THE AMAZING RACE 16 EPISODE #5

FIGHT TO THE FINISH

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Get Ready, Get Set, GO!

The wishful, wounded and weary leave Hamburg, Germany by bus to an unknown city in "France".

The wishful detectives, Michael and Louie, the wounded, Joe and the weary, Jordan and Jeff, along with the other five remaining teams embarked on a trip to France. Upon arrival in France, they found their clue which directed them to Ste. Menehould, where they were to find the Boulangerie Defontaine, a bakery, where they were to buy a fresh baguette and received their next clue.

Detectives, Michael and Louie lead off and arrived first at the boulangerie. Upon receiving their baguette, they were left to wonder about the "clue" which they were to be given. In quick time, upon breaking open the baguette they found the clue which had been baked inside. They were directed to travel to Le Main de Massiges. This is an area coveted by Germans but fiercely defended by the French - a well known battle site. Being the first team to arrive they were surprised to find a DETOUR which gave a warning that there was a U-Turn involved in the course of the Detour.

THE DETOUR

The two challenges were: The Trenches or Underfire.

The Trenches required that the team, dressed as American Dough boys settle in a trench where they would be given a message, in Morse code, which they needed to translate.

Underfire required the costumed American Dough boys to belly-down in the mud, booby-trapped with barbed wire, and crawl 100 yards to a machine gun nest amid the battle raging. Once at the machine gun nest they needed to retrieve a written message from French soldiers and then crawl back to safety. Upon arriving back to the spot of safety they would be assisted in attaching the message to a homing pigeon that would deliver it to headquarters. The message would declare that the war was over. At the point that the homing pigeon was in flight, the teams would be given their clue to the next part of their journey. The clue instructed the team to walk south, down the road. With help of a compass, teams would walk south and find a Blind U-Turn.

The Blind U-Turn allows a team to remain anonymous while slowing another team down by forcing them to perform an additional task; that of performing whichever task they had not previously performed, forcing them back to their previous location. Michael and Louie, still in the lead, debated briefly as to which team they should choose. The decision was Joe and Heidi because of a statement Joe had made while they were on the bus from Germany to France. "No fear of the other teams".

Once the detectives posted the selected team, they received their next clue instructing them to march to the Church of Massiges. Upon arrival at the church, they were instructed to "pedal to victory". They were to dress in traditional attire, including a moustache, and peddle on antique bicycles through a challenging four mile route to their destination Pit Stop.

Victory was theirs. Maintaining the lead through the day, they were able to claim their second victory in a row. Their reward was a 55 inch HD television for each of them.

The Struggling Teams:

Brent and Caite checked in in the 6th place, only to be informed by Phil that they had misread their clue and never found the U-Turn clue, instead walked directly to the bicycles and peddled to the Pit Stop. They were made to go back to pick up the U-Turn Clue. Despite this delay for them, they were still the 6th team to check-in.

How did Jordan and Jeff make out? Well, it's as if there was a cloud over their heads. Upon arrival in France they got lost. They knew that in order to have any chance of winning that they needed to pass at least one team. They also knew that they had an additional challenge to perform as a result of avoiding elimination last week- the Speed Bump. After performing the Speed Bump task; that of reinforcing a portion of the battle field trenches using branches, they then completed the challenge , Underfire. Jordan had difficulty with crawling under the barbed wire and when they had to repeat the barbed wire crawl following receipt of the clue received at the machine gun nest there was clear evidence of frustration, as well as concern that they might not meet with the success they were working so hard to realize.

Now, for the fate of Joe and Heidi. Since they had performed "Underfire" they had to perform "The Trenches"... deciphering the Morse code message. Here is where their problems started. Try as they might, they were unsuccessful in deciphering the message correctly. While they continued to work on decoding the message the remaining teams completed their challenges and reached the Pit Stop. As it grew dark and they still had not checked-in so Phil went to them to inform them that they had been eliminated. (See Joe and Heidi Wang's picture above. They live in El Segundo, California.

The Finishing Order:

Louie and Michael

Steve and Allie

Jet and Cord

Don and Jordan

Carol and Brandy

Brent and Caite

Jordan and Jeff

Joe and Heidi

Which team will be eliminated week 6?

Which team will win the #1 spot week 6?

Want to give a guess as which team will win?

THE BACHELOR- 20/20's INSIDE THE STORIES BEHIND THE ROSE

TIME FOR TRUTH TO PREVAIL

On Monday evening, March 15th, on ABC's 20/20, they will take a look behind the scenes of THE BACHELOR.

There will be highlights and awkward moments from previous BACHELOR episodes.

Melissa Rycroft, who was jilted on THE BACHELOR when Jason changed his mind after having proposed to her on the final episode, will be key in informing the public about what goes no behind the scenes. She though mades it clear in a recent interview that this show is done with cooperation of the show's producers. She hints that some of the "real" happenings will be disclosed.

I am looking forward to this presentation because all along I have been suspect that there is much more going on than we see. Of course, anyone who watches any "reality" show knows that it is not "true" reality but is a glimpse of the "real" along with crafty scripting and editing. It is realistic that because reality shows are popular that everything that can be done to command an audience is done.

Join in and watch INSIDE THE BACHELOR.

I'll be watching to get answers to two of my questions:

Is there script for participants in order to create images of ladies?

How much and what type of editing is involved in order to add hype to the show and create "ratings"?

I would also like to know, truthfully, how this type experience impacts the lives of the participants.

AMERICAN IDOL 9 -Week # 03- ELIMINATIONS

TOP TWELVE REVEALED

Ryan Seacrest opened the show with these words: "The results are in. We could be in for a surprise or two."

A Group Number was performed: - Michael Buble's,

Just Have'nt Met You Yet.

Contestants were called to the stage where they heard brief discussions about their performance (s) and told of their fate. See Results Below:

Special Guests Performance for the evening was a duet performance by two of last season's contestants. Scott MacIntyre and Matt Gerard performed vocals accompaning themselves on pianos. Tell Her About It was their selection.

It was a very enjoyable performance and brought with it the news that Scott McIntyre will have a CD coming out soon and that Matt Gerard is also working on a recording. Scott McIntyre invited everyone to visit his website: http://www.scottmacintyre.com/ .

Eliminations: Katelyn Epperly ,Todrick Hall, Alex Lambert and Lilly Scott

TOP TWELVE REVEALED

Didi Benami ,Tim Urban, Siobhan Magnus, Lee Dewyze,Paige Miles , Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Michael Lynche, Lacey Brown, Aaron Kelly, Katie Stevens,

Andrew Garcia

In closing Ryan Seacrest announced the Theme for the next episode:

MUSIC OF THE ROLLING STONES

SEE YOU THEN!

SURVIVOR - HEROES vs VILLAINS 3 /11/2010

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Beginning on Day 12

Some discussion of the last Survivor eliminated- Cirie. To sum it up, it was felt that Cerie stayed loyal 'til things got rough.

Following the Heroes' latest loss, we find signs of determination to win. J.T. and Amanda in their discussion said "Bring it on."

The Heroes camp was keeping busy, building team spirit and commitment. On the beach, Coach was found leading the tribe members in group meditation and movement in order to gain complete body control. He is seen telling tribe members that the mind and body must get on the same page. Huh! Did I just say tribe members... well, tribe members except for Russell. Where was Russell? You got it ! He was on his own mission; finding the individual idol which he felt was a very important "tool". Find it he did with the exclamation, " This is my key!" Again, he was put in what one might call the cat-bird seat.

REWARD CHALLENGE

Called together for the Reward Challenge which was a basket ball type competition with part of each tribe in a pit throwing a ball to the remaining tribe members who were on a platform. The tribe member on the platform then had to throw the ball into the basket at the opposite end of the court. The tribe to successfully get two balls in their basked would be declared the winner.

After explaining the challenge, Jeff Probst then proceeded to describe the reward. The winning tribe would be treated with a chocolate feast at a beautiful watering hole nearby. Additionally, to prepare them for the reward he passed small pieces of chocolate around for each person to sample. Interestingly enough, the Heroes refused the enticing treat. Why? They explained that they were focused to win, not for the reward but to "win". During the competition, James injured his left leg thus causing the Heroes to play one person short. The Winners: The Villains.

Back at the Villains camp, Russell tells Parvati that he has found the idol. Parvati and Russell are allies. Then Russell decides to tell Coach because he trusts him. In turn, Coach honors Russell for trusting him. Of course, this is all part of Russell's plan. He boasts that the King he is, he will Knight the Dragon Slayer.

Things are different for the Heroes. They are all a twitter about James' injury. Tom though feels that someone hobbled could be an advantage. There was the realization that if they lose the Immunity Challenge that James will need to be voted off.

The Immunity Challenge:

This was another puzzle challenge whereby one tribe member would be the "caller" and other members would be blindfolded and with direction from the "caller" would locate and transport the larger-than-life puzzle parts to a designated location where they would assemble the puzzle - without blindfold, of course. The first tribe to complete the puzzle would win immunity. The WINNER : The Villains.

Both tribes returned to camp, but the Heroes have a decision to make. Who to eliminate. There was a consensus that either James or Tom should be voted off. Going into Tribal Council it seemed as though the decision would be the result of a swing vote which they agreed would come from J.T. since he was known to flip-flop and play whatever hand fit that day.

Tribal Council

Jeff Probst posed several questions directed to Rupert, J.T., and James. There was some assessment as to what happened during the challenges. It was obvious that there were negative feelings about Tom. James said that Tom needs to shut-up and Tom, in turn said that James is being kept for his vote. The vote was taken and both Tom and James drew the votes but Tom, receiving the majority had his torch extinguished. Good-bye, Tom.

I am left to ponder:

Will James recover sufficiently to be able to contribute to the tribe and victories in the next challenges?

Will there be a consequence to Russell for his finding the Immunity Idol, which went against an assumed agreement among Tribe members?

See you back here following the next episode.

By-the-Way... the next episode won't air until Wednesday, March 24th

AMERICAN IDOL 9 - WEEK #03-GUYS

GUY'S NIGHT

Wasting no time, Ryan Seacrest introduced the first contestant for the night.

Lee Dewyze - With his guitar he performed Fireflies. Seemed as though this wasn't a strong start when Randy said it was a strange song choice even though he did make it his own. Ellen felt that he had some pitch problems but that he made it rock. Kara felt that he was looking confident and that there seems to be a star bubbling there even though it was not his best performance. Simon commented that it was nothing to rave about. "You were better than your version of the song." The most positive note was that he predicts that he has a good chance of being in the final 12.

Alex Lambert, again accompanying himself on the guitar sang, Trouble. Randy thought it was a good song choice and although he liked it, it did not WOW him. Ellen talking about his progress in terms of a ripening banana feels that he is getting better each week. Kara advised him to let go and "be you". Simon wants for him to relax and have a good time because he does have a good distinct voice.

Tim Urban and his acoustic guitar wowed us with Hallelujah. Different rhythm and blues style which elicited "love the song and you did a pretty good job", from Randy. Ellen was moved to action - leaving her seat, going to the stage and giving Tim a hug. Her most descriptive exclamation was "fantastic". Kara liked it and felt that it was an honest interpretation. Simon was positive saying that it was his strongest performance.

Andrew Garcia with yet another guitar performed the Christina Aguilera song, Genie In A Bottle. It didn't strike me as anything special and the judges supported me in my decision regarding his performance. Although Randy found it an interesting choice of song he felt it was pitchy "all over the place." Ellen thought the Genie came out of the bottle too late. Kara said it just wasn't great. She felt that he was fighting the rhythm of the guitar. Simon said it was "a little bit desperate" and that he felt that Andy was going backward.

Casey James performed Keith Urban's You'll Think of Me and was assessed by Randy as performing a safe choice. Ellen really liked it and Kara said that it was better than last week but felt that it was missing that "spark". Simon, with his positive attitude said that it made him sincere and that he liked him second best for the evening so far.

Aaron Kelly, the youngest of the contestants sang I'm Already There. Randy started off saying that it was a "job well done" followed by Ellen's concern that it was too much song for him although he sang it with confidence. Kara said that he gave it his all. Although others felt that the song was too "old" for him, Simon felt that it was the right type of song saying "it's a nice song"

Todrick Hall performed Queen's, Somebody To Love. Positive comments were forthcoming with Randy saying he "is back" and that he proved that he could sing. Ellen called it " brave" and gospel. Kara felt that it was over dramatic in spots but felt that it was really good singing. Simon said it was good in parts but that he felt that Todrick is a Broadway singer rather than a recording star.

Michael Lynche performed Kate Bush's This Woman's Work" and received the most unanimous positive response from the judges. This song takes a crooner and I believe that's what he is. Randy- "really hot.", Ellen- "so beautiful" Kara, through teary eyes said that she "related to it" Simon, in agreement with the others said that it was "so needed tonight".

Well, there we are! Who do you think will be eliminated tomorrow?

Watch here and see if you are correct!

AMERICAN IDOL 9 - WEEK #03 GIRLS

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The show has now gone down to one hour since the number of contestants has been significantly decreased. Tonight we have performances for eight ladies.

Getting right down to the business of the evening:

Katie Stevens - singing Break Away, the performance was not lauded as being great, but she was given credit for doing things different and based on recommendations of judges. She was given 10/10 for her interest. She still has to decide what type of singer she is going to be.

Siobhan Magnus - performed House of the Rising Sun and received mostly favorable remarks. Randy told her it was "different" and that she takes risks while Ellen said that she was "captivated" by it. Kara described her as unique and different and then came Simon's "weird" when using a one-word description of the performance.

Lacey Brown, with her rendition of I Was Made For You, was critiqued as "making me sleepy", and "boring", while at the same time "your best performance" . Kara felt that she demonstrated "effortless singing" and that in her opinion the song choice was "brilliant".

Katelyn Epperly - accompanying herself on the keyboard performed I Feel The Earth Move. The judges expressed, what I would call, lukewarm comments about her performance. There were feelings of "no feeling of the right connection", "not enough", "not committed to it" and "it was like a performance on a request night at a pub". This perhaps puts her on the edge for this week's elimination.

Didi Benami performed Rhianon and was given highly complimentary remarks. She is viewed as one of the favorites. Although Randy declared that it didn't give him a "wow moment", Simon felt that it was a "brilliant choice" of song. I think she can begin to prepare for next week!

Paige Miles was sixth to sing. She sang Smile. Hopefully she can continue to smile now that the judges worked her over. Randy loved the song but said "it didn't work tonight". Ellen said that this song is supposed to be uplifting but that it was sad. "It was a wrong choice". Kara felt that it was "all wrong" followed by Simon's "it was a horrible choice and that the arrangement was "awful". He further reiterated, " it's what I call a peanut performance" He offered "You have potential but don't know what kind of artist your are." He predicted that this was the end for her. I personally agree. I felt that she sounded nervous and weak. Definitely the least effective performer of the evening.

Crystal Bowersox and her guitar, of course, performed Give Me One Reason. Perform she did. Her greatest fans seem to be the panel of judges. Again this week she got four stars. Randy said simply he "loved it" and "I'm a fan." Ellen felt that she needed some "new adjectives" to describe the performance and that it was the best performance of the evening. Kara felt that it was a great song choice and well performed. Simon recognized her confidence as well as her performance and predicted that she is going to be in the top 12 and that everyone was going to have to contend with her. Interesting that he would go no further than to predict in the top 12!

Lilly Scott, the final performer for the evening chose a Patsy Cline favorite - I Fall To Pieces. She accompanied herself on the mandolin. Kara made a point to say that Lilly had "made it her own". Simon said that he felt she was brave to choose it but that for him it didn't have the "wow" factor.

A full night came to a close. In general it was a good night. As I see it, there are numerous potentials for elimination.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 the guys will take the stage.

Will they exceed the performances of the ladies?

Who will be the best?

Which guys will go on the block?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010- see Blog American Idol 9- Week 3, Guys

THE AMAZING RACE 16-EPISODE #04

Sunday, March 7, 2010
"We're No Longer In The Bible Belt"
(Cord and Jett's comment upon arrival at the INDRA CLUB)

Happenings:

Cord and Jett, the cowboy brothers are coming into this episode with a second consecutive victory.

Monique and Shawne (above) were eliminated as the late-comers to the pit stop.

Episode #04 in a Capsule

As this episode begins, the eight teams are about to travel 8,000 miles to Germany from Argentina. Their choices of schedules - direct flight or with transfer in Sao Paulo, Brazil or Paris, is theirs. Admittedly the decisions were based on seat availability. Upon arrival in Frankfurt, Germany they then had to take a train to Hamberg. Again, this was not without incident. Upon arrival in Hamberg they found their first clue which was an Intersection.

What is an intersection? Something new!

The Intersection is whereby one member of each team is mutually paired to a partner from another team and together they compete in a Roadblock. The intersection, to Reach New Heights, to be done by the newly partnered teams, was to make a 150 foot tandem bungee jump in the center of the city. Each team had it's own challenge. Bungee jumping was new for each and there were various personal issues; the least of which was whether or not the cowboy's hat would stay on during the jump. Well, it did! He was right when he said a cowboy never loses his hat! Following their successful jump each team was given a clue which directed them to a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm which is located in Altonaer Tathaus, Germany. Because they took a taxi instead of the "metro", the teams of Cord/Jett and Louie/Michael arrived first, only to find a Detour.

DETOUR: - SOCCER OR SAUERKRAUT:

The Soccer challenge required that they successfully kick a soccer ball through 5 targets. As expected some people did better than others. The quicker they got the five targets the earlier they moved on. The Sauerkraut challenge required that a large plate of sauerkraut be eaten before the German band completed a sauerkraut polka. The key here, of course, was how fast the sauerkraut could be consumed. Not completing the dish of sauerkraut meant that another polka would be played and a new plate of sauerkraut would be given to them with hopes of total consumption prior to the end of the music. Amazing, some teams did really wellbut some teams were slowed down because a partner found it difficult to eat sauerkraut. One team, Jordan and Jeff chose to abandon the Sauerkraut challenge and perform the Soccer challenge, which did cause them some delay putting them in jeapordy of elimination at the pit stop.

Upon completion of the Soccer or Sauerkraut challenge each team received a clue which directed them to the Haifisch Bar. Travel from the Soccer/Sauerkraut location to the Haifisch Bar was not without incident. Again, Jordan and Jeff seemed to have more than their share of frustration when they realized that their cab driver was traveling in the wrong direction, despite his use of a GPS. You only get out of GPS what you put into it - a costly mistake. Once each team reached the bar the challenge was to share a large boot of beer in order to receive their clue to the next destination. All teams managed to perform that challenge although some did better at it than others; if you know what I mean.

The clue given following the beer chugging challenge represented a Speed Bump. It directed them to the Beatles-Platz a monument honoring the Beatles and to the INDA CLUB which was in the red-light district of the city. This proved to be an eye-opening experience for some. From the cowboys we heard, "We're no longer in the Bible belt." Some fun was had by all. Most important though was getting to the pit stop, which was a ground pad nearby.

The Pit Stop: Of course, Phil was waiting to welcome each team upon arrival. First to arrive was the detectives Louie and Michael. Each member of the team was rewarded with a Discover gift card worth $5000.00. Gee, just think of it.... a belly full of beer and money too! One by one the teams arrived until finally Jordan and Jeff, who were anticipating elimination checked in. They were quickly told by Phil that this was a non-elimination leg of the race. WOW! Is that luck or what? Jeff made his profound statement: "When you're down and out . . . that's when your true personality comes out. I feel like we're going to rebound from this and it should make us a stronger team."

Was there a lesson learned from Jordan and Jeff's experience?

Given this second chance, will Jordan and Jeff last 'til the end?

WATCH FOR EPISODE #05 CAPSULE

SUNDAY, MARCH 14,2010 - CBS 8:00 PM EST