halopub

NBC/AGT posted a 43 minute video of Terry Crews painting a Christmas scene. As relaxing as Bob Ross.

My TV listings show the Christmas show being rerun on Friday and a sneak peek for overnight Saturday. (shrug) It was interesting to see both Terry Fator and Mat Franco get included in the holiday special. I didn't pay close attention but I think everyone else were already there as part of the Champions taping. My guess would be Darci Lynne. Lots of positive support without an equally passionate group of detractors. Her direct competition in the Champions edition is Paul Zerdin, not Terry Fator. Plus the only AGT competitor who might be as well liked, Mat Franco, is not participating. Storywise I could also see Shin Lim, Susan Boyle and Lost Voice guy going to the end.

That'd make sense to me. The writers tried to make Pria as forgettable as possible but given that she's played by Parminder, it would be logical that the character will actually end up heavily involved in the Chase/Falken story line.

I found it a little weird that the show would use Parminder Nagra for a one-off, throwaway cameo.

Watching the edited version, I was surprised to feel a little sympathy for Jordan at Conan's glee. I saw video of the full meal back in September and I totally wanted to strangle Jordan. With all his talk about being quiet and enjoying the moment, Jordan pontificated so much...gesturing with chopsticks in hand, no less. I feel like I'm starting to appreciate why Conan is equally fascinated and irritated by his associate producer. My favorite segment was probably the rental family one. The manager made me laugh - though I'm not sure why he said the prospective 'wife' was 48 when the profile note clearly said 51. She posted some behind-the-scenes photos on Instagram. It's too bad the live karaoke segment didn't make it to air. I thought that looked like a fun thing to try. Apparently there's also a film with video game producer Hideo Kojima that's being kept under wraps before the project is released.

Wikipedia has posted an unconfirmed list of contestants, adding: Musicians/singers: Angelica Hale, Courtney Hadwin, Bianca Ryan, Jackie Evancho, Brian Justin Crum, Sal Valentinetti, Cristina Ramos (Spain), Sons of Serendip Magicians: Darcy Oake (Britain) Comedians: Drew Lynch, Preacher Lawson, Samuel J. Comroe, Lost Voice Guy (Britain) Mentalists: The Clairvoyants, Colin Cloud Dancers: Kenichi Ebina, Viktor Kee Danger/balancing acts: The Professional Regurgitator, Alexandr Magala, Ryan & Amber Dogs: Ashleigh & Sully (Britain, previously Pudsey) I'm too lazy to check all the Wikipedia sourcing, but Kenichi was in the official promo. Unconfirmed Reddit reports also include magician/retired NFLer Jon Dorenbos, musician Tokio Myers (Britain) and illusionist Cosentino (Australia). I think I also saw Vicki Barbolak's name floating around somewhere, which would make 50 people. If accurate, then both Mat Franco and Grace VanderWaal did not compete. I'm feeling even more meh about this whole competition after seeing the list of contestants but hopefully Piff can cut some of the saccharine with his grumpiness.

Some sad news about one of the aging animals:

@Readalot, I've been out of the thread for awhile - I hope everything turned out ok with your dad. The show has released a list with half of the contestants. I'm feeling meh about much of the list so far, but there's good news for @Happy Belly. The show starts airing January 7th. Darci Lynne Farmer, ventriloquist (America’s Got Talent 2017 winner) Paul Potts, opera singer (Britain’s Got Talent 2007 winner) Shin Lim, magician (America’s Got Talent 2018 winner) Kseniya Simonova, sand artist (Ukraine’s Got Talent 2009 winner) DJ Arch Jnr, “Kid DJ” (South Africa’s Got Talent 2015 winner) Paul Zerdin, ventriloquist (America’s Got Talent 2015 winner) Attraction, shadow dance group (Britain’s Got Talent 2013 winner) Justice Crew, dance/singing group – (Australia’s Got Talent 2010 winner) Moonlight Brothers, dancing group (Denmark’s Got Talent 2018 winner) Susan Boyle, singer (Britain’s Got Talent 2009 runner-up) Piff the Magic Dragon, comedian/magician (America’s Got Talent 2015 finalist) Sofie Dossi – contortionist/hand balancing (America’s Got Talent 2016 finalist) Kechi, singer (America’s Got Talent 2017 – finalist) Issy Simpson, kid magician (Britain’s Got Talent 2017 runner-up) Light Balance, LED dance group (America’s Got Talent 2017 finalist) Prince Poppycock, opera singer (America’s Got Talent 2010 finalist) DDF Crew, jump ropers (Holland’s Got Talent 2012 winner and Belgium’s Got Talent 2016 finalist) The Texas Tenors, opera singers (America’s Got Talent 2009 finalist) Tom Cotter, stand-up comic (America’s Got Talent 2012 runner-up) Taylor Williamson, stand-up comic (America’s Got Talent 2012 runner-up) Tape Face, comedic mime (America’s Got Talent 2016 finalist) Billy and Emily England, danger roller skaters (America’s Got Talent 2017 finalist) Sara & Hero, dog act (America’s Got Talent 2017 finalist) Deadly Games, danger knife throwers (America’s Got Talent 2016 finalist) Uzeyer Novruzov, ladder balancer (America’s Got Talent 2010 finalist)

I'm not particularly a fan of hers but I liked the interview. I thought these two parts were notable: It's an interesting take on Rahul's anxiety in the tent and I'm so glad Love Productions does look after contestants.

Ah, but you don't have to have Instagram to look at her page. I posted the below in one of the other episode threads. Paul and Prue talked about how really hot it got on the weekends. I think they do start filming at the end of April but that their late spring/early summer was just that brutal. There's also a BBC article that explains the changeability of British weather.

Rahul doing a live cooking segment on itv's This Morning. He looked less anxious than he was in the tent and began explaining why before he had to get on with the demonstration.

I think filming starts sometime in April. Radio Times: Bake Off judges reveal how the summer heatwave affected the contestants – and their bakes

Maybe Moon Pies? I think Mallomars are closer to Tunnock's teacakes. Plus the eye shadow. I saw a pic of her with subtler makeup and found it very flattering. I'm trying not to be too critical of her makeup, though, since Kim-Joy clearly has a different aesthetic to my more conventional style. The bright, saturated makeup is a purposeful style choice from a twenty-something who is inspired by kawaii culture.

I don't know Riley's work, but I can definitely see the resemblance. Noel has since grown it out back to his usual length but also gone blonde. Eh.

I was maybe vaguely aware that open fire cooking, as opposed to grills, is trendy again in restaurants but I didn't realize that included home cooks and baking. The challenge felt more like something that I'd see on Food Network, not from Love Productions. I can see why Briony went home before Rahul so to me the more arguable week is Danish week. And it's an interesting argument. Choose the person who performed badly, but attempted to fulfill the challenges or pick the contender whose bakes looked much better (and edible) but didn't pass the brief for two of them. I can see why Rahul would be chosen then, but the judges' decision implies Manon should have had some notion that her bakes wouldn't pass the challenge rules.

There was a behind-the-scenes profile a few years ago that detailed how the contestants submit all of their signature and showstopper plans before the season starts taping and don't know the order of the themes. I wonder how many contestants ultimately decide to make major adjustments to their showstoppers as the season rolls out or if it's just too time consuming. Rahul was definitely fortunate to have such supportive British friends and their reactions definitely stood out: It did feel a little odd, though, that there was no mention of her extended family, who I guess were at her finale picnic table. It was a pretty quick pan of the crowd. Maybe Rahul could have gotten away with three frosted stripes of flavors? Yeah, someone got too cute by bookending the season with portrait and landscape showstoppers. I'm glad Rahul did manage to create something that was at least thoughtful on how flavors would interact, as unappetizing and rushed as it looked. I bet my young nephew would love the idea of dipping rock-shaped cookies into the green sludge of a pond, though. It was lovely to see Sandi be so maternal towards Rahul - I don't think she gets to interact with the contestants enough.

Ugh. Between the campfire technical and the landscape showstopper this has been a painful season finale. I felt for all the finalists. At least the donuts looked tasty. I really liked what Heidi Stephens at The Guardian had to say: Congrats to Rahul. He may be the first winner in awhile who I don't expect to parlay their win into professional baking or a TV career. He's certainly loved by many, not the least Noel, but I have a hard time imagining him putting himself out for regular public scrutiny.

Heh. Not going to go back even further, to Terminator 2 in 1991? Skynet! I like the change of pace from his Scandal character but Joe Morton could use some better writing. He's managed some clunky dialogue pretty well but Morton truly excelled at the speeches he got on his last show.

I'm noticing more and more this season that Sandi's such a straightforward presence in the tent that she largely blends into the background. Which is a shame for viewers not otherwise familiar with her. Sandi's so quick-witted and hilarious in her other work. Not that I want her to be like Sue and get into contestants' faces but I wish Sandi got to joke around with the contestants a little bit more. It was moving to see her tearing up when Kim-Joy was struggling to keep it together. I thought it was hilarious that Ruby's considered the quiet one in her family. I agree that her work is usually neatly composed but I'm not a huge fan of her general aesthetic, which to me is overly Etsyish kawaii with a heaping of preciousness. It can get a little one note with the cutesy turtles and foxes. That said, I surprisingly liked the decorations this week on her kagekone and the concept of the bee-shaped/nori eggs on the smørrebrød. They were a better balance of cuteness for me. I'm not 100% sure, but I think they were a garnish next to her sandwiches.

She said the sweet one was absolutely faultless and that if Paul doesn't put his hand out for a handshake she's going to kill him. It made me laugh when she stumbled across the I a choux you pun. I'm glad Noel has adopted Rahul in his own way but I'm not sure about him being his English mum. Heh. Yay Briony! So glad she baked to her ability this week.

Heh. Paul's never going to live down that time Nancy forgot his name. I was one of those who teared up when Terry started talking about Bake Off and his late wife. It would be lovely if GBBO kept fan favorites around post elimination, just to interact with Noel and Sandi. I really liked that aspect of Making It. Same here. She earned it over Rahul's messier showstopper. It was great to see how Rahul engaged Noel and Ruby in banter, even when he's so timid around Paul. I've really grown to like Ruby a lot. As chatty as she is, I'd totally love to be friends with her. The contestant I'm worried about is my early favorite Briony. It doesn't feel like she's been able to put a string together of consistent bakes.

From NBC: Summing up the discussion from the season 13 finale: Simon and Howie both talked to Access about how the show is about to film soon (this Thursday). Simon also told Access that he asked the other producers to surprise him with the participating contestants. Mel B. initially signed on this summer but has since announced her plans to enter in-patient therapy - her participation is unconfirmed. Non-winners from various Got Talent franchises are expected to compete; @Amy Beth mentioned a media piece about Susan Boyle. There will be seven audience shows, from September 27th to October 17th, with episodes to be broadcast sometime this winter. edited to add: Entertainment Tonight is now reporting that Mel B. is in outpatient, not in-patient therapy. (shrug)

@Danny Franks In response to the question of whether it was an intended reference to Terry Pratchett, Kim-Joy tweeted:

Howie told Access (1:20) that he's going into the new show taping shortly, before the reboot of Deal or No Deal. I would guess Mel B. is now out, so that she can go into her planned in-patient therapy over in the UK. Edited to add: Not sure how many non-champions they're including in the new show but a ukulele player who was on Asia's Got Talent was in LA this week, taping Ellen.

I agree with you about Kim-Joy. Some viewers adore her, though. Plus he was amazing to help make Ruby's chocolate sauce. I've got a soft spot for Briony and would have totally been okay with Karen leaving. But yeah, Terry saved them both this week. What was chasing Noel? A yeti? A wolf man? It didn't look hairy enough to be a Wookiee.