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High School Musical: Trying To Control It All
Recap by Jenny Lane
September 1, 2008
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Previously on High School Musical, the eight remaining finalists were given lessons on ‘rolling with the punches.’ At their first challenge, they had to sing a HSM song in English, Turkish, Spanish and Hindu. In homeroom, TJ outed Anthony for criticizing Shayna, and the group became divided on the subject. After the group performance, the group’s two biggest overachievers, Bailey and Shayna, were the ones who were sent to the chorus.
This week’s episode begins in homeroom. Bailey isn’t happy about joining the chorus, and calls it the worst day of her life. She says that she feels like her dreams have been crushed.
Stan is unhappy that he won’t have Shayna around as much anymore, now that she too has joined the chorus. In homeroom, Shayna tells Stan that he’s the only person who will talk to him and who she has fun with. She’s also mad because she thinks Anthony is going to be happy about her move to the chorus. Shayna tells us that going to chorus is going to be awkward because of how Anthony feels about her.
Nick joins the group in homeroom, and asks how everyone is getting along. Anthony says “a lot better, I’ve learned not to take people to heart, maybe things people said I took too literal, and that blew up in my face I guess.” Shayna smiles and tells us that she’s glad that Anthony apologized (didn’t sound like an apology to me).
Nick says that this week is about first impressions and making good ones. The six in the chorus head off, and the remaining six follow Nick.
The six finalists are with Nick and Chris, in a huge room filled with kids’ playground equipment. Nick says that it’s important to make good first impressions in auditions. Chris says they’re all going to audition for three jobs, and they have to treat these like they would an audition.
Next, Chris introduces their three guests. First up is Andy, a singing telegram singer from Funny Girl Productions. Second is Valerie, also known as Daisy the clown from Ringling Brothers Circus, who is a children’s party entertainer. Finally, we have Randy, a sign spinner that holds signs up on corners for businesses. Randy does a little demonstration of his sign spinning skills for the group, who are all suitably impressed.
The first job audition is Isaiah at a kids’ birthday party. He comes in and I’m surprised that he’s not dressed up like a clown. Valerie is there to give him pointers, and Chris is observing.
Isaiah puts on a rainbow clown wig and the first thing he does is try to get the kids to put on clown noses. The kids aren’t having any part of it and tell him no, so he puts it on instead. Then he tries to pour some punch, and the kids start socking him and throwing stuff at him.
Stan doesn’t do much better, and gets sprayed with silly string. TJ, James, Tierney and Christina also have trouble getting any control whatsoever. James tries to do a juggling show, but gets boos from the kids. Tierney tries to teach the kids a song and a dance, and they completely ignore her and refuse to participate.
Next, we have the singing telegram audition, with Andy to help them. They all have costumes and something to sing. TJ dresses up like a gorilla, Stan dresses up like a chicken, and Tierney has on a dress that’s something like a gypsy. James is a banana, Christina is a penguin, and Isaiah is a pirate.
The kids put on their costumes and practice their telegrams. This is clearly easier than the kids’ party. They look silly, but they all seem to have a good time with it. The penguin, chicken and gorilla costumes are much tougher, since their heads are covered.
They must not have to actually deliver the singing telegram, because now we’re on the side of the road with Randy the sign spinner. This is nothing like the sign people that are on the streets in my neck of the woods! This guy is spinning, twirling, tossing and catching that sign in all sorts of ways.
TJ joins Randy first, and they have a sign spinning lesson. First, he is taught a “basic flip” where you toss the sign up so that it flips around, and then you catch it again. We also see Stan, James, Isaiah and Tierney as they learn the second trick. I didn’t hear a name for it, but it did involve something like “spin halfway counter clockwise, cross your left hand over your right, let go with your right hand, pull it out and meet your pinkies together.” It doesn’t look as confusing as it sounds, it looks pretty much like the sign is spinning around.
Isaiah is kind of getting the hang of things, but gets over confident and both he and the sign land on the ground. The kids are left to do their thing, and most of them just revert to jumping around and screaming. We finally see Christina, who probably weighs less than the sign.
Randy is taking notes as they do their version of sign spinning (or dropping). Stan seems to enjoy himself the most, even though his sign hits the ground several times.
The kids are back in with Nick, Chris, Andy, Valerie and Randy to hear how they did. Andy says that Nick Stan would get the singing telegram job. Valerie says Isaiah would get the kids’ party entertainer job. Randy says the sign spinner job would go to Stan, so he wins two out of three.
In the chorus rehearsal, Rob is teaching a session on voice control. They stand and do an exercise on breath support. Bailey and Shayna have smug looks on their faces, like they think they’ve already done this a million times. Rob has them standing, bouncing and panting, and Christie says it was kind of awkward. Bailey yawns, and Ether says the exercise went on forever.
Rob tells us that it’s clear that Bailey and Shayna are clearly not happy about being in the chorus, but they did join the group and the lesson. Next, they walk around and chant stuff like “Bailey feels good.” Bailey tells us that the chorus rehearsal was fun, and she left with a completely different attitude than she went in with.
Everyone is in the common room to talk about their day. Bailey and Tierney go off in a corner to snuggle (literally) and talk. Tierney says she thinks it’s funny that Shayna always has to be right next to Stan. Of course, that’s right after Shayna jumps onto the couch and pushes people aside to snuggle up to Stan.
Christie asks Stan and Shayna if they “like each other.” Stan says that Shayna has a boyfriend, and Christie says “what, I thought you guys were like, together!” Shayna says “this guy is my brother” but of course she’s also sitting on top of him with her arms around him and her head buried in his chest. When she says the brother thing, Stan kind of rolls his eyes. Shayna tells us that yes, she does have a boyfriend (whatever) and she and Stan “are not an item.”
On cue, Shayna calls her boyfriend Colin. She cries as they talk, so we don’t really hear much of the conversation. She says “do you still love me, are you still my Scooby Do?” He says “of course Shaggy, have you forgotten about me?” (Yes, the need for a barf bag is huge here.) She tells him “I’m pretty sure Stan wants to kill me because all I talk about is you.” Colin, who sounds totally stoned, tells Shayna that he loves her. Shayna hangs up and cries some more. Well, she thought she hung up. She’s sitting there crying and then we hear his voice saying “um, do I hang up now?”
Back in homeroom the next day, Stan gives Shayna a playful punch and she pretends to be mad. The chorus people say that they miss the rest of the group, and they wish they could do something all together.
Nick enters and they talk about the first impression challenge yesterday. Stan says everything that he has learned helped him yesterday, and it all worked together. Bailey talks about the chorus, and says it’s more fun to go on the challenges, but it was nice to “come back to that core of all the training that I’ve had.”
Nick announces that he has a surprise guest for them. Everyone’s jaws drop (mostly the girls) as Zach Effron comes in. He goes around and hugs all of the starstruck girls, and Bailey looks like she’s about to fall over. The guys laugh at how ridiculous the girls are.
Zach sits down to answer some questions. Bailey says she talks about Zach a lot, and that’s why everyone is making fun of her. Isaiah asks if Zach still has friends from high school, and he says yes, don’t forget your friends. Christina asks him if he gets nervous and he says yes, and that nervous energy is the best source of energy.
That’s it for Zach, and he leaves the classroom. Nick tells the kids that this week, the chorus gets to take part in the performance. He tells the six finalists to look at this as a way to make a new first impression on the judges.
This week, the songs will be out of their comfort zones, television theme songs. The kids look less than thrilled with this, and even less so when they hear that they have never heard of any of the shows! They will be singing the themes to “One Day at a Time,” “Mary Tyler Moore,” “Greatest American Hero,” and “Cheers.” I feel myself age as they talk about how they’ve never heard of Mary Tyler Moore and “classic television.” The chorus goes off to rehearse with Jen, and the finalists leave to rehearse with Montre and Tiana.
The finalists are reading through their scripts, and realize that James has the lead. They listen to the songs and of course are hearing them for the first time.
Montre and Tiana come in and they talk about the theme of the performance. They’re all in a TV museum, and they’re each going to be a wax figure. James is the security guard of the museum as the wax figures come to life.
Montre says that they want to give some feedback on areas of improvement. He tells Isaiah that they think that he has all the necessary tools to be a success, but they want him to “find a way to control it all.” Tiana tells Christina that she gets vocally lost sometimes, and then she can’t understand what’s coming out of Christina’s mouth.
Tiana tells James that he’s unique onstage, but sometimes does jerky things with his hands too much. Montre tells TJ that he has to be a lead when they ask him to be. He tells Tierney that they want to see more of her, and what’s inside her. Tiana tells Stan that he needs to work on his dancing, but he’s a natural talent.
Jen is working with the chorus, and they’re talking about how they’ve never heard any of these songs. They start off with the theme to “Greatest American Hero” and it’s not going well at all. Jen says they are all used to being the stars of their schools, so they have to get used to blending and not standing out. Shayna tells us that she keeps hearing Christie’s voice too loud.
It’s time for the performance, and everyone is dressed up like one of the characters from the shows. I don’t think it’s just the shows that they’re singing the themes to though, because I clearly see a Fonzie, a Jeannie, and a Hot Lips.
As the performance begins, Ether talks about James being a security guard, using a “Twilight Zone” voice. Then the singing begins with James singing the MTM theme (which I love). He’s singing to Tierney, who is still playing a wax figure. He’s also dusting her, which seems like an odd duty for a security guard.
Tierney comes to life, and then so do the rest. “Greatest American Hero” is next, sung by all of the wax figures as they start moving around like Pinocchio when he turns into a real boy.
“One Day at a Time is next, and now the wax figures are dancing around. It’s a short section of song though, and then it goes right back to “Greatest American Hero” and then MTM. The chorus is out there now too, singing along in parts. At the end of the song, the group sings the theme to “Cheers” and it looks like Tierney the real wax figure is falling for James the security guard.
Whew, I have to admit that I’m a bit relieved that the performance is over. Nick tells the chorus to leave the stage, and tells the remaining six that it’s time for the faculty to decide who to send to the chorus.
Rob says that this week, Isaiah stepped it up and had a great performance. Tiana says Tierney is gorgeous, but she just won’t break her shell.
As the kids wait for the results, Tierney says she thinks she’s going to the chorus. Christina says she wasn’t on top of her game, and she might be going to the chorus. James says he’s always comparing himself to where others are.
Nick returns with the results. The winner of the lessons of first impressions (say that three times fast) is Christina, who looks completely shocked.
Christina reads the names of the others who are safe. First is Isaiah, followed by Tierney and Stan. Just when James and TJ think that they’re both going to the chorus, Nick says that this week, only one person will be going, so there is one more name to read.
The two boys hold hands like the two Miss America finalists, and cue the dramatic drum music. Christina reads off the name of the final person, James. That means TJ is going to the chorus.
Jenny lives in the Silicon Valley with her husband, daughter and five furry kids. In addition to all things reality tv, she loves Nip/Tuck, Big Love and the Food Network. She’s addicted to her laptop, so if you’d like to feed her addiction, you can e-mail her at Jenny@RealityTVCalendar.com.
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