Reality tv this week

Hello, here's the roundup of all the reality competition shows I've watched this week:

The Amazing Race: The contestants had to race around Accra, the capital of Ghana. Their "road block" challenge involved either setting up a tv antenna for a person or delivering a coffin to a showroom. At first I thought delivering a coffin would be easier, but those things were weird shaped (but cool) and the traffic there seems crazy and unrelenting! Accra seems like a hustling, bustling, interesting city. The home shopping chicks team finished first, which is impressive considering one of them got pelted in the face with a watermelon last week. (Look it up on YouTube, it's brutal!) The team eliminated this week was the birth mother/daughter. I was a little bummed- their story was touching and it would have been cool to see them have more time to compete and bond. And of course, my favorite team, TEAM JUMBA! (that's the father/son team, Michael and Kevin), did better this week! They started the episode in 7th place and ended in 3rd! GO TEAM JUMBA!

Dancing With the Stars: Hot off the controversy from last week of Bruno telling Michael Bolton he had the worst jive ever in any of the seasons and then giving him a 3 (Bolton went home), this week brought story night. I didn't really "get" some of the stories, but I watch just as much for the awful dances as the great ones. Audrina did do a really good job and deserved the top of the leader board this week. Jennifer Grey was ok but I think she is a teensy bit overrated. Kyle Massey is still my favorite! Bristol Palin and The Situation looked awkward but like they were legitimately trying, so I am glad they made it through this week. Margaret Cho, with her rainbow fringey dress and "pride" story dance were eliminated. I think her dancing improved, and the judges seemed to like her. I think what did her in was the little speech in front of Brooke Burke. I was about a sad and disturbing news story. Margaret appeared to be shaken up and angry about it. You could tell Brooke Burke didn't expect that, because there were a few seconds of painful, awkward silence and then, "Let's get those scores." That's why they call it reality tv, I guess!

The best part of the results episode was that they got Michael Bolton to replace Susan Boyle, who had to pull out of performing because she was sick. Bolton only had 1 hour of rehearsal and did an amazing job! I've also never heard Ne-Yo before, and he was sick beforehand too, but I really liked his performance! I don't normally watch the results show because I get sick of watching the pro dancers, and most of the singers aren't that good, but I was officially impressed with this one!

Hell's Kitchen: I love the 2 back-to-back episodes every week! The first episode had the contestants cooking for the Beverly Hills High School prom. One of the guys yelled at the prom committee and when they told him to watch his language, he was like, "I'm a grown @$$ed man!" at which point, another guy took over talking to the teenagers. Now, I am annoyed by rude teenagers as much as the next person, but I don't swear at them. Plus, it was their prom, a once-in-a-lifetime event, and they wanted it to be awesome. I never went to my prom, but I still understand why they were trying to get the guys to decorate it just right.

I am not seeing any real standout contestants too much, except maybe Gail at this point. Gail just flies under the radar, doesn't talk back, and cooks pretty well. The girl's team wasn't working together too well. The guy's team was trying to work together but just don't cook as well. Emily got sent home from the first episode.

The second episode involved the contestants making signature salad entrees (the guy's team squeaked out a victory), and dinner service had a special chef's table right in the kitchen. I can't imagine wanting to be seated there, because of all the terrible language that they bleep out in the episodes! I imagine it's much worse actually sitting there, and it probably isn't for the faint of heart. I can't believe they talk like that in front of little old ladies! I still can't believe that they can't seem to figure out how to properly cook food and not send it up raw. Where do they find these people? Melissa got sent home (after getting traded for Trev to the other team) because she couldn't cook scallops right and POUNDS of them got thrown into the trash. Why, oh why won't Sabrina get sent home? She won't do prep, she can't keep her station under control, and she has an attitude that would tick off the rude guests on Maury Povich and Jerry Springer!

America's Next Top Model: I swear, they come up with some of the wackiest stuff on this show! This week had a runway challenge with a runway made out of conveyor belts. Now I know some runway shows might be like that in real life, but I think the models would get some practice on it beforehand. I felt bad for the girls because they didn't get any runs on it before the big show (which they shut down a highway tunnel for, neat!) The photo shoot was in a wrestling ring, with crazy awesome Mexican-style wrestlers (remember the cartoon Mucha Lucha? It's like that). Poor Ann, who got top picture 3 weeks in a row, had a tough time with this one. It looked like many of the girls had difficulty with this one. They either couldn't get into character, or couldn't get their character to be "angry pretty," aka show emotion but still have model quality. At panel, Ann said she was disappointed in her performance and sad that she let the judges down, but guess who ended up getting best picture? Ann again! This 6'2", "too tall to model" girl is going to be tough to beat! She had better end up in the finals, and I hope she wins! I also have to say that Esther is awesome, since she is a Boston girl, but I think I like Ann. Lexie went home, which I was a little bummed about, but I definitely saw it coming.

So that's my reality roundup, did you watch any of those shows? If so, what did you think? If not, what do you like to watch?
-duckyone

Yay for reality TV!

Yes, I watch too much reality tv. What can I say? It's nice to get a big dose of "reality" after the reality of working and/or watching my kiddo all day. So here's the rundown of the shows I am watching...

*Dancing With The Stars: The don't always find the biggest stars or even "stars" for this, do they? My favorite this season is Kyle Massey, he is funny and looks like he will be pretty good! Jennifer Grey is good. Rick Fox and Bristol Palin really surprised me. I can't say I was too surprised to see The Hoff go last week. Honestly, though, I thought it would be Margaret Cho, and even though she improved this week, I still think she will be next to go.

*Hell's Kitchen: 16 more "chefs" competing to win a spiffy job with a high salary! I am constantly amazed at some of the bad stuff they manage to do. There have only been 2 episodes so far and I am already grossed out by some of the stuff they have cooked. I mean, I am no chef by any stretch of the imagination, but even I can tell the difference between raw and cooked! I also know not to send food out looking unpresentable, no matter how tasty it may be. Doesn't take a genius. I don't have too much of a favorite yet, but I really want Raj and Sabrina to go away. Especially Sabrina. She isn't that good of a cook, she thinks she's better than everyone else, and I sort of think they keep her around just for the ratings because she is drama.

*America's Next Top Model: I am sort of bummed that they split up the sisters, Chris and Terra. Terra got a makeover she didn't even like and then they sent her home right there at the salon before this last episode's photo shoot! So there were 2 eliminations that episode! I still really like Lexie (she reminds me of my brother's girlfriend for some reason), but I think Ann or Esther will probably win this one. I'm guessing Ann. I wouldn't mind that, she does a good job and she is just the right amount of geeky.

*The Amazing Race: I've never watched before, but thanks to a cool YouTube guy named KevJumba, I am watching. Kevin (KevJumba) and his dad are competing this season! Since I think Kevin and his dad are pretty funny guys, I had to tune in to see this. And wouldn't you know it, they started in Gloucester, Massachusetts? They showed a sign that said Beverly on it (where I lived several years ago), and I was like, "I miss home!" My husband and I were cracking up at the teams getting lost in Boston traffic because we are used to it and he knows where all that stuff is. Poor husband got a second dose of the "I miss home!"s when the contestants flew from Boston to London. My husband grew up in England (but he's not British so no spiffy accent, booooo) so he was sitting there enjoying the show but also doing a bit of homesick sulking.

Anyway, that really has nothing to do with the show. It was entertaining. I think I am hooked. And of course, I am rooting for Kevin and Michael- GO TEAM JUMBA! Also, that poor lady who got nailed in the face with a watermelon-OUCH! That chick is manlier than any man because she got right back up and started hurling watermelons, even though she was in pain and couldn't see straight. By the time she got to the checkpoint, she couldn't feel her face! Superman's got nothing on her!


...So that's what I've been watching lately for reality competition type shows. I find that sort of stuff really entertaining for some reason. Sometimes I wish I could be on something like that, but then I remember, I don't want to do all sorts of grueling, tiring, degrading, or gross challenges! Besides, it's too hard to become a star just to go on Dancing With The Stars. Anyone who knows me knows I'm too lazy to put in that sort of effort.

-duckyone.