Has Anyone Heard Guest Hostess Lea Salonga on Sirius XM on Broadway?

It is coming across as an extended infomercial. Never thought I'd miss Seth Rudetsky's name dropping, but I'd rather listen to him preface every name with 'my friend' (we get it, Seth, you know a lot of Broadway folk, move on) than hear Salonga incessantly promote her album.

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O.K. So Friday afternoon, I turn to Ch. 69 (Escape: Easy Listening), because I know that Sirius XM on Broadway has a guest hostess. I keep it on Ch 69, hoping that when I switch to the other channel, that someone other than Lea Salonga, something other than Miss Saigon and Les Mis is playing. I turn on to Ch. 72 and sure enough, I get something from Miss Saigon. Arrrgggg!
Now, it's Saturday and I'm looking forward to Christine Pedi and Seth R. with "A Couple of Dueling Divas." Now, do I get them...nooooo. One guess....someone talking about Miss Saigon. She is working my last nerve! Seth, Christine....hurry back! P.S. I'm listening now to the Escape Channel, so I don't have to hear that extended infomercial on Ch. 72. Even Julie Jaimes (sp?) and her overpraising is starting to sound good. from RC in Austin, Texas

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Updated On: 8/6/11 at 09:11 AM

When Lea Salonga is on, she just talks for so long! Sometimes, she talks for longer than the song actually is. It's incredibly tedious and you just want to hear the music. A few days ago, I sat through her rambling about how amazing Elaine Paige is, and how her voice is like "a hot knife cutting through butter, and "if you don't know who she is..." for nearly five minutes before she played the song. You kept thinking it was going to end, but then she went on and on and on. I really miss Seth, Christine, and Julie. They usually talk about more exciting things and for much shorter periods of time.

I don't doubt that she's genuine, but there was a particularly painful one (Coleman Domingo, I think) a few weeks ago. Poor guy barely got a word in edgewise!

Lea Salonga has little to no charisma. Vocally, she's gorgeous. However, her interpersonal skills are sorely lacking. Her banter at concerts is painful, tangential and verbose. If you want proof listen to her earlier live albums when she talks about Barbra Streisand and just rambles. She's a stunning vocalist but embarrassing to listen to when she's not singing.

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aah... i am gonna' have to agree... i have seen her live many times (and am going again this September)... but every time she talks in between songs i just wanna yell out "just sing the damn song already" haha

I was so happy to read this, I thought I was alone in this. I have been doing more iPod in the car since she has been guest hosting. The other day she went on for something like 5 minutes all about how many times they changed the ending to Miss Saigon with different music, and then went on and on about how she is the only Kim to have done all three versions- boring! It wouldn't be so bad if there was some humerous story or joke to go with it.

Then I turned to Siriously Sinatra yesterday and there is some conservative talk show host and Fox news guys named Mike Gallagher going on about his love for musical theatre and playing songs from shows he has been in- I especially loved it when he was talking about some theatre in Texas that is totally dedicated to doing classic American Musicals and preserving them for future audiences- the last show he did with them? Oliver! Last time I checked that was a British import... classic yes, but not an American Musical.

And I thought admitting that you love musical theatre could get you fired from Fox news?

I think John Tartaglia is doing a great job as the guest host this week