Celebrity Duets
I only watched the first 45 minutes or so of the premiere of CELEBRITY DUETS last night, but several things jump to mind:
* This is clearly produced by the people who bring you AMERICAN IDOL. The stage set-up is roughly the same. And half the people on the show have been seen on AI already, I think. Definitely Kenny Loggins, David Foster, and Gladys Knight (who was a judge on the kids version from a few summers back).
* It’s good to see Wayne Brady in action again, even if he has gained a few pounds in the face.
* Heck, who hasn’t on the show? Really, all of the male celebrities look like they’ve put ten pounds on their face since last we saw them.
* The whole show is worth it for the train wreck that sits in Paula Abdul’s seat, Little Richard. He’s completely incoherent. An absolute waste of screen time. And an old fuddy duddy. Yet, you can’t help but anticipate the next stupid thing he’s about to say. Even poor David Foster — who deserves much better than this show, even in the Simon Cowell chair — deserves better than this.
* No, Cheech, you can’t sing. Nor can the gymnast or the wrestler.
* Is it really fair to have a Broadway-trained child star in a singing competition? Maybe not, but that guy from QUEER EYE should be cutting an album any day now. I thought he was Mario Vasquez at first. . .
I’ll probably watch the rest tonight, but don’t look for a show rundown on this one, like with IDOL and ROCK STAR. It would tire me out too much.
August 30th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
You sat through 45 minutes? I could barely get through 5. I haven’t seen Wayne Brady since he uttered the best best catch phrase in the world on Chapelle’s Show.
August 30th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
I wouldn’t say Chris Jericho (the wrestler) couldn’t sing at all.
He does have 3 heavy metal albums with his band Fozzy out after all. I have them all. He’s pretty good.
But doing songs with Lee Ann Womack and Peter Frampton? Well yeah, definitely out of his element. They should have let them play to their strengths the first night.
But I love how everyone reacted surprised that so many of these celebs could carry a tune. Most loyal TV watchers in general have heard many of them sing plenty of times.
Lucy Lawless should break out some of the songs she did on the Xena “Lyre Lyre” episode for fun. Her doing a duet on the Beatles “We Can Work It Out” would go over very well with that crowd.
August 31st, 2006 at 12:17 am
I’m just hoping that Alfonso Ribeiro gets into the finals so that he will keep his promise and show the world The Carlton Dance. As for the rest of the show, parts of it were okay, and parts were almost excruciating. I flipped back and forth throughout or else had it on in the background and did other things. If I’m home when it’s on, I may watch it, but I don’t think I’d feel bad if I forgot to record it.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:31 am
I watched the rest of the show last night. Yes, pity me.
A lot of the people who were weak in the first hour did much better in the second hour, including Jericho. It doesn’t surprise me that he has a heavy metal band. He seemed much more comfortable in his more up-tempo second song. And that also would explain why he scratched his chin and said something like, “What a great idea,” when David Foster said he’d be good in front of a rock band.
And Lucy Lawless with Smokey Robinson? Wonderful.
I would love to see Alfonso get stuck with a country song next week, though.
I just feel sorry for poor David Foster, who would have a lot to say if he had time after Little Richard’s hilariously incoherent ramblings. It’s more like a series of grunts and random words strung together to prove he’s still alive to the camera. UGH
August 31st, 2006 at 12:00 pm
After Jennifer Hudson wins the Oscar for “Dreamgirls,” I can’t wait for the Idol spin-off where wanna-be movie stars reenact classic scenes from movies. Jack Nicholson week should be a hoot.