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Young Performers Get Shot To Bop To The Top On Disney's 'High School Musical' Competition

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By WALT BELCHER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 18, 2008

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Look for some Tampa area talent when "High School Musical: Get in the Picture" debuts at 8 p.m. Sunday on the Disney Channel.

More than 1,000 excited, screaming, wannabe singers and dancers turned out in May for an open audition at the Walt Disney World Resort. Included were dozens from the Tampa area.

Some of the auditions will be featured on the first episode.

All the performers are fans of the successful "High School Musical" films, which have broken all records as the most watched things on cable television.

I haven't seen a preview tape yet, but John Wesley Honaker, 18, of Valrico has been spotted in commercials.

During the auditions, Honaker told The Tampa Tribune that he just wants to play the guy who takes Vanessa Hudgens from Zac Efron, referring to the two heartthrob stars of "High School Musical."

Honaker, a Grace Christian School student, noted that the women greatly outnumbered the men at the audition. "And that's a good thing," he said. No word on how far he advanced in the audition process.

Former 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey hosts the summer series. A second episode, at 8 p.m. Monday, will show the top performers advancing to the semifinals.

At least one Floridian is among the six East Coast finalists headed to a musical boot camp in Utah. The series will focus on their efforts to sing, dance and act like the stars of "High School Musical."

One will be picked to appear in a music video that will run during the closing credits of "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," the sequel premiering in theaters this fall.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: A couple of USA network favorites with quirky characters, "Monk" and "Psych," return tonight for short summer runs. Both are comedy crime capers.

After six seasons, the obsessive-compulsive behavior of the lovable sleuth Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is wearing a little thin. But Shalhoub, who won three Emmys for the role, picked up another nomination for best comedy actor this week, and the series ranks as one of USA's most popular.

Hector Elizondo joins the cast as Monk's new psychiatrist, Dr. Neven Bell. He replaces actor Stanley Kamel, who died of a heart attack in April.

In a recent telephone news conference, Shalhoub said Bell is more direct than Kamel's Dr. Charles Kroger, an old school, "get over yourself" kind of guy.

Shalhoub added that this season will explore Monk's past as well as the back stories of other regular characters. In one episode, hypnosis will send Monk's mind back to when he didn't have an anxiety disorder. In another episode, he will be attracted to an Eastern European woman, the first time Monk has found romance since his wife's unsolved murder.

As for "Psych," James Roday and Dule Hill are back as a detective team.

Roday plays Shawn, a freelance crime solver who fools people into believing he is psychic by using his instincts and observations. Hill is Gus, his reluctant partner. Cybill Shepherd joins the cast as Shawn's estranged mother.

TV CRITICS PARADE: At TBO.com, keyword: Walt TV, read my take on the Emmy nominations and find out how I learned to cha-cha with Kym Johnson of "Dancing With the Stars."

The adventures never stop at the Television Critics Association summer tour, where we are handing out our annual awards Saturday night.

This isn't as big as the Emmys, but we have many of the same nominees. I say "way to go Tina Fey." And how about "Mad Men," the best drama on TV that no one is watching? Catch up on Sunday, when AMC presents a "Mad Men" marathon of season one.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

In the Heat of the Night,

8 p.m., TCM

Five words: "They call me Mr. Tibbs." Priceless.

What Not to Wear, 9 p.m., TLC

Kandiss - a receptionist by day, a hair stylist by night - needs a makeover to succeed in the salon.

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