Heard rumblings about this last year, but my suspicions were confirmed yesterday: Local singer-songwriter Todd Sarvies -- better known as John Boy's Courage -- is one of fourteen contestants on P. Diddy's new MTV reality series, StarMaker. (Which, you might remember, held auditions at Blueberry Hill last August.) The show, which premieres on August 16 at 9 p.m. STL time, focuses on singers who, well, want to become stars.
The trailer for the show features Sarvies busting out some Fall Out Boy (and the singer after him belting Gretchen Wilson's "Here For the Party"), and seems to set up the drama and conflict that's endemic to every MTV show. (View it above.) In happier news, Sarvies says that JBC will be celebrating the show's August 16 premiere with a gig at the downtown branch of the Tin Can Tavern. He and his band will play at 8 p.m., and the bar will air the show starting at 9 p.m. Sarvies answered some other questions via email about how he landed on MTV after the jump.
I got on the show through an audition process. There was an open casting call at Blueberry Hill last August. I stood in line for six hours waiting for an opportunity to audition. I was lucky enough to get a call back the next day, then another call back in New York City a few weeks later, and finally I received a call that I was heading to LA to be a contestant on the show.
What's the show's premise?
The show premise is P Diddy looking for the next "star." Not sure I can elaborate on that.
Why did you decide to enter?
When I heard about the audition, I was up in the air. I have always been passionate about writing and performing music, but the opportunity to turn it into a career has never been a realistic option. For me, driving around the Midwest in a van has proven to be a hard, slow way of building a fan base. When I started thinking about the StarMaker audition, I figured it was worth a shot. Worst case, I get back in the van and keep grinding away. Best case -- I take the fast track and get an opportunity to perform on MTV in front of millions of viewers.
Over the past several months I have been waiting for the show to premiere. I'm anxious to see what comes out of it. I have a few tour dates booked to coincide with the ten-week airing of the show. Hopefully, the MTV show will be good publicity for upcoming live dates.
