Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Dancing with the Stars Season 16 Cast

For a couple years now, my mom, one of her best friends (who I refer to as my "Aunt Julie" because she's practically family), and I have had the hobby of making cast predictions for Dancing with the Stars. Seriously, we'll have Thanksgiving dinner and then write up a whole list of predictions, only to lose it by the time the cast announcements come around. I'm not nearly as big a fan of the show as my mom is, but its fun to see if any of our predictions come true. (And so far, I don't think a single one has, but it's more about noticing trends in the pics than anything else.)

So, without further ado, here's the list of Season 16 stars and my commentary:

  • Aly Raisman - You can always on DWTS to have several Olympians in the cast, usually those who recently medaled, and they usually do pretty well. The discipline that any athlete develops seems to translate well to dancing. Will be interested in seeing how Raisman does on this show. 
  • Andy Dick - Don't really have any thoughts here...
  • D.L. Hughely - Another comedian. Comedians on DWTS tend to ham it up, since comedy is what they do, more than get into the technicalities of learning the various styles of ballroom dance. We'll see, though. 
  • Dorothy Hamill - Another Olympian, but a more veteran one than Raisman. As I said, Olympians tend to do really well on this show, particularly gymnasts and figure skaters. And the musicality of figure skating gives her an advantage in a competition like DWTS. 
  • Ingo Rademacher - Because the cast must include at least one soap opera star I have never heard of before. 
  • Jacoby Jones - Well, here's who I'm most rooting for, because Ravens!!! Maryland!!! Superbowl win!!! A season or two ago, I had been pulling for Michael Oher, because his whole story and the fame that The Blind Side brought him, but hey, any Raven will do. Football players, like Olympians of all stripes, tend to do well on DTWS, and there's just something about watching someone known for such a "macho" sport ballroom dance. On the other hand, DWTS usually casts NFL and NBA players who are at the end of their careers, so maybe this doesn't bode so well for Jones on the field...
  • Kellie Pickler - Honestly I thought Pickler was merely mediocre on American Idol; she was most notable for making "dumb blonde" statements ala Jessica Simpson and for being called a "saucy minx" by Simon Cowell. However, this makes her a much better pic for DTWS than someone like fellow American Idol country star Carrie Underwood. We'll see if she can dance, but I'm not expecting much...
  • Lisa Vanderpump - Apparently she's best known for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. DTWS has to have a reality "star" in the mix, and it's certainly better than a Kardashian or someone from the Jersey Shore cast. Plus she's a restaurateur, tapping into the array of celebrity chefs and foodie stars that DTWS has been largely ignoring. 
  • Victor Ortiz - Somehow I can see him doing well on this show. 
  • Wynnona Judd - They are big on the country stars this year. I feel like one of the Judd sisters may have been on one of our lists, actually. But I can't remember. 
  • Zendaya - I had never heard of her before, but Zendaya fits right in to the DTWS trend of having a Disney star on each season. Born in 1996, she's the season's youngest contestant, but as a singer/actor, her combination of musicality and performance experience gives her an edge.

One thing I find to be a relief about this cast line-up: there are no politicians (or children of politicians). I'm sorry, but despite her mother's desire for fame, Sarah Palin is not a "star." Nor should being in a position of authority make someone a celebrity. Let's separate entertainment and politics a bit. However, there are some cultural icons (e.g. Buzz Aldrin) that are the exception. On that note: I would like to see Mark Kelly (retired astronaut and Gabrielle Giffords' husband) on DWTS. Season 17?


Monday, February 4, 2013

Superbowl 47: Ravens, Power Outages and Commercials



As a native Marylander, this year was the first year I was actually as excited for the actual Super Bowl game as for the commercials. It turned out to be a crazy game: the Ravens kicked major butt in the first half, and then, after the Beyonce/Destiny's Child halftime show...the lights went out. This ended up delaying the remainder of the game for a good half-hour, and the Ravens lost momentum when they resumed play. In the end, though, they won, beating the SF 49ers by 34-31. Congrats, Ravens.

But back to the ads. Honestly, Super Bowl advertising tends to get a little stale. It's always the same products (Doritos, beer, various automobiles), because that's where the money is. Moreover, the advertisers tend to sacrifice coherence for cleverness or humor, resulting in ads that use crazy plot devices in an aim to sell products that are only tangentially-related. However, there was a good crop of ads this year. Here are my 10 favorites, saving the best for last.

10) Volkswagen "Get Happy." This ad, featuring a white man going around speaking with a Jamaican accent, achieved what it set out to do: it made me happy. Will I go out and buy a VW now? No, but the ad still made me happy.




9)Babylandia! This 2014 Kia Sorento ad depicted a dad trying to explain to his young child where babies come from. His answer: the mysterious planet Babylandia. The ad had some clever visuals and neatly tied in the Sorento's "It has the answer to everything" tagline.





8) Taco Bell's "Viva Young." I liked this one largely because Fun's "We Are Young"  in Spanish: even better than Fun's "We are Young" in English. Also, rebellious elderly folks sell.







7) M & Ms "Anything for Love." The M&Ms commercials always make me laugh, and I love this song.



6) PSY's "Gangnam Style" for pistachios. The pistachios commercials are always culturally relevant (the Simpsons, keyboard cat), so it figures they would bring out PSY's viral hit for the Super Bowl. I have a bit of a problem, however. I ran across someone online who said it sounds like he is singing "Condom Style," so I hear this every time I hear the song now.



5) Ram "God Made Farmers." This was an odd commercial. Honestly when I first saw it I thought it was going to be a political message about supporting American farmers...and then it got to the end and showed a Ram truck. So apparently they are trying to sell Ram to farmers. It was definitely a memorable ad, though, with the narrator's deep, haunting voice, and it's almost somber tone stood out among the funny/not-so-funny ads. 





4)  "It's Only Weird if It Doesn't Work." It was the night for Stevie Wonder, who was featured in several different "voodoo" themed ads for Bud Lite. This one, with the Ravens and 49ers voodoo dolls, was my favorite.



3) Tide Montana Miracle Stain. Hilarious. My favorite part was the wife who obliterates the "miracle stain" with Tide and gives the clean jersey back to her husband, saying "Go Ravens." Go Ravens indeed.





2) Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen for Samsung. The ad that actually aired towards the end of the commercial was clever, but I think I like this take better. Rudd and Rogen are asked to develop as Samsung ad for the Super Bowl but aren't allowed to actually name the game, teams, etc., resulting in lines like "San Francisco 50-1-ers and Baltimore Blackbirds."



1) "Brotherhood," my favorite ad of the night.The Budweiser Clydesdales are just classic. And adorable. Especially baby Clydesdales. *Squeeeee*