American Dreams

American Dreams was an American television drama program broadcast on the NBC television network. It debuted on September 29th, 2002. It initially aired on Sundays at 8:00pm but moved to the same time on Wednesdays starting March 9, 2005. Season 3 began on September 26, 2004. It was officially cancelled by NBC on May 16, 2005.

Special guests

During the show's run, several contemporary artists recreated performances of artists from the 1960's. These recreations were often performed on the American Bandstand stage; although several performances took place at a performing area adjacent to the Vinyl Crocodile record store. In the second and third seasons, several of the recreations took place at The Lair, a coffee house/student union facility on the University of Pennsylvania campus.

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The following contemporary artists, along with the songs they performed and the artist they "interpreted," are listed below.

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Performances on Bandstand

• 112, as The Four Tops, performing "Reach Out I'll Be There"
• Fantasia Barrino, as Aretha Franklin, singing "Respect"
• Kelly Clarkson, as Brenda Lee, singing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree"
• JoJo, as Linda Ronstadt, auditioning for Bandstand with "That'll Be The Day"
• Jennifer Love Hewitt, as Nancy Sinatra, performing "These Boots Are Made For Walking"
• Chris Isaak, as Roy Orbison, performing "Pretty Woman"
• Monica, as Mary Wells, performing "My Guy"
• Lil' Kim, as Shirley Ellis, performing "The Clapping Song"
• Third Eye Blind, as The Kinks, performing "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night"
• Kelly Rowland, as Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas, performing "Dancing in the Streets"
• Alicia Keys, as Fontella Bass, performing "Rescue Me"
• Steadman, as the Dave Clark Five, performing "Do You Love Me"
• Hilary Duff and Haylie Duff, as The Shangri-Las, performing "Leader of the Pack"
• Richie Sambora, as Eric Clapton of the Yardbirds, performing "For Your Love"
• Brad Paisley, as Ricky Nelson, performing "Dream Lover"
• Macy Gray, as Carla Thomas, performing "B.A.B.Y"
• Nick Lachey, as Tom Jones, performing "It's Not Unusual"
• Liz Phair, as Jackie DeShannon, performing "When You Walk in the Room"
• Evan & Jaron, as The Everly Brothers, performing "Wake Up Little Susie"
• Fefe Dobson, as Tina Turner, performing "River Deep - Mountain High"
• Wyclef Jean, as Curtis Mayfield, performing "Woman's Got Soul"
• B2K, as The Temptations, performing "My Girl"
• Hawk Nelson, as The Who, performing "My Generation"
• Phantom Planet, as The Zombies, performing "Tell Her No"
• Usher, as Marvin Gaye, performing "Can I Get a Witness"
• Brandy Norwood, as Gladys Knight, performing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
• Duncan Sheik, as Bobby Darin, performing "Beyond the Sea"
• LeAnn Rimes, as Connie Francis, performing "Where the Boys Are"
• Vanessa Carlton, as Dusty Springfield, performing "Wishin' and Hopin'"
• Ashanti, as Dionne Warwick, performing "Walk on By"
• Fountains of Wayne, as the Hollies, performing "Bus Stop"
• John Legend, as Stevie Wonder, performing "Uptight (Everything's Alright)"
• Van Hunt, as Jimmy Ruffin, performing "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted"
• Jason Mraz, as Dion DiMucci, performing "Ruby Baby"
• Stacie Orrico, as the lead singer of The Angels, performing "My Boyfriend's Back"

Performances at the Vinyl Crocodile

• India.Arie, as Nina Simone, performing "Come Ye"

Performances at the Lair

• John Ondrasik from the band Five For Fighting, performing a folk arrangement of his 2004 recording "If God Made You"
• Art Aleksanis, as Country Joe McDonald, performing "I Feel Like I'm-a Fixin' To Die Rag"
• Joss Stone, performing a folk arrangement of her 2005 hit "Right To Be Wrong"
• Alanis Morissette, as a folk singer performing her original composition "Offer"
• Bonnie McKee, as Janis Joplin, performing "Summertime"
• Hayley Westenra performed "Who Painted the Moon Black?" from her album Pure on episode 46.

Other Guest Star Appearances

• Paris Hilton, as Barbara Eden of I Dream of Jeannie
• Tavis Smiley, as Thurgood Marshall
• Brian McKnight, as Stokley Carmichael