9.10

I haven't been making updates for American Idol 9 since the first episode -- I got busy and my enthusiasm for the show wavered (there's just something missing, and I can't put my finger on it). Ellen Degeneres is the new 4th Judge, and Kara Dioguardi is the new Paula Abdul (on the AI Panel).

On to the Top 10 finalists, R&B/Soul Night, with Usher as mentor:

1. Siobhan Magnus - I like Siobhan, she's different. She has her own style -- in sound and in fashion. She has a great voice, but I dislike the screaming. She needs to show a different side of her talent that doesn't involve screaming. She sang "Through the Fire" but got lost, and the judges (Simon!) disliked the performance. I'm happy that she declared that she was not defeated on Judgment Night (I like girls with spirit).

2. Casey James - Who doesn't adore Casey? Great rock voice, cute. He sang "Hold On I'm Coming" and it was great, he had swagger. I want him to last as long as he could, for the eye candy. :P

3. Michael Lynche - Big Mike has a big voice and a back story, plus he shows different sides of him in performances. He sang "I Am Ready for Love", and it was really, really good.

4. Didi Benami - I like Didi's vibe, but I was not able to connect with her "What Becomes of The Broken-Hearted".

5. Tim Urban - I like Tim's attitude of taking the Judges' criticisms in stride. He's not the strongest vocalist in the group and he was only in the Top 24 because someone was disqualified and he was the replacement. He is votefortheworst.com's candidate. His rendition of "Sweet Love" was a bit tacky, but hey, at least he tried.

6. Andrew Garcia - I liked his previous rendition of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up", but has since struggled in the competition. His "Forever" was good though. Hopefully he will deliver in his next performance.

7. Katie Stevens - Great voice, but has the problem of picking "older" songs. Her "Chain of Fools" was good, but I did not feel it.

8. Lee DeWyze - Great rock voice, and is consistent, but seems not be believe he could win. His "Treat Her Like A Lady" earned him a compliment from Simon that it was the performance "that may have changed [Lee's] life forever".

9. Crystal Bowersox - Crystal is the front runner and she really is a musician with an incredible voice. And she sang "Midnight Train to Georgia" which I love. Great performance as always, she could win this.

10. Aaron Kelly - This 16-year-old high school student has a great voice. At the start of the competition I thought he was afraid of the stage -- he has become more confident since then. He performed "Ain't No Sunshine" -- it was not better than Kris Allen's in Season 8, but good nonetheless.

Katie Stevens, Tim Urban and Did Benami were in the bottom three. Didi got eliminated in another victory for votefortheworst.com.

I am hoping for a great Lennon/McCartney Night.

Event

Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao owned the night. He successfully defended his WBO Welterweight crown (which he took from Miguel Cotto) against Ghana's Joshua "Grand Master" Clottey in a dominating fashion. The fight, dubbed as "The Event" and was held on Jerry Jones' Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, drew a crowd of over 50,000 boxing fans.

But Pacman was not able to knock Clottey down, whose fight plan, it seemed, was to just turtle around for 12 rounds and wait for a lucky punch. Clottey had both his hands covering his head the whole night, with occasional spurts of jabs. At one point, Pacman even got a two-handed punch on Clottey. Pacman was the busier fighter of the night, throwing about 100 punches per round, and Clottey throwing just a third overall.

The final score was 120-108, 119-109, 119-109 -- which I think was unfair to Pacquiao, because I thought that there was never a round that Clottey won in that fight, given the fact that Clottey did not even "fight" in the true sense of the word.

Anyway, Pacman won again: his 12th straight victory since he lost to Erick Morales in 2005. And this gives the focus again to the possible Manny Pacquiao - Floyd Mayweather mega fight, which was shelved when negotiations broke down over dope accusations and blood testing. Mayweather will fight Shane Mosley on May 1.

9

American Idol Season 9 is off to a good start, despite my disappointment that Paula Abdul would not be joining Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi in the Judges' table.

Victoria Beckham joined the panel as a guest judge in the Boston Auditions and Mary J Blige joined in the Atlanta Auditions -- they were ok, but I still miss Paula.

Notable performances from Boston:

Maddy Curtis, 16, "Hallelujah": Soulful
Luke Shaffer, 24, "Fall For You": It was so... sweet (sigh!)
Ashley Rodriguez, 21, "If I Aint Got You": She nailed it hard!
Tyler Grady, 19, "Let's Get it On": I loved the singing -- it was so unassuming
Cancer survivor Justin Williams, "Feeling Good": Cool and controlled
Leah Laurenti, 21, "Blue Skies": Talent!

From Hot-lanta:

Church Singer Jermain Sellers, 26, "What If God Was One Of Us": Like a glass of chilled Champagne -- that good
Holly Harden, 20, (who came wearing a guitar dress), "You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man": Surprisingly good, despite the silly outfit
Mallorie Hayley, 20, "Piece of My Heart": I can't stop singing the song -- LSS!
Police Officer Brian Walker, 25, "Superstar" - I was blown away!

Special mention: 62 year old General Larry Platt's performance of his original composition, "Pants of the Ground" -- this had me cracked up and rapping, "Pants on the ground, Pants on the ground, Looking like a fool with your pants on the ground!" (He didn't get a ticket though, he's a little over the age limit of 28.)

:)

Firepower

Pound-for-Pound King Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao will face Miguel Angel Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Nevada later tonight for the WBO Welterweight Championship, dubbed as "Firepower". Pacman is aiming to win a championship belt in his seventh weight class. Both pugilists fight for honor and glory for their respective countries, Pacquiao for the Philippines and Cotto for Puerto Rico.

The winner will take the glory and a better leverage in the negotiations for a possible fight against the most bankable, namely "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather (for both) and Juan Manuel Marquez (for Pacquiao).

Rumors have it that Pacquiao is assured a $13 million purse, while Cotto is assured to take only half of that.

I am picking Pacman for the winner, because of his speed and power and talent, but I am certainly not discounting Cotto's power and skill either. Fight night will make us see who has superior firepower.

Body

ESPN The Magazine's "The Body Issue" is a celebration of the athletic form -- the nude (or semi-nude) athletic form. Athletes featured in their nude (or semi-nude) glory include Boxing Pound-for-Pound King Manny Pacquiao, Hurdler Lolo Jones, Surfer Claire Bevilacqua, Jockey Alex Solis and pregnant Softball Player Jessica Mendoza, among others.

MMA Fighter Gina Carano graces one of six covers available for this issue. The other five covers are those of Tennis Pro Serena Williams, NBA Player Dwight Howard, Footballer Adrian Peterson, NASCAR Driver Carl Edwards and Triathlete Sarah Reinertsen.

ESPN seems to be toeing into Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition territory with this issue. Anyway, I like ESPN's better, it's more classy, IMHO. And Gina Carano is featured in her fighting form -- just beautiful.



Check out this ESPN page for more.

Non-violence

October 2 is International Day of Non-Violence -- established by the UN to promote the philosophy of non-violence as a tool for social change. This date was chosen to honor Mahatma Gandhi whose birthday falls on the second of October.

Fancy word of the day: Satyagraha.

Windmill

Here is an inspiring story I found at TED, about a man who applied Science to combat poverty and despair. The man is William Kamkwamba from Malawi, author of the book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind", who created a windmill out of scrap metal to harness the wind for water and electricity.

This is his story.