TV

American Idol Season Five starts tonight. I've decided not to watch. As it turns out, I went through the first two seasons without ever watching an episode. And I think it's best for me to return to that simpler time. Chris Daughtry's loss last year just broke my heart, and I think that maybe web sites like votefortheworst.com are really having an impact. Besides, that's two nights a week I'll have to do other things.

Speaking of TV, I watched the Golden Globes last night. It was a big night for big girls. Jennifer Hudson (of A.I. Season 3) and America Ferrera both won Globes, plus Ugly Betty won best comedy series. That was pretty cool - Betty and Grey's Anatomy (which won best drama) run back-to-back on ABC on Thursdays and are the cause of my sleep deprivation Friday mornings (I tape them and watch both at 11:30 after I get home from work at watch The Daily Show).

And that's all I have to say about TV for right now. I have decided to finish the 2006 scrapbook-o-cruises tonight. Wish me luck!

Hair

So... have I mentioned lately how much my hair is driving me crazy? Based on comparisons between what I see in the mirror and a picture taken on the last day of the cruise, my hair has grown maybe an inch in the past two months. At this rate, it'll be October before I have 10" to cut off. I just don't think I have it in me to wait that long. I could hold perfectly still and it would tangle. I can actually feel the weight on the back of my head when I have it up in a ponytail. And need I mention the fact that I live in Florida and we're already hovering around 90 degrees most days?

Besides, I've found the cutest cut! Sadly, it's on Kellie Pickler. But I really like it. She was in the Idol audience last week and I noticed that she had gotten it cut, and then last night during the finale I got a good look at her. It's such a nice 'do. There's some more pics of it here (where I borrowed this picture), here, and here. And here's some from last night's Idol finale.

Any opinions? Any miracle hair growth formula out there I should know about?

The Best One Yet

You know what was great about the Idol finale last night -- besides the random performances -- the fact that I didn't have to worry whether or not my pick would win. Though I had a glimmer of hope that Taylor and Katharine would be standing there and Seacrest would announce that Chris had won, I knew Taylor far outshined Kat in the final competition and that he'd win... but if he didn't, it wouldn't have been a big deal.

Besides, Chris had more face time than almost any of them last night. I should've taped it so I could watch him again and again. Of course, my favorite two moments of the night involved some audition losers -- the singing cowboy and his two comrades in 10-gallon hats came back to sing Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys, and the Clay Aiken wannabe started to sing and almost shat himself when the real Clay walked out on stage. They actually had to get the kid a stool. And it's a good thing they cut his microphone off, because he kept going "oh my GOD!!" over and over again.

Anyway, I've got three Chris songs on a CD I burned for myself, and that should tide me over for a while (although I need to download his "Dead or Alive" from the Idols CD that just came out). And we should all be free of Idol-mania until January.

See you then!

Downloading Daughtry

Great news for all you Idol fans out there! (ok, great news for me!) For a limited time only ('til May 24), each of the Idol finalists has downloads available. That's right, for $.99 each (same as most songs on Napster), you can own your favorite performances forever! (ok, you can own some of the performances) I'm making my list now!

Even without buying the music, this is a great way for those of you who said you were going to watch, but never quite got around to it, to know who the players are. You can preview the songs and really get a feel for whose music you'd want to hear on the radio and whose you wouldn't. I'm definitely buying two of Chris's songs - Hemmorhage and Walk the Line, and Katharine's Someone to Watch Over Me (more for the song than the artist).

As promised, I didn't post at all about this week's shows. I won't say that I was right about Elliott going home. And I won't mention that though I thought he should've left a long time ago, I was sorry to see him go.

Heartbreak Hotel

I looked at Scott at the end of American Idol tonight and told him I don't want to even watch anymore. Why would I? Chris is gone.

Elvis week was cruel to the Idols, somehow putting Kat and Chris in the bottom two, leaving Elliott and Taylor sailing into the semi-finals.

This isn't just "my pick to win is gone" sour grapes either. I feel heartbroken, disappointed, and completely SHOCKED by the loss of my favorite Idol.

This is worse than two seasons ago when LaToya was voted off and Jasmine stayed. This is worse than last season when Anwar left.

I don't even care who wins. Sure, I'll watch, but I won't vote. And I'll keep my fingers crossed that Chris somehow gets picked up by a label and makes a great album that I can buy.

Anyway, here's my prediction for the rest of the season: Elliott gets voted off next week when America realizes that they were stoned while dialing his digits this week, and Kat sails through the finals when Taylor can't pull off the sappy American Idol ballad (like Bo and Carrie last year). And then they'll go on tour for the summer and then disappear forever.

And in other disheartening Idol news, it seems Lifetime is producing the Fantasia Barrino biography, "Life is not a Fairy Tale." Why won't SHE just go away?

Well, that's it for my posts on AI Season 5. I'm sure when I wake up tomorrow I won't be bitter. After all, I already know I'm bitter about a stupid reality TV show. So please, be gentle in your comments. It's my blog and I'll whine if I want to.

Ameircan Idol - Final Six

I finally voted last night. Multiple times. While packing boxes.

Chris Daughtry is far beyond anyone I've ever seen on the AI stage before. He's been in the bottom three for the past two weeks, and I'm worried about that. So I voted. Multiple times.

Ask Scott - when he sings, I swoon. I've never swooned over any Idol contestant before. I want him to win, and I will buy his album.

Last night, they were working with Andrea Bocelli, and his manager(?) told Chris he was singing from the throat too much, and had him lie on the floor so that he'd be forced to sing from his diaphragm. That one lesson really made a difference in his performance last night - more control, more power, more swoon.

And so I voted.

(oh yeah - there were five other performances last night. Taylor and Kellie were not very good. Paris and Katharine were their usual good quality, and Elliott was pretty good too. Chris was still the best)

Random TV Observations

Katie Couric
Am I the only one who doesn't really take her seriously? Of all the morning female anchors, she's the one I most see as her co-host's little sister. I can't see tuning in to watch the evening news delivered by a cheerleader. Give me Diane Sawyer or Elizabeth Vargas any day. On a slight tangent, I got a call yesterday (6 hour OT shift...woo hoo) from a man who wanted to know when Katie was going to leave ABC. I told him she's currently on NBC and he laughed at himself. It was good fun.

South Park
I watched South Park religiously during its first season. We all got together on Wednesday nights and watched it, drunk off our butts for the most part. The next year, I was hanging with a different circle and couldn't sit through an episode. I dismissed it as animated potty humor that just wasn't funny sober.

A week or two ago I was playing on the computer with Comedy Central on the TV playing behind me. South Park came on and I actually found myself listening to it and laughing. (it was the Isaac Hayes blow-off episode where Chef joins a child molesting cult) And last night I was laying in bed reading a book waiting for The Daily Show to come on, and South Park was parodying Family Guy and free speech, among other things.

The show, it seems, has gotten past saying "shit" 100 times just for the sake of saying it or having entire storylines based on a talking turd. Heck, they just won a Peabody. I'm not going to make any plans to watch South Park, but I'll probably stop avoiding it all the time.

American Idol
Since I was working last night, I didn't get to watch the elimination show. Scott e-mailed me the play-by-play, and I was really surprised at the bottom three: Paris, Elliot, and Mandisa. I thought Ace would be back down there, along with Bucky and Elliot. I was really shocked about Paris, because I called to vote for her between 10:30 and 11:15 (ok, her and Chris) and never did get through. Anyway, Mandisa is gone. That's a shame. I never expected her to win, but thought she'd get farther into the competition. And WHO OUT THERE is voting for Bucky? He must have friends in the phone company!