Making the Band

Making the Band is an ABC/MTV reality television series that exists in separate iterations, each iteration focusing on a specific music act. It spawned musical acts O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang. Except for the first iteration of the series featuring O-Town, all seasons of Making the Band have been overseen by Diddy, acting as the man of the house who makes the final decision on who will be in the band.

Season one

In 1999, Lou Pearlman, the man responsible for the formation of the Backstreet Boys and the early management of *NSYNC, embarked on a nationwide talent search, cutting auditions in eight cities down to 25 young men, and eventually eight finalists. These eight young men would, as the premise for a new ABC reality show, compete for five spots in Pearlman's newest boy band creation, to be signed to his record label, Transcontinental Records.

The first season, airing on ABC, began with eight young men, and chronicled the competition between them in typical reality-show fashion. It featured on screen choreography by Ramon Del Barrio. Midway through the first season, three of the eight men were eliminated, leaving Ashley Parker Angel, Jacob Underwood, Erik-Michael Estrada (not to be confused with American actor Erik Estrada), Trevor Penick, and Ikaika Kahoano. These five were set to become O-Town and the process of producing their first CD began. Several episodes later, however, Kahoano left for reasons that weren't exactly clear. Selecting from the original group of 25 semi-finalists, the remaining four members of the band chose Dan Miller to be Kahoano's replacement. With the final member of O-Town in place, the remainder of the first season tracked the development and struggles with the new band.

Seasons two and three

The ratings of Making the Band were strong enough to warrant second and third seasons, though not on network television. Making the Band was thus relocated to cable television network MTV. O-Town's return for additional seasons marked the first time the main cast of a reality show returned for a second season.

These additional seasons continued to track the development of O-Town as a pop group, following tours, performances, and other seminal events in the band's history. Such events included the development of their second CD, O2, their transition to a new record label, Clive Davis' J Records, and an ongoing struggle to "prove themselves" as legitimate artists.

The transition to MTV would be permanent: future iterations of the show also aired on MTV.

Season one

In 2002, a new talent search had begun, this time by P. Diddy. Diddy sought to find the best rappers and singers from which to assemble a new hip-hop group. After weeks of selection and training P. Diddy chose the members of the band on the first season of Making The Band 2.

Season two

For several weeks, the contestants were subject to difficult tasks, including walking from Midtown Manhattan to Brooklyn to purchase cheesecake for Diddy and aspiring rapper Ness' battle with Harlem MC Jae Millz. The finalists named themselves Da Band.

Their debut album, Too Hot for TV, was released in September of 2003.

First Single: "Bad Boy This, Bad Boy That"

Second and final single: "Tonight"

The album still managed to certify gold selling 600,000 copies.

Season three

Da Band effectively ended its career at the end of the third season of the show, when P. Diddy dissolved the group during the season finale. However, he still wanted to work with Babs and Ness, calling them hip hop's next "Bonnie and Clyde," though nothing yet has been released from either of them. Diddy also kept Chopper, now known as Young City, with the label, who was signed with Bad Boy South. Sara Stokes, Frederick and Dylan John were the remaining three members of Da Band to be dropped completely from Bad Boy.

Making The Band 3: Danity Kane (2005-2006)

The third iteration of Making the Band started on March 3, 2005, and aired for three seasons, finishing on August 10, 2006.

Season one

After the failure of Bad Boy's Da Band, P. Diddy returned with Making the Band 3 in 2004. This time, he was on the look for the next female supergroup. With the help of Laurie Ann Gibson, Doc and Johnny, he set out on a multi city search to find girls who had everything: a great voice, dancing ability and most importantly the looks. The theme song "Oh La La" was recorded by Badboy Recording Artist Cheri Dennis.

Season two

The band performed at the Backstreet Boys concert at the Nissan Pavilion on August 6, 2005. There were two groups. Group one, named "SHE (She Has Everything)", included Aubrey, Melissa, Denosh, Jasmine, and Kelli. Group two, named "Chain 6", included Aundrea, Dawn, Shannon, Wanita, Dominique, and Taquita. During dress rehearsal, group one was the favorite according to Dave, Laurie Anne and Doc. However, the first group was booed as they gave their performance because Denosh started off key on the a cappella which led Aubrey to go off key in the beginning of the song. The second group won, as many screaming girls yelled for them.

The finale took place on Tuesday, November 15, 2005, where the 11 contestants left competed for five spots in the band. The 11 finalists; Aundrea, Aubrey, Dawn, Jasmine, Taquita, Denosh, Wanita, Shannon, Melissa, Kelli, and Dominique, were sent home for three months, told to polish up, and return for the final stretch. When the girls returned after their three month hiatus, they had to perform numerous acts such as radio interviews, a photo shoot, and dance all of their old dance routines. As Diddy's crew chooses the group, all of the girls went on a last dinner.

The song that each contestant sang in the studio "Tell Me" was actually used by Diddy on his album Press Play. Instead of one of the members of the group who originally sang the song on the show appearing on the track, the vocals are done by Christina Aguilera.

Season three

At the live finale of the second season of Making the Band 4, Diddy announced that the subsequent season would feature the shows stars on a U.S. Tour, the Making the Band Tour. On August 12 there was a 1 hour special that aired on MTV called "Making The Band's Greatest Hits." The special was hosted by Aubrey from Danity Kane, Donnie Klang and Robert from Day26, looking back on past events throughout the seasons of Making the Band 3 and 4. "Making The Band 4" came back for a third season, which followed Danity Kane and Day26 on tour, living in a house together, and enjoying life. Instead of "making a band" the shows focus turned into a The Real World type show, focusing on friendships, relationships, and drama in and out of the studio and the industry. The third season premiered on August 19, 2008. The second half of the third season premiered on February 12, 2009. The Making the Band 4 series finale Aired on April 23, 2009.

Making His Band

During the Making the Band 4 finale, Diddy said he would be coming out with another reality show looking for another girl group that could "hopefully stay together". He also stated that he was searching for musicians for a Making the Band spinoff titled Making His Band, where he would be searching for guitarists, drummers, backup singers, etc. to form his own personal live band. This new season premiered on July 27, 2009.

On September 2, 2009, this series was placed on hiatus. On September 12, 2009, the show returned and aired the last five episodes on a new Saturday time slot. Reasoning for this included a delay in Diddy's album release date as well as generally low ratings overall for the program.

In 2010, Making His Band was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Reality Program" during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.