Amsterdamker

Definitely think Mike is Jewish. My grandfather's name was Hyman. And funny enough, my dad's name is Harold, so I'm covered with Mike/X. I think Mike is wearing a cross because X gave him one as a gift, I believe at the airport when he left the first time. He's probably wearing it to please her.

I can't speak to the K-1 visa process, but I went through the green card process with my husband. He's from the Netherlands, but was living in the US when we met and got married. This was a year after 9/11 and we waited almost 3 years for a green card interview since everything was backed up. We went for our first interview and were rejected by the interviewer on the spot (well, 15 minutes later). I was hysterical. Happened to meet a lawyer while waiting those 15minutes and she told me it didn't look good based on what I told her. I ended up hiring her, firing my lawyer, who told me the interview should be no problem and didn't prep us properly. Our 2nd interview was like the movie Green Card. They interviewed us separately, asking about 15 questions, like what side is the light switch on in the bathroom, does your building have fire escapes, how do you get to work, etc. Our new lawyer was fantastic and prepped us very well. We passed.

I'm a bit late in commenting as I'm an American living in Amsterdam and we are only up to tell all part 1 here, but I couldn't resist and watched Part 2 online... re: Jessie asking for coffee... Okay.. I never saw the season with Jesse, but this made me burst out laughing thinking to myself that is so Dutch!!! The Dutch are addicted to coffee. I have worked in a Dutch office environment for over 10 years, and I swear, when I show up for a meeting and everyone arrives, most of the time someone says (usually a Dutchie), want to get some coffee before we start?? lol.. And for those that are curious... Jess is a non-entity in the Netherlands. I had never heard of him before and I watch Dutch talk shows etc nightly (not by choice, but cause my hubby is Dutch and likes watching them), and NEVER heard of the guy. All I can say is that I've enjoyed this season and got sucked in real fast .. and even though I hadn't been following the boards until recently, I find it funny that my and my husbands comments about all of the couples, matches.. even the Bikini, but my husband was calling her zucchini...

No clue. I have never heard of her.

I've heard that as well, so this is just more confirmation.

I don't watch him, but apparently everyone else I know here knows him, so perhaps he is that popular. Yup.. I can't add much to the list except maybe Golden Earring, who only had a few hits in the States, but apparently had a very long career over here. The only famous Dutch stuff in America is all the exported game/reality shows from Endemol. Most shows are broadcasted here before they are sold worldwide. I don't think people even realize how many shows come from the Netherlands. AGT isn't one of them... Big Brother (only 1 season in the Netherlands), Deal or No Deal (it's actually part of a postcode lottery here and on 2x a year for 5 weeks.. I Love it. Hear it's coming back after 9 years in the US), 1 vs 100, Show me the Money, the Voice and more recently Diving with the Stars (I NEVER Thought this would be picked up in the States. It was scary to watch the Dutch version), and Utopia.

I just saw this on a Dutch website: Grace, who is 40, did not put herself forward for the American contest. Rather, her international management showed a video of her performing the song to the programme’s producers and they invited her to take part in the auditions. (I can't figure out from the article which song "the song" refers to..)

Totally agreed. So much about her being a single mother. Equally deceptive about her being Dutch. Being a single mother in the Netherlands is not really a struggle. Nothing like the USA..... Funny.. I don't think a lot of the dutch public saw the broadcast, only the clips of her singing shown on Dutch TV, so they have no idea of this.. when she has interviewed on Dutch TV, she is very down to earth and of course a bit more natural since she is speaking in her native language. She doesn't talk about missing or being away from her son, just that she wished he could see it in person.

Tbh, I really don't think of her as famous, but then again, I'm American. I know she was a Eurovision entry for Holland about 15 yrs ago, but that was before my time. I only know of her because she occasionally appears on Dutch talk shows that my husband forces me to watch (like right now) when something singing related occurs, like a death or an anniversary, but many other singers also appear on these shows, so to me she is just one of them... Keep in mind this is only a country of 16mil and not everyone knows her. There is only so much fame/success one can have here. The market is tiny... Even though it's not my thing and I feel that Christina definitely has more soul (haven't heard a Dutch singer yet that has much soul..), I'm happy to see how well she has done and I hope it translates to more success for her in the future. I don't think she has a chance in hell of winning though...

Hahaha.. my husband quipped last night that he should work at Disney ...so I guess we were in the ballpark. I really try to avoid all results until I can watch, and being in Amsterdam, I do have a bit of a delay since the live broadcast is at 2am and I do have to work. I'm sitting in the hospital this morning for a doctor's appointment and they have this screen with the waiting times for the dr, hospital stuff, etc. and then i see, just for a second, Glennis Grace is through to AGT Finals.. I'm like fuck. Last place I expected to get spoiled. So the Dutchies are happy. Her son is flying out to be at the final. The entertainment news did an interview with him outside of his apartment in some grassy area. They asked if his mom has done anything to embarrass him. He said it was when she was crying in her promo while watching his message to her on the TV (in Dutch).. lol... yeah, that stuff usually embarrasses kids. All the Dutch stars were congratulating her. It's all over the news here, but that's not a surprise. There isn't usually much going on here.

Well, that was disappointing show. Living in Amsterdam, Glennis Grace is on the news here. All the 'media' people were giving her well wishes for her upcoming semi-final performance. After the semi's, there was also an interview with her on Dutch tv that if she makes it to the final, her son will fly over and she was so shocked by Simon's comments. Agree with above, no mention of her being from the Netherlands, but I was happy to see at least Dutch. yeah.. I know most people probably won't recognize it, but hey, it's something. And I see her wardrobe hadn't improved much, but even though I'm not really a fan, I did think she did a great job. The best that she could have and thinking that will bring her to the finals.

That was me. And yes, yes yes.. those were all the things I was thinking.

I'm an American living in Amsterdam and yes, I also mentioned this in the live performance thread yesterday (@bluepiano), that it's strange they never mention she is from the Netherlands on the tv broadcasts. Last night on Dutch tv, they had an interview with her mom and son outside her mom's apartment. Interview was in Dutch. Basically said they were really excited for her and her mom said, NBD about the WTF, which is not surprising. It's not a big deal here.. =D

She probably did it subconsciously because the f-word is not a curse in Dutch and people say it on TV in the Netherlands. No big deal here.

I'm all for cats and I thought Front Pictures was excellent. I'd pay to see both. I'm American living in the Netherlands and I don't understand why they haven't mentioned one time in the tv broadcasts that Glennis Grace is from the Netherlands. She's on talk shows here occasionally when someone music related dies or an anniversary of someone's death. They have a round-table discussion about it and then she'll sing. Okay.. talk shows here are not really anything like the ones in the US. I find it odd. We knew that there are dance groups from the Philippines and the DR. Solo acts from Japan etc. Is it because it's not a sob story? "I grew up in the rich country of the Netherlands... I have had to struggle so hard to put food on the table (HA!).. blah blah blah.. " =D And as for her wardrobe, I can only say she's from the Netherlands. It's not uncommon her to be dressed in that 'style'.

Grew up 20 miles outside NYC in NJ and thought forward was spelled foward until I went to college. Mind you, I am well-educated (as hard as that may be to believe), but it's because that is how we pronounced it, sans 'r'. As far as the episode, I didn't think any of the designs really met the challenge. Also, I think Alyssa looked so much better this episode, but I've been thinking, perhaps she just looks better in more casual type clothes than the wardrobe they use for the show.