Reality Rocks
  • After losing four very amazing dancers last week, "So You Think You Can Dance" easily rebounded this Wednesday, thanks to the 16 also-amazing dancers that remained. But Thursday will be a whole other story. It's going to be another VERY tough call for the judges, and the voters at home, this week.

    Here's how everyone did...

    Sasha & Alexander - Contemporary
    A touching and very original Dee Caspary routine to "Belong" by Cary Brothers, centered on a yellow piano--with Alexander cast as a pensive, lonely musician and Sasha as the long-lost muse who haunts his work--this number required just as intense an emotional connection as the returning-soldier Nappytabs routine they did last week. I think their chemistry was convincing here, just as it was last week--but, just like last week, I think Sasha outshined Alexander. She always does, and as great as he is, I honestly think Alexander was incredibly lucky to pull her name out of Cat Deeley's hat at the start of this season. Sasha is a force

    Read More »from ‘SYTYCD’ Top 16 Recap: Shut The Front Door!
  • For weeks now on "The Voice," viewers had assumed that Javier Colon--who'd been the frontrunner since before the season even started, when his first audition of "Time After Time" was heavily featured in "Voice" promo teasers--had the competition in the bag. So perhaps it was no surprise when he triumphed over Beverly McClellan, Vicci Martinez, and his most formidable opponent, iTunes chart-topper Dia Frampton (who came in second to Javier, separated by only 2 percent of the votes), on Wednesday's big finale.

    As his mentor Adam Levine put it, this was not Javier's first time at the rodeo. He sang with the Derek Trucks Band in the early 2000s, and was signed to Capitol Records after that; the first single off his 2003 self-titled debut album for Capitol, "Crazy," was a minor chart success, reaching number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 42 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. (No wonder he looked like such a pro performing with legend Stevie Nicks on the "Voice" finale!) Javier's

    Read More »from Javier Colon Fulfills Destiny With ‘Voice’ Victory
  • Last night, the final four competed on "The Voice," and it just might have been the closest competition in recent reality-TV memory. Beverly McClellan and Vicci Martinez's mentor duets were the most memorable, but Dia Frampton had the best original song (which prompty shot straight to number one on iTunes), and Javier Colon had avowed fan Justin Bieber enthusiastically tweeting his endorsement throughout the evening. So tonight's finale could go any which way.

    So today, there is much for my Yahoo! colleague Matt Whitfield and I to gab about. Is Javier no longer a fronturnner? Is Vicci Martinez the next Pat Benatar? Is it geeky that Beverly's "Beautiful" made me cry last night, and was Christina Aguilera a genius or an egomaniac (or both) to pick her own song for their duet? What the heck was Cee Lo Green wearing? Is "The Voice" better than "American Idol"? And, most importantly who is going to win this thing?

    We discuss all this and more. Please be sure to join in our convo by posting

    Read More »from The Voice, The Day After: Finale Part 1 Dish
  • "X Factor U.K." twins Jedward's new video, for "Bad Behaviour," is only available in Europe. WHHHYYYYYYYY???? This is a greater travesty than when they were eliminated in sixth place on "The X Factor" or only came in eighth at Eurovision. AMERICA DEMANDS JEDWARD, dammit! This is very bad behavior, or behaviour, on the part of YouTube and Vevo.

    But far be it from me to let a little thing like international licensing stop me from getting my Jedward fix. I found a crappy version of the video online, and if I squint real hard, I can suss out that it serves up the usual hair-raising (pun intended) Jedwardian awesomeness I've come to expect from the brothers Grimes.

    Following in the tradition of unsupervised-teens-at-home iconography perpetuated by Home Alone, Risky Business, and the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right" video, "Bad Behaviour" depicts the double divas of Dublin throwing the soiree of the year. And they're serving some sort of Jedward-branded kool-aid, which I am totally

    Read More »from Wanna Party With Jedward? Watch Their New Video!
  • Tuesday night the four finalists competed on "The Voice" for the last time, performing two songs each. They did duets with their respective superstar mentors, during which they all impressively held their own, as equals--no easy feat when one's duet partner is a large-lung'd, larger-than-life character like Christina Aguilera or Cee Lo Green. But even more excitingly, all four contestants sang ORIGINAL songs. Throughout its inaugural season, "The Voice" has set up its contestants for real, viable music careers (for instance, allowing iTunes downloads to count as votes, so that votes mirror the actual marketplace). And having the finalists all perform potential singles--not "coronation songs" about rainbows and unicorns, but songs that presumably reflect the kind of music they'd like to make after the show, whether they win or not--only furthered this cause. This is how a talent search (emphasis on the word "talent") should be done, people!

    The talent is so strong on this show, in fact,

    Read More »from ‘The Voice’ Recap: The Final Four Hit The Battlefield
  • It's already been well-established that most of the contestants on "The Voice" came to the show as seasoned pros, with plenty of experience in film, on other reality shows, or on major record labels (that had long since dropped them). This raised more than a few eyebrows among skeptical viewers--especially when some contestants' professional pasts were conveniently not mentioned on the show--but to be fair, "The Voice" never claimed that its singers were total newbies. That's a Cinderella myth that still seems to be at the heart of talent shows like "American Idol" and "America's Got Talent," even if it's kind of a fallacy these days.

    And, to be fair, none of these contestants ever really "made it." Sure, they came close, but nothing ever fully came together for them, despite their obvious talent and some golden opportunities. So, having exhausted other avenues of stardom-seeking, they finally turned to NBC. And now, finally, they are household names. Hey, that's the power of

    Read More »from Voices Of The Past: Check Out Vintage Music By ‘The Voice’ Finalists
  • Just two months ago, when "The Voice" premiered on NBC smack-dab in the middle of "American Idol's" comeback season, many doubters scoffed. Wasn't the show just one big gimmick, with its blind auditions and ominous spinning chairs of doom? Weren't pop stars like Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green committing career suicide by slumming on a reality show like this? And most importantly, did America really need yet another singing competition?

    Well, the respective answers to questions above turned out to be no, no, and, apparently, yes. "The Voice" is now a bona fide hit, with better ratings and better talent than anyone probably ever expected. As it airs its two-part finale this week, the show has already been renewed for a second season, with all four A-list coaches (Christina, Cee Lo, and Adam Levine and Blake Shelton) on board. Season 2 of "The Voice" will premiere in a coveted slot, right after the Super Bowl, on February 5, 2012, and will once again compete with "American Idol,"

    Read More »from Why “The Voice” Is The Anti-”Idol”
  • Season 7 "American Idol" finalist Brooke White is one of my favorite Idols ever, and although she has found success acting and hosting in various TV projects, her post-"Idol" music has not garnered the attention I feel it should have. Until now. I think Brooke's finally found the ideal vehicle for her folksy talents.

    Brooke has just formed a duo amusingly named Jack & White with California singer-songwriter Jack Matranga (formerly of the indie band Self Against City). The two were recently matched up blindly, for a session to co-write a song for what was supposed to be Brooke's new solo album...but they hit off so well during that session that they ended up writing six songs, and decided to release them as the Gemini EP (out this summer) under the name Jack & White.

    I am loving the music snippets I hear in the teaser above--it's all reminiscent of great easy-breezy '60s and '70s folk-rockers like the Mamas & The Papas, the Carpenters, and Fleetwood Mac, but the music also brings to

    Read More »from Move Over, Jack White…Here’s Jack & White!
  • Thursday night was a rough night on "So You Think You Can Dance," as four incredible dancers--ballroom goddess Iveta, tapper Nick, jazz sexpot Missy, and B-boy Wadi--were all sent home at once. In any other season, contestants this excellent might've easily sailed through to the top 10. But Season 8 is so fiercely competitive, it's a whole other game.

    It should be pointed out that none of these dancers were up for elimination last week, when the flip-flopping judges decided at the last minute not to cut anyone. Did the fanbases of last week's bottom seven contestants, who were all given another chance, mobilize and vote in droves this Wednesday, leading to an entirely new result this week? Would Iveta, Nick, Missy, and Wadi still be around this week if two dancers HAD gone home last week? Well, at least two of them would be...as for the other two, it could just be that the "SYTYCD" race really is too close to call this year.

    Anyway, check out Thursday night's emotional interviews with

    Read More »from ‘SYTYCD’ Season 8′s First Castoffs Speak Post-Elimination
  • Thursday night was a tough night on "So You Think You Can Dance," as judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy--assisted by legendary guest judge Debbie Reynolds--were forced to eliminate four very amazing dancers (Iveta, Nick, Missy, and Wadi). Nigel and Mary postponed their agony last week by deciding not to cut anyone, but it was inevtiable that by week two, four contestants would be gone--and having them all go in one night was especially hard.

    And it should be noted that the three couples that were up for elimination this week--the aforementioned dancers, plus Ryan and Ricky, who were ultimately saved--were NOT in the bottom three couples last week. Did the fanbases of last week's at-risk dancers, who were given another chance, mobilize and vote like crazy this Wednesday, leading to an entirely new result this week? Possibly...or it could just be that the "SYTYCD" race really is THAT close this season.

    Check out Thursday night's interviews with Nigel, Mary, and Debbie after the results

    Read More »from ‘SYTYCD’ Judges Discuss First Season 8 Eliminations

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