Don Ho, the last of the breed, still draws 'em in
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
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Watching Don Ho, 75, make his triumphant return to Waikiki last Sunday, I couldn't help but think he's an endangered species. The last of the true Waikiki showroom stars, he marches to his own drumbeat and still commands an audience.
Think about it: He's now the lone "name" headliner along Kalakaua Avenue.
Ho is a remnant of another era, when all hotels had solo headliners who drew residents and visitors alike. He helped fulfill dreams of a Pacific paradise through song and dance, with a cast he helped nurture. He did as much for tourism as those TV icons "Hawaii Five-0" and "Magnum P.I."
Now he stands alone. Slightly battle-weary but still hanging in there.
Still cracking jokes and sticking to his mission to provide budding stars a chance to bask in the limelight, Ho's show — on Sundays only at the Hoku Hale showroom of the Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber hotel, for the time being — is a link to a storied past, while the future of his form of entertainment remains uncertain.
His format is unorthodox: He doesn't appear till 30 minutes after the start of the show, and he sings only 10 songs from behind his organ perch in the midst of a 90-minute parade of guest acts. In some respects, he's like Johnny Carson — a savvy host who knows how to bring out the best in his guests.
Ho's guest stars represent a variety of styles:
For the past 45 years, Ho has engaged in this variety show ritual that seems improbable and changes depending on who's in the house to tap.
Conventional, he's not. Settled into a center-stage chair behind his trusty electric organ, Ho is armed with a phone that he actually uses during shows.
On top of the piano: a wine glass filled with a non-alcoholic beverage; a stack of cassette tapes of his recordings that will be given away to current and former military who are saluted during the show; a small mountain of lei. There's a teleprompter in case the memory fails.
And when the general barks, he gets results. Last Sunday, he summoned TV news personality Linda Coble on stage to sing "Suck 'em Up" with him, and she did so. She has heard the song so many times before, and the lyrics have never left her memory.
Ho sings all the songs you might expect, including "Night Life," "If I Had to Do It All Over Again," "Ain't No Big Thing," "I'll Remember You," "One Paddle, Two Paddle" and "The Days of My Youth."
For someone who hadn't been singing for the two months since he underwent a December stem-cell procedure in Thailand to reinvigorate his failing heart muscle, Ho sounded like a champ. He never once mentioned his heart (which is working better, he reports) but responded to the outpouring of aloha (standing ovations twice), saying "there's no word to describe how you guys responded to the 'deal' " — his decision to do something about his declining health at age 75.
He looked tired, but the smiles spoke volumes. Don Ho was home and in his element, ready, as he said, for another 30 years.
Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.
