Sound Trek

Image credit: Russell Watson: David Fisher/London Features

SCOTTISH TERRIBLE For ''Trek'' fans, Watson's Rod Stewart-like growl is most illogical

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Watson applied his heroic tenor to the version of ''Faith of the Heart'' heard in the series, giving a Rod Stewart-meets-Bob Seger flavor to such lines as ''I've got strength of the soul/And no one's gonna bend or break me/I can reach any star/I've got faith/Faith of the heart.'' It was Rod Stewart, in fact, who first recorded the song three years ago, when it appeared in the closing credits of the critically mauled Robin Williams tearjerker ''Patch Adams.''

''Patch'' music supervisor Jeff Carson, who commissioned ''Faith of the Heart'' from five-time Oscar nominee Diane Warren (''Music of the Heart,'' ''I Don't Want to Miss A Thing''), says he's baffled by the news that it's boldly gone where no ballad had gone before. ''The lyrics don't sound right -- it sounds totally inappropriate for 'Star Trek,''' Carson says. ''Diane wrote that song for ['Patch Adams'] specifically. That's why I was so astonished when I heard this. How could it possibly fit?'' When he spoke to EW.com, Carson hadn't seen ''Enterprise'' yet, but he says he hopes the song serves the show well: ''It worked for us.''

According to a small but vocal minority of Trekkies who are taking up the debate in online newsgroups, the song does work. The unexpected use of a pop song, they say, matches the more human feel of ''Enterprise,'' which takes place 150 years in the future -- a century before the time of Captain Kirk. ''I have to say it's a good song,'' says Salvador Gomez, 41, a Los Angeles aspiring filmmaker who started his own online petition, begging the producers of ''Enterprise'' NOT to jettison the song. ''It's a little cheesy, I admit it, but it lends itself great to the new show.'' As of press time, Gomez had gathered all of 95 signatures.