Hopefully not Second Best

Hopefully not Second Best by Roxanne McDonald

New “diabolically outrageous and raucously entertaining” reality competition show, “The Next Best Thing” will bring contenders for the title of Greatest Celebrity Impersonator. Let’s hope not the second best or next worst thing to come through the tubes….

Okay, no tubes anymore, but let’s hope this new show “The Next Best Thing: Who is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?” delivers the good. We have had the everyman/woman turned celebrity, the common person turned reality TV star, and the celebrity turned reality TV presence. Now, we will have the best of all, combined.

The first promo I caught was cute enough, showing one of the judges telling a contestant something to the effect of, “You are unemotional, untalented…; you are Paris Hilton. [And] you’re going to the next round.”

In another ABC promo, we catch, of course, a glimpse of a Cher impersonator, complete with controversial clothing and curly wig, I instantly wonder how many Chers, how many drag queens, the judges have seen. Of course, the brilliant Cher female impersonators in drag that I have seen in the last ten years have only lip-synched, so maybe the judges have had a limited number of listens to “Do You Believe in Love after Love?”

Those judges are, reportedly (by the half-built official site), well-known comedians Jeffrey Ross, of Comedy Central Roasts and The Aristocrats; Lisa Ann Walter, of Shall We Dance? and The Parent Trap; and Elon Gold, of “Stacked” and Cheaper by the Dozen. They will, it is said, “use their razor sharp wit and comedic skills as they evaluate, critique and sometimes skewer celebrity impersonators based on how much they look, sound and act like the celebrity they’re impersonating.”

Hosted by Michele Merkin (of “Foody Call” and “Extreme Dodgeball”), “The Next Best Thing…” will audition contestants, send the better impersonators through to subsequent rounds, and call for America to vote for the 10 finalists (and, ultimately, the winner) out of the 30 semi-finalists. The winner will take a $100,000 grand prize for his, her, or

his/her best efforts at impersonating the likes of such celebrities as Jennifer Aniston, James Bond (which one—Dalton or Connery or…–I don’t know), George Burns, George W. Bush, Cher (and Sonny and Cher), Sammy Davis, Jr., Neil Diamond, Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson, Angelina Jolie, David Letterman, Groucho Marx (and other Marx brothers), Mike Meyers (as Austin Powers), Bette Midler, Dolly Parton, Minnie Pearl, Dr. Phil, Tony Soprano, Rod Stewart, or Superman.
“Last Comic Standing’s” Peter Engel and Barry Katz and “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment” and “Mad TV’s” Fax Bahr and Adam Small will produce under the auspices of Peter Engel Productions and New Wave Entertainment.

In a two-hour special premiere, “The Next Best Thing: Who is the Greatest Celebrity Impersonator?” will air on Wednesday, May 30, on ABC.

SirLinksAlot Next Best Thing links

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