MTV Mix – Volume 74

Features, Shows

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The Hills returns next week, but that means we have some business take care of. Namely the finale of the Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III and the last episode of Making of the Band 4 that I will cover in the Mix. So lets jump right in because Spring has arrived and the water is starting to warm up…










SHOW REVIEWS







MONDAY





Making of the Band 4


With their albums in the can, it’s time to shoot the album covers. The guys of Day 26 admit that they love being in front of the camera and that modeling is just another way of showcasing their talents.

That night, Day 26 is to perform for a Fort Lauderdale club. The performance itself went off without a hitch. However, Danity Kane noticed that they couldn’t see the guys perform for a duration of the show, because they hopped off stage to perform for the first couple rows. This is defiantly a sign of their inexperience. After their song, the guys wanted to introduce themselves to the audience. Unfortunately, it turned out to be an awkward and unplanned introduction with lots of gaps. The Danity Kane girls knew that they should have made it short and sweet, after all, they’re in a club where people want to dance.

The next day, Danity Kane had a publicity shoot for MTV. The girls knew exactly how they wanted their wardrobes and make-up because of all their past experience. That night, Diddy stopped to see the girls to go over their image. Diddy went through each member and critiqued their shots from the photo shoot. This was a shock to most of the girls, but Diddy knows what he wants.

To celebrate their final night in the Miami house, the girls and guys have decided to throw their own fiesta themed party. The cast took the party a step further by bringing in a mariachi band to fulfill the fiesta theme.

Now everyone is back in New York City to perform a showcase for industry executives. Danity Kane’s rehearsal went off without any problems, but Day 26 was a different story. The guys simply did not know what to do on stage while performing. To correct this, the guys get to work with a choreographer right away.

The next day, the girls try to meet at a middle ground with Diddy by stopping at a salon to makeover their image. Without a doubt, the biggest challenge was Shannon’s hair. Diddy wanted it to be blonde again, but it’s extremely difficult to go from red to blonde. Luckily, Diddy was happy with what he saw when he stopped by later that night.

Now it’s show time… Day 26 and Danity Kane are to perform for industry executives at a packed house. Unfortunately, Day 26’s performance was plagued with technical difficulties with their microphones. The guys stuck it out and ignored the problem until Diddy got out of his seat to stop the show. Once the glitches were corrected, the guys returned to the stage to pull off a stellar performance. Danity Kane then came out and blew the crowd away with an incredible live version of ‘Damaged’.









TUESDAY





Life of Ryan

This week was what we call a “clip show”. Just a “flashback” to all the drama and fun in Ryan Sheckler’s life. If you missed it, too bad. You can either watch this or miss out. Five more episodes are coming up this season, so watch out for those in the next month or so.





Rob and Big Logo



Rob & Big

After making fun of Drama for starting to lose his hair at the ripe age of twenty, a guilty Rob and Big decide to do something nice for him. They’re going to help him celebrate his twenty-first birthday in style. The catch? First they’ll give him more grief than he’s ever gotten before. But the payoff is a party in Vegas he’ll never forget. Drama (perhaps foolishly) agrees to let them plan this shin-dig.

They start things out right, enlisting a large group of fellow skaters and friends to ride in a party bus to Vegas. But they’ve got a gift for Drama before they leave Hollywood: a billboard wishing him a happy birthday and displaying pictures of him at twenty-one (with hair) and what he might look like at twenty-five (without hair). Not exactly how Drama envisioned his first billboard would look!

Back on the bus, Rob insists Drama “skips to twenty-five” and shaves a bald spot into his head. To complete the look, Drama is presented with a classy “old man suit”.

The guys quickly get distracted when they pass an abandoned water park, aka the perfect place for a skating session! Although it’s kind of sketchy and spooky, pro skater Danny Way and Rob manage to bust some sweet moves on the old waterslides. Until Rob almost blows his neck out trying to board-slide an uneven waterslide. Time to get back on the road!

Once they arrive at the Palms Hotel, Rob leads a champagne toast to the “bald birthday boy”. Then it’s time to hit up the roulette tables, where they manage to put money on every number except the winner. Isn’t a bald birthday boy supposed to bring good luck?

Next up on the agenda? A birthday tattoo of Drama’s choosing. So long as he let’s Rob pick it. And gets it on his bald spot. Rob makes a compelling case for a beautiful winged dolphin, but Drama wants no part of it. As punishment, the guys force Drama into some women’s panties sold at the tattoo parlor.

Finally fed up, Drama storms off. Rob and Big fear they may have taken things too far when Drama doesn’t resurface and refuses to answer his phone. They decide they must make nice and “save Drama”. After apologizing, Rob makes a very moving speech and presents Drama with some sweet bling.

Vows of family and friendship renewed, Drama and the gang roll out for his birthday bash. Rob gives a public toast, brings out a cake with Drama’s bald head on it, and the boys party it up.

One week later, Rob questions whether or not Drama regrets not getting that “magical” winged dolphin tattoo. To his surprise, Drama says he’s glad he’s not walking around with that thing on his head. Rob reminds Drama that he’s got one last gift and takes him out to the street to check it out. Rob has had Drama’s car painted with the winged dolphin! Looks like Drama might be cruising around town on the scooters for a while…








WEDNESDAY





Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Gauntlet III

We pick up where we left off last time. The rookies had to pick a veteran male to protect and throw into the Gauntlet. They end up deciding to protect Eric and throw Adam into the Gauntlet. He is pissed at Frank for that! When the Veterans deliberate, they pick Danny to face-off against Adam.

The final Gauntlet will be called “Ball Brawl”! Danny vs. Adam. You know the drill. They must grab balls and run to the finish line. Adam proves his muscle and scores the first point. Danny gives it his all to stop Adam from scoring again, but Adam’s too fast for him. Finally, Danny just gives up and lets Adam take the win. Danny is gone right before the end!

Later that night, the remaining players raise their glasses for a victory toast. The Veterans have 10 players left, while the Rookies have six. The Veterans think they’re at a huge advantage, but they’re only as strong as their slowest person which appears to be Eric.

During an emotional team meeting, Eric expresses his dedication and willingness to fight for the Veterans’ win, saying the only way he’s quitting is if he goes out on a stretcher. Meanwhile, as the Vets hash things out, the Rookies are doubting themselves and their ability to win.

It all comes down to this! This is the final challenge! Aboard a yacht, the Veterans and the Rookies are ready to face the “Army Strong” final challenge. They’ll be running a race, team versus team, through a series of checkpoints laid out across the beach. Each checkpoint is reminiscent of a challenge they have already faced this season. Once the challenge is complete, they will be given a key, which will be used to obtain instructions for the next checkpoint. After the first checkpoint, each team will be chained together for the remainder of the race. The first team to cross the finish line with all its players wins.

Ready to battle it out for the $300,000 grand prize, the Veterans and the Rookies must jump off the boat, swim one-half mile to shore and find the first checkpoint. When host TJ Lavin gives the signal, the contestants jump into the water and labor their way toward the beach.

The Rookies take an early lead with their padel. Meanwhile, Veteran Eric is already dead in the water, forcing CT to drag him through the current. Evan is the first person to hit land, but he realizes that Eric and CT have a long way to go. As Veterans and Rookies pile up on the beach, Eric and CT are still struggling.

The Rookies are the first to get all their teammates ashore. They run to the first checkpoint as the Veterans wait for CT to drag Eric onto dry land. While the Veterans are flipping out, the Rookies find the first checkpoint and discover they’ll be playing “Chill Out/Assembly Required.” They’ll have to dive into a tub of ice water and retrieve 20 puzzle pieces. Then, they’ll have to put the puzzle together.

While the Rookies get to it, Eric and CT finally hit the shore. Eric is exhausted, but there’s no time to waste. The Veterans run down the beach to the first checkpoint. As the Veterans arrive, the Rookies are ready to move on.

After reaching the first checkpoint, the teammates are chained together leaving the Veterans dragging a breathless, barely coherent Eric down the beach. The Rookies’ big lead gives them a sense of hope that they can actually win this thing.

As Evan leads his lagging team down a hill, Eric starts complaining that he can’t breathe. With CT on one side of him and Brad on the other, a winded Eric is being pushed and pulled in all directions. CT starts screaming “encouraging” words at him, but Brad is concerned that something is really wrong. As the two teammates argue, Eric becomes disoriented and starts vomiting. But his team presses on.

At the next checkpoint, “Screw You,” the teams are neck and neck. They must each unscrew a nut until it falls off the track. Both the Veterans and the Rookies try feverishly to work their nuts free. When the Rookies’ nut gets stuck, they panic and wind up breaking the track and ripping the key off before the Veterans can finish. With only a slight lead, the Rookies take off for the next checkpoint.

With a comeback actually in sight, the Veterans race to the next checkpoint, with Eric once again trailing behind. As the Veterans charge down a flight of stairs, Brad has to hold Eric up. Stumbling and panting, Eric falls to the ground, unable to breath. The Vets are thrown into utter panic, wondering what they should do. All kinds of ideas start whipping around, including carrying and dragging him to the finish line. But Brad argues that Eric is clearly out of it and needs medical attention.

Horrified, the Veterans watch as paramedics put Eric on a stretcher and load him into an ambulance. As Eric is taken away, the Vets realize they can’t win. Mad as hell, they band together and decide to finish the race. And without Eric to slow them down, they start flying through the checkpoints.

Meanwhile, not knowing what’s going on behind them, the Rookies reach the next checkpoint. After successfully completing a “Sliders” puzzle, they plow forward. They breeze through “Man Overboard,” where they must use a pulley system to go back and forth.

The final checkpoint is “I Dig You,” where each team must dig feverishly to find a chest buried in the sand. In the chest is a flag, and whichever team raises their flag first wins. In the lead, the Rookies frantically dig. But soon they see that the Veterans are coming!

After Eric’s accident, the Veterans are fired up and ready to win. The horde of Vets drop to their knees and begin digging. Grunting and growling, the Veterans blast through the sand, putting the pressure on their fatigued foes. Trying not to get discouraged, the Rookies keep a steady pace as they plow into the dirt.

Exhaustion begins to plague the small group of Rookies, though, and the Veterans are the first to unearth their chest and find their flag. The Vets quickly raise their flag and cheer at their apparent victory. But the Veterans’ celebration comes to an end when TJ tells them that they didn’t cross the finish line with their whole team, so they forfeit the game. Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, Frank manages to pull out the Rookies’ chest. The Rookies raise their flag and they win! I repeat The Rookies win by forfeit! The ONLY way they could win! What?!?! LAAAAMMMMMMEEEEE!!! What a disappointing ending to a really boring and overly predictable RW/RR Challenge. But on the bright side, NO ONE could have predicted that ending!








THURSDAY





Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew

This is it! Tonight is the finals but before that we have three teams dancing their hearts out to advance on. This week each dance crew much elevate some top street dance moves from the past 30 years. It seems that all the crews will be dancing to the same music and they all have to perform “popping”, “locking”, “breaking”, “new jack swing”, and “pop” moves. Should be fun.

Status Quo landed in first place again this week and that means they advance to the finals next week! They have made a fantastic comeback, since the first part of the show they were near the bottom and now they are at the top.

JabbaWockeeZ was the first team in the “bottom two”. They definitely set the bar.

Kaba Modern was the last team to dance for the judges, but they couldn’t compete.

– In the end, the judges decide to save JabbaWockeeZ and that means Kaba Modern is the seventh crew to be eliminated!!

– But America gets to decide the best dance crew, so Status Quo and JabbaWockeeZ dance for everyone one last time. You have a week to vote, so get to it. I’m going with the masked men!














And that ends the 74th volume of the “MTV Mix”! If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or feedback of any kind..send them my way!!




I’ll see you next time when we mix things up a bit!




Sir Linksalot: Reality Television

I'm not embarrassed to say that my favorite television show of all-time is The O.C. I live by the motto "you can't fight fate!" More importantly, I watch WAY too much television, but I do so for the benefit of everyone reading this now. So to my mom and my wife, I say thanks for reading! To everyone else that might stumble across this, remember TiVo should be your best friend!