No Florida Repeat This Time

So after last week's improvised elimination, I eagerly tuned in to Grease this week to see how things would shake out. As usual, the production opened with a group number, and this one did seem to truly be a group song, not like last week's tag-team performance. However, while I have no idea what song it was, it was really awful, and what is up with Max's performance faces? He's like Clay Aiken was early in Idol's season 2, where he thinks he's being sexy or dramatic, but really has no idea how ridiculous he looks. Fortunately, the horror didn't last too long and they got on to the elimination. Apparently "millions" of votes were cast, which is odd since the show is only registering a couple million viewers. Anyways, it was announced that once again there would indeed be a sing-off, but now we were informed that once we make it through the semi-finals, the audience's vote would indeed count for something. However, they did not say at what point the semi-finals would be considered over. Then, in a very bizarre and poorly paced announcement, it was revealed that once again, Jason was one of the lowest vote getters, joined by Kevin, and on the girls' side, it was Juliana and Kathleen. I was shocked that once again Jason was in the bottom two. I don't understand why he hasn't gone over so well, he was fantastic in Altar Boyz and I think he's a better candidate for Danny than most of the guys (except Austin of course). Kathleen was also puzzling. I thought several of the girls did much worse, particularly Ashley. For some reason she just rubs me the wrong way and that bitch needs to go. I was only mildly surprised by Kevin's showing. While his performance wasn't awful, he had the misfortune to follow Derek and suffered by comparison. I was not surprised at all by Juliana. She made the biggest gamble of the night last week and did not pull it off in the slightest, she deserved her spot here. We then got another bizarre surprise; this week's guest judge was Jon Secada. Does anyone care about him anymore? I thought he faded in 1995 just as quickly as he hit the national consciousness in 1994. Really, next time let's make sure we get a judge that actually has something relevant to say. This week, we then got the sing-off first thing. Sure enough, it was announced that Jason and Juliana were the lowest vote getters, and with that confidence-shaking announcement, they were turned loose to sing, and this time they were indeed the ones sent home. Then, finally, 20 minutes into the one-hour show, we got to the performances. The theme of the night was duets. One guy and one girl were paired up to do a number, but the voting was still for individual performers. However, we were back to the anything goes music selection. No Broadway songs tonight. You would think that since they're auditioning for a Broadway show instead of a Las Vegas revue, the judges would want to hear how well they can handle the genre. Imagine Austin and Kathleen doing "A Little Priest" or Chad and Kate doing "Barcelona" or Derek and Allie doing "As Long As You're Mine." Any of those would have been so much better than the drek that filled most of last night's performances.

First up was Chad and Allie doing Ain't No Mountain High Enough. Since this song is normally a solo, they did it in the tag-team style and it did not work at all. Chad must still be recovering from the flu, and it's going to hurt him. He still looked oh so good (and trust me, nothing would keep me from him should he call), but all he did was growl off key through his lyrics. For the first half of the song they symbolically stayed on opposite sides of the stage, but about halfway through began a surreal dry humping dance while screaming their lyrics. It was not pretty, and would have been much more believable if it had been Chad and Max dry humping. Allie's vocals were good, it's too bad Chad didn't give her more to play off of. I'm finally starting to see what the judges have been talking about. If she can stay consistent, and show better choice in material, she could be the one to beat.

Next was Austin and Laura singing I Don't Know Much, and it sizzled. They worked so well together and sounded fantastic. It was the high point of the night. They each showed that they can work well with others while really highlighting their own talents. Great job for both of them. Austin is still the Danny to beat, and Laura finally got herself on the radar.

Next was Max and Ashley doing It Takes Two, and, as it was also a real duet, it was the only other great performance of the night. While Ashley still was not as confident as she needs to be, her vocals were marginally better than they have been, although still nowhere near what they should be. Max, however, was the star of the night. He moved and sang with pure confidence and hit all his notes. He really came alive with this performance and any doubts about his ability to play Danny evaporated. My only concern is the faces that he makes. He needs to take a cue from Clay and start rehearsing in front of a mirror. Lose the sex face and the competition could be his.

The last performance by a non-bottom four pairing was Derek and Kate singing From This Moment On. While the song is technically a duet on the album, Shania's single and radio version of the song is a solo, and this was the rendition they gave, doing it in the tag-team style and it was a disaster. Any progress Derek made towards upstaging Austin last week is gone. His first notes were way off key, and all four of the judges nailed him on it. He managed to recover, but his confidence was gone and the song, performed at about half the tempo of Shania's version, was an unmitigated bore. Neither Derek nor Kate could sustain or project any long notes, they simply faded out numerous times, which is especially surprising for Kate who has so far built her reputation on belting out the high notes. This was a major step backwards for both of them and I expect to see them both in the bottom four next week.

The evening ended with our near-misses Kevin and Kathleen. They did Something To Talk About, another solo song done in the tag team style, and this was not something anyone is going to want to talk about again. Kathleen was obviously shaken up by her brush with elimination and could not hit a note in tune to save her life. Kevin did not do much better himself even though he took the lion's share of the lines, giving Kathleen only a few seconds to sell herself. Their choice of staging also kept them on opposite sides of the stage for the entire song with no interaction, showing zero chemistry with each other. Not a smart move when the judges have stressed that interaction with the other lead is just as important as individual performance. If they find themselves in the bottom four again, the judges are going to remember this and save performers that work well with their partners. Not good.

We then got a brief recap and the announcement that next week's guest judge will be Frankie Avalon. First on that, they cancel the show for the Superbowl but are going to run it during the Oscars? They really don't know their audience, do they? So, my commentary on next week's show is going to be much delayed since Bravo isn't airing a repeat of it until next Thursday. Second, they're running out of time to call me to be a guest judge. They need to get on that as I'm not going to be available every weekend, so if this is going to work, we need to start making arrangements now. No word on what next week's theme is going to be, or on why they are insisting on sticking with the horribly manufactured, cringe-inducing nicknames they've stuck each contestant with. Let the fans speak for themselves. So, look for my recap next Friday or Saturday, and hopefully I'll be able to write a future post from the vantage point of the judge's podium.