Star Search, February 21: Real Entertainment

Thank God!

Those are the exact words that came out of my mouth when I realized that very funny host of The Man Show and Love Lines was the guest judge on tonight's episode of Star Search.

I find Arsenio Hall to be one of the more disturbing people on this planet. Who talks like that? And let's talk about the dreads: No one dreads this show like I do!

Thanks for allowing me to vent. On with the show…

In the Category of Junior Singer:

Victoria, a 10-year-old with a fairly straightforward style competed against a tawny 13-year-old named Q'orianka. The name wasn't the only unusual thing about the second performer. In her little statement she told how she has to do street performing so her family can eat. Hard as I tried I couldn't catch the name of the song she sang nor could I think of a word to describe the style. Naomi Judd called it "popera." Ben Stein offered to pay her rent. Adam said he couldn't hear the jokes with all that singing. She lost and I felt sad for her.

So Victoria moves on.

Next came the Comedians:

Tommy talked about his fat, black, alcoholic relatives. Ha ha. Dan is a half Filipino who flew in first class one time. Again, ha ha. Adam was funnier than either of them. Naomi agreed with me. Can he be a regular judge or even better, the host? Fat Tommy won.

We're about to get to the highlight of the show, the Young Dancers. I say this with all seriousness. First up was "Sassy," four girls ages 10 to 12. They were good but it was dance/gymnastics as usual. However, Ben Stein was so excited I thought he was going to have a seizure. The second act, Marissa, was truly amazing. She was this little 9-year-old (who looked and acted her age) dressed in a genie costume. She was a contortionist. She was dainty and stylish and cute and FREAKY! It was great. By way of comparison, Adam offered that he pulled his groin just putting on deodorant. Marissa won and I had my first glimpse of true entertainment in two episodes, aside from Adam Carolla.

We move on to the Adult Singers. They were pretty equally matched. Both hit some glaring flat notes. As far as their personal stories go, Denise is a child of divorce who doesn't really see her dad. As for Joe, Adam said he couldn't believe that, at age 24, Joe was still bragging about getting his high school diploma. He's going to have to rest on those laurels a while longer because Denise won the competition.

That wraps up another rollicking evening of entertainment. I hope anyone who reads these reports enjoys them. I'm learning as I go along. Tonight I learned I need to write more legibly. (No, I got Q'orianka's name right) By the time this show is over (only four more weeks - woohoo!) I should have the process down to a science.

Kathy Taylor lives in California and can be reached at farbissiner@yahoo.com. In addition to her groundbreaking work in the field of reality TV, Kathy is an accomplished long distance swimmer and a singer (performing regularly with her partner Mary Moreno).

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