Not Shocking

As much as I was disappointed to see Casey Abrams get the book on American Idol, it wasn't surprising. This is about the time where a talented but not Top 40 enough contestant might bow out (think Jennifer Hudson or Chris Daughtry), and Casey's jazz-inflected stylings fit that bill perfectly. I do look forward to seeing what he comes up with for his first album, which he will hopefully have a fair amount of control over.

As far as what this means for who will win, we're on quite the run of pleasant mediocrities taking the title, so I suppose this paves the way for Scotty, Lauren or Haley, all of whom are likable enough but not that exciting. I am holding out hope for James Durbin, but he may be too close to Daughtry territory to hang on. I have almost no hope for Jacob Lusk, who has reigned himself in too much for my taste. He needs to unleash his inner diva again.

And It Stoned Me

While we only watched the first season of Top Chef Masters (the second season aired at a bad time for us to commit DVR space), I was somewhat interested in catching the new season until I saw that it was now being hosted by Australian chef Curtis Stone. While not a huge fan of former host Kelly Choi, I think I'd prefer her somewhat robotic demeanor to Stone, who I only know through his TV ads.

He's apparently hosted a show on TLC and has popped up on a variety of reality shows (most notably a season of The Celebrity Apprentice, which gives you an idea of just how much of a "celebrity" chef he is, at least by US terms), so I suppose he's qualified to host a cooking show on basic cable. Probably moreso than competing, given that who the two winners have been. I mean, I don't know how skilled he is in the kitchen, but it's a short list of people who could top Rick Bayless or Marcus Samuelsson.

Anyway, I find Stone to smug by half and will likely sit this season out. I'll also admit to not being thrilled by the contestant lineup, featuring a dozen chefs I don't recognize by name (I never claimed to be that deep into chefs).

The Shondaverse: No One Gets Out Alive

I've think I've made passing reference to the abnormally high body count for main and supporting characters in Shonda Rhimes' shows, but having just seen the episode of Private Practice where Bizzy's kills herself after her new wife dies from a blood clot in the lung I'm left kind of amazed at how no character in her shows gets to leave standing upright... except for Izzy Stevens and Preston Burke. I assume they made it part of their exit package not to have their characters bumped off.

I was especially irritated with the decision to kill Bizzy off, given that her character seems to be of sterner stuff. I suppose you can argue that she wasn't able to see her way past losing her one true love, but I still don't see Bizzy choosing to OD. I would expect her to live a long and bitter life, making sure to remind Addison at every turn about how she's such a disappointment. That seems more in line with Bizzy as she was presented.