What Not to Wear Hits Local Gal at Jack’s Backyard

Last night, the TLC show What Not to Wear ambushed a Dallas girl (and sometime FrontBurner comment maker) named Amanda Warr (nee Newman) at Jack’s Backyard. Kevin Minihan, who plays in the band Eastwood, was in the house. He sends a dispatch (including photos!) after the jump.

[Photo: Kevin Minihan gets a fashion consult mid-song from WNTW host Clinton Kelly.] I was surprised to see the lighting setup and camera guys everywhere when I showed for sound check at Jack’s Backyard (in the driving afternoon rain). I assumed that it would more commando attack style, but I guess it is not practical to rush 20 tons of lighting and cameras out right at the last minute. So when the target (local music advocate Amanda Newman-Warr) arrived, she was told that a BBC camera crew was in town shooting a travel piece on new Texas social hot spots.

The producers gave us the secret hand signal, and we called the charity organizer on stage. As she started to thank everyone for coming out, they slowly started walking Stacy and Clinton in from the back of the room, slowly approaching Amanda from behind. They came up right next to the stage and said that someone in the audience had been selected for the show. Amanda still had no clue. Then they called her name and pulled her up front. She was so shocked that she was literally shaking. They presented her with the $5,000 makeover opportunity, and she meekly said yes.

[Photo: Amanda Newman-Warr, center, with WNTW hosts Clinton Kelly and Stacy London.] That is when the fantasy stopped and TV production 101 began. A producer then instructed the crowd that they needed to shoot reaction shots. So the next 30 minutes was spent shooting shots of people, nodding in agreement (supposedly to something the host would be saying), cheering for Amanda to say yes to the offer (again, after the fact), and rehearsing for the stars to film their exit from the club. One of the coolest things was the producers improv decision to have us pound out some power chords on cue, as the female host (Stacy London) said the words “What Not to Wear.” We nailed that sequence in one take. Faces were melted and we were proud of ourselves. The producers really seemed to like our band and filmed our performance (before and after the reveal) for quite awhile. Of course, it may all end up on the cutting room floor, but it was a lot of fun. The best part was that Amanda Newman-Warr received a great gift after giving so much to the Dallas music community for the last few years.

The episode is going to be one of the first few in the coming seventh season and should air sometime around June.