On the big annual awards shows, like the Grammys, Emmys & the Oscars, its always fun to watch the memorial tributes to those that have past within the year. It really is a great way to pay to tribute to those who were so well known and respected in the arts.
However, I feel its important to remember everyone and not leave anyone out. At this year’s Academy Awards, there were some significant names of people who have died that were not included in the memorial tribute. Names like Bea Arthur, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon. All three were staples in television and also appeared in movies. They maybe never won an Oscar, but don’t you think they deserved to be recognized? Even Michael Jackson was recognized in the tribute. He really wasn’t even an actor.
The Executive Director of the show said “its the single most troubling element of the show every year. Because more people die each year than can possibly be included in the segment.” That may be true, so why not change it. The show already runs a good three hours, what would another two minutes be to pay tribute to the legends we’ve lost. I don’t think anyone would argue this.
Just last week I had the great privilage of co-hosting another trip with our listeners! This year we returned to the Barcelo Maya Palace in Mexico. The station was there last year, but the group stayed at one of the other smaller resorts, this year we stayed at the main Palace! Wow was it incredible! I’ve been fortunate to have traveled to some nice places, but this was the best I’d ever seen!!
With the exception of a couple very light rain showers, the weather made me feel like I was in paradise! Every square inch of this resort was absolutely perfect. The next time you take a vacation, I encourage you to try an all inclusive resort. I’m tellin’ ya its the way to go! You can eat and drink as much as you want and whenever you want! Need I say more. lol
Traveling was a bit of a challenge for me personally. I will tell you in all the times I’ve been on a plane, I’ve always had good luck, never any problems. But we all get the short straw once and awhile. When we flew out of Minneapolis, the airline had trouble checking me in. They couldn’t get my name to come up on the computer. Needless to say, I got through, but it took about 30 minutes to do it. I think it had to do with the Delta/Northwest merger, etc.
Then, flying home to Minneapolis, we had to go through customs and I was flagged because there was a warrant out for an arrest of someone with a name similiar to mine. So I was fine…but it was a little scarey. However, everyone on the trip found humor in it. lol
I’ve had people ask me what my favorite part of the trip was…and my only answer is ALL OF IT!! I loved it all…from relaxing in the balcony of the room, to laying on the beach, swimming in the ocean, having beverages and socializing in the piano bar to meeting new people and making new friends. This trip couldn’t have gone any better! To everyone who joined us, thank you for coming along, I enjoyed getting to know you. I do hope to run into all of you again soon.
My sincere thanks to Teresa and Amy at Four Seasons Travel. Thanks for making all the arrangements and making sure all of us were taken care of. Teresa also joined us on the trip, and kept the party rolling! Teresa, keep working on the “piano man routine” ok!
I also have to say thanks to Brandon Hansen, who agreed to come along and help host. I’m so glad you did. However, he also got in trouble going through customs, but I’ll let him explain it. It sounds much better coming from him. lol
Check the photo album for all the photos from our trip…next time its your turn to join us!!
I tuned in Friday night to watch as Conan O’Brien taped his final Tonight Show on NBC. I’ve mentioned in previous blogs and on air that I’ve never been a real “Conan Fan” of sorts. I was never sold on him becoming host of the show. However, the majority of people must not have agreed, because his ratings were good during the 7 months he did the job. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him after years of hard work he finally got the opportunity of a lifetime… hosting the Tonight Show…then after 7 short months it gets taken away. It wasn’t that he did anything wrong, or wasn’t doing a good job, just a business decision and he got the short end of the stick.
I bet it was hard for him to do the final show Friday night. He was very smart about it, he went out like a true professional and didn’t attack anyone. The class & professionalism he showed will help his career. It was interesting that in his contract he could say anything he wanted while still working for the network, but once he was done, he couldn’t say anything negative about NBC. So on the show he could’ve done and said lots..but he kept if very dignified. I thought it was nice how despite their differences now, he thanked the network for giving him the great opportunities during the last 20 years of his career. Also even though he hated to leave the job, he still looked at this as another avenue and opportunity around the corner. If you were in his shoes, would you have handled it like that? Not so sure I would…or could.
The whole late-night-drama-saga will go down in the history books! When’s the last time something like this ever happened? When I first blogged about this, one question I asked was, what would Johnny Carson think of Conan O’Brien being named the next host? Now I wonder, what would Johnny think of the decisions NBC has made regarding the show? I’d think he’d be pretty ashamed.
We knew he wasn’t going to stick around forever. For the last 3 years I’ve been waiting for him to announce he’d be leaving the show…and he finally did. Is it just me, is it hard to believe we’re in the ninth season of Idol? It doesn’t seem right does it? Every season Idol has been on the air they’ve been #1 in the ratings! That is rare!
Which is the question we’re all asking…American Idol without Simon next year…will the show survive with the success it has become accustomed too? My opinion, NOT A CHANCE! Regardless what you think of Simon, he’s the whole reason for the show. He’s one of the creators, producers and brains of the show. You could replace all the other personalities on that show and it would continue without a hitch as long as Simon remained in his role. The whole point of the show is to watch and see if the contestants are able to impress Simon or not.
Next question, do you think he’s leaving because he’s upset Paula is no longer on the show? I think it’s possible. For whatever reason, Simon liked Paula and didn’t want her to leave. I think he liked her because she was easy material for him. Honestly, Simon is preparing to launch another one of his own shows, so his departure was coming eventually.
I wonder what Ellen thinks? I’m sure she’s thinking “oh great! I get the chance of a lifetime to be a judge on one of the biggest shows on television and after my first year the star bolts!” What about poor Ryan, Randy and Kara! They likely won’t ever land a TV gig as big as this one. Oh well, they’ll all get million dollar book deals to give out all the juicy details of the show. They’ll make more millions and we’ll all read it and love it!
Christmas of 2009 will be one I’ll never forget that’s for sure! I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen so much snow on the ground from one storm. At the studios we recorded 22 inches!!
I think back to last winter (the first winter in my house). I went through the month of December without a snow blower. I figured I’d be able to get by, well that month we had a couple snow storms that brought in measureable snow. After that I went and bought my snow blower. Am I glad I had it this December!! Actually, I barely kept up even with a snow blower. During the course of the 2 1/2 day storm I was out 4 times blowing my driveway. How many times were you out?
The weather did put a wrench in a lot of peoples travel plans for Christmas, including mine. I had every intention of going home to Minnesota. But I decided against it, and with the weather situation I needed to be on call at the radio station.
Often times so many of us get caught up in our busy schedules over the holidays and constantly on the go. I think this year we were forced to take a step back and realize we’re not in control. I curled up on my couch and watched some movies on Christmas. Yes I was alone, but it was also relaxing.
Even though your Christmas maybe wasn’t with everyone you had planned to be with, or where you planned to be, I do hope you had a blessed and safe Christmas.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Unfortunately, the untimely weather has put a wrench in everyone’s holiday plans.
I was planning to be in Minnesota for Christmas, but its looking like I will stay in Spencer. I would rather do that than risk being on the road…because its just not worth it. To everyone our there, please be safe this holiday season. If weather conditions get tough, don’t risk being on the road.
Well all you “Oprah Followers” today Oprah will make the big announcement that she is ending her show!! She won’t be going away totally, she’s ending the show so she can focus on starting up her own cable network. Essentially, ending one billion-dollar project to start another. Because you know any venture she attempts will be just that!
I’m not an “Oprah Follower” but I will say she is a “media genius.” The only time I watch the show is if she’s interviewing a celebrity guest I like. When she hangs it up in 2011 her show will have been in syndication 25 years. Look at how she’s branded herself, not only through her show, but also with her magazine, book club, the Angel Network, I could go on and on. For some people they reached their success by being in the right place at the right time, but with Oprah, it was hard work. More power to her. Wouldn’t it be cool to have just one of her paychecks to keep? I’m sure I could live comfortably off it.
My theory on the whole thing, she may be announcing she’s quiting the show…but once she launches her own network…she’ll bring the show back to debut the channel. If you were in her shoes and had a hit show, why would you syndicate it on what will be competing networks? She’ll leave network TV and a year or two later when the Oprah Winfrey Network is ready to launch, she’ll announce her show is coming back. She’ll need to give viewers a reason to start watching right away, and that’d be the way to do it. I could be way off base. But we’ll find out in time.
What will the networks do to fill the hour Oprah had? Maybe Bob Barker will come back with his own show! Or better yet, the KICD/Lite 104.9 staff will do our version of The Prices Are Right for television!
I am a country music fan so of course I had to watch the CMA’s. Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood returned as co-hosts for the show. They did a nice job, both are very likable and respectable entertainers. Absolutely loved the digs about Kanye West!!! So true and so appropriate! The role playing by Jimmy Dickins was perfect!
It was Taylor Swift’s night. The 19-year-old opens the show with a stunning performance and wins the evening’s biggest awards! Not bad for a 19-year-old. Whether you like her or not, she’s sitting on top of the world right now. More power to her.
Brooks and Dunn gave their final performance on the show. These guys have been doing it for a long time and have won many awards. They didn’t’ even get a standing ovation!! A little surprised by that.
OMG…LeAnn Rimes!!! Whoever did her makeup should be fired!!! She looked terrible. She looked more pale than me….and that’s white!
Darius Rucker is the man! Love his music…gave a great performance…and he gets the kudos for best acceptance speech!! If you would’ve told me five years ago the lead singer of Hootie & The Blowfish was going to cross over to country I would’ve laughed. Way to go Darius!!
Just got back from watching the big MJ movie…”This Is It!” Really didn’t know if this was a movie I wanted to see since it was all basically rehearsal footage. I enjoy the majority of Michael’s music…but always had a so-so opinion of him. But yesterday I spoke to someone who seen the movie and she said “you really need to see this!”
Yes the movie is all footage from rehearsals for the “This Is It” tour. However, it was edited and pieced together well. The movie was put together with all of Michael’s performances in the order it was to happen in the actual concert. It showed parts where Michael was collaborating with his band and directors on different parts. There were interviews with his dancers. It showed video footage that was to be part of the concert. The movie definately told viewers that this tour was going to be the “tour of all tours!” It really makes you say “what a shame he didn’t live long enough to see it to the end.”
I will tell you this…many said that Michael was out of shape and in ill health in his final months…um…that wasn’t true. He moved like no human could. He sang like he did twenty years ago. If you don’t believe me, go see the movie! In a way, I almost felt like I was standing on the floor of The Staples Center watching behind the scenes as he was performing. The footage you see once again shows the magnitude of talent MJ possessed. If you’re a fan…you’ll love the movie!
Not sure if I should say the Heene family is just that smart, or that stupid? Really, the whole story is of a husband and wife who met in acting school and have always had the bug for fame, once even appeared on a reality show, tried to gain another 15 minutes of fame through a brilliant plan of a hot air balloon. Sound a little far fetched and crazy? It reaks of stupidity!!! But it worked, to a point!
What’s really sad and crazy, is a parent would use their own child to help them feed their own selfish, ego! Could you believe the breaking news coverage this event received? I’m sure it was everything the Heene’s were hoping for and more. They essentially have gotten what they wanted, but I don’t think there will be a tv show or movie, at least not with them as the stars. Now they are potentially facing prison time and may even lose their children. Some may think that is too harsh. But the stunt went too far. I can’t imagine that Mr. and Mrs. Heene are good parents and give much attention to their kids because they’re too busy worrying about how to feed their own egos. Punish them to the max to teach them a lesson and to send a message to all the other aspiring idiots in training!!!!!
However, shame on the national media for once again blowing it out of proportion. I can see following the story as it was unfolding that day before we all knew what really was happening. But the following day when the truth was coming out, the camera crews should’ve walked away and never mentioned it again. Why do we give these people the attention? We all need to get a life.
