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One of the standout live performances on Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards came from The Weeknd, who sang “Save Your Tears” as 20 matching cars drove behind him, next to him and around him in complicated, synchronized patterns. Now we’re learning just what went into pulling off that stunt.
The segment’s director, Alex Lill, tells Billboard that in coming up with the idea of cars driving in patterns, he was inspired by “those old 1950s synchronized swimmers.” The segment’s writer, Charlie Morse, worked with a stunt coordinator who put together a 21-person team of stunt drivers who rehearsed with the cars for 16 hours prior to the performance.
Meanwhile, producer Brendan Garrett had to find 20 identical vintage cars in red and white, in four to five days. He ended up having to find them all individually online, because none of the companies that provide cars to movies could fill the bill. A NASCAR mechanic team had to be on site, because the vintage cars kept breaking down.
Meanwhile, The Weeknd was totally down with walking around the parking lot as the cars, which were going 25 miles an hour, spend right past him.
“There was a lot of trust with those cars going by,” Morse tells Billboard. “He didn’t seem nervous at all, which really weirded us out, because these cars were just barreling by him and he was calm, kept his composure, walked slow and just didn’t look back. It was kind of amazing.”
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