Monthly Archives: May 2009

Upset on American Idol: Kris Allen Wins

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Adam Lambert and Kris Allen

It’s official. Kris Allen wins American Idol. His first comment: “Adam deserves it.” He sounds almost bummed. Adam is smiling and very congratulatory. Congratulations, Kris. To Adam: You’ll still be the biggest star of the show.

Final thought: Homophobic Christians took over the American Idol ballotbox, just like they’re trying to do in real life. Sorry, but I think it’s a plausible explanation. Also, 100 million votes but the lowest ratings ever for last night’s finale. Who’s voting besides the viewers and why? The Washington Post says you can expect these questions to be batted around the water cooler tomorrow.

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The two-hour finale has just begun. I thought it was just the pre-teen, text-message obsessed crowd that might create an upset on American Idol tonight, resulting in Kris Allen beating Adam Lambert. But, there may be a religious factor and he may pick up a big chunk of the Danny Gokey vote:

[Kris] Allen is a married college student and has worked as a church worship leader. Gokey, a widower, is a church music director.

To Kris’ credit,

Allen said Monday that he hoped the outcome isn’t decided by “having the Christian vote.” “I hope it has to do with your talent and the performance that you give and the package that you have. It’s not about religion and all that kind of stuff,” he said.

In any event, it’s going to be a close one.

Lots of performances: Lionel Richie, Carlos Santana, Cindi Lauper, Queen Latifah, Black Eyed Peas, Keith Urban, the reigning American Idol David Cook and season 4 winner Carrie Underwood.

Even the New York Times is live-blogging the finale. I’ll be watching and updating below. Continue reading →

DWTS Finale: Shawn Johnson Wins

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[10:00 pm MT: See updates below, Congrats to Shawn Johnson and Mark!]

The winner will be chosen tonight on Dancing With the Stars. My vote: Melissa and then Gilles. Who I think will win: Gilles, but I’m not counting Shawn out because she has been terrific the past few weeks, especially last night. Gilles is really hot, but too often his dancing seems to be more about Cheryl than him. Len pointed it out last night, but I’ve been thinking that for a while.

Melissa is the best dancer of the three, by far I think. Shawn has the gymnast thing going which may make her appear better than she really is. Go Mel!

My pal Jesse Csincsak, former Bachelorette winner, is looking to be on the next season of Dancing With the Stars. I'd think he'd be terrific. As a professional snowboarder, he's certainly got the athletic skills and balance and coordination. Plus, he really looks good (and even better in person than on camera.) So I hope you'll take a few minutes and go sign the petition to help get him on the show. (You can even sign and click the box not to have your name displayed.)

Updates on tonight’s show below: Continue reading →

American Idol: Adam and Kris’ Final Face-Off

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Adam Lambert
Chris Allen

Adam Lambert and Kris Allen sing three final songs tonight. The winner will be chosen tomorrow.

Adam should win, but with the pre-teen, text-message obsessed crowd going for Kris, nothing is for certain.

I’ll update as the show progresses or after it.

Update: Adam blasts it out of the park with Sam Cook’s “A Change is Gonna Come.” He was just amazing. And all four judges lapped it up. While they also loved Kris’ first song, they weren’t anywhere near as blown away as they were by Adam. But, when Paula says, “No matter what happens tonight…” you can tell they too can’t predict the teeny bopper vote. Continue reading →

“24” Season Finale

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Kiefer Sutherland

I won’t be watching the finale of “24” until after The Bachelorette.” But I’m already thinking about it. I’ll update after I’ve watched it.

Update: The finale was great. I think one of the things I like best about the show is how un-Hollywood in appearance so many of the characters are. The casting is just great.

Of all the finales I’ve seen this week, this was the only one without an annoying “cliffhanger.” You know Jack is going to survive through the stem cell transplant from his daughter and you know what decision the FBI agent makes. And they cleared up the “why” behind Tony Almeida’s working for both sides. And finally, Olivia got her due. She was one of the most unpleasant characters to watch. Continue reading →

Idea for TV Movie of the Week: The Johnny Holly, Jr. Story

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Johnny Holly, Jr.

In Alabama, Johnny Holly, Jr. has been freed after serving 30 years of a sentence of life without parole. His crime: he stole a toolbox. His sentence was the result of a three-strikes law.

How did he get free?

He is free today only because the Legislature changed the repeat-offender law early this decade. The change in the law allowed for the possibility of parole. Even so, it took him several years to be resentenced and to get out.

Who helped him ? The prosecutor and a host of prison guards. Continue reading →

Dancing With The Stars: Final Competition

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Melissa Rycroft

It’s the final competition on Dancing With The Stars. All of the three finalists are incredible tonight. My favorite is Melissa, but Shawn and Mark’s free-style was incredible — and Gilles is really good. The judges didn’t love her free-style but they still gave her “9”‘s. So she’s still in the running.

This seems like it will be the closest year ever. Considering Melissa only joined the show four days before it began airing, just getting to the finals is such an accomplishment for her.

Here’s an interview today with Melissa and Tony.

Bachelorette Jillian: Episode One

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Jillian Harris

Spoiler Alert: My primary interest in The Bachelorette is in the sleuthing… using clues from screencaps and other sources to figure out who’s going home and when, and who makes it to the final four and further, before the episodes air. So if you want surprises, stop reading PopLeft’s Bachelorette threads.

The season opens tonight with Jillian Harris doing a “meet and greet” with 30 bachelors. You can see their pictures here. 10 will get sent home. Who are the ones we won’t be seeing again? For full sleuthing details, head on over to Fans of Reality TV, aka FORT. They are the best. Also check out Joker’s Updates who are first up with screencaps (which fuels a lot of the sleuthing). If you don’t have time to surf through hundreds of comments, here’s the skinny:

Bets are on: Adam, Bryan,Bryce,Caleb,Greg,John H,John P, Josh, Kyle and Stephen to be sent packing. Look for Robby, Jesse, David, and Jake to make it to a date in Canada. Who may go even farther? Reid, Jake, Kip, Wes and Sasha/Alex. The full list is below. Continue reading →

J.T. Wins Survivor Tocantins

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J.T. of Survivor

“J.T.” Thomas, a 24 year old, adorable cattle rancher from Alabama won Survivor — by a unanimous jury vote. It wasn’t much of a surprise, he was the best-liked, most personable and cutest contestant.

I didn’t much care for the other contestants — or for the rainy, buggy Brazilian locale they competed in. I think I only kept watching to finally see Coach get his due. But, the last several episodes were interesting for the game-playing and strategic moves. I also got to like Stephen more as the show winded down but it was a no-brainer J.T. would win with the jury.

More on the goings on this season here. Next season, Survivor is off to Samoa where the show will have a treasure island theme. I also hope it has more likable contestants.

Reactions to “Farrah’s Story”

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Farrah's Story

I wasn’t going to watch “Farrah’s Story” last night, but then I did, all two hours of it. It made for a fitful night’s sleep and every time I woke up I was thinking about it and how horrible and tragic and hopeless her situation is.

I wasn’t going to write about it but this review in the New York Times made me angry. The comments by readers are across the board. Continue reading →