Secret Talents of the Stars reactions
I had no plans to watch CBS’ Secret Talents of the Stars last night. When I heard about this competition show, I thought it would be tacky. George Takei singing country music? Come on! I may be a Trekkie but I can admit this match up is a tad weird (more on him later). Plus, 10 p.m. on Tuesdays for me right now is devoted to watching the Dancing with the Stars results show (I tape it and fast forward through it) and then Hell’s Kitchen (I tape it as well). So why did I end up watching it? Simple, I watch Big Brother at 9 p.m. and was waiting for 10:05 because DwtS always finishes late. I didn’t want to flip channels so not to hear who was voted off the dance competition, so I ended up watching the beginning of STotS where figure skater Sasha Cohen admitted her secret: she’s highly flexible and wanted to do a contortionist routine. Since curiosity got the best of me, I decided to watch the entire segment and ended up being impressed.
As all competition shows of the type nowadays, there are three judges who comment on the performance. Taking a cue from American Idol, Secret Talent has three judges (including the required abrasive one): Debbie Reynolds, Brian McKnight, and Gavin Polone (aka Mr. Abrasive). The judges are of very little use since the power is in the hands of TV viewers who have their computers turned on while watching the show. During each commercial break, viewers have to go to the CBS site to rate the celebrities’ performance and the results are announced at the end of the show! This may not be the best way to select the contestants who will move on to the next round but, at least, we don’t have to sit through results shows!
In total in a show, there are four performers. In this premiere, besides Sasha Cohen, George Takei performed a country song, Clint Black tried to be a stand-up comic, and singer Mya did a tap dancing routine. Besides Takei, who would have been crushed by Simon Cowell because the Star Trek actor doesn’t have a very good singing voice, the other three were really impressive. Cohen was almost good enough to look like she was really part of the New Shanghai Circus, Clint Black was able to deliver some good jokes, and Mya rocked as a tap dancer.
I was glad to see that the stars were really interested in these talents and that they were already practicing them in a way or another (Cohen practiced her flexibility as a child, Takei sang in his shower, Black tries to make people laugh as often as he can, Mya actually thought of become a tap dancer when she was a teen) instead of having the show decide what routine they would do. Plus, the mixture of numbers was really entertaining: it wasn’t only a singing competition.
The competition show will air for a few weeks as 12 other stars have yet to perform and there will be semi-finals and the finale. It is not a revolutionary show but it can be entertaining enough if you have nothing else to watch at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays.
To get a taste of what the talents are all about, check the following videos from last night’s performers or watch the entire premiere at the CBS website.