If you’re like me, you spent much of the late 90s and early 2000s watching Muchmusic’s Electric Circus from your home, by yourself and eating ketchup chips. I’m no dancer, but to me the show was what all the cool people were doing in Toronto. I thought it was awesome and I freakin’ loved it!
Well since the show’s cancellation, I know I’m not the only one that ached for the nostalgia and fun times that was the original Electric Circus and now the wait for the show’s return is….OVER!
Much announced today that the mother of all dance parties will be back for a one-night-only, New Year’s Eve edition of Much’s iconic dance show. Electric Circus: NYE Dance will air live from MuchMusic HQ in downtown Toronto, Saturday Dec. 31 from 10 p.m. ET to 12:15 a.m. ET. It will be hosted by Tyrone “T-RexXx” Edwards and NML’s Liz Trinnear.
Guys. Do you know how exciting this is? I’m currently figuring how I can get my bald head to Toronto and be one of the hundreds of dancers that will take over the studio. I want to dance in the window! I want to grind against an intern’s desk! I want be one of those cool people I always dreamed about being when I was a teenager!
This. Is. My. Chance.
While I’m busy stretching and getting ready to get my dance on, I’ll be watching this video to help inspire my night of dancing.
Muchmusic announced today that the search for the next VJ has begun.
Let’s take a moment to acknowldege that at 29 years old, I officially feel too old to apply, which will be the first time I don’t do so, since turning 18 years old.
Moment taken.
Now if you are a more appropriate age, or delusional enough to think that Muchmusic would hire someone born in the 80s, then here’s what you need to know.
The nation’s music station is holding an Open Casting call this Saturday in Toronto. (Keep reading for all you not in Toronto.) The casting call goes from 10AM to 5PM ET…but obviously get there earlier to ensure you get in. The casting call says to be be yourself, chill out and show us why you are exactly the person person they’ve been looking for. Obviously be ready to sure that you’re a music and pop culture junkie!
If you happen to not fall under Rob Ford’s jurisdiction, not all hope is lost. You can send in a youtube link with your photo and resume to vjcastingcall@muchmusic.com.
If you are vaguely interest, I definitely recommend that you do. It’s a busy time of year, but your commitment to apply could literally change your life. Do it. Someone do it.
Tonight Much debuts its new series Discovered. Well actually, it’s not new, it used to be called DisBAND, but they ditched the original format, changed the name and now we have a feels-like-new series called Discovered. More documentary than reality show, the show features the trial and tribulations of six different bands from across Canada. he six bands that will be featured this season are: Brett Boivin, Brighter Brightest, Colorsound, For The Weekend, Nightbox and Slow Motion Victory.
The show’s producers have found a variety of bands with yes, a variety of talent. With its debut tonight, it’s clear the bands will have a long way to go until they are ready for the season ending showcase in the Much studios. Helping them along the way is musician and producer Greig Nori(Treble Charger) as the six bands’ mentor. Some might dismiss him as a Simon Cowell wannabe, but his genuine interest in the bands seems to be authentic and sincere, which is refreshing.
My hope is that the show will focus on more than just the conflicts that will no doubt arise during taping, because I think a lot of aspiring musicians will be watching from home and I do think a show like Discovered could actually help lots of bands who dream of someday being on Much…or Mike’s Bloggity Blog.
I will say that it is too bad that show doesn’t feature any female performers. Discovered suffers from a little bit of testosterone overload, and would benefit from the storylines that would have come with the struggles of being a female singer in Canada. And maybe I’m showing my age here, but hopefully I’m not the only who has trouble telling these bands apart. There’s enough plaid, straitened hair, v-neck tshirts and chest tattoos to confuse even the most devout music lover.
Admittedly, I do have a little bit of invested in the series. Back in November of last year, Discovered producers were in Calgary filming one of the featured bands For The Weekend. I taped a segment with the band for the show, where I channeled my inner Rick The Temp and interview them about their experience on the show so far! As with all things reality TV, I’m not sure if our interview will make the cut, but it would be a blast to see. There’s no sign of my bald head in the show’s first episode, but I’ll continue to keep my eyes peeled!
Muchmusic made a big announcement today about a new show called Discovered. The documentary-style show used to be called Disband, but now it has a much more positive feel to it and features all the of different bands in every episode.
The bands that will be participating include soulful pop/rock singer-songwriter Brett Boivin (Winnipeg, MB,) Pop-rock quartet Brighter Brightest (Aurora, ON), Pop-funk group Colorsound (Montreal, QC), hard hitting pop-punkers For The Weekend (Calgary, AB), synth-rock band Nightbox (Toronto, ON) and high energy pop-rockers Slow Motion Victory (Brantford, ON)!
One of the reasons that I’m really excited is that when the Much crew came to town to film with For The Weekend, I actually taped a fantastic segment with the band and hopefully, if the producers thought it was awesome too, it will make it to air! So please keep your fingers crossed.
Discovered doesn’t have an air date yet, but stay tuned, you know I’ll keep you updated. (I’ll never let you miss a chance at watching me on TV.)
Remember a couple of weeks ago when MuchMusic lost their bid to the CRTC to play less music and instead air more regular TV shows? Well I sorta assumed that they would fight back and it would end being an incredibly long battle.
Well earlier today, the nation’s music station sent out a press release and it sure sounds like they are sticking with this music thing, which hopefully will be music to the ears of many Canadian musicians.
Here’s a breakdown on the new Muchmusic:
In With The New: It used to be called Much On Demand, then it was shortened to M.O.D but now the flagship show of the network will be called NEW.MUSIC.LIVE. Which will surely be frustrating to teachers already struggling with students who thing that LOL is an actual word. The shiny new series will feature music, bands and videos, as well as interviews with and performances by the Canadian and international artists!
In an interesting move, none of the station’s current VJ’s (Sarah, Jesse or Liz) landed the hosting gig for NEW.MUSIC.LIVE. Instead it went to three new VJs named Lauren, Pheobe and Bonn. They’ve done some interviews on Muchmusic.com and so far they seem pretty cool. Glad to see the station has forgiven the International Ginger Association for the Aaron Strate debacle, Bonn seems swell.
Back to the Basics: Much is also bringing back to of it’s most popular shows from the television graveyard. The Wedge (formerly hosted by Sook Yin Lee) will now be hosted by FUCKED UP’s Damian Abraham and will “highlight the most cutting-edge indie rock videos, presented and discussed in a live forum by a community of opinionated musicians.”
No doubt thanks to the international success of Drake and K’Naan, Much is also bringing back RapCity, which will now be hosted by Love T.O.’s Tyrone Edwards (a.k.a T-RexXx). The revived show will feature “the hip-hop community in music videos, performances, interviews, and rare, classic moments from Much’s bottomless vault.”
To be honest, I think the new MuchMusic looks really good. The only thing missing in the long awaited return of Electric Circus. (All I ever wanted to do was dance in the window, didn’t you?)
So what do you think about all of the station’s new programming? Is that enough music for you or have you already given up?
If you’ve ever read this blog, you know that I HATE keeping a secret.
So when MuchMusic emailed me last week and asked to be to be apart of their new series Discovered, it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to keep quiet. The nation’s music station was coming to town to follow one of this city’s hottest unsigned bands called For The Weekend. Hardcore Much fans will remember the show used to be called DisBand but now has changed its format to be more positive and follow the journey’s of the band.
My role in Monday’s taping was to interview For The Weekend and see how they can handle an interview with little preparation. The guys were really great and I felt so great to see young people with such drive. Their music certainly has an audience and it will be interesting to see if they have what it takes to succeed.
For me this was also an incredible experience. The best thing about this blog is that I never really know what tomorrow is going to bring and hopefully I was able to help this band, even a little tiny bit. They certainly motivated to me to keep moving forward and trying new things! Definitely one for my long gestating scrapbook.
The new season of Discovered should hit the airwaves in the new year.
Growing up, I always wanted to go to Degrassi. It didn’t matter if it was the Junior high or high school, I wanted in. Truthfully, I always kinda resented my parents for not enrolling me in what has always been Canada’s coolest school.
So just in time for the tenth season premiere of Degrassi, I decided to take some initiave and enroll myself. I know what you are thinking: “Hey Mike, aren’t you 28 years old?That’s super creepy.” To which I politely respond: “It wasn’t creepy Drew Barrymore did it, so why can’t I?”
So I hopped on a plane, flew to Toronto and immediately found out where the kids of Degrassi go to school. Turns out, it is just on the edge of the Toronto/Scarborough border, how quaint.
When I talked to the main office about registering at the school, they didn’t seem to mind, although they did say that I would have to audition. I thought this was weird, but I struck my best pose and earned my hall pass to Degrassi!
If I wanted to fit in with anyone at Degrassi, I knew I needed to be friends with the most popular girl in the school! So I went to the computer lab and tracked down Alli(Melinda Shankar). I immediately felt over dressed, but she was still super cool and she said she’d be my friend and offered to show me around.
She immediately took me to the cafeteria. Nothing against the people that worked there, but the food tasted like plastic and the milk tasted like it was ten years old! No wonder all those Degrassi kids are so skinny.
During our of the school, Alli introdced me to some of her friends. They were all really cool and none of them noticed that I was more than tens years older than them. I knew after that we would be life long friends. My new besties from left to right are: Drew (Luke Bilyk), Ali, Claire, (Aislinn Paul) Eli (Munro Chambers) and Fitz (James Edward Campbell) Although, I don’t think Eli and Fitz really got along. You know boys and all their drama. Who can keep track? Next was Math class, but I think Alli knew I wasn’t very good at math, so we cut class and decided to go for a walk. Turns out the entire city of Toronto is only one block wide and is pretty much attached to the school! Who knew?! We kept trying to go into the stores, but they were all closed. We did walk by Spinner’s car, but he was nowhere to be found!
After our walk, I was getting pretty tired. We decided to swing by Fiona’s penthouse but she wasn’t there. Alli said it didn’t matter, and we went in anyway. It was huge! We went through her clothes and even had time for a quick nap. When we woke up, it was time for the big school dance. I thought it was weird that Degrassi seemed to have a dance almost every week, but Alli told me to just “go with it,” so I did.
When we got back to the school the dance was in full swing, but (as always) things to went from good to bad FAST! I’m not allowed talking about it, but it was actually really scary and they had to call the cops and everything! (Spoiler: Yes, this was the “biggest event in Degrassi history!” those ads talked about) In the end someone even got arrested! Degrassi proved once again that this isn’t your normal high school!
I quickly realized I wasn’t cut out for Degrassi! There was just too much drama and even though I had only been there a couple of hours, I already felt an eating disorder coming on. It was all just too stressful. Plus some of kids started teasing me for being bald, so I withdrew from Degrassi and got myself a part time job at the Dot. After Emma had burnt it down,they were looking for new employees. Sure it isn’t the same as going to Degrassi, but I get to see my friends all the time and I could eat as much biscotti as I wanted!
In the end, I quit my job at the Dot and returned back to Calgary. I decided that I would much rather just watch them on TV.
Degrassi premieres Monday night on MuchMusic!
Follow Melinda Shankar on Twitter!
I don’t really talk about her a lot, but have a niece who is seriously awesome. She’s only six years old, but she is the most street smart kid I’ve ever met. Seriously, she’s so freaking cool.
That’s why when the MuchMusic SodaPop ended up in Fredericton, NB this week, I sent her to check it out for me. I gave her strict instructions to write me back with a review and to be brutally honest.
Here’s what she thought of the tour that features Emily Osment from Hanna Montana fame:
“I loved it! I love the hip hop dudes (W.O.W) because the guy could do cartwheels and flips. I love Emily Osmont because I like her songs and I love her shirt and the hand writing on the shirt.
Everybody sang a few songs. Bubbles came out of the ceiling. I got to stand in the front by the stage and I got jumped on. This hurt my belly.”
Now that’s a review! We got to hear about the concert, the pyrotechnics and she rounded it up with a little health update! (What’s not to love?! Don’t worry, I have it on good authority that her belly has recovered nicely.)
My sister Natasha wanted me to add that Brianna made it to the front of the mosh pit. She ran up like she was an expert! Somebody even tried to push her she gave a little push back and a stare that could hurt!!!
Seriously, I love this girl. Can a six year old have a blog? Who can make this happen!?
Since flying into Toronto yesterday, the whole has been talking about the MMVAs and I’m so excited that they are finally here. It sounds a little cheesy, but I’ve always wanted to check out these awards since I was a little kid and it is very cool to finally be here!
I’m set up back stage and normally I would live to live blog. Unfortunately MuchMusic apparently doesn’t believe in wireless. So I’m going to have to run back and forth and keep plugging my computer in!
So just like every award show, Mike’s Bloggity Blog will be on a time delay. But I am backstage and I’m expecting a ton of talent back here! Stay tuned!
Before the show: The biggest story of the MMVAs have been the intense crowds that have circled the block for days. The girls love the Justin Beiber and they are willing to do anything just close to him! Unfortunately, the girls also left their mark on the streets of Toronto:
Unforunately I didn’t get Red Carpet accreditation. Even though I tried, I couldn’t break through the Toronto media circle. I was coming to terms with until I saw this:Now if this doesn’t scream respected media source I don’t know what does. Sigh. The life of a blogger from Calgary. You win this time Toronto.
So for now, my view is this:Still now too shabby!
You know how media always does all those crazy interviews backstage? As you can imagine it is very competitive, so how do make sure you get all the celebrities in your room? This is how CHUM FM does it:
9:00pm Miley starts the show and evitedently forgets to get completely dressed. She decides to go on anyway. Justin Beiber came out and tried to give her a scarf and she danced away from him. Thus making her the only girl to every walk away from Justin Bieber.
9:05 Down with Webster’s performances was the most talked about performance on twitter all week and they disappointed. With a complete 12 piece showband, they drove the girls
9:06pm Nina Dobrev has already come backstage. “Degrassi was high school and I’m going to keep growing.” I asked her about coming back to Canada for projects and told me that it was strictly a scheduling thing but really hoped to!
9:12pm Pauly D and Snooki just came back stage. This is her first time outside of Canada! She’s also dropped the headbump. Looking into if those are related!
9:14pm Johnathan Taves came back stage. Who the hell is Johnathan Taves?
9:24pm While Adam Lambert is performing outside, the cast of Twilight is back stage. Ashley Green, Kellan Lutz and the new guy are friendly, but the questions all seem to be for Lutz.
9:25: I just did the coolest thing! I got a bad picture of the cast of Twilight! Somehow it made me feel better.
9:27pm I can barely see what is going on outside, but it looks like Drake one something!
9:35pm I just got a picture with Emily Osment. I just became the coolest uncle ever.
9:41pm Bedouin Soundsclash have made their way backstage. They seem less than enthused to be here.9:50pm I seriously can’t emphasize how freaking busy the pressroom is. I honestly don’t know who has won a single award. There is stuff happening all over the place. I’m dying. (By dying I mean enjoying the open bar.)
10:05pm I just got pictures with Miranda Cosgrove and Jessica Szohr. One is for me, one is for my niece. Anyone want to guess who is for who!
10:07pm Shenae Grimes just came backstage. The media takes a collective bathroom break. Zzzzzzz.
8:11pm Emily Osment would like everyone to dance on the SodaPop tour. She’s the most well-spoken person I’ve heard all night.
10:16pmThe Buried Life have come backstage. Okay, only have of them. Ben is here. Anyone want to ask the Whitney. Interestingly enough, they talked about how MTV doesn’t help them get any of the checks off of their lists. They don’t want help. They say it is about four guys trying to do incredible things.
10:45pm Okay, so I’m falling behind. The backstage is essentially two floors and there are people everywhere!!! I just tried stalking Whitney Port and failed miserably! I also just walked Ke$ha and she looked so freaking rough! It was unbelievable. I seriously thought she was Kim Catrall.
10:49pm I really have to pee.
10:52pmBieber just won an award for UR Video. This is seriously the first award I’ve seen handed out.
10:55pm Just realized that Perez Hilton never made it make to the press room. No one cars.
10:56pm Miley does her best Thriller impression with her second number of the night Can’t be Tamed. Yes, those are dead barbie dolls on sticks! A final goodbye to Hannah Montana.
11:00pm The awards are done! Wow. Now the real fun backstage starts. Here comes Drake, Bieber and Cyrus.
11:01pm Backstage Karl Wolfe is talking now. I am going back in the washroom line, it is more interesting.
11:20pm Just had an awesome chat with Johnny Hawkin and Aliya Jasmine from MTV. Seriously cool guys. For a second I forgot how tired I am!1
11:25pm Miley was just backstage and she was really nice and well spoken. I know you wouldn’t know it, but she has a great sense of humor. Definitely an old soul.
11:30pm Justin Bieber was next and awkwardly admitted that he going through puberty. I don’t remember anyone asking!
And with that, this year’s MMVAs are done! Wow. What a freaking whirlwind! I obviously freaking loved every single minute of it. And if you know anything about award shows, you know the night is really just about to start!
Happy MMVAs everyone!!!
Bonus: Daniel from The TV Addict was backstage with me. For a more organized and less chaotic look backstage, make sure you check out his blog!
I don’t care what you say about Degrassi, but I freaking love this show. Actually, I’m pretty sure that me and Chris from Out Is Through are the only fans over the age of 25. As I typed that, I realized that I probably could have had a kid on that show by now. Shudder.
All of this Degrassi ranting to say that the show has a brand new promo/music video that has been on repeat ever since I discovered it.
The video is set to the music of VV Brown‘s incredibly catchy Shark in the Water and it shows the cast taking over an old school carnival. The clip is laced with hints and secrets of the show’s gigantic new season. I say gigantic because Degrassi will now air daily with over 40 new episodes. Not many shows can make that claim in their TENTH season!
The end of the video teases the “Biggest Event in Degrassi History!” as the magic wheel slows down on the word lock down. Not to mention the video’s hints at secrets, lesbians and domestic abuse!
While I understand the Degrassi may not be your cup of tea, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how the video is such a tease of the season to come. It kinda reminds me of the trailer for season 3 of Grey’s Anatomy with The Fray‘s How to Save a Life.
If you’re like me, you spent much of the late 90s and early 2000s watching Muchmusic’s Electric Circus from your home, by yourself and eating ketchup chips. I’m no dancer, but to me the show was what all the cool people were doing in Toronto. I thought it was awesome and I freakin’ loved it!
Next was Math class, but I think Alli knew I wasn’t very good at math, so we cut class and decided to go for a walk. Turns out the entire city of Toronto is only one block wide and is pretty much attached to the school! Who knew?! We kept trying to go into the stores, but they were all closed. We did walk by Spinner’s car, but he was nowhere to be found!
