Reality Ravings

Another voting scandal has hit Australian Idol on the night when it was announced Wes Carr and Luke Dickens would be walking up those Opera House steps.

Apparently yesterday for 25 minutes the wrong voting numbers were up against the wrong singers names. That person has got to be so fired.

Apparently contestant Luke Dickens‘ telephone number was published for both himself and Carr, while Carr’s allocated telephone number appeared against Spano. So does that mean for 25 minutes Mark had no phone number allocated to him on the website?

The network released a statement where they said “Viewers can be assured that the outcome of tonight’s verdict is unaffected by this incident.”

Maybe Brooke Adamo and Mark Spano need to take out a class action on Fremantle Media.

Source of story from Media Spy.

Thank you Idol for not making us sit through an hours TV before finding who the final two were.

Well the big surprise was Luke Dickens making it through to the Opera House. It is not undeserved he has barely put a foot wrong throughout the competition. Also it also confirms my theory that having a town vote for you gives you an advantage.

And the best thing about Wes getting through was seeing his 'life story'. Wes performing as kid was very funny and cute. One of Wes's attributes is his vulnerability.

The two both have different but interesting stories. Luke has the fairytale story of a hard working shearer who only sang for the first time in front of an audience last year and is now one week from becoming famous.

Whilst Wes's story is the hard working, talented muso who has gigged for years but never got that break. He was just about to give it up but then decided to audition for Idol, and went from playing for ten people to over a 1 million via the tv set.

Or maybe it will just be a battle of the beards.

They sang their winner songs and now it is up to us to vote.

It will be interesting to see if Natalie Gauci will be singing at the Opera House or will she go in the forgotten Idol box along with Kate D'Arrugo, and Casey Donovan.

Livewire write that the odds are that Luke Dickens is set for the punt tonight. This won't happen if the Young media have anything to do with it.

The Young newspaper has been promoting Luke each week. Obviously looking for a new angle they have an interview with Luke's sister Emma. She says that Luke has only just started singing in front of people. I am sure he will inspire a few other amateurs to try out for next year's show. Article is here.

Can someone contact June Dally-Watkins and ask if it is appropriate to chew gum on TV, yes Marcia Hines I am talking to you.

Tina Arena was the mentor tonight, and years of living in France has turned her into an Edith Piaf lookalike in a good way. However she has retained her Aussie lewd sense of humour when talking with the host's James and Andrew G, about an all male top 3, she managed to throw a diction (get it dick-tion) joke in.

Andrew G has had his hair cut. I don't care, but if you read the papers apparently a lot of people do. I am surprised there is not a blog dedicated to Andrew's hair and its various incarnations.

Ever the entrepreneurs Idol is releasing a Top 10 singers CD, this must be to make some money as there won't be a Winner's Song Album released prior to Christmas. See previous post on that here.

Anyway onto the performances.

Luke Dickens - Stuck In The Middle Of You.

The last two weeks have seen Luke pick MOR (middle of the road songs). It is like he is doing karaoke night at his local pub in Young. The judges however were very positive about it.

Mark Spano - Bad Day - Fuel

Mark definitely sees himself singing rock, and he did a polished performance. But to tell you the truth I tuned out half way through. It appears the judges are having a love in tonight so were gushing at all three singers. And Kyle Mark's pole action was NOT doing it for me.

Wes Carr - Easy - Faith No More

Tina and Wes bonded over the Johnny Young Talent School connection and she called him a superstar. She was pleased that he embraced his past. Wes brought back the hat and harmonica for a repeat performance in this song. Neither really enhanced the performance. Wes is clearly the star of this year's Idol, but again I found this performance middle of the road.

It was sung and perform well, but would I go and buy his album on that performance? No.

Luke Dickens - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues - Elton John

I think this is Luke's last night on Idol. This song was boring. I was surprised he did not pick a classic rock song to finish up on. I will be surprised if he makes it to the Opera House -though there is a huge under dog vote in this show.

Mark Spano - This Life - Santana

He loves the Michael Hutchene moves this boy and they were very prevalent in this song. Especially that one at the beginning when he slightly pulled back his shirt to reveal his waxed chest. You lost me there Mark. However it will probably have thousands of hormonal girls giddily texting in his name.

Wes Carr - Get Back - The Beatles.

Finally a show stopping performance from one of the final three. He made a good Beatle song great. The electric guitar, the movement around the stage it was fantastic. He just showcased his star quality. I hope at the Opera House he repeats his Michael Jackson song.

Predicted top two Wes Carr and Mark Spano.

Australian Idol Top Four Boys To Be The New Young Divas??? NOOOOOO.
WA Today has Teale Jakubenko saying the top 4 boys would like to make music together after the end of Australian Idol. Could this be the new Young Divas? Let's hope not. I cannot imagine Wes Carr wanting to sing bad cover songs.

Teale you are dreaming, this was just chat after a few beers with the boys.

Yes You Can Be An International Reality TV Star
There are a few international reality TV stars Simon Cowell, and Nigel Lythgoe to name two. But Australia's Kym Johnson who to dance on US Dancing With The Stars continues to gain popularity. She is hanging out with celebs in Hollywood like Kim Kardishan, and also continues to be popular on the TV forums throughout the internet. Don't expect to see her home anytime soon. Daily Tele has the full yarn.

Dean Geyer To Rub His Body With Baby Oil
I am finding it very hard to get excited about this. Apparently his neighbours character Ty Harper who is an aspiring singer will strip (no not the full monty) and will slather his chest with baby oil. Does anyone watch neighbours anymore? With plot lines like this why would you bother. Full story here on the Daily Tele Website.

Does Ryan Seacrest Only Date Blondes?
American Idol host who is persistently dodging gay rumours is apparently now dating US Dancing With the Stars Julianne Hough. He has previously dated Sophie Monk. It appears he has a penchance for blondes and reality TV stars. It is interesting how all his 'relationships' last about a minute. National Ledger has more details of this union.

Ice Road Truckers To Be Made Into A Movie.
Ice Road Truckers has been on Fox 8 for awhile, and is now on Channel Ten on Friday nights at 7.30pm. This show is about truck drivers hauling cargo up ice roads in the middle of the Canadian winter. Sounds boring. It's not, and obviously Hollywood doesn't think so either. A movie is going to be made. I can see George Clooney in a lead role in this one!

Chris Isaak when on the couch with the Australian Idol was castigating them for using the phrase ball's up on national TV, clearly he had missed Mark Spano mouthing the F Bomb earlier when he realised Wes Carr was in the bottom two.

Luke Dickens and Mark Spano must have thought it was their lucky day when Wes landed into the bottom two for the first time. Was this going to be the biggest shock of this season?

Unfortunately for Mark and Luke, no, it was Teale Jakubenko who was gone.

Worst moment of the show when Kyle Sandilands while promoting a MacDonald's fundraising day, said if Chrislynn was still there they could have had a Big Mac eating competition together. It was tasteless and James Mathison looked absolutely disgusted.

Highlight of the show Chris Isaak - best mentor in all season's of Idol.

Can Chris Isaak be a judge on Australian Idol every week? It was like he made the other judges and hosts lift their game, when they realised he was getting all the laughs. Ok I had had my first alcoholic beverage in a fortnight so I did find Kyle Sandilands getting up on stage mildly amusing.

Has anyone else noticed that Marcia when she is giving her opinion has to wiggle her head alot, as there is barely any movement on her face anymore. I did not think it was possible to get botox on top of botox, but I think she has managed it.

Chris Isaak was his gorgeous, witty and enigmatic self. In an interview I once read that he had never been in a long term relationship. I am starting to think his love for Sydney combined with him talking about getting into rings, that the lady killer crooner may not be that interested in the ladies.

Anyway tonight the top four Idol's had to sing songs that had been number one in the USA. This was an obviously timed for last week's Presidential election, and Andrew G let it be clear that he was very happy with Obama winning.

Wes Carr - When You Were Young - The Killers
It was always going to be a let down the next song Wes sung after last week's Michael Jackson masterpiece. But the frenetic pace of the song just irritated me, as did his hair flying everywhere. The highlight his safari suit style top.

Wes Carr "What A Wonderful World" - Louis Armstrong
Wes's strength is his ability to connect or sell a song. He told us that the reason he liked this song was it soothed him after his numerous nightmares as a child. This was a stronger performance, and for the first half of the song it was just Wes and his guitar, but it is not going to get Cadbury's most memorable moment.

Kyle's comment on it looked like a muppet song cracked me up.

Teale Jakubenko - John Mayer - No Such Thing
This week Teale confirmed for me what a tool he is by picking two songs by overrated singers. On that basis alone he deserves to go. Performance non-memorable.

"What Goes Around" - Justin Timberlake.
This song and performance was the equivalent on nails on a chalkboard. It irritated me. This guy is this year's Marty Simpson - it bewilders me how both of these two singers made it to the final four.It is time to go

Mark Spano - Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing - Chris Issak
I was worried about Mark doing this, but it was in fact one of my favourite performances of his. Maybe because I was all Chris Isaak loved up.

"Everybody Hurts" REM
This may win the Cadbury's moment and it was a lovely performance with him just playing guitar onstage and not pacing around.

Luke Dickens - Arms Wide Open - Creed
Firstly Luke looks ten times better with that chin fluff cut off or as Dicko said his merkin. One of Luke's strengths has been song choices over the past few weeks, and tonight I think he blew it with this song. It was so repetative.

"One Of These Crazy Nights" Eagles
Does Luke think his fans are 2WS listeners as that was smack bang in the middle of the road. I hope for his sake that he has enough fans to keep him in as it will either him or Teale going home.

Who is voting for Teale Jakubenko? I am not getting it at all. He is like the Marty Simpson of 2008, having gone further then their actual talent would suggest.

It was a predictable bottom 3 Chrislynn, Teale and Mark and I was a bit sad that Chrislynn got the chop as even though her performances were a bit bi-polar one week sensational and the next week ordinary.

The highlight of the episode was the psycho stalker chick in the audience who was trying to appear all sexy for Teale and him freaking out when Andrew G brought her to the couch. He would not even look at her and was literally squirming.

If he wants to be a famous sprock star he is going to have to learn how to handle groupies.

TV Week has a story this week on Australian Idol rumours - Are they true or false?

Do the judges play favourites?
Roshani says this is true. She said "Yeah, there are favourites and that happens every year. It's just the nature of the game, but that's fine because sometimes the underdog gets up."

Everyone's jealous of Wes
Rosahin says says false. She said "I don't think so, because Wes is a good guy. He'll end up in the bottom three eventually -it's only a matter of time. But I think he will win. He's a good performer, a great musician, has a really down-to-earth, humble personality and hasn't tried to change himself or play anybody else the whole way through."

Chrislyn's the Idol outcast
Roshani says false. "I think her 'I'm lonely' comment was probably blown out of proportion. You've got to take it with a grain of salt, I guess. Chrislyn's the only girl left now, so it might be a whole different show!"

Luke's a party animal
Roshani says false. "Things get blown out of proportion. What Australian man doesn't like beer? Luke is just like any other Aussie bloke. What you see is what you get with him. He's the funniest guy in the world."

Teale doesn't take advice because he is arrogant
Roshani says false. " He's not arrogant or stubborn at all. He's only trying to do what he feels comfortable with. He's got to start believing in himself a bit more - he doubts himself too much, that's the problem. He's a great performer and he needs just to believe it."

Mark's a lady-killer
Roshani says true. "Mark is just a bad boy, and women love that! That's all. He's not clean-cut, he's got a cool husky voice, he's a bit of a smart arse, he's cheeky and lots of fun."

Ricki-Lee's column had some interesting tidbits. Roshani was in tears in the toilets after her performance on Rolling Stones night - not happy with the judges comments.

Also on the Monday elimination show when she found herself in the bottom three - and on the receiving end of some very rude comments from Kyle. Roshani was extremely upset during the ad break telling me she felt "humiliated". Also after she was voted off Kyle did not bother to come up on stage to wish Roshani well.

How often do you get to play out your guilty pleasure on a high rating TV show? Well Wes Carr did tonight. The Bondi muso exterior was stripped from him as he played out a dream from when he was five to sing Michael Jackson on national TV, and to give that dream justice he was not going to trick it up or make it cool, his young boy's fantasy was out there for all to see. It stole the show.

To be honest I was unsure what I thought about Australian Idol idolising Micheal Jackson for a night. What next a Gary Glitter retrospective?

But Jermaine Jackson was to be the special guest judge, as Michael Jackson could not get a visa due to being a person who if he was a NSW resident would possibly be on the Child Protection Register. Only joking about the visa bit he is currently ensconced in Las Vegas hiding his kids under scarfs and home schooling them.

If any of my readers are make up artists or hairdressers can you please explain to me what Jermaine does with his hair. The sides look like he had lathered black boot polish on it.

Teale Jakubenko - Billy Jean
At first I thought Teale decided to do a "Nights In White Satin" version of Billy Jean, but by the end of it I thought he was trying to Michael Buble it. Considering last week he said he would classify the music he wants to sing as SPROCK, which is soul, pop and rock, there appeared to be none of any of those genres in it. I thought it was dull, but clearly I was in the minority.

All the judges including the plasticised Jermaine Jackson gushed over it. Dicko thought it was brilliant, and said he had put some mongrel in it.

Mark Spano - Bad
Michael Jackson week was always going to be hard, as really who has a high voice like him? The chorus was great and he came across quite sexy. You knew he was in trouble with the verses when he started prowling the stage like he did on his below average performance on Abba night.

Chrislyn Hamilton - Thriller
Chrislyn was the first one to not to play around with the arrangement of the songs and just sang it straight ala Jackson.
There were a few pitch problems and I was not sure about the musical theatre moves, but the second half was stronger then the first.

Was Kyle serious about saying she should have come out in a skeleton costume, and done some zombie dancing? That could have made it a complete kitsh train wreck.

Luke Dickens - The Way You Make Me Feel
Before Idol started tonight I said to the other household reality TV under duress couch potato that this could be Luke's last night as Michael Jackson will trip him up. By the end of the song I was kicking myself for not putting a lazy $10 on Luke to win Australian Idol at the beginning of this year's series.

It was fantastic. I think Luke comes across as the happy go lucky type, but he has been making some very canny song choices. The blues arrangement just suited his style and the lyrics.

Wes Carr - Black Or White
Sorry Luke, I was just about to text you a vote and then Wes and his inner five year old came on.

For a second (but only a second) I thought is this going to be like an older version of Young Talent Time.

It was sen'fucking'sational. I could not stop laughing but also thought he was sexy cool when he was doing it. It was a truly memorable Idol moment in a good way.

Bottom three Teale, Mark and Chrislyn

Australian Idol Competition - You Could Sing With One Of The Idols.
To coincide with Xbox 360 launching a new title calle Lips there will be competition starting this Sunday on Australian Idol (well in the ad breaks) where the prize is singing with one of the Idol's.

Lips is a singing game, it measures both your performance and vocal ability, with wireless motion-sensitive microphones so you can jump around the room as you belt out your favourite songs.

I would advise not mixing this with a drinking game as things could get veeeerrrrrryyyyy ugly. I won't be entering this comp, I will just concentrate on winning the MacDonald's $50,000 Top 10 song comp.

Denise Richard's: It's Complicated Has Been Picked Up For A Second Season.
Charlie Sheen's won't be very happy that his ex-wife will be pimping her kids on TV for another season of her hit show Denise Richards: It's Complicated. Prior to the first season Charlie went to court to stop her from putting the two girls on the show, however he lost.

The show is a staged reality show shown on E.

More information about the show can be found on Reality Heaven./

Interview With So You Think You Can Dance Mary Murphy.
Canada is currently screening their first season of SYTYCD. Mary Murphy is guest judging on the show. Here on Dose is an interview where she gives her thoughts on the Canadian version plus other SYTYCD background information. Apparently Nigel Lythgoe has the final say in who goes home in the US Version.

Is another Australian Idol voting scandal emerging? Roshani Priddis fans are saying they had difficulty getting through on the voting lines on Monday night.

The Tamworth Leader was inundated with calls from people concerned their inability to get through on the busy phone lines either by text or to the 1902 5555 phone number may have resulted in Roshani’s departure.

A disgruntled viewer who sent a “Roshani” text at 7.41pm told The Leader a minute later, at 7.42pm, he received a text back from the 191010 number which said: “The service you have requested is not currently available. Please try again later. You have not been charged.”

The issue of voting anomalies has previously be raised by Brook Adamo's father. See previous post here.

Fremantle media say everything is above board.

Today Tonight has already tried to beat this story up - it will be interesting to see if they do so again.

In an article in Woman's Day Ricki-Lee reveals why she left her husband. She said she fell out of love with him and they wanted different things.

"I started to fall out of love with him and I wasn't happy in the end," she says, fighting back tears. "But it was still hard for us to end it."

It is easy to forget how young she is - as she is only 22. Far too young to be hooked into marriage.

After the Aria's there was speculation that Ricki-Lee and Teale Jakubenko, a contestant from this year's Idol had something going on. Previous post on that story here.

UPDATE: In the full article in Woman's Day Ricki-Lee denies any romance with Teale. She said it would be wrong as she mentors the Idol contestants.

The Monday night hour long Idol show is just a lot of filler.

Do I really want to hear the bottom three songs again, why don't they get the person who wins the Cadbury star moment to sing again.

Also Chris Brown why is he so big and why does he need an entourage of 36? I know some teeny bopper will make a voodoo doll of me but thought he was very overrated.

The bottom three was inevitably Luke Dicken, Teale Jakubenko and Roshani Priddis, with Roshani deservedly going as she was the weakest link last night.

Next week Michael Jackson night, now that is going to be interesting. I predict Luke's performance will be a train wreck.

Speaking of trainwreck's Ricki-Lee mentioned her Idol train wreck to Roshani Priddis. It was Beatles night and she sang We Can Work It Out. She was eliminated after it. For those who have forgotten here it is below.

You wonder what the king of cool Mick Jagger would think about Australian Idol contestant's mauling his songs. But then again Mick who is a notorious tightwad might just be glad to get the royalties.

A couple of thoughts on tonights show:

• Yes we know Wes is hot but do we really need the lighting to make his hair and face red at the beginning of the song? and
• Roshani Priddis needs to ban the producers from playing the footage of her working in a call centre type situation, as it only reminds people of those annoying phone calls they get from India just as they are sitting down to dinner. Not something that is going to win her votes.
  
  Wes Carr - Jumping Jack Flash
  I really wanted Wes to put his gravelly tones to "You Can't Always Get What You Want" so I was disappointed. This disappointment was compounded when Teale butchered it later on in the show.
  
  Wes really sexed it up tonight and to think he has performance anxiety (not in that way) as you would not know it once he is on stage. Points should also be given to Wes for making me listen to a maraca and NOT think of Peter Allen.
  
  Roshani Priddis - Wild Horses
  Roshani appeared to have done a Hillsong rendition of this song, and I think she is in danger of going home this week. Her pitch was all over the place and only Rolling Stone aficionado's would have heard of it.
  
  Kyle was right when he said her outfit looked like "the dog had savaged the takeaway chicken container."
  
  Also she has to lose some of her intensity in her pre-performance interviews. Take a leaf out Luke Dicken's laid back approach as that is working for him. Grab a cow to milk or something.
  
  Luke Dickens - Honky Tonk Woman
  I cannot believe Luke is highly likely to make top 3. I cannot believe that he is one of the performances I look forward to watching each week.
  
  I didn't think this was his strongest performance, but he is smart with picking songs from the Triple M playlist. The judges gushed over him, but I think he will be bottom three this week.
  
  Teale Jakubenko - You Can't Always Get What You Want
  I cannot believe he is still here and even worse he is butchering my favourite Stone's song You Can't Always Get What You Want.
  
  He actually thinks he can make it to the Opera House. I am presuming he will fade into oblivion after Idol.
  
  The judges praised his rendition just because of the logistics of compressing a seven minute song into a minute and a half. It was all chorus and I did not like the acoustic version at all.
  
  He made it as bland as Kraft single when I like the song with a bit more bite like vintage cheddar.
  
  Chrislyn Hamilton - Get Off My Cloud
  The girl is sassy. She kept with the traditional Rolling Stone's melody and her voice had the husky blues tones. Chrislyn sings like Roshani would like to with those effortless high notes.
  
  Chrislyn does have to be careful with doing the crazy eyes into the camera - not a great way to connect with the audience at home.
  
  Mark Spano - Angie
  What is it with the judges this year and touchdowns? Can't they think of their own way to get the point across that they thought it was a standout performance? And really was this a standout performance?
  
  I thought it was good, and by playing the guitar it gave Mark a bit of muso cred but will I remember it by tomorrow night I don't think so.
  
  Bottom three predictions - Teale Jakubenko, Roshani Priddis, and Luke Dickens.

Want to meet Wes, kiss Mark or give Chrislyn a hug of support. Well the six contestants left in this year's Australian Idol will be at the centre court at Westfield's Parramatta between 10.30am and 12.30pm. There will be the ususal performance and autograph session.

More details here.