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Survivor: Samoa Episode 8

Foa Foa’s usual loss in Survivor: Samoa Episode 7 resulted in Liz being eliminated.

They’re hoping for a merge. Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. They’re pretty well screwed.

When she returns to her own camp, Laura’s canteen is missing, leading to a confrontation between herself and Shambo, who it does not appear has ever seen an episode of 90210 (old or new). Erik says that Shambo being crazy is an established fact, so anybody fighting with her is just making themselves look bad.

Jaison says they’re not super confident in their ability to win challenges any more. Yeah, I hope not.

The two tribes get treemail and meet up on the beach. No Jeff in site. What they do see is a treasure chest with buffs, a tarp, and paint. Looks like a merge. They are told they’re all one tribe living on Galu beach. Not the typical way to merge but appears legit.

Russell is immediately under the impression that he’s a king.

The new tribe name is Aiga, which they say is Samoan for extended family.

Russell approaches Laura to show her the hidden idol. He promises her that he will hand it to her at the top 7. This leads her to a realization: they’re going to have to blindside him. His attempt at setting guidelines that she get rid of one of her people first falls flat. His offer does not sound genuine, and even if it did, she doesn’t have the power needed to accomplish his request.

Unable to get anywhere with Laura, Russell next approaches Monica and shows her the idol, which nobody else knows about. If he knows she’s on the chopping block, he’ll give it to her. From there, he goes to John and shows him the idol as well. Laura is Russell’s first target.

Seeing as Shambo hates Laura’s guts, it shouldn’t be hard getting her onboard with the plan to get rid of Laura.

Immunity is tee ball. Whatever section their ball lands in is their score, and the highest score wins immunity. They have one shot. One man and one woman will win immunity.

Dave scores 3. Jaison is off the course. Russell takes the lead at 4. Brett is off the course. Mick scores 2. Erik is off the course. John scores 5. He wins immunity.

Natalie is not close. Monica scores 2. Kelly takes the lead with 3. Shambo ends up not close. Laura scores 4 to win immunity with the only somewhat decent swing.

So Russell’s plans are shot to hell.

Russell wants to get rid of Monica, but seeing as she does not hate Monica, Shambo is not onboard with this plan.

Laura knows Russell has the idol seeing as he showed it to her, so she tells Erik. They hope to flush out the idol but vote for Jaison because he is worthless to the tribe. With this knowledge, Erik tells John that Russell’s got the idol, which should make John not trust Russell any more. Regardless, John wants to get rid of Monica. Dave is suspicious of this plan.

Jaison doesn’t like that Erik is talking to them like he’s in control, so his plan is to play along but vote for Erik. 4 votes may not be enough, but it could make things interesting.

From there, Natalie goes to Laura to see if she’s willing to vote that way. Kelly also gets wind of this, a warning that Erik is targeting the women. Slowly but surely the entire rest of the tribe hears this plan as well. It’s interesting. This is all John’s fault, but Erik ran his mouth, so he’s the one getting blamed.

At tribal council, Erik further puts his foot in his mouth. He can’t see any way in which Foa Foa has a prayer or offers anything.

Jaison believes this is a personal attack on him. Oh geez. Here we go again with this guy. Everything’s personal because his PAC-10 life as a future attorney is too difficult.

Jeff goes to read the votes. He doesn’t even ask, but that’s not stopping Russell from standing up. As planned, the idol has been flushed out.

Votes
Jaison
Jaison
Erik
Erik
Erik
Erik
Erik
Erik
Erik

Now that’s a blindside. With 10 votes, Erik has been voted off the island. The only other person in the dark is Shambo, which has pretty much been the case from day one. Erik’s departure means both idols are now gone.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Samoa Episode 9 Tastes Like Chicken, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 12

The first two contestants were sent packing in So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 11. Ariana DeBose was the first girl to go home. Then, Brandon Dumlao, who wasn’t ready for the show and shouldn’t have been given only a day and a half to prepare, was also eliminated.

Paula Abdul still isn’t sitting next to Nigel. Noelle, however, is ready this week.

Noelle Marsh & Russell Ferguson
Style: Hip hop with tennis rackets
Choreographer: Jamal Sims
Song: Move Shake Drop Remix by DJ Laz, Flo Rida, & Casely
Adam: Ramble ramble. Felt like it was overwhelming you a little bit.
Mary: Russell won the match. Couldn’t tell Noelle just recovered from an injury.
Nigel: So fast that they didn’t really get hold of it. Not sure that’s gonna be strong enough for a first performance for Noelle. Better than last week from Russell.

Jakob Karr & Ashleigh di Lello
Style: Viennese Waltz – just married couple
Choreographer: Melanie Lapatin & Tony Meredith
Song: At Last by Etta James
Adam: Can still do no wrong. Madly in love.
Mary: Lift sequence was very good, but Jakob’s dancing could be better. Ashleigh is lovely and gorgeous. Closer and closer to the top 10.
Nigel: Jakob is such a beautiful dancer. Ashleigh is proving people wrong.

Bianca Revels & Victor Smalley
Style: Broadway – dancing in church
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Maybe God Is Tryin’ to Tell You Something from The Color Purple Soundtrack
Adam: Danced well, but that’s not really the point. Wanted to see them lose it.
Mary: Good but didn’t really go there.
Nigel: Characters weren’t strong enough. Victor looked like a fish out of water. Didn’t sit comfortably with Bianca either.

Mollee Gray & Nathan Trasoras
Style: Bollywood – warrior prince going to war, but his princess is not happy about it
Choreographer: Nakul Dev Mahajan
Song: Azeem O Shaan Shahenshah from the Jodhaa Akbar Soundtrack
Adam: Such an exciting couple. Mollee is coming into her own. Such maturity.
Mary: Adored the beginning, and it just kept getting better. Outstanding partnership.
Nigel: Mollee’s maturing. Tremendous stuff from Nathan.

Channing Cooke & Phillip Attmore
Style: Samba
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: Maracatu Funk by The Samba Squad
Adam: Could see you struggling. Wonderful personal interactions.
Mary: Felt like hard work. Phillip wasn’t really helping Channing trying to get to the tricks. Channing was coming to life out there.
Nigel: Phillip has all the right movement but didn’t utilize it. Chemistry didn’t work. Looked like Channing was nervous in the lifts.

Karen Hauer & Kevin Hunt
Style: Hip hop – mechanic looking under hot girl’s hood, whatever that means
Choreographer: Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo
Song: Ice Cream Paint Job by Dorrough
Adam: Karen had more confidence than Kevin in his style, and tore that up. Kevin was fantastic, which was expected.
Mary: Karen’s on the hot tamale train in first class. Kevin’s supposed to be great in this style and is phenomenal. Also on the hot tamale train.
Nigel: Kevin was really good. But Karen’s a real pleasure to watch.

Kathryn McCormack & Jonathan “Legacy” Perez
Style: Contemporary – woman living in fear
Choreographer: Stacey Tookey
Song: 2 Steps Away by Patti LaBelle
Adam: Legacy’s a different man than ever before. So proud of both. So special.
Mary: Legacy is really dancing out there. Kathryn just keeps nailing it.
Nigel: Legacy is growing, and Kathryn is proving people wrong with that great routine.

Pauline Mata & Peter Sabasino
Style: Jazz
Choreographer: Wade Robson
Song: Little Green Bag by George Baker Selection
Adam: Committed.
Mary: Danced well but won’t take you anywhere.
Nigel: Routine that won’t be forgotten, whether it’s appreciated or not. Peter’s a bit tight in his shoulders. First time Pauline’s danced to the full extent.

Ellenore Scott & Ryan di Lello
Style: Argentine Tango
Choreographer: Miriam Larici & Leonardo Barrionuevo
Song: Violentango by Astor Piazzola
Adam: Hard to dance in a dress caught in your heel. Stillness and maturity from Ellenore. Great partnering from Ryan.
Mary: Remarkable that Ellenore didn’t even fuss with her dress. Phenomenal living that routine through Miriam. Ryan played the part, too. Outstanding technique. Have to stand up one more time.
Nigel: Don’t know another couple on the show this season that could have done any better.

The four dancers in danger come from three couples. Noelle is first. Phillip is also in the bottom four, as are Victor and Bianca.

Starting with the girls, the judges don’t think either girl came up to the best they can do in the duets, and they are not unanimous. Bianca has grown across the seasons. Noelle danced for her life, as asked, so she will be staying. Bianca Revels has been eliminated.

Next up are the guys. Phillip has been eliminated. In what had been billed as the season of tappers, two of the three have been cut tonight.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 13, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The Biggest Loser Season 8 Episode 8

Keeping the team as weak as possible, the black team voted out Abby in The Biggest Loser Season 8 Episode 7.

The contestants are preparing to make a trip to Washington, DC. Typically, trips off the ranch are not good news, no matter how good it may sound at first. Game aside, though, they will be going to Congress and the White House.

First thing’s first. They’re now all individuals.

In a few hours, Bob and Jillian will be giving a public workout at the Washington Monument. The pop challenge is for the contestants to get as many people as possible to participate. The reward is a huge advantage in the challenge, plus Subway for dinner. Amanda targets a group of people who recognize her from last year’s finale. Allen goes to the fire station. Liz lost cute 30 years ago, so her focus is guilt. Daniel utilizes his recognizability as well… turning Amanda’s supporters into his instead. In the end, it came down to 1 vote, with the battle between Liz and Allen. Liz wins reward.

Bob takes control of the group workout. Jillian, meanwhile, takes the opportunity to go pick on total strangers.

Their next stop is to go to Congress to share their stories. It’s not just a reality show. It’s a movement. Dan suggests better health education, as compared to his requirements of 1 semester of PE and 1 credit of health. Jillian says that people have no concept of what they’re putting in their mouths any more, which is spot on.

The city is filled with some of the most iconic landmarks. They will be visiting four of them because there are four stages to the challenge. Last person standing wins immunity. As her reward from the first challenge, Liz can skip one phase. A 1 mile run through Constitution Gardens is first. The top six finishers will continue. Rebecca, Allen, and Amanda are off to the lead. Battling Rudy for fourth, Daniel is noticing that things have changed since day 1 where he won in 12 minutes. Shay’s walking but knows she’ll finish. Liz is trying to keep ahead of Danny so that she doesn’t blow not having used that pass. Tracey, who is emotional remembering how she collapsed the first day, is keeping up a slow but steady jog. Rebecca finishes first, followed by Daniel edging out Allen. Amanda is fourth, then Rudy and lastly Liz to complete the top six.

The second stage of the competition takes place at Watergate. Each player has 17,954 pennies, the exact number of pounds lost to date on The Biggest Loser. Just as long as they don’t have to count them. The object is to fill the container to the line. Four people will advance. One of those will be Liz, who will use her advantage to avoid the exhaustion of this stairmaster challenge. Rudy’s strategy: big hands. You know what they say about people with big hands. They can pick up a lot of pennies. Allen and Daniel are behind him, while the girls bring up the rear. Rudy finishes first. Daniel places second. Amanda’s out of it. Allen and Rebecca battle down to the wire. Rebecca edges out Allen.

The US Capitol is the scene of a balancing act. They will be standing on their platforms on a narrow ledge while holding a pilates ball over their heads. Last two standing will advance. This time, it’s the men who are struggling early. Daniel is the first to fall. Liz follows.

Rudy and Rebecca will compete in the final part of this challenge, which takes place at the White House. The first person to take 206 steps wins (there have been 206 contestants on The Biggest Loser so far). Rebecca’s got a lead of about 3 when they hit 50. This lead keeps growing. She’s up by 11 when she hits 100. This lead eventually climbs to 30. When all’s said and done, Rebecca finishes first with a lead of 15 to win immunity.

The following day, they all head into the White House, where they will be cooking a meal with the chef, using vegetables planted in the President’s garden. Then they head into the White House kitchen. It’s like an episode of Cory in the House.

Jillian wants Tracey to stop playing games because this show isn’t a game (only it is). She’s gonna need more than gameplay to keep going, particulary when the show is over.

Amanda, who was whining much of last week, is Bob’s focus this week. She trusts Bob, and this time she doesn’t get off the treadmill crying.

Since they’re down to individuals, staying above the yellow line rests on each person’s own shoulders.

Rebecca: 219 pounds (-4, 1.79%, immune)

Shay: 393 pounds (-9, 2.24%)

Tracey: 194 pounds (-3, 1.52%)

Daniel: 261 pounds (-11, 4.04%)

Allen: 253 pounds (-9, 3.44%)

Danny: 333 pounds (-12, 3.48%)

Rudy: 332 pounds (-9, 2.64%)

Liz: 218 pounds (-3, 1.36%)

Amanda: 207 pounds (-7, 3.27%)

Liz and Tracey have fallen below the yellow line. The writing is on the wall here. Tracey’s the obvious target. Petty grudges aside, it’s the best game move. Not that some of these people will put their grudges aside. Such as the highly emotional pink team. Tracey really wants to be there. Liz probably does, too, but she doesn’t vocalize that.

Votes
Amanda: Tracey
Shay: Liz
Danny: Tracey
Daniel: Tracey
Rebecca: Tracey

With 4 votes, Tracey is not The Biggest Loser. She played the game too hard too fast and ultimately wasn’t able to back that up on the scale. From her starting weight of 238, Tracey is now down 85 pounds. She plans to run a marathon in December.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser 8 Episode 9, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 15 Episode 7

Well, The Amazing Race 15 Episode 6 sure didn’t lack for drama. Mika refused to go down a waterslide of all things, throwing away the shot at $1 million in the process. Some people blame her for her inability to even try to overcome her fears, while some say that Canaan should have been more understanding with her. Whatever the case, the end result is the same: Mika & Canaan were eliminated from the race. Good riddance. There’s no room in the race for people who absolutely refuse to participate.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Meghan & Cheyne – 1:13PM
Second: Maria & Tiffany – 3:09PM
Third: Sam & Dan – 3:10PM
Fourth: Brian & Ericka – 3:25PM
Fifth: Gary & Matt – 3:34PM
Sixth: Herbert & Nathaniel – 4:20PM

Ericka realizes she yells a lot.

Having pretended they’re straight the whole time, Sam & Dan have an announcement to make to the rest of the teams: they’re gay. A lot of people don’t know this about them already. There’s about 10 million people watching this episode, though, so they know now. Maria & Tiffany plan to stick with them regardless of not having any dating prospects with them.

The next destination is Amsterdam, The Netherlands, more than 3000 miles away. The earliest flight leaves at midnight, which should result in some bunching. Good. Meghan & Cheyne were given too much of an advantage by that fast forward, and it shouldn’t have held for any longer.

Upon arrival, the first trick for Brian is to figure out how to put the car in drive. They eventually figure it out with the help of someone in the parking lot, but not before both he and Ericka are screaming at each other. Ericka warns him that he knows she has a short fuse.

Road block (in order of arrival): Meghan, Sam, Flight Time, Matt, Tiffany, Ericka

They will drive to Matrinitoren, the highest building in Gronigen. The road block is to climb the structure and count the bells. Counting tasks can try people’s patience. Meghan and Sam agree to work together. Ericka’s realizing she’s out of her comfort zone pretty quickly. To add to the difficulty level of the task, the bells start playing while they’re in there. Matt is right on his first try. Sam and Meghan are also correct. When he’s running down the stairs, Sam gives the number to Tiffany, saving her from actually having to count. Flight Time is also correct. Ericka, however, is way off, coming up with 43 instead of the correct 62. Then she guesses 56. Closer. 57. Well, she’ll get there eventually at this pace. After crying and taking a break for a while, she gets the correct answer.

From there, teams will drive to Vierhuizen de Marne, where they will find their next clue at a windmill. The detour is a choice between farmer’s game or farmer’s dance. In both detours, teams will dress up in traditional Dutch costumes and ride bicycles. In Farmer’s game, teams must find a creek, strip down to their underwear, and swim across. Then, they will play three holes of farmer’s golf. In farmer’s dance, teams will first have to hit the high striker, then they will perform a Dutch folk dance, and eat the salted herring and onions. For the all male teams, this means one of the guys has to be the girl. Maria, meanwhile, has to be the guy.

Farmer’s Game: Meghan & Cheyne, Sam & Dan, Gary & Matt (switched from dance after Matt read they have to eat herring), Maria & Tiffany (switched from dance to game back to dance back to game)
Farmer’s Dance: Flight Time & Big Easy, Brian & Ericka

Sam & Dan have no trouble. Meghan hates golf and will keep repeating it as long as the task progresses. Maria & Tiffany fail to realize that the high striker is probably not intended for women, while Matt doesn’t read the entire clue to realize he doesn’t like fish. Brian & Ericka also have some clue reading trouble: they’re supposed to be riding bikes. The Globetrotters, who have dance routines in their games, have no trouble with their task, and then they down the fish in about two seconds. Eventually, Maria & Tiffany realize they can’t do the golf either, so they switch back. After about 50 tries on the striker, they both start crying. Tiffany’s coming pretty close, but Maria is only bothering because they have to rotate. After walking and killing their feet, Brian & Ericka have finally read their clue. They’re supposed to be riding bikes. Somehow, this is all Brian’s fault. Back to Maria & Tiffany. After about 70 tries, they decide to switch back again. Then we see Brian & Ericka finally have figured out what they’re supposed to be doing, and they get through the dancing pretty easily. Maria & Tiffany are now at their 16th attempt in golf. I give them credit for not giving up. Because Brian & Ericka failed to ride a bicycle to the detour (and then borrowed someone’s bikes to get to the pit stop), they have incurred a 30 minute penalty. Brian wants to just stay calm, while Ericka has another breakdown. It does not end up mattering because the girls are still back at the golf challenge.

As the girls are discussing how hopeless things seem, Phil marches his way out on to the course. That’s bad news.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Zoutkamp Harbor, which teams will have to ride their bicycles to get to.

First: Sam & Dan (win sand buggies)
Second: Meghan & Cheyne
Third: Herbert & Nathaniel
Fourth: Gary & Matt
Fifth: Brian & Ericka
Eliminated: Maria & Tiffany

Having reached a challenge they are unable to complete, Maria & Tiffany have been eliminated from the race. Unlike Mika last week, where she just quit without even trying, at least they made a strong effort at getting this done, but were just physically incapable of doing so.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 15 Episode 8 I’ve Ever Done in my Life (Sweden), which airs Sunday at 8/7cish CBS.

Survivor: Thailand Winner

Ted was the first one to find himself out of the Chuay Gahn tribe in Survivor: Thailand Episode 13, which brings us down to the final four: Brian Heidik, Clay Jordan, Helen Glover, and Jan Gentry.

They are given floats to be decorated in memory of their 12 eliminated tribemates. While doing this, Brian continues his mantra. It’s just a business trip.

The immunity challenge is called second chance, and it’s a chance to revisit aspects of previous challenges. They will dig up a wicker ball, carry it over the balancing beam, and head through the fishnet tubing. Then, they will work on a slide puzzle to release materials to build a pole and retrieve a key to get out of the jail cell. Lastly, they will sprint to the food table for a surprise treat. Clay is the first to grab the ball and retains the lead across the balance beam and past the tubing. Brian manages get across those obstacles pretty quickly and catches up to Clay on the puzzle. The other two are completely hopeless on the balance beam. Brian is the first to finish his puzzle. Helen and Jan finally get across the balance beam, but they’re out of it. Brian’s done escaping from jail before anybody else is even done with the puzzle. Then he lifts the lid. He’s going to have to eat a tarantula to win. Considering how big a lead he has, there is no drama, although they would like there to be. Brian wins immunity.

Brian thinks it’s time for Helen to go. The writing was on the ground. Helen and Ted plotting with each other first burned Ted, and now it’s time for her to get bit. Clay’s quickly onboard with that, but Jan is not sure what she wants to do. It’s either her or Helen. If she doesn’t go along with this plan, they can simply opt to vote her out instead. Unless she decides to force a tie with her and Helen and hope the tiebreaker goes down in her favor.

Votes
Helen
Helen
Jan
Helen

By a unanimous vote, Helen has been voted off the island. She blames Brian the most for her elimination, but she’s pretty much bitter at all of them, despite the fact that she started it.

Upon returning to camp, they’re immediately given one last krathong float to decorate. The next morning, Jeff arrives with a map and sends them paddling off into the river to set their floats adrift. Their ultimate destination is the final challenge site.

The cave they arrive at is about 105 degrees. The challenge is simple. Don’t let the money slip through your fingers. They put three coins inbetween their fingers in each hand and will stand in a traditional Thai stance for as long as they can keep holding at least one of the coins. Stranger things have happened, but the theory is that this is a battle between the boys, with Jan a non-issue. Around 12 minutes, Jeff tells them to stay in their game mentally. The image they put forth either gives the others power or takes it away. With that said, Jan quits. Clay, meanwhile, is visibly shaking and quits shortly thereafter. It’s obvious what he was waiting for. Brian wins immunity.

Brian’s got a choice. Take with him the grandma who everybody seems to like but who hasn’t done very much, or take the guy who nobody likes nor would vote for. In either case, it really shouldn’t matter because Brian has played a masterful game.

Vote
Jan

Jan has been voted off the island, leaving Brian and Clay as the final two, a stark contrast as compared with Marquesas, which had two equally useless contestants left standing. Regardless of how Clay may or may not have played the game, however, he has no friends on that jury, so he’s gonna have to fight to get votes. Although Brian played the role of everybody’s friend, he’s not so sure that the relationships he built were necessarily real. It’s just business.

Clay’s opening statement is that he’s lucky, but he promises that they would do what he did to get where he is. Brian says that his focus was to make sure that everybody felt comfortable and wants them to vote from their hearts and feel good about their decision.

Erin wants to know why they think the other person does not deserve the money. Brian says that Clay did not put forth the effort that he could have. Clay responds that Brian thought he was the leader at camp, although I’m not entirely sure what this response is supposed to mean.

Ken says that he wouldn’t do what Clay did. That’s why he couldn’t have gotten any further than he did and had no business playing this game. Then he asks Brian why he said that Ted had to go, which Brian denies saying. Although this conversation that Ken believes they had clearly sticks out in Ken’s mind, Brian is unsure what the heck Ken is babbling about, so he just responds that Ted is unable to gel with the group. This also is not an answer that Ken is happy with, and God will smite Brian for not knowing the answer to this question.

Penny asks Brian where she grew up, and who are her siblings. Brian does not know the answers. Clay, however, does know some things about her. What the heck this has to do with the vote I don’t know, but if she’s really going to vote along lines as pathetic as this, Clay just secured himself something.

Jake takes the opportunity to revisit the conversation about performance that Clay blasted him about. Clay’s answer is that he really was upset that Jake was trying to make an alliance with everybody. Brian, however, strokes Jake’s ego and says he was performing well.

Ted calls Brian a great car salesman. As for Clay, he just rode coattails and is just an ignorant southern redneck hillbilly. Bitter much? Ted’s question to Clay: how does he define a racist person? Oh, is this really necessary? Putz. (We later found out that Helen indicated to Ted that Clay had said something, which generated this line of inappropriate and completely irrelevant questioning.) The follow up question: why should he get his vote? Clay responds that he was fair with him. Brian disagrees.

Jan wants an explanation of Clay’s work on the island. Clay says that he did his fair share for the food, but Brian didn’t want any help with the water. Brian responds that he did water, food, and fire.

Bitter, part two. Helen claims she just wanted to be told that she was going home. She’s just mad she got beat. While she expected this from Clay, who she tried to get voted out more than once, she was surprised that Brian turned on her. Brian’s response is that she was plotting with Ted, which she was, but she’s not going to accept that answer. He answers her question again and again and again and again. It’s pretty obvious she does not want to hear anything. So Probst interrupts because they don’t have an hour and a half to sit and listen to this whining. Regardless, Brian does not feel that she should not vote for him over one him lying to her once. From Clay, she would like three ways he contributed to aiding people survive on that island. He did a little bit every day. That’s his only response. He’s not even going to try to satisfy the questions of a raving lunatic who cannot be satisfied.

In his vote, Ted denies that he was plotting against Brian. In truth, he was plotting against him, just not for the very next vote.

Votes
Clay (Penny)
Brian (Ted)
Brian (Helen)
Clay (Ken)
Clay (Erin)
Brian (Jan)
Brian (Jake)

The Survivor: Thailand winner is Brian Heidik. The sore losers from Sook Jai tried unsucessfully to derail him, but Brian was one of the more skilled players to win the game. Had he been up against anybody other than Clay, Brian may well have been in danger. It’s entirely possible these people would have voted for Jan over him out of spite.

Helen and Jan wish they would have forced a tie, a move that’s not any smarter but sounds better in hindsight.

Survivor: Samoa Episode 7

Russell S worked himself too hard in Survivor: Samoa Episode 6, collapsed during the challenge, and was eliminated for medical reasons. As a result, there was no vote at tribal council.

The guys on Galu are hoping to get Shambo on their side so that she does not side with the girls instead. There’s a problem with that. Even if she sides with you for now, she ain’t on your side. She likes the other tribe better.

Foa Foa has some indication that they may have a chance. I’m not entirely sure what part of this game gave them that indication.

In an attempt to boost Shambo’s ego, the guys have decided to vote for her to be the leader. After the voting process using fingers and numbers or… something… that does not make anything resembling sense, Monica realizes her head’s probably on the chopping block.

Dave’s afraid of the alliance with Shambo because he considers her too dim to share information with, which kind of negates the concept of an alliance.

The challenge is a memory game with a twist. The leader may decide to keep the item, but if they do so, they forfeit the point. Additionally, 4 items are dummy items without a match. Reward is lunch on a sailboat. Kelly, Dave, and Shambo sit out for Galu. Because Shambo is sitting out, she appoints Erik to make decisions for the challenge. At Dave’s very vocal insistence, she chooses Brett instead. Was there an actual point to that, or just a way for him to show that he can control her? Laura scores the first match for Galu, a fire starting kit. They opt for the kit instead of the point. Brett takes the lead 1-0 for Galu, declining the mosquito net. John then takes the lead 2-0 for Galu. Russell makes it 2-1. Laura makes it 3-1. Then time fast forwards and it’s 5-3 Galu. Then 6-3. With 3 items left, all Galu needs is one more match. Natalie makes it 6-4. Monica scores the final point to win reward for Galu. Wow. Shocker. Shambo’s first decision as leader is to send someone to the other tribe (and miss reward). She chooses Laura.

Laura doesn’t think Shambo likes her, and she’s not shy about letting Russell know that she’s not surprised that she was the one to be sent to their camp. Russell has an offer, as always. They make a final two deal. Neither of them is 100% onboard, but at least it’s something. Oh, and by the way, don’t bother looking for that hidden idol, Laura. Ben found it and hid it somewhere in the camp. As if.

Laura’s also getting along well with Natalie, who is the person Russell suggested as their secret final three partner. This does not sit well with Liz, who would rather their guest work than talk.

In the immunity challenge, both tribes will paddle out to get puzzle pieces shaped like fish, which two members of the tribe will catch from their boat. John, Monica, and Laura sit out for Galu. Wondering whether the leadership necklace is bad luck (it sure wasn’t good luck), Foa Foa leaves it back at camp. Using their height advantage, Foa Foa gets off to an early lead. Foa Foa’s the first tribe to the second station. Their 5-2 lead following Dave’s sucking at fishing turns into a 5-4 lead as they struggle to get the final piece, but they are the first tribe to head back to the beach. Both tribes end up back at the beach at roughly the same time. Liz, Jaison, and Mick work on the puzzle for Foa Foa; Dave, Brett, and Kelly do it for Galu. Galu solves the puzzle first to win immunity. Again.

Russell blame Jaison for the loss. Not only was he dragging in the water, but he gave up on the puzzle and just stared at it as if it were going to solve itself.

Jeff doesn’t sugarcoat it. Foa Foa sucks. Their challenge record is 1-8-1, one of the worst overall performances of any tribe ever.

Russell promises that, if they can just keep the 4 remaining people together, the whole thing’s gonna change. Yeah, this again.

Probst notices that Jaison’s had his head down most of the time during tribal council, occasionally popping his head up. Weighing on his mind is that he screwed up the puzzle, which may be a reason to get rid of him.

Votes
Jaison
Liz
Liz
Liz

Despite the poor attempt at creating drama, Liz is the obvious boot choice.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Samoa Episode 8 All Hell Breaks Loose, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on CBS.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 11

The top 20 were revealed in So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 9. Since that time, Billy Bell has left the show due to illness, and Brandon Dumlao has taken his spot. Tonight they will all dance before the judges eliminate two of them.

Nigel’s apparently begging for Paula Abdul to come on the show to do some guest ~~rambling~~ judging. The empty chair with her name on it will suffice.

In addition to Billy Bell’s aforementioned problems, Noelle has done something to her leg and will not be dancing tonight. Free pass to next week, but she will need to be better by next week to remain.

Channing Cooke & Phillip Attmore
Style: Jive
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Song: Rockin’ Robin by The Jackson 5
Adam: Phillip did well, which was expected, but Channing’s strong performance surprised him.
Mary: Good but still want more. Legs got a little bit lazy. Phillip got a little lazier as it went on.
Nigel: Phillip was good as expected considering his tap background. Channing needs a little work. Thought Phillip wasn’t so much lazy as out of energy. Lack of chemistry.

Ashleigh di Lello & Jakob Karr
Style: Broadway
Choreographer: Tyce Diorio
Song: Hit Me with a Hot Note (And Watch Me Bounce) from the Sophisticated Ladies Original Soundtrack
Adam: Incredibly smart choreography. Jakob’s spreading the gospel of dance. New standard of excellence. Ashleigh will have difficulty being partners with him. Just needs to watch her lines and hands, but she’ll be just fine if she does that.
Mary: More than just fine. Phenomenal, sexy, sultry. Didn’t think Ashleigh was capable of that. As for Jakob, can I get an Amen?
Nigel: Ashleigh proved why the judges had faith in her. Dancing with one of the most gifted dancers ever. If Ashleigh keeps dancing like that with Jakob, he’s gonna take her into the finals with him.

Ariana DeBose & Peter Sabasino
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo
Song: Black & Gold by Sam Sparro
Adam: Not dancing like each other. Focus on the similarity of musicality. And get buck.
Mary: Good beginning and end. A little bit sloppy in the middle.
Nigel: Didn’t ever find it. Peter got a little bit closer than Ariana. Disappointed.

Noelle Marsh (Melanie Lapatin fills in for her) & Russell Ferguson
Style: Foxtrot
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: Vagabond Shoes by Vic Damone
Adam: Continues to defy explanation. Incredible, amazing, effortless, beautiful, fantastic.
Mary: Hat’s off to you. Respectable job. It factor.
Nigel: Living proof of why it’s so important to focus on the arts. So many things that weren’t good as far as technique, but done really well.

Bianca Revels & Victor Smalley
Style: Contemporary
Choreographer: Travis Wall
Song: Wasted Time by Me’Shell Ndegeocello
Adam: Impressed again by Travis. Bianca is at a distinct disadvantage because of her style. Good but needs to watch her shoulders and toes. That was Victor’s dance. Found the character of the music so beautifully.
Mary: Bianca did a fabulous job and sold the passion and chemistry between the two. Victor took it to another level.
Nigel: Most connected between partners so far. Both are growing. Confident.

Karen Hauer & Kevin Hunt
Style: ChaCha
Choreographer: Tony Meredith & Melanie Lapatin
Song: Push It (Glee Cast Version)
Adam: Karen, yikes. Pretty hard to watch anything else. Kevin did a great job visiting her world. Last lift series was awkward.
Mary: Karen was sharp, rhythmical, and sexy. On the hot tamale train. Kevin got 2 out of 3, not sharp enough to be on the train.
Nigel: Kevin danced that very well indeed. Karen’s got this in her blood.

Ellenore Scott & Ryan di Lello
Style: Contemporary Jazz
Choreographer: Sonya Tayeh
Song: Arcadia by Apparat
Adam: Sonya rocks. Two of the most exciting dancers, albeit not the most technical.
Mary: Chemistry was crazy. Ryan was focused on his partner 100%, which is tough for a ballroom dancer.
Nigel: Ryan was a total surprise.

Pauline Mata & Brandon Dumlao
Style: Smooth Waltz
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison
Song: You Light up My Life by Whitney Houston
Adam: Some beautiful performance moments. Brandon needs to improve on some things but did well all things considered.
Mary: Very dynamic chemistry. Brandon really has to expand his quality of movement. Pauline was so elegant and beautiful.
Nigel: Felt a little like a prom couple. Beautifully done but not strong enough at all. Didn’t get enough from Pauline either.

Kathryn McCormack & Jonathan “Legacy” Perez
Style: Hip hop
Choreographer: Dave Scott
Song: On & On by Missy Elliott
Adam: Fantastic chemistry. Amazing opportunity to learn from each other.
Mary: Yabba dabba doo. Legacy’s learned to dance. Kathryn was right on the money, too.
Nigel: Legacy brought this to life. Kathryn could be a little better but brought it together.

Mollee Gray & Nathan Trasoras
Style: Disco inspired by Mexican wrestling
Choreographer: Doriana Sanchez
Song: Turn the Beat Around (Pablo’s 12″ Remix) by Gloria Estefan
Adam: Most adorable couple. Infectious energy. Very sexy lifts, none of which seemed that dirty at all. Big fan of that number.
Mary: Really hard and really pulled off. Charisma off the charts. Gonna be here for an awfully long time.
Nigel: Bring the fun to this competition.

The judges have put Ariana, Brandon, Pauline, and Russell in danger. The Russell choice draws boos. It is quite thoroughly confusing.

The girls go first. All three of the judges are unanimous. They would like to see a little more passion from Pauline. Ariana DeBose will be going home. She needs more charisma in her work.

The guys are next. They were again unanimous. Russell is urged to keep dancing and learning other styles. Brandon has been eliminated. But Nigel will ask that the rules be changed so he can come back next season, as it should be. Giving him a day and a half to catch up after being cut because he wasn’t ready clearly did not work.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Episode 12, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The Biggest Loser Season 8 Episode 7

Following their week at home and Daniel’s 1 pound gain, the black team fell below the yellow line in The Biggest Loser Season 8 Episode 6, and they chose to vote out Dina.

Amanda says that the vote came down to her and her three good friends: Daniel, Shay, and Abby.

This week, each person will be going head to head against someone from the opposite team. If they beat that person, they get a point. The team with the most points wins. Welcome to face off week. Whoever wins the pop challenge gets to choose who goes against whom.

The task is to bob under the bar and touch their disc, then go back and touch the other side. First one to 500 wins. Only one person can compete at a time. They can switch at any time, but each person is only allowed one turn. Tracey and Abby start off first, both in their first challenge. Abby starts off with a slight lead before dropping out at 20. Tracey will be doing 100 no matter what. She and Shay tag out at the same time with black team ahead by 4. Allen and Danny are up next, and Allen manages to gain the lead for the blue team. Allen’s up by 15 by the time Amanda tags in for black. Allen tags out at 250, having improved his team’s standing from down 4 to up 16. Liz stumbles and gives up half that lead before tagging in Rudy after about 50. Amanda tags out, having brought the lead down to 2. Rudy tags out at 391, up by 2. That leaves Daniel and Rebecca to finish out the game. Daniel takes the lead 417-416. About 20 later, Rebecca’s back in the lead. In the end, the blue team wins by 5.

That gives the blue team (which not surprisingly includes Tracey) control.

Rebecca (16.9% lost) vs. Amanda (12.8% lost)
Tracey (15.1% lost) vs. Abby (17.4% lost)
Allen (16.9% lost) vs. Danny (17.0% lost)
Rudy (19.7% lost) vs. Shay (13.7% lost)
Liz (14.6% lost) vs. Daniel (11.2% lost)

If the season’s numbers hold, the blue team will win. The three black team members who have the lowest percentages of weight loss but voted out Dina have the opportunity to prove their worth. Granted, considering Daniel gained a pound last week, he should put up a huge number this week.

Bob tosses his team in the pool to do a workout there. Yeah, it ain’t gonna be fun. Sink or swim.

Jillian, meanwhile, is in the gym with her team. Amanda’s on the treadmill. Sorta. She can’t do this. She can’t. She can’t. She can’t. Time to walk out of the gym.

The contestants arrive on a baseball field, where they are greeted with pictures of themselves from when they first came to the ranch. Derek Jeter is really proud to be part of this challenge. Via satellite. On the field are 2535 balls, one for every hit he’s had in his first 13 seasons. They will grab as many as they can and throw them at their opponents’ pictures. When they’re hit by 316 balls (his batting average), they’re out. Reward is a meal cooked by Curtis Stone, plus a 2 pound advantage at the weigh-in. Abby is sitting out, so Tracey will join her. Allen is immediately targeted by every member of the black team. Blue team is splitting their balls between Amanda and Daniel. Allen is obviously the first one eliminated. Next target will be Rebecca. Amanda is the first person eliminated for the black team. Rebecca is the next one out, bringing blue team down to 2. Daniel is the next one out, putting them at 2 each. By this point, though, the black team is up by about 100 baseballs. Rudy is the next one eliminated. It’s pretty well hopeless for Liz. Black team wins the challenge by a massive margin, their first challenge win.

Abby’s managed to find people she loves again, a tough thing to do since she lost everything not so long ago. She’s also proving to herself that she can lose weight, having the second highest percentage of weight loss so far this season despite being on the sidelines for medical reasons throughout much of it.

Now we go back to Amanda. Hopefully the whining has passed. Jillian tells her she didn’t walk out on her. She walked out on herself. Jillian’s lesson to her is that she has to redefine her fear of failure.

Bob brings in a step about 3 feet high for Allen to jump on. Don’t think. Just do. He manages to land the jump.

Shay’s lesson for the day is that it’s not her fault.

The black team has decided to give both of the two pounds from their advantage to Amanda. She requested that advantage out of fear she will not do well. She had a lot of emotional days this week. Yeah, I noticed.

Amanda: 214 pounds (-4, -2, 2.75%)
Rebecca: 223 pounds (-9, 3.88%)
Blue team leads 1-0

Abby: 201 pounds (-3, 1.47%)
Tracey: 197 pounds (-5, 2.48%)
Blue team leads 2-0

Danny: 345 pounds (-12, 3.36%)
Allen: 262 pounds (-8, 2.96%)
Blue team leads 2-1

Daniel: 272 pounds (-5, 1.81%)
Liz: 221 pounds (-7, 3.07%)
Blue team wins the weigh-in

Daniel’s performance receives immediate responses of “What?” from both Bob and Jillian, who knows something’s not quite right.

Shay: 402 pounds (-9, 2.19%)
Rudy: 341 pounds (-14, 3.94%)

With that weight loss, Rudy has lost over 100 pounds the fastest in Biggest Loser history. That new record of 7 weeks tops the old record, set by Dane last season in 8 weeks. Dane is there to watch his record get broken, as he’s preparing for a triathlon with 12 former contestants.

As the Biggest Loser from his team, Danny is safe, which is the worst news for the black team, since they can’t make the (stupid) decision of getting rid of him. Abby says she’s learned what she went there to learn, and she offers to sacrifice herself.

Votes
Abby: Amanda
Shay: Abby
Amanda: Abby
Danny: Daniel
Daniel: Abby

Well, that was not a smart decision for the team either. However, they felt it necessary to honor her wishes. Abby is down from her starting weight of 247 pounds to 167 pounds today. She hopes to turn her story into a positive message for others.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser 8 Episode 8, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.