This post offers mine own non-dancer insight, comments and sarcasm, as required.
In addition, we're keeping up with Trump's Apprentice LA and this week we discuss the firing of the male half of an Apprentice team once involved in a budding romance.
Pic of the Day
Quote of the DayTHE DARK LORD |
| Web Site Worth the Visit VISTA Test I heard but did not verify that this site will check your computer to ascertain if you can handle an upgrade to Windows' greatest and latest, the VISTA operating system. We understand that this system is top heavy and any upgrades might require some hardware upgrades. Might be wise to check it out now. CLICK HERE |
| TIDBITS Check Out the Baby Sloth |
Apprentice LA-About Time to Narrow Down a Winner
Thus far in this year of our Lord 2007 Donald Trump's vaunted "Apprentice" series has been fairly lackluster. I recall a time when the whole country was talking about this reality series and Omorosa was the devil in a female. It's evident Trump is doing everything he can to keep the series afloat but a few times it looked like he was a goner. The grand plan to incorporate domestic guru Martha Stewart cost Donald at least a valued colleague in the form of Martha, who he maligned terribly in public. The Martha Stewart apprentice fiasco is also indicative of the downward spiral the series was embarking upon then and now we have Donald sending contenders to live in tents in shades of "Big Brother".
The best The Donald could do to save this show is to allow audience voting. Now I know Trump likes to say "You're Fired" but why can't he still utter those mighty words based on an American audience vote? The most sucessful reality series depend on audience votes and it's time "The Apprentice" go there.
On to the task as assigned on 4/1/07, which was to create a supplement for the Los Angeles Times featuring a new mouthwash known as "SmartMouth". James remained Project Manager for Arrow while Heidi was the Kinetic Project Manager.
The Kinetic team came up with the notion that SmartMouth mouth wash is useful "around the clock". Their supplement design was oddly-shaped and bound to catch the reader's attention. The Kinetic team members used their own selves as models, showing a morning Kinetic contender ready for a clean mouth, a busy afternoon Kinetic contender ready to refresh stale breath, and a glammed up evening Kinetic contender dressed to the nine's and in need of a shot of mouthwash to finish it off. "Around the Clock" was the Kinetic motto.
The Arrow team hired a bevy of actor-types and came up with some design that had people in bathrobes holding their hands over their mouths, intending, I assume, to show a sleepy world recently awake and using a hand to hide morning breath. Arrow's motto was that SmartMouth was for everyone, including all the bath-robed people with their hands over their mouths one must suppose.
The SmartMouth people genuinely liked Kinetic's design and theme. They complained about Arrow's design, specifically that the gang of bath-robed people could have been yawning for all the casual observer might note. Thus there isn't a clear association with the covered mouths and morning breath SmartMouth ostensibly would eliminate. "They look like they are all yawning," the SmartMouth marketing guru said.
The only contenders left on Team Arrow at the time of the SmartMouth task were Frank, James, Stefani and Tim-beloved of Nicole.
Team Kinetic had left Kristine, Nicole and Heidi. As winners, team Kinetic was allowed a cherished visit by Kristine's husband and Heidi and Nicole's mom. Kristine's husband is a chef and a good visit was had by all as well as gourmet meals.
On to the boardroom, Arrow Project Manager James, of course, blamed Tim for the failure of Arrow on the SmartMouth task. I want to note here that unless Ivanka Trump is receiving her words from previously prepared text, I am very impressed with her vocabulary and business savvy. Sure I know she's the daughter of Donald Trump and such should be expected. Perhaps. But Ivanka could easily be a blond rich bimbo without a brain cell between her two ears. I am reminded of the descendent of the Hilton hotel chain, Paris. Next to Ivanka, Paris is a boob of the highest order. And Ivanka is much prettier than Paris in my female opinion.
Then Tim, once accused, does the stupid. He ADMITS he was wrong. I've said this time and time again. The caveat applies to both "American Idol" and "The Apprentice". If a wrong was committed, admitting to it doesn't take it away. The best thing is to allow the narrative on wrongs to be stated but comment no further on it. Definitely do not admit to it. And don't tell me that life requires one to admit their wrongs and grow from them. American Idol and The Apprentice are not real life...they are REALITY TV SHOWS. In addition to admitting he was wrong, Tim blantantly cut off Ivanka when she was speaking and it was rude as hell. It isn't the reason Tim got fired but it should have been. Would Tim have cut off Donald like he did Ivanka? I'd softly suggest the action shows a bit of sexism in would-be lover Tim.
Okay, so who's going to win this thing?
My money right now is on Heidi. She's been project manager several times, she's worked hard and maintained a steady even keel through the thick and the thin. I'd put James in as a dark horse possibility.
Which is not to say that Frank, Stefani, Nicole or Kristine don't have a shot. I'd seriously doubt Frank as a winner as he just doesn't seem very mature to my wise eyes. As for Nicole, she seems a bit dippy to me as well, especially since she had that ersatz romance with Tim. The others on the short list need to demonstrate some leadership and they haven't up till now.
"Dancing With the Stars" 2007- From Ten to Nine
Before critiquing the dancers on the night of 4/2/07, it's always nice to have a bit of gossip about the contenders. Of course Heather McCartney Mills is the perfect person for this as this is a woman made for gossip.
From News24.com, we learn that one-legged Heather is making a nuisance of herself with the British police. The paparazzi, it seems, want to follow her around. Heather must then bother police who are busy dealing with such as crime. It's suggested that Heather uses the paparazzi chase of Princess Di as a threat of what could happen to her if the police don't respond to her complaints.
London - Police have warned Heather Mills McCartney, the estranged wife of former Beatle Paul, about using the emergency phone number 999 too often.
The 39-year-old, in the middle of a bitter divorce battle with Paul McCartney that has thrust her into the media spotlight, has complained of harassment by paparazzi since the split was announced 10 months ago.
We move on to the night of 4/2/07 when there were ten dancers left. Shandi Finnessey began with a Jive. A Jive was defined by one of the judges as a series of kicks, fast spins and is a dance strictly born in America. I thought Shandi was much improved since her first performance and indeed her sexy outfit had to help. Then Shandi has no problem being sexy.
Shandi and her partner received 21 points out of a possible 30. Alas, Shandi was voted off the following night by the American public and right now I must note something important.
Just who the hell is watching this reality series? I know that I am watching the show and I watch for two reasons-I enjoy watching the dancing and I Blog about it. Heh. But note please that the first two contenders voted off this show were stunningly beautiful women! Paulina Porizkova, the gorgeous super model, was thrown over the bow last week.
Which isn't to say that beautiful women shouldn't be voted off but neither of these two contenders were the worst dancers. Billy Ray Cyrus and/or John Ratzenberger dance much worse than Shandi and Paulina. I don't think this is a reality series that a heterosexual male would watch on any sort of regular bases although I could be wrong. I am basing this observation on the fact that my husband, a "guy" amongst guys if ever there was one, would flick right on by any show featuring dancing such as that shown on "Dancing With the Stars". He might hang around to stare down a deeply cut cleavage but once that view was gone, he'd move on.
Homosexual males, I'm thinking, would like this show. Many male dancers are homosexuals although I've no idea the percentages of straight to gay but I'm pretty sure more of the homosexual brothers dance professionally than the hetero fellows. The costumes and make-up are the sort of thing homosexual males seem to take a keen interest in, along with the love of the dance.
Could Shandi and Paulina have been voted off by a passel of angry homosexuals who didn't want female beauty to determine this thing?
So okay, if I'm wrong about this, and I could be, I do think that plenty of women watch this series, particularly older women who appreciate the notion that a male and female dancing together would actually touch arms. Older women, hey maybe they too don't think that former beauty queens and super models should get any slack for their beauty. Older women will likely appreciate the male who dares to take the challenge, such as Billy Ray Cyrus or John Ratzenberger, and actually dance in public with females on their arms. Thus the beauties get voted out over the more ordinary dancers who must struggle to learn the steps and don't have their looks as a backup.
Hey, I'm just guessing here because I think it's damn odd that the two prettiest females were thrown overboard so soon in the contest when they were certainly not the worst of all the dancing contenders. At least as I see it.
John Ratzenberger was up next and he danced a Tango. I then learn that a Tango should be a dance interpretation of a cat going after its prey. The dance requires flexed knees and tight holds. I thought John did a nice job, displaying nice fluid footwork and a great improvement from his first few dances. A judge declared his dance not a good technique but still John and his partner scored a not shabby 20 out of a possible 30 points.
At first I thought Clyde Drexler would be another Jerry Rice. Athletes, perhaps due to the regimen of moves they must practice, do very well on this series. Rice was a football player while Drexler is a very tall (6'7") former basketball player. On this night I thought Clyde couldn't hold a candle to Jerry Rice. Though he's an extremely likeable fellow, Clyde is awkward on the dance floor, unsure and a bit clumsy. The judges didn't much like Clyde's performance either, with one judge or another complaining that Clyde didn't point his toes. Clyde and his partner received a score of 16 out of a possible 30.
Next up, one of my faves to possibly win this series, Laila Ali danced a Tango to the tune "Goldfinger". Laila is a professional boxer like her Dad, formerly Cassius Clay then Mohammad Ali...."I am the Greatest". She has a natural talent for movement and adapted very well to the dance. The dance showed great choreography. What's interesting about this performance is that Laila and her partner at one point in the tune did suddenly find themselves clear across the floor from each other. Well I thought it a bit odd but figured it was part of the dance. It would turn out that the judges too took umbrage at this move and it might have been a mistake, I'm not at all sure.
Laila and her partner scored a total of 21 points out of 30 possible.
Apolo Ohno is another contender to win this thing and on the night of this review he performed a Jive. My first thought was that he looked a bit nerdy but basically he made good solid moves. Apolo received 23 points, not a shabby score at all.
I've noticed much fuss about Joey Fatone of the Nsync singing group. To look at Joey he resembles nothing more than an average beer-drinking sort of guy. He's not lithe and doesn't look like his feet are fleet. Yet Joey seems to wow the crowd every time he performs and on this night he did a Tango to the "Star Wars Theme". Well this was just too clever and very enjoyable to watch. I still though Joey looked clunky-footed but the judges like him although there were some vague complaints about his butt protruding too much. An odd criticism for a man I think. I mean, how much does a man's butt stick out? Joey and his partner scored 24 points.
Ian Ziering was the surprise of this night. Ian and his partner did the Jive to an Elvis tune and to my eyes, it was fluid and flawless. The judges declared that it was time for Ian to "finally flaunt it". Ian got a handsome score of 24 out of a possible 30.
Leeza Gibbons danced the Tango to a Spanish tune. From my vantage the dance moves seemed staid, simple...a bit boring. A judge declared the routine "basic but fantastic" and, indeed, Leeza and her partner received 24 points.
The one-legged Heather Mills did a Jive and the woman had to obtain a more "giving" prosthetic leg to achieve more bounce. Heather danced to "Can I Get a Witness" and the woman did a tumblesault that I couldn't do with both my legs. I'll give Heather credit, she's working hard. A one-legged contender for a dance contest, who'd have thunk? Heather and her partner received 24 points.
Billy Ray Cyrus ended that evening's dance performances. Although Cyrus and his partner received 21 points out of a possible 30 from the judges, I don't think he deserved any score over 20. Unless the score was for "most improved" because Billy Ray has come a long way since his first dance this year. In fact, the judges did declare Billy Ray "most improved".
More TV Reviews HERE
===============
Add POST to Technorati Favorites
=======================
No comments:
Post a Comment