OMG!!! Guess Who's Going to Chat with Ali, Chris L and Roberto???

So on this very lively Friday evening, the Husband has been listening to me vent about how crazy life at my office has been these past two weeks.  I complain. He listens.  I complain some more.  He checks his iPhone.  We watch TV.  We have a wedding tomorrow night, he's feeling a bit under the weather - so we're laying low.  I'm thinking about all of the things I have to get done this weekend, how there never seems to be enough hours in the day to accomplish anything.  I wonder if I'm going to fit into the dress I picked out for tomorrow night's wedding.  My opportunities for finding writing time have been few and far between and I wonder how I'm going to keep up this blog, have a full time job, a 3 hour commute each day, and stay sane.  And then it came...

I received an email from the editor at my http://www.rbr.com  gig.  They publish my weekly blog entry every Saturday.  Anyhow, guess what I'm doing next Tuesday????

They have invited me to (I can't even believe I'm typing these words) - to join a teleconference of writers/bloggers to interview ALI, CHRIS L and ROBERTO to interview them!!!  Can you believe that?  I'm going to be chatting with these people in just a couple of days!!  Now the question is - what on earth am I going to ask them?? That's where you guys come in!! Please - I need fun, great, thoughtful questions.  What do you want to know?  What don't you want to know?  Not sure that it's a good sign if Ali's doing interviews with both guys (if she picked someone, wouldn't she just be doing interviews with the one she picked?).  Hmmmmm.

Ok - well give it some thought, and let me know! 

The Men Tell All, Say Nothing

I awoke this morning to text messages, missed calls, new Twitter followers and a flurry of emails. Apparently, I was on 20/20 last night talking about The Bachelor and didn’t even know it! Does that make a me a tiny, little, bitty kind of maybe famous? I’m gonna go ahead and say “yes.” We saw that 20/20 was on following The Men Tell All, but The Husband was itching to watch the season premiere of Mad Men that we taped from Sunday night (it was awesome!) so we opted for that instead and taped 20/20. ABC contacted me a couple of weeks ago to see if I was available to do more filming for the show, but I never heard from anyone and assumed they didn’t need me. So you can imagine my surprise when I found out that I was in fact on! We taped that back in March, a week before my wedding, the night of Jake’s finale. Did anyone see it last night?

Maybe it’s because our food delivery last night never showed up and I was starving. Maybe it was the fact that I had to work past 8:30 pm and work hasn’t stopped for a second since my boss went on maternity leave. For whatever reason, either I was in a really bad mood or I think last night’s The Men Tell All may have been one of the most boring reunion shows of all time. First off, where was everybody? Hello – the three most controversial guys of the season: Justin, Craig M and Frank, were not even present! If you can’t get them, at least get Jillian and Ed to explain the status of their “taking time apart.” Or have Jason and Molly talk about their honeymoon. Give us SOMETHING. What were the writers of this show doing in the creative room when they planned this episode? Have Craig the lawyer make a point about something? Yeah, that will get ratings. Why weren’t any of the guys allowed to directly ask Ali questions? I’m sure Ty wanted to know whether his chauvinistic comments were his downfall. Weatherman certainly thought he had this thing in the bag. Even Craig the lawyer probably wanted to cross examine her. FRUSTRATING. That’s what this episode was.

Going into this week’s episode, I was really excited to see what all of the guys had to say for themselves. I was curious as to how Justin could possibly defend himself. How Craig M would try to look like a tolerable human being. Of course I wanted to see Ali confront Frank and find out if he’s still with Nicole. I also wanted to see the third Chris who was really cute but who got booted near the beginning rounds. Unfortunately, we learned absolutely nothing new, except that Justin is more of a slimeball than we initially thought, but this isn’t a surprise. Kirk was heartbroken (we knew this). Craig doesn’t shut up. Kasey is nuts and his impromptu singing is insane. Ty has puppy dog brown eyes. Jesse is all looks, no brain, and has an awful buzz cut.

Ali’s hair was confusing, kind of a Martha Washington-do meets an electrocuted French twist. She’d probably call it a “pretty mess.” I’d just call it a mess. That said, I still think Ali is one of the best bachelorettes this show has had. She’s pretty, she’s not afraid of being a dork and I like how she has gone off on the guys who have done wrong by her (Justin).

The fact that Frank was not on the show is troubling. Why not bring him back on this week’s episode when they literally had nothing else to talk about? The fact that he returns next week may mean one of the following: (1) Ali chooses nobody because of Frank, Frank realizes he’s an idiot for dumping Ali and wants her back and they get together; (2) Ali chooses nobody, which Mike Fleiss realizes would be a HUGE disappointment for the fans, so he brings back Frank to start up some fireworks as Frank announces he’s engaged to Nicole; (3) Ali chooses someone and then gets to tell off Frank. In any scenario, having Frank there is unnecessary.

Jessie, one of the former bachelorettes from Jake’s season, looked great! Although I’m not sure how this girl always ends up in the middle of everyone’s secrets on this show. Last season she claims that she caught Rozlyn making out with a producer in the stairwell of the mansion. This season, she’s in the middle of the Rated-R scandal. This seems a little too convenient for me – that and the fact that she’s going to be on Bachelor Pad, just seem like a self-promotion of the spinoff, rather than her having any legit info.

I think The Husband is slightly jealous of Chris L, because now when they show the Chris L montages of him falling in love with Ali, he looks at me, instead of the screen, and gets a little frown on his face. Ha! He asks me if he has a reason to be jealous and I tell him that we’ll know after next week because Chris L may be engaged and therefore off the market!

The promo for Bachelor Pad looks like one big Jerry Springer circus. It may ultimately be the end of the Bachelor franchise. The show now still has a bit of class, because the quality of the contestants is high. Ali is well liked, smart and very relatable. Chris L and Robert are all-stars. Of course putting these types of people in a house together will not create the kind of spark and scandal that produce ratings, so they put the trash in (Tenley and Kiptyn excluded). I’m already annoyed with the new spinoff and it hasn’t even started yet.  The only possible love interest is Tenley and Kiptyn.  If that doesn't work out I'm thinking that Tenley and Ty would make a great duo - both divorced, both have traditional values, both are musically inclined and both seem like sweet people.

OH, one brief comment about The Weatherman. I found him unbearably annoying last night. Everything that came out of his mouth was just so awkward and dorky. He now has this new “Bachelor” status from being on the show and is probably LOVING all of the attention he gets. I am really glad they didn’t take time out to interview him.

Kirk is great as always. He’s a really nice, solid guy, but I don’t think he has that extra special thing about him to become the next Bachelor. I just don’t think he could carry a show. That said, I do think he will meet someone very soon on his own.

The rest of this show was a snooze fest. I fast forwarded through most of the recaps, finding the little inside jokes (Ali laughing hysterically about putting on a space helmet – was she drunk?) not funny. The outtakes are always the best part, especially anything that Chris L says, but other than that, I yawned through this one. Chris N had orange skin and was known as the phantom. I didn’t find this funny for some reasons. Because who cares about Chris N?

So hopefully last night’s boredom will give way to the most exciting finale ever, but I just don’t know if Ali is going to get her fairytale ending of finding love. I really hope she picks one of them and that the “loser” becomes the Bachelor. I can’t even imagine how upsetting it will be to see her break one of these guys’ hearts. They don’t deserve it and both have really put themselves out there.

I am beyond excited for next week’s finale. I like how they make you think Ali’s dad doesn’t give his blessing to Roberto and Chris. Yeah right. Do you think Ali is going to choose someone? Is Frank going to make a shocking reappearance? Are you guys having a finale party? Were you as bored last night as I was?

Men Tell All - Post Up Tonight

Good morning, Bachelorette fans!  Less than a week until the finale.  I'm off to work at an ungodly hour but wanted to see if any of you caught the 20/20 Bachelor special that was on last night.  I just found out that I was on!!  Did you see it?? 

Post will be up later...

Chris L. vs Young Paul Newman

You asked for it...You got it.  Whaddya think?  Eyes, Forehead, nose and lips are very similar.  Good call!

Frank's Departure Doesn't Mean Ali Chooses Nobody

So for all you that have been worrying all week that Ali is going to leave the final two heartbroken due to her unfinished business with Frank, here's some good news: Ali says in an interview with E! Online that her final decision has nothing to do with Frank.  I really hope that's true.  Of course she could choose herself in the end, leaving us with flashback visions of Kelly Taylor on 90210, when she chose herself over Dylan McKay or Brandon Walsh.  Dumb move, Kelly.  In any event, Ali is excited to confront him on The Men Tell All. I'm curious to see whether he still with Nicole.

The Husband is on his way to Coney Island tonight for a Beach Boys concert and this leaves me some much needed time to do writing.  It's day 4 of my boss being out and things couldn't be busier in the office.  I also finished a great book on the train today - "Water for Elephants."  If you haven't read that book yet - go grab it - it's wonderfully written and very entertaining.  The author, Sara Gruen, gave an interview at the end of the book and they asked her about how she found time to write.  Turns out she wrote most of the book while in a closet.  She said it was the only way she could do it without distractions.  I totally understand this concept and may try it, though if it's 90 degrees outside, and about 85 degrees in our apartment when I got home tonight from work, I can only imagine how hot the closets are.  Time to crank the A/C.  The Husband was appalled by our A/C bill last month - I think it was over $300, which for a 1 BR apartment, is ridiculous.

Ok, time to go add to our A/C bill, order some sushi and do some writing.  If you want to see the article about Ali's comment, here it is: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b191256_bachelorettes_ali_flip-flopper_frank.html

Also, if you don't already, you should definitely check out Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday nights.  First off, he is really funny.  But second, he usually has a brief bit in the beginning of his show about The Bachelorette and he gets Ali to come on via Skype.  He has been ranking on Frank since Day 1 - saying he's completely nuts.  He's a really smart guy to be that funny - and it's definitely worth setting the Tivo/DVR for.

TGI (almost) F!!

Everything is Hotter in Tahiti: Chris and Roberto Sizzle, Frank Goes Home

It’s not even 7:15 AM and I am sitting on the train sweating, ready to depart Grand Central. My eyes feel heavy, I forgot to put makeup on and I’m headed for day #2 of my boss being on maternity leave. Such stress! After last night’s episode, I can honestly say that I have a Bachelorette hangover. Tahiti was beautiful, emotional and hot enough to make poor Roberto sweat through his romantic dinner and the rose ceremony. I got choked up about three times – why on earth this show makes me cry, I have no idea.

A few observations from last night:

Could Chris L be any hotter? I loved his red/blue plaid shirt. I love the way he is with Ali – funny, happy and the way his face gets flushed every time they make out. I am not sure there is any way Ali could possibly choose anyone else, but as The Husband observed last night (my enthusiasm for Chris L has strangely transferred to The Husband), “I’m selfishly hoping that Ali doesn’t choose Chris L, so we can see him be the next Bachelor.” OMG, I have created a monster!

My sister disagrees with the Chris L choice – she’s in love with Roberto. I think these two are the best final two we have ever seen in Bachelor/ette history. My mother thinks that Ali chooses nobody and I am just wondering what could possibly make the finale “the most dramatic ending” ever as Chris Harrison alludes to. The Husband and I were discussing this last night and went through all of the dramatic endings we could remember from Bachelor/Bachelorette past. A couple of our favorites: Brad Womack choosing nobody. DeAnna choosing Jesse the snowboarder over the “safe” choice of Jason the philanthropist single dad. Jason choosing Melissa, proposing, then dumping her on the aftershow and hitting on Molly. Jillian receiving THREE marriage proposals, in particular, one from Reid, who came back on the show to declare his love and propose. Those were probably the top 4, except perhaps when Jesse Palmer had to dump Tara while the girl he chose watched from the second floor of the mansion (very awkward moment). I also loved the very romantic Trista and Ryan ending. Ok, back to Tahiti…

At the beginning of the episode we see this ridiculous packing montage where we learn that Chris L and Roberto are throwing out the “L” bombs regarding Ali. They’re both falling in love. Watching Roberto pack up his “Lion King” CD (um, who has CDs anymore – wouldn’t he just download those songs on iTunes?) was too cheesy. I wonder what mastermind told him to do that. Was he planning on playing this CD in Tahiti? He certainly could have dropped it off at his parents’ house last week, but I guess he wanted to hear, “Hakuna Matata,” one more time with the Tahitian waves crashing in the background to drown out her smooching with Chris.

And then we get to Frank. Ugh, Frank. This guy is such a mess. Watching him try to describe how he was falling in love with Ali and how this made him realize that he was in love with his ex girlfriend Nicole, was annoying for multiple reasons: (1) The Husband is not convinced they were actually broken up when they went on the show; (2) Doesn’t Nicole care that he’s spent the past few weeks making out with Ali, just introduced her to his parents, and thought he was falling in love with her? (3) How on earth does Frank know he’s going to spend the rest of his life with Nicole when just last week he was talking about proposing to Ali?

To all of you who commented that you think Frank won't last with Nicole - neither does Chris Harrison.  I really hope they're not setting this up for Ali to choose nobody, Frank to break up with Nicole and then beg Ali to give it another shot at the After the Final Rose segment.  That would be ridiculously lame and such an insult to the two perfectly wonderful remaining men.  Frank is visibly shaken during the entire episode – minus one brief part – when he’s with Nicole and she indicates that she’ll take his sorry self back.  He cracks a smile. This is actually the first genuine smile we see from Frank since the very first episode of this season. To his credit, it must have taken a lot of guts to fly half way around the world to dump The Bachelorette. I also thought he did a decent job of trying to explain what went wrong. I agree that it would have been difficult to tell Ali that he was having feelings for someone else. Honestly – what would Ali have done at that point? How do you think about getting engaged to someone knowing they are having doubts because of another girl? I don’t blame him for keeping that to himself and trying to figure it out on his own. I also don’t blame him for packing a really big suitcase – hey, if you’re going to fly hours and hours to Tahiti to break up with someone, you might as well stay a while and enjoy the facilities. I was wondering whether the guys all stayed at the same resort. Could they see each other? What were Roberto and Chris doing while Ali was bawling her eyes out with Frank? I so wanted her to show up at one of their rooms seeking comfort, but I guess that never happened.

I think it was pretty clear from Ali’s reaction that Frank was the front runner leading up to this week’s dates. She was too upset for this not to be the case. As I watched Ali cry into her hands and tell Frank once again that she gave up everything to be on the show, I wanted to shake her – does she not know how awesome a life with Roberto and/or Chris L could be? They are so much more stable, mature and are openly telling Ali that they are falling for her, that they see their lives with her. Why is she so upset about Frank? The worst part about this, is that she seems so fragile and really insecure. She thinks there’s something wrong with her because of Frank’s actions. Her self image is really warped, and that’s sad to see. She’s got two perfectly perfect guys left and this does not seem to be enough. It’s so frustrating! I wonder what her reaction would have been had Roberto or Chris L given her a similar speech. Ali reveals in her blog that she was previously dumped by an ex who went back with his ex girlfriend, so I guess this opened old wounds.

I really hope Ali can pull it together over the next week or so with her last two choices and that her heartbreak doesn’t overpower her emotions of love for Chris L and/or Roberto. I also really wish she’d stop saying that she gave up everything to be on the show. Didn’t everybody put their lives on hold to come on the show? It’s not like she dropped everything to go do manual labor. She’s being wined and dined and schlepped first class all over the world. I have a hard time feeling sorry for her when she says this nonsense. I am sure the show is paying her a pretty penny to be The Bachelorette. So yes, she gave up her job, but she also landed a pretty good gig being paid to search for love.

One more mention of Frank before I say goodbye to him forever: was that Nicole’s apartment? Or did they set up the shot in a hotel? Did anybody else think that this conversation was scripted? Nicole barely said anything at first and Frank was actually quite articulate in between the long pauses of silence. Is this a reenactment of a conversation they had privately off camera? The Husband isn’t buying this strange scene. He says, “It’s bull#$!!. They were never broken up.” I will conclude the Frank saga by saying that his pores look really unfortunate in high definition TV. 

Alright I lied - one more thing about Frank after reading Ali's blog this week.  She says she had specifically talked to Frank about his ex girlfriends during a previous date and they had a talk about his ex in Paris, who was not Nicole.  Then once Justin pulled his shenanigans, Ali demanded that the guys tell her if any of them had anything going on back at home.  Again, Frank said nothing.  I guess that would have been a good time to speak up and tell her that he's having some lingering thoughts of his ex, but that's not exactly date conversation, especially when he's competing against the other guys. 

I am going out of order here, but it’s only so I can focus on my favorite part of last night: the Tahiti dates with the two hottest finalists in Bachelorette history. Ali frolicks in the water and does an Ariel from Little Mermaid hair flip in the water. I pointed this out to The Husband who reminded me that ABC is owned by Disney. Ahhh, so true!  Did anyone else catch that?

The Roberto date was sizzling. I agree with Ali that Roberto IS hotter in Tahiti (literally). The poor guy was sweating his way through the fantasy date. Ali notes that while they were "up talking all night" the temperature climbed to 100 degrees in the fantasy suite - I wonder if this was weather related or from whatever they were doing in there - and they had to sneak out of their room to get to Ali's room for some relief.  I guess they weren't allowed to leave their rooms at night.  Roberto is such a genuine and wonderful guy. I love that he talks about the possibility of proposing to Ali as an honor. He’s got it real bad for her. The helicopter ride to the heart shaped island followed by lots of making out in the crystal clear water looked unbelievable. They have a ton of chemistry – but I’m wondering whether they actually have anything in common once they stop looking at and groping each other. When they played the Latin lover guitar music while they frolicked on the deserted island together, I thought that was a bit much and yet appropriate all at the same time. So then it’s nighttime and Ali appears in a nighttie?? What was that dress? Hands down it was the sluttiest dress ever worn by a Bachelorette on the show. Not that Ali looked bad – I mean I guess it was no worse than wearing a bikini to dinner with a cover up, but still – as a dress, I’m not sure it qualifies. As they snuggle up at dinner and Roberto declares he needs to tell her something, who didn’t get choked up as he tells her that he’s falling in love with her? Oh how this show clutches at my heart strings! I think even The Husband got teary eyed. He will never admit that.

When the date card arrived, I fell in love with Roberto even more because he was clearly surprised. This means he has never seen the show before – which raises my respect level for him. He’s out playing baseball and being honorable – no time for watching this repeated “should you decide to forego your individual rooms, you may choose to stay together as a couple in our fantasy suite,” fantasy date card from Chris H. Sweaty Roberto and Ali’s fantasy suite was really romantic, though kind of on the small side. As they close the curtains, I’m thinking – boy, this date is going to be hard to beat…

Except for Chris’s date!! I loved watching Chris and Ali’s time in Tahiti. These two actually enjoy talking on their dates in addition to groping each other. Ali loves his giggle (who wouldn’t?). The whole cracking of oysters and finding pearls was pretty awesome. The Tahitian sunsets were incredible and also gave Ali and Chris wonderful glows. Ali notes a couple of things that didn't make it to last night's show: (1) The two of them went fishing, and Ali caught two fish, Chris - none.  (2) I guess some live musicians showed up at their deserted island to play music for them and as they were coming toward them Chris asked Ali whether he was going to have to wrestle with any of them.  Honestly - is anyone funnier than this guy?  Once Chris starts saying how watching his dad be with his mom in her final days taught him how important it is to tell people how you feel – I knew this was going to be a great night. Chris believes that putting himself out there is a good thing. Anyone else choked up here? The whole, “You know I could see myself with you forever,” that Chris says to Ali and her “Really?” and his “Really” in response was pretty awesome. The Husband can’t control his laughter at this point. I’m not sure why he thinks it’s funny. I think it’s romantic.

Chris’s reaction to the fantasy date card was pretty hysterical. He’s looking for Chris Harrison to come out of the ocean in snorkel gear. Then he’s like, “There’s a FANTASY suite here?” followed by an “Uh, YEAH!” when Ali asks him if he’d like to go there. At least she doesn’t pretend that she’s just interested in spending more time with him. Once they arrive there he actually tells her that he loves her. Oh my!! I really hope Ali doesn’t crush him!!  I was very surprised that Chris put it out there that he's willing to go with Ali wherever she wants, so long as they visit Massachusetts four times a year.  He's ready for an adventure.  I thought he'd want to stay closer to his dad, and I hope Ali is willing to let him do that.

So after two of the best dates I have ever seen on this show, Ali is all giddy and excited about seeing Frankie and taking him sailing. We all know what’s coming and I’m actually cringing holding my face when Frank sits down with Ali and tries to figure out what to say to her. When Ali starts crying before he says a word, it’s obvious she knows it’s over. Poor thing. The whole Chris Harrison pep talk was kind of comical. This guy is both show host and therapist. Chris indicates in his blog that Frank had contacted him about the issue before Tahiti, but he thought Frank was going to Chicago to get closure, not to decide he's in love with Nicole. 

Flash forward to the rose ceremony and Ali is all done up again in Tahitian wear. I loved her earrings and the flowers in her hair. I’m glad that she still has high hopes that her husband is still there regardless of Frank’s departure (because why else are we watching this show if not for a happy ending with one of these incredible guys?). I also loved the quote her friend told her - about how nobody can make her feel inferior without her consent.
So then Ali tries to add some drama to the rose ceremony even though there are two roses and two guys left by saying it’s really about them accepting the rose back. Like there’s any doubt they are going to accept the rose.

Briefly I thought they would all have to fly back to Massachusetts to meet her parents but then I remember that the show springs to fly everybody to wherever Ali is. I am so excited to see Bora Bora for the finale! It’s been a crazy ride this week, but I am glad we are finally done with Frank and down to the best two guys. It’s a shame she can’t continue to date both of them for the next year because they are both so awesome. Gratefully, Mike Fleiss has decided not to tell us the ending. In fact, there were no scenes except for the very end with Ali standing in her gold dress in Bora Bora. Please keep it that way!!

What did you think of this week’s show? Are you for Roberto? Chris? Are you glad that Frank is gone? Do you think she is going to choose nobody? Please no quoting from spoilers you’ve seen or read. Let’s have opinion only based on what you’ve seen from the show. Enjoy your week!

Foolish Frank, Grrrrr

I just finished up the show on the DVR and holy cow, I hope I can sleep tonight.  I have never experienced so much emotion in a Bach episode.  Chris L and Roberto ARE hotter in Tahiti. Frank - not so much.  I wanted to dry Ali's tears, give her a hug and smack her back into reality: she's got the two hottest, greatest guys of all time falling in love with her and she's upset about Frank???

Ok, I think I've been ignoring The Husband all night, so need to go chat with him before I shut my eyes.  Post will be up tomorrow night.