'The Walking Dead' Slays the Competition

Did you think The Walking Dead couldn't get any bigger? Think again. The hit AMC show took Michonne's katana sword to the rest of the competition on Sunday Night, as the return from winter hiatus drew a record 12.3 Million Viewers, with a 6.1 rating in the coveted 18-49 demographic, the largest the series has ever seen in both categories.

That means The Walking Dead destroyed American Idol in adults 18-49, and nearly topped it in total viewers period. Not to mention the fact that The Walking Dead had to go up against some stiff competition in the 2013 Grammy Awards, or it could have been even larger. Michael Rooker, who plays fan favorite Merle, commented on twitter: Gmorning all y'all FANS around the World a big SHIT YES!!! Thank you!!! For ur Support...  

The show is changing the face of television, as cable networks can now dream of beating out broadcast networks in the ratings game. This all comes after The Walking Dead became the first cable show in history to become the Fall's most watched show with 18-49 year olds. Zombies may be hot right now, but this show  has been able to be much more than that, creating characters that people care about, which the broadcast networks are dreaming they can do. 

I have to say, it was probably my least favorite episode (titled "The Suicide King") so far this season, but it did a good job setting up the rest of the season, so it was needed. Especially after the intensity of the previous episode, "Made to Suffer", this one was a bit more mellow. Now just because it was my least favorite of the season doesn't mean much, as it was still incredibly entertaining. If you need a little Walking Dead style action in the middle of the week, give The Americans on FX a chance. It's yet another exciting cable show to add to the growing collection of them.

Mariah Carey: New American Idol Judge

Mariah Carey is confirmed to be one of the new judges on FOX hit American Idol. The show recently lost Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, so look for one more new judge to be added.

I personally think there are too many of these singing competition shows, and no matter what they do, ratings are not going to improve. They'll reach a certain audience now and stay that way. Same goes for Britney Spears over on The X Factor, no matter how nutty she acts. Ratings might increase slightly, but they will never reach the heights that American Idol had in the beginning. Plus, the shows have become more about the judges than they have about the singers.

Howard Stern joining NBC's America's Got Talent helped, but America's Got Talent is unlike all the others because you can literally go on stage and do any type of act you want. Speak of AGT, Carey's husband Nick Cannon is the host. Nick & Mariah have a grip on the top two reality competition shows now. As for Howard Stern, he is the best judge on television. He's not afraid to give funny & blunt criticism, but he also gives constructive criticism to try to help acts improve in the eyes of the viewer. Stern wants to have dinner with Nick & Mariah (asking Nick about her almost every week much to my amusement), though now it may be on hold with Mariah's new gig over on American Idol.

Super Bowl Aftermath

First, the Halftime show. All in all, Madonna did a good job. Not great, but good. Most songs were lip-synced, though I'm pretty sure "Like A Prayer" was performed live, and clearly the best song of the set. The visuals were outstanding though.

MIA flipped her middle finger during the "Give Me All Your Love" performance. I don't think it's a big deal, but I think people will overreact, just like with Nipplegate. And most probably didn't even notice at first. I don't get the point of giving the middle finger, except for press. Actually, maybe this was a genius move on her part. Watch it below.

The game was solid and the New York Giants pulled it out in the end like I predicted. As a side note, the Patriots won all three of their Super Bowls during the Spygate time, when they were using cameras to spy on opponents. All three were wins by just a Field Goal. You have to wonder if the Patriots would have won all 3 had they not had those trusty and illegal cameras. But they won't talk about that on ESPN.

Oh, and The Voice is better than American Idol. They allow different people an opportunity, and the show is somewhat entertaining even though I don't like singing competition shows very much.

Bono & The Edge Join Reeve Carney on American Idol

In case you missed it, you can watch the exciting performance by Reeve Carney with Bono and The Edge from U2 on the American Idol finale above. Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark has received notoriety for being both the most expensive Broadway production ever, and the accidents that were happening. They performed the song "Rise Above 1" in front of a glowing web on stage. 

However, the show has been changed around and the reviews of the new version have been positive. Judging by what was seen on American Idol, then it surely looks like it will live up to the original hype. They may have produced the most exciting performance in American Idol history, with the Spider-man stunt guy flying down from the rafters into the aisles on a cord, then coming down from the ceiling upside down to re-create a scene from the first movie. Jennifer Lopez didn't kiss him obviously, but it made for a fun moment. Oh, Scotty McCreery won American Idol over Lauren Alaina. I was mainly watching for this performance though. By the way, it was a nice surprise to see the two surviving members of TLC perform! And Steven Tyler can still rock out with the best of them, even without Aerosmith, giving a good rendition of Dream On.

The "Rise Above 1" track from Spider-man is now available for download on Amazon, you can click the box to the left and it will take you there.