Fox has American Idol and X Factor, ABC has Duets, NBC has The Voice and other music-competition shows have popped up on network and cable. On Aug. 16, the CW will launch The Next, in which four mentors -- Gloria Estefan, John Rich, Nelly, and Joe Jonas -- travel through a half-dozen large U.S. cities to "drop in on the lives of four up-and-coming local musicians."
"In each town, the contestants will be local musical heroes with a huge regional following of devoted fans." according to the show's Web page. This week, the show taped in Dallas for an episode schedule to air Sept. 13. (The other tapings occurred in Orlando, Baltimore, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles).
The DFW contestants, who aren't necessarily originally from Dallas but live there now, are:
Ashley Kimbrae, whose single, Drop 64, has received radio airplay and who has appeared on KKDA/104.5 FM "K104." Check her out:
Erica Perry, a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader whose single, I've Been Known to Get Crazy, has been played on Plano-based Americana station KHYI/95.3 FM.
Jordana Malkoff, who goes simply by Jordana. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Malkoff has been studying underr Linda Septien at Dallas' Septien Entertainment Group since 2009. According to her Facebook fan page bio, Jordana "has a voice of yesteryear, when singers could actually sing!" Not finding any videos, but here's her ReverbNation page for some song smaples.
Remington Rafael, lead singer and multi-instrumentalist for Remington. "Guitarist, saxophonist, pianist and songwriter Remington Rafael enjoys the thrust of music to his audience eyes," his bio says. "'Turn ‘em on ... make ‘em love you'."
