I've been having fun with the beginning of the live American Idol episodes, but I have to begin with a crazy story. Tommy "The Duke" Morrison, claiming that he never really was HIV positive. This story just doesn;t make any sense, no matter what the truith is. Morrison retired ten years ago due to a positive test for HIV, but now he says it was a false positive. Wouldn't you take a second test just to make sure? If it really was a doctor's mistake, wouldn;t he be unleashing a nasty lawsuit against his doctors? If he really was and is carrying the HIV virus, how could he get doctors in Arizona to say that tests now show he has no signs of it? This is not the end of the story, they really need to answer these questions in the future. The biggest question is, why would Tommy Gunn get back in the ring now? He was a mediocre boxer ten years ago, and there's no reason that should be any different now, in fact he should be a step or two lower on the totem poll, to the point where medocrity is something he could strive for. There's even a chance that his return bout goes so poorly, that no one will care what the truth is in this case.
Onto entertainment, which is usually more upbeat, but tonight I have sad news. Tomorrow night is the final episode of the OC. I know many of you are shocked to hear that this show was even still on the air, but it was, and it will be for one more night. The show never delivered on its initial promise, it could have been something much more, but sadly it burned out faster than Dawson's Creek. Perhaps if they had concentrated on Rachel Bilson more, put in some plotlines where she hung out in a bikini for a whole summer's worth of episodes, but alas, it's all too little too let. I'm actually glad it's finally being put to rest mercifully, I found everything after the first six episodes to be unwatchable, there was buzz about a hot lesbian relationship and some other racy storylines but it never had the magic of Bevery Hills 90210 and will be forgotten much sooner.
Ok, now for my favorite guilty pleasure, trying to decide who is the hottest girl on this year's edition of American Idol. Well unfortunately, this year my rooting interst will have to based on talent. There are certainly no Carrie Underwoods or Kelly Picklers in this crowd. I watched closely, hoping to find a diamond in the rough and the best I could come up with were Haley Scarnato, who has the same body as the post-idol Katherine McPhee and Nicole Tranquillo who looked good right up to the point where she started making ridiculous faces when she started singing. The worst news is that these two girls, along with the mildly attractive Antonella Barba and Alainna Alexander, will be gone soon. I lump those last two girls together for no other reason than they blend together in my mind, and I'm completely unimpressed. All hope is not lost, if Sabrina Sloan or Amy Krebs starts dressing sluttier, they could be darkhorses over time. They would have to be counting on "hottest girl at the party" factor. You know, the interesting phenomenon where a guy will convince himself that a mildly attractive girl is really hot due to the fact that there are no other decent looking girls around. But the most likely scenario is that I'll have to root for one of the girls who isn;t really attractive but is very likable and talented as well. The three most likable contestants were the girls that had that "gee shucks" factor. They were very unassuming and they got they based on their voices as opposed to their "star factor." The three women in this category are Leslie Hunt, Jordina Sparks and Melinda Doolittle. Hunt is goofy and likeable , she's a dog-walker by day, and the most unassuming contestant this year, she sang Natural Woman, and her voice sounded good, (worth noting, her brother Mike stood up and cheered loudly.) Sparks is this years young girl contestant, and she's sweet and sings pleasing songs, but will eventually lose out because of her lack of understanding of the songs. And Doolittle is a great singer who could win if she can get over the idea in her head that she isn;t a star. The most impressive performance was Lakisha Jones, who stands alone as the favorite right now, she sang the song from Dreamgirls and managed to put Jennifer Hudson to shame. But I'm not one for hopping on the bandwagon, so as of now I'm rooting For Melinda Doolittle.
General observations on the show, it drives me crazy when the performers song songs that I don;t know or they try their own arrangement of a famous song. Save that for the later rounds, these two types of performances would strike me as the best way to get yourself eliminated early on. Also, I've long suspected that they line up the performances based on how well they do in rehearsals, and after tonight there's no doubt in my mind. Are you going to tell me that it's just a coincidence that the girl who was by far the best was last on the show? It'll become more and more clear as the season goes on if you hadn;t noticed it already in the past.
The real star of this show is definitely Simon Cowell. He makes this show what it is. Not just with his analysis which everyone seems to think is mean spirited but is probably the most honest thing coming form any of the judges, but more for his "bad-guy" personality. Sometimes it reminds me of watching wrestling, I half expect him to turn to the audience and start shouting "shut up" while he covers his ears. It really is great entertainment, tonight's highlight was when he claimed Ryan Seacrest was trying to hit on one of the women, and Seacrest didn;t know how to react. On one hand, it was a nice way to combat the gay rumors, but on the other hand he's supposed to fight with Simon. Seacrest decided not to shout back, "Don't you know I'm gay you idiot?" Instead he didn;t respond.
On a final note in the world of sports. Maceo Baston had a nasty dunk for the Pacers tonight. I bring this up not because I'm all about nasty dunks, but because I had no idea that Baston was still around. It's been over ten years since he was trying to become part of the new Fab Five at michigan, that's a long time for someone to still be grinding it out without ever really making it in the NBA, anyway, good for him.
As Always
-Bender Out
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