reality tv – Page 209

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.

Survivor: Africa Episode 11

Having thrown his game away the previous week, Brandon was not surprised to meet his demise in Survivor: Africa Episode 10, receiving votes from friend and foe alike in response to his sheer stupidity.

Although everybody else voted for Brandon, Lex refused to do so. He covered his own ass, despite the fact that he was betraying his own tribe in doing so. Kim J views this as an opportunity. The three boys may not be as tight as they think. Big Tom especially feels betrayed. All Lex was worried about was Lex.

Everybody’s complaining about lethargy and lack of food, so it’s time for the Survivor auction. Each person gets a personalized wallet with 20,000 Kenyan shillings, or about $250USD. All this confusing currency conversion is the reason why these auctions now are held in dollars. Coffee, sugar, and a chocolate croissant are up first. Lex bids 3,000 and wins. Cheese and crackers gets more takers. Ethan bids 4,000. Kim J ups it to 4,500. Ethan responds with 5,000. Kim J wins with 6,000. Beer is next. Let’s start the bidding at 4,000. Big Tom doesn’t care. He bids 1,000. Sold. A sundae and hot fudge are next. Kim P bids 6,000. Big Tom goes to 6,500. Kim P goes 7,000. Big Tom responds 7,500. Kim P ups it to 8,000. Tom 8,500. Kim 9,000. Tom 10,000. Kim P 10,500, and frustrated. Ethan convinces Tom to keep going to 11,000. Kim bids 11,500. Tom bids 12,000. Kim 12,500. Now she can finally have it. How about a mug of pure chocolate syrup? Ethan buys it for 5,000. Mystery item is next. Ethan bids 7,500. Kim J bids 8,000. Tom bids 9,000. Ethan hits 10,000. Kim J bids 11,000. Lex doesn’t want to split because he doesn’t want to get gooned. Fried chicken, potatoes, and veggies. She doesn’t seem to hear the people making offers to split it now. However, she will sell a piece of chicken to Teresa for 4,000. Lex will do it for 5,000. Teresa responds 5,500. Ethan wants to offer 6,000. Teresa is eventually talked into paying 8,000 for a piece of chicken and two bites of potatoes. Lex bids 10,000 for half the potatoes and the chicken. Sold. A hoagie is the next item up for grabs. Teresa bids 9,000. Tom bids 10,000. Teresa bids 10,500. Tom 11,000. Teresa bids 11,500 to split with Frank. 12,000 for Big Tom. 13,000, 13,500, 14,000, 14,500, 15,000, 15,500, 16,000, 16,500… Big Tom’s tapped out. Teresa gets herself and Frank a hoagie. Good enough to make you want to slap your mama. Big Tom and Ethan split the next mystery item for 9,000. Pancakes, ham, and eggs. Tom’s biggest thrill is that Ethan won’t eat the ham for religious reasons.

Unlike what often happens, everybody ends up with smiles on their faces. That said, there was some politics involved. Frank and Teresa were attached. Kim J and Lex worked together (well, more like she made him beg for a small portion of her food, but they made a deal nonetheless). Ethan and Tom were working together. Then there’s little Kim, who was painfully alone, and being teased by the guys.

Nobody can figure out whether Tom’s for real or not. To this day, people still can’t figure him out. If nothing else, he gets the chance to bathe Kim P, from the looks of it sneaking peeks in the process, an indication he may well be smarter than the average bear.

The challenge is about remembering the African story Jeff tells them. There are 7 stations. Each station has a question and two ostrich eggs. They must answer correctly to obtain 5 pieces of leather on their staffs.

During his long search for the gum of the special tree, a warrior subsists solely on cow’s blood or food provided by others?
Food provided by others.

What happens after a warrior dies? The other warriors shave their heads, or he is taken from camp and left in the bush for hyenas to eat?
The other warriors shave their heads (he is left in a bush for the hyenas to eat before death).

What is the most important aspect to the circumcision? Finding the special gum on the tree or the reaction of the warrior?
The reaction of the warrior. He must not flinch in any way, or his family is shamed.

What must be done when a child is born? For 4 days the mother must drink the blood of a cow, or a goat must be sacrificed?
The mother must drink cow’s blood.

What is the best day for any ritual? Any even-numbered day of moonlight or the 8th day of moonlight?
8th day of moonlight.

The first act of tribal beautification is removal of the two bottom teeth or piercing of the ear?
Piercing of the ear.

Lex and Frank start off at 1 each. Kim J ties them. Teresa and Kim P join them. Lex and Frank take the lead with 2 each. Eventually they’ve still got the lead at 4 each, with everybody else at 3. Lex is the first to 5 but drops one as he’s dashing toward the center. He dashes back just in time to beat Frank and win immunity.

Now that Boran has a clear lead, one they’re not willing to throw away for a change, they should be able to dictate which of the other three goes home.

Frank picks the next morning of all mornings to interact with the others and show them there’s a soft, sensual side about him. Okay, now as creepy as that sounds, his concept of soft and sensual is defending the safety of guns and how there are a lot of other ways to kill people. It’s not long before the others have heard enough. Good luck with the vote.

Teresa still doesn’t want to quit, so now her next move is to try to pull Kim J in and get the women together. She wants to take out Ethan, in fear he’ll win everything. In return, she pledges her loyalty to a female alliance. Kim J is not interested in this plan, and she tells Teresa so. In response, Teresa appreciates this information, so that they can do different stuff, whatever that means.

Votes
Frank
Kim J
Frank
Frank
Frank

By a unanimous vote, Frank has been voted off the island. The girls flipped, knowing his time was up. Considering that the guys on the other side know that Teresa is trying to string together a girl power alliance, their vote is odd, even if they do feel just that secure.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Africa Episode 12 The Big Adventure.

The Bachelorette Season 5 Episode 10

While we wait to find out who the winner is, tonight we get to listen to the men tell all, which typically results in lots of filler and an attempt by the producers to pretend there are successes from this process (let me guess, we’ll be paid a visit by Trista and Ryan). What we aren’t expecting to see is Wes, who’s in denial that he’s a putz and insists that he was edited unfairly, to which the producers respond that he is a putz who needs to go peddle his CD’s elsewhere.

Jillian doesn’t think Tanner P’s creepy foot fetish is creepy, and she plans to defend him. David, however, is creepy. She hopes he’ll learn from his disrespectfulness. Ed, having left to save his job, returned after ensuring his job was safe, and Jillian wanted to make it hard on him but just couldn’t. Kiptyn won a big piece of her heart when he proved he could have fun and make her laugh on the ropes course. Next question: why was Jillian dumb enough to keep Wes around so long? She was attracted to his good side, mostly his singing of country songs. That said, she claims she never noticed that he had no interest in her. With the time having passed, she knows he came here to sell his album, but she’s not sure about the whole girlfriend thing. Letting Reid go was the hardest because she was not ready for it.

Ed is the happiest, funniest drunk Jillian’s ever met. Breaking up with Robby was worse than it looked. Not only did she have to drop him off in the middle of the Canadian wilderness where he may or may not have been attacked by moose (the plural form of moose I’m told), but the train actually missed the stop. So the train had to stop and back up and return to the station, which took about an hour and a half. Reid dances like Elaine from Seinfeld. The hometown visit with Kiptyn included a visit to his charity, Stand up for Kids.

Jason returns with one of the girls he dumped, Molly. If that was the only chance he had to be with Molly (actually, the not proposing to Melissa bit would have been his other option), Jason would do it all over again, regardless of the consequences. They didn’t get back together right away and started off pretty slowly, but since then have picked things up, seeing each other at least every other weekend. There will be a wedding. Some day. First she will have to move to Seattle. Eventually. Jason’s willing to take the blame since everybody’s happy now.

Mathue, Sasha, Mike, Tanner P, Michael, Tanner F, Mark, David, Brian, Robby, Juan, Jesse, and Jake are back. Reid was not able to return due to a prior engagement. Really?

Every time Tanner F introduces himself, he gets asked if he’s the foot guy.

The other guys wanted Jake to be not perfect, like them. Tanner F has a complaint aside from that, though. He pulled a Mesnick, a grown man crying while bent over a railing. Sasha complains that Jake is like a guy off a soap opera, so he’s not real. Jake’s response: Sasha, f*** you.

David felt Juan was being fake in front of the cameras. That and his whole man code thing. What is this man code, and can I find it online somewhere? Being on The Bachelorette is apparently a violation of the man code in and of itself, since they’re all fishing in the same pool. Juan doesn’t get how David’s a man. A fair question. When David says he wants to beat Juan’s ass, that doesn’t really mean he wants to beat him up and/or kill him. No, it just means he doesn’t like him. Oh. Tanner P, the rat fink, also broke man code. When Tanner defends himself, David responds that everybody has a girl back home. Now this guy needs to get his foot out of his mouth (again).

As if he hasn’t had enough time to run his mouth, it’s time to hear David’s side of the story. I forgot how he was lost for words the first night. If only that lasted. He doesn’t think that Jillian was very uncomfortable, no matter what she may have told Chris about how she was… very uncomfortable. He doesn’t seem to understand that making comments about a girl’s butt may be taken offensively. This is all news to him. Jillian put the signals out there and then took them away. Chris wants to know where in the man code is respect for women. The guys were all shocked by how he behaved when they saw it.

Jake claims that he couldn’t sleep at night, so he called one of the producers. He didn’t care about the man code. He was fine once he got it all off his chest, whether she kept Wes around one more time or not. Jesse disagrees with this move. David wants to know if this was all real, crying and such over this girl he barely knows who just dumped him anyway. Most of the guys, however, are supportive of him telling Jillian the truth, if for no other reason than he spilled the beans and used a name. He does still have feelings for Jillian. So the next question from the audience is whether he would agree to be the next The Bachelor. He hasn’t really thought that far, though it would be an honor.

Wes “couldn’t make it” to the show tonight. Probably because security wouldn’t allow him to enter the building. Tanner F tells the same story as the other guys. In week 2 or 3, Wes told him he’s got a girl back home, and she’s the one he wrote all the songs for. Sasha defends Wes. He was there for the wrong reason… just not the wrong reason everybody’s saying. Oh, well, that makes it better. Any defense there is for him is negated by the fact that he never acted interested in Jillian. Is there anybody in the audience brave enough to support Wes? That would be a no. Before going to break, one more time to play Wes’ songs, just in case there’s any woman out there who is not repulsed.

Jillian’s heart was broken with what Juan had to put up with (David). She did feel really uncomfortable with David, and she just wishes she spoke up at the time, to which David responds with an apology. Regarding Jake, Jillian didn’t want to keep anybody around for too long. Speaking of which, what does she think about Wes? She feels like she made the right decision in the end, though she realizes she got played. Michael has learned a lot from the experience for when he starts dating again. Juan never noticed Jillian’s feet are really hot. She is wearing Mango Mango, which may lead to Tanner P being hosed down.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Bachelorette 5 episode 11, where we will find out who The Bachelorette Season 5 winner is, which airs Monday at 8/7c on ABC.

Big Brother 11 Episode 5

The scramble for votes to save Braden managed to get both Casey and Michele to alienate their clicks, but it was not enough and Braden was still eliminated after a tie vote in Big Brother 11 Episode 4. With Jessie out of power, Ronnie went on to win the HOH competition.

Love BB’s editing. Ronnie voted to save his cliquemate in accordance with his original word, yet he’s now being branded a double crosser and a betrayer.

Michele’s worried that Chima is going to figure out that Michele turned on her and now she’s going to come after her. Well, she should be. Don’t vote against your cliquemate for no good reason.

Chima will never volunteer as a pawn again. Ya think?

Immediately after Braden leaves the house, Ronnie denies any involvement, to half of the house. He will throw Michele under the bus to them. To the other half of the house, he tells them the truth. Meanwhile, the Brains clique has become one big joke.

Ronnie’s not going to be able to hide any more. Now that he’s HOH, he’s going to have to reveal his hand.

Chima tells Michele they’re on the same team. Oh, and Michele’s one of the crazy paranoid bitches in the house that thinks people are talking behind their backs when they’re not.

Laura swears that they were set up by Ronnie, and now the half of the house that was dumb enough to go along with that stupid plan has all become (again) the targets.

Ultimately, whichever way Ronnie may have voted, he’s an overplayer. That makes him highly unpredictable, but it also means sooner or later he’ll reach the end of his rope as nobody feels they can trust him.

Laura wants everybody convinced that Ronnie is a genius, setting it up so that both sides of the house hate each other and never go after him. One flaw in this theory: he didn’t throw HOH. The flaw about talking about him behind his back: he didn’t throw HOH. Ronnie, of course, is immediately told that Laura’s trying to get people against him. If he needed a reason to nominate her, he’s got one now.

The houseguests are given a luxury competition, which means a promotion for a movie. Like Big Brother would actually pay to give them something. The special host for the competition is Dan, the Big Brother 10 winner. Jessie ain’t happy to see him, but I’m glad it’s not anybody from a season prior to that because some of those people are so played out and best forgotten. Kevin wants Dan’s number. They’re splitting up the competition into heats between girls and guys, and one girl and one guy will watch the movie.

What tattoo would sink Lydia’s relationship with her boyfriend? His ex-girlfriend’s name or the logo of his favorite boy band?
Ex-girlfriend. Jessie and Casey are the only ones correct.

If Jordan was out line dancing at a country bar, what pick up line would get her to go out with you?
Are you from Tennessee? ‘Cause you’re the only ten I see. Kevin, Casey, and Jessie get a point.

If Chima were writing a story about how her boyfriend cheated on her, how would she seek revenge? Egg his sports car or hop on a flight to Australia with his best friend?
Egg his car. Jessie and Russell are correct.

Swim suit model Laura would be more worried about a bald head or a hairy back?
Hairy back. Russell, Jeff, Ronnie, Casey, and Kevin are all right.

Michele likes her men smart and sexy, but would she pick a firefighter or a surgeon?
Firefighter. Russell, Ronnie, Casey, and Jessie are correct. That ties Jessie and Casey at 4 each.

Natalie likes sensitive guys, but did she think a suitcase of stuffed animals or a picture of the guy’s mom was too sensitive?
Picture of his mom. Ronnie and Casey are right, so Casey wins.

Jeff loves football. Which type of football fan would be more attractive to him? Cute super fan or not so bright super hot cheerleader?
Jeff went with the cheerleader, hopefully one that looks better dressed as a woman than he does. Natalie is the only one who is right, although Chima should get a point just for saying she should have known he would go after a dumb girl because he’s not that bright.

Jessie wants junk in the trunk or a big pair of high beams?
Junk in the trunk. Natalie, Lydia, Chima, Laura, Michele, and Jordan are all right.

Kevin’s personal greeting card would be a love poem or a funny limerick?
Limerick. Chima and Laura get a point.

Ronnie wants tickets to a comic book convention with his wife dressed as a space princess or a weekend at a five star hotel with his wife in sexy lingerie?
Comic book convention, and he looks far scarier as a woman than Jeff did. Lydia, Natalie, Chima, Michele, and Jordan are all correct.

If Casey is DJing at a local club, does he get a girl’s attention with the robot or rump shaker?
Robot. Michele, Laura, Lydia, and Natalie are correct. That puts Natalie in the lead with 4 points.

Russell would end the relationship sooner than expected because he has to turn off the fight in the final round or because he has to watch the DVD of your favorite musical repeatedly?
Musical. Chima, Michele, and Jordan are right. Michele, Chima, and Natalie are tied at 4 points each.

The tiebreaker: if Dan were on a first date, how many minutes would he wait for the first kiss?
243 minutes. So does he like have a stop watch? Michele says 55, Chima says 120 minutes, and Natalie says 60 minutes.

Chima wins, which means that two people who don’t like each other will be going to the movies. An additional responsibility from this win is that Casey and Chima will decide which clique is the have nots. The brains are automatically safe. He wants to vote for the athletes, while Chima wants to vote for the popular. He unhappily lets her have her way because her cliquemate is HOH, meaning that the popular group of Jordan and Laura will be the have nots.

As if this whole have not twist weren’t stupid enough to begin with, now America can decide which food they can eat. America’s Vote is: sauerkraut and seaweed, cabbage and cocktail weenies, or pickled eggs and pickled herring.

Casey, Laura, Jordan, and Jeff want Ronnie to nominate people from the other side. Michele is noticeably absent from this ambush. Ronnie’s response: backdoor Russell. Otherwise, he can win veto and save himself. Nobody there is comfortable being a pawn to achieve that goal. Use one of them instead. Jessie promises Ronnie that Russell won’t come back to get him.

Nominations
Michele and Chima are safe because their fellow brain is HOH, a concept apparently lost on Michele.
Jordan is safe.
Casey is safe.
Lydia is safe.
Natalie is safe.
Jessie is safe.
Kevin is safe.
Russell is safe after having been allowed to sweat for a while.

Laura and Jeff have been nominated for eviction. Laura wants to say “I told you so.” While I give her credit for figuring it out, she got herself nominated by not being able to keep her mouth shut. Jeff thinks Ronnie’s playing the game well, but nonetheless he’s being played in turn. Laura was nominated because Ronnie knows she’s the one who’s going to figure him out, not that the others haven’t already figured it out as well. Jeff is merely a pawn. Whatever the case, nobody on that side trusts Ronnie, although nobody on his side really trusts him either. That said, Ronnie’s plan is for Russell to be heading home next week. So last week you helped weaken one side of the house, and this week your plan is to help weaken the other side? The only logic in this is to keep the two sides at war, but with neither sure in their trust of him, it can only get him so far. The thing I’m left struggling with here is the numbers game. Even if Russell does go up, somebody else is going to have to defect from the other side in order to get 5 votes against him. With a house this divided, that’s easier said than done.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Big Brother 11 Episode 6, which airs Tuesday at 9/8c on CBS.

Survivor: Africa Episode 10

Freaking out about one whole vote against him, Lex went on a witch hunt in Survivor: Africa Episode 9, incorrectly identifying Kelly as the person who voted against him. Then he stupidly told her his plan to vote her out, so she flipped sides. Thanks to Brandon, ex-Samburu and Kelly were one vote shy, and Lex’s plan worked.

Brandon’s philiosophy: being fifth on the Boran totem pole while pissing off all of Samburu somehow gives him a better chance of winning the game. Yeah, he’s an idiot. Ethan doesn’t trust Brandon, who so willingly flipped on his allies. Tom also doesn’t trust Brandon. Kim P is shocked by the fact that her friend stabbed her in the back. Lex is the only person who trusts Brandon, or at least he owes Brandon a favor.

Brandon now says that his main motivation was that he wasn’t going to align himself with Frank, and his tribe should have known better than that. He’d rather be out of there in three days than to do that. You’ll get that wish fulfilled soon enough.

Before they go to the reward challenge, the tribe is informed that it will be pairs. They know that if they’re to choose, it will get uglier than it already is, so they put numbers into a hat and draw. The teams will be: Ethan and Kim J, Teresa and Lex, Kim P and Big Tom, and proving that the universe has a sick sense of humor, Frank and Brandon. If Big Tom were playing a dirty trick, he couldn’t think of a better one. A Survivor obstacle course has been assembled for them. Reward will be an outdoor movie, complete with popcorn, candy, hot dogs, and the sponsor’s soda Mountain Dew. Brandon and Frank are up first against Big Tom and Kim P. Brandon’s got the clear advantage here, but Frank’s not doing him any favors. Kim P, likewise, is running well ahead of her struggling partner. The teams are roughly even coming into the ladder building. Brandon and Frank win the first heat. The second heat is Ethan and Kim J against Lex and Teresa. Ethan’s dominating and pushing Kim J along for the ride. They easily win the second heat to go on to the final heat against Brandon and Frank. This time, Brandon stays behind Frank to become his drill sergeant. As Kim J lags behind, Brandon and Frank win reward. They go to watch Out of Africa under the stars for their first date. They still hate each other’s guts, but they make the most of it. Frank wants to just move forward now and forget about this, but it doesn’t look like the tribe will let that happen. They think this is all quite hilarious.

Lex’s word with Ethan and Tom is until the end of the game. His word with Brandon is, well, he guesses until those guys get rid of Brandon.

Tom is looking to get in good with the other tribe, seeing as Lex has already done so, which causes him to begin chatting up Frank.

Brandon tells Kim P she’s still his friend, although she’s been questioning whether he’s still her friend.

The immunity challenge is to make fire using a magnifying glass. The only rule is that anything other than the fire touching their wick will disqualify them. Kim P is the first to get fire. Lex also has fire. Frank is next. Frank’s branch touches the string… he’s out. A distraught Kim P thinks it’s over when she hears Frank’s name, and Probst has to tell her a few times that she can keep going. Brandon’s also got fire. Lex wins immunity.

Teresa thought that they may possibly be able to vote out Lex still, despite how things went last time, but now that will not be a possibility.

Lex has told his tribe that he refuses to vote for Brandon, whether they want to or not, which would mean they would have just 3 votes. The danger here is that Brandon rejoins Samburu and votes for Big Tom, who has three votes against him. Lex couldn’t care less. His word with Brandon supercedes his word with his original tribe, which really doesn’t do them a whole lot of good.

Votes
Brandon
Brandon
Frank
Brandon
Brandon
Frank
Brandon

With votes from everybody but himself and Lex because nobody else trusts him, Brandon has been voted off the island. Good riddance. If you’re not here to play, get lost.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Africa Episode 11 We Are Family.

Survivor: Africa Episode 9

Following the merge and at the first opportunity they got, Clarence’s teammates quickly turned on him and voted him out in Survivor: Africa Episode 7.

Clarence’s departure wasn’t the only thing that happened at tribal council. Lex got one extra vote. One whole extra vote. No big deal, right? Oh, we’re dealing with Lex here. Remember how much he whined during all of Survivor: All Stars (and ever since)? This won’t be pretty.

Time to smoke out the snake, slit its throat, and cut its head off. Kelly wants him to just deal with it, not that she really cares if someone voted against him. Brandon, likewise, wants him to get over his ego. He wishes he’d done it. Great way to screw with his head.

Lex doesn’t suspect the guilty party, Teresa, at all. She didn’t think it would be such a big deal. It’s just one vote. This is the first time she’s had to lie, or at least not tell the truth.

The reward challenge is to get 9 items into a basket using a plank as a springboard. Charles returns with his brother Isaac to bring the reward in. Last time he came they jabbed a cow and drank its blood (mixed with a little bit of milk). They are back with animals, but this time, the winner will get two goats, which they will barter at a small African village for whatever they can get. Ethan’s catching on pretty quickly. Kim J and Lex are the next on the board, followed by Frank. Ethan’s just racking up the points. As the challenge goes on, it’s coming down to Ethan with 2 left and Lex with 3 left. Ethan’s down to his last one. Lex is at 2. Brandon’s got 3. Kelly has finally managed to get down to 8. Ethan wins reward.

Probst arrives the next day and puts Ethan on the truck with the guy from the beginning of the season who yelled at them “Down, down, down, faster, faster, faster.” As he’s about to depart, perhaps he needs to select someone to go with him. Lex came in second, so Ethan will go with him, and he emphasizes and reemphasizes that it’s because of the order of the finish. The entire town immediately surrounds them to stare. Two white guys, middle of Africa, walking two goats. No, they don’t stand out. Who’s intersted in buying these goats? They walk around for a while and go with the best offer. Where is the buyer taking the goats? Straight to the butcher shop 20 feet away. Yeah, probably should have asked in there.

They’ve immediately got themselves a complete entourage, some of whom are talking to them and many of whom are just there to stare. Their first stop is a restaurant. There is no menu, but there are three choices: mush they’re eating at camp, meat (there are a lot of cats roaming around, so they’re not real clear what animal the meat is), and fries. They opt for the fries and soda and beer. The platters of fries are huge and swimming in oil. When they’re done eating their 1000 shilling meal, they go to a market to spend their remaining 600 shillings and also barter the hats and sunglasses they got from the rest of the tribe. It’s enough to get various trinkets and, perhaps most importantly, cookies and candy to a tribe starved for sweets. Ethan finishes off the day playing hacky sack with the kids.

Teresa has, somehow, managed to bring Kim P and Brandon back under the Samburu tribe, giving them and Frank a foursome. A foursome that doesn’t trust each other but a foursome nonetheless. Can they pull in a fifth? Kim goes to Kelly, who she knows is upset with Lex. Kelly declines because she has to vote with her tribe. Regardless of any discussions they’re having, Kim believes Kelly doesn’t want Lex around, but if Lex wins immunity, this is all moot.

Probst gives them 30 seconds to study items and carefully memorize the placement of each item. The challenge is to find an item, come back with it, and put it in the right spot. The first items are a leaf and a seapod. Frank (completely wrong), Kim P (missing the seapod), and Kim J (missing the leaf) are out. Next is elephant dung. Kelly and Teresa are eliminated. For the final round, there’s a new barrel of items, and they are given 15 seconds this time. They have exactly 1 minute to find as many items as they can. Brandon has 6. Lex has 5. Big Tom has 6, bringing him to a tie with Brandon. Ethan has 8 and wins immunity.

With Lex immunityless, old Samburu may have a chance here. In the meantime, Lex is still trying to smoke out the rat. He has decided that Kelly is the culprit, which he is basing on something he heard from Brandon and nothing more, so his plan is to cut another one of his tribemates, thereby turning what had been a 6-4 advantage into a 4-4 tie. Lex’s offer to Brandon: take Kelly’s spot in their alliance, as fifth in line and no more.

Kelly is noticing that things are different. Unlike usual, Lex is not laying down the orders who she’s supposed to vote for. He tells her they’re voting against her. Because Lex was stupid enough to tell her she’s the target, she has a golden opportunity here to save herself by joining the other side. Kim P agrees to join her in voting for Lex. Teresa has decided she can trust Kim P and vote with her. Frank will go along as well. So it comes down to which way Brandon chooses to swing. On the one hand, he can be on the side with a new alliance that has told him he’s the first one out and will give him a run for his money in challenges. On the other hand, he can choose to be in an alliance with people he shouldn’t necessarily trust but who will give him a better shot at winning.

Votes
Kelly
Kelly
Lex
Lex
Lex
Kelly
Lex
Kelly
Kelly

By a vote of 5-4, Kelly has been voted off the island. Brandon says he voted Lex’s way so that he can make it to the final four. Well, I’ve got bad news for him then. He’s on the outside of his new alliance, and now his old alliance doesn’t trust him either, nor would they be likely to vote for him should he by some miracle survive to the final two. Way to throw away your game, dude. As for Lex, making such a big deal out of that one vote has now cost him an additional 4 votes, for a total of 6, putting him in obvious danger in the event of a future tie.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another recap of Survivor: Africa Episode 10 Dinner, Movie, and a Betrayal.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 17

The top 10 danced in So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 16, and tonight two more will go home.

The Emmys were announced, and So You Think You Can Dance was nominated for 4 for choreographers:

Mia Michaels’ routine performed by Twitch & Katee
Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo’s routine performed by Chelsie & Mark
Tyce Diorio’s routine performed by Jessica & Will
Dmitry Chaplin’s routine performed by Chelsie & Joshua

The makeup department also got nominated.

Nigel’s not there tonight. He’s receiving a(n honorary) doctorate of arts. Yeah, the judges really are that pointless on elimination night now.

We start off with the girls. Janette is safe. Randi is in the bottom two. Jeanine is safe, which she can thank Travis Wall for. Kayla is safe, while Melissa is in the bottom two.

The boys go next. Jason is safe. Evan is also safe. Kupono is in the bottom two. Brandon is safe. Ade joins Kupono in the bottom two, a little surprising, but his partner definitely stole the show from him last night. Although Evan should have been in the bottom, he seems to have a following.

Having pulled the fewest votes for the girls, Randi Evans has been eliminated. Melissa survives for another week.

The boys are up next. Kupono’s been in the bottom, well, a lot, so I’m assuming this is the end of the line for him. It is. He joins his partner from last night in going home.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Episode 18, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.