Completely Useless, But...

Gorgeous! And, while we're talking about beautiful women, not to be forgotten....



Maybe I need to do the speed dating after all to get back on track with men....

Counting Down the Hours....

Ok - as the season 9 premiere/48 hours of audition footage is right on the horizon, I must declare my feelings on American Idol....

First off, you all know my feelings on the ever-so-useless Kara DioGuardi. Secondly, I didn't like the new format last year of having a top 36, then voting in 3 a week, then some bizarro wild card round...maybe I'm someone who doesn't handle change well in the first place, but the old format of a top 24 was definitely, definitely better. One could argue that with the new format, it's really the fan favorites who advance (plus those extra couple other judge favorites we can't seem to shake, which is true of all reality shows). Maybe a happy medium would be a top 36 that eliminates the bottom 3rd of the contestants (as opposed advancing the top 3)...I dunno. Oh, that, and I hate hate HATED the 'sing for your life' concept of last season. And them all living in one house?! Uh, the real world called, it wants its crappy late '90s reality show idea back. Anyhow - are these changes continuing into this season? Does anyone know?

That brings me to the next major change for this season....Ellen DeGeneres. Whop Whop Whop. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Ellen as a person. And I like her in the right context - doing her own schtick on her own talk show or as a guest on a show - I do find her hilarious. But I don't know that I think she can handle the backseat role that she's got to take here. She was bad as a guest judge on SYTYCD - she talked for too long and everything was a tangent into some joke of hers. That, and she only gave positive feedback - she'll be like Paula but with even less substance. I sense it getting so awkward it will be painful.... However, I can easily forsee Simon getting annoyed at her and trying to shut her up...now THAT might be entertaining.

Drama!!

So Paula's out and Kara's in.

I don't think this was a wise decision. Whether or not Paula "made this decision herself", it's pretty obvious her hand was forced. And I don't think the 'puppermaster' on this one is thinking.

Both of these woman are equally worthless in the charisma department. Kara is supposedly some music industry seasoned-veteran, but Paula Abdul is better known. And more importantly, Paula has more entertainment value. One can laugh at (not with) her. Right now Kara's just plain blah and boring. If she starts saying 'listen dawg', she might as well be Randy Jackson. She needs to start taking drugs or something to up her humor ante, otherwise she might as well not be there.

Follow Up to a Previous Post, Part 213

Earlier, I spoke about some mandatory time-off from work I'll be taking in the next month, and how I plan to enjoy some in-town activities over this time period.

I have just been informed this is called a 'staycation'.

I am not sure your feelings on the term 'staycation', but for me personally, it's right there with 'recessionista', and 'thank you ma'am'. To further clarify, I feel similarly about this term as I do toward Keith Olbermann, Kara DioGuardi and the Old Navy mannequins.

Anyhow. I may be venturing out of town simply to avoid hearing this term.

American Idol, Season 8

Kara DioGuardi does nothing for me. Nothing whatsoever. I'd write more, but there's just nothing to say on her. I'm sure she's a fine person and knows something about the music industry, but as a judge on American Idol, she might as well just not be there. I'd say to her what they tell the bad singers on American Idol "well, you're a beautiful girl, but..."

I can't say I dislike her because I don't know that I care enough to have an opinion about her, which, Simon Cowell will tell you, is probably the worst possible option. Conspiracy theorists believe she was brought in to phase out Paula, but at least with Paula, we occasionally get a drug induced stupor which probably keeps the ratings up. Other than that, it's equally worthless commentary from both.