Not So Electrifyin'

My advice to Grease: You're The One That I Want... You better shape up!

Holy "Look at me I'm Sandra Dee!"

The problem: this show does not even try (in the least!) to stray from the American Idol play book... and unfortunately it does pretty much everything worse.  It just gave me a whole new respect for American Idol.  Idol has been one of my guilty pleasures, it looks like Shakespeare compared to... well...umm... Grease!

First, the judges... the all too familiar judging triumvirate (apparently Schoolhouse Rock was right, 3 really is the magic number!) of two men and one woman... and a complete and utter snore.  And Billy Bush makes me re-examine my theory that Ryan Seacrest perhaps does have an iota of talent beyond good hair and white teeth.  Did Billy Bush really compliment himself on his own good hair?!

Beyond the "on camera" talent, kudos as well to the Idol editors who are at least able to create coherent "back stories" for the contestants.  It was an A.D.D. dream (or nightmare!) last night as we jumped from contestant to contestant... an totally uneven balance of "Sandys" to "Dannys"... seeing someone in the "dance" and not the sing (or vice versa).  When it got around to the eliminations it was hard to care ... or even figure out if we had seen the person before?!    And I have a suspicion folks around the water coolers this morning won't be uttering the tagline... "You're the one that we want.... to go to Grease academy!"

Lastly, the talent wasn't exactly poodle-skirt shaking either. Often Idol wanna-bes are criticized for being "too Broadway"... but those voices didn't seem to show up here.  And dare I suggest, the whole one-hour practice "dance" audition is just a convenient way for the producers to weed out the non-Caucasian, weight and "looks"-challenged before it gets around to a public vote.  Me thinks the new millennium Danny and Sandy will not be terribly different from their predecessors.

All that said, I will likely continue watching.  I am sure it will get "shape up" when it gets around to the finalists.  We just have to suffer through the next couple of weeks... and sitting through "Hopelessly Devoted To You" about 87 more times.

tags:  you're the one that i want, grease

Comments

[Craig]

You're a braver soul than I. I couldn't bring myself to watch it at all.

I'm still trying to muster up the courage to tackle American Idol. Although the likes of Jennifer Hudson make me proud, I was horrified when she was voted off, even though I knew Fantasia would win.

Hmmm, suddenly I feel tragic ;)

[Scott]

I didn't even consider watching this show, it just looks too stupid. I did, however, give it a couple minutes of thought. According to the adverts, the winner of this game show will appear in a Broadway production of Grease. The last time I went to a Broadway show I paid $80. per ticket and saw professional singers and dancers. The winners of the show will be staging an amature production of Grease. $10 $15 per ticket? I doubt it!