High School Musical: Get In The Picture, Episode 2: East Coast Semi-Finals

After relentlessly searching the east coast for the best of the best on Sunday night, Nick Lachey and his faculty of triple-threat auditioners have reconvened in Orlando at the House of Mouse for Round Two – the semi-finals. We are reminded of some of the favorites from the previous audition, like Anthony, the overweight but million-dollar-smiling class clown with a rough childhood, and Isaiah, the smooth-talking ladies man with a disapproving father. Anthony insists he isn’t just here to win, but to put smiles on people’s faces, while Isaiah insists he is here to win, not just to have fun with the chicas.

The first audition will focus on dancing, led by faculty member Tiana, but enforced by the watchful eye of judges Rob and Montre. Rob tried to come across as the goofy and loveable judge last episode, but became notorious for not letting many pass through. Montre, meanwhile, had a lot of attitude and sass, but became notorious for being easy in the end and awkwardly wearing a pink tie loosely around his polo shirt with an up-flipped collar.

Montre insists that this round will not just be about the dance moves, but about the marriage of rhythm with personality, since that is what the HSM family is all about. ABC seems dead set on enforcing that this competition is about said “family,” which is kind of odd since this is, I don’t know, an elimination-based reality show.

Jessalyn, the inexperienced, Nora Jones-styled singer who was serenaded by Nick for her birthday in the previous episode, struggles a bit to keep up as Tiana teaches the kids the dance routine, while small-town Tony also feels the heat. Meanwhile, Bailey – the self-proclaimed mean girl – seems to have no trouble at all keeping up, and baby-faced joker John uses his personality to make up for his lack of technical prowess.

After learning the routines, Nick pops in to give some advice to the star-struck hopefuls – hey, you don’t see Seacrest doing that! – before explaining that each finalist will now get the chance to sing one song from HSM, and only the best ten will be chosen to move on to the final round.

First up is the Zac Efron-on-steroids Jordan, who transformed from the all-American jock-next-door in Episode 1 to a cocky, I-wear-my-sunglasses-inside/too-cool-for-high-schooler. But can he still sing? The judges seem to think so, and Montre likes his riffing (and I think has a crush on him too).

Next up is Brooke, who, as I recall, was portrayed by the producers as the “sassy, loudmouth cheerleader” in Episode 1, but has now been recast as the “positive, sweet cheerleader.” What a difference a day makes. Tony, the aforementioned Mississippi boy, pleases the judges with his simple charm before Estefania, the trilingual, Latina bombshell woos the judges, but worries Tiana a bit because of her thick accent.

Nick tries to calm the contestants in the green room while continuing to mention his resume of experience, and home-schooled Brianna agrees his advice ain’t doing much to help. Still, she puts on her biggest smile, puts her lack of social experience aside, and… forgets her lyrics.

Sharpe-in-waiting Bailey sells her song, and ladies man Isaiah feels confident after his performance, with a full-on dance break in the middle – though Montre thinks he oversold the song a bit. After a few other awkward performances, diva Tierney stands out, but Jessalyn comes off forgettable. John, Anthony, and rocker James all impress the judges, as well as the as-yet-unseen Ciara, but a slew of performers who weren’t showcased in the first episode fail to impress and only manage to get politely disgusted looks from the judges.

Now that everyone has had a chance to sing, the judges split the kids into two groups of ten, and since all the kids who have been featured in the past two episodes are in the first group, I think it’s pretty safe to bet that they are moving forward. Sure enough, I’m right, and the only featured players not moving on are Jordan, Estefania, and Brooke. As for the lucky ten, they now are broken into pairs where they have 24 hours to learn, choreograph, and harmonize a duet. Only six will move on.

Isaiah is paired up with Ciara, and he wants their pairing to be more than just a fleeting one if you get my drift. Jessalyn isn’t happy with Anthony as her partner, while control-freak Bailey has a hard time with joker John. Brianna, lucky to have a second chance after forgetting her lyrics, is paired with bumpkin Tony and they don’t have much in common, while James and Tierney’s biggest problem is that they can’t stop burping.

Finally, it is time for the last round of the semi-finals, and the judges, Nick, and a small group of Disney World-goers watch as James and Tierney take the stage to sing Natalie Imbrulgia’s “Torn.” Their harmonies are nice and both really get into it – and Tierney sure can sing! Unlike a certain other talent competition, the judges hold back their comments, so we have no instant gratification here or leads on how to think.

Next up, John and Bailey cheese it up to “I Want It That Way.” Bailey shifts octaves a lot, John looks extremely uncomfortable, and their harmonies are pretty non-existent. The most amusing part is when, afterwards, Nick makes a Backstreet Boys joke and Bailey insists her perfectionism rubbed off on John. I don’t know what rubbed off on him, but I definitely wouldn’t call it perfectionism.

Jessalyn and Anthony give a fine but forgettable performance of “Bubbly,” but Anthony definitely stands out more than she does. Brianna and Tony sing “Leave the Pieces” pretty adequately, but Isaiah and Ciara’s sexy, chemistry-laden “Change the World”(yeah, the Eric Clapton song!) is the real show-stealer. Not only does it lack the cheesy choreography of the other performances, they really make the song modern and personal.

Now it’s time to find the top six and tell them their fates. Nick decides to go door-to-door to inform the lucky contestants, and the first to receive the golden ticket is Anthony, and he, Nick, and mom share a few hugs and tears. Bailey, Tierney, and James are the next to get the news, and while John, Jessalyn, Ciara, and Tony will not be moving on, Brianna and Isaiah take up the remaining spots and may yet get in the picture!

Next week, the faculty will travel the west coast and do the same thing all over again, eventually leaving us with twelve finalists to go head-to-head, Disney-style. Until then, the new HSM3 trailer just leaked online, so enjoy and come back next week for another fun-filled episode and recap!

John Filizzola currently lives in Los Angeles, where he spends way too much time watching, thinking about, and (apparently) writing about reality television. He can be reached at johnnyf82@hotmail.com.

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