The Tide earns one more home game, this time against No. 2 Miami, 8 p.m. Wednesday, airing on ESPN2. Tickets — $8, $4 for students and age 18 and younger — are available online, by calling (877) TIDE-TIX (877-843-3849) and at the door. [NIT bracket]
Should Alabama win, the team will head to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York against Colorado or Kent State.
Samford‘s first trip to the NCAA Women’s Tournament ended abruptly Sunday. The No. 14 Lady Bulldogs lost to No. 3 Florida State 76-46 in the opening round at Auburn. Samford ends the season at 25-8.
Samford Lady Bulldogs prepare for NCAA Women’s Tournament
Alabama’s Senario Hillman, left, and Trevor Releford play defense
against Coastal Carolina. The Tide won 68-44 in the NIT opening round.
It’s been somewhat of a downer post-season so far for Alabama men’s basketball teams.
The bright spot is No. 1 Alabama‘s win Tuesday over No. 8 Coastal Carolina 68-44 in Tuscaloosa in the opening round of the National Invitation Tournament. The Tide faces No. 4 New Mexico at 8 p.m. Monday, also in Tuscaloosa. The game will air on ESPN. Tickets — $8, $4 for students and age 18 and younger — are available online and at the door. [NIT bracket]
Meanwhile, the Samford Lady Bulldogs won the Southern Conference Tournament Championship earlier this month, earning their first trip to the NCAA Women’s Tournament. No. 14 Samford faces No. 3 Florida State at 4 p.m. Sunday in Auburn, to air on ESPN2, WVSU (91.1 FM) and streaming online. [NCAA bracket]
Video: Paul McDonald sings “I Guess That’s Why They
Call It the Blues,” a song from his birth year, 1984.
[buy it on iTunes — aff. link]
The Top 12 are on deck on “American Idol,” with a retro theme this week, “Songs From Your Birth Year.” Will a cold slow down Huntsville’s Paul McDonald?
• Song: “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” by Elton John
[buy Elton John's "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" on iTunes, Amazon; buy Paul's version — aff. links]
• Judges say: J. Lo: “I feel you. I know you felt like you were struggling, You have so much soul and star quality that it overcame that. You made it happen.” Randy: “I’m not gonna give you a pass because you have a cold. The first half was pitchy. The thing I like: You’re the ingenue, you find a way to make it your own. You put the Paul spin on it. But get the notes right.” Steven: “You define a cool dude and loose mood. Your swagger is way cool. It’s a very distinctive voice — that’s what you’re turning into.”
• We say: We’re still not feeling it, but maybe he’ll grow on us over time. Overall, a weak performance. And is he too Paul for America?
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Audio: “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” Paul McDonald
“American Idol” airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays on Fox 6.
Russell Hantz went down fighting in his duel, but still ended up in second-to-last place overall. Next!
Meanwhile, his allies Stephanie Valencia and Fairhope native Krista Klumpp are on still their own in a hostile Zapatera tribe. Will either make it very far into “Survivor: Redemption Island”?
Over at Ometepe, “Boston Rob” Mariano may have his hands full with screwball Phillip Sheppard. Can the tribal king handle the court jester?
Check out the action tonight, and look for the recap here.
Video: Back on Day 7, Russell Hantz and his allies
Stephanie Valencia and Krista Klumpp raided the rice
while the rest of Zapatera was away in this unaired scene.
Video: A look at the biggest surprises in the tourney field.
The college basketball post-season has a possible bright spot or two for state teams, depending on a couple of first-round games this week. UAB (22-8) faces Clemson in a battle of 12th seeds at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, in the NCAA Men’s Tournament. The winner becomes the actual No. 12 East seed to play No. 5 West Virginia on Thursday in Tampa in the second round, which used to be the first round. Really.
UAB advanced one round in the 2010 National Invitation Tournament before losing to North Carolina at Bartow Arena.
Meanwhile, Alabama State (17-17) plays Texas-San Antonio at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in Dayton to be the No. 16 East seed. The winner faces top seed Ohio State on Friday in Cleveland. In all, four play-in games — airing on truTV — have expanded the tournament to a field of 68 teams overall.
UAB’s inclusion was not without some controversy, especially after the Blazers’ early exit in the Conference USA Tournament on Thursday.
Alabama won’t be sitting out. The Crimson Tide (21-11), a top seed in the National Invitation Tournament, will welcome No. 8 Coastal Carolina to campus at 6 p.m. Tuesday, airing on ESPNU.
Beach bunnies: Krista Klumpp, foreground, and Stephanie Valencia
enjoy their moment in the sun on “Survivor: Redemption Island.”
Krista Klumpp is in trouble with capital “trouble.”
The Fairhope native aligned with returning villain Russell Hantz early on “Survivor: Redemption Island.” Now, she and her ally Stephanie Valencia face a hostile majority on their own Zapatera tribe.
Meanwhile, Russell has his hands full at Redemption Island against defending loser Matt Elrod.
Who’s testing their alliance? Who has a new hidden immunity idol? And who’s crying now?
Video: Paul McDonald performs “Come Pick Me Up”
by Ryan Adams.
Paul McDonald performs in the Top 13 on “American Idol.”
Play time is over. The Top 13 on “American Idol” are heading into weekly combat with tonight’s theme, “Songs by Your Musical Idol,” including Huntsville’s Paul McDonald.
• Judges say: Steven: “I love the character and rasp in your voice. I love your voice.” J. Lo: “I hope America gets it.” Randy: “I love who Paul is. I love you for this show.”
• We say: It was certainly a bubbly rendition. Perhaps, too bubbly. As a fan of the song, it’s a little jarring to see McDonald go lounge on it.
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Audio: “Come Pick Me Up,” Paul McDonald
Voting closes at 11 tonight.
Update March 10: Ashthon Jones of Goodlettsville, Tenn., was eliminated.
Huntsville’s Paul McDonald will compete
in the Top 13 on “American Idol.”
During the first five seasons of “American Idol,” you could hardly see an episode without someone from Birmingham belting out a tune. Champions Ruben Studdard and Taylor Hicks and runner-up Bo Bice made it through three seasons of competition.
But the recent five seasons have been Alabama free. Until now.
Auburn native Paul McDonald will be part of the Top 13 on the 10th season of “American Idol.” The Fox reality competition features singers as young as 15 performing for viewers’ votes, with the winner receiving a recording contract.
In case you’ve tuned out, the show has brought in new judges Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler (so long, Simon Cowell) to team with Randy Jackson and host Ryan Seacrest. The competition show will air at 7 p.m. Wednesdays, and the results will air at 7 p.m. Thursday on Fox 6.
Video: Paul McDonald sings “Maggie May” in his
Top 24 performance on “American Idol.”
McDonald, 26, graduated from Huntsville High School and performs with his band the Grand Magnolias, formerly Hightide Blues, based in Nashville. McDonald’s parents live in Huntsville.
He advanced from the group of 24 contestants with Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May,” and also performed “Blackbird” by the Beatles and “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard in earlier rounds. The singer has also released three albums, including this year’s self-titled” The Grand Magnolias.”
McDonald has also been active in social media, originally on Twitter as @thePaulMcDonald with nearly 10,000 followers, and now tweeting from his mandated “Idol” account at @PMcDonaldAI10, the first of this season’s contestants to reach 5,000 followers.
His first round of finals competition begins Wednesday.
In December, Huntsville a cappella group Committed won “The Sing-Off,” NBC’s reality singing competition. Fairhope native and former Auburn head cheerleader Krista Klumpp has been competing in this season of “Survivor: Redemption Island.”
Video: Paul McDonald and Kendra Chantelle perform
“Blackbird” by the Beatles during the Las Vegas
round of “American Idol.”
•
“American Idol” fans: If you would like to write recaps and features
for Wade on Birmingham, please contact me for details.
A trip to the dentist? Krista Klumpp competes
in the reward/immunity challenge.
Arrogance, inflated pride, a sense of overconfidence that can lead to downfall.
The Greeks call it Russell, er, hubris.
Russell Hantz came into “Survivor: Redemption Island” with a target on his back. Now that other players have actually seen his game on television, he can’t use the same ol’ bag of tricks he used in previous back-to-back seasons.
What does that mean for his Zapatera alliance members Stephanie Valencia and Fairhope native Krista Klumpp? Will they ride into the final 3 with him, or end up obliterated before they can scheme their way forward?
Video: Second chances come at a cost, starting
tonight on “Survivor: Redemption Island.”
“Survivor” has had at least one predictable outcome in its previous 21 seasons: The first out — whether 20th place or 16th place — was only memorable as a possible trivia answer.
Francesca Hogi, the first one voted out, and Matt Elrod, the latest castaway cast away, will battle head to head. The loser goes home, finally. The winner gets to stay in isolation for another few days until the next loser stumbles into camp.
Hmm …
Meanwhile, the Zapatera alliance of Russell Hantz, Stephanie Valencia and Fairhope native Krista Klumpp looks to pull off the “biggest blindside ever.” Hmm again, I thought that was the one they pulled over on the audience bringing back the tired old villains.
Check out the action tonight, and look for the recap here.
Video: preview of Jail Break Duel,
the first battle in Redemption Arena.
Jeff Probst: “Once again, the gold star of the episode does go to … Philip. … The explanation of his two tattoos was so good I had to watch it three times.”
“Survivor: Redemption Island” airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS 42. Look for the full recap tonight following the show.
Video: Russell Russell Russell! Rob Rob Rob!
on tonight’s “Survivor: Redemption Island.”
Who’s really in charge, Boston Rob or Russell? Or does anyone really care?
The supervillians are featured front and center as “Survivor: Redemption Island” speeds into the second episode tonight.
Fairhope native Krista Klumpp is on Russell Hantz’s Zapatera tribe and seems to be under the radar so far. Meanwhile, Rob Mariano has his hands full with renegade former federal agent Phillip Sheppard at Ometepe. Plus, Francesca Hogi begins her stay on fun-filled Redemption Island.
Check out the action tonight, and look for the recap here.
Video: Get the ball of power. No, really.
Preview of tonight’s challenge, Smash, Grab, Smash.
Lost in the shuffle was Krista Klumpp, the Fairhope native and pharmaceutical sales rep. Little screen time could mean she’s deadly dull, safe for weeks or who knows? Even host Jeff Probst called her a question mark.
Watch With Wade: Everybody cries.1"House" may be one of my all-time favorite shows. I watch it over and over, never tiring of the formula, or the immense scorn heaped on by the title character, Dr. Gregory House.
