Month: July 2009

Survivor: Africa Episode 12

Frank made it a lot further than I would have expected, but his grumpiness finally caught up with him in Survivor: Africa Episode 11.

Ethan’s surrounded by people all the time, but he feels so alone because he doesn’t really know them, having met them a month ago. So pretty much this is a family visit episode.

Yeah, pretty much. When they arrive at the challenge, everybody gets videos from home. Once all this sh…ow of emotion is over, it’s time for the challenge. Since they’ve got their families on video already, they might as well ask them questions. The winner will go to the Masai Mara to watch the migration of the wildebeests. Then they’ll head to the safari resort for an overnight stay, to be followed by a hot air balloon ride.

What is your most embarrassing moment?
Kim J: Throwing up on you on our second date.
Husband: Not the second date. She fell asleep on the toilet.

Teresa: New York Marathon injury.
Husband: Spilling a full tray of drinks on first class passengers.

Ethan: Curling iron got stuck, and mom had to cut my hair off before prom.
Mom: Letting in an easy goal in a very important soccer game.

Tom: Walking around with dirty underwear in the house and then coming upon people in the kitchen.
Wife: Can’t embarrass him. He doesn’t give a hoot.

Kim P: Falling off a bike in the race due to bathing suit getting stuck. All the racers got a good view.
Mom: Matches Kim P for a point.

Lex: Threw up in the middle of human sexuality class.
Wife: Matches Lex for a point.

What physical trait do you least like about yourself?
Kim J: Feet.
Husband: Matches for a point.

Teresa: Hair.
Husband: Nose.

Ethan: None.
Mom: Legs.

Tom: Hair.
Wife: Matches for a point.

Kim P: Small chest.
Mom: Arms.

Lex: Nose.
Wife: Hair on back.

What is your biggest fear?
Kim J: Growing old.
Husband: Bungie jumping.

Teresa: Loss of a loved one.
Husband: Snakes.

Ethan: Throwing up.
Mom: Matches for a point.

Tom: None.
Wife: Loss of a son.

Kim P: Spiders.
Mom: Being unfulfilled.

Lex: Outliving either son.
Wife: Matches for a point.

Since there’s no way Teresa can win, she is eliminated. Lex leads with 2, while everybody else has 1.

What is your greatest achievement?
Kim J: Family.
Husband: Matches for a point.

Ethan: Playing professional soccer.
Mom: Taking high school soccer team to state tournament.

Tom: Son.
Wife: Matches for a point.

Kim P: Calling off wedding at the last minute.
Mom: Solo trip to Europe.

Lex: Sons.
Wife: Matches for a point.

Lex wins reward. Go easy with Jeff Probst’s Visa card. He will take Big Tom with him.

They’re taken to Governor’s Camp, a grossly ovepriced luxury tented camp in the middle of an African jungle. They get more to eat right then than they have in the past month. When they’re done eating, they get in the middle of the migrating wildebeests, one of the more hideous animals on the continent, which sound like Tom on a good Saturday night and are just as crazy. They also see just about every other type of wildlife they hoped to see all in the same area in the space of about an hour. Upon their return, they’ve got a few spirits, so Tom’s ready for a good Saturday night. This would be a good time for Lex to find out how Big Tom doesn’t trust him, but instead he just finds himself amused. The next morning they wake up early for the balloon ride. It’s like the Discovery Channel.

The immunity challenge is to be the last one standing in a pot shattering competition using sticks that are traditional African weapons. Since it’s an immunity challenge in which alliances matter, Kim P and Teresa may as well just sit down now. Big Tom breaks Teresa’s first pot. Big Tom then breaks Kim P’s first pot. Then Big Tom breaks Lex’s first pot. Kim J hits her own pot. Ethan breaks Kim P’s second pot. Ethan and Tom combine to eliminate Teresa. Lex eliminates Kim P. Having those two in this proved pointless. Lex takes out Ethan’s first pot. Kim J hits Tom’s first pot. Big Tom takes out Ethan’s second pot. Lex takes out Kim J’s second pot. Ethan takes out Lex’s second pot. Big Tom eliminates Ethan. Big Tom strikes Kim J’s last pot, but she’s still hanging on by a thread. Big Tom eliminates Lex. Tom is down to one pot, but he retaliates and eliminates Kim J. Big Tom wins immunity.

Teresa returns to the all female alliance idea. All they need to do is force a tie and vote against Lex, who has 6 votes against him. Despite that, their plan is to try to woo Big Tom. Why? He’s not necessary for this plan to work.

Lex, meanwhile, sees someone as desperate as Teresa is to advance as being a threat.

Votes
Lex
Lex
Kim P
Kim P
Kim P
Kim P

Althought Teresa’s the biggest threat in terms of strategy, Kim P is certainly a logical choice as far as someone far too likeable to want to go up against in the end.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Africa Episode 13 Truth Be Told.

America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 10

The Myspace auditions in America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 9 brought us Bollywood dancers Ishaara and singer/piano player Charles DeWayne Dorsey, Jr.

Tonight is the last night of the auditions.

Best friends Breaksk8 are roller skaters. Piers buzzes, but they’re definitely through to Vegas. David has to think about this. Piers loved everything but the skates. Sharon likes them because the skates make them unique. Piers says no, but the other two say yes.

Ciana Pelekai, 8, is going to sing. She sings At Last from Orchestra Wives, presumably having heard it from Beyonce. Piers tells her to start looking for a new house because he’s never heard someone her age with a voice like that. Hoff thinks there’s nowhere to go but up.

Choir director Joseph James sings Somewhere over the Rainbow. What the bloody hell is this? After the build up, I expected at least something reasonable, but not this joke. Hoff compares him to a balloon losing air.

The Beale Street Flippers started years ago in Memphis, TN. They do flipping, usually for tips on the street. Hoff is flipped out. The best flippers ever on this show. Piers has just two words: flipping incredible.

The auditions have come to an end. With 24 minutes left, they’re apparently reserving the bulk of the show for the Susan Boyle interview, as if I’d switched to Dateline NBC or something. I’d considered watching the interview before I found out how long it was going to be, but enough is too much.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 11, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on NBC.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 18

Kupono and Randi were eliminated in So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 17, and tonight the top 8 dance.

Mia Michaels and Ellen DeGeneres both join the judges. What Ellen knows about dancing I’m not sure. Oh, and Nigel’s a doctor. Like how Bill Cosby’s a doctor, although at least he delivered babies on the TV.

Group Dance
Style: Fusion
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Routine: It’s a rave
Song: Let It Rock by Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne
Nigel: Great opening. All terrific.
Ellen: I can do that.
Mary: Great dancing. Great costumes. Great choreography. Nobody to pick on.
Mia: Loved it. Had a blast.

This week the boys will be picking their partners out of hats.

Evan Kasprzak & Janette Manrara
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Routine: Getting people to shut up
Song: Move (Metronomy Remix) by CSS
Nigel: Evan’s finally delivering more. Janette is absolutely wonderful.
Ellen: I can do that, too. Amazing, like the wine I had before I came out here.
Mary: Really good job by Evan, although he could have been a little rougher toward the end. Janette just can’t take a wrong step out there.
Mia: Evan made a step in the right direction, but still needs more. Janette’s my favorite this season.

Brandon Bryant & Jeanine Mason
Style: Waltz
Choreographer: Hunter Johnson
Song: May It Be by Hayley Westenra
Nigel: Such a demanding routine, and the music sounded like pulling teeth (I was distracted by the music because I quite liked it, though I can see where it would be called slow). Didn’t really get as much as expected.
Ellen: I forget my point, but I thought you two were fantastic.
Mary: It was a sloooow waltz. Takes unbelievable control. Respectable considering. Lines could have went further.
Mia: Next time, Brandon, don’t dream about birds and bunnies. Not magical. Too many hiccups.

Ade Abayomi & Melissa Sandvig
Style: Chacha
Choreographers: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: Yeah (Como Goza Mi Morena) by Chino Espinoza Y Los Duenos Del Son
Nigel: Pretty good. Melissa turned out a little too much and was over the top being sexy. Ade’s got great stature but could have sizzled a bit more. Lovely choreography. Well danced.
Ellen: Are you carpenters? Because you nailed it.
Mary: Ade’s bum was perched up so high, bum apparently being a term she’s heard from Nigel. That caused both of their feet to slide all over the place. A little below what was expected.
Mia: Ade’s worst performance this season. Thrown all over the place and not down and dirty. Melissa did excellent for a ballerina.

Jason Glover & Kayla Rodomski
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Mr. Monotony (from Jerome Robbins Broadway) by Kim Criswell
Nigel: Jason’s toes and feet were terrific. Kayla’s lines are beautiful as usual.
Ellen: These are good seats.
Mary: Seemed to flow effortlessly. Jason was cool and suave… and some grunting noise. Kayla’s riding first class.
Mia: Amazing. Want Jason to work on his upper body. Kayla should sing and act to take Broadway to storm.

Evan Kasprzak & Janette Manrara
Style: Rumba
Choreographers: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: Heartless by Kris Allen
Nigel: Smooth and very sexy, but hard to get votes with that routine. Janette’s got the sensual feel down pat. Evan looks drowsy.
Ellen: Evan is a special guy, apparently. Janette is amazing.
Mary: Evan did a really good job. On time and well connected. Janette is little miss fire and spice and flavor.
Mia: What Evan brings to the stage, there’s not a lot of people that bring that. Evan was sexy, but with a Zoolander face. Nothing more to say about Janette.

Brandon Bryant & Jeanine Mason
Style: Pop Jazz
Choreographer: Laurieann Gibson
Song: Battlefield by Jordin Sparks
Nigel: That’s all I’m asking. Exactly what we want. Jeanine was fantastic staying with Brandon, who was strong. Hooray. At last.
Ellen: Make it appealing to join some kind of armed forces.
Mary: Strong. Powerful. Dynamic. Just hit it all the time.
Mia: Danced in a place that was more than dance. Brandon’s such a powerhouse, and Jeanine kept up with him. Wow.

Ade Abayomi & Melissa Sandvig
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Routine: About a woman who has breast cancer
Song: This Woman’s Work by Maxwell
Nigel: That’s why I love dance so much. It can express so many emotions without use of words. If this isn’t an Emmy nomination next year, it will be a surprise. One of the most memorable routines on this show. Ade’s strength gave Melissa the courage to do a lot of the jumps, and Melissa’s maturity let her perform the routine.
Ellen: The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Mary: Don’t think I’ll ever forget it. Gift of love, compassion, and hope.
Mia: What an important piece of work. Wish I had the strength Ade had in this piece for my daddy. Melissa is an angel.

Jason Glover & Kayla Rodomski
Style: Hip Hop
Choreographer: Shane Sparks
Routine: Zombies
Song: They’re Everywhere by Izza Kizza
Nigel: Very sort of Michael Jackson inspired. Got something together there. Enjoyable.
Ellen: Keep dancing like that, and you’ll have your own talk show some day.
Mary: Really hit it hard. Loved every second of it.
Mia: Favorite piece from Shane on this show. Disturbingly hot.

Kayla: 1-888-TEMPO-01
Jason: 1-888-TEMPO-02
Janette: 1-888-TEMPO-03
Ade: 1-888-TEMPO-04
Melissa: 1-888-TEMPO-05
Evan: 1-888-TEMPO-06
Melissa: 1-888-TEMPO-07
Brandon: 1-888-TEMPO-08

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 19, which airs Thursday at 9/8c on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Episode 2

Louie was thrown off the show, Melinda was eliminated, and Robert from season 5 returned in Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Episode 1.

Robert’s there to give the girls some advice, and they’re thrilled to have him.

The next challenge is to work with shrimp, cleaning them to meet Chef Ramsay’s standards. Lovely will sit out. They are given 10 minutes to clean as many as possible. Lovely’s attempting to be a cheerleader. Both teams want her to shut up.

Sabrina: 7
Amanda: 9 out of 9
Tek: 7
Ariel: 6
Tennille: 1 out of 8
Suzanne: 10
Robert: 4
Red Total: 44

Andy: 7 out of 8
Van: 9
Tony: 9 out of 10
Joseph: 5
Dave: 4
Kevin: 9 out of 9
Jim: 2
Blue Total: 45

Blue team wins the challenge. Tennille, who performed the worst, gets the blame.

For their punishment, the red team will have to make a shrimp cocktail for the next service. The blue team will go to Newport Beach, where they will go on a yacht.

Hoping to make up for the fact that she screwed them over in the challenge, Tennille tries to take control of the punishment, which just earns her more contempt from her team.

Joseph isn’t there for lunches or conversations. What is he there for anyway?

Robert intends to be the leader for the red team.

Kevin sees Tony cutting grapefruit and shows him the right way to do it. Tony says he’s not a moron and can cut grapefruit. So then Ramsay comes up and complains about the way they’re being cut. Tony blames Kevin. I thought even a moron could cut these, though.

Van will be a waiter. He hopes his charisma will help him through. Tennille will work at tables as well. She might consider smiling like Van is.

Tony’s still struggling with the grapefruit. Looking to get past this, he’s already cooking scallops. Uh, nobody ordered them yet.

Lovely is trying to cook with the stove off. Tek told her they were on. She has to be told?

Next stop for Tony, he’s serving up raw scallops. Kevin has to take the fish away from him so that they can get some appetizers out.

Robert’s off to a rough restart.

Jean Philippe wants Van cool in front of the customers. He also might need to serve the blue tables instead of the red tables. What’s wrong with these two anyway? There’s a language barrier. Van speaks Texan, while JP speaks whatever he speaks.

Red team’s trying to get appetizers out quickly. Too quickly. Their first table gets some raw shrimp. Nobody wants to be responsible for a pregnant lady eating raw shrimp.

JP’s ready to beat down Van. Ramsay has to pull them aside to give them a lecture.

Tennille’s backed up by 6 tables.

Andy has made some raw chicken, but at least he realizes it before he gives it to the chef. Not that this saves him because Ramsay finds something else to pick on him about. The question Joseph has is: why’s he keeping the meat thermometer on his arm instead of using it?

Sabrina has also cooked raw chicken. Suzanne warns her, but she doesn’t listen and brings it up anyway.

Tony is ready to impress with the fish. Or at least Kevin is anyway, taking over for him again.

Lovely’s fish is raw. She wants Ramsay to get his eyes checked because he is getting kind of old. After refiring, she returns with seabass that’s not raw. It is, however, burned.

Kevin has returned with raw fish. So now Joseph offers to cook it. Two other people do as well.

Sabrina’s now burned the chicken on the red team. Since nothing’s going out anyway, they can at least serve shrimp cocktail. Not cooked, not seasoned. A group of idiots could handle it, or at least that’s what he hopes. Once everybody gets shrimp cocktail, it’s time to shut down.

Both teams will have to come up with two names for elimination. Tony is willing to nominate himself. Andy, who was on the same station, is not. Tennille almost served a pregnant woman raw fish, so she’s getting a lot of fingers pointed at her. She shouldn’t have been given the raw fish in the first place, and in the second place she couldn’t have known the woman was pregnant. Lovely wants her nominated because she could have almost killed someone. Van’s got himself an attitude problem. JP should have punched him.

Tennille has been nominated for serving raw food. Lovely has been nominated based on overall performance and experience.

Who’s the first nominee for the men? Joseph’s response: they can speak for themselves, but they know who they are. Okay, try again. Who’s the first nominee and why? Answer: Tony and Andy. First nominee and why? Tony. He knows why. Try again. First nominee and why? Joseph doesn’t want to hear any more from anybody. Instead, he’d like to meet Ramsay out in the parking lot.

To be continued…

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Episode 3, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 6 Episode 1

Gordon Ramsay is back again to yell for no good reason.

This year’s prize is to become the head chef at Araxi in Whistler in British Columbia, Canada. Hope you like snow.

Sabrina’s mind is telling her she’s spicy, sweet, and sexy hot.

The first task is to cook their signature dishes. The girls are the red team, and the boys are the blue team. They will go head to head.

Suzanne: fontina fonduta risotto. Rice looks undercooked before even being tasted. It’s a little chalky. Or a lot.
Dave: ostrich with pan-seared brussel sprouts. Ostrich is cooked perfectly, but the brussel sprouts are undercooked.
Neither gets a point.

Tek: Honey grilled shrimp. Nice. Cooked beautifully.
Louie: Sausage gravy with biscuits. Oh, f*** me. Tastes like gunk.
Ladies get a point.

Joseph: Chop and vegetables. Lovely color. Brussel sprouts are rock hard.
Tennille: Lamb chop with balsamic glaze.
Ladies take the lead 2-0.

Joseph’s biggest issue: he’s not animal. He wants a fork. Cavemen eat with their hands.

Amanda: margarita french toast with tequila wine butter. She’s not joking.
Tony: Muscles with chorizo. There’s potential there. Nice.
Men get a point.

Melinda: Poached lobster and portobello mushrooms. Where is the lobster tail? She had some “challenges” during the cooking process.
Jim: Seared ahi tuna. Tastes delicious.
Men tie it at 2-2.

Neither Kevin nor Ariel score a point.

Lovely and Andy don’t score either.

Sabrina: Chiopotle wrapped pork tenderloin. Why’s it so hot?
Van: Seared foie gras. Intriguing.
Men win 3-2.

As their punishment, the women must clean up the kitchen to prepare it for the opening of Hell’s Kitchen. Their dinner will be bologna sandwiches. The men will get a special dinner from Ramsay’s restaurant. Because the men are partying and not apparently ready to stop any time soon, the women have the advantage of studying.

Scott is back to run the blue kitchen, while season 2 winner Heather will run the red kitchen.

Lovely starts off not so lovely. She’s already screwing up before the restaurant’s even open, having already overcooked things when there are no orders yet.

Tek is already bringing out the (raw) scallops. Lovely’s overcooked her pasta, which she blames on Tek.

Jim has cooked three scallops cut in half. Or at least he’s cooked two scallops cut in half anyway. Count to 6 now.

Robert from last season is back. He’s not just there for dinner, though. He is being given a second chance to compete in Hell’s Kitchen. Ramsay will break the news to him later.

Jim’s and Kevin’s second attempt at appetizers is sufficient.

Red team, however, continues to struggle. They have to start over. And over.

Louie puts unseared, unseasoned lamb into the oven.

For the eighth time, can the red team deliver appetizers? Nope, not cooked. So how much of this food is being throwed away?

Back to Louie again. Why’s he cooking spinach on the meat station?

So where’d Lovely go? She needed a break. After drinking 4 bottles of water, well, she’s still sitting around.

The salmon is stone cold. Amanda put it in the freezer instead of the fridge.

Back to Louie. Get out and pack your bags. Oh, like this wasn’t planned. Dinner service is over because it’s going nowhere, but there’s a replacement already lined up in the dining area. Robert’s back for a second chance.

Melinda, Lovely, and Amanda all screwed up for the girls. Since they served 0 entrees, a new record, they’ve lost. Despite this terrible loss, it was someone from the men who was thrown out. Amanda made a stupid move, but it was an honest mistake, even if it was a big mistake. The other two, who got them stuck on appetizers (and then there was Lovely’s coffee break), need to go up.

Melinda is the first nominee. Amanda is the second nominee.

Melinda, who’s been a deer in the headlights the whole time, has been eliminated. She’s being sent back to whatever planet she came from.

Robert has been moved over to the girls, which should give them somewhat of a boost.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Hell’s Kitchen 6 Episode 2.

America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 9

Last week on America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 8, we got a look at dancers Destined 2 Be, singer/harp player Rashida Jolley, college roommates Matt and Anthony, and returning singer/piano player Mia Boostrom. Tonight it’s the Myspace auditions.

El Vegas (real name Jerry Katz) is a few years older than 25 (times two). He sings American Trilogy by Elvis. Elvis is rolling over in his grave, assuming he’s actually dead. Sharon wants to know what went wrong. Hoff wanted to see what was going to happen. He still doesn’t know what happened.

High school student Ashley Groff is a singer. Well, that’s how she introduces herself anyway. Somebody twisted started a Myspace fan club for her, and she’s now got 8,000 friends who enjoy what she calls her “vocalist screamer” style. Is she like auditioning for a horror movie or something? That was not human. Hoff wants to know about the exorcist. Piers is afraid. Nick just hopes there’s a priest nearby.

Ishaara, a group of Bollywood dancers ages 18-23, comes out and looks like the real deal. Piers thought that was unbelievably exciting to watch because it’s original and fresh.

Based on their introduction, I was assuming Duo Design are from a galaxy far, far away, but it just turns out they’re from Poland (and Myspace). One guy hops on the other and balances on him with his hands. Piers buzzes. He thinks they’re weird, though oddly compelling. Sharon thought it was fabulous. Hoff viewed them as alien cool. Too weird for Piers, but the other two let them through.

Eddie Green believes he’s got fans and talent. Outlook not good. The name of his act is Eddie and the Puppet Divas. Yeah, still not good. He leaves the stage and returns with Tina Turner, dancing with her to Proud Mary. Piers thinks the horror and bemusement on the puppet’s face say it all.

Marcus Terell and The Serenades are longtime friends who are coming together as a group for the first time. They sing Hit the Road Jack. Piers has a request. Dump the girls because they’re dragging down Marcus. Sue Son agreed with this request from the judges on Britain’s Got Talent, where Piers is also a judge, which allowed her to make it to the semifinals. Marcus refuses to go along. Sharon agrees the girls are not up to par, but does think that they can be fixed.

Charles DeWayne Dorsey, Jr. is a singer and piano player. He sings Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder. Sharon likes that he’s ticked all the right boxes, a phrase most Americans have only ever heard before from Simon on American Idol, but it’s a good thing. Piers thinks he may be a bit of a star.

Vanessa, aka Heavy Vee, is a “natural born dancer.” We’ve been seeing a trend this season that the final act of the night is very good. Well, the streak is over. Piers explains that the point of dancing is to move around, more than three inches. Nick thinks he knows what the problem is. She needs a partner. So what if he dances with her? They both need to be voted off the island.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 4 Episode 10, which airs Wednesday at 9/8c on NBC.

Big Brother 11 Episode 6

When Ronnie nominated Laura and Jeff in Big Brother 11 Episode 5, his real plan was to evict Russell, or so we were told.

Ronnie tries to comfort Laura, but she believes that every single thing he’s ever told her is a lie.

Russell’s plan is to try to get in good with the other alliance. Either that, or he’s at least trying to convince the other side that he’s tired of playing the game. Then he returns into the house, asks if everybody’s still talking game, and screams at Lydia for no good reason.

Natalie is skeptical, but Jessie wants to keep him on their side, as long as he’s still on their side. Jessie’s theory, which may well be how it turns out, is that Russell is the bigger target and, therefore, will be the first one to go home. Problem is if Russell goes up and gets saved, his closest ally becomes the next target.

Here come the waterworks. Once Lydia’s done crying, she wants to backdoor Russell.

Jordan doesn’t know how to tell time on a clock when somebody says something like it’s quarter to the hour. Rather than learning, she’ll just keep asking different people until she gets the answer she can understand. So Jeff hopes to teach her. Good luck with that, dude. You need to teach her math first. These numbers are far too big for her to calculate. She’s only got 10 fingers and 10 toes.

Chima and Casey go on their first date to see The Ugly Truth, pig out, and drink margaritas. Jeff wishes he was up there so he could be with Jordan. Awww. Despite that, he still trusts nobody.

Ronnie selects Russell to participate in the veto competition. That backdoor looks a little open.
Laura selects Natalie.
Jeff selects Casey.

When they walk into the yard, there’s money everywhere. In each round, Big Brother will ask them to collect a certain dollar amount from pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. They will have two minutes to collect their change. The houseguest furthest from the target amount will be eliminated. The winner of each round will be able to pick a money bag. There is a $5,000 bag, a slop pass, and an empty bag. If they take a bag, they will be eliminated. Laura’s not a big fan of counting and stuff.

They are asked to bring $100 in quarters. Jeff has a strategy of counting off $10 at a time. Ronnie is pretty much just guessing. The change will be counted by Coinstar. Yeah, they apparently even managed to turn them into a sponsor. So does the 8.9% fee count against the total? Natalie got $560.50… wow. Russell got $179.25. Casey has a difference of $61.50 to take the lead. Laura has a difference of $243.50. Ronnie has a difference of $507.70. And he’s the smartest guy in this competition? Michele wants him to be a little more subtle in the future when throwing competitions. Jeff has a total of $87.50, for a difference of $12.50, which makes him the winner of the round. Ronnie has been eliminated. He denies throwing the competition. Jeff has no interest in the bags.

The next task is to collect $75 in dimes. Natalie had a difference of $16.90. Russell had a difference of $32.80. Casey had a difference of $20.30. Laura had a difference of $269.80. Okay, that’s even worse than Ronnie last round. Jeff’s difference was $5.80, so he wins again. Laura has been eliminated. She’s much less likely to be accused of throwing it. Jeff again declines the bag.

Big Brother has now asked for $40 in nickels. Natalie’s difference is $5.60. Russell’s difference is $15.55. Casey’s difference is $21.40. Jeff’s difference is $7.35. Natalie wins this round. Casey has been eliminated. Unlike Jeff, Natalie wants the bag. Not a wise idea this early in the game. She gets the slop pass, which at least is not cash because that could have created resentment. As it is, it looks like she feels safe enough to not want veto.

Big Brother wants $10 in pennies. Russell’s amount is $8.59 for a difference of $1.41. Jeff’s total is $10.97 for a difference of $0.97. Jeff has won the power of veto, redeeming himself for his earlier inability to spell.

If Kevin’s onboard with Lydia and Chima, Ronnie will agree to backdoor Russell. Laura will agree to anything. Whether she’ll actually live up to it remains to be seen. She agrees to not put up Ronnie, Lydia, or Kevin. I get the sense Laura’s not dumb enough to win HOH, though. Natalie doesn’t like the plan, since Jessie won’t like it. So then they bring Jessie in. Do you really need to run this by everybody in the house, including Russell’s closest ally? Jessie doesn’t like the plan, but despite putting his two cents in that it’s a mistake, he does say that he’ll go along with whatever they want to do. He doesn’t understand why they would trust Laura instead. Ronnie realizes that Russell is a potential ally, albeit an unstable one.

At the veto ceremony, Jeff obviously uses the veto to save himself. In his place, Ronnie has decided to nominate Jordan, further decimating the popular clique however the vote goes. Jordan now realizes that Ronnie is playing both sides. However, Ronnie’s not really targeting her. Nobody trusts Laura, with good reason. His hope is that Jordan is liked enough that people will keep her around. It’s too early to get rid of Russell, but the damage is done, since Russell is aware that Ronnie doesn’t trust him.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Big Brother 11 Episode 7, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

Wednesday July 22 Schedule Changes

After scheduling a Presidential address month after month after month until the networks began to throw stuff, a reprieve was granted for a while, but it’s that time again with August looming and the trillion dollar health care reform hitting resistance. After the White House agreed to air the special at 8/7c instead of 9/8c, only one network declined to air it tomorrow Wednesday July 22.

ABC will move Wipeout and I Survived a Japanese Game Show up one hour.

NBC will preempt its America’s Got Talent rerun.

CBS has all reruns anyway, so it doesn’t have a problem preempting the 8:00 hour.

For the second time, Fox has declined to air the program and will instead show So You Think You Can Dance in its entirety at its regularly scheduled time.

The CW does not air such programs and will instead show repeats of America’s Next Top Model.