The Passion: New Orleans

Based on the Dutch franchise of the same name (which in turn, was adapted from a BBC special) and produced by Dick Clark Productions and Eye2Eye Media, it was a contemporary retelling of the Passion of Jesus Christ set to popular music, through a mixture of live and pre-recorded segments filmed from locations around New Orleans.

The Passion received mixed reviews; critics felt that the special was akin to Super Bowl halftime shows in terms of its entertainment-oriented presentation, and that its secular soundtrack sometimes had weak thematic relevance to the story of Jesus.

Seal's performances as Pontius Pilate were regarded as a standout by several critics, while Tyler Perry's hosting received mixed reviews—characterizing his narration as being restrained, and noting that the crucifixion of Jesus was presented solely through graphic dialogue.

[6] The special was formatted as a musical containing contemporary songs, and featured the procession of an illuminated cross from Champions Square (outside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome) to a stage at Woldenberg Park.

[27] Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly was critical of the special; he felt that most of its performances were plagued by "boy band video camaraderie", with little "acting" beyond "poses of earnestly generated emotion", and song choices that had poor thematic relevance to the story (such as "Demons" being only a "pat, unsatisfying explanation for Judas' betrayal").

Jensen described Perry's narration as being repetitive, "cliché", and "like a more subdued Ryan Seacrest counting down the minutes to New Year's", while the "cheeriness and get-to-the-point hurriedness" of Nischelle Turner's procession interviews "bent" their "poignant" stories "toward the rah-rah product endorsements."

The shortcomings of the special as a whole were exemplified by its resurrection scene (where Jencarlos sang Katy Perry's "Unconditionally" on the roof of the Westin New Orleans hotel), arguing that "a more effective final image would have been to place Jesus on the ground and moving among in his people [sic] as he did after his resurrection and as the Holy Spirit did on Pentecost", but by separating Jesus from the audience, it instead "created a metaphor for how so many people experience God—far away; hard to see—and a metaphor for a TV spectacle full of simplistic passion but failed as engaging play.

"[29] Emma Green of The Atlantic felt that "in some ways, [The Passion] was the perfect portrayal of Jesus for the 21st century", but that it "[seemed] to suggest that the middle- and upper-middle class people watching at home will most resonate with the story of a poor fisherman if they see him dressed and coiffeured like he’s headed to Starbucks."

In conclusion, The Passion was considered to be a "solid take" on the concept of live television musicals, but acknowledged the "inherent tension between entertainment and faith: the former thrives on glitz and glam, while most religions explicitly reject that kind of showmanship in favor of humility before God."

Green also suggested that the portrayal of Jesus being arrested by police officers would have been a "powerful political message" if he were played by an African-American, and that the cross should have been carried by the homeless and poor if the producers "truly wanted to make a statement about faith".

[30] Greg Evans of Deadline Hollywood described The Passion as being "equal parts sermon and Super Bowl halftime show", and "overstuffed with sincerity, good intentions and hammy musical performances, all melting into a big batch of goo faster than a chocolate bunny in the sun."

He noted that the production frequently switched between dramatic segments that were "ruthlessly condensed and fully reliant on Perry's stagebound exposition", Trisha Yearwood "ostensibly [playing] Mary" by singing songs from the main stage, and coverage and interviews from the procession.

Owing to its use of segments featuring interviews from the procession route (which led to a Twitter user joking that it felt like a concert special aired during a PBS pledge drive), the format of The Passion was described as feeling "like less of a play and more of a series of a musical performances, all of which were solid, if a bit zany."