TVSquad

Jai is a trained Broadway actor who has starred in Rent and the Off-Broadway smash hit Zanna Don't. Jai is, of course, featured in the cast recording by the same name - more info at http://www.psclassics.com/cd_zanna.html

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I would think that Jai has a bit of an advantage over the rest of them... seeing as he has been performing on Broadway for years.

http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=523299

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As Meesh pointed out, I knew Jai had been Angel in Rent but he was still much better than I thought he would be. Rent and Chicago are two long running shows that bring in big names for high tourist season whether they are really good or not. I just didn't know he was that good but the whole sexy stare at his female partners was weird. He kept staring at Michelle Williams boobs.

I do disagree with Richard and agree with the judges, Chris Jerico needed to go. I even agreed that Carley was the worst female. But that first song Chris did with Lee Ann Womack was horrible. I heard he was in a KISS cover band too (so is Hal Sparks, not the same band.)

For me this I enjoy the Celeb singers more than the contestants. James Ingram was fantastic and where do you see Randy Travis, Peter Frampton, Smokey Robinson and Michael Bolton on the same show, very interesting choices. I kept wondering where Patti LaBelle and Richard Marx were since they promoted her in the intro but now I realize we will have different singers each week.

One last note, some of those male duos were just creepy. They were singing what should be love songs, could they not find more female celebs to sing? Cheech and Randy was the only one that worked for me.

If there isn't a conflict, I might continue to tape this. Tonight I had baseball instead of BB7 and Rockstar so I watched this. Any other Tues and I would have missed it.

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I LOVE THIS SHOW!! And I was completely jazzed with the people competing and performing. SOOOOO happy to see Peter Frampton who was in fantastic form. And the big surprise to me was Cheech Marin who was SOLID. He's a good singer. I've been a fan of Randy Travis forever and he and Cheech did a great duet. Agree that James Ingram was smooth; he's reliable that way, very talented. The competitors were an interesting group. I think the right person left. I think Carly will go next. Marie Osmond is doing a great job. I like her. The other thing to watch is WILL LITTLE RICHARD make it through the whole series?

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I watched this with my girlfriend, who is a huge Hal Sparks fan from his QAF days (I guess I am a little, too). My favorite part was when Little Richard told Lucy Lawless, "[your performance] made my big shoot up in my boot!"

Overall, I found the show pretty uninspiring (just like Idol and the like), and I think my girlfriend agreed, but we did enjoy Hal Sparks' performances.

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THE SOUND WAS HORRIFFIC IT JUST FADED IN AND OUT LIKE SOMEONE TURNING THE KNOB UP AND DOWN AS SOON AS THE SONE WAS OVER IT WAS FINE.I WAS WOUNDERING IF ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM??????????

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I thought Lucy Lawless was phenomenal. Not only did she look great, but she carried a tune with Smokey Robinson, and how!

Rodriguez and Ribeiro were excellent, the rest will have to improve majorly to be able to keep up. And while Sparks' performances were great, the songs were not in his key, so hopefully that improves in the future.

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Oh come on, this show was far more Skating with the stars than Dancing with them. Jai and Alfonso, both professional singers, were so far better than everybody else that it was painful to listen to the rest of the cast of "I Love to 80s" sing their songs. I thought Cheech was far more painful than Jericho, who does have his own heavy metal band and obviously can't do country (but, really, thank god, you know? Talk about losing your cred).

The biggest hook for the show was the surprise of who the musical guests would be, kept as a surprise literally until they walked on stage. Think about what that means for the rest of the talent. Honestly, Marie Osmond can sell Gladys Knight all she wants, but everybody on that show is just cranking through the reality shows while they can, Gladys included. I was surprised not to see the football guy from Dancing with the Stars, but maybe he's an ABC property.

I'm now convinced that Little Richard has been replaced by a robot with a button on his back. You just push it and nonsense comes out. MASHED POTATOES!

P.S. I'm not kidding about the VH1 comment, checkt out how many of the stars of this show have done the VH1 series. Almost all of them, Peter Frampton, Cheech and Gladys Knight included.

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actually, i think lucy lawless did Grease on broadway too at one point. jericho was the one to go for sure. anyone else think leann womack seemed like she didn't want to be there and that smokie might be getting a little long in the tooth?

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I thought that the show was very good. Most of the celebrities were better than I thought. Jai Rodriguez and Alfonzo Ribeiro were superb in their singing with the stars. And Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Peter Frampton, Michael Bolton, Michelle Williams, James Ingram, Randy Travis and others are still sounding great today! I think that they might help these celebrities sing better. The judges were good, although Marie Osmond gets too gushy, Little Richard can say the funniest stuff and David Foster's tough. Hal Sparks had his own thing with his singing and I thought that Lea Thompson was quite good. Didn't like Chris Jericho, though or Carla Patterson--they looked nervous. Cheech Marin needs to feel the songs more when he sings them. Can't wait to see Chaka Khan, Aaron Neville, Richard Marx, Cyndi Lauper, Belinda Carlisle and others in future weeks!

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Lea Thompson appeared on Broadway in [i]Cabaret[/i] as Sally Bowles, so she's no novice either.

Jericho, Patterson, and Cheech were equally bad. They all deserved to go, and so does Little Richard. The man is bat-s**t.

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I thought the show was great! My favorite was Alfonso Ribeiro. He is one superb singer and dancer. And HOT too boot.

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Actually I kind of enjoyed the show.Jai Rodriquez and Alfonso Ribero were terrific.Chris Jericho and Carly Patterson were painful.Cheech Marin was middle of the pack.Lea Thompson and Hal Sparks had their moments.But the one who took me by surprise was Lucy Lawless.I am anxious to see how does with other genres but her two performances in the first show were great and ranked right up there with Jai and Alfonso.

As for the judges,Marie Osmond was her usual bouncy self,Little Richard was Little Richard and David Foster was a kinder,gentler Simon Cowell.

Wonder how Britney would do as one of the contestants???

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I think that Lucy Lawless was wonderful! Lucy is stunning and has a beautiful alto voice. Lucy is also a very nice down to earth person.

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LOVED IT! LOVED IT! LOVED IT! Need I say more.

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All I can say is Jai Rodriguez and Michelle Williams, amazing, I was enraptured by their performance. I definitely think as of now, Jai is the lead runner

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One more comment, although Cheech isn't the world's best singer, I really enjoyed Diggin up Bones with Randy Travis. That's a song I've always enjoyed and it was a great combo

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Thought Chris was the weakest, but so was Carly,& Cheech was awful, but with 5 guys & 3 gals I figured the first to go would be a guy.
Lucy was by far incredible, she sang beautifully in American English, which adds another challenge to her performance. She & Smokey were really Smoking. She is so gracious & beautiful to look at as well as listen to.
Little Richard has got to go. What's with him, nothing that he said during the entire show was worthwhile or made sense.
Considering the experience that several of the contestants already have, they should have tried matching this more evenly.

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Lucy Lawless did "Grease" on Broadway. She also sang on Xena. Little Richard...Damnnnnnnnn,you need a script. No more live tv for you.

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What the heck are you smoking??? You think Lucy Lawless should have gotten the boot? NO WAY PAL!!!! She was by far better than Chris Jericho and she'll be there all the way to the end. You just watch!

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