Not exactly 'Duet'ing my appetite Random reactions to last week's , for those of you still watching (or reading): The show dug pretty deep into the archaeological remains of past pop eras last week for duet partners. Dionne Warwick is an enduring star, I'll buy that, but Taylor Dayne, Deniece Williams and ex-Styx singer Dennis DeYoung -- although I've enjoyed songs from all of them -- aren't exactly the first three names I think of when I hear Wayne Brady brandishing the term greatest singing stars of all time or the other variations on that theme the writers place on the cue cards. As I sort of suggested in my semi-anonymous recap in USA TODAY today, maybe they should just rename it and be done with it.
(Actually, they are almost done with it -- they're down to five celebs now, with two getting eliminated Friday and the finale after that, unless I'm not hearing Wayne correctly.) The verdict bouncing Carly Patterson off the show was inevitable, but would have been more just coming in the first or second week. This time she actually sounded much better, singing teen-oriented pop material with an age-appropriate partner, Jesse McCartney (who needs to have a serious chat with his agent about booking him with (relative) geezers).
Another reason why this show fails to grip: The stakes are too low. I think I alluded to this idea earlier, but the more I think about it, the idea of competing for a whopping $100,000 (to go to the winner's favorite charity) is really small potatoes. I apologize again for making my USA TODAY punchlines serve double duty online, but who budgeted this prize, Dr.
Evil? Couldn't Simon and Fox cough up a more meaningful amount? The performances were pretty much what we've come to expect.
Jai Rodriguez and Alfonso Ribeiro are pretty good (even notwithstanding that nail-biting bit of drama about Alfonso's sore throat), Lucy Lawless is perfectly adequate, and Hal Sparks gives it everything he's got (for better or, usually, worse). Actually, this week, the two clearly vocally deficient types did better than usual. I already mentioned Carly's improvement, and Cheech Marin also benefited from having an exquisitely gifted partner in Aaron Neville, who managed to render Cheech's contributions pretty insignificant or (better yet) inaudible.
Still, Cheech is obviously surviving on borrowed time. Closest thing to a memorable trainwreck moment: Hal's two duets with DeYoung, completely over-the-top versions of ludicrous-sounding Styx songs (pomp-rock lives!
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