(NBC)
Concord native Juliana Hansen turned in a solid performance during Sunday’s opening round of live episodes on NBC’s “Grease: You’re the One That I Want.” But does she have what it takes to land the role of Sandy on Broadway?

Juliana, looking confident and gorgeous, was the next-to-last singer of the night. She performed Sheryl Crowe’s “The First Cut Is the Deepest.” The judges, for the most part, loved it — but also offered some constructive criticism. “You have such a strong voice and such a command on stage,” said Kathleen Marshall. “But I know you can have more fun than that.” And David Ian offerered, “We need to see more heart.”

Juliana has her work cut out for her if she’s going to stay in the thick of things. At the end of the program, the three regular judges named their favorite performers of the night and she was not among them.

Here’s hoping that she did enough to remain in the competition — and that, from here on out, her song choices allow her to connect more strongly to the audience.

There’s an old saying among sportwriters that “there’s no cheering in the press box.” But it’s not beneath us here at the Freak blog to root, root, root for the home team. And, lucky for us, it has been an amazing season for the East Bay when it comes to prime-time television.

Pittsburg native Tim Kring created the biggest new hit of the season in “Heroes.” Former Walnut Creek resident Matthew Carnahan is leading Courteney Cox through her first post -“Friends” TV project, “Dirt.” Meanwhile, Berkeley native Andy Samberg created last year’s most-watched video on YouTube and continues to shine on “Saturday Night Live” (alongside Lafayette’s own Will Forte) and Danville’s Marla Sokoloff is starring in the ABC sitcom “The Big Day.”

In reality TV, the most recent edition of “Survivor” was won by a former Concord/Walnut Creek guy, Yul Kwon, and a Martinez resident Yau-Man Chan is on board for the upcoming installment. Then there’s Kensington resident Godwin Cho, who along with his brother Erwin, made a strong impression on “The Amazing Race.”

Now give a warm welcome to Juliana Hansen. The Concord native is among six finalists who is competing on the NBC reality series, “Grease: You’re the One That I Want.” Juliana, who got her theatrical start at the age of 5 with the Diablo Light Opera Company, is competing to win the role of Sandy in a new Broadway production. Live episodes of the series begin on Sunday and, like “America Idol,” the choice will be left to the viewers, who will also select a Danny.

As I’ve written before, I’m a big fan of “Grease,” but I’m even a bigger fan of Bruce Springsteen, which is why one credit on Juliana’s show-biz resume immediately jumped out at me: In her free time, she participates in a Springsteen tribute band called Bruce in the USA, in which she plays Patti Scalfa. How cool is THAT? So now I’m really hoping she kicks some butt — no retreat, no surrender.

I’ll be writing more about Juliana in Saturday’s TimeOut. Until then, check out her bio on the NBC.com site by clicking here.

Some people have warned me not to go public with this. “It’s too goofy,” they say. “Your readers will think you’re a dork.”

Ah, but I’ve been holding it in for way, way too long, and now I just have to come out of the closet:

I’m a “Grease” freak.

Or at least I used to be.

I was living in Stockton when the movie musical came out during my senior year in high school and I was instantly addicted. So addicted that I transferred “You’re the One That I want” to a cheap tape recorder and took it with me to this little amusement park where I worked at the time. There, a female employee and I would practice mimicking all the moves John Travolta and Olivia Newton John made during the song — all the moves except that hip-level leg lock that Olivia put on John. Apparently, that was too risque for us (It was a children’s park, after all). My partner especially liked when I plunged to the ground at her feet and blurted “It’s ELECTRIFYING!!!”

Anyway, I saw the film like five times that summer. For one viewing, I took my then-girlfriend, thinking she’d love it and we’d strengthen our bond and live happily ever after in a floating car — or something like that.

Alas, “Grease” wasn’t the word for her. She thought it was “hokey and dumb.” Needless to say, we didn’t go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong and the relationship disintegrated soon afterward.

All this, of course, is a very lengthy introduction into saying that I will so be there when “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” debuts on NBC this Sunday. It’s yet another cheap “American Idol” knockoff in which Broadway wannabes will compete to land the lead roles of Danny and Sandy for an upcoming revival of the musical.

Do I expect the show to be “hokey and dumb”? Absolutely. But will I be riveted to at least the first episode? Without a doubt. I’m a sucker, after all, for trips down memory lane. Plus, Olivia Newton John will be making a guest appearance and I once had GIGANTIC crush on her.

But let’s save that embarrassing story for another day.