G.R.L. Performances for 7/24/2014; Part I
Total Television Takeover: Morning (5 articles)
G.R.L. on Good Morning America
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G.R.L. appeared on Good Morning America this morning, July 24th, 2014, as a final start to the promotion of their latest (buzz) single, "Free". The girl group, consisting of the five members Lauren Bennett, Simone Battle, Emmalyn Estrada, Natasha Slayton and Paula van Oppen, showed up, dressed in white ensembles that seemed coordinated with each other but definitely not matching, with Bennett wearing an airy, semi-translucent white dress; Battle in bleached-white denim shorts and a white halter top; Estrada in a figure-hugging white minidress and white wristcuffs; Slayton in a white blazer without a shirt and a flowing white skirt; and van Oppen in white tights and a torn white t-shirt.
The five went on the show to explain a large-scale promotion plan they had planned for the week and were executing today, known as the "Total Television Takeover", which was recorded over the last week and finally debuted today: The girls were to appear on fourteen TV shows (including this one) to perform their song "Free" in order to take the industry by surprise with their massive amounts of performances. The 14 programs, listed as Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Talk, Live! with Kelly and Michael, the View, American Idol, the X-Factor, America's Got Talent, the Voice, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the David Letterman Show, the Jay Leno Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, would all premiere their G.R.L.-related episodes today upon their usual scheduled time.
The girls simply stopped by to explain the concept behind the Total Television Takeover (TTT), and then to perform their single "Free", produced by hitmaker Dr. Luke. As the first ever live performance of the song, ratings for Good Morning America were huge to see the performance, and unlike the regular electropop production of the song, the girls performed a stripped-down version, featuring a general electronica production that maintained a laid-back tempo with several acoustic elements, including a piano (which was played by Battle). The girls showed off their immense vocal power over the minimal instrumental, until the final chorus suddenly erupted into the normal electro instrumental it had in the regular version of the song, where the girls leaped up to dance to it, with van Oppen showing off her professional-trained dancing skills including a sideways high-kick and two splits before the song came to a quick ending.
The girls were praised by the hosts of Good Morning America for the amazing performance before they left, announcing their next appearance as part of TTT would be on the Today Show.
G.R.L. on the Today Show
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Continuing their Total Television Takeover, G.R.L. appeared on the Today Show this morning, featuring new outfits (as each episode was recorded separately, despite the girls seeming as if they have to rush from each episode to the next; this was explained by Lauren Bennett that it was done purposely to make it seem as if the TTT occurred live), with all the girls featuring outfits made out of leather and various strips of the American Flag. The girls went on to explain that "Free" was a buzz single, and that the true lead single of theirs was to come out within the next week or two. Paula van Oppen attempted to explain more about the official lead single, but she was immediately silenced by Emmalyn Estrada and Simone Battle, as Natasha Slayton sang the chorus of their song "Vacation" acapella as a brief distraction.
The girls then went on to explain the concept of their Total Television Takeover, for new viewers who were just beginning to view, saying they recorded appearances of themselves on 14 TV shows in the past week to debut today as massive promotion for their single, "Free". They then listed the 14 TV shows as the following: Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Talk, Live! with Kelly and Michael, the View, American Idol, the X-Factor, America's Got Talent, the Voice, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the David Letterman Show, the Jay Leno Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon.
The girls went on to perform "Free", stripped down, almost in the exact same way as they did previously on Good Morning America, though this one was noticeably different due to the last chorus not returning to the dance-electro instrumental, this one retaining its new wave/electronica production throughout, with Battle playing the piano live. The final chorus in this version erupted, but in a different way, featuring strings on the production and a sawtooth wave bassline, and a mild thump for a drum that barely seemed there. Battle's piano continued to grow as the girls continued to sing together, with Slayton breaking out into ad-lib harmonies to show off her powerhouse vocals.
After the performance, the girls seemed confident with themselves, and van Oppen insisted on showing off her dancing, resulting in her demonstrating a breakdancing routine as the studio version of "Free" played over speakers. Despite Battle, Estrada and Slayton seeming excited to watch van Oppen dance, Bennett seemed rather annoyed, and quickly ended the routine to announce they would be leaving the Today Show now, and would make their next appearance on the Talk.
G.R.L. on the Talk
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As the third appearance for G.R.L. and their Total Television Takeover (TTT), the group appeared on the Talk alongside the show's usual hosts. The girls went on to discuss a variety of topics with the main hosts, including discussing the tactics of their producer, Dr. Luke. When asked how they felt of his similar formula used on various songs, Lauren Bennett took control to answer: "At least they're all good." On the same topic of Dr. Luke, Simone Battle also mentioned that they had several songs produced by him recorded, including "Free" and two others, though she also mentioned they were continuing to record with him. Emmalyn Estrada also announced that they were going to the studio to record after this episode was recorded.
Yet again, as done with the previous two episodes, the girls explained their Total Television Takeover for new viewers who were unaware of what was going on. Bennett, who officially announced herself as the frontwoman (at least during the TTT), went on to explain how they were to appear on 14 different TV shows, and listed them all (Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Talk, Live! with Kelly and Michael, the View, American Idol, the X-Factor, America's Got Talent, the Voice, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the David Letterman Show, the Jay Leno Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon) as well. Some of the women on the Talk were shocked that all fourteen shows would appear at the same day, and Bennett went on, laughing, stating that they usually wouldn't, and the TTT was a massive exception.
And finally, as routine, the girls went on to perform "Free", performing the version performed previously on the Today Show. The girls continued their usual harmonization of voices, with both Battle and Natasha Slayton providing ad-libs throughout the various choruses of the songs. After finishing their performance, Emmalyn Estrada went on to explain their different versions of the song, stating that the first one used during Good Morning America was a rough edit, and the version performed on the last two shows as the official version of this "edit", and that it would appear on a remix EP for "Free". She stated that this version would be used during the "morning" shows of the Total Television Takeover, then the regular version of the song (possibly with some small altercations) would be performed during the "mid-day" shows, then a final acoustic version would be performed during "late" shows. The girls then left, after thanking their hosts for having them.
G.R.L. on Live! with Kelly and Michael
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For the second-to-last appearance of the "morning" TV shows for their Total Television Takeover, G.R.L. appeared on Live! with Kelly and Michael. The girls had a whole few segments dedicated to time with them on the show, where they were interviewed by Kelly and Michael (of course), where they officially announced that they were going to release an EP within the next few weeks as a teaser for their full, debut album. Viewers were excited, with the Twitter hashtag "#GRLEP" began trending soon after. The girls also explained that they had worked with producers Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Darkchild, Lukas Hilbert, Cirkut, Kool Kojak, the Smeezingtons, StarGate and Ryan Tedder for the album and EP, but stated that not all of said producers would appear on the EP, but all would definitely appear for the main album. Simone Battle also revealed, to everyone's disappointment, that they weren't allowed to reveal the titles of either the EP or the album yet.
And, of course, for the fourth time this morning, the girls (this time, Natasha Slayton did the honors) explained the Total Television Takeover, explaining that this short appearance on Kelly and Michael's show was only one stop on their 14-show appearance list for the day (with the full list being Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Talk, Live! with Kelly and Michael, the View, American Idol, the X-Factor, America's Got Talent, the Voice, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the David Letterman Show, the Jay Leno Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon, in that exact order throughout the day; this would mean the View was next, as the final performance of their morning shows, before they would move on to their mid-day show times). Paula van Oppen stated she was excited for the mid-day shows, as they allowed her to show off her dancing skills further. Lauren Bennett grunted after this comment.
The girls spent a few segments with Kelly and Michael, including a cooking segment where each of the girls shared their favorite breakfast foods & recipes, including eggs Benedict, Greek omelettes and frittatas. After cooking, the girls went on to perform the stripped-down (but not acoustic) version of "Free", as usual, with Emmalyn Estrada playing the piano alongside Simone Battle this time as the girls continued their usual vocal strides. However, as arranged due to her being snubbed several times during recording sessions, Slayton was allowed to sing the middle 8 alone, which she did, showing off her absolutely amazing vocals and leading viewers to wonder why they rarely gave her solo parts in their songs. The girls then finished their performance, and left, giving Kelly and Michael hugs as they went on.
G.R.L. on the View
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As the last performance of their "morning TV" performances, G.R.L. appeared on the View this morning alongside its usual hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg, Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy, bringing the panel up to 8 hosts for the episode. The girls were interviewed along various topics that one would expect to be asked of a music group, including their upcoming work and how they managed to get into the business. At one memorable moment, Lauren Bennett lashed out (vocally) at Paula van Oppen for bragging about her dancing skills, and was quickly backed up by Simone Battle, though Natasha Slayton took van Oppen's side and Emmalyn Estrada remained neutral. Goldberg laughed at the ordeal, and things quickly settled down.
As official routine for the Total Television Takeover, a member (this time Simone Battle) explained the concept of the Total Television Takeover, and how they were to appear on 14 TV shows within the course of one day (the shows being Good Morning America, the Today Show, the Talk, Live! with Kelly and Michael, the View, American Idol, the X-Factor, America's Got Talent, the Voice, the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the David Letterman Show, the Jay Leno Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon). Goldberg collapsed out of her chair once all the shows were listed, believing the girls to all record and appear the shows in one day, resulting in everyone laughing until Battle mentioned they were all pre-recorded. (Which lead to Goldberg commenting: "I mean, I thought most of these shows were. I wondered if they started putting us on live for a second, because if they did... Oh, lord.")
Finally, the girls went on to perform the stripped-down version of "Free". They then went on to reveal that the stripped down version was in fact produced by Greg Kurstin, with minor changes made by Dr. Luke. They also announced the acoustic version, which would premier later today during their "Night" performances, would be produced entirely by themselves, as it would feature just a piano performed by Battle and an acoustic guitar section played by Bennett. The girls also mentioned both versions would be available on a remix EP set to release later this charting week. The girls thanked the View's hosts, and then quickly left the set.
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