Thursday morning: Next week is Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Original Wednesday post:
Because I missed last night's "Idol" telecast (at the Indians game, see below) and today got away from me, I am going try to do a quick rip through last night's Mariah Carey homage and then the results show. …
"I got a hit, Schumacher, and Ruddy doesn't count any more."*
– Since I was the guy who asked NBC's Ben Silverman to explain how "My Name Is Earl" and "30 Rock" qualified as family-hour shows, it was with great amusement that I read a New York Times piece with an NBC executive admitting that the 8-9 p.m. slot isn't all that family on Thursdays. The exec told the Times that:
… the family-hour designation should be seen as offering "direction for program development," not "black-and-white expectations" for the audience.
"'It was not to be construed as a return to a strictly defined family hour," he said, featuring wholesome shows like “Little House on the Prairie,” a hit on NBC in the late 1970s and early ’80s.
By the way, the Times story managed to discuss the "MILF Island" episode without ever using the acronym "MILF." Although it did offer an explanation of the term: "referring to a teenager’s crude designation of someone’s sexy mother."
– "American Idol" has announced the finalists in its songwriting contest. The details are after the jump, but just looking at the song titles makes me think I've heard enough before I've heard anything. Examples: "Believe," "You Believe in Me," "You Believed in Me" (because past tense makes all the difference), "All You Will Need," "You Can Do Anything," "Dream Big."
– Is it just me, or was "Saturday Night Live" a humongous snore on Saturday? I'm usually willing to at least sit through sketches, but I found myself muttering "well, I can see where this is going" and hitting fast-forward.
– CBS has announced that the next season of "Survivor" will be shot in high-definition. Oh, goodie. Extra clarity for bug bites, skin tight over ribs and, of course, the pixels needed when swimsuits slip.
This from CBS today:
CSI was Thursday's Number One program in viewers on a night that included a special elimination edition of "American Idol," according to preliminary Nielsen live plus same day ratings for April 10.
CSI won its time slot in households (12.5/19), viewers (19.93m), adults 25-54 (7.3/17) and adults 18-49 (5.7/14). Compared to last week's first-run return, CSI was up +1% in households (from 12.4/20), retained 97% of its viewers delivery (from 20.58m), 95% in adults 25-54 (from 7.7/19) and 97% in adults 18-49 (from 5.9/15).
CSI outdelivered "American Idol" in viewers (19.93m vs. 19.57m).
And here's next week's theme:
On Tuesday, April 15 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed), the Top 7 finalists (Brooke White, Carly Smithson, David Archuleta, David Cook, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook and Syesha Mercado) will return to the Idol stage to perform songs by Mariah Carey.
Tune in the following night to see a live performance by superstar Mariah Carey and find out who receives enough votes to stay in the competition and who must go home on the results show Wednesday, April 16 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed).
In-progress posting during the show, with spoiler, after the jump.
With "Idol Gives Back" tomorrow, tonight's theme is inspirational songs. In-progress notes after the jump. …
In-progress notes after the jump. …
Notes after the jump …
I am attending a screening of "Leatherheads" tonight so it will probably be late tonight or early tomorrow before I post about the "Dancing with the Stars" results and what madness ensues when "American Idol" meets Dolly Parton. Talk among yourselves, and I will be back when possible.
Notes from Wednesday after the jump. I have also added the announcement about Dolly Parton next week.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I had a speaking engagement last night, to the Tire Town chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, and I had an excellent time. I especially like the Q&A's, to hear what people are interested in, and to have more of a dialogue with them.
But it means that I caught "Idol" somewhat on the run (see the previous post), saw only the final moments on "Dancing With the Stars" and have not yet gotten to the finale of "Jericho." So let's have a Cone of Silence on that one, please. And with a night's sleep and the light of day I'm wondering if last night was an "Idol" watershed.
That is, has the momentum? For weeks, David Archuleta has been the only singer declared safely outside the margin of error by Dial Idol's analysis. After last night's show, we have three — DA, David Cook and Carly Smithson — and Cook is in first place.
I could easily see a DC/DA final and with it yet another battle for "Idol's" soul. And at this point, the show may well be ready to sell itself to Cook. We have heard a lot from the judges this season about wanting a more youthful, contemporary sound, with the implied message being that the same-old-same-old may not move enough CDs or iTunes downloads.
Or the show knows that DA will move a certain amount of product win or lose, but having him lose while DC wins could set up a Clay/Ruben situation — and, to get once again note a basic reason for "Idol," two biggies will sell more units than one. On the other hand — and I always try to remember the other hand — it remains to be seen if DC has another performance like last night's in him. And the possibility of his winning could just mobilize the DA base to push their guy over the top.
Advertising Age reports that ad man Hal Riney has died. A full obit and a recap of his accomplishments is here. The man was involved in some pretty remarkable things. One that caught my eye was the origin of the Carpenter's "We've Only Just Begun" in a bank commercial. You can see a clip of the ad, and of songwriter Paul Williams talking about it here:
The intersection of commercials and the Carpenters doesn't end there, either. While I was YouTubing, I came across this piece:
I'm a little late getting started because of a speaking engagement. But will post as I replay the show, albeit with some skipping over chatter. …
Malcolm X Abram and I discuss the Top 10!
Sorry about the fidgeting. We were having too much fun. (You should hear us before the camera's on.) Sorry, too, about the hair bump. Didn't know it was there.
In-progress notes after the jump …
Should have gone to sleep after "Dancing" but switched over to the Akron-Florida State game and stayed through overtime. So I'm fuzzy-minded this morning — and another longish day looms. But there are always things to talk about …
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