MY (First) TLC Encounter, Being On Set With The Trio
I,
for one, couldn’t be happier for the group TLC and their upcoming biopic said
to air in October on VH1. It will star Drew Sidora (TBoz), Lil Mama (Left Eye) and Keke Palmer
(Chilli).The biggest selling girl group of all times is
celebrating 20 years. Recently the members were in Japan receiving an MTV
Legend Award, Congrats ladies! And, hope they get the opportunity to give fans
an awesome experience with a, much talked about, hologram of Left Eye.
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| On set with Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez (RIP) |
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| Between takes. Hey Tae Tae (left in white) |
You
show up where hundreds (unless it’s American Idol, then thousands) of people
are all competing. No one knows what to expect but you’re given a number, have
your picture taken and fill out paperwork. You’re given instructions as they
tell you what they’re looking for. So looking around, you start to see either
clueless or game faces. Oh it’s on now, lol.
I
remembered that the vibe was so electric. I met interesting people, seen production
crew, bright lights/cameras and a colorful set, definitely something to experience. Sometimes
you may find other recording artists or groups hanging out supporting their
fellow artist/friend. I spotted producer Jermaine Dupri a few times walking in and out
of a closed-off room. Hearing faint commotion from the crowd at various times meant
someone famous was spotted. After awhile, I started to see T-Boz and Chili walking in
from a distance, not long afterwards Left eye (RIP) strolled on the scene. Yep,
they were three alike all small in height, like teenagers in high school. When
things began to get underway, two lines were formed, one for models the other dancers.
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| TLC and Pebbles chatting before filming opening 'puddle scene'. |
The doors
Jermaine kept going through finally opened only to escort a handful of people
in at a time. The rest of us heard snippets of an unknown song (soon to be ‘What About Your Friends’), then dead silence
for a few minutes. The doors opened again, out with the old and in with a new group (this was the rotation
of the audition). There was much anticipation of what was going down luckily
the first group eased our minds by giving us the scoop. Oh, ok freestyle dance
for about a minute, how hard can that be, piece of cake lol.
As
the line moved, I’m getting closer & closer, until I’m in the next group. I
was super nervous but can’t turn back now. The doors opened and I’m walking in
and sitting there were TLC, producer Jermaine Dupri, the choreographer and a
couple others. I believe their ‘then’ manager, Pebbles, was present as well. All
eyes were on us. A member of TLC explained the details, and another one chimed
in to "have fun with it" etc. The music started and everyone went for blood, this
was war, your hip hop battles and beef. No 106 & Park dance battles
courtesy sirens here. I remember seeing people deliberately dancing in front of
others just to stand out. One girl was flipping so hard that her watch/bracelet
flew off her wrist and across the floor. You see heads coming together,
whispers, writing things down etc. It was crazy, but you sort of black out for
a second, but I tell ya, that one minute was an eternity, lol.
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| On set, about to shoot puddle scene |
When
the music finally stopped, no one could catch their breath, literally. They chose
who they wanted and thanked the others for coming. A sense of relief came over
me when chosen, thinking ‘yes, it’s over’. We waited and mingled seemed like
hours until the audition process was complete, not realizing that this was only
round one. I remembered thinking ‘WHAT! Whoa whoa, you mean to tell me that I
just danced my tail off, trouble catching my breath and you want me to do this ish
again?’ I got Asthma, ain’t nobody got time for that! I’m surprised I
didn’t pull out my inhaler right in front of them the first time! It’s funny
now but looking back was something serious, lol.
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| LA Reid on set, a much different look than on X Factor. Just got my hair cut 'this short' a week prior. |
However,
I made it through the process and received the details/rundowns of the video, (what
to wear, where to stand, what to do, and not do, when the camera is on you etc.)
This was day one. Day two was hair & makeup and hearing “ACTION” as we filmed over and over
again. It’s hard to keep up energy after so many takes (where was RedBull when
you need it). We had downtime, ate catered food and other things. Wrapping up
was late but at least it was completed. About a month later, I received a call stating they had to reshoot more scenes, so once again back on set. The end result: a very colorful but fun video with lots of goofy dancing moments
and enough laughs for a lifetime. Check it out below, how many times can you spot me, lol.
Lookout for my TLC, Baby Baby Baby, video shoot post soon (in a
UCBS series).
Have you had a funny or crazy behind-the-scenes experience? Feel free to
share it, would love to hear about it. If not, all comments are welcome.
*************Youtube video:AaliyahAngels4ever**************
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