Me Tarzan, You Jane - episode 3
I promised it (or should I say: I threatened it?) - I would review the third episode of what in the meantime can only be called the failed attempt to promote the Disney stage musical TARZAN in Germany … the casting show “Ich Tarzan, Du Jane” (Me Tarzan, You Jane). Enough introduction…
… when the second episode ended the auditioning process had been dealt with and the show announced it would start into the second phase - the recall - with the third episode. So the third episode saw us in Wuppertal (Germany) where all candidates that had gotten through the audition met up for the first two days of the recall. The group of 80 in total learned soon that their number would be reduced by 40 during a fitness drill followed by some singing. Sounds like the perfect set-up for the show to pick up pace and get mor exciting for the viewers.
And I have to say: I felt way better entertained than in the two prior weeks. We saw the candidates sweating, pushing to their limits, overcoming their boundaries or failing. In addition the US-fitness drill captain (who also seemed to be choreographer) showed some nastiness by openly sorting weak candidates out. YES - suddenly there was entertainment.
Also the show finally managed to get us connected to some of the candidates, noteable “Pepe” a dancer from Spain who struggled a bit with the German language and with the singing part but finally made it through to the next week. The majority of candidates who made it to this level (and then on to the workshop starting next week) are professional musical performers with just a few amteurs sprinkled in between. But those performed really well…
So what to say? It really got better. Another such step forward and the show could become really good. But still the show and the production values are lacking at times. The content on the website of the tv-station for the show is a good example for that. The second episode was still first round(?) auditions the third episode the recall in Wuppertal. Also in the episode they clearly stated that there were 80 candidates there of which 40 would go to the next round (the workshop). So why is the website showing pictures from Wuppertal stating that these were the 200 best candidates as they were welcomed to Hamburg to reduce their number to 50??
Another example is the “presenter” Hugo Egon Balder who is not present at the recall but only shows up in short snippets with really bad, bad lines in between (and looks as if he is living on the street). Bad mistake, either bring him to the recall where hje can add another human factor and interact with the candidates or leave him out. Right now he just slows the show down and adds really unfunny jokes.
On to another “problem”: the jury. The three of them are obviously very competent. BUT as they clearly don’t go for the “nasty, aloof” thing why is Pia Douwes the only one actually getting close up to the candidates? Well, at least this way she can star even more in the show, as she is the only jury member starting to flesh itself out for the audience and creating a true character giving advice to candidates and also consoling them at times. The other two jury member so far are still rather pal characters… But it seems that is what the director prefers as he chose Pia Douwes for the lead part in the worst moment of the episode which made me scream out in anger.
The final group of candidates had been led in front of the jury to receive the news whether they made it to the next round or not. Two of them were still awaiting the verdict, when Pia announced: OK, there are two of you but only one spot left in the next round … so you know what this means … Then she told one of the two that he got the spot … the other one didn’t look her in the eye anymore when she went on to say … look me in the eyes … look me in the eyes … you move on to the next round as well … followed by fake laughter of the jury. Ha, ha, ha … how funny. Yes this is a standard “trick” for casting shows, but usually the jury members pulling the trick off (or their writers) are intelligent enough to write the dialogue such that it only implies that the candidate won’t move on. The trick is that you never say “there is no spot left” if there is one left, you just imply it! “D!” of the casting show “Popstars” has learned to play this trick perfectly … well … obviously that is not the case here … instead it looked just as if an amateur tried it.
I really, really want to like the show but such amateurish production just drives me nuts. Luckily the German “Pop Idol” is already airing it’s “top 10″ shows live each Saturday and there you get a well produced, really entertaining casting show - with this year surprisingly strong candidates.
In the meantime: if you want to, you can watch the whole episode online for free. I’ll be back for the next episode hoping that they continue to improve the show, then - maybe - it’ll get good really entertaining soon 
March 18th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
I think the downturn in Club Penguin usage is because the “fad” of it passed. I have daughters (none who had a subscription before or after) in the target audience who loved to play it while it was “hot” but now they have moved on to other sites such as Webkinz, RadioDisney and others. I don’t think you can ever rely on websites to maintain their high usage when the target audience is young. MySpace usage has also gone down a little as other similiar sites catch on.