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*Butta On...It's All About Eric RobersonTHE ERIC ROBERSON CHRONICLES
*Butta On...It's Still All About Eric Roberson, But Now It's About Omar And Vikter Duplaix, Too
*Butta On...In Case You Were Wondering, It's STILL All About Eric Roberson
*Butta On...And Now A Word From Eric Roberson
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*Butta On...Eric Roberson: What's Good For The Evening
*Butta On...Check Out My Eric Roberson Interview on VIBE.com
*Butta On...Takin' It Back Thursday: The Moon by Eric Roberson
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Butta On...R U Kidding Me?
Last night I watched the premiere of R U the Girl with Chilli and T-Boz on UPN. Although Chilli and T-Boz (or Baby Hair and Dark Roots as my sista in blog Gina called 'em) are very enteraining to watch, where did they find the chicks that made it to the semifinals? I was so underwhelmed with this New York City batch. If this was the best then they must've had some busters come out to audition.
These are the contestants and my first impressions:
Meah - Bartender from NYC via Clinton, MD with a blonde weave to make both Beyonce and Mary J. Blige jealous. Calls herself the Black Britney Spears (like that's something to aspire to). She thank she cute.
Lauren - Student from Boston who counts "going tanning" as her favorite activity. Her daddy used to play drums for the rock band Boston back in the day. I was too distracted by that Baahston accent and all the eyeliner she wore.
Brandi - Student from NYC who was homeless for a spell. When Chilli and T-Boz told her that she was a semifinalist she was about as excited as a dead fish wrapped in yesterday's newspaper.
Alju - Former backup singer for Maxi Priest. She seemed really genuine and down to earth. And I almost fell out when her grandmother started dancing with Chilli and T-Boz. Granny must know my aunt.
The show starts out with the T and the C talking about the loss of the L. You can tell that despite all the drama and issues that they had at various points in their career, that these women really had love for each other and considered themselves sisters through thick and thin. Losing Left Eye shook them to the core and they've grieved but managed to move on--hence this show.
After the Left Eye segment, Chilli and T-Boz embark on informing the first round of semifinalists from the New York City auditions that they're in there like swimwear and that they have to learn and perform another song in order to make it to the next round in Atlanta. They drive around in a limo going to visit the contestants (except for Lauren, who they notified by phone), and we see just how crazy these two are in between thier visits. Not Bobby and Whitney substance-induced crazy, but mad cool silly crazy. They got jokes, will break out into song and/or dance, and exchange some lively banter. They are naturally funny and feed off of each other. The two of them remind me of my best friend and I and how we act at times.
And speaking of food (OK, I wasn't speaking of food but let's pretend), Chilli can eat. Excuse me, I meant EAT. She talked about food so much that it was hilarious. And in one scene where they go to Maroon's to eat lunch, she ordered like two entrees and bout seven sides. Where that child puts it all I'll never know. Girlfriend is a bottomless pit. While at Maroon's they get approached by a fan who presents them with a big fold-out poster board with nothing but TLC pictures on it. It was a little borderline obsessive but T & C were very flattered.
Later in the show T & C were at another restaurant and there they really cut up. Their waiter, named Anew, was this light skinned dreadlocked dude who spoke with a very suspect accent. They asked him where his accent was from and he had the nerve to say Jamaica. I was with Chilli and T-Boz, he wasn't from nobody's Jamaica with that fake accent. Jamaica Queens, New York maybe but not the island of Jamaica. So T & C decide to pull his card and ask him if he's ever been to "Tingstown" Jamaica, some name they made up. When dude said that he had heard of Tingstown but never been there he sealed the deal on his JaFAKEan status. They clowned him royally.
The other excursion we saw them on was a trip to FAO Schwarz to buy toys for their kids. While there, they couldn't resist hopping on the famous big-old piano that you jump around on to play (as seen in Big with Tom Hanks).
The night came for the semifinalists to sing for Chilli and T-Boz and what a hot mess it was.
Meah sang "At Last" by Etta James. This wasn't as bad a train wreck as it could have been. She made it through the song, but I just didn't feel the passion that that song needs. And the "Woo!" she added toward the end killed it for me. Plus, she still thought she was cute.
These are the contestants and my first impressions:
Meah - Bartender from NYC via Clinton, MD with a blonde weave to make both Beyonce and Mary J. Blige jealous. Calls herself the Black Britney Spears (like that's something to aspire to). She thank she cute.
Lauren - Student from Boston who counts "going tanning" as her favorite activity. Her daddy used to play drums for the rock band Boston back in the day. I was too distracted by that Baahston accent and all the eyeliner she wore.
Brandi - Student from NYC who was homeless for a spell. When Chilli and T-Boz told her that she was a semifinalist she was about as excited as a dead fish wrapped in yesterday's newspaper.
Alju - Former backup singer for Maxi Priest. She seemed really genuine and down to earth. And I almost fell out when her grandmother started dancing with Chilli and T-Boz. Granny must know my aunt.
The show starts out with the T and the C talking about the loss of the L. You can tell that despite all the drama and issues that they had at various points in their career, that these women really had love for each other and considered themselves sisters through thick and thin. Losing Left Eye shook them to the core and they've grieved but managed to move on--hence this show.
After the Left Eye segment, Chilli and T-Boz embark on informing the first round of semifinalists from the New York City auditions that they're in there like swimwear and that they have to learn and perform another song in order to make it to the next round in Atlanta. They drive around in a limo going to visit the contestants (except for Lauren, who they notified by phone), and we see just how crazy these two are in between thier visits. Not Bobby and Whitney substance-induced crazy, but mad cool silly crazy. They got jokes, will break out into song and/or dance, and exchange some lively banter. They are naturally funny and feed off of each other. The two of them remind me of my best friend and I and how we act at times.
And speaking of food (OK, I wasn't speaking of food but let's pretend), Chilli can eat. Excuse me, I meant EAT. She talked about food so much that it was hilarious. And in one scene where they go to Maroon's to eat lunch, she ordered like two entrees and bout seven sides. Where that child puts it all I'll never know. Girlfriend is a bottomless pit. While at Maroon's they get approached by a fan who presents them with a big fold-out poster board with nothing but TLC pictures on it. It was a little borderline obsessive but T & C were very flattered.
Later in the show T & C were at another restaurant and there they really cut up. Their waiter, named Anew, was this light skinned dreadlocked dude who spoke with a very suspect accent. They asked him where his accent was from and he had the nerve to say Jamaica. I was with Chilli and T-Boz, he wasn't from nobody's Jamaica with that fake accent. Jamaica Queens, New York maybe but not the island of Jamaica. So T & C decide to pull his card and ask him if he's ever been to "Tingstown" Jamaica, some name they made up. When dude said that he had heard of Tingstown but never been there he sealed the deal on his JaFAKEan status. They clowned him royally.
The other excursion we saw them on was a trip to FAO Schwarz to buy toys for their kids. While there, they couldn't resist hopping on the famous big-old piano that you jump around on to play (as seen in Big with Tom Hanks).
The night came for the semifinalists to sing for Chilli and T-Boz and what a hot mess it was.
Meah sang "At Last" by Etta James. This wasn't as bad a train wreck as it could have been. She made it through the song, but I just didn't feel the passion that that song needs. And the "Woo!" she added toward the end killed it for me. Plus, she still thought she was cute.
Lauren sang "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne. I hate to admit it, but I think that Lauren sounded the best out of everyone. Despite a few silly adlibs, she sang in a comfortable range, knew all the words, and did way better compared to the others.
Alju sang "Oops (Oh My)" by Tweet. Oops oh my you messed up! She missed the beginning of the song and asked whomever to start over again but the song kept playing. So she stood there looking crazy for a few seconds then tried to catch up with the song where it was. You can tell she has a nice voice but by the time she adlibbed and danced her way to the end, she ended up looking real stoopid McDoopid.
Brandi sang "Hold On" by En Vogue. This was by and far the absolutively worst performance of the night. She sounded and looked constipated. And how do you not know the words to "Hold On"? I can sing that song in my sleep--and still sound better than she did.
Long story short (OK, maybe it's too late for that), Meah, Lauren, and, to my surprise, Alju made it through the Atlanta round.
Next week T & C find themselves in Miami. Hopefully this next batch of contestants will bring some heat. Otherwise, I'll be tuning in just to see Chilli and T-Boz cutting up and eating their way through the city.
If you missed Wednesday's episode, you can catch an encore on Tuesday at 8 pm.
5 Comments:
And although Alju couldn't remember the words to Tweet's song, she can really sing. But I don't see her making the group. Chilli and T-Boz can only sing but so much. I mean they can hold a tune and all, but that's it. Alju ain't no Aretha Franklin, but her voice is waaaaaaay better than T-Boz and Chilli's. She'll overshadow them, and you know they can't have that.