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#5205-13
The Music Awards Part 1
Written by Christy Marx

Synopsis:
This year's most important music event, the Hot Rocks music awards, is coming up. Jem and the Holograms and the Misfits are nominated in the Top New Rock Group category. Eric needs a job, and the Misfits need a recording contract or they can forget about the award. So Pizzazz asks her father to buy them a music company, across the street from Starlight Music even. Deirdre feels neglected by Jerrica and the others, and run away from home along with Ba Nee and Krissie.

Characters:
Jem/Jerrica and the Holograms, The Misfits, Synergy, Rio, Eric, Lin-Z, Video, Danse, Techrat, Starlight Girls (Ashley, Ba Nee, Krissie, Deirdre, Terri, Lela, Anne, Marianne, Joellen, Becky, Nancy, Delaree), Harvey, Joanie, Mrs. Bailey, Eric secretary, Jack Sobieski, Danny, Ramón.

Focus on:
Misfits, Deirdre, Ba Nee, Krissie, Danse.

Locations & vehicles:
Starlight Mansion, VTV, Gabor mansion, fashion store, Starlight Music, Misfits music, Eric's car, Rockin' Roadster, Haven House, Rio's car, Danny's house, Gabor mansion, video arcade club, fast food restaurant, trainstation, police station, Stouffer Stadiums, empire state building in New York.

First appearance of:
Video's new look, Techrat, Danse, Danny, Jack Sobieski, Misfits Music, Haven House, Eric's car.

Songs:
"She Makes An Impression" Jem and the Holograms
"When It's Only Me And The Music" Jem and the Holograms
"I Am I Giant" The Misfits

Part of songs:
"She Makes An Impression" by Jem and the Holograms, "I Am A Giant" by the Misfits.

Instrumentals:
"She Makes An Impression" by Jem and the Holograms.

Genres:
Drama, Message, Action, Adventure, Humor.

Original airdate:
13 September 1986.

Releases:
Released on VHS. Released on DVD.

International:
Italy: Aired on TV. The episode title was "Il Gran Premio Di Musica Rock - prima parte" (The Rock Music Gran Prix).
France: Aired on TV. Released on DVD. The episode title was "L'oscar (1)" (The oscar).
Holland: Aired on TV.
Venezuela: Aired on TV. The episode title was "Los Premios Musicales" (Music awards).
UK: Aired on TV.
Australia: Released on VHS. Released on DVD.
New Zealand: Released on VHS.

Behind the Scenes:
"She Makes An Impression" is Christy's least favorite song, mostly because of the music video in which she thinks the Starlight Girls pick out the ugliest clothes you have ever seen on the face of the earth. But Christy liked how they put togheter the lyrics and the message.

Techrat was supposed to be an androgyneous characters, you weren't supposed to be sure whether this was a male or a female character. But unfortunately Hasbro didn't like Christy's idea, so consequently Techrat became a male. But he was inspired by Boy George at the time.

Christy didn't think Techrat's voice fit the character.

Originally in the script, in the scene where Synergy starts shooting lasers, Jerrica was able to stop it by using a mirror to bounce back the laserbeams.

The music video of "When It's Only Me And The Music" was storyboarded by Mike Vosburg, who already happened to be a very good friend of Christy. Infact Mike Vosburg is the artist who had illustrated Christy's comic book "The Sisterhood of Steel".

The look of the character Video was re-designed for this episode to resemble the doll more.

The last name of the character Jack Sobieski is an injoke by Christy because she has relatives with the name Sobieski.

In the script, the stadium where the Misfits perform, was called "The Slifer Stadium", as in Roger Slifer. But that name never showed up in the episode, probably because Slifer was the story editor at the time and cut it out for some reason. Instead it was called "Stouffer Stadiums".

The song "I Am A Giant" is one of Christy's favorite Misfits songs. She suggested the events in the music video, and really liked the way it came out.

Model cels in this episode of Stormer and Album cover [Picture by soyouthinkyourajedi].

Trivia:
Ba Nee is playing with a Jem doll dressed like Hasbro's first edition of Jem.

Deirdre thinks Jem is the greatest, she considers herself Jem and the Holograms number 1 fan, and dreams of playing with the Holograms when she gets good on guitar.

According to Lin-Z, the Hot Rocks music awards is the most important music event of the year. According to Eric that award can make the Misfits a career.

Jem and the Holograms and the Misfits are both competing in the top new rock group category. This means this is probably the first year of the groups, or atleast the first year since their breakthrough.

Lin-Z describes Jem and the Holograms: "They arrived from nowhere and hit it big with their smooth vibrant sound", The Misfits: "Rocking it up the charts with their tough rough beat and no nonsense lyrics".

When Jem and the Holograms got Starlight Music back, they dropped the Misfits recording contract.

Misfits Music comes to be when Harvey lets Pizzazz buy a record company.

Joanie at Starlight Music says, about Misfits music, "maybe it's some other Misfits", is she referring to the real life band?

There's a scene similar to one of the first scenes in the first episode "The Beginning", when Jerrica comes to Starlight Music and first meets Eric's secretary, and then Eric and the Misfits inside Eric's office.

Techrat hates being touched.

Synergy can shoot laserbeams, but she only did because of interference from an outside source, one of Techrats gadgets.

Jem and the Holograms are introduced to Danse by Video. Danse's real name is Giselle Dvorak, Danse is just her stage name.

Danse works part time as a volunteer at Haven House, a place for teenage runaways to get off the streets. If they want help Haven House has counsellors to talk to, but there are too many runaways and not enough beds.

There's a white grand piano in Starlight Mansion.

Deirdre likes Purple Rain, it's the name of a power ballad by Prince, aswell as the name of one of his albums and a film.

According to the poster made by Danse, the Special Benefit Concert of Haven House starring Jem and the Holograms, was held August 3, 1986.

One of the Starlight Girls hangouts is a video arcade club, and a fast food restaurant.

According to Aja, Krissie is a sensible girl.

Like in the episode "The Jem Jam Part 2" Krissie seems to be afraid of heights.

One of the reasons this story centered around the Starlight girls is because Hasbro was releasing them as dolls and wanted them featured. But for this particular story it was Deirdre who joined with Ba Nee and Krissie, rather than Ashley joining them. This was likely because Ashley had already ran away in an earlier episode and then found her place with everyone at Starlight Mansion, so it would be unlikely for her to run away again. Plus it would had forced a slightly different type of story since the three runaways meet the Misfits, and Stormer is supposed to be friends with Ashley. Perhaps they also choose Deirdre because she resembles Ashley, and therefore closest in looks to the Ashley doll in their mind.

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