Around the Tubes: 5/3/13

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 Family Tree, XOXO Betsey Johnson, Resale Royalty, Dallas, Inside Out: The People’s Art Project, Gamer 3D, Mighty Fine, Felicity, Zac Brown Band, Mike Doughty, Life On The Road, Alan Alda, and The Callen Sisters.

- HBO’s latest comedy Family Tree comes from Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock and is about a down on his luck in love and life, having recently lost his job and girlfriend, 30-year-old Tom Chadwick has an unsure sense of his own identity. But when he inherits a mysterious box, Tom starts investigating his lineage and uncovers a world of unusual stories and characters, acquiring a growing sense of who he and his entire family are. Watch the trailer below and check it out when it premieres Sunday May 12 at 10:30.


- This May, get ready for the most fashionable Sunday nights you've had in ages. XOX Betsey Johnson, a docu-series starring Betsey Johnson and her daughter LuLu set to premiere May 12 at 8:00, looks into the crazy and exciting lifestyles of the mother-daughter duo. Then at 9:00, from executive producer Rachel Zoe, Resale Royalty exposes one of the fashion industry's hidden gems – a resale store with designer and vintage clothes and accessories nestled in an unsuspecting location in a St. Louis strip mall. Check out a trailer for the former below:


- TNT announced this week that it is renewing Dallas for a fifteen episode third season that is set to early in early 2014.

- If you missed Inside Out: The People’s Art Project at the Tribeca Film Festival, do not fret because it will be airing exclusively on HBO May 20 at 9:00. The documentary travels the globe with French artist JR as he motivates communities to define their most important causes by pasting giant black & white portraits in the street, testing the limits of what they thought possible.


- Out on DVD and / or blu ray next week include the Gerard Butler’s Gamer 3D, Mighty Fine starring Chazz Palminteri and Andie MacDowell, season three and four of Felicity.


- AXS TV will air the second of Zac Brown Band's three consecutive sold-out concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre LIVE on May 9, 2013 at 10:30. On the road in support of their #1 album, 'Uncaged,' the three-time GRAMMY Award winners have noted the iconic setting's "special mystique,” calling the experience of performing in this special venue “like playing in God’s hands.”

- Singer-songwriter Mike Doughty, formerly of Soul Coughing, has launched a PledgeMusic campaign to support a record of reinterpretations of the band's body of work. Click the link to donate.

- In his new webisode Life On The Road, Reggie Watts gives you a behind the scenes look at life on the road and shows you what it's like to perform alongside some of the most talented musicians in the world. Directed, shot and edited by Vikram Gandhi (KUMARE), "Life On The Road" Episode 1 paints a fascinating portrait of comedian/musician Reggie Watts.

- Thanks to M*A*S*H, The West Wing and a slew of successful movies, Alan Alda now has his pick of writing and directing projects. But what he really wants to talk about is science. In the May/June issue of The Saturday Evening Post, on newsstands now, Alda shares tales of both acting and his new scientific endeavors to Post contributor Claudia Gryvatz Copquin.

- The Callen Sisters have released their third single, Little Dreamer off their soon to be released album, The Lightbringer Project, fans of Sara Bareilles should take a take a listen below:

It's a Trap!

Even before it aired I was ready to love The Americans. It was the first show Graham Yost created after Justified, the best show on television. Then you add in Keri Russell as a Russian spy which sounded like it would be Homeland: The Reagan Years but seem from the opposition. Sure we know how the story turns out (SPOILER ALERT: the Russians lose) but Yost is a master storyteller and with the premiere set against Reagan’s election, they are still eight years away from the fall of the Berlin Wall and a full decade away from the dissolution of USSR. Not that I would mind if The Americans lasted long enough to see The Jennings adjust to the end of The Cold War.

As great as the premise, the season relied on too many television tropes. Of course the guy who just moved across the street is the newest counter-intelligence agent in the CIA who routinely is investigation The Jennings activities but never actually crosses paths with them except in the finale but did not get a good look at them in their disguises. The biggest disappointment of the first season was how uninteresting Margo Martindale. Yost brought her in after she deservedly won an Emmy for her role of Mags Bennett on Justified but her character just did not add anything as the Jennings’ handler except the time she bruised Elizabeth’s fists with her face.

But these complaints really are due to unfair comparisons to Justified and Homeland, two of my favorite shows. On its own, The Americans was still an edge of your seat cat and mouse game between the Jennings and Stan as they join each other for cookouts on their time off from spying. And where I thought from the beginning that The Jennings would eventually get turned and become double agents for the CIA at some point in the series (I always go back to the offer the turncoat KGB agent they captured offered them), the most fascinating part of the finale was when Nina’s boss made it a top priority that she try and turn Stan. Now going forward it may be a question of who turns both. Of course if this were Homeland, they probably would both turn on their country and be shocked when they run into each other at a CIA or KGB meeting.


Still, it was hard not to be disappointed by the finale. In the end nothing changed. The Jennings did not get caught and Stan and the rest of the CIA are no closer to catching than they were at the beginning of the season. I thought for sure Nina would not make it out of the season alive, or at the very least be resigned to a life in Siberia, but she is still around as a double agent, her alliances just switch back. Maybe I was just conditioned by Homeland to expect one mind blowing game changer per week (for better or worse) I was expecting The Americans would have at least one in a season. With the last scene, I thought,, okay, at least the daughter will learn of her parents double lives, but even that just ended on a cliffhanger. Did she find her parent's stash? Does it even matter? Is the son more worthless and Bobby Draper and Chris Brody combined? I guess we have to wait until next season for the answers.

The Americans 1.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Teacher Thinks that I Sound Funny but She Likes the Way You Sing

At the turn of the century, music got really sedate, the only videos getting played on MTV (when they played music videos) were bland teen pop or crappy rap-rock songs. It took something truly innovative to get noticed. Enter Fell in Love with a Girl and its Lego inspired music video which busted through the monotony of everything else in heavy rotation. Even better was that accompanying song by The White Stripes was great even without the awesome visuals. And though the strict adherence to only two instruments per song (so they would be able to play them as is live in concert) and a red, white, and black color palate, could have pegged the duo as a one hit wonder, but none listen to the album White Blood Cells, this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, showed they were much more than a gimmick.

The White Stripes were blues rock at its finest. Though most of their songs clocked in at less than three minutes, Jack White was able to pump at least one great guitar riff into each of them. The songs range from the down and gritty Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, to the delta blues of The Union Forever, to the quick and simple Meg stomping Little Room, to the poppy acoustic Hotel Yorba which just begs to be sun along with.

As great as Fell in Love with a Girl is, the best track on the album just may be We’re Going to Be Friends. With just Jack and his acoustic guitar, he sings of a simpler time when worrying about the first day of school was your biggest problem. But it is also a day were you meet new friends that can last a lifetime. The song should be included in every graduation mix from now until the end of time. As The White Stripes showed, the simplest can also sometimes be the best.

I Want My Music Television: 4/30/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


How Many Drinks? - Miguel featuring Kendrick Lamar


Is it wrong to like a song that is kinda promoting date rape? If Miguel needs to liquor up chicks to get them home, what hope is there for the rest of us? And what the frack is Kendrick Lamar wearing? It looks like he took that outfit out of my crazy uncle’s closet.


Feel it All – KT Tunstall


I really enjoyed KT Tunstall’s debut album but her subsqueant album veered too far into computerize dancy music, I hope this song is a sign she is going back to a more organic way of making music. But I do hope she did utilize computers when it came to making this music video because it really freaked me out if she was really walking the plank.


Out of My League - Fitz & The Tantrums


Fitz and the Tantrums first album was filled with retro soul and it sounds like they have updated to a New Wave sound for their sophomore outing. Even the music video is very eighties, I was ready for Max Headroom to pop out randomly.


OMYGOD! – Kate Nash


Yeah the stylization of the title is silly, but the new Kate Nash song is ultra catchy.

Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition XIII

If it were not for Limp Bizkit’s fifth attempt at being relevant again, Fall Out Boy may have been the most unwanted comeback of the past year. Even worse is they called their album Save Rock and Roll (so when you look at the album, you will see Fall Our Boy Save Rock n Roll) even though they along with their whiney contemporaries destroyed the genre (good riddance My Chemical Romance, the world will not be anticipating your inevitable reunion at Coachella 2020). Apparently the band did not watch the Grammy’s this year which featured Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Jack White, and Fun., four critically and commercially successful rock albums, all fight for Best Album.

But I am not a Fall Out Boy hater, a couple of their songs made my Best of the Year lists. Despite the first single My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light em Up) and its pretentious long title the band is known for, Save Rock n Roll is the band’s grown up album. Besides Light em Up, the rest of the album has “normal” titles and less tongue in cheek lyrics (Courtney Love spoken word diatribe on Rat a Tat notwithstanding). This album reminds me a lot of Blink-182’s “grown up” albums, they may have been musically better, but their songs where they would make prank phone calls about sodomy were more entertaining. Same for Save Rock n Roll where the album may sound better, but the most entertaining song is the one that sound most like their older work.

Save Rock n Roll gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


Taylor Swift set up the template for country cross-over success. Hook in that country crowd then slowly creep closer and closer to pop music with every subsequent album until you are making crappy dubstep songs with Max Martin. It look like The Band Perry is copying that blueprint to a T. Much like Taylor did with Teardrops on My Guitar, Kimberly and her brother released a “Pop Remix” of If I Die Young to pop and adult contemporary stations. And that turn to the mass center continues on their sophomore album Pioneer which dips one toe into the country pool and the other in the pop world. The album starts off with their best song to date, the banjo infused Better Dig Two which is as much pop-rock as it is country. They continue to go back and forth and combine the two for the rest of the album, but none of it is very memorable. Maybe the true key to Taylor Swift's successes is dating and writing about douchebags when they inevitably break her heart.

Pioneer gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


Last year I became obsessed with who the record companies would try to pass off as the “Next Adele.” First out the box was internet lightning rod Lana del Ray who was maybe the most prepackaged “indie” act ever with her devil may care attitude, thin voice, pretentious lyrics that wanted you to think they were much more important than they are, and music that borrows as much from retro sounds as it does modern day hip-hop. Though we never did get a Next Adele (at least until Emili Sandi manages to break out here stateside) you could call Jessie Ware the Next Lana Del Rey but Jessie comes off much less pretentious, less annoying and has a slightly better singing voice. The music is still draped in as many rap references while it borrows from music from the sixties (Wildest Moments is the best here which will grow on you with every new listen) but most songs come off as a little too sleepy and boring. But that is what makes her debut Devotion a great bedtime album, whether that is a good or bad thing may depend on how much Ambient you take on a monthly basis.

Devotion gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/28/13

Mad Men: Okay, the show is officially messing with the viewers now. C’mon, Jefferson D’Arcy? Add him to the list of sometimes blink and you missed it cameos from Alex Mack, Mr. Belding, Rory Gilmore, the dude from The Nanny, and the recently Don conquest of Lindsey Weir. And Jefferson totally distracted from the appearance of the chick from Sugar and Spice as Joan’s sister (? I am not entire sure what that relationship was). Is it some deeply meta ploy to cast retro actors in a retro show? At any rate it gets distracting. I had to go straight to my computer after the show just to make sure my mind was not playing tricks on me and I really saw a fat Jefferson D’Arcy proposition Don Draper in a wife swap (something I am sure he tried while married to Marcy multiple times).

Until he popped up on screen, I was going to spend most of this space wondering who was interested in following Dawn home a season later. And speaking of the show messing with me, why was Allison Brie listed as a Special Guest Star and completely missing from the episode? Has it been in the credits all season and I just missed it or was she left on the cutting room floor, but kept in the credits for union reasons? I am also interested in how Harry learned of how Joan got het partnership. I do not remember him being in the room when it was suggested she help land Jaguar (but then again I have a hard time remembering what happened last week). Did someone tell him or did he not know and just correctly guessed that is how a woman like Joan could become partner?
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Vikings: I had a feeling the priest would be the one that would be offered to the Gods but somehow would manage to get out of it, he is too interesting of a character to let go of this early. Though he apparently has not renounced Jesus Christ in his heart yet, I wonder if it will happen eventually. I have noticed he no longer shaves the circle in his head.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Vikings on iTunes

The Voice: I covered all the singing during my most recent Power Rankings, but I did not get to talk about “the new coach who shocks his fellow judges and producers.” Now I have watched every episode of Survivor and their promo so I am used to a Mark Burnett production to talk in absurd hyperbole, but this ended not even being a letdown or disappointing. It just did not happen. What exactly did Usher do that was so shocking? Not pushing his button until Cathia started walking down the steps? He did that with his other Steal but let the guy walk past him before pressing his button. Was it him calling Shakira narcissistic? I guess that was a little shocking.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Survivor: Caramoan: It is befuddling to me that there has been about a decade’s worth of Food Auctions and there are still people who waste their money on food. Seriously, you hold your money until Jeff offers up a clue. That is Survivor 101. And you certainly do not let someone who is not in your alliance get that clue. How the remnants of Stealth-R-Us let Malcolm get the clue when they still had enough money to outbid him is beyond me. At least that led to one of my most favorite scenes ever on the show with Malcolm and Andrea sitting on a log for an entire day. The whole episode could have been those two sitting there and I would not have mind. But if I am Malcolm, I keep searching even if Andrea is there. She already knows what you are doing. Worst case scenario is she is the one that finds it, and since she has the numbers, she does not even need it. I wonder now if Andrea or Cochran go back there and looks for it now that Malcolm is out. Did Malcolm tell the rest of the Douchebag Alliance where it was?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

The Americans: I knew someone would eventually become a double agent, the question was when. Although I guess Nina is technically a triple agent now (assuming her boss taker her up on her offer and not sent her to Siberia). And with the FBI now closing in on the Jennings, they know have multiple sketches of them and know they are bugging their office, I wonder if they will be forced to become double agents at some point, which is something I thought was going to happen back in the premiere when the other turncoat made the offer. Although it would be really interesting is one becomes a double agent unbeknownst to the other. What really surprised me was Clarke getting married to Martha. Never saw that coming. Now I wonder if Martha will survive the season.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: It really is annoying whenever the show taps into my own experiences and uses them on the show to show how crazy Sheldon is (though I disagree about the quality of Heroes drecressing until the point it was satisfyingly canceled, Heroes was never good to begin with), so I knew pretty early on as soon as Amy left, Sheldon would go back and complete everything because that would totally be something I would do.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Hannibal: With her taking the week off, it became clear to me Abigail Hobbs is the most interesting character on the show. Even though I never read the books or saw the movies, we know where Hannibal and Will land, but what is fascination about the show is figuring out where Abigail will end up. Will she end up being Dr. Lecter’s apprentice, or will she go to FBI school to be more like Will. If you missed Abigail like me, make sure you check out the Hannibal Webisobes (six in all) which features Ms. Hobbs taking up Dr. Lecter’s offer to have dinner with him. Alana Bloom also started to get interesting during the webisobes.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Happy Endings: It looks increasingly likely that this show is going to be canceled (unless it gets a reprieve from TBS or the increasing numbers of channels and steaming sites) and after the besmirched the good name of Better Than Ezra, I am glad they will probably be off the air forever after next week. How dare they call BTE a one hit wonder?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Happy Endings on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 4/27/13

Quote of the Week: Everybody is scared there, women crying in the ladies room, men crying in the elevator. It sounds like New Year's Eve when they empty the garbage, there's so many bottles. – (Dawn Chambers, Mad Men)

Song of the Week: The Day That Never Comes - Metallica (Once Upon a Time)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: NFL Draft: Surprisingly the Browns did not waste a first round pick on a thirty year old quarterback that is worse than ones already on the team. But there are still a couple more rounds left to screw things up.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"The Colonel" The Americans, Wednesday at 10:00 on FX

Free Download of the Week: Cercas Blancas EP – Needtobreathe (Noise Trade)

Deal of the Week: $3.99 Albums: Get deeply discounted albums from Van Halen, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Blake Shelton and Maroon 5:


New Album Release of the Week: If The River Was Whiskey - Spin Doctors

New DVD Release of the Week: History of the Eagles

Video of the Week: After the success of the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign, the question was what would come next. That answer came this week when Zach Braff started to take donations for Wish I Was Here, the first movie he would write and direct after Garden State. Even though I enjoy his previous movie, I am not as inclined to donate as I did for Veronica Mars (not that it matters because by the time you read this, the Kickstarter will probably have already reached its $2 million goal) but I do fully endorse watching the video Zach made to promote the campaign featuring a cameo from one of his Garden State co-stars that you may not have even known was in the movie but now an award winning actor.


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Americans, Wednesday at 10:00 on FX: The Americans started off easily the best new show of the season, and though Hannibal bumped it down to number two, the show remains one of the more engrossing shows on television. My fear of rooting for a bunch of communist did not come to fruition because, despite a bit sympathetic, the Jennings really never become all that likeable. But neither did the good guys with Stan sleeping with the enemy while blowing the head off another one when he probably should not have. With as many twists and turns this season, who knows what they have in store for us in the finale.

Around the Tubes: 4/26/13

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 Vikings, The Newsroom, Manhunt, King of the Nerds, The Hero, Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host, Living Dead: Resurrection, Strictly Ballroom, and the heardontv app.

- This Sunday is the season finale of Vikings, but do not worry, the show will return for a second season. You can watch the promo below to get exited:


- If you have ever wanted to meet Aaron Sorkin, now is your chance because omaze.com is running a contest where you can fly to Los Angeles and meet the writer and hang out on the set of The Newsroom. You have until the end of today to enter.

- The latest HBO documentary airs Wednesday, and Manhunt is about the inside story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden features testimonials from CIA Analysts, Targeters, and Operatives who tracked him for nearly two decades. Tune in at 8:00 and check out the trailer below:


- Did you watch the first season of King of the Nerds and wonder, “Why am I not on this show?” Now you can be on the second season. TBS is crowd sourcing a contestant for the second season. Upload your video to the King of the Nerds Facebook page now. Then starting May 25 the public will vote for one nerd to compete for the illustrious title.

- We are still a little over a month before the debut of The Hero but TNT has released another promo, this time with actual footage from the competition series hosted by The Rock.



- TBS is bolstering its game show line up again by announcing Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host starring D.L. Hughley and Michael Ian Black and executive produced by Mark Burnett. The two comedians will each present the single contestant with a bizarre and seemingly implausible fact, one of which is true, the other of which is not. The contestant must then choose the true fact to be rewarded in the game. The players who prove themselves to be super-human lie detectors will go home with a pocketful of cash.

- Out on DVD next week include Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection based on the classic original film and the blu-ray release of the 1994 Baz Luhrmann film Strictly Ballroom.



- For anyone who has heard a song on their favorite television show and wonder what song it is and who sings it, now there is an app for that. You can download heardontv for free on iTunes.

I Want My Music Television: 4/25/13

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Fire We Make – Alicia Keys featuring Maxwell


When did Alicia Keys turn into Whitley Gilbert? At any rate, this is going straight into my Baby Making playlist.


Cups – Anna Kendrick


Anna Kendrick has to be the surprise hit of 2013, who would have guessed that a song from an a capella movie by one of the amateur actresses would rise up the Billboard charts. And it became such a big hit, it warranted a music video, complete with a “pop remix” that does not even to tie into the movie. And just when you almost had a grasp on how to do the cup thing yourself, now you have to figure out how they got an entire restaurant to do an entire routine in one take.


Still into You - Paramore


Who knew Paramore could have fun? I am just not sure what is up with the yellow paint dripping down the leg is supposed to symbolize.


Young Volcanoes – Fall Out Boys


So apparently the weird torture music videos from the new Fall Out Boy album is trilogy. Although we still do not know how the band gets into the back of the van or how 2 Chainz ties into the last two videos, so there may be more. Ugg.

The Voice Season Four Battle Round Power Rankings

The Battle Rounds have always been the worst part of The Voice, there seems to be more trainwrecks than great performances with everyone else ranging between mediocre to just plain boring and we also tend to lose a bunch of good talent. Things got better last season with the introduction of The Steal and they sped by some of the more boring Battles via montage. The problem last season is most of the Steals seemed to be wasted on unworthy contestants and only two made it to the Live Shows (ironically both were on Team Adam when half of the Steals were formally on his team, none of those of which advanced). The Steals were better utilized this season, though I would have preferred Jessica Childress or Brandon Roush (both of who I have a feeling were unlucky enough to perform after all the Steals had been used by the lack of Carson’s uncomfortable, “let me remind you so-and-so is available for a Steal”) had gotten through over the two interchangeable male RnB artists that did get stolen or even Patrick Dodd, but nothing really that egregious.

I cannot say I missed Cee-Lo that much during the Blind Auditions but he was solely missed in the Battle Rounds, he always had a penchant for awesomely cheesy eighties record and bizarre parings. Aside from the bluegrass version of Burning Love, none of the song choices this round were all that interesting by any of the coaches (of course the Pat Benatar song was montaged out of the show). But anyway. Surprisingly everyone in my Blind Auditions Power Rankings advanced to the Knockout Rounds (Jessica at #12 was the highest person sent home). Here is my power ranking of those moving onto the Knockout Rounds.

1. Caroline Glaser (Team Blake Adam) – All the huge words the judges trot out: diaphanous, ethereal are definitely warranted. Her voice is so soothing and unique they could invent words to describe it. As great as Danielle is (as you will tell by her ranking in a third), Blake not picking Caroline is one of the dumbest coach’s decisions in the history of the show, right up there with Erin Martin over The Shield Brothers.

2. Ryan Innes (Team Usher) – So we know he can do soul music, and do it very well, now as we transition into the homestretch, I really want to see what else he can do.

3. Danielle Bradbery (Team Blake) – Danielle’s audition was fun, but wow, she really broke out in the Battle Rounds when most other contestant’s flaws are shown. Her and Caroline put on the third best Battle Round duet in the shows history after Amanda Brown vs. Trevin Hunt and Jessie Campbell vs. Anthony Evans. And now with Caroline out of the way, Danielle established herself as the favorite on Team Blake.

4. Kris Thomas (Team Shakira) – I do not know why people continue to compare his voice to that of a woman’s. I never once thought that. The guy clearly comes from a line of great RnB tenors like Ralph Tresvant and all Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations.

5. Sarah Simmons (Team Adam) – Not the best pairing, Sarah is a powerhouse and the other guy was too laid back and the Battle did not work that well. But she has sung two songs that I do not really care for and is still in my top five. I cannot wait to hear something that I actually do like.

6. Cáthia (Team Shakira Usher) – The closest Battle possibly ever (as you can tell when you see where her opponent landed). Vocally I give the slight edge to Cathia but…

7. Mary Miranda (Team Shakira) - …Mary Miranda is the more entertaining personally. Really they could have given the entire hour to these girls and I would not have complained (and this is coming from someone who hates the backstage segments). Though I gave the slight edge to Cathia, Mary could easily leapfrog her (and others) if she does faster songs because this girl is a spitfire. She may not win the show, but she may end up having the best career of anyone this season.

8. Savannah Berry (Team Blake) – Savannah said she is more of a ballad singer and her up-tempo performance showed that she was right even though it was more fun to sit through than her audition. But now that Blake has amassed a country only team, the question going into the Live Show is will he actually go all young female country singers. If not, Savannah vs. Danielle or Holly seems like the most obvious pairing and may lead to a very hard decision.

9. Amber Carrington (Team Adam) – The biggest breakout of the Battle Rounds, not only did she decisively win her Battle Round pairing, she managed to bring out Sasha’s flaws, if this were a real boxing match, that would be a monumental feat like Buster Douglas vs. Mike Tyson.

10. Midas Whale (Team Adam) – I wonder if the accordion is to Midas Whale to what hair is to Samson because their Battle Round was a bit lackluster and Patrick was the clear winner here. They may want to dust off the accordion in the next round because they are on a very strong team and could very well be the odd men out.

11. Holly Tucker (Team Blake) – After her audition I thought she would be best served sticking to an adult contemporary lane and after hearing sing an up-tempo country song, I still think that.

12. Jess Kellner (Team Usher) – My biggest problems with the Battle Rounds is good singers can get forced to sing songs that do not fit them or get stuck with singers that they do not blend together well with. Both happened to Jess. Hopefully it was just a Battle Round fluke lik it usually is.

13. Audrey Karrasch (Team Usher) – Montage win, yawn.

14. Sasha Allen (Team Adam Shakira) – Despite her flaws being in full view, losing to Amber may have been the best for her. Now she no longer has to be in anymore silly duets, she is away from the crowded talent on Team Adam and has a much clearer path to the Live Shows with Shakira.

15. Luke Edgemon (Team Shakira Blake) – When Luke said he was going to make a strategic decision, it seemed clear to me he was gesturing toward Blake before they cut to commercial (the editors did a really horrible job because I could also clearly hear Adam say the “mmm” of Midas Whale before the ads too) so I got to spend the whole break thinking of what a horrible strategy that was as Blake’s strategy this season is a strict country one. Sure Luke may not have known that Blake was going all country because he had not done that before, but he should had know from last season that Blake had no interest in the Steal and now Luke will just be fodder for some teenage country chick. Should have went with Usher.

16. Taylor Beckham (Team Usher Blake) – Welcome to Team Blake, I hope you invested in cowboy boots and quickly learn the Miranda Lambert catalogue or it will be a short stay.

17. Judith Hill (Team Adam) – I thought she was overrated before, Adam calling her performance the greatest Battle ever only makes worse. It was not the best Battle this season (Caroline vs. Danielle); it was not even the best Battle that episode (Amber vs. Sasha).

18. Grace Askew (Team Blake) - Montage win, yawn.

19. Amy Whitcomb (Team Adam) – Montaged twice, but I still have to stand by the Sing-Off alum. But even though Adam took someone to the Live Shows last season who got her first two performances passed over, he also had a much weaker team then and it will be hard for her to slip into the top four on his team even though she would be two or three on the other teams.

20. Garrett Gardner (Team Shakira) – The token rock dude this season, probably would have preferred Brandon in his spot.

21. Monique Abbadie (Team Shakira) – She was a little bit too much for me during her audition and cringed when she sounded like she was trying to imitate Lady Gaga in the rehearsals, but she started to impress me with her performance. Could be a dark horse in the Live Rounds.

22. VEDO (Team Usher) – Dude is very likeable and if I did a Power Ranking of people from the show I would most want to hang with, Vedo would top that list (Non-Hot Chick Catergory) but he hits some bad notes and creates others that just are not there. Hopefully Usher do some better coaching because you can’t not root for this guy.

23. The Swon Brothers (Team Blake) – Had Blake not gone with the silly all country team strategy, I doubt these guys would have advanced. You cannot tell me they deserved a slot on Team Blake over Caroline. I would probably have Jacqie and Michelle above them.

24. Tawnya Reynolds (Team Shakira) - Montage win, yawn.

25. Michelle Chamuel (Team Usher) - Montage win, yawn.

26. Warren Stone (Team Adam) – Might as well as been montaged because his Battle was kind of a bore.

27. Karina Iglesias (Team Adam Shakira) – Had Adam not overhyped the Battle, I wonder if Shakira wastes her Steals that early. I would have rather her Steal Caroline to form Team Diaphanous or even had a Steal left to pick up Jessica.

28. Orlando Dixon (Team Usher Adam) – The brilliance of Ain’t No Sunshine is its simplicity. Orlando just oversang the song. When people bring out the unnecessary vocal gymnastic I think back to season one when Blake told one of his contestants, just because you can do that does not me you should.

29. Shawna P (Team Shakira) – After Caroline, this was the most shocking win of the season. I thought Brandon won that Battle easily.

30. C. Perkins (Team Shakira Usher) – I really do not have anything to say about this guy, I think he got montaged and Kris just dominated him in their Battle, nothing really stick out about him.

31. Josiah Hawley (Team Usher) – He has a serviceable voice which was worthy of a button push, but goodness that was the worse Battle Round performance (Non-Trainwreck Category) in the history of the show. Make me wonder just how bad the montaged Battles were this year if this Battle was shown.

32. Justin Rivers (Team Blake) – Montaged… twice. The only question now is which teenage country singer he is going to lose to in the Knockout Round.

As I always do, I created an advanced mathematics equation to determine who really has the strongest team (okay, I just gave 1 point to the worst and 32 to the best and added up the teams) and here is where the teams stand:

Team Adam: 149
Team Blake: 138
Team Shakira: 118
Team Usher: 123

Adam opened up his lead from the Battle Rounds (stealing the best singer will help with that) while Usher manage to go from last by a mile to leaping over Shakira. Here are some predictions on who will be advancing to the Live Shows ranking from go ahead and bet the farm to you may want to flip a coin with a dark horse in parentheses:

Team Adam: Judith, Sarah, Caroline, Midas Whale (Amy)
Team Blake: Savannah, Grace, Holly, Danielle (Luke)
Team Shakira: Kris, Sasha, Mary, Monique (Garrett)
Team Usher: Ryan Innes, Vedo, Jess Kellner, Cathia (Michelle)

The 50 Greatest Songs Ever Parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic

Get ready to feel old people, Friday marks the thirtieth anniversary of the self titled debut album of "Weird Al" Yankovic. And the guy is still at it releasing his thirteenth album a year and a half ago. He started working the album by releasing his T.I. parody Whatever You Like to iTunes a year before it appeared on an EP. I was hoping that was signs of things to come with Al hearing a song, making a parody and releasing it before a full album is done, but alas we will have to wait a little long to hear what he does with Call Me Maybe. Until then and in honor of the anniversary I have decided to rank the greatest songs he has ever parodied (because ranking his parodies seem too obvious). Here is what I came up with and put Al’s parody in parentheses.

1. Beat It - Michael Jackson (Eat It)

2. Lose Yourself - Eminem (Couch Potato)

3. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana (Smells Like Nirvana)

4. Trapped In the Closet - R. Kelly (Trapped In the Drive-Thru)

5. Piano Man - Billy Joel (Ode to a Superhero)

6. Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio (Amish Paradise4)

7. Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Bedrock Anthem)

8. American Pie - Don McLean (The Saga Begins)

9. Lola - The Kinks (Yoda)

10. King of Pain - The Police (King of Suede)

11. One Week - Barenaked Ladies (Jerry Springer)

12. American Idiot - Green Day (Canadian Idiot)

13. Wild Thing - Tone-Loc (Isle Thing)

14. I Love Rock 'N Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (I Love Rocky Road)

15. Living In America - James Brown (Living With a Hernia)

16. Eye of the Tiger - Survivor (Theme from Rocky XIII (Aka "The Rye or The Kaiser"))

17. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around - Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Stop Draggin' My Car Around)

18. Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers (Bedrock Anthem)

19. Bad - Michael Jackson (Fat)

20. Another One Bites the Dust - Queen (Another One Rides the Bus)

21. Lump - The Presidents of the United States of America (Gump)

22. The Safety Dance - Men without Hats (The Brady Bunch)

23. Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me - U2 (Cavity Search)

24. Waterfalls - TLC (Phony Calls)

25. Mony Mony - Billy Idol (Alimony)

26. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift (TMZ)

27. Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) - The Offspring (Pretty Fly for a Rabbi)

28. She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals (She Drives Like Crazy)

29. Stand - R.E.M. (Spam)

30. Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer (Addicted to Spuds)

31. La Bamba - Los Lobos (Lasagna)

32. Misery - Soul Asylum (Syndicated Inc./a>)

33. I Want a New Drug - Huey Lewis and the News (I Want a New Duck)

34. It's All About the Benjamins (Remix) - Puff Daddy, The Lox, The Notorious B.I.G., and Lil' Kim (It's All About the Pentiums)

35. I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys (Ebay)

36. Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Want to Have Lunch)

37. U Can'T Touch This - MC Hammer (I Can't Watch This)

38. My Sharona - The Knack (My Bologna)

39. Got My Mind Set On You - George Harrison ((This Song's Just) Six Words Long)

40. Complicated - Avril Lavigne (A Complicated Song)

41. Like a Virgin - Madonna (Like a Surgeon)

42. Who's Johnny - El DeBarge (Here's Johnny)

43. Money for Nothing - Dire Straits (Money for Nothing / Beverly Hillbillies)

44. I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany (I Think I'm a Clone Now)

45. Rico Suave - Gerardo (Taco Grande)

46. Mickey - Best of Toni Basil - Tony Basil (Ricky)

47. Party In the U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus (Party In the CIA)

48. Blame It On The Rain - Milli Vanilli (The Plumbing Song)

49. Ridin' - Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone (White & Nerdy)

50. Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies (Grapefruit Diet)

Previewing Brain Games: The Series

Kiddies, come on in so I can tell you a little story: getting old sucks. Your body will start to ache with little physical exertion, it is extremely easy to gain weight and harder to take it off, and you have trouble remember what you did yesterday let alone every chapter of Trapped in the Closet verbatim like you used to. And possibly the worse, you will feel the urge to scare all the young people you know with the horror of growing old.

Maybe I was too dire with how bad your memory gets as you age (but you definitely will find it harder and harder to find your car keys) because I do remember a couple years ago National Geographic Channel ran a special called Brain Games which featured tricks to improve your memory. Okay it may not have helped me much because I only vaguely remember something about impaired driving and how unreliable police lineups are.

National Geographic Channel is resurrecting Brain Games and this time as a weekly series. Hosted by Jason Silva, the show takes an in depth look at how our brains work and what you can do to harness the power of the brain. You may think you would notice something like cheerleaders taking off their clothes, but there I was watching the premiere and completely missed it on my screen and the show explains how and why. Upcoming episodes will help you face your fears, and learn the difference between fear, dread, and anxiety. But the most fascinating was the fact that seventy percent of elections can be predicted just by looking at the candidates.

Brain Games airs Mondays at 9:00 on the National Geographic Channel including back to back episodes tonight.