alrightokay

IRL is dropping something tonight at midnight--are they releasing the Christmas song early? They're doing another Christmas tree lighting in Arizona on 11/18. Last but not least, they're performing at Disney's Christmas Show, which will air on ABC on 11/30. ETA: YES, both "Feel This Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas" are now available on iTunes. Here are the Youtube versions: Original; Cover. --Why doesn't the cover art include a picture of the band? On "Feel This Christmas": --Sergio gets a proper solo--yay! --Drew gets the chorus--so good! (Edited because I realized that Michael's part is the actual bridge!) --Oh dear, Brady still sounds strained. --Michael's part is awkward--too much autotune. --All in all, the song is pretty but cheesy; not sure this is going to make them pop stars. On the "I'll Be Home for Christmas" cover: --Wow, too much Chance. Too much, especially that belt after the rap. --Michael's rap is, again, awkward (but maybe I'm just not used to hearing a rap in this song!). --I think I'll like the a cappella version of this a lot better. Would love to hear what y'all think!

IRL did an interview at an Orlando station this morning (swipe/click through for short video clips). The guys will be in Colorado soon to sing at a tree lighting (okay, the original Christmas song is supposed to come out Nov. 10, so we should definitely hear a full live version at this event, right?) Also, another glimpse of boot camp (and Drew's big morning hair).

Yet another interview from TJ Martell Family Day but not published until now. ETA: Interview at Starlight Children's Foundation Dream Halloween (sigh, I shouldn't be surprised that this interviewer has no idea who they are). Another very short clip at Dream Halloween (start at 1:50, if the timestamp doesn't work), in which they talk about their scariest Halloween experiences. The boys love to make fun of Drew, don't they? In case you're wondering what Brady's talking about, here's Drew from this morning. (IRL is at Johnny Wright's compound in Orlando this week, where they're going through boy band boot camp.) Speaking of Halloween, IRL's moms posted cute pics from Halloweens past.

He was playing Deadpool. (He originally wanted to be Batman but couldn't find a good costume. Batman would definitely have been more recognizable!) IRL were interviewed on KIISfm last night; here's a podcast version. (Some fans found their house....) Also, for fans in Orlando, IRL is doing a meet and greet on Monday. ETA: Short videoclip of the KIIS DJ harmonizing with IRL.

This episode strained credibility even more than usual, but I still enjoyed it for the non-Rebecca parts (she was so awful all episode): Father Brah! I've missed you and your calm tone of voice that you use even when you're freaking out. :) Heather and her starfish who can look into her soul. I also liked how her moment with her old self contrasted with all of Rebecca's moments with her young self. While Young and Old Heather hold hands and "get" each other, Young Rebecca constantly harangues Old Rebecca and makes her feel horrible. George was hilarious--I'm so glad they gave him more to do. (And to think that he started out as a character whose defining trait was that no one knew his name.) Nathaniel's line: "When you meet someone who melts the iceberg that is your heart, you want to save them right back, because you want tomorrow to start today forever." And awww at Nathaniel bottle-feeding the panda cub at the zoo. I'm glad that people know the truth about Robert now, and the way Paula, Heather, Valencia, and Darryl behaved when they stopped Rebecca from leaving, it seemed like they were more concerned for her, rather than angry or out for punishment. So while Rebecca feels like she doesn't have any friends or doesn't deserve them, the show seems to be saying that her friends love her unconditionally (though not so unconditionally that they won't make her get help!). Maybe once Rebecca sees that she can be loved just for being herself, she'll start getting healthy. ETA: There was a nice directing touch in the scene when Rebecca's arguing with her younger self in the bathroom. There's a shot of Rebecca reflected in the mirror, with the mirror only framing Old Rebecca (it's not big enough to show both Old and Young Rebeccas), so it looks like she's talking to herself (which she is).

Interview with Tanya Rad from KIISfm (podcast), includes the guys singing "I'll Be Home For Christmas." LOL, I think that she was so fake that the boys were all internally rolling their eyes at her, when they weren't laughing at Drew for being on the e-sports team. ETA: IRL on the purple carpet at the Latin American Music Awards. A few posed pics: here, here, and here (scroll way down on this page to find them). Finally, an enterprising fan caught them on camera during the ceremony.

IRL performed their original Christmas song for KIISfm today; here's a preview (swipe/click through for three snippets). Sergio sounds especially good! ETA: Interview from the Dream Halloween red carpet. The interviewer is OTT with her constant empty praise ("I'm so proud of you!" "You're taking the entertainment world by storm!"), but she does get a couple of interesting tidbits out of the guys (well, mainly about which sports Brady and Drew played when they were younger, LOL).

IRL plays "Never Have I Ever" with Shine On Media. (Who's cheated on a test? Who's been skinnydipping? Who's the only one who hasn't cried at a movie?) ETA: Yet another acoustic EC, this time for Popmania TV. ETA2: Sergio tweeted that IRL will attend the Latin AMAs this Thursday.

I'm really excited by the announcement about the new companions--I enjoyed Walsh immensely when he was on Law and Order: UK, and I'm hopeful the bigger TARDIS team will lead to fun interactions and interesting relationships that will help us to see the different sides of Thirteen. It's too bad we'll only get 10 episodes, though, as reported in the RT article above. Hopefully the old saying about "quality over quantity" will hold true here!

Speaking of loose ends--is Paula still in law school? Is she still friends with Sunil? For some reason, I remember Sunil saying he had an asshole fratboy roommate in college who made fun of him for doing musical theater. And then in the second part of S2, Nathaniel said he knew about Harry Potter because he had a weird theater geek roommate in college. I've always wondered if the show would tie those threads together.... I also miss Father Brah; I hope he shows up soon to help Father Rodrigo solve his "Maria" problem. :)

I almost thought Rebecca was going to lay into Josh with her own version of TS's "Look What You Made Me Do" in the church. (OMG, Rebecca is totally Taylor Swift encapsulated and unhinged--all the lovesickness, the fairy tale-fantasies, the squad goals, and now the revenge theme. Except Rebecca's truly a feminist, whereas I feel like TS plays at it.) I loved this episode. I was so confused and bored by the Tim subplot at first but then his song was so hilarious and I could see how his inability to satisfy his wife paralleled Rebecca's inability to find release from Josh. Even after she "climaxed" by letting it all out at the church, she couldn't be content afterwards, because now she has to deal with the fallout of telling him all the sketchy things she did. AND, Josh doesn't even feel bad anymore, so the satisfaction she got from telling him off was fleeting. And one last thing about the Tim-plot--I wonder if Paula's not even realizing that she said those mean things to Tim is a sign that she's becoming over-absorbed by the Josh lawsuit and is letting her marriage deteriorate again. The whole line about how Tim and his wife have huge communication problems seemed to echo her own situation with Scott, but she didn't seem to make that connection. I'm TeamNathaniel. Every single scene between Nathaniel and Rebecca wasn't just hot, it was clever and funny (I loved all the ways they poked fun at 50 Shades of Grey, with her criticizing the lingerie he sent her, the whole helicopter farce, the masks). I loved the Snape reference in her "Strip It All Away" song because it was a callback to their Harry Potter/Slytherin/Ravenclaw discussion in the elevator. They have so much in common in terms of their insecurities, their obsessions, and their ability to put together complicated plots. I feel like Nathaniel sees Rebecca as she really is and still accepts her; I'm hoping she starts to see him as he really is and that they can help each other get healthier in the end. (I know there are a lot of TeamNoGuyforRebecca fans, and I realize that that would perhaps be the strongest "feminist" ending that Bloom could create; but for now, I'm really enjoying N and R's dynamic.) Last but not least, the songs were fabulous--especially Josh's "Head in the Clouds." It was such a delight, with the "Holy Ghost" popping up, the witty puns, and the joyful dancing. What a fantastic showcase for Vincent. (And my fave Hector was back--love him!)

It looks like IRL made the cut for the Jump, Jive, & Thrive broadcast (at least they're tagged in the post); it's supposed to be on at 1 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow on CBS (but check your local listings). Is this IRL's first nationally broadcast performance since the Boy Band finale? (Oh dear, I just realized that Drew's ugly flowery shirt from that night is going to live on in infamy.) ETA: Here's video of their performance; swipe/click through to see three parts (CBS didn't show the whole song). ETA2: No complete videos of IRL's performance at the Starlight Children's Foundation event last night (though you can find some clips on Instagram and Facebook), but here are some pics from their set as well as cute photos from the red carpet, where the guys dressed up as superheroes.

Another acoustic EC, this time from when they were in Texas. (Brady still sounds a little off to me here....) ETA: Interview at the Jump, Jive, & Thrive event; you see them lingering behind Laurie Hernandez in the beginning and then they're interviewed at 0:40. They were also interviewed by KTLA at Disneyland this morning, but no video has popped up yet. ETA2: Here's the KTLA video. They had to cut Brady's solo, and Michael added a Disney twist to his rap (he looked so proud of himself!). I love how the newscaster at the end pretty much says what poster mtlchick said way back when naming the episode thread.

Yes, that acoustic EC is really good! And there was something so sweetly earnest about those high school reporters/newsreaders. I liked the question about what they'd change from their whole Boy Band experience (the answers weren't very revealing, but it's a good question that maybe the guys can be more forthcoming about when they have more distance from the competition). Here's an interview with Brady that uses old footage but didn't get published until today. News about an upcoming performance; here's more info about the event and the foundation, if you're interested.

IRL visited Brady's high school today. I was hoping to find video of the Q&A because there must have been some funny/teasing questions for the hometown boy, but so far no Q&A vids, just a snippet of TWIL. (The IRL Instagram has Lives of the full "Despacito" and "Eyes Closed" performances but they're from far away and the sound isn't always good.)

Interview from when IRL were in Chicago. They won't be flying back to LA until tomorrow, so I guess my speculation about Disney week on DWTS isn't going to pan out (since DWTS tapes live early Monday evening). In any case, I don't know if the DWTS demographic (which I guess I'm part of, LOL!) is one that will help IRL, though they've had (older) boybands on the show before. ETA: An interview from TJ Martell Family Day last week. This is the first time I've ever seen Chance get tongue-tied. Plus, we get to hear what the boys are going to dress up as for Halloween (it's pretty cute!).

What an awesome show. The writing is so, so smart: right after Darryl and Josh make up in Dr. Akopian #2's office, we get "Let's Generalize About Men," which at first gives us some to-be-expected verses blasting straight men; but then we get some meta verses about gay men, which still ended up being generalizations! I love how the show is self-aware and doesn't take itself too seriously. The first song was a lot of fun, too; it smoothly reintroduced us to all of the characters, and I loved the glimpses of George and my fave, Hector. I could not stop laughing at how they brought in Not!Josh; what a treat to see Vincent doing those accents. And I love how they picked up on the hints from last season about Nathaniel having a lot in common with Rebecca; the fact that he is resorting to Rebecca-like tactics to check on her (even doing his own casting call) is a great shift in his character. But on top of everything else, the acting on the show is just stellar. Donna/Paula is such an MVP; she did so much heavy lifting in the scenes with Scott (all the conflicting emotions on her face as she gave him the lie detector test) and when she had to stop the whole sex-tape plot and explain how it would hurt Rebecca more than it would hurt Josh. I also adore Valencia/Gabrielle--she has great comic timing and throws herself into the musical numbers with such joy. What a boost to have this show back.

Videos and photos of their interview and performances for the KiddNation radio show, including an a cappella version of "That's What I Like." I wonder if Sergio's tired of always being labeled the "Latin" one or the "Mexican" one. The DJ who brings it up here says he's Mexican as well, so he's trying to make a connection, but I wonder if there's something behind Sergio saying (jokingly, but quietly), "That's my only role." I've always felt a little weird about that whole "Sergio's a Spanish-speaker" thing; yes, it's a skill he has, but he does so much more than that for the band, and it's kind of reductive that that's how he's always introduced/praised. And it also awkwardly erases the fact that Drew and Chance come from (at least part-) Hispanic families as well. ETA: Interview with iHeartRadio. (A video of an interview already covered in a print version, so the quotes are familiar, but it's here if you want to see the boys answering the questions.) Another iHeart interview, this time more focused on musical influences. ETA 2: Random but interesting, if you've ever wondered how these things are done: here's IRL recording some radio station identifications for the Cleveland station they visited today.

YESSS! BSB looked great on those album covers! And while Nick could be a little over the top at times, he actually gave the most constructive criticism on the show. He was okay with being the "bad guy" when the other two judges, I mean architects, were too nice. IRL have been doing radio station interviews/performances and appearances at high schools (is this a Johnny Wright thing? because I remember NSYNC doing high school appearances when they were first starting out). Here's part of EC at a high school yesterday. Here's a sneak peek of their cover of "I'll Be Home for Christmas" at another high school today. From another angle. ETA: Video of IRL's performance at B96 Chicago is streaming on a loop on their website. They sound a lot better just sitting on stools and singing than when they have to jump around on stage. Sergio's getting to shine more. They also reveal that they've renamed Topline to include Brady. Video of their appearance at the high school today (again, thanks to Sergio's mom). It's a long vid (quite a long school assembly devoted to a boy band!) so just FYI, the Christmas cover comes at 35:00, followed by Brady being asked to Homecoming.

:) I can see that: Michael. Edward. And I know I've been harsh about IRL's styling lately; maybe I should I take solace that their outfits still aren't as bad as these. I must have blocked out some of those BSB outfits back in the day....

Interview with Shine On Media at the TJ Martell Family Day. Who'd have guessed that they'd be so excited to meet David Spade? And it's funny to hear which actors they'd want to play them in a movie. (Really? Michael's heard that he looks like Robert Pattinson?)

Brady and Michael were relatively lucky (swipe/click through for three images; I actually like Brady's yellow shoes here--nice pop of color); poor Sergio and Drew! They looked more relaxed/comfortable today dressed casually for the Texas State Fair. I wish they could dress like this more often. It's not as glamorous, but it feels more "them." ETA: A longer clip from Jump, Jive, & Thrive; some UCLA gymnasts came out and posed/danced along during "Eyes Closed." Michael reverted to the old rap here, so Drew and Sergio "raced to the money" :). Video of their set at the Texas State Fair, courtesy of Sergio's mom. Same four songs, but IRL seem looser, like they're having more fun. At the very end, you get some backstage shoptalk, where you hear the boys "debriefing" how the show went. ETA: Follow up to my speculation above:

Justine Magazine: Get to Know In Real Life interview. (You'll get to hear what Chance was like in his English and History classes.) Justine Magazine: IRL gives tour of their house. (I wonder how much fan fiction is going to come out of all the snuggling/cuddling they talk about....) No full videos yet from last night's Jump, Jive, & Thrive event, but here are a couple snippets. The event was filmed to be televised on Sat., Oct. 21 on CBS at 1 p.m., but it's not clear if IRL will make the cut; there were a lot of performers there last night (gymnasts, dancers, singers). And um, their styling here has got to be the worst I've ever seen. That plaid! The flowers! It all clashes! Aaaah, make it stop! More speculation:

Hee, Sergio was the only one left with a jacket on by the end of the Family Day performance (he's such a trouper, given all the microphone problems). Again, I wish their stylist wouldn't insist on putting so many layers on the poor guys. Sergio's mom (Go Calderon family!) recorded the whole set as a Live yesterday (fyi, the video goes "sideways" during "Jealous"). Watching this gives you a sense of the guys' stage banter, which they still need to work on. They didn't have enough time here, but eventually, they should tell funny stories about each other, because from their IG stories, it's clear they can be quirky/silly/entertaining (last night, Chance posted a funny story of Brady having a LOT of trouble packing his suitcase for their upcoming trip). And while they're definitely getting better performing as a group, I wish IRL would do some new covers. I know it's good for them to do "That's What I Like," "Despacito," etc. because they already know the arrangements and choreography from the show, but aside from the novelty of seeing Brady doing Mikey's parts, I'm worried these will get stale. I guess these songs are useful for introducing IRL to new fans, because they show that the guys can do "current" music. But besides having a selfish need to hear new stuff from them, I also think they could benefit from showing more range. The way they can stand out from all of the other boy bands out there right now is to show that they can really SING. I feel like Brady (because of the EC part he was assigned) and Sergio haven't really been able to show just how strong their voices are. Maybe they'll get to do more acoustic covers on this upcoming swing of radio stations. (Sergio has said a lot about his admiration of Charlie Puth, and Drew covered "Attention" in one of his recent Lives; maybe the guys could do "Attention," which is current but also more vocally challenging?)

They're getting busy: Jump, Jive, and Thrive in LA tomorrow. Milwaukee radio station stop on Friday, 10/13. And here's a glimpse of the set for their holiday single video. Spoiler/Speculation: