Month: July 2009

So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 21

The top 6 danced in So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 20, and tonight two more will go home to bring us down to the final four.

The girls are up first. One will be going to the finale right now. Jeanine has made it. Lil C pulls out his thesaurus to say that she deserves this.

One guy will also immediately be safe. The first guy in next week’s finale is Brandon. Mary’s believed in him from day one, unlike certain people who shall remain nameless (Mia and Lil C).

After so much filler I thought I was watching an American Idol results show, the next girl in the finale is Kayla, meaning Melissa has been eliminated.

Now it’s time for the final boy. Evan has somehow advanced to the finale, and Ade has been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 22, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Big Brother 11 Episode 10

After Michele dumb lucked her way into a veto win in Big Brother 11 Episode 9, Jessie followed through on his plan to backdoor Casey, rather than his ally Ronnie like the rest of the house expected.

They promised us a big change at the end of the last episode. For once, it’s not a lame twist. Rather, it’s the reversal of a lame twist. With the popular clique nearly gone and the other cliques largely broken up already, school is out, as this year’s stupid twist comes to an end. Along with this good news comes stupid news. Julie tells us the new power to be unleashed on the house lies in America’s hands.

Casey looked around. He didn’t see any outrage. Didn’t they have a plan? Jeff’s frustrated, realizing he backed the wrong horse. Jordan calls Ronnie Jessie’s bitch. So what’s her role?

Lydia crawls into Jessie’s bed in the middle of the night. This is why there’s a lock on the HOH door, dude. She thinks maybe he’s dreaming about baby unicorns, riding his motorcycle, or possibly her. Yeah, I’d more likely go with the unicorns.

Jordan isn’t campaigning, hoping for Casey to sink himself. He’s definitely got a mouth on him. The potential problem is if he can swing the vote his way and get her kicked out. Nobody views Jordan as a challenge threat, whereas Casey would be out for revenge. Granted, a vengeful houseguest is a dangerous houseguest.

Jeff and Jordan have a budding romance going on, minus the pesky romance part.

Jessie considers his relationships with Lydia and Natalie to be merely platonic. Don’t tell them that. He realizes, though, that it’s very likely that they are playing him. He refuses to choose between the two.

In his final speech to secure votes, Casey flings insults at Ronnie and Jessie, then he calls the rest of the house a bunch of sheep.

Votes
Jeff: Casey
Ronnie: Casey
Natalie: Casey
Chima: Casey
Russell: Jordan
Michele: Casey
Lydia: Casey
Kevin: Casey

Staying true to his word to the guy who got evicted, Russell voted against Jordan, which will serve no purpose but to cause suspicion. By a vote of 7-1, Casey has been evicted from the Big Brother house. While leaving the house, Casey continues to whine. Like Laura, he should have kept his mouth shut from time to time. He apparently still doesn’t realize that Jessie eliminating Ronnie was a really stupid idea.

Julie breaks the news to the houseguests. The cliques are dead. As if they weren’t dead to begin with. With that ending comes a new beginning. One person will be granted a mystery power. Is this going to be like the mystery power Mike Boogie got that was so poorly planned he never got to use it? This mystery power can be used in the next two weeks, and it could completely change the course of the game. Dun dun dun. It will be America’s Choice who gets this power. Great, a popularity contest. This won’t end well.

Yeah, same damn power. Coup d’etat. That person can overthrow the HOH’s nominations. This is lame. And it’s been done before. Typical Big Brother. Because it’s America’s vote, I’m assuming it will go to the side of the house that’s played so poorly that their allies keep dropping like flies to give them some chance at catching up.

The HOH competition is an endurance competition. The last person hanging will be the new Head of Household. By the way, the first five people to be eliminated will be able to choose a gift from the table. Spinning them in circles isn’t enough, so they’ll add some rain to it. This could go on for a while, but if you want to know who wins HOH before Sunday’s show, check out the Big Brother 11 Spoilers.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Big Brother 11 Episode 11, which airs Sunday at 9/8c on CBS.

Kara DioGuardi Returning to American Idol

Unsurprisingly, and more to the point if anyone cares, Kara DioGuardi will be returning as a judge for American Idol Season 9, according to a tweet from the LA Times’ Kate Arthur.

“Confirmed: Kara DioGuardi is returning as a judge to “American Idol.” She’s “happy to be going to Denver next Thursday” said a friend.”

America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 12

We started the top 40 countdown in America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 11 with a combination of the pointless elimination of 25 people the minute they stepped off the plane, followed by some people going through to Hollywood, many of whom were rushed right past. Tonight we round out Vegas with the rest of the top 40.

Paradizo have the judges asking: where do they go next? Hoff’s overacting makes it obvious. They’re going through to the next round.

Bollywood group Ishaara and hip hop group FootworkKINGz go next, and both groups advance.

Piano player Jeffrey Ou and singer/harpist Rashida Jolley are up next. One will go through, and one will go home. Rashida has been eliminated. I wonder what would have happened if she just sang or just played the harp instead of both. Jeffrey will be going to Hollywood. He is sad to see his new friend go home.

The alien strongmen have been eliminated. Corey, the brother from the brother/sister act quit, and they tell Kara that she’s not strong enough without him. If you ask me, she carried the duo.

Eleisha Miller had a lot of personality, but her singing just didn’t cut it. Regardless, she is going through to the next round.

Chainsaw jugglers Mario & Jenny, hoping to get through with the freak vote, are advancing to the next round.

Marcus Terrell was given the opportunity to drop his Serenades, but he declined that. The girls are pulling him down, so it’s a no. If he’s not willing to drop them, they are willing to back out. With that offer, Marcus agrees. He is through to the next round.

U4RIA, Breaksk8, and Destined 2 Be are back after having prepared for their dance off. Great, I just realized U4RIA is spelled even more stupidly than the other two. Lay off the text messaging. At least one act will be eliminated. After the dancing, there’s one that the judges really want to put through. The group that goes through is Breaksk8, certainly one of the more unique dance groups.

Voices of Glory are next. They are going to Hollywood by a unanimous decision. Opera singer Barbara Padilla also advances. Both dog acts go through. Charles DeWayne Dorsey, Jr. joins them. The EriAm Sisters and Anthony & Matt do as well. Grandma Lee jokes her way through.

Will Alizma advance despite their lacking singing skills? Their violin playing and looks are enough to get them through to the next round. Now if only they would stop finishing each others’ sentences. They’re so much closer now, as if that’s possible.

Mia Boostrom was eliminated last year in Vegas week. Kelli Glover was eliminated from season 1 of American Idol in the semifinals. Which will face the same fate again? Kelli. Begging and having a breakdown won’t help. Mia, however, has made it this time.

Now that that’s over, we have the complete top 40:

AcroDunk
African High Flyers
Alizma
Anthony Morigerato & Matt Lucas
Arcadian Broad
Barbara Padilla
Breaksk8
Bri
Carol Loo
Charles DeWayne Dorsey, Jr.
Chris Allison
David Johnson
Drew Thomas
Eleisha Miller
EriAm Sisters
Erik & Rickie
The Fab Five
FootworKINGz
G Force
Grandma Lee
Hairo Torres
Ishaara
Jeffrey Ou
Kevin Skinner
Lawrence Beamen
Manuela Horn
Mario & Jenny
Marcus Terrell
Mia Boostrom
Mosaic
Pam Martin & Viva
Paradizo Dance
Pete Peterkin
Pixie Mystere
Platt Brothers
Recycled Percussion
Rockin Rory
Texan Tenors
Thia Megia
Voices of Glory

Not to leave it at that, though, Simon Cowell gives them a call at the end of the episode. He’s just had a look at the choices, and he has a very serious problem. Lame fake out?

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 13, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 20

America got a little loopy when Janette was voted out in So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 19 (oh, and Jason Glover was sent home, too). Tonight the top 6 will perform.

The girls pick a new partner out of a hat tonight.

Lil C is joining Mary and Nigel at the judges’ table, which means we’re going to get a lot of big words from someone who got a thesaurus for Christmas, like Paula Abdul.

Nigel wants to see a star. If they can’t stand out, the one who lucks into the best routine will be safe.

Top 3 Guys
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: True Romance by She Wants Revenge
Lil C: Loved it. Brandon is so dedicated. Ade is still proving it. Evan is commendable for not getting swallowed by the others.
Mary: I just loved it. Phenomenal.
Nigel: Evan stood out tonight because he hasn’t attempted stuff like this. Congratulations to all three.

Jeanine Mason & Ade Abayomi
Style: Samba
Choreographer: Louis van Amstel
Song: LoveGame by Lady Gaga
Mary: The first 15 seconds was absolutely incredible. Then it started to fall apart. Ade was hopping around that floor. So novice.
Lil C: Really fell short. Ade was just frollicking.
Nigel: Ade has to change his style with each routine. Jeanine was beautiful and confident and did a wonderful job.

Melissa Sandvig & Evan Kasprzak
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Get Me to the Church on Time from My Fair Lady by Matt Dusk
Lil C: Expected so much out of Evan… but didn’t get that. Danced really good but could have been better.
Mary: Could be get me to the finale on time. Really fun and entertaining. Nice to see Evan in his own style. Melissa really came to life. Still hasn’t taken a wrong step.
Nigel: The other ballet girls can’t adapt as well as Melissa has. Evan brought enough to the routine, which was not technically demanding but was demanding on their personalities.

Kayla Rodomski & Brandon Bryant
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: All I Want by Ahn Trio
Lil C: Really intense and beyond amazing. The first time Kayla’s been equally matched with a formidable partner.
Mary: Brandon is on the hot tamale train. Brilliant dancing. Kayla is as exquisite as anything. Perfection on the dance floor.
Nigel: Would have liked to see the pair of you dance together sooner. Not sure about the chemistry, but couldn’t have asked more from the technique.

Jeanine Mason & Ade Abayomi
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographers: Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo
Song: Move (If You Wanna) by MIMS
Lil C: Danced that way better than I expected. Ade utilized his dirty kind of groove.
Mary: Jeanine was terrific in the samba. But let’s talk about this dance. Will not be getting your eviction notice after that performance. Ade brought it on down.
Nigel: You got down, and it was absolutely fantastic. Not expecting that from Jeanine at all.

Melissa Sandvig & Evan Kasprzak
Style: Quickstep
Choreographer: Louis van Amstel
Song: As Long As I’m Singin’ by the Brian Setzer Orchestra
Lil C: Evan didn’t take heed to Nigel’s advice from the second week. Melissa was fabulous, though.
Mary: Crumbled and fell apart toward the end. A little disappointing.
Nigel: Melissa is extremely talented. The lindy hop section went down. Not one of the best routines tonight. May have the audience second guessing their votes.

Kayla Rodomski & Brandon Bryant
Style: Disco
Choreographer: Doriana Sanchez
Song: Dance (Disco Heat) by Sylvester
Lil C: There was no darkness (whatever that means).
Mary: Gave it a homerun tonight.
Nigel: This is what this show’s all about. Absolutely incredible.

Top 3 Girls
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Kick It (Superheroes Remix) by Nina Martine
Lil C: Still rambling, but the point is that they all didn’t really go for the gusto.
Mary: Kayla stood out because she had a couple tougher moves. Next year, call up Comic-Con because they need you.
Nigel: Didn’t find anyone stand out. All fantastic.

Kayla: 1-888-TEMPO-01
Ade: 1-888-TEMPO-02
Melissa: 1-888-TEMPO-03
Brandon: 1-888-TEMPO-04
Jeanine: 1-888-TEMPO-05
Evan: 1-888-TEMPO-06

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 21, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

The Bachelorette Season 5 Episode 12

First Jillian dumped Kiptyn. Then Reid came back and proposed after already being rejected. Jillian, who had already made up her mind who she wanted to ask her to marry her, said she had to think about it. Then Chris talked her into dumping Reid, again. So then Ed arrived and proposed to her, and he ended up as The Bachelorette Season 5 winner.

With the season now over, it’s time to find out what’s happened after the final rose.

First up, Melissa is back. Getting dumped by Jason was probably the best thing that ever happened to her. First, she got to star on Dancing with the Stars because ABC felt sorry for her. Since then, she has gotten engaged (again), but based on how she talked about her ex boyfriends on The Bachelor, my expectations for her relationship are not much better than they are for Jason and Molly. Her new fiance, who was previously her ex, became her best friend again when she got on the TV. She thinks that Jason made the right choice.

Kiptyn is back to tell us what went wrong, assuming he actually knows. He put it all out there, perhaps too late, but this was the first time he’s had his heart broken. It kinda sucks. He asks Jillian what he could have done differently. Nothing. Well, that doesn’t help. He doesn’t wish he’d done anything earlier because when he did say the things he said, he actually meant them, instead of just saying them just to say them or for the camera. He doesn’t have any hard feelings.

Reid is, of course, back again, presumably as part of his diabolical plan to not miss an episode. He thinks maybe he should have said more during the dinner at Maui, but he hoped that their connection was enough to get him to the next stage, where he could then say how he felt. Why’d he come back to the show? In order to change his pattern of indecisiveness. He had to make about 10 phone calls to the producers, who no doubt at the time were trying to hide the fact that they were jumping up and down. When did he know that she wasn’t going to accept his proposal? That’s a good question… he expected her to accept it.

He asks Jillian whether there was a part of her that wanted to say yes. She rambles. I’m not sure what her answer is. Does he regret doing what he did? No, it was worth it. Like Kiptyn, Reid still loves Jillian. If he told her how he felt earlier, would it have changed anything? She made the right decision, which isn’t a no, but it’s not so much a yes either. She was so in love with Ed that she could never have let him go. The first question Reid gets from the audience is whether he’s started dating again, and if he’d like to go out on a date with the girl asking it. This girl should consider applying for The Bachelor if she wants a shot. It’s too early for Reid to consider dating again.

Jillian is happily engaged to Ed, and I’m assuming she has no plans to dump him this evening and then ask the runner up to go out with her instead. Apparently, now’s the part where we believe Ed chose Jillian over his career, when in reality he chose her in addition to his career, which is a completely fair choice, but no need to sugar coat it. He knew he was going to propose in Spain the night he went to the fantasy suite, which was the episode after his return to the show. The morning of the proposal, Ed thought there was no way she was going to pick him, but when he got up there that day, he felt pretty good. Jillian will be moving in with Ed in Chicago on September 1, although they’ve already been together for most of the time since the show as it is. They plan to certainly (probably) get married within the next 12 months. That excessive speed was quickly derailed when DeAnna and Jesse did it. Why rush?

The Bachelor 14 has already been confirmed for next season, but no choice has yet been made for who will be its star. I was assuming Kiptyn, but Reid certainly boosted his chances by coming on the show again and again.

America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 11

The audition rounds concluded in America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 10, with performances from 8 year old singer Ciana Pelekai and the Beale Street Flippers. Then Susan Boyle came on for half the episode.

Now that the auditions are over, it’s time for the Vegas verdict. The 160+ acts will be narrrowed down to a top 40.

With so many acts having gone through, the judges have decided to make an early cut. Some of these acts will merely set foot in Vegas, without a chance to even try again. Upon landing, they will be split into 4 groups.

The first group is going through to the next round. If only they’d give us more than a name or two out of that group. The second group has been cut. The shock from this group is the elimination of Tallan Noble Latz. The other two remaining groups will both go through to the next round. In total, 25 acts were sent home, leaving 135+.

Keith Johnson and Pete Peterkin step forward first. Piers told Keith at the audition he didn’t quite have the voice yet, although he’s got the looks. Pete Peterkin was the Obama impersonator. Keith is told there are better singers, and as a result he will not be going through. Pete, however, probably is the best impersonator there, so he’s going through to the next round.

Dancer Arcadian Broad is the first to enter the theater to hear from the judges. He is through to Hollywood.

Acrodunk goes through. Then some nameless groups follow. Somehow, David Johnson, who sang the song about David Hasselhoff, makes it through. Seriously? Is he really better than Keith Johnson? Then they rush through some more groups. Slow it down a bit so I know what the heck’s going on.

Next up is Anthony Ferrante, the 74 year old retired barber, who danced, for lack of a better word. He’ll be going home. Nick tries to cheer him up. There’s always next year. His response: I could be dead by next year.

Next up to see the judges are three dance groups, all of which have their names spelled stupidly: Breaksk8, U4RIA, and Destined 2 Be. Since the judges couldn’t decide who to send home, they’ve come up with a plan, a challenge. They will be given 12 hours to prepare a routine to the same track of music. Not all of them will be going through when they return.

Drew Thomas and Joseph Constantine are the only remaining magicians in the contest. They had trouble deciding whether they should put one of them through or none of them through, but not both. In the end, Joseph has been eliminated, but Drew will be advancing.

A capella group Spiritual Harmonizers are the next to hear the verdict. Did their lead singer pull them through? No, they didn’t make it.

Then a bunch of dance acts, whoever they are, are going home in what was one of the more competitive categories. Will Hairo Torres follow them? No, he is safe.

The last two acts are singers: Lawrence Beaman and chicken catcher Kevin Skinner. Lawrence Beaman makes it through to the next round. Unsurpisingly, Kevin Skinner, perhaps the single most talked about contestant so far this season, joins him.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 12, which airs Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.