'Amazing Race' films in Detroit; teams rappel down Guardian Building

Brian McCollum | Detroit Free Press

As workers streamed out of their downtown Detroit offices for the Independence Day holiday, "The Amazing Race" was just getting started.

Production crews and "Amazing Race" competitors — including some well-known reality-show faces — descended onto the city Tuesday afternoon to shoot for the CBS-TV show's upcoming Season 31.

(NOTE: Be aware this story may contain show spoilers from here out.)

Onlookers downtown and “Amazing Race” fans online described the Detroit visit as the season finale.

It was an adventurous day that had teams rappelling down the 36-story Guardian Building, scurrying to assorted spots across the city and eventually dropping into Hart Plaza, where about 100 musicians were gathered for a mass performance of the hometown White Stripes anthem "Seven Nation Army."

The upcoming season of "Amazing Race" is pitting alumni of that show against veterans from fellow CBS reality series "Survivor" and "Big Brother." Created in 2001, "The Amazing Race" sends contestants on globetrotting adventures, where they take on challenges, solve puzzles and find clues as the competition unfolds.

The show had not previously shot in the Motor City.

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Passersby in downtown Detroit were treated to scenes of contestants frantically dashing out of the Guardian Building, quickly convening with their teammates at "The Spirit of Detroit" statue, and hopping into taxicabs for their next destinations.

Competitors spotted Tuesday included Tyler Oakley — the Michigan-born YouTube celeb who starred on Season 28 of "Amazing Race" — and Jamal Zadran, a Season 23 alum. Zadran looked glum as he stood helplessly for at least two hours outside the Guardian, waiting for his teammate to emerge while other teams were well off to their next challenges around the city.

Other destinations included Jack White's Third Man Records in Midtown Detroit — a fitting tie-in to the "Seven Nation Army" angle — and the Heidelberg Project, the Detroit street-art installation.

At Hart Plaza, about 100 musicians assembled in the early afternoon amid scorching heat for several hours of "Seven Nation Army" rehearsals. The plaza was gated off for the occasion, leaving curious passersby straining for glimpses within, as the song's familiar riff kicked up again and again.

About 40 singers, 15 drummers and 50 guitarists and bassists were gathered at the riverside plaza.

A music director could be heard asking the musicians to let loose and have fun, but to stick to the metronome and play the song straight.

"I PROMISE TO FOLLOW THE CLICK TRACK," they recited in unison early on.

It wasn't quite the scale organizers had hoped for: The music gathering was set up by Rockin' 1000, an Italian organization that has staged similar big-group performances around the world. A callout issued last week sought "hundreds" of players for the Detroit event, but Tuesday's turnout clearly fell well short of that mark.

The "Seven Nation Army" shoot was originally targeted for Belle Isle. That plan fell through when the Michigan Department of Natural Resources denied the group's permit, saying they weren't initially informed that hundreds of musicians might be showing up.

Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.