Originally Posted By gadzuux The format is getting too repetitive and constrictive. The three judges lined up opposite the stage with the host providing inane banter between the acts. They could be a bit more creative. But it's a fantasy of mine to sing with gladys knight, so it was fun watching hal sparks and the queer eye guy getting to live through it. The queer eye guy (I forget his name) is far and away the best of the contestants. Cheech marin is the worst. He even had a hit song back in the early seventies - "basketball jones" ... >> My father he disowned me cause I wear my sister's clothes, He caught me in the bathroom with a pair of pantyhose, The high school coach done kicked me off the team, for wearing high heeled sneakers, and acting like a queeeeeeeen << (anybody else remember that one?) The judges were unnecessarily harsh on lucy lawless (xena warrior princess) - compared to some of the others, she wasn't half bad. There's a black guy that I don't recognize - I think he used to be a child actor. I flipped in during his number and I thought he was the "pro" and his partner - one of the lesser 'destiny's child' chicks - was the amateur. She was weak and wispy and frankly terrible. The line-up of singing stars was uneven. I don't care for michael bolton, but I acknowledge that he can sing. I'm nuts for gladys knight, and smokey robinson is impressive too - even if he's well past his prime. Randy travis is competent and capable at what he does, I just don't care for country music. Leann womack? Who cares. Peter frampton? Sure, why not. He's singing love songs as duets with men. Ooh baby I love your way - with cheech. The guy who lost - some blonde beau-hunk from WWE - wasn't that bad. There are a couple I would have dumped over him - cheech marin and some blonde woman - not leah thompson or lucy lawless - the other one. Eminently forgettable. The judges: marie osmond knows what she's talking about. She's been singing duets practically since birth. She's sharp and to the point. And they're always trying to shush her. I had to laugh though when she (of all people) told hal sparks that he was singing "too white". Little richard - incomprehensible and useless. I don't think he uttered a complete sentence for the entire two hours. And he even looks crazed. David Foster - has been a top flight music producer for over twenty years, and knows his stuff. They're lucky to have him. Final disappointment - I didn't realize when I started watching that it was a two hour show. Next week they shift to two nights a week. They overkill these things. Tighten up the pacing and shorten the show.
Originally Posted By TiggerPooh1973 You are right about the format being repetitive.....it even looked like they were on the set of American Idol. Marie Osmond makes a good judge it seems and David Foster does as well. Little Richard looked so stoned or something, totally useless. Worse than Paula, who knew that was possible? As for the celebrities.....I thought Lucy Lawless was good in her duet with Smokey, I missed her first one. Alphonso Ribiero was very good too. Jai Alexander from Queer Eye was awesome. Leah Thompson and Carrie whoever (the one from the olympic)....ehhh. Hal Sparks was "too white", lol. The WWE guys, something Jericho?? He was the right call to go home. Cheech should be next. I feel like I am missing someone? Not sure. The stars they were singing with.....I forgot how much I like James Ingram. Gladys is always great. Smokey is great too, looking a little....umm, plastic though. Interesting mix I guess.
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs LOL... former WWE star Chris Jericho was involved? He has his own rock band, Fozzy. Speaking of former/current blonde WWE stars, anyone seen Stacy Keibler with George Hamilton in the new Toasted Pita Chips commercial?
Originally Posted By gadzuux I was surfing in and out of tonight's show. Carrie or cassie or somebody - the olympic chick got the axe. Hal Sparks (who I like a lot) is "on the dime" as second worst. Cheech miraculously managed to stick around for another week. Alphonso is a dark horse candidate - he's been doing much better, but this week he got saddled with a bad partner - I don't even know who she is, but she didn't seem like a talented vocalist to me. So here's my big question - where was little richard? The judges table only had marie osmond and david foster. Did they fire little richard? He certainly deserves it, but I wasn't watching early on when they might have made some announcement about his sudden absence.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Is anybody else watching this show? I think it's oddly fascinating. Hal sparks is probably my favorite celebrity on the show, but let's face it - he's doomed. Singing the old 'twisted sister' chestnut "we're not gonna take it" with dee snyder. Snyder was surprisingly good, but hal wasn't. He did a passable job, but this particular song is setting the hurdles a little too low. Cheech marin continues to be the sympathy vote. He's frankly terrible. But he's been catching enough phone-in votes to keep him out of the bottom three. He sang a song that judge david foster wrote with al jarreau, which could be seen as a bold move but it didn't help. Patti Labelle was on tonight, with jai rodriguez. I have to admit, a don't like patti labelle one bit - never have. And she looked ridiculous - her purple velour pantsuit with the corset and the flared black skirt, and the 'spiders from mars' black thigh-high boots, the makeup, the wig - the whole look was eye-poppingly bad. And poor jai tried his best, but he got shouted down by the sheer firepower of patti's singing. Who wouldn't? Chaka Khan was also on tonight, and I'm crazy about her. She's grown into a big girl too, and also wore a silly outfit that made her look like a woolly mammoth, but she sang incredibly. Alphonso was the lucky stiff who got to sing with her, and he did so good that he may ending up winning the whole enchilada. Lucy Lawless did a fine enough job with richard marx, singing one of his forgettable ballads. Marie was being kind when she said lucy reminds her of marilyn monroe. They both have thin breathy voices, but that's about the only thing they have in common. They're eliminating two contestants this week, with the finale next week among the final three. In a just world, cheech marin and lucy lawless will get tapped this week. But I'm thinking that cheech's voters will pull him through, and it'll be lucy and hal sparks instead. We'll see. It doesn't really matter anyway - it's not about the winning and losing, but in the spectacle of seeing these singing duets, and never knowing who the next famous singer is going to be. Marie Osmond continues to be the best judge on the panel, with comments that are accurate and relevant. David Foster has a long lineage, but he's coming over as smug and self-satisfied, and his comments aren't particularly helpful - more centered on what he could do better if he were in command. Little Richard continues to be beyond useless and unable to form a coherent sentence. I'm going to be out tomorrow night when the results show is on, but I still hope that they'll take advantage of having chaka khan around and let her sing another song. She was the highlight of the night. For me anyway.
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Chaka is always a highlight! Well, her singing, she's never been a good dresser, just go back and look at old album covers. LOL! I didn't get to see it this week, David Foster was the same on American Idol, remember. He's very pompous. I figured Hal Sparks would win this hands down but it's reality TV so who knows.
