Around the Tubes: 3/18/16

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Conan, The Carbonaro Effect, Curious George®, Point Taken, Idiotest, Banta, and Dark Web.

- TBS's Conan the leader in late-night when it comes to featuring the full casts of big movies and series, is getting ready to build on that success, when host Conan O'Brien will welcome the stars and director of the eagerly anticipated movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Ben Affleck, who plays Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Henry Cavill, who plays Clark Kent/Superman, will be joined by fellow cast members Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Laurence Fishburne, Gal Gadot, Holly Hunter and Diane Lane, as well as director Zack Snyder, for the episode, which is set to air Thursday, March 31, at 11. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opens in theaters on Friday, March 25.

- This week truTV released the first promo announcing that Shaquille O’Neal will make a special guest appearance with magician Michael Carbonaro on the mid-season premiere of truTV’s The Carbonaro Effect, airing Wednesday, March 23 at 10:00. He will help Michael hatch a prank that amazes one of his biggest fans! Check out Shaquille performing his own version of a “disappearing trick” in the promo at youtube.com/watch?v=W_9ybzbBlII. and Dark Net.

- In an extensive, multi-year agreement forged by the NBCU Television & New Media Distribution group, Hulu has secured the exclusive subscription streaming rights to one of the highest-rated kids television properties, Curious George®. The deal will bring past and future seasons of the two-time Emmy® Award-winning series, as well as television specials and feature-length original movies from everyone’s favorite monkey, exclusively to Hulu. All of the offerings will be available to stream in Hulu’s commercial-free Hulu Kids environment. Beginning March 31st, Hulu will become the exclusive subscription streaming home to all nine seasons – over 100 episodes - of Curious George® TV series, which is produced by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment’s production arm, Universal 1440 Entertainment. Hulu will also be the U.S. premiere home to new seasons of the series over the coming years. In addition, television specials including Curious George: Swings Into Spring, Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest and Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas, along with the feature-length originals Curious George: Follow That Monkey, Curious George: Back To The Jungle and future direct-to-TV specials will become available to stream exclusively on Hulu.

- Americans now can be a part of the national conversation with the launch of Point Taken, PBS’ new, late-night, multi-platform series. Hosted by Carlos Watson, an Emmy® Award-winning journalist and co-founder/CEO of OZY Media, the weekly debate series will champion spirited and civil conversation. Each half-hour program will focus on a single topic and feature journalists, artists, academics, and experts who will passionately and persuasively explore all sides of a key issue. The first of 10 episodes premieres on PBS on April 5, 2016 at 11:00(check local listings).

- GSN, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, announced today its original hit series Idiotest, hosted by comedian Ben Gleib, will return for a 40-episode third season, beginning Tuesday, April 12 at 10:00.

- Los Angeles indie rock five-piece Banta are giving fans another taste of their new album with the release of their new song "Hungry Heart." The acoustic ballad was inspired by a book that singer Sharaya Mikael read and connected with. The song can be streamed on Songwriting Magazine and eOne's official Soundcloud.

- On the heels of its season one finale, Showtime has picked up the revelatory documentary series Dark Net for a second season. Produced and developed by cutting edge media and technology company, Vocativ, the docu-series explores the dangers of the internet’s unregulated underbelly known as the deep web. Vocativ uses proprietary technology, exclusive to their company, to reveal new voices, emerging trends and surprising data to identify and develop story angles. With this exclusive technology, DARK NET unveils the stories of a dramatically changing digitally connected world.

- This week, Showtime Documentary Films announced the start of production on a film exploring the incredible career and complicated life of the memorable singer. Hers was the golden voice with the unmatchable range. Six-time Grammy® winner Whitney Houston was one of the most successful female recording artists of all time. After a troubled marriage to singer Bobby Brown and many years of struggles with addiction, Houston died a tragic death at the age of 48. Produced, directed and narrated by acclaimed BAFTA Award winner Nick Broomfield (Kurt & Courtney, Tales of the Grim Sleeper), the film, which will shoot in Los Angeles, will talk to the key people in Houston’s life to create an indelible portrait of the artist.

I Want My Music Television: 3/17/16

Left Handed Kisses – Andrew Bird featuring Fiona Apple


Simple music video from Andrew Bird. But I do wonder if Fiona Apple’s allusions to You Can Call Me Al were intentional or not.


California Kids – Weezer


Just last week I was mentioning how I kind of liked Weezer's new song even though the music video was embarrassingly bad. The new video just plays of the cringworthy videos they have produced from this album cycle but the song is almost as embarrassing.


This One's For Me and You - Johnny Gill featuring New Edition


Okay, not a full New Edition reunion because there is no Bobby Brown and it is technically just a Johnny Gill song featuring the other guys, but I will take it. But oh my, Biv is looking old, I fear he can no longer smack it up, flip it or rub it down.


Love Like That – Mayer Hawthorne


The second installment of Mayer Hawthorne’s noir music video anthology has arrived and it is already running thin. Why is he singing about wanting a love like that why developing crime scene photographs?

The Voice Season Ten Blind Auditions Power Rankings

Since The Voice did the silly, half Blind Audition / half Battle Round, I should state that most of my commentary for each artist was written right after their episode aired and I did not change then because of things we learned at the start of the Battles, so I may sound dumber than usual. Alrighty, on to the Power Ranking.

Around season five, it seemed pretty clear the producers told the coaches to push the button more often so they would fight over singers more often. This led to an absurd amount of four chair turns which really devalued the accomplishment. Even when the talent level decreased, the number of four chair turns increased. Then this season, the forth episode ended with a two chair turn which made me think there really were not many singers that got all four coaches to fight over them this season. The first episode had three, but the next three episodes only had one each.

Another of my Blind Audition gripes also did not happen that much this season. For years Adam’s big pitch was to say, “I pushed my button first) then all the coaches got trigger happy. But that did not happen much. Sure it was replaced by Blake annoyingly waiting to the last second just to annoy the other coaches. He has been doing that for years with country singers, but he was doing it for RnB and pop singers too this season. The Blind Auditions are the best part of the show because we always get some surprising song choices and this was the first time on the show we got songs by Roy Orbison, Allen Stone, Mayer Hawthorne, Blind Faith, Incubus, and Muddy Waters. Now here is how I would rank the Blind Auditions this season:


1. Kristen Marie (Team Christina) – She had me at indie-jazz. There was a time when I hoped all the indie chicks picked Blake, but Kristen’s performance reminded me of Lindsey Pavao, who was number two on my list of the 50 Best Blind Auditions, but really reminded me more of her Battle Round performance, so maybe Christ will actually be the better fit.

2. Caity Peters (Team Pharrell) – I get to obsessed with the placement of the show and it is odd that they started the season with a three chair turn but then followed it up with a four chair turn which makes me think she is being buried (people always say opening the show is the Death Slot, but the producers are not going to open the show with crap, going second is the people I think they are trying to bury). Then I noticed on YouTube, she only sang for seventy seconds instead of the usual minute and a half. Did they edit her down? Did she end early? It just kind of ended abruptly when the last two hit their button. It was a weird edit and makes me a bit worried. If this is the case, it would be a shame because I thought she was really good. I did go back and look and going second in the season is not very predictive, a little more than half made the Live Shows. But Caity does have some indie girl competition on her team with Abby and Emily. When did Pharrell become the place for indie chicks? Last year he had Amy, Madi, and Sydney; one he took to the Live Shows, one got Stolen, while the other went home early. Let’s see how these three turn out.

3. Hannah Huston (Team Pharrell) – From her package I was expecting another indie-coffeehouse type singer, yet came out with a very soulful sound added to that (Allen Stone, who I never really got into also has that vibe). And I have second Blake in saying this girl seems like a blast to be around.

4. Ryan Quinn (Team Adam) – I hate those “coming p on The Voice” because every commercial break. Seriously, every commercial break. So I was ready to hate Ryan because I was not impressed by the two seconds of him they ran before every single commercial break. I just assumed he was another boring white dude that has ruined the show in recent seasons. But then he started singer and I went, wait, this guy is kind of good. The worst part of his performance was that two second part they shows ad nausea before ever commercial break.

5. Paxton Ingram (Team Blake) – He said that it is interesting when dudes sings chick songs but I think the vast majority of the time it is a disaster and it is much more interesting the other way around. But I do like the way he slowed down the Robyn song.

6. Moushumi (Team Pharrell) – In the beginning the show really pushed people that Pharrell would like to classify as different, but in more recent years the vast majority of people try out look like the come from central casting for a Friends reboot with an occasional soul singer. I think she may have been the first singer of Asian descent since Mathai on the second season. But on the negative side, she landed on Team Pharrell which already has an overabundance of indie pop chicks, three of which made Pharrell’s My Team Is Full package, and Moushumi was not one ofg them.

7. Peyton Parker (Team Blake) – Being a country singer singing a non-country song can get you noticed in the short term. I think of last season when Morgan Frazer sang a Cheap Trick song, but then lost to the more traditional Emily Ann Roberts in the Battles even though I that the former was better. And even when Blake Stole Morgan back, when she sang another non-country song in the Live Playoffs, not only did America pick two traditional boring white country singing dudes over her, Blake picked Emily Ann again. So I would not be that surpised if Peyton loses to a more traditional country singer in the Battles too.

8. Abby Celso (Team Pharrell) – I wanted to like this more than I did, but the song seemed to start just too low for her and I could not help spending most of the time thinking Riley Biederer did so much better last season with this song. With this voice should be doing something sultrier and jazzy, not silly little pop songs.

9. Joe Maye (Tem Christina): Is it at all possible that he can just bring back Ellie and become a duet from here on out?

10. Laith Al-Saadi (Team Adam) – The big flaw on this show is the lack of rock, doijng a John Mayer show is about as rock as someone on this show is allowed to do. Rarely do rock singers get an audition and if they do (especially if the look at Laith) they do not get one chair turned. The last, and only ti I remember someone shredding like that on the how was The Shields Brothers.

11. Adam Wakefield (Team Blake) – Just a good ol’ southern rocker. Hopefully Blake steers him that area and not pure country. Definitely none of that bro country he does.

12. Jessica Crosbie (Team Pharrell) – The allure to Coldplay songs are they feel very epic, and even with a slowed down version, her version still built to something special. Though she may be lowest in Pharrell’s indie chick pecking order.

13. Owen Danoff (Team Adam) – Everything about The Voice can be summed up when Adam went backstage and talked to Owen’s father about being in the Best New Artist club and Carson chimed in, “Maybe Owen will join you in 2020.” So even Carson knows there is no chance the show can launch anyone right away.

14. Maya Smith (Team Pharrell) – I actually preferred her to Beyonce’s former runny buddy and respect that she went deeper into the Aretha catalogue too.

15. Emily Keener (Team Pharrell) – The end and beginning were sweet but that middle spot was a bit rough. But I was struck during the performance wondering why has this not always been a chick song?

16. Brittany Kennell (Team Blake) – Odd voice, I am not really sure if I like it or not. I actually like the small bit she sang in her package than the Blind Audition. It is a unique voice like Blake said, but c’mon Blake, unique voices never win, they are usually the first one voted out. It is the most boring singer who always win, especially since the influx of the bored housewives who just love boring white dudes. But since Christina compaired her voice to Gwen's, I guess we can pencil Brittany into the Live Shows

17. Alisan Porter (Team Christina) – Should I remember Curly Sue? Does not ring a bell at all.

18. Mary Sarah (Team Blake) – Maybe it was the song but I thought she had a good voice, but nothing really interesting.

19. Tamar Davis (Team Christina) – I always like when they bring in semi-professionals and a former member to a precursor of Destiny’s Child is the closest thing they have gotten in a while. But I expected more from someone who performed with Prince.

20. Brian Nhira (Team Pharrell) – He was okay but not really the best song choice because Happy just stays in one place. Actually his Jesus Loves me showed much more of his range than his Blind Audition.

21. Katie Basden (Team Adam) – I really hope she does not turn into this season’s Shelby, a middle of the pack country singer on Team Adam who inexplicably makes it to the semi-finals solely because Blake’s country mafia votes for everyone with a hint of twang.

22. Justin Whisnant (Team Blake) – Boring white dude country singer on Team Blake alert! So I guess we can just go ahead and pencil him into the finals. Ugg, hopefully Blake does not take him to the Live Shows.

23. Caroline Burns (Team Adam) – Better than last season but fifteen is just too young for the show (how is someone who is on their second try still only fifteen). Though if she stays soft and sweet maybe she can be in the Madi Davis lane this season. Though she would have been much better off with Blake who routinely takes teenagers and returnees to the Live Shows where Adam dumps both usually in the Battles. Maybe she will be Stolen by Blake later.

24. Bryan Bautista (Team Christina) – I actually thought he had a good chance to be the first double no chair singer, I actually preferred his last audition.

25. John Gilman (Team Adam) – Clear Battle Round fodder, but I kind of liked it.

26. Angie Keilhauer (Team Blake) – An El Salvadorian country singer sounds better than it actually was.

27. Malik Heard (Team Christina): Meh, kind of a boring RnB performance. But really, we get a commercial break before this guy chooses his coach? Is anyone really staying glued through commercials just to see which of the only two coaches turns for him makes him Battle Round fodder?

28. Matt Tedder (Team Adam) – Hopefully he does not beat Laith during the Battles because he is more photogenic, because Laith is a better singer and better guitar player too.

29. Ayanna Jahneé (Team Christina) – With her look I was expecting something weird and random with her song choice like Jane Child but instead she sang the most obvious artist on the show, Adel. Meh. But with the Blind Auditions ending, it is shocking that was the only Adele song (though maybe the last album was released too late to use any of them) and there was no Ed Sheeran or Sam Smith who have had their whole catalogue recycled five times of the past five seasons.

30. Nate Butler (Team Adam) – I am all for more Mayer Hawthorne on the show but if you are going to Mayer Hawthorne, you better have a better falsetto than that. It definitely sounded like a musical theater performance.

31. Natalie Yacovazzi (Team Adam): Another returnee that I was surprised got anyone to turn around. I doubt any of them even make it to the Knockouts. Natalie was just too shouty throughout her whole performance.

32. Jared Harder (Team Blake) – When it gets down to the end, you have to wonder if coaches are just pushing their buttons just so the Blind Auditions will end after four days of taping. Usually Blake not turning around for a country singer is a red flag, but the other coaches not turning raised an eyebrow, and Blake was really just like, screw it, I need some fodder so I can start drinking.

33. Kata Hay (Team Christina) – She reminds me of someone a couple seasons ago, a country singer who got the pimp slot, all the coaches fight really hard for her, everyone let her sit in their chairs, she shockingly picked Adam. Then she lost to a one chair turn the very next round. That is how I see Kata, she only got the pimp slot because she made out with Christina and will be ushered quickly off the show after her coach realizes they have much better talent.

34. Shalyah Fearing (Team Christina) – Time after time I have to say fifteen is way too young. I would prefer eighteen, but you at least have to be able to drive a car.

35. Jonathan Hutcherson (Team Pharrell) – I am partial to anyone with hearing problems, but he does not sound any better than all the other undercooked teenage boys that walk across the stage.

36. Teresa Guidry (Team Blake) – She is not the highest on my list of all the montage victims solely because she is moderately attractive, but I would not be at all disappointed if she is the obligatory montage victim who gets stolen twice before getting voted off as soon as people start to vote.

37. Lacy Mandigo (Team Christina) – Kind of an interesting vocal, I am a bit surprised it was montaged which makes me wonder if she messed live after Christina turned around or if she is just fodder for Christina’s front runner in the Battle Rounds.

38. Lily Green (Team Adam) – The studio version was pretty and all though really not the best song choice since it is not hard to think how much Madi Davis sang Songbird last season (Lily’s version needed more bongos). Again it makes me wonder if she messed up live or if she is just fodder for Adam’s front runner.

39. Brittney Lawrence (Team Blake) – Maybe while she failed seven times to make I in front of the judges is because she has horrible taste in music. And she is not very bright, the other judges tell her that Blake pushed his button last minute just to spite Christina, and yet she still picked Blake where she will likely be fodder. Granted she probably would not have gone much further with Christina, but at least Christina has made some dumb decisions so there would have been a chance.

40. Joe Vivona (Team Pharrell) – Minor technical problems? Ehhh, these coaches are too nice.

41. Mike Schiavo (Team Adam): I mentioned how dudes singing chick songs rarely work out, where Paxton managed to make it work, Mike did not. This came off more like a novelty.

42. Nick Hagelin (Team Pharrell): I know he is a judge and you have to credit the song to him, but to me Lost Stars is a Kiera Knightley song.

43. Katherine Ho (Team Adam) – Even the studio version was kind of boring.

44. Chelsea Gann (Team Christina) – Mmmm, a country singer that does not get Blake to turn and is montaged… not a good sign. Oh no, does that mean that the other annoying country chick Christina has is going to at least make the Knockouts after beating her in the Battles? Ug, hopefully that gets montaged.

45. Gina Castanzo (Team Blake) – That is two straight seasons someone auditioned with Cecelia and the Satellite and for the second season I got excited for someone to sing Andrew McMahon only to go, ehhhh, not very good. Like Korin, she was a little too weird with her interpolation, but unlike Korin, she was montaged and not on one of the worst teams in the history of the show.

46. Trey O'Dell (Team Blake) – Another boring white dude who just does not capture the fun of the original.

47. Daniel Passino (Team Christina) - This guy better be fodder. Thank goodness Gwen is not around because he would be Ryan Sill this season for her.

48. Jonathan Bach (Team Pharrell) – Some people whine about montages but I have absolutely no interest in hearing some dude sing Born This Way, so thank you producer for saving me from having to listen to it.

Sometimes you can tell someone is not going to turn a chair by their package, but when watching on Hulu you definitely know because the segment is much smaller than the other ones. There were a couple of singers that made me scratch my head when no one turned which has not really happened much in recent seasons.

1. Natalie Clarke: Ah man, how could no one pick the hot Scottish chick? Sure maybe not the best song choice for her (I figured she would not get a chair due to that choice and her placement in the show), sadly Chvrches are probably not famous enough to be song on the show because I would like to hear someone do an acoustic version of The Mother We Share.

2. Evan Taylor Jones: This is a case where the Blind Audition working against him. If the coaches could see him, they probably would have raved. He is probably the biggest lock to return next season.

3. Nolen Neil: What a stupid reason not to turn because you think they pick the wrong song for their voice. If you liked their voice turn, then you can teach them better song selection. And Blake, if you do not know what to do with someone, then you should not be a coach at all.

4. Jackie Lipson: I think I liked the arrangement much more than the actual singing.

5. Maddie Poppy: The video they showed was actually good, but why was she shouting during her performance. She needs to come back next season and sing that song.

Back to the singers that actually made it, as always, I like to give a numerical number to each singer based on their power ranking to see just how each team stacks up. And here is how the team ranks by that:

Team Pharrell – 342
Team Blake – 285
Team Adam – 281
Team Christina – 267

It is no secret that I am always drawn to the indie pop chicks on this show and Pharrell became the indie pop chick whisperer these past two seasons picking up six that in of loosely fit in that category (though Christina got my favorite this season). But who cares what I think, here is who the iTunes users bought the most of with the peak on the iTunes charts.

1. Alisan Porter (25)
2. Mary Sarah (71)
3. Owen Danoff (83)
4. Ryan Quinn (86)
5. Mike Schiavo (95)
6. Angie Keilhauer (110)
7. Emily Keener (135)
8. Caity Peters (181)
9. Adam Wakefield (203)
10. Moushumi (229)
11. Kristen Marie (230)
12. Peyton Parker (250)
13. Abby Celso (291)
14. Joe Maye (322)
15. Justin Whisnant (370)
16. Daniel Passino (361)
17. Jessica Crosbie (404)
18. Hannah Huston (432)
19. Joe Vivona (461)
20. Paxton Ingrim (471)
21. Laith Al-Saadi (550)
22. Nick Halpin (572)
23. Nate Butler (565)
24. Bryan Bautista (606)
25. Natalie Yacovazzi (643)
26. Matt Tedder(666)
27. Jonathan Hutcherson (686)
28. Caroline Burns (702)
29. Brian Nhira (906)
30. Brittney Lawrence (1026)
31. Shalyah Fearing (1277)
32. Brittany Kennell (1400)
33. Teresa Guildry (1265)
34. Malik Heard (1455)
35. Maya Smith (1455)
36. Trey O’Dell (1463)

With the music industry dying it is much easier to chart on iTunes, and for Voice contestants it should be easier since they no longer have to fight with new releases since they got moved to Fridays last year. So these numbers do not look all that impressive. Only one in the top 50 (compared to five last season). Then twelve could not even make the top 1500 (granted fourteen did not last season). Using my formula to see who has the strongest team, here is how the coaches rank based on iTunes.

Team Pharrell – 202
Team Blake – 175
Team Adam - 161
Team Christina - 127

So in a rare move, the iTunes buyers agree with me exactly on who has the best teams. We do know all the Battle pairing now, so here are my predictions with who I think will win listed first and ranked my how confident I am that I am right. Really, I am confident on all of Blake. Has there ever been Battle pairing more obvious of who is going to win than these; but Blake has always been the easiest to predict.

Team Adam
Ryan Quinn vs. Katie Basden
Owen Danoff vs. John Gilman
Natalie Yacovazzi vs. Nate Butler
Laith Al-Saadi vs Matt Tedder
Mike Schiavo vs. Caroline Burns
Lily Greene vs. Katherine Ho

Team Blake
Paxton Ingrim vs. Brittany Lawrence
Mary Sarah vs. Justin Whisnant
Adam Wakefield vs. Jared Harder
Angie Keilhauser vs. Teresa Guidry
Peyton Parker vs. Gina Castanzo
Brittany Kennell vs. Trey O’Dell


Team Pharrell
Brian Nhira vs. Abby Celso (Steal)
Hannah Husdon vs. Maya Smith
Moushumi vs. Jonathan Hutcherson
Emily Keener vs. Johnathan Bach
Nick Hagelin vs. Jessica Crosbie
Caity Peters vs. Joe Vivona (Steal)



Christina
Malik Heard vs. Bryan Bautista (Steal)
Alison Porter vs. Lacey Mandingo
Katy May vs. Chelsea Gann
Tamar Davis vs. Shalyah Fearing (Steal)
Ayanna Jahneé vs. Joe Maye
Daniel Passino vs. Krista Marie


And here are my predictions for who makes the Live Show. Again who was featured in the Best of the Blinds and the My Team Is Full montages were a bit perplexing. Did people like Katy get a bunch of screen time because they will be around for a while or simply because she kissed Christina? I am basing my predictions mostly on my gut (but some on those montages). I am listing them in how confident I am them making the Live Show. We do not know if they are going to try the Coaches Comeback again but I am going to put those predations in parenthesis.


Team Adam: Ryan Quinn, Owen Danoff, Natalie Yacovazzi, Laith Al-Saadi, Caroline Burns (Mike Schiavo)
Team Blake: Mary Sarah, Paxton Ingrim, Adam Wakefield, Peyton Parker, Brittany Kennell (Angie Keilhauser)
Team Christina: Alisan Porter, Bryan Bautista, Tamar Davis, Ayanna Jahneé, Tamar Davis (Shalyah Fearing)
Team Pharrell: Hannah Huston, Caity Peters, Joe Vivona, Brian Nhira, Abby Celso (Emily Keener)

Maybe I overvalued Adam’s team because looking at it, Ryan and Owen are the only ones that look like Live Show material. Adam may very well go to the Lives with those two and three Steals. Unfortunately Blake looks like he will take another country heavy team to the Lives because he does have much in the way of non-country besides Paxton. He already wasted a Steal on another country singer. But is he really going to take three female country singers to the Lives? It looks that way to me. Then if there is a Coach’s Comeback, I do think he could bring back one of them that he dumps. Here is hoping his Knockout Steal adds some more diversity to his team instead of Stealing back some country singer that was Stolen in the Battles like he has done two of the past three seasons (and the season in between he Stole back Hannah Kirby). Hey, Pharrell has plenty of indie chicks to choose from.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/13/16

Once Upon a Time: I kind of half joked when Emma said they were going to the Underworld that Hades from Hercules better show up. Then at the end of the episode the king of the Underworld’s hair turned flame blue and it turned out I was right. Man, they are really scrapping the bottom of the Disney barrel on this one. Are they going to Notre Dame next?
You can download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: Oh Frank, everyone knows the number one rule of drug trafficking is never get high off your own supply. Of course that was going to end badly. Just like Debbie and her pregnant fetish guy. I saw that coming as soon as he asked for her help. Yet that was not even the most shameless moment of the episode. When Lip was confronted by Queenie, I thought, oh no, Lip is going to have sex with his… um; father’s baby momma I guess is what you would call it. And they actually kind of did it depending, not to get all Bill Clinton, on how you describe sex. Physically helping someone to, um, finish the job, kind of constitutes sex. But going by the Bill Clinton definition it was not.

The Walking Dead: So everyone is hooking up now, which means there is going to be a lot of deaths coming up soon. Since she is captured, could Carol be next? I am hard pressed to think they would kill off a pregnant lady, but it seemed apropos that whoever has the two got introduced pretty much the same way Glen was introduced on the show. I thought Abraham was getting the he is about to die edit last week but this week he just dumped Rosita presumably so he can shack up with Sasha instead. Sure I would not kick Sasha out of bed, but Rosita has to be the most attractive chick you are going to find during a zombie apocalypse. But I guess mullet guy has a chance now.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Billions: You know someone is really mad when they get out of a pool and go straight to their car, no shirt, no shoes, not even toweling off, to go punch someone. But c’mon Axe, you have to at least make the kids spend the night at camp before letting them give up. It may be interesting to watch those brats suffer if everything is taken away when Axe goes to prison. Actually let’s not take the Brody mistake of keeping the family on the show too long for this show too.

Quantico: So someone is going to die next week. Except the gay dude died in the Winter finale and him being around in the flashbacks kind of lessens the impact of the death. Since she has a bomb strapped to her, she would be the obvious choice, which means she is not dying or that would be the worst promo monkey job of all time. Instead I think it is going to be one of the twins which would have even less of an impact because not only would they still be in flashbacks but there would still be one twin still alive.
You can download Quantico on iTunes.

Gotham: We have known Hugo Strange has been collecting “dead” people since the Winter finale when we saw Galivan being wheeled and we got to see him in some sort of tank this week. Behind him was three more tanks, the next two with their backs t us and the next facing towards us. I did not recognize that last guy and it is hard to identify someone by the back of their head but that second guy did have red hair so Jerome instantly came to mind. There was a very Fish Mooney looking figure during the Winter finale. So the question is when do these zombies get reanimated? Was the Mr. Freeze serum the final ingredient Hugo needs?
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

The Voice: The sad sack stories have been the worst part of the show (well the proliferation of boring white dudes over the past four seasons may actually be worse) but my goodness, do we really need to sit through a dude talking about he kept on hitting decline on his phone right before his dad killed himself? That was just really too rough. And of course it gets worse because no one bothered to turn their chair which seems to happen to some of the people with the saddest stories as if the producers bring them on only for their story knowing they probably will not turn a chair.

Every season I do a bi where I mention all the artists I am surprised anyone covered on the show because the Blind Auditions is where the people are most adventurous and I was surprised that dude sang an Incubus song. And now that I think about, maybe half of those people end up not getting a chair turned. Look at the guy who closed out the week, he auditions last season with a great Cameo song, does not get a chair to turn. Does an overdone song this time and is on a team.

Oh, and holy Ellie Lawrence sighting! Talk about letting people come back, I know they do not let people who get a chair to turn to try out again but really anyone screwed royalty deserves to come back and be on a team with a real coach. Although if they brought Ellie back, they would also have to change the rules to ban anyone who voted for Braiden Sunshine from ever voting again, which they should do anyway. And like the first week, I was pretty meh on the talent this season. Pharrell picked up another indie chick to add to the three he pick up last week, but Christina actually nabbed the best indie chick of the season (so far) with Kristen Marie.


Apparently The Voice is doing that stupid scheduling where Monday’s show will half Blind Auditions, half Battle Round, so I will release my Blind Audition Power Ranking Tuesday evening even though two people will probably already had been sent home (with the third loser being stolen). During the Best of the Blind Auditions special (so none of the five singers yet to be put on a team qualify as Best; though three of the five the only other time they had this format went on to the Live Playoffs so do not completely write them off; sure none of those three got saved by the public vote in the Live Playoffs, but anyway) they did give away a couple of the Battle pairing, I am going to make my predictions now (the person I think is going to win is listed first):

Team Blake
Mary Sarah vs. Justin Whisnant
Paxton Ingrim vs. Brittany Lawrence
Brittany Kennell vs. Trey O’Dell

Team Pharrell
Brian Nhira vs. Abby Celso
Nick Hagelin vs. Jessica Crosbie
Emily Keener vs. Johnathan Bach
Hannah Huston vs. Maya Smith

Team Adam
Natalie Yacovazzi vs. Nate Butler
Laith Al-Saadi vs Matt Tedder

Team Christina
Alison Porter vs. Lacey Mandingo
Tamar Davis vs. Shalyah Fearing
Malik Heard vs. Bryan Bautista

My first takeaway from the pairing is that Pharrell had four previews (and he is the only one who still has two spots left on his team compared to one for everyone else) while Adam only two previews, one of which was between two guy I kind of thought may have been fodder (even though I do like Laith). Actually the other pairing is between two people I would be a bit surprised if either made the Live Shows too. Last spring Pharrell had five of his six Battles result in a Steal and I wonder if that is going to happen again. If my predictions are right I could see someone stealing Abby and Maya who got good edits so far. And predicting Steals do seem to be completely random, but Pharrell Stealing Shalyah. Has he ever not Stolen a young soul singer? There also seems to be more co-ed battles than usual. I wonder if this is a way to consciously limit the number of boring whit dudes make the Live Shows this year after six of the eight singers America saved in the Playoffs last season were boring white dudes (out of a possible seven). My other takeaway from the previews was how much time they spent on only one of the Battle pairing which made some of these predictions really easy (sorry Maya and Lacy). We get it producers you really, really want Alison to win so a female singer and coach will win this season. Except the more you push, the more the bored housewives are going to rebel and have yet another boring white dude win for the fifth straight season.

Lucifer: Two take always from this episode; Lucifer’s brother calls him Lucy. And if the brother is now the gatekeeper to Hades, just how many people are escaping during his many trips to Erth to try to convince his brother to come back home? And when does Lucifer start hunting down those souls because that show would be much more interesting than this one.
You can download Lucifer on iTunes.

Blindspot: Holy Smash Williams sighting! But the bigger shock was Kurt’s sister and Edgar… who knew? Not that they were hooking up but that character’s name was Edgar, I had to look it up and had no clue what his name was. Oh yeah, then there was Jane Doe learning she died.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: So what was with the three months from now opener? Civil War does come out in May and the last Captain America movie is really the only time something in the movie actually had much of an effect on the show. But it is probably just a teaser for the season finale. But then again, three months is June and early May is when shows tend to wrap up for the year.
You can download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: The Liars have had some epically dumb ideas over the years, but Hannah admitting she killed CeCe. So what happens when A gets revenge or possibly calls the police?
You can download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty: So we had our first medical leave of the season (second because apparently Lizzie had to be flown back to America right after being voted out to deal with some staph infections). Just last week I mentioned how even when the person who is getting voted out they always plant a seed for someone else, this is the first time I remember them not even put up a red herring, and went straight to Tribal Council and did not even show Blondie scrambling. Shame the merge came a week too late for her because she could have teamed up with the hot chick alliance. Same for Lizzie. Should be interesting to she how it plays out, if anyone find the Brains Hidden Immunity Idol, or if they are going to put more Idols into play in hopes that a Super Idol gets played.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty on iTunes.

Around the Tubes:3/11/16

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Outdoor: Icons Revealed, Skin Wars, He Named Me Malala, Haven, Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops, Home & Family, and Sheet Music Direct.

- Outside TV, America’s preeminent adventure television network, announces the newest installment of the hit show Outlook: Icons Revealed will premiere this Sunday March 13 at 8:00. The episode will take viewers behind the scenes with Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, as he talks about growing up in Laguna Beach, his love for mountain biking, and his affinity for surfing.

- GSN, the leader in game shows and competitive entertainment, will premiere its third season of Skin Wars, hosted by actress Rebecca Romijn (X-Men), on Wednesday, April 20 at 10:00. Television’s first-ever body painting competition show and GSN’s most-watched original series ever, SKIN WARS seeks to find the most innovative body painter in America. In its third season, twelve contestants will compete in elaborate body painting challenges to avoid elimination and win the approval of judges, including legendary entertainer RuPaul Charles and body painting icons Craig Tracy and Robin Slonina.

- In a new agreement with National Geographic Channels, Hulu has acquired the exclusive streaming video on-demand rights to Academy Award® winner Davis Guggenheim’s feature documentary He Named Me Malala. Following its global television premiere on National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo MUNDO this week, the critically acclaimed feature documentary will make its SVOD debut exclusively on Hulu this summer.

- Haven: The Final Season (Street Date: April 19, 2016) presents hometown heroes Audrey, Nathan (Lucas Bryant), Duke (Eric Balfour) and Dwight (Adam Copeland), with challenges unlike any they've experienced before. Across 13 action-packed final episodes, the town of Haven has been cut off from the rest of the world by a mysterious fog bank and is on its own. Through journeys into the past, the future, and the very fabric between worlds, events in Haven hurtle towards a cataclysmic showdown. Will the heroes be able to rid Haven of "the Troubles" forever, or will the town and its inhabitants continue to suffer the curse? Watch and see as tensions rise, allegiances shift and in a harrowing closing chapter, the mystery of "Croatoan" is finally revealed.

- On May 10, Time Life®, creator and direct marketer of unique music and home entertainment products, will deliver Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops, a single DVD featuring three TV Christmas Specials: a rare, never-before-released 1951 special from The Korean War Era , along with shows from 1970 and 1971 - two of the most-watched shows in TV history! Featuring Hope's hilarious monologues and guest stars aplenty, these shows prove that laughter is truly the best medicine, regardless of the time zone or terrain.

Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point ball. Dale Earnhardt’s legendary pink race car. The American flag draped around goalie Jim Craig after the “Miracle on Ice.” All of those historic objects from indelible moments in sports are either lost or in dispute. Now, Smithsonian Channel debuts a unique six-hour docu-series, Sports Detectives, on Sunday, April 24 at 9:00, to try to hunt down the truth of what happened and find missing treasures behind some of the most iconic moments in American sports history.

- Hallmark Channel’s Daytime Emmy® nominated series Home & Family in partnership with DreamJobbing announces a nationwide talent search to find the next DIY star to join the on-air team. One lucky winner will be chosen to become a DIY expert on Home & Family for one week in mid-April, joining co-hosts Mark Steines and Cristina Ferrare as the newest creative Family Member. They will create their own DIY projects for a national audience from the Home & Family set at Universal Studios, Hollywood. DreamJobbing is an online opportunity platform created to inspire people by giving them incredible opportunities and a chance to change their story – from once in a lifetime opportunities such as Wildlife Volunteer in Thailand, to full time positions such as Writer for Lance Bass Productions, LLC. Producers are looking for enthusiastic candidates with strong DIY ideas, the ability to show viewers step-by-step how they created their DIY projects, great on-camera presence and a fun personality. Video applications will be accepted from March 7–April 15, 2016. Submission details and additional information can be found at: dreamjobbing.com/homeandfamily.

Sheet Music Direct, the world's leading digital sheet music website and destination, today released the worldwide production version of its Sheet Music Direct PlayAlong iPad app for amateur to professional musicians who want to learn, plan, record, share, and perform their favorite songs using the latest iOS technology. The App is available now on the iTunes App Store for FREE with an in-app store for optional song title purchases.

I Want My Music Television: 3/9/16

Best Fake Smile - James Bay


I am not entirely sure James Bay is not just John Mayer changing his name in hopes people forget some of his hotter hot takes that put him in the public’s doghouse (somewhat unfairly; what he said was stupid, not a shunnable offence… but anyway). After a bunch of midtempo songs, this is his first upbeat single, and though catchy, cannot say it is very memorable.


LA Girlz – Weezer


A lot of Weezer’s output over the past decade has mostly been embarrassing but this song does kind of sound like their old self. Okay, and outtake or B-side, not an actual album cut or even a single. Unfortunately the music video is very chringeworthy.


Been To the Moon - Corinne Bailey Rae


The “moon” Corinne Bailey Rae goes to looks a lot like the planet Simmons went to on Agents of SHIELD. Well, without the blueish-grey filter.


Daughters – Lissie


While watching Survivor, it is sometimes easy to forget, that the lack of access to quality drinking water is a reality for large segments of the population. And it is still hard to put it in perspective because even though we know the contestants have to walk to watering hole, then boil the water, we do not see just how long that takes, and then we know that after a month they get to fly home where they can just turn on the faucet to get water (unless they live in a city like Flint or near where fracking takes place where the water is just as poisonous) But there are no plane rides home for those that live in Africa. Though it is hard to put into perspective the 40 billion miles women in Africa have to walk a year for water. I kind of wish Lissie would have done a per woman average to give us a better idea the struggle for water on that continent is.

Previewing Separation Anxiety

When I saw TBS was doing a game show called Separation Anxiety I thought maybe they were getting into the weird, kind of evil Japanese game shows you come across on the internet every once and a while. Thankfully (or disappointingly depending how you look at it), the show is more in the American vein where there is a catch but it is not that evil at all, just slightly misleading, but for the better.

See the show tells a pair of friends or significant others they are going on an internet game show for a chance to win $2500 but they really are going on a basic cable show where they can win ten times that. The name of the show comes from separating the two players, taking on player to the set of the cheap internet game show while the other gets ushered to a bigger studio to find out what the real show they are on.

The second player also learn that they will be the one’s selecting the categories for their still in the dark partners who think the first question will only net them $10, not $1000. Separation Anxiety comes off as a cheaper version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire as the questions get harder the more answers they get right, but if the miss a question, they get nothing. They can stop nd take the money at any time, but only the person that still thinks they are on an internet for chump change can stop (the other person if offered one to pull the plug but they will only get half the money they earned). But like Millionaire, there are two helps throughout the game, Crowd Source, where the host will ask five people in the crowd what they think the answer is, and Smart Phone where they can call their partner for help.

Also periodically through the game, there are Mind Meld mini games where the in the know contestant can bet on their partner on silly bets like one bro has to predict correctly if his buddy will talk to a ho model if left alone in a hall with her within thirty seconds. People who guess correctly will win a special prize that they can keep even if they end up losing the money.

A quiz show with only eight possible questions (of which an average of six got asked in the episodes I saw) is kind of small, but host of the real show Iliza Shlesinger (Last Comic Standing) keeps things lively especially when telling co-host Adam Ray (The Heat) what to do via an earpiece as he hosts the fake internet game show. It also helps when the contestants are game like the guy in the second episode who crows every time he locks in an answer. There is no roll over contestants like on Millionaire but the first couple questions are absurdly easy so no one should go out early especially with the two helps so no one should go out early.

Separation Anxiety airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on TBS.

Previewing Bates Motel: Season Four

The shortened seasons you see on cable make them better because it is much easier to fill ten hours with quality content than it is to do twenty-two over the course of a year. Of course the big drawback is that the breaks are much longer. On the network shows you only have wait three months after a season finale for a new one where you can conceive and deliver a child in between the seasons of some cable show.

It does not help that the season premiere of Bates Motel does not start off with a “previously on” segment (at least the version I saw; maybe they will whip one up for the broadcast version) so it took me a while to remember what was going on. The season starts off with Romero lugging a dead body on a boat and it took me a while to realize, oh yeah, he killed Ted Chough, or maybe it was Norma and he cover it up, I vaguely remember Norma going to an evil country club last season.

Then there is Norman talking to himself in the middle of nowhere which made me remember he ran away at the end of last season and, oh Norman, why did you have to kill the hot chick? Except it was not him, sort of, because he now has this split personality where he becomes an even more overprotective version on his mother. Alrighty. But that split personality does add to the show and adds a level of paranoia (granted not as good as the way Mr. Robot handles mental illness) as something happens at the end of the season premiere and I have absolutely sure if what I saw happened or not. All of this comes to a head at the end of the second episode of the season, though no answers are given yet.

Bates Motel airs Mondays at 9:00 on A&E. You can also download Bates Motel on iTunes.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/6/16

The Oscars: I have not watched the Oscars since… well, the last time Chris Rock hosted, and again that is the only reason I turned in because I think Ex-Machina was the only nominated movie I saw last year (Straight Outta Compton sits unopened on my desk for the past month; and though I have not seen it, and I do not want to be the last person to go on a race inspired rant, but Ice Cube’s Jheri curl got robbed for Best Hair and Makeup). Okay, so I only watched the first half hour before flipping over to The Walking Dead (I did flip back during the commercials, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the monologue. Obviously Rock had to bring up the lack of diversity in the major categories, but did the topic really have to take up the entire monologue (and from what I heard, but of his bits after that)? Sure it was funny but how about actually talking about this year’s movies, even if I had not seen any? The only none-race joke I heard from the parts I heard from Rock was saying Carol was the third best girl on girl flick he saw last year. Oh well, these are the reasons why I skip the Oscars anyway. It was nice to see Brie Larson (Envy Adams!) win an award as I have supported her going all the way back to her cheesy Avril Lavinge knock-off days. Seriously, go to my list of The 100 Best Songs of 2005, and scroll down to #89.


The Walking Dead: So Abraham is going to die soon. If not those were some weird scenes with him, I am a little surprised he did not die this week. And again I show I would be too smart for the show because my first thought about the Hilltop community was, why don’t they just move in together? A lot of people died in that last zombie attack so there has to be open housing in Alexandra, the Hilltop need better protection than spears and Alexandra needs food. But of course that would be too obvious and neither trust each other anyway. Instead they are going to go kamikaze on some evil warlord camp.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Supergirl: Did they bring in Smallville’s Supergirl to make the current incarnation look like a much better actress in comparison? The Smallville version looks more the part, more than this version, but goodness she is not very good actor.
Supergirl on iTunes.

Gotham: B.D. Wong is having quite the evil moment right now. He looks to be part of some Illuminate-type group in Mr. Robot and now he shows up as Hugo Strange. But really, overall kind of a meh episode for a show returning from a big break. But then again I never really card much for Mr. Freeze.
You can download Gotham on iTunes.

The Voice: Big changes on the show!!! Okay, they moved the family waiting room to the side of the stage. Has The Voice had to downsize? They did lose their big phone sponsor last season whereas the coaches’ salaries only grow every season. And come to think of it, I do not remember them mentioning their coffee sponsor either. Though watched on Hulu and every ad was promoting Jordan Smith and some unnamed credit card so they do have some money coming in. The bigger news was how lackluster the first week was I kind of like Caity Peters but I was really bored for the first four hour. But I did go back and six of my seven favorite Blind Auditions were not in the first week, so hopefully they are saving some gems for next week.


Blindspot: Maybe it is the election year and I am really tuned into government spending, but sending a team to a remote island in the Mediterranean because of tattoos does not seem like money well spent even if it did turn out to uncover a lost plane. But the more absurd part of the show was having the PC guy and his mustache being a high ranking official within the FBI. Granted President Trump may very well give the PC guy that position when he is elected.
You can download Blindspot on iTunes.

The Muppets: Jack White Jack White being the funniest part of the whole season probably sums up the season as a whole.
You can download The Muppets on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agent Carter: They made a really bad calculation in not having Howard Stark around full time because he is always good time, especially when he wrapped himself around Peggy to help her hold the hose. Bu overall this season just did not live up to last season because Whitney Frost just did not turn out to be much of an antagonist. Dottie was a much better foil last season.
You can download Marvel's Agent Carter on iTunes.

Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty: When the Brains lost, I thought great, Cat Lady is the obvious pick, she lost the challenge and she is annoying. Except when they got back to camp, no one brought up her name. Instead the broke down into three pairs, the “hot” pare targeted the ice cream dude for no reason, the “old” pair” wanted to get rid of Lizzie because she was a threat, and the “weird” pair wanted the doctor gone because he is pompous with the old pair getting their way. Boooo. Lizzie was easily my favorite this season and with her gone I am just now realizing just how unlikeable this cast is. Aside from the annoying cat lady and the pompous doctor, the two Brawn dudes left are douchebags, the gay Asian is also annoying, and I would probably also find Blondie annoying if I did not feel bad for her being stuck with the two douchbags kind of like Shirin two seasons ago. And that is three poorly casts of new contestants in a row if you throw in the first Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty which had three of maybe the ten most unlikeable people in the history of the show in Tony, Kass, and Trish. It may be time to find a new casting agent. Really the only people worth rooting for this season are the hot chick alliance which will probably get eliminated as soon as the tribe swap happens.

Oh yeah, and we got a big twist this season in the Super Idol! Now anyone who has two Idols in their pocket can play that AFTER the votes had been read. Seems reasonable because if you have multiple Idols that should help you more. But how often has that ever happened, in twenty two seasons that they have had Hidden Immunity Idols, I only remember three times that it has happened: James (who got booted with both in his pocket and really needed that new twist), Parviti (who pulled out the greatest move in Survivor history), and Malcolm (who pulled off the worst as his douchebag alliance went home in consecutive weeks after that). Then my buddy Doug pointed out that both Tony and Jeremy have done it more recently. Still that is about once every four seasons average. It will be interesting if this twist will cause more people share Idols instead of keeping them to themselves like most people have done in recent season, or if it will never even be utilized.
You can download Survivor: Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty II on iTunes.

Around the Tubes: 3/4/16

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on The Path, Spring Broke, The Brainwashing of my Dad, CeeLo Green: Live In L.A., Yanni: The Drem Concert - Live at the Great Pyramids of Egypt, Joshy, and Satan’s Sisters: A Novel of Fiction.

- The Path follows a family at the center of a controversial cult as they struggle with relationships, faith and power. Each episode takes an in-depth look at the gravitational pull of belief and what it means to choose between the life we live and the life we want. Created by Jessica Goldberg, the show is executive produced by Jason Katims and Michelle Lee of True Jack Productions and stars Aaron Paul, Hugh Dancy and Michelle Monaghan.


- On Friday, March 25th at 9:00, Showtime will premiere Spring Broke, a documentary about the raucous history of the infamous spring vacation revelries in Daytona, Florida. The annual gathering started in the early 60s and by the 1980s led to the arrival of tens of thousands of college students, lured by music, sun, endless parties and eventually, the hope to make it onto MTV.


- Right-wing cable news and "conservative" talk radio attract older Americans like graying moths to an angry flame. But why would someone who was either apolitical or a Democrat in younger days become addicted to conservative talk shows in their twilight years? Filmmaker Jen Senko wondered how her WWII veteran and Kennedy Democrat father had been transformed into a Fox News fanatic, suddenly and inexplicably railing against minorities, homosexuals, poor people, and Democrats. Using her dad as an entertaining example, Senko pulls back the curtain to expose the tools and tricks of the wizards behind the right-wing media revolution. And in discovering what happened to him, Senko reveals the all-too-chilling bigger picture of what’s happening behind-the-scenes to influence our national discourse. The Brainwashing of my Dad, which will open theatrically in New York and Los Angeles with a day and date iTunes/Nationwide VOD release on March 18. The film directed by award-winning documentarian Jen Senko.

- Tune in to AT&T Audience Network for CeeLo Green: Live In L.A. airing Friday, March 11 at 9:00 (DIRECTV Ch 239/U-verse Ch 1114). Watch as the GRAMMY-winning singer/songwriter thrills the audience--at the gothic-styled Theatre At The ACE Hotel in downtown Los Angeles--with his electric soul band, performing both his classic hits and new fan favorites.

- The No. 1 selling, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and global phenomenon Yanni has performed his distinctive music in exotic and historic locations all across the world. From his groundbreaking concert at the Acropolis to his most recent televised performance at El Morro, Puerto Rico, Yanni has pushed the boundaries of the way audiences experience live music. After performing at China's Forbidden City and India's Taj Mahal, Yanni realized his lifelong dream to perform at the foot of the Sphinx at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt — the last of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World that remains today. The November 2015 concert was captured in 4K state-of-the-art high definition audio and video, and features a career-spanning selection of fan favorites, along with never-before-performed songs and new arrangements of his classic compositions. Yanni: The Drem Concert - Live at the Great Pyramids of Egypt premieres on PBS stations beginning March 5 (check local listings). A CD/DVD or Blu-ray of the historic concert is out June 3 via Sony Music Masterworks’ imprint Portrait Records, and is available for preorder March 4.

- Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF), a premier next generation global content leader, and Hulu announced this week that they have joined forces to acquire the North American rights to Jeff Baena’s Joshy, featuring an ensemble cast, including Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Alex Ross Perry, Nick Kroll, Brett Gelman, and Jenny Slate. The film will be released on Lionsgate’s specialty film distribution label, Lionsgate Premiere, and will be available to stream exclusively on Hulu following its theatrical run.

- Tony, Grammy, and Emmy nominated singer/actress Vanessa Williams has signed on to play the lead role in VH1’s upcoming scripted series inspired by Star Jones 2011 book Satan’s Sisters: A Novel of Fiction. Set in the bright lights of daytime television, the fireworks start every weekday at noon when the hosts of "The Lunch Hour" -- a long-running popular TV talk show -- discuss life, love, family, politics, and gossip. Ms. Williams will play the role of Maxine, the creator and host of “The Lunch Hour;” a formidable, powerful, and decisive woman, but fears she's being put out to pasture. Slated for a 2017 premiere, the series will focus on Maxine and her co-hosts, five women with very different points of view, are best friends and sisters...while they're on TV. But behind the scenes, they are “Satan's Sisters” -- a backstage world filled with power struggles, personal demons, diva fits, love affairs, man troubles, cat fights...and cocktails.

I Want My Music Television: 3/3/16

The Sound - 1975


I never really liked Jimmy Kimmel's Mean Tweets segment because it jut feeds the trolls and instead of shaming these idiots, all you are doing is encouraging them to do it more. I am not sure if the critiques if are actual mean tweets or just up by the band or director but it just comes off as cringey. Though I did laugh at "Robotic Huey Lewis" despite making no sense. I guess it is a good thing I never got around to sharing my thought of The 1975's Saturday Night Live performance which was basically a Fameera David Bowie rip-off mixed with a cheesy disco song where the lead singer was trying way too hard to be the lead singer of INXS. And I kind of like that song, and this one too.

Work - Rihanna featuring Drake


Artist make multiple videos for the same song all the time, but this is the first time I remember anyone releasing two aat the sme time in the same video file. But listening to this song back to back only reminds me just how annoying that chorus can be and no matter how see-thru Rihanna's top is, I really cannot sit through it twice.

Fire Away - Chris Stapleton


Alchol has become so ingrained in country culture it has become a cliche, so kudos to Chris Stapleton, who has been flipping the genre on it heels since the release of his last album, for reminding us that there are negative consequences with the drug, especially when dealing with depression and mental illness.

Spirits - The Strumbellas


It is a rare feat to get song stuck in your head after on listen but The Strumbellas did just that with their first song because that chorus has not left my head since. For the past decade or so there has been a weird indie song that somehow manages to become a big mainstream hit, if there is any justice, that will be Spirits this year. Of course if that happens, I may be sick of it by summer.

The Fifty Best Blind Auditions from The Voice

It is weird to think that The Voice is already up to ten seasons but they really rack up when you are doing two per season (seriously, Survivor just started it thirty-second season. But since I do not need a good reason to make a list I thought I would count down the best Blind Auditions in the show’s history. I read somewhere that The Voice Band prepares over a hundred Blind Auditions so there have probably been over a thousand of them already even though we only get to see maybe fifty to sixty in full every season. Here are the top fifty that stood out to me. I did limit to only allow each song to appear only once (sorry Krista Hughes) due to my long standing theory of if you are going to do a song that has already been done on the show, you best be better than the first time (or at the very least different).

1. The Scientist - Holly Henry


2. Say Aah - Lindsey Pavao


3. We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off - Ellie Lawrence


4. Trouble - Tony Lucca


5. Tiny Dancer - Caroline Glaser


6. Dream a Little Dream of Me - Amy Vachal

7. Gravity - Ryan Innis

8. A Song for You - Jessie Campbell

9. Folsom Prison Blues - Midas Whale

10. Torn - Cassadee Pope

11. Angel From Montgomery - Audra McLaughlin

12. Safe & Sound - Savannah Berry

13. Photograph - Sydney Rhame

14. Titanium - Madilyn Page

15. Anything Could Happen - Caroline Pennell

16. Rumour Has It - Mathai

17. Breakeven (Falling to Pieces) - Xenia

18. It's Too Late - Madi Davis

19. Stand By Me - Ddendyl

20. Good Girl - Amber Carrington

21. Electric Feel - Preston Pohl

22. What's Going On - Anthony Evans

23. Give Me Love - Reagan James

24. All I Want - Deanna Johnson

25. Ain’t No Way - Siaundra Lewis

26. Can't Help Falling In Love - Jess Kellner

27. No One - Whitney Myer

28. Movin’ On Up - Cole Vosbury

29. Ain't No Sunshine - Nelly's Echo

30. Thank You - Andi and Alex

31. Hell On Heels - Raelynn

32. Falling Slowly - Elenowen

33. To Make You Feel My Love - Holly Tucker

34. Landslide - Suzanne Choffel

35. Listen - Trevin Hunte

36. Hard to Handle - Cody Belew

37. That’s How Strong My Love Is - Luke Wade

38. I Want You To Want Me - Morgan Frazier

39. Not Ready To Make Nice - Sasha Allen

40. New York State of Mind - India Carney

41. One More Try - Josh Kaufman

42. Like a Rolling Stone - Lee Koch

43. Skinny Love - Brooke Adee

44. Dancing With Myself - The Shields Brothers!

45. The Lazy Song - Naia Kete

46. Cosmic Love - Caitlin Michele

47. Hey, Soul Sister - De'Borah

48. I Want You - Rob Taylor

49. Saving All My Love For You - Kris Thomas

50. Come As You Are - Rebecca Loebe

And here is a little bonus list of the ten singers that no coach inexplicably turned around for:

1. Jane Smith (Season 4)
2. Ducky (Season 2)
3. Kameron Corvet (Season 3)
4. Preston Shannon (Season 2)
5. Allison Bray (Season 6)
6. Caitlin Lucia (Season 7)
7. Eric Tipton (Season 2)
8. Joe May (Season 9)
9. Betsy Barta (Season 4)
10. Yolanda Barber (Season 3)


For the stat geeks out there I had divvied up the top fifty into a couple of categories.

Artists by Coach
Blake - 14
Adam – 12
Christina - 8
Cee-Lo – 5
Pharrell – 5
Usher – 3
Shakira - 2
Gwen – 1

Artists by Season
Season 1 – 3
Season 2 – 10
Season 3 – 7
Season 4 – 9
Season 5 – 5
Season 6 – 4
Season 7 – 2
Season 8 – 4
Season 9 - 6

Artists by How Far They Went
Battle Round – 8
Knockout Round – 9
Playoffs - 7
Live Shows – 14
Semi-Finals - 9
Finals – 1
Winners - 2

Previewing He Named Me Malala

I knew who Malala Yousafzai was, the name has been floating around for a while popping up in my news feed and I would occasionally get bits and pieces of her life. I knew she was a Pakistani girl who the Talaban tried to kill when she spoke up for education rights for girls in her country and that she went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize. It is an important story but to be honest, basically only knew the Cliff Notes version of her story.

And the Cliff Notes version of her life story, but even if you just know the basics (which you should at the very least becaus eI just gave them to you) you should still check out the documentary on her, He Named Me Malala. You will learn just how important that name is and why it is important that young girls have access to an education even if militant Islamist are blowing up schools to make sure it oes not happen.

Not only do you meet Malala the activist, you also get to meet Malala the teenage girl who frets about a mediocre grade on her science test and giggles like a teen would when the interview asks if she like Roger Federer because of his tennis skill or because of his hair. He Named Malala is a powerful movie that should be required viewing for any parent with a daughter and every school age girl. And now you can watch it when it airs commercial free tomorrow on the National Geographic Channel. The documentary was directed by Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim (Waiting for Superman).

He Named Me Malana airs commercial free Monday at 8:00 on the National Geographic Channel.