Celebrity Duets Has its “It Factor” Moments

Celebrity Duets Has its “It Factor” Moments by Roxanne McDonald

Celebrity Duets debuted on Tuesday, August 29, 2006. For those of us spoiled by the quality of American Idol, we may have at first been anticipating a less than perfect show with a redundant format of cheesy renditions done by has-been performers who will be told not to quit their day jobs (if they still have them).

But by the very virtue of American Idol, whose creator and producer (Simon Cowell, for those of you living in a missile silo without access to info known the world over) is co-producing Celebrity Duets – with the maker of Hell’s Kitchen and Skating with Celebrities, Arthur Smith and with producer of major award shows, teen idol specials, and such long-running hits as Hollywood Squares, we can rest assured the show will fill a void and will be entertaining.

Since that last sentence was way too long, let’s just consider the merits of the new show. First, the celebrity singer becomes a short-term mentor to the partner, who for this series is typically not known for singing. Next, there are the standard three judges, but they are all esteemed, knowledgeable professionals in the field, so their commentary and critiques are cogent, valid, and not so acerbic, acidic, or vitriolic that we feel they are unsuccessfully aping the one-of-a-kind Cowell.

For the first episode, for example,

David Foster (multi-award-winning songwriter of hundreds of hits), America’s silly sweetheart Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Little Richard, and the songstress who made duets with one’s brother a must-hear Marie Osmond rule the judging panel posts. Their comments are proactive, pro-growth, and pro-fessional. They offer what we remember as real constructive criticism – something the contestants can take with them as they go on in the competition or off stage in elimination.

And finally, besides our being greeted by the funny Wayne Brady, we have the delight of familiar (non-singing) performers paired with seasoned singers – all of whom we have grown up with, grown old with, and yet never grown tired of:

My perverse favorite is Alfonso Ribeiro (paired with Vanessa Williams the first night to perform “I Knew You Were Waiting For Me”, then with James Ingram), for he was not only a marginal singer in Fresh Prince of Bel-Air but was so damned darling with his prep-school pent-up passions that when freed by Will’s assistance were hilarious, adorable, and downright endearing. Okay, his character quirks on a decade-old show have nothing to do with how well he can sing, but I’m just sayin’. And besides, Ribeiro can sing.

Then there’s the equally cherished Lea Thompson (paired with the stellar Randy Travis for the winning number, “Forever and Ever, Amen”) hails from starring in the kooky Caroline in the City as well as from great roles in such films as the Back to the Future trilogy.

Though this writer had never heard of or laid eyes on the beautiful and golden Chris Jericho, evidently this celebrity singing hopeful was five times the WWE champ! And while another writer on an established site also recaps his pairing with Lee Ann Womack, I saw him doing Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” with the seventies pop icon Peter Frampton.

(You Xers and younger viewers may be as unaware of Frampton as I am of Jericho, but let me describe the popularity of this man in my day: during the first week of college for in-coming freshmen in Plymouth, NH, thousands of us lined up for this roll call and that class and this orientation and that frat or sorority rush. The weather was gorgeous, though the lines were long – winding as they did around campus. As we made our parking lot traffic moves, step-by-step across the greens, each dorm we came to pass had upperclassmen hanging out windows and sitting on rooftops. And each group was enjoying a Peter Frampton Comes Alive! song. So as we inched along, we could enjoy the electric wailing and addictive lyrics of “Baby I Love Your Way,” “(I’ll Give You) Money,” and “Do You Feel Like We Do?”)

Okay, okay, I shall digress,

and get back to some of the more redeeming features of the show: getting lots of props and boosts (of advice) was Olympic gymnast and gold medal-winner Carly Patterson, paired with mentor Lee Ann Womack to do “I Hope You Dance.” Queer Eye’s Jai Rodriguez does a duet with the illustrious Gladys Knight, and the response in the house is a standing O; and also pairs with Michelle Williams to bring a gorgeous rendition of “Say My Name.”

Always Xena to some followers, the now blonde (again?) Lucy Lawless works the re-working of a Michael Bolton song, with Michael Bolton. Carly Patterson also does a number with James Ingram. And the brilliant Cheech Marin (also of my and thousands of other’s era, of Cheech and Chong LPs and movies, though known later, for you guys, as Ignacio Messina and Nash Bridges) works the stage with his contemporary, Peter Frampton.

Hal Sparks and Smokey Robinson go back in time even further with “Tracks of My Tears”; Lea works with Michael Bolton; and Lucy Lawless sings with Smokey. Cheech and Travis try a duet. My bet, Ribeiro, does a duet with Ingram. And Elimination (yes, done the same night, making for another novelty of the show as compared to the other celebrity and talent productions) sees Chris Jericho returning to the world he is better suited for, though that pretty face was sure welcome on this first episode of a show with pretty decent entertainment value.

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