The Next Best Thing took its show on the road to Orlando, Florida for this week’s auditions; proving that dreams do come true at Disney World – just not for everyone. To grab our attention, the show kicked-off with one of the best impersonators of the night, performing as The King himself, Elvis Presley. He advanced to the next round, and was followed by a series of rejects, including an off-key Avril Lavigne, and a Britney Spears impersonator who looked like Britney would if she really let herself go [even more than she already has.] The past two episodes have taught us two things: one, the judges are looking for the entire package – including the looks, voice, and talent of the celebrity they are impersonating; and two, the show’s standup comedian judge, Jeff Ross, really has a thing for lame one-liners. It’s actually getting to the point now where you might begin to wonder if the entire show is just a covert vehicle for him to showcase his own talent for puns. Case in point: the Toby Keith impersonator with large teeth, whom Ross referred to as – what else? – Toby Teeth. The evening’s Michael Jackson impersonator (the show is averaging at least one per episode now), could dance well enough. However, overall he proved to be a poor imitation of the real Michael Jackson; assuming Michael Jackson is real.
The judges continued by turning away an overweight transvestite Cher; and an out-of-tune Stevie Nicks, whom Jeff called "Fleetwood Whack." (Seriously, Jeff. Get your own show.) After no less than five failed Elvis impersonators, the judges eventually saw a diamond in the rough with the evening’s George W Bush impersonator, who advanced to the next round. Unfortunately, the same was not true for "Barbra Streisand", "Hank Williams Jr.", and "Tim McGraw"; not to mention Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe impersonators who were both deemed too "advanced in their seniority" (too old.) Eventually another unanimous "yes" amongst the judges was found in the evening’s Dolly Parton impersonator; who had the look, the voice, and the "islands in the streams" that make Dolly the icon that she is. There were also drag versions of Bette Davis, Britney Spears, Cher, and Tina Turner; although none of them advanced to the next round. Instead, the show ended on a high note with an impressive Robin Williams impersonator, who claimed to be channeling Williams in the "hope that Robin's spirit takes over." He advanced to the next round, and will now be pitted against the other Robin Williams from a previous episode who also made it through. When all was said and done, Orlando yielded just four semi-finalists: Elvis Presley, President Bush, Dolly Parton and Robin Williams are all going on to compete against each other. Next week’s episode will feature auditions held in Las Vegas, which Jeff Ross will surely find to be "simply pair-a-dice."
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