Country Music Talent Search Premieres Tuesday, March 1, on USA at
10:00 PM ET/PT
NEW YORK, Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- All ten finalists have been named for the
third season of USA Network's Nashville Star, a grassroots nationwide talent
search for the next country music superstar, premiering Tuesday, March 1, from
10:00 - 11:00 PM (ET/PT) on USA Network.
During the nine-week series, the finalists will compete for the grand
prize--a recording contract with Universal South Records. While all
contestants must be at least 18, there is no upper age limit, opening the
competition to talented adults pursuing their dreams at any age.
"Going through the process of screening thousands upon thousands of
performers, the quality of untapped talent continues to amaze me," said
Nashville Star executive producer Jeff Boggs. "The wonder of this show is
that it works. In this ocean of hopefuls, the talent was so strong that we
had a tough time getting it down to only ten. This will be our best season
yet."
And the ten multi-talented contenders are:
Justin David, 30, from Marshfield, MO. David learned to play mandolin at
the age of four, and he wields the fiddle and guitar with the same virtuosity.
Jody Evans, 28, from Donaldson, AR. Evans is a police officer by day,
rockabilly singer by night. He grew up on the music of Elvis Presley and
Buddy Holly.
Jenny Farrell, 35, from Albuquerque, NM. Farrell is a singer/songwriter
who toured with Mustang Sally in the late '90s, opening shows for country
artists including George Jones.
Erika Jo Heriges, 18, from Angleton, TX. This high school senior has been
performing with bands for over thirteen years.
Christy McDonald, 29, from Tabor City, NC. By day, McDonald is the
receptionist at the Warner Bros. Nashville office. In her off time she is a
performer, demo singer and songwriter.
Jason Meadows, 33, from Calera, OK. Meadows grew up on a farm in Calera,
and his music reflects the traditional influences of Merle Haggard, George
Strait and Hank Williams, Jr.
Josh Owen, 19, from Brownsboro, TX. This guitar slinger has been singing
since he was three. He has performed on the "The Arsenio Hall Show," "The
Maury Povich Show" and "Star Search," where he was a finalist at age five.
Casey Simpson, 19, from Cerritos, CA. Simpson recorded a song for the
2002 "Rugrats" Christmas movie, as the voice of the wooden grandma. She
performs throughout southern California and often sings the National Anthem at
the Staples Center before Lakers, Kings and Sparks games.
Tamika Tyler, 33, from Coffs Harbour, Australia. Tyler had a successful
singing career in her native Australia before starting a family and moving to
a Colorado ranch with her husband, a rocket scientist, and their son.
Jayron Weaver, 22, from Dallas, GA. Jayron began singing in church as a
child, and he is currently serving as music minister at a local church. He
also works full-time at a warehouse while attending college classes.
Nashville Star will again air live from Nashville's BellSouth Acuff
Theatre for eight weeks following the premiere. The show is hosted by LeAnn
Rimes. The third season judging panel includes rock band Poison front man
Bret Michaels, country hitmaker Phil Vassar and industry executive/artist
manager Anastasia Brown. Comedian Cledus T. Judd joins the show as special
correspondent.
Nashville Star is created by Reveille and executive produced by Ben
Silverman ("The Restaurant," "Coupling") and H.T. Owens ("The Restaurant,"
"Blow Out"). Jeff Boggs serves as executive producer in association with
Reveille. The show is produced by Jon Small ("Garth Brooks Live From Central
Park," "Billy Joel Live at Yankee Stadium") and his production company,
Picture Vision.
Universal South Records is a joint venture between highly respected music
executives Tim DuBois and Tony Brown and Universal Motown Records Group in New
York, which is part of the Universal Music Group. The label's roster
includes: Joe Nichols, Bering Strait, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Katrina Elam,
Matt Jenkins, Lee Roy Parnell, Matthew West, Amanda Wilkinson, Holly Williams
and Marty Stuart.
Universal Music Group is the world's largest music company with wholly
owned record operations or licensees in 71 countries. Its businesses also
include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's largest global
music publishing operations.
Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Record Company,
Deutsche Grammophon, DreamWorks Records, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island
Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville,
Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown
Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels
owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The
Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the
industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music
Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the
U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies
division.
Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and
communications company.
REVEILLE develops, produces and distributes new and non-traditional
programming formats for television and motion pictures across a variety of
genres, including comedy, drama, game, and reality for American and
international markets. In addition to selling television formats for
independent producers such as NBC Universal Television Studios (USA Network,
Sci Fi Channel), BBC Worldwide, Renegade and Princess Productions, Reveille
sells its own produced program formats such as "The Restaurant" (NBC), "Blow
Out" (Bravo) and "30 Days" (FX). Reveille also distributed the internationally
renowned, award-winning "911" documentary and is a world leader in creating
integrated marketing opportunities for leading advertisers, developing
alternative financing paradigms and selling and distributing television
formats in markets worldwide.
Reveille has produced projects such as "The Restaurant," "The Biggest
Loser" and coming in 2005, "The Office" for NBC. Cable projects include "Blow
Out" for Bravo, "The Club" on Spike, USA Network's "Nashville Star" and the
Morgan Spurlock project "30 Days" for FX Networks.
USA Network is cable television's leading provider of original series and
feature movies, sports events, off-net television shows, and blockbuster
theatrical films. USA Network is seen in over 88 million U.S. homes. The USA
Network Web site is located at http://www.usanetwork.com.
USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC
Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the
development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information
to a global audience.
| |
SOURCE USA Network
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.usanetwork.com
CONTACT:
Kristin Schulman +1-212-413-5222,
kristin.schulman@nbcuni.com, or Andrea Tiano Epstein,
+1-818-777-6679, andrea.tianoepstein@nbcuni.com, or Farrah Hersh,
+1-212-413-5628, farrah.hersh@nbcuni.com, all of USA Network; or
Karen Byrd of Karen Byrd Public Relations, +1-615-595-1500,
karen.byrd@gmail.com, for USA Network
| |
|
