The sing-off is set aaaand FIGHT! Juliana goes first and forgets to breathe. Jason is next and not impressive. Kathleen's hair is blonder and shorter this week and her voice is as strong as ever. Kevin is dreamy, but the singing is kind of forgettable. I like the haircut though. Think he was swayed by my comments last week? I do, but maybe I'm delusional.
Looong pause on a black screen as we return from commercial. Ah the joys of live, crappily-produced TV. Who are the judges going to save? "One of the best singers here: Kevin." Says Kathleen Marshall. Sweet, "The Chin" stays. Love it. And which girl will they save? Kathleen, because she's one of the stronger actresses. Aw Juliana, you suck at acting. During her exit interview with Ryan Seacrest, Juliana blames the song choice for her dismissal. I know I basically accused the producers of giving some people more exciting songs to sway the voting last week, but you can't say that yourself, Juliana! Gotta go with dignity.
Jason wishes he could have done the number he was going to do this week because he thinks he would have been David Ian's favorite. He promises to sing it for David Ian at his house some time. David Ian's face says "Please don't." Asked why these two, David Ian says because America doesn't clearly like Jason (That's gotta sting.) and because Juliana doesn't have Kathleen's maturity. That's all well and good, but later the judges are going to criticize Kathleen for being too mature. Make up your minds!
OMG, I just had a thought of what this show could be like if Liza Minelli hosted and it was amazing. She'd totally hijack every performance and be verbally abusive to the judges. It would be spectacular! Are you listening to me NBC execs?
Up first: Allie and Chad singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." They both look hot and sound great. Aside from me having heart palpitations with visions of Allie falling down those stairs because she can't walk in those heels, the performance is truly awesome. I officially change my vote to Chad this week. I heart Chad and those blue eyes. Allie's pretty good too. At the very end of the song they're very hands-y and aggressively all over each other. I believe their chemistry, but this seems very forced, as it does in everyone's performances. I mean, it's so OBVIOUS what the producers are doing, but that seems to be this show's M.O. so I guess there's no use in griping.
All the judges loved the performance, especially David Ian, who calls it "theatrical Viagra." Gross. SERIOUSLY, GROSS! And you just know Ryan Seacrest isn't going to let that comment go for, like, the rest of the season.
Next up: Austin and Laura, singing "I Don't Know Much [But I Know I Love You]." It's a ballad, which normally means naptime, but Austin and Laura sound great and keep me engaged the whole time. They spend most of the song looking into each other's eyes very intently. I'm buying it. That's the thing, people say Austin is too fey, but, um, hello? It's musical theater. Not all, but really, A LOT are that fey in real life. That's why it's called ACTING.
Austin and Laura are also aggressively hands-on. Driving home the point, when asked about his partner, Austin replies she's "a sizzling hot woman." Okay, Austin, we get it, you like women for the purposes of this show. No need to overdo things. The judges all comment on how they believed Austin was into Laura. So this week really was all about Austin convincing the judges he could play a straight guy. WE GET IT.
"It Takes Two" is next, performed by Max and Ashley. Max may not be a typical heartthrob type of Danny, but this performance shows how he really knows how to work his quirkiness to his advantage. Danny Zucko has a bit of dork in him (think about that first scene when he sees Sandy at Rydell High and he bugs out, all "SANDY!"), and Max can convey that better than any of the other potential Danny's. You can see him reacting to all the little moments created by the choreography. So good. Oh, and Ashely? Fine. Cute, as per usual, but Max totally steals the show.
The judges seem to agree, as they all really liked Max (I mean, he got that haircut, so he basically is Danny Zucko now.) but feel that Ashley could have given them more and needs to move beyond cute.
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Comments (8)
Funny recap. You and I thought a lot of the same things. I too can't figure out why they are having them sing pop music... you may be an excellent pop star and totally suck with Broadway music.
Juliana has the same stupid expression (silly frozen grin) no matter what she is trying to convey. Thank GOD she's gone
I think your recaps are funny, but one thing... it's Danny ZUKO. Check IMDB if you don't believe me. Sorry, it was really bugging me.
1 of 8 | Posted by gretcheepoo
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Posted on February 22, 2007 3:55 PM
good recap of the show
2 of 8 | Posted by deepika
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Posted on February 22, 2007 10:10 PM
nice information
3 of 8 | Posted by deepika
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Posted on February 22, 2007 10:14 PM
Krank,
Your recaps are both hilarious and insightful, allowing us to revel in the so cheesy its wonderful vibe of this show, from the costumes to the faux-Seacrest host and shameless Idol-envy that permeates everything minute. I also liked Max this week. There are 3 or 4 girls who are really good and I can't really say I have a favorite yet.
4 of 8 | Posted by JasonR
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Posted on February 23, 2007 6:20 AM
that should have been "every minute"
5 of 8 | Posted by JasonR
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Posted on February 23, 2007 6:23 AM
I know I'll prolly get raked across the coals for this, but I think Juliana was let go too soon. No, she's not right for Sandy and she's definitely a flawed performer, but I STILL prefer her to Kathleen Crazy-Eyes.
I think Kevin's days are numbered, though I do like the new haircut.
And I'm sticking to my opinion that Austin is not Danny. He did an EXCELLENT job this week with Laura and was very believable. He's such a good performer all around...but that doesn't make him right for the character. Sorry.
Ashley was good but needs to cool it with the makeup. The green eye shadow was a little scary.
Max was absolutely darling. I really really hope he gets a chance to make it further...not every Danny needs to be super macho. I mean, Barry Bostwick was the original Danny, and he wasn't nearly as tough-looking as John Travolta. Krank Mills, you hit the nail on the head when you said Danny has to have some dork in him. Also, remember it's his sweetness that Sandy falls for in the first place. I love Max so.
I gave Derek the benefit of the doubt this week...everyone has an off week sometimes, plus he had a bad song and a not-great partner (sorry, Kate is semi-good vocals and not much else).
Chad and Allie: teeny bit forced, but still pretty hot. This was the first week I really liked Allie, and I've loved Chad since his first audition (Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love).
I'd be happy with Allie, Ashley or Laura for Sandy, and Chad or Max for Danny.
I liked the pairing up of contestants and I hope they do more of it. After all, Danny and Sandy MUST have chemistry.
6 of 8 | Posted by maybeimamazed02
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Posted on February 23, 2007 7:40 AM
I was really surprised by Max this week. I've always considered him the "Chicken Little" in this competition. Someone cute that all the tweens with their own phone lines are voting for but would be picked off before the serious competition begins.
But I've got to tell you, I really enjoyed his and Ashley's performance Sunday. It's almost been a week now since the episode and their's is the only performance I have no trouble remembering. They had great chemistry together. I still have a hard time seeing Max as Zuko, but it's not as far fetched as I previously thought.
7 of 8 | Posted by 626
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Posted on February 24, 2007 12:49 PM
I have it on good authority that they plan to cast Max as "Doody." They made an offer to a B'way actor and then when they realized that they liked Max but that he was not a "Danny," they pulled the offer from the other actor so that they couls cast Max instead. I also heard that they want Chad to win, so look for them to begin a big push on the show to make that happen.
8 of 8 | Posted by ampiper
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Posted on February 24, 2007 1:07 PM