Take that b***ch!

A hidden gem

Well well well, who would've thought...Never in a million years would anyone ever associate the words "up-to-date" or "hip" with "RTB" up until this evening.

Two words. The Mentalist.

Incase you're wondering what I'm talking about, here's why you should check it - and ultimately RTB2 - out.

So anyway back to this whole issue about RTB2 being "hip" has anyone ever noticed the surge of interesting tv shows it has been screening over the past year or so? Two and A Half Men..24..Supernatural..House..Heroes..Prison Break. Prior to the second RTB channel, the premier channel was only known for its local news, religious programmes and local dramas, and unless you subscribed to Astro then you'd be at the mercy of such programmes. But all that is slowing changing now what with this latest addition to their schedule. Not even AXN, Star World or 8TV has shown signs of screening this latest breakout show which is currently beating out the likes of House, Heroes and Grey's Anatomy back in the States!

Oh and it doesn't help that I'm a HUGE fan of Simon Baker (anyone remember The Guardian..?) who is definitely beyond a sight for sore eyes. Yummmm..

Still want proof?

Check out The Mentalist every Mondays at 9 pm, RTB2.

36

I know I've been slacking on this whole blogging thing, even more so where American Idol is concerned. So what better way to start my Idol blog with the unveiling of this season's Top 36 which I'm pretty sure most of you must have seen from this evening's episode.

While I'm quite disappointed with the exclusion of 1-2 favourites (Jamar anyone??), it looks like this season's Idol hopefuls are a strong yet interesting bunch (Norman Gentle, blind pianist Scott MacIntyre, diva wannabe Nathaniel)..

..and no, Tatiana does not count as strong nor interesting. That laugh and OTT whining makes Bikini Girl look harmless (and the lesser of two evils). I feel another Sanjaya moment being revisited again *SIGH*

The price of perfection

This reminded me (and the writer even made it a point to include this in this article) of an episode from FRIENDS when Ross accidentally left the bleach on his teeth far too long than the prescribed time, and ended up looking like a glow-in-the-dark idiot. Sometimes too much a good thing does have its fair share of disadvantages..

Girl Power?

Ever since the world was introduced to one Sarah Palin, there isn't a single website/newspaper/magazine/news channel/tv programme that hasn't mentioned her name. As Obamania appears to be fading away, Palinmania has hit the States as per The Telegraph, - she 's even got her own action figures now!

Hillary who?

What it should have been

Brooke and Eric's daugther is Bridget, not Ashley. Cupcake, I think I got a wee bit excited over this whole B&B saga. Infact the actress who plays Bridget is Ashley Jones..hence the mistake.

My bad..

More guilty pleasures

The past couple of days have seen me revert back to my rather embarassingly guilty pleasure: THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL. Actually I'm not even sure calling it a guilty pleasure is the correct term seeing how I have this love-hate relationship with soaps where B&B is no exception. However with the shortened working hours during this particular month, the lure of B&B is simply too strong to resist particularly when a) one wants to kill time before the breaking of the fast, or b) there's nothing remotely 'interesting' on tv, althoughI can just hear some of you smirking or scratching your head, thinking "What could be less interesting than B&B???"

Here's why: where else can you find plots and relationships that are complicated, ludricous, far-fetching and dare I say, incestuous. Case in point: Brooke Logan Forrester - formerly married to Eric Forrester (the patriarch of the Forrester family), then married Eric's son, Ridge Forrester followed by Nick Marone, who was in a relationship with Brooke's daughter with Eric (Ashley, who is also Ridge's half sister) only to realise that she (Brooke) was still in love with Nick, who then got together with Ridge's ex wife, Tyler, with whom he (Nick) had a baby only to discover that the baby had Brooke's DNA (mix-up of eggs or something of the sort), and now she (Tyler) is seeing Rick (Brooke's son with Ridge) despite Tyler's daugther (with Ridge), Phoebe being helplessly in love with Rick. And that's probably not even half of the whole story!

Now how could you resist ALL THAT?

And one of the cool things about watching these shows is how you can jump in any time and learn the background (well not the complete background but you get what I mean) of the plotline within days!

Olympics Galore

The fastest man...in the water!!

If I have bored anyone with my recent Olympics' posts, be prepared *muahahahahahahahahahhaaha* Come on now, with Michael Phelps setting new records and winning all eight gold medals as per his target...Federer getting his ass kicked (again)... Jamaica sweeping the medals in both the men's and women's 100m races, officially killing all hopes of the Americans in their bid to maintain their dominance over the track and at the same time, catching up with Chinese in the medals standing...Federer finally winning gold tho in an unfamiliar territory aka men's double tennis...a 41-year old proving that age isn't a barrier...surely any one of these would've gotten you sitting at the edge of your seat/s, shouting and screaming as if these people can even hear you?? Watching Michael Phelps earlier yesterday morning in his bid to win his 8th gold medal was simply riveting and nerve wrecking. Those last 30 seconds or so when Jason Lezak had 50 metres to go with Eamonn Sullivan from Australia matching him arm to arm..the thought of Phelps possibly losing that 8th and final gold by a hundreth of a second or two...'til Lezak finally touched the wall ahead of Australia, and everything was right in Michael Phelps' world. It would've been cool to be there at the Water Cube, to witness sporting history in the making as well as to check out the lovely bods of the swimmers *yummm*, but that's a different story altogether...

..But in the meantime, let's join in the celebration of these talented people who have provided us with plenty of entertainment over the past 10 days or so, with more hopefully to come..

The fastest man...on land!

Lesson learned

Whatever had gone on behind the scenes prior to yesterday, there's no denying last night's "boo boo" probably became the talking point of everyone's conversation. Perhaps this could be a lesson learnt for all of us - respect the rules and regulations (as was highlighted by one of the President of the IOC)

Let's not speculate nor play the blame-game...let's just enjoy the Games for the next 15 days or so.

R.I.P

Bosley a.k.a Bernie Mac has left the building...

There's Something About David Caruso

Of the three CSI shows, CSI:Miami wins hands down with its impausible characters (who in their right mind - and in real life!?! - would wear 4-inch boots whilst investigating a crime scene? Or has time to wear make-up while carrying out a post-mortem examination?), sometimes-ridiculous plots and constant over-acting..David Caruso anyone? Head tilt...funny one-liners..sunglasses..gives supposed meaningful stare/hands on hips/leaves the scene before anyone could retort back - surely after 5 seasons you would have noticed!!

Apparently so did Jim Carrey...



..loved the Tweety joke *LOL*

Meet the Darlings

Reason number...er..15 why I prefer to stay in on Saturday nights: DIRTY SEXY MONEY.

My latest guilty pleasure courtesy of Miss J (thank you!!) If you thought Dynasty, The Colbys, Knots Landing and the lot were addictive, DSM is definitely a must-see.

The Darling family tree

"Power, privilege and family money are a volatile cocktail.

Living proof of this are the Darlings of New York City, so absurdly wealthy, they put the upper in Upper East Side. This preeminent family are always getting mixed up with the wrong people and finding themselves in the middle of bad situations. It'll take a miracle to take care of the legal and sometimes illegal needs of the Darling family.

That miracle comes in the form of Nick George. As a boy, Nick watched his father surrender his freedom and family as the Darling's trusted consigliere. Nick grew up in a troubled household where he was always second to the overpowering Darling family. Burned by his own boyhood encounters with them, he vowed never to follow in his father's footsteps. The idealistic Nick did a 180-degree turn and became a lawyer for the disadvantaged.

After the mysterious, sudden death of Nick's father, family patriarch Tripp Darling offers Nick the opportunity to inherit the responsibility of protecting the Darlings' secrets. The job, with an ungodly salary, will allow Nick the freedom to be an altruistic do-gooder. But he discovers all too soon that his new position requires him to be an all-around problem fixer, hand-holder, therapist and public relations expert.

The powerful and persuasive Tripp Darling, owner of vineyards and homes around the world, lives with his beautiful, graceful and posh wife, Letitia. While they symbolize the charm and all-Americanism of old money, they also embody scandal and have spawned five grown, troubled children.

The oldest is Patrick Darling, the attorney general for New York. He's a handsome and commanding man whose political star is quickly rising. There's just one problem -- he has a transgendered girlfriend who won't go away, and this potential senatorial candidate needs Nick to fix the situation.

The sexy, stunning and thrice-married Karen is the eldest daughter, a socialite who runs the family foundation. She lost her virginity to Nick, a fact she isn't shy about telling her newest fiancé. A self-described loser in love, Karen still looks to Nick for help in her personal life."

As with the other shows, DSM's run on primetime TV was cut short by the writers' strike but was one of the few lucky new shows not to get the axe by the tv network bosses in the States which means come September we'll find out if Tripp Darling will get his revenge on Simon Elder, whether Karen will ever move on from Nick, if the lovely Carmelita aka Candis Cayne will grace the screen again and will the former Reverend Brian Darling, whom by the way is eye candy for yours truly, stop being angry. Basically everyone in the Darling Family are controversially mental that even the scenes where they spend money without a care in the world makes you forget your own shortcomings!

There're only 8 episodes but a lot sure happens and gets revealed all throughout so miss it at your own risk...

Dirty Sexy Money shown on 8tv (channel 708), Saturdays @ 10.30pm

Excerpt of show taken from the official Dirty Sexy Money website

We have a winner

D.C being embraced by the lovely Michael Johns (didn't he look yummy in that suit??)

12 million votes!

I repeat, 12 million votes.

No it wasn't a million or even three, it was a staggering 12 million which separated David Cook from Archie-boy to become the eventual winner for this season's American Idol. I was almost reduced to tears after seeing his "suddenly it dawned on him" reaction uuuwaaaaaahhhhhhhhh ...to think I'd almost (completely) given up on him.. bad bad Kitty

A side comment about Jordin Sparks but how UGLY was that dress?!!? Perhaps she should take some lessons from Carrie Underwood on how to graduate from boring, southern comfort to sexy and glamourous.

All but over?

Summer is almost upon us peeps! Well technically it doesn't really apply to our part of the world seeing how it's almost always "summer" all throughout the year...but it''s usually around this time of the year that exams are taking place before students go off for their holiday, whether it be 3 months or 2 weeks or maybe even 5 days, sporting events such as Euro 2008, French Masters, Wimbledon and tonight's UEFA final match (go ManYOOOOOOO!!) take place, and the current 2007-2008 tv season coming to an end, in the States that is, with American Idol final being the highlight amongst all...although I beg to differ particularly after watching - and crying myself silly! - the season finale of House and probably the second best episode after "Three Stories"!

So when Paula made that kiss-of-death comment about David Cook's second song being "not the winning song", I just knew David C didn't stand a chance. That coupled with Simon's singing praises for David Archiewatsisface, it's pretty obvious the votes will land in David Archuleta's favour tomorrow morning. Not that I think Archie-boy isn't talented save for my constant reminder that he's the 2.0 version of Gareth Gates, his smarmy "awww gosh, thank you everyone" expression is just too fake and superficial for my liking. It's times like these that I wish we too could have our say, don't you think so? That being said, if the people over at Idol and Fox were to consider allowing us to vote, we'd probably be seeing Chikezie or Kristy Lee Cook in the finals - God forbid!

Time's up

The producers should just finish Idol now. After watching Idol earlier on, it's pretty obvious who the eventual winner will be (note, however, that I did not write "is" bearing in mind how unpredictable Idol can be even at the penultimate stages) so why bother putting the others through the humiliation, right? But most importantly, Jason's time is up...the signs ain't looking good for him following Simon's constant put-downs, and we know how lethal Simon's words can be...case in point, Carly. So while the inevitable becomes evitable, at least I'm comforted with the fact that Kristy left waaaay before Jason, Carly and, to some extent I'll begrudgingly admit to 'liking' as opposed to Kristy, Brooke.

Adieu Brooke

Goodbye Brooke. You knew it was coming yet you couldn't believe it when Ryan Called out your name as the one to leave this week. Nothing against her except that I find her almost diva-like behaviour of late intolerable, not to mention annoying as h**l..

..another 3 weeks to go before the new Idol is crowned..seems like ages!!

Art versus exploitation

I've never understood the whole Miley Cyrus fever. Unfortunately..or fortunately..whichever way you look at it...my knowledge of her only extends to her role as Hannah Montana and that her dad was the villain behind that godawful song "Achy Breaky Heart"!?! So when the recent uproar of THAT infamous Vanity Fair photo hit the headlines, the first thought that came to mind was "About time!"

I'm not advocating for people like Miley to parade in their bras, appear half-naked or exploited as some sex object for the public though if you've seen our young ones these days, you'd be hard-pressed not to go up to them and give them a good telling off! I don't remember owning any sleeveless shirts/tank tops til I was probably 18..and even so, there were mostly worn as undergarments. As a celebrity and a role model for the tweens, Miley (as well as Disney) has a reputation to protect..one of innocence, strong family ties and most importantly, strict parental guidance (Jamie Lyn Spears anyone?) ...until THAT photo came along...and all hell broke loose..and somewhere along the chaos and outrage, I fail to find the logic behind the apology and excuse given.

As commented by Zoe Williams:

"It's the insincerity of everyone concerned that really chokes me," she writes. "Not one person involved can seriously think Miley Cyrus had any kind of influence over this, or any other, image-building decision."

Meanwhile, Germaine Greer in the Guardian deconstructs the image in question:
"In western art most of the women portrayed semi-clad or totally nude are children ... When Lucian Freud paints girl children nobody cares ... Botticelli paints the yet-to-be-enjoyed goddess of love emerging from the sea, people come from all over the world to gape at her. The Greeks and Romans liked their goddesses meaty; our preferred Venuses are children. Hardy perennials such as Diane de Poitiers held their sway as long as they did because their bodies never matured. Kate Moss has been able to earn millions only as long as she could continue to project the body image of a 13-year-old."

In other words, sexing up little girls is nothing new. Anyone old enough to remember a certain Brooke Shields back in the 80s when she appeared in the films Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon as well as in adverts for Calvin Klein Jeans? I recall seeing Brooke wearing almost next to nothing except her long hair covering her boobs and a loincloth for the bottom part in The Blue Lagoon and making out with her, correct me if I'm wrong, brother. As with Miley's case, Brooke's career was at that time managed by her mum, Teri who, many claimed, was behind the sexing up of Brooke's image and career.

As Michelle Renee wrote in her blog, "But Shields, and I am hoping Cyrus, had more to offer than the persona or brand crafted by the adults around her. Brooke went on to graduate from Princeton in 1987 and headlined her own critically applauded NBC sitcom, Suddenly Susan. She has two beautiful children, appeared on Entourage and Nip/Tuck, and is now on a hit show that I watch on NBC -- Candace Bushnell's (author of Sex and the City) Lipstick Jungle. The optimist in me wants to believe that Miley can take the bull by the horns, find her voice and turn this into a very positive learning experience and share that with others, particularly young girls who have no idea what a PR Machine (no, it isn't a new gaming device like Wii) is."

So the question is, what should Miley, and to a certain extent her folks, do to "repair the damage" that has been done?

"Miley is faced with another choice right now and is at one of those very definitive forks in the road. She can go one way in the direction of Lindsay-type disaster or, like Brooke Shields, choose the direction that will stop the speeding train before it jumps completely off the track. If she truly was uncomfortable at the photo shoot she can become a spokesperson and share with young girls the importance of self-esteem and how to use your voice when you are asked to do anything, even by your parents, that makes you uncomfortable about yourself, your body and the message you are sending out into the world. And if the pictures she took of herself were her expressing normal teen curiosity about her body and never meant to be shared, she can attest to the dangers of taking such pictures and posting inappropriate content online or in text messages. Bottom line: She, and her parents, have to cop to the mistakes, be honest and grow in a more positive direction in order to stop the train from derailing." Michelle Renee

I couldn't agree more!

Photo courtesy of Annie Leibovitz

Long-awaited but it finally happened

It's time to rejoice people! Our prayers have been answered. Kristy Lee Cook will no longer torture us for the remaining 5 weeks of Idol.

And I'm sure her horse will be waiting for her when she gets back *hehehe*

HURRAAAHHHHHHH!!

Gaining momentum...

I don't know how others do it i.e. maintaining their blogs/sites on a daily basis but Medulla, you are right! When the drive is on a down-low, or worst case scenario no longer there, even the very thought of blogging can be a huge drag. Luckily, my motivation is slowly gaining momentum so what better way to start with my weekly American Idol review..

Still a wee bit miffed about last week's out-of-blue elimination of my boy Michael Johns and KLC's continuing luck, this week Mariah Carey is the guest mentor for the remaining seven (Ramiele must be wishing Mariah had come when she was still in the contest..too bad love, you would've still messed it up regardless of who the guest mentor was). As with the other great divas such as Celine and Whitney, it was a sure bet comparisons would be made between the original diva herself and the wannabes who think that just becos they've got a big voice, they'd be on par with Mariah (Syesha anyone?).

It's no secret that this year, the fellas are better than the gurls despite the ratio tilting more towards the gurls..and tonight proved just that. From David A. to the other David, and yes my Jason too, all 3 of them proved worthy of being in the final next month. With the exception of Carly, Brooke struggled to stay in tune..Syesha in her wannabe-diva mode proved to be a wannabe..and don't get me started on KLC!! I think it was Paula who commented something about KLC being 'smart' and I couldn't agree with her more. Spot on Paula. KLC knows her weaknesses yet somehow she knows how to work round that - by playing safe. Therefore unless the voters out there know what's good for them, my money's on Syesha or Brooke to get the cut tomorrow whereas KLC will probably heave another sigh of relief...

...let's hope not.

Are we there yet?

I can't believe I'm about to say this but I think I'm suffering from American-Idol-is-getting-boring syndrome. We're well into April now yet despite the weekly elimination, we're not even halfway through the list - yet. And with the start of Akademi Fantasia, the next few months don't look so promising..

That being said, that Kristy Lee Cook is proving to be one savvy cookie. How else to explain her surprising non-inclusion in the bottom 3 this week despite the painstakingly bland performance she gave last night. Those Kristy Krunchers (as her fans are known) must've been punching the numbers like mad the moment Simon praised her. Even surprising was Ramiele's lucky break (again) after another lacklustre performance. Yes, that girl can sing but I can't say the same with her choice of songs which have largely tend to overwhelm her!

As for Chikezie's elimination...not surprising cos he's been nothing but cheesy (Chikezie "Cheesy" is so befitting..isn't it?) all throughout the competition. Now all the voters need to do is open their eyes to the uselessness of Kristy and Ramiele..and the world can once again be a happy place!