Bradenton's Danielle White and the other contestants on Fox's American Juniors are getting a short course in show biz.
By ERIC DEGGANS
Published July 29, 2003
LOS ANGELES - More than the performance pressure. More than the Internet rumors and criticisms. More than the strain of spending months in a huge town thousands of miles from her home.
More than any of that, Bradenton singer Danielle White wants everyone to know one thing about the the kids who have joined her as contestants onAmerican Juniors, Fox-TV's kiddie-sized version of its hit talent contest, American Idol.
They don't pick the songs.
"Nobody knows that we don't pick the songs, and we are so mad about that, because some of us hate our songs," said Danielle, who last week took her best shot at the 1962 Little Eva hit Locomotion. "The judges say, "I really don't like that song on you' or "I really don't like the song you picked.' And we didn't pick the stupid songs. I think that kind of (works) against people sometimes."
The personable, precocious 11-year-old vented her frustration backstage in a studio at CBS' Television City complex Wednesday, minutes after completing a noontime taping of that day's results show (like Idol, the show airs performances on Tuesday, allows two hours of voting and announces the results Wednesday).
Though her words sounded harsh, Danielle and the contest's nine other competitors were playful and relaxed, lounging on a trio of couches arranged at one end of a spacious rehearsal room. Pictures of teen idols Avril Lavigne and Jennifer Lopez, among a hasty collage of images taped to the walls to help add some personality to the space, looked over the scene like twin patron saints of pop music.
Already old hands at talking with the media, Danielle and her pals seemed caught in that peculiar stage between kiddie concerns and adult sensibilities: vaulting between sophisticated musings on career prospects after Juniors to a giggling debate on Internet rumors about who's romancing whom.
"Sometimes, I think the producers started out with songs that would fit us, so America could get to know us. . . . Then they took us out of our comfort zone," said Danielle, to a chorus of agreement from her compatriots. "You just take it as a challenge."
After a few minutes in their presence, you feel as if you're peeking into a sort of rock "n' roll summer camp, offering a crash course in Show Biz 101, courtesy of the folks who first brought you Kelly Clarkson and Simon Cowell.
Danielle has appeared on Juniors' stage since mid June, chosen from 2,000 hopefuls to compete for a spot in a five-member singing group producers will fill with the contest's winners.
Unlike the adult Idol, contestants aren't voted off Juniors; instead, they're voted into the singing group, which will perform together during the show's finale Aug. 19. During Wednesday's taping, host Ryan Seacrest selected the top three contestants in the voting , revealing the final winner at the show's end.
Padded with performances (last week, Idol winner Clarkson sang a truncated version of her hit Miss Independent) and a music video featuring the show's first two finalists, Wednesday's episode seemed interminable, with each child told individually if they made the top three in an effort to heighten the tension.
Eventually, Seacrest unveiled Chauncey Matthews, who electrified the crowd last Tuesday by throwing a handful of glitter during his performance of Moon River, as the third winner (joining made-for-Disney sisters Tori and Taylor Thompson), while judges Jordan Knight, Deborah Gibson and Gladys Knight looked on.
For the contestants, especially those who may stand in the finalists' circle for half the show only to learn they've got to try again next week, it's an exercise in disappointment control that they're still learning to handle.
"The first show was so dramatic, because everybody was crying," Danielle said, her steel-blue eyes wide with emotion. "It's really weird. You think, "There's people looking at me; I don't want to look mean, but I don't want to look too happy."'
Danielle's father, Brian White, an insurance company actuary who has taken a leave from his job to stay with his daughter through the contest, said the emotional highs and lows are the toughest part of the competition.
"All the parents, we run the gamut of emotions every week," he said, noting one father who cries every time his daughter sings. "One minute you feel good, and feel that whatever happens here, things will be great. In the same day, you'll flip around (asking yourself) "My God, what have I gotten myself into?"' The two stay in a Beverly Hills hotel during the week, trekking into the studio every day (except Fridays) for vocal lessons, dance rehearsals or recording sessions. Danielle's mom, Jeannie, stayed with her the first few weeks, returning to Florida when Brian flew out; she'll return again for the contest's final weeks.
Though she has been recognized in public a few times and seen some Web sites devoted to the show, Danielle remains in a bit of a bubble, unaware, for example, that a group of fans back in Bradenton are circulating hundreds of fliers urging viewers to vote her into the group.
"It's a little alarming, when you see some of these Web sites," said her father. "That somebody has taken the time to grab all these pictures from her performances and find little captions and put them on the Web. I think it blows these kids' minds that someone is that interested in what they're doing."
Besides giving Danielle a sense of what a show-biz career might entail, the experience also to continue performing.
"Do we want to do more of this? Do we want to move here . . . where the opportunities are?" said White, who already has decided against what many families do; splitting the family in half, so that one parent stays in Los Angeles to further the child's career (Danielle also has a brother, Andrew, 12).
"They've been given an opportunity people spend years trying to get to," he said. "And I truly believe if she wants to do it, she can have a career in this business. So we've got a lot to think about as a family."
Even if she doesn't make the group, Danielle still has the kind of visibility that can help her get the right agent, manager or attention from record company executives that makes a great career.
Just ask Juniors judge Gibson, who burst on the national scene at 16 as the youngest person to write, produce and perform a No. 1 hit (1987's Foolish Beat). Now age 32, she's fresh off a turn in the Broadway run of Cabaret and trying hard to help the Juniors kids keep everything in perspective.
"I auditioned for Star Search four times and didn't get on, and my career hasn't suffered for it," said Gibson, adding that Danielle is the contestant that comes closest to the way she sounded early in her career.
"What I'm trying to offer these kids, off camera . . . is to let them know that their whole career is going to be audition after audition and rejection after rejection," she said. "If they can survive this, they can survive anything."
At a glance
American Juniors airs at 8 tonight and 8:30 p.m. Wednesday on WTVT-Ch. 13.
