Nashville Star will be returning after all, this time on NBC, reports Variety. USA Network had previously declined to bring the show back. However, NBC’s Ben Silverman (also one of the show’s executive producers) has seen to it that the show does come back.
Casting will begin next month, with the show airing in the summer. A new host and judges are expected to be named later this year. Duets and groups will be eligible to compete, and the age limit is now 16 and up.
Last night, American Idol 7 Episode 1 kicked things off in typical tradition. While some were quick to point out that the premiere’s ratings were down some from last year, it still beat the competition hands down and was the year’s most watched show. In addition to the typical really bad auditions and blatant attention seekers, we also saw some talent. Early strong performers included single mom Angela Martin, cagefighting country girl Kristy Lee Cook, and hoping to sell a lot of records after he dies Chris Watson.
Tonight we head to Dallas, TX for the first time since season 1 (Kelly Clarkson, who they largely ignored for weeks) for another two hour episode.
Stay-at-home mom of two and ex-drug addict Jessica Brown is up first. She sings I’ll Stand By You by The Pretenders (or at least the Carrie Underwood version). Another country singer with good potential.
It’s pretty obvious that park attendant Paul Stafford is going to fail miserably, but let’s watch him anyway. He sings (for lack of a better word) Elliot Yamin’s Baby I Will Wait for You. He hasn’t sung that in public before. Might want to keep that going. Nice guy, though.
Beth Maddocks believes she’s Kelly Clarkson. With that in mind, she sings Beautiful Disaster by Kelly Clarkson. Disaster is certainly appropriate.
Country singer Alaina Whitaker says she gets compared to Carrie Underwood (but likes to think that Carrie Underwood looks like her). She sings Stronger by Faith Hill. Simon likes her but doesn’t think she’s as good as she thinks she is, to which she responds, “Shoot.” I didn’t get any kind of negative vibe from her myself, but regardless, she’s easily through to the next round.
Bruce Dickson has promised his father he will only have one mate. Not even kissing’s allowed. He sings Ain’t No Sunshine. The judges are concerned that he’s got a good voice but may not be worth listening to on the radio. Randy and Paula say he’s not ready yet. Randy’s advice is to kiss some girls. Good potential, though.
Pia Easley tells us she’s a model. I’ll take her word for that. Different. Unique. Not sure how far she’ll go, but she’s good enough to go through.
Brandon Green collects fingernails. Seacrest is sufficiently grossed out. He doesn’t want to be like Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. He sings Rich Girl by Hall & Oates. Simon says he’s forgettable. Randy and Paula have useful comments for him and let him through. It would have been silly if this guy didn’t make it to Hollywood.
A very nervous but overly happy Kayla Dawn Hatfield has a story about a car wreck that her family thought she’d died in. Simon wants to be her for one hour a day. Interesting voice and a nice person, but not quite cut out for this. Maybe if she gets her nerves under control. Paula says no, but the other two say yes.
Katie Malloy’s the last audition of the first day. She does an impression of Britney Spears singing, and she does it quite well. Her potential problem is getting past the impersonations, but when she sings one of Simon’s favorite songs (Unchained Melody) in her own style, she blows them away. Simon says he thinks she’s the best one they’ve seen yet.
Douglas Davidson tells us his father hates him. When he’s done, Simon’s “What the bloody Hell was that?” says it all. And yet they give him a chance to sing a second song, something they don’t do for a lot of singers who are borderline. Simon doesn’t want to hear any more of this stupidity. So after that, he goes on for two more minutes until security escorts him out to “take him to a safe place.”
Angela Riley-? (she goes on about her husband but doesn’t give her married name). Her husband Chad suggests she sing Baby Love. Good energy. And. Well. Not much more than that. Chad likes it, though, and Simon says love is deaf. Like Douglas, she’s given the chance to sing yet another song despite having no prayer.
Kyle Ensley hopes to become governor. Oh, and he apparently may want to be the next American Idol. He sings Somebody to Love. Better than expected but still not good enough. Simon says yes, and Paula agrees with him after much convincing.
A rather emotionless Tammy Tuzinski says Celine Dion is her idol and sings The Power of Love, or If You Asked Me To… she’s not sure which. Not that it much matters either way. She knows it’s a no.
Colton Swan plays guitar, drums, and base. He sings Boondocks by Big Town. Paula cautions against getting lost in his performance, Simon says it’s just okay, and Randy’s somewhere in the middle. He gets a yes from all three.
Drew Poppelreiter is a farmer who’s looking to leave the farm. We already did this story before with the cowboy who sang to his turkey. He sings George Strait’s Check Yes or No. Worth at least going forward to the next round. Simon says no. Randy says yes. Paula doesn’t feel any wow factor but says yes.
Kyle believes he’s a rocker. He sings Kelly Clarkson’s Never Again. He’s got the look down, one which Simon thinks is slightly demonic. Paula’s afraid, too. Not necessarily a bad singer, but he’s not going through.
Nina Shaw is from Kelly Clarkson’s hometown of Burleson, TX. Not much chance of her living up to Kelly, but she’s got a decent voice. Simon considers her old fashioned and cabaret, and he says no. Randy says yes, and as we’ve seen quite a bit tonight, Paula agrees with him, outvoting Simon 2-1.
The last audition of the night is a disaster waiting to happen. Renaldo Lapuz sings an original composition, We’re Brothers Forever, and beyond that, he worships Simon. Joining in the act are Randy and Ryan Seacrest, and Paula joins in with some dancing and sign language. Then Simon gives him a hug. Wow. This is the strangest audition of the night.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 7 episode 3, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.
Controversy or not, it was pretty obvious the cast of High School Musical would be back for the third installment. Hollywood Reporter reports just that.
Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman will all be returning for High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which following the massive success of the second edition will be released in theaters first.
Kenny Ortega will return to direct, with Peter Barsocchini returning as the writer, with a story about Troy and Gabriella facing possible separation as they go to college.
It’s that time of the year again, when everybody gathers around the TV and watches the same show. All the while shaking their heads, saying “This is stupid,” yet refusing to change the channel. There’s no trainwreck like an Idol trainwreck. Who’s with me for two hours of primarily really bad singers, which may or may not feature one or two people with some hint of talent?
We start off in Philadelphia, and the crowds are bigger than ever (and probably less talented).
Joey Catalano, having dropped 200 pounds, has an improved outlook on life. He sings Maroon 5, Sunday Morning. He’s not the next Idol, but he’s got a good voice. As expected, Simon’s concern is image. Regardless, he gets a unanimous ticket to Hollywood.
Next up is a guy named Yuka (just going with his nickname because I have no clue how to spell his actual name) from Egypt. He loves American music and wants to love a girl from the hair to the nipple. The first thing the judges have to do is figure out his name. They can’t. He considers American music to be the Bee Gees. Bomb of an audition. Shocker.
Melanie Nyema was a backup singer for Taylor Hicks. She sounds better than Taylor, but I’m not expecting much. At least steal some of his dance moves.
Tour guide James Lewis says his voice is unique, new, and different. Uh oh. He sings Go Down Moses, in a really, really deep voice. Not sexy deep. Just weird deep. There’s snorting coming from the judges. He plans to return next year and try again with more contemporary songs. Yeah, because song selection was the problem here.
Junot Joyner doesn’t get a backstory, but he has a great voice. He gets through to Hollywood. Jonathan Baines has similar success.
16-year-old middle linebacker Temptress Brown is up next. She’s going to break Seacrest’s bones if he makes her mad enough. I say go for it. She says she’s doing this for her mother, who’s in a wheelchair and has various other health problems from being severely overweight. After this build up, they yank the rug from under her. She’s not even close to getting through. The judges escort her out in an emotional exit.
Mark Hayes does an impression of crickets chirping before his audition. It’s not long before we hear that sound again following his audition.
We’re getting a dose of Udi. He believes he can dance like MC Hammer and sing like Barry Manilow or Frank Sinatra. He’s doing it his way, opening with the line “And now the end is near.” Simon says he’s nuts, tuneless, and slightly disturbing.
Alexis Cohen marches to the beat of a different drummer. A drummer on drugs. The wacky look isn’t too over the top, but the personality is out there. Simon says her performance is all a bit possessed. They suggest a 60’s cover band. Compared to some of the people, she’s actually not that bad. She says Simon’s a “big fat bad word.” This doesn’t last long because she knows that if you flip out, give the bird, and swear a lot, you’ll get on TV for sure. Then she gives a performance, obviously trying to get a part as an extra on a horror movie. Not hiding her true intention, she says she’s going to be an actress. Seriously, why do they give these people who quite clearly are there for camera time all this attention?
Single mom Angela Martin is there for her daughter, who has Rett Syndrome, and she wants to see her walk and talk when she grows up. Her large family is there to support her. She sings Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered, and she sings it quite well. Simon wants her to lose some of her bad habits from her band, but she’s definitely going through. Based on her voice, story, looks, and attitude, I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing quite a bit of Angela.
Alyse tries to deafen the judges. Teresa as well has seen too many past Idol seasons where screaming girls went far, as has Brandi.
Milo Turk, who’s well over the maximum age, has a public service announcement. The name of his song is No Sex Allowed. Don’t worry, dude. No chance of that happening for you anyway. In Britain, they call it creepy. They call it that here, too.
Kristy Lee Cook lives in her family home (a log cabin), kickboxes, and cagefights (but not with Jell-O). She sold one of her horses to pay her way to Philly. She sings Amazing Grace. This is yet another person with the potential to go far. Once again the total package. Plus she’s got three names.
What does Ben have under his cloak? It’s an outfit that shows more skin than we care to see. Paula’s biggest concern, though, is his chest hair. If he waxes it, he can come back. Why? Just… why?
Paul Marturano wrote a love song for Paula Abdul. Something about stalking and cross dressing. Get a restraining order, Paula. Simon has security escort him out. Paula says it was nice meeting him.
Stay-at-home mom Beth Stalker (nice segue) is next. She sings Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered. Nice older sounding voice. Simon says no because he doesn’t think she’ll stand out (he’s right, but she’s still good enough to go to the next round), but the other two let her go through.
Ben’s back, having fully waxed his upper body. He sings Don’t Cha, or at least the first few words, until Simon kicks him out.
Chris Watson wants to sell a lot of records after he dies. That doesn’t help Simon any. He sings Follow Me by Uncle Cracker. Another one to watch as the season progresses.
Christina Tolisano is obsessed with Star Wars (to the point of wanting to name her kids based on the Star Wars universe) and believes that will buy her a free pass through to the next round. She sings Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me. Paula stops her at the ear piercing part. She takes the rejection as a judgment against the way she looks.
Nanny Brooke White doesn’t watch R-rated movies, drink, or smoke. She sings Like a Star. Very sweet, likeable person with a good voice. Simon hopes to bring her over to the dark side.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol 7 episode 2, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.
In season two, Kyle was introduced to someone just like him, more or less, Jessi XX. Unlike Kyle, she found it a lot harder to control her darker side, and in the climax of the first half of the season, she finally betrayed him, stealing the information in his head for Madacorp. At the conclusion, she jumped off a cliff, with a very rocky landing below. Talk about your cliffhangers.
Picking up where we left off, Tom Foss comes up behind Kyle. He’s got some explaining to do. Like why Adam Baylin’s still alive despite having been shot. Once they’re done discussing what’s happened, Foss wants Kyle to go back to his family… and tell them the truth.
As Foss asked, Kyle goes home and tells them everything. Josh was wrong about him being an alien. I was hoping he was an alien myself, but Josh thinks the truth is pretty cool. After that, he’s got one more person to talk to, but he wasn’t able to catch Amanda before she left. When he heads back home, he’s worried what they’ll think and apologizes for putting them in danger, but Nicole still accepts him as one of the family.
Kyle’s got a plan: let Madacorp put him in the C.I.R. chair to get the information (that Jessi stole, so he no longer has it) and then create an energy surge to take the place out. Steven says it won’t be that easy, though, since the chair is isolated from the mainframe, but he can physically link it.
Lori, meanwhile, is mostly just happy that she’s free, since Declan hiding Kyle’s secrets from her means that it wasn’t her fault.
The plan now is to crash the open house at Madacorp since there will be plenty of people around, meaning a lot of distraction. Andy’s back because Josh invited her to the open house a couple weeks back, and she quickly gets suspicious something’s up.
Kyle goes right up to Julian Ballantine and says, “I hear you’ve been looking for me.” He offers up the information in exchange for leaving the family alone.
Lori promises Josh that the next cute guy she sees is about to have a very memorable open house experience. So of course, the next person she sees is Declan. She’s already forgiven him for keeping the secret. Beyond that, she’s completely over them being together and wants to destroy their memories. In the middle of this destructive fun, they find some condoms. So much for being broken up.
As Stephen’s sneaking around, oops, busted. Emily sees him. He pretends it’s just business as usual. She threatens to call security. He says she doesn’t understand and that his family is in danger. Only she does understand all too well.
While Kyle and Ballantine are walking and talking, he brings him in a room and tells him he doesn’t have what he wants any more. Jessi’s in a room going crazy, trying to get the information out any way she can. Ballantine tells her she’s free to go with the men and get the information taken out of her. In exchange for her help, not only does she get rid of the information, which would take her 57 years to write, but she also gets memories of the life she always wanted.
Not free to go is Kyle, nor is Stephen, who’s brought in the room with him. Since Jessi’s under such stress, Kyle thinks he can connect with her, as her brainwaves are more pronounced with increased emotions. He sneaks into her new memories, which are of a life as a member of the Trager family. He warns her not to give them the information. New life’s not going so well any more, as she’s going crazy there, too. Kyle wants her to be a better person, by choosing to be a better person. He offers to take the pain away, which he does by taking the information back.
They come to get him and take him to the chair, but he’s warned to cooperate because if he doesn’t, the chair will fry his brain. Emily tells Jessi to get the hell out of there, trying to protect her. While fleeing from the security guards, she runs into the elevator, where she meets up with Nicole, who believes there’s something that Jessi can do to help Kyle. Despite the warning, Kyle fights against the chair. He’s on the verge of cardiac arrest, but Ballantine doesn’t care and just cranks up the power. Together, though, he and Jessi can do what he couldn’t do alone. As they’re creating a power surge, Stephen connects the system, bringing it down. Then Jessi passes out.
When she wakes up in the hospital with Kyle watching over her, it’s not just Madacorp that’s down. The whole city’s been dark for hours. She’s happy to have done something good for a change, and Nicole’s looking for a home for her.
The city traced the blackout back to Madacorp, and what’s worse for Ballantine is that he was acting on his own without Madacorp’s knowledge. Emily’s sticking around to replace him.
As he’s packing up to leave, Foss is confident that Kyle’s got his family now and can get by without him, though he’ll still be around (somewhere). And he tells him Adam will be okay. Some day. Kyle promises to work as hard as he can every day.
Since the citywide blackout struck just as Declan was about to derevirginize Lori, they decided not to do anything. I’m not real clear on the logic either. She’s comfortable being friends without benefits but promises to get back where things were if they’re not hooked up with someone else by prom.
When Kyle gets home, he’s got some good news. Amanda’s flight, which has been delayed for hours, has now been cancelled due to the blackout, so she’s waiting for him in his tub. They’re able to patch things up, and she promises to come back to him.
Brian shows up at the hospital, claiming to be Jessi’s father. He says he’s the one who took the picture at the diner and that the girl in the picture who looks like Jessi is named Sarah.
Kyle is comfortable in the fact that, whatever may lay ahead, he doesn’t have to face it alone.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Kyle XY Season 2 episode 15 The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades, which airs Monday at 8/7c on ABC Family.
It’s been two months since Prison Break Season 3 Episode 8, but now Prison Break’s back with all new episodes. Previously, Mahone went to court and tried to get a plea deal, but he was a wreck without his pills, so they sent him back to Sona. As he was headed back, we finished up the first half of the season with Michael Scofield being escorted out of the prison, after he prevented the Company from breaking out Whistler on their own.
General Zavala brings Scofield into his office. Scofield says he had nothing to do with what happened, which is true for a change. He doesn’t give any answers as to who actually was responsible. They put him in a box to see if they can sweat the answers out.
Sofia and Lincoln are chatting, and up pulls Susan, to grab Link and tell Sofia to get lost. Susan wants to keep Lincoln motivated. She takes him to LJ and gives them one minute to speak to each other, a brief exchange about how “that bitch is crazy” and the next time they meet, he’ll get him out of this.
Mahone’s back. He says that, all things considered, he probably does deserve to be in there. He doesn’t get any drugs, but Lang does give him her father’s good luck charm.
Out in the yard, Bellick and T-Bag see someone vomit. Bellick’s ordered to clean it up. This doesn’t sit well with him, so he shoves the guy. This won’t end well.
Having accepted money for sneaking something into the prison before, Sucre’s stuck doing it again, this time for no money. When he gets there, Michael asks him to just go and not come back.
Lechero and Whistler are trying to break out on their own. It’s not long before they realize this is stupid and pointless.
Scofield tries to convince Zavala he can’t stop them. Zavala tells the story about how he captured Lechero, someone everybody else thought they couldn’t stop. That’s enough to convince him to talk. He spills the beans, but Zavala’s not buying the truth again.
After Zavala’s done some research, he finds that there’s some truth to the story. He believes the other inmate should be able to corroborate it and demands a name. In return, Michael wants him to locate LJ.
Sofia goes to the prison to confront Whistler about what she saw at the apartment. He claims that it was all his plan for them to be together. She doesn’t know how she can believe anything he says.
Of course, once Zavala brings Whistler back, he says nothing and plays dumb regardless of a claim that the story has been verified and all that’s needed is a name of who’s in charge. With some convincing, he claims that he’s working with Scofield… and only Scofield. They’re both brought into the room to discuss it together, and finally he does give up a name.
T-Bag’s strategy this time is to get Mahone to kill Sammy. In return, he’ll cover his drugs.
Sucre’s had an argument with Lincoln, asking for money to continue helping him. Having overheard this, Susan takes advantage. She offers Sucre $50,000 to go back to him and pretend like nothing happened and to continue working with him for a few days.
Michael calls Lincoln to find out when his next meeting with Susan is. With that, he’s able to find out the location to send Zavala to.
Because of the puke incident, Bellick gets a chicken foot. He approaches Sammy to get some assistance. Of course, he gets nowhere. Lechero overhears this and isn’t happy.
Turns out Sucre and Lincoln’s fight was just staged. They were setting Susan up.
Mahone’s not interested in T-Bag’s offer.
Lincoln’s meeting with Susan, and as planned, the general comes and takes her away.
Susan plays dumb, too. They’re doing a good job of that tonight. So now it’s time to torture her as well. Unlike the men, though, she’s not going to be that easy. Despite the fact that she’s choking, she still won’t talk. Whistler and Scofield come in, and Whistler says yes she ordered the prison escape. She claims to be just the babysitter, that she watches the kid and knows nothing about a breakout. She offers to take them to him.
Michael wants to know if she killed Sara, and she says she doesn’t know what he’s talking about, to which he responds, “I’m coming for you.”
Bellick wins his chicken foot fight, even if he did cheat. T-Bag may have himself a new target.
Susan leads them to where LJ is, or at least where he was. When they get there, she kills Zavala and his guard. She calls for a ride, then her next call is to Lincoln.
It turns out the guy Sucre’s been sneaking packages in for is helping out Sammy. He wants Sammy to take control and thinks Lechero’s days are numbered.
Scofield and Whistler are taken back into the prison, since the general has been found dead. So now it’s back to the original plan: break out of prison.
Unsurprisingly, inside the cigar box is a gun. Now Sammy’s got a way to take power.
Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Prison Break season 3 episode 10 Dirt Nap, which airs Monday at 8/7c on Fox.
That didn’t take long. Following a strong early opening of its first season, NBC has announced that it has picked up American Gladiators for a second season. Additional details will be announced at a later date.
The remake of the show from two decades ago has taken off strongly. Ratings in adults 18-49 have been among the best shows on TV, and overall, American Gladiators has been NBC’s best new show since Heroes.
For the three people who still care.
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
MAD MEN
Lionsgate; AMC
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
GLENN CLOSE
Damages
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
JON HAMM
Mad Men
BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
EXTRAS
BBC and HBO Entertainment; HBO
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
TINA FEY
30 Rock
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
DAVID DUCHOVNY
Californication
BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
LONGFORD
A Granada Production in association with Channel 4 and HBO Films; HBO
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
QUEEN LATIFAH
Life Support
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
JIM BROADBENT
Longford
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
SAMANTHA MORTON
Longford
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
JEREMY PIVEN
Entourage
WINNERS BY TELEVISION NETWORK
HBO 6
AMC 2
FX Networks 1
NBC 1
Showtime 1
WINNERS BY TELEVISION SERIES OR PROGRAM
Longford 3
Mad Men 2
30 Rock 1
Californication 1
Damages 1
Entourage 1
Extras 1
Life Support 1