Austin360 blogs > Almost Urban > Archives > 2007 > July > 16
Monday, July 16, 2007
‘Making the Band 4’: mopey Robert, snitchy Dan and not a drop of blood
Thirty-second recap: Out of thousands who auditioned, a few choice crooners were brought to New York to appear in front of Diddy. The top 20 made it into the plush MTB crib, where they bonded, shed tears together and then were sent out on a grueling hazing ritual after which a few crooners were cut. Just as our crooners were starting to feel comfortable, a fresh group of un-hazed singers were thrown into the mix, knocking out a couple of the original kids in the process. The count in the house is 14 old dudes and six new dudes. Much hostility seems certain to ensue.
In this episode, we’re reminded from the jump of Robert’s made-for-reality-TV dysfunctional relationship with his lady June we encountered a couple episodes back. After a few brief cuts of the old dudes expressing their generalized mistrust of the new dudes, we’re back in the middle of the couple’s drama. This time, June is trippin’ on ol’ boy for failing to be at her beck and call. He tries to convince her that really he’s just trying to satisfy the whims of a narcissistic, sadistic super-producer, but she isn’t hearing it and tells him they’re through, setting up one of the episode’s heavy-handed subplots.
We cut to Diddy, who reminds us that the old dudes probably don’t like the new dudes. With hands clutched like a cartoon villain, he tells us that he’ll do whatever it takes to keep us entertained. Numchucks, Diddy, bust out the numchucks! Or at least throw in those boxing gloves we keep seeing in the trailers.
Back at the house, Ankh Ra splits the dudes into groups, mixing the old and new crooners. He sends them all off to collaborate. Despite the emphasis on old vs. new friction, everyone seems to be getting along fine except for (you guessed it) Robert’s group. Robert is distracted and sullen, and he wants everyone to know it. Even zen-like Ankh Ra seems a little irritated. Is this a setup for an impending end of episode departure?
Cut to the late night, where we find Big Mike, who has become serious about his physique, burning the midnight oil in the exercise room. Then it’s early morning, and Brian A. gets a call from Bivens alerting the crooners that the next challenge is a 5-mile run. The catch is, they all have to stay together. Even Mike must finish. More gratuitous male bonding ensues as his homies cheer Mike through to a heartwarming and triumphant finish.
After brief cuts of distracted Robert taking another call from his nagging lady and Michael choosing to eat a low-carb chicken dinner while his boys chow down on greasy late-night breakfast, the crooners are brought in front of Michael Bivens and Ankh Ra for a run-through of their group songs. All goes well until (you know it) we get to Robert’s group, who are told to get a little more unity.
In a quick scene, the crooners weigh in with Amy the trainer. Michael has dropped 11 pounds. Sure, there’s a lot of indignity to the whole “fat kid trying to get hot” subplot, but through it, Michael’s emerging as one of the most lovable crooners. You go, kid!
After appearing in front of Bivens and Ankh Ra, group five is pulls together and rehearses hard. Robert even turns down a call from the lady in order to stay focused. This episode is turning into another disappointing lovefest. There will be no boxing gloves. I missed the Femi Kuti show for what?
Diddy shows up and observes expressionlessly as our crooners sing their hearts out. Everyone sounds good. Diddy shuffles the crooners’ name cards menacingly before letting them know he planned to eliminate 4-6, but he’s having a problem doing it because they all did so well. A cheer goes up. See, feel-good crap all around.
Back at the house, a couple of the guys decide to go to the strip club to celebrate. New dude Jeremic calls it a bonding opportunity, while Michael dons nicknames like “Big Country” and “The Butter Man” and shamelessly indulges in the sequin-clad, gyrating goodness. Meanwhile, Carlos and goodie-two-shoes Dan sit around and “tsk, tsk” their reveling brethren.
Next day, it’s a surprise visit from Diddy, who says he’s there to determine the weakest links of the group. He pulls out the strongest performers to help him make the decision. Self-righteous Dan is the only one who doesn’t struggle with the idea of cutting his fellow crooners. He slaps down two cards, and everyone goes along with his selections. New dudes Devin and Jeremic are cut.
“I didn’t quite send you all home this time,” Diddy tells the crooners, clearly enjoying the salt he’s thrown into the brotherhood. We cut to a very smug and satisfied-looking Dan, who tells us those booty-loving-titty-bar-goers deserved to get cut. Has he always been this annoying? I’d like to nominate Dan for the impending smackdown that surely must be right around the corner.
Next week on ‘Making the Band 4’: Will someone slap that smile off Dan’s face? Will Robert get into another annoying fight with his girl June? Will Diddy finally (please!) bust out the boxing gloves? Tune in again; your girl will be watching.
- Episode 8 recap
- Episode 7 recap
- Episode 6 recap
- Episode 5 recap
- Episode 4 recap
- Episode 3 recap
- Episode 2 recap
- Episode 1 recap
Live shots: Bavu Blakes and Mojoe at Club 115
I hit up the Texas Soulful Hip-hop show at Club 115 on Friday night and was treated to a couple hours of fantastic songs and rhymes. Bavu kicked it off with on one of the tightest shows I’ve seen from him in a minute. A year later and his riff on Neil Young’s “Southern Man” is still electrifying. The brief sample of work from World Trade, Blakes’ collaborative project with Element 7D, left a girl wanting more, and just as I was thinking I wished the man would freestyle more, he closed out his set with a blazing acapella coda tacked onto “Nobody’s Leaving”.
As for Mojoe, this is the first time I seen them perform as less than a 7-piece ensemble and I did miss some of the onstage camaraderie and rich backing vocals that have marked other performances. But the road has been good to these guys, particularly Tre, who makes the ladies swoon helplessly as he spins swirls of syrupy Southern soul.
I cut out before the grand finale which included a performance by stellar Dallas MC Money Waters. It was a reluctant exit, but as the 1 a.m. set break stretched to 1:15, my early morning adventure in traffic court caught up with me. Luckily, word on the street is Money’s got a couple collabs with local crooner Ter’ell Shahid in the works, so hopefully he’ll be back soon.
Permalink | |
