Star Search, May 7: Counting Down to the End

May 7 brought about yet another edition of Star Search, as viewers count down to the approaching "Tournament of Champions" edition of the show. Before getting underway, Arsenio Hall introduces tonight's judge, Donny Osmond.

First up, as always, are the junior singers. Batting lead-off tonight is 11-year-old Encinitas, California, native Joey Pearson, who gives a spirited rendition of "Living for the City." Osmond says the lad has one of the most soulful voices he's ever heard, and awards five stars. Ben Stein also gives him a perfect five stars, while Naomi Judd and Ahmet Zappa award four each, for a total of 18..

His opponent for the night is Alex, a 10-year-old female from Allen, Texas, who delivers an up-tempo interpretation of "Sk8ter boy." All four judges give her four stars, for a total of 16, giving Joey an 18-16 lead. America also favors Joey, giving him 17 stars to Alex's 13. This makes the final score 35-29 in Joey's favor.

In the Young Dancer category, Brent and Melissa from Las Vegas make their way to the stage first. They treat the audience and viewers to a spirited swing routine, prompting Naomi Judd to publicly hope the two represent the U.S. in the Olympics. She gives them a perfect five stars, while Osmond, Zappa and Stein all give four, for a total of 17. Their competition for the night: St.Louis quartet 3-One-4, who perform a thrilling hip hop routine. Judd and Osmond give them three stars, while Stein and Zappa award four, for a total of 14, giving Brent and Melissa a 17-14 lead. America also favors the duo, making it 17-12, giving the two a 34-26 win.

In the Comedian category, Butch Bradley of Atlantic City, New Jersey, goes first, going into a routine about flying. Stein says the airplane joke make the inside of his palms sweat and gives Bradley five stars, as do Zappa and Osmond, while Naomi Judd gives him four, for a total of 19. Very good for a comedian on this show! Then comes Framingham, Massachusetts, native Peter Berman, who muses about money. Naomi gives him three stars, while Osmond, Zappa and Stein award four stars each. The viewers make give Bradley a 17-13 advantage, resulting in an easy 36-28 win.

Wrapping up the night is the Adult Singer competition. First up: Les Richardson from White Salmon, Washington, who sings the classic "Sweet Home Alabama," accompanying himself on the guitar. Zappa says Richardson is Donny and Marie combined, because he's both rock and roll AND country, and he gets four stars from the rocker. Naomi also gives him four stars, while Stein gives him three, and Osmond awards a full five (maybe he agrees with Zappa), for a score of 16. The opponent for the night is Ana-Alicia Garza, singing the Eric Carmen song "All by Myself." Stein only awards three stars, but the Osmond, Judd, and Zappa all award the maximum five, giving her an 18-16 edge. But for the first and only time tonight, the viewers disagree with the judges. While giving Richardson an identical 16 stars, they only give Garza a total of 13, resulting in a razor-thin win for Richardson by a 32-31 score.

On Friday night, all the night's winners will be back for the semi-finals.

Ken can be reached with any comments, criticisms, or money orders at YourNextOfKen@aol.com.

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