'High School Musical: Get in the Picture': USA! USA! U...

I now interrupt your primetime Olympics coverage to bring you this highly important recap of High School Musical: Get in the Picture. "Important" because I assume you were all watching gymnastics and swimming instead. ...Not that I blame you. Our theme this week is "connection," and the challenges continue to be focused on singing rather than acting or dancing. 

We also learn what the heck this "chorus" business is all about. It's basically an extended workshop where they learn lessons about performing and how to be part of a team. No challenges, but rather a focus on learning and improving. Not a bad idea, actually--I don't think I've ever seen a show where people stick around to learn more after they've been eliminated.

The first challenge for the non-losers is to 1) Get a hug from a stranger (CREEPY), 2) Get a stranger to look up in the sky, and 3) Get a stranger to give you food. All without talking. The point is to learn to communicate and connect. And potentially be molested by pedophiles? Christina cleverly picks flowers to give to people, and Shayna skips around so that she seems happy-go-lucky and nonthreatening. Ether tries to succeed, but his charades are waaay too complicated and he moves too slowly from target to target. Isaiah is a food-getting master. And again differently from many shows, no winner is named, and no final tally is even taken on how they did.

The main assignment is sing duets, and connect with each other and the faculty.

Anthony/T.J. - "I Don't Wanna Be": Anthony thinks this is his breakout song. He also thinks that Shayna is an attention hog, as a side note. T.J. is surprised, but doesn't really defend her to Anthony--just to us. Performance-wise, well, this really isn't a duet, so these two started off at a disadvantage. It left me a bit flat, and the judges find it to be forced. They worry that Anthony just doesn't have the vocal chops to hang with the rest of the group. So...not so much a breakout song.

Shayna/Stan (Wow, what a coincidence!) - "Austin": OMG, can these guys just make out already and spare us the will they/won't they? They're SUCH the Ross and Rachel of High School Musical: Get in the Picture. I mean, like, woah! In actual seriousness (though I seriously AM sick of hearing about these two), they KILL the performance. It's great! The connection is incredibly strong, the singing sounds good, and I'm left to assume (if Joey's rule from Friends about onstage chemistry holds true) that they did not, in fact, make out. The judges feel like Shayna and Stan left the audience out, but I beg to differ--these two did a fabulous job.

Christina/Isaiah - "Boston": The faculty have them do a cool technique where they try to act out the lines without worrying about the song. Christina's worried about her lack of connection with Isaiah, but her concerns are unfounded when performance time comes around. In fact, the judges worry that her vocals suffered when she focused on the emotion too much. 

Ether/Tierney - "One Year, Six Months": They're really happy about working with each other  (low-drama, high-talent) and Ether is possibly a little bit in love. Aww! Tierney? Not in love, at least in that way. Aww. The performance seems over-choreographed, but they sound great, and Tierney is extremely watchable. The judges like that Tierney made the effort to fully connect, but worry that Ether is holding back.   

Bailey/James - "Bleeding Love": Wow, I totally associate this song with So You Think You Can Dance now. (I miss Mark!)  Bailey and James start off a little tense, and in the performance they sound fine, but never really connect. James, in particular, seems uncomfortable. The judges thought it was okay, but that the connection could have been stronger.

The faculty choose Isaiah as having the best overall performance (fair enough, it's a tough call), and move Anthony and Ether into the chorus. Again, fair enough. They're both great, but both lacking in important areas. The good news, though, is that we don't really have to say goodbye to either of them! This chorus thing just might be genius.

How do you feel about tonight's eliminations? How about the chorus concept?   

I'm excited about how this show would turn out!