In the October/November 2001 edition of the German "Musical" magazine, Ethan took part in Andreas Luketa's "Blind Date". He got to listen to a certain CD track without knowing what kind of CD it was, and he had to give a spontaneous reaction to the songs. It's an alternate way to introduce the latest musical CDs, but actually it's just for fun so enjoy it...

"Nothing Else Counts"
Sung by Thomas Borchert, from his Solo CD "Ruthless Lovesongs"

"After the first two lines I can recognize the fabulous voice of Thomas Borchert. Must be one of his "Ruthless Lovesongs". He plays the piano very well, very strong and full of inspiration right from the heart. Just for being able to make his solo project a reality I have the highest respect for Thomas so I don't want to be too picky, but for me the song isn't balanced enough. On the one hand it's a powerful pop song and on the other hand it's a theatrical solo cabaret song in a very American style. Second, the lyrics appear to be too simple, although they come from the heart. As a native English speaker, I hear too many cliches. That wouldn't be so bad if it was just a pop song, but there's something missing in the structure. It could have convinced me with a big band, with a powerful arrangement - maybe a few violinists. I would have liked it to be more filled with music. Of course that would have cost a few thousand euros more. For the structure of the song I would have liked to hear a bridge. All that would have allowed Thomas, who has so much more vocal ability than a typical pop singer, to put even more emotion into his song. But I'm being very picky! Please continue to experiment, Dr. J." (Thomas Borchert has taken over the lead in J&H in the Austrian production in Vienna).

"Hold on"
from the musical "The Secret Garden", sung by Linzi Hatley from the new London Cast CD 2001

"Ahh...'The Secret Garden' - really, a wonderful musical! I guess it's from the new London Cast recording. Unfourtunately I didn't have the opportunity to see the London production and sadly I can't say who the singer is. One of many wonderful songs from the show and I think she sings it really well, although I seem to remember that the singer back in the Broadway production brought more subtleties into the song. On the other hand, the Yorshire accent on this recording sounds more authentic. The voice is mixed well with the music, pity again that they had no use of a violinist here. Again it must have been a question of money. So it sounds a little cheap. Pity! Anyway, it's always nice to be reminded of this musical."

"This is the Moment"
from the musical "Jekyll & Hyde" sung in a trio version by Tommy Kroeberg, Stig Rossen and Kurt Ravn from their live CD "Gallaconcert")

"Oh, was it necessary to make me listen to this? As you can imagine, I'm quite tired of this song. Well, a bombastic version in any Gala Recording. I think I heard Tommy Kroeberg's voice but I'm not sure about the two others. One of them tries to imitate Colm Wilkinson now and then. Surley the three of them have great voices, but it's quite superficial and I don't think any of them ever played the role on stage. I have sung a version like that once along with Ken Posey and Darius Merstein at a party, just for fun and it was fun for the three of us and the fans. But actually it's a song for one brave man - or, a woman, but solo. As a trio it's nothing more than a party piece of music and loses the whole message."

"Wie soll ich ihn nur lieben"
from "Jesus Christ Superstar" sung by Irina Alex from the German live recording of the Bad Gandersheim Production 2001

"I think I already heard this once recently. Isn't that the recording from Bad Gandersheim? Unfourtunatley I can't remember the name of the singer. Honestly she sings it great, combined with that pretty stupid German translation - oh gosh, that's a crime. But I think, if it's so that it must be riffed, then they should put some variations in the 2nd improvisation at last. The arrangement sounds terribly 'pop'. It doesn't really fit the show and I can imagine that Lord Lloyd Webber would be very upset with it. The producer of this CD should pray that ALW never gets to hear it, even though the singer does a nice job."

"Elephant Love Medley"
from the movie "Moulin Rouge" sung by Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor

"A fantastically-produced medley made out of love songs from the 70s and 80s. Very bizarre. That surely wasn't from a musical. It sounded more like a movie. Could be the screen extravaganza "Moulin Rouge". That would explain why it's so bombastic. Couldn't they spare some of their budget to give some violinists to Thomas Borchert and the "Secret Garden"? Without the visual impression this is pretty senseless for me though."