Hyphen TV: Come What May

Kelly Clarkson and Jason Farol sing on a cloud.

It was movies week on Duets, and Kelly chose "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge to perform with perpetual bottom of the pack Jason. Kelly pointed out that Jason has a tendency to be noncommittal and hesitant at the beginning of his performances, leading him to get off pitch. Man, I hate to be negative, but I just don't know what can be done or said at this point to get Jason looking confident and sounding good out there. We did get a little glimpse of a cute supportive relative (perhaps? Maybe Jason's mom?) in the audience wearing a Jason Farol t-shirt, which was sweet. He looked nice in a purple velvet blazer, but once again, his vocal power and stage persona paled considerably in comparison to Kelly's.

Robin said about the performance, "As soon as America starts to vote, you're a danger to everybody," which is nice but I'm not convinced enough to agree. He also said that he didn't get to hear Jason's special tone in his higher register with this performance. Jennifer could see Jason's musical theater potential, and she loved seeing him take on a character. Though John thought that Jason looked great compared to last week, he agreed that the song was too low to let him shine. "It's a tenor part!" Kelly screamed in response, which ... I don't know how that helps the fact that Jason didn't sound his best, but I always appreciate your passion? Jason was back at the bottom this week, coming in six out of six and having to sing for his life again.

This probably looks more triumphant than Jason felt after hearing feedback.

He was up against his teammate Jordan, and his rendition of "Mamma Knows Best" eked him to safety as the sole representative of Kelly Clarkson going into the voting rounds. Will Robin's prediction about America's preferences come true? We'll see next week!

After making it through Bologna with nothing but her immunity to save her (pretty much everyone agreed that her ribeye was completely unacceptable), Nicole knew she was on thin ice in Thailand on Around the World in 80 Plates. She was excited about visiting Southeast Asia for the first time, revealing that she had once planned on doing so with her partner, but then they divorced and she never made the trip. Nicole paired with Liz for the Amazing Race-like first leg of the episode, coming in second despite a pretty big gap-closing toward the end. For their street market dish, they decided to make crispy pork belly with chilies and kanah, but Nicole didn't buy enough pork and they ran out of food before the end of their allotted time. The judges also pointed out that the women used cornstarch, which is a common in Chinese cooking but not traditionally Thai.

Doesn't some Thai street food sound awesome right now? Mmm.

In the end they made the least money out of the three pairs, so it was between them and the other female team to vote someone out. Nicole said it should be between her and Liz, since the locals like the other team's dish better. Liz was obviously not happy about this. Though everyone agreed that Nicole consistently has problems with proteins, she didn't get a single vote, and the grating Jenna was sent off instead. Note to Nicole: get your meat together, girl.

It was a whirlwind Vegas week on So You Think You Can Dance; unfortunately, we didn't get to spend time with any of the new friends we met on auditions, but it does look like Abigail Ruiz (whom we met in Atlanta) made it to the top 35. We only saw him for a second, but Brandon Dumlao made it really far in Vegas, getting eliminated very late and almost joining Abigail. If you'll remember, Brandon was brought on back in season 6 when Billy Bell had to drop out of the top 20, but Brandon was then eliminated almost immediately. Because he was at such a disadvantage with lack of practice and screen time, the judges allowed him to come back and try out again. Looks like he'll have to give it another shot and hopefully make it into the top 20 for realsies. Good luck, Brandon!

I really can't wait for them to post some good pics of contestants.

Angela took on a supporting role in Push Girls this week in multiple ways: she wasn't featured as the camera focused on Auti's attempts at pregnancy and Tiphany's romantic troubles, but we did see her encouraging Auti ("You have to forgive yourself, okay?" she told Auti in regard to her past abortion) and giving Tiphany some real talk concerning the latter's relationship with girlfriend Miyoko (they broke up in the end). We did get a peek at Angela's painting, a hobby she used to pursue but has had obvious troubles with after her loss of dexterity. We watch her painstakingly capture her friend Aileen's eyes in a painting, but then one tiny slip of her hand and it looked like Aileen's mascara was seriously running. Just another one of the show's portrayals in the small but significant ways that being wheelchair-bound affects (but does not destroy) these women's lives.