Nationwide auditions begin for YTV's The Next Star

Six-city audition search begins Saturday, May 1 in St. John's, Newfoundland

Detailed audition information available at YTV.com

TORONTO, March 30 /CNW/ - Corus Entertainment's YTV announced today that Season 3 of the network's hit series The Next Star will hit the road on a nationwide six-city search for Canada's next young singing sensation. Auditions begin Saturday, May 1 in St. John's, Newfoundland and continue throughout the month of May. Complete audition information can be found at YTV.com.

With host Adamo Ruggiero (Degrassi: The Next Generation) at the helm once again, The Next Star hopefuls will be guided by the series' panel of experts, including returning mentors, musician Suzie McNeil, songwriter Christopher Ward and music marketing exec Steve Cranwell.

"With over one million votes cast last year to choose Season 2's winner Tianda Flegel, The Next Star has proven to be a favourite amongst both kids and their parents," said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Programming and Production, Corus Kids. "As a family network, we couldn't be happier to provide Canadian kids with another opportunity to have a shot at the spotlight."

Tianda Flegel's single, "Liar Liar", a country-infused pop song, is now available on iTunes. Her music video will premiere during YTV's half-hour special The Next Star: Where Is She Now? on Friday, April 9 at 8:30 p.m.

Modeled after the previous two seasons, The Next Star will be open to kids aged 15 and under and will focus on finding Canada's next vocal talent. From the open call auditions, the top 16 will be featured, and six finalists will be chosen to go through The Next Star process. Whether the endeavour is a vocal challenge, mastering a media interview or nailing down a signature look, the question will be: who can juggle every facet of being a star? The finalist with the most viewer votes will be named the winner and take the title of The Next Star at the live finale in September, and receive the grand prize.

Auditions will be held for the first time in St. John's, Newfoundland and Saskatoon, Saskachewan. Below is a complete list of cities and locations:

    
    Saturday, May 1
    The Capital Hotel, 208 Kenmount Road, St. John's, Newfoundland

    Tuesday, May 4
    The Palais des congrès, 201 Avenue Viger Ouest, Montreal, Quebec

    Saturday May 8 and Sunday, May 9
    DoubleTree by Hilton, 655 Dixon Road, Toronto, Ontario

    Saturday, May 15
    Delta Bessborough, 601 Spadina Crescent East, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

    Tuesday, May 18
    Mayfield Inn and Suites, 16615 - 109th Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta

    Saturday, May 22
    Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place, Vancouver, British
    Columbia
    

YTV also announced today the launch of The Next Star website. Hopeful finalists and fans can visit the official website at YTV.com for more information on the audition process, rules and procedures.

Once the series has launched on Monday, July 19 at 7 p.m., the website will be centre stage for audience interaction, streaming video and the voting process. Viewers will be encouraged to visit the site to vote for their favourite finalist, find show info, surf finalist pages, download extra content and watch behind the scenes videos.

Award-winning singer, Suzie McNeil, performed her Olympic-inspired song "Believe" at the 2010 Olympics closing ceremonies. Hot on the heels of a Canadian tour with superstar, Colin James, she has been busy writing and recording tracks for her next album. JUNO Award-winning composer and MuchMusic's first VJ, Christopher Ward, has written a number of chart-topping singles including Black Velvet for Alannah Myles and most recently penned songs for Cirque du Soleil's Banana Shpeel. Membership on the boards of Canadian Music Therapy and the JUNO Awards led to Steve Cranwell's newest chapter as Executive Director of MusiCounts, Canada's music education charity.

Tricon Films & Television is one of North America's strongest independent production and distribution companies dedicated to producing and representing groundbreaking television. Tricon has fast emerged as a leading supplier of high quality factual and scripted content that continues to perform successfully both domestically and around the world. Launched in 2002, Tricon's distribution arm has an impressive track record of selling a broad mix of award winning programming from primetime scripted comedy and dramatic series, to reality, lifestyle, factual and documentary series.

Seen in over 10.5 million homes across Canada, YTV is a leading entertainment brand for kids. As a major force in kids' television, YTV offers great programming for kids and families with hit Nickelodeon series, blockbuster movies and original Canadian programming. YTV reaches kids online at YTV.com and in local communities with the travelling road show WOW!. Visit www.ytv.com.

YTV is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. The company's multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CFOX, CKOI, 98,5 FM, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) exchanges. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

All YTV times are ET/PT.

For high-resolution images, please visit: http://mediacentre.corusent.com

For further information: Molly Ray, Corus Entertainment, [phone], [email protected]; Anne Vranic, Holmes Creative Communications, [phone], [email protected]