Keepin' it Country Media & Radio » X Factor

Tate Stevens signs deal with RCA Nashville

Lydia Picknell — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:21:26 +0000

Looks like country is about to welcome another reality competition star into its family. Season two X Factor winner Tate Stevens has officially signed a deal with RCA Nashville / Syco Music. He’s currently working and writing for his debut album, which will be out this Spring.

Never finishing lower than second in the voting, America chose country singer Tate Stevens as the winner of Season two of Simon Cowell’s The X Factor, proving that country music fans are not to be messed with. Last year was a big year for country music on reality singing competitions – country fans helped Blake Shelton win two seasons in a row of The Voice.

Congratulations Tate! We can’t wait to see what you’ll be bringing to country music this year.

Pictured (l-r): Sony Music Nashville Chairman & CEO Gary Overton, Stevens, Ken Levitan (Vector Management), Sony Music Nashville VP A&R Jim Catino, Michelle Owens (Vector Management)

Blake Shelton Takes On Simon Cowell

Lydia Picknell — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 18:04:52 +0000

Things are about to get interesting tonight. Blake Shelton, who serves as a coach on NBC’s hit The Voice, has had enough of Simon Cowell’s bickering. The always-unfiltered country star told Access Hollywood his true feelings on Simon’s vocalizations over The Voice and X Factor rivalry. The new season of X Factor USA premieres tonight on Fox at 8 pm EST, while the third episode in the 3-day premiere of NBC’s voice will air in the same time slot on NBC.

Simon told Ellen yesterday on her show that he isn’t happy with the way the shows are to air tonight, claiming that The Voice broke an agreement between the two programs to let each other shine on different nights. Simon said:

“I am pissed off about it, because I think there’s a kind of gentleman’s agreement. But we have to rely that the viewers will make the right selection.”

Blake, who isn’t one to keep quiet about whatever’s on his mind, told Access Hollywood today:

“Every time I turn around the guy is mouthing off… Don’t y’all wish you had time to sit around and bitch and moan like that guy does?”

Blake doesn’t want to start in on the blame game, instead suggesting to the reality show king that he needs to worry about X Factor and not what The Voice is doing. He continues:

“Every time I turn around, he’s mouthing off about our show. It’s like, ‘Do your own show! Come on! Put something together there and do your thing’. We’ll just do ours and we won’t mouth off about you. I wish I had that much time. The guy must just have more free time than he knows what to do with.”

Not wanting to be taken the wrong way, Blake believes that there’s room for both The Voice and X Factor this fall. He tries to keep the peace by adding:

“There’s room for all these shows. “That’s what frustrates me when I hear the bickering. I’m like, ‘We’re all doing pretty good. High five!’ But I think the thing that the other shows probably took notice of was – the four of us on The Voice – we’re not judges.”

What do you think? Is there enough room for both shows, or will you be watching one over the other? Who do you think will win the ratings battle tonight? The Voice airs on NBC tonight at 8 pm EST, while X Factor will premiere it’s new season tonight on Fox at 8 pm EST.

VIDEO: Simon Cowell Mad at The Voice

Lydia Picknell — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:53:51 +0000

X Factor judge, and producer, Simon Cowell isn’t very happy this week. He has been pretty vocal lately about NBC’s decision to run a 3-night season premiere of its hit singing competition The Voice, after Simon says they agreed to let X Factor have Wednesday and Thursday. The Voice aired last night, again tonight, and will tomorrow night. Simon believes that NBC is afraid of losing viewers to X Factor after fans watch the first episode.

In an interview on the Ellen Show, Simon actually boos the Voice and says how he really feels. Watch the interview below and let us know what you think is the better show: The Voice, which features Blake Shelton, or X Factor?

The X Factor Auditions Start

Lydia Picknell — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:43:18 +0000

Simon Cowell brought his version of reality singing competitions to the United States last year, and auditions for the second season of “The X Factor” began yesterday already. Fox is using state-of-the-art MyStudio HD Recording Studios in the Westfield Culver City Mall in Los Angeles, California, and at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Other auditions are also underway at other MyStudio locations in Honolulu, Phoenix, Nashville and New Jersey.

“We wanted to give everyone the opportunity to audition and MyStudio booths are another way for us to do this. These booths are studio quality, and we are going to be moving them to lots of cities across America over the next few weeks. You can find a list of all the cities where the studios will be on The X Factor website: www.thexfactorusa.com,” said Simon Cowell.

The program is expanding its audition process this year to help find the best undiscovered talent in America. They’re out to find even more singers than any other reality tv program, both solo artists and groups, with its partnership with MyStudio. Auditions are open to anyone 12 years of age or older, and will be able to record a capella versions of their chosen audition songs in the studio and share with producers why they’re the act that deserves the $5 million recording contract prize this season. MyStudio engineers are available at every audition to help make sure the track goes smoothly.

The finalists from the MyStudio auditions will go directly to auditioning in front of the judges on camera for the second season. The contestants will perform at this stage in front of Simon Cowell and his fellow judges, as well as a live audience in the thousands.

Last season, Drew was one of the lucky MyStudio finalists that made it all the way to the live rounds and landed on Team Simon. She was a top three finalist for the girls team.

Simon will return with L.A. Reid as judges for the new season. New judges, who are replacing Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger will be announced at a later date.

See the full list of audition cities below. Are you planning on auditioning, or are you encouraging a friend to go?

NEW JERSEY	MARCH 1	WESTFIELD GARDEN STATE PLAZA
PHOENIX	MARCH 1	ARIZONA MILLS MALL
NASHVILLE	MARCH 1	COOLSPRINGS CENTER MALL
HONOLULU	MARCH 1	PEARLRIDGE CENTER
LOS ANGELES	MARCH 9	WESTFIELD CULVER CITY
NEW ENGLAND	MARCH 9	FOXWOODS RESORT CASINO
LAS VEGAS	MARCH 14	PLANET HOLLYWOOD RESORT