This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
There's such a barrage of reality shows swallowing up our television time, it's hard to keep track of who's schmoozing whom and who's been doing the backstabbing. Here's the cooler talk about last week's episodes of some of your favorite reality fare, written by The Salt Lake Tribune's resident unscripted-TV buffs. (Warning: Spoilers ahead. If you didn't watch last week, read at your own risk.)
Amazing Race,
Sundays, 8 p.m., KUTV Ch. 2
What happened?
A topsy-turvy trip from Argentina to Maputo, Mozambique, put perpetual also-rans Charla and Mirna in first place after the racers filled charcoal sacks, painted fingernails and guided land-mine-seeking rats. Uchenna and Joyce came in last in this non-elimination leg.
Best whine & cheese moment
Fun fact: The three teams that chose to hawk manicures in a Maputo market all placed ahead of the four teams that filled sacks of charcoal.
American Idol
What happened?
America, clean your ears! Viewers continued to knock out good singers in favor of bad when they voted off Stephanie Edwards, keeping Sanjaya Malakar and Haley Scarnato. It was British Invasion week, with contestants singing songs they are too young to know, and Sanjaya had the nerve to sing the Kinks' "You Really Got Me." Uh, no you didn't.
Best whine & cheese moment
Having Sanjaya come out and whip his hair around was too much to handle. It got worse when a 13-year-old girl in the audience began uncontrollably crying in his presence. Michael Jackson he's not.
America's Next Top Model
Wednesdays, 7 p.m., KUCW Ch. 30; encore Sundays, 8 p.m.
What happened?
Vogue! Vogueing pro Benny Ninja helped the girls strike a pose while ducking and dodging in a laser maze. Renee improved this week, while some of the other girls had a false sense of security when it came to elemination time. In the end, Felicia was deemed not so fierce, and judges gave her the boot.
Best whine & cheese moment
In the girls' disturbing photo shoot where the theme was stylish murder, creative director Jay told Jael her poses were not believable, shouting, "It doesn't look like you're dead." He ate his words later when he found out Jael's friend recently died of an overdose. Just call him Mr. Sensitivity.
What happened?
Survivor: Fiji
Thursdays, 7 p.m., KUTV Ch. 2
In what may have been the best episode yet, the game was given a twist and new teams formed. Ravu became the all-beefy-guys team, which still got hammered by Moto's half-women, half-guys team in the immunity challenge. Testosterone-filled Rocky and mild-mannered Anthony got into a tiff about being a man, and the rest of the grunts agreed with Rocky. Anthony went home.
Best whine & cheese moment
After all the huffing and puffing about being a super team with muscles, the all-male Ravu team ended up with more brawn than brains in an immunity challenge through an obstacle course that also required a bit of thought. Apparently, the guys didn't have even that.
Contributors: Alicia Greenleigh, Sean P. Means and Vince Horiuchi