American Idol: The New Judges Make Their Debut

I must admit that I’ve never really been a big American Idol fan.  Sure, I’ve seen a few episodes over the course of the last few years and I make fun of a lot of the contestants – especially around our friend Michelle, who is a HUGE American Idol fan.  Since Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez were on the show for the first time and there has been so much hype about it, I wanted to check it out.

I was pleasantly surprised and entertained by what I saw.  I think Steven and Jennifer will do great as judges; they bring a different american-idol-new-judges-2010dynamic to the show that wasn’t there with Simon and Paula.  The most glaring difference for me was when Steven took it upon himself to tap a beat on the table as some contestants sang.  I though he got a little too involved with the auditions.  It was especially bad if he was not going to send that person on to Hollywood.  Also – Steven, please take off that charm bracelet!  It was so loud when he moved his hand that I found myself focusing on that and not on what he was saying.

As I expected, the first auditions were great.  There were some great singers, inspiring stories, and some pretty interesting characters.  I really like the stories of Melinda Ademi and Travis Orlando.  Melinda’s family immigrated to the US from war-torn Kosovo.  It was great to see how her parents were able to provide a better life for their daughter.  Travis’ story was very touching; his family had to overcome some really big obstacles.  I was glad to see him get sent on to Hollywood.  Oh yeah, how ‘bout that Yoji Pop?  He is a Michael Jackson imitator and really looked the part.  I loved his audition – he has some great moves!

I’d like to watch more American Idol; I think it would be a lot of fun.  The only thing that I’d have to get over is the time commitment.  I really can’t see spending 2 hours on both Wednesday and Thursday nights watching this show.  I normally watch The Office on Thursday nights, so American Idol would have to take a backseat to that.  However, I am intrigued and will make some time to check out the show again soon and let you know what I think.

Million Dollar Money Drop

Million Dollar Money Drop

I watched a portion of this show a few weeks ago and thought it was a cool concept for a game show.  I sat down and watched this past week’s episode and I’m really pumped up about this show.

Kevin Pollack is the host and the main premise of the show is that 2 contestants start with $1 million and are faced with 7 multiple choice questions.  They must wager all of  the money on possible answers to those questions.  Whatever money they put on the correct answer stays with them and can be used on the remaining questions.  The money left over at the end of the 7 questions (if they last that long) is theirs to keep.

After watching last week’s episode, I’m convinced that my wife and I would do pretty well if we were on the show.  As I watched, I called out the correct answers to a few of the questions – they didn’t seem too difficult to me.  The contestants on the show talked about all of the possible answers and finally decided on the correct one.  However, I’m sure the producers of the show instruct contestants to really talk it up as they choose their answers.  They would hate me!  I’d yell out the answer and want to put the money on it right away.  I wouldn’t want to hem and haw about it on national TV.

I talk a pretty big game.  If my wife and I ever went on that show, I’m sure there would be some pretty tough questions for us to answer.  That’s why I’m glad I married a smart woman.  With her on my side, I couldn’t lose!  I really want to go on this show and give it a shot, just to see how well we’d do.

Hell’s Kitchen – The Finale

The finale of Hell’s Kitchen did not disappoint. Nona and Russell squared off to see who would get the opportunity to work with Gordon Ramsay at the LA Market. I was shocked to hear Russell exclaim, “Bring on the hookers!” Doesn’t he realize how important this is? Why would he say that so close to the final challenge? At this point he should be representing Chef Ramsay as best he can. Strike one, Russell.
In the final individual challenge, Nona and Russell prepared 5 dishes that were judged by prominent chefs. As the challenge unfolded, my wife pointed out that it was the same formula every year. Russell and Nona each got a point until it came down to the last judge. I guess that’s the way it has to be, but it gets a little old after seeing it every finale.
As usual, eliminated chef returned to help Russell and Nona in the kitchen. Since Russell won the individual challenge, he picked first and chose Jillian (smart move Russell). During dinner service the differences between the 2 kitchens were glaring. When Trev messed up on the salad (C’MON TREV, REPRESENT!), Nona pulled him aside and showed him exactly how to prepare it. On the other side, Russell was overbearing and in the chefs faces. Rob and Russell almost came to blows. That’s not what Chef Ramsay wants to see in is kitchen. That’s strike two Russell. Although, as his team’s performance deteriorated, Russell made a smart decision and switched up which station each chef was working. I had never seen that before during a finale and I give Russell a lot of credit for switching it up. As dinner service was winding down, the Red team was able to work together well and their service ended smoothly.
The moment we’ve all been waiting for finally arrived. It was Russell vs. Nona, the only thing between them and success was a locked door. Whosever door Russell Finale opened would win Hell’s Kitchen, a $250,000 salary and become the new spokesperson for Rosemont Estate Wines. When the time came, and the door handles were turned, Nona won! It was great to see her celebrate her victory. The final segment with Russell showed him talking into the camera and placing the blame for his loss on his teammates. What a jerk! Strike three! Russell, you’re out!

The Office – Classy Christmas

A few weeks ago The Office had its one hour Christmas special. There were quite a few funny moments in the episode and I thought it was a pretty good episode overall. One of my favorite recurring themes throughout the episode was the mini battle between Jim and Dwight. Jim instigated the whole thing by hitting Dwight in the face with a snowball. That was hilarious; it was a direct hit! Dwight retaliated and challenged Jim to a snowball fight and went as far as to dress like Pam in order to surprise Jim with a snowball blast.

Toby announced that he was taking a leave of absence to work jury duty and I thought that Michael went a little too overboard in making fun of Toby. His mood quickly changed when he heard that Holly would be returning. He was so funny when he exclaimed that the Scranton Strangler has “just taken another person’s breath away”. My wife and I laughed out loud when we heard that.

The story surrounding Darryl and his daughter was nice. Pam and Andy did their best to make the office party kid-friendly. Andy devised a little scavenger hunt in the warehouse, but based it on topical political questions. He then revealed the missing star and gave it to Jada. Darryl was funny when he said, “the game was over, seconds later”. Darryl and Jada bought out the vending machine and passed out the snacks to everyone in the office.

The ending of the episode was great. Pam had to walk a paranoid Jim to their car amidst a parking lot full of snowmen. Earlier in the day, Dwight had used a snowman to surprise Jim with a snowball attack. Eventually, Jim cracked and started to assault the snowmen. Meanwhile, Dwight was on top of the office building watching the whole thing. It seems like Dwight has the upper hand on Jim. I can’t wait to see where this goes.