Somehow, some way, Mötley Crüe vocalist Vince Neil is going to take enough time out from being mediocre (if we’re being generous) behind a mic to be a guest judge on an ongoing music competition TV series, Banded: The Musician Competition. The show, which will air on AXS TV starting Saturday, May 13, features 25 different competitors grouped into bands to write and perform music.
The show is apparently being billed as a way to showcase fledgling musicians that already have the chops to perform and write their own music. Hosted by musician and TV personality Brandon Jenner, the show will pit five bands constructed from the 25 entrants against one another. These “multi-genre” bands will be able to pick the brains of and be guided by Grammy-winning and -nominated songwriters, producers, and artists like Songwriters Hall Of Fame honoree Wendy Starland, credited with discovering and developing Lady Gaga; as well as Paul Ebersold, Steve Diamond, Justin Wilson and Dave Pahanish.
Katie Daryl, AXS TV’s vice president of programming, said the new show was a perfect fit for their planned slate of music-related content.
“‘Banded’ is the perfect complement to our growing lineup of all-new original music-themed programming, putting a fresh spin on the standard music competition format that brings viewers into the fascinating creative process that each band undertakes. We have some truly talented competitors and world-class mentors onboard, and we cannot wait to share all of this and more with our audience when ‘Banded’ premieres on AXS TV’s platforms [this] month.”
Along with those industry powerhouses, the show will feature a special guest judge or mentor each week. Neil will be one of them, along with Winger’s pirouetting frontman Kip Winger, country artist Steve Azar, and rock drummer Mark Schulman.
How Neil, whose vocal performances have been absolute dogshit for a while now, is going to be able to do the mental gymnastics necessary to believe he should be judging anyone else’s musicianship is beyond me. After all, he’s not just a bad vocalist these days, but his band allegedly plays to backing tracks on the reg. Not exactly high levels of musical talent being exerted here if we’re being honest.