Jim JordanIt’s a ’90s nostalgia-fest on ABC’s new reality music competition show Boy Band, which will debut June 22. Among the talent participating: Backstreet Boy Nick Carter and Emma “Baby Spice” Bunton from The Spice Girls.
Those two pop group veterans will serve, not as judges or coaches, but as “architects” — experts who’ll guide the contestants through the competition, as they battle to become a member of the next great boy band. Singer and actress Rita Ora will host.
Here’s how the show works: thousands of singers will audition for 18 available spots in three groups, who will then need to wow the architects during each episode. The architects will move the contestants around to find the perfect combination of voices as the groups perform live. Two contestants will be chosen for possible elimination during each episode, and they’ll both perform solo, singing for their lives, as viewers vote to keep their favorites around.
The audiences’ five favorite band members will be revealed at the finale, and together, the new group will perform their debut single. They’ll also receive a recording contract from Hollywood Records.
To hype the show, The Backstreet Boys performed during ABC’s presentation to advertisers in New York City on Tuesday.
Starting in 2000, ABC aired a similar show called Making the Band, which during its run produced the successful groups O Town and Danity Kane.
