So Deserving!

I haven't posted here in a while, because since I'm back at work, I can discuss my favorite reality shows around the water cooler and no longer need to use this as an outlet.

But I just had to say that I am so happy for Uchenna and Joyce. This was by far the best season finale of Amazing Race ever. I was sitting on the edge of my seat, pressing my knuckles against my mouth in fear that Uchenna and Joyce were going to be eliminated due to the goodness of their hearts in not wanting to stiff the cab driver.

But justice prevailed and they won. I can't think of a more deserving couple. I cried when they were asked what they would do now that they had a million dollars and they said that they could now have a baby. That's just so amazing!

While there are many who disliked Rob and Amber, I was impressed with the way the played. They never fought, were always supportive of each other, just never gave up. Yes, they had a lot of help along the way, but good things happened for other people too. Ron and Kelly won a fabulous prize even when they came in last in a non-elimination round. Uchenna and Joyce had the plane open back up for them on a closed flight, which for anyone who has ever traveled knows, simply does not happen. So I think Rob and Amber played a good game and I'm glad they came in before Ron and Kelly.

I'm sad that the season is over, but excited that I actually get to watch one of the best new non-reality shows this season: House.

Until next time. Possibly the season finale of Survivor, or possibly the Apprentice?

So Disturbing

Nanny 911

I just can't get over the show that I watched last night. It started off with me being so pissed off at the father of a family with 3 sets of twins. Six kids! Did he help the mom at all? No. He expected her to do everything. And he was so condescending I wanted to hit him.

But the clincher for me, the vision that I can't get out of my head, was the scene where the oldest daughter who was 9 was "playing" with her younger brother, who was about 5 or 6. She had a very large pillow and was holding it over his face and head as he struggled to get free. The cameras kept rolling as he kept struggling. Finally she pulled the pillow off, and you see him, red faced, loudly gasping for air. It was so disturbing. Even more disturbing, he went to tell his mom what happened, and he told her that in addition to holding the pillow over his head, that his sister made him go potty. He had been so scared of suffocating that he peed his pants. While I don't think his mother realized exactly what happened, it was really bad that she didn't make more of a big deal about it with his sister. Even more, I can't believe that the cameras could just continue to roll watching the scene. Would they have continued to roll if he had actually suffocated? I hope not.

New Mark Burnett

American Idol
The guys sang again last night, and once again, Mario, Bo, and Anwar did an amazing job. I see them going through to the end. I guess Travis decided that he didn't want to be on the show anymore. What else would have possessed him to sing a Bobby Brown song? He was horrible. Just as bad as Constantine and his bad impersonation of Sting. I said that to my husband before Simon said it to him. If constantine doesn't go, it will probably be Anthony. I like him, but he was just too cheesy last night.

The Contender
Once again, Mark Burnett has sucked me in to one of his reality shows. He really does a great job at creating suspense, making you wonder who will be eliminated each week. I was surprised that the underdog won the elimination round, but I do think he needs to watch his cockiness. I think it will come back to haunt him. I felt bad that Manfredo was eliminated. This is definitely his passion, and I did get a little teary when he asked, "What do I do now?" I was a little surprised, though, at how beautiful his wife was. He was the epitomy of what a boxer would look like. And I didn't think it was right to have their little girl at the match. What child wants to see her daddy being hit in the face? And then to have him hold her up close to see his cuts and bruises? What was he thinking.

But I'm definitely in. Especially when it finds its new home on Thursday nights. A triple shot of Mark Burnett (Survivor, Apprentice and Contender), what could be better?

Season Finale (Finally)

American Idol
Last night, the guys sang again. I just love Mario. I think he may go all the way. My other favorites are Anwar and Bo. I think the guy with the short braids (David?) and Constantine should go this week. Constantine butchered the Black Crows song. And I think he looks like Chris Katain. We don't need Monkey Boy as our next American Idol.

The Bachelorette
It wasn't a surprise to me that she didn't pick either guy to marry. I think the reason she struggled so much on this show was that she knew neither of them were right. If John Paul had had Jerry's face, she would have picked him in a minute. And if Jerry had had John Paul's face, he wouldn't have made it past the second round.

I think they need to stop bringing back contestants from other shows, because I always end up disliking them in the end. I didn't really watch the first Bachelor, but I remember thinking Trista was OK. By the end of her Bachelorette show, I hated her. The same with Bob. And while I didn't hate Meredith, she did kind of bug me by the end. The same goes for Jen. I loved her when she was on the Bachelor with Andrew, but as this show wore on, I couldn't wait for the season to be over. Just something about her grated on my nerves. Maybe it's the way she ends all of her sentences on a high note. Maybe it's the coy way she always looked at her guys (she's too smart for that). Anyway, I'm glad it's over.

By the way, I did feel sorry for both guys. They both seemed to genuinely be hurt at the end. Poor Jerry. He's so shallow. He just couldn't seem to grasp the concept that just because they look good together doesn't mean they're meant for each other.

The 77th Annual Academy Awards

I have a friend who does amazing recaps of the Academy Awards. She talks about every dress, every speech, every moment of the pre, during and post show. I'm not that good, so I'll just talk about some of the key things that stayed in my memory last night.

While most people thought Laura Linney looked amazing, I thought her dress was hideous. Bad color, bad ruffles. Worse, though, was her hair. My hair looks like that when I brush it after my shower in the morning. Not good. Renee Zellweger also looked bad. I know she colored her hair for a movie she's working on, but she just looked washed out, and waaaaayyy to skinny. And what was the deal with Scarlett Johanssen's hair? There's a cure for hair like that, it's called Frizz-Eaze.

And while I really like her, I didn't really care for Hillary Swank's look either. It looked like her dress was on backwards and her hair was too stark. I like her look at the Golden Globes much better.

Beyonce had way too many diamonds on for my liking. Either pick the earrings or the necklace. Don't all the fashion tips say not to mix too many accessories?

On the other hand, I thought Kate Winslett, Natalie Portman, and Emmy Rossen looked amazing. So beautiful. And even though I don't like them, I thought the team of Selma Hayak and Penelope Cruz were dazzling.

For the men, Leonardo Decaprio and Jamie Foxx looked great. And while I thought his goatee made him look like some Spanish conquistador, I have to say that Johnny Depp will always look good.

While I haven't seen the movie yet, I'm glad that Million Dollar Baby won for best picture, best director, best actress and best supporting actor. Morgan Freeman is always good, and Clint Eastwood is just a legend.

Jamie Foxx's speech was my favorite. He brought me to tears when he talked about his grandmother. I heard him say in an interview that he won't be making any more "Booty Call" type movies anymore. I should say not. That man has talent!

And a few things I noticed about some of our more senior actors. What is Al Pacino's obession with rambling on and on? When he got the Lifetime Achievement award last year, I had to turn the channel because he was so boring. When he was announcing this year's winner, I wanted to do the same. And what happened to Dustin Hoffman? He's usually one of my favorite actors, but I could barely understand him when he was announcing the nominations with Barbara Streisand (who looked a little pregnant in that dress she was wearing).

All in all, it was a pretty good show, as usual. Although, I felt bad for some of the independent film winners, who didn't even get to go up on stage. They had to make their thank-you speeches in the aisle. And I'm not sure I like having all the nominees up on stage. Is that so everyone can see the losers' faces when the winners are announced? I know it saves time, but let the people have their dignity!

A Double Shot of Mark Burnett

Survivor
Tattoo girl really got in the good graces of her team this week by helping them win the reward challenge. Which was really helpful considering they lost the immunity challenge. On that immunity challenge, Tom, the firefighter pretty much single-handedly won it for his team. He, along with Ian the dolphin trainer, are my favorites to win. I still like looking at John Bob, or whatever the hell his two-word name is, but he had a temper during the reward challenge that really turned me off.

I really thought Kim should have been eliminated, considering she didn't even try to do anything on the immunity challenge, but Ashlee was the one voted off. I guess that's a good thing, because I think my husband was fascinated with her boobs. "Wow, she's very boob endowed," he said the first time he saw her during the reward challenge. "What's she wearing?" he said when he saw her during the immunity challenge. Yes, hon, she has big boobs. But she's gone now.

I did notice something strange last night in Jeff's narrative during the immunity challenge. Tom and Ian went down to open the locker, and Jeff said, "Ian gets the locker open." How did he know that? They were both underwater. I realize how powerful editing can be. He obviously put that part in later. I'm going to have to start watching this show a little more closely.

The Apprentice
Each team had to create a graffiti art ad for Sony Playstation. It was an interesting concept and the artists they chose were amazing. At first, I thought white-bread Magna was going to fail miserably, but they were smart in asking people on the streets in that neighborhood what would appeal to them. Tara, on the Net Worth team, thought she had enough "street cred" to know what would appeal to that neighborhood. Ironically, they thought her ideas were stereotypical and they lost the challenge.

I didn't like how she tried to blame her failure on John (who's my favorite) and Audrey. I'm glad she didn't bring John in, but I think at the last minute, she made it personal and brought in Craig because he said he thought she should be fired. She should have been and she was.

I'm interested to see the big surprise that is supposed to be revealed next week, and what Audrey's big dramatic speech is all about. Good stuff.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Weidersen, Good-bye

American Idol
So the first four hopefuls were eliminated last night, two guys and two girls. The girls I totally agreed with. I'm not sure why the girl in last place was so bitter about certain people being portrayed as the favorites. She didn't sing well. That's why no one voted for her. I did feel bad for the second to the last girl. I think she can sing, but her nerves got to her.

For the guys, I agreed with Jared, but was really surprised about Judd. I thought he was really fun. But he kind of reminded me of J.P. from last season, who was really fun at first, but then couldn't sing at all. I think Judd can probably sing, but the perception may have been that he was all fun and no talent.

Wife Swap
It's hard for me to fathom that a family can function where the mom blatantly says she doesn't like kids, and retires to her room at 5 p.m. to be served dinner in bed alone. Who would put up with that? And the fact that she called her other family's husband lazy was a laugh. All she did was sit around watching TV while the rest of the family cleaned up around her. At least she realized it at the end and seemed to make changes to become an active part of her family.

I did feel bad about the other mom, and how her daughters didn't realize that they could do anything they wanted, not just stay at home with the kids. While I admire the mom's devotion to her children, her lifestyle is not for everyone, and she should be teaching her kids that. I'm also glad her husband started pitching in more. With five kids, and home schooling, and all of the chores falling on her, it's a wonder she's not dead.

I think the "slave" thing was kind of comical. The lazy mom got offended when the other mom said she treated her boys like slaves, but yet, she said the same thing to the other mom's husband about her. Very ironic.