I rocked the vote...

All I really have to say about American Idol is:
a) I seriously thought David Cook threw the competition Tuesday night, and even though he won (yay!), I'm still not convinced that he didn't
b) I'm relieved that he won, and I'll totally buy his CD if I remember who he is by the time it comes out (which I won't...)
c) (... unless we get married and have babies)
d) David Cook obviously won because of my 10 votes (yeah, I actually voted -- I started getting nervous Tuesday when he sucked out and Simon slammed him)
e) Everything else I have to say can be summed up in this article from EW: "David Cook Goes the Distance"
f) That article also made me want to get back to my snarky tv recap style... so Televisionista readers, you can thank EW for reminding me why I blog about TV in the first place

Thank God You're Here!

Here are my TV favs of the past week!!:

Thank God You're Here: If you used your DVR or TiVo to zip through commercials with celebs in funny costumes (Jason Alexander, Angela from The Office, Kevin Nealon, Mo'Nique), you should have payed more attention. They were commercials for NBC's new comedy improv hour that tests the mettle of some of your favorite funny celebs. I'm not sure when this show's usually on, but Monday night we were treated to two one-hour episodes. I've gotta tell ya, this show ended up being way funnier than I thought it would be. If you like Whose Line is it Anyway or you're in to improv at all, you've got to watch it. If you've always wondered whether comedian celebs are funny without clever script writers whispering in their ears, you've got to watch it. If none of these apply to you, but you have a pulse, you should watch it anyway. The premise of the show is that celebrities who think they're funny or good at improv are dressed up in costumes they've never seen before, and led to sets they've never been on, to play characters revealed to them once they get on the set. Some examples: a game show host, a mountain climbing expedition leader, an excavating professor, a doctor hawking his innovative (read: sketchy) product on a talk show. The other "characters" in the scene are in on the joke and great at improv, directing the scenes by prompting (or trapping) the stars into thinking on their feet. For instance, a character said to the star who stepped on to a game show set: "Remind the audience how this game is played!" I'll admit that I'm a little wary, since the show isn't live and is thoroughly edited. But if you can get past that, it's really worth a watch. (And if you watch ANY reality TV at ALL, you should be able to get past it. I mean, hello people, not only is reality TV scripted and brilliantly edited, but scenes are filmed multiple times to get different camera angles!) So basically, get past it and tune in -- I laughed for two hours straight.

Lost: Girl-on-girl catfight in the jungle. Guys, I bet you loved it. I'm a straight female, and I even loved it. Good stuff.

ANTM: Just a few comments... Thank you Tyra for admitting you guys totally screwed up Brittany's hair, and thanks for offering to fix it. Cuz I really can't stand watching that ratty mess for another week. 50 Cent pushed Jael into the pool. Can you blame him? Sarah the Pose-y Photographer got sent home. Good. Natasha's still a crazy mess. Even better. Whitney called the other models "skinny bitches." Amen. Nicole Richie stirred up trouble. I'm shocked. (Ok, I'm actually laughing my ass off.) Renee got hers. Finally. And last but not least... Wholahay? I love this show.

The Office: I think this about sums it up: STAB ME IN THE HEART. I can't take any more of this Pam/Jim torture. That scene at the soda machine felt like water torture to me. But things are looking up -- Pam and Roy are officially over. Did the scene in the diner feel like foreshadowing to anyone else? I'm well aware that Pam and Jim will never really get together (see: X-Files' sexual tension success vs. Moonlighting's sexual fulfillment disaster... these writers aren't stupid), but Roy's encouragement of the JAM pairing makes me hope Pam takes some action. Karen was especially horrible this week. Might I remind you of the moment in the break room when she snipped at Jim to get back to selling paper so he could take her on a trip? Yikes. Michael Scott is still hilarious, and his inexplicable and unfounded hatred of Toby is one of my favorite parts of The Office. Thursday's Dwight-As-Superhero storyline, besides being a shameless plug for NBC's Heroes, was absolutely hilarious and completely consistent with the characters. That's what I love most about The Office. Well done, writers. Every single week.

Grey's: Just kidding. No new episode, yet again. Come on, Grey's! I'm sick of repeats. You think having Meredith die and George and Izzy get it on during Sweeps exempted you from new storylines?! Seriously?!

American Idol: I'm watching it as I write this, so I'll just give a few gut reactions. Jenny from the Block was the guest judge, and unlike most of the other guests, she actually gave the contestants vocal coaching to make their songs better (or at least more Latin-ish). Yay for that. But if this was Latin week, where were the hot Latin men, I ask you?! Anyway, on to the performers. Last week Mindy Doo used Sanjaya's flat iron; tonight she used his hair teaser. Jordin reminds J-Lo of Michael Jackson? What was it, the side ponytail and girlish facial features? Yikes. Hot-pants Haley's got to go. And I'm sure Sir Sanjaya the Terrible is staying yet again... but at least he looks less like an adolescent female with that facial hair.

So there's my favs of the week! Next week, watch Thank God You're Here. It really is funny.

Goodbye-a Sanjaya

One word. "Ponyhawk."

You've gotta give it to this Sanjaya kid -- he's got quite the clever strategy. Besides having the backing of the anti- American Idol web wonder "votefortheworst.com" and Howard Stern (the chauvenistic shock jock, not the one claiming to be Anna Nicole's baby's dad), he has the most varied collection of hair-don'ts in the history of the show. He teases it, or he uses a flat iron, and the judges, who can't think of anything good to say about his singing, comment on his hair every week. This week though... wow. In honor of guest judge Gwen Stefani (who, by the way, makes a much better performer than vocal coach... yikes), Sanjaya styled his hair in a fake mohawk (Paula called it a faux-hawk) made up of seven tiny ponytails. Oh, Sanjaya.

He's a terrible performer -- he's just GOT to go. But this week, his combination teeny bopper girl/ anti-establishment adult male fan base, his bright white teeth, and his mysterious ponyhawk spared him from the bottom three. Safe yet again. Looks like smug Sanjaya's got nine lives. And I fear it's just gonna get worse. This week Chris Sligh went home. Understandable, considering his slow unraveling the last few weeks. (But the guy's actually talented! No, seriously. If you don't remember from earlier in the season that he's actually pretty good, check out his band's video on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ps3b_FTTCo) But we all know Sanjaya should have gone a long time ago. Hopefully soon the buzz will die down and so will Sanjaya's laughable popularity. I guess he makes for good TV. But still. America. I beg of you. Stop voting for Sanjaya. Because if Jordin or Mindy Doo or Blake or "Kiki" get kicked off in lieu of Sanjaya the Hairtastic, I'm calling you all up and convincing you individually that you're doing the world a disservice. And believe me, you don't want that.

Underdog?: the difference between Max and Sanjaya

I've already admitted that I watch (and now love) the Grease show. I can't help it -- I'm seriously addicted. But now I have an even bigger secret. I've become an American Idol-watcher.

Before this season, I had only seen a handful of episodes. The season Clay Aiken charmed those of us who love a good closet case, I watched the last couple weeks. I also watched the last couple weeks during the season with Bo Bice and Constantine. (Who won that year? Carrie Underwood?) Anyway, that's it. I just never got into it... I think because I always had class or rehearsals when it was on (and DIDN'T have the wonder of DVR like I do now). Also, I can't stand the audition episodes, so I usually never make it past them. Regardless, I've gotten hooked this season (thanks to the DVR gods above. Watch Idol without DVR at your own peril). I'm not going to bore you with a run-down of my opinions on each contestant, although opinions I do have. Instead, I'd just like to briefly opine on what it means to be an underdog and who the real underdogs are in the world of reality TV. (Well, okay, just the Grease show and American Idol. Ashamedly, I do watch hordes of other reality TV shows, but we won't get into those now. Except to say that Sisely is the underdog on the Pussycat Dolls show, not Chelsea or Mariela. Read further to find out why.)

We'll start with the Grease show, because it offers the epitome of an underdog story: Max. How much do you love Max?! Max is a true underdog, and here's why... he's super talented!! He came into the competition looking like some kid you vaguely remember from high school, and his nickname on the show is "Slacker Danny." Unlike Austin and Jason, Max hasn't been on (or off) Broadway. Unlike Chad or Derek, he doesn't have the classic Danny look. Unlike Kevin, he's not too shy to be on Broadway, and unlike Matt, he doesn't suck. He's cute in a best-friend-who-makes-you-laugh kind of way, and in my opinion, he's the best singer in the competition. He's been criticized by the judges for not looking like Danny, for being too twerpy, for having big ears, etc etc... but they greased his hair and had him lift weights, and now he really looks like he could lead a gang (and look pretty darn cute doing it). What makes him the underdog isn't that he's BAD, and it's not that he's UGLY. Cuz he's not! And it's also not that he had bell's palsy as a kid (although... wow). No, he's an underdog because he's GOOD. Good but unlikely. He faced seemingly insurmountable odds (come on, admit it, at the beginning you liked Max but never thought he'd make it to the finals), and he does well every week DESPITE those odds. He's a fighter, he has natural talent, and now he made it into the finals. Because who doesn't love an underdog story? (PS I usually vote for Max online every week. I'll admit that this week I actually also voted via phone. Sad, I know.)

So in light of Max's story, who's the underdog of American Idol? Or, let's start here... who ISN'T the underdog of American Idol? SANJAYA. Why? Because he's AWFUL. He's worse than bad. He's HIDEOUS. He can style his hair like Paula all he wants... it doesn't make him any better. Unlike Max, Sanjaya sucks. I'm not just being mean here people, he's BAD. Like Simon said this week, the shots of the girl sobbing all through his performance explains it all. America, you're the ones who should be crying right now. Because instead of eliminating Sanjaya (who should have been eliminated the very first week, nevermind making it into the top 10), you eliminated Stephanie. And Sanjaya wasn't even in the bottom two!! Really? Steph and Chris in the bottom two?! America, you've got to understand that he is NOT the underdog of this competition. He's the joke. Every week they tell him his smile's pretty... because there's nothing they can say about his singing, since it's so bad that it's beyond help. He's almost like William Hung (ok, not THAT bad, but still!), except this time he made it in, unlike Hung, who got famous from his audition. But I don't think anyone thought Hung was the underdog. He was the joke. And the same goes for Sanjaya. So please stop voting for him. It's not funny anymore. And if you're voting for him because you think he's the underdog, think again.

The real underdog of this competition, if you ask me, is Jordin Sparks. Here's why. I remember her from auditions, and I liked her back then. She made it to Hollywood, and she's been giving solid performances every week. She's a very talented singer, and I love listening to and watching her perform. But since they got to Hollywood, she's been living in the shadow of LaKisha and Melinda (who are also both very talented). But that's why Jordin's the underdog. No, she doesn't have LaKisha's "big black woman" sound/look, and she doesn't have Melinda's charming but slightly irritating humility. As far as I know, she also doesn't have a kid at home. The first couple weeks she kind of got lost in the shuffle with all the hullabaloo surrounding La to the K and Mindy-Doo. But as everything gets sifted out, and the posers get separated from the raw talent, Jordin's been getting noticed by the judges. This week, I think I remember one of the judges calling her the Kelly Clarkson of the competition. (I might have taken that as an offense a while ago, but I like KC these days, and she did WIN Idol after all.) What makes Jordin the underdog is exactly what makes Sanjaya anything but -- TALENT. She's damn good. And unlikely, because the odds are severely in favor of the other two women. Well, or Blake. He's really cool too. But definitely not an underdog.

So do you see the difference, America?! If you want to vote for an underdog, Jordin Sparks is the way to go. She's the Max of American Idol. And if you're just voting for Sanjaya because his hair is prettier than yours, or because you feel bad for him since he thinks he can hula but really can't do that either, remember what Simon always says... this is a SINGING competition.