'American Idol': America gives up the votes for 'Gives Back'

Quick update.  At a brunch today for the various charitable organizations who will be benefitting from "Idol Gives Back," it was announced that last night's vote total had topped 70 million votes.  The would be the show's all time record.

For comparison's sake, last week, 38 million people voted on the fate of the Top 7.

Last season's finale drew 63.5 million votes. 

The previous record appears to be the season three finale in which 65 million votes were cast.

122,293,332 votes were cast in the 2004 US Presidential election.

Corporate sponsors had pledged to match the vote totals, up to a certain point, with contributions to show's nine chosen charities in the US and Africa.

(Photo courtesy Fox)

'The Shield': Mackey unleashed

That was quite an ending.

"The Shield" delivered another solid hour this week but it was the last two minutes, in which Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) let loose with a raw, animalistic fury in a hospital waiting room, that really stood out.

Still distraught over the death of former partner Curtis Lemansky (Kenneth Johnson), Vic's pain colored one of the show's more intriguing street stories: a deadly gangland power struggle set off when several gang members try to leave the life and go straight. In the episode's final moments Vic rushed the critically wounded "revolution" ringleader to the hospital, but it was too late.

Chiklis (who won an Emmy in the show's first season, and deserves consideration again) played the resulting meltdown for all it was worth. The sequence was a classic example of what makes Mackey such a riveting character: seeing his closely guarded internal pain manifest itself in frighteningly intense external rage. And the public setting allowed several other characters to witness the event, including Captain Wyms (C.C.H. Pounder) and Vic's ex, Corinne (Cathy Cahlin Ryan).

Earlier in the hour Wyms revealed a savvy plan to push Vic out, forcing him into retirement while making him believe he still has a shot at staying at work. Will what she saw deter her from rattling the monster's cage? Or make her even more determined to rid her squad of Mackey for good?

(Photo courtesy FX)

'American Idol': More conversation with Mr. Cowell

“The competition starts properly tonight” declared Simon Cowell, and in some strange way, with that shouldn’t-work-but-for-some-reason-does alchemy that fuels much of the Idol complex, the addition of a charity event into the Idol potion magically had the effect of refocusing the competition.

After four-fifths of a season that has veered wildly between breathtaking and pathetic, with ratings a-flutter and even the judges publicly commenting that there is a major contestant quality control issue, after accusations of unreasonable cruelty in the pre-season, after the Sanjaya/Howard Stern/votefortheworst hysteria -- after all that, Night One of the Idol Gives Back event broke through as the kick-off of a final stretch likely to be filled with as much drama and unpredictability as any season yet.

“I think at this stage it’s as open as I’ve ever seen it on any season,” said Cowell in an exclusive Show Tracker interview last week. “To me now it’s about having the wow factor.”  He went on to reveal (as reported in Martin Miller’s excellent exegesis on the role of race in Idol voting) that the shifting sands of fortune all season long seem at this moment to slightly favor Jordin to win the competition.

'24': Love and counter-terrorism don't mix

For all those critics who fretted over “24’s” seeming lack of a social conscience, Monday night’s episode (12 a.m.-1 a.m.) could only have been good news. Here, finally, the show that glorified torture and made a mockery of due process was confronting a truly important life lesson: the danger of dating in the workplace.

Before the hour was up, the president’s advisor Karen Hayes (Jayne Atkinson) was forced to fire her husband, Counter Terrorist Unit chief Bill Buchanan (James Morrison); Morris (Carlo Rota) decided he could no longer work with his ex-wife, Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub); and Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) discovered that his girlfriend, Audrey (Kim Raver) had gone completely bonkers while in the custody of the Chinese.

Guess they should have tried Internet dating.

The only person who disregarded the lesson was Vice President Daniels (Powers Boothe) who, after being installed as acting President, seemed interested in making it with his chief of staff (Kari Matchett) in the Oval Office as his first official act. Considering that the last time he got the power, he tried to make a war with the Middle East, it’s possible making love was the only move he had left.

'Heroes': Enough talk, let's get to the action

All talk and almost no action made the return of "Heroes" a very dull hour.

At least until prophetic painter/consistently boring minor character Isaac (Santiago Cabrera) died, falling victim to superhero serial killer Sylar (Zachary Quinto). Or did he? (Here’s a hint to solving the mystery: Be on the lookout for any post-"death" TV or print interviews with Cabrera. If the actor talks to the press then the character’s a goner, à la Eko on "Lost." If there’s a cone of silence then expect a triumphant return, à la Starbuck on "Battlestar Galactica.")

Isaac’s death was foretold all the way back in Episode 2, and a musty scent of familiarity lingered not just over that event but also the episode as a whole.

'Dancing With the Stars': No, Samantha, no!

We Americans are willing to take a lot of garbage when it comes to our television hosts.  Just look at Billy Bush.  That guy is famous and yet still universally reviled, it seems.  That is to say nothing of that woman who hosted “The Swan” or that woman from "Top Chef."  “Where do they get these people?” we think. “How do you come to specialize in being pleasantly bland? Oh well, they’re hosting this show so they must know something.”

The country might be ready to revolt, however, on the topic of Samantha Harris.

Samantha plays the “special correspondent” on "Dancing With the Stars."  While Tom Bergeron plays genial MC, Samantha is always on the scene! To breathlessly interview contestants backstage! 

To her credit, Samantha is beautiful and has wonderful hair.  Her gowns are actually attractive and not in a cheeseball adult prom kind of way.  She has that husky voice that seems to indicate that she’s no cream puff.  She even has a hint of a seed of a wit, sometimes (which means she’s a sharp cookie, in reality TV world). 

Despite her obvious skills however, Samantha seems more inept handling the role of co-host than anyone else we’ve seen. And we’ve seen a lot. 

'American Idol': Gives back, the Cowell view

After five and a half seasons, the "American Idol" juggernaut has, like a devourer of planets,  reshaped a battered television landscape in its image.  The show has taken the oldest of talent competition saws – the singing contest – and turned it into a national obsession. 

This week, "American Idol" takes reality TV into its most foreign and unlikely terrain yet – charity.  For two straight nights, it will turn its stage over to messages of hope and compassion as it attempts to turbo-charge its run-of-the-mill extravaganza proportions in the name of helping the poor and suffering of the world for a two night event called "Idol Gives Back."

But fear not that the epic competition is about to scale itself back into a PBS-pledge drive - earnest pleas  before the volunteer phone ban cutting to heart-rending video of children with distended bellies delievered in amateurish zero-production value segments.  This, after all, is American Idol and charity will come to it, not vice versa.

"I think our main thing," said Idol cornerstone, Judge Simon Cowell in a telephone interview, "is to make sure that for anybody who is a fan of American Idol, that they don’t feel too uncomfortable and most importantly they enjoy the event as an entertainment show. That is the number one priority because if we fail on that, this has all been a waste of time."

Not strictly a telethon, per se, Tuesday night’s IGB will attempt to harness "Idol’s" enormous voting machine (over 38 million cast on last week’s show) as a trigger for sponsored giving.  As explained on the show’s website, after Tuesday’s performance show, “Each time you call, sponsors will make a donation to Charity Projects Entertainment Fund to help children and young people in the USA and Africa.”  Wednesday night will combine Idol’s standard results show with performances from guest stars, with pleas for donations to the fund.  The hope is that by creating a spectacle beyond even the normal absurdly spectacular Idol standards, the show might lure in the handful of Americans who do not already watch and entice them to charity no less. Committed performers include Sacha Baron Cohen,  Gwen Stefani, Pink, Josh Grobin, Michael Buble, Annie Lennox and Bono and the return to the Idol stage of the original winner Kelly Clarkson. In addition, the show is hyping a secret mystery duet as the highlight of the night.

'The Sopranos': Wistful memories for Tony, Uncle June

Sunday night’s episode of “The Sopranos” featured a captivating guest performance by Ken Leung, playing a protégé of “Junior” Soprano in the mental health facility where Junior is incarcerated.

Leung is Carter, the overachieving rich-kid son of a disgraced, tyrannical father. “The Sopranos” hasn’t focused on Uncle Junior’s world in a while; since being arrested for shooting Tony, he’s been more glimpsed than examined.

But last night he kind of got the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” treatment, Junior and Carter causing merriment and mayhem (and urination) at the Wycoff Therapeutic Center. The two of them run an illegal card game and they scheme so that Junior won’t have to take his meds. For Junior, it’s just like the old days-only with buttons as poker chips and orderlies needing to be bought off.

American Idol: Sanjaya Sayonara Part 3

Just off the post-results conference call.  Each week the newly eliminated contestant is put on the phone for half an hour with, it sounds like, about a billion reporters from every corner of the globe who are allowed, if chosen to ask one question and one follow up each.

It was a humbled Sanjaya who stepped out of the "Idol" bubble and faced the press corps today. Or more to the point, the call had the semi-pathetique tone of a very young kid squirming under questioning from a bunch of big serious adults. 

More signficantly, Sanjaya - in this call at least - unequivocally - distanced himself from an anti-hero status - claiming he was in the competition to win (although he realized he probably wouldn't) and was just trying his hardest to let his personality shine.  Sanjaya poo-poo'ed  his leading cheerleaders  saying, "I don't think votefortheworst or Howard Stern had enough people voting for me to make a dent in anything.  I think the reason why I'm here is the support of my fans."

Some other highlights from the call:

'America's Next Top Model': Anything with a kangaroo can't be bad

Take One: The models go down to Oz and mumble mouth their way through a Cover Girl commercial in Australian accents.

Take Two: The models - who should be seen, but not heard - go down to Oz and mumble mouth their way through a Cover Girl commercial in humiliating Australian accents.

Take Three: The models - who should be seen, but not heard - meet a kangaroo (and Tara dressed as a kangaroo), then go down to Oz and mumble mouth their way through a Cover Girl commercial in humiliating Australian accents.