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Review: 'Redemption Song'
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After watching and reviewing at least 200 reality shows over the past few years, it's difficult to shock me. I've seen it all, from the brattish rantings of "The Apprentice's" Omarosa to Johnny Fairplay claiming his grandmother was dead in order to survive another week on "Survivor." And let's not forget the many shows of VH1, wher they appear to have an endless supply of trampy, alcohol-loving biker chicks and strippers.
But I'm not sure that I've ever seen a show like "Redemption Song," which wraps up its season with a finale epiode that premieres tonight. Everything about the show is both cheap and over-the-top in a way that sets a new standard for reality competition shows.
The premise of the series is set up this way: it's a chance to give a group of women one last chance at stardom. They are billed as women who have "made some mistakes," but that's like saying Axl Rose is a "little anti-social."
The contestants on "Redemption Song" run the emotional gamut from dangerous to unstable. One woman has "anger issues" (she threw another women threw a plate glass window). Another took up stripping and running an escort service in order to pay for her incarcerated boyfriend's lawyer. There are drunks, former drug addicts, a singer who was charged with stalking a former band member and one woman who had a restraining order filed against her at the age of 13.
All of these women are thrown into the stereotypical house together, and they compete to win a recording contract with Geffen Records.
As you imagine, a group of women like this already have a pretty low threshold for mayhem. But producers leave nothing to chance, and offer up liquor or tattoos or some lonely rocker guys to keep things interesting.
Some actual singing does occur, and a few of the women definately have a good voice (although my personal favorite, Joie, was eliminated last week). But even the most talented of the women is only a solid singer, certainly no one here seems to be a "star." So it's not a leap to guess that while producers did need women who could sing, what they were looking for was a house full of psychotic personalities.
And by that measure, they succeeded. I did watch the entire season, and while I often felt like I needed a shower afterwards, it's not nearly as loathsome a show as NBC's "Momma's Boys." I don't see myself following the winner's career on iTunes, but as train wrecks go, "Redemption Song" is a 100-car pileup.
The season finale of "Redemption Song" premieres on Fuse on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008.
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