Monday’s episode, which opened with Ryback’s follow-up to his Last Man Standing match with John Cena and culminated with an unusual Triple H concussion storyline, attracted 4.22 million viewers, up from last week’s 4.05 million.

The three-hour telecast drew a 1.4 rating, however, which down from the prior week’s 1.5.

That RAW’s ratings would effectively be a week-over-week wash, given all the advantages for this week’s telecast, is a major disappointment for WWE.

One positive show is that it continued its recent (and once standard) trend of building to a peak rating in the final hour. Monday’s show opened with a 1.3 rating at 8PM, before growing to a 1.4 at 9PM and then a 1.6 at 10.

The post WWE RAW Ratings Underwhelm For Extreme Rules Follow-Up appeared first on Headline Planet.

After a drought for last week’s Top 12 round, Bradbery becomes this season’s first and only “Voice” contestant to earn the 10x multiplier bonus. Michelle Chamuel, her nearest “Voice” competitor on the chart, was at #17 at press time for “Just Give Me a Reason.”

Holly Tucker’s show-opening “How Great Thou Art” was at #31, besting Sarah Simmons’ “Mamma Knows Best” (#43) and The Swon Brothers’ “How Country Feels” (#54).

Sasha Allen’s first live foray into contemporary pop earned her #66 for “Next to Me,” while Judith Hill’s emotional “The Way You Make Me Feel” fueled a download ranking of #74. Amber Carrington is at #92 for “Breakaway,” Josiah Hawley is at #141 with “Clocks” and Kris Thomas ranks last among contestants (and #185 on the charts) with “Adorn.”

“The Voice” reveals its latest two eliminations during Tuesday’s results show at 9PM.

The post Danielle Bradbery Wins iTunes Bonus on “The Voice,” Michelle Chamuel Top 20 appeared first on Headline Planet.

Others, meanwhile, point to the wacky dialogue (particularly from Vera Farmiga’s Norma, who is responsible for lines like “sorry that dirtbag raped me” and “I killed the crap out of him”) and incongruous storytelling as proof that “Bates Motel” is not to be taken seriously. Like season one of “American Horror Story,” it is a campy, “so bad it’s good” horror series embracing cable’s opportunity to be weird, edgy and random.

But regardless of the show’s intent, most critics agree that the show has picked up its storytelling in recent weeks. Fueled by improved cohesion between scenes and performances, a compelling villain in Jere Burns’ Jake Abernathy and Norman’s evolution into a more haunting persona (thanks largely to ongoing improvement from actor Freddie Highmore), “Bates Motel” found the road to success near the end of its first season.

Monday’s well-constructed season finale seemed to bring the show closer to excellence. But just as critics and fans were nearly unanimous in their appreciation for the episode, they were also nearly unanimous in misunderstanding one of its key “reveals.”

And that misunderstanding let some critics to unfairly repudiate the final moments of “Bates Motel” season one.

In addition to building–and concluding–key story arcs at a blistering pace, the “Bates” season finale succeeded by focusing on character. Norma’s fear of death at the hands of Abernathy pushed her to a new realm of vulnerability, and in the process, she continued repairing her relationship with Dylan while opening up further to Norman, her pride-and-joy. Her heartbreaking story of being victimized by her brother’s sexual assaults shed new light not only on Norman, but on the way tragic circumstances have pushed normalcy, comfort and control so far out of reach for the Bates family.

Romero solidified himself as a “good guy” by ultimately doing away with Abernathy, while improvement in the Dylan-Norman relationship came to a screeching halt when Norman learned of his older half-brother’s budding relationship with Bradley. Emma, meanwhile, finally confronted Norman, who refuses to detach his focus from Bradley and recognize the treasure of a girl in front of him.

And then there was that conclusion. Bloodied at the hands of Bradley’s creepy “boyfriend,” a dejected Norman, who had already broken Emma’s heart, trudged through the rain to escape a disastrous school dance. Along the way, he was spotted by Miss Watson, who offered to drive him to her house and clean up the cut.

An awkward situation in any context, it was exacerbated by recent indications that the teacher has a crush on (and certainly an emotional fondness for) her deranged student. As Miss Watson “changed” out of her dress, leaving the door open for Norman’s wandering eyes to capture the cute teacher in lingerie, Norman “snapped” into blackout mode and began a conversation with a hallucination of his Mother.

Mother noted Miss Watson’s sexual, predatory behavior, before reminding Norman that he knows what he needs to do. As Norman got up, presumably to attack Miss Watson, the shot suddenly flashes to Norman sprinting through the streets to his home.

While there, he encounters Norma explains that he had another blackout, signaling to viewers that he was in the same state as when he killed his father and attacked Shelby. It certainly seemed pretty clear that Norman killed Miss Watson.

And that is why fans and critics were initially justified in groaning when, following a beautiful final shot of the Bates Motel property, the camera cut to the bloody floor of Miss Watson’s apartment. As the shot began wrapping around her bed, surely with the aim of revealing a murdered teacher to the audience, “Bates” seemed to be making the unfortunate television mistake of disrespecting its audience. Did it trust the audience so little–and think it so unintelligent–that it needed to explicitly confirm what anyone could have figured out from Norman’s conversation with his mother?

But in stopping there and building their complaints around the show’s mistrust in its audience, these critics and viewers missed the true purpose of the reveal: a “B” necklace around the murdered Miss Watson’s neck.

As revealed last week (and confirmed in the “previously on” bit, which is why it’s odd so many critics and viewers missed this key moment), Bradley’s father was evidently having an affair with a woman known as “B” prior to his death. By wearing the necklace, Watson was either exposed as “B” or exposed as knowing who it was prior to her murder.

Though the reveal confirms that others would have had motive to kill Miss Watson, it certainly does not rule out young Norman Bates as the prime suspect. It does, however, add narrative color and intrigue to the situation, turning it into something more than Norman killing a woman who might have been sexually threatening.

It also makes renders all the criticism about “Bates” mistrusting its viewers moot. Insofar as the reveal was not about Miss Watson’s death but about her necklace, “Bates” was not simply recapping what viewers could have figured out from Norman and Norma’s conversation. It was sharing something new. It was…”revealing.”

The irony of complaints about the final scene is that they attack “Bates Motel” for treating its viewers like idiots and not trusting them to reach basic narrative conclusions. But by not understanding the real purpose of that scene, and missing such a key detail, aren’t these critics and fans, in fact, proving themselves to unable to independently comprehend the A&E drama’s pivotal moments?

The post Fans, Critics Misunderstand Final “Bates Motel” Reveal appeared first on Headline Planet.

Also on the show: Ryback challenged John Cena to another match, and The Shield battled Team Hell No and Kofi Kingston in an epic six-man tag.

WWE.com RAW Results Report for May 20, 2013:

KANSAS CITY – Of all the sights a Superstar wants to see going into Raw, a wild-eyed Ryback driving an ambulance is certainly not among them. And yet that was exactly the display that greeted the WWE Universe in Kansas City when a frothy “Human Wrecking Ball,” fresh off a brutal stalemate with John Cena at Extreme Rules, rolled up like the world’s most jacked EMT, ascended to the top the ambulance and issued an ominous message to The Champ: an Ambulance Match challenge for the WWE Title at WWE Payback. And while The Champ pondered his options, Ryback issued Cena yet another warning: Cena’s journey would not end in the ICU, but in the morgue.

Chris Jericho & The Miz def. Wade Barrett & Fandango

The Miz and Chris Jericho were riding high coming out of Extreme Rules, and with the sky looking like the limit, the two veterans notched another big win in their ledgers Monday night with a tag-team victory over their respective rivals: Fandango and Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett.

Ironically enough, though it was Fandango who dominated most of the match, revving up to his strongest in-ring showing yet against Jericho and only tagging in Barrett after he’d gotten his licks in. Things went south quickly for the brawling Brit, though, when Fandango hopped off the apron to boogie with Sumemr Rae and left Wade to the mercy of his foes. With no help for Barrett in sight, Jericho executed the Codebreaker and Miz completed the alley-oop with a crippling application of the Figure-Four Leglock that left the Englishman no choice but to tap out.

Sheamus def. Titus

Titus O’Neil might literally have a “Prime Time” future in his cards based on his animated contributions to the Extreme Rules Pre-and Post-Show panels, but his questionable comments about Sheamus’ toughness came back to haunt him on Monday Night Raw. “The Big Deal’s” confidence was understandably high as he went into the bout against The Celtic Warrior, but the Strap Match hero of WWE’s extreme showcase stood tall yet again.

Titus backed up his tough talk and kept the bout physical, using his uncanny strength to keep Sheamus on the defensive and nearly finishing the Irishman off with some help from Darren Young. Despite O’Neil’s tough-as-nails showing, Sheamus pulled ahead at the moment of truth, letting loose with White Noise and a Brogue Kick to the titanic talking head for the win.

The rumor bees have been a-buzzing all day about a prospective third client joining Paul Heyman’s unsavory stable, and for once the whispers yielded pay dirt and not simply fool’s gold. With the WWE Universe riled up, the mad scientist himself strutted into Kansas City high off Brock Lesnar’s brutal win over Triple H at Extreme Rules and ready to introduce his latest dangerous ally: Curtis Axel.

Formerly known as Michael McGillicutty, Heyman swore to re-brand the onetime WWE Tag Team Champion in the “perfect” mold of his father Curt Hennig and grandfather, Larry “The Axe” Hennig, and give him an opportunity to carve out his own legend in their honor. The mad scientist was moments into his grand unveiling when Triple H crashed the party, a dire sign for the ECW founder if there ever was one. Before The King of Kings could put hands on his longtime rival, though, Axel got in Triple H’s face and caught a twofold response: A stiff right hand, and a challenge from The Game to a match later in the night.

Big E. Langston def. Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio survived an “I Quit” Match and punched his ticket to a World Heavyweight Title Match against Dolph Ziggler, but before The Pride of Mexico gets his hands on The Showoff, he had to go through the champ’s heavy, Big E Langston, in Kansas City. If the contest’s outcome was any indication, The Essence of Excellence is in for a rough road back to the World Title.

Del Rio had plied his ruthless Cross Armbreaker early and often to the big man, but Langston used his strength to simply power out of the maneuver each time. The Pride of Mexico compensated with a stick-and-move offense to soften up Big E before setting up for the hold again, and that’s when AJ Lee made her move, rolling Del Rio’s spittoon across the canvas to distract the referee. With the official otherwise occupied, Langston struck with a thumb to Del Rio’s eye, following the dirty play up with a Big Ending for the 1-2-3.

AJ Lee def. Layla
Make it two-for-two for Team Ziggler after AJ Lee followed up Big E Langston’s monstrous win with another wily defeat of her own, this time over Layla in Divas action. Layla put up a stiff challenge against Dolph Ziggler’s devious better half, doubling AJ over with kicks and leaving her writhing in the corner. But before Layla could seal the deal, AJ roared back and locked in the Black Widow submission for an agonizing tapout win, sealed moments later with a mocking kiss to the defeated Diva.

Cody Rhodes def. Zack Ryder

The road’s looking a lot less bumpy for Cody Rhodes following a rough night on the Extreme Rules Pre-Show. The “Essence of Mustachioed Magnificence” bounced back from his tough loss to The Miz by defeating Zack Ryder on Raw, but it was the ominous, third-party display after the match that truly left the WWE Universe in stunned silence.

The “Woo Woo Kid” had Cody on the ropes with a Broski Boot, but Rhodes roared back and sent Ryder back to the L.I. with a Disaster Kick to the dome. With Ryder down, Ryback once again decided to send John Cena a message at the expense of The Champ’s fist-pumping buddy. The “Human Wrecking Ball” marched to the ring and put Ryder down with a trifecta of the Meathook Clothesline, a powebomb and Shell Shocked, then hauled Ryder’s prone form into the ambulance as his final message to Cena.

The Shield def. Kofi Kingston & Team Hell No

Looks like the “fires of justice” aren’t getting snuffed out anytime soon. Despite a mighty effort from Kofi Kingston, Kane and a fighting-mad Daniel Bryan, the troika of dethroned champions fell yet again to the men who took their titles at Extreme Rules, marking the victorious beginning of The Shield’s three-pronged title reign.

The Shield employed their time-honored numbers game strategy throughout the entire match, separating Kofi from his herd and attempting to do the same to Bryan before the submission expert roared into action, leaving Rollins and Ambrose seeing stars with a furious spurt of offense. Bryan’s effort rallied his squad back into contention, but The Shield eventually isolated the “No!” man, taunting him as a “weak link.” Bryan replied as only he can – by kicking Dean Ambrose in the head so hard he saw stars and giving his team new life.

Hell, appropriately, broke loose when Bryan next summoned The Big Red Monster to the ring, but the numbers game won out yet again when Ambrose and Rollins dispatched Kane’s teammates, setting up the demon in red for a match-ending spear from Reigns.

Randy Orton def. Jack Swagger

Whether there really is a conspiracy against Jack Swagger remains to be seen, but the WWE Universe certainly did the “Real American” no favors by picking Randy Orton as his opponent in a WWE App Match on Raw. Riding the hometown momentum before the Missouri crowd, WWE’s Apex Predator made a meal of Swagger, overcoming an injury from the night before to unleash the RKO yet again.

The “Real American” found The Viper’s weakness instantly, targeting Orton’s compromised leg. But Swagger’s over-eagerness to redeem himself nearly cost him the match. Despite the “Real American’s” rally to snap in the Patriot Lock, Orton writhed his way free of the hold and let loose with the RKO to hand Swagger a narrow, yet emphatic, loss.

Curtis Axel def. Triple H

There are wins, and there are wins, and Curtis Axel certainly got the latter in his first contest under Paul Heyman’s wing, and against Triple H no less. Not only did the revamped Superstar put up a strong fight against the 13-time World Champion, he did so in such a manner that The King of Kings had to stop competing altogether in his first Raw match in almost 3 years.

Axel grinds out The Game

The young competitor got off to a rocky start against The Game, but Axel got his wheels rolling fast and ended up going tit-for-tat with The King of Kings, targeting The Game’s injured jaw (a lingering effect from Brock Lesnar’s sledgehammer strike the night before) and driving Triple H out of the ring. The King of Kings attempted to rally again, but couldn’t bring himself to re-enter the fray, taking a seat at ringside before keeling over altogether as medical staff swarmed around him, giving Axel the win as a result.

So, to recap: Curtis Axel hails from a wrestling lineage unlike almost any other, and he exploited an injury to leave Triple H physically unable to compete in a bout in his very first foray into the ring with the mad scientist at his side. That sounds about right for a Paul Heyman guy.

The post Complete WWE RAW Results Report for May 20, 2013 appeared first on Headline Planet.

Next season, it appears that at least “The X Factor” is going in a different direction.

FOX officially confirmed Kelly Rowland and Paulina Rubio as judges for season three of “The X Factor.”  Replacing the departing Britney Spears and Antonio “LA” Reid, they join returning judges Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato on the panel.

Far from unknown, neither is a major attraction by water cooler standards.  Both, however, have strong followings and resumes of success and could theoretically fit well in with the “X Factor” format.

“It’s taken more than a decade, but I’m delighted to finally be on a panel with three girls. Paulina and Kelly both have great taste and massive experience in the music industry and together with Demi, this is going to be a fun panel. It just feels like the time to do something different,” said Simon Cowell.

Former Destiny’s Child member Rowland, who judged on the UK version of “The X Factor,” added, ““I am very excited to be reuniting with Simon Cowell and THE X FACTOR family…It feels great to be able to take this journey here at home in the states!”

Rubio, meanwhile, noted, “I love THE X FACTOR! I can’t wait to find the next big music star here in America.  I’m so thrilled to be part of the show as a judge. Simon, be careful what you wish for, let’s see if you are ready to handle me, empieza la fiesta, amigo!”

In addition to judges Spears and Reid, “The X Factor” also said goodbye to host Khloe Kardashian in the off-season.  The show returns for season three this fall.

The post FOX Reveals Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio as New “X Factor” Judges appeared first on Headline Planet.

Presently WWE’s top talker, Paul Heyman is an immensely valuable asset for getting talent over, and WWE.com is teasing that another Superstar might soon reap the benefits.  No meaningful indication was given on who that third “Paul Heyman Guy” might be, but as long as WWE values Heyman’s presence on television, it has a vested interest in pairing the manager with rising or veteran superstars who need a boost.

With ‘client’ Brock Lesnar adhering to a part-time schedule, WWE has a clear opportunity to give Heyman a storyline with another performer even after CM Punk returns from hiatus.

Whether that is actually the plan — or if WWE.com is simply using the tease to get website hits — remains to be seen.

The post WWE Teases Plans to Reveal Another “Paul Heyman Guy” appeared first on Headline Planet.

During Sunday’s performance of hit single “Adorn,” Miguel attempted to jump from one stage platform to another, leapfrogging rows of audience members in the process. Unable to totally clear the jump, Miguel’s appeared to make contact with at least one–and maybe two–fans.

One’s upper body got caught under his leg, and she, in effect, took a “leg drop” (or, more specifically, Zack Ryder’s “Rough Ryder” finishing move) from Miguel onto the edge of the stage.

In a Tweet later that night, Miguel commented, “got caught up in the moment, thank goodness Khyati is okay.”  He and the victim were also shown laughing the incident off in a backstage clip posted Billboard.

On Monday, the R&B superstar added, “Rockandrollmademedoit.”  While such a comment is not inappropriate given the girl’s assured safety, the implicit notion that he did not thoroughly plan and practice the jump is curious.  Beyond the obvious safety concern for the audience, Miguel, himself, risked injury–if no one had broken his fall, his landing could have been very painful.

Insofar as the accidental leg drop resembled Zack Ryder’s “Rough Ryder” finisher, the WWE Superstar also weighed in on the situation.

He Tweeted, “Sick Rough Ryder by @MiguelUnlimited at the Billboard Music Awards” and also seemed to reference the Miguel incident (and his own absence from WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view) by Tweeting, “at least someone hit it tonight” to Ricardo Rodriguez.

The post Miguel, Zack Ryder Respond to Billboard Awards Leg Drop appeared first on Headline Planet.

Sunday’s broadcast bested last year’s 2.7 adults 18-49 rating with an impressive 3.6 adults 18-49, a demo number that gave ABC a clear nightly victory. The awards ceremony averaged 9.47 million viewers.

As is often par for the course with three-hour results shows, viewership peaked during the midddle, 9PM hour, with the first half of that hour drawing a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating. Taylor Swift, Kacey Musgraves and Justin Bieber performed, while Madonna accepted an award during that peak segment.

The 9:30-10PM portion drew a 3.7 rating, which was the night’s second-best mark. In addition to several awards, the segment featured performances from Christina Aguilera, Pitbull, Miguel and Ed Sheeran.

“Family Guy” delivered a 2.6 with 5.18 million viewers as the night’s number two program with young adults.

The post Billboard Awards Ratings Surge, Peak for Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift appeared first on Headline Planet.

Swift, who won Artist of the Year and several other trophies at Sunday’s Billboard MusicAwards, instead made waves with a faux look of disgust after Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber embraced backstage (GIF, courtesy Us Magazine, and video below).

Gomez and Swift had played the inseparable, BFF role at the event, but when they went backstage Sunday night, Bieber was waiting to greet his on-again, off-again girlfriend.  Thanks to a bystander, video footage of their awkward cheek-kiss and embrace was obscured, but Swift’s facial reaction was clear as day.

In a reaction that has already inspired GIFs (and will certainly inspire memes), Swift scrunches her face and sticks her tongue out to humorously signal nausea at the interaction.

Gossipers continue to wonder whether Gomez and Bieber are dating again; their awkward interaction at the Billboard Awards says no, but if they are, we at least know of one celebrity who is less than enamored.

The post Taylor Swift Fake Gags at Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez Backstage Embrace appeared first on Headline Planet.

But they also featured some moments of controversy.  In addition to a sexually-charged Nicki Minaj-Lil Wayne performance, the show also featured a dramatic moment when R&B standout Miguel accidentally “leg dropped” a fan in attendance.

During his performance of “Adorn,” Miguel attempted to hop from one stage platform to another (video below).  Unfortunately, his jump did not take into account the sea of people in between the two platforms, and he ended up connecting with what has been described as two people, with one’s upper body getting caught under his leg and effectively “leg dropped” (almost akin to WWE wrestler Zack Ryder’s “Rough Ryder” finishing move) onto the landing platform.

She rolled quickly rolled out of the way, while Miguel quickly embraced the other fan who was close to the action, keeping his performance going in the process.

The accident looked brutal, but both Billboard and Miguel confirmed after the show that the fan was okay.

*Earlier in the night, a conspicuously-indifferent Kid Rock made waves by calling out some of the performers on the show.  Prior to presenting, Rock asked the audience to “give it up for people lip-syncing onto (?) pre-recorded music.”

Rock was not the only one to downplay the importance of the event; while presenting, Miley Cyrus acknowledged that the “only reason” she was there was to announce the June release of her new single.

The post Billboard Fan Okay After Miguel’s Leg Drop, Kid Rock Rips Lip-Syncers appeared first on Headline Planet.