The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott, Episode 9: Temper Tantrum

Last week on The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott: The performers flew to their final destination of Los Angeles where they met none other than Madonna, saw a Missy concert, and wore strange clothing. Their performance challenge had them singing along with Teena Marie. In the end, Akil was sent home over Matt.

Missy tells us that it’s down to the final four, so it will definitely not get any easier. The road challenge starts immediately when the performers walk into a room with Mona and a little girl. No words are spoken, and Mona turns on a boom box and the girl starts to dance. After she is done, she is introduced as Missy’s newest protégé, 12-year-old Brianna Perry. Brianna is the next challenge. They will be split up in groups of two and will have to come up with a video concept for her. The groups are Deltrice and Matt, and Nilyne and Jessica. They have twenty minutes.

Deltrice and Matt are first up. Matt says that he has an idea immediately. He wants all of the extras there to look and act as stupid as possible. Where’s Nic when you need him. The idea is that Brianna is in color, and everything and everybody else is in black and white doing dumb things. When Brianna touches them they turn to color. It reminds me of the Gavin DeGraw video for “I Don’t Wanna Be” but not a bad idea. Brianna says it’s hot.

Nilyne and Jessica are next. Nilyne comes up with a beach party idea. Brianna will call, and there will be a 14-18 year old age limit, which Jessica doesn’t like because she thinks it’s sending the wrong message. Out of nowhere, Nilyne goes to the extras and starts to teach them dance moves. Brianna signals that the time is over, and Nilyne and Jessica basically don’t have a concept.

Nilyne just starts making crap up as she goes. Brianna is going to a beach party. Her mom is in an Escalade driving her there. She’s supposedly on the phone for some reason. Then there is a dance off! What?

Jessica and Nilyne join Deltrice and Matt in a separate room where Jessica and Nilyne immediately start to fight. Nilyne tells her that she was just making up stuff. It ends up where both of them keep repeating to each other, “I’m talking to you.” Outside, Mona and Brianna can hear that muffled fighting. Nilyne comes up with the best line of the night in her interview with, “Don’t let the pretty hair fool you, it’s just a weave.” Mona comes into the room and yells at them, calling them ridiculous, especially when the twelve-year-old outside is more mature than them. Jessica tells us that she felt disrespected.

They go outside to meet with Brianna, who gives us the oh-so shocking verdict that she chose Matt and Deltrice’s idea, and they win. As a reward, Matt and Deltrice get a massage. They all load into the limo where Nilyne and Jessica continue to bicker. We see that Nilyne is still upset about Jessica’s comment to her when Eddie and Akil were picked for the Spotlights because Jessica said that she thought Nilyne would be under a Spotlight.

The next day, they all go to the recording studio where they have to lay down the track that Dallas gave them in the second episode. Matt and Deltrice are the first go, leaving Nilyne and Jessica alone in a separate room. Jessica tells Nilyne that she was upset with her the other night because she didn’t feel like she had a lot of input. Nilyne was upset because Jessica brought it all up in front of Deltrice and Matt. They both apologize, and end up laughing over it all. They are up next to lay down their tracks. Nilyne tells us that her beef with Jessica rattled her nerves a bit, and her performance in the studio wasn’t as good as it could have been.

Dallas tells them that they all have to sing their songs in front of some VIPs. They speculate on who the VIPs are, but they are just happy to know what they are singing at the challenge. Missy tells us that the VIPs in question are their friends and family. The judges are also there. Deltrice is the first one up. She sees that her parents are there. During her song, which is performed excellently, her dad is wiping tears off of his face. When she is done, her mom is crying and guess what? Deltrice is crying! She said that her dad never cries and that he looked proud.