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I had such a different feeling watching Criss Angel Mind-freak tonight. He was set to pull off his greatest stunt ever, escaping from a building that was set to implode. This time it was different for me, as I had a chance to interview Criss Angel about this stunt last week. This made me somehow feel personally connected, which is of course his plan.

When talking about what type of magic he didn’t like, Criss had mentioned in the interview that he didn’t like the magic that was only done for the the trick or the puzzle. He likes his magic to connect to people and be done for a reason. Perhaps that’s what’s behind the people that think he’s fake. Maybe they’re uncomfortable with the way he connects so emotionally to the challenges. He’s always bringing fans and passersby into his illusions, and after studying him, I think he does that to bring that human element into his Mindfreaks. I think he borrows their energy to help him out, as he enjoys making that personal connection.

Tonight, Criss was set to be manacled to the 6th floor balcony of a hotel that was set to implode. He’d need to escape those handcuffs, pick through the lock on the door into a room, pick through another door, run down a hall, pick through another door, run up three flights of stairs, pick through one last door with two sets of locks on it, reach the rooftop on the ninth floor, and grab the ladder of a waiting helicopter that would airlift him to safety.

The problem was that it would be very time sensitive. 456 sticks of dynamite would be used to explode the building, and once he gave word to have a four minute timer started, it couldn’t be stopped. The helicopter would take thirty seconds to make its ascent, so Criss would need to get up there in three minutes and thirty seconds.

Criss was manacled to the balcony, and while he waited for it to start, we could see the nervousness and terror on his face. It reminded me of watching the cliff divers down in Acapulco. They would sometimes sit there for several minutes, just staring, then would finally give the sign and dive off the rocks. We zoomed in with binoculars and could see their terror. I saw this on Criss tonight, especially after he noted that while waiting, it had begun to rain, which would make the floors slippery, as well as his picks.

After screaming out for the clock to start, Criss started picking his handcuffs loose. He didn’t seem to do that as quickly as we would have thought and seemed to have some trouble with it. Finally getting them off and turning towards the door, this is where the real trouble started. He could not get the lock picked, and kept putting the picks in his mouth for some reason, possibly to attempt to dry them off somewhat. We watched the clock tick away, and he was losing valuable time. We could see his panic.

Not able to get the door open, Criss kicked out one of the large windows and crawled through it to the next door. He made it through there quickly, then struggled with the next door once again. It was clear that he was now in a panic, as the host kept giving him time updates, telling him how behind schedule he was. He finally made it through that door, and took several stairs at a time, making it up to the roof.

There, his lock-picking talents were failing him again. He fought and fought to get the first lock open and couldn’t. The clock ticked down to thirty seconds and the helicopter left. Criss was now on his own regardless. With a few seconds left, he got the first lock off and threw it to the side, focusing on the last lock between him and freedom. The clock ticked down to zero, he continued to work on it, and and as the building started to fall, all the interior cameras went dead, and we lost Criss.

The camera searched for him on the outside, as well as several people. Criss emerged miraculously from the rubble, far away from the hotel. He walked away, seeming to be in shock, hugged his mother and brothers, then kept walking. It was all just very incredulous.

The show ended with no time to explain what happened, leaving all of us to wonder. Criss certainly has his detractors out there right now. Many are saying it was fake and cheesy, and that the interior shots were probably filmed a few days ago, and once he broke the window and stepped inside, he escaped out the back door and dirtied himself up to look like he’d been in the explosion. Their basis for all this is that no one could possibly escape a jump or fall from this imploding building.

After thinking about it for quite a bit tonight, I think it’s simply the easier response. It’s much easier to not think about the possibilities and declare it must all be fake. It’s simpler to think this way and not put your mind out there to think of alternate possibilities. I’ve relayed it in my own mind, and I think it has to be true. Criss would have nothing to lose by faking it. And as far as possibly surviving after falling from the roof that was imploding, I think if there were survivors after the twin towers fell on 9/11, an illusionist could survive a fall or jump from nine stories.

Criss will continue to have his detractors and believers. This stunt won’t change anyone’s mind one way or another. No one can deny it wasn’t exciting, though. For those that choose to emotionally connect, they definitely did. He had said in the interview that “if he was successful” this would be his last death-defying stunt, because of a promise to his mother. He wasn’t necessarily successful, so what will happen now

Last week I had about had it with America’s Got Talent, especially Piers Morgan. They’re supposed to be finding the best we have to offer in this country, and only the last contestant of the day, Queen Emily, was really that good. Many times it was Piers letting through the contestants that were questionable at best when even David Hasselhoff was denying them. This week, however, we went back to the way it should be, with the questionable talent being denied and crabby Piers being the one to deny them.

All of the talent tonight was found on myspace.nom which had me asking, “Oh, really? They have talent there?” There was some fairly good talent, true, yet no one really stood out as being the best this country has to offer. The audience was from MySpace as well, and the Hoff was wearing a greenish/yellow funny-looking vest, just in case we needed something else to to find questionable.

Michael Tricks, a rock ‘n roll magician, was the first out of the block, and his talent wasn’t questionable at all, being more showy than anything else with no infusion of the music and his craft at all, just loud music playing. Sharon told him he reminded her of something from Lord of the Rings, and more of a rock ‘n roll hobbit. If you want to see a real rock ‘n roll magician, check out Criss Angel Mindfreak tomorrow night.

Eloy Rendon. a motivational speaker, did his motivating by rap. After he was Xed three times, David dismissed him with his own rap which was not any worse than the rapping motivator’s. Neither of them were any better or worse than Sweetness, a mother/daughter whistling team. The mother, who will reach octogenarian status soon, claimed multiple times that she’s always been told by people that they have never heard anything like it, and that may be the case, but her daughter couldn’t seem to whistle in tune with her, and crabby Piers finally made another appearance, telling them it was irritating, pointless, childish, and a waste of their time. I just couldn’t believe either of the mom or the daughter had a MySpace account.

Getting the award of the night for the most useful MySpace account was Holly Stone. Not only was she discovered on there, but she found the daughter she had given up for adoption at 19. Now 44, Holly sang an inspiring version of Broken Wing, with the Hoff pointing out only in America can you find a singing career and your long lost daughter on MySpace. The Tapping Dads were another parental group doing good, doing a group tap routine to Let’s Fly Away.

A few weeks ago we had an ingratiating Ozzy Osbourne impersonator that just infuriated Sharon Osbourne on the panel. Tonight we had Randy Hanson that not only looked the part, and talked and sang like him, he moved like him as well. He even seemed just as confused. Sharon was also confused, asking him to takes his trousers down, as it was the only way for her to check and be sure it wasn’t her husband. Pier put him through saying that along convinced him.

Each week of auditions, it has ended with an inspirational contestant making it through with high honors from the judges. Daniel Jensen just returned from a fifteen month tour with the Army in Iraq, saying his only comfort there was singing and playing the guitar. He sang an inspired version of I’ll Be, with my son noting the last time it was done so inspirationally was on American Idol by another military guy, Josh Gracin. Sharon admitted to having goosebumps and the Hoff told Daniel he had chops, but the crabby Brit, Piers, thought he had more work to do. In the end, he relented and sent him through, as the Hoff told Daniel last time he was sent to Iraq, but this time Las Vegas.

The show ended with us seeing clips of the more exciting people of the entire audition process, headed to Las Vegas next week as the auditions finally end. This served to perk up my interest again after way too many weeks of auditions. Once again we’ll get to see the inspiring opera singer, the male baton twirler, the two young kids that had more singing talent than many of the adults, and of course, Queen Emily. Hopefully, the fans that were lost after too many weeks of auditions will find their way back to the show to give it another try.

For more information on America’s Got Talent, see SirLinksAlot: American’s Got Talent.

Criss Angel is gearing up for his most dangerous stunt yet, as it airs live on A&E on Wednesday night. It seems like every time we see this guy on TV he’s doing something more to absolutely shock us, and this next one will be no exception. Recently I got a chance to participate in a conference call with the magician/illusionist to learn more about what we’ll see tuning in this week to Criss Angel Mindfreak.

Seemingly, Criss can do anything, with one of his most famous stunts from his self-titled show showing him walking on water. This time, Criss will be shackled with handcuffs to a building set to implode and must make his escape within four minutes. With 456 sticks of dynamite set to go off, it won’t be able to be stopped, and once the process has begun, he’ll need to escape the cuffs, pick through four different doors that are chained and locked, run up a flight of stairs, and except to the rooftop of a nine story building. He’ll climb onto the roof, grab onto a ladder attached to a helicopter, and be pulled to safety.

Along with having a set to pick locks around his neck, Criss will also have a stopwatch with him needing to keep on track. Timed down to the second, he’ll need to make it to the rooftop by three minutes and thirty seconds, as it will take the helicopter thirty seconds to make its ascent and get out of the way of the impending implosion. One second later, and it would throw everything off. He plans to do this in two minutes and thirty seconds, though, to give himself a cushion, not knowing what incidentals could come up, such as helicopter difficulties or shifting inclement weather. Continue Reading »

This summer on Big Brother we finally got them to stop bringing people that already knew each other into the house, but now the folks at ABC are thinking that’s the way to go to bring some life into Dancing With the Stars, according to tmz.com.

According to the celebrity gossip website, ABC is looking to turn the reality dancing show into a drama by having people fill the dance cards of those they’ve already filled before. All of us that are long time Big Brother fans know that is just how they started, by bringing the execs of some of the houseguests in one season, and that was followed by unknown siblings, secret pairs, enemies, etc.

It’s been confirmed that Dancing With the Stars has already talked with Kim Kardashian, Warren Sapp, Lance Bass, and Florence Henderson. Chris Knight is another possibility, as apparently Surreal Life, My Fair Brady, and Celebrity Circus isn’t enough for him. If they’re looking to cause drama, why don’t they bring in a different Brady boy, Barry Williams, a one time date of Henderson while she was still playing his mother?

For extra drama concerning Lance Bass, the show is thinking of pairing him up with a male dancer. So who else could we pair up with the celebrities that have already been in talks? Nick Lachey would be an interesting choice as the brother of past winner Drew and onetime beau to Kardashian. Perhaps he’s not D celebrity enough. How about an NFL referee or two to cause some discord for Sapp?

Since this is ABC, and they like to borrow from their own network, what about The Bachelor’s Brad Womack and the woman whose heart he broke, Deanna Pappas? How about Rosie O’Donnell and The Donald? Off the accompanying Disney Channel, the Sprouse twins from The Suite Life of Zach and Cody could both be competing at the same time. There are hundreds of ideas for this, but will this make the show better? Are they jumping the shark?

How about it? Can you think of any of interesting prior relationships to throw some additional interest in Dancing With the Stars? Or do you believe they shouldn’t mess with what’s already good? We’ve got some time to let them know, as reportedly they’ll make the official cast announcement in August.

Photos Courtesy of abc.com

For more information on Dancing With the Stars, see SirLinksalot: Dancing With the Stars.

I always have to appreciate a woman that is comfortable with her size and isn’t going to bow down to the pressures that society or the entertainment world place on her.

How refreshing it would be if more celebrities, both young and old, were to stand in support of this, instead of falling to what amounts to no more than peer pressure, the same thing that young teenage girls looking up to them do.

And they said it wouldn’t last … and it didn’t.

Just over a week ago, ABC aired a Bachelor/Bachelorette special Where Are They Now thing, pimping Trista and Ryan for the umpteenth time, and showing us yet again how cute and special Matt Grant and Shayne Lamas are. They were more than happy to refute reports that he was only in it for the green card. It doesn’t matter how many times they trot those two out in front of us, as even the most romantic of us know it just wasn’t going to last. It was like Dom Perignon and Schlitz. They were just two different people from two different places.

News reports are now saying that they have indeed broken up. According to a statement, they are saying they “tried hard to make it work, but we realized that we were both heading in different directions.” They stress that they “truly care about each other and will remain close
friends.” Right.

We all know what this was. The was the case of Little Matt doing all his thinking. He said numerous times that he was attracted to Shayne and how sexy she was, but he also doubted the real reason she was there and was perplexed when he couldn’t get an intellectual conversation out of her. Yet, he chose her, when we all knew he should have picked Amanda. They had a better connection, but Little Matt wasn’t as fond of her as Big Matt. Continue Reading »

Just today a group of So You Think You Can Dance fans were discussing the season. Most were in agreement that this season has had the best talent. Many were also claiming that so far they are enjoying this show more than they have enjoyed American Idol lately. I think they won’t be saying that anymore after this, and I think I know the answer why.

Up until this point most of the people that we expected to leave … left. This is other than the whole Comfort replacing the injured Jessica King. Of course we were liking it more than American Idol. We had our favorites there and had every reason to believe they’d make it to the final four until this week.

Watching the results tonight, I said out loud, “What?” The first surprise that happened was  Will Wingfield being named to the bottom two. What? How did that happen? He was the one I was expecting to win, not necessarily my favorite, but how I saw the tide going. He was talking once again about his affiliation with Debbie Allen last night. The judges adored him. Continue Reading »

It’s a sad day today, and it’s not just because the news has spread that Estelle Getty has passed away, but because we’re now seeing the sadness surrounding her life for these past few years. Gety had been rarely seen in recent years, the reason being that she had been suffering from advanced dementia.

Although she’d been a performer most of her adult life, Getty of course is most well-known for her role as Sophia on The Golden Girls, mother to Bea Arthur’s character. She was actually a year younger than Arthur and had a hard time convincing casting that she was Sophia. In looks it was questionable, but not in her patented sarcastic wit. She and Arthur traded barbs as mother and daughter just as easily as Getty rattled off criticisms to the characters of the other costars, Betty White and Rue McClanahan.

Of course the shame of Getty reaching fame only later in her career is that while she’s younger than Arthur, she was still an olden woman, in her early 60s at the start of the show and nearly 70 at its end. It was revealed in 2000 that she was suffering from Parkinson’s and osteoporosis and a few years later Alzheimer’s. Still later a better diagnosis was made. She didn’t have Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, but Lewy body dementia.

Getty is of course being remembered fondly by her costars. Arthur is remembering their comedic duo as one of the greatest ever, and saying she will be missed, while McClanahan is encouraging us to not feel badly, as Getty will always be with us in “her crowning achievement, Sophia.” It’s not really her passing that leaves me sad, though. It’s with the following tribute to her that appears to have been taped before her death.

I’m not sure what’s going on, but I think Piers is going soft on us. Maybe he’s just as eager as I am to get this competition started for America’s Got Talent. I can’t even remember when the auditions started, that’s how long it was. I was hoping tonight was the last night of auditions, but getting towards the end I found the last week of auditions is next week. So on we go for yet another hour of this.

The guy that I just couldn’t believe Piers Morgan was in favor of going on was Ronny B, whose talent is just too hard to describe. He sang, and danced, and did weird moves like he was going to strip, but didn’t. He didn’t do any of these things well at all and seemed to hit an absolute low when he ran back and tried to climb into the American Flag scenery. David Hasselhoff was quick to X him, but the other two judges waited it out. In the end, David of course said no to him, and it wasn’t all that unusal to hear Sharon Osbourne defending him someone that seems to have lesser talent, but when Piers said he liked it and voted the guy through, I was shocked. Continue Reading »

The rebranding completely drew me in, prompting me to think whoever is in charge of marketing deserves a raise. Going along with the current trend in TV, reality TV and scripted dramas, A&E, already serving up such shows on its network, is capitalizing on it. Today they are announcing a new rebranding, with a logo and tagline that is so simple, it’s brilliant. “A&E - Real Life. Drama.”

A&E is telling us exactly what they’re giving us. We don’t have to search for it. We know. Tuning in we’ll see real life; we’ll see drama. I immediately thought, “Cool. I like Real life. I like drama. Why don’t I watch A&E more often?” Along with the rebranding, we also have an ad with “key characters from across the network, each posing a challenge to the viewer that gets to the emotional heart of the real life drama in each of the shows, ” according to the press release. I’m excited just reading that. I say repeatedly that my goal in writing is to make people feel, think, and laugh, and that also just happens to be what I’m looking for when I want to be entertained.

Noting that “all the shows revolved around a moral dilemma which is a nice device to stimulate the audience,” the ad shows Esteban Powell from The Cleaner asking us if we’d have faith in an ex-con that talks to God, Gene Simmons stating he’s perfect and we’re not, asking if we can handle that, Criss Angel asking if we think we’re the only ones in control of our minds, and someone from Intervention asking if we could tell our child it’s us or the drugs. Just from this ad, they already have me feeling and thinking.

As if this wasn’t edgy enough, the song running behind the ad is Valerie by Mark Monsoon featuring Amy Winehouse. What can be edgier these days than Any Winehouse? I’ve been saying for months that I don’t get her. It has nothing to do with her constant trouble with the law or new health problems. I just don’t like her music. I listen and say so what. Yet, listening to this track, I like her enough to be heading over to iTunes for a download.

Looking for some real life and drama as well? Tonight A&E is offering up Intervention, Psychic Kids, and The Cleaner. Tomorrow is more The Cleaner, along with The First 48. Wednesday gives us Dog the Bounty Hunter and Criss Angel Mindfreak. Three straight nights of real life and drama, and I’ll be tuning in.