Friday... The Return of Jezebel James... Episodes 1, 2

I was going to quote a line from this show, but I can't remember it. The mother, played by Dianne Wiest, mentions something about a friend having cancer, not being able to talk about it, and THEY PLAY A LAUGH TRACK.

Oh, this laugh track was as overused as text messaging by teenagers. (Hahaha!) Many have looked forward to this show only because of Amy Sherman-Palladino, who had success with Gilmore Girls. They thought another show with quick, witty banter between two female characters would obviously be just as good. To put a laugh track into that banter is insane. (Hahaha!) Even The Big Bang Theory does a better job of smart writing in a sitcom. This show does not have it. The second episode was worse than the pilot, which did an okay job of establishing the story. However, the lead up to this show and the delay from the strike led to many commercials giving away most of the jokes.

The main character (Sarah, not Jezebel. Jezebel is fake) is in a sex-only relationship with a guy, and I would not be surprised if this show falls into yet another sitcom trap and has her fall for this guy, who doesn't know of her plan to have a baby.

I'm saying ten episodes. I'm not sure how many have been produced, but I don't like it's chances. It can't even be as good as Cavemen. (Hahaha!)

Wednesday... American Idol.... Top 8 Girls

Top 8 Girls. I wish the top 12 could include 7 of them (minus Antonella), because the guys were suckin'.

Here we go.

"Our most groundbreaking Idol project"? Ten bucks says it's the Idol Camp they already advertise on their website.

I missed what Randy just said. It's a live show.

Jordin starts it out. She sounds better without the backup singers. She kinda blends in when they're going so you can't really tell how she is doing. Randy thinks it's hot and dope. Paula likes her zzzzzzzzz, and Simon is once again not thrilled, but she will 100% be here next week. I think the judges now pick comments out of a hat from the past five seasons.

Sabrina is better than Christina, haha. Oooh, except for that note. Wait, this isn't a Christina song. Oops. En Vogue. I think she's kinda losing it and trying to do too much. Still better than the guys. Randy isn't thrilled, Paula thinks she can sing (wow, great insight) and Simon thinks it lacks emotion and it sounds like a hotel performance. But without hesitation she deserves a Top 12 spot.

Here comes Antonella. I actually hope she does great and everyone has to re-think their position on her. Haha, position. Oh no, Corrine? Gonna be tough to compare. It's weird when people try to do songs that are currently on the charts. She actually sounds pretty good though. Randy thinks it's ok, Paula is tripping over her politeness, and Simon says goodbye to her in so many words. She always looks confused when Simon says something bad. Randy thinks she can sing better than she shows; it seems like she thinks she IS better than anyone. I like her singing better than her attitude.

Haha, American Idol lottery tickets. Man, they can sell anything.

I've never heard this song Haley is doing. For some reason, it has the sound of a Christmas song. Eh, not much better or much worse than what we've heard so far. It ended a bit abruptly. Randy wants more "Wow" and "Yo!". Paula regurgitates Randy's comments. Simon thinks it's horrible. Woah, he hasn't used such a big insult like that since the auditions. Ryan is trying to make her feel better and give her some pity. Simon backs off a tad, but thinks it may be her last performance.

Stephanie is wearing an American Idol t-shirt in her interview. Haha. She should make the Top 3 girls easily. But if she has a bad night, people will remember it more. She did seem "pitchy" as Randy might say. And there it is. "Chaka done sung it. It not gon' be sung like that no'mo'." It's amazing that Randy can say all these neutral-to-negative comments and Paula says nearly flawless. Simon thinks she is one of the best but is copycat.

Lakisha (or LaKisha?) wants a hug from Ryan. Hmmm, who should he choose between her and Chris Sligh?

Oh boy. Randy goes on and on about these popular artists and now Lakisha is doing a Whitney song. He's either gonna say it's hot, or start another rant about how anyone he's worked with shouldn't be copied on the show. Or, "another great performance." I wasn't thrilled. Simon says she brought passion and believability. Didn't mentioned "charismar," though.

I think Fox really wants me to watch Wedding Bells. Ok, they talked me into it.

Gina Glocksen! Still my favorite name. She's only wanted this for the past four years? Hmm. Another chart topper here. I think this is her kind of song though, even though I'm not a big fan of it. It's hard to like it now when I don't even like it that much with Amy Lee singing it. She'll make it to the top 12, though. Randy agrees with me, and so does Paula, and so does Simon, but they all think she might have oversang it a tad.

First shoutout to the band in weeks!

Why does Melinda bore me so much? She just looks stiff and plain. I don't know. Except now she's all over the place. I think it's the first time someone has walked off the main stage while singing. She's closing the show and it was definitely memorable, so she'll make it. Randy thinks she could make a record right now. Paula pours on the compliments. Simon calls her a tiger.

They better hurry with the recaps so they can show Wedding Bells on time! They've only shown commercials every three minutes.

I'm going to vote for the first time this year. Once for Gina and once for Sabrina.

Top 3 girls could easily be Lakisha, Stephanie and maybe Sabrina. Jordin and Gina could be the dark horses.

Should be an easy pick this week, with Antonella and Haley leaving. Vote For The Worst wants people to vote for Antonella and Sundance, two of my picks to leave. So, we'll see if they screw me over.

Tuesday/Wednesday... American Idol... Top 24 Perform

I think we Idol watchers were spoiled in the first season with the runaway favorites. Kelly and Tamyra were just that good. I think if this were the first season and this was the same 24, the viewing audience might be closer to that of Dancing with the Stars. The guys weren't good and the girls were only better by comparison. As I was watching Stephanie start out the show on Wednesday, I made a comment to my girlfriend predicting Randy would say something like "The girls are ON TONIGHT!" As the show went on, it was clear they really weren't. Although at the end, in comparison to the guys, I believe Randy might have said they did have it "going on," or "brought it down" or something like that.

Ryan accused Simon of being more negative Tuesday night, but was he? Randy called a lot of the performances rough, and Paula was more often making comments about picking the right song or taking/not taking risks. Simon just happens to be more blunt about it, and makes more references to weddings/theme parks/ etc.

Speaking of Ryan and Simon, their bickering used to be fun. Now, it's just painful. It's as if Ryan wants to have more of it and Simon, rightfully so, is bored with it. And Ryan is becoming RUDE. "Thanks to Randy and Paula, the band, and you, America." Wow, we get it. I actually hope that GLAAD finally makes a formal complaint because of all the gay-bashing they joke around with.


If I gotta pick my top three favorite girls and guys right now, I guess I will.

1. Sabrina Sloan
2. Stephanie Edwards
3. No clue. Lakisha was good, but we've kind of already seen a variation of her a few times, and she never seems to win. She is from Michigan though. So, represent.

I wish I thought Leslie Hunt was a better singer. Gina Glocksen, the funnest name to say this year, might become my #3 if she does well next week.

1. Blake Lewis
2. Chris Sligh (he looked a little awkward on stage though)
3. Brandon Rogers

Sabrina was right, there are too many ballads and hopefully some of the guys will do something different next week, and maybe I'll update my list.

I don't think I'll make my season-long predictions until they narrow it down to the Final 12. But this is probably going to be one of the worst final 12 they've had. I fear it may come down to "who I can stand" between the final 2, kind of like how I was rooting for Diana DeGarmo in Season 3 (Fantasia went on to make such hits as .... her life story in a TV movie). Wow... looking back, I don't see a lot back then either. I was a Jasmine fan.

My picks for the elimination... Simon warned me that the performances wouldn't be memorable, so I'm having a hard time remembering who was bad enough to go. So I guess I'll have to make my picks more on the random side.

Guys to be eliminated: Paul Kim, Phil Stacey. Although, Rudy and Sundance may have been worse than those two. Chris Richardson might have been my least favorite performance, though.

Girls to be eliminated: Antonella Barba, Amy Krebs. I guess. I don't have the highlights to wath back right now. So, there you have it.