57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/6/14

Once Upon a Time: It is probably not a good sign when you laugh through a whole death scene, but Neil’s death was just silly. C’mon, how about at least trying true love’s kiss to revive him?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Shameless: So Frank finally got his liver and then thinks the little girl in the next bed who died is Fiona. So will that actually be the catylist for him to be a better man? I am guessing he will be back to destroying his new liver by next season’s premiere.

The Walking Dead: In the lead up to the season finale, the questioned seemed like it would not be if one of the main characters died, or even which one (Rick already being booked for Talking Dead for the very first time seemed ominous), but how many. Well it ended up being none. Sure there was a very gruesome death; Rick ripping out the neck of some dude with his teeth was nearly as gruesome as any zombie on human violence in the show, but it still was anti-climatic that the foursome all made it out with only a black eye to show for it. We also found out that Terminus was naturally not what it seemed. Glen went in the front door and Rick went through the back but still ended up in the same place. It was dark, but it I did not see Carol, Tyrese, or even Beth. Now I have to spend seven months debating if to check out the graphic novel spoilers to see what I actually up with Terminus.
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Resurrection: So is this going to turn into a new dead person a week type show? The latest zombie is the most interesting of the three we have met, one that committed suicide but no longer wants to die and kind of wants to rekindle her old flame who just so happens to be married now. That is a lot more interesting than the kid and the criminal.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Resurrection on iTunes.

Revenge: Why is every time Aiden leaves, they still find a dumb reason to bring him back? Just let him go, he brings nothing to the show. Or better yet, just kill him off so you are not tempted to bring him back.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

House of Lies: Finally they killed off T.I. He really dragged down this season. I am glad Marty accused Dre of setting up a gang hit so it seemed less racist when it first crossed my mind.

The Voice: So the big twist this season is that there is a second round of battles instead of the Knockout Round with the big difference being that this round the singers get to pick the song they sing. Except as we found out, the song they had to pick was from a short list of three songs. And I wonder if they really had a choice between the three because Stevie Jo and Morgan Wallen settling on One Direction looked like really bad acting.

We did not even get to learn the other two for half of the battles this week and with so many bad songs this week I have to wonder just how much worse the other were. You had Christina Grimmie and Sam Behymer doing the horrible One Republic song which was used in a Battle just last season. It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World was also used in a Battle last year. Then there was the horrible Miley Cyrus song which I think Blake included just so he could make a twerking joke. The only song choice this week that did not have me rolling my eyes was Have a Little Faith in Me, one of the greatest songs ever written.

And as bad as the song selection was, some of the coaches’ decisions were worse. I disagreed with five of the nine Battles shown (as for the one montage, I would have also would have seen Emily B advance). Personally I would have gone with Tess Boyer, Sam, and Ddendyl to win their Battles. Then there was the curious case of the steals this week. I was scratching my head when Usher and the other coaches were talking like Stevie Jo was the frontrunner when Morgan has been better (maybe he really bombed in his montaged first Battle). And then Usher let Morgan get stolen by Adam even though he could easily go further with the voter than Stevie Jo. But I am only assuming Usher let Adam have Morgan because Adam inexplicitly let Josh Kaufman go to Team Usher when Josh was Adam’s best chance of winning this season.

Now I doubt Josh and Morgan will make the Live Shows (which will not be until the top 12 this season) because I do not think any stolen contestant will make it that far except for Tess just because someone on Team Shakira has to advance besides Clarissa Serna and a third random singer who will be voted out first (I am assuming will be Deja Hall). I think we may have to pencil Blake in for a fourth win in five seasons because he is the only person that has not made a colossally bad decision so far this season and looks like he will go into the top 12 with three singers, Audra McLaughlin, Sisaundra Lewis, and Jake Worthington, that would contend to win this season. Of course there is still another round and a half for him to make a colossally bad decision himself. But this is the guy who last season dumped Holly Henry for the worst singer to ever make the Live Show.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: So we spent an entire weekend at Barney and Robin’s wedding just to see them get divorced about ten minutes into the series finale. But to put it in perspective, we spent nine years learning how Ted met the mother only for him to end up with Aunt Robin.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: So Tom really thinks that he left behind no clues that link back to him from his evil abandoned warehouse? Maybe after his “brother” end up dead he will realize that maybe his wife may be on to him. Hopefully something finally goes down between the two in the next episode.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I was going to be fairly disappointed if The Clairvoyant ended up just being Steven Hawkings but it looks like it will end up being a SHEILD agent. But I wonder if I should even watch the next episode for fear of having Captain American spoiled for me because I have an irrational dislike of movie theaters and will not be seeing it until it comes out on Blu-Ray at the earliest. Sure the post-Thor episode did not spoil anything other than London being destroyed (but you could see that in the trailer) because it mostly took place in Asgard. It is my assumption that Winter Soldier is all about the interworking of SHIELD which should have some sort of effect on a show based on the agency.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on iTunes.

Justified: Oh Raylan, you sneaky guy, you: having the judge go after Kendal as an adult to get Darryl to fess up for his crime. Of course that will not happen, but I am sure Wendy is not going to just go along with this, but who does she go after, Raylan or Darryl? But more importantly, what loophole will Dewey use to get him out of jail this time? Or are they finally going to greenlight my Dewey Dickie jail setting spin-off show. I am not sure if Ava will make it that long to star in a co-ed version.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: I have really come to dislike this cast, but that was still a pretty entertaining Tribal Council, maybe even top five of all time. First you had two Immunity Idols, that no one but the owners knew about prior to being played, being traded. You had the mad scramble by the non-Idol holding alliance to someone new. They managed to land on someone who was not saved by an Idol making the big Idol play by the minority alliance the anti-Parvati. Oh, but that is not it, when the final name is called, it turned out all this Idol madness did not even matter because in one of the dumber moves in Survivor history, Cass flipped out of what looks to be pure spite to Sarah for being a preening schmo. Awesome. So Cass went from being in what look to be an almost lock for final three with the remaining Brains to being sixth in a six person alliance. I do not think they could have cast dumber “Brains” if they tried.
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

The Americans: Oh my, Elizabeth seducing Clark went as well as I thought it might.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Nashville: Wait, Scarett shares the same mother with Tyra Collette (who is inexplicitly now a doctor on Jason Katim’s new show; god bless him for keeping Dillon alumni employed)?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Community: I did not buy an HDTV so I could watch poorly drawn seventies type cartoons. I bought so I could see Alison Brie in all of her high definition glory. But if you must do a crappy seventies cartoon episode, at least when Jeff comes to, have Annie dress up in her cartoon outfit.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Parenthood: Oh Julia, what have you done? Up until now, Joel was the idiot because nothing happened, but something did happen this time that cannot be unexplained.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Parenthood on iTunes.

Hannibal: When Beverly got caught in his basement, I theorized that Hannibal may keep her down there and might be saved, albeit with a few parts missing by the end of the season. Of course the very next week she was found sliced up debunking that theory. That is what makes the final scenes even more shocking, that Hannibal would keep Miriam Lass alive all this time. Up to now, Hannibal has stayed a step or five ahead of law enforcement and we have yet to see him make a mistake. So I have to wonder if Hannibal left Miriam there for Jack or is this his first mistake. Miriam does know that Hannibal is the one that did this to her but is she currently mental stable to remember what happened to her so it could go either way.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 4/5/14

Quote of the Week: Let’s look at the facts here: You made us sit down and made us listen to this story about how you met mom, yet she is hardly in the story. No, this is the story about how you are totally in love with Aunt Robin. (Penny Mosby, How I Met Your Mother)

Song of the Week: Downtown Train – Everything But the Girl (How I Met Your Mother)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: A Premature Happy Trails to David Letterman: The late night talk show host announced his retirement this week. Granted he said he will not be stepping aside from The Late Show until 2015 which should give him about a full year for a parade of stars to stop by and kiss his ring one (or two) last times. That also gives us plenty of time to predict who will replace him. My I guess / recommend John Stewart.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"Catch & Release" Melissa and Joey, Wednesday at 8:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: ATO Records: A Spring Sampler (NoiseTrade)

New Album Release of the Week: Duets - Linda Ronstadt

New DVD Release of the Week: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Video of the Week: Maria Full of Grace was a good film in all, but do you know what is missing? Action. So what would happen if you put Maria in The Transporter and instead of heroin, load her up with the same drug that Bradley Cooper took in Limitless. That is exactly the vibe I am getting from the trailer of Lucy. I am mean that as a compliment.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Justified, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: I was worried at the beginning season when it was announced that Michael Rappaport, one of the worst living actor, would be joining the show. And sure this has been the weakest season to date, but a bad season of Justified has still been more entertaining than most shows at their best. We learned the twelve foot rule and got more Dewey Crowe this season. Plus it is a safe assumption that Rappaport will not be back for the sixth and final season considering that Raylan assumes he is the triggerman in the assault on Art. So the only question is will be in jail or in the ground by the end of the season. And if it is the former, by who’s hand? You have the Marshall Service, the Mexicans, Boyd and Win Duffy, and I am guessing that Wendy is not going to let Kendal take the fall as an adult, so just how far will she go to get Darryl to confess.

Around the Tubes: 4/4/14

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 Justified, Inside Comedy, Warehouse 13, The Wil Wheaton Project, Helix, Defiance, Dominion, Nurse Jackie, Grace and Tony.

- Have questions about what's coming next on Justified? Join Timothy Olyphant for a LIVE Facebook chat today at 1:00 PM ET / 10:00 AM PT at facebook.com/JustifiedFX.

- On the season three finale of Inside Comedy on Monday on Showtime, Kevin Pollak recalls his childhood obsession with impersonating everyone from Robert Duvall to William Shatner; how Cosby influenced his acting career; and his early years coming up with buddy Dana Carvey. Bob Saget talks about his mother’s influence over his rebellious comedic style; his unexpected success in television; and the memories of visiting a famous member of The Three Stooges as a teenager. Also in this episode, Larry Miller reveals what happened behind the curtain right before his first appearance on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” as well an unforgettable gig performing at a police convention.

- Syfy’s long-running Emmy-nominated Warehouse 13 will open its doors on Monday, April 14 at 9:00 for the last time as it kicks off the series’ final six episodes. The new season picks up immediately after the events of the last season’s thrilling finale with new caretaker Claudia (Allison Scagliotti) in an epic battle with Paracelsus (guest star Anthony Head) for the soul of the Warehouse. However, their confrontation unleashes an unexpected horror and the Warehouse will never be the same again. In the new season, the entire Warehouse team will confront old questions while encountering new revelations. From a painful realization that Pete (Eddie McClintock) and Myka (Joanne Kelly) must face together, to Artie (Saul Rubinek) accompanying Claudia on a soul-searching journey regarding her long-lost sister, and Steve (Aaron Ashmore) colliding with his past, the final six episodes of Warehouse 13 will take viewers on an emotionally-charged roller coaster ride.

- Syfy has greenlit the 12-episode summer series, The Wil Wheaton Project (working title), a weekly topical comedy show hosted by actor, blogger and champion of geek culture Wil Wheaton. The 30-minute show will offer a fast-paced, lighthearted exploration and celebration of all things within the realm of science fiction and genre entertainment. The series premieres Tuesday, May 27 at 10:00.

- In other Syfy news, the channel has renewed Helix for a second season and unveiled its new Thursday line up. Starting June 19, Defiance will air at 8:00 followed by new show Dominion at 9:00.

- In other renewal news, Nurse Jackie has been renewed for a seventh season even though season six does not start until April 13 at 9:00.

- Loretto,TN-based duo Grace & Tony, the husband-and wife pair responsible for the progressive blend of musical styles dubbed “punkgrass,” have announced the launch of their collaborative video series, “Grace & Tony Greenroom Sessions.” The series kicks off today with a clip featuring the duo’s performance with Malcolm Parson of Carolina Chocolate Drops of the brand new Grace & Tony song, “The 1.” The video, along with all future session clips, will premiere exclusively on TheBoot.com. New sessions will be posted twice each month.

- Driven by Mike McFadden’s crisp vocals and magnetic poise, Brooklyn’s Animal Years brings a fresh face to indie roots rock. Now, they've teamed up with The Orchard to re-release their debut album Sun Will Rise in a Deluxe Edition, featuring four never before heard songs. The first of which, Leah, has just premiered on Indie Shuffle. Take a listen below:

This Time I’ve Got no Hesitation and I’ll Be Moving on to Where I Belong

I finally got into Nickel Creek when they released their fifth album Why Should This Fire Die? I had an irrational hatred of country music in my youth, and once that thawed I was ready to look at artists pushing the conventions of the genre like Nickel Creek who drew on a heavy influence of folk too but still hung out on the outskirts of country music. Of course once I finally discovered the band, they went on an indefinite hiatus. Well at least I had the previous four albums to go back and check out and despite the hiatus, the individual members continued to make music by themselves, with the Punch Brothers, Fiction Family, and many other side projects.

In the nine years since their album, Mumford and Sons brought folk to the mainstream opening up the door of other likeminded artists to breakthrough, including The Lumineers who basically took the Nickel Creek esthetic and created a huge pop success out of it. Now Nickel Creek is back and ready to take back the folk crown. Where most groups reunite and put out a new album as an excuse to tour behind it, the first song Nickel Creek released in almost a decade, Destination, stands with everything already in their catalogue. The upbeat song features everything you loved about Nickel Creek, Sara Watkins beautiful voice, tight harmonies, and a great interplay of mandolin and fiddle.

The rest of A Dotted Line proves the trio has not lost a step. It sounds as if they spend the last nine years just saving their best song ideas for the inevitable reunion album. The rest of the album I mostly what you would expect from the group, nice folk ballads and of course there is a beautiful instrumental track Elsie. But they also push their sound further with Hayloft which is the most danceable song ever in the traditional, non-hoedown kind of way as well as their least Nickel Creek sounding song ever. It seems like we will not be getting a Christmas album from the group anytime soon because there is the beautiful Christmas Eve which could be another of those rare holiday track.

When bands have been away for almost a decade or more, the comeback album is just put out to promote the comeback tour and then play the hits on that tour with one or two new songs which are used as bathroom breaks for fans. Nickel Creek bucks that trend with one of their best albums yet. If you go and see them, make sure your bladder is empty before they start because you definitely do not want to miss these new songs live. Hopefully we do not have to wait another nine years for the next one.

Song to Download – Destination

A Dotted Line gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television: 4/2/14

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.


Empire - Shakira


I may be reading into it too much but the whole runaway bride could explain why Shakira has yet to walk down the aisles with her baby daddy. And I usually do not comment on these sorts of things, but whoever the cinematographer Shakira has been working with needs some sort of award because her last two are just absolutely beautifully shot.


Supernova - Ray LaMontagne


Listening to the new Ray Lamontange song and its seventies pop-rock vibe and hearing that he brought in The Black Keys Dan Auerbach to produce made me think that the singer is finally trying to be an actual rock star. He even released his very first music video. Sure it has the production value of your average lyric video, but hey, its baby steps.


Gulls – David Gray


Recently Coldplay went full Bon Iver for the first song off their upcoming album and it sounds like David Gray has been listening a lot to the Minnesota woodsman too. He even combined that sound with a trippy music video. Coldplay quickly followed up that Bon Iver sounding song with a more traditional sounding song, I hope the same goes for David Gray, but I am not really digging this new musical path.


High Ball Stepper – Jack White


As previously mentioned, I thought Coldplay releasing a Bon Iver meets Radiohead type song was a weird first impression to make. But at least it had words; the first song we get to hear off the upcoming Jack White album is an instrumental. But the paint and glitter in speakers motif of the music video is all sorts of awesome.

A Long, Long, Long, Long Time Ago, Before the Wind, Before the Snow

A year after the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, this month's induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, the Red Hot Chili Peppers’s prior record label released a greatest Hits package entitled What Hits!? (the second most self aware greatest hit package after Jimmy Buffett's Song(s) You Know By Heart). It was a sly nod to the fact that their first four albums could at best be considered a modest success and a cheap way to cash in on the band’s new found stardom on a different label. Back during those eighties albums, the Peppers were lucky to get played during 120 Minutes but in the post-Nirvana world, videos from Blood Sugar Sex Magic were in heavy rotation on MTV and alternative radio that popped up in the early nineties.

Unlike some grunge coattail-riders like Stone Temple Pilots and Bush, the Chili Peppers may gave benefited from the music that came out of the Pacific Northwest, but they were something entirely different, a mix of rock, funk, and rap, with three musicians that pushed every boundary and a lyricist that poured his whole heart on the page. John Frusciante created some of the most inventive riffs of all time which played off well with Flea’s funky bass and his rhythm section partner, the underappreciated Chad Smith.

Even though Frusciante and Smith were on their second album with the band, but the missing ingredient may have been producer Rick Rubin. As he tends to do, Rick took the other the top, hyperactive group and focused them leading to a more cohesive and more easily accessible sound. Rubin also famously found Anthony Kiedis’ poetry book and convinced him to take one entitled Under the Bridge to the band. Of course that song ended up being the album’s breakout hit and remains one of the biggest in the band’s history.

Under the Bridge may have broke the band in a big way, but first single Give it Away opened the door. The song was just pure focused energy, punk rock mixed with a funky bass line which makes it danceable if mosh pits are not your thing. Then there was the Anton Corbin music video, filmed in black in white in the desert with each band member with an increasingly epic hairdo.

And the album is not just pure funk with the random power ballad in the middle; the Peppers pushed their sound with songs like Breaking the Girl. An acoustic track with weird percussion and other instrumentation that sounds like it came from a medieval fair, and somehow it worked completely. The album concludes with Sir Psycho Sexy (not counting quick hidden Robert Johnson cover), weird song that sounds like it was built around a pig inspired syth patch where Kiedis goes on for over eight minutes about a freak in the Garden of Eden and being stopped by lady cops in an explicit fashion.

A decade after the first greatest hits, the Red Hot Chili Pepper released a new best of album that is actually worthy of the title with many legitimate hits from subsequent albums. Well many legitimate hits and one song from the Dave Navarro era that most people would like to forget.

The Voice Season Six Battle Rounds I Power Rankings

I hate the Battle Rounds with a fiery passion. There may be four great performances in six season (none of which happened this season) and many more bad ones. It seems like best case scenario is that you get a complete train wreck. I thought the advent of the Steal in season three would make things better but it is now worse. Things have gotten even more predictable, I guessed 22 of the 24 winners before the contestants took the stage, one of the two I got wrong ended in a Steal anyway so it did not matter much. Plus it has become clear that each episode will end in a Steal so there is really no reason to watch it. And worse now that they are montaging Battle, that means no more train wrecks. Blake apparently forgetting the Erin Martin / The Shields Brothers debacle of a season two gave a female / male duet What’s Love Got to Do with It which may not have been as big a train wreck as the first time, but we will never know because it was montage. And in possible the worse rule change in the history of the show, they are actually adding a second Battle Round. Ugg. Hopefully they do more than three Battles per hour. Or just montage the whole round. But anyway. Here is my updated Power Ranking:

1. Sisaundra Lewis (Team Blake): Just like the coaches mentioned, let me bring up that note at the end: that was otherworldly. My goodness.

2. Madilyn Paige (Team Usher): I found it interesting that right before picking her, Usher talked about her maybe thriving on Blake or someone else’s team. When Usher said that it did give me pause that he may have picked the other guy even though this Battle seemed like the second most obvious winner of any Battle and that Madilyn deserved it. But could Usher’s comment be foreshadowing for the next round? I kind of hope so because I always thought she would be better off on Blake’s team.

3. Sam Behymer (Team Adam): I wanted to like Sam’s Blind Audition but it sounded like she was trying to add too many moments and when you try to make too many parts of a song a moment, nothing ends up being special about it. After the round I hopped that Adam would iron out those issues (the studio version of Royals was significantly better and maybe my favorite studio recording of the round). Thankfully on the rehearsals Adam and Aloe really hammered those out unnecessary moments and Sam ended up having one of the standout performances of the Battle Rounds. And since she had more control, when she hit the line, “give a little time to me we’ll burn this down” really stood out as a defining moment.

4. Audra McLaughlin (Team Blake): The Battle Round is my least favorite part of the show; it is really hard for anyone to stand out unless you completely blow your opponent out of the water. It is even worse when you go up against a duo and there were times when Audra felt like a third wheel and other times when she tried too hard to out[-sing two voices which ended up being too loud. But she clearly has one of the best voices in the competition and the studio version is significantly better than the live performance. Unfortunately there is another Battle Round this season, but on the bright side, there are no more duos left on Team Blake.

5. Josh Kaufman (Team Adam): I am under the assumption that singers get montaged for one of two reasons, because they were simply not good, or because they go up against a frontrunner in the Battle Round and maybe should have won. Even though Josh has the much better voice, I thought Austin Ellis may have actually had a slightly better performance. But I do think the song was more in Austin’s wheelhouse, and Josh has a much higher potential. The question is will Adam be able to find better songs that suit Josh from here on out that are better for him than Happy was.

6. Kaleigh Glanton (Team Blake): Is a familiar Battle Round scenario, coach pairs two singers of different styles, gives them a song that is in one of the singer’s wheelhouse, and then picks that singer as the winner. So when Blake gave Kaleigh and lounge singer Noah a Michael Buble song, I figured Carson might as well have raised Noah’s hand right then and there. Except Kaleigh amazingly did the lounge song better than the actual lounge singer.

7. Clarissa Serna (Team Shakira): It became apparent to me during the behind the scenes package that Clarissa should go with the straight hair more often.

8. Brittnee Camelle (Team Usher Adam): I did not think much of her Blind audition; probably that most had to do with the horrible song selection. But give this girl an actual good song and, wow. I do not know what Usher was thinking about letting her go. It may have been smarter to go with Shakira who took both her Steals to the Live Show last year while Adam, who did take three Steals to the Lives the first two seasons, dumped both his Steals in the Knockout Round last season even though they were probably better. Hopefully Adam gives her more sexy RnB and no cheesy pop songs but she is much better at the former.

9. Ddendyl (Team Shakira): Montage win… yawn.

10. Tess Boyer (Team Usher Blake): I have never been a fan of Janis Joplin so I definitely liked Tess’ more subtle approach to the song.

11. Morgan Wallen (Team Usher): Montage win… yawn.

12. Dawn and Hawkes (Team Adam): I talked earlier how it is hard for Audra to go up against a duo but it is also challenging for duos to go against a singular artist. You have to present yourselves as individuals, as a duo, and then force yourself into a trio for parts of the song. The performance was a bit sleepy which worked well for their first performance, but I wanted more during this round.

13. Patrick Thompson (Team Adam Shakira): When Adam did not choose him, I figured if anyone, Blake would steal him, possibly even Usher since he was similar Ryan Innes. I did not see Shakira being the only one to push her button.

14. Biff Gore (Team Usher Blake): I would have given Biff the slight edge in his battle but the song did benefit him a bit more because he can let go in the way that the song need.

15. T.J. Wilkins (Team Usher): I would have given the Battle to Biff, but T.J. may be around longer because while he is too clean to properly sing a song like Ain’t too Proud to Beg, he seems to be more versatile and with the right songs, he could be a dark horse this season.

16. Bria Kelly (Team Usher): I found this performance less annoying than the very shout-y Blind Audition, but she still remains a little too much for me. Unfortunately shout-y females (Juliet Simms, Jackie Lee) have done well on the show.

17. Kat Perkins (Team Adam): I had to laugh when Adam said, “It’s a shame that they are both together.” Hey idiot, you were the one that put them together. If you think they are both top five artists then why put them together. Unless you think the other three are also on your team. Granted Adam’s hubris probably thinks that. Even though I thought Patrick was better this round, both were definitely two of the top thirty-two singers this season and should have advanced. I would not go as far to say both, or either, are top five like Adam did.

18. Melissa Jimenez (Team Usher): A couple seasons ago, Loren Allred got montaged twice and then somehow advanced to the next round because she hit a note at the end her performance even though her opponent was much more consistent. Personally I would have taken Britnee who was much better throughout the battle than Melissa who only hit one great note.

19. Stevie Jo (Team Usher): I would have given Stevie Jo the win too, but mostly by default. Instead of both advancing, if I had the decision, I would have been content with both going home.

20. Delvin Choice (Team Adam): There were a few times this season where I would have been content if both would have been sent home, this was at the top of that list. If one had to advance, I guess Delvin was the right, I hate to do this, choice, because it sounded like Caleb Elder was singing “I’m a man.” Seriously, how do you mess up the lyrics in the title of the song?

21. Cierra Mickens (Team Shakira Usher): It is interesting that Shakira put Ciera and Emily together because for both singers I liked their Blind Auditions but wondered if I liked them because they picked songs that are hard to screw up. I did not like their Battle Round, but again, I wonder if it had more to do with the song selection, Brave is kind of boring and bland and there really is not much you can do with it. I guess I will have one more round to figure out if I like either.

22. Emily B (Team Shakira): Basically what I said about Cierra applies here.

23. Jake Barker (Team Usher Adam): I am surprised anyone wanted to Steal him, let alone all three. Grated it could have been very well that only Adam wanted him and Shakira hit her button because she always has to press her button second and Blake, well Blake just did it to irritate Adam. But in a season filled with unworthy four button pushes, it is only apropos that there was also an unworthy three button Steal.

24. Ryan Whyte Maloney (Team Blake): Yeah, not that surprising a dude singing What’s Love Got to Do with It got montaged. Oh Blake, what were you thinking? The Shields Brothers are the only dudes that should sing that song.

25. Jake Worthington (Team Blake): I have long assumed that performances get montaged because they were not good, if that is the case, I wonder how bad the montage Battles were that they did not shown so this Battle was. One of the worst Battles the show has ever aired.

26. Deja Hall (Team Shakira): Winning the least entertaining (shown) Battle does not make me think she will be going much further.

27. Josh Murley (Team Adam Shakira): Not the most head-scratching Steal ever, but you have to wonder what Shakira was thinking unless she has started to use the philosophy of the other coaches to treat their Steals like fodder. But that would be weird for Shakira whose best performer last year was a stolen artist. She would have been much better off stealing Alaska and Madi.

28. Christina Grimmie (Team Adam): Montage win… yawn.

29. Dani Moz (Team Shakira): There was a Battle last season when it seemed pretty clear that Shakira picked someone based solely not on who she thought was better but on the assumption that someone would steal the loser. I wonder if that was her thinking with Dani and De'Shawn Washington because my jaw dropped in shock when she picked Dani. Did she think just because Blake and Usher thought DeShawn won (Adam was indecisive) that one of them would steal him? If that is the case she may be overtaking Christina as the worst coach on the team.

30. Music Box (Team Shakira) Usher): I am all for pseudonyms, but Music Box does not work for a singular person. But this is not a reality show trying to find the greatest nom de plume, and her voice was way too over the top the whole time and was the main reason why this was the worst Battle of this round. And for the first time in the history of the Steal, Blake was not the coach who made the dumbest Steal of the season.

31. Kristen Merlin (Team Shakira): So after her big pitch to her two country artists that she secured this season was that Shakira would bring in Miranda Lambert to mentor them, they ended up montaging their battle. Alrighty. Maybe Miranda was not that good of a mentor.

32. Megan Rüger (Team Blake): Montage win… yawn.

As I always do, it is fun to see who has the strongest team. So I rank each contestant, giving one point to last place and thirty-two to number one and add up each team and here is how they stack up after the Battle Round:

Blake – 148
Adam – 148
Usher – 132
Shakira – 100

After the Blind Auditions, Shakira had a slight lead and now way at the bottom. It certainly did not help that she does not have anyone in my top eight. Bad pairings, bad picks, and some bad song selections did not help her. It is amazing that she got anyone to steal one of her artists when Blake was not poached once. Blake jumped from third to tied for first with Adam who was fourth and far behind after the Blind Auditions. Adam did have the best of the lackluster steals this season. But who care what I think? Here is how the iTunes buyers rank the Battle Round winners (and Steals) by how high they charted in the top 1500. I also included Blind Auditions that charted during the Battle Round to give you an idea of who may have some staying power this season.

1. Madilyn Paige (142)
2. Josh Kaufman (168)
3. Sam Behymer (266)
4. Kristen Merlin (371)
5. Jake Worthington (399)
6. Jake Baker (429)
7. Christina Grimmie (450)
8. Madilyn Paige – Titanium (455)
9. Stevie Jo (457)
10. Bria Kelly (459)
11. Clarissa Serna – Zombie (501)
12. Dawn and Hawkes – I’ve Just Seen a Face (507)
13. Kaleigh Glanton (507)
14. Christina Grimmie – Wrecking Ball (603)
15. Dawn and Hawkes (597)
16. Sisaundra Lewis (611)
17. Jake Worthington - Don’t Close Your Eyes (634)
18. Josh Kaufman – One More Try (742)
19. Kat Perkins (943)
20. Clarissa Serna (1111)
21. Morgan Wallen (1193)
22. Audra McLaughlin (1291)
23. Dani Moz (1314)
24. Bria Kelly – Steamroller Blues (1397)

The first thing I noticed from the iTunes list is how many contestants did not even show up in the top 1500: only 17 of the 32 advancing made the list. For comparison, last season 27 charted somewhere including three in the top 100. If you count the Blind Auditions, 36 songs charted sometime during the Battle Rounds. The second thing that jumped out at me was how high Kristen Merlin charted being montaged. Sure there have been a few that were montaged during the Battles that charted fairly high, Cassadee Pope made the Overall Top 200, last season, Holly Henry made the Top 100 Pop Charts. But those two had good selling Blind Auditions, Kristen’s Battle Round song charted 300 spots higher than her Blind Audition. Kristen even out charted Christina Grimmie despite the latter being touted as a YouTube star. I guess when your fan base is used to streaming your music for free, they are not that inclined to buy it. But it did help make Team Adam have 6 of his 8 member on the chart. Shakira only had three, even worse; one of those was the montage Kristen so six of her contestants who performances in full did not make the top 1500. To give a better idea of who is the most popular this season, I took the average of how high their first two songs charted and here is how those artists rank.

1. Josh Kaufman (152)
2. Madilyn Paige (158.5)
3. Chistina Grimmie (261.5)
4. Jake Worthington (269.5)
5. Bria Kelly (292.5)
6. Dawn and Hawkes (310.5)
7. Sam Behymer (408.5)
8. Stevie Jo (480)
9. Kaleigh Glanton (495)
10. Kristen Merlin (529.5)
11. Jake Barker (591.5)
12. Clarissa Serna (598.5)
13. Sisaundra Lewis (675.5)
14. Morgan Wallen (688.5)
15. Kat Perkins (697)
16. Audra McLaughlin (771.5)


Again, not an impressive showing compared to last season where 23 of those advancing to the third round had both their songs make the top 1500. Also, number one on this list, Josh, would have been the fourth highest on last season’s list behind Holly Henry who did not even have her second performance aired. Making things worse, last season had to compete with multiple marquee albums that come out in the fall, there still has not been a big name album to come out this year so far so you would think it would be easier to chart.

Now it is time some spoilery talk. The Battle Round II preview spoiled almost all the pairing except four, but two of those could be figured out by process of elimination, so there are only two Battles that are completely unclear (but can be assumed because of like genres). Looking at the Battle Round II match ups, some coaches made some dumb matchup because some of the higher iTunes charters are going up against each other. The other coaches may be wise to do some stealing, but I fear they will just go with more fodder. Here is the match ups, I listed who I think will win first and ordered the teams with how confident I am with my picks

Team Adam
Christina vs. Sam (S to Shakira)
Josh vs. Delvin (S to Usher)
Dawn and Hawkes vs. Kat
Jake vs. Brittnee (interesting that Adam would have his two stolen artists going against each other)

Team Blake
Sissaundra vs. Biff
Audra vs. Megan
Jake vs. Tess
Kaliegh vs. Ryan

Team Shakira
Clarissa vs. Dani (S to Adam)
Emily B. vs. Kristen
(Here are the two that are unclear but I am assuming these are the matchup based on similarities; again it will be odd that Shakira is pairing her two stolen artists)
Ddendyl vs. Deja
Patrick Thompson vs. Josh Murley

Team Usher
Melissa vs. Music Box
T.J. vs. Ceirra
Morgan vs. Stevie Jo
Bria vs. Madilyn (S to Blake)

So thanks to Usher and Adam, four of the top seven best selling singers on iTunes this season will be going up against each other. Since Bria is getting a major push (she closed out two episodes including the season premiere which is what I consider the pimpiest of the pimp slots) she is likely to win and despite being montage, I would still consider Christina the favorite in her second Battle (though it is entirely possible she got the Holly Henry treatment this season: heavily featured in first promo, early four chair turning Blind Audition, late Battle Round montage, out in the third round). If that is the case, that means the coffeehouse singer contingent, which has done fairly well on the show, especially iTunes, will be completely gone. Hopefully I am either wrong or coaches actually use their Steals wisely on Madilyn and / or Sam otherwise the show may see another dramatic drop in the rating again this season. I do not think it is a coincidence that the rating went way down the last two season when the coffeehouse singer fan favorites Caroline Glaser and Holly Henry went home prematurely. But the thing is as the ratings tanked the last two seasons as the show went on, the overall view ship stays mostly the same meaning the show is getting progressively older, much like American Idol in its middle seasons. Of course few people, young or old watch that show anymore these days . If The Voice keeps eliminating fan favorites before they can vote for them, they may quickly match American Idols in the ratings sooner than later.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 3/30/14

Shameless: Good news and bad news for Frank, he is now at the top of the liver donor list, bad news, he had to lose a kidney to get there. But since there are still two episodes left, there may still be some time for him to completely bottom out. But hopefully the episode is a lesson to anyone who thinks about turning to the black market for a vital organ.

The Walking Dead: Wow, we actually got our first glimpse of Terminus and it is not even the finale. I thought like the previous seasons, we would only get a glimpse of the next season’s setting with the last scene. So Maggie and Glen’s groups finally met up and made it there, I am guessing Tyrese and Carol will not be far behind. The big question is if Rick will make it with Darryl’s new buddies hot on their trail. It is probably nice that Rick has a man on the inside of the group. The other big question, will we actually learn what happened to Beth this season?
You can download The Walking Dead on iTunes.

Crisis: So the bad guys might not be all that bad as it looks like they are avenging some evil deeds by the CIA. They are just going with the any means necessary to expose the conspiracy instead of simply calling some new media to cover the story.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Crisis on iTunes.

Revenge: There are few things I hate more than the “x amount of time ealier’ place card at the beginning of episode, and Revenge is the worst at doing them because almost everyone makes you think Emily is in dire straits but by the time the scene plays out at the end of the episode, it always turns out that was her intent the whole time. So I knew as soon as we say Emily storm out the opera, she planned the whole thing, and yep, she planted the news of her fake pregnancy.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Revenge on iTunes.

The Voice: I am a big proponent of the Steal and in fact I am going to go ahead and take credit for the idea after pitching the idea during season two. Unfortunately except in the few rare exceptions (Amanda Brown, Caroline Glaser) the Steals are mostly wasted on fodder for the next round. I did find it interesting this season coaches started complaining when their talent did not receive a Steal. Shakira looked generally shocked that nobody picked up De'Shawn Washington (it seemed to me that she only picked Dani because she assumed DeShawn would get stolen). Then Adam physically got out his chair to call Usher an idiot for not stealing Alaska & Madi (Adam, maybe you should not have wasted a Steal on Jake Barker). I would have like to have seen one of the coaches steal both arists and I am not just saying that about the latter because Alaska looks like a combination of Selina Gomez and Victoria Justice (okay, I am mostly saying it because Alaska looks like a combination of Selina Gomez and Victoria Justice).

Both times, Usher explained his lack of a Steal on “waiting on something specific.” Then he stole Music Box. Yes, the same Music Box you missed if you blinked during her montage. Yes the same Music Box who was on the losing end of the worst battle that actually showed this season (which was hard to choose because there multiple stinkers this season which again makes me wonder just how bad the six montaged Battles were). And Usher followed that up by Stealing another female RnB singer who lost a lackluster Battle. So was the something specific that Usher was looking for were singers who had no chance of upsetting one of his original singers in the Battle Rounds II?

As it usually is with the Battle Rounds, there were none that I would classify as great and really only two that I would even call good, both that happened this week. There was the cuteness overload that was Madilyn Paige and Sam Behymer who had a breakout moment during her Battle. The rest this season ranged from average to why was this not montaged. At least now we can move onto the Knockout Round. Oh wait, those have been replaced with the Battle Rounds II. Ugg. Can they just montage the whole round and move straight to the Live Playoffs? Wait, the Playoffs are no longer live? Double ugg.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download songs performed this week with the widget at right.

How I Met Your Mother: For an entire season that took place on the weekend of a wedding, they sure skipped over the actually ceremony fairly quickly. I think Marshall and Lilly’s wedding got more screen time this week. Not that I am complaining, ever wedding should fly through the ceremony to get to the open bar.
You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

The Blacklist: When the old guy showed up as Ivan, I thought to myself, this old dude is the big hacker? I was expecting some teenager. It turns out I was on to something because Ivan was just a patsy. I actually liked that the villain of the week turned out not to be some supervillian that crossed path with Red and was instead just a lovelorn teenager. More importantly, Lizzie finally found out about her husband. And he was found out by some silly elephant instead of fingerprints I figured were left behind since he did not have time to destroy all incriminating evidence. But he has to know that is the case so it will be a little silly if he stickls around next week as if nothing happened.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Blacklist on iTunes.

Castle: Wait, Captain Gates has a family? Who knew?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Justified: When Boyd continually insisted on smoking despite not actually being a smoker and being in a non-smoking room, I knew something was up. Did he sneak something sharp in the box? Did he poison all but one of the cigarettes in the pack? Nope, he packed it with explosives. Awesome. But the bigger news of the week: Kendall shot Art? Okay, it is obvious that he did not do it because his story did not line up with what we saw. Now the question is just how will Raylan prove that Daryl was the actual triggerman. I am guessing Wendy and Dewey will have something to do with it.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Justified on iTunes.

Survivor: Cagayan: Ugg, someone seriously quit to keep themselves punching someone, how lame. How about pulling yourself out before Cliff Robinson gets booted?
You can stream recent episodes on cbs.com. You can also download Survivor: Cagayan on iTunes.

The Americans: I could never be a spy (or healthcare provider) because there is no way I am wiping another dude after they go to the bathroom. I would just sooner untie him and hope he does not attack me.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Hannibal: I guess I was a little off guessing that Hannibal may keep Beverly alive in his torture basement. I was also completely wrong that it was Hannibal that killed the bailiff. But I guess it is still probable that Hannibal killed the judge.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 3/29/14

Quote of the Week: I guess this hotel takes that non-smoking policy pretty seriously Mr. Duffy. (Boyd Crowder, Justified)

Song of the Week: The Gambler – Kenny Rogers (The Americans)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: People Are Still Talking About the Lost Plane: When the Malaysian plane went missing a couple weeks ago I just assumed it was at the bottom of the ocean somewhere and moved on. Yet here we are and it is still a top of the hour news story with some pretty absurd theories getting floated on these twenty-four hour news channels: suicide pilots, it hid from radar by hiding behind other planes, aliens, and of course this is Lost come to life. But new came out this week that wreckage likely from the plane is floating in the Indian Ocean perpetrating my original thought that it sitting at the bottom of the ocean. But just like the JFK assassination, the moon landing, and 9/11, you still hear people clinging to their absurd theories.

Preview Picture of the Week:

“Tale of Two Confessions” Twisted Season Finale, Tuesday at 9:00 on ABC Family

Free Download of the Week: Lake Street Dive Album Sampler (NoiseTrade)

New Album Release of the Week: A Dotted Line - Nickel Creek

New DVD Release of the Week: Knights of Badassdom

Video of the Week: John Carney wrote and directed Once on a shoestring budget and cast Glen Hansard of the Irish band The Frames who were big in their native country but unknown in most of the rest of the world, and newbie Marketa Irglova. Once would bring in almost $20 million more than it cost and garnered an Oscar. Not surprisingly Carney’s follow up Begin Again is a bigger affair with singers that American would recognize, especially if they turn into The Voice every week with coaches Adam Levine and Cee-Lo Green (Mos Def also makes a cameo with probably the best line of the trailer). But the load of the singing looks to be going to Keira Knightley as Levin’s ex who turns to music herself to cope with the break-up and gets spotted by down on his luck former record executive Mark Ruffalo. Will Begin Again match the charm of the lower key Once? Probably not, but it is always nice to see Knightley wearing modern clothes which is a rare sight.


Next Week Pick of the Week: How I Met Your Mother, Monday at 8:00 on CBS: After nine season, Ted is finally going to tell his kids just how he met their mother. Sure we met her at the end of last season and everyone else in the group met her this season (except maybe Barney; I do not remember that happening yet). We even know when and where it is happening and what happens afterwards. With all the returning guest stars they pulled the last couple episodes, I wonder if they will bring back the kids one last time even though the then teenagers are in the mid-twenties by now (the show has been showing stock footage of the duo since the first season). Even though I could have done without maybe the last five season, for those that cannot get enough of stories of parents meeting, you are in luck because How I Met Your Dad will likely be on the CBS schedule next season. Starring Greta Gerwig of all people.

Around the Tubes: 3/28/14

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 Helix, Rosemary's Baby, National Geographic Channel, Spooksville, Warehouse 13, Seven Deadly Sins, MTV Movie Awards, Music Mavericks, and Rising Star.

- Tonight is the season finale of Helix, take a first look below:


- Get ready for a special delivery this summer… Zoe Saldana stars in the miniseries event Rosemary's Baby – check out this exclusive teaser below.


- Don’t be alarmed when you turn on National Geographic Channel (NGC) on April Fools’ Day and see a mantis shrimp talking about its dinner or bloodthirsty monsters being compared to celebrities. We’ve just decided to have a little fun this year. For the first time, National Geographic Channel has teamed up with RiffTrax, the movie and television commentary group created by the guys responsible for Mystery Science Theater 3000. So what does this mean? Your favorite Nat Geo programming with some unconventional commentary worked in around the narration and dialogue — three hours of it. Total Riff Off premieres Tuesday, April 1, from 8:00 to 11:00 only on NGC.

- The producers of “Spooksville,” Jane Startz Productions and Front Street Pictures, invite parents and kids (ages 13+) across the country to participate in the “Monster Dress-up Photo Giveaway.” Participants will be able to like or follow the show’s social media platforms as well as submit a monster photo using #SpooksvilleMonster. One (1) potential winner will be drawn for a chance to receive a giveaway goodie basket provided by the producers of “Spooksville, ” Jane Startz Productions and Front Street Pictures. No purchase necessary to enter or win. Subject to Official Rules. Sponsor: Jane Startz Productions and Front Street Pictures. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Hub Television Networks, LLC., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any of their affiliates. How to Enter: Beginning at 9:00AM ET on 3/22/14 until 5:00PM ET on 4/4/14 (the "Submission Period"), participant may enter into the “Monster Dress-up Photo Giveaway.”

- With the warehouse about to close its doors, you won't want to miss this season’s earth-shattering revelations! Save the date because Warehouse 13 returns Monday, April 14 at 9/8c, only on Syfy. Check out the season five trailer below:


- Showtime will take an in-depth look at the weird and darkly comic world of sin in the documentary series Seven Deadly Sins, from Oscar®-nominated executive producer Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), under his Warrior Poets production banner (Inside Man, One Direction: This is Us), along with his producing partner Jeremy Chilnick. Hosted by Spurlock, this stylized documentary series will explore each of the seven deadly sins -- one per episode -- and will be told through Spurlock’s unique and extreme lens. Seven Deadly Sins will debut on Thursday, June 19 at 11:00 on Showtime.

- The 2014 MTV Movie Awards will be hosted by comedian and late night host Conan O’Brien and will air across MTV's global network of more than 60 channels reaching more than half a billion households around the world on Sunday, April 13, 2014, with the pre-show at 8:30 and main telecast airing LIVE at 9:00. Voting for the “2014 MTV Movie Awards” is open at MovieAwards.MTV.com through Saturday, April 12. Voting for Movie of the Year will continue throughout the live broadcast of the show.

- Ovation is proud to present the latest episode of Music Mavericks, featuring Pearl Jam. Often credited with founding the “grunge rock” sound, Pearl Jam formed in Seattle in 1990. The band broke into the mainstream in 1991 with their album Ten, but became equally famous for their refusal to adhere to traditional music business practices. This profile looks at how, despite their resistance to fame, they went on to sell 60 million records worldwide and is considered one of the most influential bands of the decade. Music Mavericks airs weekly Sunday nights at 7:00.

- ABC’s innovative new series Rising Star, which opens the gate to a new era in reality competition, kicks off its nationwide search for talent on Saturday, March 29th. The U.S. series is helmed by executive producers Ken Warwick (American Idol) and Nicolle Yaron (The Voice). Aspiring singers are encouraged to visit abc.com/risingstar for more information on the audition process. Solo vocalists, duos and vocal groups (up to five members) can register to audition in person, online or nominate a friend/family member.

I go Back Again, Fall off the Train, Land in His Bed, Repeat Yesterday's Mistakes

Poor Shakira, during her first season on The Voice no one wanted to join her team and ended up with arguably the worst team in the history of the show (though Christina Aguilera’s first and third season teams were just as bad). Though better this season, she is still looking at a last place finish. More importantly, the first single off her new album did not really set radio on fire despite having the biggest radio star of the last five years Rihanna on the track. But other than Maroon 5, none of the coaches on The Voice have gotten much of a bump from the show (at least in terms of pop radio, Blake Shelton is still ruling country radio but still lacks a crossover hit). Christina’s album bombed, Cee-Lo’s Goodie Mob comeback was met with a resounding yawn. Ironically many of the guest performers get a good boost after appearing on the show; Robin Thicke shot to number, and Christina, despite not being able to kick start her own career on the show, managed another hit via guest spot on the show with A Great Big World. Granted it is possible Shakira will get the big break when she performs the song on the show (but will Rihanna show up for anything short of the finale which is still two months away).

Granted the reason why Can’t Remember to Forget You is not a hit is most likely has less to do with some sort of The Voice coach curse and more with pop radio itself. If you listen to a top radio station you will hear mostly watered down EDM or folk rock songs (or in the case of Wake Me Up, both). Soul is making some inroads thanks to Aloe Blacc (getting some Wake Me Up rub) and Pharrell Williams (who has been placed in multiple advertisements in the last couple month). But it is very hard for different sounds making it on to pop radio. Case in point Lorde released Royal in March of last year but it did not become a hit until the fall. So it is not very surprising, even with Rihanna’s name attached, that the ska-rock from the nineties vibe of Can’t Remember to Forget You is having a hard time breaking through even with a music video that could have passed for softcore porn when ska last had a moment.

But at least you can easily classify Can’t Remember to Forget You, second single Empire is much harder to pin down. It definitely has an epic, rock tinged power ballad feel to it, but more Céline Dion nineties type power ballad than eighties Bon Jovi type with weird auto-tune in the chorus. And there may be the problem with Shakira. (yes, the album title has a period in it) it tries to be everything at once. She tries to cram Latin, pop, rock and many other sub genres into the same song. Instead of the songs sounding eclectic, they just come out sounding jumbled. The worst case is the duet with Black Shelton which adds country to her musical jumbo which finds Shelton singing lines like “p-p-p-p-popping the pills.” Blake duet with Christina Aguilera was significantly better.

But these genre mash-ups are not all jumbled messes, when she infuses some reggae into Cut Me Deep which features some Canadian reggae band named MAGIC! (yes their band has an exclamation point and all caps and no I will not be making a Snow joke), it turns into one of the better tracks on the album. Another standout is the new wave meets rock sounding Spotlight (which was actually written with the same Nashville based team that also co-wrote the Shelton assisted song but not nearly as embarrassing). And showing that less is sometimes more, the acoustic 22 is better than most of the overproduced songs on the album.

Song to Download – Cut Me Deep

Shakira. gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Previewing Brothers in War

“Having spent the last two decades researching and writing about the Vietnam War, I must say ‘Brothers in War’ is one of the finest documentaries about that conflict ever produced, featuring razor-sharp editing, masterfully restored archival footage, and a powerful yet understated musical score. The narration by Charlie Sheen is first-rate, as are the interviews conducted with members of Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry, who offer compelling testimony about the harsh realities of combat and the bonds of brotherhood forged in war. A must-see.” -Dr. Erik B. Villard, Military Historian

There have been countless movies made about the Vietnam War covering probably every angle in the nearly forty years since the last Americans left the country. Of course the best stories are the ones told by those actually there and Brothers in War features one of the last combat infantry companies to be drafted, trained, and sent to fight together in Vietnam. The movie features interviews with those that put boots on the ground and featuring their own home movies and personal audio tapes from the era.

Narrated by Charlie Sheen, who long before infusing himself with tiger blood, rose to fame starring the Vietnam era Platoon, the movie follows a yearlong combat tour that took 26 of their own and wounded another 105 soldier in the Charlie Company. The fist hand account of their time in the foreign country are gut wrench as they mourned their own while trying to kill the guys on the opposite of the battlefield who were not above setting traps at night. We may not need another movie based on Vietnam, but hearing stories firsthand makes Brothers in War one of the few exceptions.


Brothers in War premieres tonight at 8:00 on the National Geographic Channel.