Another Miss USA Pageant has come and gone.
And, with it, emotions run high and opinions are varied.
So, in keeping with my annual tradition, here are my thoughts on the Good, the Bad and the Indifferent surrounding the annual competition.
I use the word competition because the term beauty pageant has long been eliminated from references to Miss USA.
It's passe.
It may not even be politically correct anymore.
Still, beauty is at the core of any pageant and this year's contestants did not disappoint.
Beauty is subjective, but all 51 contestants were beautiful in their own right.
Only one, though, can win the crown.
And, this year, the judges chose Miss District of Columbia, Kara McCullough, to be the holder of the title and I couldn't be more thrilled.
Kara is not only beautiful, she is also smart, ambitious and qualified to represent our nation at Miss Universe.
The pageant often reinvents itself, as was the case when Donald Trump took it over following the crowning of Ali Landry in 1996.
Beauty was pushed to the forefront - and rightfully so - however, many of the women crowned during his era weren't necessarily the best speakers.
IMG is now emphasizing brains, speaking skills and that something extra.
And, I, for one don't have a problem with that.
There should be no reason we can't crown a Miss USA that embodies both beauty and brains.
One who can hold her own with the media and one who can guarantee getting more bookings during her reign with a combination of arresting beauty and strong intellect.
I think we got that in Kara last night.
She will represent us well and I think is even the frontrunner for the Miss Universe title, but that's just my opinion, as is the rest of this blog.
Keeping in mind that whenever you assemble a panel of judges, differences will arise and opinions will vary. No one is ever going to agree 100% on everything and that's OK. We just have to learn to respect the varied opinions of others and accept the decision of the judges, whether we agree with it or not.
Did I agree with everything that took place last night on the stage?
Hell, no, however, I really didn't have a problem with any of the top 10. Nine of them were on my extended Top 15 list to begin with and any would have made a tremendous Miss USA.
The only contestant I really hadn't noticed was Missouri, the rest I had kept alternating on my list. Just wish the pageant had allowed a Top 15 to compete, as it allows more states to stay tuned and stay involved in the proceedings and it also provides these young women an extra chance to impress the judges and to proudly represent their state on national television.
Don't eliminate the up close and personal videos, but show only the top 5, as true pageant fans can find their way to the Miss USA website or YouTube to view them.
Let 15 compete in gown, as that has proven to be the most popular one for pageant fans whenever they are asked to vote in an unscientific poll regarding their favorite part of the competition. Then let 12 compete in swimsuit and, then, do the short interview they did with each of the top 10 delegates when the group is cut to 10 following swimsuit.
Have all scores combined to then get a top five and have each of them then answer the same question. No need to have two rounds of questions that cut to a final three. Just make the top 10 interview have a little more depth to it and then you're fine.
But, that's just fine tuning the pageant, as I had no real problem with the way the eliminations were done last night except for the initial cut to 10.
Since Miss USA started as a swimsuit pageant, have all 51 contestants appear in swimsuits in the opening number and that will be a good compromise that would allow for more gowns in the semi-final competition.
As for last night's opening number, I loved it, with one MAJOR exception.
The upbeat dance number was great, not allowing each young woman to introduce herself and her hometown was not.
These ladies work long and hard to get on the national stage and they deserve their moment to shine before the eliminations begin.
As for the emcees, Terrence J and Julianne Hough were terrific, both seemed thrilled to be there and moved the show along nicely. My only complaint there was Julianne's hair looked a hot mess all evening long!
As for color commentator, Ashley Graham, if you're going to have that position, use it and provide some juicy commentary. Her presence there just sort of seemed useless to me. I long for the days when Helen O'Connell sat above the stage and gave us insight into the pageant or Ali Landry and Julie Moran actually gave us some dish on the contestants and the competition. That's a much-needed part I think she be brought back.
As for providing dish, here's mine.
TOP 10 - From the moment they were announced and spoke, DC dominated and proved she would be the frontrunner all evening. She did not disappoint in swimsuit, where I ranked her second, behind Minnesota, who impressed in my favorite swimsuit of the evening. Other strong swimsuits were South Carolina, Alaska (did you look at the abs on her?) New York and Tennessee.
Coming out of preliminary competition my top three were NY, Tennessee and DC, only DC advanced to the final five. Part of that was I thought NY could have come right out of the gate in top 10 question and shown a little more of herself, like what Illinois did to endear herself to me and get her a spot in the five. Tennessee dominated prelims, but seemed a little off last night, and while I liked her gown, it was a little safe to me.
At least it was not disastrous like Minnesota's gown, which was way too busy for my taste, tho apparently it didn't hurt her, as she advanced to the 10, also.
My favorite gowns were DC, especially how she worked the gown, Alaska, who seemed a little too nervous to advance to the five, and New York. I also love when a girl buys a gown off the rack and that propelled New Jersey into my five at that point (of course her great personality and top 10 quick interview didn't hurt, either.)
My top five would have been DC, SC, Illinois (wearing a similar gown to Deshauna Barber, last year's Miss USA wasn't a great decision, but I didn't mind it), New Jersey and really any of the others, as I didn't have a particularly strong opinion either way. I had hoped Tennessee or NY would make it, but wasn't sure at that point. I thought Minnesota's gown choice would be her undoing, though, it wasn't.
Minnesota could clearly speak, which then propelled her into the top three along with both DC and New Jersey. DC seemed a little nervous, but a little nerves made her more relatable. Minnesota's answers seemed a little too canned and robotic to me, but that was just my opinion. Illinois continued to impress me and I loved her top five answer and would have actually placed her in the three instead of Minnesota. But, again, everyone has different opinions and that's why there are seven judges and not just one.
I did think the difficulty of the top five questions weren't necessarily all equal, but they were all good questions and none of the contestants had an embarrassing YouTube moment.
Perhaps my biggest complaint with Sunday's pageant was that it was never made clear as to how the People's Choice preliminary vote influenced the top 10 - if it influenced it at all - and the online final night voting which cut off before the allotted time limit in at least two instances and before the top 5 had entirely completed the answer to the question.
There were many pre-pageant favorites who didn't make the cut and I was disappointed. I loved Massachusetts and Utah going in and came to love Colorado, Nebraska and New Hampshire as the pageant week progressed. Despite strong preliminary performances, Massachusetts, Colorado and Nebraska did not advance. Neither did Utah nor NH, but neither wowed me in the prelims anyway.
But, again, my opinions are just that, mine and I can't mandate that six or seven other people are going to have the same views that I do.
With only 10 advancing to finals night, there were bound to be disappointments, that's just a given.
In the end, I agreed with the judges final decision and while many are debating the pageant and its new image, all I can say is that I don't like sob stories or personal tragedies to influence the judging and for the most part it did not. I would place a little less emphasis on that angle, which did take up a little too much time during the broadcast and replace it with a top 15.
Clearly, Miss USA is more than just a beauty pageant, and I really don't have a problem with that as long as the winner chosen is not only well spoken, but beautiful, too.
I think we got that with Kara.
And, in the end, beauty is in the eye of the beholder anyway.
Monday, May 15, 2017
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Heartbreaking Lead Actress and Actor Submissions Get My Vote
It's time now for my observations on the big guns of daytime - the Lead Actress and Actor Emmy categories.
And, after watching all 10 Lead reels, I can honestly say that it will all come down to a difference of opinion as four ladies and three men have spectacular reels.
With 12 Emmys already won among the Lead Actress nominees, alone, this looks to be the toughest and most intense category of all.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS -
Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis, General Hospital.) With a killer alcoholism story that was the talk of the industry last year, I expected more from this two-time Emmy winner, but all I got was a lot of histrionics that don't play out well in a 18-minute reel. The reel starts out promising with Alexis confronting Julian and letting him know she will never let him near their unborn child. Voters never find out what happens next as the next two episodes she choose deal with her alcoholism, yet even they don't provide a satisfying ending. The reel ends with a possibly now sober - tho maybe not - Alexis confronting Julian about his killing Carlos. Too much going on here and Grahn's true greatness as an actress, unfortunately, doesn't show. Very poor choices of reel and an example of where taking advantage of the new four-episode rule is actually a disadvantage. If she wins, it's based on the popularity of the storyline and her work as an actress, not on the contents of the reel.
GINA TOGNONI (Phyllis, The Young and the Restless.) Perfect example of how an Emmy reel should flow. First up was Phyllis' testimony against Victor at his trial, which screamed Emmy reel to me when I first saw it. She then puts in a short moment between her and Billy that sets up the final part of the reel, where Jack finds out Phyllis and Billy slept together. Peter Bergman is outstanding - and even a little dominant - in that part of the reel, however, the emotions Tognoni conjurs up are real and true. The only con on this reel is that Tognoni is so brilliant that you want to see more than the just-under eight minutes she submitted.
HEATHER TOM ( Katie, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Going for a record-tying sixth performance Daytime Emmy, Tom certainly has the reel that could do it. She seemlessly goes through the realization that her husband and sister are in love with one another and even while liquored up still makes sense. Then, she breaks down, while drunk, to try and get her life back together, only to discover at the end of her reel, that all of her suspicions were actually true, as she confronts Brooke one last time and walks out on her. In the battle of alcoholics, Tom vs. Grahn, Tom wins by a mile, with a controlled, yet nuanced performance. The writing of these scenes screams Emmy bait, but Tom's flawless performance screams Emmy worthy. And, of note, in the battle of alcoholics, Tom's reel has much more substance, relatability and flow to it in comparison to Grahn's. Another example of what a great Emmy reel should look like.
JESS WALTON (Jill, The Young and the Restless.) A supporting year put in the lead category, Walton's reel is, nonetheless, spectacular and voters may not know that Jill wasn't front and center on the Y&R canvas last year. And even if they do know that, it might not matter. Her first part of her reel deals with bailing Billy out of jail and confronting him about his mistakes. She then has great scenes with Phyllis confronting them about their affair. Then, the reel shifts to Jill dealing with the possibility of Billy dying and confronting everyone about them giving up on him while the subtext clearly is there that she blames herself just as much. This is clearly the strongest part of her very diverse submission. While she may have been a supporting character even in the reel, Walton shines with venom, despair and guilt. She doesn't have two Emmys already for nothing. Tho the reel plays out of chronological order, story wise, the final part packs the greatest punch. Walton's always Emmy worthy, no matter what the material is.
LAURA WRIGHT (Carly, General Hospital.) Wright clearly sets out to tell a story. The first part of reel is sentimental as Carly gives Morgan a necklace and is letting him know how proud she is of him. This part may seem odd to voters, but it sets up the rest of the reel as it ends up being one of the last good memories she has of her son. Following a brief scene with Sonny that ends up foreshadowing everything she fears, the next time we see Carly, we learn Morgan was killed in a car explosion. Raw, brutal and honest, Wright breaks your heart when listening to her last voicemail to her son and then tears into Sonny for his role in the death. Never over the top in this reel, Wright takes us on a rollercoaster ride of emotions from peace at the beginning of the reel to utter devastation at the end of it. The only reel that reduced me to tears. Wright did some work here. Wright clearly set out to show a complete arc and the only downside to that may be the first scene with Morgan, but by the end of the 20 minutes, you realize why she included it.
A plethora of tremendous reels makes it extremely difficult to rank 2-3-4, tho my 1 and 5 are in stone.
MY RANKINGS -
1. Laura Wright
2. Heather Tom
3. Jess Walton
4. Gina Tognoni
5. Nancy Lee Grahn
And, finally, let's look at the nominees for Best Actor.
Four of the five have Emmy wins under their belt, tho Peter Bergman is the only one to have won in this particular category. Still, with 8 wins between them, the caliber of acting talent proves this category will be every bit as strong as the Lead Actress one.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR -
PETER BERGMAN (Jack, The Young and the Restless.) A three-time winner in the lead category, Bergman has to be considered the front-runner in this year's race. And his reel doesn't disappoint, as he runs the gamut of emotions following the discovery that his wife slept with his brother. From disbelief, to rage to devastation, Bergman displays all the emotions and doesn't hold back. It was the first reel I viewed and it's going to be hard to beat.
SCOTT CLIFTON (Liam, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Fine display of acting if you like way over-the-top and screaming for a 11-minute span. He confronts Quinn about her kidnapping him in two parts of the reel, throws stuff around and then screams at Bill over his betrayal of Katie during the last 2 minutes or so. Took a Tylenol after watching that one.
BILLY FLYNN (Chad, Days of Our Lives.) A first-time nominee and the only one of the five without an Emmy, Flynn proves he deserves to be here. His reel contains his final heartbreaking scenes with Joe Mascolo's Stefano and Flynn is perfection. He continues to mesmerize in dealing with Abigail's breakdown and reported death. The youngest of all the leads in this category, Flynn is more than worthy of the nomination and possibly a win. His scenes with Mascolo, in particular, were brilliant and his breakdown at end palpable.
VINCENT IRIZARRY (Deimos, Days of Our Lives.) Maybe it was the awful writing, but Irizarry just leaves me flat in a reel that I kept checking the time on to see when it ended. Another reel that plays out of chronological order, Irizarry goes ballistic on Nicole for not telling him the truth about the baby Chloe was carrying being his, then it reverts to when they were first getting together, which would seem out of context even to a non-Days viewer. It ends with him playing the piano, which he does well, but does not do anything for - or belong in - the reel.
KRISTOFF ST. JOHN (Neil, The Young and the Restless.) Not a show or over the top submission, just pure gut-wrenching heartbreak from second one as Neil finally sees his long-lost mother, forgives her, then recounts his life with his family to her before she dies. I forgot how great an actor Kristoff is cuz he makes it seem so simple and because Y&R wastes his immense talent. He had me hooked from beginning to end, in part because I could relate to losing a mother and in part because he was so good. Showier reels might take home the Emmy, but St. John did something to me that the others - even the brilliant Bergman and Flynn - didn't do for me. He made me feel.
Easily, a three-way race and I suspect Flynn may pull a Tyler Christopher from last year and win and I'd be fine with that. However, my vote is this:
MY RANKINGS -
1. Kristoff St. John
2. Peter Bergman
3. Billy Flynn
4. Vincent Irizarry
5. Scott Clifton
In the end, I think both lead categories come down to how the top three (in actress four) end up rankings wise, as any of them would be worthy Emmy winners.
And, after watching all 10 Lead reels, I can honestly say that it will all come down to a difference of opinion as four ladies and three men have spectacular reels.
With 12 Emmys already won among the Lead Actress nominees, alone, this looks to be the toughest and most intense category of all.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS -
Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis, General Hospital.) With a killer alcoholism story that was the talk of the industry last year, I expected more from this two-time Emmy winner, but all I got was a lot of histrionics that don't play out well in a 18-minute reel. The reel starts out promising with Alexis confronting Julian and letting him know she will never let him near their unborn child. Voters never find out what happens next as the next two episodes she choose deal with her alcoholism, yet even they don't provide a satisfying ending. The reel ends with a possibly now sober - tho maybe not - Alexis confronting Julian about his killing Carlos. Too much going on here and Grahn's true greatness as an actress, unfortunately, doesn't show. Very poor choices of reel and an example of where taking advantage of the new four-episode rule is actually a disadvantage. If she wins, it's based on the popularity of the storyline and her work as an actress, not on the contents of the reel.
GINA TOGNONI (Phyllis, The Young and the Restless.) Perfect example of how an Emmy reel should flow. First up was Phyllis' testimony against Victor at his trial, which screamed Emmy reel to me when I first saw it. She then puts in a short moment between her and Billy that sets up the final part of the reel, where Jack finds out Phyllis and Billy slept together. Peter Bergman is outstanding - and even a little dominant - in that part of the reel, however, the emotions Tognoni conjurs up are real and true. The only con on this reel is that Tognoni is so brilliant that you want to see more than the just-under eight minutes she submitted.
HEATHER TOM ( Katie, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Going for a record-tying sixth performance Daytime Emmy, Tom certainly has the reel that could do it. She seemlessly goes through the realization that her husband and sister are in love with one another and even while liquored up still makes sense. Then, she breaks down, while drunk, to try and get her life back together, only to discover at the end of her reel, that all of her suspicions were actually true, as she confronts Brooke one last time and walks out on her. In the battle of alcoholics, Tom vs. Grahn, Tom wins by a mile, with a controlled, yet nuanced performance. The writing of these scenes screams Emmy bait, but Tom's flawless performance screams Emmy worthy. And, of note, in the battle of alcoholics, Tom's reel has much more substance, relatability and flow to it in comparison to Grahn's. Another example of what a great Emmy reel should look like.
JESS WALTON (Jill, The Young and the Restless.) A supporting year put in the lead category, Walton's reel is, nonetheless, spectacular and voters may not know that Jill wasn't front and center on the Y&R canvas last year. And even if they do know that, it might not matter. Her first part of her reel deals with bailing Billy out of jail and confronting him about his mistakes. She then has great scenes with Phyllis confronting them about their affair. Then, the reel shifts to Jill dealing with the possibility of Billy dying and confronting everyone about them giving up on him while the subtext clearly is there that she blames herself just as much. This is clearly the strongest part of her very diverse submission. While she may have been a supporting character even in the reel, Walton shines with venom, despair and guilt. She doesn't have two Emmys already for nothing. Tho the reel plays out of chronological order, story wise, the final part packs the greatest punch. Walton's always Emmy worthy, no matter what the material is.
LAURA WRIGHT (Carly, General Hospital.) Wright clearly sets out to tell a story. The first part of reel is sentimental as Carly gives Morgan a necklace and is letting him know how proud she is of him. This part may seem odd to voters, but it sets up the rest of the reel as it ends up being one of the last good memories she has of her son. Following a brief scene with Sonny that ends up foreshadowing everything she fears, the next time we see Carly, we learn Morgan was killed in a car explosion. Raw, brutal and honest, Wright breaks your heart when listening to her last voicemail to her son and then tears into Sonny for his role in the death. Never over the top in this reel, Wright takes us on a rollercoaster ride of emotions from peace at the beginning of the reel to utter devastation at the end of it. The only reel that reduced me to tears. Wright did some work here. Wright clearly set out to show a complete arc and the only downside to that may be the first scene with Morgan, but by the end of the 20 minutes, you realize why she included it.
A plethora of tremendous reels makes it extremely difficult to rank 2-3-4, tho my 1 and 5 are in stone.
MY RANKINGS -
1. Laura Wright
2. Heather Tom
3. Jess Walton
4. Gina Tognoni
5. Nancy Lee Grahn
And, finally, let's look at the nominees for Best Actor.
Four of the five have Emmy wins under their belt, tho Peter Bergman is the only one to have won in this particular category. Still, with 8 wins between them, the caliber of acting talent proves this category will be every bit as strong as the Lead Actress one.
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR -
PETER BERGMAN (Jack, The Young and the Restless.) A three-time winner in the lead category, Bergman has to be considered the front-runner in this year's race. And his reel doesn't disappoint, as he runs the gamut of emotions following the discovery that his wife slept with his brother. From disbelief, to rage to devastation, Bergman displays all the emotions and doesn't hold back. It was the first reel I viewed and it's going to be hard to beat.
SCOTT CLIFTON (Liam, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Fine display of acting if you like way over-the-top and screaming for a 11-minute span. He confronts Quinn about her kidnapping him in two parts of the reel, throws stuff around and then screams at Bill over his betrayal of Katie during the last 2 minutes or so. Took a Tylenol after watching that one.
BILLY FLYNN (Chad, Days of Our Lives.) A first-time nominee and the only one of the five without an Emmy, Flynn proves he deserves to be here. His reel contains his final heartbreaking scenes with Joe Mascolo's Stefano and Flynn is perfection. He continues to mesmerize in dealing with Abigail's breakdown and reported death. The youngest of all the leads in this category, Flynn is more than worthy of the nomination and possibly a win. His scenes with Mascolo, in particular, were brilliant and his breakdown at end palpable.
VINCENT IRIZARRY (Deimos, Days of Our Lives.) Maybe it was the awful writing, but Irizarry just leaves me flat in a reel that I kept checking the time on to see when it ended. Another reel that plays out of chronological order, Irizarry goes ballistic on Nicole for not telling him the truth about the baby Chloe was carrying being his, then it reverts to when they were first getting together, which would seem out of context even to a non-Days viewer. It ends with him playing the piano, which he does well, but does not do anything for - or belong in - the reel.
KRISTOFF ST. JOHN (Neil, The Young and the Restless.) Not a show or over the top submission, just pure gut-wrenching heartbreak from second one as Neil finally sees his long-lost mother, forgives her, then recounts his life with his family to her before she dies. I forgot how great an actor Kristoff is cuz he makes it seem so simple and because Y&R wastes his immense talent. He had me hooked from beginning to end, in part because I could relate to losing a mother and in part because he was so good. Showier reels might take home the Emmy, but St. John did something to me that the others - even the brilliant Bergman and Flynn - didn't do for me. He made me feel.
Easily, a three-way race and I suspect Flynn may pull a Tyler Christopher from last year and win and I'd be fine with that. However, my vote is this:
MY RANKINGS -
1. Kristoff St. John
2. Peter Bergman
3. Billy Flynn
4. Vincent Irizarry
5. Scott Clifton
In the end, I think both lead categories come down to how the top three (in actress four) end up rankings wise, as any of them would be worthy Emmy winners.
Thursday, April 13, 2017
Supporting Actress Race A Dead Heat; Supporting Actor Not So Much
The Supporting categories in the race for the Daytime Emmy are always the toughest to predict, as often times leads with a lot of material go here, however, this year is not the case.
Even Days' Kate Mansi, who was lead on her show, could be justified as going to supporting because of her tenure on the show, tho I still would have gone lead if I were her.
Other than that, the nominees are fair, though many heavy hitters who should be here - think Judi Evans, Suzanne Rogers or Wally Kurth of Days - aren't, the categories are still pretty stacked and fairly good.
Here's my votes in the Supporting categories:
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS -
STACY HAIDUK (Patty, The Young and the Restless.) Long overdue for a nomination, she is so good at being crazy, it literally breaks your heart. In one moment she's childlike and vulnerable, the next she's certifiably scary. Her scenes involve getting returned to the asylum and then confronting Dylan and Sharon. As with the other categories that I've watched in alphabetical order, this first submission is going to be pretty difficult to beat.
ANNA MARIA HORSFORD (Vivian, The Bold and the Beautiful.) A seasoned primetime performer, that may help her gain some votes within the industry, her reel deals with discovering the lies her husband told her and his infidelity and resulting illegitimate child. This confrontation between Vivian and Julius packed a punch, had me in tears and made me wonder why the Avants aren't front and center on B&B. Her reaction was gut wrenching and totally on the mark.
FINOLA HUGHES (Anna, General Hospital.) That Finola is relegated to supporting by her show and that she has only one Emmy win is a damn shame. Perhaps the most complete reel, Hughes was able to show humor in the first part, when she's waiting for a blind date, sadness in her scenes where Robin tells her she's leaving town and then all-out fierce anger in two separate scenes dealing with Carlos, who murdered her husband.
KATE MANSI (Abigail, Days of Our Lives.) Abigail's descent into insanity is depicted in her reels where she sets Ben on fire and then totally loses it with Chad and subsequent scenes in the insane asylum. Strong reel, but if we're comparing psychos, HAIDUK has the stronger reel in my opinion. Still, great scene choices from Mansi.
KELLY SULLIVAN (Sage, The Young and the Restless.) My only question is why didn't Sullivan take advantage of adding another reel dealing with the initial loss of Christian? This 4-minute reel deals with Sage's discovery that Christian is alive and her confrontation with Sharon that Sharon Case totally dominated. It's not until the final minute or so that Sullivan's rage kicks in and she's actually Emmy worthy.
To date, the toughest category to rank, as the first three could all legitimately win the trophy. Actually sat on this one for a while before voting.
MY RANKINGS - Any of my top three choices would be an excellent choice for the Emmy. Pick 'em
1. Horsford
2. Haiduk
3. Hughes
4. Sullivan
5. Mansi
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR -
JOHN ANISTON (Victor, Days of Our Lives.) It's difficult to believe that this is Aniston's first Emmy nomination in his 40+-year Daytime career, but it is. A brief romantic scene with Maggie followed by a confrontation with his brother and discussion with his son shows he can do it all, but lacks the range that would scream Emmy worthy to me.
STEVE BURTON (Dylan, The Young and the Restless.) Unlike last year when Burton's reel was basically a showcase for eventual Supporting Actress winner, Jessica Collins, this year, his reel is right on point as Dylan deals with the revelation that Sully is not his son and confronts Sharon in two separate parts of the reel about her deception. The middle part deals with Dylan returning Sully to Nick and breaks your heart. Strong possibility.
CHAD DUELL (Michael, General Hospital.) The entire reel deals with death, the first of Sabrina and then later, his brother, Morgan, Duell was far stronger in the latter part of the reel where he confronts both Sonny and Kiki and blames them for Morgan's death. A possibility, tho, wanted to see a little more something from this prior Emmy winner.
JEFFREY VINCENT PARISE ( General Hospital.) Emmy voters love a dual role, but there was nothing distinguishing about the two brothers Parise played except one was pure evil and the other we really don't get to know based on the scenes he submitted. The only scenes that stands out to me is the end ones where Carlos ghost confronts Julian and the middle where Carlos discusses why he wants his baby to be a girl with Sabrina. Guess voters may feel differently, but I didn't see much range in this reel even though there was supposed to be range in the way the scenes were written.
JAMES REYNOLDS (Abe, Days of Our Lives.) The end of his reel where Abe is trying to find out if he's going to die after his shooting and then is comforted by and comforting with Theo are very strong. The first part isn't bad, but the middle part of the reel where Abe, as Mayor of Salem, tries to reassure Salemites following a mass hostage crisis seems like something out of the Old Batman TV series. The last four minutes or so are strong enough for a win, just wonder how distracting the middle was for voters.
MY RANKINGS -
1. Burton
2. Duell
3. Reynolds
4. Aniston
5. Parise
Even Days' Kate Mansi, who was lead on her show, could be justified as going to supporting because of her tenure on the show, tho I still would have gone lead if I were her.
Other than that, the nominees are fair, though many heavy hitters who should be here - think Judi Evans, Suzanne Rogers or Wally Kurth of Days - aren't, the categories are still pretty stacked and fairly good.
Here's my votes in the Supporting categories:
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS -
STACY HAIDUK (Patty, The Young and the Restless.) Long overdue for a nomination, she is so good at being crazy, it literally breaks your heart. In one moment she's childlike and vulnerable, the next she's certifiably scary. Her scenes involve getting returned to the asylum and then confronting Dylan and Sharon. As with the other categories that I've watched in alphabetical order, this first submission is going to be pretty difficult to beat.
ANNA MARIA HORSFORD (Vivian, The Bold and the Beautiful.) A seasoned primetime performer, that may help her gain some votes within the industry, her reel deals with discovering the lies her husband told her and his infidelity and resulting illegitimate child. This confrontation between Vivian and Julius packed a punch, had me in tears and made me wonder why the Avants aren't front and center on B&B. Her reaction was gut wrenching and totally on the mark.
FINOLA HUGHES (Anna, General Hospital.) That Finola is relegated to supporting by her show and that she has only one Emmy win is a damn shame. Perhaps the most complete reel, Hughes was able to show humor in the first part, when she's waiting for a blind date, sadness in her scenes where Robin tells her she's leaving town and then all-out fierce anger in two separate scenes dealing with Carlos, who murdered her husband.
KATE MANSI (Abigail, Days of Our Lives.) Abigail's descent into insanity is depicted in her reels where she sets Ben on fire and then totally loses it with Chad and subsequent scenes in the insane asylum. Strong reel, but if we're comparing psychos, HAIDUK has the stronger reel in my opinion. Still, great scene choices from Mansi.
KELLY SULLIVAN (Sage, The Young and the Restless.) My only question is why didn't Sullivan take advantage of adding another reel dealing with the initial loss of Christian? This 4-minute reel deals with Sage's discovery that Christian is alive and her confrontation with Sharon that Sharon Case totally dominated. It's not until the final minute or so that Sullivan's rage kicks in and she's actually Emmy worthy.
To date, the toughest category to rank, as the first three could all legitimately win the trophy. Actually sat on this one for a while before voting.
MY RANKINGS - Any of my top three choices would be an excellent choice for the Emmy. Pick 'em
1. Horsford
2. Haiduk
3. Hughes
4. Sullivan
5. Mansi
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR -
JOHN ANISTON (Victor, Days of Our Lives.) It's difficult to believe that this is Aniston's first Emmy nomination in his 40+-year Daytime career, but it is. A brief romantic scene with Maggie followed by a confrontation with his brother and discussion with his son shows he can do it all, but lacks the range that would scream Emmy worthy to me.
STEVE BURTON (Dylan, The Young and the Restless.) Unlike last year when Burton's reel was basically a showcase for eventual Supporting Actress winner, Jessica Collins, this year, his reel is right on point as Dylan deals with the revelation that Sully is not his son and confronts Sharon in two separate parts of the reel about her deception. The middle part deals with Dylan returning Sully to Nick and breaks your heart. Strong possibility.
CHAD DUELL (Michael, General Hospital.) The entire reel deals with death, the first of Sabrina and then later, his brother, Morgan, Duell was far stronger in the latter part of the reel where he confronts both Sonny and Kiki and blames them for Morgan's death. A possibility, tho, wanted to see a little more something from this prior Emmy winner.
JEFFREY VINCENT PARISE ( General Hospital.) Emmy voters love a dual role, but there was nothing distinguishing about the two brothers Parise played except one was pure evil and the other we really don't get to know based on the scenes he submitted. The only scenes that stands out to me is the end ones where Carlos ghost confronts Julian and the middle where Carlos discusses why he wants his baby to be a girl with Sabrina. Guess voters may feel differently, but I didn't see much range in this reel even though there was supposed to be range in the way the scenes were written.
JAMES REYNOLDS (Abe, Days of Our Lives.) The end of his reel where Abe is trying to find out if he's going to die after his shooting and then is comforted by and comforting with Theo are very strong. The first part isn't bad, but the middle part of the reel where Abe, as Mayor of Salem, tries to reassure Salemites following a mass hostage crisis seems like something out of the Old Batman TV series. The last four minutes or so are strong enough for a win, just wonder how distracting the middle was for voters.
MY RANKINGS -
1. Burton
2. Duell
3. Reynolds
4. Aniston
5. Parise
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Younger Performers Submit Strongly In Race For Daytime Emmy
Let the Daytime Emmy race begin!
With the National Academy of Arts and Sciences once again putting up the drama performing reels on their Facebook page, it gives soap fans a chance to see what the stars actually submitted for Emmy consideration.
And, it allows me to post my annual totally incorrect predictions on who will win the golden statuettes when they're handed out on April 30.
Emmy rules changed this year, so performers can submit up to 20 minutes from any four shows. For the past several years, they could only select two entire episodes in which they appeared. That often presented a problem, as a reel would contain filler scenes that sometimes diluted the actual strong scene they were submitting.
The new rule sounds good on paper, however, at least in a few of the younger reels, the myriad of episodes don't always make sense when jumping from one dramatic moment to another.
Case in point is the first scene in the first OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTRESS category.
LEXI AINSWORTH (Kristina, General Hospital.) The reel starts out with a brief clip of Kristina being held at gunpoint at Alexis' wedding, which sets a bad tone for the rest of the reel. One would think. Ainsworth ultimately really runs the gammet of emotions in the rest of the reel, admitting to her parents first off that she tried to Exchange sex for good grades and later coming out to her father (Maurice Benard in a bravo performance.) Except for first minute, this reel was strong.
REIGN EDWARDS (Nicole, The Bold and the Beautiful.) A short scene with Nicole laying the hammer down with Zende is followed up with Nicole emotionally explaining to him why she could never be with him. While I would have liked to have seen a little more of the firery Nicole in the reel, you could definitely relate to her emotions. Strong follow up to Ainsworth's reel.
HUNTER KING (Summer, The Young and the Restless.) You can never count out a two-time Emmy winner, and King delivered a solid performance confronting Victor and Luca in her two submissions. Not sure it holds up against the first two performers I watched.
ALYVIA ALYN LIND (Faith, The Young and the Restless.) She took advantage of the entire 20-minute time limit, which could have been a huge detriment, but she reels you in with her reel, as Faith has to face the loss of her stepmother and later her brother in three separate episodes. The range this child has is tremendous, however, the reel gets monotonous by the end and she was definitely stronger in the first part of the reel as opposed to the last part of it.)
CHLOE LANIER (Nelle, General Hospital.) Nothing shouts out Emmy to me in this reel, as she talks to Morgan about losing her kidney, later discusses Morgan's death with Michael and then drugs Sonny's drink to take advantage of him. To her own credit, the reel did end strongly, tho.
MY RANKINGS -
1. Ainsworth
2. Edwards
3. Lind
4. King
5. Lanier
OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTOR -
BRYAN CRAIG (Morgan, General Hospital.) The first reel I watched in this category and right out of the gate, the defending champion knocked it out of the ballpark in scenes at the hospital confronting his parents who are trying to lock him up to deal with his bipolar disorder. Then the reel ends with Morgan on the ledge wanting to commit suicide. Had me in tears. Going to be hard to beat.
PIERSON FODE ( Thomas, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Fode confronts Caroline with the paternity of his son and is solid, tho Lynsey Godfrey is even better, which could help, but may hurt Fode's chances. As reel progresses, tho, Fode shows all sorts of emotions that bring you in. Rage, disbelief and pure emotion. Very strong and he does take over from Godfrey by the middle of it and makes the reel his own. May not be showy enough to win, but on other hand, the control of his emotions he displays may be the difference that clinches it for him.
JAMES LASTOVIC ( Joey, Days of Our Lives.) A brief six minutes in content, Lastovic, though, uses the most of it in scenes admitting hisrelationship with Ava to his father and then killing Ava in her hospital room and dealing with that aftermath with Patch. May be trying a little too hard in the reel, tho, but is good.
TEQUAN RICHMOND (TJ, General Hospital.) Confrontation between TJ and his mother and later with Curtis about Sean being his real father. Strong submission with lots of fire and emotion, yet a controlled performance. Later he discusses everything with his mother following Morgan's death. Could win, tho a little too understated.
ANTHONY TURPEL (RJ, The Bold and the Beautiful.) In his very first episode, Turpel hit it out of the park and it makes for a strong submission as he confronts his parents over Brooke wanting to marry Bill. The first two minutes are a little slow, and I would have eliminated them from the reel, but other than that, an excellent submission.
MY RANKINGS - (Tough four-way race, but Craig had me so drawn in that think he wins a second-consecutive win.)
1. Craig
2. Fode
3. Richmond
4. Turpel
5. Lastovic
With the National Academy of Arts and Sciences once again putting up the drama performing reels on their Facebook page, it gives soap fans a chance to see what the stars actually submitted for Emmy consideration.
And, it allows me to post my annual totally incorrect predictions on who will win the golden statuettes when they're handed out on April 30.
Emmy rules changed this year, so performers can submit up to 20 minutes from any four shows. For the past several years, they could only select two entire episodes in which they appeared. That often presented a problem, as a reel would contain filler scenes that sometimes diluted the actual strong scene they were submitting.
The new rule sounds good on paper, however, at least in a few of the younger reels, the myriad of episodes don't always make sense when jumping from one dramatic moment to another.
Case in point is the first scene in the first OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTRESS category.
LEXI AINSWORTH (Kristina, General Hospital.) The reel starts out with a brief clip of Kristina being held at gunpoint at Alexis' wedding, which sets a bad tone for the rest of the reel. One would think. Ainsworth ultimately really runs the gammet of emotions in the rest of the reel, admitting to her parents first off that she tried to Exchange sex for good grades and later coming out to her father (Maurice Benard in a bravo performance.) Except for first minute, this reel was strong.
REIGN EDWARDS (Nicole, The Bold and the Beautiful.) A short scene with Nicole laying the hammer down with Zende is followed up with Nicole emotionally explaining to him why she could never be with him. While I would have liked to have seen a little more of the firery Nicole in the reel, you could definitely relate to her emotions. Strong follow up to Ainsworth's reel.
HUNTER KING (Summer, The Young and the Restless.) You can never count out a two-time Emmy winner, and King delivered a solid performance confronting Victor and Luca in her two submissions. Not sure it holds up against the first two performers I watched.
ALYVIA ALYN LIND (Faith, The Young and the Restless.) She took advantage of the entire 20-minute time limit, which could have been a huge detriment, but she reels you in with her reel, as Faith has to face the loss of her stepmother and later her brother in three separate episodes. The range this child has is tremendous, however, the reel gets monotonous by the end and she was definitely stronger in the first part of the reel as opposed to the last part of it.)
CHLOE LANIER (Nelle, General Hospital.) Nothing shouts out Emmy to me in this reel, as she talks to Morgan about losing her kidney, later discusses Morgan's death with Michael and then drugs Sonny's drink to take advantage of him. To her own credit, the reel did end strongly, tho.
MY RANKINGS -
1. Ainsworth
2. Edwards
3. Lind
4. King
5. Lanier
OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTOR -
BRYAN CRAIG (Morgan, General Hospital.) The first reel I watched in this category and right out of the gate, the defending champion knocked it out of the ballpark in scenes at the hospital confronting his parents who are trying to lock him up to deal with his bipolar disorder. Then the reel ends with Morgan on the ledge wanting to commit suicide. Had me in tears. Going to be hard to beat.
PIERSON FODE ( Thomas, The Bold and the Beautiful.) Fode confronts Caroline with the paternity of his son and is solid, tho Lynsey Godfrey is even better, which could help, but may hurt Fode's chances. As reel progresses, tho, Fode shows all sorts of emotions that bring you in. Rage, disbelief and pure emotion. Very strong and he does take over from Godfrey by the middle of it and makes the reel his own. May not be showy enough to win, but on other hand, the control of his emotions he displays may be the difference that clinches it for him.
JAMES LASTOVIC ( Joey, Days of Our Lives.) A brief six minutes in content, Lastovic, though, uses the most of it in scenes admitting hisrelationship with Ava to his father and then killing Ava in her hospital room and dealing with that aftermath with Patch. May be trying a little too hard in the reel, tho, but is good.
TEQUAN RICHMOND (TJ, General Hospital.) Confrontation between TJ and his mother and later with Curtis about Sean being his real father. Strong submission with lots of fire and emotion, yet a controlled performance. Later he discusses everything with his mother following Morgan's death. Could win, tho a little too understated.
ANTHONY TURPEL (RJ, The Bold and the Beautiful.) In his very first episode, Turpel hit it out of the park and it makes for a strong submission as he confronts his parents over Brooke wanting to marry Bill. The first two minutes are a little slow, and I would have eliminated them from the reel, but other than that, an excellent submission.
MY RANKINGS - (Tough four-way race, but Craig had me so drawn in that think he wins a second-consecutive win.)
1. Craig
2. Fode
3. Richmond
4. Turpel
5. Lastovic
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
MISS USA 2017 - Separating The Contenders From The Pretenders
After IMG's first Miss USA Pageant last June, the change in the direction the competition was taking was clearly evident.
With the crowning of Deshauna Barber the tone was set that the pageant was looking for someone with good communication skills and a story to back it up.
Barber has confirmed in recent media interviews that this year's pageant will be no different and that interview is the most important phase of competition.
Therefore, it makes it more difficult to clearly assess who the frontrunners might be for the 2017 Miss USA crown, to be given out May 14th on Fox.
I'm going to try anyway.
After all, the same criteria was given for the recent Miss Universe Pageant and we still ended up with a stunningly beautiful Miss France as the winner, so there is no reason our next Miss USA can't have the attributes the organization is looking for and still be gorgeous.
So, here goes with my pre-arrival picks, which certainly will change after the preliminary presentation show, after which I'll put up a separate blog with more likely and more accurate and detailed predictions and observations.
THE FRONTRUNNERS -
UTAH has NEVER left my top three and I continue to rank her as my favorite to win the crown. Not only is she gorgeous, but she has a story, a pretty good one, too. Her mother, Gretchen Polhemus, was MIss USA 1989, and one of the most popular winners in the pageant's history. That would certainly attract a lot of media attention, wouldn't it? My only suggestion for Bayley would be to trim her overly long locks.
If this were old school Miss USA, TENNESSEE would be my choice. I still have her in my top three and should be a certain Miss Photogenic winner. She just doesn't take a bad picture and has a huge personality. In a sea of many blondes this season, she clearly stands out.
Completing my Top Three is MASSACHUSETTS, and not just because she is a cheerleader for my favorite football team, the New England Patriots, either. She is tall, stunning, yet not at all pageanty at all. Have heard her speak numerous times and she can do the job. As far as stories go, not sure either MASS or TN have one, but hopefully they do to maintain their status as frontrunners.
Finally, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, could score a repeat with this year's winner, who was first runner up to Deshauna in DC last year. Facially beautiful and well spoken, my only concern is that she sometimes appears too confident and it could be misconstrued as arrogance. We will see.
THE SECOND TIER -
The following states are consistently looking and sounding good and could move up to frontrunner status if my top four falter.
NEVADA - Another gorgeous blonde, whose director is Shanna Moakler, Miss USA 1995, and Shanna knows what she's doing. She softened her blonde coloring and has consistently had Lauren in the public eye since her crowning. She may, however, still be a little too sexy for the new image the pageant is reportedly going for, though.
ARKANSAS - Another blonde, but one who seems a little more Girl Next Door than Nevada. She has consistently improved her look since winning her state title.
CALIFORNIA - The winner in an extremely competitive key state, she has been fairly lowkey in pre-pageant media posts, however, she dominated her state pageant and I expect her to turn it on once she arrives at the actual national pageant.
PENNSYLVANIA - With stunning red hair, she will definitely stand out, however, her girl next door look is what brings me in even more. I would not be surprised if she made top three or actually won the whole thing.
OTHER STRONG POSSIBILITIES -
SOUTH CAROLINA is one I keep going back and forth on. ILLINOIS, too, but I think SC has lived up to her hype more than the latter. Would like to see a little more energy from SC and a little more glamour from ILL
MINNESOTA - A former Miss South Dakota at Miss America, she is tall and beautiful and has good communication skills, however, I haven't seen a lot from her since her crowning in a very competitive state pageant. Undecided.
MY SLEEPERS -
There is not a lot of hype on SOUTH DAKOTA, but she could actually be exactly what they are looking for. A former contestant at Miss America, Tessa has a gorgeous face and tremendous interview and personality. Her downfall if she had been competing three years ago would be her height. I don't think that will be a problem with the new direction the organization is clearly headed toward. She's definitely my sleeper pick. Love her!
COLORADO is one who will either soar or go unplaced. I personally like her look and communication skills, but don't know a lot about her. Just call it a hunch, but there is something about her that makes me think she could contend.
MAINE - My main criticism of her is that she hasn't always looked fresh and at 26, she is one of the older contestants. However, in recent candids, she has shed some of that pageant tread and has made me look at her again.
VIRGINIA - Another red head, I liked her when she won her state pageant, but she has been kind of under whelming since then. Needs to bring her A game, especially since PENNSYLVANIA is constantly bringing hers and because a reported top 12, rather than a traditional top 15, means only the strong will survive.
OTHER THOUGHTS -
TEXAS might get up there on sash factor alone, but I think she is in trouble, as she has a sort of harsher look and does not look fresh. She is going to need to refer to MAINE of all states, for lessons on how to fix that before the pageant begins.
NEW YORK went from blonde to red hair and it didn't do her any favors. Two red heads are red, three might be overkill. While there are a ton of blondes this year, which may have prompted her hair-color change, I just think it was a mistake and that she actually stood out more as a blonde rather than a ginger.
ALABAMA - I originally thought the state's placement record was over when she was crowned, however, she has stepped up to the plate and used her negative - being still in her teens - and turned it into a positive by getting a chic haircut and dominating the social media airwaves with a strong voice. Still think she's iffy, but would put her in before I put either TEXAS or NY in the top 12.
NEW JERSEY - Like her ethnic look, but is a little underwhelming when in action. That could easily be fixed before prelims begin.
STILL LOOKING AT -
ARIZONA, IOWA, MICHIGAN, NEBRASKA, NEW MEXICO ( tho she's dropping fast) and RHODE ISLAND.
Of course, this list isn't exhaustive or definitely not perfect by any means, it's just a pageant fan's opinion on an ever-changing competition that IMG will likely even tweak some more before the prelims begin. Also, as any pageant fan will confirm, once the girls arrive and the real pageant starts, favorites almost always fall and underdogs almost always emerge. This blog is simply my annual pre-arrival opinion.
So until next month, these are my thoughts on what should actually prove to be a quite competitive national pageant.
For more information on the candidates for Miss USA 2017, download the Miss Universe app.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Under Review - BREAKING - Bolts Lose Their King to L.A.
By Allan Brown
Follow Allan On Twitter
There are only five words to describe tonight's trade by the Tampa Bay Lightning of goaltender Ben Bishop.
It just doesn't make sense.
The Lightning announced early this evening that Bishop was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for netminder Peter Budaj and OHL defenseman Erik Cernak, a 2017 seventh-round pick, and a 2017 conditional pick from the LA, which in exchange received the veteran goalie and a 2017 fifth-round pick.
The Lightning certainly need defense, but today, not in the future. A reported deal between St. Louis and the Lightning that would have brought the Blues D-man Kevin Shattenkirk to Tampa in exchange for Bishop allegedly fell through earlier in the week.
One has to summize that Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman could not find a better deal - or defenseman - in exchange for Bishop and social media reports earlier in the evening that had the King's Drew Doughty coming to Tampa ultimately proved to be untrue.
Now, that is a deal that actually would have made some sense.
What tonight's deal tells us is that Yzerman has all but given up on this season, which has proven disastrous for a Lightning team that many had picked to win it all last September.
In order to do so now is definitely an uphill battle for the team that has struggled all season on defense, has often played only as good as the team as they are up against offensively and that foolishly vacillated between the proven commodity, Bishop, in net against the promising, yet still maturing Andrei Vasilevskiy, for the entire season.
Clearly, Yzerman opted to put the future of the team in Vasilevskiy's hands.
Good luck with that.
While Vasy has had his moments, at age 22, he's a good five years away from being in his prime.
And, remember, this my friends, Vasy isn't a good starter, remember the 8 games he played when Bishop was hurt and went 1-7 as a starter??
The team has never really rallied around Vasilevskiy the way they did Bishop.
They're going to have to now.
Unless, Yzerman alternates Vasy with Budaj, who actually had decent numbers in 51 games with the Kings this season when he replaced an injured Jonathan Quick.
In those games, Budaj posted a .917 save percentage and 2.12 goals against average, which were actually slightly better than Bishop's numbers in his 31 Lightning starts.
However, if Yzerman plans on alternating his new goalie with Vasilevskiy, that would ultimately defeat the purpose of the trade in the first place, wouldn't it?
It certainly wouldn't make any more sense than the Kings wanting Bishop unless they intend to trade him elsewhere in as the team, only one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, shores its squad and lines up for a postseason push.
Or, perhaps, Quick, who just returned to the team this week after being out all this season recovering from a lower body injury, isn't as fully recovered as he insists that he is and acquiring Bishop was provides the team with a safety net.
Ultimately, though, tonight's decision likely means no playoff push for the Bolts, but only time will tell if that's an accurate assessment or not.
What is fact, though, is this: Bishop, whose 5-0 and .953 save percentage was the best in the league this month.
Basically, Bishop, who was in the last year of his three-year deal with the Bolts, was going to be gone after this season anyway, so Yzerman did everything in his power to get the most out of this trade that he could.
And, maybe, time will prove the GM right, as it almost always has in the past.
However, it's doubtful that tonight's move reaps immediate dividends for the team.
Who knows for sure.
This much, though, is certain, Bishop will be missed by the Lightning faithful.
Good luck, Bish in LA - or wherever you ultimately land - Hope you get to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Thank you for your service in Tampa.
Hmm. Two Vezina nominations, a Cup Final and the best numbers in franchise history.
He deserved better than this.
Maybe Yzerman did Bishop a favor tonight.
To many, Bish is already a King, so maybe it's appropriate that he now gets to sport a crown on his chest when he puts on the Los Angeles sweater for the first time later this week.
Unless, he's traded elsewhere, that is.
Follow Allan On Twitter
There are only five words to describe tonight's trade by the Tampa Bay Lightning of goaltender Ben Bishop.
It just doesn't make sense.
The Lightning announced early this evening that Bishop was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for netminder Peter Budaj and OHL defenseman Erik Cernak, a 2017 seventh-round pick, and a 2017 conditional pick from the LA, which in exchange received the veteran goalie and a 2017 fifth-round pick.
The Lightning certainly need defense, but today, not in the future. A reported deal between St. Louis and the Lightning that would have brought the Blues D-man Kevin Shattenkirk to Tampa in exchange for Bishop allegedly fell through earlier in the week.
One has to summize that Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman could not find a better deal - or defenseman - in exchange for Bishop and social media reports earlier in the evening that had the King's Drew Doughty coming to Tampa ultimately proved to be untrue.
Now, that is a deal that actually would have made some sense.
What tonight's deal tells us is that Yzerman has all but given up on this season, which has proven disastrous for a Lightning team that many had picked to win it all last September.
In order to do so now is definitely an uphill battle for the team that has struggled all season on defense, has often played only as good as the team as they are up against offensively and that foolishly vacillated between the proven commodity, Bishop, in net against the promising, yet still maturing Andrei Vasilevskiy, for the entire season.
Clearly, Yzerman opted to put the future of the team in Vasilevskiy's hands.
Good luck with that.
While Vasy has had his moments, at age 22, he's a good five years away from being in his prime.
And, remember, this my friends, Vasy isn't a good starter, remember the 8 games he played when Bishop was hurt and went 1-7 as a starter??
The team has never really rallied around Vasilevskiy the way they did Bishop.
They're going to have to now.
Unless, Yzerman alternates Vasy with Budaj, who actually had decent numbers in 51 games with the Kings this season when he replaced an injured Jonathan Quick.
In those games, Budaj posted a .917 save percentage and 2.12 goals against average, which were actually slightly better than Bishop's numbers in his 31 Lightning starts.
However, if Yzerman plans on alternating his new goalie with Vasilevskiy, that would ultimately defeat the purpose of the trade in the first place, wouldn't it?
It certainly wouldn't make any more sense than the Kings wanting Bishop unless they intend to trade him elsewhere in as the team, only one point out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, shores its squad and lines up for a postseason push.
Or, perhaps, Quick, who just returned to the team this week after being out all this season recovering from a lower body injury, isn't as fully recovered as he insists that he is and acquiring Bishop was provides the team with a safety net.
Ultimately, though, tonight's decision likely means no playoff push for the Bolts, but only time will tell if that's an accurate assessment or not.
What is fact, though, is this: Bishop, whose 5-0 and .953 save percentage was the best in the league this month.
Basically, Bishop, who was in the last year of his three-year deal with the Bolts, was going to be gone after this season anyway, so Yzerman did everything in his power to get the most out of this trade that he could.
And, maybe, time will prove the GM right, as it almost always has in the past.
However, it's doubtful that tonight's move reaps immediate dividends for the team.
Who knows for sure.
This much, though, is certain, Bishop will be missed by the Lightning faithful.
Good luck, Bish in LA - or wherever you ultimately land - Hope you get to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. Thank you for your service in Tampa.
Hmm. Two Vezina nominations, a Cup Final and the best numbers in franchise history.
He deserved better than this.
Maybe Yzerman did Bishop a favor tonight.
To many, Bish is already a King, so maybe it's appropriate that he now gets to sport a crown on his chest when he puts on the Los Angeles sweater for the first time later this week.
Unless, he's traded elsewhere, that is.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
In The End, Miss Universe And The Judges Got It Right
After worrying in my preliminary competition blog about what kind of pageant the 65th Miss Universe Pageant would actually be, about the only thing I didn't like was the opening.
It was all uphill from there.
Don't get me wrong, I love Flo-Rida and loved the opening music, I just didn't care for having the 86 contestants parading on stage with an announcer you could barely hear announcing their home countries. These women worked hard to get there and they should have had their moment and should have been able to introduce themselves and the country they represent.
With all of the talk about setting beauty aside, the top 13 was actually beautiful and since I had mentioned at least 11 of them in my preliminary blog, I was pretty darned happy.
I liked how Steve Harvey spoke with each of the top 13, reminiscent of what Bob Barker used to do in the good old days, and even though it wasn't officially judged, some cracks in the armor of the favorites were shown.
I'm convinced Miss Brazil was doomed from the start with her answer and ultimately she did not advance after the swimsuit round, almost assuredly because of her horrendous response in the Q&A round.
Conversely, Miss Canada probably did advance because of a superior answer and to show that beauty queens come in all sizes. Her hideous evening gown, though, likely affected her into making the cut to the final six.
Miss Philippines coasted into the top six in spite of a mediocre swimsuit and gown due to being the home country representative. A mediocre answer to her first question was definitely a sign of things to come, though. Whereas, the People's Choice, Miss Thailand, only solidified a top six placement with a great swimsuit, decent gown and tremendous answer in both rounds of the competition.
Miss USA was on the bubble to me following an underwhelming preliminary performance, but it was evident from the clip package showing portions of her preliminary interview and her on-stage answer that she was, indeed, a force to be reckoned with. A gown choice that I wouldn't select for a girl competing in anything but a local pageant, sealed her fate and she did not advance to the final six.
If only she had, I would have loved to have heard her answer to Miss Kenya's question, which was a totally inappropriate question for her to have to answer in the first place. This wasn't the Miss USA Pageant, it was Miss Universe, and I would have still given her high points for at least attempting an answer to it.
In swimsuit, I thought France was the clear winner and it wasn't even close, though I would have ranked Colombia and Brazil or Panama - neither of whom advanced to the top nine - second or third. Again, Brazil was already doomed,though, and wasn't going to come anywhere close to winning the crown.
Miss France, on the other hand, only solidified her status following evening gown, where she looked regal, confident and beautiful - the epitome of what a Miss Universe should be.
Would she grab the crown, though, in a year where MUO executives stressed substance over style and Miss France didn't have the story that Miss Kenya, Miss Haiti, Miss Thailand, Miss USA or Miss Colombia had?
The answer, of course, was yes, and then some as decent - but long-winded answers - were enough to give her country only its second crown in Miss Universe history and the first since the second year of the pageant in 1953.
In addition to Miss France, Miss Mexico and Miss Haiti were my favorites in gown, the first two showing that you don't have to compete in stripper shoes and, in fact, you look more elegant if you do not wear those.
France and Haiti were joined in the top six by Miss Colombia, who I thought actually gave the best answer to her question, but did not connect with a Filipino audience who was clearly rooting for Philippines, who gave the worst answer in top 6, and Miss Thailand, who I thought gave the second best answer.
France and Haiti, tho, both were solid and were clearly judges' favorites in other rounds and made it to the top three, where both belonged, along with Miss Colombia, especially if you select the final three on the basis of all areas of competition.
To me, Miss Colombia gave the best answer to the final question, but none really nailed it. Miss Haiti gave a sentimental answer, but it really didn't address the question, and Miss France, again, was a little long-winded, but considering the interpreter didn't give her answer it's proper due - thank you, Victoria Humphrey for pointing that out to me - her answer certainly was appropriate.
In the end, the judges went with beauty over a story and all is well in the Universe tonight, as Miss France is easily the most gorgeous creature to capture the crown since Puerto Rico's Zuleyka Rivera did a decade ago.
And, in the end, the judges got it right and the producers were right on the mark in having two final rounds of questions, which I had feared they would not, fairly compact video packages that allowed us to get to know the top 13 and a slick production that featured the beautiful host country of the Philippines without shoving it down our throats like some prior MUO Pageants did.
Other than the opening, the only other thing I would have changed was to have a cavalcade of swimsuits in the beginning where we saw each contestant in their swimsuit - for ratings sake - and then by doing it allowing only the top 9 to compete in swimsuit and flip-flop it to where the top 13 competed in evening gown, which is my favorite part of the competition and probably is the favorite among real pageant fans, too.
Steve Harvey was both funny and personable as host and should remain.
And, most importantly, he got the winner right this time.
And, so did the judges.
Overall grade: WINNER A+/ PAGEANT - B+ or maybe even an A-
A definite slow start to the proceedings, yes, but overall the rest of the pageant moved along briskly and kept my attention due, in part, to a great top 13 being narrowed down to the right final three.
Good job, MUO and IMG. Keep it up!
It was all uphill from there.
Don't get me wrong, I love Flo-Rida and loved the opening music, I just didn't care for having the 86 contestants parading on stage with an announcer you could barely hear announcing their home countries. These women worked hard to get there and they should have had their moment and should have been able to introduce themselves and the country they represent.
With all of the talk about setting beauty aside, the top 13 was actually beautiful and since I had mentioned at least 11 of them in my preliminary blog, I was pretty darned happy.
I liked how Steve Harvey spoke with each of the top 13, reminiscent of what Bob Barker used to do in the good old days, and even though it wasn't officially judged, some cracks in the armor of the favorites were shown.
I'm convinced Miss Brazil was doomed from the start with her answer and ultimately she did not advance after the swimsuit round, almost assuredly because of her horrendous response in the Q&A round.
Conversely, Miss Canada probably did advance because of a superior answer and to show that beauty queens come in all sizes. Her hideous evening gown, though, likely affected her into making the cut to the final six.
Miss Philippines coasted into the top six in spite of a mediocre swimsuit and gown due to being the home country representative. A mediocre answer to her first question was definitely a sign of things to come, though. Whereas, the People's Choice, Miss Thailand, only solidified a top six placement with a great swimsuit, decent gown and tremendous answer in both rounds of the competition.
Miss USA was on the bubble to me following an underwhelming preliminary performance, but it was evident from the clip package showing portions of her preliminary interview and her on-stage answer that she was, indeed, a force to be reckoned with. A gown choice that I wouldn't select for a girl competing in anything but a local pageant, sealed her fate and she did not advance to the final six.
If only she had, I would have loved to have heard her answer to Miss Kenya's question, which was a totally inappropriate question for her to have to answer in the first place. This wasn't the Miss USA Pageant, it was Miss Universe, and I would have still given her high points for at least attempting an answer to it.
In swimsuit, I thought France was the clear winner and it wasn't even close, though I would have ranked Colombia and Brazil or Panama - neither of whom advanced to the top nine - second or third. Again, Brazil was already doomed,though, and wasn't going to come anywhere close to winning the crown.
Miss France, on the other hand, only solidified her status following evening gown, where she looked regal, confident and beautiful - the epitome of what a Miss Universe should be.
Would she grab the crown, though, in a year where MUO executives stressed substance over style and Miss France didn't have the story that Miss Kenya, Miss Haiti, Miss Thailand, Miss USA or Miss Colombia had?
The answer, of course, was yes, and then some as decent - but long-winded answers - were enough to give her country only its second crown in Miss Universe history and the first since the second year of the pageant in 1953.
In addition to Miss France, Miss Mexico and Miss Haiti were my favorites in gown, the first two showing that you don't have to compete in stripper shoes and, in fact, you look more elegant if you do not wear those.
France and Haiti were joined in the top six by Miss Colombia, who I thought actually gave the best answer to her question, but did not connect with a Filipino audience who was clearly rooting for Philippines, who gave the worst answer in top 6, and Miss Thailand, who I thought gave the second best answer.
France and Haiti, tho, both were solid and were clearly judges' favorites in other rounds and made it to the top three, where both belonged, along with Miss Colombia, especially if you select the final three on the basis of all areas of competition.
To me, Miss Colombia gave the best answer to the final question, but none really nailed it. Miss Haiti gave a sentimental answer, but it really didn't address the question, and Miss France, again, was a little long-winded, but considering the interpreter didn't give her answer it's proper due - thank you, Victoria Humphrey for pointing that out to me - her answer certainly was appropriate.
In the end, the judges went with beauty over a story and all is well in the Universe tonight, as Miss France is easily the most gorgeous creature to capture the crown since Puerto Rico's Zuleyka Rivera did a decade ago.
And, in the end, the judges got it right and the producers were right on the mark in having two final rounds of questions, which I had feared they would not, fairly compact video packages that allowed us to get to know the top 13 and a slick production that featured the beautiful host country of the Philippines without shoving it down our throats like some prior MUO Pageants did.
Other than the opening, the only other thing I would have changed was to have a cavalcade of swimsuits in the beginning where we saw each contestant in their swimsuit - for ratings sake - and then by doing it allowing only the top 9 to compete in swimsuit and flip-flop it to where the top 13 competed in evening gown, which is my favorite part of the competition and probably is the favorite among real pageant fans, too.
Steve Harvey was both funny and personable as host and should remain.
And, most importantly, he got the winner right this time.
And, so did the judges.
Overall grade: WINNER A+/ PAGEANT - B+ or maybe even an A-
A definite slow start to the proceedings, yes, but overall the rest of the pageant moved along briskly and kept my attention due, in part, to a great top 13 being narrowed down to the right final three.
Good job, MUO and IMG. Keep it up!
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Who Brought Their A Game To Miss Universe
Through the magic of YouTube and the Miss Universe app on my phone, I did not have to get up at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m. to watch today's Miss Universe preliminaries from the Philippines.
As has been the custom for the past several years, both Miss USA and Universe prelims are webcast, which gives pageant junkies - like me - a chance to handicap the competition before the live finals are telecast.
This year is no exception.
Before I get into the actual competition, here are my thoughts on a few things that the new owners of MUO, IMG, have implemented. Some are good and some are bad.
First the bad, the owners have clearly indicated that they are going in a different direction with the winner this year. What that means, though, is anyone's guess.
We do know that contestant videos will be showcased during Sunday night's three-hour event and the organization is emphasizing the 'stories' of the delegate, Whether that means we are going to end up with a Miss Universe who has a sob story that wins her the crown or one who is beautiful is yet to be seen.
I have no problem with having a Miss USA or Miss Universe who is intelligent and articulate, but not at the expense of beauty. Say what you will, but this is still a beauty pageant - and the ultimate one at that,
Maybe I'm old school, but Miss Universe needs to be beautiful and should be the composite of beauty, elegance AND intelligence. I still say the old system that crowned such stunners as Kerry Ann Wells, Anne Marie Potomo, Maritza Sayalero, Shawn Weatherly and Cecilia Bolocco worked best. Have all semi finalists, especially since they have dropped that number to only 12, compete in swimsuit, evening gown and on-stage interviews, where the judges can determine if they have the personality needed for the job.
Then have the top five answer the same question and final rankings based on the composite thought of how each one would be able to do the job as Miss Universe as the final determining factor into choosing the winner.
Pre-packaged videos tell us nothing about a young woman. They are exactly that, pre-packaged, edited soundbites. On-stage interviews would tell us much more about each contestant and that round of the competition needs to be reinstated in place of the videos.
That's just my opinion.
While I am skeptical about what kind of winner we will get Sunday, I will commend MUO for having a mixture of the preliminary judges juxtaposed with final night judges and both groups have just the right amount of former winners on the panel. They, unlike celebrity B list judges, have a better understanding of the job because they did the job.
That's definitely a step in the right direction for MUO.
Now onto the actual preliminary competition.
Since personality and the ability to speak aren't really seen by us in prelims, I have to base that solely on how each delegate introduced themself. That plus my first impression of them gave me my first list of ones I liked and will be one-third of my prelim impression.
First off, Miss Brazil, who has been standing out to me all week, definitely did not disappoint me in the parade of nations. She is stunningly gorgeous and has personality. A surprise to me just off the top is Miss Haiti, who was gorgeous and outgoing. My third star went to Miss Panama, who I've been going back and forth on since the contestants arrived in the Philippines last week. I think she brought her A game with her when it counted. Of course, let's see what she does in evening gown and swimsuit, first, tho,
Others I was impressed with were Belgium, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Mexico (who I did not like in pre-pageant photos), Netherlands, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Beauty wise, i wouldn't put either Miss Canada or Venezuela on my list, but they both impressed me personality wise in the opening and that may count for a lot from the judges seeking to crown a new type of Miss Universe.
Also a few of the young women I've consistently had on my top 12 list like Colombia, France, Sierra Leone and Aruba are still in consideration early on in the show.
A few like Miss Barbados and USA disappointed me in the brief opening, but may rebound in the actual competition,
Now, onto swimsuit....
To me, Miss Chile really started standing out to me and had one of the best bodies and walks in the competition, as did Miss Venezuela, who really worked it, but, still, to me is not facially beautiful, which should be a criteria in judging, but may not be. There's no denying her personality or body, though.
Also top swimsuit scores for me went to Miss Belgium, Panama, France, Thailand and Brazil (whose regal walk makes her look like a Miss Universe to me.) Others I really liked are Miss Haiti, Miss Colombia. Miss USA has a great body (one of the best, but did not work it whatsoever, especially in comparison to some like Miss Philippines, Venezuela, France and Colombia. USA has a story, though, so that killer body, coupled with her story, may be enough to catapult her into the 12.
Next, evening gown...
The most subjective of any pageant category, this is where the judges can really just throw points to their favorites. And my fashion style, your style of fashion and someone else's style may all be different and that's OK, actually good and often is the determining factor into who gains more points and who loses them.
With that said, here are my favorites in gown, keeping in mind that even if I didn't love the gown, the runway walk and personality shown can gain a contestant vital points. And, note, contestants can change their gowns from prelims to final night anyway.
Overall, I was EXTREMELY disappointed in this competition, way too many pale colors and gowns that were all over the place design wise. The gown I liked the best was Panama, tho it got totally deducted in points from me because of the bright red lipstick she wore with the gorgeous gold gown.
I loved Iceland's gown and also Denmark, tho the latter was too pale to wear ice blue. Venezuela was a hot mess in her contraption and Miss USA had a good gown but didn't fit correctly on top and was nothing we haven't seen before, Red is a great color on her, tho,
Brazil still looked regal, but I was expecting more from a front-runner, the same for Colombia. Neither gown overwhelmed me, but Brazil is doing it for me personality wise and with stage presence.
I'd rank Aruba second in evening gown and also loved Spain and Mexico in gowns. Other gowns I really liked were France (tho not sure on the color), Sierra Leone (tho it did nothing for her hips), Curacao (a darkhorse), and Poland. Philippines will be in there, she works everything and I loved the green color of the gown, but not the construction of it. She's one who is definitely saving her best gown for last, which I don't get why they do that, especially in a competitive year where they only cut to 12 instead of 15,16 or 20 like they have done in the recent past.
In the end, I have no clue as to what - or who - they are looking for, but here's my top 12.
1. Brazil (looks like a Miss Universe to me, which will probably hurt her,)
2. Haiti (think she's a legitimate contender and she was in my top three in opening, good swimsuit, great gown AND has a story.)
3. Spain
4. France
5. Thailand
The rest are just in alphabetical order
6. Colombia
7. Curacao
8. Mexico
9. Panama
10. Philippines
11. Sierra Leone
12. Venezuela (who could actually be the winner based on best personality, body and stage presence, tho gown HAS GOT TO GO, and between that and facial beauty, I'd rank her lower, than if you take that out, she'd be fifth or sixth in my rankings.)
I think any of the 6-12 have a legitimate shot at making the top five and even winning the crown.
On the Bubble - Girls I hope make it are Aruba, Iceland, Belgium and obviously USA; also like Dominican Republic and Indonesia and think they could all easily slide into the top 12.
Surprises: Nicaragua in a good way and Australia in a bad way. Australia was one of my favorites going into the competition and she really underwhelmed me all during the preliminary presentation.
So, those are my choices, with some compensation for what I think MUO might be looking for.
To me, it's anyone's guess who ends up as the 65th Miss Universe on Sunday night.
And, I have a feeling we may all be in for a surprise. If I had to guess, I'd say Venezuela might be what they're looking for, but I'd go with any of my top 5 as the winner.
As has been the custom for the past several years, both Miss USA and Universe prelims are webcast, which gives pageant junkies - like me - a chance to handicap the competition before the live finals are telecast.
This year is no exception.
Before I get into the actual competition, here are my thoughts on a few things that the new owners of MUO, IMG, have implemented. Some are good and some are bad.
First the bad, the owners have clearly indicated that they are going in a different direction with the winner this year. What that means, though, is anyone's guess.
We do know that contestant videos will be showcased during Sunday night's three-hour event and the organization is emphasizing the 'stories' of the delegate, Whether that means we are going to end up with a Miss Universe who has a sob story that wins her the crown or one who is beautiful is yet to be seen.
I have no problem with having a Miss USA or Miss Universe who is intelligent and articulate, but not at the expense of beauty. Say what you will, but this is still a beauty pageant - and the ultimate one at that,
Maybe I'm old school, but Miss Universe needs to be beautiful and should be the composite of beauty, elegance AND intelligence. I still say the old system that crowned such stunners as Kerry Ann Wells, Anne Marie Potomo, Maritza Sayalero, Shawn Weatherly and Cecilia Bolocco worked best. Have all semi finalists, especially since they have dropped that number to only 12, compete in swimsuit, evening gown and on-stage interviews, where the judges can determine if they have the personality needed for the job.
Then have the top five answer the same question and final rankings based on the composite thought of how each one would be able to do the job as Miss Universe as the final determining factor into choosing the winner.
Pre-packaged videos tell us nothing about a young woman. They are exactly that, pre-packaged, edited soundbites. On-stage interviews would tell us much more about each contestant and that round of the competition needs to be reinstated in place of the videos.
That's just my opinion.
While I am skeptical about what kind of winner we will get Sunday, I will commend MUO for having a mixture of the preliminary judges juxtaposed with final night judges and both groups have just the right amount of former winners on the panel. They, unlike celebrity B list judges, have a better understanding of the job because they did the job.
That's definitely a step in the right direction for MUO.
Now onto the actual preliminary competition.
Since personality and the ability to speak aren't really seen by us in prelims, I have to base that solely on how each delegate introduced themself. That plus my first impression of them gave me my first list of ones I liked and will be one-third of my prelim impression.
First off, Miss Brazil, who has been standing out to me all week, definitely did not disappoint me in the parade of nations. She is stunningly gorgeous and has personality. A surprise to me just off the top is Miss Haiti, who was gorgeous and outgoing. My third star went to Miss Panama, who I've been going back and forth on since the contestants arrived in the Philippines last week. I think she brought her A game with her when it counted. Of course, let's see what she does in evening gown and swimsuit, first, tho,
Others I was impressed with were Belgium, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Mexico (who I did not like in pre-pageant photos), Netherlands, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Beauty wise, i wouldn't put either Miss Canada or Venezuela on my list, but they both impressed me personality wise in the opening and that may count for a lot from the judges seeking to crown a new type of Miss Universe.
Also a few of the young women I've consistently had on my top 12 list like Colombia, France, Sierra Leone and Aruba are still in consideration early on in the show.
A few like Miss Barbados and USA disappointed me in the brief opening, but may rebound in the actual competition,
Now, onto swimsuit....
To me, Miss Chile really started standing out to me and had one of the best bodies and walks in the competition, as did Miss Venezuela, who really worked it, but, still, to me is not facially beautiful, which should be a criteria in judging, but may not be. There's no denying her personality or body, though.
Also top swimsuit scores for me went to Miss Belgium, Panama, France, Thailand and Brazil (whose regal walk makes her look like a Miss Universe to me.) Others I really liked are Miss Haiti, Miss Colombia. Miss USA has a great body (one of the best, but did not work it whatsoever, especially in comparison to some like Miss Philippines, Venezuela, France and Colombia. USA has a story, though, so that killer body, coupled with her story, may be enough to catapult her into the 12.
Next, evening gown...
The most subjective of any pageant category, this is where the judges can really just throw points to their favorites. And my fashion style, your style of fashion and someone else's style may all be different and that's OK, actually good and often is the determining factor into who gains more points and who loses them.
With that said, here are my favorites in gown, keeping in mind that even if I didn't love the gown, the runway walk and personality shown can gain a contestant vital points. And, note, contestants can change their gowns from prelims to final night anyway.
Overall, I was EXTREMELY disappointed in this competition, way too many pale colors and gowns that were all over the place design wise. The gown I liked the best was Panama, tho it got totally deducted in points from me because of the bright red lipstick she wore with the gorgeous gold gown.
I loved Iceland's gown and also Denmark, tho the latter was too pale to wear ice blue. Venezuela was a hot mess in her contraption and Miss USA had a good gown but didn't fit correctly on top and was nothing we haven't seen before, Red is a great color on her, tho,
Brazil still looked regal, but I was expecting more from a front-runner, the same for Colombia. Neither gown overwhelmed me, but Brazil is doing it for me personality wise and with stage presence.
I'd rank Aruba second in evening gown and also loved Spain and Mexico in gowns. Other gowns I really liked were France (tho not sure on the color), Sierra Leone (tho it did nothing for her hips), Curacao (a darkhorse), and Poland. Philippines will be in there, she works everything and I loved the green color of the gown, but not the construction of it. She's one who is definitely saving her best gown for last, which I don't get why they do that, especially in a competitive year where they only cut to 12 instead of 15,16 or 20 like they have done in the recent past.
In the end, I have no clue as to what - or who - they are looking for, but here's my top 12.
1. Brazil (looks like a Miss Universe to me, which will probably hurt her,)
2. Haiti (think she's a legitimate contender and she was in my top three in opening, good swimsuit, great gown AND has a story.)
3. Spain
4. France
5. Thailand
The rest are just in alphabetical order
6. Colombia
7. Curacao
8. Mexico
9. Panama
10. Philippines
11. Sierra Leone
12. Venezuela (who could actually be the winner based on best personality, body and stage presence, tho gown HAS GOT TO GO, and between that and facial beauty, I'd rank her lower, than if you take that out, she'd be fifth or sixth in my rankings.)
I think any of the 6-12 have a legitimate shot at making the top five and even winning the crown.
On the Bubble - Girls I hope make it are Aruba, Iceland, Belgium and obviously USA; also like Dominican Republic and Indonesia and think they could all easily slide into the top 12.
Surprises: Nicaragua in a good way and Australia in a bad way. Australia was one of my favorites going into the competition and she really underwhelmed me all during the preliminary presentation.
So, those are my choices, with some compensation for what I think MUO might be looking for.
To me, it's anyone's guess who ends up as the 65th Miss Universe on Sunday night.
And, I have a feeling we may all be in for a surprise. If I had to guess, I'd say Venezuela might be what they're looking for, but I'd go with any of my top 5 as the winner.
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