The Princess and the Singer is the nineteenth episode of the first season, and the 19th episode overall, of the Jem animated series.
Synopsis[]
Loosely based on Mark Twain's story, The Prince and the Pauper, while touring the small European country of Morvania, Kimber meets Princess Adriana, the teenage heir to the throne, who look identical to each other. Adriana is to be crowned as the queen of Morvania once she turns 18, but her power-hungry royal cousin doesn't approve and is determined to put a stop to it, dragging Adriana's lookalike Kimber into a whirlwind of evil plans.
Plot[]
Jem and The Holograms are aboard an airplane, flying to the European country of Morvania, of which Kimber comments on being smaller than she expected. Her bandmates warn her not to badmouth the country, since they're there as guests of the royal family residing there. Once they have vacated the aircraft, they pass a crowd of cheering fans and head to Hotel Victor, which the girls believe to be one of the most luxurious places they've ever had the pleasure of staying at. Kimber exclaims how much fun being a princess must be.
Inside the castle, Princess Adriana complains to Dimitrios, the royal secretary, that she is tired of her duties. Her cousin Lexa arrives, questioning Adriana's decision to use the royal jet to bring in Jem and The Holograms, but she says that since she is to be crowned queen when she turns 18 the following week, it is her right to do so. She storms off to see The Holograms, and Lexa and Dimitrios appear to have cryptic plans after the command performance the next night.
Adriana escapes from her room and Lexa sends her henchmen to track her down and bring her back. At this time, The Misfits have arrived in Morvania as tourists and they attempt to find Jem in the city's marketplace. However, Kimber and Adriana bump into each other and accidentally switch hats. They immediately recognize each other as the princess and the singer, and Jem and the Holograms sing a foreboding "Here Comes Trouble" as The Misfits approach them. They quickly grab Adriana thinking she is Kimber, hurrying her away since The Misfits are closing in. Adriana complies to their beliefs and goes along with pretending to be Kimber. In the confusion, Lexa's henchmen encounter Kimber (who they think is Adriana) and kidnap her instead. She is imprisoned in an old cell of the castle, constructed on a cliffside overlooking the ocean, from where she manages to escape by jumping all the way down from her cell's window into the turbulent waters. The henchmen attempt to capture her with a net by heading into the ocean on a speedboat, but fail to catch her, allowing Kimber to escape.
Back at Hotel Victor, Jerrica wakes up "Kimber" (actually Adriana) and reminds her that they have a rehearsal. Jerrica then transforms into Jem, almost revealing to Adriana her secret identity if it wasn't that the latter luckily happened to be turned the other way around. During the rehearsal, since Adriana is unable to play the keyboard, she fails to play correctly, which worries The Holograms since their performance is that night. Lexa arrives under the pretense of having a message from the princess, and discovers that the real Adriana is right in front of her with the band. Meanwhile, Kimber enters a local tavern to use a telephone to contact Jem at the hotel, who has just learned the truth about the switch-up between the doppelgangers. Jem picks up Kimber's call just as the henchmen rip the receiver off the wall, and Lexa demands that Dimitrios plant explosives inside a dragon statue on the stage, so that Adriana is killed and the throne becomes hers. She is interrupted by The Misfits, who have decided to show up at the castle to perform "Queen Of Rock And Roll". Eric Raymond introduces himself and the band to Lexa, believing she is the princess, giving her the idea to use them in her scheme.
Kimber manages to escape the henchmen for a second time, by jumping off a roof and falling into a laundry basket. She hails a taxicab to Hotel Victor just as Stormer is convinced by Lexa to pretend to be Kimber. The Misfits lure Kimber inside the hotel room, so that the henchmen can kidnap her for the third time, this time incarcerating her at the top of a tall tower. The Misfits learn of Lexa's real plans and are shocked at how easily they'd been fooled. The Holograms scope the city with no luck but come up with a plan to reveal everything at the evening's concert. Corvin, the head of the royal guard, finds Dimitrios acting suspiciously around the dragon statue, but the concert is about to begin. Once Adriana is onstage, she announces to the crowd that Lexa is plotting against the throne. The Misfits tell Corvin everything that they experienced, including the bomb planted onstage, and he rushes to get everyone away from the bomb just before it explodes. The guards, The Misfits, Jem and The Holograms and Eric rush to find Lexa, who threatens that Kimber will be pushed from the tower unless Adriana gives her the throne. Thinking quickly, Jem uses Synergy to create a hologram of the dragon of Morvania, which scares the henchmen away, and then Corvin rescues Kimber from the tower. Afterward, Lexa is placed under arrest for conspiracy and Adriana claims the title of crowned queen at last.
Songs featured[]
Quotes[]
- Kimber: Imagine. Having a genuine princess for a fan.
- Roxy: Where's the press, Eric?
- Pizzazz: Yeah, did you forget our publicity or what?
- Lexa: While Adriana is on that stage pretending to be Kimber, the bomb will go off. Then the throne of Morvania will be mine.
- Eric: The Princess is on that stage.
- Pizzazz: Lexa set her up.
- Roxy: And used us to get to Kimber.
- Stormer: She said that the dragon would breathe fire.
(After everyone is rushed off stage before the bomb goes off)
- Jem: You saved our lives.
- Pizzazz: Yeah. Well, don't get all mushy about it.
- Jem: Won't it be wonderful to get home, Kimber?
- Kimber: Don't you mean princess?
- Jem: Kimber, it is you, isn't it?
- Kimber: Well, most of the time.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Goofs[]
- Jem introduces Kimber as her sister to Lexa, while Kimber is actually Jerrica's sister.
- In this scene, the "Kimber" Jem is referring to is actually Princess Adriana, which makes this goof twice as relevant, as both Lexa and Adriana don't seem to acknowledge that by saying this, Jem has revealed her true identity.
- Near the end of "Here Comes Trouble", part of Pizzazz's dress turns orange but changes back to black. At that same moment, the slit in her dress is not there.
- When Kimber is about to fall to her death, Corvin appears at the top of the tower and saves her. In the next shot, however, he is already on the ground floor (just as if he's coming out of the castle's theatre) and orders his men to put Lexa into custody.
Trivia[]
- Kimber is captured a total of three times in this episode.
- This is the second episode in which Kimber is kidnapped, the first being in the previous episode.
- This is the first time that Eric and the Misfits actually saved Jem and The Holograms from certain doom.
- In fact, they save them twice in this episode. The second time is when Eric uses his body to shield everyone from the falling debris near the end of the episode.
- This is the fourth time that the Holograms have been out of the country. The first time was to Paris, France in Kimber's Rebellion, the second to Beijing, China in Adventure in China, the third time to Venice, Italy in In Stitches, and then with this one to the fictional country of Morvania.
- This is the first time that the Holograms traveled to somewhere that was fictional. The other places that predated this episode were real cities and countries.
- Kimber subtly breaks the fourth wall, giving the viewers a wink at the end of the episode.
- This is the second episode to only feature two songs instead of three.