The Next Best Thing: Las Vegas Contestants Gamble on Fame
Episode 4 Recap by Donna Emery
June 22, 2007
This week on The Next Best Thing, the judges went to Las Vegas for the next round of auditions. The hostess told us that the show is staying in Las Vegas until at least next week, when the acts that they've chosen will perform again. The winner will then be up to those who vote.
We still have the same three judges, and though they've toughened their standards since the first week, they still passed at least one act through that didn't deserve it. They also turned down more than one very good act.
The show began well, with Jay Leno. The performer looks quite a bit like Leno, although his wig could have been a bit more realistic. His voice and mannerisms were very much like Jay's, and all three judges said he should advance to the next round.
Next came Ozzy Osbourne. He looked just like Ozzy, and the judges were excited. But once he began to speak, they didn't like him any more. Jeff half-heartedly suggested that he eat a bat, but he didn't really mean it and I don't think it would have mattered.
A Garth Brooks wannabe had some of Garth's characteristic country twang, but really didn't look much like Garth. Jeff suggested that he copy Garth - and retire.
We got to meet an Oprah Winfrey who shares the talk hostess' energy level, but not her voice. Jeff said she rated a "Nope-Rah."
As you can see, Jeff is continuing to add his one-liners to the show. I didn't like them much better this week.
John Travolta's voice was very good, but he didn't look much like the performer. He had a Pulp Fiction haircut but it wasn't good enough.
One act that the judges liked was Barbra Streisand. She looked quite a bit like "Babs", but I don't think her voice was that great. She also had a great deal more cleavage than Miss Streisand. I will say that she was the best Barbra imitator that I've seen on this show, but I don't think she deserved to move on. The judges did, so she will be back next week.
We got some more bad acts:
Billy Idol was really awful, and looked more like Charles Dance.
Austin Powers looked and sounded awful, though Lisa seemed to enjoy flirting with him.
Next came Frank Sinatra, who may not have exactly looked the part, but he certainly sang like Old Blue Eyes. He even has blue eyes. He wowed the judges, and deservedly moves on.
Dolly Parton came out with a puppet. I think that it was a Kenny Rogers puppet. The puppet was really a bad idea, and Dolly was "de-Parton."
Alice Cooper looked just like his namesake, but his voice was really awful.
I enjoyed Pee Wee Herman, who has the same goofy energy and mannerisms as Pee Wee. Maybe his face was a bit off, but I think he looked at least as much like Pee Wee as "Barbra" looked like Barbra. The judges asked what other impressions he did. He rolled out a Scooby Doo and a Seinfeld, but the judges still said no. I think he was worth a second chance, but the judges turned him town.
Since "Pee Wee" had imitated some other performers, we got to see some other contestants who'd tried to imitate a second performer while dressed as someone famous.
For example, we got Sammy Davis doing Johnny Mathis; Elvis doing Sammy Davis and John Wayne doing Kathryn Hepburn. None rated a pass to the next round.
James Brown was extremely energetic and whirled and sang and danced like his namesake. Although Elon really wanted to send him through to the next round, the others disagreed and he didn't move on.
Neither did Cher.....
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