Austin360 blogs > Almost Urban > Archives > 2007 > July > 03
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
‘Making the Band 4,’ surviving the sing-athon
As you might recall, last week, in an episode blithely titled “Weigh In” by the wacky folks over at MTV.com, the show kicked off with elements of “Celebrity Fit Club” audition and Laurie Ann’s dominatrix dance den. It then degenerated into a touchy-feely love fest where Ankh Ra helped our young crooners make emotional breakthroughs. Along the way, there was very little actual singing, and no one got cut.
This week, after briefly plugging his sunglasses, Diddy assures us from the jump that heads will roll. The guys will be put to a tough task, and then they are going to perform live at B.B. King’s. They will be evaluated both on their live performances and on their drive to succeed.
We cut to the house, where Robert, who hasn’t received much face time thus far, is fruitlessly trying to call his girlfriend. According to Rob, ol’ girl has a history of creeping around on the side, and since he can’t get in touch with her, he’s afraid she’s at it again. Donnie warns him to stay focused on his music, but sensing a good made-for-TV subplot, Robert continues to blow up her phone. When he finally gets in touch, he launches into her with a mess of accusations. She furiously accuses him of being a “drama king.”
The scene fades to darkness, and our crooners are trying to catch a little beauty rest when Diddy and Co. burst in to wake them up. Diddy hovers menacingly over Houstonite Brian A., giving him a Burger King commercial-style creepy wakeup call that will probably haunt him forever.
It’s the middle of the night, but Diddy wants the boys to get to know N.Y.C., so he’s sending them off on a strange citywide sing-athon. Along the way, they’ll promote their upcoming gig at B.B. King’s, raise money for the homeless (in a Sharpie-scrawled cardboard box, cause they’re street like that) and fetch a slice of Diddy’s favorite cheesecake. It’s hard out there for a boy-band wannabe, Diddy warns the boys. There will be no excuses, someone might go to the hospital, but they can’t stop singing, and there best be cheesecake at the end of the run.
At 3:24 a.m., the boys arrive at Times Square, where they practice crooning in groups. Anzeo, the other Houstonite, is struggling with the weather. “It’s like trying to sing like your lungs full of ice,” he moans. After a couple hours of serenading bewildered late-night passers-by, it’s dawn, and the boys are off to Brooklyn, singing all the way. Next up is Queens, where the boys share a contrived touching moment with a homeless man who begins to sing along with them.
Around 10 in the morning, Anzeo starts to get hoarse. He tries to devise a strategy to help his team keep their voices.
After spending the afternoon in the Bronx, the boys make their way to the Washington Street Bridge as the sun goes down. Unfortunately, the crooning crossing ordered by Diddy is cut short by N.Y.C.’s finest. Anzeo reasons that in these circumstances, attempting to cross is actually as good as crossing itself. I’m starting to suspect that we’re going to be down a Texan before this episode is up.
Finally, it’s 8:30 p.m., and the boys have arrived at Bad Boy Entertainment headquarters, where a pack of fawning young white girl tourists perks our young songsmiths up significantly.
Puffy makes a grand entrance, the boys present him with cheesecake, and he gives them all props for their perseverance.
Back at the house, we get a little face time with clean-cut, sweet Jonathan, who’s having, like, the best time of his life, and then Robert’s back on the phone with his girl June. June is much sweeter this time, but Robert, still determined to capitalize on the trifling girlfriend subplot, seems suspicious.
The boys don’t know how many of them getting cut, and tensions are running high. Our Houston boys, Brian A. and Anzeo, get into an altercation over a plate of allegedly abandoned eggs. Camaraderie is clearly breaking down.
Appropriately, we cut to a montage of our boys getting preened backstage at B.B. King’s.
On to the performances. 37th Ave., featuring Brian A., Jonathan, Robert and Donnie, goes first. They knock out a solid Boyz II Men cover, and the judges seem pleased. Campus Block, featuring Anzeo, Armando, Carlos and Makio, are up next. They’re a much shakier unit. Only Carlos (who, remember, before this contest was sleeping on trains) sings like his life depends on it and delivers a standout performance. Then it’s Face, including Tyrice, Lewis, Maurice and Willie. They come with a rendition of “Peaches and Cream,” and it goes fairly well until Maurice, having a full-on Chippendale fantasy moment, strips off his shirt and starts to bump and grind for a group of startled-looking ladies in the front. Oh, Maurice …
Finally, the guys from Switch suck up to Diddy, with all four members performing in sunglasses. They sing well and execute charmingly goofy choreography, and spiky-haired Dan gets props for having a fun personality. Finally, Legit featuring fan fave Julius closes out the night with a somewhat pitchy shout-out to all their soldiers who might be going home.
At the end of it all, Diddy is pleased. Instead of cutting 10 dudes, as was originally planned, he decides to cut only four. Predictably, Houstonite Anzeo and shirtless Maurice are both among the cancelled crooners. Also Tyrice, who has a somewhat alarming affection for neon clothing, and the barely memorable Makio are going home.
There was no bloodshed, but all in all, I have to say it was a more satisfying show than last week. And next week? A whole new crew of crooners will be introduced to face off against our 16 remaining songsmiths. Good times, good times …
- Episode 8 recap
- Episode 7 recap
- Episode 6 recap
- Episode 5 recap
- Episode 4 recap
- Episode 3 recap
- Episode 2 recap
- Episode 1 recap
