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America's favorite

2009-12-16T06:45:30Z

A one-hour show can hardly be expected to portray more different dance styles performed any better than tonight’s top six did it on So You Think You Can Dance. I don’t know who will win season six, but whoever it is will be a worthy winner and an outstanding dancer.

The show started with a samba by Kathryn and Ryan that began with a controlled, intricate set of movements, then opened up and covered the floor with some thrilling, hip-shaking steps. Ellenore and Jakob then performed a Broadway number from “Fosse” that had all the attitude you’d expect, plus the special qualities that these two dancers bring to everything they do. It was brilliantly executed and both of them were impossible to look away from.

Sonya’s lyrical jazz number for Ashleigh and Russell was beautiful and emotional. Both came into the competition with narrow expectations because their specialties seemed a bit constricting, but they have shown week after week that they can lift their game to whatever level the choreographers ask of them. This was one of the highlights of the season, but not even the best on this show.

Ellenore and Ryan followed with a weird, stylized jazz routine that maybe didn’t have enough dancing in it (and definitely not enough expression) to win votes, but it was fun and quirky. Ashleigh and Jakob next did a fox trot that was elegant and sophisticated and omigosh I love these two together. Ellenore then returned, this time with Russell, to light up the stage with a paso doble that was sharp and fiery.

All of this was prelude to the contemporary number by Kathryn and Jakob that raised the stakes higher than ever. These are the two best dancers (or so I say, anyway) of the season, and their dramatic, expressive, intricate routine left me breathless. Some of the steps in this number seemed to defy gravity (and description), and yet it had an intimacy and passion that was pure artistry.

Fortunately, the denouement wasn’t bad either. The last two routines of the night were special in their own ways. Ashleigh and Ryan came into the competition as a married couple, and their last number in the competition, a contemporary routine by Travis Wall, was the only time they’ve danced together. It was a great moment more for what it meant to the two of them than for the dancing, which was very sweet and nicely controlled. Kathryn and Russell closed the show with a fun and entertaining hip-hop number that had great energy from start to finish.

Even though my votes went to Jakob, I won’t be disappointed if someone else wins. For one thing, they’re all terrific, and the public judges on a subjective basis. For another, Jakob will have a brilliant career in dance, win or lose. This isn’t the making of his career, but it has let us see what a committed performer and technical virtuoso can do in the hands of choreographers who bring out the best in him.

Unpredictability is scary

2009-12-11T06:51:49Z

After tonight’s two Tribal Councils, there is no longer such a thing as the Foa Foa Four on Survivor Samoa. Or at least there shouldn’t be, because there are only six castaways left, and the targets should be the physical threats, Brett, Mick and Jaison, and the strategic threats, Russell and— well, nobody. The other five put together can’t outthink Russell, so their best bet would be to align themselves against him when they can. Sadly for them, he has flashed his Idol and will have to use it before final four.

Still, we got through a whole episode without a classic blindside, and with Russell still calling all the shots. He did his damage control after betraying Shambo in the last vote, when they got John out instead of Dave. He was only too happy to placate her and vote out Dave in tonight’s first vote. He showed some vulnerability when word spread about his job and his income, but to his credit he didn’t change his mind about voting Monica out in the second vote. The numbers are still in his favor. The personalities and the alliances might not be, for much longer.

Russell’s main dilemma at this point should be whether or not to stick with Jaison. Jaison has started laying the groundwork for the jury vote by intimating that he and Russell have been co-conspirators, with Russell doing the dirty work. He also thinks he can beat Russell with the jury by playing the millionaire card, so he will stay loyal as long as he doesn’t perceive a threat coming from Russell. The two of them together can control the next two or three votes by pulling in whoever else might want to see their particular target sent home on any given night.

Mick is the most dangerous player to Russell at this point, although Russell might not realize it yet. It was Mick who talked with Jaison and Natalie about making a big move, and that could only mean one thing. Mick is aware that he is one of the people Russell might not want to be sitting next to when it comes time to face the jury. Russell’s downfall, if it is to come, might just be underestimating Jaison’s loyalty and overestimating Mick’s.

Finally, my first thought when Brett won immunity tonight was, “Who’s Brett?”

Any given day

2009-12-10T06:28:00Z

Apparently there really can be only one winner of Top Chef, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how the judges made that decision. Their only easy choice of the night was made for them when the most consistent chef of the season faltered on the final challenge. Kevin burned it up in Las Vegas, but when he got to the wine country, he didn’t quite measure up to the Voltaggio brothers. He undercooked his specialty, the pork belly, and he couldn’t produce a competitive dessert dish.

The first course the finalists were asked to prepare was also the big twist, a “Childhood Memory” based on the visit from their moms. This is the one dish that Kevin ran away with, mostly because of the surprising blend of flavors in his Liquid Squash Casserole, but the whole course worked well together. Meanwhile, the judges complained that Michael’s shrimp was undercooked, and Bryan’s “Tuna Noodle Casserole” was bland and missed the acid element that could have made it a winner.

For their second course, the contestants were required to create dishes based on ingredients from identical “Mystery Boxes.” Here again, Bryan was criticized for lack of seasoning and uninteresting plating, although the cooking of his Rockfish was acceptable. Kevin lost this round when he couldn’t figure out what to do with the Matsutake Mushrooms and they came out tough, although once again his broth was a highlight. Michael was the most creative with ingredients, textures and flavors, and the judges were appreciative.

The only course where the chefs were fully left on their own was round three, “Chef’s Choice.” Once again, poor Kevin: perfect sauce, imperfect pork. That pretty much took him out of the running. Bryan’s Venison Saddle with Brussels Sprouts and Glazed Carrots got him off the hook for earlier underseasoning, as the judges found this course the best any of the three pulled off on the night. Still, the star of the show was Michael’s squab, deemed the most memorable single element. At the same time, the judges didn’t like the texture of his Pistachio Cassoulet, and they found his mushroom sauce gimmicky.

Kevin admitted early on that he was weak on desserts, and he couldn’t overcome that deficiency in tonight’s final course. He gave the judges Roasted Banana, but they wanted another banana, cooked a different way. Also: bacon. Not a dessert element. Bryan had the best dessert, showing a pastry chef’s skill in creating a Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Michael had a good idea, but his Chocolate Caramel Coulant was dry.

So when we got to Judges’ Table, I fully expected Bryan to be declared the winner. Based on the judges’ comments throughout the episode, I had Kevin winning round one, Michael winning round two, and Bryan winning the final two courses. What turned the tide in Michael’s favor was the fact that they appreciated his risk-taking and creativity above the other two, and if you take the season as a whole, I can accept that outcome. Bryan seemed to take it well, too, but I’m really looking forward to next week’s reunion show to see what he really thinks.

Another light shining

2009-12-09T08:43:06Z

Unlike on last week’s episode of So You Think You Can Dance, when each couple had one good routine and one that didn’t quite measure up, tonight all dancers were pretty much excellent across the board. It’s too hard to decide who should make it to next week’s finale, because all eight of them bring different qualities to the stage. That being said, I’d be sad if Jakob or Russell were cut this week, no matter who the other four finalists would be.

How hard must it be for Ashleigh, knowing that she worked hard all week to learn two difficult routines and then couldn’t perform because of an injury on the day of the show? And how hard must it be for Russell, finding out at the last minute that he would have two new and different partners in his two numbers tonight? He came through brilliantly, though, as he always does. He has such charisma that the fact that he dances so well is almost a constant surprise. On tonight’s show he killed it with a hard-hitting hip-hop and a joyous Bollywood routine.

Kathryn and Ryan led off the show with a fast-paced (what else?) disco number, but their highlight of the evening was the cha cha that Jason Gilkison choreographed for them. Having watched this show for six seasons, I can honestly say I haven’t seen a cha cha that measures up to this one, either in design or execution. They were amazing.

There was one routine the judges didn’t like, but it was more the oddball choreography by Tabitha and Napoleon than the actual dancing by Ellenore and Legacy that drew the criticism. It was just too weird, and with too little content, for this stage of the competition. Fortunately, they had Travis Wall’s dynamic, edgy Mr.-and-Mrs.-Smith contemporary number to lift them up and bring them votes. Leave it to Travis to come up with something that perfectly used Legacy’s leaps and Ellenore’s quirkiness, and bring it all together to tell a compelling story. It was terrific.

The stars of the night, as far as I’m concerned, were Mollee and Jakob. I haven’t been Mollee’s biggest booster, but she lit up the stage in their Broadway routine, and she did the impossible, keeping up with Jakob, on the Viennese Waltz. It was a fast-paced, intricate waltz that was still elegant and romantic, and it could only have been done with an accomplished dancer like Jakob leading the way. Mollee did beautifully, and it was good to see her shine, but her progression through the season has always depended on who she got as a partner. Tonight she got very, very lucky.

The perfect race

2009-12-07T06:02:37Z

For Brian and Ericka, the entire run of The Amazing Race has been like being on a bungee cord in a Las Vegas casino. They’ve been last, and they’ve been near the top, and they’ve had to sit out penalties for breaking rules. Tonight they spent most of the final leg in first place, until they found themselves passed by the other two teams at the Mirage, where they had such difficulty on the bungee task.

They still had a chance when the got to the Monte Carlo, mostly because they were the only team to identify that casino from a clue that referenced Monaco, but they couldn’t count a million dollars worth of poker chips on the first try (as Meghan and Cheyne did, despite arriving third) or on the second try (as Sam and Dan did). So despite Ericka’s impressive rappelling down the face of the Mandalay Bay building, and despite arriving first at the next task, it’s fitting that they finished the race as the third place team we all knew they were.

Sam and Dan, on the other hand, were not destined to win the race, even though they got to the Monte Carlo first and had a huge head start on counting the chips. The battling brothers battled their way to a miscount that cost them their lead. They had spent most of the early stages of this leg in third place, after arriving last at two major destinations. But Sam made up time on the rappel, and the team took advantage of Brian and Ericka’s counting dysfunction. This gave them a shot to make it to their final destination, Wayne Newton’s house, ahead of their rivals.

So I felt a huge sense of relief when I saw that it was Meghan and Cheyne rounding the final turn and heading toward Phil and the million dollar mat. It wasn’t the “perfect race” that Cheyne said it was, though. Yes, they won the most legs, but they could easily have lost it all on this leg when they listened to bad advice and, instead of heading for the Monte Carlo, went all the way to the Venetian and headed to the Bellagio. As usual, though, they moved from last to first on a task that required a cool head and teamwork, both qualities where the other two final teams were deficient.

It’s not that I would have cared who won, not really. And for all the bickering and backstabbing that went on during the course of the race, the competitors all forgave each other by the end and bonded over the shared experience. Still, it was satisfying to see the win go to a team that worked so well together. There would have been compelling reasons to support an interracial couple or a pair of gay brothers, but winning a race takes the kind of focus and clear-headedness that only one team managed to maintain throughout the season.

When the chickens stop screaming

2009-12-04T06:15:59Z

For the first time on Survivor Samoa, Russell overplayed his hand. He’s been good about bending the will of his tribe mates, but bending to their will when it was to his strategic advantage. In week three, he was determined to get rid of Ashley, until he realized that Jaison was determined to vote out Ben, for personal reasons, and just like that Ben was the nearly unanimous choice of Foa Foa. This week, he had the votes to send Dave home but changed it up at the last minute, and John is now out of the game and on the jury.

But at what cost? Shambo was adamant about getting Dave out, and it would have been the wiser thing to do to go along with her. The four Foa Foa votes could easily have made the difference. It would have broken the agreement Russell had with John, to send a Foa Foa member home this time, but John’s calculated gamble last time, when he voted with Foa Foa against Laura, was a risk he had to take. Believing Russell was a gamble he didn’t have to take.

Russell’s rationale was that John had guessed he had the hidden Immunity Idol. John bought a clue at the auction, and when the Idol wasn’t in the designated spot, he knew only Russell was likely to have found it. Confronting Russell on the subject was another risk John didn’t need to take. It was even worse than not sharing the apple pie he won at the auction. He would have had to give up his piece to feed four others. Since there were eight votes against him, maybe that’s the one gamble he should have taken.

Shambo will not take this lightly. We know her well enough to know that. I’m not sure what she can do about it, except to go along with Galu if they decide to target Russell (or Natalie, Jaison or Mick) at the next Tribal Council. She doesn’t play with enough strategic sense to turn this to her advantage, and she’s more likely to go ballistic and make herself the target than she is to find a way to avenge herself against Russell (and Natalie, Jaison and Mick).

To his credit Jaison, who had nothing to lose because he had immunity, tried to steer the vote back to Dave, after Mick came to him with Russell’s plan to save Dave and get John out. He knew it would turn Shambo against them, and he made a convincing argument for going along with her this time. Mick argued that Russell could handle Shambo, but Jaison wasn’t buying it. We’ll see who’s right, but my money is on Jaison.

One more thing. If I’d been John, I’d have been tempted to say something on my way out tonight. Something like, “Russell has the Idol,” maybe.

Grapes on a train

2009-12-03T07:57:18Z

In the last four challenges on Top Chef Las Vegas, each of four chefs won once. Last week it was Jennifer and Kevin, and tonight it was Michael and Bryan. So it could have been anyone’s game when the competition moved to Napa for the first part of the finale. There were no serious criticisms of the dishes any of the chefs prepared tonight, and the elimination was based on the thinnest of margins. Somebody let the fire go out, in more ways than one.

First, in the Quickfire Challenge, they were asked to make a grape-centric dish on the Napa Valley Wine Train. The judges decided that Kevin didn’t use enough grapes, while Bryan’s grape element was overwhelmed by the bacon he used. Jennifer’s chicken liver dish was edged out Michael’s stuffed grape leaf with glazed grape plus grape and scallop kabob. He won simply because he used more grapes in more different ways than the other two, and it earned him a new Prius.

The Elimination Challenge required each contestant to prepare two dishes, one vegetarian and one protein, to cater the season-ending crush party at Rutherford Hills Winery. All of them rose to the challenge in two ways: they were creative and adventurous, and they stayed true to their cooking esthetic.

Kevin’s roasted beets and carrots, simple as they were, drew universal raves for the complexity of the flavors. The judges also appreciated the flavors in his brisket, but they used words like “ropy” and “toothsome” as code for “tough” and “stringy,” because he didn’t really have time to braise the beef properly.

Michael dazzled both himself and the judges with his poached pear-turnip-foie gras dish, although they gave him a little less credit than he gave himself because they wanted more foie gras to balance the flavors. He was pleased with himself for finding farm fresh eggs, but he faltered in the preparation. The judges felt the vegetables in his dish were cut too small to stand up to the eggs, which were in turn colorless and runny.

Bryan’s squash soup had the flavor and texture the judges were looking for, but his sauce and his short ribs were both slightly underseasoned. In addition, they felt the fig glaze wasn’t enough of a glaze and wasn’t sufficiently figgy. All that didn’t keep him from winning the challenge, because he had brought out the most flavor in the local ingredients.

Jennifer’s goat cheese mousse was a bit too salty, but her duck was spectacular in almost every way. The judges applauded her for using the whole duck, but they questioned the fact that she hadn’t grilled the duck breast as she originally planned. She admitted that the grill had grown too cold to complete the dish as she designed it, and that was enough of a slip to get her eliminated just before the finale. Her own fire dimmed in the last few weeks of the competition, but she seemed to have rallied the last two episodes.

Still, it can’t be a surprise that the Michael, Bryan and Kevin are the chefs who will go head-to-head for the grand prize next week. They have been consistently at the top of every challenge throughout the season, and the winner will likely depend on who takes the most risk without making Gail or Padma spit something out. All things being equal, though, I predict Michael as the winner, for his boldness, or Bryan for his consistency, or Kevin, for his consistently bold simplicity.

Defying gravity

2009-12-02T08:01:00Z

If, as the judges on So You Think You Can Dance often confirm, we love to see growth in the contestants, it was a fortunate pairing when fate put Russell and Mollee together this week. Russell came to the competition as a krumper, but he’s shown week after week that he has much more to offer, and that he’s capable of mastering any style. Mollee started as the cute young gymnast and never had a chance to show us she could do more than that until she got Russell as a partner. Their Mandy Moore lyrical jazz routine was edgy but beautiful, and their jive was strong but full of personality.

The other new couple who rose above the rest was Ellenore and Jakob. They did a quickstep that had more actual steps than anything we’ve seen this season, and they carried it off breathlessly. Then they picked the plum of the night when they got to do Sonya’s contemporary number. Sonya has been creating brilliant choreography all season, but she may never have two better students dancing her work than this pair. It was the highlight of the night.

Noelle and Ryan had a good night as well. They opened the show with a Tabitha and Napoleon hip-hop routine that was jaw-droppingly good for her and pretty good for him. They later had the good luck to do a smooth waltz that was serene and controlled, largely thanks to Ryan’s experience in partnering this kind of dance. So each member of this couple benefited from the other, and they lifted each other up.

The other two new couples were disappointing. Although the judges fell in love with Ashleigh and Legacy’s contemporary routine, I found it hard to watch; she looked lost and he looked awkward. He danced awkwardly again when they did Dave Scott’s hip-hop number that was way too heavy and plodding to showcase their abilities. For me, this wasn’t their night.

And poor, poor Kathryn. She got saddled with dour, stiff Nathan tonight, and the partnership did her no favors whatsoever. He has some steps, but he has only one expression, and it wasn’t fun to watch. Their two dances, a Broadway number and a rumba, were a little on the boring side, although it’s always hard to take my eyes off Kathryn, no matter what she’s doing on stage. I hope she stays around long enough to get a better partner.

Rabbit Zebra Ferret

2009-11-30T06:03:53Z

Unlike in other reality competitions, alliances and social interactions have little to do with who wins The Amazing Race. If you complete the tasks fastest and cross the finish line first, you win. If you can’t do it, you’re going to lose, sooner or later. There are rules in the race, but there is also plenty of leeway within the rules, and nobody says you have to be nice to your fellow competitors. In fact, you probably don’t want to go too far in that direction, or you’ll be giving up an advantage that might be crucial.

Still, it’s hard to root for a team like Sam and Dan, who have consistently backstabbed the other teams throughout the race. Tonight they reached a new low, when at the Road Block Dan agreed to work with Big Easy to complete the task, a simple anagram. Dan then conveniently reneged on the promise as soon as he had solved the puzzle, and skipped out without sharing the answer. This caused Big Easy to get so frustrated that eventually he and Flight Time decided to wait out a four-hour penalty rather than continue a task that had already consumed so much of their time.

Well, Sam and Dan have wanted the Globetrotters out of the way since the race started, and their maneuver tonight finally accomplished that. The one and only team that had been fully supportive of one another all the way was eliminated, and the nasty brothers and the two bickering couples will race to the finish in the finale next week. (On the other hand, how hard is it to unscramble the word “Franz” in a Road Block that’s called “Kafkaesque”? It’s not fair to Zev and Justin, among others, for the Trotters to quit and then call it a “strategic move.”)

It’s probably not fair to Meghan and Cheyne to characterize them as one of the bickering couples. They’ve argued only when frustration got too much for them to handle. The rest of the time, they have worked together well. They started tonight with a lead and finished with what looks like a bigger lead. Every task went smoothly, except for a little tension while wheeling their clay-covered golem figure through the streets of Prague, and they hit the mat in first place once again.

Brian and Ericka should have had it harder, but if anything their leg went more smoothly than anyone’s. Maybe it was the absinthe they drank as part of the Speed Bump they incurred by finishing last on the previous leg. Brian isn’t a drinker, but he was even more mellow than usual tonight. (Ericka, on the other hand, fell apart when she dropped a few beers at the Detour, and she snapped repeatedly at the drunks strolling the same Prague streets where they were trying to make their deliveries. At one point she cried, “I’m not willing to make this work!”)

I’d be happy with a win by Meghan and Cheyne, and I fully expect it, because they’ve dominated the race. I’d be okay with Brian and Ericka winning, because they have consciously tried to play fairly. They’ve struggled to stay positive, with enough success to make them a likable pair. And if Sam and Dan win, I’m sure they’ll sleep well with their million dollars, despite what they showed of their character along the way. Maybe they can take some of that money and buy Brian and Ericka a cab ride.

Waltzing through

2009-11-25T07:14:36Z

Half of the dancers who performed tonight on So You Think You Can Dance will be in danger of being trimmed from the competition on tomorrow night’s show, so it’s good for their sakes that each couple had two routines. That’s because almost across the board they had one great number and one that wasn’t so great.

There were two exceptions. Mollee and Nathan were just okay in both routines, without giving us anything memorable other than their smiles. They started with a hip-hop number that had something to do with the invention of the telephone, but it wasn’t exactly riveting. Then they danced a cancan that was more weird than entertaining (but we probably have Tyce Diorio to thank for that, because I think they hit all their steps). If there’s a weak link, it’s this pair.

The other exception was Ashleigh and Jakob, who were outstanding in both their routines. They did a lyrical jazz number that was beautifully fluid and controlled, and they closed the show with a cha cha that was so hot it sizzled. They’re favorites of the judges, and tonight they proved why.

The most fun routine of the night was the Lindy hop, the original swing dance that opened the show with Ellenore and Ryan. It might have been one of the most fun routines ever on the show. The Broadway number they did later, by contrast, seemed more character than dance (although what is Broadway all about if not character?).

The jazz routine that Kathryn and Legacy did in the first half was quirky and strong, with some great moves. They later did a Viennese waltz that was a little awkward to watch, mostly because Legacy seemed to be working a little too hard (although it was explained that this was part of the back story of the dance; I’m not convinced that’s enough to excuse him, though). Kathryn, on the other hand, never faltered.

The new couple, Karen and Victor, had their work cut out for them. They really came though with the sharp but smoldering tango in which they portrayed silent lovers as brilliantly as we’ve seen in a Latin ballroom number this season. I found their hip-hop number, choreographed by Laurieann Gibson, to be sweetly lyrical and quite touching, but the judges pronounced it unmemorable.

It’s good Noelle and Russell did so well with the emotional contemporary routine that Tyce gave them, because their earlier samba seemed a bit labored. That samba proved one thing to me. It showed me that he is a performer, and she really isn’t.

So who’s going home, just shy of the top ten? If there’s any justice it will be Mollee and Nathan, but the judges have just about promised them that they won’t be cut, so I’m a little worried for Noelle and Victor. I think the eliminations will come from these four. I’d guess everyone else is safe, but I haven’t been on target with my predictions so far, but who knows?

He’s slowing us down on purpose

2009-11-23T06:15:09Z

The nice guys who keep finishing last on The Amazing Race, Brian and Ericka, blamed Sam and Dan for stealing their cab, but that’s not why they finished last yet again on tonight’s leg. They finished last mostly because they took the word of someone on their plane to Prague and decided the fastest way to the center of town was not to take a taxi, as the other three teams did. They instead somehow figured it would be quicker to take a bus to the subway and a subway to somewhere else. We’ll never know where the subway would have taken them, because they gave up halfway through and found a taxi. By that time they were hopelessly behind.

Well, maybe not quite hopelessly, because they kept catching up with the others. They caught up with Sam and Dan at the Detour only because the brothers had wasted a lot of time taking the whitewater rafting course and falling out of their kayak, before they finally gave up and took the ropes course instead, at about the same time Brian and Ericka got there. This is where they took the taxi Brian and Ericka had waiting, which as far as I know is within the rules. Anyway, Ericka had trouble getting to the end of the course, so they again put themselves at a disadvantage. And they did manage to find another taxi.

By the time Brian and Ericka got to the Road Block at the opera house, they were fighting Flight Time and Big Easy for third place. Big Easy searched frantically through the rows of seats for the tiny mandolin that would give them the next clue, while Ericka meandered languidly around the theater, not even turning over all the chairs, moaning that Brian should have done the task because she was no good at looking for things.

They were so far behind by the time she stumbled in the miniature instrument that only another non-elimination leg could save them. But they will start the next leg well after the other teams, and then have to perform an extra task to get themselves into the final three. I don’t like their chances, although they are nice people. I know that because they keep telling us.

The bad blood between Brian and Ericka and Sam and Dan over the stolen taxi wasn’t the only tension in this leg of the race. There is still lingering resentment over the pushing and shoving between the Globetrotters and the Brothers from the last leg. Tonight we saw Flight Time monopolize the ladder that led from the Detour to the taxis, keeping Meghan and Cheyne behind him even though Big Easy had yet to complete the tax.

Despite that incident (which possibly should have been against the rules), Meghan and Cheyne offered to work with the Trotters but then grabbed the first taxi they saw and left them in the dust. It should be fun next week to see four teams who don’t much like each other trying to avoid what I assume will be the final elimination.

The clock is now ticking backward

2009-11-20T08:26:04Z

It was kind of fitting for the somewhat disappointing sixth season of Project Runway to end with its cheeriest designer turning up so sick she almost couldn’t finish her collection. But like the show itself, Carol Hannah pulled herself together just enough to get to the end with her head held high (instead of bent over a bowl). The collections of the final three designers didn’t blow me away (but again, what do I know?), but they did at least get more of a reaction than some of the dreary challenges the show presented this season.

Carol Hannah’s collection made me smile, which suits her personality. She had some interesting looks, although the judges questioned the cohesiveness of the whole. At the same time they praised the one thing I thought she had over the other finalists, her use of color.

Althea’s collection got my attention, if only because I was trying to see how it fit into the futuristic vision she described. I had to squint a little and furrow my brow to see where she was going with her garments. It almost seemed like three different mini-collections, all equally interesting and all equally incomplete.

As the winner of this season, Irina was nothing if not cohesive. You don’t get points taken off for lack of cohesion if every single garment is black. But I have to endorse her win, because hers was the only collection that had even a hint of a “wow” factor for me. It was obvious she had put a lot of work into it, and I think that’s what she was rewarded for.

Having won more challenges than anyone during the season, Irina was the obvious pick for winner. She had some detractors among viewers for her superior attitude and her lack of interest in getting along with her fellow designers, but in the finale she seemed a bit more humble and less caustic. Therefore, she has earned my approval, which she does not need and did not seek. But I still think this is the only one of the six seasons she could have won.

Roll the dice and pull a rock

2009-11-20T05:58:28Z

It’s a risky move to test the rules of a tie vote on Survivor. You have to be pretty cold-blooded to keep someone else in the game, even an ally, knowing that a tie puts you in more danger than either your ally or the person you’d like to eliminate. The old Galu members were apparently fine with this situation, though. Dave even seemed to relish it, but there was one member that wasn’t willing to put himself on the chopping block.

John had had more time to think about it, because his own former tribe mates had approached him with their plan to promote him to the old Foa Foa members as a target. If their plan had worked, Foa Foa would have thrown four votes at John, Shambo would have voted for Laura, and the other five Galu members would have sent Natalie home. Understandably, John didn’t think this was a very good plan, because it depended on Shambo sticking to her decision to vote out Laura, no matter what.

The first vote, as anticipated, went five for Laura and five for Natalie. Galu expected the second vote to be 4-4, but John had had enough and flipped, voting out Laura to make sure that she went home and he was safe. As he had said earlier, he wasn’t willing to step in the way of the punch coming her way. She’s the one who made Shambo such an intractable enemy, and it wasn’t about to become his problem. Another tie would have made Laura and Natalie safe, and the other eight players would have drawn rocks, with the one picking the odd color being sent home.

Meanwhile, though, I’m wondering why Galu abandoned their plan to flush out the hidden Idol, or, failing that, get rid of Russell straight up. Russell had to lose Dave, who was chasing him around as he searched for the Idol, and as soon as he did, he found it. There was no indication that he shared it with anyone, or that anyone knew for sure he had it, but he has it for at least one more Tribal.

Shambo told Brett tonight that “there is no more Galu,” and after tonight’s Tribal Council, she’s correct. Only Monica, Brett and Dave voted against Natalie on the final vote. That’s three people out of a tribe that went into the merge with eight members to Foa Foa’s four. Those four are still there. They picked up Shambo along the way, and now John becomes an associate by default.

Maybe the Galu three can turn the numbers around the way Foa Foa did, but they seem a little shell-shocked after what’s happened already. Nobody does the stunned “wow” face better than Dave, but at least he has always had his head in the game. Monica lost her strongest ally and might need more time to recover than she’ll be allowed. And Brett has never been a player in the strategic side of the game. He might find it’s a little late for someone like him to make a move.

I’m still not sure Russell deserves the million dollars, but I don’t see anyone else who deserves it more. I’ve always thought the others would find a way to get rid of him (although I’ve been wrong so far). That might still happen, and if it does, I’d guess Mick has the next best chance to win. He’s never drawn votes, and he was the Chief of the tribe that now has the numbers in the game. Who would have thought that tribe would turn out to be Foa Foa?

The food I cook on my day off

2009-11-19T07:39:58Z

The judges on tonight’s Top Chef Las Vegas had a hard time deciding which of the final five to eliminate, and based on their comments I had as hard a time figuring out what they were going to do. Even though I didn’t know whom they’d send home, I could tell they were leaning toward giving the win to Kevin, because they liked his flavors and his execution, even if they weren’t as impressed with the ambition of his entry in the faux Bocuse d’Or competition. Simple and cooked well beats technique without flavor.

It was a win for which Kevin might want to give some credit to Bryan, who advised him on the sous vide technique he wanted to use, despite never having cooked that way. Bryan was a little reluctant to help, but he couldn’t figure a way out of it. And anyway, doing so made him feel superior to his brother (who had already gone to bed at the time of this conversation). That’s always a good thing in the Voltaggio family.

Jennifer actually had flavors in her dishes that the judges liked, but the cooking was uneven, and some diners got undercooked salmon while others’ were overcooked. Bryan’s lamb was also undercooked, while Michael’s plate was not cohesive (and one judge found a bone in his salmon). None of the three was a total failure, but any could have been sent home for how far their execution fell short.

In the end, it might have been the memory of how close the judges were last week to sending Eli home that got him eliminated this week. His lamb was described as unpleasant and sad, and the judges were unimpressed by the fat in his sausage, which made it hard to eat. Eli was upset, I don’t think he expected to make the finals, because he’s always been so much in awe of his competition. He looked up to them and expected them to beat him.

Stepping outside the cage

2009-11-18T06:46:06Z

If the judges on So You Think You Can Dance only want to see growth, maybe they shouldn’t cast a dancer who’s as good as Victor already was. After Channing and Victor’s perfectly acceptable jazz routine, the panel praised Channing by telling her this was the first time she seemed to be enjoying herself, and then they criticized Victor because he came to the competition with such good technique and apparently hasn’t got better fast enough to suit them.

To me, the couple is in trouble because they didn’t stand out on a pretty good night for most of the dancers, and Tyce Diorio didn’t do them any favors with the choice of music for his quirky routine. The choreography was okay, nothing special despite the back story of the blackbirds coming out of their cage to play. But, as Adam Shankman hinted, it was hard even to watch them dance because the song by Bobby McFerrin was so distracting.

The only couple who fared worse were Karen and Kevin, whose Broadway number was a little plodding and slow and not nearly as much fun as it could have been. I can see almost every other couple taking the same choreography and doing a better job of selling it. Then they had the misfortune to be picked by all three judges as being in the most danger (although knowing the fickle way the voters think, that criticism might even help them). If they do turn out to be in the bottom three this week, I boldly predict they will be cut.

I don’t know who danced best tonight, but I do know that Travis Wall’s contemporary number for Ellenore and Ryan was heart-stoppingly beautiful, as was their performance of it. If they land in the bottom three again, I’ll be surprised and dismayed. Ashleigh and Jakob led off the show with a Tabitha and Napoleon hip-hop routine that brought out qualities I didn’t know they had. They were totally committed to both the characters and the chemistry, and it was riveting to watch.

Noelle and Russell can always get by on his charisma, but tonight they did a fox trot that showed all that and more. It was so smooth and engaging, punctuated with one of the best lifts of the season, smack dab in the middle. For once she was almost as much a star as he was. Similarly, Kathryn and Legacy will go a long way on his likeability, but in their paso doble both dancers stepped up and owned the stage with passion and intensity. It was so good it was almost weird to watch them becoming the characters and telling the story.

Mollee and Nathan shouldn’t have survived that awful salsa last week, but it will take more than bad dancing to get this popular couple off the show. Tonight they had the good fortune to get Laurieann Gibson as their choreographer, because it’s possible she was the only one who could force these two to take themselves seriously. It was a hard hitting, fiery pop jazz routine, and in this case the music, a song by Lady Gaga, will help them get even more votes that they don’t really need.

On thing that worries me is that I think the judges have promised too many dancers a spot in the top ten. Somebody is going to be disappointed. I just hope it’s not me.

Off our game big time

2009-11-16T05:43:54Z

At this stage of The Amazing Race, most of the teams that habitually take wrong turns and misread clues have been eliminated, so smaller mistakes begin to take their toll. That’s what happened to Gary and Matt tonight.

They could easily have overcome the Speed Bump imposed for finishing last on the previous leg, if only Matt hadn’t taken so long to figure out what a “candelabra” is. Then he took a little longer than he should have to decipher the clue, rubbing the paper instead of simply holding it over the flame. He also missed the key word “garden” in the clue, so the team wasted time trying to get to the top of the tower, instead of locating the clue box in plain sight in the tower garden.

None of these self-imposed speed bumps should have eliminated Gary and Matt, but taken together they added up to more than the five minutes they were required to spend on the sauna bus.

Meghan and Cheyne easily won the leg, working through the tasks with ease. They were not first to the Road Block, but they were first to solve the hidden message, and when they moved on to the mud volleyball Detour, they were well in front of the other teams. They were the only team to have no trouble at the Detour, because they were a little more mobile in the mud and figured out how to use their volleyball skills under those conditions.

Flight Time and Big Easy seemed to be tripping over Sam and Dan all through the leg, and then the two teams tripped each other up on the run to the Pit Stop. The bad blood between them will probably have an impact on the rest of the race, since the teams seem so evenly matched. They competed in the volleyball Detour at the same time, and although the Trotters finished slightly ahead, the Brothers made up time and finished second when their rivals took off in the wrong direction looking for the Pit Stop.

Brian and Ericka were near the front the whole leg, but they were unlucky enough to be racing for the Detour at the same time as the Trotters and the Brothers. Since only two teams could play volleyball at once, and they got there third, they were forced to choose the slingshot option. It took them a long time to hit the target, but they had enough of a lead on Gary and Matt that they didn’t have to worry about finishing last. They start the next leg in fourth place, and it will take the kind of teamwork they’ve shown only occasionally for them to make up ground and get to the final three.

The two teams immediately ahead of them might just knock each other out of the way, giving Brian and Ericka an open lane to the finish. All three of these teams have shown that they can be mistake-prone, so any of them can come in second. Barring unforeseen disaster, I don’t see Meghan and Cheyne surrendering first to any of the teams chasing them, though.

Bringing a tank

2009-11-13T07:47:09Z

From what we saw in the first part of the Project Runway finale, it’s a little hard to tell, based on the collections, which of the three designers is likely to win. It’s a bit easier to gauge where they are based on their levels of confidence, and (in the case of Carol Hannah) their health.

Irina is still the favorite, except for the fact that she so blatantly disregards Nina Garcia’s advice about not sending out an entirely black collection. Apparently to her, cohesion means lack of color. This might play better on the runway than it sounds, but it’s never the best tactic to ignore the person who will be judging you. However, her idea of using screened T-shirts with Coney Island scenes as a unifying feature is intriguing. Neither of the other finalists is doing anything quite that far out of the box.

Althea, Irina’s rival and nemesis, had some issues with a few looks tending toward costume over fashion. That’s not going to get her great praise from the judges, but she’s always willing to rethink and edit and keep changing things around, so I have a feeling what she ends up sending down the runway will be fine. She definitely knew exactly what she wanted from the models she chose, so that tells me that the qualities her designs express will have a similar point of view.

If Carol Hannah can get up off the bathroom floor long enough to complete her collection, she should be able to finish strong. If it’s variety the judges are looking for, I think Carol Hannah has more of it than the other two designers, but still with a cohesive approach that expresses her sense of fun. It was smart of her to choose a gown for her thirteenth look, because we know she can execute it and it will be eye-catching. I just hope her health holds up long enough to do it.

Any of the three could still win. They haven’t shown us enough to give us a clear picture of how their collections will play on the runway. Confidence is so important that I still think Irina will overcome any deficiencies and sell her designs better than the other two, so if I had to bet, my money would be on her.

A communal decision

2009-11-13T05:38:17Z

On tonight’s Survivor Samoa, Shambo’s vote against her secret ally Russell might be the only thing that keeps her from being the next target of Galu. Otherwise they would have to assume that she had told him about the new hidden Immunity Idol. While the five who won the Reward Challenge were on their picnic (and finding the clue that told them there was a new Idol), Russell was back at camp systematically figuring out where the Idol was, and stowing it in his pocket.

And he’ll probably have to find the next one. If anyone from Galu gets it, they’ll know they can vote Russell out without any fear that the plan will backfire, the way it did tonight when seven votes against him didn’t count. The other four, by the surviving Foa Foa members, were all for Kelly, the secondary target after Laura won immunity.

Really, except for Natalie dispatching a rat (“Eat your snack, buddy.” Whap!), that’s all tonight’s episode was about. The reward was fine for those who won it, but besides the clue, which ultimately proved useless to them, it wasn’t the most riveting moment of the season. The Immunity Challenge that Laura won showed what a strong player she is in mental games. She started last but made up ground quickly once she got into the rhythm of solving the puzzle. Mick and Shambo, despite their head start, never figured out how to play the game, much less win it.

Shambo was the most dismayed that Laura won immunity, because the two of them have been in conflict for most of the season. I think Shambo could even have voted with Foa Foa against Laura without raising suspicion among former Galu members, because of the fractured relationship between the two women.

But this was all about Russell finding the Idol and playing it. He knew he was the target, so it was an easy maneuver for him to get his allies to vote Kelly out. Even if Galu had split the votes, as was discussed, they didn’t have enough to get out anyone from Foa Foa unless they had abandoned Russell as a target completely, and that was never going to happen, despite what Russell thought he overheard during one of their strategy sessions.

If I’m one of the ten Aiga members still in Samoa, I’m getting up early the morning after Tribal Council and searching for the next hidden Idol until I find it. There’s no more strategy needed than that, until someone gets it.

Complex flavors, subtle hand

2009-11-12T08:50:09Z

The judges on Top Chef Las Vegas had every reason to send Eli or Jennifer home tonight, but it was Robin, who has dodged elimination so many times this season, who left the competition on the basis of her failed panna cotta. But the main criticism of her was that she overreached and tried to live up to the other chefs.

It was Jennifer who served beef so tough the judges asked for a sword to cut it, and she was also the one who has been falling steadily the last few weeks. On the other hand, it was Eli who came up with an unappetizing fiasco of a caramel apple peanut soup with popcorn. Nigella Lawson said she’d rather eat sawdust. So Robin wasn’t the worst on the night, but she was the victim of accumulated underperformances.

Now we are down to the final five we expected all along, but I’m not sure the final three will be the ones I thought they’d be for most of the season. I now believe that tonight’s top three of Michael, Bryan and Kevin have the confidence of the judges and are unlikely to be let go before the finale. All three are creative chefs, and all put delicious, beautifully crafted food on the plate. Eli is very good but not as consistent, and Jennifer, an early favorite, has lost whatever edge she had.

Tonight’s winner was Michael’s boneless chicken wing confit. It’s hard to imagine that any other chef could do chicken wings and win an Elimination Challenge at this stage. Bryan went the more elegant route, with his escabèche of halibut with bouillabaisse consommé. And Kevin did wild Alaskan sockeye salmon whose flavor was admired by the judges almost as much as the tomato broth it came with. For once there was clear separation between the top and bottom groups, so it’s hard to see how any of this top three can fall far enough to leave before the other two remaining contestants.

Kiss a few frogs

2009-11-11T07:13:51Z

If you have to do hip-hop to be America’s favorite dancer, Ellenore and Ryan should probably start packing. On an episode of So You Think You Can Dance where new choreographers brought new interest and excitement to the stage, one of my favorite couples was brought down by old friend Lil C. The routine was all over the place, but not nearly as much as the way it was danced. Ellenore was a little easier to watch, but only because Ryan was like a big galumphing cowpoke, not exactly what hip-hop calls for.

Since I can’t speak much about the technical side of dance, I don’t have to hold back how much I enjoyed some of the routines that weren’t loved by the judges. Kathryn and Legacy’s Broadway number was the best of the season in that genre, and it wouldn’t have been if both partners hadn’t been into the dance. Kathryn held my attention every bit as much as Legacy did. The quickstep by Pauline and Peter was an engaging performance, fun and entertaining, and that’s all I care about. The Navy guy and the hula girl were a highlight of the show.

Channing and Victor may be the judges’ new favorite couple, but there was something missing from their contemporary routine tonight. I don’t know that there was anything wrong with the steps, but the chemistry they were looking for just didn’t seem to be there.

The two couples that always sizzle, for me, are Karen and Kevin and Ashleigh and Jakob, and tonight was no different. Kevin had some good steps in the hustle that they did, but it was (as always) Karen who carried the routine. She danced with every part of her body and every bit of her personality. The contemporary number that Mandy Moore did for Ashleigh and Jakob (and a cane) gave them a chance to show what they can do, and they stepped up to the challenge. Jakob especially moved beyond his athleticism and showed more intensity than I expected from him.

On the other hand, it was way too obvious that Mollee and Nathan were struggling with their salsa. They missed steps, they missed connections, and they missed out on adding their own considerable personalities into a dance where personality is one of the key elements. I was a little embarrassed for them, but I’m not worried about them, because I think they are vote getters no matter what they do on stage. If their fans don’t pick up the phone, though, the judges might be tempted to let them go, with the notion that we’ve seen all the growth and maturity we’re likely to get from them.

As Noelle and Russell did their Afro jazz routine, I was riveted, because I never knew what they were going to do next. I didn’t totally buy into the story, but Russell commands attention just standing there, much less leaping and hopping all over the stage. Noelle was a perfect princess to his frog, and I couldn’t wait to see what technical problems the judges could find with the number, as they were doing with everyone else. They smartly refrained from trying to grade it on technique and went with the brilliant performance.

He’s worked through hay most of his life

2009-11-09T05:59:18Z

Sometimes the tasks on The Amazing Race test the emotional strength of the teams, and sometimes the tests are physical. Nothing ever tests both elements more than the infamous hay bale challenge, resurrected from season six. Just unrolling the bales is hard enough, but the frustration of doing it time after time and not finding the flag you’re looking for is enough to cause a breakdown.

And that’s not even the whole story. Flight Time and Big Easy were third to arrive at the farm, but first to find the flag, while Sam and Meghan were drowning in their own futility. That caused even more tears and trauma. Cheyne missed the chance to do this Road Block by nudging his girlfriend toward the hay. He said she was taking the lead, but it was obvious he just didn’t want to do it. The task brought her to tears, but to his credit he encouraged her all the way, and when she was the second to find the flag, all psychic wounds were healed.

On the other hand, Sam and Dan had been first to arrive at the farm. Dan seemed to have an idea what the task was about, but Sam was the one to tackle it, with his brother shouting at him from the sidelines. After a while, Dan must have known that his anti-cheerleading was only adding to Sam’s frustration, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. While they were going through this sibling ritual, Brian and Ericka arrived from far behind. Brian found the flag, and they finished third on this leg.

By then it was between the brothers and the father and son team of Gary and Matt, who had missed planes and trains all day, and driven around Stockholm in circles (literally), placing themselves firmly in last place. The fact that they had a good chance to pass Sam and Dan and finish fourth was one of the more amazing features of the race. The fact that they finished last is not the fault of Gary, who worked gamely through the bales with his son gently encouraging him.

Very properly, this turned out to be a non-elimination leg. In no way should that task, both nearly impossible and largely ruled by chance, have been the reason any of the final five teams went home. The fact that all five finished the Road Block proves that they deserve to move on to the next leg.

Nina Garcia's stilettos

2009-11-06T08:20:41Z

The judges on Project Runway tonight chose three designers to show collections at Bryant Park, and they probably chose the three most likely to create cohesive, consistent collections. Throughout the season, they’ve eliminated most of the edgy, interesting designers and kept the ones with the greatest technical skills. The three remaining contestants have always risen to whatever challenge they were given.

It was a long road for Christopher, and he never kept his own personality out of his designs. That’s a plus in the sense of vision, but it could be a big minus when that vision took him places that were more weird and wacky than fashionable. Some of his looks were so bizarre that they bordered on costumes, and the judges weren’t willing to take a chance that he could bring to Fashion Week the elegance and sophistication they were looking for.

Gordana has had a few bad weeks in a row, and I think that’s the main reason she was cut. She did create a beautiful dress for this challenge, and it definitely represented her esthetic, but it was a simple design, and I think that gave the judges the excuse they needed not to include her in the finale.

Irina has been the front runner most of the season, and although the outfit she showed tonight was a little too flowing and shapeless to be truly flattering, it was a foregone conclusion that she would be safe.

Carol Hannah has always lacked confidence, but she has rarely failed to send an interesting garment down the runway, and it has always been technically superior.

Althea’s dress for tonight’s show was kind of an uneven mess, but this was one of the few challenges where she hasn’t been one of the best designers.

The judges picked the same three that I would have chosen (which doesn’t mean I know anything, only that I listen closely). Any of them can win, but it will depend on how much they put into their collections. My guess is that Irina is the most driven of the three and will not disappoint the judges. Carol Hannah will stress over her designs and still be sewing backstage at the finale. Althea will try to do more than the others, and it’s a coin flip whether she’ll succeed or not. We’ll know in two weeks.

Extended family

2009-11-06T06:37:00Z

If you like to see an overwhelming underdog beat the odds, you had to love tonight’s Survivor Samoa. After the tribes merged, with the former Galu members outnumbering Foa Foa eight to four, it would have seemed inevitable that Foa Foa would be picked off one by one. As always, though, Russell took matters into his own hands and with John’s help engineered a consensus that was going to vote out Laura and keep the Foa Foa four intact.

Then came the first underdog comeback, as Laura (along with John) won immunity. Russell tried to steer the vote toward Laura’s close ally Monica, and John worked with him. But, as Shambo bluntly informed Russell, that was never going to happen. She said that Erik and Laura would decide who went home, and the plan, a perfectly logical one, was to vote out Jaison but keep Russell in the dark in order to flush out his hidden Immunity Idol.

When John and Erik spoke about John’s plan to get out Monica, Erik knew he was in the minority, so he got John’s permission to vote with Laura against Jaison, to maintain his alliance with her. In return, he tried to strongarm Natalie, Jaison and Mick to vote out Monica, without telling them how his own tribemates were going to vote. “What you need to know, you know,” he told them, and that didn’t sit well with them, especially with Jaison.

That’s when the worm turned. Jaison got his Foa Foa mates to agree to vote out Erik. Natalie then went to Laura and Kelly and convinced them that keeping Erik was dangerous to the women who wanted to make it to the end. With the groundswell of opinion moving against Erik, Russell got paranoid. He thought it was too easy, and he didn’t trust it, so when the time came he played his hidden Idol, squandering a key weapon because of his own misplaced fear.

If there was any doubt before Tribal Council, Erik managed to cement the sentiment there by proclaiming that Foa Foa had nothing to offer Galu, and that all but Russell seemed to have quit on the game. He made a particular example of Jaison, questioning his “résumé,” and he said that although he respected Russell’s resolve, Russell would have to change his alliances soon or be voted out himself. Erik spoke like someone who believes he is in total control.

Russell’s response: “I ain’t gonna stop playing.” By playing the Idol tonight, he proved that he’s still playing hard, but he also proved that his judgment isn’t always as sound as he thinks it is. Still, I think he believed the Idol’s value to him was as a bargaining chip, and now that so many people knew he had it, that value was diminished. In his eyes, mitigating the risk of being voted out tonight trumped any further use of the Idol to him in the game.

Erik, who had considered playing his own Idol, was totally blindsided by the 10-2 vote at Tribal. The only votes that weren’t against him were from himself and Shambo, both against Jaison. Whatever happens next, Foa Foa has done something that seemed impossible, getting out one of their strongest opponents before they lost any of their own players. Overconfidence and paranoia both played their parts tonight, and both are likely to be factors from here on.

Laserlike connections

2009-11-04T07:33:16Z

As much as the judges on So You Think You Can Dance repeat and repeat their praise of the show’s choreographers, I think some of them let their dancers down tonight. The dancers who got the best reviews were the ones who had the best routines.

Bianca and Victor would not have been so easily dismissed if it hadn’t been for Tyce’s painfully ordinary Broadway number that seemed to be all waving hands and bouncing shoulders, with very little actual dancing. And Jamal’s idea of putting tennis rackets in the hands of Noelle and Russell surely had plenty to do with the fact that their dance wasn’t well received. Noelle had to dance for her life and was not cut, but she was the weakest of the girls in their partner routines tonight and probably should have been sent home rather than Bianca, who was so beautiful last week in Travis’s emotional number.

Channing and Phillip may have had more to work with in the samba choreographed by Tony and Meredith, but even to an untrained eye, they were pretty bad. It might have been the weakest execution of a dance that I’ve seen on the show in several seasons. It was almost as bad as Jeanine and Phillip’s Russian folk dance from last season. It was slow, labored and stiff, and the fact that Phillip was sent home for this number is justified, as painful as it is to lose two tap dancers at this stage.

I have to disagree with the judges who thought Wade’s “Starry Night” number for Pauline and Peter would be controversial. It was a fascinating use of the stage to tell a story that was pure imagination. The sets and costumes were amazing, and the dancing was a pleasure to watch. They weren’t the best of the night, though. In fact, they weren’t even in the top half (in my opinion, of course). Who was?

Well, as much as I don’t always enjoy ballroom, Ashleigh and Jakob swept me away with their smooth, elegant Viennese waltz. As much as I always compare any Bollywood routine to the original by Katee and Joshua, Mollee and Nathan did a terrific job with a sort of Bollywood fusion number that was both dramatic and utterly cool. Ellenore and Ryan’s Argentine tango had some sharp moves and a whole lot of heat, and the fact that she caught her heel in her dress didn’t detract from the performance one bit.

The most fun number of the night was the hip-hop routine choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon for Karen and Kevin. Even the concept – “hot girl walks into a mechanic’s shop” – is more engaging than any of the spotty hip-hop numbers we’ve had so far this season, and they worked it together better than any partners yet.

But my favorite routine was the contemporary number Stacey Tookey did for Kathryn and Legacy. It played right into what stands out about Legacy, the emotion with which he dances, and how well he expresses feelings. And Kathryn, portraying a woman struggling with fear, brought to life the most vivid character of anyone on that stage tonight. It was a spellbinding few minutes while they were telling their story. If this were a voting week, I would have picked up the phone for them.

Higher up there’s a longer way to fall

2009-11-02T06:14:18Z

Tonight’s episode of The Amazing Race was almost as difficult to watch as it must have been for the teams to run. Ordinarily when all of the tasks are as hard as they were on this leg, it turns out to be a non-elimination leg. But we’ll never know, because for the second week in a row we saw a team unable to complete a Detour. And Maria and Tiffany gave the word a new meaning, as they detoured back and forth from one option to the other, exhausting themselves in the process.

For once, the Detour choices seemed not to have a good option for an all-woman team. Tiffany came close to ringing the bell at Farmer’s Dance – on their 71st try at it, during their second time at that venue. They then tried Farmer’s Game for the second time, but without enough energy to do now what they couldn’t do earlier when they were stronger and fresher. It was a sad ending to a team that grew on me as they progressed through the race. They quit, but only because they had nothing left to give.

And it’s too bad they couldn’t ring that bell, do that dance and eat that herring, because they were that close to knocking Brian and Ericka out of the race. That’s the team that should have been eliminated tonight, if any, because they did pretty much everything wrong. As soon as they landed in Amsterdam, Brian fell far behind the other teams because he couldn’t get the car started. It wasn’t the car’s fault, either.

Then when they got to the Road Block at the bell tower, Ericka had to climb those stairs at least five times that we saw, counting the bells. She was the only one who had trouble with the task, but three of the teams worked together, making it that much easier. Sam and Meghan got there at the same time and compared notes, then gave Tiffany the answer (because, in Sam’s opinion, she would be easier to beat). Only Gary and Matt, who got there first, and Flight Time and Big Easy, who were near the back, completed the task on their own without having to redo it, the way Ericka did. They were far behind when the left the tower.

They didn’t help themselves much at the Road Block, either, because they didn’t read the clue. Instructed to ride bikes to the task, they instead walked the distance in wooden shoes. Not only did it take them forever, but it also cost them a thirty-minute penalty at the Pit Stop. It’s a good thing for them that Brian could ring the bell on his first try. Then all they had to do was learn the dance and eat the herring. With Maria and Tiffany not making it to the Pit Stop, the only effect of the penalty will be that Brian and Ericka will start the next leg thirty minutes later.

With all the problems the other teams were having, Sam and Dan were looking pretty good when they came in first. They sailed through every task and even used a delay at the Dubai airport to come out to their fellow contestants. It was such a congenial group at that point that I would have liked to see more of the six teams sitting around and getting to know each other better. It would have been easier to watch that the grueling challenges that took such a toll on so many teams on this leg.