The concept? To take famous celebrities (actors, comedians, etc.) and pair them up with lengendary singers, different ones each week. These duos would then sing live, in front of a studio audience and let America vote each week for who they thought was the best Non-Singing Celebrity (NSC) on that show. The NonPro with the least amount of votes each week would leave the show until there is but one left standing there on stage. And what would a contest be without some gold at the end of the rainbow? In this particular pot is $100,000 (USD) to be awarded to a charity of the winner's choice.
There are five contestants left. Cheech of the comedy duo Cheech and Chong, Jai Rodriguez ("Culture Vulture" on Bravo's Queer Eye For The Straight Guy), Xena Warrior Princess's Lucy Lawless, actor/comedian Hal Sparks, and Alfonso Ribeiro of Silver Spoons and The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air have made it this far since the beginning of the competition. They would now go head to head on this show to see who will reign supreme on next week's season finale.
Celebrity Duets, like many contests, had to have a host/hostess. That role is filled by the multi-talented Mr. Wayne Brady. Star of the now defunct variety hour, The Wayne Brady Show, he first gained prominence as an improvisational artist on Drew Carey's Whose Line Is It Anyway?. Those successes are what made Wayne a natural as a liaison between the performers, the audience (both live and at home), and a panel of judges.
Brady began as usual with a warm greeting to all watching. He continued on to explain that this show was pivotal. Two NSCs would be voted off and the three remaining would battle it out to the finish on next week's season finale. The fate of the outcome is in America's dialing fingers as they call in their votes at the end of the show.
The celebrity judging panel, a TV Reality/talent show staple only on the show at this point, as commentators are welcomed. All three brought their own musical pedigrees to the table. Marie Osmond started her singing career at an early age and has since also become known as an actress and author. Little Richard helped pioneer Rock and Roll history at during its early stages. David Foster provided the "insider's" point of view with an impressive resume of number one hit songs that he had written and/or arranged while working with mega-stars like Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion.
With all business out of the way, the real show began.
Jai Rodriguez/Patti LaBelle. In a pre-song interview, Jai is floored when he reads the name of his partner. "This is like a dream come true and a curse. I think, for me, this week is going to be harder than ever before because my artist is so strong vocally." What an understatement! Ms. LaBelle's fierce vocal ability made her a top-notch headliner years ago and she has not lost a bit of it. Jai started "Lady Marmalade" as a solo onstage, high energy, saucy dance moves, and some pretty strong vocals of his own. When Patti joined in, it was as if they'd caught fire in a duet not sung in typical harmony but in counterpoint to one another. They were playful and their joy in working together showed. Marie's comment of "Jai, you smoked it" was interrupted by David Foster, tired of being delegated to the position of last to speak on the panel. He stated "You killed it," but meant it in the most flattering way possible. Little Richard's comments should be a TV show on their own. Suffice it to say, he agreed with both of the other judges. The in-house audience must have thought so, too, as the duo received a standing ovation.
Article comments
1 - Brent McKee
"I still think that Jai is the one to beat for the top prize."
Boy did you get that one wrong! Not that I think you were wrong (Hal should have been dropped along with Cheech) but the people who voted in this thing obviously thought differently.
2 - tink
LOL...you are right Brent!! I think that's why these types of shows intrigue me so much...the difference between what I think and what the viewing public thinks.
Still, I do feel that Jai was the best on the show, always consistent in bringing his top game to each performance...which didn't give him much room for improvement. Sometimes that factors into the end results...you just never know.
Thanks for reading...I look forward to hearing what you think about the final two shows next week.
3 - Ash
I think America is deaf in one ear, lucy Lawless is an awful singer. Her voice lacks character and is extremly thin. Jai should have stayed, he actually has a great voice. I wish he would have sang Over the Rainbow instead of Lady Marmalade that night.
4 - tink
Ash, Hi! As you can tell, I do love the Jai too, but Lucy wasn't all that bad to me, looked like she was giving it her best shot each time up at bat which goes a long way in my book. Not J-Rod quality of course, still...
looking forward to hearing what you think about next week's shows...
5 - Monte4amy
"Lady Marmalade" was not Patti LaBelle & Wayne Brady's duet, it was the song Jai and Patti LaBelle sang together, the first song of the night. Patti came back to sing "All Alone" with Wayne Brady and they REALLY smoked it and yes, the audience was screaming because of Ms. Patti's vocal chops and Wayne was great, too. They could have released it as a single.
6 - tink
Thanks for pointing that out, Monte4amy!!! The powers-that-be here at BC have done their magic and fixed my error.
I agree with you, that was a killer duet. I'm hoping, since American Idols Simon Cowell is exec. prod. on Celebrity Duets, that he'll take another page out of the A.I. book and release some of the best songs from the season on cd.
Thanks for reading, too!!