Boy Band on ABC: 5 things you need to know

Contestants Jay Gilbert and Michael Conor punch fists as Rita Ora stands in between them on Boy Band
Contestants Jay Gilbert and Michael Conor with Rita Ora on the premiere of Boy Band

ABC’s new reality competition series Boy Band premieres tonight — aiming to create the next musical supergroup sensation.

Auditions for the show saw thousands of singers take part before being whittled down to a final 30.

In the premiere episode, titled Meet The Boys, these 30 then take part in auditions in Hollywood, with only 18 going through to the rest of the series.

Rita Ora hosts, with Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter, Spice Girls legend Emma Bunton and Timbaland as judges.

Here’s five things you need to know about the 10-episode series:

1 The youngest contestant is 14

The youngest contestant in the series is Jay Gilbert, pictured above, who also uses the name “J Hype” and beatboxes with Timbaland on the premiere. He’s just 14 and from Las Vegas, NV.

At the other end of the spectrum, the oldest singer competing to make it into the finals is 24-year-old Zack Taylor from Kansas City, MO.

Here’s a full list of the starting 30 guys:

Drew Ramos (19) – Bronx, NY
Jon Klaasen (19) – Greenwood, IN
Cameron Armstrong (22) – Columbia, SC
Andrew Butcher (17) – Greenwood, IN
Miles Wesley (19) – Marble Falls, TX
Santino Cardinale (18) – Las Vegas, NV
Gianni Cardinale (16) – Las Vegas, NV
Marcus Pendleton (16) – Nashville, TN
Gavin Becker (18) – Philadelphia, PA
Sergio Calderon (16) – Redwood City, CA
Cam Jackson (19) – Willingboro, NJ
Michael Conor (17) – Cleveland, OH
Nate Wyatt (20) – Cincinnati, OH
Jay Gilbert “J Hype” (14) – Las Vegas, NV
Jaden Gray (16) – Hawthorne, CA
Chance Perez (19) – Seal Beach, CA
Alan Ayala (18) – Monterey, Mexico
Timmy Thames (17) – Malibu, CA
Zack Taylor (24) – Kansas City, MO
Dylan Rey (17) – Plano, TX
Andrew Bloom (19) – Yorba Linda, CA
Matthew Dean (19) – Thousand Oaks, CA
Lukas James (15) – Sarasota, FL
Stone Martin (18) – Hartsville, SC
Mikey Jimenez (17) – East Los Angeles, CA
Dorian Tyler (15) – Memphis, TN
Brady Tutton (15) – Shorewood, WI
Paul Toweh (21) – Liberia, Monrovia
Jordan Grizzle (22) – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Devin Hayes (17) – Springfield, IL

2 Viewers votes count

Viewers’ votes combined with the judges’ decisions will determine the outcome of who makes it through each week and who ends up in the final band.

At the start of the competition, the 18 guys will be split into three separate bands each containing six singers. The first group perform in the premiere, the second in the second episode, and the third in Episode 3.

As the season moves along, the singers will be shuffled to create a group of five by the final that work together the best.

Each episode after the bands perform the judges will choose two contestants to put up for elimination, who will then sing solo songs in a bid to survive.

Viewers will vote on who to send home.

3 The winners get a contract with Hollywood Records

The winning band of five will get a recording contract with Hollywood Records, part of the Disney Music Group. Artists already on their books include Demi Lovato, Queen, Zendaya and Olivia Holt.

Past artists include the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Duran Duran and Insane Clown Posse.

4 Each episode will have a different theme

As the series progresses, each episode will have a different theme to truly test the boys’ singing abilities in a variety of genres, to see who copes with what best and whose voices lend themselves to what styles.

5 There will be five members in the final band

The final band, which will be revealed in the finale, will be composed of five band members from the starting 18. On the final episode they will all perform their first single together for the first time — which will in all likelihood shoot to the top of the charts.

Five is a common number for boy bands. Others with that figure in the past include One Direction, Backstreet Boys, and the obvious one.

However, bizarrely, British boy-band Five only had three members.

Boy Band airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.

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