LittleJudy.com

A Tearful "American Idol" Exit

Every week on "Idol" somebody gets eliminated, and every week they sing the same lame song that got them eliminated in the first place.

That almost didn't happen this week.

Alaina Whitaker , a 16-year-old from Tulsa, Okla., burst into tears after she heard she was being sent home. Instead of sucking it up like most contestants, Alaina tried to beg off performing her final song.

"I can't sing, sorry, this is embarrassing," she told host Ryan Seacrest.

"You made it to a very small group on this stage. Almost nobody gets to do that," said Seacrest. "Every week, somebody has to go on the show, no matter how good you are, somebody's got to go every single week until the end."

Seacrest then wisely turned to Paula Abdul, the kindest of the three judges, for comment.

"You are a gifted, bright young talent. ... This is the start of an amazing career from you," said Abdul, who stood on her feet to boost Alaina's morale.

Ryan gave Alaina the option of sitting down instead of singing her song. But, when the other "Idol" female contestants surrounded her on stage and begged her to keep going, Alaina was able to carry on, singing "Hopelessly Devoted to You."

Three others eliminated: Jason Yeager, Robbie Carrico and Alexandrea Lushington.

I was sad to see Lushington go, I think she had a lot of potential and a lovely voice. Yeager and Carrico didn't move me.

Now we're down to 16. In two weeks we'll be down to the final 12 and can really get going.

Girls Night Out A Bust On "Idol"

I was SO not impressed with the girls on "American Idol" tonight.

None of them really wowed me and only two gave what I consider enjoyable performances.

The first of the two I liked, Syesha Mercado, sang "Me and Mr. Jones" (italics mine), a sex-change on the original by the great soulman Billy Paul. I thought her phrasing was nice on the song, although I did not like they way they hacked up the song to make it fit the short amount of time she had to sing.

Randy thought it was just aight and suggested she should have selected a bigger song to show off her big, belting voice. Simon thought it was a "silly" song choice because the song was written for a man.

I can see why she made the choice, though. Besides it being such a great song, perhaps she figured if she sang a tune made famous by a guy then she'd be less likely to be compared to the original.

The judges seemed to love Brooke White the most. This year they're allowing the contestants to play instruments when they perform, and she's the first one I've seen that actually looks comfortable with a guitar. She sang Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" (cue the jokes about Simon thinking the song was about him.)  She sang it well, and her performance was very relaxed and comfortable although she did play it safe by not altering the song very much from the original.

So far, out of 20, I'm only feeling 5 contestants. I just hope that by that time it gets down to the Final 12, more of the contestants start to bring it. 

By the way, that's an unintentional pun in the headline. But, it's silly enough that I'll leave it in.

My Favorite "Idol" Boys So Far: Chikezie and the Davids

There were three outstanding performances on "American Idol" tonight. Which just means there were 7 so-so performances by the remaining boys.

The first hour dragged on with one boring performance after another. That all changed once David Hernandez took the stage.

Tonight was '70s night, which means most of the song choices were so well-known that they beg comparison to the original.  It's tough to go up against the memory of Freddie Mercury or Luther Vandross.

Hernandez gave an amazing performance of the Temptations' "Papa Was A Rolling Stone."  He didn't overdo it, and he was the first singer to actually tell a story with his song. Fabulous.

Paula said, "your personality really came out this week and you told the story from beginning to end."

"In my opinion, that was the best vocal of the night so far," said Simon. "I like that fact that whenever your given some criticism, rather than sulking you treat it as a challenge. I wasn't a big fan when you got through, but I'm quite happy to hold my hand up now and say I am a fan."

It seemed like Hernandez would be a hard act to follow, but Chikezie pulled it out with a fat and greasy, bluesy version of Ray Charles' "I Believe To My Soul." Ryan and Chikezie both referred to it as Donny Hathaway's, but it was Ray who wrote it and Donny re-recorded it as did The Animals, among others. Contestant Elliot Yamin also performed it, on Season 5 of the show. Simon said Chikezie was "a million times better than last week," and he got raves from Paula and Randy, too.

David Archuleta, 17, wrapped up the night with John Lennon's "Imagine," which was a risky choice, but his vocal interpretation was beautiful, especially for someone so young. Randy said he sang "with such maturity way beyond your years" and Paula said it was "one of the most moving performance I've ever heard. You're destined for superstardom." The kid even impressed Simon, "I've got to tell you, right now, you're the one to beat."

Link: David Hernandez - Top 24 Contestants - American Idol.

My Take On The New "Dancing With The Stars" Contestants..

This season's crop of "Dancing With The Stars" contestants was announced this morning, and it looks like an interesting line-up for the show, returning to ABC on March 17.

Here's my take on the contestants.

Priscilla Presley - Priscilla studied ballet when she was younger which should give her an advantage. And maybe she learned a few hip-swiveling moves from her first husband.

Kristi Yamaguchi - Kristi is one of the most graceful figure skaters, so I can't wait to see her do the waltz and the footwork-intensive dances like the jive or the quick step. Plus she has her own built-in fanbase of skating fans. I'm predicting she will be one of the favorites.

Adam Carolla - He just doesn't look like the kind of guy that would be light on his feet, nor do I see him as serious enough to really care about the competition. I think he's just seizing the opportunity to promote his first film role. Predicition: early exit.

Marlee Matlin - Marlee says not being able to hear will help her focus more on the actual dancing. In ballroom dancing, the woman follows the man's moves, so as long as her partner's a good lead she could do well.

Shannon Elizabeth - Shannon studied dance when she was a girl, and was an athlete in high school. She also studies Krav Maga, the martial art developed by the Israeli Defense Forces. She's got discipline and movement experience, so she's got a good shot.

Steve Guttenberg - He starred in the Golden Raspberry worst picture winner "Don't Stop The Music" about disco icons The Village People, so there's a chance he can do the hustle. It remains to be seen if he has enough of a fan base to keep him on the show.

Monica Seles - Speed and discipline, she's got, but she doesn't strike me as particulary graceful. She's also 5'10" which doesn't help, but at least her professional partner is Jonathan Roberts who is said to be 6'0."

Penn Jillette - The hulking illusionist/comedian might turn out to be a dark horse. He studied juggling at  Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, and there's certainly grace to that skill. Plus, over the years I've seen my share of big fellas tear up the dance floor in nightclubs, so one never knows.

Mario (photo above) - The 21-year-old R&B/pop singer shows off some smooth moves in the music video for his mega-hit "Let Me Love You" which spent 9 weeks at no. 1 on the Hot 100 chart a couple of years ago. Never mind that he's one of my favorite young singers, he's got a big enough base of young fans who will be dialing up to vote for him. I'm predicting he'll be one of the show favorites, too.

Jason Taylor - Emmitt Smith won season 3 and Jerry Rice was the runner-up in Season 2 and they're both football stars. But Emmitt was a running back and Jerry was a wide receiver, both positions that require speed and agility. As a 6'6" and 255 pound defensive end, Jason will bring the discipline and determination of an athlete, but it remains to be seen if he has the moves.

Cristian De La Fuente - Cristian says on his myspace page that he's "always wanted to learn how to dance," so it doesn't seem like he's had past experience as a dancer (although he was involved in athletics at school). As long as he takes his shirt off at some point, I'm good.

Marissa Jaret Winokur - She won a Tony award for playing the starring role of Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway production of "Hairspray" and before that she was Jan in the touring company of "Grease." So she has dance training and based on the choreography of those two musicals she'll probably do really well with the high-energy jive and swing. Unfortunately, she may not have a big enough fan base to stay in the competition.

My final three blind pick is (in no particular order): Kristi, Mario, and Shannon.

Prison Break Finale Fizzles (warning spoilers)

Well...tonight was the season finale of "Prison Break" and I was looking forward to having at least a few of the many loose ends tied up.

Didn't happen.

T-Bag, Sucre, and  Bellick are back in SONA. LJ and Lincoln are reunited and Michael is going to stay in Panama to go after Susan for presumably having killed Sara (many fans, including me, are still not convinced that Sara is really dead). Malone and Whistler are in cahoots with Susan on the outside and Sofia is in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound.

All that business about Whistler's bird book, which T-Bag now has, and those coordinates? Susan said there ARE no coordinates. Plus we got no closer to what The Company is all about in the first place.

I was happy, though, that Luis was able to reunite with his family. And I loved LJ laughing at Susan for even thinking she could outsmart his uncle.

I just had hoped that the story would be moving out of Panama and on to a new location by this point. Plus, the last two episodes were really exciting so tonight's finale was a disappointment in comparison.

But, as long as Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell are still in the cast looking all pretty, I'll keep watching!

A First For "The Apprentice"...

For the first time ever on "The Apprentice," Donald Trump fired -- nobody!

Empresario, which was made up of Mary Lou, Tito, Trace and Stephen this week worked together beautifully in this week's challenge. The Hydra team -- Omarosa, Piers, Lennox and Carol -- were a total disasster. Yet, Empresario lost the challenge by a few thousands dollars and Trump was faced with firing one of them.

Omarosa kept harrassing Piers with nasty comments about his kids. He was the project manager, so he "fired" her from the project. Later, in the boardroom, the two were at each other's throats and Lennox even said he's been in the ring with Mike Tyson but never seen as ugly a battle as the one between those two.

You could tell The Donald was itching to get rid Piers or Omarosa, but since their team somehow ended up collecting more money for their charity, they were safe.

Trump just couldn't bring himself to fire anybody on the Empresario team because they all worked so hard and worked well together. So, everybody got to stay and next week he's separating Piers and Amarosa. She'll go to the Empresario team and Mary Lou will work for Hydra.

My prediction is that Stephen and Amarosa will bump heads on Hydra, and from the previews it looks like Lennox and Piers will be fighting.

At least the money they earn goes to charity!

Why Being Sent Home From "American Idol" Isn't Always A Bad Thing...

Tonight on "American Idol" Paula, Simon and Randy announced which contestants made the final 24, and which ones would be sent home.

The news they didn't make it can be absolutely devasting to the contestants who are told to pack their bags.

I always hate to hear those contestants say, "this is the most important day of my life."  It isn't.

True, there are some contestants who probably won't get another shot at fame.

On the other hand, there are plenty of contestants -- particularly the younger ones -- who are being sent home because they're just not ready. In those cases, they need to work on consistency, or perhaps they have a natural, raw talent but need to work on performance. It always breaks my heart to see them leave so upset and hurt by the rejection.  The judges know that if these contestants make it into the 24, they probably won't make it to the final 12. If they leave at this stage, they have a shot at coming back in the future.

If they made it that far, and the judges tell them they should continue to work on their craft, that's an affirmation of their talent. I sure hope that when they get home, their family and friends support them or they at least regain the confidence to push forward and not give up on their dreams.

Sure, "American Idol" can jumpstart a career, and eliminate all those years of playing in clubs and bars in the middle of nowhere.  But, it's not the only path nor is it a guarantee of success, just ask winners Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard who were both recently dropped from their record labels.

So for all those "Idol" hopefuls sent home tonight: don't give up!

Can't Wait For "Mad Men"

I've read several good reviews of AMC's new original series "Mad Men" premiering tonight at 10:00 p.m. The show about advertising executives on Madison Avenue in 1960s New York was created by writer and executive producer Matthe Weiner of "The Sopranos."

The world of work was very different for women then, and I can't wait to talk to some of my younger friends to see how they react to it.

Link: AMC - MAD MEN.

"Medium" Episode Foreshadows Houston Shooter Incident

A NASA contract worker shot and killed a hostage and then himself this afternoon at Johnson Space Center. It was just another act of senseless violence in a horribly violent week.

I wanted to escape the news tonight by watching back TV shows accumulated on my DVR. I began with the April 4 episode of "Medium."

Imagine my horror, when the epsiode turned out to be eerily similar to the Houston story.

The plot was about a fired aerospace engineer who holds his boss and co-workers hostage at the company's offices in Phoenix. I'll describe what happens, and add some quotes from the news story on CBSNews.com so you can compare.

Joe, the husband of Alison (the "medium"), is waiting for a co-worker Bruce, whom he doesn't know very well, to drive him to work since his own car is in the shop. Alison has a feeling of dread about the day and begs Joe to not accept the ride. Joe goes to work anyway, and when they pull up at the security gate of the aerospace firm where they work, Bruce says he's lost his card and asks Joe to let him in.

"To enter the space center, workers flash an ID badge as they drive past a security guard. The badge allows workers access to designated buildings."

Joe and Bruce go to the monthly project management meeting with their boss and two other coworkers when it's revealed that the boss had actually fired Joe a few days earlier.

"There were unconfirmed reports that the man was going to be fired on Friday."

When the boss threatens to call security, Bruce pulls out a gun.

"A source inside JSC told CBS Station KHOU that a meeting was under way in a conference room when the gunman walked in and pointed a gun at one person. He ordered everyone else out. "

To prove he means business, Bruce fires a shot in the ceiling. The boss still doesn't buy it, so a few minutes later Bruce shoots one of his hostages, a man.

"Authorities said the slain hostage, a man, was likely to have been shot "in the early minutes of the whole ordeal."

The police surround the building and try to speak to Bruce, but after he shoots the hostage he orders the boss to keep hanging up on the police when they call.

"Police commando unit officers had surrounded Building 44, which houses communications and a laboratory, after receiving reports of the gunman. After failing to establish communication with the intruder, police heard another shot from inside the office on the second floor where the gunman was holed up. "

The two stories ended differently. The Houston shooter killed himself, and the SWAT team takes Bruce out after they hear more shots fired.

Bruce, it turns out, is dying of a brain disease and has only a few weeks to live. He's distraught that his wife and son won't have any money since he's been fired and lost his pension and benefits. His m.o. is to show up at the meeting and try to get his job back, and if that fails, take hostages and force the boss to anonymously wire transfer money into his wife's bank account in an off-shore bank.

It's not yet known what motivated the Houston shooter, but I'm sure the details will emerge eventually.

A word about Eddie Izzard...

I just started watching "The Riches" on F/X, starring Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver. F/X can add another winner to a list of original series that includes "The Shield," "Rescue Me," and "Nip/Tuck."

If you haven't seen Eddie Izzard's genius stand-up work, there are plenty of clips on YouTube.Here's one where he effortlessly weaves together the Trojan War and vacuuming ("hoovering" as they say across the pond.) Warning: there's a little bit of strong language.