OK, I missed the first 5 minutes or so of the show, but from what I gather, they mentioned that the studio audience would vote for their favourite artist, and the winner would win $20,000 for the charity of their choice.
Your host is Vernon Kay, who looks like he stole Jim Carrey’s teeth and Joey Lawrence’s hair. We are coming to you from what looks to be the remains of the Superstar USA set. Anyways, your first band is:
Loverboy
Signature Hit: Working for the Weekend
Others: Lovin’ Every Minute of It, When It’s Over, Pig and Elephant DNA Just Don’t Splice
Random Notes: Songs remain popular at strip clubs. Well, maybe just in Windsor, Ontario. Until Celine Dion came along these guys were probably the most embarrassing musical export from north of the border. On a personal note, my Hoser Hair Bands of choice were Platinum Blonde and Honeymoon Suite.
By the way, the mini-bios may not be exactly what they show on TV.
“Working For The Weekend” – Pretty decent. These guys still tour regularly (venues like Casino Rama), so they don’t look too bad. Lead singer Mike Reno looks like a bigger Alan Frew (Glass Tiger) though.
Vernon Kay comes back on, and we get a couple of fluff questions, and find out that they’re covering Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero”. So that’s your setup there. (Most of the) band comes up through the lift, they sing, Vernon asks a couple of softball questions, and we find out what they’re singing later.
CeCe Penniston is next.
Signature Hit: Finally
Random Notes: Was “Miss Black Arizona” in 1989. Given the Billboard award for Best New Artist and Best New Song of the Year in 1992, which tells me that 1992 was a very lean year for music in general.
“Finally” – I actually heard this on the radio today. It sounds exactly the same. Funny moment, as CeCe apparently forgets that songs are cropped to about 2:30, and misses her cue. No Ashlee Simpson debacle here though. Oh, and one of her dancers looks like a cross between Lost’s Josh Holloway and Justin Guarini’s hair.
CeCe tells Vernon she’s singing Faith Hill’s “There You’ll Be”.
Ad Break
A Flock Of Seagulls
Signature Hit: I Ran
Others: Space Age Love Song
Random Notes: Not surprisingly, these guys were a bunch of hairdressers. The video for I Ran is considered one of the worst ever. Eh, When in Rome and Icicle Works were better 80’s Brit one-hit wonders, in my book.
“I Ran” – Everything sounds the same except for the vocals. Mike Score seems to have lost the Brit accent at some point. Frankly, this kinda sucked. Not that anyone should really be surprised about that.
Mike lets us know that A Flock Of Seagulls will be covering Ryan Cabrera’s “On The Way Down”.
Arrested Development
Signature Hit: Tennessee
Others: People Everyday, Mr. Wendal
Random Notes: Won Grammys for Best Rap Album and Best New Album. Named Rolling Stone’s Band of the Year. Like the sitcom of the same name, underappreciated.
“Tennessee” – Man, they broke it all back out for this performance. The freaky dancing, the smooth rap and vocals, even the old guy and his rocking chair!! My favourite performance of the night so far. And of course, my fiancée doesn’t like it at all.
Interestingly, AD will be singing “Heaven” by Los Lonely Boys.
Ad Break
Tiffany
Signature Hit: I Think We’re Alone Now
Others: I Saw Him Standing There, Could’ve Been
Random Notes: Personifies the use of the “Mall Tour” to promote an album. Her hit song takes on an entirely different meaning when viewing her Playboy spread, which is actually pretty good (I checked it out for, um, research). On a related note, this is what Alanis Morrisette’s music was like before she (allegedly) went down on Dave Coulier in a theatre.
“I Think We’re Alone Now” – Doesn’t sound any different – not a bad thing. Tiffany is wearing one of those belly-hiding sheer-ish tops; maybe she’s pregnant? She’s not exactly bouncing around, but maybe that’s because she’s not wearing a bra. Hey, I notice these things.
Anyways, she’ll be covering Kelly Clarkson’s “Breakaway”.
Ad Break
Before each artist sings their cover song, we get a retrospective on what they’ve been up to. In Loverboy’s case, we only see Mike Reno, and apparently he’s living the good life in North Vancouver.
“Hero” – This is pure cheese, but in a good way. Loverboy turns this into the kind of hair band ballad that you wave your arms and lighters to.
Just so you know, I’m going to rate the cover songs on a 10-point scale. This one was about 8/10.
CeCe has gotten married, and is enjoying life in Phoenix, where she still sings gospel.
“There You’ll Be” – I thought this wasn’t bad. CeCe could’ve had a longer career had it veered less towards dance music. 7/10
Mike Score has apparently been living in Coco Beach, which may explain why he lost the accent. It seems like he’s been doing a whole not of nothing.
“On The Way Down” – Well, this song sucked to begin with, and A Flock of Seagulls manages to pull this one further down by making it even worse. This is like when Scott Savol ruined a song, but without his boy band-ish hand movements. I’m guessing that they’re not going to win, nor does it look like they care. 2/10
Ad Break
I’d heard that Arrested Development got back together recently, and we see them just hanging out and having a good old time.
“Heaven” – Wow, this was some great stuff. They really went out to make this less a cover and more an AD song. My pick to win tonight. 9/10
Tiffany is just happy being a mother. But she’s got a greatest hit(s) album coming out, so look for it in record stores. Or don’t.
“Breakaway” – You know, I like Avril Lavigne, but she doesn’t exactly write the most demanding vocals, and Breakaway is no different. Tiffany does the song justice, probably the second best performance of the night.
Ad Break
We’re back, and the winner tonight is… Arrested Development!! They let us know that their charity was UNICEF for Africa, and sing “Tennessee” again. The old guy looks pissed because they didn’t bring the rocking chair back out. And Vernon lets us know that next week we’ll see The Knack, Tommy Tutone, The Motels, Vanilla Ice and Haddaway. Hey, maybe the Butabi brothers will show up!
