Catching Up On "Not American Idol": The Voice, Survivor Caramoan, Celebrity Apprentice and Amazing Race.

PIC OF DAY

NBC's The Voice Gets Better, Challenges American Idol
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As best as I can tell, the finalists as of this writing on 5/2/13, by Team Leader, are:

Usher-Josiah Hawley, Michelle Chamuel, Vedo, Cathia
Shakira-Garrett Gardner, Kris Thomas, Karina Inglesias, Sasha Allen
Blake-Danielle Bradbery, Holly Tucker, Justin Rivers, The Swon Brothers
Adam-Amber Carrington, Judith Hill, Sarah Simmons

I admit to having only paid passing attention to this competitive reality series. Dealing with funerals and wills does tend to distract.

One thing I WILL say about this year's "The Voice", the judges are way, way, way better.

I despised that Cee-Lo character. Christina Aguilara was okay but everything is Chirstina with her. She did not impress me one bit.

Usher is soft-spoken, intelligent, kind and well-versed in the craft. Shakira likes to demonstrate her knowledge of Spanish once in a while but it's all in good fun. She has a great voice and is a great coach to her team.

I'll be tuning in more now that American Idol is winding down so come back for some predictions and snark

Celebrity Apprentice Down to Four...This Could Be Penn Jillette's Year to Take Home the Prize
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The celebrities still playing as of this writing on 5/2/2013 include:

Trace Adkins, Penn Jillette, Lil John, Marilu Henner, Lisa Rinna

I am enjoying this year's show but The Donald really needs to cut down that boardroom time for goodness sake. He gets those contenders in the Board room and he positively harangues them! I understand he's trying to make the show more interesting, add some drama. It worked quite well with Omorosa who, by the way, really needs to go away from Apprentice shows forever. I've watched this desultory woman through the original Apprentice, when she worked with Piers Morgan and now this round. The Donald has a lot of loyalty for her but come on, the shark has long ago jumped with this woman.

And Lisa Rinna….dag….GET RID OF THOSE LIPS! They're ugly is what they are. When she does her solo vignettes all I can see is those hideous lips flapping. For no other reason than this I'd love to see her go home.

Trace Adkins is a very nice fellow and I vote him for second place and he could be a real challenger to win.

But if I had to choose one winner it would have to be Penn Jillette. He is always a great team member, he is a terrific team leader, his commentary is smart, wise and witty.

Marilu Henner is a good player, as is L'il John.

I stand with my prognostication of Penn Jillette to win this contest.


Amazing Race Mentions Rush Limbaugh/Entertains In a Most Odd Way
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The web site for this show is difficult to understand so I cannot identify the final four teams.

It is of little mind because this show is not necessarily about the most physically fit, the best looking, or even the smartest.

The allure of this competitive reality series is a viewer never knows what's going to pop up next, what with challenges that involve rolling barrels or eating horrible food. Then there are the sudden detours and U-turns, the crazy rides in busy cities, the airport confusion and on and on.

Luck, I'd argue, is a bigger factor in this series than in other similar type competitive reality shows.

The outstanding item from this year's Amazing Race is a question quizzed to the contenders. The question was "Who said 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall' "?

Well that's one of the more famous quotes and it was uttered, of course, by Ronald Reagan.

One of the contenders guessed it was said by John F. Kennedy. When it was revealed that the command was said by Reagan, the contender slapped his head and loudly lamented how Rush Limbaugh would never forgive him.

Heh.

Of course Rush mentioned this next day on his show and I'm betting this show has garnered a lot more viewers than before Rush Limbaugh mentioned it on his show.

Will be paying closer attention to this series so come back where we may actually predict the winners.


Survivor Caramoan Down to Seven-Some Predictions
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As of this writing on 5/2/13 there are seven contenders left on Survivor Caramoan 2013.

Eddie, Cochran, Sherri, Andrea, Brenda, Dawn, Eric

This Survivor series brings back a bunch of former Survivor contenders and mixes them up with that they call "fan favorites". I remember Dawn and Cochran and some other contenders now long ago evicted.

Dawn is one of the better players in this game. I think she won recently says me without the memory of Marilu Henner. What I think to be kind of odd is how no one seems to go after her until the last minute. Cochran is not to be counted out. This guy is a competitive reality series veteran, having also been on Big Brother not too long ago. Cochran too hasn't been an object of elimination when he probably should be.

The other contenders left are all the best and most physically fit. This should be an interesting finish.

For now, I call Dawn the most likely winner.

Ending With a Smile