Grease Live: Week Three
I think the thing that most surprised me about this week’s episode is that I recognized Jon Secada before he was introduced officially. I didn’t even know he moved on from his recording career to some Broadway work, including starring as Danny Zucco in the 90s revival of GREASE.
We learned that the judges only have their say as to who stays and who goes up to the semi-finals. I’m not sure on the exact wording of that, though. Does that mean only the last week? Or the last two weeks? My notes are a bit spotty. In any case, the judges are keeping their hands in the pie long enough to make sure the final contestants are all solid enough to take the roles should they win. I can’t blame them for that.
This week was Duets Night. But first, the dreaded sing-off:
Jason and Kevin were the bottom two Dannies. Juliana and Kathleen were the bottom two Sandies. And that’s a damned shame — the judges have had it in for Juliana from the start. I think she’s their best singer, arguably. She’s so powerful and controlled, but the judges kept harping on her for other things, mostly acting. So she went home, and Kathleen stayed. Kathleen is good, too, but I think Juliana was better. Jason also went home, the victim of being in the Bottom Two two weeks in a row. Both of the judges’ choices were also the contestants who scored the lowest votes from the home viewers.
The singing started with Allie and Chad doing “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” It was an energetic little number, and proved to me that Chad could play the part. He has the voice, the attitude, and the overacting chops to win a place on Broadway. At the end of the night, he was three of the four judges’ choice for best performer, so I’m not alone. The producer referred to the performance as “theatrical viagra,” thus guaranteeing this blog a flood of spam comments in the next 24 hours. It was only the first act of the night, though — most of the rest of them all had similar number-ending near-lip-locks, as it turned out.
Allie was good, too, but Chad really stood out for me.
Austin and Laura teamed up for “I Don’t Know Much.” The song was in the perfect key for Austin, who sounded strong and acted well. Plus, who knew he had that falsetto? Laura sounded more confident than Allie, and I thought did very well.
Max and Ashley’s “It Takes Two” felt very lightweight by comparison with the first two, but it had some nice choreography and a couple of strong performances. I just don’t think anyone will ever see Max as Danny. He’ll never be tough enough. He can work on stage, but I just don’t see him as any kind of Danny Zucco, sadly.
Derek and my favorite, Kate, came together for a messy “From This Moment On.” Derek was the favorite up until this week, but really faltered with a few notes at the beginning and then wildly overcompensated back in the other direction. Plus, the harmonies never worked at all. It was two separate performances that happened to be going on at the same time. Not pretty. Kate’s voice got lost in the number, too. She’s so powerful that I have to wonder if her mic just wasn’t turned up high enough. And unlike Austin’s song, this one wasn’t a good key for Derek. It wasn’t quite a crash and burn, but I have to hope that Kate doesn’t suffer for her partner’s problems. I think they’ll both wind up in the bottom two, though.
Kevin and Kathleen, our two near-evictions, paired up for an underwhelming “Something To Talk About.” (Is that the right title? Darn you, Bonnie Raitt!) Kathleen’s voice was strong, but Kevin was bland. I wouldn’t be surprised to see either or both of these two in the bottom two next week. They got stuck with a bad song and didn’t do much with it.
But this does raise a curious question: All the contestants were paired up for duets and practiced as such all week. Did the show runners rig it so that the two people who were evicted were paired up? Or was this Kevin and Kathleen’s first time singing the song together?
The judges went for Austin (1 vote) and Chad (3) for their favorite Danny, with Ashley and Allie splitting the votes for favorite Sandy. I can’t disagree with that too much.
I think you’ll see Derek and Kevin in the bottom two next week, with Kevin going home. Kathleen and Kate will be in the bottom two, with Kathleen taking a hike.
Next week: Frankie Avalon sits in the Guest Judge’s chair.