American Idol- Big Mike the Favorite?

Is this a joke? Is Big Mike Lynch actually the best dude going into the finals? His three performances during the semifinals seem to show that he is. This week was definitely his best, as he made a good song choice. The Love and Basketball song by Maxwell should be a hit with the girl viewers. It seemed ridiculously hard to sing and I'm pretty sure he pulled it off. If anything, the swag that he showed immediately after his performance makes him worthy of a trip to the final five all by itself.

Nobody else really impressed me tonight but here are the other five that I feel deserve to make it to the big stage next week.

Lee DeWyze- He wasn't nearly as good as the first week and took another step back from week two, but his sound is always good.

Todrick Hall- He finally didn't rearrange a song and the judges really liked him. His falsetto was again really good, but the simple moments just seem to be tough for him.

Andrew Garcia- Another valiant effort to change things up with an acoustic rearrangement, but it's seeming very shtick at this point and it's just not working since the Fall Out Boy joint.

Alex Lambert- His voice is so weird that it almost sounds really good at times. Ray Lamontagne was another good song choice.

Casey James- 90% better than last week's debacle, but it seems that he can't find an artist that he's not completely dominated by.

And now for the two that need to go home before we get to the finals. I never, ever thought that Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah could be boring, but Tim Urban definitely pulled it off. As he talked his way through it with no attempt to sing it, I was amazed that this was the same song that Castro killed two years ago at the same point in the competition. Aaron Kelly, although less boring, was more terrible. Lonestar's I'm Already There was WAY too big for him and his Carmen Rasumusen-esque vibrato was in full effect. The whole thing seemed out of tune, but according to Simon "he tried" so he probably deserves to get through in the Brit's mind.

LOST- Ben Linus, Nice Guy

Is this show really ending? Like Jerry Johnson in the 1999 Maine cross country season, LOST is peaking at the exact right moment so that it will leave a lasting impression on its devoted fans. Last night's episode featuring Benjamin Linus was both the best of the new style and a throw back to old LOST all at once.

Unlike seasons one and two of LOST, the sideways storylines make it more difficult to engage the audience than the flashbacks did. Why would we care what is going on in this sideways world when we have no vested interest in these quasi-characters? The fact of the matter is that Dr. Benjamin Linus made me care. Unlike how I felt about Sayid last week, Linus had me wondering how this version of him differed from the one I've grown to know over the past few seasons. One way in which he differed was how he dealt with Alex, who we should assume is still his daughter. Instead of letting her get shot and killed, this time Linus sacrificed his own personal advancement so that she would have a better chance at getting into Yale. What a guy.

Similarly, on The Island, Linus has strangely become a nicer person. Sure he killed Jacob, but since then it seems that he has realized how awful his life has been since the giant mutiny of the Dharmas. Recently he has just been along for the ride with Llana, Lapidus and company but once Miles used his talking-dead powers to let Llana know that Linus killed Jacob, the Dr. was in hot water. In came Smokey/UnLocke to rescue Linus from digging his own grave, and once Benjamin got a chance to explain his Jacob situation to Llana she let him live. Saved from death he took it upon himself to help out Lady Kwon with a tarp. This was not for selfish reasons as he might have done in the past. No, Benjamin Linus has changed for the nicer.

Although it was a Linus episode, we almost got just as much Richard Alpert. We learned that the suspicion that Richard came to The Island on the Black Rock was factually correct. Just like Benjamin, Richard has been following Jacob's orders word for word, only for a much longer time. We also learned that Jacob gave Richard his gift of eternal life. So now that Jacob is dead, Richard realized what he thought was his purpose in life (doing things for Jacob) is all gone, and he might as well die. Only he cannot kill himself so he took Jack along for the ride so that the Doctor would blow him up. Little did the un-ager know, it seems Jack is also not allowed to kill himself, so hum dee dum the dynamite failed to detonate.*

*How studly was Jack during this moment? He stepped up to the plate, believed that Jacob had a higher purpose for him, and was absolutely correct. He was ready to die if he was wrong. Jack was uber-confident and he almost made up for a lifetime of terrible episodes with that five minutes.

As Benjamin began to help Sun with the tarp, a soft piano came on in the background while the characters worked silently. It was an absolute throwback to early LOST episodes. I may be wrong, but I don't think they did a lot of this in seasons 3, 4 and 5. It felt really good as the piano played while we saw Jack, Hurley and Richard come out from behind the bushes and meet Sun, Lapidus and yes Ben Linus on the beach. Classic moment.

Other Points

- "It was on this island that everything changed," Benjamin Linus. Anyone else stupidly think he was talking about The Island for a second?

- Enjoyed seeing Linus and Arzt as teacher buddies, but what was even better was the cameo by Sideways Locke who was all about getting Linus to be Principal.

- We got reassurance that they were indeed on The Island, as Linus and his father discuss over dinner that they wish they never left Dharmaville.

- I was really upset when I saw the Alan Dale credit at the opening of the show, because Charles Widmore's appearance in the submarine at the end would have been that much better if I hadn't.

American Idol- Four With a Chance

Tonight was a definite toss up for best performance. It was either MamaSox's electrifying Give Me One Reason or me going onto YouTube and watching Ruben's version of Smile after Paige Miles destroyed it to pieces. In the end I'd have to give it to Crystal Bowersox because she was actually on tonight's show. Her version of the Tracy Chapman song, and her ability to use an electric guitar to her advantage (unlike Casey last week) proved that she is the one to beat this season.

There are three others from tonight's top eight ladies that are still in the hunt this season. Lilly Scott, although took a bit of a step backward this week due to poor song choice, is still my runner-up on the female side of things. Though the Patsy Cline number I Fall to Pieces didn't allow her to showcase her true skills, she still kept me engaged because of her quirkiness and dare I say, artistry.

Siobhan Magnus and Didi Benami are right on her tail with better performances this week than last. The Barstool favorite belted out House of the Rising Sun and it was strides better than the Aretha number last time. She killed the a capella beginning! Didi, meanwhile, went back to her bread and butter, as her smooth stylings fit perfectly with Rhiannon.

So who are the two that deserve to stick around for the big stage and the Top 12? Katelyn Epperly and Katie Stevens. Although they both bored me this week, they have each proved that they have the chops to make a run at this thing in the future. Paige Miles and Lacey Brown, on the other hand, need to leave us this week. Paige for reasons stated at the beginning, and Lacey for putting me to sleep at 8:10 p.m. I thought that Lacey should've left the past two weeks. Here's hoping that the third time actually is the charm.

Chuck- Spilling the Beans to Beardy

A truly monumental episode of Chuck last night. No I'm not speaking of the return of Jeffster, although their performance was again quite remarkable. Instead I'm speaking of the fact that young Morgan Grimes, like Captain Awesome before him, found out that Chuck Bartowski is indeed a CIA spy.

Don't get me wrong, it is no coincidence that episodes that Jeffster performs in have been fantastic. This week, as Jeff strummed his guitar and Lester belted out Fortunate Son, Jeffster created a fantastic atmosphere for Buy Moria to blockade the entrance and take a stand.

As the guy from the Drew Carey Show posed as a corporate big wig who was taking over the Burbank Buy More in order to gain access to Agent Shaw's secret under ground base, Shaw, Casey and Sarah were drawn away from the Buy More Base on a fake mission set up by said Drew Carey Show Guy.

Once Morgan found out about the bad guys and the underground base, he told Chuck about it and made it his mission to save the day. Of course this failed. Once captured by the Ring operatives, Chuck is forced to spill the beans to his bearded best friend about his life as a spy. Morgan's reaction is so surprised and joyous that it is hard to explain how happy it made me.

Some people might complain about more and more of Chuck's real life friends and family finding out that he is a spy, but it's a direction that they were going to have to take at some point. I don't know about you, but if they kept it exactly the same for season after season I think it would definitely get stale.

Now we have Awesome who just can't stand being involved with the spy stuff and Morgan who is infatuated with it. Obviously I am loving Morgan's reaction and am predicting that I will continue to enjoy his subsequent actions towards the CIA crew. Then again how could it get any better than the little guy coming out from a gust of smoke with, "bag 'em and tag 'em Sarah." I see great things on the horizon.

SNL- Zach Drops by the Set

It's a sad state of affairs when my favorite Saturday Night Live episode of the season so far did not have a single sketch with Andy Samberg in it. Zach Galifianakas brought comedy to the SNL stage last night in a ways that no other has done here in season 35. When you think about it, it makes sense because he's actually a comedian. Stop putting on famous people just because they're famous. There are enough famous funny guys out there to fill an entire season of the show.

It didn't start well, as they again bored me to death with a political Cold Open. Things quickly turned around as Zach killed his Monologue as he went straight to what seemed like his stand up act. It was very jokey but it worked great, especially after some of the disaster monologues we've seen. Now don't get me wrong it wasn't nearly as good as Joseph Gordon Levitt's dance number, but not much could be.

Throughout the ep we got three SNL recurring sketches that didn't disappoint. The Vogelcheck kissing family moved the side show to a funeral home this week and the make out session between Fred Armisen and the dead grandpa was both disgusting and awesome. What Up With That? once again showed that Kenan Thompson is the best man in the cast this season. Kathy Lee was back with the fourth hour of the Today Show and Zach dropped by to spice things up.

Then there was the Bidet sketch that was good and all but the highlight of the night was definitely Zach Drops by the Set. The idea of somebody dropping by all these different tv shows is funny on its own, but when you make that person a fat bearded man it gets that much better. They started you off slowly with Zach just being in the background of Brian Williams, but they slowly made him more infused with each tv show he visited. Hard to beat him asking "You guys doing a tv show or something?" to Jenna and Kenneth of 30 Rock, but the fat man managed to when he came up behind Anthony Anderson on Law And Order, takes a picture of him and then hands him the phone and says, "It's my aunt Louise."

Survivor Week 4- Coaching Up Coach

The Last of the Mohicans, King Arthur and Coach Ben Wade. All three are legendary, but only one will be written about here. The beginning of this fantastic episode of Survivor saw Coach crying like a little baby due to the fact that Sandra called him out at tribal council for not helping around camp. Assistant Coach Tyson came out to the woods to support the Dragonslayer in his time of need. After Coach admitted that he wanted to quit, Tyson told him that he'd help him get through it but he'd have to listen to what the skinny blond thought he should do. What was his advice? Stop wearing feathers in your hair at tribal council, do your tai chi in private when no one's around and stop telling your stories. People don't believe the stories and they mock you for it. Wow! That was quite straight forward, honest and surprising. In the past Tyson has coddled the Dragonslayer, but tonight he did helped him get along with the other survivors in the long run, even if it might take away from the audience's enjoyment in the near future.

Boston Rob's way of dealing with the situation..."Pick your f*ckin' head up and be a man."

Clever editing here as they made it seem like both tribes found the hidden immunity idol clue around the same time. There's no way that happened but it made for better television. We got to see how the two tribes dealt with the situation. The Villains did what makes the most sense to stay a cohesive unit. Coming to the conclusion that anyone who finds it or looks for it is gone and that will be that is a good way to keep everyone other than that person together. The Heroes, on the other hand, basically said every man for himself and you guessed it, it caused animosity within the tribe.

Tom found the idol and tried to sneak it away like Russell did last season, but Amanda saw him do it. Instead of keeping that precious piece of information and using it to her advantage she spilled the beans to the entire tribe. That was valuable info that she could have used to get certain people on her side at any point in this game.

After the Villains won both reward and immunity it was the Heroes time to send another person home. The decision on who was going home switched many times this week. The day started out with the outsiders, Tom and Colby, on the block. JT then convinced Amanda and the rest of the crew that Candice was too sneaky to keep in the game. After Cirie found out about this plan she convinced the group that Tom having the idol was even more of a factor in this game and they needed to get it in play and therefore get rid of Colby. As JT spied in on that conversation from atop the hill, he came to the conclusion that he underestimated the sneakiness of Cirie and Tom and Colby were the straight shootin' types that he could align with.

That is when they came up with the plan to save Tom and Colby by switching JT's vote from Colby to Cirie at the last minute. When Tom uses the idol the rest of the crew thinks they are still golden as Colby will be leaving. JT kept his side-switching a secret and the Good Guy Pact sent Cirie packing earlier than she could have wanted. Great Move.

Punch Face Champions

Russell (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4), Im (8)= 19
Danielle (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4), Im (8)= 19
Sandra (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4)= 11
JT (Heroes)- W4 (7)= 7
Tom (Heroes)- W4 (7), Find Idol (10), Use Idol Successfully (20)= 37
Week 4= 93 Total= 200

DJ Roomba

Tyson (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4), Im (8)= 19
Randy (Villains)
Jerri (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4), Im (8)= 19
Rupert (Heroes)- W4 (7)= 7
Amanda (Heroes)- W4 (7)= 7
Week 4= 52 Total= 95

Redwood Original

Boston Rob (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4), Im (8)= 19
Parvati (Villains)- W4 (7), Im (8)= 15
Colby (Heroes)- W4 (7), Votes (-8)= -1
Sugar (Heroes)
Candice (Heroes)- W4 (7)= 7
Week 4= 40 Total= 88

Kick Puncher III

Coach (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4), Im (8)= 19
Courtney (Villains)- W4 (7), Reward (4)= 11
James (Heroes)- W4 (7)= 7
Stephenie (Heroes)
Cirie (Heroes)-Votes (-12)= -12
Week 4= 25 Total= 82

Fantasy Idol Results- No Surprises Here

I missed the first half of the episode when they eliminated two more guys, but got back to see the ladies go home. Although I wanted Aaron Kelly to go home, I knew he wasn't going to. I thought either Jermaine Sellers or Todrick Hall would be leaving us last night and it ended up being Jermaine who joined John Park out the door this week. On the ladies side I am upset that my girl Michelle Delamor had to leave my squad so early, but it was inevitable with her lack of screen time during the early weeks. When you come in with a situation like that you really have to wow the audience. Although I thought she did well, she didn't wow anyone and didn't have a back story that any one could latch on to. And we also got to say goodbye to the disaster that was Haeley Lips Vaughn. Thank God for that.

No team took a double hit like Mags did last week, but Team Curlgar did lose another player is down to one contestant. That contestant is Siobhan Magnus who has done well so far, so he could be okay as things continue. JJ is now the only player to have his entire team intact. I don't see that holding up as both Lacey Brown and Didi Benami were paired with the ladies that went home on last night's show.

Fantasy Scores

Diabolical Haters
Didi Benami- Safe (2)
Lilly Scott- Safe (2)
Lacey Brown- Safe (2)
Michael Lynch- Safe (2)
Week 2= 8 Total= 12

The Rock Bodega
Casey James- Safe (2)
Janell Wheeler
Tim Urban- Safe (2)
Lee DeWyze- Safe (2)
Week 2= 6 Total= 7

You're Coming With Me Leather
Andrew Garcia- Safe (2)
Paige Miles- Safe (2)
Aaron Kelly- Safe (2)
John Park- Eliminated (-4)
Week 2= 2 Total= 6

HashTag Katie Stevens Is Only 16
Katie Stevens- Safe (2)
Jermaine Sellers- Eliminated (-4)
Katelyn Epperly- Safe (2)
Alex Lambert- Safe (2)
Week 2= 2 Total= 6

Splash Downs All Around
Todrick Hall- Safe (2)
Crystal Bowersox- Safe (2)
Tyler Grady
Michelle Delamor- Eliminated (-4)
Week 2= 0 Total= 1

The Curlgar
Ashley Rodriguez
Joe Muñoz
Haley Vaughn- Eliminated (-4)
Siobhan Magnus- Safe (2)
Week 2= -2 Total= -4

American Idol- A Change Is Gonna Come For Lilly

A pretty fantastic night of Idol I think. Unlike Randy, who thought that they guys were great this week and in it to win it, the rest of us all know that guys were terrible for the second straight week. At this point I would take a Top 10 of seven girls and only three guys. Who are the three chicks that don't deserve top 10 status?

Haeley Vaughn, Lacey Brown and Paige Miles. Of the three, I think Paige deserves to stay around another week even though her Walk Away was painfully average. Lacey's main problem was that she took Kara's advice and sang Kiss Me, duh duh duh duh duh duh Twilight. The one thing you don't want to do, as we saw with Alex Lambert last week, is sing an artist that you sound exactly like because you will just come off as a terrible copy cat. Having said that, Lacey was still better than the mess that was Lips. When you can't even come close to the works of Miley Cyrus, it means you are no good. Don't get me wrong, I love many of Miley's songs but let's be real here, her true talent is comedy.

Let's skip ahead to my two favorites of the night. They also happened to be two that I loved last week so from this point forward Crystal Bowersox and Lilly Scott are my frontrunners. They both showed great vocals and were able to change their songs just enough to make them seem current. I don't know if it helped or hurt my opinion of MamaSox that she sang one of my top 10 songs of all time, As Long as I Can See the Light. I'm pretty sure the fact that I loved it says a lot about her talent. Lilly, on the other hand, picked a song that has been attempted on the Idol stage many a times. Unlike the others before her, I think she killed A Change Is Gonna Come. Her voice is so unique and there was one run near the end where she sped the lyric up and it sounded fantastic.

The other five contestants would be in my top 10 power rankings right now, but haven't performed to the level of MamaSox and Lilly. Katie Stevens's voice sounds unbelievable, but like Sepinwall said in his review, she is having trouble connecting with fans on stage the way she is able to do in interviews and video intros. Didi Benami got screwed over by listening to the judges notes. On further review her performance last week was even better than I thought and she should've stayed with that type of song. Of course, the judges criticized her so she ended up with the horrific choice of Lean On Me.

Michelle Delamor just seems really polished to me. It's like she's been a professional singer for years. Having said that, she didn't wow me with her rendition of With Arms Wide Open. Katelyn Epperly could have been great for all I know, but the way she murdered the first line of The Scientist killed the whole performance for me. As a Coldplay fan that lyric is extremely iconic and can't be tangled up like that. Barstool's pick for the win, Siobhan Magnus impressed many of the judges again, but I was with Simon on this one. The huge note was nice and all, but the rest of it was so so.

In closing, let's take notice of the fact that Simon and Ryan both acknowledged the fact that the judges have been giving contradictory advice this year. Obviously some people having been reading on the blogosphere. Instead of just mentioning the fact and continuing to be contradictory, how bout you figure out how to judge better? I get that sometimes changing the melody doesn't work and sometimes it helps, but explain that to the contestants. Don't just say, "I want you to change it up" or "Don't change the song up." Explain what types of songs shouldn't be changed. It is my feeling that the songs that the judges don't want you to change are the iconic ones, like Todrick did with Tina Turner last week. You're best bet is to take a popular song that isn't critically acclaimed and change that up. That way the audience can realize what you're doing and the judges don't chastise you for it.