Video Killed the Radio Star

Season	Episode
1	9

Release dates

Air date

May 3, 2013

Air date

May 5, 2014

Credits

Writer(s)

Ian van den Herk

Director

Brian Roberts

Chronology
Previous	Next
"Just the Two of Us"	"Road to Joy"

“	[Unintelligible babbling.]	”
— Riley, when attempting to speak to Brighter Brightest

Click here to see more quotes.

"Video Killed the Radio Star" is the 9th episode in Season 1 of The Next Step and the 9th episode overall. It first aired on May 3, 2013.

Synopsis[]

A-Troupe is selected to perform in a music video for the band Brighter Brightest.

Plot[]

In Studio A, A-Troupe is dancing in to a song by a band called Brighter Brightest; Chris reveals that he has made them dance to the song in preparation for a surprise. After the dancers finish the routine, Chris reveals that he has worked with Brighter Brightest in the past, and that his surprise is that they want A-Troupe to appear in their upcoming music video. Everyone is excited, especially Riley; Emily confesses that her sister is probably their biggest fan.

As Brighter Brightest are about to arrive, Riley asks James various questions about how she should behave around them; he advises her to act calm, as he is sure she will be nervous. Riley dismisses this, and is certain she will be "cool" around the band. Just then, Alex Westgate and Derek Hoffman from Brighter Brightest enter the studio with their publicist; Riley rushes towards them, even pushing Michelle in the process. As the publicist introduces Alex and Derek, Riley attempts to ask for their autograph but is so nervous that she begins stammering incoherently, making the band members believe she is speaking Swahili; Riley blames James for her panic. To break the tension, the dancers are asked to freestyle; they all perform well except for Riley, who is so nervous that she can't even dance properly. After this, the publicist begins speaking of how impressed she is while James teases Riley about her poor performance. As the two begin to argue, the publicist calls them out for a lack of professionalism, much to Riley's horror. The band calls them both to the front, but instead of further condemning them, Alex tells them that they have obvious chemistry and that they want to make them the focus of the video; Riley is overjoyed, though sceptical about whether she has any chemistry with James. The publicist emphasizes that they need to be ready by tomorrow, and Emily assures them that they will.

Chloe kate season 1 vktrs — Chloe tells Kate that she cannot go to the music video shoot.

Chloe enters Kate's office, and tells her that she will unable to attend the music video shoot as she has "a personal commitment", which is actually a shift at her job. Kate is incredulous at Chloe's apparent lack of commitment and confesses that maybe she shouldn't be on A-Troupe. Eventually, Chloe lies that she mixed up the dates and can actually go, but confesses that she will have to find somebody to cover her shift. Meanwhile, Emily begins choreographing a dance for A-Troupe to perform in the video and refuse to take anyone else's ideas into consideration. The boys are angry that their thoughts are not being taken into consideration into the routine, with James deeming the choreography more suitable for a band called Dimmer Dimmest; after Emily levels the insult back at him and informs him that she likes none of his ideas, James tries to throw her off her game by mooing like a cow. Emily instantly calls him out for it, but James denies making noises and the other boys begin to back him up, making the noises of a dog, an eagle and a tiger amongst others; consequently, Emily orders them to get out of the studio, with which they gladly comply.

The boys go to Studio B and continue to goof off by impersonating various members of the studio. Meanwhile, the girls are attempting to rehearse in Studio A when Chris and Kate enter the studio with pizza. Chris immediately notices that they boys are missing and asks where they are. Emily tells Chris that the boys were "horsing around, literally", and are in Studio B; Chris leaves to confront them, and finds them just as they are mocking the Dolphin Tail. Chris orders them to return to Studio A and confesses that if they are going to impersonate him, they should at least do the Dolphin Tail properly.

When the boys return, an argument instantly ensues. Kate butchers the Dolphin Tail to get the dancers' attention, causing them to laugh. Their laughter dissipates when Kate chastises them for wasting their opportunity, and announces that she is calling off the video shoot. The dancers each have somebody else to blame for the scenario, except Chloe, who is secretly relieved that the video has been called off as she couldn't find anybody to cover her shift.

James kate chloe season 1 vktrs — James admits that he mooed.

Emily and James enter Kate's office, and Emily assures Kate that she can handle this and that the music video can be done. Emily blames James for the ruckus that ensued and James admits that he did "moo", but lies that making animal noises is how he deals with stress. Kate says that if they want to do the video, Emily has to include everybody's moves. Emily begrudgingly agrees and tells the rest of A-Troupe that the shoot is still on; everyone is thrilled, and James confesses that he is happy to have helped for Riley's sake.

Later, Riley is trying to figure out how to act normal around Brighter Brightest, and James motivates her; Riley confesses that to her surprise, speaking to him has helped her. Meanwhile, Chloe calls her boss and lies that she feels sick and will be unable to work her shift; her boss gives her time off, but tells her that if she misses one more shift, she will be fired.

The following day, Brighter Brightest arrives to film their video. A member of the band tries to greet Riley, but Derek informs him that Riley doesn't speak English, embarrassing her and amusing James.

The music video shoot commences, with James and Riley dancing in featured roles.

Late at night, Riley is sitting alone in Studio A, until James joins her and asks why she seems sad. She explains that she is upset because she had a chance to talk to Brighter Brightest and blew it. James tells Riley that she shouldn't be sad as he got something for her; one of the members of the band then enters, and gives Riley an an autographed photo of the band; as Riley looks at the photo in delight, he gives her a kiss on the cheek. Riley is ecstatic, and confesses that she thinks what James did for her is really sweet, as she has never really seen his soft side before.

Trivia[]

Riley's favourite band is Brighter Brightest.
James can play the drums.
As seen on the clapperboard that Riley holds, filming for this episode took place on August 7, 2012.

Continuity[]

James and Riley reprise their duet from "Just the Two of Us" during Brighter Brightest's music video.

Behind the Scenes[]

According to Brittany Raymond via her YouTube channel, the person who calls, "And cut!" at the end of the music video is Frank van Keeken, the creator of the show.^[1]

Errors[]

Despite Riley saying that she and James have chemistry in "Just the Two of Us", she denies that they do in this episode.
- However, given that James declares that Riley gives him mixed signals all the time, this could just be one of them.
When the boys are impersonating other The Next Step members in Studio B, they impersonate Tiffany, Michelle, Chloe, Emily, Eldon, James and Beth, but West confesses that they were impersonating the E-Girls. Even though they impersonated a lot of the E-Girls, they did not imitate Stephanie, nor did they imitate Riley, who while being a former member of the E-Girls, is not a current one.

Production errors[]

The show's producers claim that Season 1 took place in 2015, yet the date on the clapperboard that Riley holds clearly reads August 7, 2012; however, this is presumably when the episode itself was filmed.