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'Making the Band' Makes the Scene
by Vanessa Sibbald

Zap2it, TV News The speakers were blaring "Stayin' Alive" as cast and crew
celebrated the second season premiere party for ABC's "Making the Band."
After watching the hour-long premiere of season two, guests boogied down at
the Hollywood club The Pool 'til the wee hour of 10 p.m. Looking like the
back of a recording studio from the outside, the inside of the club featured
a retro 1930s-style indoor pool, now empty, with a bar set up on the bottom
of the swimming pool floor.

The setting of the party was strangely appropriate, leading one to wonder if
the band O-Town will sink or swim.

The boys return to TV a little more known and a little more established than
at the end of last season, thanks in part to their single, "Liquid Dreams,"
which immediately shot to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Although the
band, which includes members Ashley Angel, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood,
Erik-Michael Estrada and Dan Miller, are now more recognized when they go out
shopping -- they're no 'N Sync. Still relatively new, the group has a long
way to go in proving themselves as a money-making musical act.

Most of the people in attendance were from the production companies
Bunim-Murray or MTV, which co-produces the series. Others were guests of
"CosmoGirl," who co-hosted the party, or Jay Records, Clive Davis' label to
which the group is signed.

Before the party began, Zap2it got the chance to ask a few questions about
the upcoming season and what it was like watching themselves on TV. According
to the boys, one big change is that viewers will see a closer band this
season, thanks to some time off.

"That was the time that we got to bond together more as a group because we
weren't on camera," Trevor explained. "We had all met each other and bonded
on camera, but when the cameras got away we got a lot closer -- we still
lived together, we lived right next door in apartments."

"We got our record deal, we rehearsed a whole lot, we went on a " YM" tour.
We started getting more, like a group. I think that was the biggest change."

Unlike some Survivor contestants, O-Town appears fairly happy with the way
they were portrayed on screen, even if some stuff is left out.

"We got episodes right before they came on and lots of times we would sit
down and watch," said Ashley. "For the most part we felt like we were
depicted accurately, but it's always an edited version. You always sit there
going, 'Oh man, I wish they would have put this in,' or 'I wish they had told
that part of the story,' but you have 22 minutes and they have hundreds,
literally hundreds, of hours of footage to include into an episode. They do a
pretty good job overall, but we're excited about this season because we feel
like it's going to be a lot more centered around the music."

Erik-Michael agrees, but added that there are some dangers in only telling
part of the story.

"As long as people remember that we're all good. It's when people start
believing everything they see on TV and they start making judgment calls on
us, that's when it gets a little weird."

Speaking of Survivor contestants, Dan related how they met a certain
notorious former contestant while attending MTV's Video Music Awards show."We
actually sat behind Richard Hatch at the VMA's," recalled Dan. "He turned
around and felt like he had this bond with us. He's like, 'Hey guys, how you
doing?' He said he watched every episode [of 'Making the Band']. It was kind
of funny."

"We meet up with a lot of reality television personalities, and there is a
bond there. There is that secret society that we have. We look into each
other's eyes and say, 'I feel your pain. We understand,'" laughed Erik.

Recent press reports have hinted at a budding rivalry between Lou Pearlman's
former band, 'N Sync, and his new band O-Town, with some articles reporting
heated words between the two. While O-Town admits "people have told us
they've said things," they think the whole thing has been blown out of
proportion.

"'N Sync is doing their thing, we're doing our thing. Whatever. That's all
there is to it," said Dan.

"I think people want to see rivalry. I think people want to see that kind of
conflict," said Ashley. "Before we went into all this, I used to listen to 'N
Sync, I appreciated their music, and now that we're in here, people
automatically want to throw us against each other. The only thing that
matters is that we're making music, and we're going to continue to make
music, and we're going to continue to try to be successful, and we wish the
same for them."

Uber-manager Pearlman was also on hand at the party. Although he's still
involved with the band and the series, he told Zap2it that he is no longer
managing O-Town.

"I can't manage them anymore," Pearlman explained. "From the beginning I was
helping them do everything but then they have to have their own management
stay with them 24/7 and be on top of everything. What I do is the production
side and though I'd love to be with all of our artists it's hard to be
everywhere at the same time. So, I hit them with the production side, but I'm
with them 100 percent mind and spirit."

O-Town had said previously that, while signing a contract with Pearlman, they
steered away from the kind of deals Pearlman signed with previous bands,
choosing to sign a separate management deal with Actual Management.

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