Beatboxing Singer Working on Debut Album Due for Release Late 2007

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    LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Blake Lewis, the popular runner-up
 on the sixth season of "American Idol," has been signed to 19 Recordings /
 ARISTA Records and is already working on his debut album with a stellar
 line-up of producers and songwriters. The album is due for release in late
 2007.
     "Blake has a strong music sensibility and knows who he is and what his
 music should represent." Says Clive Davis, Chairman CEO BMG Label Group
 "His collaborators are all knocked out by him."
     Among the producers working with Lewis on his first album are Jonathan
 "JR" Rotem, who has worked with Rihanna (on her No. 1 single "SOS") and
 Sean Kingston; Ryan "Alias" Tedder, who has worked with Timbaland and new
 artist Leona Lewis; and S*A*M & Sluggo, who have worked with two of the
 year's biggest new artists, Gym Class Heroes and Boys Like Girls.
     Lewis, who has already charted on The Billboard Hot 100 with his
 versions of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" and the Zombies' "Time of
 the Season," has been finding time to go into the studio to work on his
 first album while touring the United States and Canada on the "American
 Idols Live" tour. The tour began in Sunrise, Florida on July 6 and
 continues through a Sept. 22 concert in Manchester, New Hampshire.
     "I love performing, so spending the summer on the road has been a great
 experience," says Lewis. "But I'm also enjoying my time in the studio and
 I'm very excited about recording my debut album. I'm thrilled to be working
 with 19 Recordings and ARISTA Records"
     The 26-year-old singer was born in Redmond, Washington. He started
 singing at age five and competed in statewide talent contests while in high
 school. He became a beat-boxer at 17, inspired by the then Seattle-based a
 cappella group M-Pact. Lewis was a member of the Pacific Northwest a
 cappella group Kickshaw for four years. He also recorded several music
 videos and wrote a number of original songs.
     "Blake is one of the most unique 'Idol' contestants I've ever seen,"
 says Simon Fuller, creator of the popular TV series and chief executive and
 founder of 19 Entertainment Label Group "He brought something new to the
 competition and won fans all over America. I know they're going to love his
 first album, because it shows him off as his very best.
 
 

SOURCE ARISTA Records