Eagles Fan in 'Skins Land

This is kind of shocking.

Associated Press/washingtonpost.com

Heath Ledger Found Dead in NYC at Age 28 

By TOM HAYS

The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 22, 2008; 4:54 PM

 

NEW YORK -- Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence in a possible drug-related death, police said. He was 28. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there found him dead at 3:26 p.m.

The Australian-born actor was an Oscar nominee for his role in "Brokeback Mountain" and has numerous other screen credits.

Our long national nightmare is over.  So can we please get over Antonella pix scandal?

Guys who gots to go: Like Melinda Doolittle, Brandon Rogers has been a professional backup singer.  Unlike Doolittle, Rogers can't sing by himself.  And poor Sanjaya Malakar.  It was bad enough that he has no 'it' factor when he performs.  But the taped hula dance intro was just creepy.

 

Overall, the guys stink.

 

Girls gone home: Haley Scarnato is cute.  But while she may be the best singer at her high school reunion, she's no pro.  Sorry, kid.  And here's another shot at predicting that Antonella Barba (Catholic University) will finally pack her bags.  She's simply in over her head compared to the others.

 

Last week: 2-2

Season: 4-4

Guys getting the thumb:

-Sanjaya Malakar was small and weak on that stage compared to the best singers left.  He may have some life left in him, though -- he already has a big following in the voting viewership.

-Nick Pedro just doesn't do it for me.  But he kind of looks like Jimmy Fallon.

 

Girls taking a hike:

-It's bad enough that Alaina Alexander just isn't very good.  But her hand motions were very distracting.

-If there was any Idol justice in the world, Antonella Barba (Catholic University) should get the heave-BLEEP tomorrow based on her performance on tonight's show.  But I have a bad feeling about this pick.

 

 

Last week: 2-2

For the next 15 weeks, I'll be picking the loser(s) to be eliminated on Thursday's (or Wednesday's) recap/results show.

 

Guys getting the thumb: Say goodbye to Rudy Cardenas and Sundance Head. Cardenas was truly, horrifyingly dreadful. Each contestant gets 90 seconds to sing in the semis -- Rudy's performance felt twice as long. Head is dead to many in the competition, as he has turned in one disappointment after another since he wowed everyone in the audition round. Now many feel that he's living off his famous father's name.

 

Overall, the guys were terrible. They're lucky that they're separated from the girls in the semis.

 

Gals to be O.C.'d: Antonella Barba (Catholic University) and Amy Krebs. Krebs was merely boring and flat, which makes her forgettable, but Barba was really, really, really dreadful.

 

As a footnote to this first real week of Idol, Simon has already crowned his winner: LaKisha Jones, the single mom with the Aretha voice. Last season, Mandisa was lavished with similar praise, but her arrogance pushed her out the door early. Jones doesn't have the same personality flaws -- she's actually likeable -- so she should stick around. But she'd better not get complacent.

The Academy Awards are being presented a week from today, so here are my Big Six major Oscar picks!  Keep in mind that this is kind of random and all for fun -- I haven't seen most of the nominated films.

 

Best Picture: Letters from Iwo Jima

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, The Departed

Best Actress: Helen Mirren, The Queen

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Best Supporting Actor: Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Or, more accurately, "Geraldo At-Large" has been canceled. Rivera is reportedly going back to Fox News Channel to resume his old show and contribute to "The O'Reilly Factor." Having never seen "At-Large," I can't say I'll miss it.

So what should replace Geraldo in the 11:30 PM timeslot? I say more 'Simpsons'!

Today's Internet poll question asked if Michael Richards' career is over in the wake of his profanity and epithet-laced tirade during a stand-up routine over the weekend. My question is: Michael Richards has a career? His most signature (and most successful) role was as a supporting player on 'Seinfeld.' Aside from that, he has done practically nothing that could charitably be called a success. Playing a caricature for all those years probably hurt.

Richards will probably get far less flak over this than Mel Gibson because he simply not on the same level as Gibson. We won't be talking about it a few days from now at the most.