Idol 2009 Semis Group 2 Rankings

Here is my ranking from best to worse of tonight's performances

ADAM "Satisfaction" LAMBERT
ALLISON "Alone" IRAHETA
MEGAN JOY "Put Your Records On" CORKREY
MATT "If You Could Only See" BREITZKE
NICK (aka NORMUND GENTLE) "I Am Telling You" MITCHELL
KRIS "Man in the Mirror" ALLEN
JESSE "Bette Davis Eyes” LANGSETH
MISHAVONNA “Drops of Jupiter" HENSON
JASMINE "Love Song" MURRAY
KAI “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" KALAMA
JEANINE "This Love" VAILES
MATT "Viva La Vida" GIRAUD

More Canadian series on American TV

CTV’s original crime drama series The Bridge, which begins production in Toronto this spring, has been picked up by CBS for broadcast in the United States. The Eye network has ordered 13 episodes for telecast next season. The Bridge was originally conceived as a two-hour made-for movie and back-door pilot. After screening the pilot (shot in Toronto last summer) and ordering the series in November 2008, CTV shared the pilot with CBS executives late last year. The deal further consolidates CTV’s relationship with CBS, currently partners on the North American hit drama Flashpoint. The Bridge is the third CTV commissioned series in less than 18 months to be picked up by a major U.S. network. Flashpoint, currently airs on CBS following Ghost Whisperer on Fridays. The second series is drama The Listener, expected to run on NBC this summer.

E1 Entertainment will begin production of The Bridge in late spring (to be shot on location in Toronto) and will distribute the series internationally. Written by five-time Gemini Award winner and six-time nominee Alan Di Fiore (Da Vinci’s Inquest), the pilot movie of the week was helmed by award-winning director John Fawcett. The Bridge is inspired by the insights of veteran insider and outspoken former Toronto police union head Craig Bromell. It is described by producers as providing an unflinching look at the struggle street cops face as they battle criminals – and their own bosses – in order to protect society and, ultimately, themselves.

The Bridge stars Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica, Smallville) as outspoken union head Frank Leo; Paul Popowich (Angela’s Eyes, I Me Wed) as Frank’s partner and confidante Tommy Dunn; Gemini-Award nominee Inga Cadranel (Rent-A-Goalie, MVP) as Jill, the free-spirited cop on the force; Frank Cassini (Vice, Intelligence) as Staff Sergeant Bernie Kantor; Theresa Joy (All The Good Ones Are Married, Sixty Days) as feisty tomboy Police Constable Billy; Ona Grauer (Stargate Sg-1 And Stargate Atlantis) as beautiful, passionate prosecutor Abby St. James; Michael Murphy (Away from Her, X-Men: The Last Stand) as Chief of Police, and political animal, Ed Wycoff; and two-time Emmy Award winner Stuart Margolin (The Rockford Files, Tom Stone) as Frank’s father, Vic Leo.

81st Oscars Epilogue

The awards:

Thanks to calling the Penn over Rourke race correctly, I was able to successfully predict all major awards, with the exception of the upset in the Best Foreign Film category (where Departures from Japan-- the story of a man in a small town working in a mortuary-- upset the animated Waltz With Bashir from Israel). Slumdog’s smashing victory (8 awards total) was an easy call!

The telecast:

I believe Hugh Jackman aced his first assignment as host (despite the musical numbers “cheese” factor). I liked the set design (with the orchestra up on the main stage instead of down in the pit). And I especially liked having 5 past winners take the stage to introduce one nominee a piece for the 4 top acting awards. Pairing comic actors / writers Tina Fey and Steve Martin to present the screenplay awards was also inspired. I also liked the yearbook concept (highlighting other noteworthy non-nominated films of the year as well)

Ratings:

The Awards show managed to bounce back from record low viewership of just over 32 million last year. Based on the fast national ratings from Nielsen Media Research, The 81st Annual Academy Awards on ABC averaged a hefty 36.3 million viewers with a 12.1 rating among adults 18-49 on Sunday. Comparably, that makes it the most-watched entertainment telecast since the 79th Annual festivities on Feb. 25, 2007, and highest rated among adults 18-49 since Fox’s American Idol on Feb. 12, 2008. Year-to-year, The Oscars built by 4.3 million viewers (36.3 vs. 32.0 million), 13 percent among adults 18-49 (12.1 vs. 10.7) and as high as 22 percent among men 18-34 (8.9 vs. 7.3). ABC is reporting that The 81st Annual Academy Awards reached 67.56 million unique viewers (who watched at least six minutes of the telecast).

Overall ABC’s Oscar night coverage beat the four competing networks combined by 26 percent.

The 81st Annual Academy Awards (ABC)

8:30 p.m.: 21.5/32
9:00 p.m.: 23.1/34
9:30 p.m.: 22.9/33
10:00 p.m.: 23.9/36
10:30 p.m.: 23.0/36
11:00 p.m.: 22.7/37
11:30 p.m.: 23.5/42

In the pre game show earlier in the evening, ABC’s Barbara Walters Special attracted 11.6 million viewers and a 3.2 among adults 18-49 from 7-8 p.m., followed by Oscar’s Red Carpet 2009 pre-show at 24.3 million viewers and a 7.2 in the 18-49 key demo at 8 p.m. Comparatively, that was an increase of 2.8 million viewers and 13 percent among adults 18-49 for the Red Carpet special from one year earlier.

Here's how the Oscars telecast's 36.3 million viewers compares to the ratings attracted by other awards shows this season

"Grammy Awards" 19.0 million

"Golden Globe Awards" 14.9 million

"Emmy Awards" 12.3 million

Weekend in Niagara

We just returned from a getaway weekend for two to Niagara Falls. We stayed a single night (Saturday February 20th) at the Sheraton Fallsview in a comfortable 8th floor room directly overlooking the Table Rock House at the top of the Falls, about two blocks away from the Fallsview Casino. The room rate was approx. $130 (inclusive of all taxes) for the night plus $20 for surface parking in a lot adjacent to the hotel. We dined on ribs at Tony Romas (located in the Radisson, next door to the Sheraton) for dinner. We also enjoyed mid afternoon warmers at The Keg (on the 9th floor of the Embassy Suites hotel) and pre-dinner cocktails at the Blue Martin Lounge on the 34th floor of the Hilton (which is undergoing a massive expansion, with a 55 floor adjoining all suites resort tower being erected next door). I can highly recommend their SweeTart Martini! Finally, we had brunch Sunday morning at the Fallsview Casino’s grand buffet (featuring made to order omelettes and carved ham steak) for less than $12 per plate, including coffee, juice and complimentary coat-check! Before departing we went through the Louis Tussaud’s Wax Works museum at the top of Clifton Hill, posing for pictures with “the stars”.

Pic links:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79676&id=526885372&l=8d7d1

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79673&id=526885372&l=7ab2e

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79677&id=526885372&l=5c85f

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79681&id=526885372&l=76a3c

My Fearless Oscar predictions

The Oscars will be presented tonight in Hollywood. There are a number of tight races in several categories (including both Best Actor (between Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn) and Best Actress (between Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep).

Hear are my fearless predictions of who will take the trophies home...

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Leading Actor: Sean Penn
Best Leading Actress: Kate Winslet
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz
Best Director: Danny Boyle
Best Foreign Film: Waltz with Bashir
Best Documentary Feature: Man on a Wire
Best Animated Film: WALL-E
Best Original Song: Hai Ho
Best Original Sore: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Original Screenplay: Milk
Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire

Java in the hood

Coffee shops in St Lawrence / Olde Town Toronto


I have been compiling a list of places to eat/drink within reasonable walking distance of our Toronto King George Square home (roughly a 1km radius comprising the rectangle bounded by Yonge St (to the west), The Esplanade (to the South), Parliament (to the East) and Richmond St. (to the North)).

I have deliberately excluded any eatery within the St. Lawrence Market (that lacks a separate entrance to the street) and within area hotels (such as the Meridien King Edward, Holiday Inn Express and The Cosmopolitan)

I have grouped the list by broad categories. So far I have 110 places to eat/drink on my master list. I m going to roll these out in a series. The first list I present today features the coffee shop category.

Overall, there a great number of coffee shops (including 5 Tim Hortons and 5 Starbucks (with a 6th about to open (@ the NE corner of Adelaide & Church)) in the hood.

I can't claim to have patronized all of these places during our 3 plus years in the area. But I have been to most! I have added some capsule reviews below.


Coffee Shops


Tim Hortons

Having grown up in Hamilton near the first Tim Hortons, I am very partial to this brand. Its simple no nonsense coffee at a moderate price. There coffee isn't the best you'll ever taste but it is consistent, hot and always fresh. They have down-sized their muffins and donuts in recent years. But their Spring "roll up the rim" prize tab promotion is still alot of fun.

5 loactions:

73A Front St E : This is a large location where Timmys is twinned with a Wendys. Its located just West of Church street on the south side of front. Seating is ample and service is usually prompt. There is however a shortage of natural light. There is a separate soup / sandwich / toasted bagel pick up area.

200 King St E (inside George Brown) : This location inside George Brown college is actually the closest to my home. However, it keeps very restricted hours and it doesn't offer any toasted bagels, sandwiches or soup... just beverages, donuts, muffins and cookies

323 Richmond St E : Another large location that can get busy at peak times. It attracts a very blue collar crowd. There is a separate soup / sandwich / toasted bagel pick-up area.

18 King St. E: This small location is just East of Yonge and adjoins an office building lobby. There are two service lineups that usually move swiftly.

33 Yonge Street: this location is at the rear of a large office building and can be very busy in peak morning hours. there are two service lineups that can move slowly at times.


Starbucks

5 locations:

185 King St: This location is in a historic block. Its a little small but quite cozy and with good natural light

81 Front St E: This location is near the St. Lawrence Market and has outdoor patio seating

132 Front Street E: This is a newer location on the ground floor of a condo building that is underutilized. There is ample seating.

1 Adelaide St E: This is a smallish location in the ground floor lobby of the Dundee Place office tower.

4 King Street W.: This is a large bustling location located at the NW corner of King and Yonge located on the ground floor of an office building above a subway entrance


Second Cup Coffee 163 King St E: A medium sized location on the SE corner of the King / Jarvis intersection that features a good selection of pastries


Lettieri Espresso Bar & Café

Two locations:

79 Front St E
25 Adelaide St E


Coffee Time 222 The Esplanade -- The appearance is spartan and the clientele is decidely working class but the donuts and muffins are huge

Timothys 30 Adelaide St E. -- located inside the State Street Financial Centre, this location has restricted hours.

Tea Masters 20 Adelaide St E -- excellent selection of lunch sandwiches and very reasonable prices.

Treats 60 Adelaide St E -- very interesting muffin assortment

Bisogno Espresso Bar 61 Sherbourne -- reasonably priced Italian style hot beverages in a comfortable atmosphere

Cafe 260 260 Richmond St E


Balzac's Coffee 55 Mill St, Building #60 Excellent value and assortment of beverages and pastries in and a very upscale ambiance


Mystic Muffin 113 Jarvis St Toronto This place scares me. It is located just up the street from a Salvation Army mission.

Reality Returns!

In prime-time reality series news, given that ABC’s The Bachelor has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity this year, I have been anxiously anticipating how well the new seasons of CBS’s veteran reality series Survivor and the Amazing Race would fare. The results are now in. The 18th cycle of CBS’ veteran Survivor, (Tocatins: The Brazilian Highlands), opened on Thursday, Feb. 12 with a first-place time period finish in households (8.0 rating/13 share), total viewers (13.63 million) and adults 18-49 (4.4 rating/13 share). This was on a par with its performance from one year earlier. Meanwhile, the 14th cycle of CBS’ Emmy award winning The Amazing Race (featuring a leg set in Switzerland) opened first in the 8 p.m. Sunday timeslot in both total viewers (9.29 million) and adults 18-49 (2.7/ 7). However, retention out of lead-in 60 Minutes (Viewers: 13.08 million; A18-49: 2.1/ 6) was just 71 percent (in total viewers). Also, AR lagged relative to the previous season premiere on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2008. The Season 13 debut was stronger, attracting 10.04 million viewers and a 3.2/ 8 in the key demo.

What's with the Roman Numerals?

February is the shortest month on the calendar but it often seems one of the longest. Christmas vacation memories have faded and Spring is still far distant. One cure for the Winter blahs: weekend television suddenly improves in February! Some of the most popular special events are scheduled during the February network sweeps. Last Sunday Super Bowl XLIII was broadcast, this Sunday the 51st Annual Grammys are presented, next weekend the NASCAR season kicks off with the 51st running Daytona 500 and on February 22nd the 81st Annual Academy Awards unspool. One thing that puzzles me about these annual televised events. All of the Oscars, the Daytona 500 and the Grammys have been running longer than the Super Bowl, yet the latter is the only one that insists on using roman numerals to track annual events by number. Why is that? Why does only it merit roman numerals while the other events consider everyday ordinals perfectly suitable?. Is it pretense: that NFL football fancies itself more important than the other events? Or is it that football most resembles the gladiator matches in ancient Rome? I just don't get this difference! Ideas, anyone?

How the CRTC spoiled my Super Bowl

Some hardcore NFL fans may believe the SuperBowl is all about the football game played out on the field. But if that was truly the case, the event wouldn`t be so highly rated. Its broader popularity is also traceable to two other factors. First, the pre-game and halftime entertainment. And second, the original ads that sponsors pay a fortune to unveil during the time-outs. If you doubt me, consider that everyone still remembers the Justin Timberlake - Janet Jackson half-time show wardrobe malfunction episode while few remember the teams that played (let alone the score) in that same game!

In recent years, Canadian viewers have been deprived of the opportunity to access the splashy bid budget TV ads that run on the US TV network broadcasting the game because of a draconian government regulator`s futile attempts to protect Canadian culture. Under regulations established by the CRTC, Canadian cable and satellite TV signal distributors are required to substitute the local Canadian TV stations signal for the US network`s signal when both channels offer the same programming. The theory behind this ``simultaneous substitution`` policy is to maximize Canadian broadcasters' audiences to boost advertising revenues. The hope is that increased broadcaster revenues will provide more funds to invest in production of Canadian programming. Our government believes Canadian artists and technicians would starve without this cultural policy advantage.

The irony is that CTV relegated the Grey Cup (Canada's national football championship) to its sister cabler (TSN )this year but carried the Super Bowl (the USA's national pro football championship) on its main network network (with greater audience reach). That hardly promotes Canadian culture!

In the days before cable and satellite transmission, the CRTC was largely powerless to promote this form of cultural protectionism since viewers could simply pull the US border station signals out of the air with their own antennae or set-top rabbit ears. Today, Canadians with illegal "grey market" satellite dishes can still evade the simultaneous substitution rule too. Ditto those who take off to points south of the border in order to watch. So a compelling argument might be made that this policy encourages signal theft and drives hospitality-tourism dollars out of Canada!

There was also some controversy this year about whether Quebec based cable systems operated by Quebecor Videotron (QV) would provide a US HD feed. QV had argued that because CTV does not usually provide a HD signal in those local markets, due to a loophole in the CRTC policy, they would not be required to signal substitute for the HD NBC signal they usually carry. CTV replied by issuing a press release indicating that they intended to make their HD signal available to cable companies in those Quebec markets. However, according to a report in today`s Gazette, the QV CATV in the Montreal area did not comply by substituting the CTV signal in place of the NBC feed. So Montrealers got what Torontonians were deprived. What a reversal of fortune!

Some may suggest that this is a big non-issue in the age of the internet since the original ads are available via the web. This ignores the fact that the ads are a vital and integral part of the Super Bowl telecast. Watching them outside of the context of the live game broadcast is a poor substitute for the real thing. Likewise, the quality of most streaming web video does not simulate the digital broadcast HD TV signal quality well.

Lets hoping this inequity (which penalizes Canadian viewers) gets resolved by this time next year. The CRTC politburo needs an exemption policy for live special events of foreign origin. The original ads cannot continue to be classified for American and Quebecers`eyes only!

The sad reality is that if CTV overpays for the rights to a US event and is unable to recover the costs in advertising revenues without the CRTC running interference, the additional red ink will just be a drop in the bucket of swirling interest charges servicing the debt they took on to pay an inflated price to acquire CITY TV. A CRTC policy that allows CTV to overpay for their M&A plays and the the Super Bowl rights, while relegating the Grey Cup to its B network and cancelling this Summer`s run of Canadian Idol, is clearly not working as intended.