Disney Channel in Concert

Disney Channel in Concert
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Camera setup	Videotape; multi-camera
Running time	60 minutes (approx.)
Original release
Network	Disney Channel
Release	September 1997 (1997-09) – January 2001 (2001-01)

Disney Channel in Concert is a reality series that combined footage of live concerts with a behind-the-scenes look at the artists' personal lives. The artists came from all genres of music, including hip-hop, country and pop to classical and blues. Episodes often promoted the artist's sales and popularity to a teen and pre-teen audience.^[1][2] The series ran from early 1997 to late 2001.

Background

Each show featured a specially taped live concert, with documentary footage playing between songs showing the artist pursuing personal and professional passions, and interviews with mentors, friends and family. Though specials were usually taped at Disney parks or properties like Disney's Hollywood Studios or aboard the Disney cruise ship Disney Magic,^[3] the Backstreet Boys concert was filmed at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City^[4] and the 98 Degrees and Hoku episode was filmed in the artists' respective hometowns of Cincinnati and Honolulu.^[5] The concert specials typically lasted an hour and aired on Fridays, with reruns being shown after it aired on the network frequently.^[1] The promotional content for these concerts were hosted in a program called "Behind the Ears" hosted by RuDee Sade Lipscomb.^[6]

The episode with NSYNC notably launched the group's career in the U.S.; they were mostly known by European audiences before the concert special.^[7][8] A month prior to the airing of the concert, the group's debut album sat at number 82 on the Billboard 200 chart.^[9] The concert was replayed on the Disney Channel multiple times, leading album sales to skyrocket. Three weeks after the concert first aired, the album reached the number 9 spot.^[10]

Cancellation

Disney Channel took In Concert off the air in late 2001, as well as with music videos, citing the inability to receive a stake in revenue from the artists' CD sales and lack of exclusivity for the videos^[11][12] However, they still aired music videos from songs featured in Disney's feature films and from artists played on Radio Disney^[13] and signed to Disney's in-house record companies Hollywood Records and Walt Disney Records.^[14]

List of concert specials

• LeAnn Rimes in Concert (1997)^[1]
• Disney's Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra in Concert (1992-1997) (Mickey Mouse)^[15]
• Ray J in Concert with Brandy (1997)^[1]
• Jonny Lang in Concert (1997)^[1]
• NSYNC in Concert (1998)^[1]
• Cleopatra in Concert (1998)^[16]
• Holidays in Concert (1998) (NSYNC, Shawn Colvin, and Tatyana Ali)^[17]
• B*Witched and Five in concert (1998)^[18]
• Backstreet Boys in Concert (1999)^[4]
• Britney Spears and Joey McIntyre in Concert (1999)^[19]
• Youngstown and Steps in Concert (2000)^[20]
• BBMak & M2M in Concert (2000)^[21]
• Jessica Simpson & Jason Raize in Concert (2000)^[22]
• 98 Degrees & Hoku in Concert (2000)^[5]
• Aaron Carter & Samantha Mumba in Concert (2001)^[23]

References

1. Hay, Carla (15 August 1998). "Disney Touts Its Ears" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 33. pp. 6, 85. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
2. Gallagher, Caitlin (4 May 2016). "These Disney Channel Original Concert Throwbacks Will Fill You With Way Too Much Joy". PopSugar. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
3. "InBaseline: Cleopatra in Concert". InBaseline. Archived from the original on 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
4. "Backstreet Boys Get It "That Way" For New Single And Video, Plan Disney Concert Special". MTV News. 5 April 1999. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
5. Basham, David (11 August 2000). "98 Degrees Pays Visit To Hometown School". MTV News. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
6. "Disney Behind The Ears | Disney Channel | 1999 | B*Witched & Five". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-08-03. Retrieved 2021-08-03. YouTube.
7. "*NSYNC Reflects on Making U.S. Debut & Competing With Backstreet Boys as Self-Titled Album Turns 20: 'It Was Us Against the World'". Billboard. 24 March 2018. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
8. "SCORE ONE FOR THE BOYS: 'N Sync's Fab Five Make Music to Soothe The Tweenage Soul". Washington Post. 19 March 1999. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
9. "Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. June 13, 1998. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
10. "Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. August 15, 1998. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
11. Hay, Carla (26 May 2001). "Disney Channel Scales Back Videos, Concert Programming". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 21. p. 67. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
12. Umstead, R. Thomas (25 June 2001). "Disney Bounces Videos! Concerts from Schedule". Multichannel News. Archived from the original on 2011-06-24. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
13. Applefeld Olson, Catherine (11 November 2006). "Disney at 50: Walt Disney Builds on a 50-Year Legacy to Target New Audiences". Billboard. Vol. 118, no. 45. pp. 39, 40. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
14. Bickford, Tyler (2020). Tween Pop: Children's Music and Public Culture. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-1-4780-0819-4. "The two Disney record labels...would release records by Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez, among others"
15. "An Appealing Concert From 'Musicians'". Los Angeles Times. 2 August 1997. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
16. "Cleopatra On Madonna's Many Faces". MTV News. 7 July 1998. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
17. Mayfield, Geoff (19 December 1998). "Where the boys are" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 51. p. 84. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
18. "B*witched Kicks-Off Tour With 'N Sync, Teams Up With 5ive For TV". MTV News. 28 December 1998. Archived from the original on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
19. "Britney Spears, Joey McIntyre Headed To Disney". MTV News. 16 July 1999. Archived from the original on 2016-05-30. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
20. Ives, Brian (19 October 1999). "Youngstown And Steps To Play Disney Special". MTV News. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
21. "Will BBMak, M2M B Kids' 2 New Fave?". Orlando Sentinel. 2000-02-13.
22. Sherrow, Rita (16 June 2000). "On TV: And an AMC annual". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on 2021-07-29. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
23. "Aaron Carter's Oh Aaron In Stores August 7". idobi. 2 July 2001. Archived from the original on 2021-05-15. Retrieved 2021-07-29.