TV Talk: American Idol Results *spoilers*

I realize this is a day a late but I still wanted to post my thoughts on last night's episode of American Idol.

The show itself was ok. The results shows are never really anything exciting to be honest, except when they get to the results. I do like the way of "bringing them out" instead of just standing up on the couch bit they did before.

Basically, the way it all played out was that David A, David C and Jason were all safe. That left the bottom two being Syesha and Brooke. The idol going home was Brooke.

I think America got it right. I would have been fine with either girl going. I really think the top three will be Jason, David A and David C with a "David vs David" final. I am *slightly* concerned with the David A fanbase pulling it out and somehow beating David C and while I have had no problems with Savid A, I do think David C is a better choose for the winner. To me, he won it with his performance of Music of the Night". I am hoping that all the people who were Jason, Brooke and anyone else fans will pull it out for David C to win in the end.

For me, David A is nice. But I don't see him as the "American Idol". I feel like he does sing well vocally but he doesn't connect with the songs the way others do and I think that really can just be attributed to his age and lack of life experience. He has a nice story (overcoming vocal paralysis and all) but you need more than that. David C has a nice story too (his sick brother) but David C does NOT use that story to help him which I really respect because he could have really played things for the sympathy vote if he wanted to and it is respectful that he does not do it. I think all in all, that David C is the most talented in showing his ability to choose arrangements and know when to perform a song straight up and show the audience that as well. I will be honest here and say my husband liked David C from the begining and it took a few weeks for him to grow on me. I never not liked him but it was a few weeks in before I appreciated his talent.

I guess that about wraps up my thoughts on the results show. See you next week for more!!

TV-Talk: Survivor *SPOILERS AHEAD* (You have been warned)

As I try to get into a regular habit of "blogging", I don't always know what to write about as I don't feel everything is all that interesting in the day to musings of my life, however, I LOVE Tv and I always have tons to say about what I watch! So, with that in mind....some thoughts on Survivor!!

I REALLY enjoyed this evenings episode of Survivor. I have not been a big fan of Amanda throughout the season and early on I was pulling for a fan to win just out of principal however the "fans" this year are not really likeable or that enjoyable to root for. Erik, the young kid, has been at the top of my fan list however after this evening he isn't as high up there but I haven't written him off completely, yet!

Now about this evening's show, it was fantastic. I have not cheered or clapped like I did tonight when Amanda pulled that idol out! About time somone got to play it and what better place to play it then tonight. She completely blind-sided them without having to lie to them and I was impressed with her acting ability. She was very convincing and did not over do it but had those obnoxious girls snowed! I had really hoped she might have taken Cirie out simply because Cirie didn't want to make things a tie and in all honesty, that is a cop out but in reality, she was probably smart to keep her and get rid of Alexis because next to Alexis in a top 2 or 3, she would have been tough to beat since Alexis hadn't really DONE anything to the people on the jury (other than vote them out but come on, everyone has that happen!) But I did appreciate that she clarified that she did not have the idol at the time she told them because that gives the jury information too although I honestly thing she got all the jury's vote tonight when she blind-sided all the people who screwed them because she was NOT one of the ones to screw Ozzy.

At this point, I think if Amanda can find a way to stay in it, she would be smart to pull in Cirie and Parvati with her to the end. I do not think they will against her, purely because they both screwed at least one person on the jury so far AND the way Amanda got them tonight. The question will be whether or not she can pull it off.

I had been pulling for Erik up to this point but like I said tonight I was not as impressed with him when he went against her but I think she helped herself in a good way when she basically called him out on his not helping her even though she has helped him tonight at tribal. People will remember that.

I was also glad she made it clear she didn't lie because she did not have it when she told them she didn't and she didn't find it until after they all had told her they were voting her off anyway. She did lie about not finding the clue in the water and they could try to call her out on that but she could easily say she figured it out with the other clues.

Cirie is going to be pissed. She is going to be made because she thinks they were a tight three but then again Cirie things she is running the show. She is going to feel "betrayed" but Come On....she voted Amanda out! Too bad it didn't work.

I think if Amanda can get Erik over to her and Parvarti they could pull in a final three but they need to get rid of Natalie and Cirie, HOWEVER, in all honesty, and I like Erik a bit more than the others, if Amanda can score a final three with ANY of the woman she will be a shoe-in to win but she needs to be careful because they are going to view her as a big threat because of tonight, she will have lost trust with them and they ARE going to be gunning for her so she needs to win immunity next week.

One more note on this evening's show: I was disappointed that James had to be medically removed (a bit much of that this season and it really took out some good competitors) but I do think it was wise (its not worth losing a hand over that is for sure) and in the bigger picture, he can always say he wasn't voted out. He still gets to be on the jury and let's be honest here, he was not going to make it to the end, he had one of the biggest targets on his back and it would have been him not Amanda tonight (or in reality, Alexis) if he had not won immunity.

So all in all, I really enjoyed this evenings espisode and it was great to be so interested in an episode again, especially since this season has been a slower one compared to some others. I am anxiously awaiting the next episode and seeing how this all plays out!!!

Til next time....

TV Talk-Hell's Kitchen

I don't know if anyone watches this but I got into it a few seasons ago when my friend Larry suggested it and now I can't miss it. Its a few weeks in but tonight is shapping up to be entertaining!!

First up is a quick challenge and the challenge was to create a gourmet pizza. The girl who got burned on her hand last week, Vanessa, was a bit weepy with the whole "I wanted them to pick my pizza b/c I did it without my hand, yada yada and I was so upset they didn't pick mine" Whatever. The girl they did pick, Jen, has not been one of my faves but has grown on me lately. During the challenge the woman team worked really well together as a team to try them all and then choice one. The men on the other hand didn't communicate at all, and only two of the guys actually seemed to make the decision on which to decide on.

Chef Ramsey liked them both, did tell the men they didn't completely clean the mushrooms they used on the pizza and he could feel/taste the grit. Ultimately, the women won the challenge and got to go on a helicopter flight with Chef Ramsey to some fancy restaurant, "Square One", with $90 kobe beef hamburgers. One of the girls is shown in a "confessional" saying that her "dream has always been to ride a helicopter". MY reaction, "seriously? Come on-get a better dream!"

As the losers, the men had to prep for dinner and they got burgers too but they were like mcdonalds thin burgers-too funny.

For evening service where the bulk of the competion is, the woman's pizza was a special on the menu. The girl who burned her hand is having some difficulty in the kitchen and went up to talk to Chef and see what he could say. He told her she could still win this but the choice was hers whether to stay or go. She decided to go because she "couldn't be here 100%, I don't want to be here." Oh well but I think with the burn like she got on her hand, she is smart to go and take care of things, not worth taking a chance on getting hurt more or potentially hurting someone else because she is limited.

The "twist" of the evening part is that Hell's Kitchen is also offering Pizza delivery of the special pizza and because the men lost, they will also be the ones delivering which can also affect how their service goes. But ultimately, they don't communicate at all so it should be interesting!!

Dinner service....
Girls have a good start getting their appitizers out quickly. First orders for delivery comes in too!! The woman's first entree did not go out well and their second was better but they were nothaving a good evening either. Both teams struggle through the service. As "mean" as Chef Ramsey gets, I think he really does run the kitchen in such a way that you can truly see if someone can handle the pressures in the kitchen and therefore be able to handle the pressures of running a kitchen as well.

The girls desserts were not going so well, Christina was having a meltdown and said Jen was suppossed to help but didn't. They show Jen in a "confession" basicallysaying she was not the other girls mother. Her attitude is still not good and she is not a team player unless they are all pulling for her and while she might know her stuff, she is not impressive.

Amazingly, both teams completed a service which is not a common envent. Often times things are so chaotic or going wrong that Chef closes the kitchen and people go unfed.

After the dinner service, Chef had to pick a winner and then someone from the other team will be sent home. Tonight, Chef decided there was no losing team but each team has to nominate one person from their team. Then Chef tells them all to "piss off". He cracks me up! Its such an odd dynamic when they have to pick someone.

A lot of times Chef appoints someone to pick but tonight it was a team decision. Chef is not happy with the woman's choice of Christine and the men choose louross. Chef didn't like Jen's statement when he asked her about Christine and then also called out Rosanne who was pretty bad tonight. Chef asks both the nominees who they think is the weakest if its not them....Louross says Matt is weaker and Christine says Roseanne. Chef decides to give them a "present" for completing a service tonight and says that the chef leaving tonight already left, which was Vanessa. But I LOVE how he screws with them and let them go through the picking which pulls out the vicious in them all. Its diabolic-and I love it. And I know Larry would too:)

Til next week....

American Idol "Neil Diamond" Week-Live blog!

Ok, taking a cue from my blogging buddy Kim, I thought I would "live blog" tonight which for me means I type as I watch then post:)

So, we are watching American Idol, its the Top 5 this week and the theme is Neil Diamond. Tonight they are also singing two songs each (would have preferred that last week since I am more into Broadway showtunes but then again I don't think I could have handled two of Carly LOL!)

So let's get started...
Jason-First up tonight, singing Forever in Jeans. I thought it was ok. Nothing special. It was sort of odd he mixed up words when performing right in front of Neil Diamond in the video but I do enjoy his voice and I would purchase any CD he made because I like the distinct sound of his voice. But his performance tonight was just ok. Although he did flash that smile that melts the hearts of many at the end!!

David C-Again, nothing fantastic. Not his best, not his worst and he DID make it current so that is good. I do think he will go to the end and I am very happy with him overall.

Brooke-I am a Brooke fan however, she is much better in front of a piano than a guitar and the song choice "I am a believer" was just not the best for her but I am hoping she pulls it out with the second song.

David A-Sang, Sweet Caroline, Didn't like the arrangment of a song I like, honestly I have been a fan but felt it was forgettable.

Syesha-Not normally a fan but I was not bothered by her tonight. She has always had a good voice but tonight I felt she seemed more grounded (maybe being in the bottom two or three has knocked her ego down a bit) and I thought she did well.

Round 1-top two for me were actually David C and Syesha(which is NOT easy for me to say!)

Judges: OMG, WTF did Paula just do? She is either REALLY drunk/high or someone gave her notes to read ahead of time and she let the cat out of the bag on that one. That was SOOO bad it wasn't even funny.

Round 2!
Jason-Sang "September Morn", again he didn't blow me away like he did earlier in the competion. I see him in the bottom this week with a possibility of going home unless his fan base really pulls it all out for him. And I am a fan but this week, just not feeling it as much.

David C.- Sang "All I need is you", Wonderful! Not only did he make it his own and bring it current, it was fantastic. I really do think he will take it all. The only thing that could get in his way is who votes in the end but I think he deserves it and I think he is the best there is-and at the begining I was not as convinced but he has just grown better and better every week. got my vote.

Brooke-Sang "I am I said", Much better than first song, she really does belong behind a piano and could produce a beautiful unplugged album with her and the piano. I liked how she took Neil's advice and changed lyrics from NT to Arizona and thought she did well. I liked it.

David A.-Sang "America", Ok, I hate to say it but I am over David A. He is cute, and has song some really good numbers but I just cant get behind him. He sings the same stuff over and over often sounds to me like he is singing christian rock no matter what song he sings (nothing against that type of music, I have liked some) but I don't see him doing anything really current or "pop". He is 16 and when he sings love songs its just not believable. I see him as a Disney character and could do well in the next High School Musical but I just don't see him as the American Idol.

Syesha-Sang "Thank the lord for the nighttime", I thought she did ok. Again, not the worst and I completely see her on Broadway within the year, not the American Idol winner. I also think she looks much better with her hair down then her usual poof:)

Judges-WTF again! Paula just called Syesha "Brooke" when she was giving her comments. That woman is so high or something and honestly it makes the show less credible when she does these things. Wow, its just bad. I always thought that this show, part of the play of it all is these three judges but if they decide to make any changes next season i think they need to lose Paula because she just hurts things. She has no credibility at all.

Overall, I think the show was a bit lackluster this evening and not one of my faves. That may have to do with songs since nothing is overly exciting although I really did enjoy the second performance of David C.


I guess we will see how it all goes tomorrow!!!

Next up for me this evening is Hell's Kitchen...anyone care about that? :)

Ta ta for now!!!

American Idol Results *SPOILERS* Do NOT read if you have not watched tonight's results episode!

Tonight's Results episode for American Idol was very nice. It started out with a performance of All I Ask of You with Andrew Lloyd Webber playing the piano and then they spent a few minutes talking to him which was nice too. And then it was time for the results....

American voted and...

David A.-Safe
David C.-Safe
Brooke-Safe
Jason-Safe

Bottom two:
Syesha and Carly

And the one going home was ...... CARLY!!!

THANK YOU AMERICA!!!

I don't think I had been as happy about an elimination since Sanjaya was voted off last season. I thought it was nice that they had both the bottom two sing their songs before the results were announced. Although I thought it was quite rude of Carly during Syesha's performance to be animately upset or something with Ryan on stage while Syesha was singing and they cut to her during the perfomance just like they did to syesha when carly was singing and she wasn't even paying attention. Just seemed rude to me.

But all in all it was a great American Idol night (and week!) and I even found out the tour dates for the summer concert today and I am already planning to go with my great friend Kim on Aug 2 in Atlantic City! Now if I could just figure out how to get us into a "meet and greet" :)

ta ta for now!!

TV Talk-American Idol Andrew Llyod Webber

Its TV talk time. Taking a page out of the blog book from my friend, I am going to try and post my thouhts before I forget!

Tonight's episode is one I had been waiting for because it was some of my favorite music. I was happy that the people I like the best were still on and could perform. So, here are my thoughts:

Syesha-Honestly, she is not a bad singer and did seem more in her "element" tonight but I just do not enjoy listening or watching her and I did not find her performance memorable. I am hoping she is in the bottom 3, because I would not mind seeing her gone.

Jason-I really enjoy most of his performances. He has a very distinct sound to his singing and I really look forward to it. Tonight he sang Memory from Cats and while I think there are probably better songs he could have done b/c this one is so iconic and its like singing a Whitney or Celine, I don't think it was horrible. I think its tough b/c it will be compared to how it normally sounds band he is not that sound. I enjoyed his performance but I am a little worried for him. I am hoping he is not in the bottom 3 but even if he is, I hope he is safe. I do enjoy listening and watching him each week. I see him making good albums but being more of the intimate venue performance place type performer.

Brooke- I thought she did well. She had a rough start but I think it is very classy to stop and start fresh (she was only a few notes in) then to try and make it up or fake a recovery. I was highly bothered by Paula's comment to her about not starting and stopping, especially since the last time it was a little rough for her, she told Brooke she was classy to stop start. I am really seeing how useless she is more and more each week. I thought the song was a good choice for Brooke and that she did well even though she was a little shaky. She obviously gets nervous but I enjoy her voice and even more when she accompanies it with the piano. I see her struggling this week but again I am hopping she is not in bottom 3.

David A.-I thought he did ok. I enjoyed it, it was a good performance but I was not blown away but I was definately not disappointed either. He will go far and I honestly see a David-David top two. He does remind me of christian rock singer though week after week and I can totally see him getting a deal with Disney when this is all over (especially if they do another High School Musical). I think he will be safe.

Carly-Let me start by saying, I just can not stand this girl. I hate watching her, I hate listening to her and she is my "sanjaya" of this season. Week after week I keep hoping she will go home. What is sad though, is during auditions, I was pulling for her and I liked her but week after week it gets harder and harder for me to even look at her without my skin crawling. With that being said, I was obviously not impressed by her performance this week and what I think bothered me the most was when she messed up the words to the song, and it threw off the backup and band but NO ONE mentioned it from the judges table. WTF? I think for that reason alone she should go home (or at least be in the bottom 3 but going home would make me so happy!!! But I know at this point I am a little biased).

David-Loved it. Ben has called David as a winner since hollywood week and for me he is the singer that has grown on me more and more the more I saw him perform (a lot like Blake was for me last year). I thought this performance showed how he can be versitile and while his "rocker" style is a hit and he has changed some songs performed some songs different but well, and tonight showed he could do more than the rock songs. As I watched I told Ben that I think he won American Idol tonight with that performance. Not because it was his best ever but because he really showed he can do rock and ballad type song and most strong artists can do both and some people prefer one or the other but they can still do it. I think the only thing in his way from winning AI this year is the number of tween votes for David A. I plan to buy his studio version of this song from itunes on Thursday!

So, overall I thought it was a good AI night. I am anxious for tomorrow night but looking forward to seeing who stays and who goes. I have my fingers crossed for a Syesha or Carly going home:) A girl can dream....

Quick Shout out and Hello

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We were busy over here going to Ben's cousin's wedding in PA on Saturday (and it turned out to be the same Church from the last PA wedding we went to together-what are the odds?? And we got lost b/c of directions both times LOL!)

Monday came too quickly for me this weekend and work is shaping up to be a busy week so I am not sure when I will get on for a proper update but I promise to try and do it by the weekend (or on the weekend at the very least-I can easily type up my update while watching the NFL draft on Saturday-even if Ben's cousins come to watch it with us!)

I did want to first give a shout out to my friend Kim who has designed my blog! I have been meaning to do this and I know there is a link to her Spice Up Your Blog site that talks more about her designs (and prices and packages) but I was not as motivated to keep my blog going here until she helped me out. I LOVE the design she came up with and look forward to seeing her work on other people's blogs soon! So if you are reading this and would like some Spice on your blog....please go check her out (and you can tell her I sent you!) Thanks Kim(and Tim)!!!!

Tomorrow is laundry night and after that I will probably be working on photos from this weekend. We took over 1100 between the two of us at the Ceremony AND the Reception and some at the "after party" in the hotel lounge. I also need to work on getting the video onto my computer for editing. The bride had asked me to video tape for them b/c of some things that came up and since I will see her in 2 weeks at another family function, I want to at least have the raw footage of the ceremony onto a DVD for her, and *maybe* some highlight clips of the reception. Ultimately I want to put together something nice with the video and some photos but I dont want to rush that just to get it done. The raw will be good for now so she can show who she needed/wanted to and the rest will be icing on the cake later!

I also need to get all the photos uploaded so the rest of the family can see them. I had people asking me for them already! I really want to do a little more *editing* on some before posting but what I may just do is put them up in bulk and then create a "best of" or highlights gallery later with more editing done. I don't know yet. I would like to play around with a few photos and pretty them up a bit (some are dark and need a little more work than my basic lighting processing). Its hard for me sometimes b/c I put so much thought and effort into the pics, for even the littlest detail and most of the people are just happy to see what I got, even if they aren't all great shots. I am way to critical of stuff I shoot:)

Also, I think I was elected to try and get some information together on having a family reunion in Disney World next year. Not 100% sure how it all happened but it did so I started to gather some info today and I need to put it up on our website to share with family. Does anyone know if you can easily post polls on blogger? I was just going to use my smugmug site as a place to post info and get comments but I was thinking maybe it would be easier to make a blog page only for reunion info, and then I can update it any where, any time. I will have to think about that one....

So that should get me up to date for a few days. Hope everyone is well and I will be back soon!
ta ta for now!!