A Shot at Love... and Insanity

Once I wrongly accused it of being a guilty pleasure. Now, I prefer the term "justified obsession" to describe my fascination with MTV's "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila."

Apparently millions of viewers agree with me because "A Shot at Love" is one of the network's breakout hits this season and has the second-highest rating after "The Hills." Pitting 16 guys and 16 girls against each other, this dating show followed model, aspiring singer and Myspace queen Tila Tequila - whose real name is Tila Nguyen - in her quest to find... well, let's just call it a potentially lasting relationship.

In tonight's finale (airing at 9 p.m. Central Time), Tila will choose between Dani Campbell, a 29-year-old female firefighter and Bobby Banhart, a 25-year-old male film student. Predictably the bisexual Internet star whittled her choices down to one guy and one girl, but the unpredictability of knowing which person - and ultimately which gender she'll pick - is probably one of the reasons people kept watching. Well, and let's call it like it is, Tila is just plain nuts - in a recent episode, she gave Dani's grandmother a lapdance. (Granny deserves points for being totally unfazed and supportive).

Gone are the days of "Guy picks girl. Girl accepts. They do an interview with People magazine in which they proclaim their everlasting love, then end things two months later." As pointed out here by an Associated Press entertainment writer, more people are tuning into shows like "A Shot at Love" and, sadly, "I Love New York 2" that redefine the traditional format of a dating reality show. I guess after a while the whole "who's going to get the rose" schtick gets old, so bring on the chocolate-syrup wrestling and animal testicles!

In a recent interview with TV Guide, Tila admitted she had "definitely found love" and that she's still with the person she picked. I'm crossing my fingers that's it's with Dani.

-- Malavika Jagannathan, mjaganna@greenbaypressgazette.com