or


[01/06/05 - 12:00 AM]
Hit Country Singer/Songwriter Phil Vassar Joins Show Host Leann Rimes on the Third Season of USA Networks Nashville Star

[via press release from USA]

HIT COUNTRY SINGER/SONGWRITER PHIL VASSAR JOINS SHOW HOST LEANN RIMES ON THE THIRD SEASON OF USA NETWORK'S NASHVILLE STAR

Nashville Star Partners with Universal South Records

Cledus T. Judd Named Show Correspondent and Anastasia Brown Named Judge

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- January 6, 2005 -- The producers of Nashville Star, USA Network's grassroots talent search series to find the next country music superstar, have named country music singer/songwriter Phil Vassar as a celebrity judge to join show host LeAnn Rimes for the third season, which will premiere on Tuesday, March 1, 2005, from 10:00 - 11:00 PM (ET/PT) on USA Network. The announcement was made today by Libby Hansen, vice president, alternative series & specials, USA Network.

LeAnn Rimes said, "I'm so honored to have my friend Phil Vassar join Nashville Star with me. Phil is an amazing talent who will inspire these country hopefuls tremendously. "

"We wanted to put together a panel of judges with their fingers on the pulse of what's hot and exciting in country music today," said Hansen. "Phil Vassar is one of the hottest names in country music and knows what it takes to make it in this business and specifically what to look for in the next Nashville Star."

The grand prizewinner of the third season of Nashville Star will be awarded a recording contract from Universal South Records. A joint venture between highly respected music executives Tim DuBois and Tony Brown and Universal Motown Records Group in New York, Universal South Records is part of the Universal Music Group.

"Since we arrived in Nashville three years ago, we've been looking for a way to collaborate with Tim [DuBois] and Tony [Brown] and their amazing team at Universal South," said Nashville Star executive producer H. T. Owens. "They are hands-on record executives and as our new partners, view Nashville Star as the ideal vehicle to find new talent and to market that talent aggressively."

Country music comedian Cledus T. Judd has been named correspondent for the show and will support show host LeAnn Rimes with color commentary. Country music talent manager Anastasia Brown has also been named to the panel of judges.

Singer-songwriter Phil Vassar began his career performing his growing repertoire of original songs at his Nashville club-restaurant. Before embarking on his solo career, which has produced more than half a dozen Top 10 hits (including his breakout #1 single "Just Another Day In Paradise"), Vassar penned hits for a number of top artists including Tim McGraw ("My Next Thirty Years"), Alan Jackson ("Right on the Money"), and Jo Dee Messina ("Bye Bye"). He has earned numerous songwriting awards as well as new artist distinctions from ACM and CMA.

His current album, "Shaken Not Stirred," boasts the single "In A Real Love," which spent two weeks atop the country music charts. The steamy music video for his next single, "I'll Take That As A Yes (The Hot Tub Song)" is in rotation on CMT and GAC. Vassar's tour schedule keeps him out on the road presenting his energetic performances that have earned fan support and widespread critical acclaim.

Cledus T. Judd is one of the most beloved and popular comedians in the country music industry. His current CD on Koch Records Nashville, "Bipolar And Proud," debuted at #1 on the Soundscan Comedy chart and #15 on Billboard's Country Albums chart. His latest single, "I Love NASCAR," (which is a parody of Toby Keith's hit "I Love This Bar") was embraced by country and NASCAR fans alike and received airplay on country radio, CMT, GAC, and Totally NASCAR. Judd's second single from the album, "Paycheck Woman," is a take-off of Gretchen Wilson's breakout single, "Redneck Woman." Judd has sold over 1.6 million units in his career, performed with some of the biggest names in Country music (Brooks & Dunn, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain), has won two CMT Video Awards, and most recently co-hosted the CMT series, "Most Wanted Live."

Anastasia Brown heads up 821 Music Group and partners with Eric Geadlemann in the 821 Entertainment Group. Brown started her music career as legendary music mogul Miles Copeland's partner and director of operations for Firstars Nashville, where she proceeded to discover, develop and secure record deals for the Grammy nominated, multi-platinum selling current CMA Male Vocalist Keith Urban. She also worked with artists ranging from Sting to Peter Frampton to John Berry. As vice president of A&R for Ark 21 Nashville, Brown served as executive producer for Waylon Jennings' "Closing In On The Fire," securing guest artists Sting, Sheryl Crow and Mark Knopfler as well as Leon Russell's "Legend In My Time" with guest artists Willie Nelson, Marty Stuart and The Oak Ridge Boys. As A&R coordinator she also worked on compilation records such as the Christmas album, "Mother & Child" and the tribute record to Hank Marvin and The Shadows, "Twang." After making her mark in the Nashville music industry, Brown went on to serve as music supervisor, and secured the soundtrack record deal, on Steven Spielberg's Emmy? Award-winning and Golden Globe nominated miniseries for SCI FI, "Taken." She is currently serving as co-music supervisor on the Quentin Tarantino feature "Daltry Calhoun" for Miramax.

About Universal Music Group
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, a joint venture between Ben Silverman and NBC Universal Television Studio, 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, "Coupling," "The Restaurant", "The Biggest Loser" and coming in 2005 "The Office: An American Workplace" 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
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 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.





  [january 2005]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· 30 DAYS (FX)
· 9/11 (CBS)
· BIGGEST LOSER, THE (USA)
· BLOW OUT (BRAVO)
· CLUB, THE (SPIKE TV)
· COUPLING (NBC)
· NASHVILLE STAR (NBC)
· OFFICE, THE (NBC)
· RESTAURANT, THE (NBC)





[07/03/25 - 02:33 PM]
ABC News Same-Day Primetime Special "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" Is No. 1 in Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54
Versus the competition in the time period, "Verdict: The Diddy Trial" outperformed NBC by +40% in Adults 18-49 (212,000 vs. 151,000) and +22% in Adults 25-54.

[07/03/25 - 10:00 AM]
Video: "In the Lost Lands" - Official Trailer - Hulu
In the ghostly wilderness of the Lost Lands, a sorceress (Milla Jovovich) and mysterious drifter (Dave Bautista) must join together in order to survive against the supernatural forces which threaten their world.

[07/03/25 - 09:01 AM]
"Digman!" Season Two to Premiere Immediately After "South Park" Wednesday, July 23rd at 10:30PM ET/PT on Comedy Central
Season two will feature guest voice appearances from a wide array of fan-favorite talent.

[07/03/25 - 08:01 AM]
Nat Geo's Nine-Time Emmy Award-Winning Series "Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller" Returns with Powerful New Season Exploring the World's Deadliest Underground Markets
The new season kicks off with a groundbreaking look into the operations of Mexican cartels inside the United States.

[07/03/25 - 06:12 AM]
Video: "The Idaho Student Murders" - Official Trailer - Peacock Original
A feature documentary focuses its lens on the pre-trial case against Bryan Kohberger, a young criminology student accused of brutally stabbing to death four University of Idaho coeds.

[07/03/25 - 02:01 AM]
Video: "The Assassin" Sets Premiere Date in the UK and Ireland with Explosive New Trailer
Retired assassin Julie (Keeley Hawes) is reunited with her estranged son, Edward (Freddie Highmore), but her dangerous past begins to catch up with them.

[07/03/25 - 01:01 AM]
Video: "Catalog" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A recently widowed workaholic clumsily navigates life with his kids, guided by his late wife's online tips. Can he ace this crash course in parenthood?

[07/03/25 - 12:01 AM]
Video: "Diary of a Ditched Girl" - Meet the Cast - Netflix
Here they are: the boys of Malmö. Watch "Diary of a Ditched Girl" September 11 to see if she manages to get a second date with one of them.

[07/02/25 - 07:01 PM]
Video: "The Nice Guy" - Teaser Trailer - Disney+
Lee Dongwook is back and this time, it's romantic.

[07/02/25 - 06:44 PM]
Tyler Perry's "Divorced Sistas" Quickly Rises to Become BET+'s Most Watched Original Series in Platform History
Just halfway through the eight-episode season, existing subscribers and new fans of the show have boosted the drama series to the most-watched series premiere on BET+ in just three weeks.

[07/02/25 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "Wall to Wall" - Official Trailer - Netflix
A man who poured his life savings into a new apartment discovers its walls are full of disturbing noises, hostile neighbors and unsettling secrets.

[07/02/25 - 03:04 PM]
ABC News Announces "Verdict: The Diddy Trial," Airing Wednesday, July 2, at 10 P.M. on ABC, Streaming Next Day on Hulu
A verdict has been reached in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs, who has been found guilty on two of five counts.

[07/02/25 - 02:38 PM]
Hallmark Channel Earns #1 Most-Watched Network on Weekends Throughout June with "Passport to Love" Programming Event
"Passport to Love" helped elevate Hallmark Channel to be the #1 most-watched network on weekends throughout the month of June.

[07/02/25 - 01:30 PM]
"New Amsterdam" Creator David Schulner Joins Creative Team of New FOX Drama Series "Memory of a Killer" as an Executive Producer and Co-Showrunner
Schulner will be an executive producer of the series alongside Ed Whitmore, Tracey Malone, and Cathy Schulman.

[07/02/25 - 11:52 AM]
ESPN "Sunday Night Baseball Presented by Capital One" Schedule Update: American League Leading Detroit Tigers to Visit Texas Rangers on July 20
Through 14 games, "Sunday Night Baseball" is averaging 1,750,000 million viewers, up 11 percent from last year.