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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A sign hanging above a row of television monitors in the production room of the new ABC television show ``Making the Band'' tells producers and directors, ``Don't Forget Your Humanity.''The sign is a reminder to respect the fishbowl existence of eight singers who will be living together for the next few months in a house where cameras record their every move. Their goal: one of five spots in Lou Pearlman's next boy band creation, O-Town. ``Making the Band'' can be neatly summed up as MTV's ``The Real World'' meets the Backstreet Boys. Many of the show's production staffers are veterans of the reality-based MTV shows ``The Real World'' and ``Road Rules.'' The idea for this show came to Ken Mok, vice president of MTV Productions, last year when he was blocked from entering a building in New York's Times Square by a mob of screaming girls awaiting the arrival of 'N Sync. Mok contacted Lou Pearlman, the Orlando-based pop music impresario who put together the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, and the concept behind ``Making the Band'' was born. The show features the making of a boy band - from auditions to rehearsals to their first live performance. ``A lot of people have asked me, 'What's it like to be a fly on the wall, getting the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync together? What's it like behind the scenes?''' Pearlman said. Open auditions were held for hundreds of men ages 18 to 25 in Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and Orlando. The auditions make up the first episode. In the second episode, the group is whittled down to eight guys, who move into a spacious house in Orlando where 10 cameras record everything they do. By the end of the 13-show season, the group will be narrowed down to the five who will become O-Town. Although the first episode doesn't air until March 24, ABC has already ordered an additional nine episodes, said network spokeswoman Mozell Miley. The cameras roll when the guys wake up and go to Pearlman's recording studio to practice singing and dancing. Cameras follow when they go on dates. Whenever they leave the house, they must call producers in the production room, the house's converted garage, to let them know where they're going so they can be followed. The cameras have even followed them into the shower. ``It's all done in good taste,'' said 18-year-old Ashley Angel, one of the guys on the show. Editors: The first hour-long episode of ``Making the Band'' airs at 9 p.m. EST March 24. The half-hour series then moves to a time slot of 8:30 p.m. EST on Fridays. |