Testimonials

Jenn is the only one that looks remotely acceptable as Silvia.

During rehearsal time, stress starts to set in and Gisel and Berto take turns bitching to the camera. Gisel's all pissed because she's being asked to imitate people in the house and she's not here to imitate, she's here to act, Goddammit!! Berto informs us that he knows Gisel well and she's difficult to work with. But, I'm having a little trouble summoning up much sympathy for Berto and his woman problems.

So, here we go. Take one. Scene one:

Silvia/Jenn sobs into Geovannie's/Berto's arms that she's leaving La Casa for good as Geovannie/Berto pleads with her to stay. After some more sobbing and a quick moment of touching hyperventilation, Silvia/Jenn runs off. Abandoned by his lover, Geovannie/Berto grabs a knife and in dramatic tones fully worthy of the real life Geovannie asks, "is this a butter knife I see?"

Damn, Hair Club for Men really works.

Then, apparently deranged from grief, he proceeds to commit a Latino version of hari-kari. As he's clutching his stomach, Jenn/Gisel comes in with "Oh, no you didin't." She's working hard for the ghetto attitude, but she's got no edge to her and just comes off as kind of lame.

The judges call cut and Cheech is chuckling. How could anyone not love Cheech Marin? He's just such a squeezeball/cheeseball good guy. Cheech, Maria Conchita and Carlos are our three judges for the challenge. Cheech starts their critique by telling Gisel that she's supposed to be playing a character from Brooklyn and her delivery needs to be stronger. In addition, she needs to be careful about staying in character even when the camera isn't on her. Maria Conchita thinks Berto and Jenn were great, but Berto needs to be more surprised when Gisel enters the room. Carlos wants to see more shades of character from Jenn. Then, to wrap it up, Maria Conchita goes back to criticizing Gisel for not staying in character. This round it seems like Berto and Jenn are in the lead with Gisel not doing so well.

The chicos go back to makeup and prepare for their second scene. Berto is jumping with both feet into a Vinci character modeled on the houseboy in La Cage aux Folle:

Everybody knows that Puerto Rican gays are always bare chested, with big crosses and bad hair.

Gisel has returned from her makeup nightmare and is sporting a plain long dark wig, which actually looks good on her:

Further proof that her carpet don't match her blond drapes.

However, Jenn made up as Berto, looks like she's taking part in an SNL spoof on ugly, bald woman:

I'm telling you Hair Club for Men, it worked for me.

I thought that the scene itself was a little lame and Berto was really the only chico to deliver a strong performance. But, in fairness I should add that it really is hard to tell much about the contestants acting abilities when they're hampered by painfully bad scripts and absurd makeup.

Afterwards, the chicos gather for the judges to deliver their final decision. Maria Conchita, wearing an outfit comprised of thigh high boots and a sheer black top not commonly seen on grandmothers, delivers the final critique.

She starts by telling them that her expectations of their performances were very high. She loved Berto and Jenn, but Gisel not so much. Gisel's not getting much love from the judges in this episode and it's about to get worse. Maria Conchita explains to Gisel that during her time in the casa she had been self-absorbed and that was evident today in Gisel's performance. Gisel, mindful that the judges have made it clear that they don't like her whiny, complaining attitude, nods and smiles. Ouch! I love it. Maria then gushes some about how Berto was just wonderful, and Jenn surprised them by bringing more than her normal street-wise tough character. But, before Maria Conchita can announce who's caput, we go to break.

« Celebracadabra: Such a Drag | Main | Last Comic Standing: And Hilarity Ensues »

Posted in Viva Hollywood! by YentaPatrol at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Last Comment: MichyPR on Jun 3, 2008 08:43 AM.