A Cut Above The Rest

Ten minutes before Shear Genius was about to start last night my cable starting blinking. It would go to snow for a second, then back to the show for a second and back and forth like that. I wanted to scream, but didn't want to wake up everybody else in the house. Thank goodness it only lasted for about 2-3 minutes.

So Anthony is a cut above the rest. As he should have been based on last night's cuts. Of course, I would never expect anyone to pull of 3 models in 3 hours and I loved Vidal Sassoon telling Michael that he should try it. Priceless! Finally a judge who gets that these contestants are really put under a lot of pressure and time constraint. It seems that most of these shows where they are limited to a specific time and expected to get the end result perfect is not taken into consideration most of the time.

Anthony was one of my favorites from the beginning, along with Tabatha, Daisy and Danna. Dr. Boogie was fun to watch but he became too cocky and annoying during the photo shoot challenge. I thought the photographer was going to strangle him...I know I wanted to! I had hoped that Tabatha and Anthony would be battling out in the final three, but Tyson made sure she didn't make it that far. Although he didn't know that he would take Tabatha out with him.

Daisy seemed to bring something new and fresh to the challenges and she tried to do that with her "S" in each style last night. However, it turned out to be too much to do for 3 models in 3 hours. I agreed with the judges that she didn't need to color each model and she should have just done one or two. The pin curls were a good idea and probably would have looked fabulous had she had more time to perfect them.

Ben really grew on me over the course of the show. I didn't really care for him in the beginning as I didn't get the feeling that he was really comitted or was going to learn. Boy did he prove me wrong. Of everyone there I think he really improved and took chances. A perfect example was when Jaclyn asked him last night why he did an up-do when it isn't his forte. His answer was simply "because it's not my forte". BRAVO! (no pun intended) That is the mark of a man who is not afraid to take chances and will not be intimidated...by the judges, the competitors, the challenge, nothing. I didn't think he had it in him, but he really showed that he has it in him. I wish him luck and hope he goes on to be very successful.

Anthony now gets to go back to go back to his salon in California and [hopefully] use the $100,000 wisely. I guess it's a good that he isn't back in his hometown in England. At the current exchange rate 100,000 USD is approx 55,000 GBP. Ouch!

Ohno! Oh YES!!!

Well, I had no doubt in my mind from the minute I heard he was going to be on Dancing with the Stars. Ok, ok, so maybe not from the minute, but after I saw that he as graceful on the dance floor that he is on the ice . . . well, my heart stopped . . . and started again when my husband bopped me on the head and told me to put my eyes back in my head. I have watched Apolo in the last few Olympics and thought he has been amazing. I think he was robbed at the last Olympics and I get all antsy every time I see him compete hoping that he will get the gold.

It was also obvious that Apolo and Julianne had chemistry and could move well together. Which brings up the rumor that Julianne called off her engagement. Could it be that Apolo has more than skating and dancing talent? Heck, he's got the looks and moves, so why wouldn't Julianne want a taste of that? Not to mention that Julianne is gorgeous and Apolo cuold hardly say no to that. I haven't been a big fan of Dancing with The Stars because the judges drive me absolutely batty (uh, we need a translator over here), and some of the music is just weird that they are forced to dance to. But this year they pulled out two handsome, sexy, "if I weren't married and one of them wasn't married" guys, that I couldn't help myself. Kudos to Billy Ray for conquering his fear and making the most of it. He stated in an interview that he was doing it for his daughter Noah, and I can't think of any better reason.

This competition doesn't hold the weight of the Olympics, and it's purely for entertainment, but I am glad Apolo took home the trophy.

Will You Marry Me?

I read all the Bachelor websites and spoilers before I watched last night, but in this case I didn't believe them. As it got closer, I felt that Andy would pick Tessa over Bevin. I mean, let's think about this....he kept asking Tessa to "stick around", and to open up to him, and show him how she really felt. It was getting obvious that he "freakin' loves her", and wanted to propose to her. Ok, so he seemed to have a spark with Bevin, but that's all it was. She made him horny, but she is not the nurturing, sophisticated "navy wife" that he wants and needs.

Grandpa nailed that one on the head (uh, no pun intended - tee hee hee). He told Andy that "Bevin turns you on, but is that enough? What about 5 years, 10 years, etc. from now?" That made Andy stop and think about the two women left in his life. What was making him ask Tessa to stay? Why did he want her around? Why did he want Bevin around? What is life going to be like in 5 years, 10 years, 35 years (like his parents)? Is Bevin going to be the woman for him? It turns out, she is not.

Of course ABC magic editing doesn't show us everything, but Bevin never seemed quite right to me. I can't put my finger on it, but I wasn't surprised when he didn't choose her. I have to wonder if it was just editing or Bevin really didn't say anything to him the whole time he was telling her how wonderful she is, how beautiful she is, how he loves her and will never ever forget her. The fact that she was crying in the car on the way over makes me believe that she knew it wouldn't be her and that maybe she didn't want it to be her. I've never seen any of the last two ladies crying on the way there. I mean, look at Tessa. She looked as though she was about to vomit right there as she was walking with Chris. I thought for sure she was going to say "Excuse me a minute Chris", turn toward the bushes and just lose it (being very careful not to mess that pretty blue dress that she looks so great in - at least to Andy).

Tonight is the "After the Rose" episode and I can't wait to see if they have set a date or not. I didn't really miss the episode "The Women Tell All" but I do wonder why they didn't do one this year. That's just the 'ol gossip in me wanting to know if they would throw each other under the bus or not. I hope for Andy and Tessa that this is true and that the rest of their lives won't be awkward having met on a reality matchmaking show.

That's what Dreamz are made of

Last night was the season finale of Survivor: Fiji. Earl Cole took it all...ALL 9 votes! Out of the three that were left, he was probably the only one who deserved it. And I use that word lightly. Yes, he played a good game, but he did not play an honest game, as he said in his opening statement to the jury. He was not honest when people asked him "Am I going home tonight". Sometimes he didn't answer, but other times he outright said "No". I was ok with Earl till he made that statement. Why can't anyone just sit there and say "Look, this is a game. I came here to win a million dollars. You don't want to vote for me because you are sitting there and I am sitting here, fine. I would be the same way, but I think I outwitted, outlasted and OUTPLAYED because I am still sitting here. With that said, please vote for me". End of discussion.

As for the jury....wooo weee...I don't know that we had such a hateful group since Sue Hawk in the very first season. If you missed that, I have the quote in one of my earlier blogs. Alex had no right to tell Casandra to "stop talking" (mimicing Alex) when he asked her a question and wanted her to respond. Oh, so he didn't like what she was saying. You know what, I never liked what Casandra was saying, but the fact of the matter is, Casandra was not voted out and you asked her a question. Shut the F*** up and let her respond. I really wanted Jeff to step in, but he didn't. Now let's talk about Lisi...oh my goodness. What is that woman on? Jeff's expression when she was asking to see Casandra's water shoes and whatever else was coming out of her mouth, was priceless. I also was sitting there with a confused look on my face. To say the (very) least, we had a very angry bunch last night at the last tribal council.

We also learned that Dreamz is not a man of his word. I think we have another Jonny Fairplay from Survivor: Pearl Islands. The difference with Dreamz is that he didn't tell everyone that he lies, and he made it to the top three! Jonny told everyone not to believe them and they did, whereas Dreamz asked people to belive him and trust him and they did even when they saw him lying, backstabbing and betraying his other alliance. I really thought he was going to keep his word and give Yau-man the immunity necklace. I guess he knew that Yau could beat him, Earl and Casandra. Enjoy the truck, Dreamz...that's all I'm going to say about that.

So congratulations to Earl, and once again I am jealous of the winner. I would love to be on Survivor, but I think I would be voted out way early. Oh well, I just have to keep looking for another way to win a million....or more....

A Cut Above?

Thanks to my friend Bozoette for tuning me in Shear Genius on Bravo. Bozoette pointed me to an episode where the winner used grass shears (in the picture above) to cut the hairstyle. Last night Bravo was showing past episodes and I caught the one where Evangelin had to use the shears as part of a challenge. Of course I got hooked on it, quickly learned the names of all the contestants, and I now have my favorites. Evangelin (the girl who won using the shears), is not my favorite and I watched her get eliminated last night. Well it was probably the week before since it was a repeat, but she deserved to go. She continued to use those shears to cut the models hair during the challenges and saw nothing wrong with it. The other contestants totally slammed her and I agree with them. She is not Edward Scissorhands and they are not a styling tool. Her argument was that they use all kinds of other tools for cutting hair. Hello Evangelin! Those are MADE for cutting hair. Some people just don't get it.

In every competition reality show there is that one person who is rude, crude and full of himself. Top Chef had Marcel, Top Design had Michael and now Shear Genius has Tyson. Ok, first of all, who names their child Tyson? Personally, I don't want to be named after chicken. He is the one that nobody wants to win, the one everyone tries to sabotage and will probably be the one that gets into the top 3 or top 2. I never understand how that happens, but then I'm not a judge.

I do have to say that some of these models are pretty brave to come on and let these stylists cut, color and maybe even destroy their hair in hopes of winning the challenge of the day. I watched Dr. Boogie cut the redheaded model's hair shorter, shorter, shorter until even Rene said "You are going to be the first person to make the mullet fashionable". I don't know how he did it, but she didn't look that bad. She's just lucky that her hair will grow back. My favorites right now are Tabatha, Anthony and Danna (pronouced as "Donna"). They seem to really "get" what the judges are looking for in each challenge and execute it well. I can't wait to see who was eliminated during the 10:00 episode last night. I had to record it because, well... LOST was on at that time. And I CANNOT ever miss LOST. :)

That's Entertainment!

Or at least that is what it is supposed to be on Dancing With The Stars. Bruno (one of the judges) was absolutely horrible to Billy Ray Cyrus last night. Yes, I am a fan of his (I mean at 45 he is totally hot and a really good singer and actor), and I admit he can't dance, but he too has admitted he can't dance. He has been there this long because his fans love him and vote for him (like I do). But Bruno had no right to call his dance "crap" and totally insult him. Of course I'm surprised anyone can understand half of what he says. Between his accent and spitting, I don't know what he is trying to say. I just loved his line "we are coming to the finals in an important competition".   sound effects of record scratching to a halt     Excuse me? An important competition? This is not the olympics, this is not someone trying to break a guiness world record, this is not someone trying to break into show business. These "stars" are already in show business. Earth to Bruno! This is a show entirely for entertainment! And you my friend are NOT entertainment.

On the other hand, The Bachelor has been providing me with lots of entertainment. I know these women are doing this to find their soul mate, husband, love of their life and Andy is doing this to find the woman he can spend the rest of his life with, but it is quite the entertaining show. Amber went home last night and she has no f*ing idea why. Her words, not mine. I don't really know why Andy strung her along when he knew that she was too young for him and that it would be a problem. See he is not only looking for the love of his life but he is looking for a woman who can be a Lt.'s wife, and that is not an easy role. I know because my best friend is married to a man in the Air Force and there is a huge part to play being the wife of an officer. Amber is not ready for that role and Andy saw that when she was at home and with her friends. Her aunt can tell him 50 times how mature Amber is, but the fact is that she is young and does have a lot of growing to do. At this point I am not really sure who he is in love with. The editing always throws things off and I am not really sure if Tessa is really falling in love with him. He says that he sees potential in her, but to me that says "You would make a really good officer's wife". He truly has chemistry with Bevin but she seems emotionally unstable as she is the one who has cried the most out of the three left. It's hard for me to call this one, but as of last night I think he wants Tessa. We'll just have to wait and see.

Crossing the Finish Line

LAst night I was glued to the television waiting for the winner of The Amazing Race to arrive at the end of the race. I was SOOOOO happy when it was Eric and Danielle. Out of the last three teams, they were the only ones who didn't stab anyone in the back or be outright mean to the other teams. Yes, they were pissed off at Oswald and Danny, but they didn't know the real reason they were yielded by them. I thought at one point that they would find out, but if they didn't then it wasn't shown. Chmirna and Mirna, as I call them, (Charla and Mirna) were so mean to people. I understand they are running the race for $1M, but they could have done it and still been nice to people. One of the most annoying thing they did was when Mirna stated that you "have to speak to the locals with an accent so that they understand you". The problem is that she uses the same stupid accent and she sounds like she's talking down to them. I do applaud Charla for taking on the physical demands and coming through it like a trooper, but her cousin needs to learn some serious people skills! My favorite team was David and Mary from Kentucky and I think they deserved to win. My second favorite team was Oswald and Danny. I was upset when they were eliminated. They should have been in the final three along with the blondes and Eric and Danielle.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to stay awake for the show last night because of my own "reality" this weekend. I accompanied my daughter to her Girl Scout Camp. We started with the campfire on Friday and ended on Saturday night with the closing ceremony. The theme this year was "Pirates of the Catoctin" (it was held at Catoctin Mountain Park in Thurmont, MD). They had lots of pirate activities, obstacle courses, hikes, etc. and of course we had to walk between all the activities, as well as walking back to the cabin where we were staying from time to time. My body was so glad when it was over and I crashed on the sofa on Saturday night. Thank goodness I was able to catch a nap yesterday afternoon so I could stay awake and watch Eric and Danielle win. My only regret is that I forgot to grab my digital camera, so I have absolutely no pictures of the weekend! I thought I learned my lesson last year when I forgot the camera. Maybe next year I'll remember? Most likely not.

Idol Cleans House

As I said in a previous post, I cannot watch the American Idol results show because it just takes too long for them to deliver the bad news. I watch something else and use the "Picture-in-Picture" feature on my TV to watch the action. Not hearing it helps with the angst of waiting to see who gets voted off. I don't usually put it on till the last 10 minutes, but decided to watch at about 9:20 or so. I saw Phil Stacy get voted off. While I wasn't his biggest fan, I didn't think he was terrible. There were much worse than him...dare I say the name Sanj...NNNOOOOOOOO, I can't say it! I won't say it! So I knew Phil's time was coming. He just hasn't improved and the last few weeks weren't good genres for him. I was so disappointed when Chris got voted off instead of Blake. I think he sounded like a fool with all his beat-boxing during "You Give Love A Bad Name". Well, Blake, you give singing a bad name! My goodness. If he recorded that and it played on the radio, I would think the DJ had a bad CD that was stuck! Chris sounded really good and I hope he gets picked up by a label. Yes, he is very comparable to JT (and I like JT), but JT could stand some competition. Chris, I will miss you!

One of the other reality shows that was on last night that I like to watch is Clean House on the Style Network. I just cannot believe that people actually live like that! Now my mother can be a pack rat, and doesn't do "the purge" as often as she should, but she in no way lives with things all over the place to where you can't see the floor, or move around, or eat on the table, or sit or even breathe! I have to wonder if some of these families throw all this stuff in the rooms just to have these reality makeovers. If I had that much junk in my house, I would do the same thing. I mean, my family room and kitchen need a serious makeover! And I wouldn't mind somebody coming in and doing our basement over. It's already finished but the previous owners put that prickly stucko on the walls! I like Clean House because Niecy also "gifts" things to people when they are having trouble letting go of their items. Heck, Niecy, come to my house...I can have trouble letting go of something in order to get new furniture for my family room, or a new bed in the basement for my mother to sleep on when she visits. I have no problem causing a stink when you try to sell something in the yard sale that I absolutely MUST keep. The problem is that my husband and I do "the purge" at least once a year, so we don't have items like that. The other problem is that Niecy only goes to families in the LA area. Until such time as I can figure out how to to Niecy to my house to "gift" me items, I will have to figure out another way to get a free makeover for one or more of my rooms.

Dancing with The Bachelor

On Monday night I attempt to watch Dancing With The Stars and The Bachelor. I say "attempt" because I can't bring myself to watch every minute of either one, but I am still hooked. The only stars I like to watch this time around are Apollo and Billy Ray. I got hooked on Apollo the first time I saw him in that tight skating bodysuit speeding around the track in the Olympics. And Billy Ray Cyrus is just sexy for a 45 year old. My daughter watches Hannah Montana non-stop on Disney so I get to see him quite often. And I don't mind it one little bit! He seems to be holding his own out there, but I think Apollo will take the prize. As he should!

The Bachelor is one of those shows that I got hooked on from the first season. I'm still amazed that this show is on the air. It's now in it's 10th season and I can think of 3 relationships that have survived from that show. Only one of them ended up in marriage (that I ever heard) - Trista and Ryan. This year they went with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Andy Baldwin, M.D. . Now he's not the sexiest man, and he seems a little nerdy, but there were 25 women just dying to meet him. Now he's narrowed it down to just 4 women, who get to take him home to Mom and Dad. From the previews it looks like the hometown date with Amber will be a bust. But we all know how the networks screw with us in the previews. They show just enough to keep you interested but always show things in a twisted way that makes us think one thing, when the truth is far from it. The year that Trista was the bachelorette I predicted that she would pick Ryan and that he would propose to her. No matter what ABC tried to with editing, they couldn't hide the fact that they were all over each other and in love. For this season, I started thinking a few weeks ago that Bevin was the one that he eventually picks, but now I'm thinking that Tessa is the one he fell in love with. He seems to have the attraction and comfortable relationship with each of them. I will be surprised if it doesn't come down to the two of them. I did notice that this year they are getting rid of the bachelorettes faster and the season is shorter. I guess ABC realized they don't need to drag it out. It seems most of the Bachelor/Bachelorette shows end in a proposal, but for Andy, I truly hope he does find his true love.