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You’re The One That I WantOr Maybe Not! Let the Auditions Begin
With more than 11 million viewers, the premiere of 'Grease: You're the One That I Want' proved promising, but did it live up to the hype?
INTRODUCTION:Grease: You’re the One That I Want premiered on NBC Sunday, January 7, 2007 with a special hour and a half long edition. The show, which is a bit Broadway and a heck of a lot like American Idol, was pretty good. Personally, I felt like there was more than one Simon on this panel. David Ian, Kathleen Marshall and Jim Jacobs are tough. Much tougher than Paula and Randy. Of course, they have to be. Their reputations are on the line. But, who are they? MEET THE JUDGES:David Ian is a producer. He and his partner, Paul Nicholas co-produced a stage version of Grease back in the early 90s. He’s been called the most influential man in the UK theater community. Kathleen Marshall, the sister of Rob Marshall, who directed the Academy-Award winning version of Chicago, is a talented choreographer and stage director in her own right. She’s also a Tony Award winner and will be direct this run of Grease when it premieres on Broadway in July, 2007. Finally, we have Jim Jacobs. He’s the man who created Grease, along with Warren Jacobs. (Warren passed away in 1988.) ABOUT THE HOSTS:I’m not sure I like the hosts. Denise Van Outen is a British import. She played Roxie Hart in Chicago in both London and Broadway. Billy Bush, a first cousin of President George H.W. Bush, is a TV host who made a name for himself on Access Hollywood and can often be found covering beauty pageants around the world. They’re nice enough folks, but seem to be a bit extraneous to the action. Maybe they’ll improve as the show kicks into high gear. LA AUDITIONSSo far we’ve seen initial auditions in Los Angeles and Chicago. In LA, only a few people stood out. There was the ‘cupcake dancer’, Patricia, a beautiful, zaftique woman with a nice voice. However, the judges couldn’t see her as Sandy. She was sent home after the dancing competition. Sunshine, another rubenesque lady with beautiful eyes, crashed and burned after hoofing it up for the judges. So too did the cute pharmaceutical sales rep. We do see that the judges might be willing to alter the traditional blonde, blue-eyed Sandy as Deja Jones, a lovely African-American girl, earns her ticket to Grease Academy. We also lost out on Jason Rice, a handsome young man who was auditioning in honor of his deceased brother. He aced the singing competition but couldn’t keep up with the dance routine. He was sent home in tears. However, Chad the ‘hunka, hunka burning love’ soccer coach, and the slacker-dude, Max, who slicked back his hair and donned some leather gear, made it through to the next round. CHICAGO AUDITIONSIf the competition was dismal in LA, it was even worse in Chicago. However, we do get a glimpse of Kelly. She’s only 17 and looks so much like Olivia Newton-John did in the movie. It’s eerie. Jacqueline, a 19 year old who took a year off from college to pursue her dream of being a star, also stood out. She’s going to Grease Academy. Joining them is 42-year-old Dominic. He’s played Danny Zuko onstage before. He’s good, but it’s kind of freaky to think of him as a high-school student especially if one of the younger girls gets the role of Sandy. Ewww! FINAL ANALYSIS:The show has potential. I’m willing to watch a few more episodes to see how things turn out. I'll be sure and recap 'em here for you. Next week, we head to New York. Hopefully, there’ll be more talent there.
The copyright of the article You’re The One That I Want in Reality TV is owned by Deanna Couras Goodson. Permission to republish You’re The One That I Want in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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