Thursday, June 11, 2009

GMC Headlines Major Artists in June 'Gospel Dream' Premier

GMC Headlines Major Artists in June 'Gospel Dream' Premier

Michelle Williams ("Destiny's Child"), Kimberly Locke ("American Idol®"), Join Line-Up for Fourth Season of "Gospel Dream"

"Gospel Dream" to be Seen Weds. Nights @ 10:00 P.M. ET/9:00 P.M. CT this Summer, Series Premiere June 24th on GMC

ATLANTA, June 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- Gospel Music Channel ( www.gospelmusicchannel.com) announced its line-up of celebrity judges and hosts for the fourth season of the network's popular American Idol®-style talent search series Gospel Dream, to be seen Wednesday nights this summer at 10:00 P.M. ET/PT beginning on June 24.


The judges who will give one lucky person the chance to live their "Gospel Dream" will be: Michelle Williams from the GRAMMY- winning group "Destiny's Child"; one of Gospel music's most prolific talents, Stellar Award winner J. Moss; and one of the music industry's most respected executives, Mitchell Solarek. Kimberly Locke, the first "American Idol®" alumnae to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts with a non-Idol single, will serve as co-host with Mike Kasem ("MTV's Top 20 Video Countdown" "American Top 10.") In addition, two major musical artists will serve as surprise coaches during the season. The theme for the show's fourth season: The Greatest Inspirational Songs of All Time.

Gospel Dream talent scouts combed the country this spring, auditioned thousands and decided upon the 37 contestants who will have an once-in-a-lifetime chance to pursue their dream of a musical career and do so in front of a national television audience in the fourth season of Gospel Dream. Solo artists between 16-40 years of age, from all genres of Gospel/Christian music styles, including traditional, rock, pop, country and soul will compete. Ten finalists-- and ultimately one winner--will be chosen. The winning artist will receive record and music video exposure, among other prizes.

MICHELLE WILLIAMS (Talent Judge) From the very title of her latest album project--"Unexpected"-- Michelle Williams describes the career she's enjoyed-- first as part of the groundbreaking trio "Destiny's Child" with Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland who rocked the music world globally early in this new millennium with millions of unit sales of their music, multiple Grammys and a string of #1 records, More recently, Williams became a Grammy winning artist in her own right with the success of her first solo Gospel album "Heart To Yours", which became the best selling Gospel album of 2002.

J. MOSS (Talent Judge) Moss is not only an accomplished artist; he is also part of one of music's hottest production companies, the three-man team known as PAJAM. He has been the co-writer and/or producer behind some of the biggest artists in both Gospel and secular music for the better part of the last decade, including The Clark Sisters, Hezekiah Walker, N'SYNC, Michelle Williams, Trin-i-tee 5:7, Dru Hill, Boyz II Men and Kelly Price.

MITCHELL SOLAREK (Talent Judge) Solarek is the founder of Maximum Artist Management, a multi- faceted creative complex that represents a diverse roster of major label artists, songwriters, and producers in a broad genre that includes, pop, rock, country and Christian music clients--among them current Top Female Artist in contemporary Christian music, Natalie Grant.

KIMBERLY LOCKE (Co-Host) Locke sets a standard for the true definition of "versatile artist." Launching to instant national stardom from the 2003 season of "American Idol," she has since established her remarkable career as a successful singer, songwriter, model, TV personality, and entrepreneur. She has topped Billboard in both AC and Hot Dance formats with hits such as "Change," "Fall," and "Band of Gold."

MIKE KASEM (Co-Host) Hosting comes naturally for Mike Kasem, who first came to win a large fan following among teens in the late 90's as the host of MTV's "Top 20 Video Countdown." The son of radio and music industry legend, Casey Kasem, Mike has also been heard nationally behind the microphone of both highly popular Casey Kasem weekly syndicated radio programs, "American Top 10" and "American Top 20."

The Gospel Dream series was created by Executive Producer Elvin Ross who is also the series' executive producer and musical director. Gospel Music Channel is the fastest-growing network in television and can be seen in 45 million homes on various cable systems around the country, on DIRECTV on channel 338 and on Verizon FiOS on channel 224.

MEDIA CONTACT: JIM WEISS (770) 692-4579

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