DC ExtraTime: Let's Have A Parade with Tai Verdes!

BY DC CUEVA                        

■ @DC408DXTR  @ IG/YT/SC/TB/TK

When you look over at the long history of MTV Reality television, just about every successful show that's come on in the past three decades have produced some memorable characters. The just-debuted season 2 of The Real World Homecoming on Paramount+ is paying homage to the Los Angeles season of 1993, which gave the reality TV world Tami Roman and introduced us to longtime stalwart of The Challenge, Beth Stolarczyk. It's among the many instances where television's most buzzed-about reality shows have offered us not only endless entertainment, but also a glimpse into the future by introducing those relative unknowns who would later make their mark on pop culture.

This DCBLOG site has covered the past decade of The Challenge and a few seasons of The Real World, but we've also chronicled the entire journey of several series that have come on in our eight years on this beat. Just seeing Amanda, Devin, Nelson and Tori on Spies, Lies & Allies reminds us of where they all began their MTV journey in a similar scenario going for $1 million back then as it is now with each still in the running in Croatia. Six years ago, the first three were part of a legendary cast of one of MTV's two takes on reality dating as it can only offer in Are You The One?, where Season 3 saw the puppet-master put his team on his magic carpet with the help of some plastic red cups and a quarter en route to the money. And this month, Devin's original AYTO season joined the first two on Netflix, along with Season 4 where Tori and Jake Paul's scandalous girlfriend Julia Rose first made waves.

Two years after the Season 3 cast lived out that miracle in Hawaii came a comeback for the ages: the kids of AYTO Season 6 found themselves staring down joining Season 5 in going home broke, but in a game of momentum they got it just before midnight set in on their New Orleans mansion. Just before that moment of the improbable happening where his case lit up all the lights in the tenth & last matchup ceremony that made them $1 million richer, a man from out west was part of the only moment all that autumn 2017 where a room with lasers can turn a house of despair into a house with hopes of the impossible coming true. And who knew that four years later, that one who saw the word "Perfect Match" on the screen would be taking his act to the one event that marks the kick-off to the magical time that is the holiday season... and now, everybody knows who Tai Verdes is.

All Macy's Parade Photos
Courtesy Getty Images

America is home to many traditions that have stood the test of time and have even weathered through everything from two World Wars to two pandemics to still remain timeless to every one of the over 300 million people who call this place home. One Sunday every winter, the nation gets together in front of their TV's to watch our favorite sport on the biggest stage, while every July 4th during the heat of the summer those across this land gather under the stars in neighborhoods from Maine to Maui to mark this country's birthday with fireworks and barbecues aplenty. And then, there's the way this country gets to mark the merriest season of them all.

   The winter holidays in America are always bookmarked by two of this country's biggest parades: the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year's Day morning in Pasadena, CA, and the big one that comes over a month before: since the mid-1920's, New York City has hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is considered by most to be the official start of the countdown to Christmas in the U.S.  Hundreds of thousands line the streets from Central Park to Herald Square that fourth Thursday of November each year, while millions of viewers huddle around the TV set to start their long weekend watching balloons, floats, music and stars all converge on the Big Apple for the ultimate holiday party.

Above: SpongeBob

This year marked the 95th annual renewal of the Macy's Parade, and it also marked the event's return to being held on its full route and in front of crowds after the pandemic saw it being shortened to just in front of the sponsoring department store's flagship location near the Empire State Building with only the NBC cameras in view. Snoopy, Ronald McDonald, Sonic the Hedgehog, Spongebob, Chase of PAW Patrol and Pikachu of Pokémon headlined the set of character balloons that flew above the large crowds -- always the highlight for the youngsters who watch this parade every year enjoying two days off from school. As always, the parade was capped off by the arrival of Santa Claus and his troupe of reindeer led by the red-nosed one, Rudolph, which kicked off the holidays in motion as only they can.

Above: Nelly

   The stars who rode on the floats had something for everyone: the Sesame Street Muppets, Miss America Camille Schrier, Kristin Chenoweth, Darren Criss and three generations of Blue's Clues -- host Josh De La Cruz and predecessors Steve Burns and Donovan Patton -- rode on the nearly thirty floats that roamed down the parade route. And the entire musical spectrum was represented this year: Nelly, "Dilemma" collaborator Kelly Rowland, Kim Petras, Andy Grammer, Rob Thomas, Jordan Fisher, upstart K-Pop girl group Aespa, 80's rockers Foreigner, and Late Show bandleader Jon Batiste, as well as ten marching bands. But the one artist of most of interest to us looked at his appearance at this year's Macy's Parade as the cherry on top of a meteoric rise that had its roots in the Truth Booth.

Tyler Colon came to AYTO 6 four years ago as, as we wrote in our season preview back then, "...three important attributes to impress the ladies: looks, charm and brains. Why has he made his way to Louisiana, you ask? It's after he bailed from his most recent bad relationship that he started do some second guessing, and it's his being afraid of getting heartbroken again which has prevented him from making that commitment to her. Tyler can't seem to figure out that the connections he makes are good enough to make it a relationship that will last. Now, is he ready to head from friend zone to love?"

   As the late Alexis Eddy was the focus of most of the house as was the love triangle of Nurys, Malcolm & Diandra and other romances dominated the buzz in the house, Tyler was largely in the background -- save for some fireworks he had with one of the guys one night. And for most of the season, he was tied up -- in the game & love sense at least -- to Bostonian (and friend to Season 1 original Brittany) Nicole Spiller... and they sat with one another for most matchup's until they were sent into the ninth week's Truth Booth and returned to the house a perfect match... the first step towards that historic comeback.

   Another moment involving Tyler provided a glimpse into what the future would await after being on AYTO: him sitting in the confessional playing a ukulele to accompany rhymes dished out by Bay Area rapper Ethan "E-Money" Cohen, and then repeating the feat below on the season 6 reunion special, gave a hint of what was to come.

The biographical information MTV supplied to viewers and to the press four years ago did not mention even one bit that the SoCal native had also had some musical experience prior to performing "The Perfect Match Song" in the AYTO confessional. While playing small college basketball at Babson College in the suburbs of Boston, he had further developed his love for music that he first acquired from playing the piano and guitar. 

   Tyler had auditioned for both American Idol and The Voice but did not make it to either the televised audition phase for either show. But he had gone back to being one of us in working at a local phone store, and having to shack up with a friend and sleeping on their couch. But when the pandemic hit, it gave him ample time to pursue that musical passion in creating songs... and before he knew it, the one who had become Tai Verdes would become a star.

   In August of last year, he dropped his debut single "Stuck in the Middle" which instantly made waves on, of all places, TikTok... and once it went viral on the world's biggest social media app it marked the beginning of his rise to being the latest AYTO alum to make it big. Fast forward to this past summer, and he has taken the next step towards becoming perhaps the biggest of those who once walked into that Truth Booth and became a huge star in the years after.

Pic Courtesy: Zimbio

Music has become a source of comfort for so many in the past two years as a way for all of us to escape all the negative stuff that's happened during this time. For the world's biggest pop act and who are now enjoying a much-deserved winter vacation, last year the Kings of K-Pop BTS looked to inspire the world stricken by the pandemic with a first English-language track that celebrated appreciating life in this new normal, and "Dynamite" gave the boys and the genre its first #1 American hit... part of the Korean wave taking over the globe.

   It was that in mind that Tai looked to give a message to everyone that things will be alright just as we are still going through hard times right now. "A.O.K." dropped this past summer, where he explained of the track, "'A-O-K' is just a song for anyone who wants to feel 2% better. I made it to help myself, and I hope that it's helping other people when they listen to it." One user on YouTube wrote, "This song is a life saver literally. Battling my demons and depression off and singing it out loud with tears at times. This is the perfect song for everyone at times like this with so much gate and hardships in the world."

   "A.O.K." saw Tai break into the top half of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and a higher position on genre-specific mini-charts, while also reaching the top quarter of the Australian and Canadian singles chart. That was more than enough for him to be shortlisted on the Class of 2021 of the arbiter of the pulse of American music as measured by sales and airplay, which saw the former Tyler join the year's biggest breakout star, Olivia Rodrigo, among others in that Billboard group... a similar honor was also bestowed to him by the RIAA, who also gave him a gold record for "A.O.K."

   As a way to celebrate his total transformation from the one who started on AYTO and now joins many of the show's biggest alumni, Tai marked this incredible year by getting to ride a float at the Macy's Parade, as you can see below. He summed up this experience in just a few words on IG: "Cold turkey. Macys day parade was a lil vibe."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tai Verdes (@taiverdes)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Macy's (@macys)

And all this month, he has been part of the slew of Jingle Ball concerts put on every holiday season by pop radio stations, including on the biggest stage of all: Madison Square Garden in New York. Whoever thought the one with the ukulele would one day play in what's known as "The World's Most Famous Arena?" Welcome to the big time, Tai.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tai Verdes (@taiverdes)

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