TV

OK, I have a confession. If a singer chooses a song I've never heard of, my mind tends to wander. I don't believe I'm alone in this bad habit, right?
I myself was not familiar with "This Woman's Heart," so when Michael started to sing, I kinda shrugged my shoulders. (I was also recalling an online comment I recently read about him: "Personal trainer my [bleep]." You know you're thinking the same thing. We all are.)
But as he got going with the performance, I was spellbound. It was quite beautiful -- which I suppose is why Kara started crying. (And we thought we got rid of the teary-eyed judge.)
"This was so needed tonight," Simon said. "You 100 percent nailed it. This was not only the best performance of the night, but the best performance we've had in all the live shows so far."
After tonight, one thing is crystal clear: The girls are going to need to step it up.

After two weeks of rather baffling performances, Todrick needed to impress the judges tonight. And he did with a rousing, entertaining version of Queen's "Somebody to Love." Heck, I just enjoyed the fact that he moved around on the stage and even KNEELED at one point. Is that what's missing this season? Greater mobility? Perhaps. (Among other things.)
Despite the fact that the backup singers were distracting on that giant screen behind him, Todrick pulled it off. Randy said it was "one of the best vocals I've heard all night." Simon, labeled him a "Broadway singer" (which is accurate) -- but also noted that at least he wasn't boring.
America: PLEASE keep the not-boring singers in. The show needs every one of 'em they can get right now.

Have we seen Casey in anything other than a blue shirt? (Besides the time he went shirtless, I mean?) Just wonderin'.
The Fort Worth cutie went with Keith Urban's "You'll Think of Me," which is a semi-angry breakup song. I thought he was very convincing; perhaps there were even some tears in his eyes by the end.
The judges all liked it. (None were jumping up and down.) But if anyone cares, Kara proclaimed herself to be "kinda back on the Casey train."

Who could have predicted this? Two weeks ago, Simon basically told him to pack up and leave (again, as he wasn't originally supposed to be in the top 24), as he was horrific. Now, with a version of "Hallelujah" that was at least as haunting as Jason Castro's rendition a couple of seasons ago, Tim won the judges' hearts. (For this week, anyway.) Ellen ran over and gave him a hug, Kara called the performance "honest and interpretive" and Simon said he was "very, very smart with this song. It was by far the strongest performance you've given in the competition."
So hooray for our local boys. So far!

Still rockin' the mullet. Maybe he'll start a fashion trend!
Our North Richland Hills teen is basically doing everything right. Singing "Trouble" by Ray Lamontagne, his voice and charisma were in fine form.
"You're being a mushy banana is what's happening to you," Ellen said, rephrasing her earlier analogy that he was like unripe version of the fruit. "You can see how sweet and vulnerable and honest and real you are -- and don't ever lose that. You need more confidence, but don't get cocky. Don't become a cocky banana."
I think Ellen nailed it with that take on Alex. (Although at this point we can probably lose the banana references.)
Kara then told him, "The only thing standing in the way of you winning is you right now."
So it seems one of our local underdogs is quickly trotting toward the front of the pack.

At the halfway point in the show, I have to say that I'm heartened that tonight's episode is actually entertaining. (As opposed to last night, which featured the girls. No offense.)
First up was Lee Dewyze, who sang that love-it-or-hate-it "Fireflies." While the original is floaty and sweet, Lee put a rocker's edge on it, and it worked. (I thought.)
The judges all agreed, although Simon said he didn't "have a moment" with the song. Still, the fact that he's cute, likable, talented and eager to learn from the judges' criticism should score him points. And votes.

Miles tells on Linus.
Sideways: Ben teaches Alex.
Widmore sub alert!

SPOILER ALERT: You know the drill.

Come back here Wednesday morning for the latest in Samantha Urban's increasingly fabulous series of Lost haikus.

You know that saying about something being all "smoke and mirrors"? That's exactly what the final season of ABC's Lost is turning into. And I mean that as a compliment. I'm starting to think that the creators, in all their warped wisdom, at some point just turned to each other and said, "Let's make something that really is all about smoke and mirrors." Hence we have this season's emphasis on Smokey the monster, a.k.a. Evil Locke (Terry O'Quinn), who wasn't seen this episode -- but we did hear that trademark ominous clicking right before E.L. appeared, so we know it was there. And mirrors -- they're everywhere, both literal and metaphoric, starting with that mirror in Jacob's lighthouse, to the endless shots of characters gazing at themselves in mirrors, to the mirrored realities of Island World and Sideways World.

PHOTO by Richard Drew/The Associated Press: Michael Emerson, who plays Ben Linus on 'Lost'

Was anybody else wishing for something a bit more caffeinated in terms of song choice? It was one slow, somber tune after the other. But there was one bright moment: Crystal Bowersox, who showed off her star power once again with "Give Me One Reason." I don't think she really has much competition on the ladies' side of the stage. Lilly Scott? Maybe, but I agreed with Simon that her take on "I Fall To Pieces" failed to wow.
Easy bets for going home this week: Paige Miles and Katie Stevens. But others are vulnerable; the way I see it, all are vulnerable except Ms. Bowersox.
(I do worry that she sat down on the amp after her performance. Just taking a load off, or is she still a bit sick this week? If so, Idol needs to get that woman well. Stat.)

As the girls take the stage tonight, some of them don't seem to be trying all that hard. Katie Stevens took Kelly Clarkson's "Breakaway" and made it sound like a funeral dirge, while Kateylyn Epperly (as Randy said) put nothing special into "I Feel the Earth Move." In other words, the earth stayed still.
"It kind of felt like request night on a Friday night at a restaurant where you work," Simon told her. Not really want you want to hear just before America makes its final picks for the Top 12.

Apparently, between Chuck and Gossip Girl, Monday night is now Josh Schwartz night for me.

It feels like our favorite Upper East Siders have been absent for a looong time. Here's where we left off:

- Nate and Serena finally became a couple.
- Jenny was diving deeper into the world of drug dealing.
- Rufus uncovered Lily's potential infidelity.
- Dan told Vanessa that he loved her.
- Chuck saw a woman who might be his mother

After years of awkward moments and terrible secrets, Morgan finally knows that his best friend is a spy... and he couldn't be more psyched. (The same goes for the Chuck audience.)

The Ring lured Sarah, Casey and Shaw away from the base under the false impression that they were targeting Awesome while he was on vacation with Ellie. But back at the Buy More, Ring agents were pretending to be "cleaning house" as Buy More executives while they were really searching for the C.I.A. base.

Believing everyone was going to be fired, Lester and Jeff lead a revolution - leading to some of the funniest scenes ever filmed at the Buy More. (By the way, leading man Zachary Levi directed the episode and did some very fine work indeed.)

If you really and truly think you can dance, now's your chance to prove it.

From FOX's Web site:

We want YOU to audition for Season 7 of SYTYCD! It's another opportunity to become America's Favorite Dancer!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010
McFarlin Memorial Auditorium
6405 Boaz Lane
Dallas, Texas 75205

Dress to impress! Print and fill out these forms and bring them to the auditions. Doors open at 8 a.m. Be prepared to stay for an extra two days for potential callbacks.

Keep checking FOX.com/dance for the latest information regarding audition details, music options and for all audition updates.

I'll say this - while a student at SMU, I was unaware that they held auditions on campus. I went to Stromboli's for pizza that afternoon and was surprised to find it packed with people in Bedazzled leather jackets and leg-warmers. So... you know... dress to impress.

Less than 24 hours after Neil Patrick Harris performed a surprise musical number at the Academy Awards, we see him in another one on another solid episode of How I Met Your Mother.

And with Jennifer Lopez this week, HIMYM once again kept the big! name! (yes?) guest star from overshadowing the show, while also enabling them to shine brilliantly amid all the seemingly random bits that combine to make for good comedy. I mean, seriously, how many stupid little songs-that-aren't-real-songs can they create before I'm groaning instead of laughing? "I said-a 'bang, bang, bangity-bang, bang-bang-bangity-bang!' " Especially ones with lines from Ben Stiller's 2003 film Duplex?!

Technically, what I was watching Sunday night was the Oscars, but early Monday morning I was watching the finale of what's been the best season of Big Love and, therefore, week in week out the best show on television.

This has been a crazy season and fulfilling that craziness, the penultimate episode left so many ball up in the air, there seemed no way that the finale, in the span of 50-something minutes, could wrap everything up. The short answer is: it doesn't. But the slightly longer answer is: it deals with everything it needed to in really smart, surprising and provocative ways. Read on only if you're spoiler-safe.

Unless you made it through the entire Oscars telecast, then the local news and then the annual post-Oscars Jimmy Kimmel Live, you missed quite a funny sketch.

Kimmel, in a riff on deciding who's hot and who's not, claimed to belong to a Handsome Men's Club. The members included Patrick Dempsey, Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, John Krasinski and others. But the local laughs came when Tony Romo was revealed to be a member, despite Jimmy's disapproval of his ears. (Romo appears at the 4:50 mark.)

"He can't even get his hat on frontways ever... 'cause his ears are so big."

This week's Talking TV has a theme! (Gasp!)

In "Ends and Beginnings," Tom and I discuss various ends (the Nip/Tuck finale, the Burn Notice finale, etc.) and beginnings (the Parenthood premiere, Monday's Gossip Girl premiere).

Join us on moviesblog.dallasnews.com on Sunday night for our live commentary during the Oscars telecast.

Listen to this week's Talking TV here or download it on iTunes.

Oh baby. I'm a die-hard "Office" fan, but I didn't really care for the much-hyped "baby" episode, "The Delivery."

The first half focused on Pam being in labor, but not wanting to go to the hospital yet because the HMO only covers so much time in the hospital. Jim was practically doubled over with worry, but Michael decided to band the office together in an effort to distract Pam from her labor pains.

Once the baby, a girl names Cecilia Marie Halpert, arrives, the episode divded itself between the Halperts getting to know their daughter and the action back at Dunder Mifflin, where a proud Michael tries to start new families within the office by playing matchmaker.

Texas' Colby Donaldson survives to play another week on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, but it was a very close scrape Thursday night for one of the "good guys" of the Heroes team.'

Read on for who was evicted:

The guest judges this week are Isabel Toledo, designer to the First Lady, and Stephen Webster, jewelry designer.

On the runway, Mila's black and white plastic dress is pretty cool, but Jesse's metal puff ball is crazy. Jonathan's copper number is forgettable. Anthony actually made a feminine, lavender cocktail dress. Ben's copper outfit is overshadowed by the appearance of Emilio's "garment." Maya's dress looks like it belongs to Lady Gaga.

During judging, Ben, Jonathan, Amy and Seth Aaron move on to the next round. Mila's paint tray dress gets rave reviews, but Emilio is taken down a peg for not having any discernible pattern. (They actually give him more credit than he deserves and think he was trying to be creative and not make a dress, when really, he just ran out of material.)

Anthony (unjustly) gets insulted because he made something pretty and soft when he should have embraced the "hardness" of the hardware. Maya's dress recieves compliments, but Jesse's is compared to a dirty vacuum bag, a Hershey's kiss, a ballerina and the Tin Man. (Called it!) But Jay outshines everyone with his "luxury" trash bag outfit - he scores unanimous praise.

Maya is in and Jay is the winner of the challenge. Mila and Anthony are in, too. It comes down to Jesse and Emilio... predictably, Jesse is out. Emilio committed a grave error, but at least it was a statement. Jesse's never been a shining star and so he didn't have anything to rest on. Oh well... Auf wiedersehen, Jesse!

Next time: "Anyone could go at any time." "Is anyone else as worried as I am?" "It looks like a cat in a baby sling." All this and more on the next Project Runway!