HEART STATION

Cycle 12 caught my attention because of one contestant, Allison Harvard. As soon as I saw her for the first time, I noticed how different she was and how awesome this season would be because of such an edgy, different contestant. I felt the same way about Melrose back in cycle 7. Some might say Allison is awkward, weird and not America’s Next Top Model material, but it’s what makes her so unique. Her look is so striking for such a young girl, and it’s this mixture of awkwardness, beauty and cuteness that caught my eye, she’s not like the other contestants. Her most remarkable feature are her eyes, that are so big and blue and how she looks like a porcelain doll, according to Tyra and the judges. The weirdest thing about her, though, is her obsession over nosebleeds. When the competition began, she was the creepy girl who looked like a porcelain doll obsessed with nose bleeds, but as the competition progressed, she proved that this doll has personality and edge to get where she wants. Unfortunately, like Melrose, she got to the top 2, but didn’t come back with the title of America’s Next Top Model.

When it was announced that the top models were coming to Brazil, I got worried, because Brazil is portrayed as a country of sex appeal and Allison is the sweet, quiet girl of the group, but she impressed me. She kept getting really positive critique from the judges, being that before she came to Brazil she was the girl with one look. She kept growing as a model, but her worst fear was the runway. She was really awkward, and even though she wasn’t disastrous, she wasn’t stellar at all either, she was just walking. On the last episode, though, Allison brought her top game and rocked the runway. She did mention she had practiced, and it showed, because the quirky girl from previous runway challenged was nowhere to be found. She brought it all while Teyona looked like a stripper waving her weave into the air. Allison brought sexy, cuteness and beauty to all her movements and made her quirky personality a special, different quality that was hers only.

I think that her most impressive shots are of the later episodes, when she came to Brazil, my favorites being from the Carmen Miranda shoot and the Cover Girl shoot. Before she came to Brazil, though, she did take a really impressive shot with Ciara! She looks a bit feline, I’m not a big fan of the lion-like hair, but her lips, eyes and cheekbones look so impressive! She’s like an angry cat.

I was really surprised when she wasn’t the winner, because she caught so many people’s attention and I’m such a big fan of hers. She used to take amateur pictures before America’s Next Top Model, and was nicknamed Creepy-chan because of the peculiar pictures she took, but she earned many fans this way.

Both, Melrose and Allison have caught my attention since day one of cycles 7 and 12, and it’s really unfortunate that they haven’t won, but I feel really proud that they came this far, since both were finalists!

After A Shot At Love, I’ve been looking for another Mtv show (That isn’t in Brazil yet) to watch, and I decided to follow Paris Hilton’s quest to find a BFF (Best friend forever) on her show, Paris Hilton’s My New BFF. I saw an interview in Ellen with Paris talking about the show, and I was curious to watch it! I went on to the Mtv website and looked for the show and in two days, I had watched the 3 one-hour episodes that were available… I’m just upset by how unpredictable Paris can be! I really don’t like some her actions towards the contestants, but she proved herself to really care for her potential BFFs and to respect them (Although sometimes this costs them their title as her new BFF). I’m really upset also with her decision to say goodbye to Sinsu and to Onch, my two favorites right off the bat. Guess why. Yes, Asians do rock.

For the show, Paris invites 16 girls and two boys into her dollhouse, where the contestants stay. After their first get-together, they already got blackberries to get in contact with Paris (Or like Paris calls it, for her to get in contact with them, not the other way around), and be aware of what will go on, like challenges and other types of news. I loved the first episode and how much personality the contestants showed. Especially Sinsu and Onch.

Onch was one of the two boys, and definitely the one with the most personality. He’s a jewelry designer and he’s getting quite famous. Celebrities like Paris Hilton, Amy Winehouse and Chris Crocker wear his jewelry, usually really fun and colorful. He’s also really affectionate towards his friends in the house and really hates the enemies he has in the house. Like he said on his first interview, he’s “the best of both worlds,” because he can be a girlfriend just as much as he can be a boyfriend, and he surely is far more fun than either. He’s full of personality and originality and I really admire him for that! He’s so colorful and dramatic! I love that.

On one of the challenges, they had to ride many roller-coasters and still look hot on the process. Just like how I imagined myself if I were to be exposed to a situation like this, Onch didn’t like it one bit and started to freak out. I hate roller-coasters, and especially for being his first time, he must have been scared to death. He barely did the challenge (Only visiting one roller-coaster). As the picture suggests, he’s totally kawaii and proud of who he is and what he does, which only makes him more fun!

I remember a part of an episode where he’s dancing with other boys and they start to back off when they find out he’s a boy. They start picking other girls and talking to them about how they’re embarrassed and then Onch starts screaming at them, he’s totally full of personality and if Paris didn’t pick him as a best friend, I pick him!

Then there’s Sinsu! She’s absolutely gorgeous and as soon as I saw her, I knew that, just like Onch, if Paris didn’t pick her, I would.

Sinsu is a real party girl, and she’s full of talent. She sings and models and is full of personality. On the first episode she was so funny and adorable, especially during their first challenge! I was so glad she passed, because the first chance that contestants are given is always the most important one (Especially on this case, when the challenge was all about first impressions).

The first official challenge was one that the contestants would have to trust Paris and get a makeover plus new clothes (Because their luggage got “lost”). Only Sinsu, (Along with 2 other contestants) didn’t wish to dye her hair platinum blonde (Like Paris wanted her to) and decided to not get the makeover. She still looked hot with her jet black short hair and her dress, actually, on the red carpet. That day’s elimination was based on that challenge, and when Paris was deliberating the bottom two, Sinsu asked her if she could dye her hair and explained how sorry she was and if Paris allowed, she’s be up for it. Paris thanked her for her decision and she was safe.

She flew to Vegas and dyed her hair platinum blonde. I thought she looked even better! The platinum blonde goes really well with her style and I love it! She loves to party and did show she had a great time with Paris and her roommates in the challenges that followed. Paris then decided to take her and 3 other contestants to Tokyo!

There, Brittany (Another contestant) started suspecting that Sinsu had a drinking problem. I totally disagree because she was completely sober, not drunk at all, but Paris thought it was a problem and unfortunately, Sinsu got sent home.

It was really sad, because, just like Sinsu put it, if she got eliminated by Paris Hilton for partying too hard… There’s something wrong. She’s beautiful, she’s talented and I bet she’s a great best friend! She has great taste in style and isn’t afraid of challenges!

I love both of them and they both should have been winners, because they’re too great to decide which one is better. Paris just wasn’t able to capture that, unfortunately.

I hadn’t watched the Mtv Video Music Awards when it aired here in Brazil. There is always some preparation and a whole week of the best moments of the VMAs, but this year, there wasn’t much of that, and I ended up missing it this year. If I had known that Christina Aguilera was making her comeback through this year’s VMAs, I would have watched it from beginning to end, like how I did when I discovered she was performing at the 2006 VMAs.

As most of us know, Christina had just had her baby, Max Liron (The name means”Our Greatest Song” In Hebrew), and is gaining back her form slowly, the natural way, but she looks beautiful, her rock look with the long, straight platinum blonde hair with the bangs and the beautiful eyeliner makes this my favorite look of hers since her Stripped album. She stated in an interview with Ellen how she gets bored easily and is always trying something new to renew her look.

Christina is coming back full throttle this year and next year since the release of her DVD Back To Basics: Live and Down Under, released in February. For November, she’ll be releasing her first compilation album, Keeps Gettin’ Better – A Decade Of Hits. The album will include all her hits, including the single Lady Marmalade, featuring Pink, Mya and Lil’ Kim. The compilation will also include 2 new tracks (Keeps Gettin’ Better and Dynamite) and 2 fresh remakes of her hits Genie In A Bottle and Beautiful. The single for Keeps Gettin’ Better has been released since September the 9th.

The track listing for the compilation will be as follows:

CD

Artwork of the album.

01. Genie in a Bottle
02. What a Girl Wants
03. I Turn to You
04. Come on Over (All I Want is You)
05. Nobody Wants to be Lonely
06. Lady Marmalade
07. Dirrty
08. Fighter
09. Beautiful
10. Ain’t No Other Man
11. Candyman
12. Hurt
13. Genie 2.0
14. Keeps Gettin’ Better
15. Dynamite
16. You Are What You Are (Beautiful)

DVD (Limited Edition)

01. Genie in a Bottle
02. What a Girl Wants
03. I Turn to You
04. Come on Over (All I Want is You)
05. Dirrty
06. Fighter
07. Beautiful
08. Ain’t No Other Man
09. Candyman
10. Hurt
11. A Decade Of Hits (Behind The Scenes)

Christina Aguilera is also releasing her fourth studio album in 2009. She says it’ll have an influence from Tokyo, for she loves the city. It’s going to be great! Japan, pop culture and Christina Aguilera all in one? What more could I wish for? She’s also going to come back to her initial pop beats and it’s clear that once again, she’s working on her look for this album!

The special encore episode for the Last Friends dorama closed the series with a happy ending, but not much is new in the special.

It seems like on year has passed since episode 11 (In the series), and Michiru heads over to the graveyard to light some incense on Sosuke’s grave. She was with cute little one-year old Rumi, and Rumi was wearing the cutest dress while she walked to the grave with Michiru. Apparently, Sosuke’s little friend was there as well, but Michiru didn’t see him. While she’s there, Ogura and Eri arive from Italy and Ogura really wants a haircut because he was embarrassed to cut his hair there, and he asked his friends where Michiru used to work as a hairdresser.

When he got there, we discover why Michiru’s ex-boss kept reading book on domestic violence and why she was at the hospital with a patch on her eye, her boyfriend was also hitting her, and she talks to Ogura about it when he asks why her eye is black. She said there used to be a girl that she worked with, and her boyfriend used to wait for her everyday outside the salon, and she was really jealous, so she turned bitter to the girl.

The rest is basically some scenes that recap the season, the most dramatic moments and the ones that changed the rhythm of the dorama. Then, the phone rings, and Takeru answers. It’s his sister asking if he’s alright. From the beginning of the series until now, Takeru had been avoiding her, but this time, they talked and he told her he’s really happy with his family, and it’s a happiness she wouldn’t understand. He is happy to the point that he said he forgave her, finally.

The special (And the series) ends with everyone together and little Rumi was there too. There were voices in the background of what each of them wanted their future to be like, Michiru and Takeru both completed each others’ thoughts, Takeru said that he wished they would never separate, but if they did, that they’d reunite. The special ends with Michiru’s voice saying in english:

“My dear friends, you are my last friends”

Last Friends – SP (Torrent Download)

The episode begins with crying sounds, then it’s revealed that Michiru is crying over Sosuke’s body after he committed suicide. The following scenes show Michiru getting her bags (That Sosuke had packed for her) and leaving, she seemed really sad, and her spirit was really down (With reason).

[Spoilers] Ruka wins another race, and in the press conference, she is asked a question about if what the media had published was actually true or not, and Ruka, with the warm incentive of her parents, answered the question really wisely without revealing anything. The episode takes a focus on Ruka for a while and how everyone respects her decisions, how Michiru had disappeared and Ruka felt like she didn’t respect her decision, and that was the reason for her departure. It wasn’t the case, and Takeru answers the phone, it’s Michiru’s mom wanting to talk to her, and she tells Takeru that Sosuke had committed suicide. That night, Takeru and Ruka tell the others about the news, and Eri feels really guilty for telling Sosuke everything she had the day of his death. These bad news are also made even more negative when on the next day, Ogura says he’s moving to Milan with his wife. Eri, like always, does argue with him, but in a way that can be interpreted in two ways: either she wants him to stay, or wants him to leave his wife and just live his life without being such a coward. She exits crying. Michiru had sent a letter to the share house saying not to worry about her, she’s fine and she’s going her own way.

Eri and Ogura work at the same airport, and Eri is looking at the panel where destinations of flights are displayed, really sadly looking at the Milan flight column. Suddenly, she sees a bouquet of red roses and Ogura holding them and screaming to everyone that he can only think about her! The next scene shows the church bells and Eri and Ogura walking in to a beautiful altar. Eri looked amazing and Ruka kept telling her how pretty she looked. This was a happy ceremony, but Ruka and Takeru were left at the lonely share house, with nobody but themselves. It’s then that Takeru gets a motorcycle from Ruka’s coach and he tells Ruka that it’s been wonderful living with her, but there’s a hole in her heart, and he does not want to continue like that, they should fill in that hole together. They went after Michiru!

Michiru had gone to the town where she and her mom lived after she graduated high school, and was recognized by the kind owner of an inn, where she was invited to stay in and work in. Michiru was preparing the rice for the customers when suddenly, she almost threw up with the vapor of the rice. The inn keeper said that she should check if she’s pregnant. Michiru was 5 weeks pregnant, and from Sosuke. She had high blood pressure, though, and she and her baby could be in danger with a rough labor. She kept working there and the inn keeper even said that after Michiru had her baby, she could stay. Michiru was happy, but still wondering where Ruka and Takeru were. The inn keeper also called Michiru’s mother to tell her about the pregnancy, and Michiru was surprised to find her mom in her room when she got to the inn. Her mom tried talking her out of keeping the baby, but after a deep talk with her mother, she discovered that her mother loves her more than she shows, and that she chose to be a single mother just to be with Michiru, helping Michiru with her decision to keep her baby.

Ruka and Takeru went to Michiru’s mother’s house to ask her where Michiru might be, but she had moved out with her husband, and naturally, Ruka suspected that Michiru went to the town she lived in for a while after high school, and they rode there with their motorcycle. When they arrived, they took the whole day asking around for Michiru with a picture, but nobody recognized her. Takeru and Ruka camped at the beach for the night after an exhausting day, and Takeru talked to Ruka about his dark past, with his sister, and Ruka was comprehensive and reaffirmed him that whatever happened doesn’t matter, because he’s really capable of loving, and she says that she’s human proof of it.

They woke up and continued looking, then, a man did recognize her, and told them she’s over at the inn. Ruka and Takeru hurried, and ended up in an accident with a truck. Ruka got hurt, but they were both wearing helmets! So they weren’t that hurt and after Ruka was patched up in no time, and they were back to the streets, only Michiru was also at the hospital checking up on her baby like a responsible mom. The motorcycle had broken down from the crash, and as Takeru was looking around while Ruka fixed it up, he found Michiru heading for the bus. Ruka called her name, and with a tiny smile, Michiru invited them over to her inn.

There, they were all talking about Michiru’s baby, and Ruka invited her back to Tokyo, and Michiru was saying that she didn’t want to go back to that city that so much had happened in. Ruka reached out for her hand and told her that she wanted to care for her baby, even if she can’t be the baby’s father, she’d do the best she could. Takeru also volunteered, and Michiru was so happy that she started to cry. Out of the blue, she begins having contractions, really strong ones, and has to be brought to the hospital. The baby’s birth was premature and she was going into labor.

I felt like crying with the possibility of Michiru’s death. she having a really hard time, and Ruka and Takeru were really frustrated. When the baby was born, a nurse came out running and telling other to do it fast because she’s losing a lot of blood. Michiru woke up, though, and saw her baby girl. Ruka and Takeru couldn’t be happier, and the next scenes show the great time they spent with each other and the baby, named Rumi (“Ru” from Ruka and Takeru and “mi” from Michiru).

“My dear friends, you are my last friends”

This is the quote that Michiru says before we see the share house’s coffee table with a picture of everyone together again, but with baby Rumi held by Michiru.

Episode 11 (Torrent Download)

On the later episodes of Last Friends, things begin to get really heated between the characters. After Michiru gets back together with Sosuke, everybody gets worried, and Takeru goes to Sosuke’s apartment to check on her. He finds her like a dead zombie in the lightly lit apartment, with a patch on her eye. Not only had Sosuke beaten her up, but he beat up the life out of her as well. She admits that she does things wrong, even though she hasn’t. Things like going to the market and arriving after Sosuke caused a black eye. Takeru becomes really worried and decides to run away from Sosuke with Michiru. It took some time for Ruka to trust Michiru again, but with a little time and effort, they returned to being the great duo they always were!

Takeru had been developing feelings for Ruka, and he told her he loved her. This may be a sign that he’s ready to get over his childhood trauma of love and sex now. She got confused, since she is in love with Michiru, and can’t respond to his feelings, and things got even more awkward when Ruka was trying to push him away by pretending her motocross coach was her boyfriend and going out with him. As Ruka discovers more and more about her identity and sexual orientation, she drifts apart from the others, and decides to move out from the share house. Everybody was shocked and against it, but Ruka had no choise, for she didn’t want to be around her family and friends if she were to have her sex change. She wanted to start off clean.

After the revelation of moving out, (That was discovered by incident by Takeru) Ruka bonds more with her ex-roommates, and it becomes harder to move out, she still does, but visits the share house a lot, but who wouldn’t after the emotional “Don’t go!” goodbye that Takeru expressed to Ruka. It was really moving, and it tied her even more to her ex-roommates.

While all that took place, Sosuke was at the hospital because he was hit by a train while trying to save the child he watched over (Because of his job). He kept writing letters to Michiru, over 20 letters, then he ran away. Jealous of Takeru, (Because Michiru told him she was with someone, just when Takeru came by and offered her his umbrella) he found him and hit him with his crutches. This is was a really rough start to the continuous abuses that Sosuke makes Michiru’s friends go through. Feeling like she wasn’t ready to move out, and that Michiru needs to be more protected, Ruka moved back to the share house, while Sosuke runs away from the hospital.

Ruka went to Sosuke’s apartment, and there, she ended up making him angry, for telling him she loved Michiru, and what he feels for her isn’t love. He threw her on the ground, and with a really nerve-wracking wrestle, he seems like he is going to rape her, and Ruka throws him off of her her and runs away. This troubled her even more with her insecurities.

Eri seems to be looking at some magazines when she finds out that one of the magazines made an article made Ruka and her potential sex change. She buys the magazine and goes back home after showing it to Takeru. Ruka becomes uneasy with the news, and later, confesses her love for Michiru to Takeru. Little did she know that Michiru was listening through the other room. Eri is going to work when she sees Sosuke, and rubs the truth in his face, that he is pathetic, that he should stop trying to intimidate them and he should take it like a man, and get over it. Finally, Michiru gets a phone call from Sosuke, saying that he picked up her clothes and packed them up, that he’s ready to end this, like Eri had said. Michiru went to his apartment, and when she was going to pick her luggage, she noticed that Ruka’s good luck charm that she had made was under the bed, and she ask him if Ruka had been there, remembering the cut on her face. He said he pushed her down and hurt her pride. Michiru finally has the guts to slap him right across the face. He didn’t seem moved at all and once again, beat her like a barbarian. He brings her to the bedroom and rapes her.

Michiru is in the bed, like a zombie, she seems to be all hurt even though there are no bruises, and she cries in a still and uncomfortable position. She tells Sosuke that she will repeat what they have done whenever he wants if he promises that he will never lay one hand on her friends again. Sosuke got upset that she was crying and so upset, and he screamed at her to stop, but she didn’t. He left the room and looked at some pictures that Michiru had left on the floor. He cried the whole time, probably imagining that the innocence, purity and love in the pictures taken with all her friends had all been drenched in sickness, he ruined everything, and seeing her cry ruined him.

The next morning, as Michiru was heading out, she looked at the couch, and saw Sosuke with a white blanket. She looked closer, and the blanket was drenched in blood. Sosuke killed himself.

Episode 6 (Torrent Download)
Episode 7 (Torrent Download)
Episode 8 (Torrent Download)
Episode 9 (Torrent Download)
Episode 10 (Torrent Download)