Big Brother 13′s resident metalhead and reality show addict Adam Poch is recapping The Amazing Race for Metal Insider – specifically Team Headbangers, consisting of former White Lion/Megadeth/Black Label Society bassist James LoMenzo and entertainment lawyer Mark “Abba” Abbattista. You can follow Adam on Twitter at @heavymetalteddy.
Welcome to the latest edition of the Amazing Race 21 recap – focusing on TEAM HEADBANGERS – James LoMenzo & Mark ‘Abba’ Abbattista. When we last left our long-haired crusaders, they finished the third leg in 4th place. Moving up 2 spots from their first 2 weeks and starting to build some momentum. After getting their first clue – it was off to the airport where they would have to travel from Indonesia to Bangladesh. Since the next flight wasn’t until 10am the following morning – all 8 teams left in the race would be on the same flight – and it would basically be a game reset once they got off. This may have been good news to some of the teams that fell back in the last leg, but not good news for the teams that finished at or near the top last leg.
Once they arrived in Bangladesh – it was every team for themselves as they tried to get taxis and get to Rubel Model Auto Mobiles (a bus repair depot) in the city of Dhaka. Once there – the teams had to compete in their first Roadblock challenge – “Fill in the gaps.” As they showed us when the teams arrived in Bangladesh – the streets are very congested and the city buses look like they are always getting banged up – so one person from each team had to mix some putty with the correct color and fill in the dents in an area on the bus. Once they completed that – they then had to sand it down and get ready for it to be painted. But before the task was over and they could get their next clue – they had to remove 3 sets of chairs from inside the bus and get those ready to be reupholstered. The first 4 teams that arrived all started working on the buses – but when James & Abba showed up – they decided to try the Fast Forward challenge. In a Fast Forward, teams only have to perform 1 challenge for the leg – then they can move on to the next pit stop. Fast Forwards are usually pretty tough – and if you cannot complete it – then you have to go back and start at the Roadblock, losing precious time. Also, another fun part of the Fast Forward – if 2 teams are doing it, only the team that finishes first gets to skip the Detour and move right on. When you hear what the Fast Forward was – you will see why no other team was willing to try it.
James & Abba may have rocked out on & off stages all over the world, and the music business is filled with plenty of rats – but I am sure neither one of them ever had to work as an exterminator and collect dead rats from 3 locations. One can only imagine the smell a bag of dead rats gives off – and for our rockers, it did not really seem to phase them much. Well, that was until Abba accidentally stepped in a pool of raw sewage. After that, he started getting a little worried as who knows what diseases could have been living in there. On the flip side – the funny part of them collecting the rats, was as they were going from location to location, they started picking up followers along the way. This was kinda the reverse of the Pied Piper – instead of the rats following the piper, this was people following the rats. James & Abba found all three locations and delivered the rats to the dump – and got the clue to where the next Pit Stop was.
Meanwhile the teams after completing the Roadblock, then had to make their way to a market and go through bags of dried fish looking for an orange fish to get the clue to their Detour Challenge. They then had to decide between Pound Metal or Pound Cotton. Judging by the name, the Headbangers would have definitely pounded metal – but it would not be playing some Megadeth songs. Instead they would have to work in a blacksmith shop and make a spike by pounding out a piece of heated metal. In the Pound Cotton challenge – teams had to beat a pile of cotton and then stuff it inside of a mattress and sew it up. Both of these challenges were taking their toll on the teams – but James & Abba got to skip all of this and got to the Pit Stop first – winning this leg & trip to Antigua. Sadly as the rest of the teams checked in, some had more travel problems, including getting dropped off at the wrong location, forcing a few teams to have to go back and get to the pit stop the correct way. Super fans & substitute teachers Gary & Will were the last team to check in, and got eliminated from the race.
Due to the editing, we do not know how much a lead Team Headbangers have on everyone else – but watch out, these guys are getting better and better and are now a force to be reckoned with. With only 7 teams left – they are one step closer from bringing home the 1 million dollar prize.
