Whiskey-a-Rainbow, October 11, 2012

Week 4
by Stuart Munro

Hello again, friends. It’s time once more to travel with me to Oz as we watch seven talented young ladies duke it out for the chance to play Dorothy! This holiday weekend’s episode opened with “If I only had the part,” a clever little play on “If I only had a heart” from the Wizard of Oz. (As a side note, CBC’s on line video player makes it extremely difficult to watch the episodes sometimes, often forcing me to reload the page two or three times an episode . . .). Daryn Jones was chipper and dapper as always, and the panel of judges also looked particularly stunning. Tom Allison, apparently, is starring in Jones’s dreams, whether Tom likes it or not! And in response to some questions from viewers, Arlene Phillips explained that the girls are singing pop songs because some of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new music for the show is more pop inspired, and Dorothy needs to have a bit of today’s attitude to pull them off.

In order to kill time (now that there are fewer girls), each girl is now getting a little montage where all the other girls talk about how wonderful their new friends are. It’s all a bit saccharine for my tastes. . . . Cassandra opened the show with confidence and verve. Singing “Mercy,” she was able to show off her movement abilities and, again, made it clear that her strong voice and personality are forces to be reckoned with. She seemed to tire physically and vocally pretty quickly though, and her back-up dancers stole a bit of focus. And please, Cassandra, take off the glasses! Arlene thought she dug deep into the soul of the song, but Tom and Louise both worried that she wasn’t digging deep enough. Jennifer followed with a pitchy and uninspired version of “Crazy little thing called love,” though I put some of the blame on the absurd diner scenario they placed her in. Still, this wound up being one of the weakest performances of the night for me. Tom, Louise, and Arlene all felt the pitch problems wouldn’t be so noticeable if her acting was stronger, but sadly that’s not the case.

So for me, Danielle, Jessie and AJ were on top.

Colleen sang “If my friends could see me now” dressed as a theatre usherette from the 1920s, and forced to act out a scenario just as ridiculous. Her performance was energetic, but her voice sounded a bit harsh and the whole thing was at just one level: uninteresting. It was another weak performance, though apparently she’s very sick this week. Tom, however, thought it was her best outing so far (I can’t imagine we were watching the same performance,) and Arlene really felt she delivered. The judges’ raves make me wonder if they get together beforehand and decide who they’re going to hate and love each week, because I just didn’t see what they got so excited about. AJ was next, and vocally, her version of “True colors” had a few dull moments, but it was probably the strongest acting performance so far this episode. Louise loved the fact that AJ is always “there” as soon as the lights come up on her, and for Tom it “set the bar for the night.” I don’t disagree, but I also think it’s a lower bar than we should expect.

Danielle sang “Moon river” and, despite it being a bit low for her, was honest, tender, and sweet. Without any context, she told a clear and thought-out story with the song, which is what this contest is all about. Louise thought it was brave and beautiful, true and simple. For Arlene it was the best performance of the entire series so far and that Danielle had the exact right feel for Dorothy when she’s locked up and alone in the castle. Stephanie’s “Buenos Aires” sounded wonderful and really transitioned well between the more brash sections of the song and the lighter, sweeter part in the middle. Her eyes, however, were a bit dead the whole time. Tom LOVED it and wanted to throw his chair at her. All three judges really think Stephanie came out of her shell tonight, and Louise called it “Exciting exciting exciting.”

Jessie closed the show with a sassy and sardonic performance of Adele’s “Rollin’ in the deep.” She was pitch-perfect vocally and, as always, her eyes told an entire story all on their own. She seemed to slip in and out of character a few times, and the choreography (which had her behind her back-up dancers for half of it) probably didn’t help matters. Still, this was another strong performance from Jessie. Arlene (who has saved Jessie twice from elimination) thought she mopped the floor with the competition and wants Canada to love her the way she does (yes please!). For Louise it was a focused performance, and Tom said that’s the kind of performance that wins roles.

So for me, Danielle, Jessie and AJ were on top.

For once, Canada and I agreed! All three of my girls were safe this week (thank God Jessie is finally out of the bottom two!). After a fun performance of “I enjoy being a girl,” we learned that Jennifer and Stephanie were both in danger of being sent home. The girls sang one of my favourite Andrew Lloyd Webber tunes, “Tell me on a Sunday,” and they both sounded beautiful. Initially, there didn’t seem to be much of a connection with the lyrics though, which I find strange – the song is about trying to control the hurt you know is inevitable. You would think there would be something there to work with before potentially being axed from the competition. They both grew as the song went on however, and based on this performance alone I wouldn’t have been able to pick a girl to send home. 

In the end, Arlene saved Stephanie who, admittedly, has been stronger vocally than Jennifer throughout the competition. Arlene’s parting advice to Jennifer was to dig deeper with the lyrics, because she has a face people will want to watch on stage and screen. Jennifer’s version of “Over the rainbow” finally seemed to find that emotional connection that had been missing up to this point, and no wonder. 

As a bit of an aside, Rick Mercer hung out with Daryn Jones this week, and they talked a bit about why Daryn chose to host the show. The video can be found here.