Amazing Race 18 teams revealed...

It's been a busy week, so I didn't get the chance to post this earlier. But finally I've got a day where I'm just relaxing and looking around online for new music & reality show news. So here's the CBS press release for the upcoming season of Amazing Race...

Eleven former Teams who fell short of winning the $1 million prize during their first Race around the globe will return for another shot on THE AMAZING RACE: UNFINISHED BUSINESS, premiering Sunday, Feb. 20 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT). Phil Keoghan is the host.

This season, the multi Emmy Award-winning series will be broadcast in HD for the first time as the Racers travel 40,000 miles through five continents and 23 cities. Teams begin their journey around the globe from the second-windiest place on the planet, and travel to such picturesque locations as Sydney, Australia, where they find themselves swimming with sharks; Liechtenstein, where they must measure the length of the entire country while riding a motorized bicycle; and Tokyo, Japan, where they must endure the freezing waters from Mount Fuji as part of a spiritual ritual.

THE AMAZING RACE: UNFINISHED BUSINESS features fan favorites from previous seasons, including the cowboys, former NFL cheerleaders, the Harlem Globetrotters and the Goths. Find out about all the teams here.

Mama's Family & Jeopardy...

No, Mama is not going to be making an appearance on Jeopardy - again (that actually happened in a season 4 episode of Mama's Family). These are two separate videos I had to share with you today.

The first is Vicki Lawrence as Mama (from the Carol Burnett Show & Mama's Family). She put together a video making fun of the media craziness surrounding Ted Williams (the homeless guy turned media sensation).

It's funny (I always liked her show), but the language is far from G-rated. And naturally, the video has already angered some people. But people whine and complain about everything, so let's not bother with that and just laugh at Mama.

The embed code won't work, so here's the link to the 2-1/2 minute video.

The other video is a practice run for an upcoming series of Jeopardy episodes.

IBM has spent years putting together a supercomputer that's specifically programmed to be good at this game show. I have to wonder about the money thrown away on such a ridiculous project, but maybe they'll be putting this to good use for something else eventually.

The computer's name is Watson and in the practice run, he competes against two of Jeopardy's most successful contestants: Ken Jennings (who holds the record for the most consecutive wins with 74) and Brad Rutter (who holds the record for most total winnings).

The full episodes featuring Watson will air sometime this February. For now, here's the test...

Who is Guster?

Guster is an incredible group that I'm really happy is finally getting some well deserved radio play!

Their current hit is Do You Love Me, which I've been playing a lot on Star 102.5 because I love it (yes, sometimes I throw in a request of my own during the all-request hour). I've got the video for that below.

But first, the video for the song that originally made me a Guster fan. Here's Fa Fa from 2000 and it's one of my all time favorite songs - I hope you like it too...

Rob & Russell return to Survivor...

CBS announced today the two returning players. The surprise has been all over the place online the past couple months, but it's nice to finally get confirmation. Here's the release...

LOS ANGELES - Jan. 13, 2011 — CBS announced today that two former Survivors, Russell Hantz and "Boston" Rob Mariano, will join the 16 previously announced castaways on SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND when the series returns for its 22nd season, Wednesday, Feb. 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Having never been awarded the title of Sole Survivor, Hantz and Mariano return to compete for the one million dollar prize and one last shot at redemption. Each one will join a separate tribe of new castaways at the start of the game, but it's up to the tribe to decide if they will welcome the knowledge of an experienced veteran, or view these former castaways as a threat in the ultimate battle to outwit, outplay and outlast.

Local short film - In The Mail...

Now that all four seasons of Tales From The Darkside has been released on DVD, I've been watching that just about every day.

But today, I was told about this recently released local short film that's kind of like a horror / suspense version of Tales From The Darkside. And it's only 15 minutes - the perfect length to watch while I was eating lunch.

The filmmaking is impressive and the story kept me interested. I'm going to definitely check out their other YouTube videos later this week (and that's like the ultimate recommendation from me). For now, here's the most recent written by Buffalonians Rian Lehman and Stacy Werner.

Aside from general violence expected in something like this, there's also THE bad word in the song over the end credits. But I like the song and it fits perfectly, so I reluctantly have to admit it was a good choice...

Survivor: Redemption Island...

Here's the press release I just got for the upcoming season of Survivor...


CBS today announced 16 of 18 castaways who will compete against each other on SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND, when the Emmy Award-winning series returns for its 22nd season, Wednesday, Feb. 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Two of the 18 castaways, to be revealed later this week, are former castaways who will return to seek redemption.

This edition of SURVIVOR will feature a new twist when, for the first time, castaways who have been eliminated from the game will have an opportunity to seek redemption and return for a chance to win the million dollar prize. Each week at Tribal Council when a castaway is voted off, they will be sent to an isolated island called "Redemption Island," where they will live alone in exile. To stay on Redemption Island, they will need to compete in a duel against the next person eliminated at Tribal Council and sent to the Island. The winner of each duel earns the right to continue fighting for an opportunity to return to the game and the chance to compete for the title of Sole Survivor; the loser is sent home.

The battle unfolds in Nicaragua where the 18 castaways will be divided into two Tribes of nine: the Ometepe Tribe and the Zapatera Tribe. The tribes are comprised of individuals from all different backgrounds with the same ultimate goal: to be the Sole Survivor. While 16 of the contestants are new to the competition, two are former castaways who will be given another chance to compete for the million dollar prize and one last shot at redemption.

Paula Abdul's Live To Dance...

Live To Dance debuts tomorrow night at 8pm on CBS. Here's a behind the scenes look at the Live To Dance promo shoot...

More commercial music...

I've got the song "Right Back Where We Started From" stuck in my head now thanks to the commercials for the upcoming season of ABC's The Bachelor.

But it's an updated version. Maxine Nightingale originally had a hit with it in 1975. Then there was a great remake by Sinitta in 1989.

There's been a few other versions too, but the recent one in The Bachelor promos is by a group called Army Navy. It was a bonus track from their 2008 debut CD...



One other commercial song that's been all over the place lately is Holiday by Vampire Weekend (originally released in mid-2010). It's in the Honda commercials that seem to be on constantly. It's also been featured in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial.

The video for the song is strange. You think you can't get this out of your head after seeing the commercial, well good luck after seeing the full video...