Grease, a two for one recap

I finally got around to seeing last week's episode of Grease. . . on Saturday, but did not get a chance to post my thoughts. I then caught last night's episode and figured I'd just sumarize together. As I mentioned earlier, Kate and Kevin were sent home last week. I'm not surprised about Kevin, but Kate was rather puzzling, as was Kathleen's inclusion in the bottom two. So, the show started off with the girls singing Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee. The singing wasn't bad, but again the staging was rather bizarre. They must be getting paid a lot to be dancing around on a heart shaped bed wearing sheer nighties. We were then informed that the girls had done acting auditions that week, but all we got to see were very brief clips before they sang. Since this is an audition, why don't have the contestants act out a scene on live TV? It would really show how well they can do under pressure as well as provide some better filler. Ashley then kicked off the performances with "These Boots Are Made For Walking." If this was 10 years ago, she could have landed the part of Fem-bot #2 in the first Austin Powers movie with that audition. She had the plastic sex appeal, lack of emotion, and near-monotone voice all down pat. It was a horrid performance and I just don't understand why she's still around.
Allie was next with the most adventerous song of the night, It's Oh So Quiet by Bjork. She had the perfect costume that totally emulated Bjork's swan outfit while keeping the Grease sensibility. It was a bizarre song, but she did a good job embracing Bjork's looniness and turning the number into a piece of bizarre performance art.
Laura was up next and did Fever, which finally put her worlds away from her horrible performance of Superstar a few weeks ago. She seized this one and ran with it. While it still can't compare to Peggy Lee, she did a great job turning it into a showtune-esque piece, more appropriate for theatre. It was far and away the best performance of the night.
After the safe three were done, it was time for the singoff. Kathleen seems to do a better job singing under pressure than in her regular songs. She was flawless during the singoff, but when it came time to do her own number, Let's Hear It For The Boy, she floundered again, which is too bad since it was the only showtune of the night. Why am I still harping on this after so many weeks? You're auditioning for a Broadway show, not a Vegas celebrity impersonator revue, you might want to throw in some showtunes and show the judges and voters that you can do more than just sing Karaoke. Unfortunately, Kathleen couldn't carry it and I spent more time looking longingly at Max providing the backup dancing than I did paying attention to her performance.
We then got a performance by Frankie Avalon, who was the guest performer, but did not fill the guest judge function. Then, it was time for the boys' show.

The show opened with the remaining four doing "Greased Lightening" which left me wondering why none of the mechanics at my garage look like that. If I had mechanics that looked like that I'd crash my car on purpose just to have an excuse to take it in. Once again, there was no guest judge, and this time we didn't even get to see the guys acting. They each got a short pre-recorded clip showing something they did during the week that they felt would help them excel. They were rather odd and again, we would have been better off without them and getting live acting auditions instead.
Austin kicked it off with "Fun, Fun, Fun", which was anything but. He showed his first signs of vulnerability with this poor performance. He hit the notes, but just wasn't that convincing. I was rather bored
Derek was next with Heaven by Bryan Adams, and it was the worst performance of the night. He started off well, but couldn't keep it up. He really hit a lot of wrong notes in the middle and end of the performance, and the choreography with Laura as his backup dancer was really bizarre. Her appearance was completely pointless and I think he would have been better off on stage alone singing. Given that he was kept safe last week after a horrible performance, while Chad was sent to the bottom two with a mediocre performance, it will be interesting to see how the voting plays out next week.
Max was up next and was the surprise of the night. He did "Hard To Handle" and while I would have preferred seeing him slink through Mae West's version from Myra Breckenridge rather than belting out the over the top Tom Jones channelled through Matt Rogers from Idol Season 3 version, he carried the show. For the first time, he hit every note, and this was while dancing up a storm. The strange sex faces were almost completely gone, and he had a confidence that he had never before displayed. Plus, he managed not to sound out of breath while dancing. It was a great performance and really showed how much he wants this and how right he could be for the part. Billy also mentioned the fact that Max has done every single thing the judges have asked of him, there's no ego on his part and he's a real trooper. There's a very good chance he could fly in under the radar and take this. Given Derek's falling apart though, we'll have to see how well Max does next week and if he lets one good performance go to his head.
Chad brought up the rear with "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen, and I really wish someone would have stopped him before he even started. It was not good. To start with, his new haircut makes him look creepy and psycho, and once again, he couldn't hit any of his notes. He really can't use the flu as an excuse any more, I think it's becoming obvious that he just doesn't have enough talent to pull this off. Again, we'll have to see how the voting plays out. Given that every guy who's been in the bottom two and was saved ended up in the bottom two the next week and was not saved, he's in a lot of danger. Given how much pre-audition screen time Max and Austin got and Derek's come from behind performance in the second week and the momentum he's gotten off of it (reminiscent of Nadia Turner from Idol Season 4), Chad is in real danger for next week, and as much as I love looking at him, the sad fact is, it's time for him to go.
So, after all four guys performed (none of whom did a real showtune, again, why do I have to keep harping on this?), it was time for the girls singoff. This time, it was Kathleen and Allie in the bottom two, and Allie received the lowest votes. WTF??? How the hell is Ashley is still here and managing to avoid the bottom two? I'm starting to suspect an Idol-style manipulation of the results, and given how they've already rigged the show when they're not happy with the results, that may not be an inaccurate assumption. Kathleen deserved her spot, not having given a great performance last week, but Allie was great. I think she was being punished for her song choice, and that's a shame. She's grown a lot and learned from her first week debacle and it would really be a shame to see her getting sent home because she's the most adventerous one of the bunch. So they sang, and it was finally time to say goodbye to Kathleen. I was a little surprised as this was the first time since the blatantly manipulated first week when the second lowest vote getter got sent home, but as David said to Jason, at some point they have to pay attention to their audience, and the audience doesn't like Kathleen (although David also oddly made it a point to say that he did not agree with this decision). I'm really hoping Ashley doesn't make it through this, if she manages to be in the bottom two next time, they have got to send her home. The judges don't seem to be liking her and hopefully they'll seize their opportunity to get rid of her. However, I'm starting to wonder, now that we're down to three, when do we officially reach the end of the "semi-finals" and the audience vote becomes the determining factor? They've still offered no clues on that. Also, as an aside, why do they continue to show clips of the guys being catty with each other, but not the girls? It's not helping the guys any. I'm not sure if the guys are actually saying these things or if they're being prompted for comments and then it's edited so that it looks like they're being so bitchy, but either way, it's not helping any of them come off well. None of them are sympathetic. However, it does open up a career path for all the losers; they can band together and put on a production of The Women. I'm seeing Austin in the Norma Shearer Role, Chad as Joan Crawford, Jason as Rosalind Russell, and Matt Nolan could be the countess, whailing "L'amour, L'amour" over the top every 2 minutes. No clues as to the identity of next week's guest judge, if there's even going to be one, but it does look like they're back to doing duets, hopefully it will work out better for some of them than it did the last time.