Grease: You're the One That I Want Recap: One Danny and One Sandy Must Leave
I mentioned last week that Matt Nolan and Ashley Anderson would be the ones to go home this week, and when they got up on stage, I thought perhaps I had nailed it. But strangely, there were four competitors up there, not two.
So it seems that this show will have a slightly different format than American Idol. Fair enough. Add Jason Celaya and Allie Schulz to the bottom four. But in an odd move, they were told that they wouldn't be told who was leaving until later. And with that, the other performers did their thing.
Max Crumm continues to impress, with a rendition of Can You Feel the Love Tonight?. Laura Osnes then sang a rousing Jesus Christ Superstar that had guest judge Andrew Lloyd Weber remarking that she's the only female he can remember singing the song (she did a great job). Chad's Take: Max just gets better and better, while Laura was awesome. What a start to the show.
Derek Keeling performed well with Footloose and then Ashley Spencer sang another Weber song, Take That Look Off Your Face from Tell Me On a Sunday. It was good, but uninspiring. Chad's Take: Derek was good, if a bit hammy. Although I have to remind myself that this is for Broadway, so that might work. Ashley was enjoyable, but she could use some of the pork from Derek's performance.
Kevin Greene was ho-hum on Burning Love and Juliana Hansen did Don't Cry for me Argentina from Evita without much emotion. Chad's Take: I didn't like either of them. Kevin was horrid and there wasn't any feeling at all from Juliana
Chad Doreck sang My eyes adored you from Jersey Boys and then Kate Rockwell sang another Evita song, Buenos Aires. Chad's Take: Chad did well, well, but considering that he was sick, it could have been well better. I've liked Chad before, and not just because of the name, but I think there were worse here. I suspect we'll see more of him. Kate has been my favorite all along, and it was good to see a somewhat frivolous side to her. I hope we see more of it, because that's her one potential downfall. She has the chops - she just needs to lighten things up a bit for this role.
Austin Miller sang Ease on Down the Road from The Wiz and Kathleen Monteleone gave us Memory from Cats. Chad's Take: Austin is probably the best performer in the bunch, and he shows it here, though it's not the best choice of song. Kathleen really needs some help in her wardrobe. The song was okay.
Finally, we get to the final four. They have to sing a song (Tears on my Pillow) as a group, and at the end of the song, the judges will decide which contestants to save. As it turns out, they elect to save Jason and Allie, sending Matt and Ashley home - though according to the votes cast, they were the two lowest vote-getters. So it seems that "America's choice" isn't necessarily important. I guess if you put up $10 million, your opinion matters a little more.
Whatever the case, it seemed apparent that the judges made up their minds already. I don't think it mattered at all what the contestants did in the thirty-second singoff, so I don't know why they made viewers wait until the end. That was just strange.
The remaining two contestants - Jason Celaya and Allie Schulz - then get to sing their songs. Jason sings That'll be the Day while Allie sings I Don't Know How to Love Him, another song from Jesus Christ Superstar. Chad's Take: Jason really isn't very good. I'd wager that he's even worse than Kevin. Allie, however, is a surprise at the bottom, and this should get her out. It was quite good.
I would put Jason, Kevin, Juliana and Kathleen in the bottom four next week. We'll see.
Update: Those picks were actually correct, though I didn't pick anyone to go home. The judges decided to be sponsored by the letter "K", and kept both Kevin and Kathleen, sending Jason and Juliana home.

















