Got an SMS the other day from a Transiter who cried, “What am I going to do with my Wednesdays and Thursdays now that American Idol is over?”

Well, let’s think. There’s “On The Lot”, a new reality show to seek out the best directors. There’s also “So You Think You Can Dance”. Television, it seems, has become full of competitions for everything. In Singapore, there’s even The Internship Challenge where students compete for a, yes, internship.

And now there’s the Hillary Clinton competition on YouTube to choose a theme song for her presidential campaign.

As of June 5, the contest is down to its final round and the round one winners are “Suddenly I See”, “Rock This Country”, “Beautiful Day”, “Get Ready” and “I’m a Believer”. Click here for full list of songs.

She’s also received suggestions like “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off” and “Cold As Ice”.

Apparently the video Hillary’s done to promote the contest has been viewed more than 900,000 times, and more than 100,000 votes were cast in the first round.

The winning song is expected to be announced this week.

WE SAY: The Transit Café choice for her song is “You Can Go Your Own Way”.

A fit of Olympic proportions

So what a kerfuffle the 2012 Olympics logo has caused – thanks to bloggers, the outcry has now reached international proportions.

The logo, designed by Wolff Olins at a cost of US$800,000 and which reportedly induced epileptic fits in London the night it was screened on television, has stirred up so much vitriol that the day after it was unveiled, more than 45,000 signatures had been added to an online petition calling for the logo to be changed.

The creator of the petition, Jonathan Ellis, said that the new logo was "ridiculous" and should be ditched as quickly as possible. "I feel it is an embarrassment and portrays our country in the worst possible way," he wrote.

Here are some comments being made on the blogosphere.

Cier Vianney, from Bayonne, in France: "This logo is one of the worst I have ever seen: and that's a point of view of a typographer."

Jonathan Bradshaw, from Toronto, said the logo reminded him of "some sort of rejected logo of an early Nineties children's programme".

Zoltan Banffy, from Budapest, said it was "very painful to look at".
Amy Murphy, from Miami, called it "pathetic" and David Barnett in Dubai said it looked "like a failed soft-drinks label".

Ryan Torres, from Massachusetts, called it "illegible, inelegant, and communicating absolutely none of the spirit, nobility, athleticism or beauty of the Olympics".

Poor Lord Sebastian Coe. Apparently, the first thing he said when he was shown the logo was “Wow”.

Now he’s probably saying, Whoops.

Paris Hilton rocks more than Yunnan quake

On Monday night, we also got a text from a friend in Hong Kong alerting us to the earthquake in Yunnan, given that one of our fellow Transiters had just been to the Chinese province.

We scanned the media to find out more about the quake but found more news about Paris Hilton going to jail. What’s with the media obsession with this poor little rich girl?

Weather Channel’s time has come

Talk about being in the right show at the right time? For 25 years, The Weather Channel has been talking, well, about the weather.

And now suddenly it’s found itself in the hot spot, the thick of the action, as it were.

With global warming the topic on everyone’s lips, the channel’s time has come. Says Kaye Zusmann, the vice president for programme strategy and development, “If the Weather Channel isn’t talking about climate change and global warming, who is?”