American Juniors, The Grand Finale: Meet the American Juniors

Well, America, our work here is done. The band has been created. Now, we get to sit back and admire our creation!

Ryan welcomes us to the finale of American Juniors and tells us the bandmates are already big stars. Chauncey Matthews has trashed his first hotel room, the Thompson girls have fired their parents, yada yada. The Juniors are dressed in white and are fairly glowing!

Ryan says the band will be performing songs from their new album, which you can order here, as well as performances from Deborah Gibson, Gladys Knight, and Ruben Studdard in a duet with Chauncey!

The kids perform “Reach For the Stars” and those nerves are showing in the choreography at first, but they settle in nicely. It really is nice to hear how angelic the voices are together! We’ve done well, haven’t we?

Ryan engages the kids in some mindless patter, and Taylor and Tori end up in a minor spat. One of the few things that weren’t scripted on this show! Nice job, Ryan.

Next, the kids perform the song Ryan says cemented Danielle White’s place in the group, “Never Had A Dream Come True” (Ryan called it “Dream Come True,” maybe his contacts were foggy). Danielle deftly handles the lead vocals again and, though this is the third time we’ve heard it, there is still a little lump in my throat!

On with the show, the American Juniors sing “Bring It All Back” which is one of those ‘go for it, don’t give up’ numbers that make me want to yack. It even has na-na-na’s in it, guaranteed to make me hate it. But, these kids sure are selling it!

Ryan says Clay Aiken has some advice for the kids. Via video, an oddly pasty-looking Clay says he wishes he could be there, but they are on tour so he’s probably asleep somewhere (huh?). He tells them to listen to their parents because they only want what’s best for them, and have fun with your journey. He forget to mention say your prayers, eat your vitamins, and remember the commandments of Hulkamania! The kids managed not to roll their eyes; they are stars!

Ryan explains that Ruben is also on tour (duh!), but they promised Chauncey that if he made the band, he’d get to sing with Ruben. So, through the “magic of television,” Ruben and Chauncey do a pre-recorded and cheesily edited “A Whole New World.” It rivals Taylor being eaten by the hamburger. Ruben sounds wonderful, as does Chauncey, but they never seem to be singing together. Oh well.

The band gathers around the piano as Deborah Gibson powers through “Lost In Your Eyes” (I was so afraid it was going to be “Electric Youth”!). If you need a reason why Deborah isn’t Debbie anymore, you only need to hear her sing now! At her peak, Deborah’s voice was nowhere near as powerful as it is now! The band does some backing vocals, nice package, very impressive stuff from Deborah! She has an album of Broadway songs out in November.

Hey, it’s time to see the American Juniors’ first “music video!” The band is singing “You Are The One” on a yacht, and that choreography on the water must have been tough! A bit more stylized of a video, no chomping hamburgers, no twirling construction workers, not bad. The song. Eh.

Back in the studio (and in black outfits now), Lucy Hale leads the Juniors through “Have You Ever?” and Lucy belts the hell out of the thing! It would be her best performance of the competition if the competition were still going!

Ryan introduces Gladys Knight. (I want to state on record that Gladys was fabulous! She campaigned hard for this gig, and we are all lucky she got it. She managed to hold up her end as the veteran performing judge, being loving and sensitive, but also honest. She didn’t believe in telling a child they were good if they weren’t. She was constructive while being supportive. A spectacular job! Paula, please take notes!)

Gladys says she didn’t want to do just any song, but a song she performed on stage as a message of her wishes. She meets that challenge with a beautiful “If I Could,” one of those songs a mother sings to her child heading off into to cold cruel world. Gladys is an obvious pro and she sits in front of the kids and shows them what performing is, up close! Lots of teary eyes in the crowd, and a couple on stage. Then, done with sappy stuff, Gladys leads the kids into a spunky “The Nitty Gritty.” A definite crowd-pleaser!

Ryan shows us footage of the American Juniors guesting on his radio show, and when “One Step Closer” was played on the radio for the first time. Tori looked set to explode! Then they perform it on stage.

As the show draws to a close, Ryan thanks all the kids who had the courage to come out and audition, “you are all stars!” Then he says he will see us in January for American Idol!

The kids finish off with “You Gotta Have Friends” as we see footage of the five kids who didn’t make the band, Morgan Burke, Katelyn Tarver, Jordan McCoy, A.J. Melendez, and Chantel Kohl (and Canyon Grove... strange to see him in the package...). The kids go into the audience and pull their parents on stage with them. It is a nice moment!

And so ends American Juniors. I started this show with my eyebrow cocked. I thought, no Simon? It won’t work. Five spots filled in consecutive weeks? Who’d care? I was wrong on all counts! It’s been fun, the kids have been dazzling. It’s only been a few months, but I’d swear they grew in front of us! I think I’ll miss them, as I, and you I’m sure, wish them the best!

Sting7 can be reached at stingseven@yahoo.com.

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