Monday, June 15, 2009

"It's On" with Alexa Chung: an Overly Thorough Review of the Premiere



I tuned into the very first episode of "It's on" with Alexa Chung on MTV today- all proper timing and everything. I don't really know why. Possibly because I have known about this girl for a while now (you're so damn slow USA!)- even before she started dating Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys (lucky girl). I knew about her from a discontinued music interview show in the UK called Popworld, which she hosted with equally awesome Alex Zane. Here is a sample interview that proves she's got it going on- she asks Panic at the Disco questions and they act like idiots. So she treats them like an evil bitch, obv, and I love her for it.

It's funny- I know I would hate this girl in person, but on TV she's just very entertaining and doesn't take shit from anybody. Breath of fresh air for MTV- if they don't beat it out of her, that is. I'm not going to hold my breath.

............Michael Cera gave Alexa a snuggie as a gift teehee............

The show itself was mixed. It's the first episode, so I can't judge too harshly, but most of the downers were MTV's fault and the high points were Alexa's.



Lame:

- That woman wearing the horrendous striped top, talking about celebrity gossip with Alexa at the beginning of the show. I couldn't catch her name and I haven't found it anywhere, not even on the official website for the show. [EDIT: I found her! Michelle Collins]. Maybe the producers are trying to hide her as a quick fix? 'Twould be nice, because she was TERRIBLE. Okay, okay- not that bad, but she just didn't fit with Alexa at all. She did this cheesy commentary that would go fine with Entertainment Tonight but looks like crap in contrast with Alexa's straightforward, no-BS snarkiness. And you could tell Alexa wasn't having any of it either- she kept looking disgusted after each awkward comment she peeped out. See what I'm saying- Alexa can be mean in a way that is very satisfying- especially in this case- on TV, but would be a huge turn off in person. Think Blair Waldorf. Anyway, this idiot of a woman- oh, fine, she seemed sweet, whatever- but she's so wrong for the show. She brought everything down. This calls for a catty gay guy or something to take that dullard's place and match Alexa's wit. MTV producers- I know you're surfing blogs for reactions right now, so listen to me- FIRE THAT WOMAN and hire someone better. You can switch her to host some crap reality show, whatever. Just take her out.

-the Internet pimping. Goodness gracious, MTV. I swear sometimes I think these old exec dudes are like "if we mention twitter the kids will cream themselves!!" No they fucking won't idiots, it doesn't work that way. You don't just integrate a bunch of useless mentions of Facebook statuses and feature illiterate tweens twittering and call it a show. Granted, the "internet integration" wasn't as bad as I expected after initially reading the press about the show. But it was still bad. We're watching TV for a reason, MTV. So no more twitter commentary (don't you want people to post the interviews online and have them 'go viral'? You don't want that ugly rectangle covering half the screen).

-Too fast-paced, too much crap going on. Actually at first with the celeb gossip part, it was really slow because that other woman was talking nonsense and it looked like Alexa was utterly bored by her. But then the show went into overdrive and it jumped from pictures of cats on heads to relationship advice to beat-boxing, and surprises left and right. Too much.



Good:

-The set was nice. It reminded me of Good Morning America or the View or something, but in a good way. I'm just glad it's nothing like TRL. It's new for MTV. Fresh.

-Alexa. I'm impressed with MTV for hiring her. First Russell Brand, now her- not bad. Now they just need to bring Alex Zane and Simon Amstell over- maybe even Zane Lowe, and Jonathan Ross- and I'll be happy. Anyway, back to Alexa- I can't wrap my head around HOW she is so confident and seemed completely unfazed about hosting this show in the US for the first time. Yes she has done this in the UK for 3 years, but it seems like since this is her first US and MTV show, she should be stuttering and blushing and instead she was owning it as if she has been in that same studio for five years already.

-She is not going to be MTV's puppet. She knows what she wants the show to be and she will not be afraid to wrangle it out of her guests if she has to. I just hope, again, that MTV won't crack down on her too much (they inevitably will to some degree. Bastards).

-that idea to have Jack Black and Michael Cera narrate over the trailer was hilarious , but it didn't really work out because the stupid fucking producers decided to show them staring at the screen and talking instead of making the video full-screen and letting the viewers enjoy the narration! Otherwise what is the point? That part pissed me off. It was such a good idea, too, and I feel like now the producers or whoever will probably think it failed and throw it out. Tragic. Oh and Jack Black was right, they should have the actors narrate over a scene instead of a trailer, which is too fast-paced. Michael Cera was hilarious in this part by the way hahahah. He just kept saying "heey" and finally he admitted "I'm bad at this." I love Michael Cera.

Here are exclusive videos that will probably be taken down, The first is of Alexa interviewing lovely ol' Souljah Boy. You can witness the annoying twitter updates here too. Distracting!

http://www.rapradar.com/focus/soulja-boy-tell-em-checks-in-with-qits-onq.html


And go to this link to see a video of a young female beat-boxing champion (Julia Dales) being surprised by one of her heroes, Rahzel:

http://nahright.com/news/2009/06/15/video-rahzel-vs-julia-dales/



And an official MTV video, of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt making a surprise visit:



By the way, not that anyone cares but this IS my blog after all muaha- I'm not that into Alexa's style. It's okay but it's not worthy of all the 'fashion icon!!111!" praise it gets. She wears nice things, but for some reason it doesn't seem natural. Almost as if she doesn't choose the clothes herself, although I know she probably does. I think what it is is that nothing she wears is very original. Also her current hair is a cop out of this era MIA, just sayin':



If you do want to know what label and brand and blah blah Alexa's clothes are, MTV's Buzzworthy Blog will be updating readers on what Alexa is wearing daily, so keep your eye on that.

4 comments:

bohobum said...

and I very much agree with you except I adore alexa's style.
before I even knew her name I had a buncha pictures of her saved on my computer in my 'streetstyle' folder but that's besides
I really hope mtv takes your advice on the 'live action trailer' segment- it was funny but it should have been hilarious

bohobum said...

*besides = besides the point.

without that info that last comment reads a little retarded

Dani said...

Haha naw I understood you. Ugh did you see that Michelle woman was back on the show today? And she was suddenly being an UBER bitch instead of a fake happy happy girl? God she pissed me off. She tries too damn hard. Bring back that girl from SNL on Wednesday, she was awesome. Yes I'm recording every show, I think it's pretty awesome. The audience is hilariously clueless and awkward the whole time.

bohobum said...

yes! that michelle girl rubs me the wrong way. her little shtick "oh-you're not gonna laugh at my lame joke? I'll just reference my age and 'kids these days' then it'll be hilarious right???" it's really annoying.
but besides that I'm enjoying the show and recording every episode as well. I really enjoyed her interview with the ugly betty dude. If she can just continue to have more conversations with people and less rushing to the next question, she'd be great.