How Did Derek Do?

Because I was watching the SAG Awards (and my paltry 2 out of 8 correct predictions), I only caught some of “Grease: You’re the One That I Want.” But I did catch Derek Keeling’s performance, and based on the recap, I thought he did quite well.

Among the judges, only David Ian, “the most powerful person in British theater,” chose Derek as the best Danny. Kathleen Marshall, the new Broadway show’s producer, chose Austin, Jim Jacobs, the co-creator of “Grease,” chose Chad and Olivia Newton-John abstained from choosing.

For me (and again, this is just based on the recap), Derek’s biggest competition last night was Kevin—but that’s probably just because he did “Walking In Memphis” and I love that song. Chad sounded good, but he didn’t appear to have that much stage presence. Jason and Max were totally unmemorable and Matt had the complete wrong look. As for Austin, the “hot” Danny (whose performance I did see), running up and down stairs is not stage presence. And he missed every single high note he attempted on “Mony, Mony.”

Derek wisely chose “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” a song that would allow him to show off his moves—and he definitely has them. He may not have the strongest voice of the six Dannys, but he’s got the perfect voice for the “Grease” songbook and he totally looks the part.

I don’t think Derek is in any danger of getting eliminated, but we “Idol” fans know how much of a curse going first can sometimes be…

And there’s one other problem. Because some dumb programmer at NBC started the voting part of the show the week before the Super Bowl, as they told us last night, it will be two weeks before we get another new episode. But what they didn’t tell us is that according to the NBC website—which has not been updated to include what happened on last night’s show—viewers will have another chance to vote on last night’s performances next week. NBC is re-airing the past three episodes next Sunday beginning at 7 p.m. Last night’s episode will air at 10 p.m., with voting re-opening between 10:55 p.m. and 5 a.m.

I will make sure and keep you posted on those developments, so all of you Derek fans can vote!

Whatever happens, Derek is sure to get excellent exposure as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber will sit in on the next judge’s panel.

By the way, if you want a theater person's point of view on Derek's run, be sure to visit Chuck Minsker's "Tri-State Theater" blog...

Photo courtesy of NBC.