I love Jem and the Holograms! Being a huge fan of the show when I was younger, I knew all the songs by heart and spent many nights belting out songs in my room until my mother forcefully asked me to cut the ruckus and go to sleep. Jem was and still is my inspiration. I mean, who wouldn’t be inspired by her? She had truly outrageous sense of style (pun intended) and the personality to match. She helped run an orphanage and at the same time as leading an amazing band with all of her friends is all sorts of awesome in my book. Not to mention a computer that projects holograms of cool looks for her and her friends – you’d think that in 2015, someone would have caught up to her by now.
There has been a flood of negative comments regarding the new Jem and the Holograms movie, and now they have decided to pull the plug after having it in theatres for 2 weeks. I for one have not seen the movie, due to all the negative feedback. I’m sure that there were reasons not to stay true to the story we loved years ago, and it’s really unfortunate that things didn’t work out for the new version.
One day, while discussing the new movie with a fellow Jem fan (*ehem* Taylor D.! LOL!) , I asked myself – If I had a dream team or a fantasy Jem league, who would be in it? Lo and behold, off the top of my head, I was able to pick out 5 women who would have had the musical background and look to represent the awesomeness of the characters from the original Jem and the Holograms show:
Hayley Williams of Paramore as Jerrica Benton/Jem
Who doesn't know Hayley Williams or their band, Paramore? She was discovered back in 2003 at 14 years old and managed to land a 2 year production deal. Thank God she decided not to become a full-on pop star and convinced the producers for her to be in a pop punk rock band instead. She was my first choice as Jem because of her upbeat tone and versatility. She won several Kerrang Reader's Poll Awards for Sexiest Female Front Singer for the past 5years, Billboard's Women in Music Awards Trailblaizer Award in 2014 and Best Singer on last year's Alternative Music Awards, Hayley's beauty and talent encompass what a young, bright and very talented singer that Jem was in the show.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayley_Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A63VwWz1ij0
Marta Peterson of Bleeding Through as Kimber Benton
Jem's sister needs to be just as bad ass as she is, and so I picked Marta Peterson. Also known for her talent and beauty, Marta was voted Revolver's 2010 Hottest Chicks in Metal and one of the most swooned after performers in the music genre. Watch her play in one of her performances whilst in Bleeding Through and you'll see what all the fuss is about.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleeding_Through
http://loudwire.com/marta-peterson-hottest-rockstar-wives/
http://roadrunnerrecords.co.uk/2010/05/gear-nerd-keyboards-with-marta-peterson-bleeding-through/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOfBk_2uiqg
Mami Sasazaki of Scandal as Aja Leith
Mami is the lead guitarist and vocals of SCANDAL - a J-Pop/Rock all female band that is very well known for its contributions in a lot of anime music and is known all over the world as well as the First Girl Band to have an album chart in the top three in over a year in 2008. You might have heard some of their songs in anime such as their songs "Shōjo S" and "Harukaze" for Bleach and "Shunkan Sentimental" for Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. You might have also heard their songs in commercials such as Cecil McBee cosmetics, Nike, and Pocari Sweat. In 2008, their band was awarded a bronze in the Newcomer Award category by RTHK (Hong Kong's version of the Grammys).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandal_(Japanese_band)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f82DHcE9ZOs
Esperanza Spalding as Shana Elmsford
Although coming from a completely different musical genre from all the other ladies in this list, Esperanza has so much to show for as she was the first jazz artist to ever win the award as Best New Artist in the 53rd Grammy Awards. She's also won 3 additional Grammy Awards. President Barrack Obama even asked her to perform at the Whitehouse and Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. One of her memorable performances on the David Letterman Show has made Lettermen proclaim her as the "Coolest Guest" in the 3 decades of the show's history.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanza_Spalding
https://www.facebook.com/EsperanzaSpalding/info?tab=page_info
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDxVz476VxQ
Julietta Randall of Rusty Eye as Carmen "Raya" Alonso
Raya was involved with a lot of projects, particularly composing/performing marketing campaigns for LA Metro's "Next Trip" mobile application and singing for Music Junkies "La Llorona Insidiosa" as heard on "Insidious Chapter 2" trailers. The amazing miss Alonso competed in the World's Fastest Drummer (Extreme Sport Drumming) finalist in 2007, reaching 720 hits in 60 seconds in the feet category. Amy Sciarretto of Noise Creep pegged her as "A rarity in rock and metal bands -- to have a female 'manning the kit,' so to speak.". She was also the Best Drummer of the Year, 2005 by Rock City News in Los Angeles.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/missjrandall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83gwgY0NtdI
So, how about it? Wouldn't you like to see how this awesome combination would turn out?
With influences from metal, goth, jazz and pop-rock with the beauty and talent to match, I think they have what it takes to put the more modern, diverse and interesting mix of what we would have expected if someone was to ressurect Jem and the Holograms.
