Celebrity Duets, September 21: Duet For Love!

Wayne Brady welcomes us! Wayne tells us, surprisingly, that next week is the finale! That was fast! There will be two eliminated celebrities this week, and the other three will fight it out for the title just next week! Wow!

Wayne then introduces us to the celebrity judges – Marie Osmond, Little Richard, and David Foster.

Jai Rodriguez admits he was a bit disappointed in his critiques – after getting glowing reviews for so long, he was a bit floored by last week. He’s further floored to see his duet partner is. He’s got his work cut out for him!

Jai Rodriguez with Patti LaBelle, “Lady Marmalade”

Jai sings the opening lines of “Lady Marmalade,” and I actually at first think it’s Patti! Patti is actually crooning along offstage. Together, they wail, they rock, they roll, they save souls, and send a few more to hell. As duet partners go, Patti doesn’t give much, she goes where she goes, and you have to keep up. If you can. And, for the most part, Jai does!

Marie says Jai “smoked it” and is oddly interrupted by David saying he doesn’t want to go last. David continues that he’s been judging Jai from his world when Jai is not in David’s world, and for Jai’s world, that was great. Okay, whatever, that was so worth the interruption! (??) Little Richard says Jai made him “scream like a white woman!” I doubt it’s the first time Little Richard has done that.

Wayne is in the audience with Carly, who gives a polite and gracious hello and says she’s excited to be there cheering on her “peeps.”

Lucy is shocked to be the highest vote-getter, but doesn’t let it go to her head. She’s focusing on her partner, one of music’s most successful songwriters. Hmm.

Lucy Lawless with Richard Marx, “Right Here Waiting”

Lucy starts off with stunning confidence! She takes “Right Here Waiting” off in places of her own, and it’s pretty good! Richard Marx arrives and, at first, actually seems a bit knocked off by the liberties the orchestration is taking with his smash hit. It’s almost like the song has been re-tailored for Lucy and he has to find his way through it. But he’s the pro, he can deal. Together, they are winning!

Marie says she loved hearing Lucy start off and just “sing it.” She thinks Lucy has a Marilyn Monroe kind of quality to her voice, but thinks Lucy should relate just a bit more to her partner on stage. Little Richard proclaims the “beauty is still on duty and don’t you forget it!” He proclaims himself Judge Beauty and the rest I don’t know because I’m cackling. David says he loves the song and loved what she did with it.

Hal is still smarting over David’s rock star comments last week. He says he does not think David knows rock, at least the type he likes. Hal spends some time in the rock clubs to reconnect with his inner rock god. Yeesh.

Hal Sparks with Dee Snider, “We’re Not Gonna Take It”

Hal starts off with is full-fledged rock growl and a guitar. Hal has the wireless mike, the pseudo-military jacket, he’s playing every rawk face ever seen in an ‘80s video, and looks like he’s having the time of his life! Dee hasn’t forgotten how. That’s for sure. Plenty of attitude, but he doesn’t sound… on key. This is going to be a matter of taste.

Marie says Hal is having fun, but doesn’t think Hal was on-key. (See!) Too much screaming. Little Richard says the heavy metal is different than what he created, no one ever asked his permission to turn the stage. But he thinks Hal has “got what it takes and it takes what he got.” I think that was good. David agrees that there was too much screaming, but wants to take Hal in the studio and show Hal he’s a better singer than he showed on the series, and David wants to show Hal he can rock. Yes, this is becoming a pissing contest. Little Richard chimes in to Hal, “hold him to it!” I withdraw.

Cheech recognizes he’s taken some shots, but is excited to have made it this far. He’s excited about who he’s singing with as well. He’s practicing some scatting. Uh-oh.

Cheech Marin with Al Jarreau, “Mornin’”

Cheech starts off so out of key, Al feels compelled to sing in the same sour key to try to mask it. Of course, Al has the skill to slide out of it in a pretty sort of way. Cheech is stuck in that sour note. Has a frog gotten into the control booth? No, that’s just Cheech. Even Al is starting to bug me. This cannot end fast enough. Oh, my head. Why is Al singing like he just sucked helium? Stop it. Please.

Marie says you have to understand jazz to appreciate Al Jarreau and passes her time to David. Little Richard says he didn’t know that Cheech could sing jazz, he was surprised, and he’s sure Cheech is too. David says Cheech didn’t do the song the way he wrote it (oh, nice self-plug!), but Cheech has balls. Little Richard feels the need to ask Cheech, “You know who wrote that song?” I’m sure after a week of rehearsing, that fact never came up, Richard. David saying he wrote it ten seconds earlier wasn’t a clue either. Shaddup!

I was saving that one.

Alfonso recalls his battles with David Foster. He too will be singing a David Foster written song, but he will not shirk from this, or any, challenge. He thinks it’s a risk that could put him in the finals or send him home.

Alfonso Ribeiro with Chaka Khan, “Through the Fire”

Alfonso handles the opening lyrics with no problem. You can hear the work he puts in with every performance. Oddly, Chaka’s voice is heavier than Alfonso’s, which makes for some interesting harmonizing. Alfonso more than holds his own with the fiery Chaka, who does some of her tightrope notes, which she only does when she’s feeling comfortable. Alfonso should feel flattered! He earned it.

David says the song brought back memories of him recording with Chaka; as for Alfonso, he did really, really well. No complaints. Marie says he and Chaka looked like they’d been together for years and congratulates Alfonso on doing singing consistently well throughout the series. Little Richard… eh, white boy dance, black boy dance, sang better than I thought you could, if it don’t fit, don’t force it. Do with that what you will.

Hey, there’s a special performance from Patti LaBelle! She’s singing “On My Own.” Don’t tell me we’ll get Michael McDonald too! No, Wayne Brady. No surprise Wayne can sing. Once again, Patti goes where she goes, keep up if you can. Good luck. Wayne is excellent. When you can keep from getting blown off the stage by Patti, you’ve done something!

The finals are next week!

Here’s how I would rank them:

1. Alfonso
2. Jai
3. Lucy
4. Hal
5. Cheech

Meaning Hal and Cheech will be the two eliminated.

However, Hal did the only rocking on a night of adult-contemporary champagne glass clinkers from David Foster. That could, could, edge him past Lucy! How will this end up?

Let’s find out together Friday night!!

In the meantime, see what the Foxes On Idol judging panel has to say at We’ll Be the Judge of That!

Sting7 has been a respected published writer for many years, as a music editor, entertainment critic, columnist, and interviewer. He also has a curious love for pro-wrestling! You can email Stinger at stingseven@yahoo.com.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site! And take a look at the rest of the site. You can find out about some other popular shows at our Big Brother: All-Stars page and our Rock Star: Supernova page; and don't miss The Reality TV Hall of Shame. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out SirLinksALot: Celebrity Duets!