March 31, 2005

They say that March goes in like a lion, and out like a lamb. Not on GSNN, and certainly not in the land of game and reality shows...as things only get more heated and cutthroat heading for finale nights.

Following "The Week That Was," I'll have some other random thoughts on "The Contender" and on a little concern for one of GSNN's own. :)

The Week That Was…

On "American Idol"…
Can I start off by gloating a little? My rankings worked out again... with the bottom three as voted by America being three of my bottom four. I do wonder what the vote was the first time...and honestly, how many people really voted for the wrong person?

Last week I mentioned that the season was up for grabs. What I didn't mention is that each year, there comes a point where the group of Idol finalists is basically split in two by this scoring system...where roughly half are in a 'lead' group and half are in a 'watch out, or you're gone' group.

That's what happened this week.

I have to say, thank you "American Idol" for skipping over the 70s and 80s weeks, following the debacle that was 60s Week. This week, we jumped right into the 90s. I have to admit that the ten songs performed weren't exactly my 10 favorite songs of the decade, but they'll do.

The strongest performances of the night came from a surprisingly improved Constantine Maroulis, and consistent performers Carrie Underwood and Vonzell Solomon.

The weakest renditions were from Anwar Robinson, who has sung one good song in the last two weeks -- unfortunately, the one good song is the second half of last week's performance, and the second half of this week's performance. His first-halves are off the mark somehow. I don't know why. Scott Savol was also surprisingly weak this week.

So here are the rankings through three weeks. Note, as always, these rankings are my opinion only and are as subjective as each of our votes.

		*Rankings*
Contestant	Point Total	This Wk	Overall	Previous
Carrie Underwood	10	2	1	1
Vonzell Solomon	12	3	2	2
Constantine Maroulis	12	1	3	7
Nikko Smith	14	4	4	4
Bo Bice	15	5	5	3
Jessica Sierra	20	7	6	9
Anwar Robinson	20	9	7	5
Nadia Turner	20	8	8	8
Anthony Fedorov	21	6	9	10
Scott Savol	21	10	10	6

See what I mean? Two groups of five. And note that the bottom five are just one point apart. Thus the bottom three could be almost anyone in that group. And that proved true, as the bottom three turned out to be #6 Jessica, #7 Anwar, and #8 Nadia. And Jessica was sent home. I'm not sure why...her week 1 performance was weak but she had improved greatly the past two weeks.

And you can see I was wrong about Bo moving up this week. He's still a favorite but Simon was right -- Constantine was better than Bo. So were Carrie, Vonzell, and Nikko.

On "The Apprentice"…
Anybody else cringe when Carolyn cringed last week (re: the 'swallow' incident)?

If you think Ulong is a complete mess on "Survivor," consider BOTH teams on "The Apprentice." Net Worth is a total shambles. Trump's got major apprehensions about Angie and Chris...only Stephanie's really in a decent position.

Meanwhile, the entire Magna team doubted their PM, Craig, who had absolutely no support on his how-to clinic idea from his teammates...even though they eventually did pull it off.

The DUH! award for the week goes to Erin, whose 'wiseguy' wink-filled antics rightfully earned her a trip down to the street. Her attempts at manipulating Trump were thankfully met with a cold stare and a "You're Fired."

On "Survivor"…
But it is a close call whether the disorganization of Magna or Net Worth can be topped by the disintegrating Ulong tribe. After James was voted off this week in a tiebreaker vote, only Ibrehem, Bobby Jon, and Stephenie remain. (Odd how all the Alabama folks ended up together, and how that didn't factor into alliances whatsoever, apparently, since they've wanted Ibrehem and/or James gone for several episodes now.)

The interesting thing that will have to be discussed this week is this: if there is NOT a merge, how will the challenges be handled? The rules state you can't sit out people in back-to-back challenges. But if it's 3-on-3, that'll be impossible for Koror. I really do wonder how that'll work.

As for predictions, I think you have to keep betting -- merge or no merge -- that it'll be Ulong people gone. Koror may want to get rid of one or two people but the chances of an Ulong tribe member winning Survivor are probably less than 5%.

On "The Amazing Race"…
What is it this season with last-second finishes, and first-to-worsts? Ray and Deana went from first (and matching-car winners) to eliminated -- in the same two-hour episode. That's fine with me...because their bickering and comments about others were approaching the Jonathan/Victoria level.

Odds and Ends...
And finally...a few notes from my little computer.

* I'm a huge boxing fan. And "The Contender"'s bouts are great. But for some reason, I just can't get into watching the show. I really don't know why, unless it's just that I'm watching too much reality TV already. The show isn't doing well in the ratings, but its reruns are one of the highest-rated shows in CNBC history. Go figure.

* World Cup (qualifying) soccer came within 90 minutes of me Wednesday night. I really wanted to go...and by the looks of it, they had a great crowd on hand. I don't know exactly why...but when soccer comes to this area, it always draws a great crowd.

* And finally, a little concern by me about one of GSNN's own. Check out the most recent (March 28) edition of GSNN's "We Love to Interrupt." The group looked back at episodes of the series...including three that I pulled and/or highly edited. Since I wasn't able to be a part of the chat last weekend (some of us have to work for a living!)...here is my response:

In Episode 5...our own Gordon Pepper decided to lampoon his own boss (me) with a letter to "Dr. Chico." Rule #1: don't tick off the boss!

In November 2001...WLTI got pulled again, after a controversial statement about Ben Tritle. Ben wasn't happy with GSNN following that statement (oh boy, did I ever hear it) -- although we've since made up and all is well. Rule #2: don't tick off friends of the website!

In Episode 23...I made a decision, based on Episode 5 and the content of this episode that GSNN's own Gordon Pepper had a little 'problem.' ;) Read the content in the link above and you'll see what that problem might be. Gordon, there are programs out there that can help you.

And no, I wasn't appalled at the mention...I was appalled that the information hadn't been given to me by you guys before that time!! ;)

* One last thought...why is it that so many game show fans are named Jason? We have three on the GSNN staff alone.

More next week.

Jason Elliott can be reached at jason@stormseeker.com.