Wednesday, July 18, 2007, Episode #5105

Constantine looks forward to besting Rick.

At Insomnia, Phoebe's friend Madison helps C.J. and his staff get ready for the first annual "Duel of the Duets." Rick sees Phoebe practicing her duet with Constantine and goes over to listen in. Phoebe sees him and asks how she sounded. Rick tells her that she was great, as usual, but Constantine was a bit rough. He offers Constantine the chance to step down gracefully now. Constantine retorts that he isn't dropping out of anything, since he's sure he and Phoebe will prevail, and the fact that it's going to happen on Rick's "home turf" will make their victory that much sweeter. "It's not going to be pretty, pal" Constantine warns.

Rick and Phoebe take to the stage.

C.J. takes to the stage and thanks everybody for coming out tonight. He explains to the crowd that Phoebe Forrester, who made her debut on this stage a few months ago with Rick Forrester, is not only returning for a repeat performance with Rick tonight, but she's also performing another song with the famous Constantine. "The girl has a hard time making up her mind," he quips as a patron heckles for him to get on with the show. Rather than let the natives get restless, C.J. introduces Rick and Phoebe and turns the stage over to them. They start their live rendition of the song they sang in Constantine's studio, "I Want To Spend My Lifetime Loving You" (which was originally recorded by Marc Anthony and Tina Arena for the movie "The Mask of Zorro"). When they finish, the audience applauds loudly. Sitting in the audience with Madison, Felicia predicts, "That's going to be tough to beat."

Felicia and C.J. think they have a winner.

But Constantine and Phoebe are ready for their turn. After a quick change by Phoebe into an outfit that fits her rocker "persona," C.J. introduces the second couple. In no time at all, they have the crowd singing along and bopping their heads to Constantine's "Everybody Loves, Everybody Cries." From the sound of the applause, the crowd likes the rocking duet. When the duo finishes, Rick joins them on stage, along with C.J. and Felicia. C.J. praises both couples and then tells the audience to applaud as loudly as they can for their favorite couple; the couple with the loudest response, he explains, will be declared the winner. C.J. asks the audience to weigh in first for Rick and Phoebe, and then for Phoebe and Constantine. When the applause dies down, C.J. looks to Felicia, and they both agree, "We have a winner."

Brooke explains recent events to the judge.

In the courtroom, Brooke urges Judge Friedman to believe that Stephanie is trying to destroy her family by falsely accusing her of being an unfit mother. "I'm a thousand times better mother than she'll ever be!" Brooke asserts. Having heard Brooke's rant, the judge asks her to calm down and take the stand. He asks her about the night she left her kids alone. Brooke explains that she had an emotional week, and she didn't realize how tired she was when she pulled off the road to collect herself. The judge notes from Dorothy's report that Brooke's sister was watching the kids. Brooke explains that there was a misunderstanding, so Donna left before she arrived. The judge asks her to elaborate, so Storm chimes in that it was raining that night, and Donna was waiting to go to the airport, so Donna didn't stay to check when she heard a car in the driveway and thought it was Brooke's. The judge then asks Brooke about the fire; she explains how her ex-husband Nick was watching the kids and showed them how to make a treasure map with his lighter, but she assures him that Nick cares for those kids like they were his own and would never do anything to harm them. Storm agrees that Brooke is a good mother, so he sees no reason for Ms. Bascomb to take the kids from their home.

Ridge thinks Brooke needs some time by herself for now.

The judge then asks Ridge to take the stand. Ridge tells the judge that no one, least of all him, wants to see Brooke's kids taken from her, although he was concerned when he learned the kids were alone all night. The judge then asks Ridge about the fire. Storm tries to object, but the judge wants to hear what happened, so Ridge recounts how he arrived at the house and found the living room in flames. He doesn't even want to think about what could have happened had he not arrived when he did. He then looks to Brooke and tells her that she needs to take some time to get her life together after all she's been through lately. Storm then gets his chance to question Ridge and asks how Ridge can see himself as a positive role model given his recent conviction on felony obstruction of justice charges in the death of Shane McGrath. When Ridge fails to respond, Storm thinks he has his answers and says that he has no other questions for Ridge. The judge tells Ridge he can step down; as he walks back to the gallery, Brooke asks Ridge why he can't see that his mother is using the kids to keep her out of his life, especially since he knows she's capable of raising her kids.

Stephanie tells the judge why she sees Brooke as unfit.

Stephanie then takes the stand and starts off by setting the record straight about Brooke's accusations. She points out that she did not call Child Services to Brooke's home, although she admits she and Dorothy have served on a number of boards together. She then explains that she's never thought much of Brooke as a mother given how Brooke has two grown children by Stephanie's husband Eric, a son by Stephanie's son Ridge, and a daughter, Hope, who was born out of wedlock. On top of that, she recalls how Brooke had a breakdown years ago and expresses her concern that Brooke's on the verge of another breakdown. So with the lives of two young children at risk, she can't help but fear that Brooke's instability will make those kids suffer. Storm then asks Stephanie about her statements that her opinion of Brooke was prejudiced by Brooke's past relationships. When Stephanie confirms that she is biased toward Brooke, Storm asks the judge to strike Stephanie's clearly slanted testimony from the record. The judge promises to consider it and tells Stephanie to step down.

The judge has some questions for Taylor.

Taylor then arrives. The judge asks her to leave, since this is a closed proceeding, but Taylor tells him who she is. "Your timing is perfect, Dr. Marone," the judge states. Brooke turns to Storm, pleased that Taylor is here, but Storm informs her that the judge directly subpoenaed Taylor to get her to testify today. Taylor tells the judge that she has a complicated history with Brooke and the Forresters, but the judge thinks that will only make her testimony more helpful as he tells her to take the stand. As Taylor approaches the witness stand, Brooke thanks her for being here. Once Taylor takes the stand, the judge asks her how long she's known Brooke. "Years," she replies. The judge then asks about her recent sessions with Brooke as a therapist. When Taylor points out that she only spoke to Brooke as a friend, Dorothy points out that Taylor's testimony is not privileged. The judge agrees. Taylor tells the judge that she would prefer not to be here, as she has never treated Brooke as a therapist. The judge explains that he needs to get as much information as he can about the children, so he thinks Taylor's opinion as a trained psychiatrist, even if she has not treated Brooke, carries a certain weight in these proceedings. Taylor still seems reluctant, but Brooke then tells her, "It's all right. Tell the judge exactly what kind of a mother I am."