Popular Reality TV

As American Idol 10 prepares to pre-tape its first performance episode of the finals today, executive producer and band leader have responded to criticism over the live performances in interesting ways: by calling fans morons and blaming contestants for technical problems. First, MJ’s Big Blog reported that tomorrow night’s performance episode will be pre-taped, but points out that “the first week of ‘live’ shows have always been taped.” Nigel Lythgoe confirmed the pre-taping on Twitter , where he got even angrier at fans who criticized that: “…we have a new Director & new judges. It has nothing to do with manipulation you morons.” Yesterday, Nigel admitted that they’ve had “a tough day trying to get the sound right.” The awkward sound mix for some performances on last week’s episode has been blamed on the contestants. New musical director Ray Chew told TV Guide , “What happens, especially during a live show, is that a lot of the contestants don’t have a lot of experience when ...

Bristol Palin has responded to Margaret Cho’s allegations than Sarah Palin forced Bristol to be on Dancing with the Stars because her mom blamed her daughter for losing the 2008 presidential election. First, though, The Smoking Gun has published letters from people who complained to the FCC about Bristo’s success on the show. They’re a fun read despite being written by absolute morons who will make you fear for our entire civilization’s future. Meanwhile, writing on Facebook , Bristol calls Margaret “my friend and fellow contestant.” While I thought Margaret’s blog post all but said Bristol was her source—she wrote that she was friends with Bristol and then insisted that her source “who really should know (really should seriously know the dirt really really)”—Bristol makes it clear that’s not the case, writing “if you ever have a question, call me girlfriend. Don’t ever rely on ‘sources’ who claim to know me or my family.” She suggests Margaret made it up: I will give my friend cre...