GAC Announces Judges for ‘The Next GAC Star’ Competition
Television network Great American Country (GAC) and artist development company Music Nation announced the judges panel for The Next GAC Star, a nationwide talent search for the next country music star. In addition to offering independent country artists national television exposure and the chance to win a record deal, The Next GAC Star will give these up-and-coming acts the opportunity to have their music heard and critiqued by top hit makers. Online voting opened May 23.
Acting as a judge is legendary songwriter/producer/performer Desmond Child, who has collaborated with artists like Aerosmith, Kelly Clarkson, Bon Jovi and Carrie Underwood. Throughout his 30+ year career, Child has helped pen such hits as “Livin’ On A Prayer,”"Dude Looks Like a Lady” and “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Joining him is award-winning songwriter/producer/performer Victoria Shaw, who has written hit songs for artists like Christina Aguilera, Garth Brooks, Ricky Martin, John Michael Montgomery and Trisha Yearwood and has her own successful recording career. Shaw also co-produced the debut album from ACM Top New Group Winner Lady Antebellum.
“Leave it to GAC to create a contest with fierce competition where we judges look for someone with the total package: looks, talent and the ‘it’ factor,” says Shaw. “The contestants better be prepared to impress an outspoken redhead on the panel of judges. GAC might never be the same again!”
The Next GAC Star is accepting entries through July 14 and country music hopefuls are encouraged to upload their videos, mp3s, and photos at www.gactv.com/star to enter. Public voting is now open at http://musicnation.com/contest/gacstar/matchup and will run until July 21, after which time the judges will determine six finalists. These finalists will receive Gibson Les Paul Junior guitars and be flown to Nashville for a two-part television special on September 3 and 10, with a live elimination in the second show. The winning artist will receive a record deal with Original Signal Recordings, a Gibson Hummingbird Guitar, and a music video, which will air on GAC.
The voting will run in three phases. For the first eight weeks, the public will vote on submissions using Music Nation’s head-to-head player, which randomly pits two artists against each other and asks the user to choose a favorite. Two weekly winners will be chosen during this phase: the highest ranked artist from the head-to-head standings and an “Industry Insiders” pick chosen by GAC and Music Nation. Select video submissions will also air in the new series Next GAC Star, which premiered Sunday, June 1, and will broadcast every Sunday, offering valuable national television exposure to unsigned artists. During the second phase, the Next GAC Star judging panel will narrow the 16 weekly winners down to a field of six. Lastly, these six finalists will be featured on the two TV specials where the Next GAC Star will be determined.
Interested artists and viewers can get more information on Next GAC Star by visiting www.gactv.com/star.
About Great American Country
Great American Country is the leader in country music entertainment. GAC delivers to viewers the widest variety of country music, its artists and the lifestyles they influence. GAC broadcasts original country music programming, country music performance specials, live concerts, music videos, and is the exclusive television home of the Grand Ole Opry. GAC is available in more than 54 million households and online at http://www.GACTV.com.
GAC is owned by Scripps Networks, the leading developer of lifestyle-oriented content for television and the Internet, including HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network and Fine Living Network. Scripps Networks is based in Knoxville, Tenn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Nashville, and is owned by The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), a diverse media concern with interests in newspaper publishing, broadcast television, national television networks and interactive media. Scripps operates daily and community newspapers in 16 markets, 10 broadcast TV stations, Scripps Howard News Service, United Media and Shopzilla.com.
About Music Nation
Engineered to navigate the changing landscape of the music business, Music Nation is a next generation music company designed to discover, develop, and build artist brands. The company employs both its expanding online music community, which acts as a digital A&R source, and traditional methods to sign artists to its label Original Signal Recordings. Through custom deals that are equitable, artist-friendly partnerships, the company is able to focus on developing new revenue streams around artists to create career sustainability.
Launched in 2006, the company is the brainchild of Daniel Klaus (CEO), Lucas Mann (Co-founder), Kevin P. Ryan (Chairman), and Peter Read (Managing Director, UK and Europe); their combined expertise crosses the e-commerce, digital media, and music industry divides.