Mike Hughes on TV

At 19, Sanjaya Malakar is still moving up. He finished seventh in "American Idol," reached the top five in "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here."

Now comes the "Celebrity" finale tonight (Wednesday, June 24). Here's a quick phone interview with him:

For Sanjaya Malakar, tonight's reality
finale is sort of a battle of father figures.

There will be John Salley and Lou
Diamond Phillips, alongside Torrie Wilson, in “I'm a Celebrity …
Get Me Out of Here” (8 p.m., NBC). Both the men, Malakar said, have
had a paternal impact.

“I have an incredible father,” he
said today by phone, “but he grew up without a dad and he didn't
know how to do many things, like taking you fishing.”

His own dad had lived in a boarding
school in India since he was 5, learning to be a Hindu holy man. He
would later marry an Italian-American, have two kids and divorce when
Sanjaya was 3.

“It was a really comfortable
divorce,” Malakar said, recalling one time when his parents lived
in the same house in Hawaii, while his dad was working on bringing
his new wife from India.

Still, it wasn't an everyday-dad kind
of thing. He felt some of that when bonding with Phillips (an actor)
and Salley (a former basketball player). “I'm very proud of both of
them.”

Patti Blagojevich, the other person
ousted Tuesday, also praised Salley and Phillips, but said she'll be
rooting for Wilson (a wrestler). She talked fondly today of her
colleagues and even the setting. “I'll miss the jungle … I'll
miss the beauty of the place I was in.”

Neither one had been expected to
prosper in that Costa Rican setting. Malakar – just 19 years old
and 135 pounds – prospered, winning most of the challenges. “Nine
out of 12 trials ain't bad,” he said. “And I know exactly why I
didn't win the other three. So in my mind, I won nine out of nine.”

He was filled with excess energy –
especially after producers told him he had to stop singing, because
they would then have to buy song rights. Often, he would slip off to
sing to himself. “It was like it was a drug and I was trying to hid
it from everyone.”

Still awake after the others went to
sleep, he would simply stare at the stars or start a project. At one
point, he was using jungle material to make a wedding dress for Heidi
Montag and Spencer Pratt; “they were going to renew their vows on
the show.”

They left after Montag became sick, but
her sister Holly soon arrived and befriended him. Now Malakar said he
and Holly hope to take a vacation in Hawaii. “It would be really
exciting to be in a jungle, but also have the luxury of a hotel.”

He had been working on his music in New
York, but now he's switching directions. Malakar plans to move back
home to Seattle and work with other independent musicians, including
his sister. “She's been a writer for a long time … Now I have a
lot of new songs I've written.”

We're down to the final two nights of "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here."

On Monday, Stephen Baldwin left and the five survivors had a choice of re-admitting Janice Dickinson or Holly Montag (Heidi's sister). In the most one-sided victory since Nikita Kruschev beat no one, Holly won. Alas, she soon lost a food challenge and was gone.

Tonight (8-9 p.m. Tuesday on NBC), the field is trimmed from five to three. On Wednesday, there will be a champion.

First, however, let's meet the recently departed. Here's an interview with Baldwin; the previous blog catches Janice and Holly:

As Stephen Baldwin sees it, the
surprise isn't that he left a reality show just five days from the
finish.

The surprise is that he lasted almost
19 days in the Costa Rican jungle. “By the eighth day, I had
already had 125 pretty-serious insect bites,” Baldwin said by phone
today.

Those combined with an allergy, he
said. He stayed 11 more days, then departed Friday; since the show
doesn't air on weekends, viewers learned about it Monday – just two
days from the finale.

Insecticides don't help in the jungle,
Baldwin said. “Anything you spray on, you sweat off in 10 minutes.”

Other celebrities had the fierce bites,
but not the allergies. They included:

– Lou Diamond Phillips was heavily
bitten, but remained strong. Baldwin sees Torrie Wilson or Phillips
as the top prospects to win.

– Sanjaya Malakar also survived
extreme bites. Baldwin – who had once predicted the slender
teen-ager would leave early – emerged with newfound respect. “He
has this whole kind of hidden Mowgli vibe,” he said, referring to
the “Jungle Book” boy raised by wolves.

Indeed, Baldwin emerged with a
favorable view of his colleagues – more favorable than his brother
Daniel, who was ousted a week ago.

Daniel was extremely critical of Janice
Dickinson, but Stephen was moderatge. “She can be a bit
overbearing, but I don't think that's such a bad thing. (Under all
that,) I really feel there's a wonderful person.”

And Daniel was skeptical of Holly
Montag's religious fervor, saying that just before Stephen (a
born-again Christian) baptized her, she asked to be turned around so
the camera could see her better.

“That could be misconstrued,”
Stephen said. “Heidi Montag's faith is completely authentic … She
was so into the moment, she just wanted everyone to share it.”

He enjoyed the friendships (and the
loss of 22 pounds), he said, but was surprised “to find out how
much I wanted a cup of coffee.” Meanwhile, his health crumbled.

Baldwin said he threw up for the first
three days after leaving the jungle. Doctors tended to him, removing
two larvae that were in his skin. His kids, he said, were surprised
to learn that “one of Daddy's new titles is 'parasite host.'”

– When: Final episodes are 8 p.m.
today and Wednesday, NBC

– Who's left: Patti Blagojevich
(politician's wife), Sanjaya Malakar (singer), Lou Diamond Phillips
(actor), John Salley (sports-talk host, former basketball player),
Torrie Wilson (wrestler).

Sometimes, reality shows really do deliver joy and justice. Sometimes, they're just silly.

The latter is typified by "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here," now down to its final three days. I'll have an interview with the latest evictees in a minute; first, however, the joyous finish (Sunday, June 21) to "HGTV $250,000 Giveway."

We liked the runners-up, the Marquezes; they remained calm, quiet and careful. But we couldn't help rooting for the Duvernays. Hard-hit by the recession, they needed the win. They tried hard, scrambled, always seemed on the verge of crumbling ... and always pulled it out in the end. They clearly had the bigger and better approach; it was great to see them win.

And what about "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here"? On Thursday, viewers ousted Janice Dickinson and Holly Montag. Tonight (8-10 p.m. Monday, June 22, on NBC), one more person goes. The finale will be 8-9 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; first, here's an interview with the latest two to go:

On her first day out of “I'm a
Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here,” Janice Dickinson was in denial
mode.

No, she said by phone, she wasn't
mocking Holly Montag in the comments she made in private to the
camera, after apologizing to her in person. “Holly Montag has got a
wonderful future,” she said.

Then again, Dickinson previously denied
swiping a granola bar and urinating in the middle of the camp site,
in the Costa Rican jungle. A camera recorded the latter.

“I'm menopausal and … it's hard to
hold it in,” Dickinson said Friday. “I have night blindness and
the bathroom area was 250 feet away.”

So yes, she did it. And yes, she took
the granola bar. “I felt it was my duty,” she said.

On the day after she and Montag were
evicted (via viewer vote), both were upbeat. Dickinson called this
“the greatest TV show in the world” four times; Montag said she
didn't feel mocked. “We're all loving,” she said.

Viewers logically cast the Montag
sisters – Heidi and Holly – as rich, blonde beauties from Beverly
Hills. In truth, Holly said, “we grew up in very hard times” in
Colorado.

Her sister was the outdoors type, she
said, and started a charity when she was 11. “Heidi has the best
heart of anyone I've ever know. She is so sweet and giving.”

Heidi also was fascinated by glamor,
Holly said, and quickly became part of it. After college, Holly
joined her for the most recent season of the MTV reality show “The
Hills.”
Then Heidi and her husband, Spencer Pratt, were on
“Celebrity,” creating confrontations. They left after a week,
with Holly promptly added to the show.

Dickinson insisted she has no grudge
against Heidi or Spencer. Holly said that one description of her
sister becoming “the next Mother Teresa” is sort of reasonable –
within limits. “I don't think she'll go celibate any time soon.”

Dickinson grumbled about John Salley
and Torrie Wilson, but had high praise for Lou Diamond Phillips.
“He's 100-percent a gentleman. He's a marvelous father and a
courteous man.”

Holly Montag agreed and both praised
Sanjaya Malakar. He is a warm and likable friend, they said …
albeit an exhausting one.

“We'd all be going to bed and he'd
start singing and talking. He'd be over there shaking my hammock and
wanting to talk. It was endearing, but I wanted to sleep.”

There were a couple of jolts in tonight's "So You Think You Can Dance":

a) Max Kapitannikov, a terrific dancer, being eliminated.

b) Max even being in the bottom three in the first place.

The other part -- Ashley Valerio being dumped -- was predictable enough.  She and Kupono Aweau were saddled with a difficult hip-hop dance Wednesday, so viewers put them in the bottom three; she followed tonight with a solo that wasted too much of its 30 seconde with some posing.

But Max? No way.

I expected the bottom three to include both couples that were given difficult hip-hop routines -- Ashley and Kupono, Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover. It did.

But I also expected it to include Phillip Cabeeb and Jeanine Mason, after he was overwhelmed by a tango. It didn't.

What happened? There was some confusion when Lil C (Christopher Toler) criticized Phillip's technique, then was corrected by the choreographer; that may have distracted attention from the fact that Phillip danced poorly in general. And the routine assigned to Max and Kayla Radonski was an elaborate story -- something about stealing a throne -- that didn't really show off the dancers.

So Max and Kayla were among the bottom three couples. She showed her usual dazzling mixture of gymnastics and dance, surviving. He turned "Footloose" into a fast frenzy, but somehow was sent home.

Here are a few of my other comments. Please add yours.

1) I loved the montage of long words used by Lil C. Still, if he knows all those, couldn't he have a name with more than four letters in it? Couldn't he at least be Little C? Or Diminutive Christopher?

2) The hair-stealer was gone and I was glad. Suddenly, we could admire the glory of Jeanine's raven hair and Cat's blonde hair; let's hope it stays that way.

3) Why bother watching Kristinia DeBarge move her lips up and down, in rough proximity to a record of her song? If she's not going to sing it, just play the record and let the others dance.

4) Evan Kasprzak had a great week. He did a wonderful, turbo-charged number with Randi Evans; then he saw a tape of his brother (also of Boomfield Hills) doing a great tap-dance number, while being advanced to the Las Vegas round in auditions for the next edition of the show, this fall.

5) Speaking of tap, the show brought someone on to do a dance style from another country. It looked like she was doing some fine things with her feet, but we couldn't see or hear her very well. This is why Americans invented tap shoes; she needs them.

6) I've seen enough of that belt-tightening commercial now. That should be it, forever.

7) I haven't, however, seen enough of "So You Think You Can Dance." This is a great season; more comments after next Wednesday's round.

8) Oh yes, and sometimes votes by viewers turn out fine. In tonight's "So You Think You Can Dance," Holly Montag (added to the show a week late, after her sister left) and Janice Dickinson were ousted. Unlike Max's departure, I didn not recoil in shock.

I'm sorry, but I'm still adjusting to the news that there's a "So You Think You Can Dance Canada."

They mentioned that tonight (Wednesday), during the American version of the show. They identified one woman as the best choreographer from "So You Think You Can Dance Canada."

Frankly, I didn't know Canada thought it could dance. I'd assumed it was like my home town in Wisconsin: We knew we could block, tackle, drink, eat, build and harvest; we assumed we couldn't dance.

What's next then? "So You Think You Can Bowl Monaco"? ... "So You Think You Can Joke Austria?" ... "So You Think You Boogie Utah"? "So You Think You Can Twang Manhattan" ... So You ...

OK, I'll drop it. Here are a few of my other comments from tonight's show; please add yours:

1) There's an inherent advantage to doing the only slow numbers during a fast-paced evening. You automatically seem graceful and poetic. Tonight, tha lucky ones were Vitolio and Asuka and Karla and Jonathan; both looked wonderful and drew high praise.

2) There's a disadvantage to doing a hip-hop routine. Tonight, two teams tried pieces by Shane Sparks. Each number was far-flung and varied, sort of the opposite of a straight-ahead romantic number; each tended to drag down its dancers -- Catilin and Jason, Kupono and Ashley.

3) Philip has a wonderfully expressive face. The problem was that during the tango, he expressed pain and dismay.

4) After all those years of ballet, Melissa probably never expected to find herself in pink tights and black bra. Still, she and Ade danced beautifully together.

5) I know states give out licenses for hair-styling. Let's remove the ones tonight for whoever did the hair for Mary Murphy and Cat Deeley and some of the dancers.

6) My prediction? Philip and Jeanine will be in the bottom three, alongside the people who tackled bip-hop -- Caitlin and Jason, Kupono and Ashley. We'll see, from 9-10 p.m. Thursday on Fox.