‘The Amazing Race’: Derek Tests if Claire Is Actually Tone Deaf After Yodeling Fails
Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses. In Claire Rehfuss’s case, her weakness might be singing. She and Derek Xiao learned that the hard way in the latest episode of The Amazing Race Season 34, in which Claire struggled through a yodeling challenge in Austria. Derek insisted that Claire was tone deaf, but is she really? Derek tested Claire’s musical ear in a new YouTube video following the episode.
Singing turned out to be Claire Rehfuss’s weakness in a yodeling challenge on ‘The Amazing Race’ Season 34
Derek and Claire had a strong start on The Amazing Race, coming in first place after whizzing through three challenges in the premiere. However, they were knocked down a few pegs in episode 2. While in Austria, the Big Brother couple had to choose one person to “call in the cows.” Claire volunteered for the challenge, meaning she would have to memorize and perform several yodeling phrases and actions. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
Claire failed several attempts to correctly recite the yodeling sequences. She spent quite a while on the challenge, watching almost every other team come and go. Derek said it was “hard to watch” as Claire’s anxiety heightened with every attempt.
Eventually, Claire passed the yodeling challenge. She and Derek redeemed themselves by rushing over to the next phase, bell ringing, which they passed with flying colors. In the end, Claire and Derek reached fourth place in this leg of The Amazing Race 34, relieved to hear host Phil Keoghan tell them they would move forward.
Derek Xiao put Claire Rehfuss’s musical ear to the test in a hilarious video
In a new YouTube video, Derek and Claire discussed their favorite moments of The Amazing Race Season 34 Episode 2 — including the yodeling. The video also included a short challenge of their own as Derek tested Claire to see if she really was tone deaf after all.
Derek played various sounds and musical notes on his phone and had Claire try to match the sound. She was off for most of the sounds, but Claire did find that she could match the pitch if she sang at the same time as the sound. So, she might not actually be tone deaf — though Derek didn’t use a real tone deafness test, so they might never know for sure.
“Really, what I think the issue is, is I was going after Rex [Ryan] every single time,” Claire said, poking fun at fellow contestant Rex’s struggle with the yodeling challenge. “If I had been following Michael [Craig], maybe I would have gotten it. But Rex was way worse than I was.”
Claire and Derek feared the yodeling challenge would cost them a spot in the next leg of ‘The Amazing Race’ Season 34
On a more serious note, Claire also explained how disappointed she felt in herself after the yodeling challenge on The Amazing Race.
“I felt like I had really let you down,” Claire told Derek.
Still, she tried her best to put the yodeling challenge behind her and get her team to the bells challenge as quickly as possible. And even though doing poorly on a challenge was Claire’s “worst case scenario,” she managed to stay positive.
“My mindset was not so much ‘We were in first, and now we’re in fourth.’ My mindset was, ‘Oh my gosh, at one point, I made us get 10th, and we worked our way up to fourth.’ So I felt … so optimistic,” Claire said. “Now I have the knowledge that I’ll be bad at stuff. I will just not be good at some things. But it also really gave me the confidence and motivation … that we are stronger in other things.”
Will Derek and Claire climb back to first place in the next leg of The Amazing Race? Fans should stay tuned to find out. New episodes of The Amazing Race Season 34 air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.
