The Biggest Loser Season 12 Episode 3

After the older group lost again in The Biggest Loser Season 12 Episode 2, they voted out Johnny following his weight gain.

Those who remain in the blue team say that Johnny was taking too much of Anna’s time.

This is NFL week. At the end of the week, the player with the highest percentage of weight loss wins a trip to the Super Bowl. They start off on a football field, where they are joined by Clay Matthews, Tony Gonzalez, and Drew Brees. Jennifer will sit out of the challenge due to medical reasons. Their task will be to toss balls through their opponents’ cardboard stomachs to knock them over. It’s a pretty simple task because they can walk right up to make the throw, except for the NFL players who receive handicaps. John is the first one out. Then Drew Brees. Tony Gonzalez follows him. Becky is next. Clay Matthews is the last of the NFL players to go. Sunny is next. Antone used to be an NFL player, and he, too, falls without hitting a target. Mike is done. Then Joe. And Bonnie. Nothing but red team left. Ramon is out. Jessica is next. Patrick is the next one down. Vinny misses, giving Courtney the opportunity to knock him out and win the challenge and $5,000.

Jennifer’s MRI shows that her stress fracture is 100% healable, but it will take a few weeks before she can start a more intense exercise program.

Their next challenge will consist of 4 quarters of 15 minutes each with 10 minutes of rest in between. The team with the highest average of calories burned wins. Reward is a spa day. Bob wants to focus on Jennifer. His goal is to prove that she can still burn calories even with the bum leg. After one quarter, the black team has the lead with 283 calories, followed by red team with 238 and then blue team with 183. The second quarter is more of the same, as is the third quarter. After the challenge is done, the blue team has burned an average of 764 calories (191 per quarter), red team has burned an average of 952 calories (238 per quarter), and the black team wins with 1171 calories (293 per quarter). They decline the prize, a smart thing to do because a spa day has the potential to be counterproductive.

Their last surprise of the week is a last chance workout with NFL players in their age groups: Shawne “Lights Out” Merriman, Eric Dickerson, and Tim Tebow.

Vinny realized at a young age that his home was different than others. Whoopins aren’t supposed to leave bruises and welts. The image of him getting his nose broken and his mom asking what he did to cause it will always stick with him. I’d say the hate he’s feeling toward her is a very fair emotion.

Courtney: 240 pounds (-7, 2.83%)
Vinny: 390 pounds (-10, 2.50%)
Ramon: 322 pounds (-7, 2.13%)
Patrick: 350 pounds (-11, 3.05%)
Jessica: 221 pounds (-11, 4.74%)
Red Total: 1523 pounds (-46, 2.93%)

Antone: 389 pounds (-16, 3.95%)
Sunny: 245 pounds (-10, 3.92%)
Joe: 307 pounds (-17, 5.247%)
Jennifer: 289 pounds (-16, 5.246%)
John: 375 pounds (-18, 4.58%)
Black Total: 1605 pounds (-77, 4.58%)

Bonnie: 240 pounds (-7, 2.83%)
Becky: 214 pounds (-9, 4.04%)
Mike: 273 pounds (-17, 5.86%)
Blue Total: 727 pounds (-33, 4.34%)

In a reversal of fortune, the blue team survives this week unscathed, although the black team wins again. As The Biggest Loser for this week, Mike from Indiana will be going to Indianapolis to see whatever Roman numeral Super Bowl number 46 is. With the highest percentage of weight loss on the losing team, Jessica is safe.

It would be tough to pinpoint any of the red team as a weak link. So then it comes down to a question of need. By process of elimination, that would bring us to Courtney. However, Patrick puts his hands up to go home.

Votes
Courtney: Patrick
Patrick: Courtney
Jessica: Patrick
Vinny: Courtney
Ramon: Patrick

As he requested, with 3 votes, Patrick is not The Biggest Loser. From his starting weight of 387 pounds, he is now down to 296 pounds for a total of 91 pounds lost.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 12 Episode 4, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 19 Episode 2

Bill & Cathi were saved by non-elimination in The Amazing Race 19 Episode 1, leading us to tonight’s double elimination.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Ernie & Cindy – 9:28PM
Second: Jeremy & Sandy – 9:36PM
Third: Justin & Jennifer – 9:39PM
Fourth: Ethan & Jenna – 10:07PM
Fifth: Amani & Marcus – 10:15PM
Sixth: Laurence & Zac – 10:22PM
Seventh: Andy & Tommy – 10:23PM
Eighth: Ron & Bill – 10:48PM
Ninth: Kaylani & Lisa – 11:09PM
Tenth: Liz & Marie – 11:31PM
Eleventh: Bill & Cathi – 3:57AM

Based on the departure times, everybody should be equalized at the airport, good news for the more than 6 hours behind last place team. If you’re that far behind in leg 1, I don’t like your odds of lasting another leg. Teams will be heading to Jakarta, Indonesia and then by overnight train to Yogyakarta, Indonesia. What’s with the people riding on top of the train and hanging out the doors?

Justin & Jennifer are still bickering, and it doesn’t appear that’s going to stop or get any less annoying any time soon.

The road block at Goa Jomblang Cave will see teams spelunking on a search for a mask and a dagger, followed by a climb up a bamboo ladder.

Bill & Cathi get a good cab driver and arrive at the cave first, which should allow them enough time to complete their generally brief speed bump of untying a knotted rope before too many teams get there.

Road block (in order of arrival): Cindy, Marie, Bill, Marcus, Jeremy, Tommy, Justin, Ethan, Kaylani, Zac, Bill

Right from the road block we head to the detour, a choice between money maker or ticket taker. In money maker, one team member will dance while the other plays music, in an attempt to earn 30,000 rupiah, about $3.50. Ticket taker requires them to work as motorbike parking attendants and earn 15,000 rupiah. Both detours seem largely luck based, with no real way to gain much of an advantage. In each detour, they will conclude by donating all the money in their possession to an orphanage started after the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi. The trick here is they must read the sign, which says that they have to give all their money, not just their task money, in order to receive their next clue. However, the clue is not being refused. Rather, it seems Phil will turn them back at the pit stop.

Money maker: Liz & Marie, Amani & Marcus, Jeremy & Sandy, Ethan & Jenna, Ron & Bill, Kaylani & Lisa
Ticket taker: Bill & Cathi, Ernie & Cindy, Justin & Jennifer, Andy & Tommy, Laurence & Zac

Following the detour, Jenna wrote down the name of the orphanage, assuming Ethan had it in his pocket, but leaving behind the clue at the detour in the process. That puts them dangerously close to elimination.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Kraton Palace. Let the carnage begin. Phil’s going to be turning a lot of teams away before he can check them in. The 4th place snowboarders are the first to realize the catch, which should put them in first instead of Ernie & Cindy. But it ultimately shouldn’t matter except for the trailing teams. A few more teams skip past this before 8th place Laurence & Zac notice it. Kaylani & Lisa also read the sign, saving them from elimination after they slip below Ethan & Jenna and arrive 10th.

First: Andy & Tommy (win a trip to Ireland)
Second: Laurence & Zac
Third: Kaylani & Lisa
Fourth: Ernie & Cindy
Fifth: Liz & Marie
Sixth: Jeremy & Sandy
Seventh: Bill & Cathi
Eighth: Justin & Jennifer
Ninth: Amani & Marcus
Eliminated: Ethan & Jenna
Eliminated: Ron & Bill

Running into the wrong end of two bad twists, Ethan & Jenna have been eliminated. Not impressed, CBS. Following them, having been in last place since the cave, Ron & Bill are also eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 19 Episode 3, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

The X Factor Season 1 Episode 4

We met Brock and Makenna, Josh Krajcik, Drew Ryniewicz, and 4Shore in The X Factor Season 1 Episode 3. The auditions conclude in Newark.

Brian Bradley wants to be better than Jay Z. He starts off his rap by getting into a fake argument with Simon, who calls him arrogant, obnoxious, argumentative, but talented. All the years he was at Def Jam, LA was looking for this kid.

Kelly Warner, Aaron Surgeon, and Liliana Rose Andreano will be joining him.

Not having met anyone in 43 years, Andy Silikovitz hopes this competition will get him a girlfriend. No, lightning will not strike twice. He will not be another Susan Boyle. The audience plays nice at least, but it won’t be a yes.

Clarissa “Cashmere” Cheatham is greeted by a panel that can’t stop giggling, and the giggling only gets worse when she starts singing. Nouf Taraman, Jean Loup Wolfman, and Maya Lehmann continue the ridiculousness.

If Cari Fletcher sounds anything like she looks, she’ll go far. LA tells her she has a star’s name, a star’s face, and a star’s voice. Simon, however, might remember her, but not her voice, though he’ll vote for her along with the others.

Joshua Blaylock, Emily Michalak, and Dorit Yehudai will also be advancing to boot camp.

Austin and Emily are Ausem. Simon thinks the audience they are aiming at will understand them, like the cheering section they have brought with them. LA thinks Austin is a star, though he’s not convinced of the duo. Nicole echoes his comments, and 20 minutes later she finally says yes.

The final hour is the conclusion of the auditions from around the country.

Tora Woloshin loves music and cars. Simon loves her because she has the X factor.

Jor-el Garcia sings Lucky Star by Madonna. This won’t end quickly enough. John Duff, Darlene & Sherone, and Ric White don’t sing or dance any better.

The Stereo Hogzz might have a stupid name, but they sound decent enough. Simon thinks they have overrehearsed. Still good enough to get through, though.

I assume Brennin Hunt spends 2 hours a day on his hair. Going based on voice alone, I’ll make an effort to tolerate him.

Paige Elizabeth Ogle, Leroy Bell, The Brewer Boys, and Nick Dean will be joining him in boot camp.

Devon Talley is possibly the worst singer tonight, which is saying something. He sings a song that goes on for 525,600 minutes, then keeps going.

Jazzlyn Little gets the final audition of the season. She tried uploading a video to Youtube, ending up with about 500 views, which doesn’t surprise Simon seeing as she’s having difficulty selling herself. Then she starts to sing, leading to a standing ovation. Simon calls her the one to watch.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The X Factor Season 1 Episode 5, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

The X Factor Season 1 Episode 3

The X Factor Season 1 Episode 2 brought us Melanie Amaro and Caitlin Koch. Tonight the auditions continue in Chicago, the windy and raining city, followed by Seattle.

Cheryl Cole, who inexplicably was removed as a judge for no apparent reason, will be returning one last time.

Brock and Makenna are just friends, so they claim, although Brock really has a secret crush on her (that he just told 12 million people about). Like everybody else, Simon asks whether they’re dating, while Paula rudely points out that Brock is turning red. LA Reid’s day has been made. Simon thinks Makenna’s voice is sensational.

Kim Terek says she has never tried pop music before, which is why she hasn’t got a record deal after 10 years of lessons. Well, never try it again. Tim Quinn is told not to sing Kiss from a Rose, but he does anyway, to expectedly bad results. Robyn Royal is the definition of tone deaf.

Charlesia Heard is there to audition to be a judge. The good news is that a position may be opening up once they leave Chicago. The bad news is that her comedy routine does not go over well.

Skyelor Anderson (spelled like that, really?) wants to be a black country singer. Not completely unheard of but different nonetheless. In spite of the technical difficulties with his music, he keeps singing. The judges are mostly impressed that he was able to carry on, but he has a decent voice as well.

J. Mark Inman is a graduate student studying philosophy. Good luck with that. He sings Creep, which Paula calls fitting. Simon asks if he’s dated Paula. The crowd loves this really weird performance, and the judges let him through.

Josh Krajcik’s mom has been wanting him to sing in front of Simon for 10 years so that she can get on camera. The skepticism about him and his song choice (At Last by Etta James) quickly fades. Simon’s surprised and blown away.

Seattle is the next stop, with not much different but less British judge Nicole Scherzinger.

Mother and daughter act Darwin and Sherry Reedy (The Good Girls) claim they believe they can be stars. Simon calls them the worst group he’s ever heard in his life.

Drew Ryniewicz is 14, so she loves Justin Bieber and will be singing Baby. I like her, in spite of her Bieber obsession. Nicole prefers her version of the song to Justin’s, and Simon agrees.

I don’t know who Charity Chapman is, but her song If I Could Fly is quite good.

Peet Montzingo is the only non-dwarf in his family. Simon calls the singing terrible, and the change of lyrics (from billionaire to famous) didn’t work. They think he’ll get famous somehow, just not by singing.

4Shore is a boy band that could be easily dismissed as unoriginal on the basis of their name alone. They sing End of the Road by Boyz II Men, written by LA Reid. LA’s proud. Simon could see them representing America all over the world.

Elaine Gibbs, Francesca Duncan, and even Tiger Budbill are the next ones through.

Phillip Lomax believes hats are coming back into style. They aren’t, but they do go with his old school singing. Simon’s interested, although there’s an issue with his voice when he pushes it. LA says he has the X Factor.

Tiah Tolliver sings a cappella, which is a bit rough with all the key changes. Simon sees potential, but he’s outvoted. Can she change their minds with a second song? I still don’t get it, but Simon’s able to beg enough to get a third yes.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The X Factor Season 1 Episode 4, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

Survivor: South Pacific Episode 3

Coach directed his team to get rid of Christine in Survivor: South Pacific Episode 2.

Brandon came into this game not wanting to be like his uncle. He’s not. He’s worse. At least Russell seemed to have some purpose and logic to his lies.

Coach & Stacey and Ozzy & Elyse head to watch the battle between Semhar and Christine, a balancing act. Before the challenge can begin, Semhar has some poem about taking off her clothes and giving birth to 10 kids without drugs. No thanks, I’m good with just the watching the challenge. Their task is to balance a totem on poles, adding new sections of poles at intervals. Hopefully one of them doesn’t get knocked out when the totem falls. Semhar is the one to drop, keeping Christine alive. Semhar departs, still complaining about how Survivor is not fair. This challenge result leaves both Ozzy and Coach disappointed. Couldn’t have asked for more.

It’s been almost a whole week, so now would be a good time for Brandon to admit his last name to his entire tribe. And in case you didn’t get the memo, he loves God.

As the oldest member of his tribe who doesn’t click with anybody, Papa Bear sees himself as one of the prime targets for elimination.

Remember Ozzy’s plan to keep news of his idol discovery to himself? He tells Keith he’s got it. After all, he trusts him. So of course Keith tells Whitney.

Mikayla confronts Brandon about him trying to get rid of her. He says it’s because of her attitude. Really? I thought it was because she made you think impure thoughts by being more attractive than your wife. He then calls a creepy group meeting to lie to everybody about why he doesn’t like her and to keep him out of the drama. Oh, and he’s a Christian, by the way.

At the immunity challenge, one person will race across a floating bridge with a bodyboard, grab a bag, and hang on as the rest of the tribe pulls them back to shore. Once they have all five bags, the remaining tribe members will retrieve them with grappling hooks, and then solve the seemingly simple banner puzzle. Reward is coffee, tea, chocolate, and cookies. This seems to be a challenge suited to Ozzy, but his tribe is struggling to feed the rope to him, giving Upolu an early lead. Dawn manages to erase that lead and take over. Ozzy extends the lead. Unlike her first run, Dawn struggles, as Brandon’s second try is again successful and reverses the lead back to his tribe. After Ozzy loses his board, Upolu goes into the final stage in the lead, but it’s still very close. Coach and Edna go against Louise and Whitney on the grappling hooks. As Coach is dragging up his fifth bag, Whitney is one behind with her fourth. The puzzle does not seem complicated enough for Savaii to be able to catch up. Upolu wins immunity and reward.

Papa Bear Mark and Cochran are the two targets for tonight’s vote. Either way, they both seem to be sitting ducks.

They decide on Papa Bear, telling him Cochran’s going home (he doesn’t believe them) while telling Cochran Papa’s going home (he doesn’t trust them). Papa Bear goes not so subtly to search for the idol. Not finding it, he makes a fake idol, returning with a bulge in his pants about 5 minutes later.

Papa Bear’s hope at tribal council is to stir things up, repeatedly mentioning “the five”.

Votes
Papa Bear
Cochran
Jim
Papa Bear
Papa Bear
Papa Bear

With 4 votes, Papa Bear has been voted off the island.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: South Pacific Episode 4, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Biggest Loser Season 12 Episode 2

Starting off a battle of age, the oldest team lost in The Biggest Loser Season 12 Episode 1, and Debbie all but asked to go home.

This week they will be facing some stereotypes. Any volunteers? Vinny for the red team, Mike for the blue team, and Antone for the black team.

They walk into a room. Mmm… donuts. Alison tells them that the gym will only be open three times each day this week: 5-7AM, 12-2PM, and 9-11PM. Each team can only workout during one of those times. Each mini donut is 35 calories, and they have 3 minutes to eat them. Mike’s the only one with any interest, stereotypically hoping to prevent his blue team from having to stay up late. Each of the remaining contestants will be heading in one team member at a time to see if they can be tempted. Joe very badly pretends to be eating. Since donuts don’t make any noise, his plan is to bump things with his elbows. Meanwhile, Johnny decides to make noises like he’s dying, and Alison has to beg him to stop. Nobody from the second, third, or fourth groups eats. In the final round, John immediately begins chowing down, so it’s going to end up as a two person battle, though he’s not playing games.

Mike’s 11 donuts (385 calories) are no match for John’s 37 donuts (1295 calories). Black team wins temptation. They take the morning slot and give the afternoon time to the blue team, saying they respect them, which red team views as an insult.

So at 4:00 the next morning, Bob walks in with a megaphone and a tune to sing. They don’t know why they picked this time. Tiredness aside, since they have kids, this is the most sensible time in which they would workout when they go home. Bob agrees this is the good time because you wake up, get it over with, and don’t have any excuses after saving it until later in the day.

During the workout, Antone begins pounding the spin bike and then falls to the ground crying. Never seen anything quite like this before.

As the only female, Sunny feels excluded from the rest of her team. Bob has her call a meeting, which she does right away. This quickly turns on John, who’s accused of being a problem and making deals with the red team. He apologizes for calling Sunny dumb, which may not be a smart move, but let’s not get all emotional over it please.

Johnny’s excuses and search for somewhere to take a break are starting to wear on his teammates and his trainer.

The new trainer who’s not a pinup and whose name I’ll probably have to keep looking up (got it, it’s Dolvett) views the late workouts as a good opportunity. He can review their food journal for the day to find out what they need to burn. Plus it’s a good chance for a Yoplait commercial.

Jessica blames her ex for her weight gain. As much as he may have wanted her to eat, he wasn’t hooking her up to an IV and forcing her to do so.

Time for the first visit with Dr. H. This will not end well. Jennifer seems to be successful and well adjusted, but she’s got 155 pounds of excess fat and has a 32% chance of being diabetic in the next 5 years. Bonnie got her stomach stapled 20 years ago, but it didn’t help for long, ultimately causing more harm than help. Her knees are also bone on bone, and the weight is making it worse. Ramon finds out he has diabetes, which the doc can’t sugarcoat (nice pun). His biological age is 27; his inner age is 50. Through 28 pages of questions, he claimed to have no problems, but this 23 year jump is the worst on the ranch.

The challenge is a giant floating maze they must move a ball through. First place is worth a 2 pound advantage at the weigh in; second place is worth a 1 pound advantage. Vinny and Jennifer sit out. Red team finishes in 7:45. Blue team finishes in 14:45, sure to be last place. Black team wins the challenge with a time of 7:42. This should cause some more whining from the red team about how they keep losing to the black team.

The hope this week is to show people the lame excuses about not having time don’t cut it. The notorious week 2 probably was not the time to prove that, but let’s see how the numbers stack up.

Vinny: 400 pounds (-5, 1.23%)
Jessica: 232 pounds (-7, 2.93%)
Courtney: 247 pounds (-7, 2.76%)
Patrick: 361 pounds (-6, 1.63%)
Ramon: 329 pounds (-9, 2.66%)
Red Total: 1569 pounds (-34, -1, 2.18%)

Joe: 324 pounds (-2, 0.61%)
Jennifer: 306 pounds (-6, 1.93%)
Sunny: 255 pounds (-6, 2.30%)
Antone: 405 pounds (-10, 2.41%)
John: 393 pounds (-15, 3.68%)
Black Total: 1682 pounds (-39, -2, 2.38%)

Becky: 223 pounds (-5, 2.19%)
Mike: 290 pounds (-7, 2.36%)
Bonnie: 247 pounds (-3, 1.20%)
Johnny: 313 pounds (+2, 0.64%)
Blue Total: 1073 pounds (-13, 1.20%)

The blue team will be heading to the elimination room again by a large margin. Johnny seemed to turn things around by the end of the week, but his lack of effort showed on the scale. However, having lost so much last week demonstrates his potential, whereas Bonnie has struggled the whole time. As The Biggest Loser on the blue team this week, Mike is safe.

Votes
Becky: Johnny
Johnny: Bonnie
Bonnie: Johnny

In the event of a tie, the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss is eliminated. With 2 votes, Johnny is not The Biggest Loser. From his starting weight of 328 pounds, Johnny is now down to 269 pounds. An 18% drop already shows he could be a contender.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 12 Episode 3, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 19 Episode 1

11 new teams are competing for $1 million, with the most well known members of The Amazing Race 19 cast being Ethan and Jenna from Survivor.

Andy & Tommy think they’ll be underestimated as being slackers, but you don’t make the Olympics by accident. Ethan & Jenna have been dating for 7 years after their wins in Survivor. Zac gets his adventurous spirit from his father and was the first person under 18 to sail around the world. Ernie & Cindy are recently engaged, and she says she’s a control freak. Justin & Jennifer are prepared to yell at each other, and she admits to being out of hand. Bill & Cathi have lived on a farm for 40 years. Unlike some of the teams on this race, Liz & Marie aren’t going to be breaking up or losing each other, since they have been together since birth. Jeremy & Sandy view this race as an exploration of whether they want to take their relationship further, a concept that always ends badly. Ron & Bill hope their experience as flight attendants will pay off. Ex-NFL player Marcus has dragged his wife Amani along for the ride. Kaylani & Lisa want us to believe they’re smart showgirls/cocktail waitresses.

The starting line is Hsi Lai Temple in California. Their first challenge is at the starting line, a word puzzle involving umbrellas. Using the letters on the umbrella twice and combining them with the letters that appear above the umbrellas will lead them to discover their first destination, Taipei Taiwan. The last team to complete the challenge will receive a new penalty called a hazard, to be completed at some point during this leg. Most of these people aren’t even trying to figure out the puzzle. They’re just running up to Phil with the first umbrella they grab. Eventually they seem to realize that’s not a strategy that will work very well. As the last team to finish, Kaylani & Lisa aren’t off to a great start at showing us they’re smarter than we might expect at first glance.

The first flight, carrying the first eight teams, departs 20 minutes before the second flight carrying the final three teams. With flights that long, 20 minutes is nothing.

LAX seems simple enough to find for those teams willing to stop and ask for directions. But there’s a problem. Hold on to your passports. No passport, no international travel, and no prayer of staying in the race. When Lisa & Kaylani stop to ask for directions, Kaylani drops her passport. They realize it before long and figure it must have fallen at the only place they stopped, but when they get back to the gas station, it’s not there. They just drive to the airport and pray for a miracle, as arguing and swearing ensues. The guy who found Kaylani’s passport was also the same guy who gave directions to the snowboarders. He posted on Twitter how he was just on The Amazing Race and found a passport, and he was asked to get it to LAX. So their adventure continues, with no consequences but hopefully a lesson learned.

Ethan & Jenna plan to pretend they weren’t on Survivor. Good luck with that. It may have been several years ago, but reality show fans still recognize one or both of you. Marcus Pollard, however, has a better chance of pretending he wasn’t a football player.

First flight: Ron & Bill, Ethan & Jenna, Ernie & Cindy, Amani & Marcus, Laurence & Zac, Justin & Jennifer, Andy & Tommy, Jeremy & Sandy
Second flight: Bill & Cathi, Liz & Marie, Kaylani & Lisa

The eight teams on the first flight get the first bus, the female teams on the last flight get the second bus, and the older team is bringing up the rear.

The first stop once they arrive in Taiwan is the Ximending Commercial District. Rather than searching for a clue box, they have to look up and find a billboard with their next destination (in Chinese). As clues on The Amazing Race go, this is unexpectedly good, eliminating some of the hand holding we usually see.

The road block is to call Confucius. After dialing 1-800-CONFUCIUS at the Confucius temple, they will hear and must memorize and repeat a proverb. Sounds simpler than it appears to actually be.

Road block (in order of arrival): Sandy, Cindy, Amani, Jennifer, Ron, Ethan, Andy, Zac, Lisa, Liz, Cathi

Dajia Riverside Park is their next destination, where they will join a dragon boat race team. One team member paddles while the other keeps the rhythm of the drum. Pretty straightforward task.

Having received the hazard penalty, Kaylani & Lisa are left having to head to the Core City Pacific Mall to search the 11th floor for their next clue. The task: one team member must do an indoor bungee jump. It doesn’t seem to matter, though, as Bill & Cathi just got done telling us they’ve been looking for the billboard clue for 4 hours. Meanwhile, the twins are still trying to get past the road block guy’s accent.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is Martyrs’ Shrine. What, no detour?

First: Ernie & Cindy (win an express pass)
Second: Jeremy & Sandy
Third: Justin & Jennifer
Fourth: Ethan & Jenna
Fifth: Amani & Marcus
Sixth: Laurence & Zac
Seventh: Andy & Tommy
Eighth: Ron & Bill
Ninth: Kaylani & Lisa
Tenth: Liz & Marie
Non-eliminated: Bill & Cathi

Bill & Cathi have been non-eliminated. This is a first in the US edition, but it’s something I like to see because the first episode’s always such a blur. Sandy & Francesca (TAR Asia 1) were non-eliminated in the first leg before finishing the season in second place. That said, 3 of the 4 other teams who suffered this fate ended up being eliminated in episode 2, and I think we’re ultimately just looking at a delay of the inevitable here. There’s a catch. Two teams will be eliminated next week. No borrowing twists from Big Brother please.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 19 Episode 2, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Amazing Race 19 Cast

Stunt casting is not as big a part of The Amazing Race as it is in Survivor and Big Brother, but every so often we see some familiar faces. Of the 11 teams competing in The Amazing Race 19, one of them will look familiar. One of Survivor’s best winners is paired up with one of Survivor’s worst winners, as dating couple Ethan Zohn (Survivor: Africa) and Jenna Morasca (Survivor: Amazon) make their return to CBS following two stints on Survivor (both were also in All Stars) and a year after Ethan beat Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Amani Pollard, 36 & Marcus Pollard, 39 (Married)
Andy Finch, 30 & Tommy Czechin, 32 (Friends/Former Olympic snowboarders)
Bill Alden, 63 & Cathi Alden, 62 (Married/Grandparents)
Ernie Halvorsen, 29 & Cindy Chiang, 30 (Engaged)
Ethan Zohn, 37 & Jenna Morasca, 30 (Dating)
Jeremy Cline, 35 & Sandy Draghi, 33 (Dating)
Justin Young, 31 & Jennifer Young, 26 (Siblings)
Kaylani Paliotta, 33 & Lisa Tilley, 32 (Friends/Former showgirls)
Laurence Sunderland, 48 & Zac Sunderland, 19 (Father/Son Adventurers)
Liz Canavan, 24 & Marie Canavan, 24 (Twins)
Ron Seitz, 44 & Bill Smith, 49 (Domestic Partners)