First, this "Grease" thing, can this rival to American Idol get any traction?
And than there's The Donald's "Apprentice LA". With his feud with Rosie adding fuel, can Trump's series survive? Also, how Ivanka impresses.
Finally, those "People Choice" awards...I simply do not believe they chose Ellen over Oprah as fave talk show host.
Pics of all the above you'll not find anywhere else.
Pic of the Day
Quote of the DayClassic Quotes by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) American poet and biographer |
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Are YOU the One That I Want?
For now, I don’t know what to make of this odd NBC offering and challenge to Fox’s “American Idol”. It IS based on the same premise as Fox’s hit reality show in that a “nobody” can suddenly become a singing “somebody” if they can only win the votes.
While I’m not sure how it will all come down, according to ”Grease’s” official web site, the public will be deciding who the next Sandy and Danny will be in a new version of this musical to debut on Broadway. Thus, I must conclude, like “American Idol”, the public will be casting votes for the winners.
There are, however, some glaring differences between “AI” and this reality series. The main one being that this Grease thing has serious limitations as to who can actually win the thing.
I’m sure “American Idol” has age limitations on the contestants but beyond that it’s pretty much open season to anyone who can sing and manage to climb up to the winner’s circle. This Grease thing definitely has age restrictions just based on the characters the winners will play. Sandy and Danny in “Grease” are adolescents for God’s sake.
Take a look at the pic montage above. One contestant is only 17 years old yet he was disqualified for his youth! Another, go with me here, hasn’t seen her teen years for a very, very long time. Hey, a 50 year old can’t play a teenager, not even with all the Hollywood make-up in the world.
These would-be Grease stars also have to be able to dance handily and I’m not speaking just of a little be-bop along with a tune being sung. These contestants will have to be able to dance at a Broadway level so now they must sing and dance, be of a certain age and hey, I’m thinking fat people might have a tough time getting the part. Fat people can win easily in “American Idol”, look at Ruben Stoddard.
I only watched the premier show of “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” on Sunday, 1/7/07. I’ve got the most recent show TIVO’d but frankly I’m not sure I’ll follow this series closely. It’s obvious that this show was premiered at the same time “American Idol” would begin its five-month grind. I really don’t think was such a great idea although I understand that NBC, et al would give their first-borns to make a dent in AI’s popularity.
The “American Idol” competition is practically an American fixture. A contest involving a selection of winners for one show can’t begin to hold a candle to “American Idol’s” hold on the current American culture.
The Donald’s “Apprentice LA”
For this premier of Donald Trump’s reality series “The Apprentice” I write only of the first show of the contest on Sunday, 1/7/07. The latest entry from 1/14/07 is also TIVO’d but I’m not at all sure I’ll continue watching the show.
The first and foremost problem with Trump’s latest reality show offering is the competition this series must face and folks, it’s formidable.
Donald’s latest and greatest offering has been revamped and modified and the changes are for the better, at least as I see it. However, on 1/14/07 alone, this show was up against ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and Fox’s premiere of Jack Bauer’s “24”.
Come on. The Superbowl would have a tough time against these offerings.
NBC’s site on “The Apprentice LA” HERE.
Even with my beloved TIVO I couldn’t get all the shows I wanted to watch during that time slot saved effectively. No way would I miss “Desperate Housewives” and to miss even one episode of “24” can throw a viewer into hopeless confusion. Even with all of the free publicity Donald’s been generating during his world-famous feud with Rosie O’Donnell of “The View”, I’m not sure he’s going to pull this series out of its downward spiral. I may be the only one but I still remember Trump’s attempt to expand the Apprentice concept by recruiting household guru Martha Stewart to join in on the fun. That was a disaster.
The most effective change Trump made in the series is the addition of his own daughter, Ivanka.
Now in most cases nepotism is not necessary a positive thing. People tend to have a blind eye regarding their own children’s talents. As I saw it, Ivanka did a great job as Donald’s right hand “man”.
In all the world, if ever one female has it all it has to be Ivanka Trump. Although I’ve never met this young one personally and for all I know she could be a hopeless spoiled brat. In fact, it would be surprising if Ivanka WASN’T a spoiled brat. Still, from what I saw of Ivanka as she oversaw the evening’s assigned task up until she sat at the big table next to her father deciding who would be fired, Ivanka carried herself intelligently and displayed an impressive knowledge of all things business.
Plus the young woman is very attractive and has a nice, ahem, body, that may or may not have been surgically enhanced.
Whatever the case, unless Ivanka was hand-fed her lines to emote, I was certainly impressed by this young woman’s grasp of business and hard-hitting use of the language.
Another new element of Donald’s Apprentice is the notion that the losers of the weekly task will not be condemned to life outdoors in a tent. This is a blatant rip-off of the “Big Brother” series. It’s an intriguing element but it won’t save the show.
At the series premiere, the contenders included (written extemporaneously so forgive any spelling errors) 18 candidates: James, Stefani, Aaron, Marisa, Heidi, Derek, Michelle, Kristine, Carey, Angela, Tim, Jenn, Surya, Martin, Aimee, Muna, Frank, Nicole.
The task for the first show was for each team to manage a car wash. Nothing new or terribly intriguing.
In fact, the most intriguing element of Apprentice premiere night was team leader Frank’s constant whining that he should be allowed to continue, a blubbering “please don’t fire me Mr. Trump” that went on for so long I wanted to slap the guy.
Well Frank didn’t get fired and it was Ivanka who saved him, frankly. A fellow named Martin got the boot and Heidi headed the winning team.
As is Trump’s modus operandi, the winning team was treated to dinner at Spago’s as Trump will always hone in on the popular and fashionable to impress the world with what an “in” sort of guy he is.
Oh, I’m not sure the inclusion of Trump’s latest trophy wife into the series is a positive thing. Let’s face it, Trump can find the beautiful woman to dangle from his wealthy arm but positive additions to a reality series about the brutal world of business they are NOT.
The 2007 “People’s Choice” Awards
It was televised on a night with little competition and for the most part, this year’s “People’s Choice” awards was innocuous, a smiling dose of pop culture eye candy. A few things, however, were a bit jarring.
CBS’ site for this show HERE.
If anything, the strange appearance of Cameron Diaz liked to bowl me over. Here’s a Hollywood starlet who has never been as pretty as the starring roles she used to get would warrant. Now the woman is a brunette and I would swear on my first-born the woman was drunk as a skunk during the show.
Also, Ellen DeGeneres won as most favored talk show host? With Oprah as one of her competitors?
I understand the concept of the “People’s Choice” awards is, duh, that the people actually VOTE for their own favorites. I must guess that Ellen managed to rig the vote or else the results were somehow manipulated.
Come on, Ellen DeGeneres won over Oprah? Just too strange.
“Desperate Housewives” Eva Longoria won as favorite female actress in a drama series (or was it comedy, I’m not aure?) Hey, I love “Desperate Housewives” but of all the female characters on that show, Longoria has to be the worst in the acting. Although it’s entirely possible Longoria received a proper and fair vote for the title as her character is the most dramatic and beautiful on the show.
Finally, what the hell is an “Olay Total Effects” award? Yes indeed, this year’s show featured just such an award and there were nominees for the prize, yes there were.
That little award is nothing more than a commercial for a product stuck directly in the middle of an award show. Not that there’s anything wrong with this, being America and everything, but it’s what it is, let’s not fool ourselves.
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