Last night’s star turn by Paula Abdul as the host of Vh1 Divas was full of bad references to Abdul’s recent American Idol past, including an extended turn in which Abdul donned a blond wig and used her dancing skills to mock the way her Idol replacement Ellen DeGeneres enters on her talk show… only to take back any parodic intent almost immediately after the lengthy aisle-dancing segment was finished. Oy. Clip after the jump.
Before that came the opening medley, in which Paula’s performance of four of her biggest hits was marred by a few things: Abdul slipping during “Straight Up,” almost as she was singing the words in the title; her seeming insistence on carrying around a big, kinda-awkward microphone, even though it was pretty obvious that her singing voice was assisted in some way by the men behind the soundboard; a totally forced link between MC Skat Kat and Simon Cowell during “Opposites Attract”; and finally, a complete lack of any cameos by Keanu Reeves.
Have to say, though, that “Cold Hearted” and “Straight Up” are still fantastic. I think a loop of the tap-dancing open from the “Straight Up” video would make a great beat!
Paula as Ellen! [Vh1]
Paula Opens The Show [Vh1]
I enjoyed Paula’s impersonation of Ellen, it was actually funny. And kinda cool that she addressed all that Idol baggage rather than ignoring it. All in all though, I wished there was less Fluff and more Singing Stuff. By my calculations, they should have been able to fit at least 4 more songs in there… 3 diva duets and maybe a group number.
How awkward was that Liza Minelli appearance??