American Idol Season 12 Episode 2

We started off American Idol Season 12 Episode 1 with three new judges and a couple of decent singers in between the waste of time contestants that used to be funny but no longer are. Tonight we head to Chicago, where we’re told Jennifer Hudson (who nobody really liked when she placed 7th) was discovered.

Mackenzie Wasner’s father is a piano player, and she’s been singing alongside him since she considered the alphabet song to be more than just a convenient way to pass a sobriety test. And it shows. More than one judge calls her a star.

Kiara Lanier sang for Obama. I’m not sure whether that means anything or not, but the judges are very impressed by her performance.

Stephanie Schimel continues the trend of good singers, one that won’t last. She definitely looks like a star, though Nicki is unimpressed with her vocals and is the sole judge to say no. Then Mariah and Nicki start their back and forth while Nicki decides which accent to use.

Melissa Bush is the quietest contestant ever. Her performances leave the judges with nothing to say but “Okay.”

Rocker Gabe Brown was invited to Idol from Iowa City on the small town bus tour. Good at what he does, though the question is whether he can do anything else.

Kevin Nabity loves Vanilla Ice and the rapping Ninja Turtles. He also thinks he’s a martial artist. Oy.

Isabelle Parell does a duet with Keith Urban, who she additionally gives a cue card what to say. She’s better than he is, if that means anything.

Griffin Peterson gets to sing after Nicki tries to pick him up. Decent enough to advance, but as with Isabelle, Randy says no. Meanwhile, his mom is outside crossing an item off her bucket list: kiss Ryan Seacrest.

Curtis Finch, Jr. sings a song that I assume is called God Is Able, which receives glowing reviews from the judges.

Mariah Pulice is recovering from anorexia. Her sad story is followed by a sad song, but she’s going to Hollywood.

Brandy Neelly was adopted by her aunt. Being from Kentucky, we know what style of music she’ll be singing, You’re Cheating Heart by Hank Williams. As country singers go, she’ll be at the front of the pack.

Josh Holiday, Courtney Williams, and Andrew Jones round out the good singer montage.

This will be Clifton Duffin’s first time singing in front of his parents. They emotionally find out how good he is. Mariah and Nicki say they can relate to this story of singing off on their own without anybody to hear them.

Ieisha Cotton tells us she’s a professional dancer. Then she dances. I don’t see it. Of course, she told us she could sing, too.

Johnny Keyser is back again. Yet another person for Nicki to hit on. Last year he scraped through a couple rounds in Hollywood, so he’s obviously good.

Kez Ban is a beginner fire performer and balloon animal artist, who makes sure to mention planet of origin as Earth. Surprisingly enough, the performance is decent, though I’m finding myself trying to identify gender, which turns out to be female.

Ashley Curry is the most over the top singer of the evening. I think she might have a good voice if she were to strip all that away.

Lazaro Arbos is originally from Cuba. He has a very pronounced stutter. I assume this disappears when he sings, which saw on America’s Got Talent from the guy who turned out to be lying about his time as a soldier. His story fits well with his song choice of Bridge Over Troubled Water, which advances him to Hollywood.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 12 Episode 3, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

American Idol Season 12 Episode 1

The granddaddy of the most overdone genre on television is back for another season. The judges’ revolving door continues to turn with three new judges after two of the old useless ones (Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler) left. Replacing them are Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban. Among them, Mariah’s kind of a big deal, as one of the biggest pop sensations of a century ago (unlike J-Lo, she got famous because of her voice), though that does not necessarily translate to being a good judge. Apparently unable to find a job elsewhere, Randy Jackson rounds out the panel as the fourth judge, which worked out so well last time they tried it.

We start off with some footage for Phillip Phillips, in case someone remembers him. The first audition city is New York.

Are Mariah and Nicki going to bicker all night? As they get into their own thing, Michael Buonopane comes in and gets the show started with singing in as many genres as he knows. None of them are good enough for a vote.

Tenna Torres last got to sing for Mariah when she was 13 at Camp Mariah. Now 28, she sings You’ve Got a Friend by Carol King, easily making it through to the next round.

James Bae wants to be the next Justin Bieber. In his own words, it will be a miracle if he were to get a yes. Yes, yes it would. He informs us he’s singing a Bieber song. Perhaps he is. Everybody tries to be kind. Finally, Randy tells him he can’t sing.

Christina “Isabelle” lost 50 pounds so she could pursue a career as a singer. She’d like to bring back the great music she listened to growing up, like Mariah. Nicki thinks she’s going far in this competition.

Evan Ruggiero tells us he’s been dancing since he was a child. But this is American Idol. When he was 19, he learned he had bone cancer, which eventually led to his leg being amputated. In addition to singing, he’s brought his guitar with him. His Bon Jovi is a lot better than his Jason Mraz, but it’s not quite enough, though the judges tell him to come back next year.

When Jessica Kartalis is asked what kind of artist she’ll be, she says she doesn’t want to label herself. That’s not a good sign. The judges suggest she come back when she figures that out.

Shira Gavrielov is from Israel, where she released a CD when she was 17. I don’t get it, but the judges love her.

Day 1 in New York ends with Frankie Ford sings on the train to make ends meet. Despite a shaky start, he pulls it together and is headed to Hollywood.

Benjamin Gaisey is an awful singer with a bad wig and whose clothes make noise when he moves. I’d like to move on, but the judges encourage him to sing another song. After we watch that waste of time, we get to go to another 5 minute commercial break. It would be nice if they added some show to this promotional effort.

Rozanna Shindelman usually doesn’t sing in front of people. She may wish to continue that trend.

Sarah Restuccio is from New Jersey, the blueberry capital of the world. A country singer is not what you’d expect from Jersey, but it makes sense seeing as she lives on a farm. After she does the Carrie Underwood song quite well, she switches it up and sings Nicki Minaj’s Super Bass.

Albert Chang has no idea who these judges are, but to be fair I don’t know half of them either. His really dull performance of Phantom of the Opera kicks it up a notch with terrible high pitch.

Angela Miller has partial hearing loss, but it doesn’t affect her singing any. The judges say she brought something they haven’t heard today.

Brett Holt has auditioned 7 times. Next.

Gurpreet Singh Sarin always matches his turban with the rest of his outfit. His decent voice is sufficient to gather 3 votes.

Ashlee Feliciano is the biological daughter of a family that adopts medically complex children. She sings Put Your Records On to finish the night and receives glowing praise from the judges.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 12 Episode 2, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 3

Jillian’s team continued to fall apart in The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 2 with the elimination of Nate.

Alison greets them in a room full of food and games. The team that comes in last in this trivia challenge will be locked in the room for 4.5 hours a day all week, the amount of time kids spend watching TV.

What percentage of Americans aged 2-19 years are obese?
17%. All teams are wrong.

What percentage of overweight children ages 5-10 have at least one high risk factor for heart disease?
60%. Everybody is wrong again.

What is the biggest single source of added sugar in children’s diets?
Sugar-sweetened drinks. All teams are correct.

Over the past three decades the childhood obesity rate in America has…
Tripled. All teams are correct.

What percentage of parents of obese children think their child is normal or even underweight?
75%. Red team is correct to win the challenge.

What percentage of daily calories for children aged 2-18 is wasted on empty calories from sugars and solid fats?
40%. Being the least over the correct answer, white team wins the tie breaker, as blue team will get the punishment.

Or so that’s how they view it. There’s no reason this needs to be a bad thing. All they have to do is just not eat too much junk, and they should be fine. Even if they were to spend that 4 hours on the couch, which they won’t do, it’s not like they won’t be utilizing the other 20 hours effectively. The worst thing is perhaps the mental torture from the temptation.

Bob’s not so lucky that his team has chosen a way to keep active while in this room. Rather, they’re all laying around and doing nothing but staring at the ceiling.

Jillian’s training her remaining two girls, and Francelina joins in. She learns that Francelina’s overeating started with her father’s alcoholism. She’s not surprised that a parent with a destructive addictive personality now has a child with an equally bad problem.

The kids all get a visit from a pediatric nutritionist. Biingo is told he needs to cut down on video games. Sunny receives a suggestion to switch to healthier carbs. Lindsey receives the worst news, that she’s developing diabetes and will probably have it within 2 years if she does not change.

At the carnival, they will crawl with 10 pound gumballs through a bubble gum pit. Reward is a year’s worth of groceries. David and Pam have not been medically cleared to compete, so Danni will compete on the blue team. They are in for a sticky mess. The lead is going back and forth, but the red team ends up winning by 1 point.

The first part of Jillian’s workout is a nice change of pace. No whining. That doesn’t last. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming of Pam crying and Jillian yelling.

At the end of the week, Bob’s team still has not made an effort at burning calories in the kids’ room. He will use this as a learning opportunity to show them they had what they needed all along, and they will have their last chance workout there using nothing more than what they had available to them throughout the week. With a deck of cards and four basic exercises (burpees, pushups, thrusters, and squats), they get as good a workout as they could have gotten with all the fancy equipment in the gym.

This week, there will be no red line, and the losing team will have to vote for the first time this season.

Jeff: 348 pounds (-11, 3.06%)
Alex: 221 pounds (-4, 1.78%)
David: 272 pounds (-6, 2.16%)
Michael: 396 pounds (-13, 3.18%)
Gina: 215 pounds (-8. 3.59%)
Blue Total: 1452 pounds (-42, 2.81%)

Francelina: 237 pounds (-5, 2.07%)
Joe: 317 pounds (-9, 2.76%)
Jackson: 300 pounds (-2, 0.66%)
Cate: 223 pounds (-2, 0.89%)
Lisa: 223 pounds (-2, 0.89%)
Red Total: 1300 pounds (-20, 1.52%)

Danni: 228 pounds (-6, 2.56%)
Pam: 210 pounds (-9, 4.11%)
White Total: 438 pounds (-15, 3.31%)

After two weeks at the top, the red team has lost the weigh in. As The Biggest Loser on the losing team, Joe is safe.

Jackson and Cate both fear they are the weakest link on their team.

Votes
Cate: Jackson
Jackson: Lisa
Francelina: Cate
Joe: Cate
Lisa: Cate

With 3 votes, Cate is not The Biggest Loser. From her starting weight of 237 pounds, Cate is down to 196 pounds today. She plans to run her first marathon next year.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 4, which airs Monday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 2

First Nikki quit in The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 1, then the white team’s woes continued when TC fell below the red line.

Not saving the surprise this time, it’s revealed at the top of the show that this week will feature another red line.

Bob has brought with him some half dressed people who he works out with to workout with his team. Dolvett has created a a workout complete with tires and sand. Jillian tells them they don’t need much equipment because the best tool they can use is their own body weight.

Having lost two people already, Jillian is worried. The girls who remain on her team are falling apart, sitting on the ground crying during the workout. At least Nate seems to be doing fine this week. For all the yelling, the drama of this week does not seem like it will last as long as last, though.

Dr. H’s first visit brings the usual bad news. Jackson stopped breathing for 41 seconds during his sleep. Pam’s blood has so much fat in it that it can’t be seen through. Gina has out of control diabetes with minimal chance of being cured by medication. Michael’s arteries are that of a man in his late 70s.

Antonio Gates from the San Diego Chargers and Bingo, Sunny, and Lindsay join them at the challenge. The timed event will judge their speed, agility, and strength. Reward for the teen on the winning team will be a Play 60 NFL visit for their school, which will receive $5,000. Pam has not been cleared to compete, bringing the white team down to two.

The first quarter is a shuttle race. Danni gives the white team the lead by 2 seconds over the second place red team. The second quarter is an obstacle course they must jump/weave through. Danni wins again, extending her lead over the red team to 7 seconds. The third quarter is the gauntlet. Jeff wins for the blue team, putting them 4 seconds behind white team, with the red team pretty much out of it. The final quarter combines all of the previous skills. Nate places second again, this time behind Joe, which is enough to win the challenge for the white team.

The kids will not be weighing in during the season, but what they can do is take a fitness test both now and toward the end. It goes without saying that their initial results are going to be far below the average for their ages.

Hoping to show her team that she’s not being overly hard on them, Jillian joins Bob’s team in the last chance workout. He pushes them just as much as she does. He probably yells less, though.

David: 278 pounds (-9, 3.14%)
Gina: 223 pounds (-7, 3.04%)
Alex: 225 pounds (-6, 2.60%)
Michael: 409 pounds (-14, 3.31%)
Jeff: 359 pounds (no change)
Blue Team Total: 1494 pounds (-36, 2.35%)

Cate: 220 pounds (-5, 2.22%)
Francelina: 242 pounds (-6, 2.42%)
Jackson: 302 pounds (-4, 1.31%)
Joe: 326 pounds (-12, 3.55%)
Lisa: 225 pounds (-5, 2.17%)
Red Team Total: 1315 pounds (-32, 2.38%)

Pam: 219 pounds (-8, 3.52%)
Danni: 234 pounds (-5, 2.09%)
Nathan: 334 pounds (-5, 1.47%)
White Team Total: 787 pounds (-18, 2.24%)

I thought for sure Jeff was a goner. Pushing his team below the red line by just 1 pound, Nathan has been eliminated. Yet again, without a twist, there’s no way he would have been voted out. Jillian’s got her work cut out for her now.

From his starting weight of 359 pounds, Nate is down to 299 pounds today. He concludes the night with a marriage proposal.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 3, which airs Monday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 1

The Biggest Loser on Sunday night? This one caught me off guard. Once we’re done with this special night and time, the show moves to its new regularly scheduled time slot, Mondays at 8, for a quick 12 episode run ending in March. At least they didn’t shrink it to an hour or put it on Fridays, but NBC has made an effort to significantly deemphasize this once high flyer and opted to squeeze it wherever they can fit it.

On a more positive note, after having quit (again), Jillian Michaels will be returning this season to train alongside Bob Harper and Dolvett Quince. At least we also don’t have to deal with the group of whiners who so willingly and deliberately spoiled much of last season.

In addition to the 15 contestants, three teenagers will participate (one with each trainer). Two of these kids (Noah “Bingo” Gray) and Lindsay Bravo) are 13 years old, and one of them (Sanjana “Sunny” Chandrasekar) is 16. They will remain on the show all season and will spend most of their time at home, though they will be at the ranch for some time with their trainers challenge participation. Their function is to serve as ambassadors for childhood obesity.

The 15 contestants are:

Alexandra “Alex” Reid, 24: 240 pounds
Cate Laughlan, 27: 237 pounds
Danielle “Danni” Allen, 26: 258 pounds
David Jones, 51: 307 pounds
Francelina Morillo, 25: 267 pounds
Gina McDonald, 47: 245 pounds
Jackson Carter, 21: 328 pounds
Jeff Nichols, 24: 388 pounds
Joe Ostaszewski, 43: 364 pounds
Lisa Rambo, 37: 246 pounds pounds
Michael Dorsey, 34: 444 pounds
Nate Montgomery, 25: 359 pounds
Nichole “Nikki” Davis, 26: 280 pounds
Pamela Geil, 43: 237 pounds
Thomas “TC” Pool, 31: 376 pounds

Upon arrival at the ranch, they are provided team assignments right away.

Blue Team (Bob): Alex, David, Gina, Jeff, Michael, Bingo
White Team (Jillian): Danni, Nate, Nikki, Pam, TC, Sunny
Red Team (Dolvett): Cate, Francelina, Jackson, Joe, Lisa, Lindsay

Once inside the gym, people are throwing up and fainting within 5 minutes. Jackson goes down and stays down.

Nate keeps getting up, but he falls right back down. TC follows suit. After Nikki says her knee hurts, Jillian throws her out, too, leaving her with two people to train. She warns them this is just the start, and she’ll ask them to leave the ranch for good if they can’t get their act together by the end of the week.

Suspended in mid air, the kids will tell the adults where to find a set of letters in the ball pit. Reward is a 5 pound advantage at the weigh in. White and blue teams are exchanging the lead as the challenge goes on. White team ends up winning, which perhaps will save them from the wrath of Jillian.

After a week on the ranch, the kids will now take what they’ve learned back home, but they will be back from time to time.

At the last chance workout, both Nate and TC give the effort Jillian expects. Nikki, who’s been moping around all week, is another story. She realizes she’s not ready to change. Given the choice between walking out the door and doing the workout, she chooses to quit. We’ve seen people quit before, some quicker than others, but this has to be a record.

There is no yellow line. The person with the lowest percentage of weight loss on the losing team will automatically be eliminated. Harsh way to start the season.

TC: 361 pounds (-15, 3.99%)
Pam: 227 pounds (-10, 4.22%)
Nathan: 339 pounds (-20, 5.57%)
Danni: 239 pounds (-19, 7.36%)
White Team Total: 1166 pounds (-64, -5, 5.61%)

Lisa: 230 pounds (-16, 6.50%)
Jackson: 306 pounds (-22, 6.71%)
Francelina: 248 pounds (-19, 7.12%)
Cate: 225 pounds (-12, 5.06%)
Joe: 338 pounds (-26, 7.14%)
Red Team Total: 1347 pounds (-95, 6.59%)

Jeff: 359 pounds (-29, 7.47%)
Michael: 423 pounds (-21, 4.73%)
David: 287 pounds (-20, 6.51%)
Alex: 231 pounds (-9, 3.75%)
Gina: 230 pounds (-15, 6.12%)
Blue Team Total: 1530 pounds (-94, 5.79%)

The white team has lost the weigh in, and as the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss on that team, TC has fallen below the red line and been eliminated. Had there been a vote, I don’t imagine that would have been the outcome. They might have been better off just letting Nikki stick around for a little while longer.

From his starting weight of 376 pounds, TC has lost 56 pounds to weigh 320 today. He plans to honor his promise to his son to lose the weight.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of The Biggest Loser Season 14 Episode 2, which airs Monday at 8/7c on NBC.

Survivor: Philippines Winner

Abi was the most hated person on the show this season. So what did they do to this person who nobody was going to vote for? They voted her off the island 3 days before the end of the show in Survivor: Philippines Episode 13.

About par for the course for this lackluster final four of Malcolm Freberg, Denise Stapley, Michael Skupin, and Lisa Whechel. I’m struggling to find anybody to root for (or against). The only thing I have to go on is that Skupin is an idiot and a moron (and also a moron). Not one of them has done anything to impress me all season.

For the reward challenge, they will race through a series of obstacles, collect bags along the way, and use the pieces to solve a puzzle. The winner will receive an advantage in the final immunity challenge. Not liking this twist. Skupin’s got a bit of a lead over Malcolm and Denise, while Lisa stays in last the whole time. It will all come down to the puzzle. Michael falls out of it quickly. It comes down to Denise and Malcolm, and Malcolm wins reward.

These people had plenty of chances to get rid of Malcolm but failed to do so. Now they’re kicking themselves because he was already probably going to win to begin with, and now he has and advantage to boot.

Denise attempts to get Malcolm to commit to a final three deal, but he refuses, saying he’ll give her an answer eventually. What’s up with people this season who are so unwilling to lie that they just refuse to give any answer at all? Jonathan already lost the game on that basis.

Now that Lisa and Michael have made final three deals with both their competitors, they just have to vote with whoever wins immunity. It’s not like either of them think they are going to win.

For the last time, immunity is back up for grabs. They are each given a wooden cylinder that has been cut into pieces, and they will have to balance a ball on that. Additional pieces will be added every 5 minutes. Malcolm’s advantage is a second chance. I’m not sure how big an advantage that is in a challenge like this, but it’s an advantage nonetheless. Malcolm drops during the second round, using his advantage early. Malcolm drops again, and now he’s out. Denise drops, too. Remarkably enough, that brings us down to Michael against Lisa for the third round. They both survive that, Lisa just barely. Lisa drops in the fourth round, and Michael wins immunity.

Denise and Malcolm realize that they have to vote to get rid of each other. Lisa wants to get rid of Malcolm because he’s a threat, while Michael wants to keep him for the same reason, which Lisa calls stupid.

At tribal council, Lisa answers that there is no reason for her to take Malcolm to the end.

Votes
Malcolm
Denise
Malcolm
Malcolm

With 3 votes, Malcolm has been voted off the island. An angry Malcolm congratulates Denise as he leaves.

Denise says she will not make any apologies for being part of the final three, and as a member of three tribes, she has been at every single tribal council.

Lisa acknowledges her strategy was not very pretty, and she didn’t really play until her brother came. Skupin discusses how he survived, despite being a returning player with a target on him from the start.

Artis refuses to congratulate them. He preaches about how he held true to all of his alliance, mostly because he was voted out so early.

On the other hand, Carter has kind words for them.

Lisa clarifies to Pete that she didn’t know Artis was going home. Denise says she should win because she worked with the fractures of an incompetent tribe.

RC has glowing comments for Lisa, but like Carter, she asks Michael about her being eliminated, which he says he knows nothing about.

Malcolm says Lisa’s got him thinking about voting for her for the first time. Then he lays into Denise for no apparent reason.

Skupin tells Jeff about one of the more compelling reasons for voting for him. Unlike the other two, people actually wanted to vote him out, yet he survived anyway.

Abi doesn’t like any of them.

Jonathan’s not far off her sentiments, albeit a bit more articulate. Now for something he’s been holding in the whole time. Lisa was a television star. In response to that, she asks whether he told them what he did when he was a teenager.

Votes
Lisa (RC)
Denise
Michael (Carter)
Denise
Denise
Denise

Denise Stapley is the Survivor: Philippines winner in the landslide that we expected. Going back to last week, they should have kept Abi. Skupin’s pretty much the only person surprised by this turn of events.

Survivor: Philippines Episode 13

The tribe noticed someone named Carter was among them in Survivor: Philippines Episode 12 and proceeded to vote him off the island.

Abi thinks she pulled off something by being able to stick around, apparently not realizing they are only keeping her around because nobody likes her. The interesting thing now is that she has all the power, as she is the swing vote, one nobody can trust. Unless, that is, they’re stupid enough to keep this alliance of four together, no matter how thoroughly lackluster it is. The good news for Michael and Lisa is that Denise has been particularly hostile toward Abi.

Reward is a helicopter and boat ride for pizza, cookies, and whale shark (what animal is that?) watching. They slide across the beach, untie rings, and repeat a second time before heading back for a ring toss. The men dominate this challenge from the start. In the end, it becomes a battle between Michael and Malcolm to land the final ring. Skupin wins reward, an improvement from his last chopper ride, the medical evac. Returning the favor from last week, he picks Malcolm to share. He also chooses Lisa. Abi responds that she guesses her vote doesn’t mean anything. I still can’t figure out whether this bitchiness is natural or takes effort.

Malcolm, whose closest ally is Denise, is the one to propose cutting her out of the final three deal he wants to make with Michael and Lisa. Might want to wait until you find out who wins immunity first.

The next morning, Denise is struggling with pain in her neck, coinciding with bite marks. She looks like she’s doing okay by the time they get to the challenge, though.

The immunity challenge will require them to cross a rope bridge using planks, while collecting puzzle maze pieces as they go. Malcolm’s in the lead, but he falls at the end. This puts him a long way behind everybody else. Despite being way behind, Malcolm stomps everybody in the puzzle building, and he wins immunity. Now he won’t even need his hidden immunity idol, unless he cares to give it to someone, for which there is no need.

It doesn’t hurt to ask, so Denise asks Malcolm if he intends to give up his idol. He does not. This should be a huge red flag, though I can see an argument for it, that he doesn’t want to look like he’s playing favorites (not that he makes that argument).

Not content with merely presenting a case for getting rid of Denise, Abi clarifies this by saying that Lisa and Michael aren’t winning this game. Oh, and Skupin’s an idiot. And a moron.

No hidden immunity idols are played, including Abi’s one that does not exist.

Votes
Denise
Abi
Abi
Abi

With 3 votes, Abi has been voted off the island. Seems her final speech was right. Michael’s an idiot and a moron. She may have been intolerable, but I’m sure I could tolerate her for 3 days for $1 million.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of Survivor: Philippines Episode 14, where we will find out who the Survivor: Philippines winner is, which airs Sunday at 8/7c on CBS.

The Amazing Race 21 Winners

Following Natalie & Nadiya’s elimination in The Amazing Race 21 Episode 11, we are left with a final three competing for the million dollar prize.

Jaymes & James and Trey & Lexi have been at the front of the pack for several legs now. Between them, they have split 5 of the last 6 first place results. On the other side of the coin, there’s Josh & Brent, the least successful team to ever make it this far. For 7 legs in a row, they have placed last or second to last, barely scraping by each time after somebody else made a game ending mistake.

Teams depart in the order in which they arrived.

First: Jaymes & James – 1:33AM
Second: Trey & Lexi – 1:44AM
Third: Josh & Brent – 3:06AM

The final destination city is 3600 miles away in New York, NY. This provides a hometown advantage for Josh & Brent, though I’m not sure that helps them with either the tasks or the cabs.

Trey & Lexi, unable to remember the phrase Brooklyn Navy Yard, allow the other two teams to realize something is up when they start writing. They’ll still have the lead, but they did some damage to how big it is.

The road block requires teams to escape Houdini style from a straightjacket, then take a bungee freefall 15 stories. Doesn’t seem particularly difficult, just scary.

Road block (in order of arrival): Trey, Brent, Jaymes

From Lombardi’s Pizzeria, the first pizzeria in the country, they must deliver 10 pizzas. Trey & Lexi complete the task successfully, which further solidifies their lead. Josh & Brent, however, reverse the order of deliveries, leading to Brent continually pointing out Josh’s mistake. Jaymes & James are still stuck in traffic.

The second road block at the United Nations must be done by the person who did not do the last one. They must match the correct words for hello and goodbye with the flags of the nine UN member countries they visited. No doubt everybody prepared the order of countries, flags, perhaps even the tasks, but nobody was ready for a language challenge.

Road block (in order of arrival): Lexi, Josh, James

By the time Josh & Brent arrive, Lexi has only completed one flag (Spanish). Is there really a chance Josh & Brent win this? This is as good a task as they’re going to get for their skill set. The Chippendales show up two behind the other two (Spanish and French). Two easy ones down, and now everybody starts guessing.

This is not going to be a fast task. After 2.5 hours, they’re still plugging away, almost done but not quite. Josh and James are running pretty close, but Lexi is out of it. Josh is the first to finish, but James is not far behind him.

The finish line is Gotham Hall. Josh & Brent are The Amazing Race 21 winners. Better than the twins winning, but this is easily the worst team (performancewise) to win the race, no matter how likeable they were. Perhaps the alliance shouldn’t have used the U-turn as they did to get rid of Abbie & Ryan.