A BAD WEEK FOR REALITY TELEVISION

This has been an interesting week already for reality televisionn fans. First, there was last night's American Idol episode where rocker Constantine Maroulis was eliminated after receiving the fewest number of votes from viewers Tuesday evening. That was a shocker, so much so that the audience in-studio booed heavily, not to mention that judge Paula Abdul wept at the announcement from host Ryan Seacrest.

Maroulis' elimination was simply a shocker, as he is clearly one of the best overall singers in the competition. He would not have won --- I believe that either Carrie Underwood or Vonzell Solomon (from Fort Myers, BTW) will take home the title --- but seeing Scott Savol among the final five is simply wrong. He's a decent singer, but his performances have been lame compared to the other competitors.

Then this afternoon The Smoking Gun Web site comes out with a story that the remaining rocker among the five finalists, Bo Bice, had been busted a couple of times on drug charges in 2001 and 2003 --- including a felony cocaine possession count --- but got the charges dismissed after completing a drug diversion program run by the district attorney's office.

And on top of this, the main headline in today's Tampa Tribune looks into the ABC series Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which renovated an area home last month (and will be featured on the program this Sunday evening). The estimated value of the property increased sharply, from $131,100 to $450,000, which means a much higher property tax bill to Pinellas County (at least TRIPLE the approximately $2,000 the James Dolan family paid last year) as well as a likely six-figure debt to the IRS. The article has tax experts poo-poohing a income tax loophole mentioned by the production company to winners. The extra tax burden has been noted in several sources over the past year.