Making the Band Live Finale

Don't know if anyone actually watched this, but it was pretty entertaining. My thoughts:

• Aubrey looked pathetic. Kept on jumping in front of Diddy to encourage people to "twitter me!" Do it on your own time.
• She also apparently is going to have a reality show that I will not be watching
• Aundrea wasn't there for some reason. I've always liked her so I was disappointed.
• When they went around to say what they were up to now, Shannon seemed to have the least going on, only mentioning that she was working on some website...
• Day 26 performed three songs. I don't know if it's just me, but I just don't think they're that good.
  

American Idol update

Not sure if other people are watching, but Idol has been pretty entertaining this year (provided you can DVR it and fast forward through some of the cheesy commentary and guest singers).
My thoughts on the final 5:

• Kris Allen and Matt Giraud are my favorites. Generally seem like good guys who I think have a decent shot at having a music career ahead of them.
• I don't think Giraud actually has a shot at winning, especially with several other more popular guys in the field. I do think, however, that he picked up some fans following the episode when the judges used the "save" to keep him around.
• Alison, the only girl still around, is pretty talented I guess but doesn't do it for me at all. She's pretty annoying. I thought she'd have a decent following among the powerful pre-teen girl voting block, but she always seems to be in the bottom 3.
  
• Matt and Alison are probably the next to go
• Adam Lambert is definitely the most talented, but I have a tough time getting behind him. Maybe it's the eye makeup.

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Anyone else looking forward to Making the Band Finale?

Q is crazy. I can't stand the guy. Anxious to see if he ends up re-joining the group. I hope they kick him to the corner.

MTV has done it again

Great episode tonight. I'll go more in depth tomorrow but here are my initial thoughts:

• I know that everyone's turning on Evan, but he'll be fine. They're all talk
• Brooke is awful and should refrain from going on more challenges
• Props to Davis for taking on Evan
• Nehemiah is a bitch for fucking over his friends so that he could suck up to Paula
• Landon showed me a lot tonight. He is a real contender
• Damn Ruthie. Rachel too. They're gonna be tough to beat.
  

Quick predictions for tonight

Of course you can never tell what's going to happen, but here's my guess:

Female duel: Paula vs. Brooke with Brooke losing

Male Duel: Davis vs. Isaac with Isaac losing

No Live Blog Tonight

I'm afraid some things came up (DVR of American Idol results show) and I will be unable to live blog the Duel tonight. I will be sure to live blog starting next Wednesday.

Sorry for the disappointment,
Chad

Enjoy the show! It's the best day of the week!

Guest writer: Eli on MTV's College Life

I had had high hopes for MTV's new reality series College Life, I really did. I thought the idea of documenting the lives of college freshmen was long overdue, but nonetheless, such a show was here and even though I am now two years out of college, I was excited. Though I missed the series premiere, as with any true MTV reality show, story lines are generally pretty obvious and don't differ much from episode to episode, so I was at no disadvantage watching the second episode. My thoughts:

I'm not sure what audience MTV is trying to appeal to (probably not me) but from what I saw College Life is not representative of my experience or the college experience of anyone else I know. College Life is a reality show about freshmen at the University of Wisconsin. 8 freshmen document their lives with a camera giving a very amateur quality to the show. Each student is supposed to represent a different mold of typical freshmen. One is a football player who represents freshmen jocks. Another, a somewhat alternative, independent thinker who was raised in a very conservative household. Of course there is the naive small town girl who has never been outside of the state of Wisconsin and is caught between sticking to her "back home values" and becoming "that girl." The remaining characters fall somewhere in between these stereotypes.

While you have the girl-guy drama that can be expected from any of MTV's shows, College Life spends far too much time showing the boring aspects of freshmen year. Too much sitting in a dorm room searching facebook and texting back and forth with friends. Frankly, I'm not sure who would find this entertaining. The deep issues that are brought up are equally ridiculous. The only issue or moral quandary that came up in this episode (and I am using this episode as representative of the show in general) is when Jordan debates getting a tattoo. In the end Jordan, who is bi-racial and who grew up in a very conservative Christian town, follows through with his dream of getting a tattoo (which takes up his entire arm!) despite his family values. Who cares!

I think I've seen enough of College Life.

For the Love of Ray J Finale tonight

Coming in just 45 minutes. The final three vying for Ray J's heart are:
Cocktail
Danger
Unique

I am a big fan of Cocktail's and I think she's really in it to win it. In the previews for the finale, it implies that one of the girls is going to drop out. Based on the end last episode, I assume that woman will be Danger, since she seemed freaked out about Ray meeting her family. It would still be very surprising if she dropped out since it seems like shes all about Ray. Speaking of meeting the parents, I'd love to see these dating shows mix it up a little bit. I mean, maybe they can meet the friends of the contestants or something, in addition to parents. I'd love to see who these people hang out with. My prediction is that he will go with Cocktail in the end, who looks and acts a lot like his ex, Kim Kardashian.

It's back!!!!

I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here will be returning to NBC on June 1st after a six year hiatus. Just saw the preview while watching the second of back-to-back episodes of Celebrity Apprentice. I've got a nice little life going here.

With any celebrity show, it all depends on how good a job the network does in recruiting celebrity contestants. It's a given that they're all going to be has-been losers- the key is that they are least interesting has-beens. From the looks of it, NBC has hit a home run: already on board are Heidi and Spencer from The Hills, American Idol castoff Sanjaya, Geraldo Rivera, and Dog the Bounty Hunter. Get this: rumor has it that Rod Blagojevich has been offered a spot on the show! Cross your fingers

Lot going on at Celebrity Apprentice

I like to tune in now and again, and I'm glad I did this week. This week, they were given the task of organizing an auction for some of Trump's jewelry. Clint Black, who served as the auctioneer for one of the teams, was painful to watch. Couldn't sell a thing. LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis, on the other hand, caught some flak in the boardroom for picking jewelry that didn't show well. In the end, it came down to those two and Trump ended up firing Gulbis. I disagree--after watching Black botch the auction I didn't think he had a shot in hell. It may have been one of those things where Trump realized that Gulbis didn't have a chance to go all the way so why keep her around any longer.

Real Housewives of New Jersey

Very excited for this one. Starts next Tuesday. This whole franchise is always good for an hour when you're bored at midnight. This next batch of women seem somewhat less attractive than previous casts. One woman in particular is quite unattractive. Time will tell what kind of drama they bring to the table

Contenders for the Duel: Males

These are the guys that have a shot to win this thing:

Isaac: Not actually a contender; actually just forgot to put him in the previous post. Not only is he not that strong an athlete, but he also doesn't have the alliances to keep him out of the duel early on. I really liked him in RW Sydney. Never shy to wear a costume, Isaac wore blackface and overalls at a party on the first night. Odds of winning: 18:1

CT: I love CT and always have. When I heard he was going to be on this challenge I was very excited and had he not just gotten kicked off (again), he probably would have been the favorite

Brad: Really good guy. It was announced in the first episode that he and Tori are engaged, which is a pretty impressive pull. Brad is definitely a force and has a lot of heart. That being said, I don't think he would beat Mark or even Evan in a all-out wrestling-type duel. Also, he doesn't do that great in puzzle games because, as Paula once said, "he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer." Odds of winning: 5:1

Derek: I like this guy. I respect the fact that he took a leadership role in the Gauntlet 2, so presumably he'll be pretty comfortable coming into his second challenge. I think he was a Marine too, which can't hurt. Odds of winning: 10:1

Dunbar: Terrible. Hated him in RW Sydney and he was even worse in the most recent challenge. Was very happy when he got fucked over and finished out of the money. I think he's probably in the same category as Brad in terms of athletic ability, or maybe just a hair below. The big difference between the two is that Brad is well-liked and probably won't find himself in nearly as many duels as will Dunbar. Odds of winning: 10:1

Evan: I think this may be his challenge to win. He's definitely got the relationships and alliances to go far, which is pretty impressive considering he was never even on a RW or RR. Could be the guy to beat. Odds of winning: 4:1

Landon: I've always found him to be kind of a loser. I never got that whole superhero persona he took on in RW-Philly. Somehow he got into an alliance early on with Evan and Brad, so he'll probably be able to stick around for awhile. Odds of winning: 12:1

MJ: Probably pretty similar to Dunbar in terms of overall athleticism. I know it sounds stupid, but I don't think he has the passion to win of say, a Mark or Evan. You need to be a little crazy to go really far in this game. I don't see him beating Mark, Evan, Brad, or even Dunbar in a tough duel. Odds of winning: 10:1

Mark: Big guy. Also 40. Said he was going to retire from challenges a few years ago but here he is. He has that crazy quality I was referring to before. He's very well respected among the cast members- something of an elder statesman- which should keep him out of the duel very late in the game. Will be interesting to see if he rekindles things with Robyn. Odds of winning: 4:1

RW/RR primer

In anticipation of The Duel 2 tomorrow night, I will now release my analysis of each of the 26 competitors in this season, as well as the odds that they win. I'm going to split it up into four different sections: Men Contenders, Men Pretenders, Female Contenders, Female Pretenders. Let start with the guys who have no real chance of winning. Feel free to post your comments in the appropriate section- I'd like to get a dialogue going here.

Adam: I've always found him really annoying and kind of a tool (see: his rapping in the confessional at RW Paris was ridiculous). Doesn't really bring much to the table at the house (ie isnt hooking up with girls, at least not that I know of). On the competitive side, he's quick and agile and all, but in order to win the Duel, you're going to have to eventually beat one of the big guys in a duel that isn't mind or agility-based, and I don't see him doing that. Odds of winning: 18:1 Updated: Kicked off Davis: Pretty non-descript guy. In real life would be considered a strong guy but can't compete with this group. I also hate the 2 people he was making out with in the hot tub in the first episode (Brooke and Ryan), which makes me question his judgment. Odds of winning: 20:1

Nick: Barely know anything about him, honestly. He just got kicked off so not worth getting into. Odds of winning: Already out

Big Easy: Very fat still. He'll stick around for a while because no one wants to go into a duel against him and it end up being a sumo wrestling competition or something. Even if he does make it close to the end, I don't see how he'd win a final challenge. I'd be very curious to know if he's hooked up with anyone in the house. Odds of winning: 20:1
Ryan: Probably m yleast favorite of the men in this challenge. Very annoying and for some reason thinks he's got a chance to win this thing. In the beginning of the first episode he said that he wasn't worried about going into the duel because all the girls had his back. About 20 minutes later he was sent into the duel. He did win, but whatever he still sucks. Odds of winning: 20:1

Spinoff city

So in case you haven't noticed, VH1 has had about 30 different shows that are pretty much exactly the same only with different characters (or, in some case, the exact same shows with the exact same characters). When they put out Surreal Life: Season 3 way back in 2003, I don't think they had any idea what a gold mine it would be for them. It produced: Strange Love, Flavor of Love, Flavor of Love 2, Flavor of Love 3, I Love New York, I Love New York 2, New York Goes to Hollywood, New York Goes to Work, Flavor of Love Charm School, Real Chance at Love, I Love Money, I Love Money 2, and probably a few more that I can't think of right now because they're even worse than the above mentioned.

Anyway, Brett Michaels' Rock Of Love has done pretty well in its own right, and due out this week is yet another spinoff: Daisy of Love, featuring arguably the craziest one yet, Rock of Love 2 runnerup Daisy de la Hoya. It really doesn't seem any worse or better than I Love New York or any other VH1 dating show, but I dont know how many more of these things I actually care to watch. I'll check it out and report back.

Not worth even my time

VH1's Tough Love, which features a matchmaker who works with eight somewhat attractive women to show them the error of their ways and the path to true love. Or at least so says the VH1 website. It's pretty bad. Probably better than I Love Money 2, another VH1 brainchild, but that doesn't say much.

Top Chef Masters

In case you haven't heard, Top Chef is mixing things up a little bit to follow up on what I found to be a pretty disappointing sixth season. Looks like this next season is going to feature already established chefs (many of whom have appeared in previous seasons as guest judges) competing for the title of Master Top Chef. My first reaction is to be pretty skeptical- usually when "celebrities" compete in reality shows (see: "The Apprentice", "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here", etc) they don't really try that hard. I guess it will depend on what Bravo's offering the winner. A lot of these guys are probably egomaniacs, so that will help, but I think Bravo's going to have to do a little better than 10,000 bucks to the winner's favorite charity.

Update: To everyone's relief, Ted Allen will not be a judge. I guess he was too busy being a waste of space on literally every other food/fashion/design show on television

Real World/Road Rules Challenge is back

That's right. And not a moment too soon. People I'm excited to see back in the fold: Evan, CT, and Brad, among others. The girls are usually all pretty terrible but we'll see. Expect a lot of coverage on this blog over the next couple months.