http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHaVEngr67c

We are just a few hours away from crowning the next winner and just a few months from hearing the next winner’s album. The final two in this year’s competition are Candice Glover and Kree Harrison. Candice lives in South Carolina and, I think, is the favorite to win. She’s had two performances this season that the judges have declared the best in American Idol history – ‘Lovesong’ and ‘Somewhere’. Kree lives in Nashville and has been my favorite throughout the competition. She has been consistently giving great performances throughout, especially ‘Crying’. I have a feeling Candice is going to win, but I would be happy with either winning, really.

This season, we saw a deliberate stacking of female competitors. The last five winners have all been guitar-playing white males. It was not surprising that the final five contestants were all women, although it was clear from the beginning that the final three would be Candice, Kree and Angie Miller. Angie was eliminated in what most people think was a surprise elimination last week.

Origin

I can’t imagine anyone reading HelloGiggles doesn’t know that American Idol is a reality singing competition show airing on FOX. The show premiered in June of 2002 and it is currently in its twelfth season. The concept of the show is to find singers where the winner is voted on by the viewers. The 11 previous winners chosen by viewers through telephone, Internet and text voting were Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Fantasia Barrino, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Hicks, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Lee DeWyze, Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips.

The show has been hosted by Ryan Seacrest for its entire run, with the exception of the first year when he co-hosted with Brian Dunkleman. There are also judges that chose the top 12 contestants before their fate is determined by the viewer’s votes. The judges also critique the contestants’ performances weekly. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson were the original three judges – a format that was repeatedly copied by many other reality shows that followed it. In season eight, Kara DioGuardi, a singer-songwriter and record producer, was added as the fourth judge. Paula left after the eighth season and was replaced by Ellen DeGeneres, who stayed for just one season. Season ten of the show saw a giant shuffle in judges. Simon left, as did Kara and was replaced by Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler who stayed for two seasons. The current season judges are Keith Urban, Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and original judge Randy Jackson. There will inevitably be more judge shuffling next season as Randy announced that he is leaving the show at the end of this season.

Identifying Characteristics

The show has a very specific format that has been slightly adjusted throughout the 12 seasons. We start off with the audition rounds, which are a blend of the great performers and terrible ones. Some of those terrible performers have had their 15 minutes of fame, like William Hung. Following those initial auditions, the contestants move on to Hollywood week and added in season ten a Las Vegas round. After those rounds, the audience then starts to determine the contestants all the way up to the final two.

American Idol has been a jumping off point for quite a few Grammy and Country Music Awards award winning singers/musicians, as well as one Oscar winner. There are 11 Grammy awards in total, 6 of those belong to Carrie Underwood. Jennifer Hudson, who came in seventh place in season the, is the only contestant to win an Oscar for her role in Dreamgirls – she sang ‘And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going)’ during the competition too.

Some ubiquitous items pop up every season. These items are media sponsorships and have become, at least in my opinion, a joke. The red Coke cups the judges drink out of from their judging table are always there. The worst are the terrible Ford Commercials where the contestants sing songs and driving around in Fords – it’s all terribly cheesy.

After each season there is the American Idol tour. The top ten contestants get to go on tour all over the world which I think is a pretty sweet deal especially for those eliminated early on.

Image via Examiner

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Brooks was charged with armed robbery and held on a $10,000 bond. If convicted she could face 6 to 30 years in prison. The police say the boy arranged to meet her online and pay for sex while his parents weren’t home. When she arrived at his house she told him to go to his bedroom and remove his pants.

The 14 year old was on his bed when Brooks came into his room and sprayed him with pepper spray. She stole the iPad he used to solicit her as well as his piggy bank and left his house.

At some point, either he or his parents must have called the police (can you imagine that phone call?), because Brooks was tracked down a short time later at a motel and arrested after she used the iPad. The piggy bank was recovered.

The police say the boy will not be charged with solicitation, but I am going to bet he will surely be grounded and if I was his parents I would change the Internet password for awhile.

Image via Shutterstock

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There is precedent for horror movies being turned into TV shows, some more successful than others. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was once a horror/comedy movie and then a very successful long-running series. A Nightmare on Elm St. (a Wes Craven film, too) was turned into the not-so-great Freddy’s Nightmares. The original Teen Wolf was a comedy, but that was turned into a horror/drama hit for MTV. as well – which might be a reason for the Screamseries getting a pick up.

What will the show be about, though? That’s the major question. Will it be a long running who-done-it? Will it be much like the actual movies and each season focus on one set of killers? It could follow the whole American Horror Storything where it’s a slightly different story each season with the same cast and a different cast member could be Ghostface each season. I think that could be a fun idea.

My favorite thing about the movies – besides Courteney Cox, of course – is their homage to other horror movies in the terms of “The Rules”.

In the first film, there were three rules mentioned to successfully survive a horror movie:

• You may not survive the movie if you have sex.

• You may not survive the movie if you drink or do drugs.

• You may not survive the movie if you say “I’ll be right back”, “Hello?” or “Who’s there?”

In Scream 2, the rules were a little different:

• The body count is always bigger.

• The death scenes are always much more elaborate, with more blood and gore.

• Randy starts to describe the third rule: “If you want your films to become a successful franchise, never, ever…’ before being interrupted by Dewey. However, the film’s original teaser trailer featured an extended version of the rules scene which reveals that originally the third rule was supposed to be “Never, ever, under any circumstances assume the killer is dead.” This referenced Randy’s last line in the first Scream which stated that a killer always comes back to life for one last scare.

• The lack of a third rule in the film’s final cut was a deliberate in-joke by the crew, referencing the fact that it is impossible to ensure that a horror franchise will be successful.

Scream 3, the worst of the series in my opinion, had rules too:

• “You’ve got a killer who’s gonna be superhuman. Stabbing him won’t work, shooting him won’t work. Basically in the third one, you gotta cryogenically freeze his head, decapitate him, or blow him up.”

• “Anyone, including the main character, can die. This means you, Sid.”

• “The past will come back to bite you in the ass. Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it. The past is not at rest! Any sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you.”

The final movie in the series, Scream 4, had a few new rules to survive a horror movie:

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Jay Baruchel has been cast in many movies as ‘the awkward guy’ and it has been because that’s how he is in real life. Baruchel says he can play awkward “with [his] eyes closed.”

Michael Cera has played awkward characters like Paulie in Juno and George Michael in Arrested Development among many others. He’s made a career out of being awkward and it seems as though he is the same way in real life too.

Image via Buzznet

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The Internet wasn’t always as ubiquitous as it is now.

I watched this video of Angelina Jolie talking about the Internet in 1994, which got me thinking about my Internet journey.

“You can get on this Internet and talk to people all over the place… It’s amazing.”

It seemed a little early in the Internet history for “talking to people all over the place”, but Angelina Jolie obviously had more access to things and money than I did at the time. In 1994, I was in high school, had a computer and knew the Internet existed, but didn’t have it at home or school. I went to the library to get all my information from books and encyclopedias were still sold in supermarkets. A couple of years later, I remember sitting around the dorm with my friends logging on to AOL via our awesome dial-up connections. I watched my friends chat in chat rooms, but never did it myself. One girl even had a few ‘boyfriends’ she would chat with, which we thought was so scandalous. There was always talk of her meeting one of them, but as far as I know she never did.

I was reading through Lisa’s Nostalgia Cafe (I found it via a Google search) and she doesn’t really source her information there very well, but one fact that I found really interesting was the growth of websites throughout the 90s.

1991: 1 web server, 4 web pages. By the end of the year, there were 10 web servers.

1992: 50 websites on 26 web servers.

1993: At the beginning of the year, there were 130 websites on 50 servers. By the end of the year, there were 623 websites on 200 servers.

1994: 10,000 websites.

1995: 23,500 websites.

1996: 603,367 websites.

1997: 1 million websites.

1998: 4 million websites.

1999: 10 million websites.

To compare that info, I looked up the number of websites as of writing this piece and “The Indexed Web contains at least 14.33 billion pages.”

There’s also this 1994 promotional video which show a glimpse of the future.

Another great video talks about “Hot New Technology: The Internet”

I really loved this video from the Today Show in 1994 where they talk about the Internet and the @ symbol.

The year 1994 was really just the beginning of most people’s Internet journey, at least those of us that were alive then. What are your first memories of the Internet?

Image via Buzzfeed

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Reese Witherspoon is just the latest celebrity to drop the “Do you know who I am?” question. Reese and her husband, Jim Toth, were arrested early Friday morning and briefly jailed after he was pulled over under suspicion of driving while intoxicated in Atlanta. Toth faces a DUI charge after driving in the wrong lane while the actress, 37, was arrested for disorderly conduct, according to the Atlanta Department of Corrections.

Variety first reported this incident and obtained records of the arrest:

Mrs. Witherspoon began to hang out the window and say that she did not believe that I was a real police officer,” according to the police report. “I told Mrs. Witherspoon to sit on her butt and be quiet.” Once Toth was placed under arrest, Witherspoon exited the vehicle and was instructed to get back in the car. According to the report, she “stated that she was a ‘US citizen’ and that she was allowed to ‘stand on American ground.’” The officer then detailed how she resisted as he grabbed her arms to arrest as Toth attempted to calm her down. As the report details, “Mrs. Witherspoon asked, “Do you know my name?” I answered, “No, I don’t need to know your name.” I then added, “right now.” Mrs. Witherspoon stated, “You’re about to find out who I am.” The report also specified, “Mrs. Witherspoon also stated, ‘You are going to be on national news.’ I advised Mrs. Witherspoon that was fine.”

Reese has since issued an apology:

Out of respect for the ongoing legal situation, I cannot comment on everything that is being reported right now. But I do want to say, I clearly had one drink too many and I am deeply embarrassed about the things I said. It was definitely a scary situation and I was frightened for my husband, but that is no excuse. I was disrespectful to the officer who was just doing his job. The words I used that night definitely do not reflect who I am. I have nothing but respect for the police and I’m very sorry for my behavior.

I think Jimmy Kimmel summed up this whole Reese arrest nicely, “The police report says she asked the cop ‘Do you know my name? You’re about to find out who I am.’ Does that ever work? ‘Do you know who I am?’ is second only to ‘Do you know who my father is?’ It’s a bad question because the answer is either ‘no’ — which is embarrassing — or ‘yes, and you’re going to jail.’”

 Image via People

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I talked to Sonia via email about traveling, travel tips and what’s next for her.

What is your first travel-related memory?

New York City- I was 6 at the time. Looking up at the buildings and feeling dizzy, having to hold on to my mother’s hand tight. A carriage ride, that was marvelous! FAO Schwarz, hotdogs on the street, Cats. And most impressive of all, it was 9:00 PM and it was still light out. I remember every detail, and yearn for that feeling of being in awe of everything around me ever since.

What’s the best (or most memorable) day you’ve ever had while traveling?

Wow, many… The first day of the Chinese New Year in China, they invented fireworks. I’ll leave it at that. When I got to ride a good wave for the first time in Nicaragua. Stopping to buy some water on some random dirt road and ending up being invited to lunch with a wonderful Mexican family. Reaching the top of a Tepuy mountain after many days hiking and bathing in that sweet freezing water. And on and on…

What inspired you to start your blog?

I had traveled my fair share, and had developed a methodology. I thought I had something to contribute and I certainly was not finding content that fulfilled my needs, that showed me what I wanted to see. So why not do it myself? Thankfully the best sidekick on earth decided to hop on board the project. Mariana Hellmund is the one that makes the magic happen behind the main camera.

What’s your dream vacation?

My dream vacation involves either learning something, having an intense physical activity every day or both.  You end up feeling absolutely fulfilled by the time night comes. Some examples: Going to China to learn Chinese- everything you do, be it ordering water or asking for directions, when you get it right, it’s a triumph. And you get to feel triumphant multiple times a day. Surfing vacation- whether it’s your first time or your hundredth, every day is a challenge and every success is blissful. And it’s a great way to get closer to local life.

Favorite place you’ve been? Least favorite?

My favorite place changes all the time. Right now I have Amsterdam very much at the top of the list. But ask me again tomorrow. Least favorite? None, really can’t think of a place I don’t want to go back to.

Name one thing you haven’t done yet (travel-wise) that you want to.

Only one? An African safari on horseback and JAPAN, please.

How about something you’ve done and would never do again?

I ate some very scary squiggly worm-like looking somethings in China. Luckily, I did not speak enough Mandarin to know what they were yet. I would be okay not doing that again.

Who are some of the travelers who inspire you?

Alexander Von Humbolt- an oldie but a goodie. In the 1800s he traveled all over Latin America and wherever he saw a mountain he would climb it, no questions asked. And another adventurer, Bear Grylls. That man is inspiring, he can find his way anywhere, build a sailboat out of cans and is afraid of nothing. I have a video about them.

What are your top 5 don’t-leave-home-without-them travel essentials?

Mini Belkin surge protector with USB adapters- it eliminates having to take chargers, laptop, phone and my very own shampoo, face cream and conditioner – hotel shampoo, no sir!

What do you do for work that allows you to travel?

I’m the co-founder of an awesome language learning software company called fluenz.com. We teach German, French, Spanish, Italian and Mandarin and I lead the development team.

Why videos and not a blog with photos?

There are so many photographers posting amazing stuff already, I couldn’t compete. Yet there isn’t so much great travel video content out there. Plus, I don’t photograph well!

What’s next for you? Your site? TV deals in your future?

Continue head strong with Sonia’s Travels and crack the secret code of every conceivable corner. There is much in the works but nothing I can discuss yet- hush, hush.

What’s your #1 piece of travel advice?

Get lost, really lost, and peek in every open door and window… And whatever anyone says, don’t eat raw chicken!

Check out her Website, YouTube Channel, and her follow her on Twitter. New shows every Thursday at Noon (9am PT)

The post Meet Sonia Gil of Sonia’s Travels appeared first on HelloGiggles.

The project is described in their Kickstarter:

Isolated began as a feral surf film about finding the world’s last undiscovered world class waves, but evolved into something so much more important. During filming we stumbled across first hand accounts from the locals who had experienced rape, torture, and murder – all because of a land dispute that began in the 1960′s. Where we traveled to in New Guinea is a ‘journalist dead zone’, which means you’re not allowed to go there if you’re a journalist or want to film. But since we were a bunch of surfers they let us in. None of us had ever traveled to the region before, and although we knew the conflict existed, we could have never predicted what we discovered. We feel it is our responsibility as documentary filmmakers to finish this film to get the word out!

In an interview with the Executive Producer Geoff Clark, he described what changed this from just a documentary into a quest for peace.

“The defining moment that shifted our focus was a conversation with a woman from a tribe that had been living there for generations. She had been taught how to speak English when she was six years old by missionaries during the Vietnam War. She described to us how the military had come in and killed her brother and sent his head back as a warning to the natives that lived there and oppressing their freedom. This woman had taken care of us for days, we had taught her kids how to surf, and we really began to identify with these people. They were extremely welcoming to us even though a majority of us didn’t speak the same language and we still found a way to communicate. When we left the tribe, the chief of the tribe gave us a letter that was a plea for their freedom and peace that they wanted delivered to the United Nations and Red Cross.” (via)

Keep an eye out on their website for screenings of the film and in the meantime, you can sign their petition to force the Obama administration to address the human rights crisis in West Papua.

Image via Kickstarter

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