Grease: You're The One That I Want - Contestant News

My friends, this is a momentous occasion. Realivision has hit the big time. How so? I've received my very first press release! Potential Sandy, Kate Rockwell, may not have won, but she did have a very good voice in a strong field (at least, it was a strong field of potential Sandys).
She's not on Broadway yet, but she will be appearing Off-Broadway.
Now this kind of news isn't the sort of thing done at Realivision, but I'm quite pleased at getting the press release, and Kate left me with a good impression after she was voted off. So you don't have to search for it, here were my final words on her...

Kate started out with some microphone problems, but that was sorted out quickly enough to give us what was possibly the best "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)" yet. In fact, she did such an excellent job at it that I was quite pissed we didn't get to hear more of her and got too much of the other Sandys singing with her. I haven't been a fan of this arrangement from the start, because it doesn't give the departing woman enough lines in her own farewell song, but this was too much. If she had been bringing this much emotion to the rest of her performances, we would have been seeing quite a different result this week, I'm sure.

She definitely has it in her to give an excellent performance, so should you be in New York, well, you should be going to see some live theatre anyway, darn it. Yes, it opens today. I'd check my e-mail more often if more people would write to me!

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“Grease: You’re The One That I Want” Finalist Kate Rockwell to appear in a new Tammy Faye Bakker musical, BIG TENT!

May 15, 2007 (NEW YORK) – The upcoming musical Big Tent will receive its first public viewing in a full concert, produced by Tim Hur, on Wednesday, May 23 at Off-Broadway’s New World Stages. The reading will feature “You’re the One That I Want” finalist Kate Rockwell as Jessica Hahn, a cast of Broadway performers, and a full rock band. The concert will start at 8 pm and is free and open to the public. Ryan J. Davis will direct.

Big Tent was conceived and written by Jeffery Self and features music and lyrics by Ben Cohn & Sean McDaniel. Big Tent is billed as “The Tammy Faye Bakker Musical”, and is described by the authors as follows:

“A cultural icon for more than thirty years, Tammy Faye Bakker’s phenomenal rise from farm girl to evangelist superstar has finally been put onstage with a terrific pop-country score. Her unique style has made her beloved by mainstream Christians, as well as by gays and other outsiders whom she welcomed under her “big tent.” In this ninety minute, six character musical, we follow Tammy as she fights to maintain her dignity amidst sex and business scandals. Her perseverance in the face of private tragedy and public ridicule has made her a testament to the endurance of the human spirit.”

Reservations for the reading can be made by emailing bigtentrsvp@gmail.com. As tickets are extremely limited, reservations for more than four people will not be accepted.

For more information and excerpts from the score, visit the official Big Tent myspace: www.myspace.com/tammymusical

WHAT: Concert of BIG TENT

WHEN: Wednesday, May 23rd @ 8:00 PM

WHERE: New World Stages

340 W. 50th Street

New York, NY 10019

CONTACT: Ryan J. Davis

ryannewyork@gmail.com

(646) 773-2534

The Apprentice L.A. - Wrap Up

The fundamental flaw with The Apprentice, other than Donald Trump being a complete ass as a human being, is that the competition is for a job while most of the tasks have no relation to that job at all. If you go in to interview for an accountant position, nobody asks you to bake a pie. You may have to cook some books, but pastries don't come up in the equation at all.
I don't watch America's or Canada's Next Top Model, and I don't watch Project Runway, but I do know that all the tasks in the form require modelling, and all the tasks in the latter require designing clothes. Granted, it would be fun to make them balance a ledger, but that would have nothing to do with the ultimate goal.
Granted, there are things you can learn from watching people perform in Apprentice tasks. Hard working or lazy? Works well with others? A good leader AND a good follower? Quick and creative thinker?
I've never overseen the construction of a building, but I suspect the creative thinking required isn't quite like the creative thinking in putting together a commercial or advertising event. There's a reason companies have departments specifically for marketing.
That said, I'm still disappointed in Heidi. Since I last updated this show, Heidi had won another task as Project Manager, and when it came to measuring up to her previous performances sitting beside Trump, she hit the mark and I thought she had this competition sewn up.
That is, until she teamed up with Frank. The final six got together in teams of two and each had to come up with presentation for a new Trump Towerish Thing, and Heidi and Frank's presentation sucked. The video was nothing, there was no theme, and Heidi wasn't preparted at all to present what they did have, which wasn't like her at all. The thing with the boardroom is, if you have a horrible task but shined throughout the competition up until then, you should be able to save your own butt. Unfortunately for Heidi, sitting across from The Donald instead of beside him, and on the defensive at that, she crashed and burned.
What she needed to do was to admit to screwing up in this task without humming and hawing, without trying to excuse it, just admit to the screw-up but then stand on your record. It might not have worked, but at least it would have been a lot less disappointing for those of us who were behind her.
Kristine was also fired at the same time for not doing well enough on her task (and wasn't given enough time to defend herself, from what we saw, and even with editing she seemed shocked to not have more of a chance). The good news was that both of them took the firing well, having a bit of a laugh and regretting not teaming up with each other (Kristine wanted to prove herself without Heidi). At least they left us with a positive impression.
But there was bad news as well. With those two gone, there was no more original Kinetic, the only people left were the buffoons of Arrow. Crap.
Even crappier than who made the final four was that it was only going to be a final four. Based on this and his other show, Survivor, it seems that executive producer Mark Burnett has found himself with a fetish with groups at the end instead of a final two. For two seasons now, Survivor has had a final three (more on that when I write my Surivor: Fiji entry, which will come after The Amazing Race which will be next), and now The Apprentice gives us a final four going to the final boardroom. It just doesn't work, because it doesn't remove the last people you know don't have a chance, and it's a little cruel because it gives them false hope. Trump may like you, Frank, but you really don't think you were in the running, do you?
However, I could have lived with the lameness of final four if it wasn't for the absolute suckiness of the final task. Instead of the standard bringing together of a charity event, the final task was... making a commercial. Something they've already done for a task, but this one was for movie theatres! Oooh! Nope, sorry, that's a load of crap for a final task. There was no tension, one deadline, no large numbers of people to impress and organize. It was a friggin' commercial. Seriously, am I getting across how horrible a choice I thought this was? Maybe previous final tasks meant they weren't able to get corporate sponsors willing to let them get together two charity events again, but they should have at least come up with their own.
It was a lame ending to a pretty lame season. I really hope this isn't the one they go out on.
Even though it was a final four, it still got whittled down in the boardroom to a final two as the losing team from the lame final task was fired, and it came down to James versus Stephanie.
I didn't care much for James. There was arrogance in him with a dash of hypocrisy (don't make me search for it, but I believe he was complaining about Frank doing exactly the same thing he did a couple of tasks earlier). But Stephanie was pretty much the Invisible Woman all season, and she never once stepped up as Project Manager. As much as she struck me as someone more grounded and ready for the job, never being PM should have been her death knell.
Then Trump told James that James had said something he didn't like, but didn't elaborate it but he said that he knew what he was talking about. I don't know what it was, maybe James stood up and proclaimed himself a Rosie O'Donnell fan, and that the comedian and talk show host has as much right as any other citizen to stand up and speak her beliefs, despite what appears to be a successful conservative effort to demonize and marginalize her. Don't like what Rosie's saying? Shout her down and belittle her! Nobody wants to listen to a fat, ugly pig!
Sorry, this whole thing has been a sore point with me lately, and Trump has been at the forefront of it. I'll keep trying not to get too political in these pages.
All that matters is that Stephanie did something I thought would have been impossible. She won the season without once being Project Manager. I don't know if it would have been possible in a normal season, but this one did have the twist of the winning PM staying in the job until they lose. That does make it more difficult to get the position, but I will still argue that you should fight for the job whenever you get the chance. If the show does manage to come back, I doubt we will ever see someone who has never been PM win again.
I'm not sure how I feel about the winning PM keeping the job, as twists go it's not the best but it's not the worst. I do like that they sit in the boardroom beside Trump as it gives us a chance to see how well they do in that situation. And damn it, nobody did better there this season than Heidi.

Grease: You're The One That I Want - The Finale

Okay, I know it's been a while. Sorry. There were two reasons for it. One was the usual burnout, but that wouldn't have been as bad if it weren't for this show, and I didn't want to touch the other programs until I got this one done as I don't like to mess up the order. But the thing is, I've had no desire to watch the finale. It's still sitting on a tape, but seeing as the competition was over, the whole thing would have been filler up until the winners were announced.
Who cares about the filler? That's the problem with the Dancing With The Stars results show. I haven't even bothered watching most of them, just flipping over to see who's been eliminated (and let me tell you that Billy Ray Cyrus outlasting Heather Mills was yet another crime audience voting is responsible for).
So how can I write a commentary if I haven't seen the show yet? Because I know who won. Congratulations, Max and Laura!
This should be interesting now when the show opens. There shouldn't be an issue with Laura, as she is very talented. My only concern about her is if she can play the role innocently enough, but that's about it. If too many people care that she's brunette, she can always wear a wig or dye her hair.
The bigger problem is going to be Max. People who watched the show know what a plucky underdog he was and his backstory, the kind of things that helped him get the votes to win. But people who didn't watch? They're going to go in and many will likely respond, "What the hell? That's Danny?"
It's unfortunately, but it's a reality in show business and in life. Personally, I'd love to see the show on Broadway and see how he does, if he's going to be able to pull it off despite not being quite what most people imagine Danny Zuko to be.
There have been people so upset at the result that they've cancelled their tickets. I have no sympathy for those idiots. Anyone paying attention could have predicted Max and Laura would win (I'd like to pat myself on the back here and note that I called it), but even to those who didn't think it was obvious, it should still have been too big of a gamble to buy tickets expecting certain people to win. If you were stupid enough to buy tickets like this, suck it up and go see the winners perform. To do otherwise gets you called an idiot in this blog.
If people were trying to beat the rush, I think the ratings for Grease: You're The One That I Want should have told them not to sweat it. Trying to get tickets to see it on Broadway before it closes? Now that's something else. That I can understand. I really hope I remember to check out reviews and such when it opens. I don't know what kind of contract the winners signed and if it gives the producers outs, but if they were smart, they will be prepared to let the winners go and have understudies ready to go on that more fit what people want to see. Yes, it sucks. Don't you think I'd love to be able to step in front of a camera? But no, I'm a hideous troll and I know that I will never make it as Canada's Next Top Model. Canada's Next Top Sideshow? Sure, of course!
Now there's a show I'd watch, as long as it wasn't exploitative.
Anyway, little of this is new. This is the sort of thing I've been saying all season. If having Max as Danny affects ticket sales, hey, they're the ones that put him through to the competition. Not that they had much choice. I know there are a lot of talented men out there but why they didn't audition for the show is beyond me.
So break a leg, Max and Laura. I can't say you were my choices (though Laura was close with some awesome performances), but you were both at the top of the competition and I hope you kick butt.

The Apprentice L.A. - Aired March 25

Okay, another short one while I play catch up.

This episode began with Kinetic being down by two members. As far as Trump was concerned, this was akin to them being "decimated". I could go back and look at who won what task, or try to remember, but a little simple math and the memory of one event will help us. A while back, Arrow was on a losing streak so a member of Kinetic had to go over to their team. That was Surya. Now if Surya stayed on his original team, they would have only been down by one. So this "decimated" team has only lost one more task than their rivals.
That didn't matter. Trump wanted to even them out. James, as the current project manager, was told to find a volunteer and if nobody stepped forward, he was to choose someone.
Not only was Arrow on a bit of a winning streak, these are two very different teams with very different approaches, so nobody wanted to do it. I never did grasp what convoluted reasoning James used, but he picked Nicole to go over. You know, the one with the nascent romance with Tim. Nicole wasn't at all pleased that Tim didn't fight to keep her on Arrow or that James got rid of her so quickly and easily, so she wanted nothing more than to beat those two in the next task. And a little coochie coochie with Tim.
She wasn't about to be project manager though. Things were shaky for Angela after the last task, and being the only remaining member from the original Kinetic still in the competition who hasn't been PM, it was her turn to step up.
The task this time around was to sell passes to Universal Studios Hollywood. There really wasn't much to do on this one. Pick a strategy and go with it. Kinetic chose to sell on rollerskates (not rollerblades, as Ivanka kept saying), and Arrow went with a table and signs.
Usually the tasks take place in separate locations for the different teams, but this time they were all in the same place and competing for the same customers. Arrow was out for blood, at times outraging Kinetic with their tactics. They're competing to work for Donald Trump though. I've got a tiny, niggling feeling that he's just a wee bit not bothered by a little dirty play as long as it wins the task.
And in this case, it did win the task and by a very comfortable margin. I actually liked the rollerskate idea better because it was a lot more fun, but you can't argue with results.
The reward for winning was a helicopter ride over Los Angeles. Followed by a ferris wheel, some cotton candy, and balloons for everyone. No, I kid. The helicopter ride would be cool.
For the boardroom, eeeeeehhhhhhhhh... The problem is the idea wasn't that bad, and it wasn't that they lost the task through horrible choices or disruptive teammates, they were just beat by a better idea. Heidi and Kristine were safe short of doing something very stupid in the boardroom.
Speaking of Heidi, yet again, How Did The Winning Project Manager Compare to Heidi?
James improved his performance greatly this week. He didn't look as sweaty being there (though there was a sheen), and he did come out and ask a question confidently and forcefully. It was even a decent question. It was only one question, but he did it well. On a Heidi scale of 10, I'll give James a good 8.5 for the job he did. Well done! Lose the sheen, you'd get a 9. Ask another question or two, and don't sound so angry, you'd even better yet.
So Heidi and Kristine were safe. The only reason Nicole might be in danger is that being the new kid on the team, the others might be able to put some of the blame on her. Unfortunately for Angela though, this was one of those challenges where, despite the HUGE gap in money made (it was a good $7000), nobody really deserved to go so it had to be the project manager who had the final say in all decisions.
See? A short entry. Luckily it happened with a week where there wasn't too much to say mostly because I really don't care about the Tim/Nicole relationship woes. For that to intrigue me, they'd have had to make me care about them as individuals in the first place. Granted, they're nowhere near as annoying as Frank, but they're not really charming me over to their side.
Gads, I can't wait for Frank to leave.

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

Can you believe it? From the highs and lows of the auditions to the disappointment of Grease Academy not being all it could and should be to some great and not-so-great performances, we've finally come to this, the finals. One more Danny and one more Sandy will be going home, then the final four will compete for the last time for audience votes, and then one more episode to go, the season (and possibly series) finale.
Coming out to perform "Rock'n'roll Is Here To Stay", the final six did a pretty good job of making it actually sound like rock'n'roll which has been one of the biggest flaws with the competitors through the season. Was it perfect? No. But it was fun and that's what really matters.
There was some stuff with the contestants talking on video as to how much they want this, blah blah blah. I know I generally gloss over this video stuff, but that's because it doesn't really matter. The only thing about it is that the contestants should be a lot more careful with their words, as the voting public tends to favour humble over arrogant, or even confident for that matter.
We didn't have to wait for the results of last week, as there was no way to build the suspense without making the ousted auditioners compete for nothing.
First up were the Sandys. To nobody's surprise, Laura was safe. Then Billy Bush called Ashley's name, and he did his best to keep some suspense here. He did so well (and it's rare you'll ever see me compliment Billy Bush) that Ashley obviously thought she was leaving. I'm not exaggerating when I say "obviously". The emotions that played over her face were all over the place, but the dawning horror that came with the thought that she was about to be told that she was done was very visible and you could see the tears start welling up. After stringing her along long enough, Billy told her she was safe, and it all disappeared to be replaced by joy.
Manipulating emotions and breaking hearts. That's good television!
So Allie was gone, and she took the news like a real trooper. But don't let it get you down, kid, you're goin' places! (Imagine the last two sentences being spoken by someone in a movie from the Forties, as that's how it sounded in my head when I wrote them.)
Because these were the last eliminations before the finale, Allie got a nice little video tribute showing her journey from the auditions until now. That was sweet.
Next were the Dannys, and Austin was... pause for dramatic effect... safe. And the other Danny proceding on would be... after this commercial break.
Of course they never screw with minds the same way twice in a row, so when Derek's name was called next, it wasn't looking good for him. Sure enough, the best looking Danny and John Stamos' double was gone, and Max moved on.
Derek got his video journey as well, but he also got something Allie didn't. A word from one of the panel members. Kathleen was sad to see him go, and she said she was sure they would work together again. So I guess because Allie didn't get any similar encouragement, Kathleen must think the closest they'll ever work together again is when Allie asks her if she'd like fries with that. Don't be so mean, Kathleen. Allie rocks.
The competition would be different this week. Instead of singing their own songs, the Sandys and Dannys would be singing together so we could more easily compare and contrast them. I like this idea. It would have been a little tedious to see it carried throughout the season, but for one episode? Cool.
Laura and Ashley - Oh, this is one of those biggie songs, one of Sandy's biggest moments in Grease and frankly the only song in the whole thing I really don't care for - "Hopelessly Devoted To You". Laura has the stronger voice, but Ashley not only held her own, I actually liked her whole peformance (including the acting during the song) a little better. Still, this was a little too close to call.
Possibly because these were the finals, the panel didn't have any commentary after the song. Instead, each of the women got a video from a loved one. Laura had to push her wedding back because of this competition, and her fiance got to let her know how all their plans were coming along. Ashley's was more weepy with her sister letting her know how proud she was of her, despite early sibling rivalry over the whole theatre thing that came up after Ashley hurt herself and could no longer do ballet. She wishes she could be there, but unfortunately she couldn't afford the flight... If it weren't for the fans. Apparently a lot of people on the NBC message board came together to buy a ticket for Ashley's sister to come see her, and so she was able to be in the audience providing her support.
Audience voting is never on talent alone, so the winner from this video showdown has to be Ashley. The viewers like weepy.
The women then got to give a plea to the audience to vote for them, and they both seemed pretty even here.
Austin and Max - We've been hearing part of this song all season. The Dannys had to sing "Sandy", but fortunately for both of them it wasn't on the way out. I thought Austin sang more strongly, but Max acted it better and gave the right emotion for the lyrics.
Instead of videos from loved ones, the guys instead gave video interviews where they said what this competition means to them. Austin sees this as his last shot. He feels he needs to be somehwere by a certain age, and if this doesn't do it for him, it might be the end. Eh. I'm sorry, but if you really love performing, you will still do it even if you don't become a star. He should also be happy he's not a woman, or that age limit would be so much younger.
Max let us know he had Bell's Palsy as a child, and so he had to relearn how to use his face. He said because of this, it hurts when people say he's not "conventional looking" (though he isn't a conventional looking Danny, and that would be the case even without the palsy). No matter what else happens, I've got a strong feeling this video won the competition for Max. It's one thing to be a spunky underdog, but to overcome this too? He has this in the bag.
Billy then informed us that the margin between their votes from the previous week was about 1%. Yeah, that video surely put Max over the edge. The two men got their turn to plead for votes, but really, unless Austin started sharing how he was able to overcome years in a wheelchair, he's not going to beat Max no matter how hard he pleads.
There was still a lot of time left in the show, and I was wondering how they were going to fill it. It turned out the competition wasn't over yet. To help the audience judge chemistry, the Dannys and Sandys were going to take turns singing with each other.
The first song was "Endless Love", and the first couple was...
Austin and Ashley - Ashley was great, Austin not so much. But fortunately there was some chemistry there. Enough to make up for the difference in singing ability? I don't know.
Max and Laura - Laura was great, Max not so much. The women have outclassed the men throughout this whole process, and sadly enough we're at the final four and they still continue to do outshine. I'm afraid that no matter who becomes Danny, they're not going to be as good as Sandy and that could hurt the show. Max did put more emotion into the song than Danny, but I didn't feel any chemistry from this pairing which isn't good, as they seem to be the favourites.
It was then time to switch up and sing "I Had The Time Of My Life".
Laura and Austin - This was a much better song for Austin. So much so, I have to say this was my favourite performance of his yet. He was very strong through the whole song, and he did it in his baritone range, a range he seems to be a lot more comfortable and enjoyable in. He and Laura were very good together, and showed quite a bit of chemistry.
Ashley and Max - Neither of them were as strong as the other two here, but they were still pretty darned good. There was a lot more chemistry for Max with Ashley than there was between him and Laura.
Not that it matters. Based on the cheers in the audience alone, Max has this sewn up. If he does, it will be interesting to see how people who go see Grease on Broadway but have never seen this show will accept him.
Now that all the competitive singing was over, we finally got to hear from the panel.
Kathleen would love any one of them in the show, but who does she see most as a greaser and his high school sweetheart? Max and Laura.
Really? I know a lot of people love these two individually, but I felt no sparks at all between the two of them in their song.
Jim said the characters have evolved over the years, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Max and Laura were the two for him as well.
Oh come on. Am I the only one who was left cold by their duet?
David thought it came down to Austin's looks versus Max's humour, and that Max made him laugh so he feels America will fall in love with him, so he "edges it" for him. The women were almost too close to call, but Laura got it by that much just for passion alone.
I really hope for the sake of this Broadway production that I'm wrong about this lack of chemistry between Max and Laura if they win. However, I'm not so sure Laura's going to go all the way.
Yes, she's blown us away with many of her peformances, and by that measure alone she should get this. But as I've said many times, that's not all an audience votes on. She's always seemed a little... I don't want to insult her and I don't mean this in an insulting way... "colder" than Ashley, as well as a little less innocent. I don't mean Laura is cold and hardened by the ways of the world, but her emotions seem to be a little less close to the surface than Ashley, and that could hurt her despite her strong voice.
The Sandy votes could really go either way, and Ashley had enough strong performances this night to sway people who wanted to vote for her emotionally. I'd bet money on Max winning, but I wouldn't bet on the Sandys.
Finally we got to say goodbye to Derek and Allie.
Derek's version of "Sandy" was too upbeat for me, and his "Oh, Sandy!" at the end was with a smile. This made it so much easier to see him go. This last song is where they should be showing us what a big mistake it was to not vote for them, and "Sandy" needs to be full of longing.
Allie's "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)" was triumphant, a very nice way to end the last competitive episode of the season.

The Apprentice L.A. - Aired March 18

Donald Trump is no stranger to hyperbole, but when the potential Apprentices met him on the set of NBC's soap opera Passions, he reached either a new high or low, depending on how you want to look at it. Either way, it was funny. It's obvious that The Apprentice is pre-taped, and this particular season was done some time ago, when The Donald referred to the recently cancelled Passions as one of "NBC's top-rated shows". As far as soaps go, this one has been a basement dweller since its inception, and now its end is coming.
It was an awesome moment made all that much better by the fact that the task, while related to soap operas, had nothing to do with the goings on in Harmony. Yeah, I watched Passions when it first came out, but the story lines dragged on for so friggin' long I lost patience and now I just stick to Days Of Our Lives.
The task this week was to make a 45 second "webisode" for Soft Scrub Deep Clean Foaming Cleanser. All I want to know is will it make me feel clean again after just plugging it? So dirty... So very dirty... Won't wash off! Now I know how the executives who would be judging this feel.
After he came close to being fired last week, Arrow's James decided the best thing for him to do would be to step up and be the project manager. This always happens when someone has a tough boardroom, but nobody should be letting themselves get into that position in the first place. You shouldn't be stepping into the PM role because now you feel you have something to prove. You should be clamouring for it from the start of the game, and you should be doing your damnedest to make sure Trump has no reason to fire you even if you lose, and I don't mean by covering your ass. Yes, if you have doubts about your team's approach to a task, air them early on, but once that's done, dig in and work as hard and as well as your can.
Over at Kinetic, Kristine got to remain PM after her win last week. She lucked into the half-time show, something she's done before, but now she has to create an entertaining and informative 45 second story, something outside her comfort zone.
The problems she had with Muna last week surfaced again, with Muna questioning things again and not wanting to work behind the camera. Allowing her to be one of the performers was a mistake on both their parts. When trying to communicate with an audience through a webcast, clarity is the most important thing and as cool as Muna's accent is, it's not the right thing to have on camera for this task in this format.
That wasn't Kristine's only mistake though. While Heidi and Muna were busy filming, she and Angela went out to do some shopping. Why? What is it about shopping that Angela couldn't have done by herself? Without a director behind the camera, things were not going well.
The only thing that might save Kinetic was Arrow's particularly lame production. We've discovered from this experience that not only can nobody on Arrow act, their idea of a performance is TALKING VERY LOUD!
"HEY HONEY, LOOK WHAT I DID! I CLEANED THE BATHROOM WITH THIS NEW SOFT SCRUB CLEANSER!"
"WONDERFUL! I'VE JOINED THE FOREIGN LEGION!"
"EMILY, NOOOOOO!"
"ENJOY YOUR CLEAN BATHROOM, BRICK!"
Despite how atrocious their production was, Arrow was very pleased with it in the editing room. No so much with Kinetic, where Muna was so hard to understand in places that they had to edit out quite a bit just to make their webisode someone understandable. I don't know what their time limit was, or what resources they had available, but I was wondering if there was any way they could have dubbed over it all. Heck, if things were so far lost, I would have tried a comedic approach and dubbed the whole thing over in Spanish with obviously mismatched lipsynching then put in English subtitles.
Unfortunately, because so much was cut out, Kinetic also lost a lot of the product placement. If they had Kristine in front of the camera, they might well have won this task by having a more entertaining production, but they didn't and Arrow won this week.
Arrow's reward for winning was to fly to Sacramento in a private jet and meet the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Honestly, there was a time where I thought that would have been cool to meet him, but not so much anymore. They enjoyed it though.
The firing was obviously going to be between Kristine and Muna, though you never know what could set off Trump in the boardroom. For the first time ever, we really saw a crack in Heidi's boardroom performance. When Trump asked her who she thought should be fired, she tried so hard to be diplomatic and not hurt the feelings of anyone she liked, she frustrated The Donald who just wanted her to make a decision.
Considering that he asked her what's happened, that she started out as a superstar but has been on the losing team way too often now, this wasn't the time for her to be diplomatic. When Trump asks you who should be fired, give him a name. If you must, say, "I have a lot of respect for her, but I would fire Muna." Trump liked Muna, and he did see how Kristine cost her team this task. However, Muna certainly contributed to the loss too. So with a tough decision on his mind, let's give him time to think as we look at our weekly feature, How Did The Winning Project Manager Compare to Heidi?
James was another quiet one. He did ask a question without prompting from Trump, always a good thing, but it was just one question. His comfort level didn't seem to be where it could be sitting at The Hair's side. A middling performance, not one that said, "There's The Apprentice!"
In the end, Muna paid the price for the loss this week. She didn't go out as angry as Aimee, but she wasn't as fine with the firing as Derek and Jenn were. She definitely wasn't pleased, that's for sure.
This leaves us with three members left on Kinetic versus five on Arrow, so don't be surprised to see a shake-up on the next episode. While I'd love to see Heidi take another turn at project manager and save her reputation, the way the season is set up for this now means Angela really should be getting that position as she hasn't taken a turn yet and she should fight tooth and nail to get the job.

Grease: You're The One That I Want - Aired March 11

It's getting close to the end. This is the final week where the panel gets to save anyone, then we'll be to our final six and it's all up to the audience.
The musical number to start the night was "Grease" itself and it wasn't bad. Luckily these are just an opportunity for the group to perform together and we're not judging them on it.
We're also finding ourself back to having a guest panelist, and to grace us with his knowledge and experience was Rob Marshall, director of the screen version of "Chicago" (a fine movie) and brother of panelist Kathleen.
Before finding out who's in the bottom two, there was a quick video recap of the previous week, and strangely enough, all the Dannys want to win. Now we can breathe easy. I hate when you get a group of competitors all vying to lose.
Except for a dramatic pause, there weren't any games played this week. Austin and Chad were called out, and they were the bottom two. My first thought was "Derek's cracking voice just might win now!" My second was, this isn't good for Chad as he's been in the bottom more than Austin, who has never been there. But on the other hand, that could well be why they haven't let Austin go either, so we'll have to wait and see.
There is a theme for the songs again. The Sandys are all going to be showing their emotional sides, whereas the Dannys will all be doing Elvis. Nice, and very appropriate. The remaining women are all strong, so it would be strange to see any of them really falter. However, the men are still quite iffy, and if anyone is going to bring out the Danny Zuko in any of them, it's the King.
Allie - Oooh! "Natural Woman"! Great song if sung well. She did a very nice job on it, but not fantastic. As good as her voice is, it's probably the weakest of the three remaining women. She went for it though, and that helped a lot.
Derek - Singing "Devil in Disguise", this was the first time I could really see this John Stamos lookalike as Danny. It suited his voice, and I thought this was his strongest performance to date.
Something special the contestants got after each pairing was a video of friends and families, showing the people supporting them. It was kinda nice, and maybe just the shot in the arm each person needed to give them a little extra boost. Better than the anabolic steroids all of them are all taking.
Kidding.
Kathleen thought Allie sang better than she has been, and Derek showed confidence and charm. Rob said they were both fantastic, but now it's about being in character. Jim and David weren't allowed to say anything! I guess there was too much being squeezed into this hour.
Laura - "Don't Leave Me This Way". Laura wasn't my favourite going in, but she's been giving us one great performance after another, and this was yet another best of the night. If she doesn't win the role, it's not going to be her singing that cost her.
Max - I don't know. He sang "Suspicious Minds" and it just left me flat. He can do so much better than this, but on the other hand, he can do so much worse too.
Jim said he was virtually speechless, and it was a good thing he had that "virtually" qualifier, 'cause he kept on a-talkin'. What it all boiled down to is that neither of them were who most people would picture as Danny and Sandy in the beginning, but talent wins out. Rob thought he was looking at the next Sandy and Danny. David and Kathleen weren't allowed to say anything!
Everyone not in the bottom two then gave a performance of "All That Jazz" in honour of Rob Marshall, and sadly it just showed how superior the potential Sandys are to the potential Dannys. The women sizzled in this song, the men were somewhat lukewarm.
Now it was down to Austin and Chad and the Sing Off. Neither liked being in the bottom two, but dadgummit, they were going to fight!
But before singing for their lives, it was time for that weekly kick in the face. Austin, it turned out, had the lowest audience votes. I have to wonder about the wisdom of telling them this before the song.
The song was "Rock And Roll Party Queen", and Austin kicked Chad's butt. Chad wasn't strong in his performance at all, letting Austin's voice completely overwhelm him.
Kathleen got to give the good news/bad news this week, and they had decided to save Austin as he was seen as the better triple threat (singing, dancing, acting).
I don't mention the hosts very often as there is rarely much to say about them, but Denise Van Outen managed to out-annoy Billy Bush as she badgered Chad into saying which of the remaining men he'd pick to win, and so to shut her up he said Max.
Ashley - Our Meg Ryan lookalike sang "Keep Me Hanging On", and she did a strong job. My biggest criticism would be that it just wasn't bluesy enough, but she did give it a lot of emotion and she got much better in the middle of the song. The end part was only as good as the beginning.
If you're familiar with the song, you'll know there are parts where it goes "Whoa whoa whoa!" The first time she did this, it was a little lacklustre. The second time, right at the end, was much, much better. Basically the whole thing was inconsistent, but never bad.
Austin - He did a nice job singing "Can't Help Falling In Love", but I thought he did it a little too Broadway. We're supposed to be hearing Elvis, and he's performing Phantom.
David say they were both great. Ashley has a great voice, and was showing real passion, real emotion, and real acting. He sees her in the final two. He thought it was great to see emotion from Austin, and complimented his lovely baritone voice. He likes how professional he is, but wants to see him use more emotion and to let more of himself show through.
Rob thought both were so talented. He'd like to see them go on stage and show only Sandy, only Danny. Basically he just contradicted what David said what he'd like to see. Rob would have been interested to see them perform these songs as Sandy and Danny. Kathleen and Jim weren't allowed to say anything!
The favourites this week were Austin and Laura for Jim and David, and Max and Laura for Kathleen. Rob wimped out and said they were all fantastic.
Chad got to sing his goodbye song, "Sandy" as is the custom for the guys. He did an okay job, but nothing to make us wish he was still in the competition. His "Oh, Sandy!" at the end had to have been the lamest one yet, and it came out almost happy. No, it has to be full of longing! Yeah, it was okay that he left.
Now we're down to six, and there are no more Sing Offs and nobody can be saved by the panel. Next week, the bottom vote receivers are going home.

The Apprentice L.A. - Aired March 11

The big question this week was, of course, would Surya's unsurpassed management brilliance bring him a third win as project manager?
While the women of Kinetic still like their former teammate, they'd much rather get the win themselves, and this time around it was Kristine's turn to step up, giving her more screen time in one episode than she's really had all season.
It didn't look good for her from the start. The task this week was to do a half-time promotion at a professional soccer match promoting GNC, a vitamin and nutritional supplement company. And as an aside, doesn't it make more sense that the rest of the world calls soccer "football", as there is a lot more connection between feet and the ball than there is in what we call football here? Anyway, the reason things didn't look good for Kristine is that she's done this sort of thing before, doing half-time promotions for an arena football team. Shouldn't that be a good thing? You'd think, but more often that not, when someone on The Apprentice says something is within their field of expertise, they find some way to horribly screw things up so I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen again.
Over on Arrow, driving in the vehicle after getting the assignment, Tim came up with the idea of a story based around a boxing match. Frank picked up on this and they started getting excited about the possibilities. Surya put a damper on their enthusiasm, saying it was a good idea but they should still try to think of others, resulting in rolled eyes and seething resentment.
Unfortunately for them, they didn't come up with anything better, so they went with the boxing.
Kristine's idea for the promotion was to have people dressed up as different vitamins run an obstacle course. I was thinking they should use their Olympic gold medalist somehow, but with a good enough show, they should be able to get by without doing this.
The biggest problem on Kinetic this week was Muna, who kept second-guessing Kristine and expressing concern over the plan, despite the project manager's experience doing these things. Nice try, executive producer Mark Burnett. Make us think that Kinetic might lose and Kristine would take Muna back into the boardroom with her. Classic misdirection.
Despite Muna's concerns, the Kinetic promotion went over smoothly. It was simple but fun, an easy message to get to the hundreds of soccer fans sitting in the stands. Yeah, people kept talking about the "15,000" fans at the game, but there didn't seem to be anywhere near that many watching this all happen. If there were 15,000 people in attendance, I'd hate to think what the lines at the bathrooms were like.
Arrow's show, however... Surya thought it went fantastically, but poor, poor man. It didn't. It was a confusing mess, and so his reign as project manager ended. Poor Surya.
When your goal is to win The Apprentice, you can't get a better reward than something that will let you get face time with the man who will make the final decision, and in this case Kinetic got to have a round of golf with The Donald, and some guy from some golf company who also provided the women each with a brand-new set of clubs. Sadly nobody made a fool of themselves desperately vying for Trump's attention.
I really would have liked it if someone had. As you might have noticed, this has been pretty short. It's not that this season is particularly bad, it's just not the best one we've seen.
The board room was fun. All of Arrow felt Surya should be fired, and he brought James in with him, someone he felt spent too much time covering his own ass, and Tim, who came up with the original boxing idea.
I'm not fond of seeing someone come up with an idea unless all other things are equal, and even then, it boils down to it being the project manager's approval that lets a bad idea go through, so Tim was safe. It came down to Surya's inability to lead this team against James' butt covering, and James did wait until it was way too late to voice his discomfort with the boxing idea. Yes, if you think something's a bad idea, cover your ass, but do so early enough in the process so that things can be changed if necessary. Better still, come up with a decent idea of your own. If nobody accepts it, fine, but at least you tried. That way you have something to really back yourself up with in the board room. With James, it just didn't look good the way he approached it.
There has been criticism that Surya was too repetitive with his points in the board room. He kept repeating his 5-2 record (which includes him as just a team member as well as a PM), but repeating points can often help. He fought hard, and managed to get Tim to admit to James having flaws and covering his ass, even though he still felt Surya should be fired.
But before we get to that, it's time for our weekly feature...
How Did The Winning Project Manager Compare to Heidi?
During the first two weeks of this process, Heidi set the bar for the winning PM and how they do sitting next to Trump in the losing team's board room, and nobody has come close. I'd like to say that Kristine succeeded, but she hardly said a thing. Granted, it would be hard to get a word in the way Surya and James were both defending themselves loudly and repeatedly. It took Trump asking her if she had anything to ask for her to say anything. She did ask a decent question, and she managed to look comfortable there (something not everyone was able to pull off). Heidi is still the champion though.
So Surya was fired, which was no surprise. He was holding his own and possibly even turning the tide in his favour, but then he made the mistake of going too far. He said that with this team in particular, he functions best when he isn't the leader. That so isn't want Trump wants to hear. If you ever, EVER want to be The Apprentice, do not admit to there being any conceivable situation where you couldn't be a leader!
Once the room cleared, The Donald did say he liked how hard Surya fought to stay, something James and Tim both agreed on as they stood watching Surya being driven away. Ah, some respect. Too little, too late, but it was respect. That's always nice to see.

Grease: You're The One That I Want - Aired March 4

Last week it was the Sandys all to themselves, this week it's the Dannys, and with the less talented of the two groups performing, you know it's going to be a great time for everyone. I would also like to let you know the sacrifice I've been making for this blog.
I'm currently able to only record one show and watch another. Grease is on at the same time as The Amazing Race here. They are both also on at the same time as The Simpsons, which has been airing new episodes. Yes, I'm recording friggin' Grease: You're The One That I Want instead of new Simpsons episodes! What kind of monster has this blog made of me?!? This show entertains me, but really, this is too much.
But I will stick it out to the bitter end, despite Billy Bush! If you watch The Office (and really, if you don't, why aren't you?) you'll be very familiar with how cringe-inducing Michael's attempts at jokes are, and it's that cringe-worthiness that's funny. Not with Billy Bush. When he tries to be funny, you just cringe. I even wrote down in my notes, "Billy Bush still an idiot." I can't even remember what he said, just that it was worthy of that note.
My bellyaching aside, let's get to the show.
The opening number was "Greased Lightning" with some horribly cleaned up language.
"You know without a doubt we'll be really makin' out in Greased Lightning!"
Yeah, it's American network television (language restrictions are much more relaxed in Canada, where The Sopranos aired on broadcast television uncut (though at least you guys make great shows like The Office and The Simpsons, and we make Corner Gas)), but that was still lame.
The one thing about watching this number is it became very clear that there are no John Travoltas amongst the remaining Dannys, or even any Jeff Conaways. He played Kenickie in the movie. There is more raw sexuality in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants than there was on stage this night. But that's just me. The audience full of screaming 14-year-old girls loved it, and hooo boy, they were screaming.
What has become one of my favourite parts of the show is the videos where we get to see egos on display and the contestants smacktalking each other. Usually it's all about how everyone is friends and we all love one another, so this makes for a nice change. Apparently Chad is really talked about poorly by the rest of the guys!
No! No gossip here! Even though it's still fun to see. Tee hee!
Oh, and the panel is three people again, and there were absolutely no special guests this week. It's possible word about the show has gotten around, and nobody wants to work with Billy Bush.
Austin - It seems that all the guys have things they've had to work on, and for Austin, it was loosening up and allowing himself to be more comedic. So he went to the Groundlings theatre with some of the Sandys (who seemed to go with most of the guys on these excursions) where he got some lessons from one of the members of that troupe.
His song this week was "Fun Fun Fun", and it was anything but. Yes, he was trying, but he was trying too hard and left me flat. The screamers enjoyed it, but that's because they enjoy a man twice their age on stage in a too-tight shirt dancing around. Hell, we've all been there, and I'm sure I'm not alone in going to a motel with the guy.
David had fun looking at the Sandys who were dancing with Austin, like we really believe David looks at women (I kid, he's married with two children). He's still not convinced with Austin, and wants to see more of a twinkle in his eye. Jim said it felt forced, but he too was partially distracted by the women (which I believe, because he's been lusting after the Sandys since the season premiere). Kathleen disagreed with them, which makes me wonder about her judging abilities now. She said she thought it was great and that he was loose and goofy. She loves his attack and energy.
Derek - After the huge crack in his song two weeks ago, his trip was to a vocal therapist to avoid that happening again.
He sang "Heaven", the Bryan Adams song, and I liked his performance even though there was a hint of a crack in it again at one point, but not as horrifying as the previous time.
Kathleen said Derek redeemed himself, but he needs to show a more unpredictable side. Jim said it was a solid performance, though he questioned if he heard a crack or if it was just Derek's song styling. David said it was definitely a crack, and thought the approach to the song was safe and boring. He needs to work on his vocals, something David sees as a worry.
Max - Max's goal was to work on his physicality, and to do this, he went to a gym and spent some time in a boxing ring. Unfortunately he didn't do any actual sparring, as that would have livened things up somewhat. It was entertaining to hear the pseudo-Rocky music. It was close enough to invoke the music of the movie, but they didn't have to pay for the rights. Everyone wins!
He sang "Hard To Handle", and it was easily one of the best "rock" performances of the series. It still wasn't completely believable rock and roll, but it was enough to make this the performance of the night.
Oh yeah. This is where Billy Bush said, "Crummbelievable!" I'll leave you to ponder that one for a moment.




David was impressed. "Wow, what a transformation!" Yes, Max has an "unconventional look" (a nice way of saying, "not very attractive"), but he has pure talent and he hopes Broadway can accept him as the next sex symbol. Out with it, David! Just call him a horrifying mutant who can sing and dance! You know you want to!
Jim said it's been building with Max, and yes, he has lots of talent. He loved the performance. Kathleen thought it was fun to see him strut and sneer, and she sees him more and more each week as a Danny Zuko.
Chad - His issue was trying to fill a theatre with his presence, so he used Shakespeare and a UCLA professor to help them with that. It helped that Chad's the best actor of the remaining Dannys, something we know because he told us so.
He sang "Don't Stop Me Now", and I liked it. It was the second best performance of the night, I thought anyway. But then I also think Chad looks like a young Donny Osmond, but without the 70s hair.
Kathleen saw a leading man, but he was vocally in and out and she wants to see him make the songs more his own. Jim thinks he's too pretty looking (having struck out with the Sandys, Jim seems to have moved on to the Dannys), so he needs to toughen up. Maybe if they cut his face or something. Yes, that's what he said and I found it quite funny. Certainly funnier than anything Billy has said all season. David said it wasn't the greatest vocal performance, but that pretty looking guy would sell millions of tickets. Yeah, because "pretty" outsells "talent" all the time on Broadway.
Oh. Maybe it does. It certainly works a lot in Hollywood.
Because there was no special guest this week, there was time for some more video, and we got a look into what a week is like for the contestants. Despite my snarking, they do work hard to get ready for each Sunday. On Monday mornings they get an envelope with the song they're to perform, which they have to learn and practise. On Wednesday they have a vocal coach and a choreography coach. There are also the wardrobe fittings, which in itself takes time away from rehearsing their songs and choreography. Show days are the most hectic of the lot. That may not sound like much, but getting ready to perform a number on live, national television as well as learning the opening number? All that rehearsing is where all the hardest work is.
Finally we came to the bottom two. Who would it be this week? Kathleen and Allie, that's who, making it three weeks in a row for Kathleen. If this was based on votes along, Allie would be the one to go home.
With no time to compose themselves, it was right on to the song, "Raining On Prom Night". The song itself, one of my favourites on the Grease soundtrack, is a little silly in its lyrics, but it works best when the singer approaches it seriously, which is why I liked Allie's version better than Kathleen's, though they both have strong, beautiful voices.
There was a commercial, and when we came back we got to see how the two of them reacted to being in the bottom two, but that's pretty much the same thing every week. The panel was polled as to who they thought the best Danny was this week, and Max was the unanimous choice.
Then David had to do the dirty work. The woman he was about to save was Jim and Kathleen's choice, not his, but the one staying was Allie.
I liked Kathleen, but it will be nice to not have to distinguish between Judge Kathleen and Contestant Kathleen anymore. She has a great voice and lots of potential, so there is no reason she can't have a career on stage.
As has become customary now, we heard another touching version of "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)" when Kathleen sang her last song. I have to think that it's a combination of the real emotion they're feeling combined with the relaxation of not having to compete, but this has been one of the best songs the Sandys have been singing for a few weeks now.
They've also been working closely enough that we're starting to see more tears coming from the remaining Sandys too, which adds to the poignancy of this number.
But damn it, I'm still missing The Simpsons for this.

The Apprentice L.A. - Aired March 4

Did you know that Donald Trump has been appearing on WWE Raw? He's going to be at Wrestlemania with his chosen wrestler going up against Vince McMahon's chosen wrestler. The winner gets to shave the loser's head. Does anyone really think that Trump would allow his head to be shaven? It would be interesting to see.
More interesting than this episode was shaping up to be, but then things happened to make it one of the most unusual Apprentices yet.
After winning the task last week, Surya got to stay on as project manager of Arrow, demonstrating how that twist can completely skew everything this season. You can be sure his team isn't happy about this, but what can they do? Deliberately blow a task? Too risky. This is one twisted twist. Keep winning, the project manager gets most of the credit. Deliberately lose, you stand a good chance of going.
Of course, you could end up going just because you said the wrong thing. More on that soon.
Over on Kinetic, Jenn wanted to take her turn managing the team. After everything that happened last week, she wanted to step up to the challenge as most people do and should after they're brought into the boardroom after a loss and manage to survive.
Derek was please with Aimee being fired last time, and he felt that all they needed to do now is get rid of last of the "riff-raff" who just so happens to have been Jenn. With that done, then their team would truly excel.
The task this week was to create a special owner experience for the newest model Lexus. Simple enough, one would think.
Kinetic was struggling for ideas. They came up with the theme, "Come Experience Your Sixth Sense of Luxury," but nothing beyond that. Angela was put in charge of creativity though the whole team was brainstorming. Hey! I know! Instead of a "sixth sense of luxury", how about a "gold medal experience" and use your Olympic gold medallist to sell the idea of excellence? Instead, they come up with a magician (not bad, if done correctly (so of course it wasn't)), and go-karts. Yes, go-karts. Derek threw it out as an idea, as people do in brainstorming sessions, and Jenn jumped on it despite everyone else on the team - including Derek - hating it.
Here's the thing... You don't always need activities, especially when it's going to be nothing but adults there. I may be wrong, but I suspect they'd be able to go an afternoon without playing. Oh, I'm sure in most people's minds Lexus equals go-karts, but unless they're gold-plated and chauffeur-driven, they're not likely going to go over too well here.
As for Arrow, well, I don't know and I don't care what they were up to. Surya was driving them crazy, the rest were doing stuff, the two what's-their-faces were romancing, blah blah blah. They had a spiffy looking presentation with lots of luxury balloons and luxury foods in a luxurious setting, and other than a car battery dying from overuse, everything went rather well with nobody seemingly getting bored with no activities.
Andrea and Derek at Kinetic were having trouble with signage, Andrea particularly not being able to make up her mind and the deadline coming and going. This was a disaster in the making, so we have a very good idea of who is likely going to be going back in the board room (as soon as Jenn settled on go-karts, you know they were heading there). Fortunately for them, despite missing the deadline for guaranteed sign delivery, the signs did arrive in time, but they weren't of the standard they were hoping for.
Oh dear. Without fully luxurious signs, how were they going to spiff up their luxuriious crappy ass tents with the luxurious go-kart track outside? And don't even get me started on the luxurious magician! Hey, at least the luxurious magician didn't appear to work blue, making him a better choice than the comedian someone whose name I forget hired a season or two back (who was okay as a comedian, but she was entirely inappropriate for the audience).
Yes, it was all crappy ass luxury, compared to Arrow who had an event that lived up to what we'd expect to see, though why they didn't have pony rides and a petting zoo is beyond me. Anyway, chalk up another win for Surya, the project manager of the season!
It wasn't all bad for certain members of Kinetic. When talking to the Lexus executives, Trumpipoo asked if anyone on the team stood out, and they said that Heidi and Muna were both stars and their product knowledge was amazing. That was a sigh of relief, as they seemed so over the top in their acquiring of that knowledge that for a moment it seemed like they may have been the ones destined for the board room. I guess when it comes to product knowledge, if you're hoping to sell the product, there is no such thing as too much.
Despite the glowing words from the executives, Donaldkins asked Heidi what had happened to her, going from a superstar to being on a team that's losing too often. This lead to more glowing words from her teammates who made it very clear that Heidi was in no way responsible for the loss and that in her assigned area, she excelled.
She really needs another shot at project manager, but there are people on her team who haven't had a chance yet, so it's not likely going to happen yet.
Seeing that we're already on the subject of Heidi, let's do our weekly comparison of the winning PM's boardroom ability to that standard set by Heidi the first two weeks.
Honestly, I wasn't even sure Surya was there at first until we got a good camera angle. Trump even got to the point where he asked him if he was going to say anything at all, prompting Surya to spout out a question. Interestingly, the previous Apprentice winner who was Donald's eyes and ears this week was old Squidward himself, Randall (or is it Randal? I don't care, because he was the one who didn't want to share the spotlight with Rebecca a couple of seasons back, the last time there were two clear choices for the title) spoke a little too much, and Trump asked him to be quiet at one point so he could say something. Ha! You should have said yes to Rebecca!
I like the idea of the winning PM being in the boardroom, but I'm wishing there was more turnover in the position now so we could see how more people handle it.
Talking to the losing team, The Donald was asking Derek a question, I can't remember what, when Derek referred to himself as "white trash". Trump did not like this, and he doesn't want anyone working for him who refers to themselves like that, even if they're joking, so he fired Derek right there.
Dang. And there was still a good 10 minutes left, which means it was likely someone else was going to go. We've seen double and even quadruple firings before, but it's always at the same time. It's never like that. Derek took it good naturedly, hey, it's only The Apprentice and it's not like any of these people are hurting for money going in as they tend to be fairly successful before being selected.
You know what? That would be an awesome season of The Apprentice. Instead of taking people who are already successful, take a group of intelligent hard workers who, for whatever reason, haven't been particularly successful. People who would be very hungry for this opportunity. Now that would be a season worth watching. Granted, the job at the end couldn't have as much responsibility, but give them something that would be better than anything they've done before and would give them the chance to learn skills that would vastly improve their employability.
Anyway, once Derek was gone, there was some apprehension in the room. What just happened? Is this over? Can we go now? Well, it wasn't over yet. Trumpster had more to say and more to ask. When he wondered who Jenn was going to going to bring with her, she wanted Andrea and, unfortunately, Derek. They were the creative staff and she saw it as their fault that they lost. She may have succeeded in saving her butt if she hadn't been so insistant on the go-karts. How can she ever enjoy them again, knowing they cost her this "job interview"?
Yeah, Jenn was fired. One thing the rest of her team wanted Trump and her to know was that they respect her, they just think she didn't do a good job on this task. After she was fired, Muna made sure she knows they respect her. It was okay though, Jenn took the firing very well. It's nice to see people realize they're only on a competitive reality show competing for a chance to work for Donald Trump. Unlike Aimee's ouster last week, this one ended with smiles and hugs and good wishes.
Wait a minute! No, that's not nice! Damn it, this is The Apprentice!
Next week we'd better see some anger and bile again.

Grease: You're The One That I Want - Aired February 25

It was another hour long episode this week, but instead of duets it was the Sandys performing only. With everything else that has gone wrong with this show, they've actually had some good ideas. By having just the women perform this week and just the men next week, it allows them to cut out a lot of the filler they'd need if they kept the show at two hours or even ninety minutes. This is an advantage they have over a show like, say, So You Think You Can Dance, which has couples perform all the time so they can't do anything like this to make for a tighter episode. The bad news, and there's always bad news, is that this means the show is going to last at least one extra episode.
So being Ladies Night, they started with a women's song, "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee". I couldn't see any of them playing Rizzo, they lacked the necessary edge for a song that is about being a little cruel towards someone, but they all did a good job and had fun with it. Maybe it's because nobody's competing in these group numbers so they're all more relaxed, but it always seems like people do better in these than they do in their actual competition songs.
The special guest this week is Frankie Avalon, who you might remember as the (slightly old) Teen Angel singing "Beauty School Dropout" from the movie, and even more important, he was Frankie opposite Annette in the Beach movies! However, unlike previous guests, he's not there to judge but to sing his famous Grease song. For the first time since the show went live, we're going to have a three-person panel.
Before getting to the competition, we got a look at the competitors over the last week where they were doing a lot more in the way of acting, and this included a lot of shots of different Dannys and Sandys kissing. This is one thing that's disappointing me about this series. The competitors have to be a triple threat of singing, dancing, and acting. Every week we see them sing, and quite often we get to see them do some moves. However, the only acting we're really shown is any they do while they're singing. Damn it, I want the chance to judge them as complete stage performers! It would be a little harder to pull off a completely non-musical episode, but we should at least get a chance to vote for the whole package.
The bottom four this week are Chad, Kevin, Kate, and Kathleen. Yes, despite how horribly he missed some notes last week, Derek is safe. I'd put money on which Danny is leaving, but the Sandys are too close to call. We're going to have to wait until later to say goodbye to anyone though. Before that, we get to see the safe women compete.
Ashley - Her scene partner over the week was Kevin, and we do get to see some acting, but just a taste. Damn you, producers! This sucks! Unlike Ashley's singing. Not that she blew me away. Performing "These Boots Are Made For Walking", she had some good moves that fit in with the song, but there was something lacking in her vocals. The woman in this song is strong and she's not going to put up with some guy's crap. She didn't make me feel that. With only four women left after tonight, they're going to have to do much better than this.
The Dannys may have not been competing tonight, but that didn't mean they got to slack off. Instead, they were employed as dancers for the women. Some used more than others, but they all got some stage time. I liked this idea.
Going to the panel, Kathleen loves Ashley, but she wishes she wasn't so poised and would like her to show more passion. Jim, ever the filthy old man, liked her in her boots and thought she was great. David was unconvinced by her, and would like to see more passion as well. His socks, he claimed, weren't knocked off.
Allie - Her scene partner was Max, and apparently there is some real life flirting going on with them. I will not make any jokes about straight guys in musical theatre, but feel free to insert your own here. However much real life flirting they were doing, Kathleen didn't see it in their performances and didn't much care for their scenes.
Just like I didn't care much for Allie's song, "It's Oh So Quiet". It wasn't her fault, it's the song I don't like. I did like what she did with it though and she was having fun up there. That's really what matters here. It doesn't matter how technically good you are as a singer, we need to feel you in the song. That's true in any singing venue, but more so in a musical where the songs are often ways of communicating your inner voice and feelings to the audience.
Kathleen thought she was fun, free, and real, and would like to see her bring this to her scenes. Jim said it was musical comedy at its best. Carrie Ann Inaba said... oops! Dancing With The Stars doesn't start until March 19! Will I cover it? I'd like to, but five shows going at once may be a little too much. Besides, I still haven't watched last season yet, and I've still got it on tape. Anyway, David thinks Allie needs to work on her acting, because in a competition where they're looking for a triple threat, will two out of three be enough?
Laura - Her scene partner was Derek, and Kathleen's criticism was that she shouldn't just be sweet, she should be sultry too.
Someone was listening, because when she sang "Fever", she was sultry as heck! Dang, Laura, between this performance and "Jesus Christ, Superstar", you just became the front runner! There's been too much worrying about singing with polish, and it was great to see someone not only concern themselves with the emotion and to do it this well! Easily the performer of the night.
The panel seemed to agree. David got very alliterative and said she was sexy, sultry (see?), sophisticated, and she sizzled. Jim said she reached another level of "WHOOOO!". Kathleen thought she was watching a star, and likes how she commits herself.
After they went backstage earlier, the bottom four shared their thoughts on being the bottom four, and surprisingly none of them wanted to go home. On stage after these shocking comments, Billy Bush announced the bottom two vote getters, and it was Kevin and Kate. He then told us the name of the song they'd all be singing - Blue Moon, from the movie Grease. And from rock'n'roll history, but we can pretend it didn't exist before 1978 if you'd like.
All of them were okay. There wasn't one of them I wanted to see saved based on this performance alone. Sure, they sang it prettily enough, but it goes back to feeling them in the song.
This week was Jim's turn to do the dirty work, and they saved Kathleen and Chad. To their credit, Kevin and Kate maintained a very positive outlook about this result and their futures in the business. I liked that a lot.
Kathleen - Her fellow bottom four dweller, Chad, was her scene partner. As it turns out, Kathleen has never had a stage kiss before. It worked out to her advantage, because it added to her awkwardness as Sandy with Danny trying to kiss her. Kathleen really liked her vivaciousness in the scenes.
Unfortunately, her song this week, "Let's Hear It For The Boy", was her worst one yet in my opinion. Her vocal wasn't great, and she seemed to be trying too hard to be fun. Kudos to her for trying to bring the right emotion to the song though. It just has to be natural.
David didn't think that was her best vocal either, and she seemed to be out of breath for much of the song. He said her acting scenes were fabulous (and they were what saved her), but she will have to blow them away in her performances. Jim agreed with David, and said her acting took his heart. Judge Kathleen is a fan of Competing Kathleen, but isn't sure if this role is right for her.
Finally we got Frankie Avalon singing "Beauty School Dropout" with the remaining Sandys. They did a good job backing him up, but personally I would have liked them to bring more personality to it. If you watch the movie, look at the Pink Ladies. They may only be backing him up, but their characters still shine through.
After this it's more video time, and we get to hear who the Sandys feel are their favourite Dannys, and this is balanced out by the Dannys smack-talking each other. It was quite enjoyable to see. If we could see more backstage bitchiness and less Billy Bush, this would be a far better show.
The panel then gave their opinions as to the best Sandy of the night, and it was Laura in an unanimous decision. I fully concur. Good job, panel.
As is the custom, our rejected Danny and Sandy each got to sing one last time. Kevin's rendition of "Sandy" wasn't bad, but it really didn't tug at the ol' heartstrings enough. At least it did tug a little bit though, to his credit. His "Oh, Sandy..." at the end, however, was very good. Acting! There may just be some thespian in this boy yet!
Kate started out with some microphone problems, but that was sorted out quickly enough to give us what was possibly the best "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)" yet. In fact, she did such an excellent job at it that I was quite pissed we didn't get to hear more of her and got too much of the other Sandys singing with her. I haven't been a fan of this arrangement from the start, because it doesn't give the departing woman enough lines in her own farewell song, but this was too much. If she had been bringing this much emotion to the rest of her performances, we would have been seeing quite a different result this week, I'm sure.

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.

The Apprentice L.A. - Aired February 18

Surya was angry after last week's boardroom. Oh, he was PISSED! So full of righteous fury was he that it was all I could do to not shout "SHUT THE HELL UP!" at my television. He was just that mad.
Um, get over it? He has family, a job, and a reputation to go back to after this is all over. I usually recommend that people watch the show they're going to compete on to get an idea on how to succeed in the competition. This time, I would have recommended that Surya watch the show before going on to see what show he was going on. Besides, by the time this is all over for him it's highly likely there will be much more happening to hurt his reputation than one boardroom, and in order to hasten that along he demanded to be the next project manager. Okay, Mr. Raging Hair, let's see how you do.
Huh. All this time doing this blog, and I just noticed I can do this or this or even this. I promise I won't (usually), but damn, how could I have missed that? There is one button for Edit Html, and one for Compose. I've always just stayed on the default Edit Html side because it does everything I want it to. Yes, I'm digressing. What do you want me to do, talk about Aimee? Fine.
Aimee was feeling pretty good about herself after last week's victory, and she was pretty sure she's the pinnacle of management excellence. She is a glorious Golden Goddess and her minions flock to her light where she leads them to decisive, historic victories that will be sung of by bards for millennia to come. Her team, however, felt a little different and they pretty much won the last task in spite of her. Well, with the new rule for winning project managers she now has a second chance to prove to them just how fantastic she really is.
This week's task is pretty simple. Each team was to go to a different shopping mall in Las Angeles and get people to enter a Priceline.com sweepstakes. The team with the most people signed up wins. Set up an attractive booth and get out there and sell, sell, sell. How much easier can it get?
Kinetic already has an ace up their sleeve. Come meet an Olympic Gold Medalist and enter a free sweepstakes! HOW DID THEY NOT USE ANGELA FOR THIS?!?!? Are they under some sort of injunction that prohibits them from using her as a spokesperson for anything other than honey? I liked the tropical themed booth they had set up, even though Aimee really didn't like an inflatable pink octopus. She reeeeeeeaaaaalllllyyyy didn't like it. She didn't like it so much that I have a feeling she was letting out all her sublimated hostility over never being able to make a decision at it. Well, at least she knows how to delegate poorly without putting enough thought into it. That's a skill that will do well for her in life.
Derek and Jenn were walking through the location with a mall representative and Derek asked what the ethnic makeup of the mall customers was, and she told him it was 50% Hispanic and 50% trailer park trash. Ha! Noooo, she didn't call the honkies that! I did wonder why the heck Derek would ask that, but as it turned out, it was a good question. I live in a fairly linguistically homogenous city in a fairly linguistically province in Canada. We do have some French enclaves around Alberta, but for the most part you'd have to head much further east for language to be an issue.
Aimee is from Chicago, so I'm actually on her side that it may not have occurred to her that many of the mall customers might have a problem with English. Derek not only asked the question of the mall representative, he's also from L.A. and he speaks Spanish. That they didn't have translators there and all their signs, ads, and computer sign-up bilingual falls largely on his shoulders.
"Watch the damned show" comes into play here as well. One thing that usually works out very well on The Apprentice is doing casual focus groups. Go talk to your potential customers. If someone bothered going through the mall talking to customers to find out what would attract them to the sweepstakes, the language issue would have come up a lot sooner. This also gave us something for future Apprentices to learn from when they watch this damned season. If you're going to be competing in a location you're not familiar with, and you know where it's going to be, study up on it. Learn everything you think you may need to know for what may come up.
Over on the Arrow side, Surya continued to make himself into someone it will be very pleasant to see fired. The task is getting people to sign up for a sweepstakes. That's it. Yes, it's more than just setting up a table and waiting for people to come to you, but it's not that much more. The way he was approaching it though, you'd swear he was getting ready for a hostile takeover of the Coca-Cola company. He really doesn't fit in with his team. It's like putting Sean Penn in with the Three Stooges. Not that Sean Penn is dour and humourless! Oh, wait. Yes, because Sean Penn is dour and humourless. (I'm thinking back to a recent dour and humourless Academy Awards appearance he made, when he didn't much like the host's joke at the expense of a fellow dour and humourless actor.) Arrow may be a little too goofy at times, but at least they work well with people on their own wavelength.
"Frankie Suits" annoys the hell out of me, but he can sell up a storm unlike Surya who appeared to have no luck with his little walk around the mall. That was bad, but even worse is that his team had no idea where he went. Really, if you're going to disappear, tell someone. Especially if you're the project manager, and even if your team does better without you.
So much better, Arrow won. The lack of understanding of the mall's clientele likely killed Kinetic in this task. Having everything bilingual and hiring an interpreter or two could have made all the difference in the world.
The reward Arrow got for winning this task, other than getting to move back out of the tents, was a surfing lesson from a couple of champion surfers followed by supper at a fancy restaurant. It all seemed fun until the waves got bigger and bigger. It really didn't seem safe for a beginner out there. Someone might get... Ouch! Nicole got hurt! It was bad enough that she had to go to the doctor, and Tim volunteered to go with her. This romance is really heating up! But first, what about her injury? Will she have to play the rest of this season on crutches? It wouldn't be the first time a reward caused that to happen, and what was the result? Possibly the best second place finisher ever, Rebecca (I say not having seen season 1 and having heard good things about Kwame but not seeing him in action hurts him in the ratings). Too bad Rebecca wasn't in this season or the last. She'd be owning the competition. Anyway, nothing was sprained or broken. It was a jellyfish sting. Well gee, if they knew that earlier, Tim could have peed on her foot for nothing!
I don't know if the doctor gave her something for it, but back at the mansion she was able to jump into the pool easily enough. Then she and Tim kissed. Awwwww! The big romance that's been blossoming all season is finally blooming! And I still don't care about either of these two, even though Tim does play a wicked piano.
Going into the boardroom, Aimee planned on calling on Derek for not telling her about the ethnic makeup of the mall, and sure enough she did. It was so obvious that Trump should fire either him or Jenn for not telling her about the 50% of Hispanics! Imagine her surprise when pretty much the whole team called her lack of management style into question. She really was surprised. She's the Golden Goddess of Management! If looks could smite...
Things didn't get any better for her when her team kept telling The Donald that she is no Heidi. They praised Heidi's leadership more in this boardroom than they did at all while she was project manager. The best part of this is that it gives me a great excuse to go into my weekly Heidi segue and boardroom style comparison.
Surya did a far better job sitting at Trump's side than Aaron or Aimee did, but he didn't quite match Heidi's poise, confidence, or ability to say the right things. On the plus side, he didn't fall as far from all that as the other two did. He was competent, which is something he hasn't been showing much of lately.
Something else occurred to me about Heidi this week. I really like the way she's playing this. Yes, she did very well as a winning PM in the boardroom, and while she didn't blow me away as PM, she was a solid performer in that position. If you notice, we haven't really seen or heard much from her since then. Believe it or not, I actually think that's a good thing.
It means she isn't out there actively putting down the other PMs on her team, and each task she's in there working hard for them. One of the biggest mistakes we see every season on The Apprentice is that too many people want to be the leader and get all bristly when someone else is PM. Yes, Trump is looking for a good leader. But he's also looking for someone who can be lead and is a smart, capable team player. I would like to see her step up a little more if a PM is failing, but she's not creating pointless friction and that's a good thing.
This is a show that makes it pretty impossible to fly under the radar. If you're not pulling your weight in a team, it will be noticed. If you're not willing to be a project manager, it will be noticed. You can't win this show if you've never been a PM. So just because we're not seeing a lot of someone, it doesn't mean they're playing to fly under the radar. It means they're not PM, not creating drama, and not a disaster.
I can see one thing about Heidi that will probably turn a lot of people off her. At times she does have a bit of an air of smugness about her. When she was being praised by her team, she couldn't keep that smile off her face, despite at times looking like she was trying to hide it. The smugness came through, but I also saw a little embarrassment and some genuine happiness at the kind words. Who wouldn't be affected by that show of support?
I wasn't sure at first, but I'm making it official. Realivision is now cheering on Heidi to win.
Back to the boardroom, Aimee chose to bring back Derek and Jenn with her, which was no big surprise. They were the two who knew about the ethnic makeup of the customers, and neither of them bothered to mention it to her, and this was the big focus of the night. They didn't tell her, but she didn't ask. She also didn't think about it herself by taking time to actually look around the mall. I agree she should have done that, but out of fairness, I don't think the language thing would have occurred to me either. I don't see that as a bad thing. "Look at all these Hispanic-looking people. Oh dear, they must all speak only Spanish!" No, I can't hold that against her. Losing this task fell more on Derek and Jenn's shoulders if it was all about the language barrier.
The thing is, it wasn't all about the language barrier. Aimee was just an awful leader. Maybe in a real life situation she's a lot better, but not here. Maybe it's the fear of looking bad on television or not wanting to give her teammates cause to want her gone that caused her to be that bad, but if so, in the end it cost her everything. Well, not everything, but this competition anyway.
That said, she really did seem to have an overinflated opinion of her abilities. She was pissed when she was fired! Getting into the car after leaving the boardroom, she looked at Derek and Jenn and said something angry. I can't read lips, especially from the side, and there was no sound, but yes, it was definitely not "Goodbye and good luck!"
Her bitterness shone through in her final words, and bitterness is usually the name of the game there. Perhaps she should have had an Apprentice Night with Surya before they started the competition to see just what show it is they were going to be on. Do people sign up for Survivor then act surprised that they're going to be stranded on an island? Boardrooms are going to be cutthroat, and your flaws are going to be exposed. Sorry. You should have known that going in.

Grease: You're The One That I Want - Aired February 11

Summer Lovin' on a cold winter night. Thank you, Grease: You're The One That I want.
Yes, "Summer Lovin'" was our opening number, and almost everyone did a swell job. Ashley Anderson showed more confidence that we've seen from her yet, but Matt Nolan once more made us question how he ever made it as far as he has. He's so out of his league in this competition that I'm feeling bad commenting on his lack of ability and it's really the fault of the producers for letting him get this much attention. What he needs more than anything else is vocal training, and it's very obvious he hasn't had any. There's no shame in needing the training and going for it. If anyone honestly thinks he currently has the voice to open a Broadway show, I'm going to have to ask why they watch with the volume on their tv off.
But enough picking on Matt! There'll be more time for that later! First, we have to hear about a new twist. It seems that the bottom two guys and bottom two gals in votes received are going to have to sing for their survival, and the panel will choose who goes home. Huh? This is the first I've heard of this rule. It's the first anyone has heard of it. It's almost like this was a last minute change in the game to prevent someone from winning who shouldn't. Remember last time around I predicted Matt would be safe this week. As soon as I heard this rule, that was my first thought. Why else would they spring this new twist out of nowhere and risk pissing off everyone who voted?
We were introduced to the panel including special guest, Andrew Lloyd Webber, then there was some footage meeting the contestants talking about the competition. If cars could run off ego, many of these people would never have to walk anywhere again. But you have to have some degree of ego to make it in that business, so it's all good.
After this it was time to find out who would make up the bottom four.
Of the men, it would be Jason and, surprise, Matt. I would have bet money that Matt got more votes than Jason, and thus the new rule. But would anyone let us know who got what? If they're planning it, it's not happening yet. I'm not surprised Jason was the other one. My entire comment on his last performance - "He sang 'Faith' and was pretty good. That's all I've got to say about him." Not exactly someone setting the show on fire.
The women were next, and the bottom two were Ashley A. and Ally. I though Ally's performance was much better than Double A's, but you never know with the voting audience and their love for plucky underdogs. Seriously, look at all the movies where the plucky underdog makes it over all the hurdles and wins. Even in the rare instance the plucky underdog loses the big game, they still win big in life because of their newfound confidence and respect. I see it all the time in watching the popularity of contestants in competitive reality shows. The people go nuts for their plucky underdogs. Stephenie in Survivor: Palau? Plucky underdog, very much loved by fans. Stephenie in Survivor: Guatemala? Ran the show, not so much loved by ex-fans. (I was still rooting for you, Stephenie!) Dancing With The Stars horror, Master P, ran out of luck when people realized that even though he was a huge underdog, he wasn't so plucky.
The point I'm trying to make is that people love their plucky underdogs, and even I'm tired of reading those two words so I'll move on to the competition, which finally started after all of this.
Max - Everybody's favourite Crumm went and got himself a haircut. He's really trying to show he can look like Danny. I wish him luck, because he does have talent. We already know he has the ability to sing, and his version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight", while not the best version I've ever heard, was pretty darned good.
Laura - HOLY FRIGGIN' CRAP! Where the hell did she come from!?!? Last time we heard her sing, my entire review of her song was, "Good. Blah blah blah." This week she kicked some serious ass with "Jesus Christ Superstar" and moved to the front of the pack with the performance of the series so far! I'm not even going to keep you suspense with this one. Nobody touched her all night. If she keeps this up for the rest of the season, the role of Sandy could very well be hers. However, we still have some very talented women to come, and even if the night is Laura's, there are still several more weeks left. But who is her best competition? We'll see soon.
Visiting with the panel, Laura blew everyone away. Jim called Max a "master storyteller", and David was very happy with the changes he's making. Andrew Lloyd Webber loved both, but he also made some very good comments and critiques that showed he's more comfortable being in this position than Olivia Newton John was. Of course, she's a performer, whereas ALW helps put huge productions together so this is something he's fairly used to.
Derek - Ooh, backup dancers! Derek gave a good rendition of this song, but I was more impressed with his dance moves. That he was able to dance as well as he did and still sing is a good indication that he could well pull off the Danny role. His song wasn't going to take anyone's breath away, but he's very capable.
Ashley S. - Ashley Spencer, you Meg Ryan lookalike, what have you brought us? "Take That Look Off Your Face", you say? No, not say, sing and act. I loved that she not only sang this song very well, but played it on her face too. One of my issues with this competition is that we're only voting on singing. I'd like to see them really give us something different and have a week of dancing and a week of acting. The prizes here are Broadway roles, and the winners should be triple threats. Give us chances to vote on singing, dancing, and acting, and you'll stand apart from other shows a lot more.
I wasn't the only one who noticed Ashley's face. Kathleen did too and commented on just that. She loved both, as did ALW. Jim loved that Derek did dancing and singing together so well, and thought that Ashley was just wow! David though that both of them were good, but he would have liked to have seen more anger in Ashley's face.
Kevin - He did "Burning Love" with backup dancers, and was pretty good but he was no Elvis. "Grease" takes place in 1959 and there are some pretty rockin' songs in it. If these contestants are going to do it any justice, they'd better start drawing out their rock'n'roll selves.
Juliana - "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". I loved it, and thought she did an excellent job. She reached me emotionally, but what do I know? I'm just an audience member.
David, for example, thought she had too much polish. He also thought that Kevin's not sexy enough yet to be the leader of the pack. ALW thought Kevin should show more character, and that Juliana was a little insecure in some notes. Kathleen wants Kevin to show off more, and she wanted Juliana to break out more and show her feelings. Jim thought both of them could have been better. Like I asked, what do I know? These are the pros.
At this point it was time to take a break from the competition and give us some filler. There was some talk with Andrew Lloyd Webber and his thoughts on the competition. A look back at the week with the cast and talk of "Phantom of the Opera", then the cast came together to sing the eponymous song from that show. It wasn't the best cast number we've seen, but it was okay. We also got to see Billy Bush prove just how horrible he is at this job when he called their guest judge "World Wide Webber". For the first of two times that night. I'll just let that sink in for a bit.
"World Wide Webber".




IT MAKES NO FREAKIN' SENSE!
Chad - He was fighting the flu when he sang "My Eyes Adore You", but he was pretty good.
Kate - She sang "Buenos Aires", a song with a very Latin beat. She sang it very well, but I would have loved to have seen some more Latin moves to go with it. Kate's from Cincinnati, and she moved like it. Luckily we're casting Sandy in "Grease", not Carmen Miranda in "The Carmen Miranda Story".
ALW, or WWW as we'd call him if Billy Bush got his demented way, didn't watch to judge Chad because of the flu, but he loved Kate. Kathleen loved both. Jim thought Chad was a little too contained, and he liked how flirty Kate was. David thought Chad was the most romantic Danny, and that Kate is really good.
Austin - "Ease On Down The Road". I lost confidence in Austin last time, but he went up in my esteem again this week. This was a very good, fun version of the song, and he danced quite well with his backup dancers.
Kathleen - My favourite Sandy last time, she did an excellent job singing "Memory". If it wasn't for Laura's performance earlier, this would have been the song of the night.
ALW wasn't sure about Kathleen at first, but he thought she got a lot better at the end. Judge Kathleen liked how physical Austin got, and she thought that Contestant Kathleen was excellent. Jim thought Austin was really able to pull the song off, and that Kathleen was fantastic. David thought Austin was the best Danny of the night, and I have to agree with him. He thought Kathleen was wonderful, and I have to agree with him again.
With all of that out of the way, we came to the Bottom Four part of the night. There was some video showing us how they took it backstage. See, voters? Look upon the pain you have wrought! Watch them cry because you voted for someone else! I hope you're happy with yourselves.
Before the song, Billy Bush announced who got the lowest votes. Yes, it was Jason and Ally. What did I say about plucky underdogs? I almost felt like this information was given as a warning to the audience. "Look what you made us do! We didn't want to have a sing-off, but you forced it upon us!" If this doesn't tell us that the new rules were a last minute change because the producers were horrified at the thought of the plucky, yet slightly (or in the case of Matt, far) less talented underdogs making it through to the end. Personally, I love this bottom four with the panel making the final decision idea. They should have thought of it from the start. It gives the audience a chance to participate, but it keeps people who shouldn't advance from going on and knocking more talented performers out. This is what they do on Rockstar an it works. No plucky underdogs there, nosiree.
If the evidence of this being a last minute decision wasn't piling up enough already, the sing-off consisted of the bottom four taking turns singing parts of "Tears On My Pillow", the same song performed at the infamous Grease Academy massacre when they cut the contestants from 50 to 24. Jason did a good job, and Matt was the best he's been yet (showing he's got potential to sing, so I really hope he looks into getting some serious voice classes). Ally was also good, and Ashley A. was very good. But was she good enough to save her from the judges' wrath? The two times we've heard Ashley A. sing this night, she's been better and showed more confidence than we've seen from her at any other time in this process. If she was this good two weeks ago, then she would have had a much better chance.
After the singing, it was up to David to drop the axe. He said they were saving Jason and that Broadway is not for beginners, and they were saving Ally because they had no idea why she was in the bottom two Sandys. David, she was in the bottom one of the Sandys because she's not a plucky underdog!
Ashley A. was a tremendous sport about this, and she said they didn't rise to the occasion when they got their second chance. Matt said he's not giving up on his dream, which is admirable but if he's going to seriously go after that dream, he really should get training. There is definitely nothing wrong with that.
And there you have it. The bottom two were saved by this new twist. Hey, I'm all for it if it means that the most deserving move on in the competition.
The episode wasn't over yet though. The saved two still need to give their performances and try to win audience votes for next week.
Jason - He got to see "That'll Be The Day", and he gave a darned good performance with a great ending. It was one of the best, if not the best, rock'n'roll songs we've seen yet. I know, that's not saying much.
David thought he needs to improve, and Jim thought he was fine. Kathleen thinks he's too slick. AJW sees improvement in him.
Ally - She gave a very good rendition of "I Don't Know How To Love Him", proving that our field of potential Sandys far outshines our field of potential Dannys.
Kathleen thought she gave a beautiful performance. Jim wants her to let us inside (and I really hope he means metaphorically), and David agreed. AJW really likes her and wants to see her draw on the expert help she has available.
David's picks tonight for the best Danny and Sandy were Austin and Laura, Kathleen liked Derek and, being the sole dissenter when it came to Sandy, Contestant Kathleen, Jim liked Max best for Danny and ALW liked Derek.
Our two rejected competitors got a chance to sing one last song. Matt sang "Sandy", showing that he does have potential with the right training, and his "Oh, Sandy" at the end was so emotional the audience gave a very sad, "Awwwwwww!" I've been hard on Matt through this whole thing, but if he can put that kind of emotion into acting, even if he can't get his voice good enough for musical theatre, it's not the only kind of theatre out there.
Ashley Anderson sang "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee", the reprise that Olivia Newton John sang sadly later on in the movie shortly before she made her transformation. Ashley A. killed it. Damn, she was good. If she had been able to bring that confidence and emotion with her earlier, she would have easily still been in the running.
Really, she was that good. I wish them both much success in chasing their dreams, but Ashley Anderson is definitely that much closer to making it happen.





Plucky underdogs.