Survivor: San Juan del Stunt Casting

We (I) have always given Big Brother producers a hard time about their casting formula which has been getting more deranged as the seasons pass, but Survivor casting is no better. They've gone from bringing back their favorite retreads so they can finally win, to casting newbies who are more of the same.

The Survivor casting formula is simple: Gotta have a pageant queen, 911 must have representation now, throw in a simple country soul or two, a couple of geeks, a couple of models and don't forget the former pro athlete. This season is no different. We've got all that; and borrowing from Big Brother to bring in a couple of Broadway over-the-tops and from Amazing Race to bring back two of the most obnoxious people to be cast, not once but twice - the fucking Twinnies. Oh CBS, you bore me.

I'm looking forward to the beat downs Survivor conditions have coming their way.

courtesy of CBS-Survivor

Anyway.

Top Left: John Rocker and Julie McGee: Former pro pitcher who's been known to put his big foot in his big mouth and his model girlfriend who owns a spray tanning business fill out the pro-athlete and model casting slots. Put on your sunglasses, folks. This couple is bedazzled.

Next are: John Misch and Jaclyn Schultz: Former MSU football player and pageant queen. They're the selfie of the all-American couple, complete with a taste for the arts, wine and gosh-darn cutesy-ness.

Next are: Josh Canfield and Reed Kelly: Not one but two Broadway geeks who might break into song and dance in the middle of the jungle. I'm going to try to keep an open mind but Frankie J. Grande has ruined it for me. Josh seems energetic and Reed more OCD.

Next are: Drew and Alec Christy fill out the frat-boy/surfer dude mold. They're both clearly in it for the adventure high; and they both seem like goofballs, so they might capture the viewers' hearts.

Top right are: Jeremy and Val Collins: A firefighter (former pro-football player) and a cop fill out the first-responders casting quota. They both seem like two very smiley people who probably can take down an elephant if need be. I'd keep my eye on these two.

Bottom right are: Dale and Kelly Wentworth, a father and daughter team who fill out the down-home country slot as he's a farmer and she's a marketing manager with country roots. But don't count out the country folk, they both seem tough and smart.

Next to them are: Missy Payne and Baylor Wilson, a mother and daughter cheerleading super-duo. You can bet they're competitive and probably would knock some people out on their way to the prize. Missy owns a  competitive cheerleading gym and Baylor is a cheerleading word champ.

Then we have, ugh: Nadiya and Natalie Anderson - the dreaded Twinnies. I hate you CBS. You've ruined Big Brother, and now Survivor is in peril. These chicks are the epitome of annoyingly competitive, loud and obnoxious. I would kick them off the island on day 1.

Finally bottom left are: Keith and Wes Nale, a fire captain and firefighter. Whoa! 911 overload here.  They love hunting and fishing and having some brewskies. Good ole boys who risk their lives on a daily basis might just become the fan faves.

Well, seems the geeks were given a pass this season. On first impression, I predict this cast will be very polarizing among the fans. It, of course, depends on the editing and which confessionals they choose to air. You can bet the twinnies, N&N, Rocker and McGee will probably be the ones who cause most fan reaction and not in a good way. I bet Rocker will rock the idols. It seems to have been happening a lot lately, that the Alpha male seems to be showered with immunity.

Anyway. I will be blogging Survivor and Utopia. Since I'm Canadian and I don't want to go through internet gymnastics, I won't be able to see the Utopia feeds but I will be watching the show which premieres Sept. 7th on FOX.

Stay tuned! :)

The Business of Singing.

Cassadee Pope won The Voice. No big shocker there. The fact that she trended on Twitter, iTunes and YouTube after Amanda Brown and Melanie Martinez were prematurely ousted was a clear indication. She's talented, pretty and edgy. And very mainstream. The popular vote rarely, if ever, goes to Indy artists. Phillip Phillips was the exception on American Idol.

The big news was that Christina Aguilera will be replaced by Shakira and Cee Lo by Usher. It's a straight swap that could be refreshing on the judges panel. It will be fun to see what those to will add to the mix. Aguilera has not been particularly helpful this season with some of her commentary, clearly showing her partiality for some over others.

Tonight is the finale of X-Factor. I expect this youngin to win:

A solid contender from day 1, Carly Rose Sonenclar has been impressive since her first audition and hasn't disappointed since. Tate Stevens has been close on her heels. His performances have been sometimes very predictable; but he the most touching story which might influence the votes.The shocker was that 5th Harmony made it to the F3; but that probably was due to the fact that the judges were absolutely brutal to them.

Britney's reaction to them making F3 says it all...

5th Harmony edged out the judge and tween favorite, Emblem 3, who's puppy dog enthusiasm seemed to have them pegged for F3. It doesn't matter though, because it will no doubt not be the last we see of them. Cowell will more than likely be promoting and backing them.

A singer's success or failure really doesn't depend on the final results of a competition. Many who have not even made it to F3 have gone on to have successful and prolific careers. Fans can be fickle and trends change.

Stay tuned! :)

X for Expression

Rain + baseball = X Factor FAIL, but if you know where to look, you can find spoilers. Looking through several sources online including Wetpaint, MLive and Gossip and Gab the final 16 are:

Ages 12-16: Britney Spears chose: Arin Ray, Beatrice Miller, Carly Rose Sonenclar and Diamond White
Ages 17-24: Demi Lovato chose: Cece Frey, Jennel Garcia, Paige Thomas and Willie Jones
Ages 25 and over: L.A. Reid chose: Jason Brock, David Correy, Tate Stevens and Vino Alan
Groups: Simon Cowell chose:  Emblem3,  Lyric 145 (One4Five + Lyric Da Queen), Sister C and LYLAS.

It's going to be a hard battle this season with a lot of favorites already. As the voters tend towards the younger and the female, a trend has developed for shows like this. Based on that, Spears' and Lovato's teams have the best chances of making it to the finals even before the show begins. Here are my predictions:

From Britney's group, although all four are very talented, it will be a neck-to-neck battle between Carly Rose and Diamond; but I have a feeling Carly Rose will prevail because she appears less polished and rehearsed in her expressions and mannerisms than Diamond. This group will probably last the longest in the competition because they're closer to the voters' age group or they have the Cute Factor.

From Demi's group, Cece Frey will probably be the first to go because her on-screen personality is highly unlikable; and although Page is very talented, she too can come off as a bit abrasive. It will probably come down to Willie and Jennel. The latter two are not only talented but are very sympathetic on camera. Their voices and performance styles are very surprising and engaging. This team's chances are good to last a bit longer than Reid's or Cowell's.

L.A.'s and Simon's protegees will probably not fare as well with the voting public, getting decimated early in the season. The voting public's age profile will make it difficult to connect with the over 25s; and the groups have not done well on this show. From those teams, Tate and Vino have the best chances of making it farther because of their stories. Talent only marginally plays a role in voting as the playing field is level on that front. Simon will find defeat a bitter pill to swallow with Lyric 145 and Playback making it the farthest but probably not to the finals.

Despite Reid's and Cowell's "reactions" to getting those teams, it more than likely was a production decision to give Spears and Lovato the two groups that have the greatest chances right out of the gate. Why? To sweeten the pot. They probably want these two to stay with the show longer; and what better way to do so than to give them a taste of success?

Be that as it may, it's shaping up to be a great season of X Factor, given the caliber of talent, human interest stories and personalities that the contestants bring to the table. Couple that with the thrill of tuning just to watch this:

How can FOX lose?

Stay tuned! :)

The Bachelor, eh?

The Bachelor Canada premiered a couple of weeks ago, adding another reality show in a long line to follow its US counterpart. Let's see if it's more successful than Canadian Idol or So You Think You Can Dance Canada (and we can, thank you very much), or Canada's Got Talent  which were all cancelled, the latter after the first season.

Why you might ask? Because the viewership is limited to Canadians, and we don't support our own shows, unfortunately. The one that baffled and angered me the most was SYTYD Canada because I personally thought it was outstandingly entertaining with better dances and dancers than most of the other sister shows. However, I've come to accept that my taste does not follow the mainstream often, so I've had to take a lot of TV-related disappointment.

Back to TBC. First of all, let's talk about production. Since there's no actual prize involved, that frees up the poor neighbor-to-the-North budget that Canadian shows have to work with for limos and helicopters and glamorous trips to New Orleans and Ottawa. What's more interesting to note is the insane amount of product placement that has to happen in order to beef up the budget of this show. We had to endure about 10 minutes of watching the bachelorettes shaving their legs to promote a shaving company which I won't mention because a) I don't remember (I'm the worst target audience) and b) I'm not being paid for product placement. :) Then on one date where Brad took Ana on a picnic they sat on a huge blanket with pillows sporting the unmistakable Bay franchise colors.

What about our first Bachelor, eh?

Brad Smith is charming, playful and quite intuitive. He caught some flack on the premier for complimenting all the ladies on their dresses. ("Holy Dress!") It disarmed me because his nervousness manifested in a positive way rather than in machismo. Brad clearly doesn't take himself seriously and doesn't need to ooze testosterone even though he's a former CFL player. He embodies the 21st century metro-sexual quite successfully: a man who's into "manly" things but not afraid to show "feminine" interests. I can't believe we still talk about those things.

Anyway, moving to the gist of the whole show: the bachelorette front-runners.

Whitney, aka the Courtney Robertson of this season, received the first impression rose because she took Brad in a vice-grip full-body hug when she first met him. This part-time boxer oozes aggressive confidence in herself and disdain for the other women, saying they're "no competition." That's always charming. Whitney kept her cool when her nemesis on the show, Gabrielle, tried to bait her into a cat fight, but clearly this woman is not a favorite among the others.


 Let's hope that Brad is smarter and more intuitive than Ben Flajnik who chose Courtney to the consternation of most viewers and all the other bachelorettes. That relationship recently ended, supposedly in a save-face "mutual" decision though Courtney has had no problem immediately moving onto Arie Luyandyk from Emily Maynard's Bachelorette season. Maybe they should rename that franchise Swinging Singles because it's just a collection-pool for the real show Bachelor Pad. Anyway...

Gabrielle is not a front-runner but is clearly being kept on the show to stir up drama as Whitney's nemesis. She's unsubtle, grating, outspoken (meaning she won't shut up), abrasive and not really anyone's idea of fun. But her comments against Whitney are entertaining enough to keep her around.

Chantelle who is a giggly, self-effacing, intense pastor has captured Brad's attention by sharing a book of love-quotes from the kids in her camp and doing a burlesque show despite being uncomfortable. She cannot be more opposite to the previous women which speaks more to Brad's wide range of tastes more than anything else.

Kara, the grad student or the JoJo Spatafora of this season (only Big Brother 14 fans will get this reference), in looks not personality, has also made an impression on Brad, sharing a more relaxed chemistry with the bachelor while staying away from the drama spotlight in the show's edit. She might be the dark horse of this competition for Brad's heart and the diamond ring. She's confident without being pushy, knowing that maintaining a good relationship with the other hopefuls will keep her out of their sights.

Last, but not least, is the one I think has the most chances of being picked by Brad in the end, Ana. He made an exception for her at the first rose ceremony by adding another rose to keep her in the running. Then this week, because she didn't get a date with him at all, he created one for her, surprising her at 5:30 in the morning to take her on a plane ride and a romantic picnic on an island. You tell me those aren't signs that Brad likes this woman a lot.

All-in-all, The Bachelor Canada is shaping up to be a successful spin-off of this franchise, with all the drama and adventure, the tears, the heart-ache and suspense that the original brings to the table. Will it be successful enough to overcome the Canadian curse of sister shows? Only time will tell, as solid ratings have not come out yet. Canadian viewers are a tough crowd, with Canadian critics leading the cynical pack.

Stay tuned for next week's critique: Kids and Reality TV.

Survivor Philippines versus Big Brother 14

Both of these CBS reality TV shows packed a wallop last night with one premiering as the other ended. In the ratings department, the 25th season  of  Survivor topped 11 million viewers with a 7.1, whereas Big Brother, fell short of 7 million with a 2.9 rating. This is not surprising as the latter show's ratings have been disappointing this summer. Yet, despite Survivor being the ratings winner, it has not been renewed past the already filmed season 26 yet, whereas Big Brother has been renewed for season 15.

Both these shows have been in peril with tanking ratings in the past mostly because of the producers (Jeff Probst for Survivor and Allison Grodner for Big Brother). They both adopted a formula of bringing vets (sometimes multiple times) to play with newbies season after season, even though the fans of both the shows have not liked it. It's not fun to watch inexperienced players get mowed down season after season.

But maybe things are not so dire for these shows. The fact that Survivor's premiere numbers are much better than in the past, and that Big Brother 14 ended with a newbie gaining victory over a vet will bring some needed changes in both these shows. While Ian Terry, a fan favorite who charmed almost everyone with his unique personality and heart, won BB14 by a landslide mostly because the jurors respected his smart, clean game, a few Survivors made impressive appearances in the Survivor premiere.

Jonathan Penner, Sarah Naomi Dawson from Kalabaw, Denise Marie Stapely, Malcolm Freberg and Angie Layton from Masting, as well as Micheal, Skupin, Lisa Whechel and Roberta "RC" Saint-Amour from Tandang were six castaways that showed much promise. Penner's love of the game and gratitude to be given another chance were touching to watch; but his strategizing on the island and even before he arrived is what made me sit up and take notice. Michael Skupin is another returning player to watch. His strategy is to take a back seat, going with the flow while poised to make a move. From the new castaways: RC, Stapely, Freberg, Layton and Dawson have made the most positive first impact, some showing prowess in the challenges, others a necessary insight into the others' game play/personalities and others both.

Will this help them to get to the end? We will see. One thing's for sure, this Survivor cast is one of the best, smartest and most compelling in a few seasons, making it a must-see show, one whose ratings will hopefully earn it a renewal.