1NetezNet

People take a lot of things for granted, myself included of course. I sometimes wonder how I’d cope without being able to watch all of my favourite reality shows if my eyesight were to deteriorate – I am sure I would have bigger and more important concerns as well, but it’s all those little things like not being able to watch the TV that concern me at the moment.

I just heard about this great iLASIK Video Contest at GottaSeeThisNow.com where you can win loads of great prizes just by creating and submitting a video.

Here’s how it works, you are asked to create a video showing how better vision would or even has improved your daily life – has it made you better at your favourite sport? Has it stopped the inconvenience of having to wear glasses or contact lenses for you? Or in my case, has it made you more able to enjoy your favourite TV shows?

Once you have submitted your video people vote on it and if you are chosen as the winner you can take away $5,000, an HDTV package worth $2,500 or a Flip UltraHD camcorder worth $199.99 – they have lots to give away in several categories so you could be in with a really great chance

Isn’t it amazing? Isn’t it awesome? Isn’t it a wonderful example to set to the millions of people watching?

Erm, no.

Really, 101 pounds in seven weeks is not healthy, it’s not responsible, it’s not realistic and it’s not a good example to set. It only goes to highlight the thing about The Biggest Loser I really don’t like – honestly, congratulations to Rudy as it’s a pretty mind blowing thing to have done.

But where is this show going to be in another 5 years time? 800lb contestants? Losing 20lbs a week? Someone losing 100lbs in 3 weeks? If each season has to be bigger and better than the last, it is really a scary thought.

Someone recommended I watch ‘Reality Hell’ a few weeks ago, and although I am not a huge fan of prank shows I thought I would give it a go as it’s related to my favourite of all the TV genres.

I enjoyed around half the episodes I saw and hated the other half.

I love a good pranking, don’t get me wrong – but no matter how real they actually are the responses always seem faked to me when you see them on TV.

I have pulled pranks in my time, I love getting my other half – but my pranks are usually pretty lame, I don’t exactly have the best imagination! That doesn’t matter though because at least I know the reactions I get are real and I enjoy even the slightest real chuckle from a loved one more than a huge eloborate reaction from a stranger in front of TV cameras.

Now, I just came across a Prank Call site a few days ago that I plan to make use of. As the name suggests they allow you to prank call your loved ones – all you need to know is their phone number. They have a big database of calls that you can select from to find that ideal prank and you can listen to them before you commit so you know exactly what you will be sending.

There’s one about illegal downloading that will be ideal for my other half so I am going to send it him tonight when he gets back from work – I might even win a Wii, ipod or flip for sending it as they currently have a competition running where every time you prank someone you get an entry into their competition, FUN!

Having said that about American shows and their product placements, that isn’t to say it doesn’t happen in UK shows – they just have to be much more subtle about it. Take the last series of The Biggest Loser UK where the Kettlebell was used and praised most episodes – pieces to camera from the trainers and contestants talking about how wonderful a piece of equipment it was. I wonder how many people rushed out to buy one after the show, I know it’s on my Christmas list this year.

I wonder how many people go out and buy the products they pimp on The Biggest Loser USA, assuming they are the best weight loss products just because Jillian and Bob say so? Being from the UK product placement is still pretty unusual to me, despite the amount of American TV I watch – so when they do them they stand out a mile, whereas I guess most America’s hardly notice at all.

I understand the need for it and have no objections really, I just think that some shows need to be very careful about what they are pimping and I would love to know what sort of effect they have on sales.

Big Band week…snore…always my least favourite of the themed weeks.

And it ending in quite a surprising result for the first time this series, I don’t think any one would have predicted it would be Miss Frank and Danyl in the bottom two. Not that I am personally bothered that either of them were there – Danyl didn’t deserve to be but maybe it will knock Simon Cowell down a peg or two. Simon has always been an arrogant ass, it’s part of his charm – but he really seems to have upped it a gear this year to the point of it being obnoxious. Over praising his own acts and being overly critical of the others (Louis showed him up last night when he asked him to qualify his criticism of Lucie’s performance which was awesome…and he spluttered and flapped around like a buffoon!).

Miss Frank were by no means my favourites, I don’t think that shoving a crap rap into every song makes them nearly as original as they and the judges seemed to want to have us believe – but again there were others who should have been in the bottom two ahead of them.

Of the two I am please Miss Frank left, if only for the reason than ‘the one in the middle’ looked like a right miserable cow as soon as it was announced and she seemed to be in a major strop throughout the performance.

Moment of the night – when Dermot thanked Buble for not being a weirdo in the interview, after the disasters that were Robbie and then Whitney last week he was only saying what we were all thinking, heh.

Jedward live to fight another day

I don’t know what I would do without torrents, I really don’t – it is thanks to them that I get to watch TV from around the world. Without a good torrents search site I would be stuck with watching just UK TV and I would die a little inside because there simply isn’t enough of it to interest me. I would have to give up several of my all time favourite shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race.

I sometimes use Queentorrent.com for my searching as they have a huge and often updated database and a really simple interface to use

I don’t wish to be a show off, but…I saw Darren being Heather’s baby daddy ages ego – why? Because soaps are so predictable.

In fairness I had not thought of him until after the what’s on TV article I read which listed the possible suspects, but as soon as he was in the mix I thought it was pretty obvious.

Heather had called him a businessman and he’s the only one (sans Phil, maybe?) who could be classed that way as he runs the car lot and does auto insurance quotes. But if that wasn’t clue enough he proposed to Libby and she said yes…every thing was going so well for him and he was waxing lyrical about how lucky and happy he was…in soap land that only ever means one thing and that’s that things are about to go very, very wrong!

OK I don’t care what any one says, I love John and Edward from The X Factor! Everyone is stamping their feet and demanding they must leave as they cannot sing and it’s meant to be a talent contest, but actually it’s meant to be an entertainment show and I personally would rather be entertained by their bad performances than be bored by some of the more accomplished but ‘no special’ ones. If I wanted to be bored I would go to an Oklahoma City attorney meeting, not watch The X Factor.

Jedward fan, and proud of it!