Let It Shine

Plot synopsis:
In Atlanta, Georgia, Cyrus DeBarge (Tyler James Williams) is a musically talented choir director who writes rap lyrics under the pseudonym "Truth" because of his father Pastor Jacob's (Courtney B. Vance) disapproval of hip hop music and his shy demeanor compared to his more outgoing best friend Kris McDuffy (Trevor Jackson). Cyrus also secretly works as a busboy at a club, Off the Street, where the music label of their childhood friend, teenage singing sensation Roxanne "Roxie" Andrews (Coco Jones), is sponsoring a songwriting contest. Roxie chooses Truth's heartfelt song "Don't Run Away" as the winning entry but misidentifies Kris as Truth because the photo Cyrus submitted was of them both. Kris convinces Cyrus to let him take credit for the song because he has feelings for Roxie. As Kris uses Cyrus' verses to get closer to both Roxie's heart and his newfound fame, Cyrus begins to resent his best friend.
Cyrus and Roxie get to know each other and Roxie says she can talk to him better than she can talk to Kris. Cyrus invites Roxie to perform with the choir at his church. Right after their rousing performance, Pastor Jacob humiliates Roxie in front of the congregation by calling out people who are living in "hip-hop-crisy". At the urging of his wife, Gail (Dawnn Lewis), Pastor Jacob goes to the club to apologize to Roxie, where he catches his son working at the club, and learns that Cyrus writes rap lyrics. Although furious at first, Pastor Jacob comes to realize his son's raps carry positive messages and rescinds his initial disapproval.
The conflict between Cyrus and Kris comes to a head when they have a physical altercation at the club. Levi (Alex Désert), the club owner, convinces the two not to let their friendship die. The two mend their friendship and during a duet with Roxie, Cyrus takes Kris' place on the stage to sing "Me and You", revealing through the lyrics that he was Truth all along. Cyrus apologizes and confesses his true feelings, but Roxie storms from the stage and wants nothing to do with either of them. At a hip hop battle contest, Cyrus calls out the winner, an arrogant rapper named Lord of Da Bling (Brandon Mychal Smith). The two battle for the trophy, which Cyrus wins by rapping to the audience that Bling is not in fact rich, but a normal person, which he found out by seeing Bling work his day job as a taxi driver.
Kris eventually tells Roxie that Cyrus is a great person and only pretended he was not Truth for Kris, and they did not try to hurt Roxie: he also says Cyrus is real and that is who she needs to be with. Roxie goes to church and hugs Cyrus and they sing "Let it Shine".

Tags: non fiction

Review:
Will the sun shine for Barlow and co?. With 'The Voice' going over to ITV this Gary Barlow helmed show fills the talent show void instead.And it's a nice concept, finding and forming a band that can be the lead in a new musical. It's a little bit 'X Factor' and a little bit like the Andrew Lloyd Webber talent shows from a few years back.Unlike ITV's stab at 'The Voice' all the judges are well known, as are the hosts, so there's real potential here. Getting Dani Minogue on board was a real masterstroke, because she was a good judge on other shows.The problem is that the format is no different from anything we've seen before, and familiarity tends to bread contempt. Time will tell whether viewers will stick with it beyond the initial look in audience.. I'm inspired, I cry, but most of all, I laugh.. I have tried to sit with my best friend and watch "The Voice," but I have never made it through more than one episode. I used to adore "Dancing with the Stars," but found it eternally frustrating to watch outstanding dancers voted off while lousy performers with a bigger fan base, remained. On top of that, I have never liked "boy bands," which made me the most unlikely viewer of this show. So, I paid no attention to this production until I realized that Graham Norton was hosting it. I consider his show to be the only English-speaking, celebrity "chat" show in the world worth watching. All others pale in comparison. Since I do not watch other music talent shows, I can only speak about what I love about this one. The mix of judges in really refreshing and spans decades of music, but it is the editing of all the footage that really shines. Half of the time is spent on stage, watching the talent unveiled. Graham Norton comes out on stage with each performer as they begin and as they exit. Each time he is hysterically funny while being gentle and kind. The other half is spent either ease-dropping on the judges or following Mel Giedroyc, a comedian and presenter as she hangs out, backstage with the upcoming contestants. She is goofy and jolly. The end-game of the show is to find 5 males to make up the "boy band" cast of a musical created around the songs of "Take That," another boy band from the early '90s. Robbie Williams came out of that band and went on to become one of the greatest performers of my lifetime. Sadly and incredibly, his music has never invaded the shores of North America and few citizens of the USA have ever even heard of him. Gary Barlow, one of the three remaining members of "Take That", is a judge and his heart and soul is in this project. The rest of the panel is made up of the forever dashing Martin Kemp of the fantastic UK rock group of the '80's, "Spandau Ballet," which was not a boy band, "Glee"'s powerhouse, Amber Riley who is on the London stage performing "Dream Girls," and Dannii Minogue, the younger sister of Australian pop singer, Kylie Minogue. The combination of judges and presenters is a perfect recipe for viewing pleasure. I am inspired by the level of talent, moved to tears by the performances and constantly laughing out loud. If you like pop music and Graham Norton, this is for you. If you think pop music is trash and don't "get" British humor or have difficulty with the amazing range of accents spanning the United Kingdom, don't bother.. Reality TV sinks to new low. There is a illegitimate cut of this snow that is being used in Gangstalking circles. It depicts a number of the "performers" with rather emphasised crotches and the cast participating in an absurd attempt at creating paranoia. The "performers" are actors who sell their services for harassment purposes and deserve the life of obscurity and object disdain for participating in a vile, corrupt, and life destroying process. I can only hope that the stars of the show are unaware of how their participation is being used and the effects of the prolonged physical and mental harassment they are contributing to in order to discredit innocent people. BBC shame on you or you have a very significant issue of corruption with some of your producers.. Fresh and Young Talents - Perfect show!. I have been watching this show from the very beginning and I couldn't take my eyes off for a single moment as it was that much interesting. I do love the work done by Gary, Martin and the whole crew. This is not some talent show, it brings everyone a whole new level of experience by forming a boy band with different kinds of challenges. The concept is fresh and of course it has a little bit of 'x factor' and 'the voice' but above all, you have to be thorough with dancing as well as the singing if you really want stay alive in the competition. Certainly Gary Barlow has discovered some incredibly good fresh and young talents by putting up this show. I highly recommend you to watch the show from the beginning before making any points. One of the better reality shows I have ever seen. Keep up the good work BBC!