OLTL: Discussion for the week May 17

[EricMontreal22]

Fair enough--a lot of the OLTL cast do have musical theatre experience--as do many of the Glee people, obviously (the actor who plays Finn went to my high school here in Victoria but didn't do any musical theatre or any of the theatre I was involved with--he was quiet and played the drums. I think they have to work hard to get good vocals from him).

[EricMontreal22]

Who sang the theme today? Brody?

[quartermainefan]

Yes, but it sounded a little sharp to me. When he gets to "I'll give you tomorrow" and "each day that follows" it doesn't sound nice.

[DRW50]

He's giving it his best with a big budget and wonderful technical help. Even then I think it was the wrong song and his voice is forgettable, as are his attempts at emotion, which seem like generic pouting; he takes away from any power Rose's Turn had.

I think that most musical stuff today focuses too much on faces and gimmicks, not on picking the right songs, so OLTL and Glee have that in common. Glee is better, but when I hear Starr, I would take her over that very poor cover of "The Boy is Mine" Glee had last week. KA has improved from where she was a few years ago.

[DRW50]

quartermainefan, I apologize for being too strident, I do see what you're saying. On some level I appreciate Glee bringing back old songs and musical numbers, in a broader format than HSM did. I just wish pop music and music production methods today weren't so devoid of life. That goes to a lot of formats. Certainly in terms of pop culture and audience reach, Glee will make more of a statement than OLTL.

As for today's episode, I don't care about a lot of the stories, right now my main reaction is being creeped out by Danielle and the 30 year old. I'm glad they are winding down the stuff with Cris and Jessica and while I wish Layla had just told Cris to find a new girlfriend, I'm glad she generally kept her dignity throughout this storyline.

The musical numbers:

I agree with you that David Gregory showed a lot of emotion in his song. He played his part well. I've knocked him a lot but I will give him credit that he's more than willing to play Ford as an in-your-face sleaze, no attempts at emo pain or any of that. I actually enjoyed Markko's solo number, mostly because I kept imagining a countdown followed by "chuggchugga...dance...dance...dance...dance..." One of the few entertaining parts of what became of SYTYCD. None of the people in this triangle are much with the singing but the emotions were there.

I think it was the wrong song again with The Way You Make Me Feel. That song worked mostly because of Michael Jackson. I did like the energy of the number, although I couldn't understand why Destiny's date was thinking about Danielle and the 30 year old.

Battlefield -- catchy. Layla looked incredible. A bit cheesy but if we're going to be stuck in the 80s, we might as well embrace the best parts of the 80s.

Overall I think the whole musical thing was a qualified success for OLTL. Not in terms of winning some big new audience or winning press acclaim, but it was a fun way to move a few storylines along and gave the cast something different to do. I wish they could have included more of the older cast members, but that isn't allowed.

[SFK]

I think he sounds like a mix between David Hasselhoff and Lion-O from Thundercats.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

The only numbers I actually liked. The MJ one with Darren and Destiny (because, Des is my favorite and the only one I really like of the teens. Well, her and Matt)

and 'Battlefield' because. Tika's (BTW, did you know that's not even her real first name?) lead in was amazing. She seems like she can really sing. Plus, out of all mainstream music nowdays (which, I'm not crazy about) Battlefield is a great song.

I think that today's show kinda redeemed itself after watching it. The only day of the musical I liked. Because of everything blowing up today. Markko finding out Langston cheated, Roxy and Nat's talk, Jarty breaking up. Yeah. Today's show wasn't that bad. I cannot wait for tomorrow though because it is over. But, I'm gonna miss the old theme song.

Also. About the old theme. Mark Lawson rocked at it. I think he was the best of them all. I really wasn't expecting him to be great at it. But, I was wrong. He was.

[EricMontreal22]

Yeah as much as I adore Mark Lawson, there's something odd about his singing. Maybe he hasn't had any training--cuz he obviously has some natural ability but it seems a bit too, umm, bellowy to me (and the end bits did get too high for him really).

Tika did sound great with Battlefield though I thought it lost energy near the end (and what was Star wearing oy). Acgtually that's a complaint I have about many of the numbers, they seemed to kinda lose energy by the end,though this is part of the prob of doing a musical when you have so little rehearsal time.

"I think it was the wrong song again with The Way You Make Me Feel. That song worked mostly because of Michael Jackson. I did like the energy of the number, although I couldn't understand why Destiny's date was thinking about Danielle and the 30 year old."

LOL I found that really odd too--though I guess that's thinking too much, but if it's meant to be his fantasy--or his and Destiny's, why would they be thinking about that...

[Leia]

I was going to not watch the show but I liked her singing from the other day so I watched it online. She was great. I didn't know she could sing like that and she has one rack of a body on her. But what is her real name?

I think it was too short of a solo. I wanted to hear more of her voice but it was cut short. I did like all of the girls in this song.

Cris and Jess are so devoid of chemistry. They should never have made them the center of a story. I could have bought Antonio having feelings for Jess but Cris looks scummy. I was hoping Layla would dump him but she has some dignity left for now. I hate how this story has ripped what little there was left to like about Jessica. I always thought of her teens years fondly. Now, I'll remember this lame rewrite.

I hate Ford but at least in this story they have given Markko rootability if nothing else. Jason is a great performer. They better not put him back on the backburner. He can do so much more.

I hated this number but the actors committed to it so I loved it. I'm digging Destiny's date sort of. He's charming. He reminds me of Reggie from AMC.

I thought this was the best number.

I liked Layla, Markko and Destiny's role in the musical. Showcasing those actors was a step in the right direction but I have no faith that they will do anything really with them even though they should. Layla, Markko and Destiny should get their own stories but they are minor characters tptb will never care about.

[marceline]

Aw man, after reading this whole thread you guys have made me want to see this crap for myself. But I refuse to break my streak of having not watched a full episode since that nasty Go Red ball where Nora and Lindsay were rolling around on the floor (which was on in an airport bar where I was getting hammered.) And yet, I want to behold the madness.

I am so conflicted.

[Leia]

I forgot....I liked the musical had romance for Destiny and Layla. Cris proposing to Layla was romantic. I liked that Destiny and Darren are getting together.

The bad was that I hated that they've ruined Jess and Brody and Markko and Langston so badly. Jess should not be with anyone and Langston should lose her female parts.

Natalie is on the list. If she gets with John after what he said to Marty yesterday then Jared's death will really have been FOR NOTHING!!! I can't John more than this. He will never hold a candle to Jared. EVER!

[EricMontreal22]

LOL. That was like 2 years ago, wasn't it? Maybe I should try to watch OLTL more often while getting drunk... You could just watch the actual musical sequences on youtube...

[Leia]

The episodes are up on ABC.Com and there is a person with a channel on youtube for AMC and OLTL so you can even skip whole sections.

[Scotty]

Euphemia

[Ryan Chamberlain]

On her site and on wiki it says it's Euphemia. Tika is her stagename. Both names are pretty though.

I'm a straight gal. But, Tika has totally become my girl crush. She's just too gorgeous.