American IdolI have to agree with Simon Cowell: Any of "that lot" could have been in the bottom three, as this performance night was one of the worst in the history of the show. Before we got to the big buh-bye, the wannabes headed off to the premiere of Ice Age 2. Seems like the perfect activity for Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais, but he missed it by a week. Then it was time for a photo shoot, where Lisa called them one "big, happy family." Well, not for long. Shakira and Wyclef brought out the intense energy — I swear, Shakira's hips moved more during the first 10 seconds of the song than Bucky, Lisa, Ace, Kellie and Chris' whole bodies have during the entire competition. Wyc
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HouseYay! House is back from its American Idol-induced hiatus. Don't get me wrong, I'm digging Mandisa and Chris, but it is nice to have the good doctor back in his time slot even if when I turn on the TV, I think I'm watching CSI. Maybe it was the "rape" scene that opened the show or House talking about Australian ants as if he were channeling Grissom. I'll forgive Fox for these mind games because House roared back on the scene with an outstanding episode that was more murder mystery than medical mystery. A loving wife tries to kill her husband by poisoning him with gold dust. House quickly identifies the source of his patient's illness and he pegs it on the wife. His team disagrees with him — there's a surprise. No
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Hugh Laurie, House
American IdolGeorge Huff was in the house, but these off-key performances probably removed the smile from his face for the first time ever. I did actually enjoy Taylor and was freaked out to be in agreement with Paula Abdul — Taylor is really great when he just stands there and sings. Mandisa wasn't at her best, but vocally she was still miles above the others. Yes, Simon Cowell, we know the "song isn't for you." If it were, it would be called "Damn You," not "Praise You." Paris definitely had the "attitude" part of "Work It Out" down, and she managed a decent vocal while doing the patented Beyoncé booty dance. Bucky was OK — though the band drowned him out a bit, he picked a good song
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Florence Henderson
For the millions of us raised on a steady diet of reruns, Florence Henderson, aka Carol Brady, will forever be our surrogate mom. Even the B-list celebrities trapped on the new edition of VH1's The Surreal Life (Sundays at 9 pm/ET) got all gooey the minute she walked through the door. But Henderson isn't there to mother them. A trained hypnotherapist, she signed on as the house's on-call counselor, and judging from the drama of the previous seasons — not to mention the tempestuous pasts (sex changes, drugs and rock 'n' roll) of the current cast — Dr. Flo's guidance will be sorely needed.
TVGuide.com: Hello, Florence? Are you there? Florence Henderson: Sorry, I'm having trouble with this speakerphone. [Fumbling sou
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Will wonders never cease? This week, two of the least deserving contestants in recent reality-TV history got the boot: the obnoxious, repellent, incompetent Brent on The Apprentice and the chirpy, twerpy Kevin on American Idol. They should never have made it on these shows in the first place. But since we usually can't depend on common sense to reign on shows like these, it's worth cheering when it happens. (It would have been a swell hat trick if the woefully insecure, gratingly unworthy Gina had been eliminated from America's Next Top Model this week as well, after her runway freak-out over the glittery cockroach accessories. But there's always next week.)
And now w
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Taylor Hicks, American Idol
American IdolThe leadoff performers, Ace and Kellie, bolstered my belief that American Idol should stay away from Stevie Wonder songs. Thankfully Ace didn't attempt to sing unnecessary falsetto notes, but I had to agree with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell: It just wasn't the best vocal performance. Naturally Paula Abdul dissented. Eyeing Ace like he was the last chocolate chip in the Keebler tree house, she thought he "entertained everyone." Kellie professed little prior knowledge of Stevie, and then talked about her false eyelashes looking like tarantulas, something clearly less scary than calamari.
Honestly, I was expecting better from both Elliott and Mandisa. I actu
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This week, two of my favorite reality shows signed off with satisfying (if, in one case, anticlimactic) season finales. On Bravo's thoroughly addictive Project Runway, Chloe Dao won on the strength of her glamorous, vivid collection, which to my eyes did outshine both Daniel Vosovic's and Santino Rice's. But in the bigger picture, I still feel Daniel won the season, so I was a bit deflated when it was all over.
Daniel dominated many of the challenges, and even his relatively tame collection was lovely to behold. And unlike businesslike Chloe, Daniel's passion for his craft was evident throughout the season. (The less said the better about Santino, who did manage to create a couple of stunners in his collection. But he's had his time hogging the spotlight, and I'm more than happy to move on.)
And then there's WB's adorable
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Tyra Banks, America's Next Top Model
American IdolI much prefer Gedeon's singing to his odd speaking voice. Once again he made the perfect song choice, as did Chris, who wasn't as impressive as last week but was still on top of the heap. I loved when Chris admitted that he used to have Ryan Seacrest-style hair but shaved it all off when he started going bald. The shrieking you heard was Ryan falling off the stage after facing his worst nightmare.
Kevin mentioned his love for Kanye West and then went on to perform one of the blandest, most milquetoast '70s songs ever created. Way to prove your street cred, Chicken Little. I always hum "Vincent" when I think of Kanye — doesn't everyone? Bucky remained in his country-song safety zone with
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Emilie de Ravin, Lost
American IdolTaylor started off the show with an underwhelming "Easy." I like his voice, but one more "whoo" might end my goodwill toward him forever. Smooth and soulful Elliott had another fantastic night. I'm not familiar with the jazzy tune he performed, but he handled the offbeat tempo and phrasing effortlessly
I agreed with Simon Cowell about Ace's singing. He looks the part and you can just see the judges counting his eventual ticket and CD sales in their heads, but tonight he was way off; dull, flat and his high notes cracked like cheap china. Did ya catch Brenna practically body-slam the other girls to catch his "beanie"? Gedeon really surprised me, doing a fantastic job on a great Sam Cooke track,
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Everybody Hates ChrisA double dose of Chris tonight, although both were repeats. But that's OK, the writing was strong enough to make me laugh the second time around. The bike episode reminded me that Rochelle is completely nuts. Why was she freaking out just because Julius cooked and cleaned better than she did? Honey, enjoy yourself! As a Jewish girl who orders in Chinese every night and has a maid, I would love it if my husband could take care of me like that. Rochelle also scared me with her business fashion. Those '80s shirts that tied at the collar, ewwww. Why did we ever burn bras? We should have just burned those blouses. (At least bras have a purpose.) There was a Do the Right Thing riot clip (yes, Gabe, as per your astute
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