Watching MTV's Making His Band has been a not always fruitful experience. Lazy drummers, unskilled bassists and flat vocalists have sheepishly paraded past exasperated judges who have given them ample opportunity to hone their chops and prove their worth (and who also make records on Hyperdub). Though there have been some diamond moments, they weren't particularly sparkling, just bright by comparison because they're surrounded by dirt. But last night's episode finally saw some star shine, with Jaila Simms housing the competition.
The groups were split up with a focus on the vocalists, each team performing a rollerskate boogie number—Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," Aretha Franklin's "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and Evelyn Champagne King's "I'm In Love." The first two limped along, skilled enough but unenthused, but "I'm in Love," led up by Simms, a transsexual woman with a very short dress, destroyed. She got tiger-like, and a little frightening, devouring the track with a guttural yet sultry I'm in lu-uhve. On the same day we heard that Nomi did not perform with modern disco torch bearers Hercules and Love Affair, we're hoping that maybe someone misses Simms' magic and lets her slide indie, where maybe she belongs. If not, hopefully she can help out that sippin' on Ciroc and Red Bull track Diddy was struggling through earlier in the episode, because that was rough. Check the episode in the above video or skip right to the "I'm in Love" performance at 29:50. Simms fans herself during the intro.
Update: The embedded video of the show is not working, but it's viewable directly on MTV's site.
