Nicole Scherzinger joins Liam Payne in Netflix’s ‘Building the Band’
Nicole Scherzinger joins Liam Payne in Netflix’s ‘Building the Band.’ Photo (screencap) from Netflix/YouTube
Netflix is turning up the volume on music reality shows with “Building the Band,” a new competition series that challenges everything we know about band formation. Filipino American pop icon Nicole Scherzinger is at the heart of it all.
Premiering July 9, the series brings together 50 vocalists who must form six bands without ever seeing each other.
Locked away in individual sound booths, contestants make decisions solely based on how well their voices and vibes blend, not how they look.
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Serving as mentor and judge is Scherzinger, the powerhouse lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls and a Broadway star in her own right. With her extensive experience in both band life and vocal performance, she brings a critical ear and guidance to the show’s contestants.
“In a music competition series like no other, 50 singers will form 6 bands without ever seeing each other – but who will have the vocal talent and chemistry to make it as the winning band?” Netflix teased in its trailer description.
Hosted by AJ McLean of the “Backstreet Boys,” “Building the Band” also features music icons Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child and the late Liam Payne of One Direction as judges.
One Direction fans flooded the comments, writing “Saw Liam And my heart stopped for a second” and “This is going to be a hard, but necessary watch. We will get to see even more up close what a natural talent you were and how much charisma you had. We only needed more time. You are missed terribly Liam.”
While the initial choices are all about sound and synergy, once the bands meet face-to-face, everything changes. Looks, style, work ethic and even choreography come into play.
Because, as “Building the Band” proves in their description, great music doesn’t begin with a look, it begins with a connection.
And perhaps most exciting of all? “Building the Band” expands the idea that fictional or real, K-pop or not, groups formed under bold concepts can still make music that rivals the charts.
