The Next Best Thing finale

Commentary with a Co-Ed
by Ashley Gouveia

Ladies and Gentleman, Elvis has left the building! Trent Carlini, aka Heartbreak Elvis, is on his way as the newly crowned next best celebrity impersonator. I couldn’t be happier. Before last night’s live finale I had made a prediction. It was all going to come down to my two boyfriends, Blue Suede Elvis and Heartbreak Elvis. Being as I am a huge Elvis fan, how is a girl to choose between them? So I didn’t. I concluded that I loved them both equally. I was satisfied with either one of them taking home the $100,000 grand prize.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the other finalists. I loved Lucy and couldn’t get enough of old blue eyes Sinatra (who beat out Blue Suede Elvis as second runner up.) But I wanted someone to win who had the charisma, style and all around look of the celebrity they were impersonating. I feel that both Elvis impersonators had those qualities.

The winner has to be able to entertain an audience. This brings me to faux Paris Hilton. It was only a matter of time before people got sick of her magic trick act and ambiguous Hilton bashing jokes. Last night she performed the magic act with the George Bush impersonator. I felt like I was seeing the same thing from three weeks ago.

The funniest part of the night was when all the finalists performed a little song together. That was something to see. But not something you necessarily want to hear. I think this is the only show where you can see Paris, the President and Lucille Ball all singing happily together. Maybe they should leave the singing to the professionals. Speaking of professionals, the real Little Richard made an appearance as the night’s mystery guest. I kind of guessed it was going to be him. Although, it would have been great to see the real Bono perform with the fake Bono. But, oh well.

Even though in the end only one king could triumph, Donny Edwards, aka Blue Suede Elvis, is still a winner in my book. Both men captured the spirit and appeal of Elvis flawlessly. For people like me who never got to see Elvis perform live in concert, it’s really great seeing these guys impersonate him.

So Trent took care of business and walked away with the money and title of The Next Best Thing. This was one summer show that I enjoyed, and I hope it comes back for another season. Maybe next season they’ll have two Brad Pitts…hey a girl can dream.

Commentary with a Co-Ed is a weekly column at Tube Talk new every Thursday.

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