USA Network Upfront to Feature Headline Performances by Jennifer Hudson and Mark Ronson

NEW YORK, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- USA moves into Upfront Week for the first time with the biggest and most spectacular event yet with performances by Oscar and Grammy Award-winner Jennifer Hudson and world-renowned DJ and Grammy Award-winner Mark Ronson. The talent only presentation will feature the stars of USA at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York City on Thursday, May 17 at 3:30pm.

The most watched network in all of cable for 23 consecutive quarters, USA is the leader in original programming with a summer slate featuring some of the best returning scripted series and the highly anticipated debut of the event drama POLITICAL ANIMALS. With an unprecedented ten series on the schedule, including sophomore seasons of the critically acclaimed SUITS and NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, the network's strong stable of originals includes WHITE COLLAR, ROYAL PAINS, BURN NOTICE, COVERT AFFAIRS, FAIRLY LEGAL, IN PLAIN SIGHT, PSYCH and new series COMMON LAW. USA offers 52 weeks of spectacular live television with WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW, and a broad portfolio of acquired series that will add MODERN FAMILY in 2013, which will serve as a powerful lead-in to the network's first foray into original comedy. In addition, this fall USA will make its move into the unscripted arena with the new reality series THE MOMENT.

The deep roster of talent to present and attend the network's biggest event includes: Sigourney Weaver, Matt Bomer, Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Callie Thorne, Kurt Warner, Jeffrey Donovan, Mark Feuerstein, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, The Miz, Piper Perabo, James Roday, Sarah Shahi, Michael Ealy, Tim DeKay, Mehcad Brooks, Gabrielle Anwar, Dule Hill, Tiffani Thiessen, Chris Gorham, Reshma Shetty, Willie Garson, Bruce Campbell, Sharon Gless, Corbin Bernsen, Paulo Costanzo, Warren Kole, Ryan Johnson, Gina Torres, Meghan Markle, Coby Bell, Peter Gallagher, Sonya Walger, Jack McGee, Marc Blucas, Michael Trucco, Maggie Lawson, Rick Hoffman, Virginia Williams, Baron Vaughn, Marsha Thomason, Sharif Atkins, Kiersten Nelson, Scott Cohen, Timothy Omundson, among others.

Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning recording artist Jennifer Hudson has made a worldwide impact on music and in film. She won an Academy Award for her role as Effie in the film "Dreamgirls," which also garnered her a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a BAFTA and an NAACP Image Award. She went on to co-star in "Sex and the City" and "The Secret Life of Bees" for which she received an NAACP Image Award nomination. In 2008, her Arista Records debut album won a Grammy for Best R&B Album and three additional nominations, including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Best R&B Song. The RIAA Gold Certified album entered Billboard's Top 200 at No. 2 and marked the biggest first week sales for an R&B female entry since 2004. Recently, Hudson released her second album, "I Remember Me," and her current single, "Think Like A Man," with Ne-Yo (featuring Rick Ross), from the upcoming film of the same title, is currently on the Billboard Top 40.

British born Mark Ronson is internationally renowned as one of the world's most sought after DJs and Grammy-Award winning producers, as well as a brilliantly successful solo artist and band leader. He is famed for his work on Amy Winehouse's 2006 "Back To Black" and worked on Adele's "19," Kaiser Chiefs' "Off with their Heads," Ghostface Killah's "More Fish" and Black Lips' "Arabia Mountain." He released his debut solo album "Here Comes the Fuzz" in 2003 and his second in 2007, "Version," which went double platinum. Mark Ronson & The Business Intl (the alias he formed with his band) arrived in 2010 with their critically acclaimed debut, "Record Collection." He earned three Grammys in 2008 as Producer of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Ronson composed the music for the Royal Ballet at The Royal Opera House with Andrew Wyatt and has an integral role in the Grammy-endorsed Re:Generation project, released this month. Recently, he has been in the studio producing Rufus Wainwright's forthcoming album "Out of The Game," due in the spring, as well as Bruno Mars' upcoming album, and has been enlisted to create an anthem for the London 2012 Olympic Games for Coca Cola.

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SOURCE USA Network