Becoming

Becoming was a reality TV series produced by MTV around 2001. Each episode would follow one fan or a group of fans of a particular singer or band. Said fan(s) would be chosen to become the band/singer for a weekend and re-create a music video of one of their songs, as well as getting various gifts revolving around the artist being imitated. There was also a spin-off called Wannabes, which featured three sets of fans becoming the same band/artist and competing on a live Q&A to see who had the best impersonation. The winner would then get to perform one of the songs on stage.


 * Ambiguously Gay: Several people on the show, typically male stylists. Because it was a family show, they couldn't outright state it. Then there's the obvious fact that teenage guys becoming the likes of N*Sync and O-Town are hardly straight.
 * Acting for Two: Inverted. Several celebrities got imitated twice on the show including Britney Spears, Christina Aguleira, N*Sync, Pink etc.
 * Backup Twin: A pair of twins were used to recreate Jennifer Lopez's "Love Don't Cost a Thing". One twin played Jennifer as she walked and danced on the beach while the other performed the complicated dance routine on the postcard.
 * The Cameo: Kelly Osbourne appeared on the show, making her the only celebrity to have met her fan in person.
 * Jenna Jameson also appeared on the show as one of the women in Eminem's "Without Me" video.
 * Costume Porn: Every episode would feature many displays of the various different outfits required for the video. They seldom picked music videos that had only one outfit.
 * Dancing Is Serious Business
 * Dawson Casting: Inverted. Teenagers were cast as the 20-something artists.
 * Dyeing for Your Art
 * Enforced Method Acting: In order to pick out someone to the love interest in the Enrique Iglesias "Escape" video the fan in question was required to make out with all the hopefuls to see which girl he had the best chemistry with. Yes, seriously.
 * Genki Girl: Kristen, the girl who became Britney Spears.
 * Important Haircut: Nearly every episode featured the fan getting his or her artist's hairstyle. This would often be the biggest step toward looking like the artist.
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes: The show was never actually released on VHS or DVD so the only way to see any episodes is to find recorded clips on Youtube.
 * Makeover Montage
 * Old Shame: Try looking up some of the kids who were on the show now years later.
 * Race Lift: The producers certainly weren't picky about what ethnicity the fans were, even if it didn't match that of the artist. As such, we got an Asian Pink, white Michelle Williams (from Destiny's Child, to avoid any confusion), Hawaiian Ashley Poole and various others.
 * The Remake: All the music videos.
 * Romance on the Set: Played with. A couple of times real life boyfriends and girlfriends were brought in to play on screen love interests. The girl becoming Shakira and the guy becoming Eminem for example.
 * Scenery Porn: The show featured several shots of the Beverly Hills scenery, as well as various scenic shots of the location from which they picked the fans up.
 * Spiritual Successor: The British show "Reach For The Stars" was very similar though featured younger kids and more varied careers.
 * They Just Didn't Care: One rather aggravating example occurred when they re-created the Destiny's Child song "Say My Name". The girl chosen to be Michelle was white and the girl chosen to be Kelly didn't even get her hair done to resemble Kelly. Only the girl chosen to be Beyoncé was actually given an effort.
 * Throw It In: The boys becoming Sum 41 for the "Fat Lip" video were only supposed to lipsynch the rapping at the start, but their voices were put in anyway.
 * Totally Radical: And how.
 * Unnecessary Makeover: Obviously, if the fan is required to look a certain way for their video. The girl who became Pink for "Don't Let Me Get Me" and the girl who became Shakira for "Underneath Your Clothes" stick out.
 * What Do You Mean It's for Kids?: Billed as a family friendly show but quite a few of the music videos chosen certainly blur the lines such as Enrique Iglesisas's "Escape", Eminem's "Without Me" and Britney Spears's "I'm A Slave 4 U".
 * Though they did draw the line with some videos, notably cutting out the end of Jennifer Lopez's "Love Don't Cost A Thing" where Jennifer strips off.
 * Wig, Dress, Accent: A lot of the time without the accent, sometimes with.