'Gospel Dream' to Return for 4th Year of Talent Searching
Gospel Music Channel has announced the impending return of its Christian talent search series "Gospel Dream," with auditions scheduled to begin Apr. 1.
Touted as the "original Idol-like hit gospel/Christian talent search series," "Gospel Dream" draws performers from all styles of gospel and Christian music, including traditional, rock, pop, country and soul, to compete on national television for a chance to win a record and music video deal, among other prizes.
This coming season will mark the series' fourth and will invite 30-35 contestants to compete in Nashville, Tenn., this summer.
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"Gospel Dream is the original music reality competition on television that celebrates aspiring artists who desire to inspire, as well as to entertain," says GMC founder and president Charles Humbard.
Notably, however, two years before the debut of "Gospel Dream," another nationwide Christian music talent search was put together by Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), Daywind Records, Salem Communications, and Christian Bookstores. But the series, "Exalting Him," only ran from 2003 to 2007 and has made no announcement about a future season.
The other Idol-like series, "Sunday Best," is currently in its second season and features gospel music legend Kirk Franklin as its host and gospel duo Mary Mary and BeBe Winans as judges.
The ten-week gospel singing contest, which airs Sundays on BET, is expected to conclude in the middle of May – one month before the June 27 premiere of "Gospel Dream," which will air each Saturday.
Last year, "Gospel Dream" crowned Melinda Watts, a high school English teacher from California who helps at-risk teen girls, its winner and was hosted by Christian music artist/songwriter Matthew West. Last year's seasons also marked the return of the series after a hiatus the year before.
"The show connected with our viewers in the first three seasons and the season four competition promises to be even more compelling and will be seen by even more viewers thanks to our tremendous growth in distribution," says Humbard.
The theme for the upcoming season of "Gospel Dream" will be "The Greatest Inspirational Songs of All Time," and registration information can be found at gospelmusichannel.com/gospeldream. The site allows eligible individuals, ages 16 to 40, to enter online by submitting a video performance through Christian and social networking site Tangle.com, formerly GodTube.com.
Feeder auditions for the fourth season of "Gospel Dream" will be held in:
Seattle (April 1)
Minneapolis (April 8)
Dallas (April 10)
Los Angeles (April 14)
Oakland (April 15)
Nashville (April 25)
Orlando (May 1)
Atlanta (May 2)
Detroit (May 4)
On the Web:
gospelmusichannel.com/gospeldream
