So You Think You Can Be a Pussycat Doll

Is anyone else watching So You Think You Can Dance this season?  A few thoughts about the show thus far:

1.  What is up with the naughty outfits and even naughtier dancers?  There are a few dancers that actually said in their intro packages that their dream was to be a Pussycat Doll.  There's one contestant in particular that is an incredibly talented and skilled dancer, but all she seems to do is prance around in her bra and panties and sticks her booty out far too much when she's asked to dance for her life.  And then she acts all coy and innocent when a choreographer asks her to pretend she's seducing her dance partner.  Blech.  Pick a personality.  And could it please be the one that covers up a little more?

2.  I love Cat Deeley.  She's fantastic.  Not only is she fun to listen to because of her British accent, but she seems so at ease, just standing up there chatting with the judges.  She also seems very genuine, and if she doesn't care about the contestants, she does an amazing job hiding it.  When it's auditions, she goes outside and freezes her buns off with all the peons trying out for the show.  Plus, you just never know what she's going to wear next.  And she just finally got nominated for an Emmy.  (Take that, Ryan Seacrest!)

3.  I'm loving the rotating celebrity judges.  So far we've gotten Megan Mullaly, Kristen Chenowith, Carmen Miranda, one of those guys from Modern Family, and Doogie Howser.  (And a few more, probably, but I'm blanking.)  It's nice to get a fresh perspective on things.  I just wish it were Mary Murphy getting rotated out, not one of those other choreographers that used to be a judge.  Why does she yell SO MUCH?

That's all.  Just putting it out there.

Bits of Everything

I'm a little scattered.  Here's what's on my mind today:

1.  So You Think You Can Dance  I love this show.  I'm using the word love here.  But I get really annoyed with the inflated egos of the judges and producers, who lord their power over these poor kids whose hopes and dreams are resting on their answers.  Seriously, do you really need to be sure they are crying tears of devastation before you give them the good news?  It's cruel.  My least favorite part of these talent shows is the first few episodes, when the judges narrow it down to the top 20, or, this season, the top 10 dancers.  What I am happy about is that, since they decided to bring back past contestants to partner up with the current contestants, they chose to bring back Dominic.  He was my super fave, and it should be fun to see how Kat Deeley fights off his numerous advances this time around.

2.  My Head is a Giant Cornflake  For some reason, I can't seem to keep a thought in my head for more than about 5 minutes (which means this post is taking me forever to write).  I have no idea why this is happening, but as a result, I have been a real nuisance lately.  My son's birthday party is Friday, and it will be completely my fault if no one shows up, because, thanks to my ridiculous ditziness, I didn't get the invitations out until today.  I completely spaced watching my friend's kids, and all I had to do was remember for 24 hours that I was going to watch them.  While I was playing piano in Relief Society today, I kept getting distracted and losing my place, which meant bigtime trainwrecks in the middle of what were supposed to be calming hymns, and those poor ladies had to suffer through it. 

3.  Finally, Some Pretty Toes for the Summer (now where's the Summer?)  I wear flip flops for 9 months out of the year.  I love the comfort and breeziness of a nice pair of Reefs, but flip flop wearing means rough, callused heels with lovely little cracks.  My toenails get kind of gnarly, and I usually have chipped polish that looks slapped on (because it was).  So why have I waited until I'm 32 years old to get a pedicure?  I really don't know.  I jumped at the chance to go with my friend over the weekend.  My nasty calluses were scraped, my feet and calves were exfoliated, and my toenails are a pretty deep shade of red with cute little flowers on the big toes.  And now I can wear my flip flops with my head held high (although mostly I keep looking down at my shiny toenails).

Reality TV Wasteland

I think it has finally happened.  I’m bored with reality TV.  I turn on Dancing With the Stars as background while I get stuff done, and I hardly ever really notice who’s dancing or what the judges are saying.  I think Bruno has done me in.  I just don’t care that much anymore.  And I forward through everything but the weigh-ins on The Biggest Loser now, and even the weigh-ins barely keep my attention.  I’m not interested in the weeping, the screaming, the back-biting and the challenges anymore.  The other day, when I was blogging about my current shows, I couldn’t for the life of me remember a single contestant name from America’s Next Top Model.  I could barely remember what the photo shoot was, which is really my favorite part.  (It really is amazing how a bunch of gawky 19-year-olds can turn beautiful with a lot of makeup and a fancy dress.)   

Here’s why I think this has happened:

1)  Netflix streaming.  I have a gazillion things waiting in my instant queue.  Why waste my time watching other people scream at each other?  Although not many movies are available for streaming, lots of TV shows are, and that gives me hours of shows that don’t involve real people and their personal lives being displayed for the world. 

2)  The bad weather.  My patience is very thin these days.  It’s May, and IT’S SNOWING.  So watching a bunch of people yelling at each other and hearing countless bleeps while Jillian screams and cusses at people while they sweat themselves to death really isn’t that fun to me.  Maybe if I sat down after spending the afternoon out in the yard, smelling the new grass and feeling the sun on my back, I would be able to tolerate it.  But I get to hear my boys screeching at incredibly high decibel levels and hear myself snapping back at them all day.  It’s enough yelling and noise. 

3)  There’s just a lot of TV going on right now.  It’s easy to pare down to the good stuff, and most reality TV doesn’t fit in. 

We will soon be entering into rerun desolation, and at that point, I may reassess my feelings on reality TV.  But I still have 3 seasons of Bones to watch on Netflix.  I doubt I’ll give in.  Maybe.  Except for “So You Think You Can Dance.”  That’s a good show.

A few thoughts

1.  Isn't it about time Nicholas got the boot from Project Runway?  He is extremely irritating.  You can guarantee that the people he sits and rips on in his interviews will be in the top 3.  Of course, his monstrous ice queen dress won, which gives him immunity for this week.  Darn. 

2.  I love Donny Osmond.  Why do I love him?  Because I'm from Utah, and he is our guy.  And now he is on Dancing With the Stars.  Does life get better than this?  I submit that it does NOT!  He's fantastic!

3.  Just a tip.  If you've recorded something on your DVR, say, a football game or Project Runway, but you haven't gotten to it yet, DO NOT get on Facebook and look at the news feed.  Someone's status will always tell you what you were waiting to find out.  I have made this mistake twice this week, and it was like finding my presents a week before Christmas, unwrapped in my parents' closet. 

4.  A quick poll:  I want to paint my living room.  I'm considering going bold and doing one of the walls a deep red.  Yes or No?

Happy autumn everyone.  I celebrated the cool morning today by walking to the library.  Tomorrow I may drink apple cider.

Laughing Out Loud

Announcement: I have found the cure for a blue day.

I was feeling a little low today. Little things were getting me down (my pants were too tight, my hair looked super bad, blah blah blah). Now, I enjoy a funny show as much as the next person. I laugh at funny shows, but seldom do I laugh out loud. Just little tee hees. I don't find America's Funniest Home Videos remotely amusing, because I really don't think watching 8 kids in a row hit their dad/grandpa/coach in the crotch with a baseball bat is much to laugh at. Maybe because I'm not a 7-year-old boy. So you would think that I wouldn't find people falling into the water after running as fast as they can towards a giant bouncy ball that is floating on the water funny at all. But there is something about the TV show Wipeout that makes me laugh out loud. Not just a little. I mean, hysterical laughter. Imagine a really macho guy, dressed in a life vest and a helmet, beating his chest and telling the lady with the microphone how easy it will be to jump from one swinging giant banana to the next. He will NEVER fall in the mud!!! 5 seconds later, he has jumped onto the first giant swinging banana, slipped off the front, hit the second one, hit the first one again, folded in half, and landed directly in the mud below. It is hilarious. From giant swinging bananas to giant blue bouncy balls to enormous water noodles swinging in a circle, it's one disaster after another that always results in spectacular splashing crashes. So, if you're feeling a little blue, set your DVR to Wipeout. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Okay, they're about to do the Wipeout zone. Time to go.

Reality Wrap-up

As you all know, I'm a bit of a reality TV junkie. I have been glued to my favorites in the past few weeks, just waiting to see who would get the mirror ball trophy, the Cover Girl contract, and the Kiss of Death recording contract. So, here's my take on all the outcomes, for anyone who also cares.


America's Next Top Model This will be brief. The doe-eyed blondie really suprised me when she pulled out a good runway walk in the finale. I think they must have chosen her worst walking moments when they were editing the show so we would all be stunned by the fact that she could walk in heels with sass. Tiyana (is that how it's spelled?), who looks a bit alien, or, as the judges put it, "wind in the face," ended up winning it all. Good for her. Her pictures were consistently good, she had a tiny waist and was 7 feet tall. But her walk was BOOOOOORING. Not at all sassy. I am looking forward to the next season, which is short models only (5'7" and under). Why didn't I try out for it? I didn't want to upstage Tyra.

Dancing With The Stars My favorite moments from the finale:

1. The Roast, which made everyone look angry and hurt, because it really wasn't all that funny, and made it awkward for the next little while. Who thought it was a good idea to sit down the finalists and insult them right before their final dance? The comments Geoffrey Ross made to Tom Bergeron fell especially flat. I have never seen Tom look so put out or unjolly.

2. Steve Wozniak's attempt at the worm, AGAIN. He couldn't do it the first time. It was cruel to ask him to repeat himself. And it was much much worse the second time. Poor nerdy man. He is so cheerful about it all, and a bit oblivious, too.

3. The fact that all 3 dancers in the finale were good. I think Shawn Johnson totally redeemed herself in the last 2 weeks. And you know it's going to be a winning freestyle when they rip off their outer costume layer to reveal lots of sequins and fringe. The flashdance thing was fun, if only for the combination of a hot man and catchy music. For me, what I liked about Melissa's was that Tony was doing hip hop, and seems like a pretty laced-up guy. Shawn totally won that round.

The outcome was surprising to me, but after Geoffrey Ross' comment about Melissa coming in 2nd again, I was actually glad that she got 3rd instead of 2nd. I really wanted her to get 1st place so she'd be known as the girl who won DWTS, and not the chick that got dumped on national television. Oh well. She'll be just fine. It would have been nice for Gilles to win so he could be known as the DWTS winner and not Naked Guy from Sex and the City. Oh well. He'll be getting more work now. Shawn Johnson is short and peppy and cute, so good for her.

American Idol So, who do you choose? Super talent or humble folksy guy? The thing is, winning American Idol doesn't mean that much. They get to make an album of songs that were chosen by AI's producer, most of which are cheesy and lame and never make it to the radio. They get the talk show circuit. And they get a really nifty microphone trophy (they were jealous of DWTS). Winning second place means a label will sign you, you can choose your songs or even write them yourself, you still get the talk show circuit, and you are free from Idol forever. Downside: No cool trophy. I think the outcome of this season was actually quite ideal. Kris is somewhat shy, young and humble. He doesn't seem like the type that will put a huge effort into his career by selling himself. So American Idol will do it for him. Adam Lambert is flashy, showy, dramatic, and extremely sure of himself as an artist. He'll get a record deal, record songs that are perfect for his fans, and make a gazillion dollars. They both win. I liked Kris' reaction to his win. He was surprised, humble, and very pleased.

You may have noticed that I don't have a nice long post about the outcome of Biggest Loser. That's because Helen won, and she sent her own daughter home, she was annoying and whiny, and looked like she'd been starving herself to win (haggard and pale). I wanted Mikey to win. Good job to the old guy, Jerry, for destroying the competition at home. That's all I have to say.

Coming up this summer: So You Think You Can Dance and the Bachelorette. Yes!