USA Network Names Nashville Star Winner

    NEW YORK, May 3 /PRNewswire/ -- America has spoken, and USA Network is
 proud to announce Buddy Jewell the winner of Nashville Star.  Jewell, the 41
 year-old native of Osceola, AR, and current resident of Antioch, TN competed
 over a nine-week period to come out the winner of this grassroots, nationwide
 talent search for the next country music superstar.  The popular program
 debuted March 8th on the USA Network.  Jewell will receive a recording
 contract with Sony Music Nashville, and country music superstar Clint Black
 will produce his debut effort.
     Jewell, the proud father of three, makes his living singing demos for
 songwriters.  In 1993, he twice won the Male Vocalist category on Star Search.
 After winning the Nashville Star competition, Jewell said, "This is finally
 confirmation that I've been accepted by someone other that my family and
 friends!  Next to meeting my wife, and being there when my children were born,
 this is the highlight of my life.  Of course I wanted to win, but I know good
 things are in store for all of us."
     Jewell, whose final performance on the show was a duet with Trace
 Adkins -- "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing" said the best part of his Nashville
 Star experience has been "singing my own songs on the show, and then getting
 fans' reactions via email and my web site.  I'm especially proud of how 'Help
 Pour Out the Rain (Lacey's Song)' has ministered to people and helped a lot of
 people heal.  It's been an opportunity for me to show my Christian values."
     From its inception, Nashville Star took the traditional talent search
 model several steps further.  The 12 finalists on the show lived in a fully
 wired home in Nashville, where cameras recorded their daily quest to become a
 star.  The nationwide audience became a part of the entire process, from
 songwriting to preparing for concert performances, giving the audience a
 unique perspective of what it takes to become a superstar.
     Access Hollywood's Nancy O'Dell hosted Nashville Star.  Judges for the
 talent search included Columbia/Lucky Dog recording artist Charlie Robison,
 respected country music journalist Robert Oermann and Sony Music A&R
 consultant Tracy Gershon.  Additional celebrity judges participated throughout
 the process.
     USA Network is cable television's leading provider of original series and
 feature movies, sports events, off-net television shows and blockbuster
 theatrical films.  USA Network is available in 81% of all U.S. homes and is
 seen in nearly 87 million U.S. homes.  The USA Network Web site is located at
 www.usanetwork.com.
     USA Network is a program service of Universal Television Networks, part of
 the Universal Television Group, a division of Vivendi Universal Entertainment
 (VUE) (www.universalstudios.com), the U.S.-based film, television and
 recreation entity of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications
 company.
 
 

SOURCE  Sony Music