Tonight at 9p on The CW The Next is going to shake up how singing competitions are done and you are going to want the others to follow suit.
For the next six weeks Gloria Estefan, Joe Jonas, John Rich and Nelly are going to do what no television mentor/judge has ever done. They are going to go to the contestants’ houses and spend 72 hours with them to prepare them a perform in front of the live audience. But these singers will not only be mentoring them, they are going to experience those contestants’ lives and they will have to do things they don’t normally do like mow the lawn and babysit. You are not going to hear what these top-selling artists did when they spent those 3 days with the contestants, you are actually going to see it. Seriously how much fun is that.
But it isn’t only about the mentors, it is also about the singers vying for a record contract. For the next six weeks you will see a clip reel of those crucial 3 days and then we will hear their mentee sing a song. After all four of them have wowed us (and they will), it is up to the studio audience to vote who moves on to the live shows. Here’s an inside tip, the person moving ahead will not know who they are until their episode airs. I can’t wait to see their reactions when their show airs.
Now back to the mentors for a second, yesterday I was a press day with all of them and they each said that agreed to do this show because they are not judging the contestants but they are mentoring them. They are there for support and not to tear them down like other singing competitions. I have been waiting for forever for one of these reality shows to do that because it is not about the established stars, it is about the future ones!
As I mentioned The Next is different than the other shows because the mentors are going to have to get their hands dirty, so I had to find out from them what was the most interesting thing they exposed to when they were at their mentees’ house.
Nelly – “I made plantains. That was dope. One of my first times tasting them. Mine tasted just like someone who knew what they were doing would taste. Maybe I got a career in plantains.” So I followed up with, “if this music thing doesn’t work out?” He said, “Nelly’s Plantains. We can those up for real.” I’m in, you?
Gloris Estefan – “I did fulfill my dream of getting on a riding motor. I used to cut the lawn with my grandfather when I was about 12 or 13. I always wanted one of those. So got to do that. I got to cut grass, not that it needed it. She just wanted to get me on that damn mower. But it was fun, I had a good time doing that.”
Joe Jonas – “Babysitting like 15 kids for my first episode was overwhelming. These kids were crazy. The place was beautiful when I walked in, when I left I’m sure the production team got a call because those kids ruined this place. It was like chocolate syrup on couches. It was nuts. I’m sitting her like, oh, it’s not too fun.”
John Rich – “Riding a horse through Harlem to meet my contestant. I am galloping up a sidewalk in Harlem towards Malcolm X Blvd. I take a hard right on this horse and there’s my artist past the Apollo Theater. He stops and look at me. I’m like, ‘Hey, how are you doing? I’m John Rich.’ I go to shake his hand. He’s like what is going on. I climb off of the horse and I’m like “we got 72 hours before you are going to have the performance of your life, son. Show me somewhere where I can park this horse, we got to get to work.'”
And there is one last little tidbit I will let you in about the show, starting next week Gloria, Joe, John and Nelly are going to sing duets. I was told that the Nelly/John Rich duet to Lenny Kravitz’s American Woman is “f*cking incredible.”
