Last week was the premiere of The CW’s The Next, the best new television singing competition show since American Idol; and the big highlight of it for me was when John Rich sat on the toilet and played the guitar while his contestant was taking a shower. So when I spoke to him at the press day for the show, I had to find out what that was all about. He said, “Michael Ray, he was a little too timid for me. Cause he was singing these really aggressive songs and he just thought about everything all the time. I wanted him to see how loose I could get. I go and sit down on his toilet and play my guitar while he was in the shower. He was like what the hell is going on in here. It cracked him up and I said that’s how you got to be, bro. You just got to roll with it man because you never know. You get out on stage you are not a robot. You are Michael Ray, be yourself.” Sadly he doesn’t use that technique on any of his other contestants.
As wild and as crazy as that is, it is not the boldest thing he did on the show. He explained how something he did in NY is what attracted him to The Next. He said, “I Allows me to be a complete maniac sometimes. For instance riding a horse through Harlem. I am galloping up a sidewalk in Harlem, right towards Malcolm X Blvd. I take a hard right on my horse and then there’s my artist walking past The Appollo Theater and he stops and looks at me like this. I say, ‘How are you doing? John Rich.’ I shake his hand and he is like what is going on. I climb off the horse and I go ‘we have 72 hours before you have the performance of your life, son. Show me somewhere we can park this horse because we got to get to work.’ What other show is that going to happen on?” I can’t wait to see that contestant’s reaction next Thursday when that episode airs.
A big part of The Next is that John Rich, Gloria Estefan, Joe Jonas and Nelly get to personally mentor the contestants 72 hours before they perform in front of a live audience. This is something that John Rich has done before. In fact did you know that Gretchen Wilson was his bartender before they wrote Red Neck Woman and Here for the Party together? Look at where she is in career today and then have a gander where his contestants will be when it comes to the live shows. And on that note another Rich said what he also liked about The Next over the other singing shows is, “I love the fact that the people in the audience get to decide who goes forward. Who represents their town. It’s like High School Football. It’s so cool to have that kind of energy in there.” I like that it is up to the people in the audience and not the judges like the other reality shows. That is how it should be because we are the ones that are going to buy the records, not the judges/mentors who will ask for a free copy.
Talking about records John Rich has one coming out on September 18th. Hillbilly Jedi is Big and Rich’s first album in 3 and 1/2 years. That’s Why I Pray is the first single off of the album and Rich said it is the fastest moving one of their career. You will be able to hear them perform that single during the LA episode in 4 weeks on The CW. But before we get to that song, he will be cheating on Big Kenny and singing two duets with Nelly on The Next. John Rich loved their performances so much he said that he wants to go on tour with him. Could you imagine that ticket? It would make you want to ride a cowboy because it is hot in here. Just like The Next that airs every Thursday at 9p on The CW!
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.”
Not only does Michael Rady play a doctor on The CW’s Emily Owens, M.D., 2 weeks ago he did something a real doctor does. On July 12th he helped deliver his son Ellington.
During the Emily Owens, M.D. panel at The CW TCA Summer Press Day, his co-star Justin Hartley let it slip that the House of Lies star delivered his own baby. So after the panel I took part in the press circle and had to ask him if it was true. He explained, “I delivered my son…There were other people with me.” In fact his mother-in-law was in the room with him and she held her daughter’s leg while he, as he described it, “I got to catch him. Which turned more into a different verb than catch…a removal” Removing his son was a huge deal for him because even though he plays Micah, a surgical resident on The CW medical drama, he is very squeamish in real life. So when he was asked how it was, he said, “Overstimulating! I expected to pass out. I did not pass out and I’m quite proud of that fact.” And you could tell by his face he is not only proud of not passing out, but he is also an extremely proud pop!
So how did the proud pop and his wife Rachael Kemery come up with the name Ellington? He shared with us how they did, “We saw Brian Stokes Mitchell out here. He is one of our favorite performers and he was introducing a song that’s about talking to your son. He (Mitchell) said, ‘I have a little boy and his name is Ellington.’ We (Rady and his wife) looked at each other, and we gave up looking for male names. We looked at each other and were like, ‘Ellington, we love it!'”
And we love having him back on TV! So make sure to mark your calendars because when his son is 3 months and 4 days old, in other words on October 16th, Emily Owens, M.D, will make its debut on The CW and you are not going to want to miss this endearing show.
The LA Complex is back for its second season tonight on The CW at 9p and the drama is on fire. The show picks up the shortly after the season finale and we find out if Connor and Tariq lived to be part of another season. During tonight’s episode someone reveals they are pregnant, someone will propose, someone will move out, two people will move in, someone will find out the truth about themselves, some people will get jobs while someone else will lose one and the show ends with someone bloodied in the bathroom near death if not they are dead already. If that is not enough to get you watch, did I mention Alan Thicke joins the show in a role that Kirk Cameron would approve of?
The LA Complex keeps getting better and better, so why aren’t you watching?
If you love Ballet as much as I do, then you are going to love Breaking Pointe on The CW tonight at 8p. It is the story of what goes on behind the scenes for ballet dancers and it’s in depth look at their lives something we have never seen before. You get to see what they go through on the stage and off of it. The latter is much more difficult and you see how hard it is for them to stay in a Company and move up within one. Understanding how much they go through to remain a professional ballet dancer makes me appreciate them even more than I did before.
So tune in for Breaking Pointe tonight to learn about the reality of Ballet dancing.
