Grease: You're The One That I Want - Aired February 18

I know this is being posted later than I would have liked, but with three shows on Sunday now I have to work out the best way to schedule the time. However, I am so dedicated to you, the reader, that I'm going to get this written right now despite having a splitting headache. Hopefully the Tylenol will kick in before I have to talk about Billy Bush. No, on second thought, I want it to go away so no Billy Bush talk this week at all. I just can't promise much in the way of humour.
The first thing of note this week was that the show went suddenly from two hours to one. Either they were going to have a mass exit to speed things up to the end, or it's Duets Night. It makes sense. Danny and Sandy need chemistry, so it's a good idea to have the men and women perform together.
The show started with the usual group performance, this week it was "Born To Hand Jive". The dancing by everyone was pretty good, but when it came to solo singing in the song, some of the voices far outclassed others. It went by pretty quickly though, so I didn't have time to take notes.
This week's guest panelist was Jon Secada. A singer I've heard of, but what qualifications does he have for this? It turns out he's played Danny on Broadway. Alright, good enough for me.
Before getting to anything else, we got a video trip through the last week where contestants demonstrated their egos while doing a little trash talk against their competitors. Oooooh. It might not have been so awkward if they had the opportunity to see this before it aired. Ah well, it was pretty obvious they weren't all friends anyway.
Because of the once a week nature of the show, the producers can't keep the suspense over eliminations going for too long, and as the two that aren't cut need to compete still, it's right to the bottom four. This week, it's Jason, Juliana, Kevin, and Kathleen, and the two Js got the lowest votes from the viewing audience.
The good news? The Tylenol seems to be working and while my head still hurts, the worst of the pain has passed.
The song they would have to perform was "Those Magic Changes" and it was more evidence that the women in this competition are light years ahead of the men. Juliana and Kathleen sang it very well, and with feeling. Jason and Kevin both sang it tunefully, but neither of them had any emotion behind the song. If you're going to be performing in a musical, you'd better be able to put that emotion into whatever you're singing. The songs usually have a reason to be there, they are part of the story and help show the audience what you're feeling at that moment. If Sandy just left you at the drive-in, you have to let us know how much you love her in your song!
Judge Kathleen got to make the call this time around, getting to save Kevin because he was one of the best singers and Contestant Kathleen because she was one of the best actresses.
In her final words, Juliana said she would have liked a chance to show more of what's inside her and do some more different styles. In his, Jason said he would have liked to have been able to impress David this week. Enough chitchat though, let's get on to the competition.
Ally & Chad - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough". The singing was pretty good, and I thought these were Chad's strongest vocals to date. The chemistry between the two of them was okay, but they didn't blow me away.
They did a better job on the panel though. Jon thought they were absolutely electric. Kathleen said that Chad really rocked out and that Ally came back from her bottom four placing last week like a pro. Jim said that Ally hit him in the heart, and that Chad was wonderful. Dave called it "theatrical Viagra". He said Chad needs to go big, and that Ally was fantastic.
Austin & Laura - This is tricky, because "I Don't Know Much" is one of my favourite romantic songs, so they'd better do it justice. Luckily they did a great job, and I really liked their chemistry. For me, it was the chemical reaction of the night.
David believed they were in love. Jim said that they told a story and it was dramatic. Kathleen loved both of them, Austin has charisma and Laura is getting stronger every week. Jon thought they were fantastic and had great personalities.
Headache update - the pain is almost gone. Good job, Tylenol! I'm still going to get this done and head to bed though.
Max & Ashley - "It Takes Two", a Donny and Marie classic! I really didn't feel the chemistry, unfortunately, but at least they did a decent, fun performance. There was one great moment in the song where Ashley did a little giggle which added a heck of a lot of personality into everything.
Jon thought they looked relaxed. David said that Max is engaging and real, and that Ashley should work to keep it real (did he not hear the great giggle?), the jerk. Jim thought that Max was great and that Ashley is getting better. Kathleen likes Max's humour, and thought Ashley was relaxed and playful. Did you hear that, David? Ha!
Derek & Kate - Singing "From This Moment On", Derek missed some very unfortunate notes early on, something you can't afford to be doing at this stage of the game. The chemistry was okay, but as the song progressed both it and the singers got stronger and stronger.
David said it was sort of okay, Derek didn't wow him and he definitely noticed the missed note. He thought Kate needs more charisma, and she left him bored. Jim and Kathleen had the same issues, the former saying they can do better and the latter thinking Kate needs to be more spontaneous. Jon said they shouldn't be afraid to "go for it."
Kevin & Kathleen - Before getting to their song, we heard their reactions to being in the bottom four. Kevin said he was happy to be saved and that he will "bring it". Kathleen was thankful to be saved, and she promised to sing her butt off. In other words, they said the same thing in other words.
Singing "Something To Talk About", I thought they did a good enough job, though not exactly bringing it or singing their butts off. However, I thought they did have more chemistry than most of the couples we'd seen.
David thinks that Kevin has a big voice but he's small on charisma and star quality, and told him that his days are numbered (which will surely cause a lot of horror online and result in him getting a lot of votes just to put that mean judge in his place (seriously, I've seen this happen on Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance (which is a lesson to judges, if you think that someone needs to go, don't tell them that or you'll end up keeping them around longer))). Kathleen came across much better to him though, as he loved her performance though he would like to see less woman and more girl. That would have really creeped me out if Sandy wasn't an innocent girl in high school.
Jim agreed that Kathleen needs to show more innocence. He was far nicer on Kevin, saying that he's not getting the right songs for him. Kevin would like to get the right songs and show them what he can do. I felt very for him, you could really hear the sting of David's words in his voice. Judge Kathleen put in another vote for Contestant Kathleen being more innocent, but she is very strong. She also agreed with the song not being right for Kevin's voice. Jon said there seem to be problems with them not listening to each other in the song and that they're not clicking.
The best Danny and Sandy of the night? David liked Austin and Ashley. For Kathleen it was Chad and Ashley. Jim and Jon agreed on Chad and Ally. I must have missed something in Chad's performance. Maybe they were impressed because he was so much better than he's been yet.
It looks like the goodbye songs will be the same each week. Jason's "Sandy" was okay, but there was not enough longing in it at all. Matt had so much more emotion in his version last week, and he has nowhere near the voice talent that Jason possesses. Matt drew out an "Awwww!" from the audience when he was finished. Jason drew out polite applause.
Juliana, however, was very good in her version of "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)". It's just a shame that the remaining women had to join in, because I would have liked to have heard more of her. And yes, that "(Reprise)" has to be there. I checked the album last week and that's the title of that version, because the first "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee" is sung by Rizzo when the Pink Ladies are all in Jan's bedroom and Frenchie has taken Sandy into the bathroom to pierce her ears. Do you see now why I have to watch this show?
My headache is completely gone now, but I'm tired so I'm going to bed. Goodnight.