American Idol 2011 began its 10th season last night with a few changes. While the previous seasons had some judge shake ups – none were quite like this one. With the departures of both Kara DiGioduardi and Ellen DeGeneres, and of course of Simon Cowell, replaced by none other than Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez, we were left to wonder what the new American Idol would look like.
Well, it looks pretty much the same, but with better hair. I found this premiere episode to be a bit over the top with the admiration for the new judges – like I’m sure that the contestants were in awe of both JLo and Tyler, but did they really need to show all of them crying and fawning over them!? Maybe Jennifer had that written into her contract. Either way it got old after a while.
That being said I like the addition of Lopez and Tyler to the panel – because I like that Jennifer Lopez didn’t come off like a diva at all and that Tyler seemed to appreciate a different singing style than the judges of the past. Gone is the ‘know it all’ styling’s of Kara Di Gioguardi and in is the sincerity of Jennifer Lopez. Honestly I think even JLo was surprised at how hard it was to reject some of these kids.
I also noticed that we seemed to be seeing a lot more of the ‘yes’s’ than the absolute train wrecks that we have come to hate to love from the audition rounds. Maybe the new judges didn’t want to waste their time and play around as much as they did in the previous seasons – but I actually enjoyed seeing more of the better auditions than the bad ones. And is it just me or was I the only one who felt sorry for the Boy Scout who auditioned and was just terrible!? Kinda seemed to me like Fox was blatantly making fun of this boy who is young and impressionable enough for this to be hurtful. Sure they signed up to be on the show, but did anyone find that humorous?!
I did miss Simon – mostly because I missed having that ‘authority’ if you will on the judging panel. I missed his scathing honestly and I missed his deadpan expressions. I like Randy but he doesn’t have ‘it’. I would say that JLo will be the star of the judging panel, if not because she is the biggest star there but because she is so incredibly beautiful. Honestly – her hair, her face, her body, her voice – that woman is stunning. And add to that she seems to be a genuinely decent person – it will make her the go –to judge for sure!
Steven Tyler was fun but a bit pervy. I didn’t notice it until they did the bit with him winking and commenting on all the young girls. Not sure why this is surprising to me – he is a rock star. And not a new rock star – a legendary rock star. Like a *sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll* rock star. Of course he’s pervy!
But the thing about this season is it really wasn’t about the singers! Honestly – ask anyone what they thought of the show and they will talk about the new judges! I mean, I remember the Boy Scout – I remember the super happy 16 year old girl who was walking on sunshine, and I remember the totally adorable boy who was the last singer who I loved and now who I want to win the entire show. But out of 2 hours – that’s all I remember. However, I remember how beautiful JLo looked, and I remember that Randy dressed like Britney Spears and I remember that Steven Tyler looks like he’s had too much plastic surgery, but that’s it. And unlike last year, when the show premiered and it crashed twitter, this year people watched more so out of curiosity than to see the performers.
So, I might tune in for one more show and hopefully the talent will be enough for me to keep tuning in, but I’m not sure. Did you watch – what did you think?
Scene and Heard
Confessions from a Pop Culture Mummy
The Golden Globes happened last night and the reason why this Awards Show is so much fun is not only this the first big awards show of the season, but they also serve alcohol throughout, which makes the entire thing a lot more enjoyable to watch! I mean, chances are you won’t catch Angelina Jolie applying lip gloss or Mark Wahlberg rolling his eyes at Robert Downey Jr. during the Academy Awards!
So the Globes start out with Ricky Gervais hosting and it’s clear that he’s taking no prisoners! Everyone is fair game. From Charlie Sheen’s recent hooker troubles to the box office bomb that was The Tourist, to the ladies of Sex and the City – he even takes a not too subtle stab at the maybe gaybe scientologists Travolta and Cruise – much to a very quiet reception in the room (I however was dying of laughter at home). Then Gervais made a few more offside remarks which were very funny and very true but apparently some people might have taken a bit of offense to them.
Robert Downey Junior got up to present an award and basically slapped Gervais on the hand for being ‘mean spirited’ but my point is, Gervais went into the show telling you EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS GOING TO DO! He said that he was going to go after everyone, he said that he was going to take shots, he warned you!!!! So when they pulled him off the air for a good 45 minutes around the middle of the show (and not too long after RDJ seemed a little pissy about it all) all it did was make the entire viewing audience wonder where he went! And then to put him back on, but censor him just seems a bit ridiculous. If they wanted kind and gentle they should have gone with Jimmy Fallon. I mean let’s face it – Gervais hosted last year so they knew what they were in for!
So was it a great show? Absolutely! Who won – I don’t know – I haven’t even seen any of the movies with the exception of the ones nominated in the Best Animated Feature category. But that’s not the point because what makes a great awards show has little to do with the movies and more to do with the attendees! It was a great show because we had an absolutely rocking twitter party happening providing some of the best moments during the show! But the stars were also out in full force providing us with a night full of stunning dresses, superstar couples and fashion disasters!
I was asked before the show started what I thought was going to be the big trend of the night in terms of fashion and I said that I thought basic black, white and champagne tones would rule the red carpet, and it turns out I was pretty bang on! Yael would be proud (except that she and I agree to disagree on Scarlett Johansson).
Some of my favorite looks were worn by Sofia Vergara who was stunning in red, Natalie Portman who showed off her baby bump is a soft pink gown that was so soft and feminine, Julia Stiles was stunning in a basic black one shoulder gown, and Michelle Williams wore the most beautiful daisy dress that might not have been red carpet worthy but that I loved none the less. BUT, my absolute favorite dress of the night belonged to Emma Stone! The actress wore the most beautiful color paired with the most beautiful hair and makeup. She was perfection.
Then there were the misses – and this pains me, because some of my favourites were definite misses! Ryan Reynolds’s ex and his rumoured new hook up - Scarlett Johansson and Sandra Bullock both showed up to the show and completely underwhelmed me. I like my Scarlett in bombshell mode – not in scary hair mode. And Sandra had so much fringe all I wanted to do was take a brush to her hair and smooth it and get then brush the hair out of her eyes. Angelina Jolie, who isn’t a favorite of mine anyway, showed up wearing something that I would envision someone on one of those Real Housewives show wearing. Seriously – she just looked so matronly! And she is super skinny – like her waist was SOOOO tiny! And – she had shoulder pads. Shoulder Pads!!!!
I also really hated Nicole Kidman’s white dress – not sure if it’s because I’m insulted with what she’s done to her face or if it was because the dress was the same colour as her skin. Seriously – I had a hard time telling where the dress ended and her skin began. It was all bad. And for the record – I loved Helena Bonham Carter. So. Much.
So there were some surprises in the main categories during the actual awards ceremony. Love love love that Glee’s Chris Colfer won his first Golden Globe for his portrayal of Kurt, and love even more that Lea Michele really tried to look genuinely happy for him. Secretly you know she’s plotting to steal his trophy and claim it as her own especially after she lost in her category! Also love that Glee won for best show – because even though there seems to be a sudden influx of Glee haters out there I’m not one of them. I do like Modern Family a lot but I like Glee better so I was happy to see them take the trophy.
Boardwalk Empire won over Dexter, Steve Buscemi won over Michael C. Hall, proving that in the world of awards shows, cancer might win you an award, but screwing your co-star behind your wife’s back will lose if just as fast. Karma’s a bitch.
The big guns came out with Matt Damon presenting the Cecil B. DeMille award to Robert DeNiro who seemed to take a page out of Ricky Gervais’s book and tried to be snarky in his acceptance speech. And it didn’t work. Nope, I found his speech long, contrived and insulting. I mean, he’s Robert frickin’ De Niro – he shouldn’t TRY to do anything. He should be able to stand up there and just be him!!
The biggest ovation of the night belonged to Michael Douglas who presented the final award of the evening and did it looking absolutely fantastic. Michael of course is coming off a throat cancer diagnosis and was pleased to announce that he is officially cancer free. It was humbling to see the reception that the actor received from a room full of his peers.
The Social Network, the movie about Facebook, won the big award of the night. I haven’t seen it, nor have I seen any of the movies that were nominated so I can’t really comment. What I can say is that I have loved Jesse Eisenberg (as an actor – not in the completely inappropriate way I love Zac Efron) since he starred in a short lived TV drama called Get Real in 1999. So it made me happy to see his movie win. But I was also happy to see Colin Firth win for best actor because I think it would kinda be all sorts of wrong for Jesse Eisenberg to beat Colin Firth. Natalie Portman won for best actress and gave the most annoying speech ever where she thanked her baby daddy, lovingly coined by Lainey Gossip as the ‘ballet K-Fed’ (love!) for helping her grow a person, then she laughed really ridiculously. Seriously – that speech was worse than Drew Barrymore’s speech when she won for Grey Gardens. Google it, you’ll see what I mean.
OK – so my grade for the Golden Globes was a solid B+ - mostly thanks to twitter. It might have earned an A but twitter locked me out of my account for about 2 hours so I had to hijack my husband’s account and I might have tweeted slightly inappropriate things about Zac Efron from it. My bad. Plus it was all the fabulous tweeps that tweeted along with our #YMCGlobes hashtag that made the show so much fun! And guess what – the Oscars are just around the corner so we get to do it all again soon!
So I want to know – what did you like, what did you hate – who was robbed, who looked hot and who didn’t!? Do you agree or disagree with me!?
Scene and Heard
Confessions from a Pop Culture Mummy
So it’s confirmed – David and Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice, are having another baby!!! In a statement released on Sunday their rep said; "David and Victoria Beckham are delighted to confirm they are expecting their fourth child in the summer. Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz are very excited about the arrival of their new brother or sister."
And holy Hannah I’m super excited too! I love that she’s having another baby because no matter what kind of tabloid drama happens between her and David, a Posh Spice bump watch is one of the most entertaining kind of bump watches around! And I also find it kinda funny that this announcement comes on the heels of David suing a tabloid for claiming that he had an affair with a hooker. Nothing says ‘innocent husband’ like a knocked up wife!
And while I don’t doubt that the entire family is excited – after all Victoria has made no secret that she wanted more children - with the announcement of this impending arrival comes the constant question as to whether she’ll finally get her elusive girl! After all we all know that Victoria and David have 3 sons already, so of course now everyone is wondering if she’ll finally have a daughter!
And before you get all up in arms and say that no matter what the gender of the baby is - all that matters is that the baby is healthy – no one is disputing that! But let’s face it, the woman has 3 sons – of course she wants a girl!! I have 3 sons and a daughter – I know how she feels! Of course I had my daughter first, but when I was pregnant with my 4th I made no secret about the fact that I would love to have another daughter. I ended up having another son who I love to pieces and the fact that he was a boy didn’t make me any less thrilled, all I’m saying is that already having 2 boys I would have liked to have had another girl, that’s all.
Seeing as Victoria Beckham is pretty much one of the biggest girly girls there is – it really shouldn’t come as any shock that she would want a girl. But, from what I’ve seen of her, as Posh and as plastic as she might seem she also seems to be a very devoted mother – one who fully loves her sons – so if this child is a boy I’m sure she will be thrilled! But let’s face it – the woman wants a girl!!! And she needs a girl strictly so she can make her the most fashionable kid in Hollywood! I mean really, that little girl would be the best dressed child ever! Can you even imagine what her closet would look like?! As it is Victoria’s 8 year old son Romeo landed on GQ’s Most Stylish List for 2011 so you can only imagine the style that this kid will have if the baby is a girl!
So now we get to embark on the great ‘bump watch’ – from now until her due date in the summer we get to see the ever fashionable Posh Spice make every other pregnant woman out there feel inferior since no one will ever look as fantastic as she will! And I can’t wait! I wonder how long it will be before the ever tiny Posh starts to actually show?! And by showing I mean when she looks like she ate a meal – because showing for her is what I would look like when I’m PMS’ing and slightly bloated.
So congratulations Posh and Becks – and while I hope that you have a happy healthy baby, I really hope that you have a happy, healthy girl! Let the bump watch begin!
Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy
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