Illuminate

After a nearly three year absence, The Bachelorette returns to ABC in a two hour premier Monday, May 19th, immediately following the season finale of Dancing With The Stars. DeAnna Pappas is the object of the boys' affections on this fourth installment of The Bachelor's distaff spin-off. Fans will remember DeAnna from The Bachelor 11, when Brad Womack left the final rose on its silver platter and became the first Bachelor to pick bachelorhood, leaving DeAnna and Jenni Croft in the church knave if not at the actual altar. Several changes have been made to the format for edition 4.

The first-impression rose that is handed out at the cocktail party that introduces each season has been replaced by no less than 3 first-impression boutonnieres. The first boutonniere is presented immediately; possibly as early as the initial meeting when the suitor exits his limo and introduces himself. Jenni Croft, who is now engaged to the boyfriend she broke up with shortly before being selected to appear on The Bachelor, will assist DeAnna in determining who gets the second boutonniere. She will interview the 25 bachelors individually and report back to DeAnna, who will then offer a boutonniere to one of the men based on her conversation with her one-time rival.

According to various reports from those who saw the ABC press screening of episode 1, with only one first impression rose boutonniere still in play, things get weird. Reality TV World reports, "A Canadian sales manager reveals he's wearing a thong with Pappas' name on it; a Bostonian greets her in Greek; a professional snowboarder arrives in florescent sneakers and a flamboyant jacket; an oyster farmer presents her with a pearl necklace; a chef whips up a crab cocktail; and a martial arts master kicks a lemon off another suitor's head."

Hopefully DeAnna will have the good sense to include all of the above in the first elimination. Ten bachelors will be sent home by the end of the premier, sending 15 suitors to the bunkhouse. And yes, I did say "bunkhouse." Rather than staying at the luxurious hill-top mansion we have all come to think of as our when-I-win-Powerball home, the bachelors will live in what ABC-is calling, "an unspectacular bunkhouse" down the hill from the mansion Pappas gets to herself. Over the course of the season three different trios of suitors will get to share the mansion with her.

The Bachelorette 4 group-date excursions will include; Dodger Stadium (for a game, or just a tour?), a stock car track, a dude ranch and an appearance on Ellen. Later in the season there will be a group outing to Palm Springs with Pappas and one bachelor having some private time at the late Frank Sinatra's home. Sounds kind of creepy.

Finally, the age range of the bachelors is 15 years: Paul, a 23 year-old sales manager from, Alberta, Canada is the youngest, 38 year-old and Spero, an actor from Santa Monica, the oldest.

Lyle Burwell

President, VPTV, The Directory of Viewer Participation TeleVision

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