This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
You have to wonder what’s wrong with the world when Hugh Grant’s considered sexy, Helen Clark supposedly looks like Andie MacDowell (according to the My Heritage find-your-celebrity-lookalike site) and Jericho gets cancelled.
A ratings slip when it went up against the always-going-to-win-in-a-ratings-battle latest series of American Idol gave some overpaid exec at CBS (or perhaps a whole flock of them) cold feet and they decided to pull the plug on this series about the residents of small-town Jericho surviving after a series of nuclear attacks in the United States.
The buzz online is huge. In fact, it’s more of a growl than a buzz and dedicated viewers are angry and organised. If you want to tell CBS that you’re not happy with the decision, your first stop should be Jericho Lives, where you’ll find information on all the campaigns under way to save the show.
There are a couple of online petitions if you feel like showing your supprot, at Petitions Online and Petition Spot.
Poor Skeet Ulrich — who plays the prodigal son who turned up just before the bombs do their thing — also starred in Miracles, another nicely complex and quirky series that was also cancelled after a short run. Give the boy a break.
TUNED IN: The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) has finally moved into the 21st Century and from next week, the official New Zealand music chart will truly represent all New Zealand music sales, including digital downloads from New Zealand’s legal, digital music retailers.
RIANZ says the changes are needed to ensure the chart is an accurate reflection of what Kiwis are buying.
From next week it will also publishing the top 10 radio airplay chart to highlight the most popular songs on New Zealand radio.
RIANZ President Adam Holt says he expects the addition of digital sales will make the chart more dynamic, especially the singles chart because of the jump in sales of digital tracks and singles during the past 12 months.
The early emergence of Amplifier and digiRAMA, the strong music presence on the Telecom and Vodafone mobile platforms and the recent launch of iTunes in New Zealand have all helped make legal digital downloading a serious sales contender.
ONE IN A MILLION: A cellphone pouch with characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas movie has the honour of being the 100 millionth auction to be listed on Trade Me. It sold for $10.