Washington, DC - America's Hot Musician www.americashotmusician.org will premier as an interactive high resolution "broadband television show" beginning Wednesday, November 28, 2007 at 8PM EST.
The program, a reality show featuring instrumental soloists of all styles who compete for a one year recording contract, will be available via webcast and by download in the .wmv (Windows Media) and .mp4 (Flash) formats.
"Musician", which has been pre-recorded through the semi-finals. differs from Fox's Great American Band in that only individual musicians may compete, vocalists are not allowed, and the overall tone of the show seems more serious-- laced with more musical terminology and poignant video diaries of the musicians in the later rounds.
The program also will go interactive in those later rounds when some of the competitors and judges will be available for live chat during the weekly webcast.
Public voting, accomplished via email, will begin Wednesday January 9, 2008 during the semi-final round. The top three will advance to the finals in early 2008.
America's Hot Musician is produced by American Youth Symphony (AYS), a Washington, DC "think tank" whose mission is to promote instrumental music in the MTV/Hip Hop generation.
The diverse panel of judges includes National Symphony Orchestra principal second violinist Marissa Regni, former bassist for the all female band Kittie, Talena Atfield, and Duke Ellington Orchestra alum Gregory Charles Royal, who is also the show's creator and Artistic Director of AYS.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, controversy has followed the show since July, 2007 when it was to have debuted on the Oxygen Network as a paid program. Several legal entanglements including those with Oxygen and liability insurance company RBL and Associates marred the debut and a subsequent attempt to launch the show on television.
AYS and Oxygen, which was recently purchased by NBC Universal, are currently in federal court over a breach of contract dispute over that canceled debut.
According to producers, the immediate future of the show as a television program will depend much on how the Oxygen case develops. In the interim, "our broadband strategy, which is not a YouTube upload, but an autonomous website with high resolution webcasts and downloads, RSS feeds and audience interactivity, is our best progressive option", says Royal.
Royal intends to prepare the show to meet eligibility requirements for a Broadband or Regional Emmy Award category for 2007-2008.
Royal states "at the end of the day, the battle to mount this show is well worth the fight. To have a viable option for aspiring instrumental musicians to feel relevant in the popular marketplace is for us, the pot of gold".
http://www.americashotmusician.org
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