AOL DVR Divas: Guess Who Sits In!

Good job, mj! Thanks for sticking up for SYTYCD. I started watching because of you and am slowly picking up enough dance knowledge to appreciate how fabulous the dancers are. Aren’t you glad that you get to pick what shows you cover in your blog? Saves your brain from turning to mush (except Idol mush, of course, which is a good thing…isn’t it?!?!) :tongue1_tb:

Intelligent, Insightful, and Illuminating. Good show mj. ‘Twas all you.

Listening now…..how fun! Good job, MJ.

Very nice job MJ. I know you kind of got put on the spot with some of the questions but every answer you gave was very professional. I really enjoyed this interview. Hope we get to hear more from you like this in the future.

Wow, that was a really insightful podcast. LOVED your discussion particularly towards the end about The Kris album vs the Adam Album. Very good points, and ones that I didn’t think of before. Great listening (and I also agree about SYTYCD, it is one of my favorite shows this season, and I may be one of those who enjoy because it is so pleasantly devoid of silly dreck and canon fodder)

Oh, Diva MJ!
I confess I don’t watch most of the songs, but I’ll be listening it!

I just started listening. This is so cool!

Good pod cast. I liked hearing your opinions on the Adam vs Kris Album. Just don’t agree with all of them. I think Adam will be different and ignite the music industry again. One thing that may happen is Kris will do better in the US and Adam will do better worldwide. I Just hope they both do fantastic. I am buying both albums. Allison’s too.

I enjoyed listening to you, MJ. The thing with Adam is that he is so capable of doing so many genres, that if his first pop/electro album doesn’t meet expectations, he can always switch it up and do something else. I agree with the poster above, that Adam has global appeal, where as, I don’t think Kris does.

great job…i always enjoy your view on not just AI, but other shows as well.

hmm, cant you just bump one of those annoying wenches from the View and take their job?

Thanks, MJ! This was really interesting. I think Kris’ album will have more radio friendly tracks than Adam’s. I think his style is a natural fit for what’s currently popular right now and I hope he has tremendous success. But that doesn’t take anything away from Adam. I think Adam’s album will be more eclectic and harder to categorize. Even Adam has a hard pinpointing what his sound is ie “pop, dance,rock,electronica kind of thing” It probably won’t be for everyone but I do know that it will be for ME. I cannot wait until November!

Note:I could be wrong if Adam decides to go with the single he and Kara co-wrote. The Harris Teeter near me plays his version of NoBo as part of their Muzak track. I hear it almost every time I’m in there. My daughter and I always crack up!

Kris Allen seems like a really nice guy-moderately talented but pleasant and non-threatening. I have heard so many Kris Allens in coffeehouses all over this country. I guess that is what passes for “rock” today..or pop..whatever. I still hold to the opinion that rock should be a little shocking,maybe a little dangerous. That’s how it started and that’s how it should remain. I only hope Adam doesn’t compromise his edginess. Not so sure that radio play equates with sales so much anymore either..

Good job, MJ. It was cool to hear “the voice of the bigblog”.

Anyway, I was happy that you pronounced yourself an ardent fan of SYTYCD, even though the other two podwomen were not. For years I have been telling people that SYTYCD is my favorite of all of these types of shows……even more than AI (until Adam). Alas, many claim to be too burned out after watching Idol for five months and say they need the summer off and don’t want to become that invested in even MORE people’s lives. I get that. I myself wasn’t sure if, just one day after Idol’s grand finale, I had the energy to start caring so much all over again. However, watching those dancers is really such a different experience than watching singers. The dancers exude so much energy, passion and committment. And some of those dance styles can be really foreign to them (and sometimes a tad dangerous, too), but all of the dancers really give 100%. I can’t believe what they accomplish in such a short period of practice time.

Loved Katee, Twitch and Joshua last year. Have not yet picked any real favorites yet this year. Like Brandon. Having trouble remembering which one is Jeanette and which one is Jeanine…

Alas, many claim to be too burned out after watching Idol for five months and say they need the summer off and don’t want to become that invested in even MORE people’s lives. I get that. I myself wasn’t sure if, just one day after Idol’s grand finale, I had the energy to start caring so much all over again.

This is the sad reality for me — I recognize that SYTYCD is probably something I would enjoy, actually it seems like it’s right up my alley. But the timing is off — if it was scheduled differently, I might have given it a shot. But I just can’t immediately jump from one talent competition into another. My loss, I guess.

There will be a new season of SYTYCD starting in the fall. They have never done that before. I’m wondering if the plan is to transition the show out of the summertime slot and only have it in the fall from now on. MJ (or anyone else), do you know anything about that?

Very cool MJ, that was great!

Good job, MJ! I thought those Divas were really annoying (was it just me?). It was nice to hear you praise SYTYCD (and I wish it were doing well in the ratings, but it just seems to be meh). However, I just can’t get stoked about this season. Maybe it’s because I am still in Idol mode, but none of the contestants are really grabbing me (except maybe Brandon, and Evan has been disappointing for me, b/c going in he was my favorite). I loved Mark, Chelsie, Courtney, Gev, Will, and Josh last year (and Katee was tremendous); I can’t even keep all of them straight this year (and Kayla is totally meh for me). Maybe Top 10 will really bring the best out of the dancers.

As far as Idol, I can’t agree more: Ryan is an excellent host, so good on him for his salary bump. (I still wonder what would happen with Kara hosting…LOL.) It’s too bad you didn’t get to talk about Idol till the end, b/c aside from SYTYCD, I couldn’t care less about the other shows (again, IMO). I, too, am still frustrated at having four judges at the expense of the singers, especially when they have nothing to say (I know it’s come up like one million times, but you can never stress it enough).

As far as Kris and Adam’s future, given how hot Katy Perry, the Ting Tings, the Veronicas, and Lady GaGa are, I think Adam’s album can kill. Interestingly, I liked his studio versions of the slow (or less rocky) songs (Feeling Good, Mad World, One) as much or better than the live versions, but if he goes softer I think it will be with a slow burn, like Muse. I would give anything (!) to hear I Just Love You or Come Home on the album, but I can’t see that happening–I think those days are gone. I definitely think Kris’s album will do really well *if* he goes radio friendly but with a little edge (Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” and Matt Nathanson’s “Get Higher” have been Top 10 hits, but I think the latter is really dull, tho I love Mraz’s album). I am really interested in Adam’s album *because* it can go in so many directions, and I think it will. We’ll see if it does better abroad than in the states. Since I bought Kris’s iTunes Pass, I will automatically get his album, and I’ll pre-order Adam’s the minute I can.

There will be a new season of SYTYCD starting in the fall. They have never done that before. I’m wondering if the plan is to transition the show out of the summertime slot and only have it in the fall from now on. MJ (or anyone else), do you know anything about that?

If the ratings are good enough, it will stay in the fall time slot, without a summer season.

mj, great job! I’m another one who is now watching SYTYCD because of you! My kids watch it too and started making up their own dance routines, lol. I think it’s a classy show and I really like Nigel. (His b-day’s the same as mine. hehe).

I laughed out loud at your AGT’s desperately seeking their Susan…Boyle joke.

I think Jive has done a great job with Jordin and hope they do the same with Kris. And Allison for that matter. I’m looking forward to both of their albmus. BTW, I didn’t realize the JB’s dad was managing Jordin now.

Thanks for sharing this podcast!

Yay for MJ! I’m glad you mentioned that Tattoo did well. In fact, I didn’t even know about No Air and that Jordin did it with Chris Brown. It’s Tattoo that made an impression for me. And this is coming from someone who does not listen to music in general, save for those played on tv and on the radio while I’m on the car to and from work.

Very nice MJ. congrats.

I thought those Divas were really annoying (was it just me?).

In reply to suebrody:
Sorry that you found me and my co-hostess Katy annoying. We put a lot of time and effort into our podcasts and into all our TV coverage at http://television.aol.com. I hope you’ll give us another chance in the future. In any event, it was great to have MJ on the show.
- Sandy

This was fun to listen to, I enjoyed it. It made me laugh when you described what you like about SYCYCD, and one of the podcasters realized that she didn’t like it because it was just too classy for her. Funny!

About the point you made about how this show doesn’t get crazy with the OTT sobbing Queen for a day backstories…I actually think that may be a double edged sword when it comes to getting ratings. On one hand, I agree that it does make the show seem more sophisticated than most reality fare. On the other hand, this could be just me, but I think it is harder to make an emotional connection to a dancer than to a singer. I’ve watched the videos that you’ve posted on here for a few weeks now I think it was only in the last week that I remembered more than who a few of them were from week to week. If others feel the same I think it makes it less likely that they’ll feel anxious to see them the next week, as we get with the AI kids. So maybe if there was more of the “oh yes, that’s the one whose house got blown down by a tornado”, people would find it easier to get attached. I’m not sure how they could make it easier to find an emotional connection to the dancers without getting all cheesy, but if they could, I think it would help the ratings.

Well I didn’t find you annoying, tvmomma! I enjoyed your chat with MJ a lot. I laughed when you were talking about the job Ryan Seacrest does hosting AI, and one of you said, “Hell, just hosting this podcast is hard enough!” I’ll be checking out more of your podcasts in the future.

Aww, thanks Will! And thanks to everyone here for tuning in to hear MJ.

I finally got a chance to listen & I thought it was very entertaining. You 3 women really know your shows. It was a fun listen & I’ll have to check out this podcast again.

Also, I have to admit I also find SYTYCD too classy and instead prefer the totally trashy Big Brother. Not that I’m proud of that or anything.