Celebrity Duets, August 29th – She's a Little Bit Giddy; He's a Little Bit Flamboyant
Perhaps the Most Interesting Group of Celebrity Judges in Reality TV
With Benji ready to start the So You Think You Can Dance tour followed by a year performing with Celin Dion, and Taylor Hicks winding up the American Idol tour, getting read to release his new album, I'm ready for yet another Fox performance for votes reality show. I kind of start to get the shakes when Fox isn't taking care of that need for me. The fact that this is another Simon Cowell production makes it even better. I kind of wish he'd been there, but then again, I think he would have been too cruel for many of these singers.
Celebrity Duets pairs up a celebrity that is well-known for anything other than singing, with a another celebrity that is well-known for their singing, more or less a music legend. Each time the non-singing celebrity is out there, they'll be teamed with a different legend, unlike Dancing With the Stars (I know; wrong network). Also unlike DWTS, it seems that although we will have the same non-singing celebrities each week, as they are paired down from eight to the winner, we will have different singing legends each week. Each non-singing celebrity with sing tonight with two separate legens. Confused?
It's kind of hard to explain how this works, but somehow host Wayne Brady, last seen on his failed talk show and on Whose Line Is It Anyway? did a much better job than I. I have to say he was a great host, and I think I actually saw him physically refraining himself to not improv too much and impersonate the singing legends on the show. He looks a little heavier, too, but he carries it well.
The celebrity judges are a very interesting mix. In the Paula Abdul role we have Marie Osmond. I don't see her as Paula Abdul, though, I see her more like Mary Murphy from SYTYCD. I wouldn't have been shocked had I heard a "woooohhh!" out of her. She seemed just as animated and happy as Mary. Little Richard is very hard to describe. When he can't think of the words to say he runs through a series of partial words, looking for the right one. As a childhood stutterer myself, I wouldn't call it stuttering, I'd just call it ... odd. He just seemed to get flustered and unable to come up with the words he wanted. David Foster is obviously in the Nigel Lythgoe/Simon Cowell role here, but he seemed much more kind than I would have expected him to be. I was kind of looking for him to rip a few of these celebrities up.
Right out of the gate Wayne Brady starts in with some improv that minds us of the Wayne we know and love. He stumbles over his words, claims he can't speak English, then flips into Spanish speaking mode. This is while introducing our first celebrity Lucy Lawless, from Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Gallactica. We don't know who the legend will be until they appear on stage with her, but she's afraid she won't be able to compliment him well enough. She sings pretty well as she starts off Time, Love, and Tenderness. Of course, it's Michael Bolton that appears onstage with her. They sound good, but I can't get past appearances here, as she's way taller than him, and looks so different as a blonde, than she did as a brunette. After the song Wayne asks Michael to rate her, and on a scale of 1 to 10, he gives her a 10. Wayne quips that perhaps if he hadn't rated her high, she would have beaten Michael up.
Facing the judges, Marie tells her to be the first one up, she's got guts, and it's always good to get the first one under your belt. As far as the vocals, Marie thought Lucy could have related a little more with Michael, although she did well relating to the audience. Little Richard says he liked Lucy quite a bit, but he'd like her to project a little more. Then he goes into something about being born last night, but not last night, and Lucy needing more practice. I have not idea what he was talking about, and David Foster says he doesn't either. However, David thinks Lucy couldn't have picked a better song for herself, and says she did great.
Next up is Alfonso Ribeiro from Fresh Prince of Bel Air, who is introduced after Wayne does a quick impression of Michael and Lucy. He says when he found out who his first duet partner would be, he knew he had to raise his game. He starts singing Aretha Franklin and George Michael's I Knew You Were Waiting for Me, and he's pretty good. He's joined onstage by Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child. They sound professional, and after she goes into a riff, he does as well. Might I say this woman is rail thin. She's tiny, but tall. She is asked by Wayne how Alfonso shapes up next to Beyonce and Kelly Rowland from Destiny's Child, wanting to know if he could be Destiny's Man Child She notes he wasn't wearing the stilettos like they usually do, but she thinks he has done a great job.
Marie tells Alfonso that's what you call a "duet." She thought he had good pitch and related well to the audience. He looked like he was having fun, and he set the bar for the rest of the evening. Little Richard says that Alfonso used to dance on his show. He adds that Alfonso had a very rhythmic sound, saying he didn't know he could sing like that. He calls it the duet of duets. David says he doesn't know why, but he wanted to hate Alfonso, thinking this guy couldn't possibly sing. Yet, he really can sing, and David can't wait to see what he does next, although he's not sure about his dance moves. Wayne warns him not to break out the Carlton dance just yet.
18 year old Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson is up next, saying she is used to working forty hours a week for eleven years to accomplish her goal. She loves the legend she'll be singing with so much, and can't believe she's going from listening to him on the radio to performing with him on stage. She launches into Somewhere Out There, and I just have to say eeewww. It's painful. James Ingram comes out to join her, and even this legend can't pick up this tune for her. After, he tells Wayne he thought Carly had the same work ethic she did when she was in gymnastics, and was the same – hard, strict, and staying to the course.
Marie tells Carly that of everybody they see on the list of those performing tonight, it's the most alien situation for Carly. She likes that she is disciplined like she was in gymnastics, but feels she should just relax and breathe. Marie says she started doing duets at 15, and that was with a legend like Kris Kristoferson. Her pitch was good, though. It was? Little Richard thinks it started off kind of slow, and points out that Carly looked nervous. When James came out, her confidence seems to build. She needs to find that confidence to stand on her own. Okay, but she's singing duets. David talks about telling Carly before the show to imagine everyone in the audience naked, and she says she did do that, but she can't tell anyone what he told her for real. Well, now I want to know. He feels she has the possibility of advancing the most, but she'll have to do better than she just did. Is that like a backhanded compliment?
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