ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, September 17, 1996 TAG: 9609170126
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BETH MACY
SOURCE: BETH MACY
She is the person you're driving next to on the expressway, the one bobbing her head with the music and singing like all the road's her stage.
She is, she would have to be the middle child in her family.
The family ham, the first in any crowd to get up and karaoke.
Dianne Rhodes was voted Most Talented in high school. Also: Most Concerned With Her Hair.
She is 23 years old, a sales rep for a local company, a former cheerleader and college show-choir singer.
She can don a black shower cap, towel and slippers - and somehow make it the perfect combination of sexy, campy and too-much-fun.
No one was surprised when Dianne Rhodes became the Roanoke Valley's ambassador for Singing in the Shower, a contest sponsored by the makers of Lever 2000, Shield, Caress and Dove soaps.
On a lark, she performed at the Vinton Dogwood Festival's contest in May - and clinched the Roanoke regional title. Sponsored by the radio station WSLQ-99, the show was the precursor to the national contest, which will be held in Hollywood next week.
If this year's competition is anything like the last, Dianne will be up against such acts as a band of middle-aged Elvis impersonators: ``I'm in DOVE. Uh. I'm all washed up.''
And, the Soapremes: ``I need Dove, Dove, to ease my mind.''
And, Jay and the Lather Brothers: ``You've lost that lather feeling''
But fear not, the Middle Child will be in her element. She will - Lord willin', and the towel don't fall - represent the Star City well. She will cleanse and she will conquer.
Her solo act? A take-off on Peggy Lee's hit song, ``Fever.''
Only it's called ``Lever.''
I can really feel how much you clean me
I can really feel how fresh I smell
When I put your suds upon me
It's the Lever that just makes me yell.
And I use Lever
An experienced performer, Dianne sang the real lyrics to ``Fever'' as a member of her Longwood College show choir. She sang the number again at her sister's wedding reception last year - cozying up, nightclub singer-style, to all the groomsmen, ad-libbing as she flounced from one man to the next.
``She stole the whole show,'' recalls her mother, Ann Rhodes, of Waynesboro, who is accompanying her daughter on the California trip.
``Everyone said, `I didn't know your daughter could do that,' and I thought, `I didn't know either.'''
Ann, who is not an extrovert, wasn't surprised when her daughter called to tell her she had become famous in Roanoke - for her performance in a bath towel. ``I just kept saying, thank goodness the towel didn't fall off.''
Dianne says she'd never dreamed of taking her ``Fever'' shtick any further than her sister's wedding reception. But on vacation this spring, her girlfriends convinced her to sing the tune at a Myrtle Beach bar - on stage with a band.
A few weeks later, one of the same friends heard about the shower-singing contest and insisted she enter. ``My friend called me Tuesday, and the entry was due Thursday. Wednesday went by, and then `Fever' hit me. I was at my desk at work, and I thought, `Ohmygosh! Fever rhymes with Lever. That's hysterical!'''
The verses tumbled out of her like a bar of slippery soap:
I asked you if my skin was silky
And with a touch you replied ``Oh yes!''
I said ``Well baby, that's my bathing beauty bar
``I always Caress before I dress!''
And I use Lever
Dianne says she's not counting on winning the $5,000 prize. The free trip to Hollywood with her mom will be reward enough. For her regional victory, Dianne also won one of those waterproof radios you hang in your shower.
Used to be, she confined most of her singing to the car, but now she can practice while she lathers:
Now you've listened to my story
And here's the point that I have made -
My skin feels great and I don't stink
And that's the way I'm going to stay!!
And I use Lever
``LEVER''/DIANNE RHODES
I can really feel how much you clean me
I can really tell how fresh I smell
When I put your suds upon me
It's the Lever that just makes me yell!
(Chorus) And I use Lever, in the morning
Lever every single night
Lever 2000
My body never felt so right!
I tried the Dove seven day test
And my skin began to feel out of sight
With a quarter moisturizing cream
My face was never dry nor tight.
(Repeat chorus)
Every boy should use Lever
It will really win your heart
Lever can be your bathing buddy
It will clean your 2,000 parts!
I asked you if my skin was silky
And with a touch you replied, ``Oh yes!''
I said, ``Well baby, that's my bathing beauty bar -
I always Caress before I dress!"
(Repeat chorus)
Now my baby he's a hot man!
And when he sweats, he never yields.
I said, ``Honey, why do you always smell so fresh?''
He said, ``Honey, I use Shield!''
(Repeat chorus)
Now you've listened to my story
And here's the point that I have made
My skin feels great and I don't stink
And that's the way I'm going to stay!
(Repeat chorus)
To hear Dianne Rhodes' sudsy takeoff on the tune ``Fever,'' call InfoLine at 981-0100 in Roanoke and 382-0200 in the New River Valley. Enter category 7811.
LENGTH: Long : 126 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY Staff Dianne Rhodes will be traveling toby CNBUniversal Studios in Hollywood as one of 40 finalists in a Lever
soap-sponsored Singing in the Shower contest. color KEYWORDS: INFOLINE