Boy Band is ABC's reality television series that began on June 22, 2017. After thousands of singer auditions, the top thirty were chosen and flew to Los Angeles to audition for one of the 18 spots. With Rita Ora as the host of the music competition, the three judges called "architects" Emma Bunton, Nick Carter, and Timbaland critiqued each performance and determined which two contestants were up for elimination. Each episode featured a different theme, and the architects shuffled contestants to find the best combination of voices to perform. After the top eight contestants performed solo survival songs, American viewers at home voted live for their favorite to remain in the competition. In the finale, America's five favorite band members performed their new debut single, written by Justin Tranter. The group also won a recording contract with Hollywood Records.[1]
The show lasted about two months, ending on August 24, 2017. Brady mentioned that they worked 10-11 hours a day, and had a new song to learn on their days off.[2] Brady Tutton, Chance Perez, Drew Ramos, Sergio Calderon, and Michael Conor are revealed to be the winners of the show.
Contents
Selection Process
Contestant Eligibility
The eligible age-range for contestants was fourteen to twenty-one years old.
Initial Auditions
When the top thirty contestants were chosen, they flew to Los Angles to audition in front of the the architects. Only eighteen spots could be filled, and twelve went home.
Audience Voting
After architects collectively decided which two (three in later episodes) boys were put up for elimination, the American audience voted live for which potential boy band member to save. Each week they voted using the "Boy Band Live" app.[3] After the top eight contestants performed their solo performance, America voted over the ABC website for a 24-hour period, allowing a maximum of 1000 votes across a device.[4]
Series Overview
A series where talented singers battle it out to become a member of the next great music sensation. And for the first time ever, viewers at home voted for their favorite five band members, live, creating a group America can truly call its own.
Reception
The first season of Boy Band averaged a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 2.46 million viewers.[5] The ratings have dropped since its premiere. In the live finale, the show collected 151 million votes.[6]
Controversy
The general audience of the show disagreed with the architects' decisions at times, and felt that there was not enough black representation as there were only four of the thirty contestants.[7][8]
Progress Chart
| Contestant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brady Tutton | SAFE | Reverb | TR5BLE |
Next Up | All In | Relentless | Never Gone | SAFE | In Real Life
| |
| Chance Perez | SAFE | Reverb | Top Line | Timeless |
All In | Awake | Third Wheel | SAFE | In Real Life
| |
| Drew Ramos | Uplift | Top Line | Maxed | Undivided | Awake | Out of Control | SAFE | In Real Life
| ||
| Michael Conor | SAFE | Six Track | Top Line | Timeless |
Leveled | Relentless | Third Wheel | SAFE | In Real Life
| |
| Sergio Calderon | Uplift | Top Line | Maxed | All In | New Wave | Never Gone | SAFE | In Real Life
| ||
| Jaden Gray | SAFE | Reverb | Element | Next Up | Undivided | Relentless | Out of Control | SAFE | ELIM | |
| Marcus Pendleton | Uplift | TR5BLE |
Timeless |
All In | New Wave | Third Wheel | SAFE | ELIM | ||
| Mikey Jimenez | SAFE | Six Track | Top Line | Next Up | All In | New Wave | Out of Control | SAFE | ELIM | |
| Devin Hayes | Uplift | Element | Maxed | Undivided | Awake | Never Gone | ||||
| Andrew Bloom | SAFE | Reverb | Element | Timeless |
Leveled | Relentless | ||||
| Jay "J Hype" Gilbert | Uplift | Element | Maxed | Leveled | New Wave | |||||
| Andrew Butcher | SAFE | Six Track | TR5BLE |
Timeless |
Undivided | |||||
| Cam Jackson | SAFE | Reverb | TR5BLE |
Maxed | Leveled | |||||
| Dorian Tyler | SAFE | Six Track | TR5BLE |
Next Up | ||||||
| Miles Wesley | SAFE | Six Track | Element | |||||||
| Gavin Becker | SAFE | Six Track | ||||||||
| Jon Klaasen | SAFE | Reverb | ||||||||
| Cameron Armstrong | Uplift | |||||||||
| Alan Ayala | ELIM | |||||||||
| Dylan Rey | ELIM | |||||||||
| Gianni Cardinale | ELIM | |||||||||
| Jordan Grizzle | ELIM | |||||||||
| Lukas James | ELIM | |||||||||
| Matthew Dean | ELIM | |||||||||
| Nate Wyatt | ELIM | |||||||||
| Paul Toweh | ELIM | |||||||||
| Santino Cardinale | ELIM | |||||||||
| Stone Martin | ELIM | |||||||||
| Timmy Thames | ELIM | |||||||||
| Zack Taylor | ELIM | |||||||||
- Top 5 Winner
- The group won the challenge.
- The contestant was in the bottom two or three.
- The contestant was eliminated.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Original Air Date | U.S Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Meet The Boys" | June 22, 2017 | 2.995 |
| Thirty young male vocalists audition before the three judges, labeled as architects, and 18 are selected to advance to the next round. The judges separate the remaining 18 boys into three groups to perform. After each performance, a member from each group will be eliminated. In this episode, the group Uplift perform and Cameron Armstrong is eliminated.
Group Performances: "That's What I Like" | |||
| 2 | "Who’s Got The Right Stuff" | June 29, 2017 | 2.645 |
| The group Reverb perform before the three judges and Jon Klaasen is eliminated.
Group Performances: "Stay" | |||
| 3 | "Sweet Sixteen" | July 6, 2017 | 2.729 |
| The group Six Track perform before the three judges and Gavin Becker is eliminated.
Group Performances: "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" | |||
| 4 | "Live Live Live" | July 13, 2017 | 2.441 |
| The remaining 15 contestants are separated into three groups: Topline, TR5BLE and Element. The groups perform before the three judges and TR5BLE is chosen as the "safe" group such that none of their members are up for elimination in this round. Mikey Jimenez from Topline and Miles Wesley from Element are up for elimination. The audience votes and Miles is eliminated.
Group Performances: "Despacito", "Rolling in the Deep", "Don't Let Me Down" | |||
| 5 | "Blast From The Past" | July 20, 2017 | 2.236 |
| Group Performances: "Livin' on a Prayer", "True Colors", "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | |||
| 6 | "Soundtrack Hits" | July 27, 2017 | 2.388 |
| Group Performances: "How Far I'll Go", "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing", "See You Again" | |||
| 7 | "Breakup Week!" | August 3, 2017 | 2.312 |
| Group Performances: "Since U Been Gone", "Without You", "Jealous" | |||
| 8 | "Girl Power!" | August 10, 2017 | 2.302 |
| Group Performances: "Titanium", "Fighter", "The Edge of Glory" | |||
| 9 | "America, It’s Decision Time!" | August 17, 2017 | 2.134 |
| 10 | "Top Five Revealed" | August 24, 2017 | 2.399 |
| The winners of In Real Life are announced, and perform "Eyes Closed". | |||
Trivia
★ Contestants contacted had to sing/dance over Skype to the producers. The top 50 contestants met on April 10, 2017.[9]
★ Brady and JHype were the youngest contestants on the show, being 15 and 14.
★ Cam Jackson was the first person Brady met.
★ In Real Life's favorite performances from Boy Band were: Reverb's "Stay" (Brady), Maxed's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (Drew), New Wave's "Jealous" (Brady), Third Wheel's "Fighter" (Michael and Chance).[10]
- Their favorite architect is Timbaland (Michael, Sergio, Brady) and Emma Bunton (Drew and Chance).[10]
★ Drew did not like the "Despacito" performance, only because of his hair.[11]
★ Michael's solo song performance was changed three times, originally "Billionaire" then switched to "Can't Hold Us" due to technical problems. He felt that it was his worse and least favorite performance.[12]
★ Chance noticed his voice crack in Awake's performance of "Without You".[11]
★ Sergio and Brady agreed that their embarrassing Boy Band performance was performing "The Edge of Glory" due to the dance moves.[11]
References
- ↑ Finklestein, Sabrina. "Watch Emma Bunton, Nick Carter & Timbaland Seek Out the Next Big Thing for ABC's 'Boy Band': Exclusive". June 22, 2017.
- ↑ Hollywood Records
- ↑ Live | Boy Band. ABC
- ↑ "‘Boy Band’ — How To Vote For ‘Boy Band’ Singers, Only 5 Will Make It". 2Paragraphs. August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Pena, Jessica. "Boy Band: ABC Series a Disappointment; Would You Watch Season Two?". TV Series Finale. August 10, 2017.
- ↑ Lafayette, Jon. "IPowow Helps ‘Boy Band’ Draw 151M Viewer Votes". September 28, 2017.
- ↑ Vick, Megan. "Hey ABC, Here's How to Fix Boy Band". August 17, 2017
- ↑ Santilli, MJ. "Boy Band Episode 9 Semifinal Recap and Live Blog (VIDEOS)". August 17, 2017.
- ↑ Michael Conor (@MichaelConor). Twitter. April 10, 2018.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "In Real Life: Exclusive Interview Following Boy Band" | AfterBuzz TV. August 29, 2017.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "In Real Life "How Badly" We Cringed LOL Moments!. YSBnow. April 20, 2018.
- ↑ Michael Conor (@michaelbmoc). Instagram. August 22, 2017.
