Friday, August 17, 2007

Dick's Big Coup...And Long Live the King

My predictions yesterday for Big Brother were bang-on! There was nothing more satisfying than seeing the look of shock on Dustin's face when the results came in, and the votes were 4-2 in favour of Dick. Dick definitely did accomplish one of the biggest "shocks" in BB history; however, he probably couldn't have done it with the "America's Player" twist. If Eric hadn't been ordered by the viewing public to vote out Dustin, he certainly would have evicted Dick. However, once Eric learned that he had to vote out his ally Dustin, he got HoH Jessica on-board, and made sure that Jen & Zach were voting his way as well.

The move pretty much cuts his ties with Amber and Jameka, but they're weaklings anyways, and without Dustin & Eric holding them up, the two of them are destined to flounder (especially Jameka, as she gave up the right to partake in 5 HoH competitions in a past Veto competition). Strangely enough, I think we're now going to see Dick, Daniele, Eric and Jessica working together to wipe out the rest of the house. Things definitely went in their favour last night, with Daniele defeating Amber in the HoH competition to become the first player this season to hold the power for a second time. It's amazing how quickly momentum and power can shift in this game from one week to the next. Last week, it looked like Dick & Daniele were doomed, and now they're the King & Princess once again. I love it!!

Now, while I was watching Big Brother, I was switching over on commercials to a special on Much More Music - it was an E! True Hollywood Story: Elvis' Final Days. Of course, with yesterday marking the 30th Anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, there were a few programs on commemorating the man and the legend. Everyone knows how much I love the King, but I did not enjoy this documentary. I like thinking of Elvis as young and vibrant, full of life, energetic, loving and care-free. Because this show was documenting the final days of his life, it was depicting the depressed Elvis, the man who lay in bed, who was so drugged up he didn't know who or where he was, who was bloated and sick and dying. It disturbed me to see how this man who had everything allowed himself to spiral downward into oblivion. I don't like thinking of the Elvis who decided to have target practice in the Presidential Suite at Caesar's Palace in Vegas and almost shot his girlfriend in the head. Or the Elvis who hired a hitman to kill Priscilla's new lover, but then chickened out at the last minute. Or the Elvis who almost drowned one day in a bowl of chicken soup, and would have if his girlfriend hadn't pulled his head back and given him CPR.

Watching all of this kind of made me feel sick. And sad. That's not my Elvis. That's not my King.

So after BB was over, I tuned into Elvis Lives: The 25th Anniversay Concert Special. Now this was more like what I wanted to see. Elvis on-stage again, digitally re-mastered and belting out hit after hit on a big screen, while his actual band and back-up singers played live before him. I've seen a lot of Elvis movies and specials, but I had never seen this one before. It really was like having Elvis alive and on-stage again, 25 years after his death. It gave me back my Elvis Warm & Fuzzies, and reminded me of why I adore him and his music so much. For a few hours, it was almost like he had never died.

Long live THE KING!!