America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 4

Some lackluster acts skated through in America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 3, though there was a good animal act, Olate Dogs. The New York auditions continue tonight.

Ronald Charles sings/dances/performs. All terribly. Howard Stern’s father tells him what he used to tell his son: “Don’t be stupid, you moron.”

John Pizzi is a comedian ventriloquist. Why are his lips moving so much? He picks suitable material, though, mocking the judges.

Donovan and his thin blonde wife Rebecca have an act that involves a lot of lifting of each other. You wouldn’t think it at first glance, but as big as he is, she does a lot of the lifting. This duo, Crazeehorse, was in the semifinals of Britain’s Got Talent Series 1, with a performance that suggests they have something much more impressive up their sleeves. Doesn’t seem entirely coincidental they waited until the year Piers (who was a judge that season) is gone before coming to America.

Tom Cotter is a stand up comic. Each joke he tells is funny. He says he’s a big fan of Howie, and Howie returns the compliment.

Stepz was abandoned by his drug addict mother, but he found dance while his grandmother raised him. Howard says he’s talented, but people won’t pay to see this. The other two judges back him, however.

The Savage Men smell like baby oil. Sharon asks to be surprised. The boys buzz, but Sharon wants to see them finally take something off. She gets to see a little bit of skin after some very bad dancing, but nothing either terribly impressive or surprising. Until Howard gets on stage and joins them. Seeing as even Sharon buzzed, they’re not going to Vegas.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 5, which airs Monday at 8/7c on NBC.

American Idol Season 11 Episode 39

Joshua Ledet was eliminated in American Idol Season 11 Episode 38. Tonight the moment I’ve been waiting all season for. A 1 hour episode. The contestants will sing three times each. First come choices by Simon Fuller, then the contestants resing their favorites song of the season, followed by winning songs that will hopefully be better than they usually are.

Jessica Sanchez
Song: I Have Nothing by Whitney Houston
Numbers: 1-866-IDOLS-01 or 1-866-IDOLS-03 or 1-866-IDOLS-05 or 1-866-IDOLS-07

The judges don’t have time to give their opinions after each song tonight. Darn. I take it they also don’t have time to give a standing ovation every time, so it’s a good thing Joshua’s gone then.

Phillip Phillips
Song: Stand by Me by Benny King
Numbers: 1-866-IDOLS-02 or 1-866-IDOLS-04 or 1-866-IDOLS-06 or 1-866-IDOLS-08

Jennifer has no opinion, just a bunch of questions. Randy says Jessica won round 1. Now that he says that, Jennifer agrees.

Seems tomorrow night’s 127 minute finale is not long enough, so tonight Jason Derulo performs.

For her second song, her favorite of the season, Jessica performs The Prayer by Celine Dion, a surprisingly unpredictable performance because it was her final one prior to the top 24, so it’s something we have not seen before.

Phil follows her with Movin Out by Billy Joel, which apparently he sang during Billy Joel week. Neither song sticks out to me as terribly memorable.

Steven says Jessica took it again, and that Phil’s only a partially hatched egg. Randy calls it even. Jennifer gives that round to Phil.

Next, the songs they will be forced to sing if they win. Has any winning song been any good? Only one I can think of is Kelly Clarkson’s A Moment Like This.

Jessica gets a song called Change Nothing. How about changing the song? Randy did not love it, but he loves that she did the best with what she was given. Jennifer doesn’t think she should do that song either.

Phil’s song is called Home. Just as terrible as Jessica’s song. Randy loved the song, Phil, the production, and the marching band. Yeah, we’re supposed to believe Randy loved a marching band.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 40, where we will find out who the American Idol Season 11 winner is, which airs Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.

America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 3

America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 2 brought us Luiz Meneghin and Alonso “Turf” Jones. Tonight the auditions continue in New York.

The Flyte Cru (really?) is a basketball stunt team. Very cool, but I’ve seen this before, more than once on this show. Howie says no on that basis, but the other two give them another shot.

Mir Money is a 7 year old rapper. I was expecting them to give him a pass to the top 40 based on his age, but Howard’s not falling for it, as he buzzes. Sharon joins him. A guilty Howard ends up voting yes, but the other two realize they can’t put the kid through another rejection like that.

Olate Dogs is a large animal act. They jump rope, do backflips, and dance together. A lot of room for error with so many animals, but it goes off without a hitch.

Horse is wearing a shirt that says “They call me nasty”. Between the name and the shirt, it’s apparent this will be pointless and quite stupid. His talent: repeatedly being bashed in the groin. So of course, he’s going to Vegas.

Wordspit and the Illest are a backpack pop culture arena rap group. Decent rapper, decent singer, but I don’t get the whole package, though the judges do.

Burton Crane’s talent is performing, which he later clarifies by saying he’s a 77 year old rapper. This will not end well. In spite of the fact that this act sucks, he gets a standing ovation. It’s like American Idol. The sad fact is that the song is catchy, and people will be talking about it in the morning more than anyone else.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 4, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on NBC.

The Celebrity Apprentice 5 Winner

Aubrey was finally fired in The Celebrity Apprentice 5 Episode 13, setting up a final showdown between Clay Aiken and Arsenio Hall.

Trump starts off the evening getting a ride from an Andretti. I seem to remember him going out of his way to fire one of them for no good reason earlier in the season.

For all the drama of the cliffhanger we were left with, the video Arsenio received of Magic Johnson is perfectly usable. Typical.

The Clay/Debbie wall painting drama continues. When he receives pictures of her cousin’s past work, he agrees to let her paint. Because you wouldn’t want your walls to look silly when you’re putting on a carnival.

Aubrey continues to remind us that, in spite of the fact that she’s been fired, she’s still the best one there and the only reason Clay has anything.

Lou Ferrigno has gone out and given 110%, raising $41,000 for his charity, and George Takei has also raised about $60,000, much of it from himself. Dayana Mendoza does not have anything positive to say about Lisa, who did not display anything positive that could be said about her. Victoria Gotti refers to Aubrey as a cartoon character and Lisa as crude, rude, and classless. Tia Carrere doesn’t need to name names because everybody knows, but she’s not surprised to see two men in the finale.

When the parties start, there are Claymates everywhere. In Arsenio’s line, there’s about 6 people. Hopefully they’ll show up eventually.

Clay gets some donations from singers, and his largest initial donation is $20,000, pooled together by a bunch of his fans. Arsenio’s getting donations from comedians like Jay Leno and Eddie Murphy. Lisa manages to sneak away from Arsenio’s party, which she’s supposed to be working, to make a $10,000 donation to Clay.

After mingling on their own for a while, the parties cross together for Arsenio’s stand up and Clay’s musical show.

Aubrey’s blonde now. She seems surprised that anybody could have taken offense, but says this was a learning experience and apologizes for offending everybody.

Arsenio’s team raised $167,100; Clay’s team raised $301,500. Less impressive than what we’ve seen in years past, but still respectable. Based on how they tried to make it seem he never really focused on fundraising, plus taking into account who was on each team, I was not expecting Clay to have such a lopsided money victory. Trump tells us this isn’t all the task is being judged on, but it would seem very difficult to overcome.

Dayana would vote for Arsenio based on her experience working with Clay.

Ivanka says Clay was liked by almost everybody, strategically refined, and assertive when he needed to be. Arsenio was a bit more passive but highly effective as a leader, in spite of having a few more enemies.

The Celebrity Apprentice 5 winner is Arsenio Hall. Clay again has to settle for runner up status.

American Idol Season 11 Episode 38

The top 3 performed in American Idol Season 11 Episode 37. Tonight 1 more will be sent home. Eventually. But not very quickly.

This is a tough one to call. The problem is that Hollie and Elise so monopolized the bottom 3 this season with 6 appearances each that it hasn’t really given anybody an opportunity to view exactly how the public thinks about any of the three that remain. Realistically, any of the three could go home. Jessica’s already been eliminated once, though she’s been safe ever since, and Joshua has found himself in the bottom three as well. The only untouchable performer of the season has been Phil. If this is about singing, Phil’s toast, but American Idol never was a singing competition. Even Steven says it doesn’t matter if you hit all the notes.

11 minutes in, Seacrest tells us we’re going to get serious and get to some results. Yeah, sure. Go ahead. Go to the bathroom. Then make a souffle. You won’t miss anything.

Jessica Sanchez is the first person to make it into the finale. She will be competing against Phillip Phillips. Joshua Ledet has been eliminated.

Next week, finale week, will have a different schedule, with the show concluding on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 39, which airs Tuesday at 8/7c on Fox.

American Idol Season 11 Episode 37

Hollie Cavanagh was finally eliminated in American Idol Season 11 Episode 36. Tonight the top 3 perform, and it’s still 2 hours long. They will sing three songs each, one chosen by the judges, one chosen by the contestants, and one chosen by Jimmy Iovine.

Joshua Ledet
Song: I’d Rather Be Blind by Etta James
Jennifer: Always bring down the house with those numbers.
Randy: Fits you so like a glove.
Numbers: 1-866-IDOLS-01 or 1-866-IDOLS-04 or 1-866-IDOLS-07

Jessica Sanchez
Song: My All by Mariah Carey
Randy: I worked with Mariah. One of the best times a Mariah song has been performed on TV.
Jennifer: Hard song, but you did it so beautifully.
Steven: You make people hang on your every note.
Numbers: 1-866-IDOLS-02 or 1-866-IDOLS-05 or 1-866-IDOLS-08

Phillip Phillips
Song: Beggin by Madcon
Jennifer: You can’t help it. You had to mess with it.
Steven: Hoping you write your own songs. Could be a new Springsteen.
Randy: We were just at a Phil Phillips concert.
Numbers: 1-866-IDOLS-03 or 1-866-IDOLS-06 or 1-866-IDOLS-09

Judges didn’t do Jessica any favors with their song choice. I’m not sure they could do any damage to Phil, regardless, if Time of the Season didn’t hurt him, but this song seems a good fit. And of course Joshua gets a standing ovation from them, well past a dozen by now.

In spite of the standing O, Randy declines to pick a winner. Jennifer takes it a step further, saying Phil was the winner of round 1. Steven, like Randy, is unable to pick a winner. So why did you stand up for Josh and nobody else if he did as good as or worse than the others? New judges, please. For this and The Voice. Simon Cowell at least took the hint after just one season, even if his replacements were Britney Spears and Demi Lovato. Guess we won’t have to wait long seeing as J Lo is probably going to quit after next week anyway.

Joshua Ledet
Song: Imagine by John Lennon
Steven: Another thank you god moment.
Jennifer: A pulled back and controlled performance.
Randy: Another stellar performance.

Jessica Sanchez
Song: I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith
Steven: Took a great song and made it greater.
Jennifer: Sent everybody into the heavens.
Randy: This girl is bold. Started a little slow, but you delivered a big moment at the end.

Phillip Phillips
Song: Disease by Matchbox 20
Jennifer: Didn’t feel it was the wow performance.
Steven: Feel the same way she did.
Randy: I didn’t like it either. Such a subdued moment.

Joshua Ledet
Song: No More Drama by Mary J Blige
Randy: You have laid everything on this stage.
Steven: Felt the last 40 years in the music business.

Jessica Sanchez
Song: I’ll Be There by Jackson 5
Steven: Perfect song. Perfect voice.
Jennifer: Perfect tone. Almost sounded like Michael.
Randy: Okay. Never a moment moment moment.

Phillip Phillips
Song: We’ve Got Tonight by Bob Seger
Randy: Your best performance on the show ever.
Jennifer: Just like a lullaby.
Steven: It doesn’t matter if you hit the notes or not.

Jimmy by far picked the better song for Jessica, but I’m not sure what to think about that Phil song. Was it a problem because it showed he’s a weak singer, or was it genius because the girls voting for him won’t care?

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of American Idol Season 11 Episode 38, which airs Thursday at 8/7c on Fox.

No Biggest Loser This Fall

Every year since 2004, The Biggest Loser has occupied NBC’s Tuesday night time slot in the fall, typically for 2 hours to help fill NBC’s empty schedule. Hope you weren’t expecting that to happen again this year.

The Biggest Loser is absent from NBC’s fall schedule for the upcoming season. The network that brought you Deal or No Deal 4 times a week will be giving us The Voice twice a week twice a year, until we’re sick of it (too late), to be followed by new comedies Go On and The New Normal, with Parenthood finishing out the night.

A start date for the next Biggest Loser has been scheduled yet, but it is currently slated for midseason.

America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 2

Although not a lot of people had faith in him, Howard Stern kicked things off as a pretty good judge in American Idol Season 7 Episode 1. Appropriately buzzer happy, funny, and mean, in spite his lack of Britishness, and only occasionally mildly inappropriate (less so than Steven Tyler and Christina Aguilera). The new judging panel turned out to go together well. We also saw a couple good acts, including earth harpist William Close and Light Wire Theater.

David Garibaldi has put together a grafiti, music, art dance group and is joined by his CMYK’s. I don’t get the whole dance portion of this routine, but the painting is pretty good. I’m not sure who it’s supposed to be, but it’s definitely a person, one who is not Howard Stern.

Mr. Special is a grown man in a chicken costume with a horn on a tiny bicycle. That was not very special at all.

Kim McAfee is a singer who loves Howard, the king. She’s a duet, or at least half of one. Her terrible singing quickly draws three buzzes. So seeing as she’s a disaster, Nick decides to prolong it. That doesn’t last any longer.

Cristin Sandu comes out on stage shirtless. He’s a balancer. The judges are impressed, but they wonder whether he can deliver more next time. Howie wonders enough to say no, but the other two want to see more.

What is up with the cameras and microphones on the idiots in the crowd this season?

The Lisa Clark Dancers tell us they are trained in many different styles of dance. Jack of all trades, master of none, but they’re narrowly decent enough to go to Vegas.

Dave Burleigh is a comedian impressionist, one who has to tell us the names of each person he’s impersonating, though I’ll take Howie’s word that they’re spot on.

Luiz Meneghin sings to his elderly patients every day during lunch. He manages to convert Howard into an opera fan.

Paula Nelson is known as Granny G. She makes her way out on stage with her walker to rap about horny boys making babies.

Kotton Kandy is a fat guy wearing entirely too little women’s clothing. The crowd loves him for some reason, but the judges have some sense.

Tim Hockenberry has been singing for 20 years. He wanted to do something before he turned 50, which gives him about 3 months. Howard calls his performance of You Are So Beautiful a breath of fresh air.

Funk Beyond Control is a tween dance group. They could go far.

Alonso “Turf” Jones is an extreme hip hop contortionist dancer. Oh, another one of those. His mom kicked out when he said he wanted to dance, leaving him homeless for 2 years. He hopes that he just proved that you can dance if that’s what you want to do.

Stay tuned to dingoRUE for another live recap of America’s Got Talent Season 7 Episode 3, which airs Monday at 8/7c on NBC.