Ah, America! Where the music is epic, the peaches are delicious, and there is a weekly fight to the death of dignity called America's Got 'Talent'. This week's episode journeyed to Atlanta and New York, for a veritable slurry of strength, talent, and all-out weirdness. Sadly, the first cut was the most undeserved: Billy Dodson sang a wonderful falsetto aria, yet was kicked off because, as the Hoff would put it, "this is America!" and we apparently can't have no man singing no woman's part. (Ugh.) But we can have a 10-year-old girl beating up her father. Indeed, Alexandra 'Elite' Pyles whirled onto the stage with a combination of what seemed to be swing dancing, vaudeville slapstick and karate. And yelling. Lots of yelling. It was enough for the judges to give her a ticket to Vegas, with an added offer from the Hoff to be his bodyguard. I'm not entirely sure what that says about him, but watch the embedded clip below, and if you still have any will left to live, click through and read the rest of my recap, after the jump!

So, let's make a pact and fast-forward through the Carrie Underwood wannabe, the James Gang's anachronistic jazz show, and the little girl who attempted to make America proud through contortionism and neon spandex. Instead, we'll concentrate on Matt and Elaine Bonowitz from Staten Island, who call themselves "Polka Today" and claim to do for their genre what Michael Flatley did for Irish stepping. Let that settle in for a second. Michael Flatley. Polka. You got it? Okay, good. Now add a polka cover of "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves. Watch their performance, too, if you dare, but keep in mind you won't be able to press the big red X (with sound effect) the way the judges do.

Though camp counselor Debra Weiner brought on some entertainment with her never ending rendition of "Dancing in the Streets," (and by never ending I mean Hasselhoff had to climb onstage and pull the mic away from her), the emotional climax of the night came from Kyle Rifkin. This 36-year-old wedding singer from Harlem has seen his share of hard knocks, but he already held a special place in my heart for choosing my perennial karaoke fave, the Temptations' "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," as his audition number. I may have to retire it though, as my pipes could never compare to his. Kyle seemed to inspire more than just clapping* though, because once he started crying, everyone else followed suit. Even host Jerry Springer got misty eyed; it's good to know his heart hasn't been entirely hardened by midget strippers and trailer park adultery.

So what did you think? Did Billy get buzzed too soon? Could you take down Alexandra? And is it just me, or does listening to British people speak make you feel smarter?

*It may have just been the assorted footage NBC chose, but no one in the audience has rhythm. And neither does Sharon Osbourne.

But click here and vote for your favorite anyhow.

I was watching The Daily Show last night (it was a rerun that had originally aired June 26th), and Ted Koppel was on, promoting his four-part series, Koppel on Discovery: The People's Republic of Capitalism. (It debuts tonight through July 12th on the Discovery Channel at 10 PM ET/PT.) This was one of the weirder guest segments I'd ever seen. First, Mr. Koppel brought an adorable black puppy with him, set her on the table, and said that if a lot of people didn't tune in for Koppel on Discovery, he would be forced to send "Pepper" to "the Bide-A-Wee farm." (As Pepper sat there obliviously, lapping water from Koppel's Daily Show mug.) I know it was a joke, but I take the health and safety of adorable puppies very, very seriously.

Then Ted moved on to the topic at hand -- China -- and flubbed some pretty big figures, saying that China's population is "1.3 million, and 300,000 people are doing pretty well... moving into middle class." (The actual pop is 1.3 billion, and 300 million people are now considered middle class. Oops!) But then, apparently a bit discombobulated, Koppel said something else, but the Daily Show people obviously overdubbed his vocals, because his lips were not moving in conjunction the words I heard coming from my TV set. (See the clip below, but be forewarned, due to the wack nature of most video-streaming technology, it all looks a little out of sync.) But I must've rewound and watched that segment 10 times, so I'm pretty sure I know what I saw.

And I felt kind of cheated. I KNOW that The Daily Show is not a "real" news show, and that their producers usually edit segments, but The Daily Show is real-er than most of what's on FOX (my opinion, yes), and literally changing what a legendary newsman said while discussing a very real-world topic just threw me for a loop. I guess I want my fake news to simulate real news as best it can.

What do you think? Being that a lot of people now get their news from sources like The Daily Show, do such shows have an obligation to hew to fact when not, you know, running with hilarious segments like Ed Helms' now-classic "Homometer" sketch? Or is it just a fun show and I should relax already?

On Monday night, my girlfriend and I went to the Delancey in New York for the premiere party of a documentary called The Gits. The Gits were an early '90s Seattle punk band, fronted by Mia Zapata (pictured), a bluesy, charismatic singer who was a beloved fixture on the local scene until she was raped and murdered one night in 1993. The doc follows the formation of the band and their subsequent rise in popularity -- they were on the brink of signing to a major label -- along with the excruciating circumstances of Zapata's death. The case went unsolved for over a decade until a suspect was convicted in 2004.

The Delancey show was both a vigil for Zapata and a celebration of the music she'd been such an integral part of. One of the highlights was Rrriot!, an all-women tribute band that tore through riot grrrl classics like Bikini Kill's "Rebel Girl," L7's "Shove", and Hole's "Rock Star." It was a terrific set and a fitting tribute to Zapata, but in the cab on the way home, we couldn't help but feel a little sad -- first, at the memory of a vital performer who died young, and second, because it'd been a long time since we'd seen a show with such anarchic, girl-powered rock. What do you think, PopWatchers: Is it time for another riot grrrl revolution? Or should we all just agree that I've gotten old and call it a day? (Oh, and for the uninitiated, check out an embedded Gits video, after the jump!)

No surprise, I haven't been on the bus for Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder, his spoof (due Aug. 15) about Hollywood narcissists making an expensive Vietnam War epic who find themselves embroiled in a real armed conflict. But Rain of Madness - now, that looks funny to me. It's the side project, the mockumentary making-of film about the movie shoot chronicled in Tropic Thunder, the Hearts of Darkness to its Apocalypse Now. (Note the Doors-y music cues on the Rain of Madness trailer.) Rain has its own official website, and you can download the trailer for free at iTunes. (Warning: it contains some NSFW language and more of Steve Coogan's bum than you may want to see.) Watch Coogan (pictured), Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black in the Rain trailer, and tell me if you don't think Rain looks funnier than Tropic Thunder itself.

Last night, I made the mistake of tuning into the steaming pile of Al Roker's sweat rags that is Celebrity Family Feud. Teams from The Office, American Gladiators, and My Name Is Earl faced off, so I'd gone in expecting at least a crumb of hilarity. But when your favorite moment of a TV show turns out to be when Oscar and Meredith go in for mismatched celebratory gestures (he for the double high five, she for the double fist pump -- and they totally pulled it off), you know you won't be DVRing that shiz again. (Of course, I knew the hour would be lacking when Crush didn't bother to show. Savvy P-Dubbers know that when there's a Wolf, there should be a Crush, especially in an Office-esque setting.)

Still, the concept of pitting TV families against each other is pretty awesome. If certain clans rose up from the dead, I might be tempted to watch again. I'd watch the Arrested Development characters kick ass against the Partridges (pictured), if only to hear Lucille Bluth buzz in and say, "I don't understand the question, and I won't respond to it."

What about you -- which TV families would you want to see Feud?

Who else but Warren Beatty could garner tributes at his AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony, in the form of a stoner joke from Robert Downey Jr., a rap performance from Pras, and a pat on the back from Bill Clinton?

The Splendor in the Grass star brought some Old Hollywood glamor to the gala in his honor at the Kodak Theater, which aired Tuesday night on the USA network. There's no question the man's got charisma; his charm is the only remedy for watching even but a few moments of Ishtar. And his passion to get Bonnie and Clyde made is almost as legendary as its heroes -- apparently, Beatty knelt at the feet of studio boss Jack Warner and begged to get the film made.
       
But as much as I admire Beatty's contributions to cinema in the '60s and '70s, he surely must have the thinnest filmography of any star of his stature -- he's only made eight movies in the last thirty years. Compare that to Robert Duvall, who's made almost 65 films in the same period! Of course, Beatty's versatile as an actor and as a director, able to take on such diverse projects as Reds, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, and Dick Tracy.
      
But look at some of these other titles on his resume: The Fortune, Ishtar, Love Affair (I will never forgive him for making Katherine Hepburn say "F--- a duck"), Town & Country. And even going back to his Hollywood golden-boy days of the '60s and early '70s, we find such forgettable entries as Promise Her Anything, Kaleidoscope, The Only Game in Town, and $. Call me a film snob, but I'm even a bit of a skeptic when it comes to Bonnie. Part of me thinks the film just rips off French New Wave movies that did it better, such as Breathless, Jules and Jim, and Pierrot le fou.

What do you think, PopWatchers? Is Beatty all that? Or do you think there was another overlooked icon more deserving of the award? Maybe I'm just bitter that Woody Allen still hasn't been honored.

My friends like to say that I'm fickle, and the only time I have to agree with them is when I try to recall a password for something. My passwords tend to revolve around the people that I'm into at the moment they need to be created. So I somehow have to remember that when I joined this one site, I was fond of NASCAR driver Casey Mears (pictured, right) and that he was still driving the #41 car (mears41), and that when I joined another, I was seriously psyched that Sylvester Stallone (pictured, left) was filming a fourth Rambo (Stallone04). Of course, I don't remember the passwords, which means I'm constantly resetting them. Thus, a vicious cycle is born. A random selection of other retirees: Parker97 (for South Park cocreator Trey Parker), Colbert01 (for Stephen Colbert), Seeley08 (for David Boreanaz's character on Bones), and, um, Daniel18 (for Daniel Radcliffe).

Your turn.

I'm unnaturally obsessed with 2001: A Space Odyssey, and lunge at the chance to connect it with my real life. For example, when a Reese's Egg happened to be perched just so on my laptop's trackpad back in 2005 (pictured), I immediately thought of 2001's monolith. Both concepts -- monolith and Reese's -- tend to linger in my mind at all times, luring me in with their mystique, omniscience, and tremendous significance to pop culture. So Tuesday's EW.com gallery about 15 Space Exploration Movies (in honor of Science Channel's Space Week) gave me the perfect opportunity to daydream about my cubicle turning into a giant Ferris wheel, and the running sneakers under my desk that I never use transforming into high-traction space shoes, so that I could slowly creep around it in zero gravity like this awesome spaceship flight attendant.

Aside from leaving the obvious comment ("You're nuts!"), tell us below what cinematic space scenes you'd most like to act out in real life. And if your name is Dave -- AGGGGHHHHH!

It's always the good ones, innit?

Nearly all the couples have brushed up against the real parents like sandpaper on concrete. Nearly all have had the requisite come-to-Jesus meetings about containing their frustration, practicing patience, and not calling their chosen baby "it." Oh, but not Jordan and Sasha (pictured), who looked so capable they could open their own daycare service: Teens N Tots. Then Sasha had to go and ruin their business model.

After two weeks of parenting that was practically perfect in every way, the female half of the fan-fave couple popped off something fierce last night, as her charge's mom tried to talk to the couple about her son's fussiness. To my mind, the problem started when the mother, Barbara, told them her son, Luke, rarely cries. Please. All kids cry. All kids especially cry when they're in a new house with strangers, and their routine is completely disrupted. Maybe Sasha should've expected that, what with her experience with foster kids. But let's review one pertinent detail: She's a teenager! She's not in a position to expect anything. Luke's mom, however, should well have seen that coming.

Now before you jump on me, saying I'm an apologist for bad behavior, understand that I don't begin to condone Sasha's rant. Anyone who gets so hot that they have to be dragged out of the room, still fighting to say their piece, needs anger management. Bottom line. That's goes double when the spouter is a minor, and the spoutee an adult - triple when there are small children in the room. All I'm saying about Luke's mom is that you don't soft sell a hard job. In some way, she contributed to setting them up for a fall.

Sasha's meltdown was also disappointing because this was the first week most everyone else started to kind of get it. Kelsey was aces with Benjamin, who seems to translate "potty training" as "pooping is fun, wherever you do it!" Austin picked up the slack for Kelly, and handled his twins with a surprising level of grace. Even Alicea - stink eye, pissy 'tude, keep-the-brats-away-from-me Alicea - finally managed to mom up, and care about someone's feelings besides her own.

The weak spot? That black hole of couples, Daton and Morgan. Arguing about money is one thing (the number one thing couples argue about, actually), but not cleaning her kid's poopy booty? Letting everyone else tidy up for her? Ugh! Explain to me how she's not useless. Help me see the light, PopWatchers.

And help me put Sasha's craptacular response to Luke's mom in some sort of perspective. Was this a normal teen tantrum (the likes of which, neither being a teen nor having one, I haven't seen in awhile)? Was she edited to look especially spazzy? Or is Sasha a seriously angry chick who hides it well... most of the time? I'm taking all theories.