Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
To no one's surprise, Harlemm Lee, my favorite in the TV competition Fame, moved on to the next level last night.
He took the stage and sang "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers, once more giving a stellar performance. Or, in judge Carnie Wilson's words, magical.
Carnie Wilson, who rose to fame herself in the group Wilson Phillips, has been a Harlemm fan from the start, but the other judges have also joined her in gushing over him.
This time even music industry insider Joey Fatone admitted that the top three, as he sees it, are Harlemm Lee, Shannon Bex (a Britney Spears look-alike but without the sparkle) and Serena Henry (who's got the style but whose delivery from week to week is uneven). Before, Joey seemed hesitant to praise Harlemm because he likes to sing songs originally recorded by women.
Radio personality JoJo Wright also said he thought the top three were Harlemm, Shannen and Serena.
With that kind of competition, I think we all know who's going to win. Mr. Triple Threat himself, Harlemm Lee.
Last night, they threw a "spoiler" into the mix, Tyce DiOrio, a dance instructor. He, along with many Americans, met the challenge to send in a tape for the possibility of being a late entry into the contest.
Poor Tyce might have had a chance if he'd started with everyone else, but during the dance number, while he was clearly an excellent dancer, he didn't seem as comfortable with the other contestants as they were with each other.
And then when he performed "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, his performance was uneven. One of the judges — I believe it was Joey — said that Tyce was in the top five when it came to dancing (little surprise there) but the bottom five when it came to singing. Considering there are only seven contestants left if you include Tyce, I guess that means he's got as much of a chance of staying as anyone else.
My guess is that he could pick up the so-called "heartthrob" vote that Alex Boyd was winning. Of course, viewers were apparently unforgiving of Alex's mediocre performance on last week's show, so Tyce's chances of sticking around are pretty slim.
There's one more week of competition and then the following week, the winner is announced.
I just hope my Planet Harlemm T-shirt arrives by then.
More thoughts on "Fame":
May 29, 2003 - Fame, Remember My Name!
June 26, 2003 - Planet Harlemm
July 5, 2003 - The Music of Love
Moral:
You can practice all day, but you can't fake "magical."
Copyright
2003 by Alyce Wilson
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