_{By Joe Metro
Photos by Tom Dymond/Netflix}

On Tuesday, July 9th, Netflix’s Building The Band premiered, featuring two home-grown Utah natives: Aaliyah Rose and Landon Boyce. The two have made their way onto the tele to try and form a band.

I am a sucker for reality TV, especially singing shows. If you are anything like me, you’ll eat it up. 50 contestants sing for each other and try to gain likes and build chemistry. The twist? They have to do it all without ever seeing each other. They fight to stick around all while striving to form one of the six bands. Once the bands are formed, the bandmates will finally meet in person as they then try to impress the star-studded group of judges.

Having both of these incredible singers on this show is a huge win for Utah. Aaliyah is back at it again on the small screen, making her third appearance on a competitive singing show. Her first shot at the big stage came at the impressive age of 14 with The Voice, then again at the age of 20 with American Idol. 

Landon Boyce stakes his claim to fame making his first appearance on a show like this. Landon has been making his rounds in the Provo scene, playing plenty of shows and doing incredible collabs with Paige Fish as well as a spot on Rugs Unplugged.

It’s been proven time and time again that Utah produces amazing musicians. To have two more on a platform like this is absolutely incredible. Building The Band provides such a unique structure, where the contestants pick each other to move on before judges even enter the picture. As my roommate, who is a middle school teacher, likes to say: “In order for a group project to be successful, everyone needs to participate.” This is incredibly true for a show like this.

It’ll be fun to see how Aaliyah and Landon can do with judging and being judged by their peers as they try to form a band and solidify chemistry with folks they haven’t even met in person.

Run to your living room and throw Building The Band as soon as humanly possible. The first four episodes all dropped at once, and I’ve already binged all four. I cannot wait for the next episodes.

Now the million dollar questions: can our Provo pop stars shine in this crowd of 50? Can they form the next Destiny’s Child? The next Backstreet Boys? Or my personal favorite, Big Time Rush? Tune in and find out for yourself!

Make sure to follow Aaliyah Rose and Landon Boyce on Instagram! Building The Band is now streaming on Netflix. Check out Aaliyah Rose’s first performance below.