Things We Learned from The Voice (from TV Guide)

TV Guide posted this... and I stole my favorites. Head over to the original article to read the full list.

• You don't need two months of useless, over-produced and usually insulting auditions to hook viewers.
• Bald is beautiful for men and women.
• Social media works best online, not on TV. Sorry, Alison Haislip.
• The Battle Round idea isn't as awesome as it sounds.
• The Blind Audition idea is.
• Adam Levine and Blake Shelton were the sexiest men on Tuesday TV, not Matthew Bomer.
• Asking a cute contestant to take off his pants? Funny. Asking it twice? Creepy.
• Only Cee Lo can get away with dressing like a cracked-out drag queen from Middle Earth.
• Group sing-alongs don't have to be painfully cheesy.
• Age, size, race and sexual preference don't matter.
• Talent does.

Makin It

So psyched. When is this coming back?!

Hell yeah.

LOVE this show.

And PS: now that I've been introduced to Omar and The Wire, Chalky is even more of a badass.

RIVALS.

I should really liveblog The Rivals because I sit there the whole time thinking of what I want to comment on in a blog post..... and now I forget. Here are a few thoughts on the first episode (of the greatest show in the world):

TJ! I love TJ and love that everyone was so happy he was back. I know he hasn't always hosted (remember Johnny Mosely and Dave Mirra?), but the show wouldn't be the same without him. PS: Why don't they have segments with TJ on the Reunion or Shit They Should've Shown? I bet he's got some great behind the scenes stories to tell!

Wes and Kenny. The edit of them going back and forth about how they hate each other was brilliant. Kudos to you, MTV. I know everyone else as gotten in fights and stuff, but these two's beef is real. Girl drama trumps a drunken argument any day.

You tell 'em Roy Lee. Speaking of Wes.... trying to manipulate the new kids? Nice try. Adam might have fallen for that but kudos to Leroy for telling Wes he wasn't going to trust him. Why? Because he's gonna win and won't need his vote anyway. BAM.

The Rookies win? I'll admit, I was surprised that rookies swept the first challenge, but honestly, I don't think it means anything. Leroy and Adam Mike stand a good chance, but Jasmine and Jonna? No way.

Jen + Mandi = BFF. Did you see the way Jen was helping Mandi when she got knocked over in that fight?  Maybe they got over all that beef from last season.... We. Shall. See.

Aneesa and Robin go home. Eh, is it bad that I don't really care. They are vets. I like them. But the only people I would have rather seen go home were safe. Why oh why did you have to win, Jasmine and Jonna?

Do I trust this new CT? Hell to the no.

The Voice: Semifinals

Team Cee Lo: Vicci vs Nakia

I'll be honest. I like both of them, but I literally had to go to the website because I couldn't remember them. Not good. I don't really care who goes on from these two.... I had never heard Nakia's song (yep, call me Adam) and wasn't blown away, but on the other hand, I don't think Vicci did Florence + The Machine justice. The judges seemed to like it.... but eh. 

Team Adam: Javier vs. Casey
This was actually the first week that Casey impressed me. I really want to download her song... but I'm waiting for the voting to be over because I want Javier to beat her. Sorry, Case. Also sorry you had to wear cowboy boots with that pretty dress and ruin the whole look. Javier's voice is just so good. He's been a favorite from the beginning and I think will have no problem beating Casey.

Team Blake: Dia vs Xenia
I love Blake. I love Blake's team. I love that he's this giant poppa bear. I want him to bear hug me..... I digress. I love both these girls, but Dia will obviously win (and rightly so). I might actually be rooting for her to win the whole thing.... GO DIA!

Team Christina: Frenchie vs Bev
Now here's a tricky battle. I actually LOVE both of these ladies. Bev is what the show is all about. She isn't your typical music star in terms of looks... I mean, she's bald. By choice. And she's a she. But damn, can she sing. And Frenchie.... how awesome would it be for The Voice to beat American Idol in likeability, in ratings, and have one of their former (kicked off) contestants win the show? I mean... you can't write a better end to that story. I have no idea who of these tow I want to go on....

I Feel Cheated.

I'm obviously obsessed with Game of Thrones. And I'm not going to stop watching it just because a certain someone got killed off. However, following the season finale on Sunday, I do feel a bit.... well, cheated. 

Everything I was supposed to care about and know about this season didn't really matter. Cersei and Jaime sleeping together- which got me hooked in the first episode!- hasn't been mentioned really. Drogo and Dany getting the troops together to sail across the sea. The mystery around Jon Snow's mom (why wouldn't Ned just tell him about her?!). The whole 'Let's get the Lannisters for trying to kill Bramm thing', which doesn't really matter now anyway because they have tons of reasons to be mad at those blondies now. The Mountain. The white walkers we saw in the very opening scene! Even Joffrey not being the real son of King Robert (which I'm sure didn't die with Ned. It's gotta come back, right?). 

I'm sure a lot of this will matter in the long run.... but still. Things I'm looking forward to in Season 2. (Remember, I haven't read the books...)

• Sansa (sp?). She looked fierce when she threatened Joffrey. She was annoying all season, until that very moment. Joffrey killing her dad (hopefully) unleashed something in her. Good thing she has Cersei, the best villainous around, to learn from....
• The Hound. Did I sense a bit of sympathy for Sansa? Is he going to turn out to be less of a scary creep and more of a nice guy to watch out for her?
• Arya (sp?) pretending to be a boy and becoming BFF with the anvil kid... King Robert's real son, right?
• Rob Stark as the King of the North. Probably the kiss of death for the kid.... but I'm starting to like him more and more in these last two episodes. 
• Anything Tyrion does. He's brilliant. And now he's the hand of stupid Joffrey? YES. 
• Dragons. What? That's sort of a unfair advantage....
• Whatever is beyond that wall. It scares the shit out of me, but I'm done with all this mystery. When is winter actually getting here?!

He's BACK.

Game of Thrones Cast: I'm Obsessed.

Sorry for turning this blog into a Game of Thrones vehicle only.... I'm obsessed. Saw this little set of interviews in TV Guide today and had to share some of my favorite answers from the cast...

Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon, aka "The Usurper"
Sigil: It would be a gryphon, a creature with the body of a lion and a head of an eagle. I don't know why, but to be attacked by one of those would be pretty horrible.
First ruling: Free beer for everyone. Absolutely!

Sean Bean as Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, aka "The Hand"
Sigil: Two crossed swords because it represents my football team, Sheffield United. That's their badge. The team has been relegated, by the way.
First ruling: Sheffield United gets promoted next season.

Maisie Williams as Arya Stark, aka "Boy"
Sigil: A turtle because they can go on land, they can go in sea. They're my favorite animal. They're really cute and they can grow up really big. They've got different types of turtles, there's snapping turtles and really cute ones, like, tiny ones. There's a good variety of them, and you never get bored.
First ruling: I would ban school uniforms for everyone, all over the world. They're so frustrating. At our school we have a thing called summer uniforms, and you're not allowed to take your jumper off when you're outside so you get really, really hot and our school uniform is black, so it's horrible. If you ban school uniforms then everyone could wear what they wanted to wear and you wouldn't get hot.

Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo, aka "My Sun and Stars"
Sigil: A lion. It's the king of the jungle. Have you ever seen a lion up close? Drogo walking with a gigantic lion. It's pretty rad.
First ruling: Free beer and free sex for everyone -- free love that is. Back to the '60s, man. And no clothes ... except for Mark Addy!

George R.R. Martin, author, aka "A Cruel and Savage God"
Sigil: Probably something like a quill pen for a writer or something like that would be appropriate. But way back in the 1980s, I won the Hugo Award which is the biggest award for science fiction fantasy and it's shaped like a silver rocketship. I won two of them in a single year which no one had ever done before. And so for a while, my now wife, then my girlfriend, Paris, would make me these sigils of two crossed Hugos instead of crossed swords.
First ruling: Everybody has to get HBO.

Really?

"Jessica Simpson has signed on as a celebrity mentor on NBC's Fashion Star"

There are multiple reasons why this is a bad decision. That picture is one of them. Add to it how horrible she was as a guest job on Project Runway....

Read more from TV Guide here. 

Game of Thrones. OMG.

Serious Game of Thrones spoiler alert. I'm not joking. If you haven't watched it yet, STOP READING.

Even Entertainment Weekly issued this warning on their recap post:

Warning: The following story discusses a major plot point from tonight’s Game of Thrones…

It’s a big deal. If you haven’t watched the episode yet, you should do that and come back. This story will still be here, I promise. Sure, the spoiler was in the novel and has been on the Internet forever, but if you’re only watching the TV show, you probably won’t see this coming, and we don’t want to ruin it for you.

Anyway, moving on. Don't say I didn't warn you....

I cannot believe they killed Ned Stark. Seriously. 

Sometimes I feel like the guy who watched the final season of Lost after having not watched any of it before, because everyone else seems to know these things are coming. They were in the books, which, I hear, the series is following pretty much exactly. But still. I did NOT see this coming. 

I pulled this quote from Sean Bean's (Ned Stark) interview with TV Guide and think they totally sum up my feelings...

'"Nobody can believe it, even the characters who are corrupt," Bean continues. "The Queen and Littlefinger and Varys are looking around in astonishment because they can't believe that this guy, this young king has done this. He's gone against everyone. It's a big step to actually take, to chop off Ned Stark's head."'

The hero is always saved, right? Arya (sp?) would have done something to distract them from killing him. Cersei or someone would tell Goffrey he's dumb and can't kill Ned. The younger Stark kid would show up at just the right time. And where are those god damn dog/wolves when you need 'em? All of those things were supposed to happen and didn't. WTF.

My thing is.... why watch now? Ned was the only character (or 'team') I was really pulling for. I'm not saying I wanted him to be king, necessarily, but I wanted his side to win. I wanted him to get the Lannister's out, get Robert's real son on the throne, protect him, live happily ever after with Arya and Catelynn up in Winterfell..... But who am I to root for now?

Here's a snippet of some fan reaction:

“Most of you who think this was some sort of brilliant move or something don’t understand the difference between a book audience and a TV audience,” argued EW reader Tamcamry. “TV audiences need to invest in characters. Most of the other characters I don’t care much about. While the show will probably still appeal to the ‘wow’ crowd, it’s mass appeal just got beheaded.”

It all reminds me of the producers of Lost pitching for Jack to die in the beginning of the series (he was supposed to be snatched up by the monster in the plane, instead of the piliot). The network said no way. You can't let people fall in love with a character and then take them away.

I did love his death scene though. The show has been littered with violence from the beginning (in fact, we're first really introduced to Ned stark with a beheading of his own.), but this scene actually wasn't violent. Sean Bean had this to say, and I completely agree with him (again. We're totally on the same wave length today!):

"It's a big moment, not so much about blood and horror, but more about human emotions and sadness and the tragedy and shock of it."

Next week is the season finale and I seriously don't know how I'm supposed to live with out this show for a year or whatever until it comes back. Good thing summer TV is starting up... Pretty Little Liars, True Blood, Hot in Cleveland, here I come.

Yes, Hot in Cleveland. 

Brittany Snow is leaving Harry's Law

Bad for Harry's Law considering she is the only reason I would ever watch it....

And my pick? The Voice edition.

The Voice's battle rounds are over and the final teams are set. Who are my favorites? I don't know. It changes every time they perform for sure.

I really liked this handy little run down of the teams from TV Guide, and went ahead and added in my thoughts on who I would pick to win.

Christina Aguilera
Her all-female team is made up of power singers top to bottom. They are Broadway and Idol alum Frenchie Davis, hard rocker Beverly McClellan, pint-sized Jersey Girl star Raquel Castro and Lily Elise.
The best: Beverly. Her tough take on Janis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart" was a little too yell-y and angry for our taste, but she completely sold us during the battle round when she let loose and wailed at all the right moments during "Baba O'Riley."
Watch out for: Frenchie. She could put her mighty voice to better use (i.e. avoiding range-less pop songs like "I Kissed a Girl.) With the right ballad, she could very well blow voting audiences away.
And my pick? Frenchie. duh. I read an interview with her at how shocked she was people still recognized her from Idol and she said something like 'I was on that show for two minutes ten years ago.' Quite an impact she made because as soon as they showed her on The Voice I knew it was her too. 


Cee Lo Green
His four are as eclectic as the "Forget You" singer's own musical repertoire. He's chosen fiery soul singer Vicci Martinez, the versatile blues man Nakia, sisters Tori and Taylor Thompson, and deep-voiced country guy Curtis Grimes.
The best: Nakia. The shaggy-haired Texan's got game! He infused Ne-Yo's dance hit "Closer" with such an intensity and focus that we really believed him when he growled, "I just can't stop, no, no."
Watch out for: Vicci. Her "Rolling in the Deep" was a bit out of control at times, but she reined in her throaty vocals in the battle round duet of Pink's "F---in' Perfect." What Vicci might lack in technique, she more than makes up for in her raw performances. She sells the song every time.
And my pick? Vicci wins for 'most likely for me to actually buy her CD'. I'm a fan of those raspy, broken voices. 


Adam Levine
The pickiest of our celebrity coaches, Adam was forced to take two second-chance contestants before the battle rounds. Nevertheless, he emerges with a very strong and diverse roster including family man (and arguably series frontrunner) Javier Colon, the Levine-esque Devon Barley, aspiring country crooner Casey Weston, and humble-but-big-voiced country boy Jeff Jenkins.
The best: Casey. At this point, it's probably considered sacrilege to pick anyone but Javier as Adam's — or even the show's — one to beat, but Casey's great "Leather & Lacey" made her the most memorable contestant of the series. Her voice — part Dolly Parton, part Stevie Nicks — is quite unique. She's a solid performer, too, and isn't that what this show is all about?
Watch out for: Javier. His "Time After Time" and "Stand By Me" were smooth like butter, no doubt.
And my pick? Gotta admit. I'm the most underwhelmed with Adam's group. Blame it on the second chances. I actually had to look up Devon on YouTube to even remember who he was. I guess I'll go with Javier just because he can do no wrong. Jeff Jenkins is freakin' adorable though. Like a big cuddly teddy bear.


Blake Shelton
Listen good, contestants: Blake doesn't like singers who oversing. Thus, his team is made up of the belly-warming consistency of country guy Patrick Thomas, rocker and songwriter Jared Blake, shy school teacher Dia Frampton, and equally shy teen Xenia Martinez.
The best: Jared. Not only does he have the comeback story to end all comeback stories — a recovering drug addict with six kids and several near-brushes with the big time — he's proven that he can sing anything well, from the Dixie Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice" to the Motown classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."
Watch out for: Xenia. She's young and perhaps too shy to win against the show's more seasoned contestants, but the texture of her voice — not unlike a younger Corinne Bailey Rae -- is undeniable.
And my pick? I would buy CDs from Xenia and Dia in a heartbeat. Sadly, I don't think they will open up enough to win America's vote.