Star Search, April 16: Viewers’ Choice

Due to problems beyond our control, we’ve got another quickie Star Search recap for Wednesday’s show this week. The guest judge was Ginuwine, along with our three usual judges – Naomi Judd, Ben Stein, and Ahmet Zappa.

The Junior Singer competition featured 12-year-old Kaitlin Kiyan from Hawaii against 10-year-old Vanessa Campagna from Pennsylvania. Vanessa performed “Dancing in the Streets” and received fours from everybody but Naomi, who gave her a five. Kaitlin sang “Paper Moon,” which, as Ben Stein pointed out, is a total cliché. (This was my first thought upon finding out what song she was performing as well.) Still, he and the other judges, except Naomi, gave fours again. Naomi dropped her down to a three. The viewing audience apparently didn’t think it was a cliché and provided Kaitlin with a one star edge, thus tying up the score. Of course, when there is a tie, the viewers – not Naomi & Company – reign supreme, so Kaitlin won.

John Heffron faced off against Kevin Bozeman in the Comedian category. It always seems silly to talk about what the jokes dealt with since, if you didn’t hear the jokes, there isn’t much point anyway. In any case, Kevin got straight threes from the judges, while John received a five from Ben Stein (and a comment that he was the funniest guy they’ve had in a long time – not that this is saying much), fours from Naomi and Ahmet, and a three from Ginuwine. The viewer vote was even more strongly weighted towards John, giving him 17 stars to only 10 for Kevin. John easily won.

The Young Dancer competition featured a duo up against a larger group of five. Legend & Tempo, the duo (also known as Jordan Powell and Ron Evans) showed a great deal of energy and originality, according to Ben Stein (notice that he seems to be the one with any worthwhile comments tonight?). They got fives from everybody but Naomi, who gave ‘em a four. The group, Royal T, had quite an uphill climb and couldn’t make it, getting a five from Ben, fours from Ahmet and Ginuwine, and only a two from Naomi. The viewing audience agreed, and Legend & Tempo easily won.

Finally, we had the Adult Singers, which featured Vickie Natale and Ashley Ta’mar. Vickie began with “Chain of Fools” and received fours from all but Naomi, who gave her a five. Ashley followed with “I Believe in You and Me” and received a total score of 18 from the judges. But as in the junior singer competition just a few minutes earlier, the viewers voted them into a tie, which means Vickie won because of the higher audience vote.

Next episode, look for a return to our usual recap filled with the details we know you love.

David Bloomberg is the Editor of RealityNewsOnline and can be reached at rno@pobox.com.

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