This post is dedicated to reality shows.

The final 2 episodes of The Amazing Race 3 weren't as exciting for me, as I was on call the day it was screened, and already read about the winners over the Internet prior to watching the recording. But I can tell you that this series is by far the most engrossing of the 3, because all the contestants are captivating in their own ways, and the race was really really tight all the way to the very end.
Not to mention resident whiner Flo Pesenti, who grated on my nerves throughout the 2 hours with her incessant crying, shouting, threats to quit, etc. Prima donna and immature spoilt brat rolled into one, it's truly a miracle that she and Zach went on to clinch the milllion-dollar prize. I concur with the majority of opinions on the Net -- that Zach should get the whole million, and Flo should get nothing. After all, in the final leg, all she did was sit and pout, or delay the team by refusing to carry out their designated tasks, or putting in half-hearted efforts at best. Zach was the one running around booking airline tickets, figuring out the clues, and most importantly, pacifying Flo and doing his best to persuade her to stay in the race. In Vietnam, the latter really wanted out, but poor Zach put his foot down and told her, "This is my race too, so we should talk about it." Right on, Zach. You tell that selfish woman like it is.
Actually, I already suspected that Flo and Zach won the money, especially after an interview with the twins Drew and Derek in the papers a couple of days ago revealed that Drew is now long-distance dating Flo. Not only did it raise my eyebrows, I practically choked when he said all sorts of forgiving and nice things about her awful tantrums on international TV, citing reasons like how stressful the circumstances were, how fragile she is, and so on. But you know what? I think a lot of that motivation comes from the fact that Flo's now got half a million buckeroos in her bank account. Plus, she's absolutely hung on the guy, so you can bet she'll splurge a lot of her prize money on him. Smart move, Drew.
As for Zach, I'm sure he's won millions of female hearts all over the world with his good temper, optimism, and overall nice-guy demeanour. Not once did he lose his cool, and neither did he resort to any dirty tricks -- but let's give Flo some credit for playing a clean game too. He's wonderfully sweet, and I hope he finds an equally nice girl who'll make him happy. A word of caution to him though: most women he meets from now on will know about his fortune, and being the easygoing person he is, he may end up getting duped. So good luck to you, Zach. Wish you all the best.
Teri and Ian are the oldest couple to make it to the final, so good for them. Too bad Ken and Gerard didn't win. They're definitely the nicest team of the entire lot.

Survivor:Thailand had me on the edge of my seat. Brian is definitely an excellent player, and though he isn't the best person to win, he played his hand like a pro and got what he wanted. Ken was a hot favourite -- handsome, nice, a police officer basking in the post 9/11 adulation -- while Helen worked really hard only to be sabotaged by the guys at the crucial point. If she'd won the last immunity challenge, she would've gotten everyone's vote, no question. I think it was a big waste that people like Brian and Clay ended up being the final two. As one jury member said, he chose Brian because he's "the lesser of the two evils", meaning he didn't want either to win, but had no choice but to vote for one of them.
Well, Survivor has always been the best of all the reality shows, and the next season promises to be even more exciting, as it will take place in none other than the Amazon. Woohoo!

Temptation Island:Australia starts tonight at 11pm on Channel 5. No idea if it's gonna be Americans vacationing down under, or a local Australian population.