Let’s see, I’m on a plane first thing in the morning to California, so, there’s a good chance Friday’s “Reality Roundup” could get pushed back. Although, maybe not. I’ve got most of it written, I just don’t know with my schedule if I’ll have time to do it tonight or Thursday night. We’ll see. If its here on Friday, then I did. If not, don’t kill me. I will honestly do my best. But with not having seen my niece and nephew since Christmas, I might get a little busy chasing them around for a few days. Well, that and the fact that the Dog Spa where I board Maddie now has a webcam in the playroom so I can check in on her throughout the day. I found myself watching her today for about a half hour straight after I dropped her off, so, if I can pull it up on my phone, I’m sure I’ll be doing that the next couple days as well. Funny to see all the dogs run and chase her around and try to sniff her butt while she pretty much does her own thing. Wouldn’t expect anything different from my girl.

Couple things of note regarding “Idol” before getting to the performances. Has David Spade’s career sunk to the level that now he’s in the Idol audience? Yikes. It’s not like he’s doing any cross promotion since his show is on CBS. Very surprised to see that. Shouldn’t he be trying to get in Heather Locklears pants or something? Talk about bizarre. What in the world did she ever see in him? Oh right, they’re just good “friends”. Let me tell you something. David Spade is friends with Heather Locklear for one reason and one reason only and that’s to be the rebound guy when Dr. Peter Burns dumps her, or, after Richie dumped her. No guy wants a woman friend that hot if he doesn’t think there’s any chance he’ll get some action from her. Then again, Spade might be gay which would make everything a moot point.

Didn’t you love the little piece of Seacrest bringing all the kiddies up to his “Americas Top 40 Studio”? Gee, that wasn’t much of a plug for Seacrest’s gig now, was it? Nahhhh, of course not. I don’t think he could’ve tooted his own horn any louder if he tried. That segment was nothing but a, “Hey, even though the economy is in the crapper, check out one of the nine jobs that I have which pays me a gazillion dollars while the economy is in the dumper! Look at me press all the buttons and read from my script written out for me by other writers!” Enough Seacrest. We know you’re popular, we know you’re a workaholic, and we know you make over $25 million a year. Quit rubbing it in our face.

For a show that was seemingly going to give us a lot of contemporary songs, I was a little disappointed overall in last nights show. Not to sound like the judges, but man, I don’t get where some of these kids’ heads are at when it comes to song choice. Brutal. And of the nine songs performed, I think two of them were upbeat. Seemed like everything was a ballad, or something slow, or something boring. I had high hopes for this week especially after a few of them butchered Motown. Uhhhh, kind of a letdown really. I think once again, it’s pretty easy to see who could be in the bottom two or three and who’s probably going home. Although, I’m gonna try my damndest to keep her out of there. On to last nights performances.

Anoop Desai, “Caught Up”: Totally annoyed by this performance and by him now. Look dude, I hate to say it, but you’re not black. Obviously, during Michael Jackson week he had no choice, but singing Bobby Brown during Hollywood week and Week 1 of the finals, then coming with an Usher song? C’mon. Just cuz’ Randy calls you his dog doesn’t mean you have to start pretending you’re one. You know the best way to describe Anoop? He’s not nearly as cool as he thinks he is. He’s actually much better singing a slow ballad. But these up-tempo, R&B songs where he tries act all hard, and puff out the chest, and try to act “hip” comes across as so corny and wannabe-ish. Simon and Randy nailed it. He’s a wannabe at this point. He tries so hard to be a performer when it’s obvious he’s not in the least bit.

Megan Joy, “Turn Your Lights Down Low”: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I thought this would be her week to finally not be crappy. Guess I was wrong. She had way too much jewelry on that kept clinging every time she moved, the song wasn’t recognizable, and it seemed like she repeated the same phrase over and over, “I wanna give you some good lovin’”. Oh I bet you do sweetcakes. Right back at ya’. But for this performance, you get a “D”.

However, the good stuff came afterwards. So two contestants in and Kara gives her, “Here’s the thing. You know…” Until someone in the audience blurts out, “Broken record!” Ha ha. Genius. No, that wasn’t me. Man, how defensive did Kara get after that? She was PISSED you could tell, but tried not to show it. Funny moment though.

Another reason why I don’t like Paula and find her useless: It’s like she doesn’t think about anything she wants to say until one second before she speaks. Isn’t she forming opinions about these performances while they’re happening? Why does it take her forever to spit out the garbage that she does? The minute it’s Simons turn, he knows exactly what he’s going to say, he says it quickly, and he says it succinctly so there’s no doubt in your mind you know how he felt. Paula is the complete opposite and I think that’s what gets on Simons nerves the most. Among other things. Like her being half blitzed all the time.

Danny Gokey, “What Hurts the Most”: I said it last week and I’ll say it again, Danny is so much better when he’s singing slower ballads that build toward a huge chorus. This “P.Y.T.” and “Get Ready” stuff the last two weeks are fun, the audience gets into it, it shows a different side, but its not his strength. Let’s be real, the guy is a singer at his church. So he’s good when he’s singing something inspirational or moving, since that’s what he’s used to. By no means were the last two weeks ever going to get him eliminated, but, they weren’t that great of performances. This type of stuff is what he excels at, and when he puts out an album, 80% of the songs will be more ballad-y than pop-y. Yes, I just made up those words. I don’t think he’s gonna put out a pop album, but I also don’t think he’s going to do some Christain album either. He could easily put out an album of cover songs (hey, Clay Aiken did it), and include “Kiss From a Rose”, “Hero”, and this song and already he’s got a third of the album done.

Allison Iraheta, “Don’t Speak”: Blech. Didn’t care for this one at all. The judges harped on the outfit, I didn’t really care about that. I hated her hair. Way too distracting, and too much like she was creating a video at her High School Grad Night where you get to put on whatever costume you want and some stupid wig. Ummmm, here’s a Reality Steve fact for you. Haven’t had one of these in a while. At my High School Grad Night, me and two of my friends did a karaoke video to “Me So Horny”. Wow. I must say, a rather impressive performance. I was the lead singer and I believe at one point I may have started humping the keyboard because I had no idea what else to do. Safe to say very few people have ever seen that video and I’m gonna keep it that way.

Scott MacIntyre, “Just the Way You Are”: I didn’t even need to see the performance to know it was gonna be good. The minute Scott told us in his video what he’d be singing, you just knew this was up his alley. Song choice, dog. See? I could be a judge. When Anoop chooses “Caught Up”, you knew it would be cheesy and probably suck. When Scott chose this, you just knew it’d be solid. Is he the best singer in the group? No. Is he in the top three? No. But he’s likable, he’s entertaining behind a piano, and he’s got a great story. Definitely bought himself another week with that performance I believe. And after doing this performance where it was just his voice and the piano, I realized how much better Scott sounds without background music and vocals drowning him out. He should do his own thing every week.

Matt Giraud, “You Found Me”: Currently one of my favorite songs since they played it at the end of one of my favorite “Smallville” episodes. When I heard he was singing it, I thought it’d be perfect for him. This was the only performance tonight that I re-watched because I didn’t agree with the judges at all on this one. In fact, I watched it four times. I thought he’d been better in past performances, but they made it sound like he was awful tonight and I didn’t think that at all. Something tells me the judges had never heard of this song before so they didn’t know what to think. I liked it. Didn’t blow the roof off the place, but it was a hell of a lot better than they gave him credit for. I do somewhat agree with the one criticism that he didn’t do anything with the song. He basically sang it like “The Fray” does which, if you like the song, was fine. But no, there was no originality to it. I guess tonight he didn’t show us “What kind of artist do you want to be? Who are you?”

Lil Rounds, “I Surrender”: A boring ballad that I didn’t care for. Plus, I have one rule when I watch “American Idol” and that is, I pretty much hate every performance where someone tries to sing Celine Dion. Never works since it’s never as good as the original and they try way too hard. Plus, I hated Lil’ Rounds look tonight. Way too old for me. I know she’s married and has three kids, but she came across way too motherly in that performance. Very bland, nothing all that great about it, and she could be in trouble.

Adam Lambert, “Play that Funky Music”: When he sang “Black or White”, I didn’t mind when he went into his famous Axl Rose scream. Tonight? I got kind of annoyed. It seemed like he did it waaaaay too much. Now, when I first heard he was singing this song, I was like, “Oh boy. There isn’t a more played out wedding song than this. This could be a disaster.” So I at least give him points for originality and “making it his own”, but it was an OK performance for me. I think one thing that made it stand out was that it was a song which could get people up off their feet and moving and dancing around, as opposed to seven performances before it where you really couldn’t. So the energy he brought definitely helped. I just wasn’t too crazy about it. Too much screaming this time for me.

Kris Allen, “Ain’t No Sunshine”: Haven’t you noticed that the performance that usually closes out the night is most of the time the best one? It’s obviously planned that way. They’ve been doing that for quite a few seasons. With a week to rehearse, they obviously know what these kids are gonna sing so they have a way of always ending on a good note. Tonight was no different. Best originality, great vocals, and he gave us something he hadn’t given us before, which was him behind the keyboard. And when they announced he was doing that song I thought again, “Damn, another slow, boring ballad.” But the way he changed it up, it served him well to make it sound contemporary and not like you should be listening to it on an old 45 record. He was excellent tonight.

Reality Steve’s Top 3 Performances:

1. Kris Allen
2. Danny Gokey
3. Scott MacIntyre

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Performances:

1. Megan Joy
2. Anoop Desai
3. Lil Rounds

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Prediction:

1. Megan Joy
2. Allison Iraheta
3. Anoop Desai

Reality Steve’s Prediction of Who Will Get Eliminated: Megan Joy. I think this is the week she leaves. She’s had three bad weeks in a row and I just don’t think she can survive this one. Anoop still has his fan base of teen girls, and Allison has the younger vote too. I just don’t know where Megan’s fans are coming from this week.

For the record, I have never voted on this show in eight seasons watching. In fact, you know the only show I’ve ever voted on in all my years of watching reality TV? “Last Comic Standing” season 2. I voted every week on that season for some reason and haven’t voted since. Very weird, I know. Don’t ask why either cuz I don’t really have an answer. Anyway, check back on Friday to see if I was able to pull away from watching Maddie on a webcam to write. Any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, questions/concerns/queries for the next mailbag, send them all to steve@realitysteve.com. As for the “Comments” section on the website, I know it’s frustrating, but I’m working on it. We’re still tinkering with the site, but I think we may have found a solution. They should be working soon, so bear with us. Take care.

Administrator American Idol 8

A lot to get to this week. We need to cover the latest on “DWTS”, the “Idol” Results show, “Survivor”, “Celebrity Apprentice”, wrap up the “City” finale, plus, I will finally give you the rumors I’ve heard concerning Jillians season of the “Bachelorette”, what the tabloids are already saying about Jillian, an update on Jason and Molly, a “Bachelor” breakup, plus, answering your questions over the last week in our email bag.

“Dancing With the Stars”

-The latest news to come from the show is about crazy stalker guy getting arrested Tuesday night outside the studios because he was after Shawn Johnson. Like this season hasn’t already had enough drama. Damn. I think if this were a veteran actress would had been through “obsessive fans” before, I might not be as big of deal. But I’m guessing if you’re 17, and you find out a guy was roaming around outside the studio with two loaded guns, letters, and duct tape, I bet she’s pretty freaked out. Let’s see if it affects her performance the rest of the way. She’s gotta be pretty shaken by something like this. As for this 34 year old loser, what else can you say? Dude, she’s 17. I’m guessing she has no interest in you. And if you’re really that desperate for some female attention, there are plenty of 900 numbers to call, or strip clubs to visit. I’m guessing jumping fences and breaking security with loaded guns in your car isn’t the quickest way to Shawn’s heart. Call me crazy. Or how about I just call you crazy.

-Now, obviously that could have an affect on Shawn. But once the report came out yesterday of someone getting a hold of her contract for the show, I’m guessing her mind got put at ease a little bit. Let’s face it, if you go on this show, you’re making some good coin. And the longer you go, the more money you make. For years it was rumored that you make a minimum 100k to appear on the show, then 20 grand extra for each week you stay. Howard Stern announced that back in Season 3 when his girlfriend Beth was offered and turned it down. Well, since Shawn is a minor, TMZ.com got a hold of her contract, and it basically verified what Stern said. The basics:

-Under the contract, Shawn gets a guarantee of $125,000 for appearing on the show. By surviving the first elimination, she gets an additional $10,000 a week for weeks 3 and 4.

-If Shawn survives the next eliminations, the rate doubles to $20,000 a week for weeks 5, 6 and 7. For weeks 8 and 9 she scores $30,000 a week.

-In weeks 10 and 11, if Shawn makes it through, she gets $50,000 a week.

Read Shawn’s contract here

Not bad indeed. And some people question why C-list celebs are now begging their agents to get them on the show. Hell, I’d embarrass myself on national TV for six figures. So for those upset at Melissa for agreeing to do the show, there’s your reason why. Does it make her a money grubber? Not at all. Because every single one of you out there would’ve taken that in a heartbeat as well and you’re lying if you say you wouldn’t. Let’s see, go back home to Dallas and work in sales behind a desk from 8-5, or, do something you love doing, make it the finals, and get paid some serious money? Yeah, real tough decision there.

-Uh oh. Yet another “DWTS” injury. Late last night, it was reported that Holly Madison might have a broken rib. I think my ribs would be broken too if had giant DDD’s that banged against my ribcage all week dancing. Not that Holly has a chance to win this thing, but let’s at least see her for a couple more weeks. I want to make a deal with Holly as well. How about the longer you stay, the less clothing you wear every week? Sounds fair to me.

-So I presented the question last week of how the hell does the scoring system work on this show since they’ve never fully explained it. Little did I know, the answer was sitting right there on ABC’s website if you look hard enough. So for those that don’t know how they combine the viewers votes with the judges scores, I hope this clears it up for you. Certainly didn’t for me.

THE PROCEDURE FOR ELIMINATING COUPLES:

Each week every couple receives points from the judges and votes from the public. For every couple we work out the share they got of the points given by the judges on the night, and the share they got of the public’s votes on the night and we add these two shares together. The couple with the lowest combined total is eliminated from the show.

For example if couple A, B and C receive 38, 26 and 14 points from the judges, we calculate what share these points represent of the total awarded by the judges on the night. In this case the judges gave 78 points in total, and each couples’ share of 78 points breaks down as follows: 38= 48.72% of 78, 26= 33.33% of 78, 14= 17.95% of 78. Let’s suppose that when the public votes are tallied, each couple has the following shares: A= 20%, B=40%, C=40%. To determine who’s eliminated we combine these two shares for the total:

Couple A: 20+48.72%= 68.72%
Couple B: 40+33.33%= 73.33%
Couple C: 40+17.95%= 57.95%

In this case, the bottom two couples would be A and C, and C would be eliminated.

Holy crap, really? That’s the way they decide who goes home? This is a freakin’ dance contest not nuclear science. No wonder they’ve never fully explained that to the viewers. It would have to include pie charts, bar graphs, and would take up the whole show. That’s just stupid if you ask me.

-During the video before Chuck and Julianne’s performance, he said something that got me to thinking. I think it’s safe to say now that “That’s how I roll” has now replaced anything ending in “izzle” as the most annoying pop culture phrase currently in the cycle. If I’m not mistaken, that phrase really took off when Jack Blacks character kicked Baxter over the bridge in “Anchorman” and then uttered the line. That movie came out in 2004. Why that phrase is still being used by EVERYBODY is beyond me. So annoying now.

-And just like Probst and Harrison, EW.com has hired on Carrie Ann to blog about the show every Wednesday. Is it as good as those guys? Of course not. But it does offer some interesting behind-the-scenes stuff. Read Carrie Ann’s blog right here.

-Holy sh**! We have a Hall and Oates sighting! Really? Hall and Oates on “DWTS”? Was Huey Lewis and the News too busy this week? Hey, it’s been 25 years and I still couldn’t tell you which one is Hall and which one is Oates. Whoever the one with the black hair and the porn mustache is, he might be barely five feet tall. Did you see him on stage Tuesday night? That guy is a midget. I think the one thing I like best about the Tuesday night performances is we get to watch the pros dance with the pros. Unlike on Idol where we’re treated to a ridiculous, lip synched, horribly choreographed group performance, I thoroughly enjoy watching the pros dance together on Tuesday nights. Shows you how much better they are than the celebs they’re coaching.

-Back to Holly Madison for a second. Obviously, she knows she’s the hottest female on the show with the biggest cans, but how come in every pre-dance video we see, she’s practicing in soccer shorts, an oversized shirt, and her socks are pulled up to her knees? Why can’t Edtya’s wardrobe designer give Holly a little help? I’m fine with her outfits the night of the dances, but can she practice in something a little skimpier? Like say, oh I don’t know, RealitySteve.com boy shorts and tank top? Coming soon everyone. Hopefully. And have you noticed how every judge, even Carrie Ann, seems to comment about her boobs after she dances. Good or bad, there’s always some reference made to them. Man I love this show.

-Steve-O really is trying out there and seems like he’s genuinely interested in doing well this season. I think the fact he’s dancing so poorly doesn’t really have much to do with his lack of rhythm, or his injuries. Really. I think it might have more to do with the fact that guy has to dance with a frog in his throat. What kind of voice is that? I guess if you’ve done every drug imaginable and have been in and out of rehab, you are gonna sound a little haggard. But my God, his voice almost sounds fake. Either that, or he gargles razor blades every morning.

“American Idol” Results Show

-Damn, I’m getting good at these predictions. Nailed two of the bottom three and correctly predicted who got eliminated for the 3rd time in 4 weeks. And I don’t feel bad I didn’t have Matt Giraud in the bottom three since I can’t imagine anyone else did. If he’s showing up in the bottom three after a performance like that, it goes to show that there’s just a little something missing with him where he’s not connecting with the audience. If I remember correctly, a lot of past winners never appeared in the bottom three once during their season. I don’t believe Carrie did, nor did Fantasia or Taylor. Can’t remember if David Cook did last year. I don’t think he did, but I could be wrong.

-At least the “Idol” producers admitted this week that, yeah, our group performance is lip synched. In case you didn’t see, this was the exact reasoning they gave for it:

“Due to extensive choreography and to balance their voices with open mikes against a screaming audience, the Idols do sing along to their own prerecorded vocal track during the group performances only.”

Whatever excuses you wanna make, that’s fine. No need to justify it. Hell most, if not all, pop singers lip synch in concert. Especially ones that choreograph dance routines around their music***cough*** Britney Spears***cough***. The easiest solution is just eliminate it all together. It’s so high school play-ish its not even funny. I fast forward through it every week. Then again, I fast forward through most of the results show every week unless someone’s performing that I give a damn about. Brad Paisley? Tivo 30 second jump. Carrie Underwood? Yes ma’am, may I have another?

-Why did the judges pretend last night like they were actually considering saving Michael Sarver? No they weren’t. Nice acting job. Remember how I said last week now that Alexis is gone, the only ones they’ll use the save on will either be Adam, Danny, Lil Rounds, or Matt? Let me revise that. I definitely think they’re going to use the save this season. The more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that they never would’ve instituted it if they weren’t going to use it. Assuming none of those four ever receive the lowest amount of votes, I still think the judges would use it to save someone when it’s down to the final six or five. Let’s say they haven’t used it yet, it’s down to five contestants (those four and Allison for arguments sake), and Allison gets the lowest amount of votes. I bet they use it to bring her back the next week. Why? Just so they can have a double elimination. Adds intrigue and adds interest to a rather boring results show. So here’s the bottom line: If any of the “fave 4″ get the lowest votes before the Final 5, they’re getting saved. If none of them ever do, the judges will still use it on someone halway decent when its down to five or six. Does that make sense?

-Final note: This week, Reuben’s performance was taped after Wednesday night’s show (along with a performance by Jennifer Hudson that’s going to appear later this year). And now, not only is the group performance lip synched, but now it’s not even live as that thing was watched on the monitor by people in attendance. Yikes. How much longer before someone gets accused of lip synching on the live show?

“Celebrity Apprentice”

-I’ve become a big fan of Brande Roderick. I know, shocking huh? I think she should incorporate the Holly Madison strategy into every task. That being to just where as little clothing as possible. Would make it so much more enjoyable for the viewer. I loved the scene this week where she went to go meet the police chief to present him with the money she won and she says, “I’ve got something I want to give you”. I’m guessing at that point, the last thing that guy wanted to see was some check for his foundation. If Brande Roderick says, “I’ve got something I want to give you”, I think that calls for an immediate hard on.

-The NBC editing/hype machine in full effect last week. “The Dennis Rodman Meltdown”. Really? That was a meltdown? Omarosa and Piers had better arguments than that. Like we ever thought he’d lay a hand on Clint Black. Please. Totally contrived on Dennis’ part too. I bet they told him to do that. He’s always been the bad boy, so nothing he does on this show should surprise anyone. Him flipping out on Clint after they’d just won the right to present seconds made no sense whatsoever. I’m willing to bet he was told to do that. Yes, I’m cynical. Frankly, when watching reality TV, I basically am starting to question everything since pretty much all of it is fake.

-Claudia Jordan no doubt must be banging one of the higher up executives at NBC. How else can you explain her being on the show? What credentials does she have? As C & D list as everyone else on that show is, Claudia Jordan can’t even hold a candle to them in terms of accomplishments in Hollywood. Someone do some digging and find out who her boyfriend/sugar daddy is. Has to be someone higher up at NBC. A “Deal or No Deal” girl? There’s 25 of them. What makes her so special?

-You know what’s funny? I’ve always mixed up Brian McKnight and R Kelly. Not because they look alike but because they both produce the same kind of music. I was trying to remember Brian’s biggest hit and I had to google it before I remembered. “Back at One”. That’s a good song. Always liked that one. But if you told me R Kelly sung “Back at One” and “I Believe I Could Fly” was by Brian McKnight, I probably would’ve believed that too. Here’s how you can tell the difference between the two (Yes, here comes the easiest joke ever written on this website). Brian doesn’t like videotaping himself urinating on underage girls.

-Did I hear Trump correctly in the boardroom saying that he has TLC on his ipod? Sure you do, Donnie. I’m sure “Waterfalls” is always bumping on your ipod when you’re at the gym. Or “Creep”. Or “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”. Quit sucking up to your contestants. You know what I noticed about Donald Jr. and Ivanka? That are infinitely more cooler than their father and are halfway normal. How did he spawn those two? And if you think my next line is going to have something to do with Ivanka dressing more like Holly Madison and Brande Roderick, well then, you know me too well. Funny thing about Ivanka is, as far as I know, she’s never really done a provocative spread in any men’s magazine. That surprises me. Hold on, let me google that real quick to make sure I’m not missing out on anything (10 minutes later). Other than a few busty cleavage pics, nothing too scandalous out there of her. Dammit. That needs to change.

-Just a bit of editing once again at the end of the show. When Claudia got eliminated from the boardroom, she hair perfectly straight hair and wasn’t wearing any panty hose. In her walk out to the car, looks like she had extensions in her hair, it was wavy, and she had on black panty hose. I’m obsessed with those three seconds of them walking to the car now so I can find something different from that shot to a shot five seconds earlier when they were getting in the elevator. I think the “Apprentice” has always acknowledged that the “elimination” walks to the car aren’t on the same night they’re eliminated, but dammit if it doesn’t stop me from pointing it out every week. I’m weird like that.

“The City” Finale

-I know I’ve spent too much time watching the “City” and the “Hills” when last night my whole dream ended up being about me and Spencer Pratt becoming good buddies after he called me out for something I said in a past column about him. One of the more bizarre dreams I’ve had in a while and one that I’d frankly never like to have again. I seriously could never bring myself to even speak to that douchenozzle.

-So the “City” finale has come and gone, and oh the drama! Uh huh. Just like the scripted it out. What a surprise that every single person involved in the show ended the season on some cliffhanger with where there life was headed. Almost like it was planned right from the beginning. Which it was. Really? Whitney and Jay just happened to break up in the last episode of the season? How ironic. Let me guess, when next season starts, Whitney will have moved on, dated a few more guys, maybe even be exclusive with someone, but then Jay will reappear in her life wanting her back, and it’ll cause drama. Of course he will. He’s signed on for season 2. Look, I hate to ruin it for those that actually like the show and enjoy watching, but there’s absolutely nothing real about this show. Nothing whatsoever. Short of giving them a script to memorize lines, everything in both the “City” and the “Hills” is all planned ahead of time according to a storyboard so they can tell a story throughout the course of a season. I don’t think I’m breaking any news here, but I know there are those out there that think what they see on television is real. I hate to burst your bubble, but its not. Just because they’re not given scripts with monologues to memorize doesn’t mean they’re not told what to say or how to act in certain situations. And you know what? I’ll still be watching when the “Hills” begins its “final” season on April 6th.

“The Bachelor/ette”

-Quite a few things to cover this week regarding everyone’s favorite show here. Let me first start of with the “Bachelorette”, which begins filming today. How do I know this? There are a couple guys from Dallas on the show this season who left for L.A. two days ago. From what I hear, the meet-and-greets out of the limo will be occurring tonight. Then the fun begins. Weeeeeeee!!!!!! So how is our little Jillian going to be as the Bachelorette? Well, according to OK! Magazine, nothing like she was on the “Bachelor”. Read this story:

The Bachelorette Gets Naughty!

Now, it’s hard to put too much stock into this report for the sole reason they only quote an “insider”, however, would it be really that far-fetched if we saw this after everything that went down last season? I don’t think so. Look, anything is believable at this point and if you immediately dismiss this report, you’re being naïve. Mike Fleiss and his production company have the same exact objective as anybody who puts on a TV show, which is to get people to watch. As we saw last season, they will stoop to whatever level they have to for eyeballs to watch their show. So at this point, nothing would surprise me regarding Jillians season. Nothing.

-Now as for the information I’d heard about a month ago, here’s the rumor that is going around. In past seasons this hasn’t been the case, but because of the backlash this show received after the Jason fiasco, I’ve heard that guys who were set to be cast on the show this season started pulling out at the last minute and were basically offered money to come back on and “guaranteed” spots in the final four, and/or, final two. I put “guarantee” in quotes because there’s no guarantee whatsoever that can ever happen in this show unless its written into their contract, which doesn’t happen. However, I’ve had multiple people report to me that two guys in particular were offered $50k each to be in the final two this season, with the one not getting picked getting a handshake offer to be the next “Bachelor”, yet both of them turned it down. Not bad coin, huh? Kinda funny that now when I watch the show, when we get down to the final two, I’ll be asking myself, “Gee, I wonder how much those guys were offered? Maybe they should change the shows name to “For Love or Money”. Oh wait, NBC already ran that show. Hell, I’d even consider selling my soul to ABC for that amount of cake. 70k for six weeks of work of pretending to be interested in some Canadian chick? Works for me. Where do I sign?

-Now of course there will be people that question the validity of this, but ask yourself this question. In the history of this show, have you ever heard publicly about anything regarding money given out to these contestants? No. Sure, it’s talked about on message boards, but ABC has never released a statement that said, “Today, ABC and Jason Mesnick agreed on a six-figure deal for him to become the next ‘Bachelor’.” They just announce who our next “Bachelor” is and tell us when the season will start. But lets not play dumb here. The “Bachelor” and the “Bachelorette” get paid, and well. So when you’re getting paid that kind of money, let’s face it, you’re probably going to do what you’re told. Nobody is going to quit their job for six weeks and be the focal point of a network show if they’re not making any money off it. It’s ridiculous to think otherwise. As for the contestants, the contract stipulates you receive compensation once you reach the final four, whatever that may be. Probably varies from season to season. If they’re handing out six figures for you to show up on “DWTS”, they’re obviously paying you to be the “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette”. Lets not kid ourselves.

-Once again, there are those of you out there who believe in love stories, and live in a fantasy world, and are hoping Jillian finds the perfect guy, falls madly in love, and gets engaged at the end of the season. This show has always pushed the bounds of ridiculousness, but this stuff takes the cake. Now they’re resorting to paying guys to come on the show with promises of making the final two? Yikes. Even for them that’s pretty low. Gonna be real interesting to watch this season knowing all this. If two guys already turned down 70k to be part of the final two, I wonder what the eventual final two guys are getting? And is there a reason no one has ever publicly asked Mike Fleiss, Chris Harrison, or ABC, “Hey, how much does your Bachelor/ette get paid to do the show?” If no one wants to ask it, I certainly will. There’s a reason no one’s asked and it’s because they don’t want to have to answer it. Because once they start throwing around figures of what these people are paid, then, all the rumors about the show start becoming more believable.

-I think another interesting point about how “scripted” the show is how the announcement of Jillian as the “Bachelorette” played out. Mike Fleiss admitted publicly that they were going to ask Molly to be the next one because she was the final two girl. Then when they got wind of Jason “changing his mind”, they asked Melissa, and she declined. So he’s been on record as saying essentially that Jillian was their 3rd choice. Well, Jillian was announced as the next “Bachelorette” on “live” TV March 3rd during the ATFR 2 show. The show was taped the Friday before on the 26th, which means they came to an agreement with her sometime a little before that. So if Jillian is officially signed on as the “Bachelorette” in late February, yet they’ve been casting for the show for months in advance, doesn’t that pretty much tell you that they’re just casting roles, and not necessarily casting 25 men specifically for Jillian?

-If this show is claiming they are out to find the 25 guys that suit Jillian the best, wouldn’t all casting begin AFTER they’ve decided on who the “Bachelorette” will be? Of course it would, but that’s not the way it works. There’s no way that the 25 guys this season were all scouted, interviewed, tested, and prepped for tonights meet-and-greet all in the last month. Impossible. Casting directors pick out certain guys they like, they place them on the show, and only afterwards do they find out who they’re “competing” for. And apparently this season, are throwing around gobs of cash guaranteeing them spots in the final two, as well as false promises that if they don’t get picked, they would end up being the next “Bachelor”. Even Fleiss made it perfectly clear in an interview recently where he said people are more interested in the “Bachelor” or “Bachelorette” when they’ve seen them before and have followed their storyline. Hence the reason DeAnna was cast, then Jason, and now Jillian. And you can bet your ass our next “Bachelor” will come from this crop of 25 guys competing for Jillian. Just one big recycle going on now. It’s too much of a risk for them to cast someone that no one has formed any opinion about already as the focal point of their show.

-”Star” magazine ran a weird headline over the last week saying Jason wanted Melissa back, then I never read any sort of story about it. So to one up them, “People” magazine decided to give us an update on how the hell Jason and Molly are doing. Interesting read:

“The Bachelor’s” Jason Visits Molly in Her Hometown”

So since the finale on March 2nd, Molly hasn’t been to Seattle once? Uhhh, that can’t be a good sign. Blame it on using up all your vacation days already, but why couldn’t she fly out after work on Friday and come back Sunday? Let’s face it, the “we’re taking it one day at a time”, and “we’ll see what happens” talk is Bachelor-speak for, “It’s only a matter of time before we break up.” So they’re “happy” together? How can you be since apparently you’ve barely seen each other? The negative publicity Jason has received since the show end apparently isn’t helping either. Numerous reports are saying he’s very insecure about people not understanding his decision of “changing his mind” and if he doesn’t get over it, the relationship will end sooner rather than later.

-Unfortunately, we had a recent “Bachelor” break up as the lovely Holly Durst and Jesse Csincsak are no longer together. Let’s all let out a collective, “If these two can’t make it, is there any hope for the rest of us?” If you looked closely enough, Jesse and Holly were in attendance at Monday’s taping of “DWTS” even though they’d already broken up. Naomi was there as well. On Jesse’s website, you can see a pic of Melissa, him, Naomi, and Holly after the show ended, in that order. Man, Jesse couldn’t even be next to her in the picture? Cold.

“Email Bag”

I want to save a couple for next week as well, plus, this is taking me a lot longer than I thought, so here’s just a few to wet your appetite.

Hey Steve,

My question for the mailbag: what was the real reason behind the Jesse/DeAnna break up? You wrote something about De’s fans hating her if we ever learned the real reason. Did it have anything to do with the rumored 10k they paid her to appear on Jason’s show? I can see Fleiss saying they’d like her to be on Jason’s show, but only if she happened to be single by the time they needed her in late November, hint hint nudge nudge.

Kelly

Reality Steve: Well Kelly, after everything I mentioned above about money being thrown around on this show, it’s safe to say that DeAnna and Jesse’s breakup had much more to do with money than it did with love. Yes, money played a role in her picking him, it played a role in them staying together, and it ultimately played a role in their breaking up. Draw your own conclusions from that.

Hi Steve,

Do you do anything for a living besides watch tv and write in a blog that, until recently, didn’t have any advertising? Just how do/did you get the money required to live?

Laura

RS: Thank you Laura for thinking I’m an unemployed loser with nothing better to do. In case you missed it, I will refer you to an interview that someone did with me about a month ago entitled, “Who is Reality Steve?”

http://blogs.hairboutique.com/index.php/2009/03/01/who-is-reality-steve/

Yes, I have a job. That job also requires me to work from home, so I’m pretty much in front of a computer all day. That job also allows me a ton of free time to write, work on my website, and travel back to California to see my niece and nephew, which is where I’ll be next week for his 2nd birthday. Looking forward to that. Hey, maybe that’s why Maddie urinates all over my apartment. She’s so used to me being here all day, that when I leave, she doesn’t know where the hell I’m going, or if I’m coming back, so she lashes out. Hmmmmmm, could be on to something here. Although, she only does it when I leave at night. It never happens if I have a meeting during the day, or go to lunch. Only when I leave at night. Weird.

Reality Steve,

If I somehow showed up at this Child Abuse Prevention Gala on April 18th, could I be your date? Ha ha. Love the column. All the best!

Tina

RS: Well, would I bring a complete stranger as my date to this event? Probably not. Although with less than three weeks left and still being dateless, I guess it could be possible. But if you want to show up, feel free to do so. It should be a really fun night for a great cause. For those that didn’t come to the site yesterday, check back to the first few paragraphs and I encourage you to help out in any way you can to the Child Abuse Prevention Center.

So that’s it for this week. Back on Wednesday with your “Idol” recap. Keep sending in your emails for the mailbag as it will appear every Friday in the “Reality Roundup” column. As always, any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, donations, date applications, feel free to email me at steve@realitysteve.com. Until next week.

Administrator Reality Roundup

As you can see, a couple of additions to the site since last week. The comments section still is not working, but we are getting around to that. It’s very frustrating on my end since everything else seems to be working. The banner for our newest sponsor who came aboard last week, “Hollywood Secrets”, is now fully functional. Had some glitches last week, but that has been corrected so check that out when you get a chance. Also, all the posts under “My Writings” are now working if you want to go back to past seasons and re-read some of my brilliance. As well as “Archived Columns”, which brings you back to the old site and some shows from four or five years ago. Still have some formatting issues to deal with, and working on a new banner for the site, but things are coming along. I will keep everyone updated as to when the merchandise will start.

As you can see under the “Hollywood Secrets” banner, I’ve put up a link regarding a non profit organization I’ve become involved with, CAP (Child Abuse Prevention). They’ve asked me to be a “celebrity” guest at their gala coming up Saturday night, April 18th in downtown Dallas. I know, I know. The last thing I consider myself is a “celebrity”. But if there is one thing good to come out of this column, it’s stuff like this. The people have been really great in explaining to me all about the event and their program, and I couldn’t be more excited to get involved. If anyone out there is interested in attending the event, feel free to click on the links provided below. If you can’t, check out their YourCause.com Campaign. Look, I don’t make a penny off anything regarding this event, so that’s not what it’s for. I just think it’s a great cause, and if you have the time, I encourage you to donate whatever you feel necessary. In these tough economic times, non-profit organizations need all the help they can get, so anything would be much appreciated.

YourCause.com

2009 Celebrity Waiter Gala

I was also able to load Twitter onto the page now, so everyone can see all my ridiculous ramblings throughout the day. Yeah, Maddie is having bathroom problems again. Nothing to do with her bladder, her health has checked out fine, and she’s eating and drinking like she normally does. She just happens to use my carpet as her personal toilet whenever I leave for more than a couple hours or so, something she’s never really done before other than when I first got her. I don’t want to have to crate her when I leave since she hates that thing, but I guess that’s my only option at this point unless I want yellow carpet from now on. She obviously is lashing out at something since she can hold it in during the 6-8 hours we sleep at night. But when I leave for any extended period of time, it’s gotten to the point where I’d be surprised if she DIDN’T soil the place while I was out. Maybe she’s pissed because I haven’t made a YouTube video recently and she wants to be back on camera. What a diva. Anyway, let’s move on to last nights show.

Much better than Country week. At least I’d heard of all these songs. And we didn’t have to look at Alien Travis helping the kids out. Of course, who doesn’t like Smokey Robinson and his freaky blue eyes? He’s a legend. So in that aspect, I was all down for last night. Here’s the thing about being a mentor every week. Very few of them will actually criticize any of the singers. They all essentially say the same thing. “So-and-so sounded great. Loved their voice. I’m sure everyone will like it.” And that’s just not realistic. So was Smokey really being honest with us when he told us he enjoyed Megan’s version of “For Once in My Life”? I guess by masking it with, “She definitely has a unique voice”, that was his way of saying, “Uh oh. This is going to be a trainwreck.” I think it’s a cool experience for the kids to meet all these legends, and it’s something they’ll never forget, but when the legend tells you how much they liked your performance, then four judges tell you it sucked, who’s being honest here?

Matt Giraud, “Lets Get It On”: Another solid performance by him. Randy, Simon, and Seacrest were on Jay Leno the other night and basically said they thought a male would win and plugged Adam and Danny. Then last night you could tell by their comments they are trying to put Matt over as a potential finalist. Will Matt get a record deal? Absolutely. Is he one of the best singers on the show? Without a doubt. Will he get to the final two? I highly doubt it. But once again, does it really matter? We’ve seen plenty of people over the years who didn’t win go on to sell albums, so I don’t think he has much to worry about. I just look at him and I can’t pinpoint what exactly it is, but I just don’t see him winning it all.

Kris Allen, “How Sweet It Is”: Remember last week when I said Kris kinda looked like monchichi? I take that back. If Kris shaved his head, he’d be a smaller, scrawnier version of Chris Daughtry. Really take a good look at him next time. He’s got a little Daughtry in him. Not the voice, just the face. I couldn’t really focus on Kris’ performance last night because the whole time he was singing “How Sweet It Is”, I was thinking of “Oz” from “American Pie” singing it in the locker room when he had his hard on for Mena Suvari. So I apologize Kris. If you were any good, I missed it. Too busy thinking of “American Pie”, one of the greatest movies ever made. Cinematic brilliance I tell ya’. And no, it has nothing to do with the fact that Shannon Elizabeth nuded up for us in arguably one of the funniest “sex” scenes in recent memory. Ok, maybe it does.

Scott MacIntyre, “You Can’t Hurry Love”: I immediately thought him singing a Diana Ross song was going to be a little awkward and it was. Scott is a great story, and without a doubt is probably an inspiration to a lot of people, but his time on this show is slowly coming to an end. He’s just not as good as some of the other singers, period.

Megan Joy, “For Once in My Life”: You know you haven’t had a good night when Paula starts out her comments with, “You look beautiful” since that’s her back asswards way of trying to be nice. Let’s face it, Megan wasn’t good last night, and her “unique” voice isn’t enough at this stage anymore. However, if she still wants to prance around on stage in short mini skirts, be my guest. I have no complaints whatsoever. And I know last week I mentioned her never covering up her tattoo, but at this point, I don’t even care. I’ve basically become immune to it now. Does it really fit her personality? No. Is it ridiculously loud and out there? Yes. But I want to focus on the more important things Megan has to offer. Like her face. And her chest.

Anoop Desai, “Ooooh Baby Baby”: Funny thing is, I never knew that was the actual title of the song. I know it’s the main lyrics in the chorus but I never actually knew it was the title. Anoop kinda put me to sleep last night. I definitely think he’s proven he can sing, but there really wasn’t anything special about the performance. I don’t know if he has the ability to blow us off the stage. I believe only four people left have the ability to completely blow us away with a performance: Adam, Danny, Lil Rounds, and Matt. Anoop’s a good singer. Probably someone you could ask to sing at your wedding, but I don’t think he has star potential. Some label will probably sign him, he’ll put out one album that’ll get to maybe 50th on the Billboard charts, and then he’ll just do “Idol”-related stuff for the rest of his career.

Michael Sarver, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”: Hey, at least he admitted it wouldn’t be any good going in to it. There is nothing “Motown” about Michael Sarver. In fact, if his name was “Motown” Sarver, he still wouldn’t have fit in on this night. Here’s another guy who just isn’t nearly as good as some of the other singers, but I don’t think he cares. He knows he isn’t, he gets to go on tour and hang out with all his buddies. I wouldn’t be surprised if he never puts out an album. Just enjoy his time on the show, go on tour, then go back to his wife and kid. You notice the one thing that Michael does in every song he sings? He grinds his teeth. He’s half smiling, half mashing his teeth together when he sings. I don’t know what to make of that. I guess that’s his little quirk. And oh yeah, Kara gave him the weekly, “Who are you as an artist?” line last night. I get what she’s saying since that performance couldn’t have been any more karaoke if he tried, but she’s gotta stop saying that.

Lil Rounds, “Heat Wave”: Before she sang and they showed her video, Seacrest warned us it was an emotional week for Lil. I was thinking maybe someone in her family died, or maybe one of her kids got sick. Nope. She just got emotional because she got to visit Motown. Uhhh, ok. Kinda made a big deal out of nothing. The performance was just average. “Heat Wave” is a song I feel I’ve heard every season on this show, so if I hear it again, I want it to stand out from all the past performances, and it didn’t. “Heat Wave” is a karaoke song and nothing that will ever blow you away. So as much as people like to get on the judges always talking about song selection, they’re right most of the time. Look no further than that performance. Kara has also added a repetitive phrase to her arsenal that she gave to Lil last night. She starts out A LOT of her sentences with, “Here’s the thing”. I counted at least twice last night, and it might’ve been more. No worries. She’s still hot.

Adam Lambert, “Tracks of My Tears”: Not much else you can say about that one that hasn’t already been said. Easily the best performance of the night. He’s by far the most talented singer they have in the competition, but I still don’t think he’ll win. But last night was so far better than everyone else, it was laughable. When they talk about “Who are you as an artist?”, you know who Adam is. I still think he’s gonna have a performance this year that will go down as a Top 5 in the history of the show. Don’t know what week, don’t know what song, but it’s going to happen. You can just see it coming. With that said, I hated the look last night. You know why? Because I’m guessing for all the remaining weeks he’s in the competition, he’ll go back to his regular look. So I don’t get the point of showing us you can brush your hair, not wear nail polish, and not wear chains for a week. What we saw last night wasn’t Adam Lambert, so I didn’t really think the look added to anything. Kinda like when Ace Young dressed in a tux and pulled back his hair one week in Season 5. Totally wasn’t him. I think he actually ended up getting booted that week. Adam has no chance of getting booted this week, but my point is, because he dressed differently didn’t really add to the performance for me since I know that’s not him. If he were to change into that look for the rest of the competition and did a complete makeover, then it would mean more. But he won’t, and that’s fine. I just don’t get doing it for one week.

Danny Gokey, “Get Ready”: Huge Gokey fan as you know, and I didn’t really care for this performance at all. Especially when they show us the video of Smokey giving him advice that he never ended up using. Didn’t really get an explanation for why he basically told Smokey, “Yeah, thanks for the advice, but I’m gonna do my own thing.” I think Danny is better singing slow songs. He wasn’t terrible last night by any means, and I see he’s not trying to pigeonhole himself into just being a “ballad” guy, but that’s where he’s at his best. “Kiss From a Rose”, “Hero”, that’s where he kills it. These up tempo, dancing around stage songs don’t seem to fit him too well. He even looks uncomfortable doing it. I think he’ll go back to doing what he’s strongest in, but these last couple weeks have just been ok.

Allison Iraheta, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone”: Still don’t get it. Can she sing for a 16 year old? Of course. But I think she appeals to such a small niche of fans that I just don’t see the star quality in her either. Plus, after about the first 30 seconds, I was tired so I fast forwarded through the rest of her performance. Oops. Sorry. I guess the judges loved it. Which is fine. I definitely think she’ll put out an album when this is all said and done, but I can guarantee you she’s an artist I will never download anything from. I think I’d download Megan’s “Rockin Robin” before I ever downloaded anything from Allison.

Reality Steve’s Top 3 Performances:

1. Adam Lambert
2. Matt Giraud
3. Kris Allen

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Peformances:

1. Michael Sarver
2. Megan Joy
3. Scott MacIntyre

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Prediction:

1. Michael Sarver
2. Megan Joy
3. Scott MacIntyre

Reality Steve’s Prediction of Who Will Get Eliminated: I think Michael Sarver goes home this week. I think this is probably one of the easier weeks to predict who will be in the bottom three. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t these three. But I think Michael goes home this week. And uhhhhhh, no, I don’t think the judges save him. Ha ha.

Have Simon and Paula been goofing around more this year than in seasons past? I mean, I know he makes fun of her every season, like he should, but this season seems to be even more over the top. Although, I do love it when Ryan asks her a question, she does her song and dance all around it because she doesn’t want to be honest, and Simon berates her ten times with, “Answer the question”. Might be annoying, might be condescending, but he’s dead on. She’s like a politician. If it’s going to be anything negative, she’ll find as many ways possible to not answer the question. It’s just seems like even during the performances, Simon and her are screwing around at the table moreso than in past seasons. And Paula dances waaaaaaaaay too much now. She’s up out of her seat on almost every single up tempo song. Go back to past seasons and you’ll see she never did it as much. It’s getting old. She’s getting old. She needs to go. Did you notice when Simon drew the mustache on her face last night and she was trying to wipe it off how much her hands were shaking? I think her medication was wearing off.

Back tomorrow with your “Reality Roundup” along with emails you’ve sent in the last week. Some good questions you guys have asked. Keep em’ coming. Any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, inquiries about the CAP Celebrity Gala event on April 18th, feel free to email me at steve@realitysteve.com. See you tomorrow.

Administrator American Idol 8

I told you on Wednesday I had some news about how you readers would be able to get involved with the site, well, now’s your chance. In addition to the “Reality Roundup” column which currently appears every Friday, I want to add a mailbag section where I either answer your questions on the site, or do it in podcast form. Mostly I would like to basically answer any questions you may have regarding the TV that you watch. Even if it’s a show I don’t watch, trust me, I’ll still have an answer for you. Might not actually answer your question per se, but I will have an answer. So you have a week to get all your questions in, and they will appear next Friday, either in the column, or in a podcast. The “Reality Roundup” will still be a column, but depending on how many questions there are to answer, I might just do that on a podcast. Let’s get started this week.

“Dancing with the Stars”

-I forgot to tell everyone my Holly Madison story last week. About nine years ago, when I was working for a sports radio station in Los Angeles, during football season, every Monday night, we broadcasted from the Hooters restaurant in Santa Monica. Wonderful establishment I tell ya’. Food couldn’t be better. Anyway, for 16 straight weeks, our station was in there every Monday night, so to say I didn’t start recognizing some of the waitresses would be an understatement. One I actually got to attend a USC/UCLA game with me. No, not because I had any game, but because I basically bribed her. Good times. So the point of this story is, there was always this roller skating waitress in there on Mondays. She was the only one who’d roller skate around the whole place, took orders, delivered food, delivered drinks, all on her roller skates. Rather impressive I thought. Well, fast forward about five years later, or whenever “Girls Next Door” started, and by golly, I realized the roller skating waitress ended up being Holly Madison (I’m sure that’s her real name too). Just to make sure, I looked up her bio online, and yep, specifically said she used to work at the Santa Monica Hooters as a roller skating waitress. I knew she had more talent other than being able to milk old men for their money and lie on her back.

-Did you see Maxsim’s interview with TVGuide.com last week? Basically said he thinks it’s unfair that Melissa is in the competition because of her dance background. Do I agree? Of course it’s unfair. It’s pretty obvious after two weeks who the best dancer on that show is. However, Max really doesn’t have a lot of room to bitch since he had Mel B. as a partner once. She had a dance background as well and they got to the finals. This shouldn’t be a surprise to these people. They’re eight seasons in and they do it every single season. Two or three people on the show have some sort of dance background that isn’t in ballroom. Why someone would complain about this is now is beyond me. This isn’t anything new. I think he’s more upset that his fiancée, you know the one who was doinking Mario Lopez about six months ago, got stuck with a crappy partner. Oh well. No worries, Max. Ladies still love you.

-I liked Jewel’s performance Wednesday night. The more I watch Jewel, and the more I watch Ty Murray, I find myself asking in this question, “What the hell does she see in that guy?” Because he rides bulls? I think it’s safe to say she’s completely out of his league in the looks department. He definitely traded up to whoever he was dating before. Other than that little dental issue she has going. Man, how did he “lasso” her heart? Get it? Lasso? I’m hilarious really.

-Sad to hear that Cougar Carrie Ann dumped her boyfriend recently. Maybe the fact that she could’ve been his mother might’ve had something to do with it. Or that he was some scrub on one of the early seasons of “So You Think You Can Dance”. Whatever the case, she’s now back on the market and ready to prey on more 21 year olds. Carrie Ann suffers from the “Warren Sapp Disease”. You know what that is? It’s people that constantly laugh at their own jokes. Hell, it’s not even jokes. They just constantly laugh at the end of every sentence that comes out of their mouth. You know these people. They’re quite annoying. So no matter if she makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside with her 40 year old self, she bugs when she laughs at the end of every sentence. I remember liking Carrie Ann when she was a “Fly Girl” on “In Living Color”. She was the only “Fly Girl” I ever remembered. Jennifer Lopez had nothing on her back in the day.

-Nice to see Kathy Griffin supporting her ex-boyfriend Steve Wozniak. Ha ha. Kathy Griffin. Steve Wozniak. Gee, you think she was possibly into him for the money? Nah, no way. Women never do that. Yet once again proves the theory that there is no such thing as an unattractive man with money. If you’ve got money, you can pull skirt. Not saying Kathy Griffin is attractive of anything, but please, Steve Wozniak? If that guy was making $30k a year, you think he’d ever get laid? Me neither.

-I like how Tom Bergeron told us this week, “According to the rules, you must judge Steve-O based on his dress rehearsal routine.” Huh? This show has rules? Since when? This show has been on eight seasons now, and I’m guessing that 99% of the people watching still can’t tell you how the scoring is tabulated on this show. Yes, I know it’s the judges scores combined with the viewer voting, but what does that mean? They’ve never explained HOW combining the two scores gives the results it gives. “Idol” is pretty simple. Lowest amount of votes leaves. “DWTS” still has me scratching my head. Steve and Karina had the lowest judges scores, yet Belinda and Jonathon went home. Which means Steve and Karina fared better with the audience. Ok fine. But if they scored a 16 out of 30, and Belinda scored an 18 or 19, where’s the mathematical formula that puts Steve and Karina ahead of them? Forget it. I’m done trying to calculate this anymore. We all know who’s going to the finals anyway.

-I’m sure Karina is happy she’ll be done early this season, even though Max isn’t, since it’ll give her time to plan their wedding. How long do we give the Max/Karina marriage to last? A year? Two years? I’m guessing it won’t be too long. As for the rest of this season, I believe it’s fair to say that our final three will be Shawn, Naked Guy, and Melissa, right? I mean, really. Is there anyone else who even has a chance to break into that top three? Not only because they’re the three best dancers, but they’re probably the three most liked. Naked Guy gets the womens votes because he’s the best looking male on the show. Melissa for obvious reasons that America already is pulling for her. And Shawn because she’s so cute you want to fold her up, put her in your pocket, and take her home. I can’t see anyone else even coming close to cracking the top three the rest of the season.

-And check out page 56 of “In Touch” weekly with Jessica Simpson on the cover this week. You’ll get your very own quotes from me regarding the conspiracy theory that ABC purposely had Jewel and Nancy O’Dell bail out so they could get Melissa on the show. Sorry. Don’t believe it for a second.

“American Idol” Results Show

-Not bad, huh? I nailed who the bottom three were going to be in Wednesday’s column, although I had the wrong person going home. However, if you follow my Twitter account (RealitySteve), you’ll know that ten minutes into the results show on Wednesday, I said that I felt Alexis was headed home. I was shocked that Seacrest said at the very open of the show, “I think you’ll be surprised as to tonight’s results”. Well geez, when they showed us Michael, Allison, and Alexis in the bottom three, isn’t it logical to think that the only one we’d be surprised to see leave at that point would be Alexis?

-So much for the new “twist” saving Alexis. Too early. Simon made it too obvious. When Alexis was announced as the one with the fewest votes, and Simon said, “You’re the one we were thinking of saving”, it was rather obvious they weren’t going to save her. Why would he have just given it away before she sang? And if the bottom vote getter has one last chance to try and impress the judges, how can they do that singing the exact same song that sent them home the night before? The only reason the “veto” is in there, is if Adam, Danny, Lil Rounds, or Matt happens to be the bottom vote getter before the Final 5. I said Alexis was part of that group on Wednesday, but there was no way they were using their only “veto” on Week 2 of the finals. If Alexis lasted a few more weeks and got the lowest votes let’s say when it was down to 7 people, then they would’ve used it then. But this early, by using it, they weren’t protected later on if one of the “favorites” happened to get the lowest votes. And lets face it, Alexis is still one of the top five singers on the show this year, she just had a bad week.

-In case you didn’t know, Carrie Underwood and Alien Travis’ performance is actually filmed on Tuesday night after the contestants perform then they try to play it off as live on Wednesday. But I think most people know better. During their performance, they dimmed the lights on the judges so you wouldn’t be able to tell, but those like me who care about this sort of stuff know that Simon wore a black shirt on Tuesday, and white shirt on Wednesday. Well, during Carrie and Aliens performance, even though the lights were dimmed, you could see Simon had on his black shirt, which proved the performance wasn’t live on Wednesday night. Even Seacrest changes into what he’s going to be wearing Wednesday night to introduce the act. Brad Paisley’s performance was done live on Wednesday. Not so much for Carrie and Alien Head.

-I said it last week and I’ll say it again: They’ve got to get rid of the group performance to kick off the show Wednesday nights. It’s so obvious the thing is lip synched, its horribly choreographed, and frankly, it seems like it would be a detriment to people wanting to go out and by tickets to the “Idol” Concert Tour. “Here’s a glimpse of what they’ll all look like lip synching together and awkwardly dancing around on stage! Coming soon to an arena near you!” Gee, can I buy my tickets now?

“Celebrity Apprentice”

-Here’s an editing note for you: In the first episode of the season, Tom Green’s beard looked like a homeless man. Then he cut it in the 2nd episode and it was a little more clean shaven. Well, after getting eliminated in Sunday nights episode, as he’s walking out to the car to take him away, did you notice how his beard was being back to rivaling the Unabombers? Unless you were looking closely during those three seconds he took to make the trip to the car, you probably didn’t. They film all those people getting eliminated at the very beginning of the season so as not to throw anyone off. That’s why they all have trenchcoats on to cover up what they’re wearing since they won’t know what they’ll be wearing the night they get eliminated. Tricky stuff.

-This Sunday’s show they’re advertising Dennis Rodman’s meltdown. Which is great, since I’m fully expecting it to be a fake, contrived one. The point is, when Dennis and Tom were battling it out in the boardroom last Sunday, you knew Dennis wasn’t going home because in the early season previews, they showed Dennis having a meltdown on Clint, yet, that hadn’t happened yet. So it was obvious Dennis wasn’t going home. I thought Mark Burnett was better than that. Why give something away that early? Who does he think he is, Mike Fleiss? Then again, after seeing this week that Mark Burnett has decided to sign on a be the one to produce Audrina Patridge’s next reality show, I’m starting to question his sanity. That shocks me. For some reason, he sees some sort of talent in her and wants to be behind her next project. Or maybe just wants to be behind her. I sure would.

-Kind of in the same way I like at the Jewel/Ty Murray marriage, which is, “How the hell are these two together?”, I find myself asking the same thing when I look at Jesse James. This guy gets to nail Sandra Bullock on a nightly basis? Really? Who did he have to pay off to do this? The guy has zero personality, he’s tatted up everywhere, and he buttons all his flannel shirts to the top button. He bugs me, I’m sorry. I’ve never seen one episode of “American Chopper” and I don’t plan on it. I guess Sandra is in to the bad boys, but I never would’ve guessed that. Oh well.

-Remember before the “Celebrity Apprentice” came along, the old “Apprentice” had all the contestants living together at the Trump Towers? Ha ha, like these people would ever agree to come on the show if they had to live with everyone else. This is what makes me hate Hollywood people. The fact that none of them would ever agree to do a “Celebrity Survivor”, and that they would never live with each other on this show. How much better would the show be if we actually got to see them interacting with one another in the morning over coffee. Dennis would absolutely lose it on people, no doubt. Not to mention, he’d be trying to get in Brande Roderick or Natalie Gulbis’ pants every night. C’mon people. That’s what we want to see. But when they’re allowed to go wherever they’re staying at the end of every night, what fun is that?

Back on Wednesday with your “American Idol” recap, plus an update on a charity event I’ve been asked to attend. Bear with us on the comments section, it should be up and running soon. Any questions, comments, emails, criticisms, praises, and all your questions for our “mailbag” debut next Friday, email me at steve@realitysteve.com. Ask anything you wanted TV/Hollywood/Celebrity related. See you next week. Take care.

Administrator Reality Roundup

No doubt I first need to start out with what’s going on with the site. Please, please, please, please do not send any emails saying, “The comments section isn’t working.” I know this. We are working on fixing that for you since I know a lot of you like leaving your wonderfully, well-written, thought out praises of me in those comments. Uh huh. Anyway, as you can see, we’ve got a new layout that will be added to over the next couple months. I really like this new look better. We’re still working on the pictures, the banners, getting some of the archived posts to work, but hang in there. This is going to be a process. To be honest, if we’re gonna start advertising on this site, we had to change the look. The old format frankly doesn’t allow it. By no means is this the final look of the column. We are going to be working on it for the next two months and everything should be set to launch on May 18th, the start of the “Bachelorette” season, which just began filming this week.

In the meantime, as you can see, I would like to welcome our first sponsor aboard, and that’s “Hollywood Secrets”. You may have seen their informercial on television before, if not, check out their product and see what you think. I think this will be a really good partnership between the two of us and I look forward to it. Plus, I know all you women out there are looking to get rid of your wrinkles. Well, voila! Here’s the product just for you.

I want a lot of the new readers who found my blog during this past season of the “Bachelor” to realize something as well. This site, for seven years, has been my sarcastic, slanted, sophomoric, and skewed view on the world of reality television (Hey, that’s what it says at the top of the page). If you’ve come here for inside information on every show you like, sorry, you’re not gonna get it. Reality TV, for the most part, is laughable. I’m here to make fun of it since its usually pretty easy to do. So if you’re new, and you think I have all the inside scoop to shows because of the news I broke on the “Bachelor” this season, I’m sorry. I’ll have some little stuff every once in a while, but this blog has always been about me making fun of what I see on TV. Just wanted to point that out for all the new readers who seem to think I’m leading the downfall of teenage girls across America because I said Kelly Clarkson is a little on the chunk side. Please. I’m the only one saying this? Really? I’d say 99% of you think it. I just happen to verbalize it.

Let’s move on to last night, and I’ll start right off the bat with this: I hate country week. Can’t stand it. They might as well get rid of it. Too many contestants are completely out of their element and, for the most part, a lot of people haven’t heard of these songs. This is a wasted week in my opinion. Country reaches such a niche audience that I think most people would rather see this week eliminated all together. Whether or not Allison Iraheta can sing country music shouldn’t be a determining factor in her staying around. Nor anyone else for that matter. It’s just a bad, boring week of singing and I hate it when they do it, and last nights show proved it. Not many great performances. In addition, can I just say one thing that I can admit I am now fearful of in this world? Randy Travis in HD. Holy crap! That guy is freakin’ scary looking. From the long horse face, to the shiny white veneers, to the unbelievably large forehead. Wow. His head is not proportionate to the rest of his alien body. And no, I’ve never heard one of his songs either. Whatever the case, let’s just say he’s not going to be gracing the cover of “GQ” anytime soon.

A couple notes on the judges. Simon has got to stop scratching his face with his middle finger. Honestly, I’d really like to know if he’s doing that on purpose to be funny, or if he has no clue what he’s doing, but it really is annoying. I can’t imagine he’s purposely flipping people off on the highest rated TV show every week, but, someone’s got to at least tell him to stop. And why doesn’t Kara ever wear her engagement ring? She got engaged a couple months ago, yet, I haven’t seen her wear her engagement ring once since they’ve gone to the live shows for the last few weeks. Bizarre. Maybe she’s just holding out for me. That must be it. Kara, let’s make a deal. I promise to propose to you the minute you slap Paula across the face on national television. How’s that?

A story appeared in the gossip section of the NY Daily News yesterday which claimed a “staffer” on “American Idol” has said the judges and producers have already picked their final four, which are: Danny Gokey, Lil
Rounds, Alexis Grace, and Adam Lambert. They even went as far as to say Danny and Alexis are going to be the final two because “Lil Rounds and Adam are too much like Fantasia and Chris Daughtry”. Read the whole article here:

“Is Idol Fixed?”

My take? Ummmm, not really going out on a limb there are they? Ok, so if these do end up being the final four, I mean, would anyone really be all that surprised? Kinda hard to prove whether or not this person is really telling the truth since those are four of the best five singers in this competition, excluding Matt Giraud. So if this ends up as our four, I guess this “staffer” can say they were right, but I don’t think they really went out on a limb with this prediction. However, now that this has been thrown out there, regardless of if its true or not, I can almost guarantee you that “AI” will stay as far away from controversy as possible and this will not be our final four. I’m guessing Matt Giraud sneaks in there now in place of either Alexis or Lil Rounds. On to last nights performances. Excuse my ignorance in country music, but I did not know many of these songs, and the ones I did know were either:

a) by Carrie Underwood
b) performed by Carrie Underwood on “American Idol” before
c) performed by someone else on “American Idol” before

Michael Sarver, “Ain’t Goin’ Down (Til the Sun Comes Up)”: Sorry, never heard this one. And hated it. Totally agree with Simon. Too fast of a song, doesn’t show us anything about Michael’s range in singing, and was about as karaoke as you could get. I’m guessing that song has been tried a billion times at a country karaoke bar. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been to one. I’m just smart like that.

Allison Iraheta, “Blame it on Your Heart”: Never heard of this one either, so her performance wasn’t that memorable. I like the fact that you can tell how young Allison is by the fact that she still has a whole row of braces on her bottom teeth. Outstanding. Do you people realize I had a full set of braces, top and bottom, from 4th grade until sophomore year of high school? Yes, it was embarrassing. Why did I have them that long? Because I didn’t listen to anything they said when they told me what I couldn’t eat and I never wore my headgear. Other than that, I was their best patient ever.

Kris Allen, “To Make You Feel My Love”: 3-for-3. Never heard this one either. However, I liked him without his John Mayer guitar this week. He’s got a really good voice and comes across as likable. Also, he kinda looks like a Monchichi doll. He was much better than last week, and by not talking about the fact he’s married, probably made some of the women feel they have a chance. Hence, he gets more votes. It’s the “Hooters” theory at work in reverse, I’m telling you. Hooters waitresses who don’t mention they have a boyfriend or don’t wear a wedding ring will inherently get tipped better than those that do. Trust me. I’ve done this study throughout numerous Hooters establishments across America. If they appear to be single, guys will tip better thinking they have a chance. It’s a ridiculous, asinine concept, but that’s what makes us guys. If you bring up how your boyfriend is picking you up after your shift, or you prance around wearing a wedding ring, you are absolutely killing your chance for a better tip. Listen to me people. I know things.

Lil Rounds, “Independence Day”: Ah ha! Finally one I’ve heard of. Only because Carrie Underwood sang it about four times during her season if I remember correctly. Of course, since I think dirty things about Carrie when I lay my head down to sleep at night, nothing Lil’ Rounds did could top her, but I thought she did well overall. One thing Lil’ did different was she sang two verses before going into the chorus. The chorus is what makes this song, and it just took too long to get there. What was with all the contestants last night giving their opinions to the judges? Don’t they know to just shut up and let the judges have their say? Gessh. Talking back to, or just even talking up there period, is never a good thing. Just smile, nod your head, and hold up your fingers to tell people to vote for you, since well, if you didn’t do that, I’m guessing we’d all be confused on what numbers to dial.

Adam Lambert, “Ring of Fire”: Awful. I know this song, and what he did last night actually was just flat out creepy. Last week his theatrics didn’t bother me in the least bit. This week? Way over the top. And if you completely turn every song into however you want to sing it, can we even consider what he did last night country? It wasn’t. Far from it. He dressed like Chris Kattan’s “Asrael Abyss” character from “SNL”, and I was squirming in my chair just watching it. But hey, I think America is smart enough to know the guy can sing and not to eliminate him on a week where he’s completely out of his element, so I’m sure he’s safe. But it was still an awful performance.

Speaking of Adam, did you notice the difference of opinions on him last week? It was almost split down the middle. Some people love him and his look, and others think he screams, sounds like Axl Rose, and hate his black nail polish. Hence the reason he won’t win. You either love him, or you hate him. Except me. I don’t love his voice, but I am far from hating him. I think I judge every person who’s ever been on this show on two criterias:

1) Would I buy an album they put out?
2) Could I watch them perform solo in concert for a good 60-90 minutes?

For Adam, I think I could download a couple singles that I like. I don’t think I could ever listen to a whole album of his. Nor could I watch him for an hour. But I could definitely see myself listening to a couple singles, sure. In fact, there are only two people on this show that I would both buy their album, and probably be able to listen to them perform for an hour. Gee, I wonder who that would be?

Scott MacIntyre, “Wild Angels”: Seemed like he did the same thing last week. Wasn’t too impressed, but didn’t think it was terrible either. The piano thing got brought up this week and I have a feeling it will ultimately be his downfall. Good voice, but not great. And it’ll be exposed when he doesn’t sit behind the piano. Never heard this song either.

Alexis Grace, “Jolene”: Blah. Her worst performance I’ve seen thus far. Didn’t Brooke White sing this one last season? I think she did. Anyway, it seems like Alexis is trying to act way older and mature than she really is. Seems like she’s trying waaaaaay too hard now. Obviously, she’s got a great voice for such a little person, but that performance last night sucked. I like her and I want her to go far but man, she could be in trouble. Definitely think she’ll be in the bottom three.

Danny Gokey, “Jesus Take the Wheel”: Not surprised in the least bit he picked a spiritual song. I do agree he took too long to get into the chorus by singing two verses, but once he did, he was really, really good. Obviously you know I’m a fan of his, and there’s no doubt in my mind I would buy his album and could see him in concert. No question. Something about his voice that’s very different and relaxing, and I still hope he wins. That’s two weeks in a row now on the video packages where they haven’t referenced his deceased wife. That’s a good thing. They’re not overdoing it right now. I’m sure it will get brought up again during “Inspiration Week”, but for the time being, they need to let his singing tell his story, and not his tragedy. Another reason I like him? He picks a lot of songs sung by chicks, which usually is the kiss of death.

Anoop Desai, “You’re Always on My Mind”: Showed he’s got a good voice, which I always knew he did. But when you’re jumping around stage singing “My Prerogative” and “Beat It”, that’s not singing. My question about Anoop is this: Who are you as an artist? Ha ha. Kidding. Actually, my question is why does he wear a hoodie every week? Can wardrobe do a better job with this guy. Jeans, collared shirt, and a hoodie in back to back weeks. I don’t know what else I expect him to dress in, but I’m not impressed with the look. However, he sang his ass off last night and he’s definitely not going anywhere this week. I think he’s going to make the top six just based on likability alone.

Megan Joy, “I Go Walking After Midnight”: The best part about her is that since she’s going through a divorce, she’s publicly embarrassing the guy on national television by using “Corkrey” up until this week, then just saying, “Ahhh, screw it. I don’t want his name attached to me anymore.” Awesome. Had no idea about the sickness, but I could kinda tell at one point when her voice cracked during the performance. I figured something was up. I don’t mind the twisting and the dancing. Hey, she’s ridiculously good looking, so she can do whatever she wants up there as far as I’m concerned. When you’re hot, you can get away with doing stupid sh**. Sorry. That’s just the way life works sometimes. I understand that its nearly impossible to cover up a tattoos that runs from your shoulder to three quarters of the way down your arm, but man, she doesn’t even try to hide it. Ever. Every week her tattoo is almost 100% visible. Totally doesn’t fit her either since she’s so attractive and the tattoo is so loud. Whatever. Her body, her tattoo, her choice to do what she wants with it. I’m usually just looking at her boobs anyway.

Matt Giraud, “So Small”: The only other performer whose album I’d buy and I’d sit to watch in a concert. Not flashy at all, but solid all around. He won’t win the competition, but he’s definitely a lot better than most people probably think. He’ll be a guy that finishes 3rd or 4th, but will have a better career than some that finish ahead of time. Without a doubt is going to land a record deal once this is over. As for last night, one of the few Carrie Underwood songs that I really haven’t heard that much, and I loved the performance. This guy is talented.

Reality Steve’s Top 3 Performances:

1. Matt Giraud
2. Anoop Desai
3. Danny Gokey

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Performances:

1. Michael Sarver
2. Alexis Grace
3. Adam Lambert

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Prediction:

1. Alexis Grace
2. Allison Iraheta
3. Michael Sarver

Reality Steve’s Prediction of Who Will Get Eliminated: Tough one, but I’ll go with Allison Iraheta. And the judges won’t save her. As I said last week, the judges are only going to save someone they think they can win. Just because they like Megan has no bearing on them saving her. What if Megan is voted out next week? You think they’d save her not knowing what the future holds? If they save Megan next week or the week after, then either Danny, Alexis, Lil Rounds, Adam, or Matt gets eliminated before the Final 5, they’re screwed.

We come back on Friday with your latest “Reality Roundup” in addition to an announcement about the site which involves you the readers. So check that out come Friday. Please, bear with me regarding the site upgrades. I have no idea how long the comments are going to be down for, nor navigating through past posts. It will all be fixed in due time though, I promise. In case you didn’t notice, I’m now on Twitter. Granted, I’ve only “tweeted” three times since I’m still trying to figure the thing out, but if you go down the right hand column under “My Stuff”, you’ll see links to all of my pages that you can join. As always, any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, relationship advice, feel free to email me at steve@realitysteve.com. See you Friday.

Administrator American Idol 8

Finally, back with a “Reality Roundup” column. Been a while since we had one of these. Honestly, I’ve actually fallen behind on a few shows that I normally watch just because of all the stuff that happened with the “Bachelor” over the last month. This column will cover the results show of “Idol”, “Dancing with the Stars”, “Celebrity Apprentice”, “Survivor”, “The City”, and a few other reality show notes. Unbelievably enough, I haven’t watched one episode of the “Real World: Brooklyn”. First time since the Hawaii season where I haven’t watched. I got so backed up, I checked my TiVo last night and every episode was still saved. I think ten of them. So the chances of me getting around to them anytime soon are probably slim and none. But I will be tuning into the “Duel 2″, starting April 8th on MTV. Its been a couple seasons since I’ve watched a “RW/RR Challenge” show, but that trailer for this season got me hooked. Never got around to watching “Rock of Love Bus” this season either. Something tells me I didn’t miss much. Plus, nothing I write could ever be funnier than what is shown. The show speaks for itself.

So I finally go around to transcribing the last 35 minutes of the Megan Parris interview. A lot of you liked the first 53 minutes which you can listen to again by clicking the link below if you want to refresh your memory:

Reality Steve interviews Megan Parris of the “Bachelor”

The rest of it I transcribed as best I could. I left out little bits and pieces to my questions and her answers (like “uhhhs”, and “likes”, and “you knows”) but this is pretty much all the good stuff. Once again, I can’t tell you how impressed I was with Megan before, during, and after this interview. She’s truly a classy woman, totally got reamed on her edit by ABC, and someone I have the privilege of calling my friend now. Here’s the rest of the interview picking up from roughly where it got cut off:

Reality Steve: How about the final two girls? I’m not going to ask you who you think he picks or who you’d like him to pick, but I do want you to talk about each of them individually. First Melissa. Then Molly.

Megan Parris: “Melissa is fantastic. We are very similar in some ways, so naturally, I love her! (Laughs) I feel like because of what I’ve been through, I have an edge about me that she doesn’t have, but when it comes down to it, I have a huge heart and she is the sweetest thing in the world. Molly I didn’t get to know all that well. Actually, I don’t think anybody did come to think of it. She kept a safe distance the whole time. It always made me think something was up. I guess its all making sense now huh?”

RS: Did you see any connection with Molly in all this? Was there anything particular about Molly that seemed weird or was her edit pretty accurate?

Megan: “I guess her edit was actually accurate, how about that! Someone was portrayed the way they actually are! (Laughs) It’s common knowledge that anyone in the final four will get a good edit because they have to prove worthy of marriage material for the shows legitimacy sake. Did she seem sneaky??? I dont know. I just don’t know.”

RS: Lets discuss the “Women Tell All” taping that of course you were a part of. You told me something I found interesting, was that they actually called three people up in the hot seat: Natalie, Jillian, and you. Yet they only showed Natalie and Jillian. Why’d they leave you out?

Megan: “They don’t want to see poise and grace from me. They don’t want me in a natural setting being asked real questions and giving answers true to my personality. They want a character out of me. In a talk show setting, you’re just not gonna get that. I was asked about the first night and why I got the most votes, and my answer was that ‘I deserved it, and I’m thankful they forgave me.’ That wasn’t the ‘material’ they were looking for. I guess it wasn’t television worthy, or whatever. The producers actually came in to my hotel room the night before and told me that I was ‘the main character, the main event,’ and when it came down to it, they didn’t even air my time on stage. I was the first one down there.

They even butchered Erica’s and I’s responses to the question about our tiff. Because that’s what it was, a tiff. In the middle of the night, no biggie. But it came across as something it totally wasn’t. When asked about the situation I’ll tell you exactly what I said; that I understood why Erica got so upset. After the challenges and misconceptions of the first night, Erica and I grew quite close. So she is feeling that someone she’s close with is questioning her morals or actions, and I get it. I get why that hurt. I think that she would tell you she was cranky and overreacted. But I am confident that Erica is aware of my love for her.”

RS: Jason comes in to the hot seat, and in a 2 hour show, gets grilled (if you even want to call it that) by Jillian. Hell, she got one question in. Was that it? Was there more that we didn’t see? Did anyone else get to ask Jason and question, either you girls or the audience, and ABC just chose not to show that?

Megan: “The audience was not able to ask us questions, nor were we able to ask Jason questions. He was shuffled on and shuffled off. I felt like we saw him for two minutes. Literally. It wasn’t what I expected. At one point Erica actually raised her hand and said ‘Chris, when we get a minute I have a question for Jason,’ and that was totally ignored. We didn’t get a chance.”

RS: How about before the taping started, or even afterwards – did any of you girls ever get to chat with him?

Megan: “Well I sure didnt, and I doubt the other girls did either. But who knows? I didnt really want a chance to talk to him, who cares, right? I talk to enough brick walls.”

RS: Was there any talk amongst the girls about, well, me, and the rumors I’ve started? What’s the consensus from the girls about how they think everything shakes down in the end?

Megan: “I can only speak for myself, but it wasn’t anything I wanted to talk about with the gals. I love them, I’ve missed them, and I wanted to move on from this because in reality, its behind me and beneath me. I was more concerned with them as people, their lives, and their careers. I wanted to know whats been happening with them opposed to gossiping about something I aim to separate myself from.”

RS: What’s life been like since the show?

Megan: “Crazy, but kinda the same. It is what I make of it, and I always strive to avoid negativity, so Ive been good. Deacons a wild little he-man and lacrosse is starting soon. A lot of people recognize me and want pictures taken, etc., It’s all fun.”

RS: Word association time. I’ll give you a name, and you give me the first thought that comes to your head about that person.

Mike Fleiss: “Teddy bear.”
Jason Mesnick: “Dud.”
Chris Harrison: “Make-up.”
Melissa: “Bubbles.”
Molly: “E.T.”
Lauren: “Hmmm”
Nikki: “OMG. Who knows? I love her! Big sister, I guess. She’s so maternal with all of us.”
Erica: “Italian!”
Natalie: “Jaundice.”

RS: If you had to do it over, knowing what you know now, would you ever participate in a show like this again?

Megan: “Nope. I’ve dealt with enough manipulation and lies with the paternal side of my sons family. I wanted this to be a fresh start for me, not a repeat. You can lose yourself in manipulation. I sure did. The last thing I ever wanted for myself was to get wrapped up in it again. It gives you an edge. It makes you hard, not trust anyone. I wanted to be free of that and instead I got sucked back in. All the insults and negative comments from people who’ve never even met you can certainly aid in building a wall around your heart. Its a defense mechanism, no one wants to be vulnerable to insults. So instead of having a pure heart, I always feel on the defensive, like I have to apologize to anyone who watched the show. Viewers got shafted. They didn’t even get to know me.”

The End. Hope you all enjoyed the rest of that interview, and I’m sorry I couldn’t the audio to upload. I did the next best thing for you, so, I hope that you’re happy. Thanks again to Megan for giving us an hour and a half of her time that night.

Before we start on this weeks “Reality Roundup”, I want to make a distinction that I think a lot of people miss when it comes to reality shows. Yes, shows like “Rock of Love Bus” and “Biggest Loser” and “The Bachelor” are in the reality show category. No question about it. But you can’t tell me that there aren’t “levels” to our reality shows that we watch. Let’s face it, some are just crap and for pure entertainment, but some are legitimately worth watching because they can actually benefit someone in some way. For anyone to say the “Biggest Loser” and “Rock of Love Bus” should be lumped in the same category is ludicrous. Other than both being reality shows, they couldn’t be more opposite. Even though I haven’t watched the “Biggest Loser” this season, I’ve watched it in seasons past. I don’t think watching that show makes you lose brain cells. That show is productive, its changing peoples lives, and you can learn something from it. Don’t don’t learn sh** from watching “Rock of Love Bus”, “The Bachelor”, “The Real World”, or “The City”. Those are pure entertainment. I think people tend to forget that. Especially when talking about Melissa going from the “Bachelor” to “Dancing with the Stars”.

To say that the “Bachelor” and “DWTS” are even in the same category reality tv-wise is asinine. “The Bachelor” is pure crap. And a failure. We all know that. That’s why we watch for entertainment and not a love story. “DWTS” is basically a talent competition. They don’t have cameras following you 24/7, with producers feeding you lines of what to say, and manipulating how you dance. Your performance is your performance. So I don’t really get how those saying Melissa joining “DWTS” is the same as being on the “Bachelor”. Yes, it looks like she’ll be on TV for the next eight weeks, but in a totally different capacity. You aren’t going to see edited clips of her personality. You aren’t going to see her dating some douchebag. You get a two minute video of her practicing with her partner, you get a live performance of her dancing, and then maybe thirty seconds of her backstage. For Christ sakes, it’s a live show! This couldn’t be any more different from the “Bachelor” if they tried. So let’s stop with the “I thought she never wanted to be on reality TV again” stuff. First off, she said that on Wednesday with “Ellen”. She was asked last Friday to do “DWTS”. Secondly, “DWTS” is much more a competition than it is a “reality show”. Is it reality tv? Yes. Is it the “Bachelor”? Not even close. So let’s start differentiating the two because there is a major difference.

I think you got your “American Idol”, “Dancing with the Stars”, and a couple others that you should just place in the “competition category.” I’d even give a secondary competition category to “Survivor” and “Celebrity Apprentice”, and “Big Brother”, not on par with the other two, because those are taped in advance, edited, and you’re shown what they want you to see. You’ve got shows like “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”, “Biggest Loser”, “Sober House”, and a few others that are probably at the top of the “reality tv” food chain in terms of productive, meaningful shows. Then you’ve got the crap/entertainment shows like most stuff on MTV, “The Bachelor”, “Real Housewives of Wherever”, “Hells Kitchen”, and so on. I don’t think I’m announcing anything ground breaking here. I just think that sometimes people lose sight of the importance of some shows and think just because it’s under the “reality tv” label, that they’re all the same.

I’ve always defended “Survivor” as one of the better reality shows around, because it’s a study in social interaction than it is a reality TV “game show”. It just bothers me when people who are “drive by’s” (barely watch the show but kinda know what its about) say things like, “Ugh. That show is stupid. All they do is eat bugs.” Anyone who characterizes “Survivor” and “eating bugs” in the same sentence is just ignorant. They’ve gone whole seasons without doing the eating bug challenge. That was something they did early, but have shied away from lately. It’s so not what the show is about. So yeah, don’t ever say that around me or else I’ll punch you. Let’s begin.

“Dancing with the Stars”

-I think its safe to say we can easily eliminate 9 of the 13 contestants from having a chance at winning: David Alan Grier, Holly Madison, Ty Murray, Steve Wozniak, Steve-O, Lawrence Taylor, Chuck Wicks, Denise Richards, and Belinda Carlisle. No chance. Let’s face it, only Melissa, Shawn Johnson, Lil Kim, and Naked Guy from “SITC” have a legitimate chance to win this thing. Which is usually the way it is every season. Only three or four really have a chance to take home the title.

-I can see Chuck Wicks improving, Denise Richards getting better, and maybe David Alan Grier getting a little better, but not enough to the point where they’d take home the title. It shouldn’t be surprising that anyone who has any sort of background that requires them to have some sort of rhythm always do well. Denise Richards can work her ass off, practice 8 hours a day, and nail all her steps. But if she doesn’t have any rhythm, it just doesn’t look right. You can see who does and who doesn’t. When you watch Shawn, or Melissa, or Lil Kim step, and hold, and move, you can see it looks a little more natural to them. Ty Murray? Please. Steve-O? Psssh. He’s just there to entertain and nothing more.

-I think the show is popular because America likes to see people do something out of their element and like it. Master P was just an ass because he didn’t try, didn’t care, and just worried about looking cool. But when you see pro athletes taking this so seriously, then people tend to care. Can’t fault somebody for doing something completely out of their element and taking a liking to it. That’s almost just as fun to watch as the people who are really good at it. I think the person that most comes to mind for me is Cameron Mathison. That guy literally seemed like he wanted to dump his acting career to become a professional ballroom dancer.

-As much as I enjoyed Melissa appearing on the show and doing well, they’ve gotta stop with the “she only had 48 hours to practice” bit. Yes, we know. She was a late addition. But the fact she was a late addition, yet had the 2nd best score of the night pretty much showed how important having a dance background is. If she had never danced before in her life, then in 48 hours was able to put that routine together and score a 23 out of 30, then you can gush about how she had two days to practice. Not taking anything away from her, but its not like they told her to dunk a basketball. She learned a waltz. Maybe she’s never waltzed before, but if you’ve danced professionally before, you can pick up other kinds of dances a hell of lot quicker than a dork like Steve Wozniak. Melissa was great, I hope she wins, but lets back away from the “she barely had any practice time” nonsense.

-I love the fact that Lil Kim admitted the first time she ever watched the show was in federal prison. That made me giggle. I had totally forgotten she went to prison for a year for lying to a federal grand jury. Yeah, probably don’t want to do that any time in your life. They kinda take things a little seriously. But hey, at least I appreciate you giving a shout out to your lesbian cell mates you had. I’m sure there were many a nights in the pokey when all of you, well, had a group orgy. What else is there to do in prison?

-So former NFL players who have been on the show have done quite well. Emmitt Smith won it, Jerry Rice finished 2nd, and Jason Taylor got to the finals. Lawrence Taylor? Well, let’s just hope he doesn’t get booted off the show for doing a bag of blow before taking the dance floor. Stay away from the drugs, LT.

-I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. There are women who look good regardless of if they have make up on or not. Cheryl Burke is not one of those women. Extremely attractive with make up, and hideous without it. Hey, at least she dropped a few lbs this season. And really Cheryl? Had to blame the weight gain last year on birth control pills? Really? Had nothing to do with your love of food? C’mon. We’re smarter than that.

-It’s amazing that after all the multi-platinum records Jewel has produced, and after she’s even gone through a makeover in her look, that not one person has knocked some sense into her and told her to fix the snaggletooth she has going on. Unbelievable. So many celebrities love the shiny white veneers, yet this hottie looks like she should still be wearing a headgear when she sleeps.

-Maxsim and Karina are now engaged. How cute. I’m sure that’ll last. Karina was broken up with Mario Lopez for six months and now she’s hitched to Maxsim? Look, I know they’ve known each other for fifteen years, and I’m sure they’ve been having sex for quite some time like almost all the dancers on this show do, but really? An engagement? Max, c’mon. Seems to me you can have your pick of any woman out there. AC Slaters sloppy seconds?

-Did you see that the premiere on Monday was the shows highest rated premiere ever? Gee, I wonder why? Must’ve been because they cast Steve Wozniak. Or maybe it was people are so infatuated with Denise Richards? Hey, that Naked Guy is pretty popular, huh? Please. If you don’t think that this shows premiere ratings are in direct correlation to Melissa Rycroft being cast, then you’re just not thinking straight.

“American Idol” Results Show

-So the new twist is that the judges can use a “veto” against any contestant voted off before its down to the Final 5. They can only use it once, and it has to be unanimous. I don’t think this “twist” is really all that big. Thanks to RealityBlurred.com, here’s the list of all the contestants from Seasons 1-7 who were eliminated before the Final 5. Take a look at this list, and other than Jennifer Hudson, and maybe Michael Johns or Carly Smithson last season, would you have desperately wanted to see any of these people saved? Hell, I don’t even remember half of these names:

Season 1:
EJay Day, Jim Verraros, A.J. Gil, Ryan Starr, Christina Christian, RJ Helton (5th)

Season 2:
Vanessa Olivarez, Charles Grigsby, Julia DeMato, Corey Clark, Rickey Smith, Kimberly Caldwell, Carmen Rasmusen, Trenyce (5th)

Season 3:
Leah LaBelle, Matt Rogers, Amy Adams, Camile Velasco, Jon Peter Lewis, Jennifer Hudson, John Stevens, George Huff (5th)

Season 4:
Lindsey Cardinale, Mikalah Gordon, Jessica Sierra, Nikko Smith, Nadia Turner, Anwar Robinson, Constantine Maroulis, Scott Savol (5th)

Season 5:
Melissa McGhee, Kevin Covais, Lisa Tucker, Mandisa, Bucky Covington, Ace Young, Kellie Pickler, Paris Bennett (5th)

Season 6:
Brandon Rogers, Stephanie Edwards, Chris Sligh, Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato, Sanjaya Malakar, Phil Stacey and Chris Richardson (5th and 6th)

Season 7:
David Hernandez, Amanda Overmyer, Chikezie, Ramiele Malubay, Michael Johns, Kristy Lee Cook, Carly Smithson, Brooke White (5th)

-So unless I’m misunderstanding this twist, and maybe if they never use it before the Final 5, then they can use it after that? I don’t know. They weren’t very clear. Other than that, it’s very obvious why this was put in place. If Danny, Adam, Lil Rounds and maybe Matt (the only ones with a legitimate shot to win this thing), end up getting eliminated before the Final 5, then the judges will use it. And Matt is barely in that group. I’d say its more so for the other three. They like Megan, but if she the bottom vote getter in the next couple weeks, they won’t save her. Nor will they save anyone else. This is strictly for people who have a chance to win, not people who might be going home a couple weeks earlier than they should have.

-Is Kelly Clarkson on the same dieting program as Cheryl Burke was last season? And its pretty safe to say at this point that Kelly Clarkson likes chicks, right? I mean really. C’mon. All her songs are hating on men and she just has that certain, well, “look”. With that “look” being, “I wouldn’t mind being naked with another woman tonight.” It’s a very keen sense I have of picking up signs like this. I know. It’s a talent.

-They’ve gotta do away with those cheesy group performances to start out the show. If that isn’t “High School Musical” stuff at its worst, I don’t know what is. The choreography is horrible since most of them can’t dance, and its just uncomfortable to watch. And, ummmm, in case you didn’t realize this, you’ve got a blind guy this season. Probably don’t need him front and center in any dance numbers. But regardless of Scott or not, these group performances are the worst thing this show does, hands down.

-And until the end of time, no one will ever convince me that Paula Abdul adds anything constructive to this show. She’s a complete zero. If Kara had been the 3rd judge since Season 1, and Paula was added this season, I think a lot of you would like Kara more than you do.

“Survivor”

-If you thought I enjoyed reading Chris Harrisons blog on EW.com during the “Bachelor” season (well, that is until he started aiming the whole column at me), then you know I love Jeff Probsts blog. He was the original on this one. His offers much more good insight on a weekly basis. It’s not up yet as of this typing or else I’d link to it, but it should be somewhere on the EW.com homepage by the time you read this. Check it out.

-Here’s a little fun “Survivor” fact. Last night, we find out that Spencer was gay. Who’s his boyfriend. Well, it’s none other than Todd Herzog, winner of “Survivor: China” a couple seasons ago. Todd says they met about a month before Spencer left to film this season. You can read all about their relationship by clicking here.

-Probst definitely has his “go to” lines like Chris Harrison does. In fact, almost all of Probst lines he says every episode of every season. “The tribe has spoken”, “Wanna know what you’re playing for?”, “Once the votes are read, the decision is final, and the person will be asked to leave the Tribal Council area immediately. I’ll read the votes”, “C’mon on in, guys!”, “You’re getting your first look at the new “x” tribe. (Name) voted out at the last tribal council”. He’s the best. I want Probst to do more than this show. Hosting the Emmys was a start. He needs to do more. Here’s one of his more underrated lines after he tells the tribes what they’re playing for in the Reward Challenge, “Worth playing for?” Which is always followed by a bunch of, “Oh yeah Jeff! Can’t wait!” I mean, they’ve been out there “x” amount of days drinking nothing but water, eating rice and beans, and essentially starving themselves to death, I’m guessing if you offered anything that wasn’t a sh** sandwich, they’d be thrilled.

-This alliance that Brendan, Taj, Stephen, and Sierra have that’s crossing Tribal lines is bizarre. They showed a couple people on Timbura catching on to it already. I just don’t get what makes those four think they are a lock for the final four. Who is to say one won’t get eliminated in a blindside before the merge? And let’s say they do make the merge, they’re only four, while there’s still six others? So how are they saying they’re controlling the game? We know having the Immunity Idol is nice, but twice in the last few seasons we’ve seen people who’ve had it in their possession still get voted off by a blindside. I’m just not understanding why those four are so confident.

-Speaking of Brendan, he might not want to tell anyone that he’s the CEO of “Bear Naked” food products. The guy has already made millions in his business, so I suggest he keep it to himself. Hey, Brian from “Survivor: Thailand” never told anyone about his illustrious soft porn career and he won. Although if I remember correctly, when they showed a video from home, he had some sweet car that people got suspicious about. Whatever the case, he won. I would just advise Brendan against telling everyone what he does.

-I’m on the fence about Coach. I think he’s kind of a d-bag just looking to get attention from the show, but he’s at least an interesting character to watch. Probst loves the guy and says he’s TV gold. I don’t think that highly of him. I can think of at least more interesting and entertaining characters this show has had in the past. Now, if the guy ends up winning, which I don’t think he will, you can put him in “Richard Hatch” territory. Usually people that are that much of a Type-A, over-the-top personality don’t do well on this show. Nice to see he’s already been canned from his coaching job for doing the show.

“Celebrity Apprentice”

-The old idea of the “Apprentice” got tired since we never heard from these no-names after Trump hired them, and a couple ending up leaving the company within a year anyway. In fact, I have no idea what past winners still even work for him. Hell, I can’t even name all the past winners off the top my head other than Bill Rancic, Kendra Todd, and Randall. Totally forgot who the other ones were and I have no desire to look it up. Yet, I could reel off the final two contestants in every season of “Idol”, so there Trump. Shows you how memorable your show is.

-However, the “Celebrity Apprentice” is a completely different animal. Piers Morgan made the show watchable last season, and the trainwreck “D-list” celebs they got this year might be even better. Dennis Rodman? Really? I honestly can tell you I have no idea what he’s saying when he speaks. None. It’d be nice if he took the marbles out of his mouth when talking. Khloe Kardashian? How about letting me look at Kim’s ass every Sunday night? Khloe looks like Chyna for god’s sakes. Claudia Jordan? A model from “Deal or No Deal”. Wow. They are really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

-I could go on and on about the talentless nobodies on this show, but you watch, you’re well aware. BUT, the show is entertaining. It’s amazing how every single task, there’s always one or two people on each team who are complete f***ups. Seriously. Why can’t there be just one task where everyone on the team listens, they don’t talk over each other, everything gets done on time, and no one bickers with another team member? I’m sure editing has a lot to do with it, but still. I’ve always found it fascinating, especially when it was just regular people with these supposed business credentials, that on the most inane tasks, they couldn’t put their heads together and come up with a good idea. “EEE”? Really? That’s the name of your comic book character? I guarantee you any fifth grader in America could’ve come up with a better name than that. Idiots.

-I’ve never found Tom Green the least bit funny, and how he ever found his way into Drew Barrymores pants is still one of the mysteries of our lifetime, but I was actually on his side during his feud with Scott Hamilton. Now, it’s not to say I didn’t think he was acting like an ass some of the time, I’m just saying they made the right decision by sending Scott Hamilton home. He came up with the ridiculous name, so he has to leave. Fair enough. But I think Tom Green stays around long enough because he’s goofy and the show needs him.

-As far as who I think will win? No clue. I guess the person with the deepest pockets since this is mainly about who can call up their friends and have them donate the most cash. That’s how Piers won. We’re 18 seasons in to “Survivor” yet they can’t do a “Celebrity Survivor” but they’ll do a “Celebrity Apprentice”? That I don’t get. I think “Celebrity Survivor” would kill. Then again, most celebrities are so narcissistic and high maintenance, I’m guessing none of them would even consider going on a show where they’d have to take care of themselves.

“The City”

-I haven’t decided if I hate this show more or less than I hate “The Hills”. I think I may hate it less, but not by much. Whitney is Whitney. We knew what we were getting with her. Nothing too exciting. But these other people they “casted” (yes, all of them were purposely placed on this show and none of them were previously friends with Whitney) are a rather interesting clan. Let’s break it down:

Jay: Never have and never will understand women’s fascination with the underweight, long haired rocker guy. Then again, it’s not like Whitney had a choice since Jay’s an actor and he was placed on the show to be her boyfriend. Whatever. I find nothing appealing about the guy.

Erin: The fact that she even has an interest in her Unabomber-looking boyfriend is just creepy. She’s a cute girl. What is she doing with a guy who looks like he lives on the subway? Immediately I question her sanity.

Adam: Oh this guy is a real winner. Could he be any more retarded if he tried? I don’t even know where to start with this guy. Only problem is, the show is so scripted, I don’t even think any of his actions are real. I mean, when your girlfriend is out of town, and you hook up with a girl knowing that cameras are following you around, then when she confronts you on it you deny it, I mean, the degree of stupidity there is mind boggling.

Allie: I know she models in NY, but not for a second to I find her the least bit attractive. Kelly Cutrone was right for dogging on her weight. And frankly, I don’t have any sympathy for a chick who continually goes back to a doucebag of a cheating boyfriend. She gets what she deserves.

Olivia: My favorite character on the show even though she’s basically not done much all season. Totally not someone I would ever associate myself with because she’s such a name dropper and elitist, but man I’d like to do dirty things with her. And then never call her again.

-I’m glad that Monday is the finale since I don’t have much else to say about the show. Oh hey look, it’s been renewed for a season 2! Gee, I wonder if Jay will actually leave Whitney and they’ll break up for good? Uhhh, I’m guessing no. Only a couple weeks til LC’s last season on the “Hills” starts up. Can’t wait. It’s amazing to think that she started this whole mess.

Wow. That might’ve been the longest “Reality Roundup” column ever. Granted, transcribing Megan’s interview added to the length, but still. I hope this column gets you through your Friday. More and more exciting things coming your way on RealitySteve.com. You don’t want to miss it. Any questions, comments, emails, criticisms, praises, email me at steve@realitysteve.com. See you next week. Take care.

Administrator Interviews, Reality Roundup

I thought today was going to be a “Reality Roundup” but after spending almost two hours writing this recap, I think giving “Idol” its own column every Wednesday is the plan from here on out. So every Wednesday, expect an “American Idol” recap. Towards the end of the season, when we’re down to less than six contestants or so, I’ll probably just include the other reality shows afterwards. But until then, it’s “Idol” recap on Wednesdays, and your “Reality Roundup”, plus news and notes on Fridays. I think my “Idol” recap will be different and more opinionated than any other review you see on the Internet. I have no allegiances to networks and what not, so, I can pretty much say what I feel. If you sucked, you sucked. And I’ll say you did. I’ve just never seen a real good “Idol” recap anywhere on the internet, so I figured I’d do one. Most recaps just tell you what song people sang and what the judges said. This recap won’t really do that. Don’t have to agree with it, or you might agree with all of it. If anything, I would want you to come out of it thinking about some things that maybe you didn’t think of before.

Before we get into last nights performances, since I haven’t talked about “Idol” all season yet, lets go over a couple things beginning with the judges, in particular, the addition of Kara. Love it. In fact, I wish Kara would replace Paula. Hopefully, that’s the route “Idol” is headed since Paula’s contract expires at the end of this season. Paula adds nothing to this show whatsoever other than goofiness. Kara is much more accomplished in the music world, she’s much more relevant to today’s artists, and actually critiques the singers. Whereas Paula has none of that and half the time she’s loopy. Or riding an emotional roller coaster at 100mph. I’m hoping the reason they brought Kara in is because they think Paula will leave after this season and rather than start with someone fresh next season, the audience will have least warmed up to her. Lets face it, of the four judges and Seacrest, Paula is the most expendable person on that cast, no doubt about it. I seriously doubt this show loses viewers if Paula isn’t around next season. And oh yeah, Kara is hot.

I loved the whole “phone sex” scandal that “Idol” had before last nights show. They’ve always used 1-866-IDOLS 01 through 12 as their phone number for the contestants. Well, since they added the 13th contestant this season, you would assume that number would be 1-866-IDOLS 13. Uhhhh, nope. Couldn’t happen. Why? Because if you dial that number, it’s a phone sex line where you pay $1.99 to hear some overweight housewife breathe heavy into the phone so you can get off. Hence the reason they had to go with 1-866-IDOLS 36 for Alexis. That’s awesome. Probably want to do a little research next time before you start adding a bonus contestant to the finals, people. Can you imagine the uproar if no one would’ve caught that? Might’ve been the funniest thing to ever happen on a reality show. Well, other than Jason Mesnick trying to act like he’d never spoken to Molly in two months. Ohhhhhhhhh snap! Ha ha. Hey, I told you it’ll be a running joke til the end of time. And nice to see ABC have more fun at Jasons expense during “DWTS” on Monday night.

Every season it seems like there’s a theme amongst the judges that they’ll go with (mostly Simon). In the past it’s been stuff like “that was very Cabaret”, or they’ll harp on song selection (which they still do), Randy will go with his “pitchy” stuff, and Paula will talk about how well people dress if she doesn’t want to focus on their awful singing. Have you picked up on this years “go to” phrase yet? How about this one, “Who are you as an artist?” It’s driving me nuts. Yes, I feel it is relevant sometimes, but they are saying it way too much. Considering no one is allowed to sing an original song on this show until the final two (when a cheesy, motivational, religiously slanted ballad is written for them), let’s face it, the show is essentially for the best karaoke singer. It’s just some are better than others. Carrie Underwood you knew would be a star just by listening to her voice. But she still had to sing twelve weeks of cover songs. So the “Who are you as an artist?” bit gets a little old sometimes. Lets cut it out.

Here’s something I want to make perfectly clear when talking about “Idol” for the next couple months in this blog. There’s a reason why “Idol” has been the most watched show on television for the last few years. It’s because EVERYONE has an opinion on the contestants and the judges. You have to understand that someone you absolutely hate and would never consider listening to in a million years is also someone elses favorite singer. And vice versa. Yes, I have my favorites this season that I like, but that doesn’t mean the ones that aren’t my favorites can’t give good performances. When I judge a performance, it is strictly my opinion and my opinion only. You can agree or disagree. However, I would appreciate it that once people start commenting on the page about who they liked and didn’t like, that others are respectful enough to not start bad mouthing them for what they think. If you love Michael Sarver, and someone else thinks he’s a talentless redneck, so be it. What makes the show so popular is that two people can listen to the exact same performance from an individual and come out with two completely opposite opinions. Usually comes down to a matter of taste in music. Just please keep the sniping at each other to minimum.

For those of us that have watched “Idol” for a long time, as you now know, just because you’re the best singer doesn’t mean you’ll actually win. Taylor Hicks was the best “performer” of season 5, but Chris Daughtry was the best singer. And he finished 4th or 5th. So I always take that into consideration when making my predictions. Obviously, your backstory and your likability with Middle America plays just as big a role, if not bigger, than your singing ability sometimes. Taylor Hicks is a prime example of that. Clay Aiken was a better singer than Reuben, but Reuben was a big, cuddly teddy bear so people voted for him. I could go on and on with examples from past seasons, but you get the point. A lot of people tend to forget that America is the one voting for the winner, and for the most part, Americans aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer. Just because so-and-so gets eliminated doesn’t mean they were a bad singer. Just means that more people flooded the phone lines for someone else they liked better. Your singing ability helps, but lets make no mistake about it, this is a popularity contest as well.

I’ll tell you right now, my favorite contestants this season right now are (in no particular order) Danny Gokey, Megan Corkery, Alexis Grace, Scott MacIntyre, and Michael Sarver. And that is pretty much based on if they were to put out an album, I’d want to listen to it. The ones I didn’t mention, not so much. But it doesn’t mean they’re not talented. If I liked their performance, I’ll tell you why I liked it. If I didn’t like it, I’ll tell you why I didn’t. Just because the other contestants aren’t in my “favorites” list, doesn’t mean I won’t compliment them and it doesn’t mean I hate them. Probably just means, for whatever reason, their overall persona just doesn’t appeal to me. In fact, you’ll see this week I think the best performance last night was from someone who isn’t one of my favorites. So see? I can be fair. I will always acknowledge talent and a good performance. And just because those are my favorite contestants right now, doesn’t mean they will be when the season ends. Some others might start to grow on me. I can already tell you one person right now that I completely have no idea how I feel about. I don’t know whether I truly dislike them, or want to see them do well. I’m starting to lean one way thought. It’s baffling really. Ok, onto last nights performances. For the record, a lot of you probably don’t know this, but I’m a HUGE Michael Jackson fan. Always have been, and always will be. So I was very much looking forward to last nights performances.

Lil’ Rounds, “The Way You Make Me Feel”: It was good. She’s a good singer. This performance didn’t knock me over though. I thought she was better last Tuesday actually. And boy, does she have a booty on her. Good lord. When are they having Sir Mix-a-Lot week so she can sing “Baby Got Back?” One thing that bugs about Kara: When she speaks to the black singers, she tends to go a little “sister” on us.

Scott MacIntyre, “Keep the Faith”: Didn’t really care much for the performance because I thought he’d pick a more popular song. Maybe something like, “Say, Say, Say”. I don’t think he has to worry about going home because of the likability factor, but he won’t win this thing. I’m curious to see if he’s on the piano every week. Although last week he sang that Bruce Hornsby song better, obviously being “visually impaired” (how did I know that would be the phrase they were gonna run with this season), he just doesn’t look comfortable without his piano. He has staying power, probably make it at least half way through the show. Impossible not to cheer for a guy like this. Even as an MJ fan, I wasn’t even too familiar with the song.

Danny Gokey, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”: I’ll say this about Danny, and a lot of you know he is my favorite and I hope to see him win, the fact he’s gotten the “favorite” label from the judges could end up hurting him. Outside of Carrie Underwood, whoever they liked in the beginning has never really ended up winning. Good performance last night, and Simon was right about the dancing, it was awkward and corny. He’s not a dancer, he’s a singer. But at least he admits it. I liked it, he can “sing the phonebook” (as the judges like to tell us), but after hearing his version of “Hero” by Mariah Carey, he set the bar pretty high for himself. I thought that was one of the five best performances this show has ever had. In any season. Once again, just my opinion.

Michael Sarver, “You Are Not Alone”: One of my top three Michael Jackson songs of all-time. Love this song. And I was shocked that I liked the way Sarver sang it. Totally nothing like the original, but he had his own spin to it which I didn’t think was all that bad. I was more than surprised by this performance. He did it justice.

Jasmine Murray, “I’ll Be There”: Kinda bored by the performance. Did nothing for me. Got a good voice, but sometimes I feel like its not enough with her. I don’t know if she has the full package. I think she’ll be one of the first four or five to leave.

Kris Allen, “Remember the Time”: Thought Simon and Randy nailed it when they said it was the wrong song for his guitar. I mean, with the band playing so loudly in the background, you could barely hear any sound that his guitar was making. If he would’ve just sang the song without the guitar, it would’ve sounded exactly the same. The guitar added nothing. Very average performance, but chicks like him. Although, I’m sure they’re disappointed to see he has a wife. Probably will hurt him in the long run. There’s a reason Katharine McPhee never mentioned once during her season that she was doinking a guy 19 years older than her. Kinda takes away the appeal, you know?

Allison Iraheta, “Give In To Me”: Ok, I’ll admit it. I just don’t get it. I get that she’s sixteen, and I get that she has a good voice, but I’d take a seventeen year old Jordin Sparks over her any day of the week. I’m completely opposite of the judges on this girl. I think she’s kind of a screamer, trying to act way older than she is, and comes off a little arrogant. Probably wants to take back that comment last night about “cutting” too. Yikes. You could see some peoples faces behind the judges even grimace at that one. They can call her the underdog all they want, but she won’t win. I don’t even think she makes it halfway through.

Anoop Desai, “Beat It”: Terrible. Tried way too hard. And also, tried to look “hard” while singing the song. Like he was actually mad during his performance telling me to “Beat It.” That was straight out of a high school talent competition. Awful. Hated it. And you know what? He’ll be back another week. He ain’t goin’ home just yet.

Jorge Nunez, “Never Can Say Goodbye”: Bored by it. Not a recognizable song, didn’t do much with it, and pretty much a forgettable performance. He could be in trouble tonight.

Megan Corkrey, “Rockin Robin”: Love her but hated the song choice. Talk about a talent show performance. I’m not talking about the dancing, because that’s her quirkiness and she’s been doing that from the very beginning. I love her voice, her likability factor is through the roof, she’s the best looking female on the show this season, and, well, her mom is a MILF. But just to hear “Rockin Robin” on that stage last night reminded me of my 7th grade Lip Sync contest since someone performed that back in 1988. Just was too cutesy of a performance.

Adam Lambert, “Black or White”: This will be the most talked about contestant on the show this season, good or bad. You either love him or you hate him. There is no in between. Well, except with me right now. We’ve already seen pictures leaked on the internet with him dressed in drag and kissing other guys, so the song choice of “Black or White” didn’t surprise me in the least bit. Don’t think there wasn’t a subtle message he was trying to get across with that. To each their own. Whatever the case, it was the best performance of the night. Whether you think he’s too theatrical, over-the-top, or just flat out weird, he is the best “performer” the show has, and he’ll go far. This is the guy I’m completely torn on. He performed “Satisfaction” two weeks ago, and I still can’t decide if I hated it with a passion, or really liked it.

Yes, he has an entertainment background. He lives in Hollywood, was in “Wicked”, and obviously has been trained professionally before, so in that aspect, I wouldn’t mind seeing a guy like him succeed. This show has always been about giving someone a chance, and for a guy in his late 20’s who seemingly has paid his dues, it’s nice to see him perform. I know he’s a good singer, I know he’ll do well, but the “freak” factor will ultimately prevent him from winning the thing. Do I think he’ll get a record deal? Absolutely. But let’s remember who a majority of the people who vote on this show are: middle aged white people, probably leaning on the conservative side. As sad as it sounds, his look is basically what’ll cost him the title. If he wins, I’ll be the first to congratulate him. I wouldn’t have a problem with him winning whatsoever. I just don’t think he will. But I could see him in the final two or three. He is starting to grow on me.

Matt Giraud, “Human Nature”: Forgettable performance, and not in a bad way. He got screwed because he had to follow Adam. If this performance fell in between Anoop and Jorge’s, it would’ve gotten more praise than it did. He’s a really good singer, but the Justin Timberlake look is gonna get old for me, I already know it. Nothing wrong with trying to emulate the guy, but its almost too much. I like him though. Just kinda got lost in the shuffle last night.

Alexis Grace, “Dirty Diana”: She got screwed because her performance was up against the clock. The judges didn’t give her more than a sentence because they were running out of time. I thought it was good, not great. Solid performance. Definitely has no chance of getting eliminated tonight, but might want to pull back on the sexiness factor. Her likability is big right now because of the “cute kid” factor, but it’s almost like she’s trying too hard to shed the good girl image. I still don’t know which female I like better, her or Megan. It’s close. I’ll get back to you on this. I think Alexis has a better recording voice, but Megan might have more of the total package. Tough one.

So now it’s time for our first ever “Reality Steve Top and Bottom 3 Performances of the Night”. These are going to be my personal choices as to which ones I liked, and disliked, the most. Doesn’t mean it’s who I think will end up in the bottom three. You might even see a performance I have in my top three end up as one of the people I predict in the bottom three. This will be followed by my prediction of who I think WILL be in the bottom 3, and who will get eliminated. Complete guessing on my part.

Reality Steve’s Top 3 Performances:

1. Adam Lambert
2. Matt Giraud
3. Danny Gokey

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Performances:

1. Anoop Desai
2. Jorge Nunez
3. Megan Corkrey

They said at the beginning of the show that two people are getting eliminated tonight. Then mentioned at the end that there will be a twist that they’ve never done before. I don’t know what that is, sorry. So here’s who I think will be in the bottom 3.

Reality Steve’s Bottom 3 Prediction:

1. Jorge Nunez
2. Allison Iraheta
3. Jasmine Murray

Reality Steve’s Prediction of Who Will Get Eliminated: Jorge Nunez. If they eliminate two, then Jorge and Jasmine Murray are my two picks. Although, as much as I would hate to see it, Megan could easily be in the bottom three and replace Jasmine. There are enough people who might think the performance last night was too cheesy. I hope not.

That’s it. Back on Friday with your “Reality Roundup” covering all the other shows I’m watching including, “Dancing with the Stars”, “Survivor”, “Celebrity Apprentice”, “The City”, “Sober House”, and a few other tidbits. Any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, email me at steve@realitysteve.com. You can join the “I Love Reality Steve” Facebook group, add me as a friend, or both, by clicking on the links down the right hand column. See you Friday.

Administrator American Idol 8

Ahhhhh, what a week. So many peoples stories have changed, the latest on Melissa joining “Dancing with the Stars” tonight, and finally we’ve heard the last of Tatiana Del Toro (at least I hope so). Let’s put some final FINAL thoughts together on this “Bachelor” season and just move on. It’s over, it’s done with, everyone’s changing their stories now, it’s a farce. Like I told you it was back on Jan. 27th. Before we get to that though, a couple notes regarding the site.

Over the next two months, there will be changes to the site. Still working out the kinks, as you saw last week we tried a different format, but a lot of things are happening right now and I want to make sure this site looks good when we roll everything out. So there might be some days the look of it changes, and there might be some days that it’s down, but just know its all temporary. I hope to have everything finalized and done by May 18th, which is the start of Jillians season of the “Bachelorette”. So any craziness in between now and then, just bear with me. It looks like the merchandising is definitely going to happen, I just need to figure out what products we are going to launch with, plus, some people want to advertise, and the current format we’re in doesn’t make it easy, which is why we’ll probably be giving the site a new look.

It’s not like I broke the Bachelor “shocker” back in January so all this could happen. Far from it. What’s happening now is a result of me being credible with my news, and the thing I’m most proud of, is how many emails I’ve gotten over the last few weeks from people saying they had never even heard of the site before and now they’re a fan. I’ve always wanted more and more people to find RealitySteve.com, but I did a terrible job of marketing it, which is to say I did nothing. If breaking this seasons ending gave me notoriety, so be it. But those that have been with me for the last seven years know I’ve been loyal to giving you consistent “Bachelor” updates, plus my opinions on a myriad of things. Now, I’m just going to do it more often. Especially with “Idol” about to begin its final rounds, “Survivor” up and running, “Celebrity Apprentice” being a trainwreck I can’t not watch, and the whole “Dancing with the Stars” thing. Hey, those that know me know that’s been one of my favorite shows since it started. Now, with the whole Melissa angle thrown in, obviously that adds a little extra to those that are “Bachelor” fans. Speaking of that, lets go back to last week, in particular, AFTER Tuesday nights show.

Really now, with all the chaos surrounding this past season of the “Bachelor”, I feel like after today, let’s just put it to rest. Some of you will always believe what you want to believe about the possible set up and conspiracy that I’ve alleged, and that’s fine. All I’ve ever wanted to do was present a case as for why I believe what I was told went down this season. You’re not a bad person if you don’t believe it, and those that do, aren’t conspiracy theorists or bad people either. They’re just realists. Ha ha. Anyway, what really bothered me last week after the ATFR 2 was the spin job that everyone was putting on this. Included in this spin job were ABC, Mike Fleiss, Jason, and even Melissa. On Wednesday, Jason immediately came out and said he broke up with Melissa on TV because he was “contractually obligated to.” Then Mike Fleiss immediately shot back with, “Uh, no you weren’t.” Then Jason spun it to, “Well, Melissa knew we were having problems and we were already broken up. We had ended things a week earlier.” Then Melissa on with Ellen Thursday says, “Yeah, the breakup was mutual, we were broken up. But what upset me was the lying. I asked him numerous times if it was about Molly and he said ‘no’. Then we get on TV to tape the ATFR 1 and he informs me it is.” Then Jason the next day on Ellen says, “Yeah, I wasn’t contractually obligated. I felt I was doing what the producers wanted me to do, and I take full responsibility for that. If I could take anything back, it was that I did it on camera. She didn’t need to go through that.” Well gee, ya’ think?

Look, Jason did exactly what he needed to do last week, which is apologize for embarrassing her on television. He didn’t need to do that, he admits he didn’t need to do that, and says he’ll live with that decision for the rest of his life. Good. He should. And the fact that both of them are now saying, “Well, we were broken up before we went on that show” pretty much proves even more than not only is Jason a douchebag for doing it, but also that ABC was complicit in all of this as well. Bascially they’re saying, “Well, you guys broke up off camera, and we can’t have that. Come and shoot the ATFR 1 six weeks early so we can ‘re-create’ that breakup.” If ABC is saying Jason wasn’t contractually obligated to do that on camera, then ABC could’ve easily said, “No, no way. We’re not doing this to her.” But they chose not to because they wanted drama, and that’s exactly what they got.

Nice to see that Melissa admitted the emails I’d had in my possession for two weeks that I chose not to release were legitimate. Hey, I knew they were the whole time, but it was good to hear something I said finally proven correct. And I’m glad someone else chose to release them because I did not want that on my conscience anymore. I didn’t want my name attached to those emails. And considering they landed in my inbox from someone who’d never emailed once before, I had a good idea someone would release them. I’m sure it was passed around to a few people. I think the one thing those emails proved was Melissa knew there was something going on with Jason and Molly during the time they were together. That’s obvious. I think its obvious to everyone now, and that’s the one thing that Jason is continually lying about. Notice how he never addressed it in the emails both times she brought it up? Never confirmed or denied it, which was smart. Just left it alone. The minute he admits to it, is the minute he’s guilty for lying in front of America, which most people think he did anyway. Also makes ABC look horrible in that they allowed it to happen, and makes them liars too. That gave Jason an out to not address it in his emails back to her.

I find it funny that at first, ABC/Fleiss/Chris Harrison/Jason all were adamant that “No, no, no, no. They had no contact whatsoever in those two months he was engaged. Molly was taken by complete surprise and anyone who suggests otherwise is just plain wrong.” Yet now we’re hearing, “Oh wait, there was one phone call where he was just ‘checking’ on Molly.” Really? When he’s engaged to Melissa and spending time with her over the holidays? Of course, there are also numerous reports that Molly texted or called Jason while he was with Melissa, which she has said happened, but god no! Jason would never do such a thing! Whatever. Like I’ve said ever since I released the news about this season, it is going to be he said/she said til the end of time. You will either believe that he didn’t have contact with Molly and ABC wasn’t planning this ratings bonanza, or you can believe Melissa. It’s up to you. I’m pretty much done debating it at this point. By next week, no one will give a rats ass about Jason and Molly and how they’re doing. I thought the most telling thing between both Melissas appearance and Jason and Mollys appearance on “Ellen” was the fact that Melissa said he started pulling away “almost immediately” when they got back from taping. For a guy that claimed he tried so hard to make it work, I would think pulling away immediately isn’t supporting your case too much.

More questions:

Now he and Molly are doing a tourism video promoting New Zealand talking about that’s where they fell in love and what a great place it is? Huh? I thought when he left New Zealand, that’s when he was in love with Melissa? Did you see this thing? Unbelievable. Check it out:

Jason and Molly Pimp New Zealand

If Molly had no idea she what was going to happen at the ATFR 2, why was she talking about, “I stay up every night hoping Jason would change his mind and take me back?” No other Final Two girl in the history of that show has ever said that on the ATFR 2.

Why did Molly say during the ATFR 2 taping that she’s definitely moving to Seattle, and then on “Ellen” less than a week later when asked if she was moving, she says, “Eventually. We’re taking it day by day.” Shouldn’t that have been her original answer? Man, no one can keep their stories straight.

Why did Jason tell Molly, ten minutes roughly after he just dumped his fiance, “I’m falling in love with you?” If he didn’t have any contact with this woman in two months, can you technically be “falling in love with them?” Seems a little extreme. I would think you’d just leave it at, “I haven’t been able to keep my mind off you and I want to try this out.” Not, “I’m falling in love with you.” How could you? You haven’t spoken to her since New Zealand! Jason is King Contradictory right now.

And of course, he’s gone back and forth on at what point they broke up. He says it was a few days before the ATFR 1 taping, then he said it was a week, then he said in the beginning he shouldn’t have broken up with her, then changed it to, “she knew what was coming.” AAAAAAHHHHH!!!! This is all making my head hurt really. Stick to one story, buddy.

So this can be debated forever. Who do you believe, Jason or Melissa? Or neither? Either way, it doesn’t affect my life. I believe Melissa but it doesn’t mean you’re a horrible person if you don’t. If I were you, I’d put it past you, move on, and start discussing more important things. This is exactly what ABC wants, and that’s to have you talking about them weeks after the season ends. So I will put an end to it in this column if you promise to as well. Sure, I’ll continually make jokes til the end of time about this season and what a farce it was, but I’m done presenting my case for why I believe this was a set up. Let’s move on.

As I’m sure most of you have heard by now, Melissa is going to be an injury replacement for Nancy O’Dell on “Dancing with the Stars” beginning tonight. Nancy O’Dell dropped out on Thursday, and news broke yesterday that Melissa was asked to do it. Which means she’s had a whopping four days to practice. I’m really surprised by some of the response I’m hearing in regards to Melissa “selling out” or “only doing this because she wants to be famous.” Huh? Once again, people will have their opinions on this one way or another, but this is how I see it:

1. She’s a last second injury replacement, so this basically just fell into her lap. She didn’t go out seeking this. This isn’t something she’s been in negotiations for for weeks. Nancy O’Dell just dropped out on Thursday.

2. She has a dance background, it’s her passion, so it’s not like she’s going on “Fear Factor”, or some other stupid dating show just so she could be on TV. I think the fact she turned down being the next “Bachelorette” shows more about her character and motivations than accepting this gig does.

3. She knows she can do well because of her background, the public already likes her, and she immediately becomes one of the favorites. Why wouldn’t you enter a competition that you know you can win?

4. With Nancy O’Dell dropping out Thursday, this is the latest ANYONE has ever dropped out of DWTS by far. If they’re find a replacement and give them only four days of rehearsal, they’re not going to pick someone with ZERO dance experience because they’ll just get voted off the first week. So of course they had to find someone who could dance, and she fits the bill perfectly. It’s ABC crossover, her name has been out there the last week, and she can dance.

5. She told Ellen on Wednesday “I just wanna go back to Dallas, get back to a normal life, and get away from reality TV” or whatever she said. She didn’t know about this opportunity when she said that, so to call her a liar just seems ignorant. Unless you think she knew about this all along, which she couldn’t have, since they announced the DWTS cast back on Feb. 9th and she wasn’t a part of it.

6. As for her doing another ABC show, I don’t think that has much to do with anything. It’s not like this is being produced by Fleiss and his production company. This is a completely different animal. What would being scorned by ABC previously have to do with her appearing on this show? ABC the network necessarily didn’t screw her. It was Fleiss and his production company that did. Two totally different animals. I might have used the term “ABC” in past columns, but I was referring to Fleiss and Co.

Seems to me that the people hating on her are the ones who didn’t like her in the first place or thought she was in on this whole scheme with the “Bachelor.” So whatever she does, you’ll never change those peoples minds. She could have announced last week on “Ellen” that she’s taking a camera crew to Africa to feed a village of starving children, and her detractors would first ask, “Why are you taking a camera crew?” Can never win with some people. Look, I have no problem with Melissa doing this, but I can see plenty of people will. Whatever. To each their own. I hope she does well. I can’t imagine she won’t at least get to the finals. I mean, c’mon. Steve-O? David Alan Grier? She could’ve been given four hours to practice and she’d be better than them. People who hate her will cheer against her, and people who like her, won’t. It’s pretty simple. There’s no way she would tell America “My reality television days are behind me” if she knew she was gonna do this show, which she didn’t. I can’t believe people are getting on her for that. It’s dancing. It’s her passion. She can win. She’d be crazy not to.

Once again, let’s put all of our “Bachelor” related stuff behind us after today. Really, there’s nothing more to talk about. I’m moving on, and so should you. There are too many questions you will never get answers to unless your name is Jason Mesnick, Molly Malaney, Melissa Rycroft, Mike Fleiss, or Chris Harrison. I’ll be back Wednesday with a fresh new “Reality Roundup” breaking down week one of “American Idol” (I believe it’s Michael Jackson week), along with a few thoughts on more crap that I’m watching. As always, any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, pre orders for your RealitySteve.com boy shorts (ha ha), feel free to email me at steve@realitysteve.com. If you haven’t already joined the “I Love Reality Steve” Facebook group, you can always do that as well. Or just add me as a friend as there is a link to that down the right hand column. See you Wednesday.

Administrator The Bachelor 13 - Jason

I’d say that the ATFR 2 was a complete waste of time last night. I told you Friday what was going to happen. Nothing surprising. All they’re doing is trying to make you hate Jason and Molly less and less than most people already do. Which is fine. I mean, that’s their couple after all now, so they got to make them look good however they can. Even if it meant embarrassing Melissa on national television. Like they care about that. Oh by the way, did you see the ratings from Monday night? Through the roof, as I thought they would be. 15 million watched the finale and 17 million watched the ATFR. Highest rated ATFR in the shows history, and highest rated finale since Guiney’s season. Thank you, thank you very much. I’ll take full credit for that. That’s why I never believed anyone who screamed after I ruined the ending on the You Tube videos, “That’s horrible! I’ll never watch this show again!” Please. You were all front and center on Monday night, and then some. How? Because the show was getting on average 11 million people weekly. Yet 15 million tuned in to the finale and 17 million watched the ATFR. So another 5 -7 million people, who didn’t give a crap about this show during the season, tuned in just for the end to see what all this hype was about. The hype that I created over a month ago. So ABC, feel free to scratch me a check at any point. Just don’t spell my name wrong.

ABC, Fleiss and Co. all got what they wanted out of this. They can BS us about “Well, we would’ve liked for Jason and Melissa to be our story if it meant sacrificing the ratings in the end”, when we all know that’s not true. This is Hollywood. This is TV. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING these people care more about than money and ratings. That’s it. That’s all their job requires them to do. Produce something that will get people to watch their show. I can’t make that any simpler. That’s why the contracts people sign to come on this show excuse ABC of any liability for how they portray any person whatsoever. You really, really, really think Mike Fleiss and Co. care about how Melissa ended up in all this? Please. There’s no better proof than him saying a couple weeks ago, “This is the best ending we’ve ever had.” You’re damn right it was. Take all human emotion out of Monday nights finale. Just pretend those were robots that were told to act that way (which some of you still believe was the case). Take all feelings and emotions out of Monday nights broadcast and just look at it from a pure drama/shocker/crazy ass plot perspective. That was damn entertaining. Finale not so much, but that hour of the ATFR show you can’t say wasn’t riveting television. You don’t think so? It was the lead story on most news and entertainment sites yesterday. I had over 700 emails for the day, did 5 radio interviews, and basically spent all day on the phone talking to people about it. And that’s exactly what they were going for. All the more reason I believe they had a plan, they executed it, and they got their results to the tune of 17 million freakin’ people.

Host Chris really had nothing good to say in his blog today either. I guess he’s had enough of going after me. Although, he really stuck his neck out there when gave us this beauty. “Five years down the road, when Jason and Molly are married, I wonder if many of you will feel different about this.” Holy crap! This couple is “a month” into their relationship and you’re predicting they’ll be married five years from now? For a show that’s never produced a marriage ever? Good luck with that. Please tell me somewhere in Vegas they’re posting odds on Host Chris’ beyond ridiculous prediction. I’d be a rich man if they did. If none of the previous 12 Bachelor couples have lasted, and they didn’t have even CLOSE to the pressure that Jason and Molly are starting their relationship under, why would I think those two will make it? Molly’s gotta have doubts about the guy whether she wants to admit it or not. He’s proposed to two different women in a year, and is now working on his 3rd “girlfriend” in that time. I’d say he’s a little fickle. And it’s almost like because everyone is hating on them already, and because people are expecting them to fail, they are going to try THAT much harder to please everyone by staying together and proving people wrong. In the end, I doubt it’ll work. I’ll stand by this shows track record, and that’s 0-for-12 in producing a marriage. I like playing the odds. Can’t get any better than a 0% success rate, can you?

As for the emails between Melissa and Jason, someone released them yesterday anonymously (shocker) and now the entertainment sites are running with them. And yes, those are the ones I’ve had in my possession for a couple weeks now. I’m glad someone else decided to do it, because I was not going to release them. I didn’t want that on my conscience anymore so I’m glad my name isn’t attached to them. I’m not going to post the link to them anywhere on this site because I don’t want to be associated with them. But they’re out there everywhere now, so they shouldn’t be hard to find. Remember, those just randomly landed in my email box from someone who had never emailed me before. So I’m guessing they were the ones who released it or anyone else they could’ve forwarded it on to. I had nothing to do with those getting released, and I’m sure if you check the IP address or domain name of whoever released it onto that blog yesterday, that’ll prove my innocence as well. I just couldn’t bring myself to do that to Melissa. I figured she’d had enough.

Everyone has their opinions of what went down this season. These will be debated forever, yet another thing ABC wants. As long as people are talking about their show, they’re happy. I came to you in January and told you about the shocking ending of what was going to happen on the ATFR show. It happened. I told you I had sources at the ATFR 2 taping this past Friday and what went down, and it happened. The only thing some of you are still having a hard time believing is what my sources told me about Jason being told to do this and him accepting. Well, considering my sources have been right pretty much every step of the way, is it really that far fetched to think they were wrong about this? Of course ABC/Fleiss/Harrison/Jason/Molly will deny it til the end of time. They have to. They’d be guilty as charged if they didn’t. But I think I’ve given you a map of how this season played out starting on Jan. 27th and ending last night. And I’d say that map was pretty clear. All I want you people to do is use common sense, think outside the box a little bit, and realize that this is completely possible on the way the season went down. Hey, I’m always going to believe it because I have no reason to doubt my sources. One thing to remember: I was never guessing on how I THOUGHT this “Bachelor” season would play out. I was TOLD how it was going to play out by people in the know. Big difference. They never lied to me once and gained nothing from lying to me, which is why I believed them. So all I can do is tell everyone to remember this is TV. This is Hollywood. Its fantasy land. All they care about is the bottom line which is making money. They will spare no expense to do so. Unfortunately, Melissa was that expense this season. And oh yeah, for the record, the “Bachelor” does get paid to do this show. You might want to figure all that in to this equation as well.

So Jillian is going to be our next Bachelorette. Yippee. Nice girl. Cute girl. But seems like this will remind me a lot of Meredith’s season. I mean, does Jillian really reach into the hearts of all Americans (despite being Canadian) enough to get them to watch her journey of love for eight weeks? I guess we’ll see. Obviously, people are going to watch. But unless there’s a huge scandal like this season, I don’t expect them to come anywhere close to those ratings numbers. But of course, I’ll be back writing about the show. In fact, I was thinking everything was gonna be back to normal next season. Just me watching on Monday nights, then making fun of it in the column on Tuesday mornings like I’ve done for the last 7 years. But I sh** you not, as I sit here writing this at 11:15 CST on Wednesday morning March 4th, I’ve already gotten news regarding Jillians season. Is it as big as what went down this season? No. Not close. But its damn interesting to hear. Jillians season begins shooting in two weeks and will air starting in May. That’s not the news. However, I’m going to go do a little more research on this thing and let me find out a little more. All I can tell you right now is that this is definitely stuff the audience wants to know. I will get back to you on this in the near future. And don’t worry, no clues this time. Ha ha.

As for those asking about any possible interview with Melissa, I think that’ll be tough. She’s going to be on “Ellen” tomorrow to tell her story, and I’m sure she’s talking to the magazines, but after that, I have a feeling she just wants to get back to her life. For all those who think she was a plant, and in this for the money, and just wants to be on TV, well, that’s not the case. If it was, she would’ve been the next “Bachelorette”. In fact, she was asked to (Which also goes along with the theory this plan was put in place a while back), but turned it down. How do I know this? Mike Fleiss said it himself in an interview posted yesterday. Here is the brief snippet from the interview:

THR: So is Melissa the next Bachelorette?

Fleiss: Nope. She didn’t want to do it. She’s heartbroken.

You can read the full interview here.

And now even Mike Fleiss is throwing Jason under the bus saying he wasn’t contractually obligated to break up with her on the show. Gee, so now all the major players involved are on different pages. Fleiss says he didn’t have to do it, but Chris Harrison and Jason are saying it had to be filmed because that’s what the contestants agree to. So which is it? Here’s the link:

Fleiss Throws Jason Under the Bus

I would think that someone who wanted money, fame, and fortune out of all this would’ve certainly agreed to be the focus of a show for 8 weeks. But can you blame her? After getting thrown under the bus the way she did? I certainly don’t. Look, if she was a plant and was acting in all this, then she wouldn’t be phased and hurt by all this, and she definitely would’ve just moved right in to being our next “Bachelorette” since she wouldn’t have had any hatred towards ABC and what happened to her. But apparently Melissa’s dignity doesn’t have a price, which is something I can’t say for certain people we know. Good for her. I believe after this week, she is pretty much going to disappear and will get back to living a normal life. I really don’t think there’s much more you could say about her character after hearing that she turned down their offer to be the next “Bachelorette”. And I hear it was a damn good offer, as well.

A lot of you have been asking what happens now that the show is over? In the past, I’ve gone into hibernation and barely produced any columns til the “Bachelor/ette” starts up again. Not this season. I’m going to start dedicating a little more time to the site. Looks like we’re finally going to have some advertising on the site and I’m working on a few other things as well. One thing that I’d really like your feedback on is possible merchandise. I know that I have a very loyal fan base that has followed me for a while and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. And I’ve always done my best to repay you by responding to your emails and answering all questions that you have. Although, the last couple days have been impossible, so don’t take it personally. Anyway, I was thinking of possibly coming up with something tangible. Like tshirts, hats, mugs, bumper stickers, etc. Of course, my brilliant mind wants to make boy shorts with “Realitysteve.com” across the ass, but, well, I don’t think that’ll play. Especially if you’re married or have a boyfriend. Anyway, merchandise is always something I’ve thought of doing, but never too seriously until now. I think it might happen though, so stay tuned. It would not be ridiculously priced and I wouldn’t be making a whole hell of a lot of it, but it’s something.

So I will still dabble here and there on “Bachelor” stuff during this “offseason”, but beginning next week, back to “Reality Roundup”. I think each one will feature an episode recap of “American Idol”, and then focus on the other stuff I’m watching like “Survivor”, “Celebrity Apprentice”, “The City”, “The Hills” (when it starts back up again), “Sober House”, and whatever else floats my boat in the TV world. But definitely it will focus on “Idol” since, well, that’s my favorite show going right now. I’ll just say this: I’d be shocked if Danny Gokey doesn’t win. The guy can sing his ass off and he’s got a story to boot. I mean, his wife dies 4 weeks before his audition? Who isn’t going to get behind that guy? Consider me the lead cheerleader on “Team Gokey”. Anyway, more on that next week. So thanks for sticking with the site during these last crazy ass six weeks. And to all of you new readers who had never heard of me until all this news broke, welcome aboard. Glad you’re a fan now. Any questions, comments, praises, criticisms, orders for your first “RealitySteve.com” t-shirt (ha ha), email me at steve@realitysteve.com. Talk to you soon.

Administrator The Bachelor 13 - Jason

No need to gloat really. I told you what their shocker was going to be on January 27th, and it happened. Doesn’t matter how I know, who told me, or how it all came to be. The bottom line was I ruined ABC’s surprise for the season and I’m glad I did. Especially after that abortion they showed us on television last night. I will be honest with you and say I’m sick to my stomach. I mean, the two hour finale was nothing. We all knew what was happening there. But that ATFR show was downright painful. I felt AWFUL for Melissa. Still do. The debate will rage on from this day forward what you want to believe about Jason and Molly’s performance. Was he put up to this? When did he know? When did Molly know and what did she know? That’s all up for each individual to decide. Judging by the message boards and my comments, seems like we’re running about 99% in favor of Jason being named King A-Hole sometime in the near future. Hey, you know all my answers to this. No need to go over it again. Fifty years from now when I’m asked about the Jason Mesnick season of the “Bachelor”, I will firmly believe he was told to do this and agreed to it to create this shocking finale. And no matter what BS Chris Harrison wants to whine about in his blog today, or how many times Jason and Molly want to deny they’ve never contacted each other in the two months he was engaged to Melissa, or how ABC now admits, “Well, we expected it to get leaked”, NOTHING will change my belief of what went down this season.

So basically what I want to mention today is Chris Harrisons blog, and an email I received last week from a completely different source than the ones who gave me all my other information. Lets start with Chris, since apparently he has a hard on for me now. I love how its killing him that he constantly has to address the rumors that I started, yet won’t mention me by name. Hey Chris, how about the fact that in US Weekly last week, not only are they quoting me, but also the “source close to production” that echoed everything I said? Why am I the bad guy here? How about you guys start checking under your own noses for leaks. Hell, the “source close to production” said a hell of a lot more than I did in that article. And oh yeah, all of it was true again. Apparently Fleiss and the gang are all super sleuths now because, according to Chris, “we know how that happened and we know who’s responsible.” Ummm, I hate to tell them this, but they don’t seem to know much of anything. And there’s more than one person leaking stuff considering the email I’m going to show you later on in this post I had never even heard from until five days ago.

Chris is also shoveling the BS that because they’re a TV show, and because they always want their audience to know, good or bad, what’s going on, that’s the reason they televised the break up. According to Chris, “the fact is everybody knows when they sign up for this show everything about their story will be public. It’s a TV show and that is not a big secret. They are well aware of what they got into.” Oh, so that makes it right? That’s just sickening. Go sell that somewhere else. I can’t believe they’re trying to justify televising the public embarrassment of Melissa with a “Hey, that’s just TV. They know what they sign up for.” Well, I guess if these contestants actually read their contracts they would. But half of them just want to be on TV, they don’t realize that they are signing their life away so you can embarrass, humiliate, defame and portray their character in any way you choose, without one ounce of responsibility falling on ABC and the production company. Trust me. I’ve read the contract. I have that in my possession too. The show is f***in sick joke. I had no idea the lengths they go to in that contract to make sure ABC and the production team aren’t held liable for anything that happens on this show. It’s unfreakinbelievable. Yet, we’re supposed to believe this is “real human emotion?” Please.

Chris says that Melissa was not blindsided and that she knew when she arrived at the taping, because of the talks her and Jason were having as of late, that it just wasn’t working. Chris says he doesn’t know if Melissa knew she’d be getting dumped on the show, and that you’d have to ask her. Well, Jason said on Jimmy Kimmel last night that Melissa and him were broken up by the time they arrived at the ATFR taping, and the only question he had was was she going to wear her ring there. So which is it? Were they broken up or not? And Jason, if you and Melissa were already broken up, like you admitted last night on Jimmy Kimmel’s show, THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO DO A WHOLE SONG AND DANCE AND GO THROUGH THE BREAKUP YET AGAIN??? You guys were broken up. Fine. Move on. But for thirty minutes, we have to sit there and listen to you do it over again while cameras were rolling? Look, ABC can claim they’re gonna show everything, but please. We all know why that ATFR was filmed. Because they knew they had an ending they’d never had before, and they knew they had an ending they could promote as a “shocker” and “one of the best we’ve ever had.” Can you believe that? You wanna know how little Mike Fleiss and ABC thinks of Melissa? The fact that they promoted last nights finale as the “best we’ve ever had.” It was? I’m sure if you ask Melissa that, she’ll tend to disagree. For shock value, utter embarrassment, disgust, and pure cruelty, yeah sure, best ending you’ve ever had. You don’t give a crap about how Melissa feels as long as 11 million people are watching I guess. Appalling.

The reason they’re saying they decided to film it was because at the time of the ATFR 1 taping, they were a few weeks into the show, still six weeks away from the finale, and they’ve gotten word that their happy couple is now on the rocks. So what do they do? Chris says, “Do we let all of America just keep going along with this happy little fairytale only to find that in the end it all blew up a month and a half prior? It’s not like Jason was breaking up with Mel and just going away. He was asking for a shot with the girl you saw him break up with in New Zealand.” So they figured by taping the ATFR show, they would let America see what happened between their engaged couple. Ok, fine. Problem is, Jason didn’t say sh**. He went from spinning Melissa around, telling her he loved her 100 times in a row, telling Molly “I think you’re wrong” when she told him he was making a mistake, to him just saying, “Uhhh, things changed. Chemistry changed.” Can we get some examples here? This is your fiancé supposedly, not some bimbo you dragged home from the bar. Of course Melissa was pissed, this douche broke off an engagement because why? I still don’t have an answer. Well, other than the one I will always believe which is, there wasn’t an answer. He was just being told what to do.

They’re still trying to shove the “these are real people trying the best they can to deal with real issues.” I’ll give you that its real people. Finally, something truthful. As far as I know, this show hasn’t gone the way of casting androids, but I’m guessing that’ll probably be up Fleiss’ sleeve next season. “Watch Jillian pick from a pool of 25 computer generated d-bags with no human emotion whatsoever!” I might actually tend to believe the “real issues” part if Jason could’ve actually given us examples why he couldn’t last more than two months with his fiancé that he was sooooooooo in love with when he left New Zealand. The whole thing just doesn’t make sense. Once again, if you’re that conflicted in New Zealand, and Jason made a point to tell us a zillion times that he fell in love with two women, well, then how can he propose to one over the other? That’s completely illogical and narrow minded. “Well, its because that day I believed Melissa was the one for me.” Too convenient. That’s such a cop out answer. Totally left the door open for what he eventually ended up doing.

I just want you people to see here that there’s more than meets the eye. When Jason was on with Kimmel last night, they talked about the last time he was on, which was during the first week of the show, so around Jan. 5th. Kimmel asked him point blank, “Were you engaged then?” Jason said, “Yes. Melissa and I were engaged and things were great.” So, if the ATFR 1 taping was on or around Jan. 18th, and two weeks prior on Kimmel you guys were engaged and things were great, that doesn’t leave much of a window for that engagement to go to hell in a handbasket to the point where you call it off because you want to try and get back in Molly’s pants. So you either lied to Kimmel in the first week of January that things were great, or, you just lied in general about the whole relationship since you were never as in love with her as you claim to be. I will always believe the latter. One last note about Jason before moving on to Molly. Jason told us at the ATFR 1 taping before Melissa came out, “I care so much for Melissa that I need to talk to her.” On national television? Really? Apparently you guys were talking privately and were having problems, and according to you, were already broken up. Hmmm, nice guy. “Hey, I know we’re broken up, but ummmm, since ABC didn’t have any footage of it, think we could gather you up to fly out here and we can get this so 11 million people can see for themselves? Thanks. You’re a trooper.’ How Melissa didn’t punch him in the face during that taping is beyond me.

As for Molly, look, we can go back and forth all day every day for the next century trying to figure out what she knew and when she knew it. Only about four people know the honest answer to this, and they’ll never tell us the truth anyway. Hey, a few of you asked me last week why haven’t any former contestants who were on the show years ago ever come out and said anything if this is all so scripted and manipulated. Ummmm, because they can’t. If there’s nothing else you take from this column today, I want you to take this bit of info. As you know, all contestants are under contract with ABC for a year from when their finale airs. But that only covers interviews, appearances, etc. Everything has to run through ABC. So yeah, Megan didn’t really do that when she got the interview with me, but, that’s ok. Some decide they’re pissed off at ABC enough they’ll do what they please. And she did. However, and I can’t stress this enough, every contestant who’s ever appeared on this show signs a LIFETIME confidentiality agreement which essentially states that you can never give away the show secrets or else you can get sued for $5 million.” Oh yeah, I have that contract in my possession also. So why do you think in sixteen seasons, not one person has written a tell all book? Because they can’t. So that’s why you’ll hear stuff on message boards, from friends, etc. These people talk. They tell friends and family and what not, but nothing will ever publicly get traced back to them or else they’re in deep sh**. So if you have nothing to hide, and everything about this show is clean, forthright, honest, and truthful, why is everyone part of this show threatened with a $5 million lawsuit if they ever speak publicly about what really goes on? I’d say that’s pretty telling.

So that’s where I’m essentially banging my head against the wall. I can’t prove any of this, and they’ll never admit to it. If they do, their show is yanked for being a complete farce. So ABC/Jason/Molly/Fleiss and Chris Harrison to a certain extent, are the ones who have to wake up in the morning and look at themselves knowing where the real truth lies in all of this. Will we ever know? Probably not. But all I want to do is get everything out there for the public to see and have them make their own decision. Judging by the emails I’ve gotten and response, it sounds like people are starting to catch on. However, it’s not like I think the show is going anywhere. If not, they’ll thrive off this and continue to produce more crap for us to watch. And yes, I’ll be front and center watching and writing about it. More on that tomorrow. And oh yeah, Molly, when Jason told you to your face in New Zealand, “I love someone else more” and “I think you’re wrong”, when you told him he was making a mistake, that was awfully quick of you to either forget or forgive him for saying that. Not ten minutes after this guy lets his fiance go last night, does he and the girl that he dumped in New Zealand have their tongues jammed down each others throat. Really? You couldn’t wait til maybe you got off stage or something? Yeah, and they had NO contact in those two months? Uh huh. And I’ve been wrong about everything since Jan. 27th.

So, since that time in January, I’ve been giving more and more information little by little that’s all proven to be true. I’ve had a few minor details wrong, but basically for the most part, I’ve told you what to expect this season. Well, last Wednesday I got this random email from someone who claimed to work in LA. I verified it based on the information given, but obviously I will keep their occupation private. This person then proceeded to tell me they have contacts over at ABC, and those contacts essentially had a map of how things went this season on the show. Well, here is that email. This was sent last Wednesday, and obviously you can see most of this stuff ended up playing out. I’m showing it to you because this was never my original source. In fact, Id never even gotten an email from this person EVER until five days ago. So this is what someone at ABC is leaking to their friends, who then passed it on to me. Here’s what they wrote:

“Ok, so let me break it all down for you as I understand it:

Absolute fact:
1) Jason proposes to Melissa in NZ
2) Jason sees Melissa roughly twice a month from end of NZ (they stayed three days together after FRC) to the emergency taping
3) Jason tells Melissa it is over.
4) Melissa flips out. Screams. Yells. Cries. Calls him a bunch of names, etc. etc. Basically a total meltdown.
5) The second ATFR is like normal. Jason/Molly happy, Melissa okay — it was all for the best, yadda. though obviously I don’t know the exact language.

The following things I’m going to tell you are more complex than stone-cold fact, however I trust my source and STRONGLY believe that everything I’m about to tell you is true because I mean…some of it is too unbelievable and detailed to just pull out of total fabrication.

1) Your interview with Megan, which I listened to late yesterday, corraborated what I had heard about Melissa. She was a bubbly spit fire, however she barely spoke to Jason for the first week.

2) Jason made an instant connection with Molly, and despite her poor edit there are several things during the season (tent date, long walk alone in Seattle) that point to that fact. Yet, it wasn’t over the top because that is not Molly’s personality.

3) Just prior to the Final Five, Jason informed producers that Molly was the one.

4) The plan was formed. Producers asked Jason who he liked second best and he told them he had taken interest in Melissa — had a lot going for her, sweet, attractive, etc. They told him to bring her to the Final Two, pick her at the FRC for drama and that she would get America’s love and attention — aka a set up for The Bachelorette. They convinced Jason that he would do no irrevocable harm to Melissa, because she would get the popularity.

5) I can tell you with almost 100% certainty that Melissa fell in love with Jason. In fact, my source said that is who Chris Harrison and the rest were “cheering for and were happy when they saw her bond with Ty.” Period. Nothing else is true. Melissa fell in love with Jason, the staff saw it and rooted for it and were happy for them.

6) Which leads to this fact. Only three people (Mike Fleiss, another top-level showrunner (Martin), and Jason) knew about the plan until AFTER THE FRC. Immediately after the FRC, Chris H and the rest of the staff was informed of the plan and what would go down at the ATFR. No idea how they reacted, and really it isn’t a big part of the story.

7) Immediately after Jason returned to Seattle he got in touch with producers and they put him in touch with Molly. Molly did NOT know about this plan before the FRC, but DID know about it just several days after the FRC. How do you think she was able to take him back? Because she knew. My guy also told me she will play this off at the ATFR as, “Jason is a good man who was in a high pressure situation. Once he got away from the camera, his heart changed. And I loved him.”

Now, this is the slightly disturbing part but my source said he heard this from reliable people. Remember that I said Melissa was head over heels in love. She saw Jason every other weekend and told Jason she was planning on moving out to Seattle, loved Ty, wanted to start a family. Jason made all of this seem great. He is playing the game, before finally realizing after one of these “heart to hearts” that Melissa was seriously falling for him.

9) He called the producers and they moved up the show for him but told him he had to do it, per the agreed “twist”, on camera.

10) Hence everything you will see at the ATFR show.

If you have any questions, let me know. But it’s pretty self-explanatory. My source said that ATFR was still in post-production until either earlier this week or late last week. I have no idea how they will spin it, but they will for damage control.

How does the truth get into the mainstream? You said something about some mysterious e-mails before. That would help. As would someone saying “sue me, I’m talking.” From what I’m told Melissa is “better” but still is taking this very hard.

No idea if she will follow the company line on Ellen and the talk show circuit. Also, the whole parents thing was way overblown. They just were private people and didn’t want to participate. I’ve heard they are very religious. Not sure what that has to do with being private. But they just didn’t want to be on the show. No other conspiracy theory to that.

Hope you enjoy the carnage. Because it is coming!”

So just so we’re clear here. This email was sent from someone at ABC to a buddy, who then passed it along to me. So when Chris Harrison talks about they know where the leaks are coming from and know who’s responsible, I’d say they don’t. So just wanted to add this fuel to the fire that more people knew about this than ABC wanted to believe. I was just the only one to come out with it as early as I did. Doesn’t matter who told me, how many people were involved, or how I got it, the fact is I wanted to beat ABC to the punch on their “shocker” for this season, and I did. I’ve never done that in the 15 seasons I’ve been covering this show because, well, I’d never gotten tipped off like this before. I’m sure they’re not happy because this was going to be their gem, and they definitely didn’t want the public forming an opinion before the finale but, oops. Sorry.

I would like nothing more than to speak with Melissa so we can get an answer to a lot of these questions. Put it this way, she knows I’m looking for her. The invitation is out there. All she has to do is accept it. And what better place to come to share your story than here, where all I want to do is get the truth out. I feel the public has been misled enough by this show, and seeing Melissa get taken behind the woodshed last night was gut wrenching to watch. Something tells me however that she is done with this whole process and would just like to move on. Of course she doesn’t want to be the next Bachelorette. Would you after what just happened to you? Melissa was the perfect candidate. She has America behind her, she’s likable, she’s cute, and she already has a built in audience. There’s a reason Jillian is out next Bachelorette. It’s because Melissa doesn’t want any part of this mockery any more. And can you blame her?

I’m still working on transcribing the Megan interview, so I’ll have that up in a couple days. As for the Jason and Melissa email conversation done after the ATFR 1 taping was held, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to release them. I’m leaning one way right now, but I’ll have a definitive answer in the next day or two. Until then, enjoy tonights fluff piece as ABC tries to shove down our throat “Hey, Jason’s just living his life and don’t be mad at him for following his heart.” Blech. Makes me want to vomit. The guy made his own bed and now he should have to lie in it. And going on Jimmy Kimmel and immediately becoming defensive about what he did isn’t helping his cause much either. Back tomorrow with more stuff. Any questions, comments, emails, praises, criticisms, or more Jason/Molly backlash, email me at steve@realitysteve.com. And please, don’t be offended or keep sending emails if I don’t get back to you. I get and read ALL your emails. I just have to pick and choose which ones to respond to due to the 200-300 or so a day I’ve been getting recently. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy tonight. If that’s possible.

Administrator The Bachelor 13 - Jason