My favorite contestant was Abby, but sadly she went home a few weeks ago.  I still get a lump in my throat every time I think of her story.  Losing her husband and two children in a car crash has got to be the worst EVER.  Thank GOODNESS Tracey went home last week.  She was a little bit looney and was so irritating!  This past week, I lost 2 more of my faves - Shay and Daniel.  AAARGH!!! 

Jillian is on fire this season.  She is way into it.  I was cracking up this past episode when she was making fun of Bob for taking the contestants to a circus gym to work out.  She took the team out back and had them flipping tractor trailer truck tires.  HA!  She’s such a brute!

The season finale is December 8th and I’m guessing that Danny, Rebecca and Rudy will be in the final 3.  Let’s see if I’m right.

P.S.  The new season of Biggest Loser starts on January 5th!!!  Gotta love NBC - back-to-back seasons!!

I guess I’ll begin with Tracey. Click here to meet Tracey.  She came out of the gate strong and appeared to be a strong competitor.  The first challenge was a 1 mile race and the winners would get to pick their partner.  Tracey was pushing hard and going back and forth between first and second place. Just before the finish line, she collapsed.  Everyone passed her and beat her to the end.  Some of the contestants went back to try and pick her up.  They pulled her across the finish line and then her eyes rolled back in her head.  They had to get a helicopter to rush her to the hospital and that’s the last we heard.  It was so scary!!  Even though this is TV, it’s still real people.  She pushed too hard and her body just couldn’t take it.

Next big contestant that made me cry like a baby was Abby. Click here to meet Abby.  In October 2006, she lost her husband and two children (ages 5 and 2 weeks) in a horrific car crash.  Can you even imagine???  They would have to put me away in a mental institution if that ever happened.  Seriously.  I was crying uncontrollably when I was listening to her story.  I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping she does awesome in this game.

Another shocker was Daniel.  Can’t remember Daniel from Season 7?  Click here to meet Daniel.  Daniel was the largest contestant ever on Biggest Loser (until this season).  They brought him back to finish what he started.  He lost 142 lbs last season and is still at 320 lbs.  I’m so happy he’s back because I know he can do it with his determination!

Amanda was on last year’s season finale and was one of two contestants that America decided to bring to Season 8.  Click here to meet Amanda.  She’s kind of whiney and has a “poor me” attitude.  She was VERY close to falling below the yellow line in the first week.  I’m not optimistic that she’s going to go very far.

The rest of the contestants were very typical.  No one else stood out too much.  The heaviest contestant in Biggest Loser history is a woman, so that was a bit shocking.  This season is sure to be a biggie!  And I don’t mean size.  For the past month, I have been running 1 mile everyday.  My kids have gotten me hooked.  I tried doing this last year, and after 5 days, my knees were killing me.  I later found out that it was because I didn’t stretch good enough before AND after.  So, I make it a ritual that I stretch for 15 mins before I run and 15 mins after I run EVERY SINGLE TIME.  If I don’t have time to stretch, then I don’t have time to run.  So far, so good.  4 weeks and I’m still going strong. I am currently running a 13 minute mile.  Which, for me, is great.  My son runs something like a 6 minute mile.  JERK!  HA!  The kids are running in the CVS Downtown 5K on Sunday 9/20/09.  They wanted me to do it with them.  Um - not ready.  Maybe next year.

Here are some links to help you out.  The store is really cool!  I already bought a T-Shirt!  I love the bodybugg and I’m saving my pennies for that little gadget for sure.  Great holiday gift ideas on this site (hint hint - hubby).  Until next time bloggers!

Biggest Loser Store:  Buy Biggest Loser shirts, protein mix, bodybugg, water bottles and more!

Biggest Loser Site:  Track Contestants of Season 8

First, let me say that AGT totally stretched the show into 2 hours.  And I mean stretched worse than Gumby! This show could have easily been an hour.  The show felt stretched and way too long.  But who am I to judge?  I’m just a loyal viewer.  I think America voted with their hearts instead of voting on who was truly talented enough to win.  Here’s the list of entries. 

Barbara Padilla vs. Hairo Torres - Padilla went to the top 5, America got it right!
Voices of Glory vs. Lawrence Beaman - Voices of Glory went to top 5 OUCH!!  Beaman (AKA Barry White) should have gone to top 5
The Texas Tenors vs. Fab Five - Texas Tenors went to top 5.  That’s SO WRONG!!!
Drew Stevyns vs. Kevin Skinner - Kevin Skinner went through to the top 5.  America voted with their hearts instead of their heads.  Did you see Kevin singing in the opening act?? Can you say fish out of water???
Grandma Lee vs. Recycled Percussion - Recycled Percussion went through.  America got it right, even though I totally LOVED Grandma Lee!!!

OK, so we have the top 5 and I had picked Barbara Padilla as the winner.  Voices of Glory went home first.  Then Texas Tenors went home second.  OK - so I have faith in America’s vote to get it right.  Then Recycled Percussion went home.  Ummmm - getting nervous.  I thought the final two would be Padilla and Recycled Percussion.  Now that my trash can drummers have gone home, I’m getting worried about America’s decision.  It’s down to Skinner (the chicken farmer) and Padilla (the opera singer).  Go to commercial (DARN IT!)

Then Susan Boyle comes back to sing.  WOW!!  That woman can sing!!  Wild Horses - unique sound.  Beautiful!  She’s awkward, but gorgeous at the same time.

Now, back from a long, long, long, long commercial break. I’m dying!!  And Nick says that the winner is…...............

Kevin Skinner - the chicken farmer.  WHAT?????!!!!!!  America is “HOFF” their rocker!!!!  What???  Padilla lost to Skinner!  Yup, that’s it.  Don’t worry Barbara - someone will scoop you up.  Skinner is a sweetheart, but I’m not certain that he’s a $1 million act.  Skinner - hold on for the ride.  This guy’s life will never be the same.  Good luck Kevin!  I hope you do well.

Big Brother - done, “Team Jordan”
AGT - done “Skinner Winner”
Now it’s time for Biggest Loser and Survivor.  New season, new reality shows.  Until next time bloggers! 

Voices of Glory:  They sang “The Greatest Love of All”.  Big song - whew!  Cute kids, sweet story.  I cry every time I see the mom.  The performance started out a little shaky.  That 8 year old little girl sounds much better when they are belting the notes.  When she sings alone and tries to sing softly, she doesn’t quite stay on key.  But they were sweet, sounded absolutely AWESOME at the end!!!!  And their mom stood up for them to give them a standing ovation.  Talk about lump in the throat.  They won’t win the million, but they’re going to do just fine in this world.

Hairo Torres: His routine was weird.  He’s the dancer who contorts his body like a freak of nature.  Amazing moves but not worthy of $1 million.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s unbelievably flexible and truly should be a backup dancer for some big league artist.  But dancing as a solo act - I’m not seeing it.  No mill Hairo.  Sorry.

Lawrence Beaman:  WHOA!!!  Simply close your eyes and you’d SWEAR he was Barry White.  His voice is so unique and he is one talented dude.  Not to mention that his body is ripped.  What a good lookin’ guy.  WOW!  Simple, sweet, humble.  Love him.  Definitely worthy of the million.  But there is someone much better who will steal it from him.

Barbara Padilla:  Our opera singer who beat cancer.  Love, love, love, love this woman.  Her husband talked about her treatment and how she said that she took way more from the cancer than the cancer took from her.  God love her!  She took her situation and grew from it.  I’m not sure that I could do the same given the circumstances.  My husband doesn’t think someone would sit and listen to opera in Vegas.  I beg to differ.  This is our AGT million dollar winner for 2009!

Fab Five: Five tap dancing sisters.  Talented.  They danced to “Circus” by Brittany Spears.  It was a full production with acrobats.  And I love how these women stay exactly together when they dance.  Totally in sync.  They won’t win, but they are very talented.

The Texas Tenors: ICK!!  No million.  I haven’t liked these guys from day one.  They are so fake and go way over the top every time they sing.  They sang “My Way” and I’d like to say “Go Away”.  When they sing together as a trio, they’re not THAT bad.  But when they each sing separately, I want to stick hot pokers in my ears.  Seriously.  I have no idea how they made it this far.

Drew Stevyns:  Cute guy, sang “I’ll Stand By You”.  He’s not a very strong singer.  I would say he’s much like Kevin Skinner (see my notes on Kevin below).  But David has a better story and his simple, sweet Southern personality is better.  He will not win the million.

Grandma Lee: I just love this woman.  I wish she was my grandma!!!  She’s hysterical!  Unfortunately, she won’t win the million.  But I hope someone scoops her up for a movie or a comedy show.  Her material is really funny.  She said that her kids are in the audience and they are sweating more than Ryan Seacrest watching Brokeback Mountain.  I spit my water all over my computer screen when she said that. She also replaced Piers as her boyfriend.  With Simon Cowell!!  Gotta love it.

Kevin Skinner: He sang “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith.  This guy is so darn sweet and when he showed him and his family fishing outside his little country house with “SKINNER” on the mailbox, I was so hopeful that he’d win.  The singing just wasn’t strong enough, but he is the sweetest country guy anyone could meet.  With a little work, this diamond in the rough could go places.  I hope someone scoops him up too.  No mill Kevin.  Sorry dude.

Recycled Percussion: Better than Blue Man Group.  Better than Stomp. They bang on trash but they build these mechanisms around their trash.  Last week they played on the roof of an old van and then the top of the van ripped off and started flying over the stage with them on top.  This week their mechanism started raining on them.  They are so, so talented and I could completely see a Vegas act like this.  I think Padilla (the opera singer) will win.  But they deserve it too.

It’s so hard to decide between Barbara Padilla, Recycled Percussion and Lawrence Beaman.  But Barbara - you’ll do it baby!  We’ll see if I’m right on Weds night.

In the meantime, I’ve got some serious decisions to make.  The season premiere of Biggest Loser just started.  LOVE THAT SHOW!  And the season finale of Big Brother also started.  It’s a BIG night with losers and brothers.  Which one to watch first???  AAARRGGHHH!!!  Decisions, decisions.  Flip a coin.

Till next time my friends.

Well, somehow we agreed to have a Spanish foreign exchange student come to our house for the month of July.  OK, no big deal.  Great experience for us and for our children to experience a different culture.  Then his friend wanted to come along too.  OK - two.  No big deal.  We can handle it.  And then, HIS friend wanted to come.  THREE???!!  Um…well… They said, “Pleeeeeeeeaaaase!“  I said OK (Manny’s gonna kill me).  AND THEN A FOURTH REQUESTED!  What the???  As my mother always said.  What’s four when you already have three?  So, I said yes.  But that was it!

They arrived on June 25th and invaded my home.  WHOA!  Teenage boys sure can eat!!  Let’s see.  Daily consumption included: Two gallons of milk (remember, this is PER DAY), four 2-liter bottles of soda, a package of Oreos, a box of cereal, 2 loaves of bread.  Not to mention dinner time consumption - which was quite large.  Carlos, Pablo, Victor and Borja were fun though!  We really took them on an American experience.  Pawtucket Red Sox, Boston, Newport, Seekonk Speedway Demo Derby, Bristol Fourth, beaches, whale watch, New York City.  You name it, we did it.  And the whole time - my TiVo was filling up, up, up.  I was able to squeak in a few episodes of America’s Got Talent (love it!).  I still can’t believe the host is married to Mariah Carey.  Didn’t picture that!

In the middle of all this chaos, a lightning struck RIGHT next to our house.  It blew out some outlets, destroyed our garage door openers and fried our septic tank mother board.  What next??? 

The boys returned to Spain on July 22nd and even THAT was an ordeal.  One of them forgot his passport at home and didn’t realize it until we had gotten all the way to Logan Airport!!!!  Needless to say, he missed his flight and had to get on a later flight.  Costly mistake for sure.

This weekend, I have a date with my bed and my TiVo ALL WEEKEND LONG!  I will barely leave my room!!!  Especially since I have about 14 loads of laundry to do (did I mention that these freakin’ kids used 25 towels a day???)

I’ve started watching Big Brother - LOVIN’ IT!!  Plus I still have old episodes of Survivor from this past March/April.  Yes, I’m a little bit behind.  I know.  Hell’s Kitchen started this week and of course, America’s Got Talent will be watched too!

I’m baaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkk! 

America’s Got Talent Web Site

P.S. I will do my best to blog, blog away this summer.  But I will have a house full of kids with friends visiting from Spain for 4 weeks.  So take pity on me if I fall behind. 

The show was great!  2 hours flew by.  I’m glad they didn’t try to stretch it to 3 hours.  My kids had to get to bed for school!

And, in the end - Kris Allen FREAKIN’ WON!!  What the???!!!!  As I said - Adam should have won.  But I had a feeling that voters would root for the underdog.  I wonder how far apart the votes were?  The auditors said that they had almost 1 million voters.  I wonder the percentage?  KRIS ALLEN???  SERIOUSLY???!!!  The Sleeper???  I am totally shocked.  I think you may have heard my gasp from your house.  My entire family was piled into my bedroom to watch the show and it was completely shocking!  Adam took it well.  He acted like he was fine, but I’m sure he was crushed. I was proud of him (and his reaction) but I’m sure he was shocked by the result.  He was totally the front-runner and this announcement was a shocker.  A shocker for sure.

As my husband Manny said - now Adam can do “his own” album.  And it’s so true.  I’m sure there are Idol rules and now Adam doesn’t have to follow those rules.  He’s so unique and he can create a unique album.  Kris has to follow the Idol rules while Adam can go out on his own.  But then again - we can see how that worked (or didn’t work) for Bo Bice.  Has anyone heard of his happenings since Idol?  Carrie Underwood won and Bo went where??  Anyone?  Bueller?  Having your own unique sound is great.  But if you get too weird and offtrack - it can derail your career real quick.  Mainstream wins - whether true AHTEESTS like it or not (AHTEESTS = posh form of Artists).

But it seems so weird.  Kris Allen - American Idol Season 8.  Adam will be just fine.  Just fine…  Kris Allen - hmmmm?  One hit wonder?  We’ll see.

Here is my list of favorite Housewives in order of fave to least fave:

FAVE 1: Bethenny Frankel (love her honesty)
2. Jill Zarin (makes me laugh, hate her dog - vicious little thing)
3. LuAnn de Lesseps (the “COUNTESS” (or ex-countess) - a bit too into herself.  Sad for her kids)
4. Ramona Singer (REALLY too into herself)
5. Alex McCord (wants attention in a weird sort of way.  I think I dislike her husband Simon more than I dislike her, but can’t help putting her at #5)
LEAST FAVE 6. Kelly Killoren Bensimon (ICK!!)

Wanna see the entire NYC cast?  CLICK HERE or you can visit Bravo’s site by CLICKING HERE!

You can bookmark the live chat with Bethenny by clicking here: BOOKMARK LIVE CHAT  Remember, it starts at 2pm ET on May 20th!

On April 9th - I predicted the final 4.  Click here for Kim’s past prediction.  Well, actually - I picked three of the four.  Danny, Adam, Allison and ______________.  I just COULD NOT decide on that fourth character.  Kris - my little sleeper - was barely on my radar.  He was flying low and his meek, quiet style made me call him “The Sleeper”.  He didn’t make say WOW - but he didn’t make me wrinkle my nose and say EWWW either.  The only term I could think of was “Sleeper”.  Well, he did it.  He’s in the final two with Adam Lambert.  Danny had a real shot, but I think he got cocky and even a little lazy toward the end.  Adam has stayed completely focused with his eye on the prize the entire time.

I think Adam will win by a landslide next week.  The ratings for Idol have been down significantly (13 I think compared to previous years of 20).  And I don’t think this match-up will bring in the viewers.  I think America already knows the winner because Adam is THAT strong compared to my lil bud Kris.  Kris will have a teeny-bopper following and I think he’ll be just fine in this world.  Adam will rock it out and, if he keeps his head on straight, hopefully he won’t end up on Dr. Drew’s Rehab shows.  Hollywood can sometimes bring people to their knees.  I also hope that Adam refrains from the shreeking.  I mean, sometimes he shreeks so loud that the cat leaves the room.  He hits the right notes - but it’s such a high piercing sound sometimes.

Anyway - ADAM & KRIS duke it out next week for Idol’s season finale!!!  The rocker and the sleeper. 

Let’s start first with Celebrity Apprentice.  I KNEW JOAN WAS GOING TO WIN!!  AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!  And I’m so mad!!  Donald has liked her from day one and he set us up all season.  She walked on water throughout this entire thing.  I mean - she was even absent for a few challenges along the way.  How is that fair???  How can you win a game like this and actually miss some of the challenges?  She basically got a BYE while the rest of the team had to work.  She also quit when her baby daughter was fired.  How is that professional?  “She was fired so I’m going to take my ball and go home!“  That showed a lack of commitment and a lack of business professionalism.  If I were Donald, I wouldn’t have even let her come back.  And her comments.  Any HR director would CRINGE at the things she would say about Annie.  Degrading, rude and out of line.  How unprofessional!  And lastly - look at how she acted during that last challenge.  She was the reason that the party designer quit for goodness sakes!  This caused Annie to have to take her eye off the ball which was a huge distraction.  On the other hand - Annie was definitely obsessed with Joan instead of focusing on the task.  But how could she NOT be focused on someone who treated her like that?  They ended the show very quickly - but did you notice that Joan HUGGED ANNIE at the end????  She hugged a “POKUH PLAYUH!  A POKUH PLAYUH!“  How ridiculous!  Trump definitely made the wrong decision based purely on business sense.  But he’s smart when it comes to ratings.  Joan won the night as Celebrity Apprentice and as a ratings winner!  And, if he uses her in future seasons, that will also win for ratings.  So he made the right decision for the show.

OK - Biggest Loser finale last night.  First let me say that three hours was complete OVERKILL!  They showed some of people from previous seasons and I found it interesting that they glossed over the fact that there were some popular contestants missing.  Where was Dr. Jeff?  After searching, I can see why some of them didn’t come to the show.  Click here to see where some of the previous seasons’ winners are today.  I’m about 25 lbs. heavier than my lowest following gastric bypass surgery in December 2003, so I’m not passing judgement.  But I think America needs to know that it’s hard.  It looks so easy on TV - but real life with real challenges and real stress is REAL hard!  And when you’re not working out 20 bazillion hours a day, it’s even harder.

They did this entire segment about hungry people in America.  Let me get this straight!  Talk about hungry people while all of these overweight people fight to lose weight???  Can you say “FILLER”?  The show was way, way, way too long.  Jerry (the oldest contestant) won the $100k for the “at home” challenge.  Great for him!  Loved that guy and he went home too soon.  But I think he also lost some brain cells with his weight loss?  He was really weird last night.  I’m not even sure he knew where he was at all moments.  HA!  Many of the contestants didn’t even appear to lose all that much either.  I was sad for some of them because they just didn’t make a dramatic impression on me.  But the ones who made the most out of it looked fantastico!!!  Helen won and I have tossed feelings about it.  I had hoped Michael would win (brown team, son).  But, when I saw him come out, I knew he wouldn’t win.  Even though he looked FANTASTIC!  I didn’t think he had lost enough compared to the girls.  I have disliked Tara (green team) from day one.  I don’t really know why - but I just didn’t like her attitude during the show.  And Helen had my vote until she picked herself over her own daughter.  She begged to stay and let her daughter go home.  Um - selfish?  I hope her daughter sticks with it because she’s gorgeous and deserves to be as happy as Helen.  As for Ron (brown team, dad).  I think he looked better last night than I’ve seen in previous episodes.  But I still don’t think he looks all that healthy.  He’s thinner, yes.  But healthy?  I’m worried about him.  I hope his doctors stay close by and I hope he’s not a typical thick-headed man.  If you don’t feel well - GO TO THE DOCTOR!  hint hint Manny…

More season enders this week.  Hell’s Kitchen this Thursday at 9pm and Real Housewives of NYC!  Plus - there’s a new Real Housewives of New Jersey starting this week!  Can’t wait!  Hope it’s as juicy as NYC!  Til next time bloggggggguhs!!!

Hell’s Kitchen - down to the final two.  Paula and Danny!  Again - no controversy for me here.  I really like both of them.  But I think I’m swaying more toward Danny.  Thursday night at 9pm on Fox.  I’ll be there!

Real Housewives of New York City - This season was unbelievable!  The final reunion show is coming up this week.  I simply DESPISE Kelly Killoren Bensimon (the new chick).  Seriously!  She is so, so, so, so full of herself.  And I read in a tabloid that The Countess is getting divorced.  Will this mean that she won’t REQUIRE everyone to call her Countess and bow to her???  And Simon - dear, dear Simon.  Is he the sixth housewife???  That guy drives me bonkers!!!  He’s so bizarre.  And I say BIZAHHHH as British as I possibly can.

Now I’m going to catch up on 18 episodes of “All My Children”.  Zac, Kendel, Erica, Adam, Little “A” and the gang.  Thank goodness for fast forward!!  WHEW!

Big week of season finales this week!  Gotta catch ‘em all!

Anyhoo - it makes me think about TiVo etiquette.  Or DVR etiquette.  You see - my cousin came over this weekend and she said, “Can you believe what happened on Biggest Loser last week???“  I put my fingers in my ears and started singing LA LA LA LA LA!  I didn’t want her to spoil it for me.  But it’s not HER fault that I’m so many weeks behind.  I mean, seriously.  5 weeks behind???  You might as well forget it.  I’m caught up on Hell’s Kitchen and Celebrity Apprentice and even THOSE shows are spoiled to me if I don’t watch them right away.  I MUST watch Idol right away because I KNOW the morning radio shows will ruin that show for me.  They always play clips and then they announce who was voted out.  Sometimes I wish people wouldn’t spoil it and then I realize that I’m ridiculous.

As if I don’t have enough stress in my life with two kids, a husband without a job, a stressful job working in the media, the economy, bills out the wazoo.  And now I have to stress myself out over TiVo for heaven’s sake??  TV is supposed to de-stress.  It’s supposed to be enjoyable.  When I look at my TiVo menu and see that long, long, long, long list of shows - I get all stressed out.  I think I’m 14 episodes behind in “All My Children” episodes.  How am I gonna catch up on that?

OK - sitting on the bed, “criss-cross applesauce”.  {BREATHE - BREATHE}  Kumbaya…

Now I feel better….Ahhhhh.  I’ll just turn on the TiVo and start plugging away.  One show at a time.  I’ll get through it.  WHAT???  What’s that???  I KNOW I didn’t wet the bed!!!!  And I’m not pregnant, so my water didn’t break.  Why is the freakin’ bed ALL WET?????!!!!  MANNY!!!!!  The waterbed sprung a leak!!!!  Aw great!!!  So there won’t be any shows tonight.  Garden hose out the window - may day!  may day!  We’re going down!!!  Out to Cardi’s to look for a new mattress.  What the heck???!!!  I can’t win in this life!

And - before you ask.  Yes——we still had a waterbed!!  {Gurgle gurgle gurgle}