Smurftastic's Eurotrip... Made it to Ireland and some social commentary

What up all!

Sorry its been so long since my last update. Nothing super exciting and/or hilarious has really happened since I've gotten to Galway. So I have dubbed this entry my "snobby American bitchy entry." I hate when people on vacation bitch about how things aren't like at home. No shit, you're on vacation. WTF did you expect? Anyway, there is a lot of bitch worthy things here, so I'm allowing myself to embrace them.

1) The place we are staying is pretty terrible. What was promised as free internet access is in fact 10 Euro a week. And crappy internet access at that. Similarly, the rooms are super moldy like 40 year old dorm rooms, and people (yours truly) are starting to get sick. For almost 50 Euro a night... clean the ventilation. In addition... Galway currently is under a boil water requirement for some bacteria or something, so I'm paying extra bank for bottled water and boiling like its my job. Whatevs... not a huge deal, cept we can't make ice in the apt or do dishes w/ out boiling first... BOO erns. Probably more bitching about this place could happen, but I ended up w/ a giant room, so whatever.

2) I hate the exchange rate. In Leuven, it was bad, but we were paying like 1 Euro 80 cents for a beer... fine. Here, we pay around 4 Euro. That shit is pricey!!!! Plus food costs a ton... so I have to cook for myself... BOO.

3) Galway bars close early except on Friday or Saturday. That's actually probably a good idea, so I shouldn't bitch about that.

4) The weather is terrible. Today was the first day in a week and a half it didn't rain. The high was a very warm 52 Fahrenheit. Get excited. I've had to buy even more random Ireland clothes than I intended just to keep warm.

5) Air Lingus sucks ass. I don't even want to go into the horrors of our 6 am Brussels airport experience. Just steer clear.

6) You can't call them Irish Carbombs. I generally frown on being socially appropriate, and don't know the other name for them, so this is an issue.

7) I have outside of class homework here. Although yesterday, my professor actually talked for a few minutes on the economics of the "bling market"...

*) In order to move on from my bitchy Americanness... here is what is awesome about here...
accents, Guinness, cute boys, beautiful views, the fact that it is not America, the fact that its not hot as balls, Fish and Chips, the fact that there is a show called "Badly Dubbed Porn", and its exactly what you think it would be and its amazingly hilarious, etc....

I am actually having a great time, and behaving myself WAY more than I would have expected... I think it's cause I'm with some great people who I can have fun with sober or not. However, being the only single chick in a city w/ really hot guys is awkward for three reasons... First, some people want to live vicariously through you, Second, lack of real wingmen, and Third, people watch you like a hawk at all times. Boo.

Anyway, that was boring... here are some of my thoughts on pop culture events of the past week or so.

1) Paris is out of jail. What the fuck ever.

2) Tank Johnson got dropped from the Bears for being an embarrassment. I see the rationale behind this, however I don't want him to bust a cap in Urlacher or Sexy Rexy's ass. We should be trying to be friends w/ the guy w/ all the weapons, not firing him. Also, I need a new thug to mock this football season. COME ON CHICAGO!

3) Theirry Henry has been transferred from Arsenal to Barcelona. Not that I blame him, but there are two reasons I am sad. First, I love Arsenal, they are the shit, and won't be as good w/out him. Second, I was just in Barcelona, and may have purchased some sort of Barca memorabilia if I had known that one of my favorite players was headed there. I don't know how I'll be able to watch Arsenal w/out Henry. It'll be like watching Man U without Beckham for the first time, except Arsenal is not one of the two anti-Christs of British soccer and I actually watch them and care about how they do.

4) Rumors (and pretty substantial ones) are saying that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip is officially cancelled, and the last episode will air this Thursday. This is garbage. I hardly ever let myself watch new TV shows, and I absolutely fell in love with this one. To the point where when I'm abroad I bought the last 4 episodes on ITunes just to be able to see them. I hate the ratings and how stupid America is when a show is too smart to make it on the air. GOD FORBID. Anyway, ya'll should check out the DVDs of it when they inevitably come out, and/or reruns... I like that show for the same reasons poly sci majors hearted the West Wing... entertainment, smart, funny... It will be sorely missed.

5) Movies I cannot wait to see - LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD... we are probably going to go on the 4th of July in Ireland, whilst wearing shirts and singing "America, Fuck Yeah!"... Also... Harry Potter mania is setting in, but I'm trying to resist till I get home... GOOD LUCK.

More updates later, hopefully with some funny stories.... LATAZ.

Smurftastic's EuroTrip... Final thoughts on Belgium

Leuven, Belgium 4:36 pm

OK... sorry I haven't been updating as much as you people have been requesting, but I'm making a solid effort at enjoying this country, and not just blogging about it (although I heart blogging too). First things first, get some business done. For those of you who don't know... I live in a little town called Springfield, IL. And the Simpson's movie comes out at the end of July. Apparently they are doing some competition among the different Springfields in the US, and the winner gets to host the premiere of the movie. Good times. Anyone who cares... or wants to hear me brag for a while, check out http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/simpsons-contest.htm, and you can support the IL at http://www.springfield.il.us/... GO SPRINGFIELD (wow... for a town I really don't like that much... its quite a lot for me to say that). Another movie review - the study abroad kids and I went to see Oceans 13 one night this week. THUMBS UP... I would highly recommend it. Not as good as the first one (of course), but infinitely better than Oceans 12... god that movie sucked. Also, I love George Clooney. Laying it out there. He's a silver fox.

OK... Belgium... Here are some important things I learned while staying in Leuven.

1.) The alcohol content of beer actually makes a difference. Never thought I'd get a buzz from 2 beers... but it is possible. Also, I had a beer last night that is over 10% alcohol by volume. Holy crap. After a while it started to feel like I was just sippin' on some hard liquor. Good though. Only had one, or I would not be able to type right now.
2.) Ice Cream is fabulous - The ice cream in this country is like 200 times better than any in the states. I think it has something to do w/ the fact that they don't stuff their cows full of chemicals. Just try it, its amazing
3.) Coke Light is not as good as Diet Coke - sorry, Europe, you don't lose much, but you lose this one.
4.) European coffee will knock you on your ass - that shit is STRONG... drinking it to make up for the less caffeine in Coke Light is bad idea jeans
5.) The American system of tipping is a good idea. I enjoy that I don't have to tip people, but I don't enjoy waiting for 20 minutes for the guy to walk by so I can get my check.
6.) European men like to creepily stare at American girls when we dance. Last night after girls night festivities when we met up with the boys on the trip, we went to a dancey type bar. Not even slick about the staring. Like if you're going to watch us... at least look away when we glance at you... its just common courtesy I think.
7.) Seton Hall is better than LeHigh - so.... last entry you all heard about the sluttily dressed LeHigh girls and how I out beer bonged them. 2 days after that, this lady in our group complained to their chaperone about how she always gets woken up when they come home drunk from the bars at 3am... valid point I'd say, but whatever quit bitching. Now the LeHigh kids hate us... and aren't any more quiet. They pretty much like scream about loud we are instead. It's fun. But we befriended some of the Irish students who work here, and they say that the LeHigh kids pee everywhere. In their beds, in the courtyard, in the hallway, on the walls. Classy. They also have lost so many keys in their drunkeness that they must leave shoes in their door to keep them open (big ups to roomie Laura who came in one night and just kicked the shoe out of the way... LeHigh sucks) -and when we left our keys in the room, there were NO extra keys left. I bet their parents are really proud.
8.) People take their dogs everywhere - in the bars, in stores... whatever. It's pretty awesome. I wish I lived here
9.) Americans are stupid - nothing makes you feel more terrible than when you are in a foreign country with 3 official languages (which probably most of them speak at least 2 of)... and everyone is also fluent in English. WTF. American kids should be taught another language from like birth.
10.) The EU may or may not be pointless - sure I like the Euro and the free market and all that crap, but seriously, we have spent almost 2 weeks learning about their governing process. They have this commission that makes all the rules and hands them to the member states, not elected, but whatever. Then they have the European Council, which is the ministers of each country... fine there too. Then they have this Parliament thing. This is what I don't get. Like 750 elected representatives. They have no power... NONE. I wanted to ask the representative we met "What is the point?" She's like, the commission comes to us for opinions, but they don't have to follow them. We can bring up amendments, but they'll tell us which ones they won't pass, so we don't even bother. Great. Glad to hear it. And there's a problem passing a European constitution???? You don't say!

Otherwise, Belgium is pretty much the shit and a half. We went out for a girls night dinner and a few drinks before meeting up with the boys... Turned into a pretty fantastic time. Flying out to Ireland tomorrow... getting pretty excited. Cept instead of leaving at 3 which was the plan, because of the Belgian obsession with striking, we have to go to a different airport and leave at 6... plus only fly into Dublin and have a 4 hour bus ride. I need to do homework, though, so no big deal.

Speaking of homework... BOOO seton hall law bookstore. I ordered a textbook 8 days ago, and requested express shipping. Didn't come, so I called the bookstore to see when it was shipping... the chick is like "Oh I don't even have it packed!" Thanks assface. Now I have to borrow someones book for the first few days and get it sent to Ireland. Whatever.

Ok, this entry pretty much sucked... my bad. Lots of fun stories from Ireland I'm sure. We're planning a 4th of July party, so we can be the sexy annoying Americans at the pubs. They'll LOVE us I bet!

Smurftastic's EuroTrip ... Part Deux

1:29 AM. Leuven, Belgium

First of all, blog readers…. This town… is AMAZING. I thought it was going to be a small, quiet town, but it is like the Champaign-Urbana of Europe. They have 30,000 students, and that doesn’t count all the foreign universities here, and the town has only 120,000, including the students… If they had a Memorial Stadium, I would freak out. They have a sports complex w/in 3 blocks, which I plan on visiting, though, and I’ll keep you posted. So, in short, visit Leuven, Belgium if you ever have the chance. It’s FANTASTIC. And I’ve only been here for a day.

They have what they call “The largest bar in Belgium/Europe”… which is basically the town square and a giant beer garden. And if you know me, you know my beer garden obsession. We went for a few drinks tonight, and I didn’t get out of control or anything, but I had a fantastic time. There are LeHigh undergrads staying in the same complex as we are, and the girls seem pretty OOC (out of control). We saw them leaving at like 7:30 in like slutty cocktail dresses and heels. PS – This is a beer garden place, not a club place! Oh well, to each her own. While we were all waiting to meet up to go out, the girls still getting ready were making fun of the law students cause they thought we were staring at them. Perhaps they should stop ghetto blasting Fergie. Just a thought.

Anyway, we ended up inside at bar #2 of the evening cause it was cold, and slutty LeHigh girls coming in and out. Then….. some of my girls on the trip (who are FANTASTIC, btw), come in from outside to tell me that a LeHigh girl was doing a beer bong. Far be it for me to pass up a perceived challenge, so I tell the bartender to pour one for me (FYI, beer in Belgium is pretty cheap/reasonable). So he pours a beer bong… and I DOMINATE. Like dominate the girl outside, according to my friends who saw her do it. Then her friend comes in to try and do one… and she sucks. I also dominated her. But then cut myself off cause I have to learn tomorrow. Moral of the story… The University of Illinois is better than LeHigh, and Seton Hall Law students are both smarter and more responsible than LeHigh students.

Then I decided that since they were double beer bong kids I should at least say hi. Cause I don’t want to be a bitch. For 20 year olds, they are pretty nice. They invited us to predrink in their room for the next 10 days. You KNOW we will take advantage. I have to say, that I’m pretty proud of none of the law schoolers getting wasted or blacked out on the first day, I think it shows maturity. It will happen, cause the LeHigh girls were bragging about how they dance on the bar all the time. Just so everyone knows, my roommate is like an official trained dancer, so… we will end LIVES. Whatever. The main message to take away from this blog entry is that Belgium, particularly Leuven, is both beautiful and awesome. Please try to stop there at some point in your life.

NEW OUTKAST !!!!!

DJ Victorious has a soft spot in her heart for hip-hop songs about marriage (See Jermaine Dupri's classic "Let's Get Married", the Run DMC Remix). Outkast takes it to a whole new level with a bevy of guest spots and cameos. And while Andre 3000 is arguably the more "celebrity" of the duo, this song only reinforces that Big Boi is the superior MC - his flow is SICK!

Amusing pictures from the first day/night in Barcelona

So first of all... Maegan is awesome, cause she kept yelling at me to keep my purse closer to me, cause they'll swipe it. And then... at the second bar we were at in Barcelona, some dude came in, told us and the guys we were talking with to go speak to the bartender, while his friend swiped my purse right from next to me. Maegan recognized it was gone, went out to the street, chased the guy down, and punched him in the back, and he gave my purse back. She's amazing.

Also, we wandered Barcelona and took a boat tour and went to the top of the Columbus memorial. Beautiful. Eventually, pics will all be posted on my webshots site (http://community.webshots.com/user/blnd44illini)

However, here are two very important pictures that I took. First, of a random guy walking behind us in the old town. You may want to zoom in to look at his tattoos. That is NOT a speedo... and it IS a face w/ a large nose, if you know what I mean. CLASSY. At least when we spotted him, we understood why people kept running by us with cameras pointed the other way.

And then, a little girl on our boat tour who looked JUST LIKE Jonathan Lipnicki (the kid from Jerry Maguire.)

We named her Johanna Lipnicki.

Smurftastic's EuroTrip ... In Transit

6:51 am. Lisbon Airport.

I’m in Europe officially now for the next month, and I’ll try to rock some blog updates, although once I actually start having to learn things, it will be less often/exciting.

Just got off a relatively uneventful flight from Newark. Guy next to me was rather fat and hairy and kept hitting my hand off of the handrest, but whatever. One day when I’m rich, I’ll fly business class. A little angry at the movie choices. Wanted to watch Music and Lyrics to satisfy my inappropriate Hugh Grant obsession, but the sound wasn’t working for the first 10 minutes, so I ended up watching Catch and Release with Jennifer Garner, hoping that on the next go around, the other semi crappy romantic comedy would work. They only ran the movies you could choose once. Damn you Air Portugal. My only choice at that point was watching the Astronaut Farmer. No thanks… Billy Bob Thornton pre-dawn just seemed like a sub-par idea. But Catch and Release was less shitty than I thought it would be, considering Jennifer Garner usually bugs the crap out of me. If you like chick flicks, check it out. Otherwise, the funny Kevin Smith moments are too few and far between.

Also, when you fly from the US, it is rather unexpected that flight attendants will look at you like you’re stupid when you speak English. Luckily, I speak Portugese. Well, 2 words. “Fart” and “Gesundheit”. Thank YOU Renata, my foreign exchange student when I was 10.

Otherwise, my first official visit to Portugal has gone well. And for you people who think it doesn’t count cause I’m just in the airport, SUCK IT. I had to take a bus from the plane to the terminal. That counts. AND they stamped my passport. Special thanks to the person in the customs line who kept letting out some rank farts, and to the small children and family behind me who didn’t understand what respecting personal space was.

Already being exposed to the excessive smoking in Europe… the smoking section of the airport in Portugal is just a stand in the middle of a main walkway with ashtrays in it. I’m pretty sure I’m going to smell like a night out at the bars in Champaign for the majority of this trip, and I’m ok with that.

AND I have officially indulged in one of my favorite European treats. Fanta. Yes, orange Fanta. And before you tell me, I am fully aware that they have it in the states, but it is made differently in Europe, and much more delicious. I think it might have real juice in it or something. Or else just pure joy. I think I like it as much as DJ Victorious likes Shamrock Shakes. Man it’s delish. I may need to buy another before I get on the plane. Cept it cost 2.50 Euro. Stupid exchange rate. Anyway, Fanta is Fantabulous. I had a friend in high school who once ordered a case from Europe off the internet. It’s that good. If you ever get the chance, you MUST try some European Fanta. I may like it almost as much as Diet Coke (and for anyone who ever met me, that is a big deal). God, if it had caffeine in it, I could venture to say that I like it more than beer. Tough call. If it had alcohol AND caffeine, it would be a more delicious version of Sparxx. I should really work for Coca-Cola and tell them my excellent new drink ideas. The liquor-caffeine version of European Fanta will be called Fantabulous. Can you tell I’ve been on a plane for 6 hours with only 45 mins of sleep?

ANNNND I’m officially already pleased with my decision to bring my computer to Europe. Tetris and ITunes in an airport??? DONE and DONE.

Oh, one more random movie review: DJ Victorious and I went to see Knocked Up… Highly recommend. For guys, I’d call it a rental… but definitely worth a watch nonetheless. Ok, seriously, I’m playing Tetris now, cause the free internet doesn’t want to work with me. Peace out.

BBCS FINAL RANKINGS!

Ok... That took WAYYYYYYY longer than I thought it would or was necessary. Whatever. Here are the final rankings and scores. Ties will be broken purely by Smurftastic's preference. So, without further ado... the final rankings of the boy band championship series... comments or complaints are welcome... ENJOY!

all 4 one - 8
Moffats - 10
SoulDecision - 12 (soul decision beats Youngstown)
Youngstown - 12
Take That - 13
B2K - 13.5
Dreamstreet - 14
Wham! - 16.5
Boyzone - 17
Color Me Badd -17 (tie rankings - Color Me Badd over Next, who beat out Boyzone)
Next - 17
5ive - 20
Menudo - 21
BBMak - 22
Hanson - 22 (Hanson knocks out BBMak, who beat the Vilalge People)
Village People - 22
98 Degrees - 23
New Edition - 23
o-town - 23 (New Edition beat out 98 Degrees, who DOMINATE O-town)
LFO - 24
2gether - 26
Osmonds - 27
Temptations - 27
Monkees - 28
Boyz II Men - 30
BSB - 34
NKOTB - 35
Jackson 5 - 38
Beatles - 39

AND YOUR CHAMPIONS.......
NSYNC - 43 points out of 45...

Anyway, that's the end of the BBCS. THANK GOD. I'm leaving for Europe in less than 24 hours. Get excited. I'll try to do some blog updates... judging from around the globe! Get excited!

R. Kelly Shrine

Most of you already know of DJ Victorious's eternal love for the musical genius that is R. Kelly. "R" has a new album out and has launched yet another pop cultural phenomenon (for those of you who have never seen the "Trapped in the Closet" videos, I highly recommend YouTube-ing that shit). His new venture is an ongoing web-TV show.

For those of you willing to set aside your disgust for men who pee on prepubescent girls, consider paying your respects to the R. Kelly shrine - the shrine will be available at the bottom of the webpage until I can't respect myself anymore for having it there.

The BBCS Final Analysis!!!!

Alright. This is it. The FINAL BBCS rankings. All the bands left, letters N-Z. Get excited.

New Edition

• Strength of Schedule 2 - pretty much only in competition with NKOTB in their early years
• Overcoming adversity 3 - Bobby Brown, but at least he left in 86
• Album Sales 2- only #1 album in the US was their 1996 album. Honestly, who bought a New Edition album in 96?????, but had other successful albums
• Tour/Merchandise 1 - not much wikipedia info on tours... apparently had Bobby Brown as an opening act on a 1987-88 tour
• Artistic Performance 3 - extra points for awesome choreography and ridiculously high pitched voices
• Alumni Success 3 - Bobby Brown had a relatively successful album, married Whitney Houston, and got super cracked out. And DON'T FORGET about 3 members forming Bel Biv DeVoe. (ABC, BBD, The East Coast Family...)
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 5 - DJVictorious once told me she is a huge fan. Smurftastic thinks Candy Girl is a great song
• Miscellaneous 3 - Madonna was one of their opening acts, but they had a song called "Popcorn Love"
• Post-success nostalgia 1 - eh.... a bit... but they are in the studio now working on their eighth album... EW

Total Score: 23

Next

• Strength of Schedule 5 - around beginning in 97 - same time as NSYNC, BSB and others
• Overcoming Adversity 2 were managed by a member of a group called Sounds of Blackness, lots of horrible naming involved... for example their second album was called Welcome II Nextasy... eew...
• Album Sales 3 - "Too Close" went to number one... won a bunch of Billboard awards
• Tour/Merchandise 1 - no info on tours... probably
• Artistic Performance 1 - points for the fact that their name (Next) stands for Noone Ever Expected This. CLASSY
• Alumni Success 1 - still together. Maybe Tweety is doing some big things... who knows
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 2- hates herself for it... but Smurftastic likes "Too Close"... not enough to buy an album... but it's catchy
• Miscellaneous 1 Their original name was Straight4ward - could have been included in the numbers group, group member nicknames include "R.L.", "T-Low" and Deponce (that is listed as his actual name. You are both cool and probably a future guest on Maury. Former member nicknamed Tweety
• Post-success nostalgia 1 - not really... although who isn't nostalgic about singing a song where a girl feels a guy's boner while they're dancing. HOT

Total Score 17

The Osmonds

• Strength of Schedule 3 - most successful in the 70s... not a ton of boybands to deal with, but bubblegum pop and otherwise awesome music was EVERYWHERE
• Overcoming Adversity 3 - Mormons... so probably didn't take FULL advantage of the groupie ass. Plus had both big teeth and big hair
• Album Sales 2 - had a #1 single... but didn't particularly blow up the album charts
• Tour/Merchandise 2 - not a huge touring act... but had the usual 70s lunchboxes and other such merchandise
• Artistic Performance 3 - on one of their later albums, actually wrote all their own songs and played their own instruments. Bonus points for the glittery bell bottoms. Those were HOT
• Alumni Success 4 - The 4 other Osmond bros still perform together in Branson. Donny kicked ass in both Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Chicago AND Mulan (Somehow he'll... make a MAN... out of YOUUUUUUU). Donny and sister Marie had a talk show in the 90s that Smurftastic FULLY enjoyed
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 4 - Smurftastic fully enjoys the Osmonds.. and yes, once went to a Donny Osmond concert with her Mom in Springfield. She knows you are jealous
• Miscellaneous 2 apparently crazy Osmond fans were called "Osmania"... original guys; Alan's 8 kids formed "The Osmonds Second generation" or 2ndG...
• Post-success nostalgia 4 - oh the nostalgia is still there. Smurftastic witness baby boomer women FLIPPING OUT and rushing the stage at Donny's concert... a sad glimpse into her future she thinks

Total Score 27

SoulDecision

• Strength of Schedule 5 - came out in 99
• Overcoming Adversity 0 - no info about it... whatever
• Album Sales 1 - had like 2 hit singles and their first album went platinum once... that's about it
• Tour/Merchandise 1 - only one small tour
• Artistic Performance 1 - one of the boy band pioneers of featuring a rap verse.
• Alumni Success 0 - one guy left in 04 to pursue a solo career... still waiting expectantly for it to come out...
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 1 - faded is a pretty sweet song, not gonna lie
• Miscellaneous 2 - Were Canadian!!!!! YESSSSSSSSS
• Post-success nostalgia 1 - enjoyed that it was featured on the ultimate boy band throwback album... "Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 4"

Total Score 12

Take That

• Strength of Schedule 1 - big era was 1990-96... nothing huge boy band wise... the end of NKOTB and Boyz II Men... but these guys were off in England
• Overcoming Adversity 2 - Robbie Williams didn't like his clean cut image, so started to party with Oasis... God Oasis is AWESOME...
• Album Sales 3 - some of the biggest selling albums in the UK in the 90s belonged to Take That - also according to Wikipedia, "Take That are one of only seven acts in the history of the British Singles Chart whose tally of number ones is in double figures."
• Tour/Merchandise 2 no real info here - except went on a 2006 Ultimate Tour when they reunited
• Artistic Performance 1 - no idea, but Smurftastic has a HUGE weakness for British accents... good for them
• Alumni Success 2 - Robbie Williams did pretty well on the overplayed department ("Millenium" anyone?), the other guys had some low key solo careers or acting gigs... reunited and are now recording an album
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 1 - the accents are good, but Smurftastic can't recall any of their songs. She thinks when they were big she was probably in her "I hate pop music" phase. That was a sad phase
• Miscellaneous 1 got their name from a quote by Madonna. Are they trying to tell us something?
• Post-success nostalgia 0 - sorry... none really.

Total Score 13

The Temptations

• Strength of Schedule 3 - higher score here because they are still around, and have been since the 1960s... solid effort, guys
• Overcoming Adversity 3 - couldn't have been easy being an all black group in the 60s. Also from Detroit. That's a tough town, man
• Album Sales 4 - 22 million sold by 1982... that's pretty impressive
• Tour/Merchandise 3 tons of tours when they were big, now splinter groups and reunion tours are still makin' the rounds
• Artistic Performance 3 - matching suits and choreography. Mamma likey
• Alumni Success 3 a spinoff of the group is still around. NICE
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 2 - that shit is catchy... don't deny it
• Miscellaneous 3 - according to Wikipedia, "In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked The Temptations #67 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time."; Duran Duran also covered one of their songs
• Post-success nostalgia 3 - there's something not trustworthy about people who don't at least tap their toes to the Temptations.

Total Score 27

Village People

• Strength of Schedule 2 around from the 70s to today... nice job guys
• Overcoming Adversity 2 - gay icons. And actual real gay icons... not closeted like most of the rest of the boy bands
• Album Sales 5 - 85 million albums sold. Wow. Are there really 85 million Karaoke machines and wedding DJ's out there? Oh and don't forget cruise ships
• Tour/Merchandise 2 - even opened for Los Lonely Boys in 2004. NICE
• Artistic Performance 3 - just look at the costumes.
• Alumni Success 1 - still around, but with newer band members
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 1 - its annoying, but Smurftastic is a wanna be cruise director, and can't resist any type of choreography
• Miscellaneous 1 - tried to become New Wave artists in the 80s, and released an album called sex over the phone
• Post-success nostalgia 5 - COME ON... its the YMCA. Favorite of cruise directors everywhere

Total Score - 22

Wham!

• Strength of Schedule 2 - 1981-1986... whatever
• Overcoming Adversity 2 - their name was Wham!... and look at their hair. that is adversity if I've ever seen it
• Album Sales 2 - 3 number one US singles, and pretty big in the UK
• Tour/Merchandise 2 - did a couple of arena tours... nothing ginormous
• Artistic Performance 1 - quite a bit of snapping fingers and bopping back and forth... plus those choose life shirts were pretty hot
• Alumni Success 2.5 - George Michael did big(ish) things and got arrested a few times... plus came out of the closet. HUGE surprise
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 2 - Smurftastic LOVES "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" because its so ridiculous... but that's about it
• Miscellaneous 1 - What the hell is Andrew Ridgeley doing now?
• Post-success nostalgia 2 - pretty much symbols of the 80s

Total Score 16.5

Youngstown

• Strength of Schedule 5 - 1998 - NSYNC and BSB time
• Overcoming Adversity 1 - named after a city in Ohio. Seems kind of ridiculous to me
• Album Sales 1 - pretty much big on the soundtrack circuit - they were the band with the Inspector Gadget song... also on Princess Diaries
• Tour/Merchandise 1 - did a Disney in concert special (at the same time Smurftastic was in Disneyworld... she didn't go... but thought about it)
• Artistic Performance 1 - wore Gadget trenchcoats in the video. I wonder if they had Go Go Gadget Gadgets in there. That would have been AWESOME
• Alumni Success 1 - 2 of the 3 members are now doing a duet album, the other is living out of the spotlight
• USA Today/Coaches Poll 1 - Smurftastic is embarrassed to admit, but she thinks that the Inspector Gadget song is catchy
• Miscellaneous 1 - also appeared on the Pokemon soundtrack... Pokemon is HORRIBLE... I judge them
• Post-success nostalgia 0 - ummmm I may be the only person who has ever actually heard of them. Whatever

Total Score - 12