realitymunches

30 September 2010

They Don't Call It The Amazing Race for Nothin'

The game format remains pretty much the same. The only twist this season is The Express Pass. If a team wins an express pass, they can use it at any time with any challenge they don't want to complete. So basically they can skip a whole task.

Entertaining moments, personalities and quotes in the debut episode:

1) A watermelon collided with a Home Shopping Host Claire's head. Very, very painful. Watch the tragedy here.
2) Connor and Jonathan, the Princeton acapella singers, have been nicknamed ‘Team Glee’.
3) Mallory, Miss Kentucky 2008, is too sweet a person to hate.
4) Ron and Tony, Broadway BFFs, believed that one of their ‘strong suits is being able to navigate really well’. Looks like London sent them into a downward spiral, causing them to be the first team eliminated.
5) Vicki is PURE ENTERTAINMENT. First she said: "This is the first time I've ever even heard of Stonehenge and then I found out it was a bunch of rocks." Later, upon arrival at the Pit Stop, Phil asks: "What country are we in?" Vicki replies: "We're in London," Phil: "That's right, the country of London." Classic.
6) Chad and Stephanie took like years to find the Pit Stop. No other team found any difficulty in spotting Phil.
7) It’s sadistically amusing how Ron and Tony’s boat kept sinking because of their weight discrepancies.

You can watch The Amazing Race 17 Episode 1 here: http://www.zshare.net/video/80841255242ac61a/

# posted by Louis : 8:52 PM

26 September 2010

Race To The Finish

The designers must create a high fashion look for a L'Oreal advertorial, using one of the L'Oreal eye shadow finishes as an inspiration. Designers pick the finish of their choice Halfway through the challenge, they are told they must also create a companion ready to wear look. The winner receives $20,000. This is the first time there has ever been a definite cash prize for a challenge other than the final. In the past the prize for this type of challenge was always exposure.

Andy – I loved the pants of the high fashion dress. He put a lot of detail into it. The day dress was sleek and sexy. He managed to mix the metallic portion into the clothing so well.
Mondo – He always manages to mix all the random colours into one pieces, and yet make it look so cohesive. It was so over-the-top, but it still worked. The ready-to-wear look flatters the body so well – very chic.

Gretchen – The layering of the high fashion dress is lovely. For the ready-to-wear look, the panels moving on the sides look really sexy as the model was walking.
April – The shoulders look much wider than her hips in the ready-to-wear. She should start adding a little more colour to her pieces.

Christopher – There is too much going on for the high-fashion dress. The wrapping around the hips doesn’t look particularly flattering. Not cohesive looking. The ready-to-wear was absolute ho-hum.
Michael C – ‘I’m not good at this, I’ve never been in the bottom before.’ Oh, whatever. The gown look has too long a train, though clothes were constructed well.

Ivy – Bridesmaids under the sea. The neckline does not look very flattering. This was pretty overkill, the electric blue needed to be supported with some lighter tones.
Valerie – Trying to do a structured dress out of soft clothing? Not working. The two pieces lacked a modern touch, and didn’t really address the challenge requirements. She conveniently just placed 3 crystal beads on the ready-to-wear look.

Winner: Mondo Guerra
Eliminated: Ivy Higa

# posted by Louis : 11:31 PM

I Scream, You Scream

Task: Teams had to sell ice-cream on the streets of New York.

Project Managers: Poppy Carlig (Team Fortitude), David Johnson (Team Octane)

Notes:

Poppy has zero sales experience, yet she was chosen to be Project manager. Great choice, Fortitude!
Who in the right mind would want to buy ice-cream for $5? The teams decided to attract attention to the ice-cream carts through their dressing: The girls wore pink tank tops with cute headbands, while the guys wore hideous red-and-white striped vests.
It was pretty amusing how the girls picked up a box of popsicles and just gave them out for free right in front of the men’s cart, in attempts to reduce the sales potential for Octane.
At the boardroom, Poppy singled Liza as the weakest link. Trump jokingly fires Liza, and everyone was just shocked (including me). That was an Apprentice First.

Winning team: Fortitude, who earned $1,800 in profit as compared to Octane’s $1,500 profit. Poppy is rewarded by having the opportunity to chat with Jack Welch, former CEO of GE (General Electrics).

Final Boardroom: David, Alex, James

Fired: Alex, who lacked selling experience, and did not defend himself. There was zero passion coming out of him. After the show, however, Alex found his way out of the recession, as he is now working in a construction management at Rockport, a major company.

That was the most boring boardroom meeting! Alex didn’t show a single spark of passion!

To view Episode 2 of The Apprentice 10, click here: http://www.zshare.net/video/80733769d84d162e/

# posted by Louis : 1:02 PM

Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All

Sash and Naonka formed an alliance based on their racial similarities. Sash contemplated roping Brenda (whom he calls the ‘Asian Sensation’) into the alliance, because if they are successful at that, this ‘racial minority’ alliance would certainly go a long way.

At Espada, Jill started eating snails as though they were escargots. Holly freaks out (I mean, I would too.) and chides Jill. Holly proves her insanity by pulling off a Russell-Hantz moment of disposing Dan’s US$1,600 alligator shoes. An epiphany hit her right after that, as she confessed to Dan that she sunk his shoes into the sea. What in the world?

Holly’s not the only nutcase. At La Flor, Naonka lost her sock, and decided to steal Fabio’s pair of socks without even feeling a sense of guilt or shame. She continued being annoying during Tribal Council, so Jeff Probst concluded that she was ‘complicated’ altogether.

The immunity challenge got the survivors really muddy, as they had to find balls in a huge puddle of haystack. The older people finally used the Medallion of Power, and that gave them an advantage as they required one less person to find the ball. Their advantage was lost immediately after Holly took ten years to find her tribe’s last ball. At the last station, however, good coordination and balancing skills led Espada to victory.

Back at Espada, Jill and the random Espada old man found the hidden Immunity Idol.

At La Flor, Shannon was dumb enough to tell Chase that Chase’s ally, Brenda, was playing him. The moment Chase tells Brenda about Shannon’s desire to get her voted off, the Black Widow taps on the opportunity to rally everyone against him.

I am ecstatic that Shannon is gone. He was full of trash during tribal council. He badmouthed Chase, brashly asked Sash openly if he is gay, concluded that New York “is full of a bunch of gay people”, and singled out his allies (Alina and Jud) to see if they are still sticking with him. As everyone couldn’t stand him any longer, Shannon Elkins was voted off by a 7-3 vote.

To view Episode 2 of Survivor: Nicaragua, click here: http://www.zshare.net/video/80694449b6466a0e/

# posted by Louis : 12:09 PM

25 September 2010

2010: Soundmunches #30

OK Go – White Knuckles [INGENIUS!]
Joe McElderry – Ambitions [Ok, this is just tragedy.]

Jack Johnson – At Or With Me
Eliza Doolittle – Rollerblades

My Chemical Romance – Na Na Na
Hoodie Allen – Swimming With Sharks (feat. VV Brown)
Susan Boyle – Perfect Day

Labels: Soundmunches

# posted by Louis : 12:25 AM

Patricia Field

The 12 remaining models of cycle 15 were dressed as fallen angels and needed to evoke an emotion of their choosing. Prior to the photo shoot, they had a makeover, following which Terra got eliminated on-the-spot, for not possessing enough confidence with her new look. She basically cut away those long locks just to get the boot.

Top
Rhianna – She’s growing on me. She’s not even looking at the guy, but she makes a huge connection with the viewer. Very elegant and editorial.
Kayla – I love how she dominates him by placing her finger on the guy’s chin and giving this really ice-cold look at him. Gorgeous. Love how she makes evil look so subtle.
Chelsey – Despite the male model being rather attractive, the attention is still being focused on her. She’s able to touch him and look away at the same time, creating some sort of dynamic. [click to enlarge]
Ann – She shows her sensitive side in this photo, and looks like a character in a fairy tale. Another success story.
Chris – Strong face. Strong photo, like that of a broken-hearted angel. The left hand’s very awk though.

Bottom
Liz – Face shows a lot of strength, but the body language is pretty blah.
Kacey – Feels like a shot taken out of a dance recital. Not very high-fashion. [click to enlarge]
Kendal – Nothing seems to spark between her and the guy.
Jane – She feels awkward and uncomfortable.
Lexie – None of her shots felt ‘predatorial’ – the word she chose. In fact, she looks too matronly, as though she emerged from a Jane Austen period piece.
Sara – Nothing felt ‘seductive’ about her photo. She took the easy way out by doing some amateurish ballet pose. Perhaps, she didn’t even know what was going on. [Somehow her photo can't be uploaded]
Esther – She looks listless all the time! No passion at all. She’s probably pointing to the sun to distract us. And can Tyra do something about this person’s eyebrows??

Best Photo: Ann
Bottom 2: Lexie and Sara
Eliminated: Sara

You can watch Episode 3 in 5 parts: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V

# posted by Louis : 12:14 AM

24 September 2010

It’s Official: New Idol Judges Revealed

Here are some new changes made to the 10th instalment of Idol:

The judges are Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steve Tyler.
Contestants will get to perform in their own genres every week. No more country singers singing rock and vice versa. Themes will focus on decades rather than genres.
There will be big changes that seem very X-Factor like. Jimmy Iovine, from Interscope/UMG will mentor the kids every week. There will be NO guest mentors unless deemed appropriate. The producers laughed at the idea of Miley Cyrus as mentor.
The middle rounds of the competition are going to be re-vamped, and there could be changes regarding the use of instruments (ie guitars might not be allowed.)

Let’s hope the winner of Idol 2011 would be some memorable. I mean, Lee DeWyze?

# posted by Louis : 11:10 PM

23 September 2010

X Factor 2010 (Audition rounds)

Notable contestants who got through and were featured:
Episode 1
Gamu Nhengu (Walkin’ On Sunshine) –She has this old school jazz voice. Very soulful.
G&S –Caroline (the S) actually stayed in tune despite G’s horrible singing. She ended up getting through the first round as a soloist.

Shirlena Johnson (Mercy) – Absolutely classic. As authentic as ‘Pants On The Ground’.
Katie Waisal – She screwed ‘We Are The Champions’ up, but salvaged the situation with her personality and a good rendition of ‘At Last’.

Stephen Hunter , Lynn Frances O’Neil (True Colours) and Noir (Paparazzi Acapella)

Episode 2
The Reason – A bunch of good-looking odd-job guys sing an acapella version of ‘Fight For This Love’ very well.
Annastacia Baker (Proud Mary, To Make You Feel My Love) – Song choices really do matter.

Mary Byrne (I Have Nothing) – A saner version of Susan Boyle.
Matt Cardle (You Know I’m No Good) – I love his voice!!

Rebecca Creighton (Pixie Lott’s Cry Me Out), Sadbh O’Donnell (Kelly Clarkson’s Beautiful Disaster), Stephen Concannon, Seven (The glee group which performed a Lady GaGa medley)

Episode 3
Cher Lloyd (Turn Your Swag On) – She sounds like a professional singer already. Executed an interesting hip-hop number very well!
Liam Payne (Cry Me A River) – 16-year-old whose voice is the anti-thesis of Bieber’s! Love it!

Storm Lee (Every Breath You Take)
Twem (Just Dance)

Ruth-Ann St Luce (Girl who called Simon ‘Lightning’), John Adelyde, Elesha Moses (Girl who sang Plan B’s ‘She Said’!), Keri Arrindell (Pub singer), Justin Vanderhyde (Guy of mixed heritage who performed ‘Superstition’), Treyc Cohen (Contestant who made it through the final round of auditions in 2009 and got booted then. She performed ‘You Got The Love’ superbly.)

The Climax
Ablisa – Just look out for the punch. Nothing else matters.

Episode 4

Nicolo Festa (A Song For You) – The diva who initially put the judges off, but subsequently stole their hearts with his voice!
Pajie Richardson (Fly Me To The Moon) – I like his ad-libs!

Tom Richards - I found him pretty average, but I guess he has the boyband thing going on.

Episode 5

Aiden Grimshaw (Gold Digger) - The producres of Glee so going to try and get hold of him after this haha.

Rebecca Ferguson (A Change Is Gonna Come) – Pretty common voice, but I like her humble nature.

Yuli Minguel - Aretha Franklin much! I doubt we’ll be seeing her in the performance shows though.
To view the full episode of X Factor 2010 Episode 1 (Audition Round – Glasgow and London), visit: http://www.zshare.net/video/79593970789546e2/
To view the full episode of X Factor 2010 Episode 2 (Audition Round – Dublin), visit:
http://www.zshare.net/video/79851365631fe061/
To view the full episode of X Factor 2010 Episode 3 (Audition Round – London and Birmingham, visit:
http://www.zshare.net/video/80072888994cf3d2/

Episode 6 (Updated!)

Tobias Sumpton (Your Song) – This humble contestant might probably be one of the judges’ favourites in the long run.
Diva Fever (Proud Mary) – LOL. I suppose Nicole Scherzinger would rather have this over-fabulous duo in PCD rather than useless acrobats and wannabe dancers.

Harry Styles (Isn’t She Lovely) – Still very raw, and I think Lloyd Daniels’ is way cooler.
Marlon McKenzie (Ain’t No Sunshine) – Ok, I actually found him annoying. He’s like a CMI Bruno Mars. But he got in. Blah.

# posted by Louis : 8:27 AM

19 September 2010

A Rough Day On The Runway

The designers are told to design a look that is their own take on classic American sportswear using the style of Jacqueline Kennedy as inspiration. After they have nearly finished their garment they are told they have an additional day to work to create a companion outerwear item.

Top Three:
Mondo – The silhouette looks sharp and loud, but not exaggerated. The colour inside the jacket is beautiful, along with the shirt. This was elegant, chic and fun.

Ivy – This was tailored very elegantly and sharply. The neckline and the asymmetrical seam of the collar are very flattering. The styling personifies Jackie. The fabric of the jacket is lovely. I think this is her first ‘woah’ design.

Christopher – The draping is elegant and sexy, making the model look very expensive. It was sad that the wrap destroyed the simplicity of the dress.

Middle Three:
Gretchen, April, Michael C

Bottom Three:

Valerie – According to Heidi, it looked like a jacket under a jacket. The lycra skirt lacked any aesthetic, and the entire outfit looked boring rather than simple.

Michael D. – The skirt looks so unflattering, and the top is way too droopy to be considered sportswear. This does not coincide with Jackie Kennedy’s iconic taste at all.

Andy – This totally missed the mark according to the judges. The silhouette lacked any shape, and the ankle boots destroyed the styling even more.

Clear winner: Mondo
Eliminated: Michael Drummond

To watch Episode 8 of Project Runway, you can watch it here:

http://www.zshare.net/video/8051884046346a15/

# posted by Louis : 7:15 PM

2010: Soundmunches #29

Pixie Lott – Broken Arrow
Cee Lo Green – F*** You

Rihanna – Who’s That Chick
Enrique Iglesias – Heartbeat (feat. Nicole Scherzinger)

Cheryl Cole – Promise This
James Blunt – Stay The Night

Brandon Flowers – Only The Young
Josh Groban – Hidden Away

Rihanna – Only Girl (In The World)
Akon – Angel
Florrie – Give Me Your Love
Nadine Coyle – Insatiable

Labels: Soundmunches

# posted by Louis : 1:33 PM

Apprentice 10: Season Debut

It's a battle of the sexes once again, as the teams are split into genders.

Team Octane [The guys]
Project Manager: Gene

Team Fortitude [The girls]
Project Manager: Nicole

The task is to design and build an ultra-modern workspace. The teams will be judged on execution, functionality and originality. The winning Project Manager is going to receive something special.

Winning team: Octane
Reasons for win: Mr. Trump expressed point blank to the teams that he didn't like either team's designs, however, he liked the modern SOHO design by Octane, resulting in Octane's victory.

At the boardroom:
MAHSA IS SO DAMN ANNOYING! The girls just stepped all over Nicole’s niceness, and it’s so maddening to see that! Tyana sucked at making the workplace look vibrant given her experience, but the women were just gunning for Nicole.

After watching so many seasons of The Apprentice, I think there are only 3 ways to survive in the boardroom:
1) Be fierce (like Mahsa)
2) Blame the Project Manager (which everyone successfully did)
3) Shut Up (Brandy, Poppy...all those random shadows in the team did just that)

Sadly, if you are the Project Manager, the only way of avoiding elimination would be to get your teammates to turn on a player, which Nicole failed to do so. Instead, Nicole made an epic mistake when she said she would fire Tyana. Just fire Mahsa, that was what Trump wanted to hear!!

Sent to boardroom: Nicole, Tyana, Mahsa

Fired: Nicole Chiu (see footnote below), for unanimously being blamed as a bad leader by her teammates, losing respect of the entire team, giving the team no direction, relying on the team too much for decisions, and not effectively defending herself in the boardroom. Trump stated after the contestants left the boardroom that he will set Nicole up with an interview at the Miss Universe pageant.

To view Episode 1 of Apprentice 10, you can watch it here: http://www.zshare.net/video/8048689974246093/

Nicole Chiu, 27 (Palos Verdes, Calif.), graduated cum laude from the University of California, Irvine. She received her J.D. from Loyola Law School while holding the title of “Miss Los Angeles” and placing 4th Runner Up at the Miss California USA 2008 Pageant (part of the Miss USA Pageant). Determined to use her brains and beauty, Chiu left her law firm job, where she was miserable as an attorney, to prove that the recession can’t stop her from pursuing her dreams.

# posted by Louis : 11:45 AM

The Girl Who Played With Fire

It is very common to have the second movie of a trilogy to act as a bridge. The Girl Who Played With Fire is no exception. It feels like the first half of the The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, rather than a film in its own right. That is to say, I wasn’t very happy with the ending.

Part II basically reveals how Lisbeth Salander’s life absolutely sucks. The movie opens with her brutally recalling herself getting raped by Nils Bjurman, her guardian.

When she returns to Sweden, she finds out that she has been implicated in a triple homicide, including the murder of Bjurman. Essentially, the storyline is about Lisbeth being wrongly accused, and thus tries to prove her innocence while playing hide-and-seek with the law and the villains. She gets beaten to a pulp by the blond tank as the movie draws to a close, but miraculously survives in preparation for the third instalment.

People are confused as to why the pair of journalists got killed. It’s because they were trying to publish an exposé of a Russian sex-trafficking ring, which had ties to the power elite of Stockholm (including Zala, Lisbeth’s dad, whom she so mercifully torched him in the car. Epic scene).

I haven’t got the chance to watch the first instalment, which is unanimously agreed by critics to be better than Part II. Got the book though!

P.S The movie’s in Swedish. Please tell that to your friends if you intend to watch it with them, because it’s not nice to shock people right before the movie begins. LOL.

P.P.S Watch it if you desire lengthy lesbian sex scenes. Very graphic.

# posted by Louis : 10:37 AM