Photo Credit: nujamsesh.tumblr.com
Reality shows are more often than not our guilty pleasures of choice. With the widespread attention they have received, it only makes sense that they have made their way into Northwestern’s campus life. Jam Sesh is the first reality show of its kind to represent a part of Northwestern student life and premieres today on NUChannel1.
The NU students who created the reality show are also its directors. The show at its heart is a reality music show, completely student-run and student-focused.
Bobby Ramirez, a co-director of the show, broke down the process the contestants will follow once they sign onto the project: “Each artist/group is given the same exact song to rewrite and adapt into their own sound and style, we check up on them and track their progression with the challenge song. They go through multiple levels of criticism, performing for their competitors and receiving feedback from each other, as well as receiving feedback from a panel of judges and online viewer poles.”
The grand finale of the show is an open live event where each artist will perform their version and the viewers get to vote for their favorite! The prize is a music video courtesy made by The Jam Sesh, along with bragging rights.
The idea for this show has been in the works since Wildcat Welcome. The early seed for the show was planted in Cutie DS Shin’s mind after watching campus music groups performing during Wildcat Welcome.
“I was into the Northwestern music scene…and I wanted to create something that could connect with a lot of Northwestern students,” said Shin. “I approached NUCH1 with the idea…then I got Bobby Ramirez.”
Ramirez added, “[we] started to put our ideas together and develop the pre-production of the show [and] we added Max, Shivani, and Emily to the executive team, who all contributed to the final structure of the show as it is now.”
[pagebreak]
This small team has been the backbone to developing the massive production this show has turned out be, making additions to its structure with the success the show has received.
Bobby said “…the response and support this show has received is phenomenal. Our publicist is incredible and has been raising awareness about the show all over the internet and across campus. Many people are delightfully surprised and excited to hear about an opportunity to promote music on campus. The hopes are that our fan base only continues to grow as we release each episode.”
Shin shared with us that eventually he’d like Jam Sesh to be a festival. The show has remarkable creativity and simple spunk to take it Jam Sesh well into the future.
Tune into Jam Sesh on NUCH1 every Wednesday at 8pm, and check them out on Facebook or Tumblr!