The elimination process will now skip the voters straight to one sudden death Top 20 (instead of the three-week Top 24 of season 9), leaving voters with a final top 10, 12 or 15 group. Most likely a top 10 or 12.
No more maintaining the same number of girls and boys until the voting starts. This is awesome. I hated watching a fantastic girl (or guy) go home just to keep the numbers balanced!
Viewers will be able to vote online in addition to phoning or texting their votes
The set has gone through a total revamp to a more "arena" feel. The former band section up top is now audience seating
Contestants will again live in the Idol mansion and have the opportunity to perform original songs
Theme week will be entirely different. No longer will we need to watch an edgy hard rocker struggle through country week. Every song will be customized for each contestant
Contestants will be mentored by Interscope/Geffen/A&M music exec Jimmy Iovine
Songs will be released as the season progresses instead of waiting until season-end
American Idol Season 10 premieres January 19, 2011 on Fox. It will be exciting to see which of the rumored changes are implemented!
Move over cable and satellite companies. Customers now have an alternative to overpriced programming bundles with web-based services. While streaming movies and television shows do not match the offerings of traditional paid television, they are getting closer.
Price and Features
Hulu Plus costs $7.99 per month, and has every episode from the current season of popular shows from the major TV networks, including ABC, NBC, and Fox. In addition, entire past seasons of classic shows such as 30 Rock, The Office, and The X-Files are available. Theoretically, you may never need to purchase a boxed DVD set again!
Netflix also costs $7.99 per month for its unlimited streaming service, with an extensive catalog of movies and television shows. Episodes from the current season are not available, and some past seasons are available only on DVD/Blu-ray (available for an additional fee). Overall, Netflix is better for movie buffs, while Hulu Plus is best for network television fans who want to keep up with current shows.
Library
Netflix has more than 20,000 titles available for streaming, while Hulu Plus has 2,000-plus TV episodes. Both services will continue to amass titles, so the numbers will continue to rise.
Hardware Support
To watch Hulu Plus or Netflix on your television, you will need an Internet-enabled television with ethernet port, Wi-Fi, or both; or a Net-ready Blu-ray player, game console, or set-top box that's compatible with the service you want.
Netflix currently supports more devices, including Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii); seven Internet-enabled Blu-ray players; three HDTVS; the TiVo digital video recorder; and three set-top boxes, including the popular Roku Streaming Player. Hulu Plus runs on select Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players, with support for Sony and Vizio hardware coming later this year. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 support are "coming soon."
Mobile Devices
Hulu Plus supports Wi-Fi and 3G connections, as well as several Apple mobile devices: iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Netflix's iPhone/iPod app should arrive soon, and the iPad app is already out. With 4G networks on the way, both services could soon be major players in the mobile entertainment business.
Advertising
Shows on Hulu Plus, like their counterparts on the regular (and free) Hulu, will have commercials. Netflix has no commercials.
Image Quality
Hulu Plus shows display in high-definition (720p) resolution, but Internet connection speed determines much of image quality. Netflix shows certain titles in HD, but only if the broadband link is faster than 5 mbps.
I love figure skating. Loved hitting the local rink when I was younger. I wasn't half bad once I got used to gliding on the skinny blades. I still watch skating championships on television (when there isn't a good football game available). And never miss Olympic figure skating... But when the idea behind Skating with the Stars was first announced... I thought it was nuts! Similar to Dancing With The Stars, celebrities are paired with professional skaters to learn how to perform ice dancing and figure skating routines. Sorry, but teaching a non-dancer to navigate the dance floor is entirely different than teaching a non-skater to figure skate and ice dance. Having now seen the debut episode... I think that Skating with the Stars just might possibly be the very worst show I have ever seen. It was painful to watch and as hard as I tried, I just could not manage to stick it out for the entire first episode.
First... British host Vernon Kay... who is no Tom Bergeron... droned on and on about this being the most dangerous live competition on TV: "The performances will be just as explosive, the costumes even tinier, but there is an added element of danger — razor-sharp blades of steel strapped to the feet of six very nervous stars!" And then after all that, nobody even fell. Which I guess is a good thing. At least there were some good falls in the training montages... As Kay says, "If you like watching celebrities fall over, and let’s face it who doesn’t, then you’ve come to the right place." (He did have a point on the watching celebrities fall over thing!)
The judges are an "interesting" mix. Dick Button is a legend, the voice of television figure skating for as long as I can remember, and it's sad to see him here on this horrible show. Johnny Weir is pure entertainment in a Bruno Tonioli kind of way... he makes for good television but stands out in a way that begs to be made fun of. Laurieann Gibson is a wonderful choreographer, but does not do well on television. She comes across pretty flat.
I've never heard of any of the professional skaters. And barely heard of any of the celebs... OK... Sean Young from an old Kevin Costner movie... On the plus side... since there are only six celebs, my guess is that the show will do a test run for 6 weeks and fade into oblivion? One can only hope!
And Sean Young proves just why it is she is so annoying!
Tea Party conspiracy? So what? Bristol Palin has been interviewed countless times during her surprisingly successful run on "Dancing with the Stars" about a number of topics that have kept America buzzing since her mom, Sarah Palin, hit the national scene. It wasn't enough that we have been bombarded with rumors about her on again-off again relationship with baby daddy Levi, alleged love life with dancing partner Mark Ballas, and the state of any battles between her and mama bear Sarah Palin... now we are being subjected to the alleged organized faction of pro-Bristol block of political voters who are helping her to take home the mirror-ball trophy.
Here's what she had to say…
Bristol is pleased as punch that she made it all the way to the finale of the hit reality show. "I work my butt off," she said, dismissing any notions of a Tea Party conspiracy keeping her dancing. Aside from the fact that... for every voter that would vote for her because she's her mother's daughter... there's another who... quite frankly... wouldn't. Think about the droves of people who cannot STAND Sarah Palin.
And to put the relationship rumors to rest... while Bristol and Mark have been putting in double duty at the rehearsal hall... both claim that they are keeping their relationship purely professional. "Nothing with Mark," Bristol claims, "He's like a friend." Like a friend? Hmmmmmm....
As for any other potential dates, Bristol said she had "no time" for dating at the moment. And that she understands the difficulty of her mother's position in the spotlight a bit more after her own 15 minutes. "I see how rumors get made up," she said. Going forward she plans to keep her publicity appearances to the occasional episode of her mom's new reality show: Sarah Palin's Alaska while she works towards her long term goals. In 10 years, her plans include being "married with more kids." How ambitious...
While I was working last night, I was catching up on my weekly dose of reality television... watching the stars dance... missing Florence Henderson just the teensiest bit... and chuckling over Bristol Palin's introduction as a (insert British voice-over announcer here) teen activist. I guess it does sound better than "single unwed mother." Who knew that she would still be on the show rueing the flaunting of her sexuality on the dance floor when Florence was so obviously shown the door for displaying sexuality at the age of 76 during her sexy Rumba?
But I digress... After hearing Jennifer Grey's review in which Len absolutely trashed her Paso Doble performance... I was clueless. I mean... I caught the mistake that she made towards the end... looked like Derek Hough almost wiped out to me as well... Don't get me wrong... last night's performance was nowhere near her amazing Argentine Tango -- which earned her the first 10s of season 11.
But I didn't think it was THAT bad... !
Check out the instructions on the Mahalo page and see if you can tell where Jennifer went wrong:
While I didn't think Jennifer Grey's paso was BAD, my favorite paso in DWTS history is Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya's paso from Season 10.
And then when Bristol's tango was praised to the heavens by the judges, I didn't think it came close to Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson's Star Wars tango of Season 4.
Next time you are watching and don't have a clue what Len is talking about... Mahalo offers several pages on DWTS' most popular dances so you can try to understand the judges' scores.
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