Taking Summer Stock of Talented Kids

During the lazy days of summer, kids usually spend their time at camp, hang out with friends at the movies or the mall, play baseball, swim or go on trips with their families.

But this summer, kids ages 6 and up will be attempting to become the next “big thing” on the entertainment scene. The competition begins with the premiere this week of NBC’s reinvention of “Fame” and Fox’s “American Juniors,” debuting June 3, from the producers of “American Idol.”

Both of these talent shows come on the heels of CBS’ “Star Search” and NBC’s “America’s Most Talented Kid.”

Debbie Allen, the renowned actress, dancer, choreographer and director, acknowledges that “Fame,” which opens with a special two-hour installment Wednesday, will be directly compared to “American Idol.” Allen appeared in the 1980 movie musical “Fame” as well as the 1980s TV series that was set at the La Guardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts in New York. What sets this show apart from those predecessors is that this features real aspiring performers, and it differs from other talent shows, she says, because she is looking for someone who can sing and dance.

Each candidate will perform a routine in front of celebrity judges. But as with “American Idol,” viewers will be the final judges.

Allen says she’s a natural for this series; she has found and developed young talent for many years.

“I started the Debbie Allen Dance Academy three years ago [in Culver City], and we have taken off big time,” she says.

“The whole town is very aware of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, our production of ‘Pearl’ and all of those gifted young people I had on the stage. And then people are aware that I am the artist-in-residence at the Kennedy Center for the last 10 years.”

Tryouts for “Fame” were held in Miami, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Though contestants were suppose to be at least 16, Allen says a few 15-year-olds “came in and shook it up.”

Others, Allen notes, were more timid. “There were times I had to pull people out. People would clam up and get petrified. I asked everyone to prepare something that would show me everything. Some people would actually dance really well, but they were shy to do both.

“So this is going to be a really wonderful opportunity and challenge for us to prepare them.”

The winner, she says, will get a recording contract and representation by a major company. “They will get an apartment and a car. They will have a year to train here at DADA. That has to be a major component because you just can’t put somebody out there. They have to continue to be developed. We want to train them to be ready for the world.”

“American Juniors,” which premieres the following week with a two-hour special, was heavily promoted on “American Idol.” Previews of the series spotlight not only mini Kelly Clarksons and Clay Aikens strutting their stuff but also the rants and ravings of disappointed stage mothers and fathers.

“The fact of the matter is that some of the parents are impossible to ignore,” says executive producer Ken Warwick.

Auditions have already been held here as well as in the New York City suburb of White Plains, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Chicago, with the budding stars divided into groups ages 6 to 9 and 10 to 13. Viewers will pick five winners who will become a recording group. They opted for the group rather than picking just one winner a la “American Idol” because “the pressures are too much for a single person at this age. We feel that in a group of five they can support each other.”

Forty children will be selected from the four auditions and sent, with their parents, to Los Angeles. Those will be winnowed to 10 from each age group. The first week of the show, the older group will be narrowed down to five, and the following week five will be selected from the younger group.

“Each of the 10 kids will perform every week, one [each week] will be put through to the final five,” Warwick said.

Warwick says they are still negotiating for a host and three judges. But he promises there will be no scowling Simon Cowell-type. “They will be grading the kids, but more like school grades,” he says. Just like “American Idol,” the final result rests with viewers voting for their choices.

And Warwick believes the “American Idol” pedigree will set “American Juniors” apart from “Fame.”

“It will make it a bit more different, a little bit more watchable,” Warwick says. “With all due modesty, we seem to do this quite well.”

“Fame” premieres at 8 p.m. Wednesday on NBC; “American Juniors” premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 3 on Fox.

Cover photograph by Chris Haston.