Category Archives: Reality TV
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Who Leaves Next?
It’s hard to believe that nine weeks ago, Dancing With the Stars kicked off its 17th season and now the show is almost coming to an end. The contestants are really feeling the pressure of week nine because they need to learn and perform two full dances. After Brant’s elimination last week, who is going to be the next to leave the competition this week?
Amber Riley’s first performance was the fast paced quickstep. Even though Amber is still pulling through a knee injury, she is still in it to win it. The choreography was not only technical, but fun to watch. Bruno calls her “dazzling,” but he and the other judges feel Amber has a few more things to work on. Amber got all 8s across the board giving her a total for round one of 24/30.
Leah Remini’s first dance was the tango. Even though the judges praised her on her tango, I wasn’t impressed at all. There weren’t any memorable moments and she just felt very stiff in her footwork. Len liked how Leah brought flavor. Bruno thought the dance “was a badass proper tango.” The judges all agreed and gave Leah 9s across the board for a total of 27/30.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Who Goes Home Next?
After a surprising no elimination last week on Dancing with the Stars, the competition is turning up a notch. Week seven not only brought the tears and the injuries, but threw in learning two dances as well. Tom Bergeron mentioned that next week guest judge, Cher, will perform and give her feedback to the contestants. If that isn’t scary enough, the countdown is nearing the end to see who will win the coveted mirror ball trophy.
Elizabeth Berkley, who received the first thirty of the season last week, performed the quick step. The dance was very quirky because of the character’s personalities and the dance was dealing with U.F.O.s. Len Goodman said this was a true U.F.O: “Utterly Full On; full of content.” This was a great dance to start the show as he also points out. The judges agreed and gave Elizabeth 9s across the board, totaling a 27 out of 30.
Brant Daugherty’s goofy sense of humor certainly didn’t disappoint in his jive. Even though, he had a few tiny slip ups, such as slipping on his dance partner’s skirt, Brant continued to have a good time with the dance. Carrie Ann felt that “this dance was a bit to challenging for him”. The judges decided to give Brant all 9s for a total of 27 out of 30.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: The Half Way Point
Everyone still can’t get over the Christina Milian shocker from last week. She received the highest score of the night, but still went home. It just proves that anything can happen on Dancing with the Stars. Even though one of the best dancer on the show didn’t make it to the half way point, the remaining dancers are that much closer to winning the mirror ball trophy. So how did they do last night?
Bill Engvall did a tango to Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise.” Putting these two odd elements together seemed to make a nice combination. He lost the smoothness in his footwork. I think he was more fixated on wanting that cheeseburger. Len liked how the routine was sharp and had tanginess to it. Carrie Ann and Len gave Bill 8s whereas Bruno gave him a 7, totaling a 23 out of 30.
‘The Biggest Loser: Second Chances’ Review
The battle of the bulge is finally back; a second chance on life to get it right. The lean, mean, screaming machines (Bob, Jillian, and Dolvett) are back to change the lives of fifteen overweight contestants. Each contestant has a personal story to tell and hopefully it will inspire others to keep moving and become active. Not only were there some smiles, but some had some fear when approaching The Biggest Loser ranch. People are missing their spouses, their children, and they know this is what they have to do, to live a longer, healthier life.
Two of the contestants who have made headlines are season two American Idol winner Reuben Studdard, and Olympic Weightlifter Holley Mangold. These two along with the thirteen others here want to change their life. These trainers want to point out that this is “not a TV show, this is a life or death intervention.” When entering the doors of The Biggest Loser Ranch, contestants notice a bunch of flags showcasing past contestant’s success stories. It just shows that if they can do it, you can do it.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Dancing Through The Years
Last night on Dancing with the Stars, everyone was on top of their game, which made for a very entertaining show. Not only were the dances beautiful to watch, but they had a great story behind it.
Christina Milian chose 2010 to be her most memorable year because of the the highs and lows that came with it. She gave birth to her daughter and also got a divorce the same time. Her dancing the cha cha was very entertaining to watch because her footwork and technique were on point. Carrie Ann and Bruno gave Christina 9s, but Len gave her the first 10 of the season, which gave her a score of 28 out of 30.
Jack Osbourne’s most memorable year was 2012 because he married his wife, had a daughter, and two weeks later was diagnosed with MS. Dedicating his waltz to his wife and daughter was a truly beautiful moment. The interaction between him and his dance partner, Cheryl, was very moving to see. Carrie Ann said it best “you took my breath away.” The judges gave Jack all 9s across the board, totaling a 27 out of 30.
Reality TV Has Always Existed
It seems like everyone wants reality television to run its course and get off their television sets. The truth is that’s never going to happen. Reality TV is here to stay. Since the late 1940s, it’s existed in one form or another and many of the first reality shows were adapted from radio. For example, Candid Camera started as Candid Microphone. While it may seem quaint now, Candid Camera basically had the audience spying on people who were put in uncomfortable situations without being in on the joke.
Even though Candid Camera still seems tame, Queen for a Day, which also started on radio and aired on TV from 1956 to 1964, is shocking by modern standards. The host would force housewives to recount all the misery in their lives, many broke down and cried, so that they could potentially win whatever they needed. Whoever the audience determined had the most tragic story would get help, everyone else was sent home without so much as fare for the bus.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Julianne’s Back
Within the first five minutes of last night’s Dancing with the Stars, the professional dancers were introducing guest judge Julianne Hough, who is a two time champion of the show. She was on the show last night to her new film Paradise and fill in for Len Goodman. Julianne mentioned that she is on the dancers’ side and wants to see everyone succeed. So when she gives a constructive criticism, she does it out of love.
Jack Osbourne danced the quickstep. The quickstep requires a lot of sprinting and its physically taxing on your body. He did pretty well throughout the routine and kept the energy in tact. The footwork seemed to be very polished and on point. Julianne said “Wow, that’s a definite improvement from last week.” The only critique she had for Jack is that he needs to showcase him having more fun. When he dances, he probably thinks way too hard about the dance steps and the counting aspect. Bruno was in love with Jack’s footwork, but in the end was starting to lose his frame. Carrie Ann thought Jack was more animated this week than last week which is a good sign. The judges all agreed and gave him 8s across the board. For this week, Jack scored a 24 out of 30.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Walk of Fame or Walk of Shame
Dancing with the Stars got glammed up for Hollywood Night. The celebrities were paying homage to some of the legendary icons. Most of the dance routines consisted of flapper dresses and 1920’s Gatsby style routines. There is a certain style that comes with 1920s Hollywood. The elegance, sophistication, and storytelling truly did show amongst the performances. Tom Bergeron made an announcement that Bill Nye has a badly torn tendon and is seeking medical attention. Bill decides that he is going to dance, the show must go on.
Leah Remini and Tony’s performance was the rumba and required a lot of eye contact. She had to portray a Bond girl as Adele’s “Skyfall” played in the background. Her footwork felt very sloppy and Leah’s hair was getting all over her face. It was very distracting because no one could tell what her facial expressions were. The judges praised Leah for getting out of her comfort zone. The chemistry between Leah and Tony continues to sizzle. Len mentions that the routine certainly wasn’t deadwood. She received 8s across the board for a score of 24 out of 30.
‘Fangasm’: The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Fangasm was airing on a different network.
I say this with residual bitterness after Syfy’s less than savory treatment of cosplayers in the six-episode run of Heroes of Cosplay. As if nerds weren’t already unfairly stigmatized, Heroes of Cosplay managed to make things worse by applying a tired reality show format and deceptive editing, making the cosplay community seem cutthroat and joyless. While I’ve eased up on placing individual blame, it continues to be difficult for me to mask my distaste whenever the show comes up in conversation.
Fangasm, on the other hand? Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Fangasm is a breath of fresh air, if the first episode is an accurate gauge of the rest of the season. It follows seven nerds of various backgrounds as they intern for Comikaze, a Los Angeles-based pop culture convention hosted by Marvel patriarch and cool dude Stan Lee. Their collective job is to market the convention and improve outside perceptions of geeks. The catty atmosphere of the show’s predecessor seems to have cleared, replaced only by the natural sort of tension one might expect when you put seven different personalities together under one roof.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Who is the First to Leave?
Amber Riley and Derek Hough
In hopes of staying in the competition, contestants had to dance their butts off this week for their first elimination of the season. This week contestants were dancing the jive, rumba, paso doble, and samba. Even though there was a lot of booty shaking going on, I wasn’t impressed with tonight’s performances. It was to the point that I was constantly changing the channels between the new Chuck Lorre show Mom and the season premiere of “The Voice.” It wasn’t entertaining to watch.
At this early point of the game, it’s important to stand out and make yourself known. The highest score for the first two weeks were Glee’s Amber Riley. She got a 51 out of 60. Everyone also congratulated her dancing partner, Derek Hough, who a received an Emmy on Sunday for best choreography.
The dance that really didn’t interest me at all was Bill Engvall’s jive. He was dancing to Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock” and the performance was very rigid. It was AARP Country meets jive. Bill Engvall was a walking a prop, while his dance partner, Emma did all the hard work. With his performance he received 7’s across the board giving him a total score of 21.
Wait! What's A Dial? 