|
Next Great American Band long on talent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Preston Jones
|
|
Thursday, 18 October 2007 |
|
|
|
|
— — —
THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN BAND
8 p.m. EDT Friday
Fox
— — —
Until roughly 10 minutes into the "Next Great American Band" "highlight reel" Fox provided for critics, I was feeling a bit down.
Where were the zany, fame-deluded nut balls who populate the early stages of every season of "American Idol"?
But then Hollywood, Calif.'s Fifi Larue, a clown-themed gothic metal group, took the sun-baked stage and my heart fairly leapt with joy. They might be toying with the content, but the Fox folks know why we watch — crazy musicians.
"The Next Great American Band," a new reality series premiering Friday night on Fox, is ceaselessly touted as being the product of the minds that brought you "American Idol." On the surface, it's little more than a super-long, glorified battle of the bands.
But perhaps most astonishing is the relative quality of the bands auditioning, particularly when you consider the primo wackos who show up to warble show tunes and '80s pop songs in front of Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell on "Idol."
By now, this sort of talent-contest-by-attrition formula is predictable: Install a snide foreigner (Australian "Idol" host Ian "Dicko" Dickson does the honors here) and a couple of C-list industry types (acclaimed percussionist Sheila E. and Goo Goo Dolls frontman John Rzeznik) to lob advice or criticism at the nervous, overconfident and always hopeful musicians, letting the inherent drama of competition play out.
"It's a talent opportunity, if you will, rather than a talent contest," executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said in a recent teleconference. "These bands have been formed — some professional, some semiprofessional, some amateur — (and) we are not putting a band together."
The format is similar to "American Idol": The judges offer their opinions and then viewers vote for their favorites via telephone and text message, with the results being announced on the next show by host Dominic Bowden.
The reward for surviving to the final three? A contract with 19 Recordings and, of course, the title of "Next Great American Band."
What's most astonishing about the series, based on the half-hour preview provided, is that there are a number of genuinely good groups competing (whittled down from around 14,000 initial entries, according to Lythgoe), probably more than most battles of the bands ever see.
"We chose 60 bands from the people we saw and we didn't go around to as many cities as Idol — we got a lot of stuff sent to us," Lythgoe said. "There isn't somebody singing out of tune in the sense (that) when they're a cappella on 'Idol,' it stands out and makes you laugh, but with bands, it's just a wall of sound."
Also unlike "Idol," the margin for error seems to be very slim — vocalists who flub a cover of Martina McBride's "Independence Day" on "Idol" could survive to the next round, but when an entire band slips up, it's a lot harder to hide.
But when Lythgoe was pressed about the inescapable similarities between "Band" and "Idol," he allowed that both shows are founded on a similar principle.
"It is about that human experience of growth or success or lack of success that makes these shows so interesting to us," Lythgoe said.
"We can live our lives vicariously through these people, so it's very important that we get that right. ... That's where we failed with Idol last year. We were more interested in how a person was wearing their hair than who that person was or where they came from."
What little I saw of the first episodes of "Next Great American Band" didn't suggest a balance between performance and personality, but what I did see, I liked. It's certainly fun to watch musicians of various skill levels tackle a variety of genres (a bluegrass take on "Like a Virgin" is an early highlight) and the new content feels fresh in comparison to "Idol's" increasingly calculated slickness.
| Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
