DaveChung.com – A Guy’s Blog From Girl World

Simon Cowell called Neil Diamond Night one of the weirdest nights that the judges had ever seen in the history of the show and I’d have to agree. Without a doubt, tonight ranked as one of the worst themes in the seven seasons of American Idol.

Not only were the judges rushed and Paula was a wee bit incoherent, but the Idols were rushed through two performances each. Making matters worse, the song list provided very little in terms of variety for the Idols to really shine, but the good ones still managed to do so.

Can we just do Billboard Top 100 week? Or maybe even “Songs You Sing in the Shower” week?

It was clear that the contestants were going to be on their own this week in terms of making these songs really work for this week’s votes, considering that the song list sounded dated, old fashioned, and very 1980’s (and even older). With my favorite Girl Next Door Bridget and Hef’s San Diego repping girlfriend Kendra in the celebrity seats formerly occupied by Kim Kardashian and Lacey Schwimmer behind the judges’ table tonight, David Cook was one of the Idols to somehow make this week work for him, just as he has every week. And perhaps unexpectedly, Syesha Mercado stepped up yet again this week, proving that she is the best female left in Season 7.

While David Archuleta was generally good, both he and Jason Castro, who has really been struggling as of late, were largely forgettable. It was nice to see Archuleta perform some faster songs for once, but he quickly forgot Andrew Lloyd Webber’s suggestion to keep his eyes open while performing. He sang “Sweet Caroline,” a favorite of Boston Red Sox fans, and “America,” which somehow stands as only the second most patriotic song this season behind Kristy Lee Cook’s “God Bless the USA.”

Yet another disappointment this week was Brooke White, who somehow thought it was a good idea to choose “I’m a Believer” tonight, a song that the Idols performed for a Ford Music Video earlier this season and a song that has become known as the song from Shrek, where Donkey gets to dance around.

In addition to Brooke’s slightly “boo hoo” attitude that I feel like she’s had since ever since her last good performance this season in “Let It Be” way back in Top 12 week, this particular performance was more borderline annoying simply because there was no reason for her to be playing the guitar. Not only could you not hear it, but it made Brooke stationary on stage for what should have been a pretty fun, jump around, kind of song – kind of like Donkey would do.

Going home this week, if there is any justice, will be Brooke White. If there is a lesser amount of justice, it will be Jason Castro. And if Syesha Mercado goes home after having the “money spot” closing out the show this week, then she just really didn’t have enough fans to take her any further than her performances and placement on the show did this week, but she should definitely stay.

At this point, all my votes are going to David Cook. Not only because his performances are consistently the best, but I don’t think that a “rocker” in the history of American Idol has ever endured tougher theme weeks to reach the top.

Officially taking off with Lionel Richie’s “Hello” during Top 16 week, then following it up with “Eleanor Rigby” during Top 12 week, Cook has consistently knocked out unfavorable theme after unfavorable theme compared to his Chris Daughtry-like style.

In Beatles Week part deux, Cook made “Day Tripper” one of the top performances of the season. In Top 10 week, Cook took what is always one of the best weeks of the season, “Songs from the year you were born” and turned out “Billie Jean,” which is yet another “All-Time” Idol performance.

After that, the themes got weird, but Cook persevered.

Top 9 Week: Dolly Parton Week – “Little Sparrow”

Top 8 Week: Inspirational Song Week - “Innocent” by Our Lady Peace (I’ll admit this wasn’t a great week for Cook)

Top 7 Week: Mariah Carey Week – “Always Be My Baby”

Top 6 Week: Andrew Lloyd Webber Week – “Music of the Night”

MARIAH CAREY WEEK?? ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER WEEK??

Throw the guy a freakin bone, here. Yes, he did great, but come on now.

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This week, Cook faced Neil Diamond Week and knocked it out. Considering the past two weeks have seemed like a cruel joke against the competition’s only remaining rocker, this week’s theme might have felt like a relief to Cook.

What’s next? Barry Manilow Week? Songs inspired by Boy George? Music by Rascal Flatts? Christopher Cross Week? Maybe we’ll see Taylor Swift Week or even Britney Spears Week, chances are David Cook would kill those weeks too. At this point, I could see David Cook pulling out a unique rendition of B. Spears’ “You Drive Me Crazy (Stop Remix)” with the electric guitar and a little dance number.

Everyone has been saving a seat for David Archuleta in the finale since he wowed us with “Imagine,” but the reality is that David Cook has had a much tougher draw to get this far in terms of the themes. No doubt, the themes have been tough on Jason Castro and Brooke White as well, as they lack the vocal ability of the other remaining contestants, but some of the themes have almost felt like cruel jokes against David Cook.

But yet, we’re at the Top 5, soon to be Top 4, and David Cook is still here. And for the good of the show and my own sanity, I hope Cook keeps on rolling.

This week on Keeping Up with the Kardashians , Kim made her much publicized purchase of a brand new Bentley, which ended up getting hit by a motorcycle shortly after she took delivery of the car in real life (but this wasn’t shown on the show).

Getting a Bentley had been a dream of Kim’s since she was 12 years old (did you know what a Bentley was when you were 12?), but the moment was ruined when sisters Khloe

and Kourtney got fed up with The Tush’s attitude at the dealership.

Since the car wasn’t ready when promised, Khloe took exception to the dealer’s treatment of them, only to have Kim get upset with her for “humiliating her” during a business deal (where I’m sure Kim plugs the dealership as she’s currently doing on her personal blog and gives them some publicity in exchange for a discount). What ensued was what E! called the “Kardashian Civil War,” where Kim faced the wrath of both of her sisters being fed up with her “all business” attitude and forgetting about what really matters to them – family.

I’ll admit that it was a little disappointing to hear the superficial side of Kim come out and go on and on about her Bentley. However, I figure that it’s likely very similar to how excited I was to get my 40″ HDTV, though my purchase was much cheaper. Sometimes, you’re just really excited to get something and it makes you a little bit obnoxious because you forget that not everyone wants to come along for the ride. In this case, Khloe and Kourtney did not want to come along for the ride – figuratively or in the Bentley.

The battle led to Khloe trying to slam a door in Kim’s face, which caused Kim to attack her sister with her purse, then her fists, as she punched her sister out of frustration before leaving in tears (which would have gotten her kicked out of The Real World house).

On Kim’s side, her sister had ruined a moment that she had apparently waited over half her life for (getting a Bentley). For Khloe, she was frustrated that her older sister was becoming so superficial that she would take sides with a car dealer over her own family in an argument because there was money involved.

While logic might say that Khloe was right, I could actually empathize with Kim a little bit because this felt like having someone ruin your birthday party by being a Debbie Downer and talking about their bad day at your party.

If it’s your birthday, it doesn’t necessarily entitle you to anything by rule, but it does make you think that you’d like people to let you have a free pass for that day to mess up and do whatever you please. For Kim, this was like a birthday and she was upset that it was getting ruined. Yes, it was a little bratty, but I could see where she was coming from. It’s a stretch, but I could see it.

Kim decided that the sisters might be spending too much time together and that it was time for her to break free even more from her older and younger sister. She wanted to move towards more of a business relationship as all parts of their lives constantly intersect, making her believe that she has had enough of her sisters at this point.

The family took off for Colorado for an impromptu vacation where the shananigans will resume as the sisters are forced to stay together and hopefully work out their differences. Because when apart and arguing, the Kardashians are still entertaining, but together and united they make for great TV. There were no hugs in this week’s episode, which means we’re due for some next week, along with Kris Kardashian throwing Kim’s Sidekick, which will inevitably lead to drama.

And yes, Kim did get her Bentley back.

In the continued sweet posterage of The Dark Knight, more new posters have surfaced featuring Harvey Dent (Two Face), Batman, and The Joker

.

They. Are. Awesome.

Harvey Dent (Two Face)

Batman

Joker

Best. Sausage. Party. Ever.

After much speculation, the moment that all fans of The Hills and Laguna Beach had been waiting for since The Hills Season 3.5 started up again finally happened – Stephen Colletti and Lauren Conrad reunited on semi-scripted reality TV.

For those of us who jumped on The Hills bandwagon late, Stephen Colletti was Lauren’s kindergarten crush during Seasons 1 and 2 of The Hills’ mother show Laguna Beach. They were an “on again off again” couple, with the “offs” also being known as the very hot Kristin Cavallari. However, most Laguna fans were on “Team Lauren” (oh yes, there was Team Lauren before Team Heidi came in the picture) in this case and over two seasons, we grew to dream of what could have been with the couple that almost really was.

Needless to say, it was a big deal when the season preview showed Colletti’s face, who has been linked with not only Conrad and Cavallari, but Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere as well

. Though their meeting turned out to be more hype than substance, it was a gasp-worthy moment when Stephen showed up at Lauren, Lo, and Audrina’s housewarming party at their new place in the real Hollywood Hills (as opposed to their former place, which was in West Hollywood, kind of).

So no, sparks didn’t necessarily fly, but it was still ok because of the buildup.

It was clear that Stephen wasn’t trying to get back into the reality mix like Lo, who has been all up in the mix this season and believes that Stephen is “best for Lauren,” However, there was something nostalgically awesome about seeing Stephen and Lauren back together, even if it was just for a brief dinner – even moreso than it was to see Lauren and Jason’s tumultuous relationship rear its ugly head a few times during the first two seasons of the Laguna spinoff. They’re the relationship that everyone wants to happen that might not happen and it might actually seem a little too convenient if they did end up together on camera.

Whatever keeps Lauren single, because she looks beautiful in this semi-season! Me = In Lurve.

Otherwise, Audrina Patridge continued to keep her distance from the house of Laurens (Conrad and Bosworth) as she moved into the guest house in the back. However, all might not be well in The Hills paradise and Whitney Port should soon be moving in to take Audrina’s spot if the girls’ pre-season media tour means anything.

Audrina’s renewed relationship with champion belcher Justin Bobby gives Lauren and Lo very little common ground to have conversations with ‘Drina and it creates an awkwardness that conveniently survives by way of twenty feet between the roommates’ separate houses.

Are Audrina’s days with a significant role on the The Hills numbered? Do we like Lo’s silliness enough to have her essentially replace the echoing that was Audrina’s conversations?

With Stephanie Pratt

continuing to be part of the weekly storyline and less and less Speidi every week, The Hills is transforming its cast before our very eyes.

Some of us are actually beginning to feel bad for Playboy Spence at this point and find it extremely entertaining when he refers to boba as “bobo” in a snarky way to his sister. Heidi’s role is diminishing as well, putting the focus back on Lauren and her girls during the second half of the show’s third season, which might not be a bad idea to have a nicer version of the show after it got a little intense at times last season. The Hills is proving that reality TV can transform and it’s doing it in a gentle enough way to keep us watching.

Not a whole lot happened this week, but somehow, it felt substantial. The storylines are interesting, characters are transforming, and music courtesy of Gavin DeGraw, Danity Kane, Leona Lewis, and others was fantastic. Who needs real reality TV when scripted reality makes it so much better?

Miley Cyrus, star of Disney Channel’s Hannah Montana, has been doing a lot of apologizing as of late for some more candid photos that surfaced online and some near-topless pictures that will be appearing in an upcoming issue of Vanity Fair.

The fact that Miley is 15 years old is the main cause of conflict in this whole debacle, most of which focuses on the magazine shoot, along with the fact that Miley is a role model to a legion of loyal fans that really look up to her.

While the photos are supposed to be artsy, it’s pretty obvious to see why the Vanity Fair pictures would be causing such a commotion – considering Miley looks like she’s the living undead in the photos that were previewed by Entertainment Tonight.

Miley told People Magazine, “My goal in my music and my acting is always to make people happy. For Vanity Fair, I was so honored and thrilled to work with Annie [Leibovitz]. I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed.”

Even before this Vanity Fair controversy began, Hannah Montana ran into some other problems with some random pictures of her with some friends and an ex-boyfriend surfacing that weren’t really all that much worse than you could find on MySpace in about…three minutes.

In terms of the candid photos, it all felt very reminiscent of how people loved to make a big deal about the Ramiele Malubay photos that surfaced while she was on American Idol, which I didn’t feel like were a big deal. In hindsight, the controversy with the Miley pictures does feel more justified than the hoopla surrounding High School Musical star Vanessa Anne Hudgens

, simply because again, Miley is 15 years old. The Vanity Fair spread definitely seems to be worth the controversy and buzz that it’s creating.

Miley is the near-epitome of clean, innocent Disney fun. Now, with a photo shoot that could even be even more buzzworthy than the fabled Lindsay Lohan shoot in New York Magazine (NSFW), considering that Miley Cyrus has to be one of the most popular celebrities in the world, hopefully the Queen of everything Disney, the movie box office, and even American Idol’s Idol Gives Back can try to maintain her squeaky clean image amidst the turmoil.

UPDATE: The Hollywood Gossip has posted more pictures of the photoshoot

(which to me, seems not too bad) and you can check them out over there.

On last week’s American Idol results show, X Factor winner Leona Lewis

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took the stage to perform her hit single “Bleeding Love.”

When I was watching the performance, I was in shock that it wasn’t lip-synced because I felt like this is one of the best performances by a guest performer in the history of American Idol – not including Idol Gives Back-related performances (where Carrie Underwood’s “I’ll Stand By You” video/performance reigns supreme).

Lewis’ debut album, Spirit

, coincidentally sounds exactly like an American Idol winner’s album, except that it’s a little more ballad heavy than most Idol debuts, even more than Katharine McPhee’s runner-up album.

Considering that Leona Lewis’ first single in England was Kelly Clarkson’s “A Moment Like This,” it’s not surprising that her first album is a little reminiscent of Clarkson’s Thankful album.

If you’re at all interested in the album, take a listen to “Bleeding Love,” “Footprints in the Sand,” “Yesterday,” and “Here I Am,” which are by far the strongest tracks on the album.

Lewis gets a good deal of criticism for taking on a few too many riffs and runs throughout the CD, which makes the CD virtually impossible to sing along with during the bridges and last choruses of songs (though I try), but I actually enjoy the vocal overdone-ness of the album.

People like to throw around the word “diva” with Lewis and vocally, she has “it.” I don’t think that many people should try and do what she does, but she actually makes the most overdone riffs and runs perhaps in the history of modern pop music sound really good.

Check out her performance below and see what you think!

The Dark Knight, my most anticipated movie of the summer, starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger, has an official movie poster that surfaced courtesy of the the film’s viral site: WhySoSerious, reposted via Rotten Tomatoes.

Best. Movie. Poster. Ever. (ok, maybe not ever, but it’s very cool)

Interestingly, Michael Caine, who played Alfred in Batman Begins

download dark knight the , is second on the movie poster, making me believe that he has a much larger part in this film. Since I’m a big fan of Alfred as a character and just a very kind, nice, old White man, I’m ok with that. However, it seems to be a bit of a surprise that his name comes before Heath Ledger’s?

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Excited? Me thinks so.

With Conan O’Brien still set to take over Jay Leno’s

seat at The Tonight Show, Variety is reporting that SNL’s Jimmy Fallon will officially be taking over the

Late Night

desk likely starting February 2009. The move will come before O’Brien takes a six month hiatus before he takes the reigns of NBC’s The Tonight Show.

around the world in 80 days free download As for Leno, he has standing offers from ABC and FOX to jump over to their networks if he’s not yet ready to say goodbye to his nightly TV spot. It looks like this move to SNL’s Weekend Update anchor might finally signal the end of the talk about Jon Stewart somehow figuring into the Peacock’s late night plans.

Conan has been loyal to NBC for years and it’d be a surprise to see anyone else take over the desk other than the gangly Irish one, but I think that I now have to see it to believe it with all the speculation.

But for now, we should just get used to hearing, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon because it’s happening.

Savvy Sugar did some decoding of the mysterious “Economic Stimulus Package” and posted the dates on their site, much to the joy of everyone in the United States.

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Here’s the rundown:

If you filed with Direct Deposit and your SSN ends with the following numbers…

If you filed by paper check and your SSN ends with the following numbers…

Making a triumphant return from the WGA strike this week was the CW’s Gossip Girl with an episode that made a big splash on the series without forcing it upon us, contrary to what the OMFG posters might have lead us to believe. Appropriately, the episode was entitled “The Blair Bitch Project,” but the show actually contained much more substance than the silly title would lead one to believe.

If you’ve never seen Gossip Girl, some call it the new version of The OC. Set in Manhattan, Gossip Girl actually feels less far fetched than The OC because the show is just about being rich and having drama. While extreme, the characters are likable and the situations are almost believable, especially if you know people who have that much money. It goes a little over the top, but it doesn’t go nearly as far as The OC ever did. In essence, it fills the void that was left by the end of The OC and does so in a more realistic, east coast, equally spoiled way.

It was Jenny Humphrey’s 15th birthday on the show (actress Taylor Momsen is actually younger than her character on the show, believe it or not), but her birthday took a backseat to the return of Blair Waldorf

to the upper east side, as she attempted to take back her place as the Queen Bee in the private school stable of socialites – a role that middle class Jenny had somehow managed to take over after a chain of events involving her unfaithfulness to Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford).

In addition to the return of Blair, Serena van der Woodsen was dealing with her mother’s engagement to Chuck Bass’ father, which made one of her worst enemies in Chuck become a pending part of her extended family. Serena began receiving mysterious gifts that she thought were cruel pranks from Chuck that ended up coming from a mysterious friend from Serena’s past, “G.”

G turns out to be Georgina, the long awaited guest starring of Michelle Trachtenberg on Gossip Girl next week, who is coming to finally reveal some of Serena’s mysterious and crazy past that is always hinted at, but never revealed.

By far, the most intriguing part of the episode was the brewing feud between Manhattan royalty Blair Waldorf and Brooklyn underdog Jenny Humphrey. Much like Lindsay Lohan’s Cady took over the crew in Mean Girls, Jenny has found herself becoming the new queen bee in her high school’s more prestigious, yet volatile social circle. Like Cady, Jenny had also started becoming a “Mean Girl” herself, scheming, stealing, and lying to keep her status and reign amongst the high school elite – even using Nate at the end of the episode to regain her status when all seemed lost in little J’s social life. 

Though Serena is supposed to be the “nice one,” Jenny, despite her obsession with becoming part of the “Mean Girls” world, has always been the sweetest member of the cast. She’s believable as a little sister who is trying to move up into a social circle that feels like it’s in a completely different caste, if there is such thing in the U.S., that is so far beyond her middle class status that she’s desperate to do anything to fit in, even if that means taking on perennial Queen Bee Blair Waldorf one on one.

It’s more than entertaining to see Little J turn evil, yet be conflicted by the fact that deep down, she knows what’s right. While Gossip Girl is not meant to be a believable show , the conflicts that Jenny faces feel very real, desperate, and that’s what makes this feud the best storyline on the show. Both Blair and Jenny are desperate, one to return to Queen Bee status, and the other to maintain her newfound position at the top. The flip-flopping of these two roles gives the series new life, even as new characters are being introduced and taken away a little too quickly.

Another interesting twist was seeing Dan (Jenny’s brother), who is technically one of the main characters, and Nate take a backseat to Jenny’s role in this episode. Jenny was previously anything but a lead role on the show, but this episode proved that Little J definitely has enough firepower to carry a storyline on her own. So to that, I hope this storyline drags on for a bit, instead of moving 100 miles per hour like everything else on the show.

With Nate soon falling for Dan’s ex Vanessa, Serena’s brother Eric apparently being gay, and Michelle Trachtenberg’s pending guest star role on the show, Gossip Girl is back in full stride, though its low 2.4 million viewers this past week might say otherwise.

New York Magazine called Gossip Girl The Greatest Teen Drama of All Time, but the low ratings paired with the fact that the CW has inexplicably stopped free streams of the television show on its website in hopes of drawing in more viewers, might make the CW want to think twice about their ass backwards strategy to get more eyeballs on one of their few semi-popular programs. The show seems to have the right direction, but let’s hope that this pop culture phenomenon isn’t about to have its plug pulled by the powers that be.