Latest American Idol News Signals Bad Changes

Just when I thought American Idol was finally getting it right again for season 10 by bringing Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe back and having three judges, they've gone and messed it up with some crazy new changes.

The first announcement this week was that they are not going to have a top 24, they're going to just have a top 12 instead. This infuriates me for many reasons, but the main one being that the point of American Idol is that the viewers decide who the American Idol is. By letting the voting public only vote from the top 24 they're taking the power out of our hands even more. Would under the radar champs David Cook and Kris Allen have made the cut if there hadn't been a top 24? Possibly not.

The second announcement was that Idol is moving days. Yes, there will no longer be my favourite day of the week from January to May, American Idol Tuesday. And yes, I do really call it that. I am sure that Nigel has gone on record in the past saying they would keep it as Tuesday and Wednesday, as if it's not broken, why fix it? The past season of Idol was its lowest rated since the premiere season, which started in the summer, so why move to Thursday one of the most competitive nights of the week against The Big Bang Theory, Grey's Anatomy, The Office and 30 Rock?

Okay, maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself analysing these changes before they've even taken affect. But as an avid Idol viewer I figure I know what's worked and what hasn't. Why can't the Idol powers that be agree with me...

Despite my anger I'll still be watching American Idol when it premieres on Fox in January on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Uh, I mean Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is Pure Craziness

I like to think that I don't watch that many reality shows and although I definitely watch more scripted shows, I watch a lot more reality television than I thought. My new reality obsession is also arguably the worst, it's The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Or do you think The Bachelor is worse? I've never been a fan of the Real Housewives shows before, but I live a few miles from Beverly Hills in distance, but the place these women live in is a different world. There are six women in the show and some of them look similar so I've given them nicknames.

There's Paris Hilton's aunts Kyle and Kim, Kim I've nicknamed Paris' aunt as she went on about it so much in the pilot, they were both child actresses. Kyle is relatively normal in relation to the other women on the show, she's married and has four kids and loves being a mum. Kim is a single mother and has four kids to three different men, she also gets stressed hanging out with anyone other than her sister and doesn't like being left alone with the other women. One of the most amusing woman is British. Yes, that's the nickname I've given her, her real name is Lisa and her and her husband have grown up children and own several restaurants. She's sassy, funny and is usually the one breaking up the catfights. Another one I like is Palms, a.k.a Adrienne Maloof whose family owns the Palms. Adrienne works for her family's business and her husband is a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.

The two I find the most annoying though are Big Lip and Kelsey's Wife. Big Lip, Taylor, has a really big upper lip and of all the women I think she looks the most plastic. Her husband is a little strange and seems controlling. For her daughter's fourth birthday she planned a bash that cost $60,000, more than most normal people's weddings! The extravagance included hiring out the Houdini mansion, elaborate flower centre pieces and a diamond necklace for her daughter who was turning FOUR. The most interesting part was that all her daughter Kennedy wanted to do was play with her friends and get her face painted, she would have been happy with a party costing $60. And the final housewife is Kelsey's Wife, Camille Grammer. Kelsey is away in New York so Camille has four nannys for her two children and also a house manager. But she still seems to be stressed out about things. Although when they go to Vegas she manages to dance like a stripper and flirt like crazy with her male best friend and didn't seem too worried about what was going on back in LA.

Yes, the Real Housewives may be trashy reality television, but this Beverly Hills spin off is also addictive.

The Soup Drinking Game

As I have mentioned previously I love The Soup on E!. It's a perfect blend of humour, sarcasm and snarkyness and who doesn't love Joel McHale? So after a couple of wines tonight Leena and I came up with a new drinking game... The Soup Drinking Game!

Gabe and Leena's The Soup Drinking Game
Drink when there is a mention of:
The Today Show
Good Day LA
The Real Housewives (any version)
Community
The Bachelor or a Bachelor/Bachelorette alum
An E! show or any E! celebrity (e.g. a Kardashian, Kendra)
Drink when a celebrity appears
Drink when someone is 'shot'

Warning: From practice this game involves more drinking than the Cougartown drinking game. For example, in tonight's episode there was a double drink when there was a clip of Joel on the Today Show talking about Community. Or is that a triple drink as Joel is also on E!. Hmmmm...

Drink and watch The Soup Friday nights on E! and repeated throughout the weekend. You know you want to!

Castle - It Just Keeps Getting Better

I am currently so in love with the third season of crime/mystery/dramedy programme Castle. This season has seen some interesting cases and not all of them have been solved. The most recent being the return of the triple killer who likes to kill blondes by strangling them with a rope. Yes, lovely I know. And as a blonde I was pleased I wasn't watching that episode at night! The most suspenseful moment though was when Richard Castle figured out that the NYPD had caught the wrong killer... and that he was in the same room as the real killer! Unfortunately the killer got away, but Castle almost saved the day by discovering the real murderer. I'm also loving Castle's daughter Alexis this season, she's so grounded and sensible but Castle goes crazy when he discovers she has a boyfriend.

I also found out recently that the books that they mention in the series are actually real books and are written by 'Richard Castle'. Well, obviously they're not really written by Richard Castle as he's a fictional character, but that's the authors name on the book. I just bought the first book 'Heat Wave' and the second book 'Naked Heat' is also available now.

Watch Castle at 10pm Mondays on ABC and order his books on Amazon.com

E! News - The Only TV Entertainment News You Need

I have been a big fan of E! News for many years. Long before Ryan Seacrest and before I lived in America. When Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner were the hosts and they read the news sitting down. Does anyone else remember that? E! News has gone through many changes since then, most of them for the better and it's still the only television entertainment news that you need. I love the crazy chemistry of current hosts Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic and how they recap the entertainment news highlights with their own spin on things. They have fun segments, my favourite being So True So False, where they break down the latest rumours. I attempt to play along before they announce the answer and most of the time I'm right. Okay, they're also pretty predictable. I also love the TV segments 'Watch with Kristen' where their TV reporter breaks down the latest TV scoop. Last week the show debuted a cool new set and also went from 30 minutes long to one hour long. I've only seen a few of the hour long episodes and there is a little too much filler for my liking. But I still love it. And if they need any new reporters I'm sure I'd know of a few awesome people for it...

Watch E! News at 7pm and 11.30pm on E!