The Amazing Race 17 Winner

In an anticlimactic conclusion, with Nick & Vicki several hours behind everybody the whole time, The Amazing Race 17 Episode 11 narrowed the teams down to the final three: Jill & Thomas, Brook & Claire, and Nat & Kat. Two of these teams are all female teams, leading to the belief that finally an female team can win the race (at least in the US version… Zabrina & Joe Jer won The Amazing Race Asia Season 1). For a change, we have strong female teams. I’d argue that both of these teams are better than Jill & Thomas, who don’t seem like much of a team, still seemingly unable to admit that Jill is actually part of the team after all this time.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Jill & Thomas – 3:57AM
Second: Brook & Claire – 4:23AM
Third: Nat & Kat – 4:27AM

As if the pink outfits Brook & Claire weren’t ridiculous enough, for the final leg of the race, they break out the cheetah pants. If nothing else, they will be remembered for their style, of sorts.

Teams will now fly more than 6000 miles to their final destination city, Los Angeles, CA. All three teams should be fairly familiar with the area, as they either live or at one point lived in CA. With everybody leaving at roughly the same time, they are all on the same direct flight. Once there, they will travel to the Port of Long Beach.

Upon arrival at the port, they are welcomed to the drop zone. They will be using this cargo port’s cranes for a 150 foot bungee jump. Nat already cried just from riding a gondola, so leaping toward the water attached to a rope is probably not going to set well with her. Neither Brook nor Jill are happy to see this either. Much ado about nothing. Unlike some of the quitters from previous seasons, everybody just sucks it up and jumps, in spite of the panic, crying, and very loud yelling.

They will now be taking a helicopter to a surprise destination, the Rose Bowl. The road block is to decorate three sections of a float, which is deceptively difficult, or so Phil tells us.

Road block (in order of arrival): Nat, Thomas, Brook

Jill & Thomas have been working the road blocks so that the last one was saved for him. They realize that, considering the task, that was probably not the best strategy. Nat doesn’t consider herself very crafty, but she does stuff like this on occasion. Brook, meanwhile, is jumping up and down at the opportunity to do this. This is all moot. Everybody finishes in the order in which they arrived.

Teams must now figure out the answers to the three questions provided, and then make their way to that location. The trick is going to be to find someone with a computer. For some reason, Thomas grabs the phone from Jill, not wanting her to talk. Apparently her asking these questions is too much for her to handle. Turns out that nobody at the dispatch office has a computer, and for that matter, their cab driver speaks less English than most of the foreign drivers they have dealt with. Nat & Kat figure out the riddle, but now they need an address. Brook & Claire just drive to a hotel. Seems like a better idea because they can do the work themselves. They are able to figure out the answers. Meanwhile, Jill & Thomas decided to ditch their cab driver, who thinks his GPS is a computer. After wandering around for a while, they hop back in the same cab, clueless what they’re supposed to be doing.

Connecting with a dispatcher with a clue, Nat & Kat figure it out first. The final task takes place at Quixote Studio, where they will look at TV screens of 48 people wearing hats. 11 of those people were the greeters who welcomed them into the pit stop. I’m not sure I would have been paying close enough attention. Not only must they remember the greeters, but then they must put them in the correct order. Nat & Kat wisely wrote down all the legs, so they pull out their notebooks. This will help them keeping the legs in the right order, although it won’t help with identifying the greeters.

On their first attempt, Nat & Kat correctly identify all the greeters. Since nobody else has even shown up yet, it’s pretty safe to say we are looking at the winners, whether they try to throw us off with traffic or not. Brook & Claire arrive and solve their puzzle, completely in love with Bob Eubanks.

Greystone Mansion is the finish line. The first female team to win The Amazing Race and The Amazing Race 17 winners are Nat Strand & Kat Chang. Well deserved victory. Nat is happy to have demonstrated that people with diabetes can be active. Brook & Claire finish in second place, having laughed their way around the world. That puts Jill & Thomas in third place.

The Amazing Race 18 will be back in February for an all star season, or at least a second chance season (hard to call some of these teams all stars). Joining the 21st century, the season will be the first to air in HD.

Jillian Michaels Quits The Biggest Loser (Again)

Jillian Michaels announced on Twitter her plans to leave The Biggest Loser after next season.

She said that “season 11 of Biggest Loser will be my last 🙂 have to finish out my contract.” As for her replacement, “they already hired her. Using my last season to help launch her in season 11.”

Her explanation for wanting to leave is that “Shooting Losing It also had big impact on me. Living with kids I saw first hand what I was missing.”

She added, “I want to take a year off TV and focus on becoming a mommy and doing more charity work.”

Michaels had previously left the show after season 2, only to come back as a surprise twist in season 4, where she led the underdog black team to the end.

The Apprentice Season 10 Winner

Liza’s firing in The Apprentice Season 10 Episode 12 brought us down to a final two of Clint Robertson and Brandy Kuentzel, one of whom will be The Apprentice Season 10 winner.

We finished off the evening last week with Poppy’s realization that Clint had misspelled the name of their concert performer, Liza Minnelli, on $4,000 worth of printed materials, a move of sheer stupidity. Over on the other side, their photographer went to a golf club 2 hours away, and Donald Trump unfairly handicapped them by taking away one of their members for the afternoon.

Clint says that the spelling looked good last night. He’s not sure what happened. For all the (fake) drama, the end result is that they do have enough money in their budget to get everything redone.

Brandy’s team plans to have Kathy Griffin greet the golfers. That plan doesn’t work since they don’t get her up there in time, and all the golfers leave, presumably without even knowing/caring they missed anything.

Trump has decided he does not like playing in a threesome. I’ve got an idea. Why not take one more person from Brandy’s team to just tilt the odds a little bit more? She finds them two more players from somewhere because Trump wants a big advantage.

Ivanka’s not sure Clint could lead as effectively without the assistance of Steuart, who seems to be doing everything.

As Clint enters a competition to see how many times he can say the word y’all in one sentence, Steuart is worried whether Clint’s Texasness will come back to bite him. While it may not exactly suit a golf club environment, I’m assuming Trump is comfortable enough with Clint and has considered this already.

Apparently, Liza Minnelli is still releasing albums, and even more apparently a very few people are still buying them. Trump couldn’t find a more contemporary artist, perhaps one who’s charted in the last couple decades?

Brandy tells Trump she chose the team because she likes them, but also that she doesn’t work well with Mahsa (who does?). Mahsa’s response is that Brandy brings personal things into the tasks, but she does not. Really, Mahsa? Delusional, party of one.

Trump never heard of the prizes Liza chose for the winners. The winners didn’t either because they just left the products behind.

Poppy was very impressed with Clint, and she thinks Brandy is phenomenal. In an unusual change from the norm where those who come back for the final task feel obliged to choose who they worked with, Poppy would pick Brandy.

Stephanie will not be so nice. Shocker. She was upset with Clint during the task because he was on the golf course, rather than in his own place doing his own thing. She thought this display was pathetic, and Brandy thought it was desperate.

Anand would back Brandy. Steuart is finally a vote for Clint. Mahsa doesn’t like either of them (or anyone else), but she, too, would pick Clint. Liza would choose Brandy.

Ivanka was impressed with the execution of the dinner and how Clint’s team engaged the golfers. Don Jr. thought Brandy’s team did a great job, but the prizes were not very good.

Brandy makes an interesting pitch. She’d like to learn alongside one of the Trump kids, rather than old man Trump.

In a move that’s been building throughout the hour and particularly the last 15 minutes, Clint is fired. The Apprentice season 10 winner is Brandy Kuentzel.

No matter what Trump may say, the ratings this season have been a joke, far lower than even the Martha Stewart version, which is a shame because this season was entertaining to watch. No chance we’ll end up seeing it again, though we should expect the D-listers make their return in The Celebrity Apprentice.

Hell’s Kitchen Season 8 Episode 14

In a wasted night, nothing happened in Hell’s Kitchen Season 8 Episode 13.

Ramsay has news for the chefs. Tonight, two people will be going home.

The challenge is to combine two cuisines, better known as fusion. The dishes will be from around the world. Jillian is scared by this non-American food. They will pick flags at random. Nona gets Greece and Italy, Jillian gets Thailand and Spain, Russell gets France and India, and Trev is left with China and Mexico. They may choose as many ingredients as they like. Russell is happy just to have France, so happy that he forgets he also chose India. Jillian’s first challenge to figure out what the heck this food is, and she’s convinced her dish sucks. Nona throws as many ingredients into the dish as she can.

Russell doesn’t think Trev could successfully combine Mexico and Texas, let alone Mexico and China. Trev’s been talking about his flavor explosion, but the judges find it bland. Nona’s dish has too many ingredients. Russell combined France and India, minus India. Lack of fusion aside, it’s not spicy enough, and the duck is overcooked. As afraid as she’s been, this is Jillian’s to win unless she screws up as badly as everybody else did. In a change of pace, the judges like her food. It’s a unanimous win for Jillian.

For her reward, Jillian will be going to Spago in a limo for lunch with Ramsay, and waiting for her at the restaurant is her family. The other three will stay behind for move out day, taking the dorm furnished for 16 down to one furnished for 4. They will also be doing the prep work, for which every last detail will be scrutinized… by Russell. Nona welcomes Jillian back from her reward. Russell and Trev are as angry as always.

Each person will get a turn running the pass.

Russell is the first person to take charge, which is not a change for him since he’s thought he’s the boss since the beginning. The first sabotage is pecans instead of walnuts, and Russell notices. He’s happy to reject Trev’s scallops, then instructs Jillian to help him out, which just causes her to get yelled at by Trev.

Nona takes over next. Her sabotage is mashed celery root, whatever that is, instead of mashed potatoes. She tastes the celery root but doesn’t notice. Tasting again, she still doesn’t notice, even after being told.

Trev gets his turn at the pass. Nobody’s listening to a word he’s saying, and they are not talking to him either. No food is leaving the kitchen. His quality control test is seabass instead of halibut, which he spots. From there, he finally kicks into gear.

Jillian is the last one to get a turn, and she’s not playing. Much yelling ensues. Chef Scott delivers New York strip instead of rib eye, which gets past her. Not wanting to make any more mistakes, she decides to reject every fish Trev brings her.

After the service, Ramsay has made his decision on the first person to eliminate. Trev has finally reached the end of the line.

The first person advancing to the final two is Russell. Well, then. I assume the next name to come out of Ramsay’s mouth is the winner because Russell just simply can’t win. That name is Nona.

So that means Jillian has been eliminated. What?

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Hell’s Kitchen Season 8 Episode 15, where we will find out who the Hell’s Kitchen Season 8 winner is, which airs Wednesday at 9/8c on Fox.

Survivor: Nicaragua Episode 13

Survivor: Nicaragua Episode 12 was the battle of the pathetic quitters. Not content with merely watching NaOnka throw her game away, invisiKelly followed immediately in her footsteps.

Still not getting the hint, Sash thinks the odds are in his favor. At least he’s no longer talking like he’s the king of Survivor (he’s not). He tells the others that he will be playing the idol at the next tribal council, and he’s the swing vote who they must be willing to work with. I don’t know what this weird immunity idol stuff is about, but the rest of his pitch is sound. They can use him to their advantage, at least for now.

For the challenge, they will relive challenges of the past. They will race through a mud pit, dig through hay to find a ball, and bounce the ball off a shield into a barrel. First four move to the next round, where they will use a stick to get a key, unlock a chest with sandbags, and toss those sandbags on a barrel. The final two move to the final round, in which they will use a paddle to dig up three rope rings, which must be tossed on the target. The winner will go to a private resort for a meal, a shower, and sleep in a bed. Chase, Jane, Benry, and Holly move to the next round, with Fabio letting it slip due to his inability to land the shot. There’s never any question that it will be a battle of the two men in the finals. Chase runs away with the challenge in the final round to win reward. He can bring two people with him. He chooses Holly, who wanted to give up reward last time, and Jane, apparently because he considers her his closest ally (this in spite of the fact that he earlier told Sash that they would take each other).

Tripping over his words, Sash tries to convince the guys back at camp that he’s on their side. They give him a hard time about it, a really stupid move because they simply don’t have the numbers to do anything but work with him.

Sash is not alone in his belief that Chase made a mistake in his choices of who went with him. Holly, too, thought it was a mistake. It doesn’t take long before it dawns on Chase that he should not have chosen Jane.

While Jane’s away on the reward, the others decide to kill Kelly-Nay, so named because she’s a chicken. Following the commercial break, we find Jane crying. Who died? Oh, just the chicken. So now we have the funeral.

Chase knows that Sash has been talking with the others while he was away. His plan now is to tell him he and Holly will take him to the final three, dropping Jane when they get to that point. It seems he’s just playing him, though, which is sad because taking Jane to the end would be dumb because she’ll get a lot of sympathy votes, whether she actually makes any useful game moves or not (I’m still waiting for her to stop being overrated and actually earn the praise).

Nobody on either side trusts Sash even a little bit. With this in mind and not trusting that he’s really on their side, Benry wants to flip things. He’s perfectly willing to vote with Chase, Holly, and Sash to get rid of Fabio.

They are attached to a hitching rail for the challenge. They will jump over and under the rail to free up enough rope to allow them to grab a bag of coins. The first three go to the final round, a gold coin puzzle. Dan may as well just sit out the challenge. Fabio has enough rope to move on. Sash and Benry don’t have enough rope, nor does Jane. Benry’s next attempt is successful, and Sash just barely makes it. Benry’s about ready to give up on the puzzle. Sash is making progress, and Fabio sneaks a peek at his. Sash wins immunity.

Sash tells us he’s in complete control and can’t wait to win the million. Oh great. Didn’t take long for his ego to get back to its original overinflated size.

Fabio’s worried that Benry may turn on him, and he asks Sash to just give him the heads up if he’s on the chopping block. Sash has no such plan to comply with this request. Other than making this request, Fabio plans to just sit back and see what happens.

Votes
Holly
Fabio
Fabio
Benry
Benry
Benry
Benry

For all the talk of a Fabio elimination, the actual decision was to go for Benry instead. I see no problem with this, seeing he threw his alliance away because he saw Sash talking to the other side.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Nicaragua Episode 14, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Biggest Loser Season 10 Episode 12

Two people were eliminated in The Biggest Loser Season 10 Episode 11. First, Brendan fell blow the red line. Then, Mark was voted out.

Everybody returns home, with videos from Alison in hand, but it’s not a challenge or temptation. Rather, they will be able to view their story this season with their families.

For all the drama on the ranch, Ada is finally able to open up to her parents, or at least let the DVD do so for her. She’s still not entirely convinced they’re there for her, but at least they are talking about it.

Once everybody’s done watching their videos, Alison has a message for them. Of course she does. They’re all going to have to run a marathon.

Patrick is treating this like it’s his job. Since he’s unemployed, he really doesn’t have anything to lose by doing nothing but focusing on winning this show.

Elizabeth, however, says she’s lost 6 pounds in a month. Jillian’s willing to bet she hasn’t lost anything. Then she looks in her freezer, where she sees ice cream and burritos, though Elizabeth claims it’s all her boyfriend. Adding insult to injury, her workouts have been limited. She can’t even run for 5 minutes, let alone 26.2 miles.

Ada remains a machine, and her goal is to beat Tara’s time. Jillian has a warning for Tara: Ada’s going to crush her time. Regardless, Ada continues to underestimate herself.

Once they cross the finish line, they will have the opportunity to donate $10,000 to the charity of their choice. Ada’s obviously in the lead and never looking back. Patrick and Frado have decided to run it together in the middle of the pack, although eventually Patrick breaks away. Bringing up the rear is Elizabeth, whose goal is simply to finish. Achieving her goal, Ada crosses the finish line at 4:38:47, about 18 minutes ahead of Tara’s time, even with the 6 minute bathroom break. Patrick crosses in second place with a time of 5:45:51. Frado takes the third place prize in 5:51:13. In fourth place, Elizabeth crosses the finish line in 7:27:07, but at least she finished.

Once again, half the people will fall below the yellow line. America will be choosing between the two people who fall below it.

Elizabeth: 177 pounds (-15, 7.81%)
Frado: 221 pounds (-27, 10.89%)
Ada: 167 pounds (-12, 6.70%)
Patrick: 244 pounds (-35, 12.54%)

After the strong performance by the boys and an unusual stumble by Ada, Frado and Patrick are the first two finalists. That leaves it up to America to choose between Ada and Elizabeth. For Elizabeth, this is part of her pattern of falling below the yellow line, whereas this is Ada’s first time in the bottom.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 10 Episode 13, where we will find out who is The Biggest Loser Season 10 winner, which airs Tuesday at 9/8c on NBC.

The Amazing Race 17 Episode 11

In spite of Nick being a whiny quitter in The Amazing Race 17 Episode 10, Nick & Vicki were nonetheless not eliminated and lived to fight another day (and hopefully not any more than that).

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Nat & Kat – 4:37PM
Second: Jill & Thomas – 4:47PM
Third: Brook & Claire – 5:26PM
Fourth: Nick & Vicki – Last to depart

Teams will now fly 1300 miles to Seoul, South Korea. When they land, they will drive themselves to the North Korean border, where they will hopefully not be shot at (they are warned: do not cross the border). Rather than going to the airport, Brook & Claire just book a flight from the hotel, while wearing their very pink outfits. It looks like they will get on the same flight as the first two teams, who do book at the airport. Even though Phil no longer mugs people at the pit stop, that’s not stopping Nat & Kat from begging for money to buy a travel book.

We are only provided a thoroughly cryptic description that Nick & Vicki are the last to depart (gee, I didn’t know that). In spite of the glimmer of hope from the airport agent, it’s safe to assume they are the only team not getting on that first flight. The first flight that they missed left at 12:25AM, so they will be getting the 9:30 flight instead, putting them more than 9 hours behind, with no realistic hope of anything but elimination. As much time as the other teams had to kill, if Nick had just made an effort rather than laying down and dying, they would all be on the same flight. Nick promises that he will start treating Vicki right. I heard that lie before.

Their first stop is the Seungil Bridge. Any time you see a bridge on this show, you’d better be prepared for something adventurous. They don’t have to jump off it, though. They just have to do some white water rafting underneath it, which will take them to a Humvee, which will bring them to the US Army Base at Camp Casey.

The road block is to find a soldier with a headband that matches the one they have, while trying to not get hit by the people practicing martial arts. If they are incorrect, they will have to go back and get a different one.

Road block (in order of arrival): Thomas, Brook, Kat

From there, they will travel via subway to Seoul World Cup Stadium. Jill & Thomas grab the first subway, with the two female teams grabbing the next one.

The detour is a choice between full throttle or full bottle. In full throttle, they will speedskate a two person relay for 24 laps. In full bottle, they will deliver 6 giant ginseng roots, then drink bottles of ginseng tonic.

Full throttle: Jill & Thomas, Nat & Kat, Brook & Claire

Luckily for Jill, Thomas knows to read the clue, because he makes sure they do not take a cab (subway or walking only). Brook & Claire, still bickering over which detour they wish to take, are not so quick to do that, and they take a taxi. They arrive at the rink first, but the penalty should more than compensate for that. It does cause Jill & Thomas to obsess about how they were passed, and it quite quickly gets under their skin.

The thing about the full throttle task is that nobody’s going to do it gracefully, but so long as they can fake it, they’re all doing fine.

Teams must now make their way to Han Riverside Park. On the way, Thomas says that you can’t ask old people for directions. The only point in going to the park is so they can get a clue telling them where the pit stop is.

The pit stop for this leg of the race is the Temple of Heaven, a shrine built for the first and only emperor of Korea.

Brook & Claire are the first team to arrive, but they receive a 30 minute penalty for taking a cab when they were not allowed to do so. This penalty is the only thing remotely resembling drama in the standings, although it’s all moot since we know who the final three are already.

First: Jill & Thomas (win a trip to Argentina)
Second: Brook & Claire
Third: Nat & Kat
Eliminated: Nick & Vicki

Several hours behind everybody else, in the most obvious outcome in the history of the race, Nick & Vicki have been eliminated.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Amazing Race 17 Episode 12, where we will find out who the Amazing Race 17 winner is, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Apprentice Season 10 Episode 12

Trump decided in The Apprentice Season 10 Episode 11 that one person from each team should be fired, thereby making the week’s task completely and totally pointless. First, Steuart was fired, with no explanation provided. I guess because he’s less experienced than Clint.

In spite of their win, the women are up next. Ah, but Clint’s not in the clear yet. He comes back to the boardroom once again, not that he’s going to be the one fired.

Brandy says that Clint is the stronger of the other two.

Clint says that Brandy is stronger than Liza.

Not having been chosen by either of the other two, Liza says that Clint is stronger than Brandy. Of course, the result here is obvious, though. As the target every week for the last several weeks, Liza has finally been fired. She struggles to accept the fact that everybody has been saying she’s the weakest.

The final two will be involved in two different tasks. One will be putting on a dinner gala and concert with Liza Minnelli, while the other team puts on a VIP golf tournament with Kathy Griffin.

Six people are returning. Obviously, among them is Mahsa. Surprisingly, Anand is also there, hoping to redeem himself I guess (he can’t). There are two teams. Mahsa, Poppy, and Steuart are on one team, while Stephanie, Anand, and Liza are on the other.

Trump gives them a choice of either the team or the task. As a member of last week’s winning team, Brandy can pick first. She wants to choose the team, and she picks Liza, Stephanie, and Anand, mostly because she does not want to work with Mahsa. Hilariously enough, that means that Clint gets stuck with Mahsa. Mahsa says that she, Clint, and Jesus know that he’s not square with Jesus, whatever that means. Because he loves Liza Minnelli, Clint goes with the dinner.

Clint is going to run this task with a right hand man, Steuart. The two women are going to have trouble here.

Brandy has no clue about golf or golf tournaments. Luckily, she has Liza, who was on the Kenyan women’s golf team.

One of Clint’s key tasks is to deal with a whiny celebrity who cares about things like the color of the chair she sits in.

Brandy’s team has to choose prizes for the players. Believing that they will already have top quality golf related products, Anand suggests gift certificates. They have $25,000 to purchase prizes and goody bags. Not content with the original decision to offer gift cards, Liza decides to buy prizes such as bags and clubs instead. Both Brandy and Stephanie are angry with this decision.

Clint is not happy with where Steuart wants to put the food, but he will defer to the expert and hope for the best. That’s the least of their worries. At 6:30, they get an e-mail from the caterer saying they may not be able to do it. Steuart tries calling them, but they guy is unable to commit, so Clint instructs him to hang up on him. From there, Steuart has to make a bunch of calls, hoping to find somebody for whom this is not too late notice. They eventually get a commitment.

Brandy asks Kathy Griffin to do a stand up routine. Seems fair enough. Kathy’s not interested.

Who does Donald Trump want to golf with? He’d like to play with Liza. Well, then, this means that they are one man down, their most knowledgeable person on the subject. Hardly a fair curve ball for Trump to be throwing at them. Is he planning on taking one person away from the other team as well?

Then they get some more bad news, a call from the photographer, who apparently failed to realize that he was wanted at Trump National Westchester, rather than Trump National Bedminster. It’s a two hour drive away. Could be worse.

Poppy realizes Liza Minnelli’s name is spelled wrong on their poster. Yeah, that’s why I looked it up on Google before I typed it, and all I’m doing is writing a blog post. Surely somebody there is competent enough to do that. I guess not. Oh, and by the way, not only is it spelled wrong on the welcome poster. It’s also spelled wrong on every placecard for the dinner tables. They’re going to have to find it in their budget to fix this problem, but they don’t have it. It cost $4,000 to do this in the first place. All they have to work with is $1400.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Apprentice Season 10 Episode 13, where we will find out who The Apprentice Season 10 winner is, which airs Thursday at 10/9c on NBC.