“Lost” has left a gaping hole for the networks and everybody is scrambling to plug the hole. The current strongest contender for the role of the plug is “Persons Unknown”. The series is penned by Christopher McQuarrie of “Usual Suspects” fame and so far looks “pretty good”.
The plot is as follows: A young mother from San Francisco is kidnapped and wakes up to find herself locked up in a hotel. The Downtown Hotel is located in a deserted location surrounded by mountains. She suddenly finds herself in the company of six others who also have no clue of what is going on. At the beginning there appear to be no connections between the members of the group and there are suspicions that someone may know more than they are letting on. Add to this that one of them may be a mole, security cameras and the fact that none of them can leave the hotel and you’ve got yourself a nice juicy “Lost”-like mystery on your hands. Oh, a night manager for the hotel and some Chinese cooks also turn up for work in the middle of all this.
Hopefully, the writers have thought this thing through like the writers of “Lost” did. Otherwise this series could go down the tubes faster than Paris Hilton’s singing career. The series is nicely poised with a lot of weirdness, intrigue and foreboding. Hopefully with some good ratings, we can actually get some answers to the questions that have been so very interestingly set up.
Posted on Jun 09, 2010 under Music |
This is a guest post from Daniel Horne
I had to take more elective classes for school one semester and there were a variety of online classes to choose. Since I have never taken an online class before and it was only an elective, I was willing to give it a shot. I signed up for Music Appreciation. I have always had an appreciation for music, what I heard on the radio anyways, and figured this class would be an easy A and help boost my grade point average. Boy was I wrong. The whole class started out bad. I could not get to the website I needed. After I found that, I couldn’t watch any of the videos that the instructor had posted. They would just stop in the middle and never start back up again. I called my instructor who informed me that it was most likely my internet connection. I told him that it shouldn’t be a problem because I had cable internet and he suggested that I give hughs net a try. That afternoon I called hughes in SC and the next day had satellite internet installed in my apartment. Since then I have always been able to watch the course required movies. I have had no trouble uploading and downloading files and while I wasn’t right about this class being an easy A, it is easier now that I can access the material properly.
Last night was the Finale for season 9 of American Idol and also Simon Cowell’s last night on the show. Simon is is leaving the show to start his US version of X-Factor which is a music contest show similar to American Idol with him being one of the judges. The show has been a hit in the UK for several years. It is not known who the judges will be on the version of X-Factor, but it was rumored that Simon was in talks with Victoria Beckham. It is also has not been decided who would be replacing Simon next year at American Idol.
On the Finale, Lee Dewyze was crowned the winner and Crystal Bowersox took 2nd place. It was a surprise to many that Crystal did not win as on the night before, the judges seemed to favor Crystal as the winner. Ryan Seacrest announced that the winner won with a difference of 2% in the votes.
Several artists performed at the final, including Alice Cooper, Bee Gees, Christina Aguilera, Alanis Morrissette, Hall & Oats, Joe Cocker, Brett Michaels, Chicago, Janet Jackson, Kris Allen and Carrie Underwood. In addition, several group performances included past American Idol winners and top 10 finalists.
Paula Abdul also was present at the show and came on stage to speak about Simon’s departure.
While the euphemism ‘exotic dancer’ is doing the rounds, there are still places where the word ‘stripper’ is used unashamedly. For one thing, it’s not easy to become a professional stripper. It takes years and years of practice while using various stripper poles for practice while also following a fitness routine that will give that body that men and women alike crave for.
If you separate a stripper from her pole, the seduction, magic and sensuality that surrounds a woman gradually undressing is completely lost into a dull ‘take your clothes off’ routine. Now there are different types of stripper poles that are used, most notably the portable stripper pole, which can be used and moved to different locations once the ‘show’ is over.
Since most strippers need one to practice with before they hit center stage in full flow showing their wares to an awe-struck audience, the options to either purchase or rent one for themselves is available from a variety of removable stripper poles to get this lucrative career started. From spinning poles to glow poles to chrome and dancer poles, one can use them for their fitness routine and for practice before they go out looking for gigs.
Several companies offer these products at nominal rates with the additional service of delivering it to a place of your choice as well, whether it is a nightclub or a private party. All in all, the quality of which will enthrall the audience to which the exotic dancer performs in front of.
Actor Charlie Sheen has put an end to months of speculation by releasing a statement saying “I’m looking forward to returning to my CBS home on Monday nights”. The 44 year old star of the hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men”, has signed a contract which will keep him on the show for a further two seasons.
The future of “Two and a Half Men” was in doubt due to two separate events. One was the due to the domestic violence charges brought against him. The actor pleaded “not guilty” to the charges that refer to the incident that took place on Christmas Day and involved his wife Brooke Mueller Sheen. The other issue was his desire to leave the show. After seven years, Sheen felt that the schedule and the demands of the sitcom were too much and wanted to refocus on his movie career. In that regard, he secured a role in the sequel to the hugely successful 1987 movie “Wall Street”, called “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”.
However, all those issues seem to be past him as he has now agreed to return to the show that CBS renewed for three years last year. The renewal came as a surprise to many as they knew that Sheen’s contract ended this year and he hadn’t committed to any furthered seasons. The reports that Sheen held out for a $2 million per episode payout have not been confirmed as yet.
Leonardo Dicaprio got asked to be moved from his seats twice during movie date with his girlfriend Bar Rafaeli. The pair were attending a movie showing of the Iron Man 2 and where seating in the wrong seats. They were asked to move twice, once during his own move preview of Inception.
Dicaprio kept his cool and obliged to move both times. Most other celebrities would have lost their temper and been upset with the incident.
A witness stated: “They were gracious and Leo was smiling at the irony of it. He clearly didn’t realise you could reserve seats.”
Over the years the ratings have been steadily dropping for “American Idol” and the juggernaut is not what it used to be. But it still packs a solid punch when it comes to making money.
According to research by the Forbes Magazine, “American Idol” is the number one show when measured in ad revenue sales. For every half hour it broadcasts, the show makes $8.1 million purely out of ad sales. The research does not try to discover “which is the most profitable show?”, but rather which show has the most power in dictating ad prices.
The research broke the time slots into 30 minute segments so that sitcoms, dramas and reality shows could be compared with each other on an equal basis. It also disregarded all sports shows in its survey. The difference between the number one and two spots was a whopping $5 million. Sitting at number two was troubled actor Charlie Sheen’s “Two and a Half Men”. The sitcom is the only one from its genre to even make it to the top ten.
Taking the third spot with $3 million was “24″ the drama series from Fox. The show is in its final season, which probably accounts for the large ad revenue. The fourth spot is tied between an alien sci-fi and medical drama. ABC’s “V” and “Grey’s Anatomy” rake in $2.8 million each. The ad revenue ratings could play a great part in the future of certain shows. “V” is close to its season finale and so far no confirmation has been made of a second season.
Conan O’Brien is back on the air, but this time he’s on cable. The funnyman signed an unexpected deal with TBS and is expected to be on the cable station later this fall. The move is surprising as the general expectation was that he would go to network giant FOX.
Although the move made news almost everywhere, it did not make it onto David Letterman’s show and neither was it mentioned on “The Tonight Show” which was Conan’s former home. The reasons for this are unclear but it widely considered to be a gag order by upper management. Jay Leno did talk about it later though, when he was interviewed by Access Hollywood.
Leno said that he knew Conan would always land on his feet and that the time slot he would be on would make things fun for everyone as they would all (Leno, Letterman, O’Brien) be competing against each other. He also expressed his confidence in Conan’s ability to keep audiences entertained.
TBS seems to be pulling out all the stops to make sure that the show is a success. It is rumored that George Lopez was told to either move into a new time slot to make way for Conan or to get out of the company altogether. TBS has denied that such a threat was ever made and that both parties support each other shows. Whatever happened, the end result is that Conan will take over the 11 PM slot while Lopez slides down to the Midnight slot.
