We’ll Be the Judge of That! – Grease: You’re the One that I Want!, March 4

Tonight it’s just the Dannys (well, except for a Sandy sing-off). The judges want to see certain things out of each of them. Who steps up? Who falls down? Sandy Lamparello, Bruce Barker, and David Bloomberg return to do the judging.

Austin, “Fun, Fun, Fun”

Sandy: That was Austin’s attempt at being funny? He’s clearly got some issues there. It looked to me like he was trying to force it and although he’s always been a natural on the stage in the past, this week he looked uncomfortable. I’m with the judges – well the guys anyway – he looked like he was out of his element.

Bruce: It was fun, but it was hardly funny. His voice was quite good, but his stage direction was to be funny and he never came close to pulling it off. Most of it wasn’t his fault because he was a bit confined within the choreography, but a professional should have the chops to make a read of the phone book hilarious. 7

David: It’s got to be hard to do comedy while singing and dancing. And like Sandy (and one of the on-site judges) said, the whole thing looked forced. It was like he knew that was what he wanted, so he was going to give them fun! But it wasn’t. More than anything, he looked like an actor pretending to be… an actor!

Derek, “Heaven”

Sandy: Derek still reminds me of John Stamos. He sounded good this week, but not great. I wanted to hear more power in his voice, and at times he was very nasal. He has the other aspects of the performance down and if he keeps working on his vocals he could be great. Not sure if he’ll be able to make it through to next week though.

Bruce: It was a vast improvement over his recent performances. The pitch problems are still there, but with one notable exception, they were much subtler. He was still struggling, but he won the battle more than he lost it and made some great progress. He also has a nice bit of smolder to his eyes that helped sell the passionate passages of the song. The big question is – is it too little too late? 8

David: What did Derek need to do? He needed for his voice not to crack. What happened? His voice cracked. And on top of it, I didn’t really like much of the rest of the performance anyway. Goodbye, Derek.

Max, “Hard to Handle”

Sandy: Max has really taken the judges’ criticism and advice to heart and made a real effort to change throughout each phase of this competition. His singing has been consistently excellent and this week was no exception. This song can be tricky with all the words and Max did a great job. And he looked like a natural on the stage. Great job!

Bruce: In an attempt to pour on the machismo he added a rolling growl to his voice that seemed more than a little affected. Since his stage direction was to bring a toughness and macho side to his “Danny” however, such things are understandable. He did seem to do a better job following the instructions than the other hopefuls and proved himself to be a better actor to work with than his competitors have been. I just wish he had a more powerful chin. He simply doesn’t look the part. 8

David: Max has been getting better by leaps and bounds – and I liked him to begin with! He did a great job here and I will be shocked if he is in the bottom two. Best of the night!

Chad, “Don’t Stop Me Now”

Sandy: Yikes. What was that? Chad sounded really rough on that song. I didn’t really see what the judges saw as far as the rest of his performance, but they’re the professionals. He was saved last week but I think he’ll end up in next week’s sing-off.

Bruce: What a mess. Here’s a guy who looks like he was born to fill this role but his singing was flat and his pitch was all over the place. Queen songs are not written for heavy choreography because they are simply too intense in the vocals department and this was no exception. Chad brought a tremendous energy to the vocals and looked superb, but that voice! It was hopeless. 6

David: If you mangle a Queen song, you are going to get heavily criticized by me. It’s just that simple. Chad sounded terrible. Awful. Horrible. Absolutely the worst of the night. He might have just saved Derek!

Allie and Kathleen Sing-Off, “It’s Raining on Prom Night”

Sandy: Allie sounded good considering she was obviously emotional. Kathleen didn’t sound bad either though. Wow this is going to be tough. Allie was even stronger when she sang the second time. Kathleen was still strong. I have no idea who the judges will save. Based on past performance, I think it should be Allie. And two out of three judges agreed with me. I’ll take it!

Bruce: Last time around I predicted that nothing short of a miracle could save Kathleen. She did indeed wind up in the bottom two with Allie and almost managed to pull off the biggest coup in the show’s brief history. She continued to act while Allie was singing instead of standing like a mannequin, her voice was stronger and better than ever, and she showed terrific animation. Even with all of that however, she couldn’t overcome the nightmares of her last performances and was deservedly sent home. Allie made it by the very skin of her teeth. It certainly had little to do with her sing-off performance which was shaky, pitchy, and bland.

David: I didn’t really get much out of either of them in the sing-off. That’s not a big deal, though, because I doubt the judges really use the sing-offs, unless one of the singers really screws up. I knew Kathleen had to go. The more I watched her, the more I realized she just doesn’t look like a Sandy and doesn’t act like a Sandy.

Final Thoughts

Sandy: Wow, the guys have come a long way since I last judged them! Especially Max. He was my favorite Danny at the start of the competition and he is once again. His performance was clearly the best this week. As for the other three, they all had problems and their performances were very close. I think Austin probably has the following to keep him out of the bottom two, so Derek and Chad will land there. As for who will go, your guess is as good as mine. Chad’s been in the bottom two before, so I’m going to guess that his bid to play Danny Zuko has come to an end. We’ll see whether I’m right next week! Ciao!

Bruce: There really isn’t much to say. We have a Danny that looks the part and sings like he’s in the middle of an earthquake (Chad) and a Danny that brings it all with the exception of the right “look.” To be honest, I don’t think any of the four still standing are perfect for the role. I do believe that Austin and Chad belong in the bottom two, with Chad going home. But what I believe and what will likely happen are two different things. Although I feel it will still be Chad headed out the door, I suspect Austin has a large enough fan base to edge out Derek and stay safe.

David: I have to agree with my compatriots about the outcome: Chad and Derek will be in the bottom two. Chad will go home. I also think is the way it should be. We’ll see if we’re all right!

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