Kara

Someone asked me not to long ago what songs Kara wrote or produced.. Here are a couple: Ain't No Other Man, Walk Away, and Sober. Also I am inserting what her Bio says on the AI website so you can see all her accomplishments and why she is such a creditable judge.

"One of the industry's most sought after songwriters and producers, Kara DioGuardi's songs have appeared on more than 100 million records. They have been recorded by Grammy award-winning artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, and many more.

Over the last four years, she has been awarded 10 BMI Pop Awards for having written the most performed songs on radio. From her catalog of several hundred songs, over 264 have been released on major labels worldwide; and over 165 have appeared on multi-platinum selling albums. Kara co-owns Arthouse Entertainment, where she develops and mentors fellow hit writers, producers and artists."

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Let's talk more about the twist tonight:

The same people that produce American Idol produce So You Think You Can Dance and I was thinking maybe the BIG twist with the Judges is that the bottom three will have to "sing" for their life and that the judges will be selecting who goes home. Or maybe the judges just have the option to save someone (each judge has one save during the season).

Anyone else have any thoughts??? I really want to know what ya'll are thinking!

Catch UP!!

I have gotten very behind on my blog in general but especially on several of my shows out there, let me take a minute to catch up!

Gossip Girl Spin Off – “Lily”
The Spin-off is in full swing. Casting is going great for the show so far they have had several great people sign on for the show:

Lily will be played by Britney Snow (American Dreams)

Lily’s Father – Andrew McCarthy (Lipstick Jungle)

Keith Van der Woodsen – Matt Barr (One Tree Hill – Peyton’s Stalker)

Keith is set to play a love interest of Lily’s and judging by the last name my end up being the father of Serena (which is great casting by the producers because I would totally believe Matt as Serena’s father).

Dancing with the Stars:

I don’t watch this show but much like many other viewers I tuned into to see the heartbroken Melissa dance. Melissa did a great job given that she only had two days to rehearse, I definitely think Melissa is going to last a while in the competition. I believe it will be harder for her later in the season when some of the “Bachelor” drama dies down. I don’t think I will be watching again because this show irritates me, I am not invested in any of the people on the show and I don’t think they are very good dancers.

Melrose Place:

Melrose place is also in full swing with casting. So far they have cast:

Ashlee Simpson

Michael Rady (Greek)

Katie Cassidey (Supernatural)

And to most fans excitement Heather Lockler will MOST likely be reprising her role as Amanda for atleast a few episodes. Also there are still rumors that Mischa Barton might join the cast.

Are you excited about the Melrose remake??

American Idol:

I am going to start listing them in order from best performance to worst performance of the night as I critique them:

1. Adam
Let me preface by saying I am NOT an Adam fan and I was NOT blown away by his performance if anything it made me so angry! The judges praise Adam as if he was actually Michael Jackson, I am so annoyed by the OVER praise they give him. However all that being said if I just watched his performance without listening to the judges praise him I think I would have agreed that overall he gave one of the best if not the best performance of the evening. He didn’t seem quite as dramatic last night as usual and he sounded better than past performance (I didn’t feel like he was screaming AS much). Also I am going to give him props on a great song choice…this is a familiar song to viewers but it is not as untouchable as “Beat It” “Bad” “Thriller” etc… Also from other articles I have read this performance was much better in person. So I give Adam the top spot this week but TRUST me he will not receive it week after week!

2. Matt
I am biased already and it is just week one of the finales but I can’t get enough of Matt on stage. I think he is so naturally talented. I love the tone to his voice and when he plays the piano while singing there isn’t anyone on the show that can touch him. I wanted to put him first on my list because I actually enjoyed his performance more than rest but I am trying to be impartial. I think Matt can SELL records he has a Justin Timberlake vibe to him but with a little more blues and less pop! I can’t wait to see more performances from him.

3. Danny
I was not familiar with this song (PYT) but I loved how it showed off Danny’s scratchy voice. Danny is extremely lovable and he will be here for a while. I want to also note that he did not discuss his wife tonight and American Idol didn’t say anything about it either…I think they are going to be extra careful about it now because of all the controversy however it makes me a little sad for Danny that he is unable to grieve the way that he may want to! But I am glad that American Idol has backed off a little. I loved Danny’s performance and I thought the dancing was endearing.

4. Alexis
I definitely think the judges didn’t give Alexis the praise she deserved she rocked Dirty Diana…I agree with Paula that she has to watch “over singing”. She has a big voice but she needs to make sure it is a controlled voice. I love Alexis and can’t wait to see more of her.

5. Lil
I am not sure what it is about Lil but she rubs me the wrong way…All that being said I thought she started off the show strong. It may have been a safe performance but I have to admit when given the challenge of Michael Jackson it isn’t a bad thing to lean towards “safe”. Good Job Lil but I hated her “mom” pants.

6. Kris
Well I am going to be the first to admit that I got a bad taste in my mouth during the top 36 because honestly I felt he had taken Matt’s place! However now that they are both in the top 13 I am glad! I liked Kris’ performance last night and I am glad that he brought out his guitar (I don’t know what it is but for some reason when someone plays an instrument I feel like they have more creditability) it really made his performance much better. Kris seems much more at ease with his guitar than before. Kris is definitely the heart throb for the tweens this season!

7. Allison

Allison has a great voice and I thought she handled the song well...I am not familiar with this song choice so I don't know what to compare it to but I think she did good. Allison hit a peek last week and it will be interesting to see if she has already given her best performance...

8. Anoop
Ok so I know that “Beat It” is Iconic, but I actually thought Anoop did really well!! I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. It was upbeat and fun and he had so much passion in his performance. I disagree with Kara that it felt disconnected…I felt that he connected with the audience. America loves Anoop and he will be around for a while.

9. Michael
Michael had a pretty good vocal performance but I felt it was pretty boring and forgettable. I don’t agree with Randy that it was the best of the night I am pretty sure Danny went before him and Lil and I thought both of them out shined Michael. I think Michael could be in trouble tonight and if not tonight definitely in weeks to come.

10. Megan
When Megan started singing I thought this was one of the smartest song choices of the night!!! I was so curious how Megan was going to pull off a MJ song but this was a great song for her to sing. I actually give her props for going out of her 5 note range and showing us something different, I was happy to hear it! However all that being said it wasn’t a great vocal and her whole appearance felt fake. I think she will make it through to next week but she needs to be careful the people that love her probably love her for her unique voice that she didn’t show much of last night.

11. Scott
I hate that I don’t love Scott because I think he is a really sweet guy and has overcome a lot in his life but I just don’t think he has the chops. I think he plays the piano beautifully and it is definitely a joy to watch him in his element but I don’t see him vocally competing with any of the top 7 on my list. He may make it through several more weeks but there will definitely be an exit for Scott in the future.

12. Jasmine
As most of you know I am not a big Jasmine fan. I really don’t like when girls come on the show and sing ballad after ballad. The one time that she sang an upbeat song it was AWFUL!! I think this shows she doesn’t have much depth to her vocals. She always feels like she is not quite on top of each note and that it is a struggle to hit any notes. She is young so I will cut her some slack but she doesn’t deserve to be in the top 12.

13. Jorge
So bored that I didn’t even watch the entire performance, it was on but I completely zoned out. I think Jorge hit his peek last week and he probably will be going home tonight. If he makes it through tonight I don’t think we will see much longer.

At the end of the show Ryan announced that there would be a twist tonight on the elimination and I haven’t seen any rumors about what this might be…he said it has to do with the judges. This has me very intrigued. Some are speculating that two contestants will be sent home but I don’t see how that changes everything so dramatically! Any ideas??

This is how Buddy TV Ranked their performances last night:

1. Adam

2. Matt

3. Danny

4. Alexis

5. Allison

6. Lil

7. Kris

8. Megan

9. Jorge

10. Scott

11. Anoop

12. Jasmine

13. Michael

What do you think of the rankings?? Who do you think was the top performer??

Michael Jackson

American Idol

Ok so tonight's American Idol's theme is Michael Jackson. I have a bad feeling about this theme. Michael Jackson is such an Icon, maybe the King of all Icons... It is going to be a rough night I predict. However we know that some people have rocked some Michael Jackson songs in the past. My usual source has not been posting the song lists lately...I am waiting to see if he will post it before tonight's show (I will keep ya'll updated).

Here is Buddy TV's predictions:

Adam Lambert - Beat It (maybe bc that is what we all want him to do)

Michael Sarver - Billie Jean (I think this one will be hard to do after David Cooks wonderful rendition last season)

Danny Gokey - Heal the World

Kris Allen - Smooth Criminal (Too bad he sand Man in the Mirror already huh?)

Megan Corkrey - P.Y.T

Alexis Grace - The Way You Make Me Feel (I like this pick)

Anoop Desai - Beat It (I guess they are saying it is a toss up)

Allison Iraheta - Wanna Be Startin Something

Matt Giraud - Will You Be There

Lil Rounds - Bad

Jasmine Murray - Rock With You

Jorge Nunez - Remember the Time

Scott MacIntyre - She's Out of My Life

Also most websites agree that Michael Sarver and Jasmine Murray are predicted to be at the bottom of the pact this week. Ofcourse this always depends on the song choices and the performances that night but Michael and Jasmine need to really rock it tonight to have a fighting chance!

Wild Card Results

American Idol:

So I am going to run down last nights episode later but I wanted to go ahead and post the final results from last night. I posted the clip below of them announcing the final two into the top 13!! If your TiVo did like mine it cut off the end of the show bc they ran over and my TiVo has way to many things recording so it jumped to another station... DOH!



Top 13:

1. Danny Gokey
2. Michael Sarver
3. Alexis Grace
4. Adam Lambert
5. Kris Allen
6. Allison Iraheta
7. Scott MacIntyre
8. Jorge Jimenz
9. Lil Rounds
10. Jasmine Murray
11. Megan Corkrey
12. Anoop Desai
13. Matt Giraud!!!!! (YAY)

As you can tell I have an early favorite!!!! It will be interesting to see who goes home first my pre-performance guess would be Jasmine Murray or Michael Sarver but as we all know it just depends on the song choices!!!

Unimpressed!

American Idol:Going into last night performances there were a lot of familiar faces: Lil, Scott, Nat, Kristen, Kendall, Arianna, etc…. However I left the show feeling very unimpressed. Last night as I watched Idol my husband went to play in a softball game so for the first time I got out a notepad and made notes as the show went along…. I wondered if my notes would match the judge’s comments and sometimes they did and others they did not. Here is my run down of each contestant. I will put my thoughts during the performance in italics.

Von

My TV once again messed up and cute out his performance (don’t worry the satellite people are coming TODAY to check out our problem). I thought the short play back sounded ok but he still screams too much for my liking. However the run downs I am readying today are all saying he controlled his screaming much better last night so he may have a chance.

Taylor

Good during the chorus she shined but the beginning was rough. This is the best look for her, love her leggings. She struggled with breathing at points. Overall it didn’t blow me away. Simon said it was generic. Agreed.

Alex

Good personality! Awkward dance moves and stage presence. Started off good, smooth but then he started screaming a little. I think he is trying to be too cool with the grunting noises. He should have kept the song simple and not tried so hard. America could feel sorry for him and pick up the phone but I doubt it.

Arianna

Sounds good, shows maturity…Boring song not exciting to watch. She missed some notes in there including the last one. Big voice big song did not equal good! Simon said it was gloomy… agreed.

Ju’Not

He is singing the same song he sang in Hollywood. Good voice, love the song…not giving us much personality. He did give some personality after his song was over. I hope he sticks around.

Kristin

Jordan Sparks sang this song for her first performance in the top 24 and rocked it. Will Kristin do the same? NO SHE DIDN’T!!! She is going too fast…slow down! It sounds like she is speeding through the song to be done. I can’t get a good feel of her voice as she speeds past each note. I hate the arrangement! The judges didn’t say anything about this awful arrangement…they mainly talked about her image. I don’t get it!!! Please listen to Jordin Sparks singing this song at the same stage in the competition.

Nat

Doesn’t show great vocals… How can someone with so much color be so boring? I think America will love him or hate him. Simon said it was uncomfortable to watch…agreed!

Felicia

This needs to be a strong performance because America doesn’t really know her and we are all trying to figure out if she deserves a spot in the top 36. This is the song I heard her sing on a youtube video and I thought she did better on the youtube. She has great vocals but missed some notes. Not sure if she did enough to make it through to the top 12!

Scott

Good not great vocals. He is real and passionate about the music! I think he might get through because America feels for him. I am not on the Scott band wagon yet though…maybe when we see more of him at the piano.

Kendall

Can she sing?? The beginning actually sounded good, the middle part went south fast. This song is for a big voice and she doesn’t have it…it was really hard to listen to parts. I really hope America didn’t put her through.

Jorge

He has a good voice, it is a big song and he sang it very well. The judge’s love him, don’t count him out!

Lil

Well we know Lil Rounds was the judge’s favorite since she was last for the evening. She sang very well but for some reason I was bored. She is the only one that I feel extremely confident is through to the next round!

To sum it up Lil Rounds will be the girl put through. The boy put through will most likely be Scott but Jorge or Ju’Not could get through. I think the third spot will be between Ju’Not, Felicia and unfortunately Kendall.

Who do you think is going through from this mediocre group?

WILD CARD ROUND:

Ok so now let’s discuss the Wild Card show again…I am so anxious to figure out how it is going to play out are they going to try to even it out with boys and girls???

In doing some research on season 1-3 (which were all done in this format) I have found some interesting things. Seasons 1 and 2 were both even with boys and girls BUT season 3 offered me great hope for my boy Matt! Let’s talk about Season 3. They were split up into 4 groups of 8 and 2 people were put through each night. When all 4 nights were done 6 girls had been put through and only 2 boys. For the Wild Card show the judges brought back 8 contestants (5 girls and 3 boys). The wild card show brought back 3 people from group 1, 3 people from group 3 and 2 people from group 4, which means none were brought back from group 2. Hopefully this means the judges brought back truly the contestants with the most talent and were not concerned about groups, gender etc. YAY!! The final 12 on season 3 consisted of 8 girls and only 4 boys!!!! YAY that means that it is possible that Matt gets through and maybe even Anoop!!! Who would be excited about that??? Also in previous wild card shows each contestant does sing a song. Now if they judges truly pick the best that were missed here is what I am thinking:

1. Ricky Braddy
2. Anoop Desai
3. Matt Giraud
4. Jessica Langeth
5. Megan Corkrey
6. Jorge Jimenz
7. Mishavonna Henson
8. Ju’Not Juyner
9. Nathaniel Marshall
10. Jackie Tohn
11. Arianna Afsar
12. Kristen McNamara

I pulled this explanation about the Wild Card round:

“In the Wild Card round, the fourth-place finishers from each of the three semifinal rounds will return, along with other eliminated semifinalists who are chosen by the judges. 12 previously-eliminated contestants will be chosen to compete in the Wild Card round. The judges will pick the 3 performers left that they consider the best. No voting by the public will be done at this stage.”

Thoughts and comments???

Also I wanted to say that I watched Reality Chat: American Idol last night and Jason Castro was the guest. He sang his new song Love Uncompromised and it was GREAT!!! I am a huge fan of his.

TEAM RYCROFT!!!!

The Bachelor:My head is going crazy right now, full of thoughts! The ONLY clear thoughts that I have right now are I like Melissa and Molly and I don’t like Jason!

Like many of you out there I fell into the temptation and read spoilers before last night’s show. However I tried hard not to read too many details but I definitely knew he was going to propose to Melissa and then change his mind and pick Molly. However I was not aware that Jason was going to dump Melissa on last night’s show OR that he would tell her that he wanted to pick Molly!!!! I have never been a huge Jason fan I think he is cheesy and over the top with the “good guy” routine. I think last night showed that he may not be quite the good guy that America had hoped.

I know, I know he signed a contract saying he would air all his relationship woes but I have to call BS on that!!! I think Jason could have waited until After the Final Rose to call things off with Melissa. I actually don’t blame him for the sparks dying after the camera stopped rolling I think this is something that happens a lot on the show… Let’s face it the real world is very different than the fantasy world they have been living in. I don’t even blame him for wanting to give his relationship with Molly a second shot BUT how he did it was just plain AWFUL!!! No matter what he says he COULD have just played it out with Melissa and broken it off with her after the final rose or broken up with her on the phone before hand and told her he was having doubts on his decision. SERIOUSLY he didn’t HAVE to do it that way…I am not buying it!

I am so sick of him right now that I don’t really even want to watch the second after the final rose tonight. I am pretty sure we are going to see Jason shed some more tears and try to convince America that he IS a good guy but for now I agree with Melissa “You are such a B******”

What did you think of all the drama on last night’s Bachelor?

Oh and did anyone see Jimmy Kimmel last night? I didn’t but I heard about it, Evangeline Lilly wouldn’t even sit next to Jason!!! You go GIRL!

Reality Steve’s INSIGHT on The Bachelor:

Ok so after I wrote my entire blog above I read reality Steve’s comments about last night’s show…if you haven’t already done so please click on the link below and see what he has to say. I can’t even go into everything he talks about but he has sources that told him the following facts:
Jason wanted to pick Molly from the very beginning (when there was 5 bachelorette’s remaining) and was talked into picking Melissa only to dump her on the After the Rose.
Melissa and Molly did not know about the scheme during the show. Melissa didn’t find out until the After the Rose last night.

Jason called Molly a few days after giving Melissa the final Rose to fill her in and let her know he picked her!

Jason moved up the “After the Rose” because he knew that Melissa was really falling for him and didn’t want to drag it out any longer.

ALL previous and current Bachelor/Bachelorette’s have signed a lifetime confidentiality agreement which essentially states that you can never give away the show secrets or else you can get sued for $5 million.

There are many more interesting bits on his website so check out the link below.

http://www.realitysteve.com/

What effect do you think this will have on the future of The Bachelor?

America Idol:

The final 12 are performing tonight for a spot in the top 12! I am still pretty bummed out this week after Matt Giraud’s elimination so forgive me if I don’t seem as enthusiastic about this weeks performers. Lets look at the contestants:

Nathaniel Marshall – So DRAMATIC I am already tired on him.

Jorge Nunez- I don’t believe he has a shot at this point.
Ju’Not Juyner – He has had some great moments but his personality has not jumped off the screen. I picked him for my top 12 but I might be having second thoughts…
Lil Rounds – She is an early fan favorite. I am not a huge fan of hers yet she sings to loud for me but we will see.
Scott McIntyre- He is definitely talented but I am not sure he is as talented as many of our other contestants.
Kristen McNamara – ANNOYING!!!
Kendall Beard – I honestly think she just made it on because she is cute and I hope that America doesn’t vote for her based on that.
Felicia Barton – She took Joanna’s place (boo I really wanted to see her in the competition) but I have watched a couple YouTube’s of Felicia singing and she is actually better than a lot the of the contestants we have heard thus far.
Ariana Afsar – I am extremely interested to see her perform . She is young, cute and has great vocals. Will she fall apart on stage?
Taylor Vaifanua- Bored with her….
Alex Wagner-Truman- I don’t think he has a chance at this point.
Von Smith – TOO LOUD!

Ok so those are my brief thoughts on each contestant for this round. I think that the girls will be between Ariana, Lil, and Felicia and the Boys will be between Scott and Ju’Not.

What do you think???