Erika Jo Named Winner of USA Network's Nashville Star 2005 During Season Finale

Erika Jo Named Winner of USA Network's Nashville Star 2005 During Season Finale

First-Ever Female Winner Signed To Universal South Records

NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Over ten million votes have been tabulated from all 50 states, and American television viewers have chosen 18-year-old high school senior Erika Jo as the third season winner of USA Network's Nashville Star. Erika Jo's winning moment came during the season finale that aired live from Nashville's BellSouth Acuff Theatre on USA Network this evening at 10:00/9:00PM Central. Show host LeAnn Rimes made the big announcement that this year's Nashville Star race to the finish was tighter than ever, but Erika Jo edged out fellow finalists Jody Evans and Jason Meadows to win the Nashville Star title, a 2005 Chevy Silverado SS truck, an appearance on the Grand Ole Opry and a recording contract with Universal South Records.

"Can you believe that just last weekend I was at my prom?!" enthused Nashville Star winner Erika Jo. "And now here I am with a record deal and an album to record in the next month. I'll barely be done in time for finals and graduation!"

Erika Jo, 18, from Mt. Juliet, Tenn. (just outside Nashville) was the youngest contestant ever to compete in Nashville Star, although she has been singing professionally with her father's band since she was a young child. The first female and the youngest winner of Nashville Star, Erika Jo won over the judges and the viewing audience with her soaring vocals and charismatic stage presence during performances of such varied material as "Here For The Party," "Broken Wing," and "Black Velvet."

Erika Jo's debut single, "I Break Things," written by Nashville hit tunesmiths Wade Kirby (George Strait, Gretchen Wilson, Kenny Rogers, Faith Hill) and Monty Criswell (Tanya Tucker, Gretchen Wilson, Trace Adkins, John Michael Montgomery), and performed during the finale, was made available for immediate radio airplay by digital download from All Access (http://www.allaccess.com/). Erika Jo's debut album will be released June 14, 2005 on Universal South Records.

For a photo of tonight's winning moment from the show, go to http://www.wireimage.com/.

Over 20 million viewers tuned into this season's Nashville Star, and each episode generated more than 1.2 million votes within the first 30 minutes of voting. This season's Nashville Star proved to be more controversial than ever, with discord arising from the judges' often brutal commentary to infighting among the contestants. The new panel of judges this year was made up of Poison front man and singer/songwriter Bret Michaels, country music singer/songwriter Phil Vassar and industry executive/music supervisor Anastasia Brown. Country music comedian Cledus T. Judd was special correspondent for the show and supported show host LeAnn Rimes with color commentary. Also this season, Sara Evans filled in twice for Rimes, who was sidelined by a broken blood vessel in one of her vocal cords. After two weeks on complete voice rest, Rimes was back in full voice and returned to the Nashville Star stage to host this week's finale.

Local auditions for Nashville Star were held from October through December in 25 markets across the country. Of the thousands who auditioned locally, one hundred contestants were selected to compete at the regional level, and ten competed in Nashville in the season premiere. Throughout the season, the competition was whittled down by audience voting, as cameras captured the contestants' live performances and the behind-the-scenes drama and humor that developed as they lived and worked together in Nashville.

Nashville Star is created by Reveille and executive produced by Ben Silverman ("The Restaurant," "Coupling") and H.T. Owens ("The Restaurant," "Blow Out"). Jeff Boggs serves as executive producer in association with Reveille. The show is produced by Jon Small ("Garth Brooks Live From Central Park," "Billy Joel Live at Yankee Stadium") and his production company, Picture Vision, along side co-executive producer Mark Koops ("The Restaurant," "Blow Out"). Jason Cornwell serves as casting producer.

Universal South Records is a joint venture between highly respected music executives Tim DuBois and Tony Brown and Universal Motown Records Group in New York, which is part of the Universal Music Group. The label's roster includes: Joe Nichols, Bering Strait, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Shooter Jennings, The Notorious Cherry Bombs, George Canyon, Katrina Elam, Matt Jenkins, Lee Roy Parnell, Matthew West, Amanda Wilkinson, Holly Williams and Marty Stuart.

Universal Music Group is the world's largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 71 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's largest global music publishing operations.

Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Record Company, Deutsche Grammophon, DreamWorks Records, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

REVEILLE, a joint venture between Ben Silverman and NBC Universal Television Studio, develops, produces and distributes new and non-traditional programming formats for television and motion pictures across a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, game, and reality for American and international markets. In addition to selling television formats for independent producers such as NBC Universal Television Studios (USA Network, Sci Fi Channel), BBC Worldwide, Renegade and Princess Productions, Reveille sells its own produced program formats such as "The Restaurant" (NBC), "Blow Out" (Bravo) and "30 Days" (FX). Reveille also distributed the internationally renowned, award-winning "911" documentary and is a world leader in creating integrated marketing opportunities for leading advertisers, developing alternative financing paradigms and selling and distributing television formats in markets worldwide.

Reveille has produced projects such as, "Coupling," "The Restaurant", "The Biggest Loser" and coming in 2005 "The Office: An American Workplace" for NBC. Cable projects include "Blow Out" for Bravo, "The Club" on Spike, USA Network's "Nashville Star" and the Morgan Spurlock project "30 Days" for FX Networks.

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 seen in over 88 million U.S. homes. The USA Network Web site is located at http://www.usanetwork.com/.

USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.

Source: USA Network

CONTACT: For Nashville Star: Kristin Schulman of USA Network, +1-212-664-4140, kristin.schulman@nbcuni.com, or Karen Byrd of Karen Byrd Public Relations, +1-615-595-1500, karen.byrd@gmail.com; For interviews with Erika Jo: Paula Erickson of Erickson Public Relations, +1-615-665-5950, paula@ericksonpr.com, or Susan Levy of Universal South Records, +1-615-259-5310, susan.levy@umusic.com

Web site: http://www.usanetwork.com/

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