MANILA, Philippines - etc is where the brightest stars are born, and this month, Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. are back and ready to find the liveliest of them all.
American Idol XIV kicked off the fun with a special, two-night, three-hour premiere on Jan. 8, via satellite and Jan. 9 on etc. With Ryan Seacrest as host, the show travels around the US in search for America’s next superstar with stopovers at Kansas City, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco.
The landmark 14th season sees one of the most successful forces in the music industry today join the show as mentor to help shape the career of the winner. Scott Borchetta is president and CEO of the Big Machine Label Group and is credited as the mastermind behind the career of Taylor Swift.
The winner will snag a record deal with Borchetta’s record label Big Machine Records in partnership with 19 Entertainment and Universal Music Group. With Borchetta playing a more integrated part than previous seasons, he will be able to share his expert knowledge from early on in the competition, through to the finale and beyond.
“There’s only one reason I’m doing this: American Idol has proven again and again that it can launch superstars. I believe that working with these young artists the same way we work with new artists at the Big Machine Label Group will help the next American Idol to be as prepared as possible to continue the tradition of creating new superstars,” said Borchetta. “The entire label group will invest and we look forward to bringing our energy, focus and know-how to help develop this young talent at the highest levels.”
Superstars are made on American Idol whose alumni have gone on to earn 12 Grammy Awards, 255 million songs downloaded, 61 million albums sold and 29 gold records to date.