BY DC CUEVA
 |
| Instagram @InRealLife |
But it's hard to think that Devin, Aubrey O'Day, Mark & Elena, Mechie or the Kaplan Twins are not the ones who have had the most screen time this summer & fall with the most intriguing romance and most divisive personality in the house. That title belongs to multi-talented actor & singer Cameron Armstrong, whose treatment of his past two exes -- singer Alexis McNeal and ex turned roommate of his Ariana Nova -- have had both the house and viewers up in arms. For a lot of you, you're getting to see Cameron for the first time... but this stay in Malibu is not his first time on national television, having appeared in several episodes of ABC's police drama The Rookie.
For a handful of you, Cameron gracing your screens again has brought back memories of a one & done music competition series that proceeded the return of American Idol and the emergence of 2019's breakout show The Masked Singer. On the 2017 summer series Boy Band, he got to perform alongside a couple members of a group who became that show's only winners, and who dropped their debut studio album two years after their moment on the national stage... all as the boy band resurgence in the music landscape continues amidst BTS mania sweeping this planet.
In this installment of Someone You Should Know, we at DCBLOG would like you to meet the guys who won Boy Band two summers ago - and for whom Cameron got to perform and compete with that summer, In Real Life.
 |
| The 30 contestants of Boy Band (IG @BoyBandABC) |
Past musical competition reality shows had seen everyone from Aubrey's Danity Kane and Kelly Clarkson to Carrie Underwood and Pentatonix rise to the top when they went through a rigorous talent search that brought them from auditions to being chosen at season's end. But until summer 2017, U.S. music fans never had a chance to help choose a boy band through this visual medium... it was in this manner that those in Britain got to discover One Direction on the 2010 series of The X Factor UK, even though Harry, Liam, Niall, Louis & Zayn fell short of the top prize.
At night's end, Cameron was the first person to be eliminated from Boy Band after the first group performance phase, all after the dreams of twelve other guys also vanished before the remaining contestants were split into groups. The show's judges -- Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, Spice Girl Emma Bunton and Timbaland -- all agreed that Cameron would be best off performing solo because of his stage presence and strong voice. The future Ex star was left to say with tears in his eyes, "Boy Band was the best experience of my entire life. I got to work with some extremely talented guys and I made a lot of friends, friends that I can call my brothers."
 |
| Brady, Sergio, Drew, Conor & Chance after being chosen as members of In Real Life (ABC) |
Reflecting the entire field of contestants who came to Boy Band from all over the country, In Real Life come from different backgrounds just as diverse, and the guys made it important for them to reflect that in their music. So much so, they experiment with dance-pop, pop-rap, Latin pop and of course teen pop in their sound. IRL's influences range from One Direction, the Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men, to Bruno Mars, Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendes, Logic, Machine Gun Kelly, NF, Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Jay-Z and Boy Band hostess Rita Ora.
For the members of In Real Life, each of them have fascinating backstories that are as varied as the music they've been able to craft...
♫ Sergio is described as "the heart of IRL" -- the first to meet fans before and after they perform, a Mexican immigrant's son who loves the sport his family calls "futbol," and who learned how to play music off the pitch the same time. But after weighing his options, Sergio decided to forgo a college soccer scholarship to stay in music after watching One Direction perform at Wembley.
♫ The so-called "romantic of the group," Drew grew up with his single mom and busked in the New York subways to help foot the bill... part of a family musical pedigree where his dad DJ'd, his mom performed in a choir and where he watched Idol and X Factor religiously, one day imagining himself performing on the big stage, both on TV and now in concert venues.
♫ Brady grew up as a severe stutter, but overcame that speech handicap to excel on the stage: not just as IRL's youngest member as one of two (Sergio the other) to be born in the 2000's, but before that in singing multiple genres from opera to musical theater, as well as being an actor in the short-lived sitcom Fresh Off the Boat and the recent movie The Rocket.
♫ Fittingly for someone who bears that name, Chance saw Boy Band as a second shot at redemption: he appeared on season 11 of America's Got Talent the previous year and got an earful from the dean of talent show judges, Simon Cowell. The heartthrob & certified EMT passed up a potential job as a firefighter to pursue a musical dream spurred on by his late dad and being a father himself.
♫ Conor Michael is the group's rebel - a violinist who then grew to love hip-hop... him adding his hip-hop forte to a boy band like IRL was a challenge at first, but has helped to bring something new to the game. And Conor also has a special attribute: he was diagnosed as high-functioning autism in 2015 and has become an advocate for that disability spectrum.
 |
| In Real Life at the 2019 VMA's |
The members of the group were humbled by the one screen reveal that changed each of their lives... Chance posted on Instagram, "Life is about to change. Words cannot describe this feeling and the gratitude that I have for America putting me in this boyband! Thank you much! 🌹 Get ready!!" Sergio added, "I owe it all to you guys. Without you, I wouldn’t be in this position. I can’t wait for this new journey! #InRealLife 💫" And Brady wrote, "WHAAAT. AHHHHHH THIS IS CRAZY. Thank you guys so much❤️ To all the people who stayed up all night voting for me, this is for you."
Soon after, In Real Life went to Times Square to TRL, across the street to Good Morning America, to Walt Disney World to perform at Disney's Christmas celebrations, to Hollywood and Jimmy Kimmel, to the Philippines and to the Bahamas. They got to release several singles including their follow-ups "Tattoo" and "Crazy AF," and soon the guys performed on the 2018 American Idol tour and a small club tour where they were the headliners. And it was in August of this year that they dropped their debut studio album, She Do, which brings together all the work they've put in -- and the diversified influences that make the sum of those parts that comprise their sound.
Sure, Boy Band is one of those shows that were one & done -- airing for that one summer two years ago. But along with Cameron and him appearing on both Ex On The Beach and The Rookie, In Real Life is the legacy left behind by a show that helped a network get itself ready for the return of a show Drew grew up on. They are one in a number of entries into a crowded field of boy bands like Why Don't We, CNCO, PrettyMuch, and the Korean invasion led by BTS... not to mention the old guard in the Backstreet Boys, O-Town and New Kids on The Block.
In Real Life has crafted their own mark on this resurgence in this pop music subgenre which, only a few short years ago, was not a hot commodity in the industry. Them being able to bring their own passions to the table and relying on those strengths has helped to let them stand out in the crowd... and IRL continues to bring in new fans to the fandom they call the Lifelines at nearly 300,000 followers across all social media and so many more that they get to directly interact with on the touring front. It's only a matter of time before they become the biggest boy band on earth.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
No comments:
Post a Comment
Got something on your mind? Let us know! But please be mindful and do not post spam or negative comments (due to that, all comments are subject to blogger approval... and we reserve the right to disable these sections if things get way out of hand).