Renee Banot's Blog

I work WakeUp. You'd think I'd find a way to maximize my time before bedtime... But NOPE! Yesterday, I went to my sister's house and we watched youtue.

So anyhow-- you gotta check this guy out: Greg Pattillo. He's a beatboxking FLUTE PLAYER! It's actually quite mesmerizing to watch him. It literally leaves you breathless.

After watching him I attempted a similar feat (sans the flute) but I failed miserably and became the butt of my brother-in-law's jokes all day. Ah... if there is such as thing as reincarnation, I'd love to come back as a beatboxer! I think that's so cool! How do you think Blake Lewis got so far???

O-KAY... So I recently got engaged. It was beautiful, it was romantic and more I had ever hoped for! I'm still riding high on the excitement of being engaged!

BUT! I knew I was in for a treat second I started asking around for prices and such! The churches -THE CHURCHES! Holy places of worship!!!- have been asking for AT LEAST $500-- and that DOESN'T include the prices they tack on if I want a priest or if I want a wedding coordinator. I want to do something simple but wedding shows are telling me I HAVE to have tons of flowers or I HAVE to have 62 bridesmaids! I'm sorry- WHAT?

Please tell me there's an easy way to do this! I want to hear your stories-- I don't care if they're horror stories or fairytales! I need your help!!!

So... I'm bad with car rides.

I've noticed lately that I can't quite stay awake in the passenger seat of a car. We can be running to the grocery store for 10 minutes. It doesn't matter. The lids start falling and I can't pick them up.

Hm... maybe it's because of this early morning shift...

But anyway, on long road trips I try to be supportive of the poor driver designated to handle the twists and turns of the road. But sometimes no matter what I do, I can't even begin to fight it... and all of a sudden... 50 miles have gone by.

So, for whoever I may have ridden in a car with in the past few months... it's not you. It's me.

So, one of my closest friends is getting married in two weeks and I wanted to be dressed to the nines for her big day. I had my eye on a beautiful, long, blue dress at Macy's for about four months.... but held off because it was too expensive.

Thank God for coupons.

So I go to Macy's Monday evening and find that blessed dress- available only in a certain size- on the sale rack. Great! The price is even lower than I thought it'd be! So I shimmy to the dressing room and try it (force it) on. Sure, the straps were a little tight but I think it just might work. Just to be sure, I leave the comfort of my dressing room and ask a sales associate, "Does this look okay?"

She stares long and hard. Then, without looking up at my face, slowly says, "That's... just... not... right."

A simple, "No" would've gotten the message across just as well. It took me a good 10 minutes to pick my face up off the floor.

In the words of Randy Jackson, "I thought the finale was just all right."

Nothing really jumped out at me. I thought seeing all the former Idols (minus Fanstasia) was neat but that's about it. AND BETTE! Oh, honey. That was all kinds of out of tune.

I just felt like the show was geared more towards older people -- the ones you'd think  voted for Melinda-- not the young, pop-loving kids who voted Blake and Jordin in. I love all kinds and eras of music but I felt like this Idol finale didn't truly hit its intended target.

But what do I know? Maybe THAT'S why I'm not an Idol exec....

For someone who claims to love Broadway musicals, I've never seen "Grease" (on stage OR screen!) BUT- - I have seen "Wicked" and the reason for the title of this blog is because every time I think about the show I get goosebumps!

I went to New York last month and I bought tickets (Yes, full price. Yes, I'm a moron) to "Avenue Q" (also a GREAT musical, deserves its own blog) because "Wicked" was literally sold out the entire time I was there. When an afternoon opened up in our schedule, my boyfriend and I decided to try our luck and put our names in a lottery system to buy front row "Wicked" tickets. Out of 75 names, his was called. We paid $52 for two tickets worth more than $100 each! We sat in the front row orchestra! I got to peer into the orchestra pit! I could practially see Elphaba's pores! It was great!

To give you some background, "Wicked" is a musical adapted from the book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. Maguire wrote about the Wicked Witch of the West (calling her "Elphaba") The story explains why she's powerful, explains why she's green and busts some "myths" you may have heard about her in the original Oz book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." It basically changes the way you'll ever watch "The Wizard of Oz." It is a beautiful story and the woman who plays Elphaba on Broadway (Julia Murney) has the most gorgeous voice.

If you like musicals or if I've piqued your interest, check out www.wickedthemusical.com. Please don't go to just "wicked.com"--- Lord knows what THAT would pull up! And if you really want to know what it's about, the musical is showing in Chicago.

Let this go down as the most BIZARRE Idol year yet. Why is Melinda going home? That's outrageous. She's fantastic. She's completely above and beyond the typical Idol calibur. There's no doubt Jordin and Blake are extremely talented and will go on to be very successful. But I thought for sure Melinda would pull through to the end.

I'm speechless, really.

Okay...

... so I jumped on the Idol bandwagon last year. It was perfect because Tuesdays and Wednesdays were my days off. I'd eat dinner with my folks, then we'd plop down in our favorite spots (mine- the couch, with a fluffy pillow and a blanket, my mom at the dining room table and my dad- either at the table or on the opposite couch) and watch Idol.

Well, times changed and my dad started getting into the habit of taping Idol. Yes, so we could survey it more than once, if necessary, to come up with our final conclusions. So he would run to the room to run the recorder. During breaks he would re-emerge and we'd discuss the contestants.

Now that I'm working WakeUp, I struggle to stay awake to still be able to keep our tradition.

What do YOU do when you watch? Do you always sit in the living room? Do you always have to have popcorn? Do you have friends over?

Before last night, I thought Bon Jovi would be even harder to sing than Stevie Wonder songs but idol contestants did a FANTASTIC job! Lakisha was rock star! Blake was just amazing! It was probably one of the best episodes this season! I loved it!

Plus... it reminded me how much I love Bon Jovi songs.

You don't see it nor do you hear it... but my co-workers do. And it freaks them out!

I cough. I cough all the time. I cough before my live shots and I cough the second we're cleared from the show. I've been sick for roughly a week and this stupid cough is still hanging on! I've been taking Nyquil and Robitussin and it actually feels like it's getting worse!

So... for those of you who get a kick out of behind the scenes stuff... I'm a coughing machine. Whenever I'm not on air, I'm coughing. You don't have to feel bad for me. Just something I thought I'd share.

(I don't know which category to put this in. Since it's a mildly entertaining story... I'll put it under "entertainment")

Okay.

We (I know I'm not alone here) have said some pretty hurtful things towards Sanjaya. Does anybody feel bad now that the little guy was flicked off Idol last week?

Here's another question. Where were YOU when Sanjaya was voted off?

I was at the top of Rockefeller Center in New York. My friend's mom told me over the phone while I was leaving the restroom. I screamed. It was a good scream this time.

.... standing on a table and screaming, "What in the WORLD is going on?!"

That's how I feel when Sanjaya slips through another week.

Now, it's not like my heart's NOT bleeding for the kid. He's probably just as confused as the rest of us. I'm just saying. He's going to be in a world of pain as he inches ever so much closer to the top spot and he realizes nobody sane would sign him to a contract.

Is that too much?

I'm in no way a gigantic fan of horror movies and I definitely am not immediately drawn to zombie movies in particular. But I have to say, hands down, that "28 Days Later" is the best movie ever made. Hands down. I love it. Whenever I have down time, I watch that. I don't care if it raises my blood pressure. That's what I watch to unwind.

(For those of you who haven't been graced with its visual masterpiece, it is about a virus called "Rage" that's taking over the city of London. One man wakes up in a hospital to find the entire city deserted and infested with zombies who tear up humans. One drop of zombie blood in your system will turn you into a zombie. This man finds a couple other humans and they all travel to attempt to find salvation. Anyhow, it ends with a happy ending and they eventually get the h--- out of England.)

So I'm at the movies with my sister and her kiddies and I stop short. Turn. Look to the blood-red poster in the lighted poster box. "28 Weeks Later" coming soon. What? How did I not see this coming? Sequels either mean something 100 times cooler or something that should never have been a twinkle in a screenwriter's eye. Basically, this movie is supposedly about a bunch of Americans who return to England six months later to rebuild and it turns out someone goes and infects the group and all hell breaks loose yet again.

I'm scared. Not because it's scary. But because I don't want to end up hating this. OH! And get this! It doesn't look like anyone from the original cast is in this new movie. THAT'S PRACTICALLY A SIN!

We'll see. You can be sure I'll have a colorful post after I see it. Stay tuned...

Maybe it felt different because I was working... but joining the line outside Miller Park this morning for Fan Fest was a notch just above tolerable. Not because the fans weren't pleasant but because the wind was attempting to rip the Fox Six logo off my jacket!

I'm trying to think of the last time I stood in line for a long time for something or someone. My sister (not It's Me Ty, my other sister) and I used to go to concerts and we'd hang around hours before it started to see if we could spot some band members.

It actually worked once. We were at the Eagle's Ballroom to see Green Day and we got there at 2 p.m. for an 8 p.m. show (we were teenagers and, trust me, my mom was THRILLED). So anyhow, we were sitting there, twiddling our thumbs when Billie Joe (the lead singer) came out and stood at the ticket window. I spotted him and started walking towards him (he was alone) and got so nervous, I made a detour to the newspaper rack and grabbed an Onion. From the top of the page, I watched him walk out the front doors. My sister called me about a hundred names. He never came back in the front. I was bummed.

That's my embarassing story of the day. I don't know what I would have even said to him, anyways.

Yeah, that's my excuse.

I understand I run the risk of ticking off a gigantic amount of people (seeing as how America has been voting lately)... but COME ON! SANJAYA?! I'm afraid to watch. First of all, because it's painful to listen to him sing. It's good for middle school recitals. It's not good for network TV.

Now, that's just my humble opinion but coming out of last season this season just makes my skin crawl! It's so bizarre! You have Melinda and LaKisha who are POWERHOUSES... then you have Sanjaya who's holding on-- by more than a thread, apparently.

I can't wrap my mind around it. I know my writing has angry undertones but... however you vote you gotta vote for what the competition asks for-- an American Idol! Someone how has the musical talent to shine! Not someone who can skate by with wacky hairstyles!

Whew! I'll step off my soap box now.