I'M A CELEBRITY - GET ME OUT OF HERE

With all of the drama that currently surrounds Paula Abdul and American Idol what could be more refreshing than to see Simon Cowell's whipping boy Sanjaya Malakar move on in his life after American Idol.

Malakar who was the brunt of Cowell's acerbic criticism prior to his being eliminated in the seventh position during the 2007 (season 6) series is now a member of a so-called celebrity cast. The point being that the now 19 year-old Malakar is probably the best known and least experienced member on the show. He is one of the shining lights of the program as he answers the question what one does one do in their life after in his case American Idol.

Malakr is showing some maturity on the reality series I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here where he has demonstrated leadership skills and has gained the respect of his older cast members by talking on challenges that they wouldn't take most notably eating insects and strange animal parts. The bottom line is he has gained their respect of which Cowell gave never gave him.

The twist to this show is that it's not very entertaining as it has a slow pace and displays negative human behaviors. Prior to the start of the season the Star World Network featured promos featuring Malakar and that is what attracted our interest.

The underlying sidebar to this program is former America's Top Model judge Janice Dickinson has either become fond of or is taking advantage of Malakar and calls on him to assist her at seemingly every turn in her time of need. Actor Daniel Baldwin has labeled Malakar as being Dickinson's cabana boy. The seventh place AI finisher in season six has been taking it all in stride and is defending the 54-year-old former super model.

The previous episodes featured the negative behavior and antics of Spencer Pratt and his wife Heidi Montag. Montag became ill became hospitalized and exited the show as did her husband. This follows their drama creating of quitting the show on two previous occasions. Heidi's sister Holly has replaced her on the series.

Dickinson is now the bad seed of the program. The other contestants with the exception of Malakar are annoyed with her. She is being accused of being obnoxious, selfish, a liar and a thief. She was caught on camera stealing and eating one of four a granola bars which were a bonus treat for the female contestants for winning a task. When the other contestants brought the issue to her attention she played innocent and wouldn't admit that she took it. She then asked for the three other girls to share the three remaining the granola bars with her.

If it's dysfunctional you're looking for this show is crammed with it. The good news is they are competing to win money for their favorite charities. A new episode airs Wednesday nights with repeats throughout the week on the Star World Network. Please refer to the schedule below. And so it goes…

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MICHAEL JACKSON DOCUMENTARY

The Michael Jackson drama goes on as the latest twist is that the video coverage of his rehearsals for the 50 date tour will be used in a documentary about Jackson's life. Michael's older brother Jermaine Jackson said on the Larry King show that the doc will not be televised but will be a film to be shown in theaters.

It was later revealed the Columbia/Sony pictures paid US $60 million for the rights to release the film that is scheduled for an October release. Jackson's AEG Management who booked the 50 date tour was responsible for negotiating the deal.

Jermaine also revealed on the King sow that $27 million was to be spent to stage the concerts thus the conflict over Jackson doing only 10 dates would not be possible to cover the production costs and that Michele was fully aware that he was going to do more than 10 concerts.

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CNN'S RANTING of WAR & MURDER THEMES

If it's blood and gore your looking for then CNN is at the top of the list. The network seemingly has lost the plot when it comes to reporting news and appears to be focused on sensationalism by taking a lot of time with commentary from angry so called analysts who spread hatred with vehemence.

It's as if they have an agenda to incite wars and create controversy as opposed to reporting the news of what is really happening and not what they think. There are some who are of the opinion who cares what they think all the public needs to know is what's happening without the news being slanted in a bias manner.

Last week within a half hour time frame the news magazine show AC (Anderson Cooper) 360 focused on their agitate and irritate style by spotlighting subjects of death and murder with back to back stories involving the shooting of people in a Pennsylvania fitness club, an Obama poll of his losing an approval rating, murders by Mexican drug gangs and the Charlie Manson gang murder that happened 40-years ago.

The time they took on commenting on Obama's popularity had a very strong pro Republican Party slant which came off as an attempt to discredit and create problems for the US president.

Dr. Beat Richner - Kantha Bopha photo

PREVIOUS NR TOP 10 MOST READ

During our 11 year Internet history the previous most read National Radio Top 10 stories were of the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jim Murray and Dr. Beat Richner who built three hospitals in Cambodia to give FREE HEALTH CARE for Cambodian children. On our last poll a TV Column took the top spot.

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AMERICAN IDOL RERUNS TRANSLATED IN KHMER LANGUAGE

It seems that American Idols licensing partner Freemantle Media is doing business in Cambodia as Cambodia's My TV is airing reruns of the show with Khmer translations on Sunday afternoons. My TV is positioned in the channel previously designated for the CTN (Cambodian Television Network) International channel. That channel has been moved to a less favorable position from 51 to 68 which is at the end of the channel spectrum on many of the older TV sets in Cambodia.

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WORTH WATCHING

A TV program worth watching is Trails From The East. The program travels through Asian countries and interviews its citizens about their culture and religion. Previous shows that have aired were from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Syria, and most recently they have been traveling through Jordan.

8 PM Cambodia/Thailand =

9 PM Hong Kong/Singapore =

10 PM Malaysia

 

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MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

11:00 AM - I'm a Celebrity…Get Me out of Here! - Star World

FRIDAY

11:00 AM - PRISON BREAK - Star World

12:30 PM - UFC (ULTIMATE FIGHTING) - True Sport 2

SATURDAY