Country Music Herald

I have lots of interests, but perhaps the one closest to my heart is developing leadership and service skills in teenagers. That is the main reason I became a high school teacher. I love working with high school kids and hope to teach them some great life skills such as how to give back to their communities. In fact, I’ve been involved for 15 years now with the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) program which fosters leadership skills in high school sophomores with an emphasis on community service. I went through the program as a sophomore and have been highly involved ever since because I believe so much in the cause. In fact, I’m currently the Iowa HOBY corporate board president and I’m very proud of our work.

When I was asked to help promote CMT’s involvement with Global Youth Service Day, I was more than happy to oblige. This year’s service days are April 25-27 and Diana Degarmo from “Gone Country” and “American Idol” fame will be the honorary spokesperson this year. CMT’s One Country is a proud partner of the program, and it’s a great initiative that I support 100%.

To learn more about Global Youth Service Day, read the press release after the jump.

country music, CMT One Country, Youth Service America, Global Youth Service Day

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Buckle Up. Party Down. Enter to Win a CMT Music Awards Prize Package! That’s right! The Country Music Herald is running another great contest with a fun prize package…make that TWO contests and prize packages. Keep reading to find out about some great shows on CMT and how you can win. But you’d better hurry because the deadline for entries is April 13, 2008 11:59 PM ET.

“Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus are set to host the 2008 CMT Music Awards. This year, the CMT MUSIC AWARDS promise to be better than ever with more video categories, more live performances and more of your favorite country stars. Including performances by Rascal Flatts, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Toby Keith, as well as Billy Ray and Miley, with more performances to be announced, the 2008 CMT MUSIC AWARDS continues to be the genre’s only fan-voted awards show. Mark your calendars for country music’s star-studded event - April 14 at 8 p.m. ET.”

“And after the CMT MUSIC AWARDS, catch the premiere of CAN YOU DUET, April 14 at 10:30 p.m. ET. The producers of American Idol have teamed up with CMT to find the next great country music duo in the most original singing competition ever, CAN YOU DUET. In the tradition of powerhouse duos such as Big & Rich, Kenny and Dolly, Johnny and June Carter Cash, Brooks & Dunn, and even Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus, CAN YOU DUET is the ultimate singing competition looking to launch an unknown duo into country music superstardom.”

To find out how to enter this contest and what you could win, keep reading after the jump.

country music, CMT Awards, Can You Duet, country music contest, CMT contest

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Did you catch the finale of Celebrity Apprentice last night? It came down to country music star Trace Adkins and British Import Piers Morgan to battle it out for the title of Celebrity Apprentice and the chance for the big money for their charities. Trace knew he’d have trouble beating Piers in the money raising part of the celebrity auction they had to set up for their final challenge. He did, however, sell many more tickets and pulled off keeping the Backstreet Boys happy (even though he couldn’t find their wheat grass juice). All through the live finale, Donald and Ivanka Trump, as well as all the former contestants, gave Trace praise for what a good guy and hard worker he was.

Unfortunately, being a great guy and trying hard wasn’t enough to win the competition. Donald Trump picked Piers Morgan over Trace for his business savvy and knack for raising money. Trace was just happy to have gotten to the end and raise awareness and funds for the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network in honor of his daughter Brianna. He represented the country music industry with dignity and did a great job throughout the competition. Kudos to Trace and congratulations to all the charities involved.

country music, Trace Adkins, Celebrity Apprentice

Nashville Star will be back this summer and better than ever. The reality style competition show will return to NBC this summer (moving on up from the USA Network) and will have Billy Ray Cyrus as host. No word yet on the panel of judges, but I am expecting at least Anastasia Brown to return to her seat. It seems the other two spots rotate every season, so it is unknown if Blake Shelton and Randy Owen will be back for season six.

Do you think you have what it takes to be a country music superstar? Well, I’ve got the Nashville Star casting information for you, right after the jump.

country music, Nashville Star, Nashville Star casting information

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Reality television is all the rage right now with the writer’s strike still ongoing, and country music is staking a claim in that realm of television entertainment. Of course we know all about Nashville Star and the upcoming Can You Duet, but CMT is taking it one step further with their own version of “CelebReality” like you can see on VH1.

The new series, Gone Country, features singer/songwriter John Rich of the envelope pushing duo Big and Rich. His task is to take seven established singing stars and turn them into cross over country music superstars. Just wait until you hear the cast list. This is going to be one crazy show:

Bobby Brown - Troubled R & B artist and the former Mr. Whitney Houston.
Diana DeGarmo - American Idol 3 runner up and now a Broadway actress.
Julio Iglesias, Jr. - Latin pop star, son of Julio Iglesias and brother of Enrique Iglesias.
Maureen McCormick - Marsha Brady on the Brady Bunch, Celebrity Fit Club contestant, and former pop/country music artist.
Sisqo - R & B artist best known for the Thong Song.
Dee Snider - Former lead singer of Twisted Sister.
Carnie Wilson - Former member of Wilson Phillips, yet another Celebrity Fit Club contestant, and daughter of Beach Boy Brian Wilson.

This crazy group of artists will move into a Nashville mansion together for 2 weeks while they compete in challenges, practice with some of Nashville’s best song writers, and try to win a single to be produced by John Rich and played on the radio.

Here are my early thoughts on how it will shake down. I am pretty sure that Maureen McCormick had a short lived country music deal in the 80s, so she already knows her way around Nashville, which should be a big help. Sisqo probably has the best voice out of all the contestants, but he’s so R & B it may be difficult to cross over. Carnie should be okay, but she’s never really done anything on her own and usually sang harmony on Wilson Phillips songs. Can Dee Snider sing? He’s known more for yelling, which doesn’t play well on country radio. I don’t know much about Julio Iglesias, Jr. other than he’s the less talented Iglesias son. His dad had a big country hit with Willie Nelson, though, so he could work it out. Diana DeGarmo should do well. One of her best performances on American Idol came during country week (although Martina McBride was too big for her to attempt in my opinion). That leaves Bobby Brown. That’s a train wreck waiting to happen. He used to have a great sound and know how to entertain, but the years of partying have left him in the dust.

I can’t wait to see how this all goes! The series premieres on Friday January 25th at 8:00 PM ET. I’ll be watching, will you?

country music, Gone Country show, CMT Gone Country, John Rich, Big and Rich, Maureen McCormick, Diana DeGarmo, Dee Snider, Bobby Brown, Carnie Wilson, Sisqo, Julio Iglesias Jr

So, last week, I made a post about the tryouts for the new CMT show “Can You Duet?” and asked anyone who went to the auditions to drop me a line and let me know all about it. Well, thanks to up and coming duo “That’s My Sister” I now have a first hand account of what went down behind the scenes. They also told me that there will be footage and interviews from the auditions this Saturday on “Insider” on CMT and to watch for them because they were featured. I will be watching and so should you!

If you want to know what happened from the point of view of a duo, keep reading after the jump!

country music, CMT, Can You Duet, Can You Duet Auditions, CMT Insider

Hey there!!
My sis & I were part of this very cool audition….we were chosen to be placed on camera for the judges….we sang 2 songs answered countless questions and were continuously interviewd…CMT INSIDER even went in w/ us as we auditioned….It was soo cool…the staff and everyone involed w/ “Can YOU..” could not have been any more welcoming….they treated us like they had been friends and fans for years….they were very professional and i think they knew exactly what they were doing and who they were looking for….i’ve read some of the blogs from some bitter auditioners…but hey…this is first and foremost a business….you have to be marketable…not a pr nightmare…there has to be an audience out there for what you do….you HAVE to have a persona that stands out along with the talent….sis & I have lived in nashville for almost 12 years doing this..these people w/ “Can…” were by far some of the mmost rreceptive , warm & talented people that we’ve had the chance to be involved with!!! They threw out questions that only someone who had done extensive research about us would know….so, they did
their homework…if anyone says otherwise….they’re just bitter!!

Thanks for asking
GOD BLESS
xoxoxoxo
~A & M
“THAT’S MY SISTER”

The email above was reprinted with permission from the author

It wasn’t that long ago that it seemed like the only duos scoring any sort of hits in country music were Brooks and Dunn and Montgomery Gentry. There just wasn’t a lot of competition in the CMA Award category Best Duo (just ask the Warren Brothers who were surprised year after year for their nomination until they realized they just didn’t have enough acts to fill the category). Now, being a duo is a way to burst onto the scene and make a splash in the country music industry. Sugarland dropped from a group to a duo and are winning accolades and scoring number one hits. Big and Rich busted onto the scene in a big way and The Wreckers took a pop princess and gave her a country makeover.

So are you good enough to be in the next super country music duo? CMT wants to find out! From the producers of American Idol looking to cash in on the country music talent, comes a new reality competition called “Can You Duet” that will be broadcast on CMT in the near future. They are looking for the next big thing when it comes to country music duos. If you already have a duo act, you’re all set, but the producers will also consider finding you a partner for the competition if you think you’ve got what it takes.

Auditions are this Saturday at the Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville starting at 9 am. For more information on the rules of the audition, what you need to bring, and how you should prepare, check out CMT’s Can You Duet Webpage.

If you do make it to the audition, I’d love to hear how it went and what happened, so drop me an email or leave some comments and we can do another post on the process with an insider’s point of view. Good luck!

Country music, Can You Duet, Can You Duet auditions, CMT, CMT Can You Duet