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We’ll Be the Judge of That! – Grease: You’re the One that I Want!, February 18by David Bloomberg -- 02/19/2007
View Printable version of this article As we narrow the field of Dannys and Sandys, we also added a new twist for this week’s episode: Duets. Not only do each of the singers have to sound good, but they have to sound good together and play well with another. Who did well? Who fell apart completely? The on-site judges had their say, now it’s time for ours! Juliana, Jason, Kathleen, Kevin Sing-Off: “Those Magic Changes” David: Juliana did pretty well, which only served to emphasize how not well Jason did in picking up the song immediately after her. He was… squeaky. Kathleen did pretty well, like Juliana – it would be tough to pick between the women based solely on this performance, and I’m glad I didn’t have to make that call. Kevin, however, made it pretty easy to choose to keep him and boot Jason. I completely agree with what Juliana said about what went wrong – that she didn’t get to show her fun side. In fact, I said as much last week. 
Chad and Allie, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” David: Chad showed good depth to his voice in this performance. Allie was in pretty good voice as well. Most importantly, they interacted very well with each other and Allie actually looked comfortable on stage (something she didn’t last week). I don’t quite think Allie deserved the praise she had heaped on her by the judges, though. Bruce: Chad showed a lot of energy and dripped with the extras that the stage demands – little flares with his jacket, smoldering looks at his singing partner and so forth. His vocals were nice and strong and he can really belt his harmonies. 8 Allie on the other hand seemed just a bit off in her harmonies once the blocking made her start moving around on the stage. I never forgot that it was a “performance” and never had a reason to feel a tug to believe her in the role. Her onstage chemistry seemed forced and she just didn’t quite do it for me. 7 Austin and Laura, “I Don’t Know Much” David: Austin showed once again why he tends to stand out in this competition. He knows how to work the stage and sing to his duet partner while also singing to the audience. He did an awesome job. Oh, Laura was there too? I guess she did okay, but she was overshadowed – though it may help her in the votes. Bruce: Wow. Austin had almost perfect pitch throughout the song! In addition, he never once forgot where his partner was. He looked for her frequently – even when she was behind him. It’s a small thing but, as David just mentioned, it made it seem as if he was actually singing to her instead of performing for an audience. He all but lit the place up with his energy. 9 Laura played well off Austin and she played well to the house. The very last moment of the song, where she closed her eyes and leaned into Austin, evoked both innocence and comfort, as well as showing us just how secure she felt in the arms of “Danny.” 9 Max and Ashley, “It Takes Two” David: Max was at a significant disadvantage coming right after Austin – his voice was not in full bloom this week. Ashley’s vocals made her sound even more Sandy-like than usual – which is obviously a good thing. They interacted well, but it just wasn’t as good as Austin and Laura. Bruce: I don’t know what the on-site judges were seeing here, but I found Max to be pitchy and felt he was forcing his performance. He seemed actively uncomfortable and there was absolutely no sense of fun about him. They should have hung a sign at the front of the stage that said, “Man at Work.” 6 However, it was fun just watching Ashley’s eyes dance as she performed. In fact, her eyes danced quite a bit better than she did. She didn’t really seem to connect with her partner, but in fairness Max didn’t give her anything to connect with. 6 Derek and Kate, “From This Moment On” David: Ouch. What happened to Derek’s voice? He began the song with notes that should not be uttered. Kate sounded okay, but I think she may lose votes due to being lumped in here. I have to agree with David Ian, who said he was a little bored. Yawn. Bruce: There’s no way around this. Derek simply sucked. He was off key and his struggles to find the proper notes ultimately dismantled Kate’s performance as well. As I write this, the show has just ended and the only thing I remember about his performance without my notebook is the stench it left behind. 3 From Kate’s performance, there is no way to tell how solid her skills are. Her partner’s pitchiness derailed her sufficiently that she never caught her stride. Having said this, I also have to say that in theater literally everyone has a bad night or a nightmare moment of forgotten lines. Part of being part of an ensemble is in displaying the capacity to cover for a flagging performer and elevate ones own performance to negate the mistakes. She failed utterly on that level. 7 
Kevin and Kathleen, “Something to Talk About” David: If Kevin wanted to prove he should stick around, this performance was not the way to do it. He sounded terrible. Like high-school-talent-show-terrible. And it was only highlighted more because Kathleen did a good job – both in singing and acting out the song. But Kevin’s voice really ruined all the times when they were singing together. Ugh. Bad Kevin. Bruce: When performing onstage, finishing is critical. I don’t mean you have to conclude a scene with a powerful finish, I mean that when you sing, you have to stay with each couplet until the final word. Kevin’s voice kept trailing off at the end of his lines as if he was already reminding himself where he needed to move next and what his next line was going to be. He was also all over the map with his pitch and managed to get several winces out of both myself and those watching with me. 5 As for Kathleen, one of the tricky things about singing duets is gauging the volume of your partner’s voice. The two singers should blend and dovetail in and out of each other’s vocals. This is one of the things that is worked out very carefully during rehearsals. Either Kathleen was under-rehearsed or she forgot this maxim entirely. She kept drowning Kevin out to cover up for his pitch struggles, but in so doing she threw him further off and drifted off key herself. Her smile – which should have been her Weapon of Mass Destruction – appeared to be as unreal as the WMDs we were supposed to find laying around the Iraq landscape. In her defense though, the judges had no reason to pound her for having a lack of innocence when they had her singing a song dripping with sexual confidence and pride.6 Final Thoughts David: The bottom two men should clearly be Derek and Kevin. As to which should go, well, David Ian said two weeks in a row can spell doom, which means it would be Kevin. The two women are tougher to pick. I think Kathleen will be one. And what the heck, I’ll pick the other partner of the guy I think will be in the bottom two – Kate. And Kathleen will go home. Bruce: Well, the scores should make it obvious. As far as I am concerned, they could end the Sandy side of things by declaring Laura the winner. Based on the performances this week, nobody else came close to her. I see the Danny choice as a two-horse race between Chad and Austin. Everyone else is an also-ran. Derek and Kevin lag so far behind the other Dannys that they should both just give it up and go home now. Whichever one survives after the elimination needs to skip meals, sleep, and just about anything else and spend the time figuring out how to carry a tune in a bucket on live television. In Sandyville, Ashley and Kathleen each seemed to give her best, but neither showed me anything that I couldn’t have seen in a dinner theater production of the play. I think Ashley could perform better with a different partner and therefore deserves another chance. Let’s send Derek and Kathleen home where they can audition for the next production of Little Shop of Horrors. At least we might get to see Derek get eaten alive onstage. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of our articles, check out our sections on American Idol, American Juniors, Nashville Star, and Canadian Idol. Also make sure to check out RealityNewsOnline for recaps and articles covering other reality TV shows. For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check SirLinksALot: You’re the One that I Want and Reality TV Fever! View Printable version of this article
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