Blame It On The A-a-a-a-a-al-lergies

Pollen, why do you hate me?

Upon arrival in Austin this past weekend it seems that the pollen in the air has waged a full on attack over my throat and sinuses. At first I wanted to blame it on the swine but logic tells me that I shouldn't jinx my chances, seeing as how I don't have health insurance anymore. All of this to say, I am sorry for the delay in tv-related topics and in the (adapted) words of Jamie Foxx, "blame it on the goose, gotcha feelin' loose...blame it on the a-a-allergies, blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-al-lergies."

Allergies aside, my trip has been wonderful! Barring a day's worth of rain on Saturday, the weather has been humidity-free and sunny. If that isn't an introduction to Summer then I don't know what is. As far as I'm concerned, the days of endless pooltime, snocones in place of meals, and flip flops-only attire have begun and there's no turning back. With the new season comes a whole new crop of TV shows that are fresh for watching. The first show to talk about is The Bachelorette. Jillian is all for the "best friend" this season and the jury is still out on whether she will cut the mustard. I will, however, reward Jillian with 10 style points. She not only looks the part of a young and cute bachelorette, but she managed to pull it together without consulting Charlotte Russe or Jessica McClintock.

As for the men, absolutely no style point will be awarded to this crop of gents. It is amazing how many of these guys managed to mess up the simple, suit, tie, and dress shirt formula. What was with all of the neon colors and applique ties? Yikes, bikes. With that said, it is hard for me to formally rate the guys just yet, but I will tell you that Kiptyn rose to the top as an early favorite. He seemed so fun-loving and confident that it was hard for me to find anything wrong. I also liked Dave, the guy that received the first impression rose. Sure he froze in the beginning, but I think he more than made up for it with his personality throughout the rest of the night. Also, he was one of the few that managed to change it up with the tan suit which I happen to love. As usual, I am going to need a few more episodes to get into this season but I can assure you that in due time I will be yelling at my tv screen and placing bets on future winners. Stay tuned.

Next up, IDOL! Kris Allen did it! And to all of those naysayers throughout the season, we give you a staunch "I told you so" on that one. Not only was he stunned when his name was announced but he was perfectly poised to conceed to Adam Lambert. Who, I will say, was a total gentleman when he realized that he was, in fact, NOT the winner as predicted by everyone in the media. As I watched, I couldn't help but feel like this was a final for the good and evil. Not that Adam is evil necessarily, but there he was in all of his dark and high-pitched glory duking it out against pure little clean-cut Kris. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one that thought that. Anyway, winner and loser aside, the final was great. Like most Idol epsides, I quickly passed through most of the product placement, group songs, and Seacrest banter, but I did happen to catch several things that kept me watching:

Queen Latifah - I LOVE her. Yep, I said it. She totally upstaged Lil' Rounds and we all stood watching...pure talent.
Keith Urban/Kris Allen duet - Just fun to watch.
Kiss/Adam Lambert duet - Adam finally makes sense. I'm not saying that I'll buy the cd, but someone will.
Kara dualing the bikini girl - both weird and amusing.
Kris and Adam's performance with Queen - I also happen to love Queen.
Kris Allen weeping when he saw his young wife - need I say more?

So the door to this year's Idol has been closed leaving room for So You Think You Can Dance? to smoothly jump into my life. If you don't watch it, you should. It is SO good. So this summer's line-up will be an entertaining one. Glee, The Bachelorette, SYTYCD and The Real Housewives of New Jersey are all set to keep me going, so let the games begin.