A funny thing happened tonight. There’s this thing called the Giants vs. Dodgers that is taking the time slot of what should be the Celebrity Duets final show. Any year in my life other than this year, I would’ve been happy to watch baseball. But not this year. I wanted my Celebrity Duets.
But, I did the next best thing and went to a website called Reality TV Magazine and read their write-up of the show. Though not as fun and caffeinated as mine, it does the job.
Here’s pretty much what happened in a nut shell:
They brought all of the singers back which means I missed seeing Chris Jericho (Celebrity Duets Is Jericho)
Little Richard jumps on the piano and sings Good Golly Miss Molly (Don’t tell me to shut up as this really happened)
Marie picked Alfonso, Richard picked Hal, and Big Dave picked Lucy to win it all (Everyone but Marie must’ve smoked the reefer before the show)
Hal sang “Running Away”, Lucy sang, “Tell Mama”, and Alfonso sang, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” (It won’t Alfonso, it won’t)
Wayne and Boyz II Men sang “End Of The Road” (I just know this was Lionel’s spot; he must’ve said no)
Big Dave jumps on stage to play the piano while the singers all perform again (Now he is in Hal’s world)
Hal is eliminated first (Jai Rodriguez must’ve started smiling right about here)
Lucy is eliminated second making Alfonso Ribeiro the winner of Celebrity Duets
Alfonso gives the $100,000 to the charity Fresh Start (I hope to the Dear Lord above that he busted out the Carlton dance here again)
Pop Ya Collar Like The Fonze
The only way I’m doing this again is if either Jerry Rice wants to show off his vocal skills or if Hulk Hogan himself wants to show off where Brooke got her singing voice. If none of that happens, I’m not blogging this show ever again. Wait, maybe if Cheech comes back …
In what was the biggest upset since Buster Douglass beat Mike Tyson, or since Eddy Zucko beat me in one on one basketball, Jai Rodriguez was eliminated in favor of Alfonso Ribeiro, Lucy Lawless, and Hal Sparks. And even more so, Teflon Cheech was eliminated as well. It wasn’t that surprising that Ribeiro and Lawless made it, but after the constant tongue lashing by Big Dave, you’d expect Hal to be eliminated as well. But then again, maybe Hal’s fans came out in droves, thinking he was a goner. And what about Jai’s face when he heard he was leaving? It was like, “I know it’s a joke Wayne, where’s the punchline Wayne!”
By the way, I’ve been up since 5:30AM, drove 155 miles tonight, and am super tired. So if none of this makes sense, blame the lack of sleep.
But we should get the Carlton dance tonight, and what else do you really need?
Wayne says that they’ll sing twice tonight, once with a new partner, and once with a partner they paired up with during the season. And I’m still waiting for Lionel Ritchie to show up sometime tonight. He just has to be on this show. It would definitely give me great feeling.
Lucy is first tonight and she’s singing with Bonnie Tyler. Lucy is wearing this outfit that is sheer on the sides and you can see her ribs. Lucy is having troubles singing in key. She started out decently, but it’s fallen apart a bit. It wasn’t a total eclipse. Marie says Lucy is here because she’s great. She says that when Lucy breathes in, she peters out at the end of her phrases. Richard says she sounds better than she’s sounded before and that she’s improved. Big Dave says he loves her growl.
The Fonz is up next. And I don’t really know the song. So we’ll see who comes out from behind the curtain. It’s Jon Secada. Wow, where have they been hiding him? Alfonso hits a couple really long notes and from a singing standpoint, does a much better job than Lucy. But not as many people know this song and could vote for the familiar songs. Marie says that he needs to be more believable in selling the vocals. Richard says that he’s improved each time and that he felt it down in his toes. Big Dave says Alfonso could be in his world. Without the context in which he said it, it sounds kind of odd. But you know what, let it sound odd.
When Will We See This?
Hal Sparks is back and he’s singing the blues. Just kidding. Of course, he’s screaming. But this time, he might lose his voice by the second song. Tonight he’s singing with Sebastian Bach. There’s definitely a noticeable vocal quality between the two. Marie says that Hal is true to himself, which is carny for saying that he wasn’t that good. Richard says that was the most screaming he’s heard in many years. Big Dave says he sang with a real melody and a real voice.
So who does Lucy get to bring back tonight? Wait, it’s Smokey! Woohoo! This was a fun little ditty between them. I was more so watching than writing. Other than that batch of worms on Smoke Dog’s head, he’s still pretty phenomenal. Marie says Lucy has been the most diverse and no pun intended, she smoked it. Richard says rather than flying up to the moon (that’s what the song was about), she needs to stay on the earth. Big Dave says if the contest was genre survival, she’d win. But that’s also carny for saying, you’re not going to win sweetheart.
The Fonz is singing with Gladys Knight, however, the Pips are no where to be found. Alfonso is on his A game tonight. I don’t think he’s going to be touched, but you never know about these popular voting contests. When you can sing with Gladys and not get blown off the stage, you’ve done something right. And he busted out with the Carlton dance. I’m so sad that I missed most of it because I was writing. Damn it! Marie says they had great chemisty together. Richard says that Alfonso reminded him of the pips and when he did the “white boy dance”, he knew he got it. Big Dave says he’s voting for him. And he hasn’t even heard Hal’s second song yet.
I figured Hal would’ve invited back Dennis DeYoung, though they just showed his wife (Dennis’) and she needs to dye her roots. Then they show Hal’s girlfriend. And it looks like the road has owned her a bit. They were singing to their significant others, by the way. Hal is doing a much better job with this song than his scream session in the first. Marie says he went out with a bang. Richard says that Hal was unbelievable and thinks he should win. Big Dave says he’s just starting to like him.
This is Alfonso’s contest to lose. Maybe if he wins, they’ll bring up Tom Jones on stage. Get your panties ready!
They are at the Staples Center tonight for the season finale of The Contender. A few early thoughts.
Did you know that Steve Forbes has over 30 wins and only 9 by knockout?
Did you know that Grady Brewer has 11 losses?
This is a huge mismatch as far as boxing talent is concerned. Maybe the only thing Grady Brewer has in his corner is his length and reach. But Steve Forbes is way too fast for Brewer. Brewer is definitely the Cinderella story of this show. He wasn’t even favored to win his first round match-up, and after beating Noberto Bravo in the semi-finals (and after getting knocked down in the first round), he’s facing the favorite.
The announcers tonight are Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas.
Sugar and Sly (too bad Sly is no where to be found tonight)
We’re also going to see Norberto Bravo vs. K-9 Bundrage. They call this the bronze medal bout, but I don’t see a bronze championship belt. So let’s just call this the third place match-up.
K-9 is huge for his weight class. I’ve been a fan of Bravo since the beginning. Not only is he a proud Mexican fighter, he’s a family man that cries out of the ring and goes toe to toe inside of the ring.
Storm Large from Rock Star: Supernova is singing the National Anthem. Nope, I don’t know who she is either. A few things about this fight before it happens.
Did you know that Norberto Bravo also has 11 losses? And he’s 35.
Did you know that K-9 has huge and scary muscles? And he’s 33.
Round One
K-9 starts the fight by sticking Bravo in the face with five jabs in a row
The announcers state that recently K-9’s sister was murdered and he’s dedicating the fight to her
K-9 is far more busy thus far and wins round one decisively
Round Two
K-9 looks bigger, faster, and stronger
Bravo tries to get a little busy and starts to flurry
K-9 hits a big right out of the clinch
Bravo’s having a hard time getting inside on K-9 and he’s paying for it
K-9 hits a huge flurry and Bravo goes down to a knee and takes a standing 8 count to end the second
Round Three
Bravo just looks slow and old compared to K-9
K-9 is toying with him, sticking that left hand right in his face and keeping him at bay
K-9 seems to be staying away this round, content to jab and move
K-9 pushed Bravo to the ground, which was ruled a slip
K-9 hits another huge right
Bravo might have to turn this into a street fight to have any chance
K-9 is pitching a shut out
Round Four
K-9 is not only stronger, but he’s also faster
K-9 is just setting up the huge right and Bravo can’t get out of the way
K-9 pushes Bravo to the ground again on the clinch and the ref says he’s going to take away a point if it happens again
Round Five
The fights on the show were 5 rounders, and we’ll see who is in shape as we’re in the 5th now
Bravo’s going to need a knockout to win this fight
K-9 is shaking his right and then hitting with the left
There’s way too much clinching in this round which tells me they are both tired
The round is slow, but K-9’s jab is still rocking Bravo’s head and he wins this one as well
Round Six
Bravo finally hits a clean left against the ropes
K-9 is still completely in control, but pushes Bravo down again and loses one point on the score cards as penalty
Bravo is trying to flurry to win the round, but K-9 is still hitting that jackhammer right
K-9 ends the round by rocking Bravo twice and it’s probably a 9-9 round because of the point taken away by penalty
Round Seven
K-9 has only gone past the 6th round twice in his career
K-9 is just hitting him with right after right and it doesn’t look like Bravo is going to finish
The ref stops it a little prematurely, but it didn’t look like Bravo was going to be on his feet by the end of the round
Your Winner:
K-9 Bundrage by ref stoppage in the 7th
Woohoo! They show the trailer for the next Rocky. I’m excited. If you don’t know where Stallone was, he was filming this movie while they were shooting The Contender.
Rocky Balboa Trailer
K-9 says that because Bravo is Mexican, he knew he was going to fight with his heart. Then Teddy Atlas asks if that means he fights with his heart and not with his head? Who says that boxing announcers can’t make ignorant statements? I wonder if Oscar De La Hoya heard that one.
In the main event, in the case of a draw, they have one extra round. I’ve never heard of that in boxing before.
It’s now time for the main event. They said that Steve Forbes won the championship at 130 lbs and he’s fighting three weight classes above normal on this show. After this fight, he’ll fight at 140. Grady Brewer looks about 7 feet tall but is only really 5’9 according to the stats.
Round One
Brewer looks physically bigger than Forbes, nearly as much as K-9 was bigger than Bravo
Brewer starts off the round nicely, controlling it and hitting Forbes with a couple rights
Forbes is wearing trunks that look like bath towels and Brewer’s tights have green tassles
Brewer probably wins a feel out round
Round Two
Forbes is holding his left low and Brewer is hitting him with the jab right where his hand should be
Brewer hits a nice little combo as Forbes seems to be a bit off so far
Forbes hits a nice left that backed up Brewer
That seems to have given Forbes confidence as he’s much busier now
That was a close round that Forbes might have stolen in the last minute
Round Three
Brewer hits a nice short hook after Forbes has so far been controlling the round
Brewer is more busy, but he doesn’t seem as confident as he was before he got stung
Forbes hits him again with the big left
They trade uppercuts as we near the end of the round
Forbes wins that one
Round Four
Overall, Brewer has probably scored with more punches, but Forbes has connected with the more powerful shots
They both miss with big shots and Brewer gets some short uppercuts to the body
Pretty uneventful round except the last minute and Brewer probably eeks it out
I have it scored even through four
Round Five
Brewer doesn’t seem like he hits hard, but he still connects
Forbes isn’t throwing as many flurries as I thought he would as he’s trying to hit the big shot
Forbes hits another big left
Brewer gets the better of a late flurry of punches and probably takes the round in my eyes
Round Six
Pretty slow round so far, but Brewer is again pretty much controlling and quicker to the punches than Forbes
Forbes isn’t busy enough to be taking these rounds
Grady is busier and is connecting more and thus wins this round as well
Round Seven
They start a nice little flurry about a minute in, but it’s pretty sloppy and nothing really connects
Forbes hits a quick four punch flurry and he needs more of them
Brewer is tying him up whenever they get inside, which it seems is what Forbes wants to do
Probably the worst round of the fight and it looks like they are getting a bit tired
Probably a toss up round
Round Eight
Forbes needs to probably win the last three rounds to make this one close, though there are several close rounds I’ve scored for Brewer
The crowd is getting a little restless as the guys are doing a lot of holding
Another toss up round because of little happening
Round Nine
Teddy Atlas just says what I’ve been thinking – there are a lot of toss up rounds
They just said that the winner takes $500,000 and the loser pockets $75,000
Forbes is either tired or feels he’s in control because he’s not fighting urgently at all
They start to get a little busier, but they’re missing more than they are connecting
Brewer hits a few strong shots, probably the best shots in the last four rounds
Forbes is starting to throw some haymakers but missing wildly
Brewer takes that round
Round Ten (final round)
I have Brewer up by three rounds at least
The crowd starts a small “Grady” chant
Brewer is fighting like he’s winning, sticking and moving
They start throwing wildly now
Probably because of the last fight, the ref isn’t letting them fight out of the clinches and is breaking them up every time, which probably hurts Forbes more
Forbes throws wildly and connects with a few, but too little too late
I have Brewer winning 98-94.
Looks like it’s a split the way the cards are being read. One judge has 97-93 for Brewer. Another has 96-94 for Forbes. The last and deciding judge scores the fight 96-94 for Brewer and he wins it.
Your Winner:
Grady Brewer by split decision and we now have a 35 year old Contender champion.
With The Contender Season 2 finale upon us, I figured it’d be a good time to finish my analysis of the two shows, The Contender and The Ultimate Fighter. In part 1, I talked about how UFC became hot (and now it’s even hotter), and what they try to do to get people to pay money to watch their fights. I also discussed what both shows try to do and how they try to draw an audience. Let’s compare and contrast them.
The Hosts
Dana White is pretty much the host on The Ultimate Fighter, though it’s not in a conventional way. He, along with different coaches, do a lot of the speaking outside of the actual competitors, and Dana breaks down each fight after it happens. The best scenes are when something happens inside the house, such as when Noah Inhofer decided to quit the competition because his girlfriend sent him a letter. Dana was absolutely appalled because of the shot that Noah had and said he hoped they had many children because he gave up the shot of a lifetime. Sugar Ray Leonard (and when he’s there, Sly Stallone) is more like a life coach for the fighters on The Contender. They are there to inspire them and Ray especially is there to show them what they can acheive because of where he is. It’s a different role than on The Ultimate Fighter. I still like the rough around the edges, no nonsense style of Dana, but understand why Ray is there. Ray is very polished, but you don’t feel like he’s doing anything but saying what he’s supposed to say. It’s still Mark Burnett’s show, where you feel that Dana White has a tremendous input on his show.
The Emotion
I think that what The Contender does so well is create emotion. There’s a ton of real emotion because the story is basically that life is boxing. But when they bring the family to the fights and into the locker rooms, the fighters being emotional people (how can you not when you let your aggression out through your fists?) are always thinking about how much they could gain by winning and it makes them believe that losing a fight would be losing an opportunity for their family. There’s no doubt that Burnett does this probably better than anyone else and The Contender may create emotion better than any of the reality television shows. The Ultimate Fighter is pretty much strapped because they don’t allow family members or anyone else on the show or in the house except for the fighters. Most of the emotion comes from their backgrounds, how winning the show could mean a lot for their careers, or how this is now their life and they want to be one of the best in the sport. Emotion doesn’t carry the show like it does The Contender.
The Talent
I think that both shows have good fighters. But I also think both shows have a high end and a low end. The first season of The Ultimate Fighter had a perfect cast. They had really good fighters, and some really high powered personalities led by Chris Leben. The original season of The Contender did as well with the cocky snake Sergio Mora and the underdog of all underdogs Alfonso Gomez. Both first seasons had really good fights and you could tell that the talent was there. Diego Sanchez from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 is pretty much in line for a title shot, and Forrest Griffin is a star in his own right. Sergio Mora has been impressive in his victories since he won The Contender. But the second seasons weren’t as impressive, though The Contender does have a former champion in Steve Forbes. I think what they’ve tried to do is put in enough personalities that may lack the actual talent, and mix them with the straight shooting ass kickers. It’s a good mix and probably good business, and I’d say both shows are probably equal in talent.
Sergio Mora vs. Peter Manifredo Jr.
The Fights
This is going to be based on taste. Because The Contender edits the fights, there aren’t any boring fights. They all are exciting. You can’t say the same thing for The Ultimate Fighter. There are some really good fights, but also some horrendously boring fights. The true sportsman says that editing the fights dumbs down the boxing experience for fans. But I say it actually makes the show more interesting and entertaining. Knowing that you’re going to be entertained by the end of the show is much better than having to watch a borefest on The Ultimate Fighter. I’d definitely give the edge to The Contender on this point. This leads directly into the point of which show gives you the most bang for your free time. It’s probably based on what sport you like better, but since I like both sports, and both shows for that matter, I’d say that I’m probably more consistently entertained by The Contender but there is a chance to see a great show on The Ultimate Fighter, and also a chance for a dud.
The Build-Up
The premise for each show is simple. They have one hour to build up to a fight that will make people want to stick around. Not all of the matches are between two men who hate each other. But The Ultimate Fighter does a little bit better job of showing possible reasons why they could possibly not like each other. With The Contender most of the men come off as friendly and they fight each other because they have to, not because they want to. But there are good grudge matches on that show too such as K-9 Bundridge vs. Walter Wright. Walter was the typical young punk kid and K-9 was the savvy veteran who loved giving advice. It was the perfect set up and delivered a really good fight. But on The Contender those are few and far between. And nothing could even come close to Chris Leben vs. Josh Koscheck on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. They built their beef from the word go and when they finally did meet it delivered the highest rating for The Ultimate Fighter. It was must see television at it’s best. And The Contender has yet to deliver that kind of showing.
Chris Leben
The Finale
This one is really no contest. In three seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, they’ve had three great cards with the final match-ups and guys from the show who were eliminated fighting each other. During the first and third season finales, there were fight of the year matches. Though we’ve only had one finale for The Contender (the finale for season two is Tuesday, September 26th), it was a good show, but lacked the fanfare needed to make it truly special. The match between Sergio Mora and Peter Manifredo Jr. was a solid bout, but they didn’t go toe to toe all bout long like Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonner did, or like Ed Herman and Kendall Grove did. They have their chance to change that, but with Steve Forbes and Grady Brewer fighting, I don’t see it. Now the undercard bout between Norberto Bravo and K-9 may be great, but I’m not really looking forward to the main event. The Ultimate Fighter has had some great luck with their finales, but it also shows that MMA can be more exciting in bunches than boxing can.
Which Show Is Better?
If both shows were on TV at the same time and I had the chance to watch one live and one taped, I’d watch The Ultimate Fighter live. It’s more for what you don’t want to miss versus how good the show really is. And because The Contender is so consistent, you expect to see entertainment, but not anything out of the ordinary. I think The Contender is the better show overall because of it’s polished look, better music, and simply better produced package, but The Ultimate Fighter probably does more with less. Both shows are really good, and The Ultimate Fighter probably does more for it’s sport than The Contender, but that doesn’t mean it’s the better show.
