Nashville Star is coming back.

[dagwood]

It's going to be on NBC, USA this time. They are casting in February. They don't say when it is starting, though. I can't wait.

http://www.nbc.com/Nashville_Star/index.shtml?nlcid=nb|StudioPas s|012808|

NASHVILLE STAR NOW CASTING

One dream. One country. One NASHVILLE STAR.

NBC is proud to launch the Nationwide search for the next American Country Music Superstar. Nashville Star returns, and this year it's on NBC.

We are looking for the nation’s proudest and most ambitious musical talent. Do you have what it takes to represent the best American music has to offer?

We are scouring the country for the nation’s best Country singers to compete for the musical opportunity of a lifetime… a major-label record deal and a chance to represent your country on the world's stage at the 2008 Olympic Games.

We want you! We're casting honky-tonk heroes, singing sensations, and performing prodigies who are at least 16 years old and there’s no upper-age limit. This year the competition is also open to singing duos and trios.

Every country singer tells a story and we want to hear yours. Do you have the ambition the talent and heart to proudly compete in the next nationally acclaimed musical competition series.

To apply immediately go to: nashvillestarcasting.com

Specific locations and times will be available shortly. Please check back soon!

Nashville Star will be coming to the following cities for Preliminary Casting Open Calls:

Feb 9 - Pittsburgh and Milwaukee

Feb 13 - Charlotte and Kansas City, MO

Feb 17 - Tallahassee and Denver

Feb 21 - New Orleans and Portland

[Google]

 

[bbnbama]

I love Nashville Star so I'm glad to hear its coming back..and on NBC nonetheless!

[Yardgnome]

I liked this show as well and I think it will do much better on NBC. This show really has some true talent on it.

[bbnbama]

Link Here

This was in my local paper........

Casting call for 'Star' set for Friday

Aspiring country artists hoping to follow in the footsteps of 2007 "Nashville Star" winner Angela Hacker need to be in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday.

A casting call for the sixth season of "Nashville Star" are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center at 2800 Opryland Drive.

Last year's finalists included Hacker and her brother, Zack Hacker, who are both fixtures in the Shoals music scene.

In the end, Angela Hacker won the top spot while her brother was the first runnerup.

There's no guarantee that will happen again this year, but the show's executive producer, Sally Ann Salsano, said anything can happen.

"I loved the competition between brother and sister, but it was something America decided on," Salsano said. "I think people genuinely, really liked them."

Salsano was in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday for the third of four national casting calls.

"It's been absolutely amazing," Salsano said.

She said about 30,000 people have auditioned for the show in three national and eight regional casting calls.

"We're seeing a lot of people from Alabama," Salsano said.

It was not uncommon to find people camped out in sleeping bags and tents at the casting call venues, she said.

Salsano said the Austin casting call had a tailgate party atmosphere complete with large barbecue grills.

She said this year "Nashville Star" has moved from the USA Network to NBC and the premier episode is expected to air in June.

The program, loosely based on "American Idol," features a musical competition to discover the next big country music star.

Country music star Billy Ray Cyrus will be this year's host and Grammy Award winning country artist John Rich, one half of the multi-platinum selling group Big & Rich, has been named as the first judge/mentor for the competition.

"The judges will also be helping the contestants, mentoring them and guiding them through the process," Salsano said.

She said the remaining judges have not been signed.

In the end, however, it's the audience and not the judges who pick the winner through voting by telephone or on the Internet.

"They are the ones who vote and keep everyone's dreams alive," Salsano said.

This year, contestants can be as young as 16 years old and the show is auditioning duos and trios.

"We're getting a lot more younger people with talent," Salsano said. "I think the mix will be incredible."

The 2008 version of "Nashville Star" will run for nine weeks and will once again be broadcast from the Acuff Theater in Nashville.

"We have a brand new set," Salsano said. "The show will have a whole new look."

[Marleybone]

I love this, I can't wait!

[Unklescott]

They had 6,000 people show up at the Nashville audition.
TuneInMusicCity.com

'Nashville Star' tryouts attract 6,000 hopefuls

Most days, people show up in Music City with a dream and a guitar.

On Friday, more than 6,000 performers packed up their instruments and headed to Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center to try out for season six of Nashville Star, a televised country music talent search.
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Music City drew the most in-person auditions of all the tryout sites, which included Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles; second was Austin, Texas, with about 4,000 people. In all, more than 30,000 people will try out for the show by the end of auditions, including video submissions.

"It's a shot at what I want," Abigail Mitchell, 20, of Covington, Ga., said on Friday. "I've wanted to sing since I was 4, and any opportunity you get to break into the (country music) industry, you have to take it no matter what it costs you."

If there were ever a year to brave the line, producers said, this is it.

Winner gets record deal

Past installments of Nashville Star were broadcast live from the Roy Acuff Theater on cable's USA Network, but this year, major network NBC will air the program from Nashville starting June 9.

The winner will receive a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records.

By noon Friday, some members of the crowd had already been in line for six hours. People brought umbrellas and chairs to keep them comfortable while others slept on the pavement as they waited their turn in front of the judges, who included John Rich from Big & Rich, who will be a judge on the show, and Nashville Star co-executive producer Joel Zimmer.

"I don't care how long it takes, anyone in line by 6 p.m. gets to try out," Zimmer said. "We will sit here until tomorrow to audition people if we have to. The next Nashville Star could be out there. The amount of talent here is just insane. Some people might look at this line like a problem, but we look at it as an opportunity."

Duos, trios encouraged

Craig McCown, 42, from Seattle, hopes that opportunity will be his. McCown, who got in line at 6 a.m., said he is thinking about moving to Nashville to "get closer to the business," regardless of whether he makes it onto the show. To that end, he has already affiliated with performing rights organization BMI.

Twins Kristin and Cory Vesekla, 21, from Oak Creek, Wis., also have their fingers crossed for one of the 10 spots on Nashville Star.

In years past the girls would have been ineligible to try out together, but this year duos and trios are encouraged, and the sisters thought, "Why not?"

"We're making a trip out of it," Kristin said. "It was a nine-hour drive, so we're going to the Opry tomorrow night to see Loretta Lynn. This is something new for us."

Rich said he's excited to be involved in something that rallies country music fans and "takes country music to the next level."

In addition to judging and mentoring on the show, Rich will produce the winner and co-write the winner's single for radio.

"We know we have the fan base and that artists in this genre have staying power," Rich said. "And seeing 6,000 people standing in the sun with guitars says something about country music. This show is going to be a sledgehammer for country music. My goal was never to be a reality show guy, but we're going to find country music's next major star."