Word: apollos
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...fine form tonight, even if the same thing cannot be said for some of his would-be stars. At times he's a campy wonder, flouncing a hip to announce, "Honeee, I've had my fun. I've been uptown at the Apollo, don't you know?" At other moments he seems to share the crowd's delight at the ineptitude of the worst performers. "So that's how they sing in Georgia," he sniffs, after a young man who'd driven all the way from Atlanta falls to pieces at center stage...
...precisely the sort of thing that Apollo crowds love to see, the ritual of public humiliation that also awaited Arthur Johnson. He tried, he gave it everything. "You and I together/ The dream seemed so real . . .," he sang, embellishing the slinky lyrics with pelvic thrusts and a swaying imitation of sensuality. But the song, Keith Sweat's soul hit I Want Her, doomed him. Some classic Motown would have given him a fighting chance: the familiar opening chords might have warmed the crowd before he even opened his mouth. But Sweat's ode to funky frustration was fraught with peril...
There was no hope, and he knew it. As sheer terror turned his voice into a strangulated croak, the sound of mocking laughter joined the catcalls. The last and most feared of the Apollo's resident indignities was but seconds away...
...failure has a human face, it is undoubtedly the Day-Glo visage of the Apollo clown, Wednesday night's equivalent of old vaudeville's hook around the neck. Feet flapping, arms flailing, trousers billowing, horn honking, he capered onstage to the immense delight of all but his mute victim. Arthur took one look and ran like a rabbit. Downstairs, he tried to be positive: "Tonight, well, I guess I wasn't good enough. But I'll be back...
Glad-handing Steve Cruz had a better night. He tied for third place and won an invitation to return for the monthly finals. "It really was my night. I sang at the Apollo, and they liked me," Cruz said over a Dixie Cup toast. "Tonight I really was the One and Only Steve Cruz. Tremendous...