’s still there; maybe it’s just me, but I do not like her voice at all. Other good, but not great performances were Michael Sarver and Matt Giraud.

Some of the ones that shined were Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Lil Rounds, Kris and Allison. The one that got rave reviews from the judges, but I thought was one of the worst performances of the night, was Anoop. I felt that version was painful to listen to quite honestly, and was shocked the judges gave him such a great review.

Tonight we got the results. We heard Smokey Robinson and Reuben Studdard perform on stage, as well as the legendary Motown recording artist, Stevie Wonder. After those performances we found the bottom two were Matt Giraud and Michael Sarver. Michael was in the bottom two last week also, so I didn’t think that was good for him being there again.

I was right, Michael was sent home by the audience but would the judges save him? His performance was powerful and heart filled, but the judges were unsure of whether or not to send him home. Running out of time, Simon stepped in and made the decision for the group. Michael’s stand on American Idol was a good one, and now he can go home to his wife and baby and be proud of his trip to the top 9. In addition, Michael will be on tour this summer and he is stoked about that.

In last week’s dinner service the women fell hard which resulted in Coi going home. This week, after witnessing everything that went wrong, Ramsay thought they could get it together and provide a good service for the night.

The new day started off with Giovanni going over to the women’s team to even up the teams. The move really angered the blue team because they lost their strongest team member. Most of them were mad that Ramsay sent Lacy to them, the red team’s worst member. Either way, Giovanni came over to help reorganize a dysfunctional red team.

The challenge this week were small tapestry dishes. Ramsay gave them all a task to create five small tapestry dishes from leftovers. The teams all ran to their stations and each chef came up with their own. The score was tied up when it was Giovanni and Ben’s turn to be judged. Ramsay thought both dishes were excellent in all aspects, but he awarded the win to Giovanni and the red team.

Punishment for the blue team was to prepare all the food for the night’s dinner service and clean and polish all the tapestry dishes. Lacy had a complete meltdown and stormed off quitting yet again! Ben ran and brought her back, telling her the team needed her, which they do. This seems to happen every time her team loses, and she can’t handle physical work.

Dinner service started and J cooked the rice badly for both teams, seriously slowing down the appetizers coming off the line.  A furious Ramsay pulled the risotto off the menu and lashed out on J. The night would go down even harder for the men as J completely ruined the Beef Wellington by under cooking it. The rest of the blue team started to slow down in an attempt to help J, but it became more of a train wreck.

The women were not that bad off.  They got through the dinner service without much of a scratch, however, LA was the weakest link on the line that night which was not good after being put up for elimination the night before.

The blue kitchen was on a crash course to destruction.  J messed up everything he touched that night, making the blood vessels in Ramsay’s head explode. Ramsay threw him out of Hell’s Kitchen before the night even expired. The women finished up on the dinner service, while the men were still serving tables.

Ramsay was extremely upset and disappointed in the chefs. He asked the blue team to nominate two people for elimination. Their choices were Ben and Lacy. After having them explain themselves on why they should stay, Ramsay let them both stay because J had already been sent home.

Both were spared another week, but had Ramsay not sent one home already, Ben or Lacy may not have stayed. Ramsay did hear how disgusted the team was with Lacy and her carefree, “I quit” attitude. If the men lose again, Lacy most likely will be gone.

Randy Travis was on giving some advice to the contestants.  On Wednesday he admitted he was honored to be a part of the show, but as far as giving advice, ” I was nervous because I am not technical in that sort of way,”  Travis said jokingly.  He did say that all the contestants surprised him with their talent and felt they are some of the best to date.

As each week flies by, we see some stars that shined the week before crash and burn, and some unexpected ones shine.  Luckily for this group, many of them came from the south, and that deems a great knowledge of the genre.

Last week Adam Lambert shocked everyone with his powerful rendition of “Black and White.”  He was totally in his element; however this week with country, he was out of his comfort zone.  This grunge rocker, with painted fingernails and dark colored hair with highlights didn’t do badly; his vocals were great, but his look made it an awkward performance.  Simon hated it, while the rest of the judges loved him.  It’s weeks like this that a great singer can be voted off just because they didn’t fit that bill.

Anoop, who was tore apart by the judges last week, took on a song that would be hard to pull off, Willie Nelson’s “You Were Always On My Mind.”  The judges expected a train wreck; however he pulled it off and wowed the judges.  Simon said it was his favorite performance of the night, and regretted the comment he made about Anoop coming back into the contest.  He was pleased he took the lashing the judges gave him and turned it into something positive with no excuses.

But how would America vote?  As we know, they don’t always vote with the judges.  This week they sent Michael, Alexis, and Allison to the bottom three.  I felt America messed up because Megan deserved to be there and not Alexis.  In the end, Allison was quickly sent back to the top 10, and Michael and Alexis awaited their fate; but not before the legendary Randy Travis and American Idol season 5 winner Carrie Underwood performed a duet on stage.  Carrie has won multiple awards and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, in addition to winning American Idol; to date the only country singer to win this contest.

After amazing vocals by these two stars, Seacrest announced that Alexis would be going home.  The judges discussed it and said that Alexis would be a candidate to save if she performed well on the goodbye song.  When the dust settled, Alexis’ nerves and desperation overcame her awesome talent and she threw grunge into the song and over killed the performance.  Although it was a good performance, the judges felt she blew it and did not save her.

So the new Top 10 that will be on tour this year are:  Scott MacIntyre, Adam Lambert, Allison Iraheta, Anoop Desai, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Lil Rounds, Matt Giraud, Megan Joy and Michael Sarver.

The night was filled with songs from the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who is starting to tour again after many years of seclusion. The first round of the top 12 was not going to be easy at all, because Michael’s songs are always attributed to him and hard to see anyone else sing; not to mention the ranges are not easy to reproduce. The contestants had to make it their own and sell the judges on their rendition of a famous catalog of songs.

Lil Rounds started the evening with the song “The Way You Make Me Feel.” She nailed it and the judged wooed her. Some other great performances that made us remember what we saw in them was Michael Sarver and his rendition of “Your Not Alone,” Alexis Grace with her verison of “Dirty Diana” and Allison Iraheta with “Give It To Me.”

We also saw some get in their comfort zones with their instruments like Scotty MacIntyre and his song “Keep The Faith,” Matt Giraud with “Human Nature” and Kris Allen with “Remember The Time.” I felt these three and the ones mentioned above did a good job and would be safe for the next week.

Some were alright, but not great as there are every week or nobody would get eliminated. Those contestants that I felt to be a perfect fit for this category were Jorge Nunez – Never Say Goodbye, Megan Joy -Rockin Robin, Jasmine Murray – I’ll Be There, Anoop Desai- Beat It. These were the ones that could easily be voted off; and were the ones that probably didn’t sleep well that night.

But two idols stood out above the rest, and probably slept the best out of everyone. Those were Danny Gokey singing PYT. He came out with energy and rocked the stage, and had fantastic vocals and control. The best one of the night that people are still talking about was Adam Lambert who sang Black and White, a popular song of Michaels in the early 90s. Adam went out and sang the song with such emotion, hit notes I didn’t know were notes, and made the stage his own; you’d almost forget the stage was there. He blew Paula away who said we will see him all the way in the finals, and took a standing ovation by the blown away crowd.

On Wednesday, after a night of amazing performances we found out the two going home. This year, Seacrest announced, the judges have the right to over-ride the peoples vote and keep them if they were voted off. This is because people sometimes don’t vote for a contestant thinking they are safe, or just picked a bad song but are overall better than those that remain. We saw similar instances with Daughtry who lost to Taylor Hicks, Jennifer Hudson, and many others. The only restrictions with this new rule: all the judges must agree, and they can only use it one time in the season; they are only allowed to save one contestant up to the top 5, after which they will no longer get the chance to over-ride anything. They said this doesn’t over take the peoples choice, it just gives the contestant another chance.

The night was filled with mixed emotions because 11 contestants were safe, and was filled with some great performances; including American Idol’s first winner Kelly Clarkson. On the other hand, two were going home. Those contestants were Jasmine Murray and Jorge Nunez. Each one had a chance to be saved by the judges but none of them were allowed to come back.

It was a night of firsts in many ways, and should be a great week 2 of the top 12 next week.

The challenge for this week was largely based on creativity.  Chef Ramsay wanted the teams to make three Oriental fusion dishes, which is the art of mixing Oriental culinary tradition with another kind of tradition.  Ramsay took both teams to an Oriental supermarket, and then gave them 25 minutes to think of a dish, purchase the ingredients, and spend no more than $100.00.  Both teams worked hard and came up with their three dishes. They all got their ingredients in the 25 minutes allotted and all came under budget.  The teams would then return to Hell’s Kitchen to prepare the dishes, which they had an hour to do.

Each team finished in time and presented their dishes to Chef Ramsay.  He gave them another surprise; the dishes were going to be judged by one of the most pristine food critiques in the US, and the winning team would have all three dishes featured on her website.  The men won the first tasting, but the women won the last two making them the winners of the day’s challenge.  Their prize was a day of sumo wrestling in funny costumes, and then they were off to sample different kinds of sake, a type of Japanese alcohol .  The men, including Lacy, had to stay behind to make fortune cookies and decorate the tables with origami. 

The men’s team got through the fortune cookie baking, and moved onto the origami.  Everyone was having trouble except for Lacy, who taught the men how to create origami.  It actually gave her a presence and a reason to be in Hell’s Kitchen.

The night’s dinner service was horrendous for each team once again.  ”J” failed to cook the meats correctly, and Robert completely screwed up the appetizers.  On the women’s team, Andrea also messed up the meat and Colleen failed with the desserts.  Despite the bad service, the women did get to the desserts before Ramsay had had enough and shut down Hell’s Kitchen; the men never made it that far.

Ramsay told each team to nominate one of their own for elimination, due to the poor dinner service of the night.  When they all came together, the men nominated “J,” and the women nominated Andrea.  Ramsay looked at all of them, and then sent the two nominees back.  He called on Robert, telling him to wake up.  Then, the chef called Colleen down.  Ramsay told Colleen to take off her coat, and then threw her out of Hell’s Kitchen.  Colleen said she will be going back to her school.

I am shocked with Colleen; as a culinary school instructor, she should end up being one of the top people there.  If she didn’t win Hell’s Kitchen, she should have at least come in the top three.  Instead, Colleen leaves week six, giving the women a devastating blow.

Simon, Randy, Paula and  Kara went through and carefully talked to each contestant telling them a yes or no and why.  In the end, they chose Megan, Jasmine, Matt and with a huge surprise, Anoop.  Making this years American Idol a Top 13!  

That makes this years Top 13:

Adam Lambert
Alexis Grace
Allison Iraheta
Danny Gokey
Kris Allen
Michael Sarver
Lil Rounds
Scott MacIntyre
Jorge Nunez
Anoop Desai
Jasmine Murray
Matt Giraud
Megan Corkrey

Felicia Barton, Jorge Nunez, Kristen McNamara, Lil Rounds, Von Smith, and Scott MacIntyre.  All of them performed very well, however the judges were a bit mixed with Kristen over her identity.  I noticed they were more concerned about her clothing choices than her tremendous vocals.

In the end, America chose Jorge Nunez, Scott MacIntryre and Lil Rounds from the last group of 12, which leaves the top 12 with 9 filled seats.  Your Top 9 so far are:  Adam Lambert, Alexis Grace, Allison Iraheta, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Michael Sarver, Lil Rounds, Scott MacIntyre, and Jorge Nunez.

Tonight, in an encore performance, the last three seats will be filled in the “wild card” round.  The contestants were hand picked by the judges who showed the most potential and really still had a chance to go forward.  

In Season 3 to Season 7, American Idol got away from this round.  Although, Jennifer Hudson, and Clay Aiken were both not chosen in the original top 9, but both were in the top 3 of season 2.  Could we have a repeat of that feat?  Tell it to the wild card round contestants.

 Von Smith, Anoop Desai, Tatiana Del Toro, Jasmine Murray, Jesse Langseth, Ricky Braddy, Matt Giraud, Megan Corkrey

For the challenge, the men and women were to prepare breakfast for a pee-wee football team and some pee-wee cheerleaders. The team that served eggs and bacon (the breakfast) to all their tables first, would win.  The men were out and running.  Seth said he knew Chef Ramsay’s special recipe for eggs and wanted the station; however, he would completely screw it up which would cost the blue team the win.  The men’s punishment was to prep both their kitchen and the women’s kitchen for dinner service, and clean Hell’s Kitchen.  Meanwhile, the women would go camping Beverly Hills style.

When the women returned from their shopping spree, got dressed and came down, they saw that hardly any of their food was prepped like it was supposed to be.  They had to prep their own food, and mentioned this to Ramsay.  The chef was NOT happy about that and called it an act of sabotage.  

The dinner service was a complete disaster for each team.  Just about every plate came back; one of the men let a salad go out with the butt of the lettuce in the plate.  Seth used a towel to wipe the sweat off his face and blow his nose, then used it on a pan for cooking. Ramsay looked on with disgust, finally shutting down the dinner service after an hour.  

For the first time in Hell’s Kitchen both teams were losers and both had to nominate two people for elimination.  For the men, they chose Ben and Seth; and for the women, they chose Lacy and Colleen.  Ramsay decided to send Ben back to the line, clearly he didn’t deserve to be down there.  However, he warned him that trying to impress at the speed of sound doesn’t accomplish much.  That left Lacy, Colleen and Seth up for elimination; it really was a no brainer for Ramsay who sent Seth home.  That made the men lose three out of four times.  Ramsay told Seth he had enough of him and couldn’t let it go on.  Seth walked out the door, then Ramsay sent Lacy to be on the men’s team.

That move made the women very happy, but made the men disgruntled.  Lacy said this makes her want to show the women up even more.  Last year Jen said the same thing, and was eliminated two weeks later.  After the fourth week, I am shocked with the fact I can’t find one person I feel could win this thing.  I have a feeling it’s the silent people that will emerge much like Petrozza did last year.  My prediction is that the men will lose again this coming week, sending Lacy home.  The women will lose the following week after that, sending Colleen home.

At 3 A.M. the assistant chefs barged into the suite and woke up the two teams. They quickly got dressed and were taken to an undisclosed location. Upon arrival, they found themselves at a slaughter house/butchery.  The assistant chefs gave each of the groggy chefs a lesson on different cuts of meat on a cow and where they are located.  Most of them seemed like they didn’t care what they were saying, especially Lacy.

The teams arrived back at Hell’s Kitchen to see Gordon Ramsay with two plastic cows sitting in the dining room.  He gave each team two challenges for this exercise. They were first to identify the meats on plates by sticking signs in them corresponding to the cut, and secondly, they were to take those signs and place them on the plastic cow where you would find the cut.

Both teams quickly identified the cuts on the table, each only having one wrong. The men correctly identified each cut and made quick work on identifying the part of the cow the cut came from.  The ladies were not far behind.  Originally, the ladies had three wrong and the men had only one.  After Lacy got a hold of the cow, she managed to get six wrong because she really had no idea what she was doing.  The men went as far as getting seven incorrect.  It didn’t take them long to fix the mistakes making the men the winners of this week’s challenge.  Their prize was to fly a private jet to a vineyard for a wine tasting, then off to eat some of the best steak in the state.  The ladies had to stay behind and butcher a half of cow, then were forced to eat some of the worst leftover parts imaginable. 

Dinner service was also a challenge.  Ramsay turned the kitchen into a steak house for the night, while one team cooked and the other team served. The team that served the most dinner plates after two hours would win. The men went first, and the women had a hard time getting the orders into the kitchen. Eventually the women made a turn around. The men, however, had a disastrous night.  Charlie lit his towel on fire and could not get the shrimp cooked right. Giovanni, a steak house executive chef, completely destroyed the steaks he cooked, and Seth hacked a filet mignon so badly that he lost the most expensive part of the cut.  

It was now the women’s turn, and Ramsay reopened Hell’s Kitchen.  The men were off to a great start on the floor, but Charlie had another breakdown.  When the orders started to roll in, the women busted them out.  Honestly, I think eating that putrid food made them realize they didn’t want to lose anymore. They started to bring the food out in droves, but it kept coming back.  The men kept saying the food was over or under cooked. Ramsay then checked the meat only to agree with the women chefs… it was cooked right.  Ramsay actually asked the men’s team if they were trying to sabotage the women.

The night came to a close after the teams’ two hours expired.  Ramsay tallied up the comment cards, and the tally on the plates that left the kitchen.  The worst servers were Lacy and Charlie, and the women sent out the most plates making them the winners.  The men were sent back to figure out who was going home.  Seth felt he was the best chef on the line and stated that Giovanni should go. This, in turn, really angered the men and Giovanni.  They also didn’t believe that the women brought the tickets fast enough in order to give them a chance at victory.

Ramsay met the men after a few hours and asked for their nominees.  The men chose Seth and Charlie.  When he asked them why they should stay, Seth gave Ramsay a long and drawn out butt kissing, sob story.  In the end, he chose Charlie to leave Hell’s Kitchen and sent Seth back.  The men were surprised, as was I.  I truly believe Seth should have been the one to go.

Wednesday night in the first two hour episode, the first round of 12 contestants of the 36 took the stage, trying to be in the top 24.  Those contestants were:

Alexis Grace

Ann Marie Boskovich

Anoop Desai

Brent Keith

Casey Carlson

Danny Gokey

Jackie Tohn

Michael Sarver

Ricky Braddy

Stephen Fowler

Stevie Wright

Tatiana Nicole Del Toro

Over all, I felt none of the contestants really stood out.  Some of them had horrific performances like Casey Carlson.  She’s got the look, she’s got the talent but she completely bombed Wednesday night with her version of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.”  She looked awkward, robotic and over dramatized the performance.  This was one for sure, I felt would be going home.  The night was filled with flops, Ricky Fowler was another, doing a rendition of Michael Jackson’s hit “All Night.”  The song rendition wasn’t bad, but he completely chose a song that no matter how well you perform it, its only going to compare you to Michael.  

Danny Gokey was the only one that got raves from the judges last night, with his version of Mariah Carey’s “Hero.”  This is a real risk, we all saw the disaster the men had on Mariah Carey night a few years ago, her octaves are so high and so low its hard for a man to do her song.  Danny chose a risky song, something the judges like to see, he got on stage and performed it beautifully, despite how awkward the song is for a male to sing.

In the end, 9 had to go, America voted and Danny Gokey, Alexis Grace and Michael Sarver were the ones with the chance to perform again.  With the ones sent home I agree with Stephen full heartily, but Tatiana I felt should still be there, she wasn’t bad enough to go home; but she wouldn’t make the top 10.  Anoop, SHOCKED… I felt he had the talent to go at least to the top 8, but sadly his dream of becoming American Idol is gone.  

Next week, American Idol continues with the second round of 12 in the Top 36 elimination round.  Who will join these 9 in the next round?

This week both teams prepared to take the game a bit higher, but for one of the ladies, fate would rear its ugly face as a tragic incident would occur.  Ji ends up hurting her ankle, leaving her in immense pain.  Despite her distress, Ji would fight through it and perform her kitchen duties as if nothing ever happened.  She was so impressive, most of her teammates forgot she was injured. Ji’s cooking was top notch, and she never complained about her misfortune.

However, some of the women would fall short of that kind of heroism.  Colleen and Lacy proved again to be the weaker links for the ladies team.  Colleen, the culinary school teacher/owner, could not cook salmon correctly.  She kept burning the fish and somehow, it remained raw inside.  Lacy, who has twice given up, came back to complete the day, taking over on fish for Colleen.

The men also had some misfortune of their own.  The women were blowing out their entrees, yet the men were struggling to even get to theirs.  They looked like ants without a purpose in the kitchen.  Ramsay was completely disgusted with the men, but he remained hard on them which seemed to get them back on track.

Before the night was up, Ramsay would kick Colleen out of the kitchen. Not long after, the men started blowing out entrees with no returns, and it became a race to the finish.  Ramsay told both teams that the men had four entrees left to serve and the women had five.  Whoever finished all their entrees first, would win. In a heated race to the finish, the men got their entrees done first, making the ladies the losing team for the week. Amazingly, for the first time on Hell’s Kitchen, both teams got through the entire night, and on only the second week.

Before they left to their dorms, Ramsay gave Ji an amazing compliment. To sum it up, Ramsay said he has never seen such passion and courage in which Ji showed tonight.  He said she is a model for all the others to follow.  She never gave up and finished with pride.  Then Ramsay split everyone up to discuss who was going home.

The women came back to confront Ramsay, who had asked the ladies who their choice was and why.  The women chose Lacy and Colleen, for obvious reasons.  Both women stated their case, before Ji spoke up.  ”Chef, it’s a great honor to serve you in your kitchen, it’s a dream of mine.  However, I feel I am a burden to these women with my current injury. I want this team to win, but I will only be baggage, so I nominate myself.”  Without hesitation, Ramsay asked both Colleen and Lacy to get back in line, and he sent Ji home.  The women were shocked and begged for reconsideration.  Ramsay went up to the ailing Ji and told her he had never seen such courage on Hell’s Kitchen.  ”Ji, you are a model chef for all to mimic.  It’s a shame you will leave due to an injury.  Keep your coat as a reminder of your bravery and excellence.”  With that, Ji was wheeled out in her wheel chair by her teammates, to a standing ovation by both teams.  Never has a contestant ever left without giving up their coat.