Sunday, March 26, 2000
UC student thrilled with 'Making the Band'
BY LARRY NAGER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dan Miller sings and dances and goes to school in the city that produced 98`. So it's no surprise that the University of Cincinnati sophomore tried out for O-Town, the newest boy band being put together by Backstreet Boys/'NSync impresario Lou Pearlman.
“I'd seen this guy on TV and there he was sitting across from me. It was a real thrill,” says Mr. Miller, who also plays drums and piano. “I mean, I've never owned a Backstreet Boys CD or an 'NSync CD. But I knew Lou put these people together.”
The auditions were about as open as they get. The whole process of forming O-Town was filmed for the new ABC series Making the Band (9:30 p.m. Friday, Channels 9 and 2).
The title has two meanings, the first being the actual process of creating the group that the show doggedly follows. The second is the desperate hopes of the more than 1,000 young wannabes that they'll be one of the five lucky enough to “make the band.”
Mr. Miller, 19, found out about the auditions on the Internet, on the site of his favorite show, MTV's The Real World. “And there was a link, "Do You Want to be on TV?' And I was like, "Sure, you know, why not,'” he recalls with a laugh.
Making the Band is a co-production of MTV and ABC, and two of its executive producers, Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray, produce The Real World.
Nashville auditions
After clicking on the link, Mr. Miller sent audition videos to Making the Band. He was invited to auditions at Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe. He went with his girlfriend of 10 months, Cindy Kester, who's featured on the premiere episode telling of her support for Mr. Miller's budding musical career. “I think they'd be the lucky ones if they picked him,” she gushes.
Mr. Miller wins a spot in the Orlando auditions as part of the 25 semi-finalists.
The pressure is on. That's where Making the Band really heats up into one vivid goulash of a show, mixing the show biz angst of A Chorus Line with the male bonding of a war movie (i.e., a combination of tears and arm-punching).
Throw in the nervous energy of reality TV, the rags-to-riches appeal of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and tie all that to the boy-band phenomenon, the hottest thing going in pop music.
Move over Regis!
But Mr. Miller, who doesn't make it to the final eight candidates (who will, by the season's end, be whittled down to the final quintet), took it all in stride.
“I've been nervous for auditions and stuff before,” he explains. “But when I got to this audition in Orlando, I was the least nervous I'd ever been in my entire life.
“I was so into singing and performing and entertaining, that it didn't matter. I just wanted to sing and show people what I could do. And I knew that no matter what happened, somebody would see this and maybe look at my talent and maybe be interested.”
Even the ever-present cameras didn't bother him. Candidates were also filmed in their hotel rooms as they rehearsed, talked about their ambitions or just went to sleep.
“As far as being on TV all the time, you don't have to worry about somebody documenting you if you are being yourself the whole time,” he says. “If there was a camera when I was in there taking a shower, so be it.”
Back to CCM
He'll turn up in other episodes this season, according to an ABC spokesman. But for now, it's back to reality, as spring quarter begins at UC's College-Conservatory of Music, where Mr. Miller majors in electronic media.
His parents Mark and Angela Miller of Twinsburg, Ohio, near Cleveland, have been supportive of their son's ambitions.
Before Mr. Miller got the news about his Making the Band audition, he'd been planning to try out for Stomp, which was holding auditions in San Francisco.
“About a week before it happened I realized I had no money and I can't go out there. I can't afford the flight. I was really upset about that,” he says.
“My mom gets on the phone with me and she says, "You know what I really believe, that when God closes one door he opens up another.' And a couple of days later I got a call (from Making the Band). And things have worked out. You realize that moms know a little bit more than you think they know.”
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