Monday Tube Time

Week 2 of the quest to bring television appreciation to the masses.  Monday is still lacking a few shows still on midseason hiatus, such as Prison Break, Heroes, and Studio 60, but there are a few shows worth your time.

What to watch:

• 24 – 8:00 on Fox – the normal time slot for the show, but extended an extra hour tonight to get us into the swing of things.  As I said yesterday, this is a show you need to be watching.
• No Reservations – 10:00 on The Travel Channel – As I described to my roommate last week:  It’s a show about a guy who travels to a different city each week, where he tries local and exotic food and hits some sites while drinking and smoking throughout.  Anthony Bourdain is not a TV host who travels and covers food, but rather he is a chef and travel who got put on TV.  Give him a try.

Sunday Tube Time

Football games notwithstanding, we are going to take a look at an absolutely stacked night of primetime viewing.

What to watch:

• 24 – 8:00 on Fox – The best show on television.  Even if you haven’t seen the 1st five seasons you can easily get into this.  Watch it, you have no excuse.
• Demetri Martin – 10:00 on Comedy Central – I’ve never seen his standup, but he is funny on the Daily Show, and it’s not like people have ever left that show and done anything successful (Colbert Report, The Office, et al).
• Frisky Dingo – Midnight:30 on Cartoon Network – Adult Swim tends to ebb and flow, and right now this is the only show worth watching.  Truly absurd, but each outrageous circumstance builds on the prior ones leaving you aching for more.

What to tivo:

• The Apprentice LA – 9:00 on NBC – I’ve been an a fan of this show since season one, though last season I didn’t watch because it was up against 24 or something.  This season they move to the west coast and the losers live in shanty town tents.  The privleged having to slum it up always makes for good TV.  You could also probably catch this later in the week on CNBC, Bravo, or MSNBC at some point.
• Gordon Ramsay’s F Word – Midnight on BBC America – You may know chef Ramsay from Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen.  He’s made to look like a foul mouthed ass on that show.   This show shows him in a better light.  He’s very demanding, but he’s also just dedicated to his craft.  This is the replay, it originally airs at 9:00.

Catch it On Demand:

• Rome – HBO – originally airs at 9:00, replays on HBO-W at midnight.  It also airs on various HBO outlets throughout the week, so if you don’t have On Demand check the listings for a replay.  Based loosely on the historical period of Augustus and the group.  The end of the 1st season saw Caesar get stabbed to death by the Senate (et tu Brute).  This season picks up right after that.  Titus Pullo is a bad ass.

Wednesday Tube Time

A pretty stacked night of television for Wednesday, and Lost and American Idol haven’t even started back up yet!  Unfortunately, everything seems to be on at the same time.  Let’s get right into it.

What to watch:

• The Knights of Prosperity, 9:00 ABC.  The pilot last week was histerical, let’s hope this isn’t bumped do to the President’s Iraq speech.
• The Sopranos replay, 11:11 A&E.  First airing is at 9, but that conflicts with stuff.

What to tivo:

• Mythbusters, 9:00 Discovery Channel.  Then watch it between the Knights and Sopranos.
• The Wire replay, 12 midnight BET.  It’s gonna be on Thursday normally, but they are churning out the first three episodes nightly through Friday.  First airing when everything else is on at 9.

Monday/Tuesday Tube Time

With the winter television season (yes, there are four separate seasons now, as opposed to the classic spring and fall schedule) rolling out this week and next, I thought it would be a good time to give everyone some recommendations.  Realizing I should have started this last night (or really Saturday), you will get a double shot today for tonight (Monday) and tomorrow.  Future days will just cover the following day to give you at least 24 hours notice.  So without further ado, starting with Monday, followed by Tuesday (all times EST)…

What to watch:  The BCS “title” game on Fox at 8:00

What to tivo: No Reservations on The Travel Channel at 10:00

What to watch (Tues):  VH1 Classic is showing Pink Floyd’s The Wall at 9:00, and really that’s all I could find.  Go to the movies or a game instead.

HBO Syndicated

This week marks a landmark for television syndication as both The Wire and The Sopranos make their basic cable syndication debuts.  There is presidence for this move, as syndicated episodes of Sex And The City have been airing on TBS for a couple of years now.  Admittedly I never really watched SATC, but from the couple of episodes I saw I was unsure how the transition to basic cable would work.  From what I’ve heard, fans of the show enjoy seeing the re-runs, but it is lacking something its unedited version.

However if editing content was an issue for Sex And the City, then it is going to be a much bigger deal for The Sopranos and The Wire, both of which have a lot more that needs to be “cleaned up” for basic cable.  I have been a fan of Tony and the gang for many years now, but I am unsure if I actually saw all of the early episodes (and if I did I cannot remember them off the top of my head).  This past season, the fourth for you counting at home, of the Baltimore drug-war set drama was the first that I watched.  I was able to thoroughly enjoy the depth of story and character that the show brought to the table, and I am now curious to see how it all began.

It should be interesting to see how both of these shows hold up.  The Sopranos will begin airing on A&E Wednesday, January 10 at 9:00 pm EST with 2 back to back episodes airing in a 2 hour, 11 minute time block.  The debut episodes repeat throughout the night, with new episodes airing weekly in the same time slot.  The Wire debuts the same night on BET, also at 9:00 pm EST, with a special three night premier continuing through Friday.  It falls into its regular time slot of 9:00 pm EST Thursday nights the following week, getting a full hour and a half to air each episode.   Both shows originally aired commerical free on HBO in one hour timeslots, though episodes could last anywhere from 45 minutes to the full hour, so it is tough to predict just how much footage will be eliminated in syndication.

If you have never seen either of these shows, I high recommend checking one or both of them out.  I think even in their edited forms, the writing and general storytelling are strong enough to keep you captivated.  I’ll let you know if I still feel that way after viewing my first “watered down” episodes later in the week.

The Supernova Burnout: Finale

And so it has come to this.  Tonight we find out “whose cuisine will reign supreme!” . . . sorry, wrong show.  The time has come for the world to find out who will join the 80s hair explosion trio of Tommy, Gilby, and Jason to form everyone’s favorite made-for-television rock and roll band.  May the best man (or woman) win on the season finale of Rock Star: Supernova.

After a very brief recap of last night we head straight into announcing the bottom two.  As last night’s show went off the air the popularity order was Dilana, Toby, Lukas, and Magni.  Over the course of the night only Toby dropped to join the other two guys in elimination eligibility.  Right off the bat I am surprised that all four were not in the bottom two at some point.  I would continue to be surprised as Lukas, who I thought was the worst of the bunch last night, staved off early elimination.  Magni and Toby each performed a song.

Magni was up first, electing to perform Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire”, a song that he did an excellent job on during a prior elimination saving performance.  Once again it was a solid effort, letting him show off his guitar skills in addition to his knack for delivering the goods on classic rock songs.  Not sure if rehashing a previous song was the best choice for him though.

Toby’s turn came next as he sang “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, also a song that he performed weeks ago on the show (though not during an elimination night).  Just a so-so performance for me, but the crowd ate it up and are clearly in love with the Aussie.  I don’t think Supernova will boot him before Magni, so he better hope his next performance is much better if he wants to win.  Though will Supernova pick either of these guys to front them since they were in the bottom two already?

Gilby is up to lay down the law.  Without even talking about Toby he says that the Supernovans respect and enjoy Magni, but they feel that he is more a part of the band than the lead singer of the band and make him the first casualty of the night.  I don’t disagree with the reasoning, and I would imagine that Magni may even take that as a compliment, but I find it funny coming from three larger than life rock personalities.  To think that any of the wannabes will stand out and in front of the egos and personas of the Supernovans is hard to imagine.  So we have Lukas, Dilana, and Toby remaining who have stood apart since the beginning of the show’s run.  After a brief look back at each it is time for the final performances, which will also be rehashes of the wannabes’ favorite songs of the competition.  Eh.

Lukas starts it off with The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony”.  What was one of his better performances of the season loses some of its impact this go around, perhaps because we know how he is going to sing it.  Case in point, the silence and lighting effect midway through has absolutely no energy or wow factor this time.  He probably picked the right song, but the overall effort could’ve been better.

Dilana chooses to resing “Zombie” by The Cranberries, which is a song that I remember also being one of her better ones in my mind.  Sadly the song brings out what I like least about Dilana: the hoarsey voice, the yodelling, and the frantic, mummer-like movements.  As I watched her go through the song I could not picture the South African fronting Supernova.

Toby finished the song fest with The Killer’s “Somebody Told Me”.  Another solid choice, as it is a song that suits his singing style well.  Again nothing too special, though he showed that out of the remaining three he can work a crowd the best.  I think it will either be him or Lukas, and I think that Toby would ulitmately pull in the most money for the group.  Interesting to note that we still have a half hour of show time left as we go to commercial and the Supernovans debate.

Jason is up with the break down of the trio.  He starts with Toby.  Toby has the best vocal range of the bunch, his performances have kept getting better and better and better, and . . . he’s the next one to go.  Wow, that came out of nowhere!  The crowd is not thrilled, but the Aussie doesn’t seem surprised.  Being in the bottom two tonight probably hurt him.  So Dilana and Lukas are the final two, and both dressed in dark colors Dave gets off a valid zinger about them looking like they are in a goth marriage.  Brooke makes the bonehead comment of the night by saying that they were the highest vote getters last night.  Really?  You mean the two wannabes who weren’t in the bottom two were in the top two?  That’s amazing!  Another deliberation, aka stall for television suspense time, is needed before a winner is announced.

Tommy “The Hatchet Man” Lee is out with his patented Tommy-Hawk to deliver the final edict.  He has nothing but praise to shower upon both Lukas and Dilana, and ultimately they cop out and say that they are listening to the fans and going with the highest vote getter, rendering tonight’s entire show pointless.  The conspiracy theorists can start to run wild, because your new lead singer of Supernova is . . . Lukas Rossi.

Interesting to note that both winners of the two seasons of Rock Star have hailed from Toronto, so whoever the Canadian on the next incarnation is has got to be the front runner.  I think Lukas is the safe choice, but he has seemed to deteriorate in my eyes as the show has run its course.  He was the most rocking of anyone in the early weeks, but in an effort to “show range” he seemed to become more mellow and whiney as the field got whittled down.  I’d go as far to say that he and Ryan were the antithesis of each other, and I now have no clue what to expect out of him fronting this band.

If the final two songs of the show, which had Lukas, Tommy, Gilby, and Jason in full Supernovan splendor closing it out, are any indication this will not be what people are expecting.   I am willing to make the allowance that this is a very crude and unpolished Supernova that we heard tonight, and they have three months to figure things out and find a sound that works the best for them.  My guess is that sound will be nothing like the tidbits we heard and saw over the run of Rock Star.  I am eager to hear what the end result will ultimately be, but I am not too sure that I will enjoy it as much as I initially thought I would many weeks back.  Let’s hope that Mr. Butch Walker can work his magic one more time.  I’ve had fun writing these recaps each week, and I hope you have enjoyed reading.  Now I have to find something new to write about.

Rock Star: Supernova week 11

The final Tuesday edition of Rock Star: Supernova finds four wannabes remaining.  Off the heels of last week we can surely expect each to perform at least two songs, perhaps even three.  Will they get to do new originals?  Will they sing Supernova tracks?  Will Supernova perform?  Will anyone get eliminated tonight?  Also, a former wannabe will return to play a special fan request.  Who will it be?  It’s the second to last show as we start week 11, the final week, of Rock Star: Supernova.

We start off with the fan choice encore, and it should come as no surprise that it is Ryan back to sing his original, “Back of Your Car”.  He is much more humble and polite this go around, thanking the band for the opportunity before giving a reserved performance.  He also wins a car for winning the online vote.

Brooke then informs us how tonight and tomorrow will break down.  Tonight each wannabe sings two songs, a cover and the same original as last week (which I don’t dig at all since we’ve already heard Toby and Lukas sing their’s twice and Dilana’s and Magni’s were forgettable).  Bottom two start off tomorrow night singing for elimination, and then I would imagine the remianing three each perform one last song before a winner is chosen and closes the show with Supernova.  With a rehash of the originals this could be a lackluster second to last show.

Nice juxtaposition by Toby with his song choice, singing the softer more melodic “Karma Police” before going into his full of energy original.  Also, the fact that he was the umpteenth wannabe to have Magni play during his song makes me think that Magni’s guitar skills have got to be as strong as his vocals (and perhaps even better than my mad Guitar Hero virtual shredding abilities).

A few weeks ago one of my friends mention how Lukas reminded him of a young kid who you could beat up, and my opinion of the Torontonian has not been the same since.  I wanted to deny my buddy’s claim, but as I’ve watched and listened to the pussification of my one time favorite I don’t the image is too far fetched.  What I liked about Lukas was his throwback to 80’s glam rock, but lately the heavy stuff has been replaced by a subltler, softer, whiny vibe.  By performing Coldplay and then an acoustic version of his original Lukas just seems out of place with Supernova.  Surprisingly Gilby and Tommy fawned all over him (Jason didn’t comment) reinforcing in my mind what some conspiracy theorists have speculated since the beginning of the show – that Supernova made Lukas their choice long ago.  If last week’s voting was any indication (when Lukas made a similar song choice and toned down Nirvana) he will be in the bottom two again.

Dilana had an interesting set.  “Roxanne” was probably her best sung song on the show, as she started it out a cappella and I heard no hint of the raspiness that usually accompanies her vocals.  Another nice touch during the song when the other three wannabes provided the backup vocals.  Also surprising was the fact that the South African was literally prancing around the soundstage during her original, showing no sign of the torn calf that she suffered two weeks ago.  The raspiness returned during that song though, probably signalling that it is omnipresent when her energy picks up.  Not sure I’d enjoy hearing her screech through a Supernova album, but she performed well tonight.

Magni’s cover of “Hush” was the most energetic song of the night, and probably closest to what I would imagine Supernova to sound like.  However, Tommy’s comment about not remembering anything about his original cannot bode well for the Iceman.  Easily the most rocking set of the night though, which goes a long way in my book, but that might not make a difference in the voting.

The flash voting revealed the following order as the show went off the air:  Dilana, Toby, Lukas, and Magni bringing up the rear.  I definatly think that Lukas will be in the bottom two, and I am inclined to say that Magni will join him, though I will go as far to say that Toby may be safe for sure but Dilana could sneak down.   I would like to see Toby win it all, but my doubts have been piqued about whether or not the decision to go with Lukas has already been made.  I’m also wondering if Storm has slept with Tommy yet or that is something that won’t happen until the tour, but that is a question for another time.  Now we must wait until tomorrow to see the scripted conclusion that Mark Burnett has created.  I’m kidding about the scripted part . . . I hope.  Your set list:

1. Toby – “Karma Police” by Radiohead and “Throw it Away”
2. Lukas – “Fix You” by Coldplay and “Headspin” (acoustic)
3. Dilana – “Roxanne” by The Police and “Super Soul”
4. Magni – “Hush” by Deep Purple and “When the Time Comes”

The Supernova Burnout week 10

Original Supernova track debuts! Encores! Elmination performances! The Tommy-Hawk! Yes boys and girls, it is the results show for Rock Star: Supernova. Let’s do this!

Noticable lack of fluff this week, as we don’t even get mansion footage to dissect. In its place we get fawn sessions for Lukas and Toby, which allows for one of the best lines of the season. In response to a girl in the crowd yellling at him to go out with her, Toby tells her “maybe in ten years.” After that it was straight into the new Supernova track, “It’s All Love.”

Magni had frontman honors this week for what is undoubtedly the hair band ballad of the new CD. I think Magni’s style was more befitting of this track, and that probably had more than anything to do with him getting selected over Storm. As for the song itself, I think Magni held his own, but given that it was a slower more melodic song it was tough to compare to previous weeks efforts. The song seemed pretty generic to me and did not get me excicted for the CD at all. Hopefully Supernova returns to bring the rock again in the final week.

The encore went to Toby, who won a new Honda Element by being selected. I am very surprised by this, but not for the obvious reason. Toby’s original song “Throw it Away” was by far the best of the night last night, and I am happy to see him rewarded for his efforts. However not only did I not expect the Supernovans to make an original song an encore, but I also figured that since Toby had the encore last week he would not be performing again. Evs.

As the show went off the air last night the voting order was Toby, Lukas, Magni, Storm, and Dilana, meaning Toby and Lukas would be safe. Brooke informs us that all five of the wannabes were in the bottom three at some point over the course of voting, and at this point in the competition that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

First up to perform is Storm, showcasing her vocal chops with Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”. A very emotional performance, that we find out was dedicated to her mom, which caused tears to flow not only from Storm but from Jason as well. Storm is probably the best pure singer out of the remaining five, but I’m not sure that was the right type of song to be singing on elimination night. It was a good performance, but I think if the other two tracks tonight are more Supernova type of music she could be gone.

Performee number two is Dilana who says that she is overdue to sing punk rock, so she chooses “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick. Not the first song I think of when I hear the word punk, but I am proven wrong from the first note. Dilana turns up the speed and rockets through the song. Might be my favorite performance by her ever, and it couldn’t have come at a better time because I had her pegged for elimination heading into tonight. I now think she is safe. Also, probably my favorite reworking of a classic song that I’ve heard on the show as well. She may not have been my most liked, but I give credit where credit is due. Although I will point out that again, not neccessarily the type of song you would hear Supernova perform.

The final wannabe up for elimination tonight is Lukas, who decides to perform his original track, “Headspin” one more time. This being his first elimination performance, coupled with the fact that the Supernovans seem to dig him, and I don’t think he’s going anywhere. Upon a second listen to his song, I think it would actually get pretty good play on an alternative rock station. Also, probably the closest we’ve come tonight to hearing something that Tommy, Gilby, and Jason might play on tour. He’s safe.

So for the first time in many weeks my predictions were pretty accurate last night. I nailed Lukas and Dilana being in the bottom three, and I was really torn between adding Storm or Magni (OK, so I picked the wrong one, but close can count!). Gilby is up with the performance summary. Storm really mixed it up and showed lots of range in her song selection last night and tonight, but she’s been in the bottom three multiple times. Dilana has been the one to watch most of the season, but again bottom three multiple times now. First time in the bottom three for Lukas, and now with the experience under his belt he can sit down. Time for Tommy “the Hatchet Man” Lee to lay down the verdict, but he balks and passes off the Tommy-Hawk chain to Jason to do the honors. A love fest ensues, and when all is said and done Storm is sent packing. The love fest continues though, and even with all the babbling we finish up a good six or seven minutes before the end of the hour. We are now officially in the final week, and it has become Toby’s contest to lose I do believe.

Rock Star: Supernova week 10

We’re down to the final five wannabes, and in eight days from now Supernova will have an official lead singer. Who has what it takes to win? Have Tommy, Gilby, and Jason already decided who their man or woman is? It’s Tuesday night, so the wait is over to find out. Time for week 10 of Rock Star: Supernova!

The show starts off, as always, with our weekly dose of made-for-TV drama from the mansion. We actually learn a few meaningful things this go around. First, despite my crude attempts at reality show math the past few weeks, there will be four wannabes heading into the final week, so we won’t be having that double elimination I’ve been calling for. Also, each of the remaining five will be performing two songs this week, a cover and an original. Since none of those left standing have gotten a chance to show what their own stuff sounds like, this should be a telling week. The final bit of news comes later in the show when Brooke announces that the House Band will be the opening act for Supernova on tour. Evidently they will keep the runners-up around and kinda have an American Idol type tour. Not sure I dig that.

The mansion footage is relegated to a bit piece about them going in individually to write a song with Gilby. Toby gets praised highly, Lukas is shown to be unprepared, and Dilana once again gets the short end of the stick (Magni and Storm were not featured). I’m really thinking that someone affiliated with the band, either one of the Supernovans themselves or Mr. Butch Walker, is very much anti-Dilana as the mud slinging has been coming nonstop the past few shows. I can’t see her winning at this point, and before the performances she would have to be my favorite to go home this week.

If Dilana is getting the shaft, Lukas is getting the love. I did not enjoy his set at all tonight. First he took one of the all-time stadium rock anthems and stripped it all the way down and followed that up with another “tortured soul” original. Lukas has been one of my favorites througout the show’s run, and if I didn’t like what he did at all, I am amazed that none of the Supernovans had anything remotely negative to say about it. I couldn’t even understand the lyrics to a song I know until he got 30 seconds into it. It was about that point in the song that I was gonna forgive him for destroying it figuring he would stay soft til the second verse and then kick it up. Well the energy never came. Furthermore, after going soft and lullaby-like through the verses he tried to up the energy with his patented Lukas power voice for the chorus which just did not fit in with the rest of the song. Easily my worst of the night.

Dilana wasn’t so great either, but she evidently tore her calf muscle during rehersals (ouch!) so who knows how the discomfort was affecting her. Her cover was a passable version, but at this stage passable isn’t good enough. Also, I have to agree with Gilby when he said that her lyrics needed some work. As I sit here and right this immediately after the show I can’t even remember what Dilana’s original song was like, which doesn’t bode well for her.

Actually I can’t remember much about anyone’s original besides Toby’s. I know that Magni’s was a solid dose of angry rock, heavier than most of the stuff he has shown us. Much like his efforts over the weeks it was good, but not necessarily great. He should move on to the final week.

Storm had the honor of singing with Dave on lead guitar during her cover. She’s always probably had the best interaction with the band out of all the wannabes, and it showed this time out as well as she seemed to be able to share the spotlight with Mr. Navarro. Her original was my second favorite of the night. I’d call it a (girl) power rock song that had a memorable hook and chorus. Storm also had the full backing of the Supernovans tonight, so that in tandem with the strong fan base she has shown might let her squeak to safety.

The star of the night though was unquestionably the man from down under. I thought that Toby rushed through his cover, but maybe that was just because he couldn’t wait to get to his original. What a way to close the show. His song was an upbeat, catchy, radio friendly gem. It could easily be released this week and land in the top ten by the end of the month. Check this out on youtube as soon as it becomes available. Needless to say the Austrailian is now my favorite to win it all.

The flash voting gave us the rankings of all five wananbes instead of just the bottom three, and I’m sure they are less telling as they always appear. The rankings as the show went off the air were: Toby, Lukas, Magni, Storm, and Dilana. I agree with first and last, but I would change the middle part to look like: Storm, Magni, and Lukas. Lukas and Dilana easily make my bottom three, with Magni and Storm being neck and neck for the final performing spot tomorrow. While I would love to see Magni survive again, I think his change of fortune from last week was a one shot deal and he will be back in the bottom three tomorrow.

Storm performs with Supernova, and Magni gets the encore with “Back in the USSR”, because quite frankly I can’t see an original getting the encore.  Dilana goes home.  She’s been on a downward spiral since the criticism and her star is fading way to fast, plus with the leg injury the Supernovans can play it off like they are looking out for her well being.  Here’s the set list:

1. Dilana – “Behind Blue Eyes” by The Who and “Super Soul”
2. Magni – “Back in the USSR” by The Beatles and “When the Time Comes”
3. Storm – “Suffraggette City” by David Bowie and “(What the [What] is) Ladylike”
4. Lukas – “Living on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi and “Headspin”
5. Toby – “Mr. Brightsides” by The Killers and “Throw it Away”

The Supernova Burnout week 9

Only three more weeks of results show, and we will have ourselves a new lead singer for Tommy, Gilby, and Jason.  Until then we will have to settle for a new song debut and an elimination or two, as we find out the results of this week’s Rock Star: Supernova performances.

The mansion footage is total fluff this week (as opposed to the mostly fluff that it usually is), so we won’t waste our time there.  The new Supernova track of the week is called “It’s On” according to Jason, though listening to it, it may be called “Shine On”.  The honor to front the Supernovans goes to Lukas tonight.  My least favorite of the three songs that we’ve heard, as this does not have the catchy hook and sarcasm of the first two tracks they performed.  Also, while visually Lukas fits the band perfectly, I thought the vocals didn’t gel as well as Toby or Dilana did.  Of course this could be due to the song as well.  Out of the three who have gotten the chance to front the band, Toby seemed the most natural fit thus far.

Speaking of the Austrailian, he got graced with the encore performance tonight.  However, much like last week when he fronted the band, that did not mean he was safe from elimination.  Storm, Ryan, and Lukas were your bottom three after the flash vote at the end of last night’s show, and wouldn’t you know that Toby . . . and Dilana joined them.  Magni wins!  Oh wait, evidently that’s not how it works.  Good to see his blatant begging and pleading for votes last night was successful.  He deserves to stick around for at least another week.  Brooke says that this means he got the most votes this week, but for all we know he could’ve been in third place all night and the bottom three leapfrogged him back and forth.
Up first to sing is Ryan, performing The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”.  From the start of the song when he popped open a champagne bottle, to the twirling of his corded mic, to leaping off of the amp tower, this was nothing short of a manic and crazed performance.  I think he was trying to hard and blew up on stage.  His worst effort of the last few weeks.  I can’t see “the Dark Horse” surviving the night.

Storm was next to the stage, and perhaps gaining influence from Ryan’s performance, she is singing “Helter Skelter” by the Beatles.  Another energetic performance, but in a more controlled manner than the Dark Horse before her.  Not her best outing, but not her worst either.  You could tell she was having fun up there and felt back in her element.  With this being her first time singing to stave off elimination, my guess would be that she survives.

Our final singer tonight is Dilana, proving that my theory about the voting masses revolting against her for last week’s outbursts correct.  She decides to capitalize on her situation and sing the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer”.  If I hadn’t seen Dilana do the whole crazy lady schtick during the first few weeks of the show, I would have been certain that she had snapped and gone off the deep end.  Maybe she did anyways.  It should’ve been a tip off when she stated that the song was dedicated to herself.  The intense eyes were working, the primal dancing, the banshee shrieks, it was all there.  Dilana even managed to forget some of the lyrics during the second half of the song.  I would think that this being her first forray into the brink of elmination she would be safe, but the downward spiral (blatant or not) is getting really bizarre.   We might have another shocker, as Dilana could get booted along side Ryan.

Gilby is up, and that means it’s time to dissect the dead wannabes walking.  Ryan has shown more growth than anyone in the history of the show, but is he right for Supernova?  Storm has been solid from the start, but where’s her growth?  Dilana’s performance came from left field tonight and they know she messed up during the song, but she’s earned serious cred with the boys.  Nobody gets to sit as we go to Tommy “the Hatchet Man” Lee for the verdict, and the ruling is Ryan is the only one going home.  The crowd shits all over Supernova, showering the decision with the loudest boo’s we have heard on the show.  Right decision though.  He was growing on me a lot, but out of those left it was his time to go.