Because of our unique support of O-Town from the very beginning, and beecause you guys have made them your #1 new write-in faves, Popstar! was fortunate enough to land an exclusive cover shoot for this month's Valentine's Day *LOVE* Issue.
But what you *can't* see from looking at these hot pix is the *real* story of what happened at the shoot at their "Liquid Dreams" video shoot--and how it *might* just end up as an episode of ABC's second season of MAKING THE BAND!
Here's the scoop!
We stayed at a hotel on the Sunset Strip in L.A., right next door to where O-Town was staying.
The shoot was set to take place late at night, after a typically full day for the boys. First, they had a fitting in the morning for the outfits they would wear in the next day's filming of their first-ever music video, the eye-poping clip for "Liquid Dreams." Then they spent about seven hours with no breaks at an exhaustive dance rehearsal. The guys needed to get their moves tight, plus they needed to learn new steps cooked up for them by the amazing choreographer Swoop.
But while they worked, the Popstar!staffers weren't sitting around soaking up the sun! Instead, we had to make a perlious journey in a cab full of nine-foot seamless back-ground paper (red, white and lavender) and set up a back lobby in O-Town's hotel for the shoot. It was a cool, open space with huge portraits of '30's movie stars, a cool black Art Decocouch and a piano, not to mention a panorammic view of the City Of Angels.
By the time the place was all set, the guys arrived from their dance rehearsals looking beat. Still, Jacob and Ashley had hugs for us and all the guys showed signs that if they could just shower they'd get a second wind to help us bring readers the best pictures ever.
at this time, the camera crews from MAKING THE BAND arrived and had everyone in the room (even the photographer's daughter!)sign releases and pose for polaroids...we were going to be filmed for the show!
It *seemed* like a fun idea.
For those of you wondering what it's like when the crew is around it's insane! There are two producers who float from conversation to conversation, always monitoring who's saying what and directing the camera guy and the guy holding a boom mike on a stick. You'll be talking with someone and suddenly the mike will silently descend between you and someone will be all up in your face recording your every word, nervous glance and--yes--extra pound! ARGH!
When the guys returned, Dan and Trevor hopped onto the makeup stools to get the star treatment and began razzing Ashley for all his extra pinups in the teen magazines. Whenever Trevor said something funny, we teased him that we were going to credit it to Ashley! They also playfully bullied Ashley into changing his shirt to better match the "back in black" look we were going for. We chatted with Erik-Micheal about his parents, who we'd met at our Orlando Planet Hollywood mag signing.
Jacob arrived with a bright red bandanna tied around his head and immediately became embroiled in a tug of war from all sides on whether or not it looked good in the shot. He seemed to take it in stride, but bandanna war, the sudden appearance of the cameras and a long day of rehearsals piled up. It's incredible what the band has to go through to get from point A to point B.
The shoot began with some solo shots that looked good on the bright red backdrop, but when it was Jacob's turn, he left the set, saying he didn't want to continue. The cameras--thrilled for any little kernel of conflict--chased Jacob into the elevators. We freaked, thinking he was walking out on the entire shoot, leaving us high and dry after traveling 3,000 miles to shoot O-Town.
When Jacob, returned from his break, our editor, implored him to reconsider and to do some more solos and group shots, which he did with no problem.
We were able to put up the white back-drop and get some great shots on the sofa that helped the guys loosen up, ending the shoot early to give them time for slumber before one of the most important days of their careers so far--the day they would begin lensing their first music video.
As people trickled out, we were left with a nagging feeling that must haunt the members of O-Town every day that they filmed: WHAT WILL MAKE IT ONTO THE SHOW? DID I SAY WHAT I WANTED TO SAY? HOW WILL PEOPLE SEE ME?
The next day was the video shoot that we showed you last issue, but we left out the following tidbits so we could clue you in all at once.
During the course of the two-day shoot, Jacob's mother, sister and grandparents visted him on the set. Nice people!
At one point, Jacob was showing his mom the O-Town feature in the December 2000 issue and he expressed his dislike of trivial questions (like, "What's your fave color?"). Of course, the cameras were right there to try to pick up anything controversial.
In Jacob's defense, he doesn't like to be asked about his ideal dream girl and stuff, but as you guys know, Popstar! prides itself on asking good questions about music as well as trippy personal stuff.
When the episode airs, if *anything* is used from this time period, hopefully the footage won't make it look like jacob was dissing Popstar!, the teen mag that has given O-Town the most love. Hey, at least we didn't yell at him or call him a lab rat, right?!
The second day, our editor did one-on-one interviews with each guy. Each guy is miked all the time, so the MAKING THE BAND producers could tell when the boys were giving interview answers and the crew would surround us whether we were out in the sun (like we were with Dan) or tucked away in a food tent(as we were with Jacob.)
During the one-on-one with Jacob, he displayed all the postive aspects of his personality that have made him one of O-Town's most beloved members: when he's feelin' it, Jacob has a magnetic star quality, oozes charm and is incredibly articulate about his goals and about his love for music.
The interview was sort of a make-up sessions between popstar and Popstar!, and the perfect closure for what on film might seem like a shocking episode--even if it never does end up becoming an *actual* episode of MAKING THE BAND.
We thought being on TV would be a blast, but as we learned from watching the guys who don't mind being filmed 24/7...it's sometimes pretty crazy!!!
