Topic: TV Watch Online
Last week, I debuted a new segment on the Blog, called My View, where I discuss the past week’s entertainment news.
Sunday, August 31: Today, I will give My View on the new ‘American Idol’ judge, Jennifer Hudson at the DNC, the new ‘Survivor’ & ‘Dancing with the Stars’ casts, Republican Convention, DVD releases, and an update on My Book List.
New American Idol Judge: The day after my previous My View, it was announced that American Idol would be adding a 4th judge to the panel. That 4th judge will be Kara DioGuardi, and she will be joining Simon, Paula and Randy starting with the auditions (actually, the judges just went to the first audition stop of the season, joined by Kara). Kara is a big-time songwriter. You name a singer, she most likely has written songs for them. I am actually really excited by this big change to the new season. Since American Idol is my favorite show of all-time, I worry that there will be too many changes to the show that will not make it recognizable anymore. But the main reason why I’m not worrying over this announcement is because I am somewhat familiar with Kara. She judged the short-lived ABC reality show, The One. And even though it didn’t last very long, she was a great judge. Since she is a songwriter, she brings that viewpoint to the judging panel. She has written for many of the past Idol finalists, and from judging this show, she will be able to get to know the contestants, and then hopefully eventually write songs for them. From what I have read about the first audition stop, she has great chemistry with the other three and looks like she can give Simon a run for his money. I can’t wait for American Idol to return in January so I, along with the millions of other viewers and fanatics, will be able to see how she will be on the show.
J-Hud @ DNC: In other Idol news, Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem Thursday at the Democratic National Convention. She was amazing! As we all know from American Idol and Dreamgirls, she has a powerhouse voice and did the song justice. Jennifer will be releasing her self-titled debut album on September 30. Click here to pre-order your copy.
Survivor Cast: The new Survivor castaways were revealed this past week. According to this article, it sounds like this fall’s edition, in Gabon, Africa, will be must-see TV. There will be a good vs. evil aspect among the contestants, which sounds like great television. And for those who have an HD TV, listen up: the show will air in high definition for the first time. And we recently bought an HDTV, and so I can’t wait to watch Survivor. This show is great at showing nature in all aspects, and to see it in HD will be amazing.
Dancing with the Stars Cast: Along with Survivor, it was also revealed which celebrities will be dancing across the ballroom in this falls edition of Dancing with the Stars. Even though I don’t have a page for it on TV Watch Online, I do watch the show. I only started watching the show regularly last fall. Anyway, the new celebs who will be competing are: Lance Bass, Toni Braxton, Brooke Burke, Rocco Dispirito, Maurice Greene, Kim Kardashian, Cloris Leachman, Cody Linley, Susan Lucci, Misty May-Treanor, Ted McGinley, Jeffrey Ross, and Warren Sapp. The one person that I can’t wait to see is Misty May-Treanor. She played beach volleyball with Kerri Walsh at this year’s Olympics, and won gold. Out of all the Olympic events this year, the one I never missed and had to watch was those two playing beach volleyball. They are some of the best athletes I have ever seen, and they definitely deserved to win their second consecutive gold this year, and I hope they do it again in London.
Republican National Convention: The 2008 Republican National Convention begins tomorrow (Monday) and continues through to Thursday, when Senator John McCain will make his party’s acceptance speech. If you want to watch in-depth coverage of everything to do with the convention, then tune in to such cable stations as CNN, MSNBC and C-Span, among others, where coverage will be shown almost the entire day each day. Or if you prefer to just catch the headlining speakers, tune into any of the main network channels. With Hurricane Gustav approaching, McCain is scaling back the convention. There will most likely be updates on the changes on a day-by-day basis, depending on the situation at the time. And if you didn’t watch it last Thursday, Barack Obama gave a rousing acceptance speech in Denver. This election has already shaped up to be historic and nail-biting, and it now looks even more so as we head into the general election.
Desperate Housewives DVD: This Tuesday, season 4 of Desperate Housewives is released on DVD. You can relive the past season before the show returns on Sunday, September 28 on ABC. I personally thought season 4 was the best season yet for the show, culminating in a shocking and show-changing cliffhanger of a finale. You can buy this product in the TV Watch Online STORE on the Featured Products page and the DH page.
Ballet Shoes DVD: Also this Tuesday, we will see the release of Ballet Shoes, which features Harry Potter’s Emma Watson. This TV-movie premiered last December, and I watched it on a Canadian station. It’s great when any of the three HP leads venture off into a non-Potter role so we can see how their acting abilities grow and mature. And Emma’s role in this movie is outstanding. You can buy this product in the TV Watch Online STORE on the Featured Products page and the Harry Potter Movies page.
America’s Got Talent: Last week, NBC’s summer hit, America’s Got Talent, returned live with the Top 40. After this first week back, we already know the first 10 acts who will be in the Top 20. And with each of these live episodes, I will be commenting on the performances on this blog (they will be separate posts and not part of My View). And I have two up already, and waiting for this week’s episodes. In related news, last year’s winner, Terry Fator will be releasing a book, titled Who’s the Dummy Now?, on November 1. We will find out about his life before beginning the biggest act to be seen in Las Vegas. As Amazon notes: Terry Fator overcame many odds: an abusive father, a peripatetic, and isolated childhood, and decades of struggles before winning America’s Got Talent. In one year, he went from being a struggling entertainer to appearing on Oprah, Letterman and Ellen to sold-out shows in Las Vegas and signed as a major headliner on the Strip in Las Vegas at The Mirage. This is the story of the man with the million dollar voice. To me, and to millions others, he was the best performer on last season, and I hope to someday see his show. You can pre-order this product in the TV Watch Online STORE on the America’s Got Talent page.
My Book List: As I mentioned last week, I am reading The Diana Chronicles, by Tina Brown. I took a break from it for a few days this week to read Mike’s Election Guide 2008, by award-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. I have enjoyed watching some of his documentaries, including Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko. If you have been following the 2008 presidential election, this is a great book to read. Note: This book is mainly geared toward those who want Barack Obama in the White House and not John McCain. Click here to buy the book.
Visit TV Watch Online every day for the latest entertainment news, then read My View every weekend right here on the BLOG.
