Chicago now has its first American Idol…Lee DeWyze!

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Chicago welcomes home American Idol finalist Lee Dewyze

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*I began by watching Idol and except for the last 15 minutes, the show was a waste of time.  I will make one exception for the other 45 minutes and that being the always charismatic Harry Connick, Jr. He had fun with the singers and even played the piano for each number.  The show is down to five contestants and three of them definitely made their case for elimination after tonight’s performances.  Aaron, Casey & Crystal will definitely make up your bottom three on Wednesday night.

Big Mike sang one of my all time favorite songs, The Way You Look Tonight, and he did Frank Sinatra proud.  I’m still not a passenger on the Big Mike train, but I’ll give him kudos for tonight’s song choice/performance.  The big winner once again, and soon to be season 9 winner, was Lee Dewyze.  The best whole package of the night, Lee won rave reviews from Connick and the judges, with two out of the four telling him this is his show to win.

*Glee, an on-the-rise juggernaut, began with an incredible Ice Ice Baby song & dance number courtesy of Mr. Schuster.  Oh to be Vanilla Ice, chillin’ (haha) at home and hearing another version of the song he probably wishes would go away forever.  MC Hammer, don’t be jealous, they tackled U Can’t Touch This too.  Would you expect any less?

Sue added another pop culture music video to her resume, this time joined by the one and only, Olivia Newton-John.  They remade her classic 80′s video, Let’s Get Physical.  It’s because of episodes like tonight’s that keep Sue humanized.  The scenes with her sister are touching and real and without them, Sue would be a one-note, albeit funny one-note, character.

*DWTS got rid of Pamela Anderson after numerous weeks in the bottom two.  She was joined by Erin Andrews and Maks.  I’m not sorry to see her go and I’m definitely not sorry to see her special lighting tape packages go either.  Is it just me or is the results show way too long and boring?

*LOST.  Give me a minute as I wipe away the tears that have been running down my face for two hours now.  I knew that the LOST cast was not going to remain in tact for the remainder of the season and I knew it was going to be a sad loss when I watched whoever that person might be who met their end, but it didn’t make tonight’s episode any easier to watch.

The deaths of Sun and Jin were heartbreaking.  Even after what I assumed would be their deaths when they reunited (did anyone else think that as they came together by the electric fence, it would zap them?), I didn’t think it would be Kwons who would lose their battle with the island.  I was convinced Kate was going to get the ax and not just because she was shot.  The only solace I have from tonight’s episode is that they died together.  It was beautiful and the LOST writers earned every bit of their paychecks with tonight’s episode.

I love that Sayid saved the day.  That whole redemption thing is really playing out, isn’t it?  My only teeny tiny grievance is that we didn’t get to see him again.  To lose 3, count them 3(!) original cast members in one episode was tough.  I’d like to think that none of them are officially out for good though.  Four episodes left, anything is possible.  This is LOST we’re talking about.

This summer should be exciting for the newest season of FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance.  Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe has promised that the show is changing things up for it’s return in May.

So far it’s been announced that the show will only eliminate one dancer per week, changing from season’s past where two dancers were sent home.  The biggest change comes in the form of the dance partners.  Lythgoe announced that the show would be bringing back former SYTYCD contestants to be paired with the newest group of dancing hopefuls.

Entertainment Weekly reported earlier today that FOX had released the names of the “All-Stars.”  12 favorites are coming back to once again strut their stuff and they are:

I am most excited about Neil, Mark, tWitch and Lauren.  I’m sure more changes are to come.  The quick turnaround of the previous two seasons were a bit rough on the ratings, so it’s no big shocker that Lythgoe is aiming to come back with a bang.

TV has been on an upswing this week with incredibly original and exciting shows like Glee and Lost.  Let’s not forget that the reality shows (American Idol, Dancing with the Stars) have finally gotten rid of the two people who’ve been destined for elimination for weeks now.

-I will start with what I think is one of the best episodes of television in a long time: the Madonna episode of Glee.  Not only did they center an entire episode around the music of Madge herself, but they brought depth and longing to the show’s tortured pseduo-couple of Rachel and Finn. 

They are no longer an item, but this was the first episode in the show’s short history where I actually felt that they worked as a couple.  Before this week’s show, I felt that their maybe-relationship was sort of contrived.  That feeling is long gone now though.  The hidden stares and the confessions of this pairing was palpable.  I have to say that I LOVE the addition of Jonathan Groff as Jesse though.  I know he can’t bring anything good to the kids at McKinley High, but I can’t wait to see what they do with his character!

Jane Lynch.  Emmy.  The Vogue video was insane.  Who even thinks of tackling a classic Madonna video, scene for scene?  Glee, creator Ryan Murphy and Lynch, that’s who.  She was beyond fantastic and that was just in the video.  Each week she continues to build upon the wonderfully written character of Sue Sylvester and hits it out of the park every time.

-I cannot believe that there are only five episodes of Lost remaining.  The Desmond centered episode from a few weeks back was incredible and I shed a tear this week during a scene that involved the reuniting of a certain married couple. 

Am I the only one who is dying to know who is the mom of Jack’s son is??  I’m pretty over Kate, so kinda hoping it’s not her.  I’m hearing that the finale of the show is going to be an extravaganza, something like 5 hours of programming devoted to the show (pre-show, show, Jimmy Kimmel). 

-As for Idol and DWTS, the curtain fell on Tim Urban and Kate Gosselin, respectively.  There was no way that Gosselin wasn’t going to get the ax this week, unless she was a magician of some sort.  Her tears at the end were definitely NOT pulling at my heartstrings.  I was ready for her to be voted off before the season even began. 

Urban had been able to escape the final elimination for weeks now, but his time came as well.  Up against Casey James in the bottom two, he left the show the way he came in: smiling.  The show is now left with six contestants and next week their job is to conquer the music of country superstar and Idol mentor, Shania Twain. 

-In other TV news, I’m loving where Bones and Fringe are going.

Comedienne Kathy Griffin spreads for cancer

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Not too far into tonight’s show, Ryan Seacrest let the first of the two to-be eliminated contestants know that the end of the road had come.  Andrew Garcia received his walking papers and didn’t appear to be too shocked.  Andrew was my first pick for elimination, so I scored with that choice.

After performances from Season 7 contestant Brooke White and Justin Gaston and last night’s mentor, Adam Lambert, the ax fell on Katie Stevens.  She appeared to take it much harder than Garcia.  Katie butchered her swan song, understandable though as she was on the verge of tears the entire time.  I actually didn’t have Katie in my going home picks, but I’m not too disappointed by the decision.

The next mentor the contestants will have is Alicia Keys and next week will be the Idol Gives Back episode.  So the show is down to 7 singers, hopefully now things will start to get interesting.

I’m not saying that everyone was bad, but the overall quality just isn’t what it has been in the past.  This week the theme was Elvis and the mentor was season 8 finalist, Adam Lambert.  The cast of Glee could also be seen in the audience, a nice in-person plug of their spring premiere which followed Idol.

Up until he was giving advice, I was not thrilled with the idea of Lambert as a mentor.  But I will eat my words and say that he actually was probably the best mentor this season has seen.  He gave honest, constructive, useful feedback to the contestants.

Here is my breakdown of the singers:

Crystal - I won’t deny she is talented, but I can’t see her having a record that will sell to the masses.  What type of people would honestly buy her record?

Andrew – I actually thought that he showed more energy than he has all season.  His voice has a nice tone, but it never changes – it’s always the same sound.

Tim – He picked a great song, but it was still a bit on the boring side.  He had a few moments where he shined though.

Lee – Once again, he had a solid performance.  His voice is original and he should make a great record when the show is over.

Aaron – There is still something about this guy that is just not flowing.  He’s young and just doesn’t stand out.

Siobhan – She sounded like an old woman singing at the beginning of the song.  Then it seemed as if she started singing a completely different song, because she changed the entire way she sang.  The two parts just didn’t go together.

Michael - He has a good voice, but I find him to be boring.  He comes off as self-indulgent to me.

Katie – Again, another good voice, but the whole package isn’t working.

Casey – I wasn’t a fan of this performance.  There wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with it, but his vibrato stuck out more than usual and I couldn’t concentrate on anything else because of it.

2 contestants will go home on the elimination show and my guess is Andrew and either Aaron, Michael or Siobhan.

Tonight’s theme was songs from the John Lennon/Paul McCartney songbook. 

Here’s my take on how tonight’s show went down:

Aaron – I just think he is really boring.  He’s trying too hard and I don’t see what is so great about him.

Katie – She did much better tonight, but she is never consistently good.  I still can’t bring myself to get on board with this teenager.

Andrew – I thought his song choice was great and I liked the bluesy sound that came from him.  The problem with him is that everything always sounds the same.  He never diverts from the norm.

Mike – When I heard what his song choice was, I immediately thought of David Cook, because he sang the same song.  Mike did a respectable job, but he comes off as too arrogant for me.

Crystal – Tonight was the first night I actually liked her.  She smiled and looked like she was actually having fun.

Tim - I can’t believe the judges gave him semi-positive reviews.  I thought he was off-key the whole time.  Every time the judges reference Tim’s looks or that little girls love him, it just reaffirms that he’s not going anywhere and that drives me nuts!

Casey – It doesn’t even matter how far he goes in this competition.  He’s already done well enough that he will make a record and potentially do very well.

Siobhan - I don’t get what people see in her.  Yes, she’s original…in style.  She screams when she sings and tonight she did not sound good. 

Lee - He is still my favorite, but I didn’t really care for his rendition of Hey Jude.  He’s becoming more comfortable and that is totally showing in his performances!

I was not thrilled with the show and I am ready for the backstage interviews to go away now.  I don’t like listening to most of them sing, so I don’t really care to hear what they say afterwards.  Harsh? Maybe.  Honest? Absolutely.

 My bottom 3: Siobhan, Tim, Aaron

Before I go into what I thought of last night’s show, I have to stress how much I do not feel sorry for Gosselin.  Every time a camera is anywhere near her, she feels the need to go into detail about how the paparazzi follow her and how awful they are.  While those two bits of information may be true, does she think she’s special?  She is in a competition with athletes and actors who have put up with the invasion of privacy for years, so give me a break!

Evan – I thought he was good, but he still has this look that makes him look uncomfortable.  If he continues to get high scores, I think he’ll come out of his shell a bit.

Buzz – He still couldn’t dance, but he’s redefined my idea of what marching looks like.

Jake – It annoyed me that he said Chelsie was being “disrespectful” during their tape package.  C’mon, Jake, get over it!  I still can’t like him and I’m definitely sick of seeing Vienna on-screen.

Niecy - I thought their tape package was beautiful.  I love that they took the time to address such an important topic.  I didn’t get that message in their dance though, but her and Louis have a great connection.

Chad – I’m surprised his posture is so bad.  Who else thinks something is going on with him and Cheryl?  At the end of every dance he looks like he’s about to kiss her.  And did Bruno really need to say, “Release the Kraken?”  Like that hasn’t been on TV enough!

Pam – I thought the performance was chaotic.  I get her sex-pot image, but her hair is so distracting.  I can’t concentrate on her dancing with the rat’s nest all over the place.

Aiden - He’s fun to look at, very smile oriented.  He seems to be coming into his own a little more, but has a long way to go. (I thought his upchuck moment was pretty funny too!)

Erin - Who wears a blindfold on live TV??  She did really well though.  She has such long arms and legs that her lines are beautiful.  Maks seems to totally dig her too.

Kate – That beginning facial gesture…ugh.  How does she even get a 5?  Buzz at least marched while he danced, she did nothing.  It isn’t a good sign when the judges commend you for “getting thru it.”

Nicole – That performance was amazing.  Whether it was the right dance or not didn’t matter to me.  I think if it would have been in the right category (like Len said) it would have gotten a 30.

Well here’s to next week and the hope that it’s the last we have to see of the Gosselin monster.