Oh, oh, oh–James Maslow, known from his time as James Diamond in the Nickelodeon hit “Big Time Rush,” said there’s one song from the popular boy band that he and his group members have never really enjoyed singing. During his appearance on the “Joe Vulpis Podcast,” the actor and “Big Brother” alum opened up about the show, which ran from 2009 to 2013, and spilled the tea on things some of the program’s biggest fans may not have known.
While Big Time Rush was created as a fictional boy band for the TV series of the same name, the group actually released popular songs and albums, three of which reached the top 20 on the Billboard 200.
And while the music resonated with some of the show’s fans, Maslow said the “Big Time Rush” theme song is the one he and his co-stars have the most trouble performing.
“It was written as a theme song, in my defense, which means it wasn’t written to be sung… to be performed live like regular music,” he said.
Maslow Said It’s Always A ‘Struggle’ To Sing The Show’s ‘Cheesy’ Theme Song
Maslow, 35, was first cast in the Nickelodeon series at 19. On the podcast, the actor said he didn’t enjoy singing the “BTR” theme song live back then, but now, he’s learned to appreciate it a bit more.
Even then, it’s not a track that he and his bandmates, including Kendall Schmidt, Carlos PenaVega, and Logan Henderson, are champing at the bit to sing live.
“It’s always been a struggle, and we’ve always found a way to like put it in a mashup or sing half of it and like move on, and we still do to some degree because, again, it’s a theme song and it’s cheesy by nature,” he said.
Fans Probably Didn’t Know This Fact About ‘Big Time Rush’
Elsewhere in the podcast, Maslow told the podcast host that he wasn’t sure “Big Time Rush” would even make it to air, given that they shot a million-dollar pilot without Schmidt, the show’s leading man.
According to Maslow, they filmed the pilot with a different actor, but after wrapping, the network shelved the program to do another nationwide search. Despite the back-and-forth, Maslow expressed gratitude that everything worked out as it did.
“The reality is, and I remind myself of this all the time, [we] could have gone through those two years, those four screen tests, the million-dollar pilot, and then back to nothing, and then got it picked up, and then it still could have not worked,” Maslow said. “So, I’m just grateful that so many people fell in love with the show and the band.”
Maslow And His Bandmates Had To Fight For Creative Control Over Their Music
After Nickelodeon rounded out the cast with the right actors, Maslow said he and his co-stars then had to fight for a bit of creative control, noting that the people involved in creating the show didn’t realize they had cast men who wanted to be involved in the music-making process.
“So it became art imitating life in many, many ways where they set out going, ‘Hey, we’re going to hire actors to make a show, and maybe they can play music or something outside of this,’ but we proved to be like, no, we’re actually going to be a band,” Maslow explained.
Speaking Of Fictional Bands … This Group Is Returning To The Small Screen Nearly 20 Years Later
And speaking of fictional bands, another group is returning to the small screen almost 20 years later.
According to a previous report from The Blast, Raven-Symoné and Adrienne Bailon are returning to Disney to reprise their roles as Galleria and Chanel in the new “Cheetah Girls” movie titled “Next Gen.”
The made-for-TV film, executive-produced by the “That’s So Raven” alum and Debra Martin Chase, will feature her and Bailon’s characters traveling to Africa with a group of younger singers to help save a wildlife sanctuary.
Sabrina Bryan, who played Dorinda in the franchise’s first three films, will reprise her role, along with Lynn Whitfield and Lori Alter. Kiely Williams, however, is not attached to the project at this time.
“The Cheetah Girls has always been about friendship, music, and empowering young people to use their voice,” said Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family. “That spirit connected deeply with a generation of fans, and it still resonates today. Bringing this dynamic new group of young stars to the franchise allows us to continue that legacy for a new era of kids and families.”