TV

Well, the time has come to "celebrate her home," as the Ruben song says. Seems like she didn't want to be celebrated home, as she couldn't stop crying. But hey, these things happen.
Meanwhile, what do you think of the Final Four? It's certainly an eclectic group. For those who will say Jason doesn't deserve to be there, I say you are wrong. Just my opinion!

He's safe, and I'm not suprised. I think America rallied behind him last night after the Great Judging Debacle -- especially because not one person apologized for putting him in that position. I mean, couldn't Paula have said, "Hey, sorry about hating your performance BEFORE YOU EVEN PERFORMED. Now get out there and sing."
Or, they could have thrown him an apology bone tonight. Instead, it was all about rallying around Paula. Ryan said that "the judges were thrown a curveball on the air," which "sparked a lot of gossip about Paula.
"Just for the record," he added, "the rumors -- they're not true. She's part of our family and we love her."
Wow. Cryptic much? Why not go ahead and explain what the heck happened last night instead of brushing it off like that?
And -- for God's sake -- why not apologize to Jason after you're done kissing up to Paula? Oh well. The voters did it for them.

The group number was particularly odd tonight, wasn't it? But it was nothing compared to the small talk between Constantine Maroulis and Ryan Seacrest. I was creeped out, and I'm not sure why. (Maybe because I remembered how gaga I once was over Constantine. That's gotta be it.)

Calling all Sex and the City fans, tune into The Oprah Winfrey Show Thursday as the talk show queen welcomes the cast in advance of the May 30 movie premiere. According to a press release touting the already taped show, stars Sarah Jessica
Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis talk about trying to keep the movie's plot under wraps while filming in New York City with hundreds of fans watching. Mr. Big, a. k. a. Chris Noth, also sits in to talk about being a man in pop culture's most beloved ladies-land theme park. (Tune-in time: 4 p.m. on Channel 8).

After rewatching the drama this morning, I was struck by a couple of things.
- Did you catch the looks of everyone onstage as Paula started discussing the second song? Priceless. Especially Syesha -- she was clearly bemused by what was unfolding.
- Do you think esteemed host Ryan dropped the ball for not being the one to step in? His only reaction was to quickly glance at someone offstage as if to say, "What do I do? What do I do!?" I wonder: If Randy (our hero) hadn't said something, would they have just gone on as if everything was fine and dandy? Possibly! Because one thing is already clear, based on Paula's "explanation:" They think we're stupid.

How did the loopy judge see into the future to comment on a performance that hadn't even happened? She told Entertainment Tonight she was "trying to give my critique for Jason Castro and scribbled Jason's name, and that was David Cook's!"
No way. In the notes in question, she'd panned Jason's "second" song for lacking charm and leaving her empty. If that was meant for David, why did she turn around and say to him, "You were fantastic, and it was a song that wasn't known"? This is the type of lie a 5-year-old would tell. The logic is missing.
So what really happened? The judges probably watched the rehearsals and based their notes on them. Which is all kinds of wrong, but it's believable. But it still doesn't explain why Paula Abdul didn't realize that none of the gang had gotten to their second songs yet. "This is hard!" she exclaimed after her slip-up. Yes, recalling the last half-hour of one's life can be a challenge, but most of us manage.

Many questioned Andrew Lloyd Webber and his songs for the Idol singers and, indeed, quite a few seemed uncomfortable with it (although Syesha and David Cook seemed to have a good time!). But I think the Neil Diamond songbook was much tougher. While there are many interpretations of Webber by Broadway singers out there (which in turn gives this crew a lot of room for interpretation), Neil Diamond's work is so defined by his vocals, love 'em or leave 'em, that they are really hard to cover. He's raw, he's ragged, he's powerful, he's out there. And for me, the best these kids could do (yeah, sorry, even for Syesha and David Cook who were at least smart enough to sing lesser known Diamond songs) was tread water. I actually do like David Archuletta, but come on, you can't sing Sweet Caroline without the audience wishing they were listening to Diamond's version. Your thoughts? Which songbooks have proved the toughest so far this season? (And do you know Diamond has a new CD coming out next week, Home Before Dark?)

You know, it's been driving me crazy all season how much Brooke has reminded me of Carly Simon (although I like Carly much much more because of all the songs she's written). There's something about that long, lean look, the vulnerability, the piano and guitar accompaniment, the husky voice -- anyway, I thought it was just me. Then I read this story from the AP in which Carly Simon says Brooke is her favorite! What do you think? Does Brooke remind you of Carly? And has anyone besides Mario checked out the new Carly Simon album, This Kind of Love?

Here's the video of Paula getting confused that Darla mentioned in this post.
Watch this.
Oh man.
Oh man.
Still. Makes. Me. Cringe.

Shannon Elizabeth is young and attractive but without much of a fanbase -- maybe that's why she was eliminated on Tuesday night after scoring her best dance of the season with her Monday night tango. Then again, the same could be said of Cristian de la Fuente and he made it into the final five. One difference between the two is that he had his worst dance of the season the night before with a distastrous samba. Another is that he is a man, and as any DWTS fan knows, men have the inside track in this dance competition. We'll see how much farther viewer-voter sympathy can carry Cristian -- he was already the weakest dancer of the remaining field, before he ruptured a tendon in his left arm.

So here's how I'd rank 'em:
BEST
David Cook: He continues to prove his awesomeness every week. It's sad that he's going through some family health problems, though, because you can see the pain in his eyes.
Syesha Mercado: She's begun to deliver in a way that she should have been doing all along. But better late than never.

SO-SO
David Archuleta: I know everybody loves him, but all of his songs sound the same to me. I tend to lose interest halfway through or something. Harsh, I know!

WORST
Brooke White: Why do "I'm a Believer"? As Paula pointed out, the gang just performed that song in one of their silly little group videos. It was indeed a nightmare, as Simon put it.
Jason Castro (sob): I rather enjoyed his first song, but "September Morn" didn't work. On any level. Still, if I were a betting woman, I'd predict that he stays at least another week.

I take back what I'd said earlier about my favorite Neil Diamond tune: It's "I Am, I Said." Brooke didn't really do it justice, but it's a fun song to sing along with in the car.

OK, I agree with Paula's premonition: His "September Morn" was a mess. Sad to say.

After the gang finished their first round of songs, the judges were asked to quickly weigh in. Paula told Jason that with his SECOND song, "I felt like your usual charm was missing for me. It kind of left me a little empty. The two songs made me feel like you're not fighting hard enough to get into the top four."
Finally, someone stopped her Twilight Zone moment. "He's just done the first song," Randy said, rather gently.
"Oh my God! I thought you sang twice," she said.
Yes, we get that. We just don't know why.

He picked my favorite Neil Diamond ditty, "Sweet Caroline." But was it just me, or did he stray a bit too much from the melody in an attempt to be "different"? We'll see if it was just me later, when the judges finally speak.

David took an unknown song, "I'm Alive," and made it quite catchy, while Brooke chose the very well-known "I'm a Believer" and made me a nonbeliever. In her, anyway.

Let me first say that I hate that the judges aren't weighing in until after each singer's second performance. That seems wrong. How are they supposed to remember everything about the first one? We're a short-attention-span society, after all.
I thought Jason did quite well with "Forever in Blue Jeans." Perfect song for him. And might I add that he looks teen-dreamy cute this evening.

He's looking quite rested and healthy. I'd like to pocket the name of his plastic surgeon should I someday opt to go that route.

At the start of the show, Ryan walked past the lineup of Top Fivers and gave his standard "What will happen tonight?" talk. Four of the five singers cracked smiles and generally looked happy to be there, while David Cook remained super-serious. But I guess that's his thing.

Darla will be on board around 7 to blog during tonight's episode. Stay tuned!

Read Miley Cyrus photo 'scandals' reveal phenom's growing pains and tell us what you think.

See "the most controversial shot by Annie Leibovitz."

More photos on VanityFair.com.

Miley Cyrus says Vanity Fair photo spread embarrasses her

It finally happened: Kristi Yamaguchi did not rack up the highest score on Monday night's two-dance edition. That distinction went to Jason Taylor, with Kristi coming in one point behind. That one-two finish may be a glimpse of the final as the ice skater and the football player cemented their positions as the two top competitors. On the other side, Cristian de la Fuente may be on his way out after a self-destructing samba left him bringing up the rear.

Remember the first season of the show? I do. It was an instant hit, in part because people said they could watch it as a family. Just good old-fashioned entertainment, the fans said. Refreshing!
I just caught a commercial for this week's competition. Not only is it billed as "the sexiest night on television!," but one dancer warns that we may have to shield our eyes from all the hotness. Clips are shown that demonstrate such hotness. Then Carrie Ann Inaba says, "That was as good as GREAT sex."
We no longer watch this show as a family. You?

From The Hollywood Reporter:

"ER" is adding star power for its final season.

Angela Bassett will join the cast of the Emmy-winning medical drama as a regular next season.

In her first full-time series gig, Bassett will play a tough attending nurse with a troubled past who's coming back to Chicago after a few years in Indonesia doing tsunami relief. Her arrival in the second episode next season promises to shake County General's ER to the core.

Tom Maurstad files this dispatch on that other Tom:
Attention YouTube nation, prepare to start you DVRs. Three years after his couch-jumping antics launched a thousand satirical shorts on video-sharing Web sites, Tom Cruise is returning to The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Next Friday, Ms. Winfrey will visit Mr. Cruise in his Telluride, Colo., home, where they will talk about "family, his life and the future" and he can jump on his own furniture.
Then on May 5, he will appear in her Chicago studio and celebrate the 25th anniversary of his star-making (and briefs-baring) movie, Risky Business, complete with movie clips and videotaped messages from celebrity colleagues.

I was bewildered enough when Carly Smithson was voted off American Idol after the judges raved about her performance. And then I picked up my New York Times this morning to read Edward Wyatt's story about online chat boards buzzing about her decision to sing the title song from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar as being blasphemous. In the song, Judas criticizes Jesus and the show, as a whole, portrays Jesus as struggling to accept his role. Wyatt says that within hours of Carly's performance, a viewer on the show's official Web site, AmericanIdol.com, warned her choice of song might eliminate her. Could that really be what happened?

They promised us action...and boy howdy, they delivered. Here's the recap of Lost's Episode 9....

On the beach: Jack's not feeling well, thinks he has a stomach bug and takes some pills from the medical-supply chest. Meanwhile, Bernard finds a body washed up in the surf.

The corpse is the ship's doctor, Daniel says. He says the doc was fine when they last saw him, adding that "'when' is a relative term." The doc's not so fine now: His throat has been slit.

Apparently the sat-phone's no longer working, but Daniel concocts a sort of telegraph out of spare parts and signals the boat. He translates the ship's Morse-code reply as "Don't worry, the helicopter's coming in the morning."

Bernard, who apparently was a Boy Scout in his distant youth, says oh no, that's not it. They said: "What are you talking about? The doc's fine." Dan is quite surprised that anyone else should know Morse code.

Why would you lie? Jack asks Dan. "Were you ever going to take us off this island?"

No, Dan admits. Then Jack doubles over in pain.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

Jennifer Lopez will executive produce and star in a documentary series on cable channel TLC about her life as an actress and singer, new mother of twins (Lopez and husband Marc Anthony became the parents of a boy and girl in February) and entrepreneur launching a fragrance line.

Tonight, Lost picks up its story with Episode 9 of this bifurcated Season 4.

Don't forget: ABC has moved Lost to a new time slot, following Grey's Anatomy. Which means you'll need to be tuning in at 9 p.m. now. (And at that hour, you may expect considerably lighter blogging from yours truly.)

ABC's official synopsis of this week's show:

"The Shape of Things to Come" - Locke's camp comes under attack, and Jack tries to discover the identity of a body that has washed ashore.

For some spoilerish, educated guesses on tonight's ep, go to the jump...

And for some intriguing teases about the shape of things to come on Lost, see what EW.com's Doc Jensen has to say.

Well, I'm glad to see that Carly Smithson wasn't all that broken up about leaving. She actually seemed thrilled, didn't she? So that's a plus.
Meanwhile, I think Jason continues to woo people with his personality. I loved that after Ryan reminded him that Randy had called his song "a train wreck," Jason just smiled and did the "choo choo" move with his arm. Adorable.
Then there's Brooke. Asked again if she felt her false start last night was the right move, she said, "I do. I kind of went off my instinct and I don't know, stuff happens."
Whatever. All I know is if "stuff happens" a third time with her th