TV

The opening performance by Marlee Matlin told the story of Monday night's show.

During the exit interview with Chikezie today, I asked him what the mood is like when they're rehearsing those group numbers. Are they, say, laughing the whole time?
"Oh, yeah," he said with a chuckle. "The whole thing is like, 'Oh my goodness, here we go again! Is anybody really entertained by this?'"
I then mentioned that it looked like a couple of the guys were really hamming it up with the dance moves last night.
"Oh, yeah!" he confirmed. He added one more sentence after that, but I'll have to get it from the transcript because we were both laughing at that point. Darn my giggles!

After re-watching the gang perform to "Right Back to Where We Started From," I'm wondering if Jason and Michael Johns didn't ham up their moves even more than was required. You know, out of protest almost: "If we have do this Brady Bunch dance, let's really look like the Brady Bunch."
Evidence: Watch them again here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-OgCUTY1cts
Laugh-out loud moments are throughout, but mostly at .04 seconds and 1:44, which is my favorite. Michael does the aerobic jog! Kicking his heels to his butt!

OK, we knew him a lot longer than many other Idol also-rans. I just couldn't think of a better headline.
Anyone particularly shocked that he was sent home? I myself was more shocked that Ramiele didn't even make it into the bottom three. She went first, which means forgettable, and she was also downright terrible last night. (Seriously. Watch it again if you have doubts.) But she apparently has a huge fanbase -- as does our Jason. Methinks he'll wow us next week, which will keep him safe. At least that's what mehopes.

From Simon, about David Archuleta's decision to sing the sappy "You're the Voice:" "It was actually reminiscent of a theme-park performance -- one of those ghastly songs you sing when you've got animated creatures with you and everyone joins in together."
Animated creatures. Loved that.

Ryan confused me with all of his hints about who David might take to the prom. "Anybody that's here in the studio? Maybe close to your father?" he asked as the camera focused in on an embarrassed-looking girl. (Hey thanks, Ryan!)
Then in his clip, David mentioned that he's close to his younger sister. So that made me think that the girl in the audience is not some random girlfriend, but his sister. Is he taking Sis to the prom? Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just wondering.
I hate Ryan for making me care about this.

I'm a bit shocked that none of the judges had a problem with her decision to start the song over. You think there could be a few grumblngs about that backstage?

Hmm. I'm beginning to worry that his "whatever, dude" attitude is going to turn off some fans. Thoughts?

Tuesday night's "first-ever double elimination" show proved that, so far anyway, the fifth season is proceeding as it should -- that is, with the worst dancers getting the boot. For the men, it was barge-footed magician Penn Gillette, for the women it was the tennis champ who couldn't find her groove on the dance floor, Monica Seles. More interesting in the long run though may be the judges' choice to see newly christened "Mambo King" Jason Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska give the encore dance -- he's now the anyone-other-than-Kristi favorite to win.

Let us first send virtual birthday wishes to Jason, who turns 21 today. And many mooooore!
Ramiele was first up. She tackled the Heart song "Alone," which Carrie Underwood once did to near-perfection. (It's on YouTube, of course, if you'd like to compare and contrast.)
Ramiele's version was pretty awful, I have to say. But the judges noted she's sick, so maybe that will win her some sympathy votes. Probably not enough, though.

Kicking off week two of Dancing with the Stars, the night before Tuesday's "first-ever double elimination," it was everyone slinking through a Mambo or huffing and puffing through a Quick Step. Best dance of the night was an easy call: Kristi Yamaguchi's mambo with partner Mark Ballas smooth as ice (har!), but then what do you expect from a gold-medalist ice skater? As judge Carrie Ann Inaba asked after the couple's all-but-perfect performance, "Have you really never done this before?"

Below are highlights from Amanda Overmyer's exit interview with reporters last week. (I didn't sit in this time, but the good folks at Fox are kind enough to send a transcript.)
- Her plans for the future: "If nothing comes up out here for me to pursue with music, I'll probably give it maybe a good six months, and if nothing happens I'm going to go back and continue on the career path that I started." (That would be in home oxygen and durable medical equipment.)
- On why she wanted to be on Idol: "The objective of being on this show was to go out there and show America me, perform like me, look like me and see how well it would take. The comments from the judges were based more on the idea of trying to win, and I had a different agenda." She later put it another way: "As far as the judges bickering and all that, like I said before, their comments are based on excelling within the competition and that wasn't really my objective." (Well, she wins points for honesty!)
- On being realistic: "Success, to me, is a strong, healthy family and success in whatever job that you do. If this is just 15 minute of fame, I'm not going to chase it my whole life trying to get it back; I'll take it for what it is and move on. Hopefully it's not. Hopefully I can make a career out of this, but it's not going to be that unicorn that I keep chasing."
- As for her personal life, Amanda confirmed she's engaged. Will she invite any Idol contestants to the wedding? "I'd surely invite at least a couple of them. I don't have any date at all. It's been all pending what happens with this."
- On what she likes about performing: "It's a good feeling, having everyone's attention on you and having the ability to provide entertainment that comes out of your throat that gets people excited. They start jumping around, so it makes you jump around more. They start screaming at you, so I'll bend down and sing in their face. It's kind of a back-and-forth tennis match, where the ball goes back and forth."

Has anybody been watching HBO's seven-part miniseries, John Adams? I've been DVRing the episodes and hope to watch them soon, at my leisure.

The Sopranos it undoubtedly is not. But John Adams (based on David McCullough's Pulitzer prize-winning biography) does boast a stellar cast of actors from both sides of the Atlantic: Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney (as John and Abigail Adams), David Morse (Washington), Tom Wilkinson (Franklin), Sarah Polley (Nabby Adams), Danny Huston (Samuel Adams), Stephen Dillane (Jefferson), and Rufus Sewell (Hamilton).

Tom Hanks is an executive producer, and the series is directed by Tom Hooper. John Adams airs Sundays at 8 p.m. Central, and episodes repeat on HBO channels (including HD) throughout the week. The last episode begins airing on Sunday, April 20.

Has the writers' strike left your memories of your favorite shows hazy?
Entertainment Weekly has a guide to 26 shows that are returning soon. It includes a recap of where the show left off, some info on what's coming up and even the number of remaining episodes.

What are you most looking forward to seeing?

Couple of good recaps of last night's Lost ep are online today. Adam B. Vary sits in for the traveling Doc Jensen on EW.com ... and as usual, Lostpedia is quickly building the most detailed of recaps.

So what do you think? Is Sayid's turning Michael in to the Captain the incident that FutureBen refers to (in "The Economist") as "the last time you thought with your heart instead of your gun"? Is Alex pregnant? Did Ben deliberately send Karl and Danielle to their deaths at the hands of the Others? Or were they shot by someone from the freighter, in order to capture Alex as a hostage to use against Ben? And is Danielle, in fact, really dead at all?

UPDATE: One more thoughtful synopsis that examines the Ben-vs.-Widmore villainy question, from the L.A. Times....

...and a fun chat from the Washington Post's staff Losties!

Flashback: On the boat, George Minkowski tells Michael he has a phone call from Walt, but of course it's really from Ben. Ben tells Michael that the reason he is not to blow up the boat (yet, anyway) is that there are innocent people aboard, and they don't know Charles Widmore is a monster. And thus (or so says Ben) Widmore is so very unlike Mr. Benjamin Linus. Ahem.

So: Michael is to compile a list of everyone on the boat for Ben. He is also to disable the ship's communications, then the engines, so the boat can't get to the Island. Michael agrees to do so, and Ben says, "Then consider yourself one of the good guys." Uh-huh.

Flashback: Michael, now "Kevin," first meets George Minkowski, and then Naomi Dorrit, at the dock in Fiji. Naomi says a crate has already arrived for him, and it will be sent down to his berth. Against his will, Michael finds himself liking both of them.

He then meets Miles, who [apparently via his psychic abilities] knows he is not Kevin. But Miles says not to worry, as 80 percent of the people aboard the boat are lying about something. Make that 100 percent, Miles.

Aboard the boat, now at sea, Michael meets Frank the pilot, who asks him what he's doing "on this tub."

Flashback: In the alley, Tom tells Michael they've been keeping tabs on him. He guesses correctly that Michael told Walt of the two murders he did on the Island, and that's why Walt now hates him.

"You can't kill yourself, the Island won't let you," Tom tells him. "You've got more work to do, Mike."

On the boat, Sayid and Des go to the engine room, and Sayid makes Michael talk about how he got there.

Flashback: Michael's alone in New York City near Christmastime, writing a note, looking despondent as he gazes at an old picture of Walt. He then leaves his shabby apartment and drives an old car at high speed straight into a dockside shipping container.

But he wakes up in a hospital, and he sees a vision of Libby, dressed as a nurse who calls him "Mr. Dawson" and offers him a blanket. (Remember, that's what Libby was carrying when Michael shot her -- some blankets for her picnic with Hugo.)

New Otherton: Locke's group gathers and he enters with Miles, who is still bound at his wrists. Locke says Miles now will "share with us why they're here." Miles: "We're here for him," gesturing toward Ben. Hugo observes that they've all known that for, like, ages already.

So what's the big deal? Sawyer asks. Turn Ben over! But Ben says they can't do that, because once they have him, then their "rescuers" will kill all the Losties too. Miles does not dispute this.

"So now he's one of us?" Claire asks unbelievingly, looking at Ben.

Who is Kevin Johnson, you ask?

He's the new Michael ("WAAAALLTT!") Dawson, the bizarrely familiar 815er who's suddenly spotted working aboard the freighter -- but who, when introduced, does not seem to recognize Sayid.

Is "Kevin" also Ben's spy on the boat? Survey says "yes"! But wait: Where is Walt? (Or maybe the question is, "When is Walt?") And how the heck did Kevin/Michael get there, anyway? Most of all: Will we find all this out in episode 8, the last Lost before a five-week hiatus?

The girl has Houdini-like powers to escape elimination. Instead, it was Amanda Overmyer who is no longer with us, but I doubt the rocker nurse is all that broken up about it. Her comment that she was using her time on the show to drum up ticket sales for her upcoming solo shows may not have gone over well with viewers. (I mean, aren't they supposed to be there to be the next American Idol? In theory, anyway?)
Plus, she went first last night. Always a killer.

When Ryan Seacrest abruptly announced that Carly Smithson was in the bottom three tonight, I couldn't believe it. He's joking, right? No.
I don't understand it. Not only was her song great, but what about the speech?! I guess America was less impressed than I was. Alas.

I think she's in jeopardy of being cut tonight. For the second week in a row, she was pretty forgettable (this time with "I Should Have Known Better"). Anybody else think she's more focused on palling around with the other singers than winning the top prize? All she talks about is bonding with her Idol cohorts. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

It has to be said: Perhaps he's taken this tattoo thing a little too far. Did you catch him in the crowd? If you were a small child, you would have screamed.
I'm sure he's a nice guy, but covering one's entire face in ink is startling. Which, I guess, was his intention.

Not sure what a "voice box" is, exactly, but David seemed proud of himself that he was able to master the device in just on day. Seemed pretty easy to me: Just talk into the thing. But perhaps I'm wrong.

Although the Fab Four were the greatest band in the history of time, I agree with Simon that a second Beatles-themed week may have been a mistake. Not sure why that is; maybe their songs just aren't meant to be duplicated and manipulated by amateurs. Whatever the reason, of the 11 singers left, I thought a whopping five were downright bad. Not great odds.
Which five? Brooke, Kristy Lee, Michael Johns, Chikezie -- and I hate to type this, but Jason. He's my favorite (and not just because he's a local!), but a less likable chap would have been reamed for that wobbly rendition of "Michelle."
Still, I think he won more fans last night during his taped clip, when he admited he messed up on his much-acclaimed "Hallelujah:"
"I didn't sing the last note very good at all," he said. "It was a bad last note, and nobody cared!"

The two biggest wild cards heading into season six of Dancing With the Stars showed on their first trips around the floor that they intend to be factors in the competition. Priscilla Presley, the oldest woman to ever compete on the show at 62, performed an elegant fox trot that earned her a 24. But the story of the night was Marlee Matlin, the deaf Oscar-winning actress who showed no sign of a handicap on the way to earning a 22 for her cha cha. Both of them, however, trail the odds-on favorite among the women, Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi, who looked like a pro right out of the gates with a 27-point fox trot.

Daytime soap The Young & the Restless will be in Dallas on Friday, March 28 scouting for one N. Texas actress to appear in an upcoming episode. Daniel Goddard, who stars as Cane on the show, will be in attendance to screen test with contestants. If you are interested, make sure you are a woman age 18-30 and be at the Hyatt Regency (300 Reunion Boulevard) between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. with a completed copy of the registration form, a signed release (both available at www.theyoungandtherestless.com) and a recent photograph. Callbacks will be held Saturday, March 29. The show airs on CBS (Channel 11) weekdays at 11:30 a.m.

On the first night of Season 6 of Dancing With the Stars, it was men first. And after seeing each of the six male competitors, it's pretty obvious where the line of demarcation is.
On the competitive side were the early favorites, and, not coincidentally, the youngest half of the men's bracket. R&B singer Mario left judge Carrie Ann Inaba gasping for air after his cha cha cha and was awarded the top score of 24 out of 30 for his efforts. Close behind were Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor with a 22-point fox trot and Chilean television actor Cristian de la Fuente with 21 for his cha cha cha.
Then there was the senior division, led my actor Steve Guttenberg, who scored an 18 for his fox trot. You can argue that that's just a three-pointer out of third place, but it may as well be a half-court shot from the looks of things. Bringing up the rear are the two competitors vying for the show's funny man crown, magician Penn Jillette (16) and radio personality Adam C