Oprah vs. Palin: Must see TVSo by now all of you know that I am a TV junkie. I mean a total TV addict- as in, I have two DVR’s and I still seem to always be missing something that I wanted to watch. The highlight of my TV day though- the one “I can’t live without it” program; the “get home from work and run for the couch and clicker” show that I must watch every single day is Oprah. A few weeks ago my DVR decided (yes, I firmly believe that the little machine has a mind of its own and arbitrarily makes decisions based on how it feels towards me on any given day) not to tape Journey’s appearance on Oprah. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” is my ringtone; I got home and almost had a panic attack. My point is that I, like many other people my age, and many who aren’t, are part of the Oprah “club”. We watch the show, read the magazine (I admit, I subscribe), and follow the advice of her experts. So what better place for ex-Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, to launch her comeback tour? Palin has not had an easy go of things since the election- and it is no secret that Oprah was firmly in President Obama’s camp throughout the election itself. So it is an interesting message that Oprah is sending by having Mrs. Palin on for her first interview for her upcoming book, Going Rogue: An American Life. Now, let’s not pretend that this isn’t a huge “get” for Oprah- she’ll get enormous ratings for the interview and the press she will receive will be better than any ad campaign that her team could ever put together on their own. But as much as this appears to be a big win for Oprah, I wonder if Team Palin is going to come out on top. This interview is coming mere weeks after Levi Johnston, the father of her grandson, gave an interview to Vanity Fair magazine where he alleged- among other things- that Palin was completely taken in by the fame that came with being nominated for Vice President, that her marriage is teetering on the brink of divorce and that Palin wanted to raise Levi’s child as her own. Levi is also set to appear in a spread on Playgirl.com. If Palin is expecting to run for office in 2012, which many are expecting her to do, this can’t possibly be helping her image. Oprah’s couch is a couch of healing. It practically has a sign on it that says “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses”. The amount of people who have come to that couch to pour out their hearts and souls and seek solace- not to mention the forgiveness and/or approval of the American public is immeasurable. What better place for Sarah Palin to relaunch her career than on that healing couch? And if she can get Oprah’s stamp of “approval”? Well, I would imagine that they would consider that to be icing on the cake. Not to worry folks- you know where I will be on November 16th– on my couch, right in front of that TV, watching with all of you. Your pop culture cheat sheetHere's what's going on in the world of entertainment today:
Carrie Prejean's breasts: tit for tat?I read with interest the latest salvo in the Carrie Prejean-Miss California USA tussle. The pageant officials are asking the ousted Prejean to pay back the $5200 they ostensibly "loaned" her to have her breasts augmented. Their demand for repayment followed Prejean's lawsuit claiming pageant officials violated her privacy when they told reporters her breasts were fake. Call it tit for tat. If you pay any sort of attention to pageants, and I admit I don't, the before and after pictures of Prejean are markedly different. Let's just say her cups now runneth over. Did pageant officials invade her privacy or did they state the obvious? That's for a court to decide. The court will also decide whether the 22-year-old Prejean will have to reimburse the pageant. The two sides don't agree on much at all these days, but according to court filings, the one thing both sides did see eye to eye on was the need for Prejean to "grow a pair" in order to be more competitive in the Miss USA pageant. Prejean was the first runner-up; you make the call. What do you think? Should Prejean give back the money... or the merchandise? 'Dance' live show dazzles![]() The top 12 dancers of season five entertained a revved-up crowd of thousands as the fourth "So You Think You Can Dance" tour made its way to Duluth, Georgia, on Tuesday night. This was my second time in a row seeing the live show, and from a technical standpoint, it definitely outdid the one last year. As one might expect, there were many parents and teens in the crowd, to be sure, but a sizeable number of older fans turned out as well. The show, filled with favorite dances from the season, managed to deliver a few surprises. The audience went wild for the cast, including winner Jeanine (who repeated her "solo tango," which may very well have been responsible for her win), and Broadway hoofer Evan. Pop-and-lock sensation Phillip and runner-up Brandon received standing ovations after two show-stopping solo routines. Brandon, especially, seemed to get emotional after such an ear-shattering reaction. There is truly nothing like seeing these talented people do their stuff live. Brandon and Janette got things off to a rollicking start with their fast-paced disco routine, and of course Evan and Randi's "butt dance" was a crowd favorite. Two routines which I was pleasantly surprised to see, Wade Robson's "thieves" dance, and the group routine to "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" (quite possibly the best group dance in the show's history), were performed and the latter, especially brought the house down. One thing I definitely did not see coming was a running gag about Jeanine and Phillip's ill-begotten Russian folk dance (the little comedy skits between routines were much-improved as well). This turned into a splendid group number set to a techno beat, performed just for this tour. The show ended with a bang, as Jeanine and Brandon took the stage with their magnificent "Matrix"-inspired paso doble, but not before two which will most likely stand the test of time from season five: Jeanine and Jason's "necklace" routine and Kayla and Kupono's routine about addiction, which gave me chills seeing live. Choreographer Mia Michaels certainly left this show on a high note. Sure, there were mediocre dances here and there ("Get Me to the Church on Time" didn't work for me, sorry), but if you're a fan of this show, you could do far worse than to catch "America's favorite dancers" when they come to your town - and if you missed them this time, the season six tour is right around the corner. |
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