SueTube – Let’s talk TV with critic Susan Young

Did Simon Crowell really roll his eyes when Chris Richardson offered a heartfelt comment about the tragedy at Virginia Tech?

Simon’s telling anyone who will listen that he was horrified to see himself on TV having that reaction.

TMZ reported this morning that Simon says “I couldn’t hear what Chris had said. I was talking to Paula. My reaction (rolling his eyes) was to what he had said previously, that singing nasally is a form of singing.”

Do we believe Simon?

Actually, he probably wasn’t paying attention to what Chris was saying, because Simon’s notorious rude when it comes to the post comments comments by the contestants.

He’s had his say and then he tends to jabber with the other judges while Ryan Seacrest talks to the singers.

But that hasty little comment Simon made later in the program was absolutely damage control. He offered up his own sympathies to the families which sounded rushed and, to use terms Simon has used on the contestants, I just didn’t feel it.

click here for video of Simon’s eye-roll and his own condolence to the Virginia Tech families.

You can’t trust what the promos say, but it was interesting that tonight’s episode of “Lost” ended with the narrator telling us that the countdown to the end was coming.

This seems to confirm what creator Damon Lindelof said in January about next season being perhaps the last for the mysterious drama.

Just a little tangent here, but did anyone else get a little teary when Sawyer and Kate came together? While we’re talking about Sawyer, we’re glad he’s back with the nicknames. Three Men and a Baby…

In any case, it seems that the writers are trying to toss a few bones to fans and critics of the series. We loved it when Sayid finally said what we’d all been thinking: Give us some answers about this island.

Tonight, our suspections about Juliet were confirmed: She’s no good.

DON’T TRUST JULIET NO MATTER HOW LONELY SHE LOOKS

She was brought to the island to “create life where life is not meant to be,” she’s told. Women who try to have babies die here. So the Others snatch the children of those unfortunate enough to land on this rock.

The Others can cure cancer. So, why did they need Jack to take out a tumor? Apparently, Jack’s not the target after all. The targets are mother Claire and mother to be Sun.

After learning about Juliet’s plan with Ben (and that comment about “after all we’ve done to them”), we know nothing good is about to happen to our castaways.

Remember that Goodwin, Juliet’s lover, was killed by Ana-Lucia after she realized he was probably an Other and not a tailie as he tried to portray. Goodwin, you’ll remember, snapped the neck of Nathan – a guy Goodwin said “was not a good man.”

And hats off to the writers, who gave us a lot of tidbits, but left the larger mysteries of the island still buried.

They also presented a few new questions like why is it better to arrive unconscious? And why was Danielle Rousseau able to have a baby on the island? We also heard the theme of good and bad people once again, as Jack tells Juliet that the crash survivors are “good people.”

I’d also like to think that Jack hasn’t really been taken in by Juliet and is just playing along until he can figure out here game. But if that’s the case, why did he let her treat Claire? Is it because he some how figured out Ben and Juliet’s game?

Ah, the plot just keeps on getting thicker.

The only surprise on tonight’s “America’s Next Top Model” was that Tyra finally let Whitney go.

WHITNEY

Is it the fact that without Whit, Tyra’s obviously the go-to plus size model on the show?

Look, we’re not against women carrying a few pounds, since we obviously have had ample exercise lifting the fork from the plate to our own mouth, but this IS a show about fashion and modeling.

It’s all about looks, baby.

Right now I’m concerned about Jaslene. She started out so strong, but as the judges noted tonight, her pictures just get weaker and weaker.

On the other hand, Natasha keeps getting stronger. That little Russian gets on my nerves, but I have to admit her pictures get more fierce each week. But my favorite is still Brittany, because she actually looks like a model to me.

And she showed up those creepy twins tonight. I never thought the twins were all that, but seeing them fade in the picture with Brittany justified those feelings.

Next girl out has got to be Jael.

Not to be rude, as our pal Simon would say, but Haley Scarnato has overstayed her “American Idol” visit by at least a few weeks. Her ouster tonight was a long time coming.

HALEY’S LAST SONG – THANK YOU VOTERS

Haley’s performance last night was enough to make dogs howl and children cry. She cavorted on stage like she was trying to win a third-rate talent contest. And once again showing that if the title was for Best American Legs, she’d certainly be in the running.

Also in the bottom tier with Haley was Chris Richardson and Phil Stacey. We like Phil pretty well, but as the field narrows he’s going to find himself squeezed out of the competition.

He’s certainly the next one off the good ship Idol next week. After Phil, we’re betting it will be Chris.

Which brings us to the final five.

And we’re betting that group will be Sanjaya, Blake, Jordin, LaKisha and Melinda.

Let’s hope the Sanjaya insanity stops there, and won’t affect the best singers in the bunch. Although we have to admit we’re a little interested in seeing Sanjaya go country next week with Martina McBride

While were in the business of ranking, how about those coaches each week? Jennifer Lopez was sweet and tried her best to inspire the “Idols.” She obviously does watch the show and cares a lot about the singers.

JENNIFER SHOWS HOW TO DO IT LATIN STYLE

But we still have to put Gwen Stefani up as one of the best coaches so far, followed closely by Lulu. Tony Bennett looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Peter Noone was nice enough, but didn’t offer much in the way of good advice. And dear diva Diana Ross simply seemed to be more wrapped up in herself than in genuinely helping the “Idols.”

At least we know who is in the top, middle and bottom of the “American Idol” competition.

Tonight, Gina Glocksen, Haley Scarnato and Phil Stacey all landed in the bottom. Phil got the first reprieve. I thought he sang better last night, and I think that saved him.

Then it came down to the rocker and the wannabe Vegas show girl.

Apparently, Haley’s scheme to keep viewers interested with her revealing wardrobe just begging for a malfunction is working.

Voters ousted Gina, who was significantly better last night than Haley. At least Gina got a chance to do a sing-off.

It was more than we got from Tony Bennett, whose bout with a cold led to the legendary singer’s no-show. He was replaced by the next generation of crooners, Michael Buble.

Michael managed not only to wow the crowd with his singing, but also with his joke on former contestant Antonella Barba.

“American Idol” let viewers know who was in the first tier, and it came as no surprise to see LaKisha Jones, Melinda Doolittle and Jordin Sparks on top.

That left boy singers Chris Richardson, Blake Lewis and Sanjaya Malakar planted firmly in the middle.

Can it be that Sanjaya’s time can be coming close to the end?

Let’s say some big radio jock _ we’ll call him Howard Stern _ decides he’ll mess around with the biggest show on TV.

Can he really muck up a show dependent on American voting, a show we’ll call “American Idol”?

Producer Ken Warwick says no way in Hades.

With close to 40 million votes cast each week, Warwick says the impact anyone like Stern has on the program is “minimal.”

“There’s very little hype anyone could do that would affect the vast number of votes cast, even if all of Howard Stern’s audience cast votes,” Warwick ays. “The gap above and below Sanjaya (isn’t affected by Stern).”

So, Sanjaya is doing this all on his own merits?

“Say what you may, but he’s a good looking kid and young girls like him,” Warwick says. “He’s not as bad as everyone makes him out to be. Part of this business is communicating with your audience and he does that. If the American public likes him enough to put him up at the end, it’s out of my hands. We always have one or two contestants that shine for reasons you think they shouldn’t, but it’s part and parcel of the show.”

Chris Sligh, who was voted out last week, says he thinks people are coming down too hard on Sanjaya.

“I think that people underestimate Sanjaya. I think that Sanjaya is actually a very good vocalist,” Sligh says. “I have a lot of respect for him. I do not envy his position at all. He’s a very, very sweet kid and he’s just 17. I think that he gets a bum rap.”

Warwick says that people might be surprised at how fluid the weekly results are, with so-called front runners often ending up near the bottom of the mix.

LaKisha Jones and Melinda Doolittle aren’t necessary shoo-ins just because he and others believe they are the best singers on the show.

“Last week, there was someone who was second that the week before was ninth or 10th. They move around like no tomorrow,” Warwick says. “It depends on their performance (that week). Some grow through the series. It’s always the way that the winner comes up in the competition and was not there (in the top) from the beginning.”

Which bodes well for someone like Jordin Sparks.

Warwick says in the history of the show, there has only been one contestant who was always the favorite who ended up winning the entire competition.

Fantasia.

“America normally gets it right in the end, and I’m confident that Sanjaya will not be the `American Idol,’ ” Warwick says. “(If he does), it’s because the American public wants him. (`American Idol’ has always been) the story of a journey of somebody who started out with nothing and ended up a huge star.”

J.J. Abrams has long professed his love of “The Twilight Zone” and, while he didn’t write this week’s episode, you knew this had to have his stamp of approval.

Creator Damon Lindelof has said that some characters only exist to serve other characters, and that seems to be the fate of Nikki and Paulo.

On one hand, we had the little “Zone” homage about how this wicked couple pays dearly for their crimes. On the other, we have another view of the events that have unfolded since the crash.

But what I thought was the most significant scene was between Ben and Juliet in the hatch, monitoring Jack and plotting how to get Jack to do the surgery on Ben.

Paulo knew that Jack, Kate and Sawyer would be kidnapped by The Others. Interesting.

Nikki stumbles out of the jungle, falling down in front of Sawyer and Hurley

In any event, the episode ended in typical “Twilight Zone” fashion with the two getting buried alive – a just punishment for two murderers.

And now we’ll find out how Sawyer, and Charlie, will pay for their role in kidnapping Sun after Charlie confessed all to Sun.

Sun slaps Sawyer after finding out he is the one who kidnapped her.

Next week, Sawyer gets slapped with the reality of being selfish, while Kate and Juliet spend some quality time together.

The week after, Jack returns to the Lost tribe and brings Juliet with him.

I don’t trust Juliet, and I think she’s still playing a game on Jack with the help of Ben. But maybe that’s just me.

Let’s discuss.

So it’s bye-bye Mr. American Idol Sligh.

Chris Sligh, the only other guy outside of Sanjaya to bring any kind of non-singing sparkle to the show has been given the hook.

Haley Scarnato (L) shows a sigh of relief after Chris Sligh (R) is eliminated on AMERICAN IDOL Wednesday

Sligh man, why oh why did you try to do No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”? It was a song obviously beyond your reach. We’ll miss you, and your saucy style.

And yes, we heard you when you loudly whispered to Phil Stacey that he owed you 50 bucks. Apparently, Phil believed he was set to go before you did.

Don’t worry Phil. There’s always next week.

As for the Sanjaya freight train, or should I say fright train?, it’s still going strong. We don’t mind if he stays on the show while the bottom and middle rung people are voted off.

Please, just stop the insanity before we get to Melinda, LaKisha, Jordin, Blake and even Chris.

If “American Idol” was really a singing competition, then Sanjaya would have gotten the boot tonight.

His performance on Tuesday of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” wasn’t even good enough for an elementary school talent contest. When he reached up high and squatted down low, it’s was cookie-tossin’ time.

So who got bumped tonight?

The bottom three were called out: Sanjaya, Phil and Brandon.

We had no problem with the voters’ bottom three until the person being elminated was called out and it was Brandon.

Well, at least Sanjaya didn’t forget the words the way Brandon did on Tuesday. Brandon was one of the early bright lights who dimmed significantly as he constantly made poor song choices.

BRANDON ROGERS

Good-bye Brandon. Would that it was Sanjaya we were bidding adieu.

It’s been years since I first talked to comic Richard Jeni, but no one who had ever met him could forget how much he made you laugh.

Few comics are happy-go-lucky people, it just doesn’t go with the territory. Richard was no exception. He had his demons and his doubts. It takes a different kind of person to step up on stage all alone night after night pouring out your guts – and getting heckled in the process.

This past weekend, Richard’s demons overtook him and he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His family released this statement:

“Often times, when we are faced with a sudden and tragic loss, there is a natural curiosity – a need to know what exactly happened.

The family of Richard Jeni would like to put to rest any assumptions as to the cause of Richard’s death. Despite the fact that the coroner’s office has publicly stated that a suicide ruling will take two weeks, pending the results of an autopsy, Richard Jeni did take his own life.

Rumors have been circulating as to the cause of his death and have included speculation of Richard being depressed over the state of his career or a physical ailment. His career was not even addressed by his specialists when they were trying to diagnose Richard’s illness. In fact, he had just enjoyed one of his most financially rewarding years to date. He was consistently creating new material for his busy touring schedule, and during the last week of his life, he had meetings scheduled with Chris Albrecht, the president of HBO, to discuss future projects following his last HBO special. In actuality, the past few years had been more prolific than ever. As his agents can attest, prior to his illness, Richard only missed one engagement in over twenty years, and that was due to weather.

The truth is: earlier this year Richard Jeni was diagnosed with severe clinical depression coupled with bouts of psychotic paranoia. One only needs to have a family member or friend with a mental illness to understand that there is nothing rational, predictable, or fair about these diseases. Mental illness is as serious as any physical affliction and can be just as devastating.

He was not down or blue, he was ill. If you knew Richard, you could understand, this was as much a shock to those close to him, as it is to his fans and colleagues. Perhaps Richard’s passing will encourage people to have sympathy, compassion and understanding for those who are afflicted with mental illness. As we are all trying to make sense of this, take time to remember the joy and laughter Richard brought to the countless people he touched during his much too short life.”