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July 05, 2006

It's Destiny!'s own Liza and Tammy are kicking off a new non-Idol feature this week with their coverage of Rock Star: Supernova. Without further adieu, here's Liza's take on the first episode of the season, the "Inside the Mansion" reality episode currently being aired online at MSN and on Global TV in Canada.

rssn1.gif WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
(recap by Liza)

Rock Star: Supernova kicks off the new season on Wednesday, July 5, but before the first note is played, the reality episode, which is aired online at rockstar.msn.com, gets us introduced to the 15 rockers who are vying to join Tommy Lee, Jason Newsted and Gilby Clarke in the band Supernova.

The rockers and the band meet up for the first time in the studio as the band is laying down some tracks. And it's game on right away when the band asks them to come up and put some vocals to the track they just laid down. So who wants to step up? As tumbleweeds roll across the studio, the rockers all look at each other with trepidation, as if the band had just asked them to sing a Barry Manilow song. Obviously none of these people are Ty Taylor types who can produce stuff like Stop! Go! instantaneously.

Chris Pierson is the first to step up, and while it wasn't a masterpiece, he definitely passed the test and showed his desire. Jill Giola also stood out with the best melodic sense of the group and her powerhouse vocals. Zayra Alvarez stood out in a bad way, and Jason could only shake his head at her tuneless shouting. Phil Ritchie had no lyrics, but he gave a stab at the melody. Ryan Star? Well, the only stab he gave was the one to his chances of heading this band. As the only person who didn't even try, he put himself behind the 8-ball immediately. And his lame attempt to pass it off as strategy rather than a choke job did nothing but show that he was not as psychotically clever as J.D. Fortune.

Next, we get to see the drama of move-in day. It was all so very Real World, from the "Oh my gosh, look at the house!" exclamations to the around-the-room introductions to the picking rooms/roommates drama. Lukas puts his fellow competitors on notice when he states during introductions that he's there to win. The others oooooh over his brash statement, but please. It's not as if they're just there to meet new people and make new friends. This show is Rock Star, not the Miss America pageant. After the pleasantries are exchanged, the rockers pick rooms and roommates. Somehow, Ryan ends up being lone wolf in this, wandering aimlessly for an open bed until finally finding a "Flinstone's bed" in a four-man room.

Later, the rockers find the song list and the scurrying begins. Up for grabs is "Rebel Yell", "Knocking On Heavens Door", "How You Remind Me", "Yellow" by Coldplay, "Satisfaction", "She Talks To Angels", amongst others. Storm takes the list to an ill Jenny so that her roommate would not get screwed in the song selection process and suggests she sing the Nickelback song ('Gifting' her with Nickelback? I call shenanigans! First psychotically clever move of the season, IMO - Tammy). Other than that, the contestants aren't taking the song selection too seriously, with fake arm wrestling; rock, scissors, paper; and push-up contests going on in the "fight" for the songs they want. Just wait. In about 2-3 weeks, they'll be manipulating each other to try to get the song they want, Fortune-style.

Chris ends up with "Roxanne", a rangy song with which he struggles immediately. Ryan ends up with "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls and wishes he could have done a more rocking song. The show closes with Ryan singing the song alone in the dark with fitting lyrics like "And I don't want to go home right now", "And I don't want the world to see me, 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand/When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am".

Will Chris be able to handle "Roxanne" or will they have to put on the red light? Will Ryan's studio silence cost him? Are those "Iris" lyrics supposed to be subliminal? Will song choice come back to haunt some people? Did we just see a whole episode of Mark Burnett foreshadowing? We'll find out soon enough ...


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Rock Star: Supernova logo courtesy CBS Media.