A 31-year-old from Arkansas received mixed reviews after hula hooping her way through ABC’s revival of The Gong Show on Monday night.
The “un-talent” show put Katie “Sunshine” Wilson up against some less-than-fierce competition. The evening's acts included a pole-dancing dinosaur and a ventriloquist who performed songs with a small band of stuffed animals.
Wilson earned praise from actor Jack Black after dropping her head to the side and letting a glow-in-the-dark hoop spin round her shoulder — but he quickly switched to “Oh good lord!” when a flaming hoop slid down her leg and clattered onto the stage.
“Oh, oh, oh,” actress Jennifer Aniston said from her seat at the judge’s table.
Mike Meyers, who performs as the show's host, Tommy Maitland, appeared to shield himself several times during Wilson's routine and led the Arkansan to the judges while clapping ecstatically after she was finished.
“She waved at me, I’m pretty sure,” Will Arnett, an actor and executive producer of the show, explained before giving Wilson a 9 out of 10.
Things began to look grim when Aniston produced an apologetic 5, but the hooper's fate wasn't truly sealed until Black, complaining of the anxiety the performance caused him, produced a 4 surrounded by small flames.
In the end, a speed painter took home the episode's grand prize of $2,000 and 17 cents, but things could have been worse for Wilson. Earlier in the evening, a whistling insect was chased off the stage.