This time the group gets a slightly different mission. The premise remains basically the same- promote (fill in lame band) here up the wazoo. This time, instead of From Zero it is Adema. Arista wants Adema to be THE rock band and so they enlist the help of the seven dwarfs to do that. Their assignment is to go K-Rock, a hot and happening, cutting edge radio station in New York and convince the DJ's that they want to add Adema to their play list. Sounds easy enough right? Then you remember who they're sending.

Almost immediately the complaints come pouring in. 'It's probably the opposite of everything I like,' says Nicole. Senior Director Jeff points out, 'It's not our responsibility to like the record, and it's our responsibility to make everyone else like the record.' Right on, Jeffo.

But wait, that's not all. Lori hates the assignment too. She thinks all the questions will make her feel too 'anxious' and 'pressured.' Coral points out that if she wants to be a star someday that this is something she is going to have to get over. Lori responds with, 'I want to be a singer but I don't have to be a salesman.' Coral comes back, 'Well, if you want to be a singer you'll have to sell yourself.' Once again I agree with Coral. There's been a string of that lately, who woulda thunk it? But really, the more Lori talks about singing and her hang ups, the farther away it seems she is getting from seeing her dream become a reality. Now it's about being nervous when people ask her questions. How in the hell did she make it on the Real World in the first place? Just shut up and deal.

Unlike the other roommates, Kevin is psyched about the assignment. He has experience in radio and he feels confident that he's pretty good at it. He also points out that there is safety in numbers, 'The seven's a positive I think.' Sure, it can be, but when two of your roommates are afraid to talk to strangers, and the other three refuse to listen to anything but R&B, your theory is slowly falling away from you.

Nicky from Arista calls Lori. You remember Nicky, he's the one who believes in Lori's 'talent.' Anywho, he wants to 'put her on the mic,' even if the song in question ends up not being for her. 'What you gave me was very smooth,' Nicky offers. So he says he wants to try and pinpoint her sound. (Or in other words, Just what is your deal anyway?) He then ends the convo on a positive by saying, 'Regardless of this stuff we will be writing stuff specifically for you.' Well, isn't that just peachy.

The group heads off to K-Rock. Kevin gets the ball rolling by telling a bit about the band and then segues into playing their track, 'Giving In.' You know trouble is not far off when we hear Malik voice over, 'A lot of us aren't really feeling the music and it shows, people can see that.' Kevin begins (confidently, always confidently) explaining the bidding war that went down for Adema since the K-Rock dude was a surprised a R&B aficionado like Arista signed them in the first place. It's all downhill from here. K-Rock Nazi starts to shoot off tons of questions that leave the Real Worlders spinning. I'll give them that he seemed to go a bit quick but other than that, it is pretty much elementary stuff. Questions like - Who is in the band? What's their target audience? Will they be part of the Family Values tour? come rolling out of said K-Rocker's mouth. At this point I become unclear on what their constant prepping consisted of. Did Adam and Devin really lead them that much astray? Doubtful. Did the house think that by listening to Adema's single a few times and reading the back of the CD cover that they were covered? More likely. To add speed to the already fast derailing train, Kevin is the only one trying to answer the guys questions. The rest of the crew sits there, dumbfounded, or in their case, just plain dumb.

At the end of the meeting one of the K-Rockers asks, 'Will the band be cool about coming to the station?' They all chime in with 'Absolutely.' What else would they say? The guy shoots them down by saying that competition that week is fierce since the new Tool record is coming. Oh joy. The group walks away defeated, realizing that they have to do it all over again next week. In the meantime, it hits them that they have homework to do. Kevin also points out that K-Rock seemed to be really into what the band had to say and so he thinks contacting them directly might be a good idea. They all agree, give each other high-five's and yell, 'Goooo Team!' Ok, so I'm lying about that last part, but still.

Lori scampers off to Nicky's studio. Mike, Coral and Nicole tag along for 'moral support and whatnot.' Lori admits she is nervous about Coral's opinion. The track is an R&B Destiny's Child/Eden's Crush kind of ditty. Coral starts coaching Lori about how she doesn't need to articulate as much. Lori gets frustrated. Coral reminds her, 'It's not what you do vocally...music comes from the inside, you've gotta have more confidence.' Lori's glad that Coral is there to give her the pep talk and she feels it makes all the difference. In the end, everyone congratulates Lori on a job well done. Truth be told, I can't tell the difference between the takes when Lori supposedly sucked and when she suddenly 'got it.' That's not to say she was constantly bad, she wasn't. She seemed to hold her own. But then again, the show is only 22 minutes long so you gotta figure I saw about a minute of Lori's session so what do I know? Nicky hands her the single and Lori smiles, but just stands there. Be psyched girl! You just got to record a track, while being filmed for that little television show you're also on called The Real World. Ugh, Lori just angers me.

From Zero is baack. The group has to go to CBGB's to see the band in concert. Mike is chosen to introduce the band and he gets more psyched about that then Lori about her Star Search opportunity. Mike introduces the band sounding more like he is about to welcome WWF wrestlers. The gang jams to From Zero and Rachel says, 'We have to pretend for when they play Adema.' Everyone agrees. I'm sorry, when did you become such huge fans of From Zero in the first place? You know Adema's bad when they suddenly start looking back on their From Zero experience with appreciation and fondness.

They head off to promote Adema one more time. They even practice their enthusiasm before going in. 'This time we have a whole new approach,' says Lori. From the start you can tell this meeting is gonna go well. They even got footage of Adema on video for the K-Rockers to see they are user friendly. Before you know it, Jekyll and Hyde like personas start kicking in big time. Lori gushes, 'Adema- they're so cool. They're awesome. They're funny.' This wasn't to the DJ's mind you, but to the camera. Jigga what? They play the same track again. It still sucks but the crew fakes interest (over doing it if you ask me) and the K-Rock dunces buy it. They know their stats and that it's the kind of track K-Rock would play, although, did I mention it sucks? K-Rock tells them they will call them with news either way.

Lo and behold K-Rock calls and tells them they got the play list add. Well surprise, surprise. Suddenly we learn that today is the crew's last day at Arista. Before we know it, Devon and Adam are all teary eyed and full of remember when's. I half expect them to line up and sing 'That's What Friends Are For,' but it doesn't happen. Probably only because it wasn't recorded by Arista artists.

As if that love fest wasn't corny enough, Arista employees hold a surprise party for the super seven. They even get Arista family plaques for 'all their hard work.' Gee, I wonder if all interns get this four star treatment on their way out the door? Hmm...I'm gonna go with a big fat NO.

As their days with Arista come to a close the crew gets sad that it's over. I personally think they could care less about their time at Arista (with the possible exception of Mike) but they are just bracing for what comes next- leaving the house.

Janet Branagan is a freelance writer and pop culture lover from New Jersey.

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