Only Four Contenders Remain All Vying For A Seven Episode Guest Starring Role on “Gleeâ€
Kevin McHale (“Glee’s†Artie Abrams) to Guest Mentor on Ninth Episode of “The Glee Project†on Sunday, August 14th at 9:00PM ET/PT
NEW YORK – August 8, 2011 – During last night’s episode of Oxygen’s “The Glee Project,†the remaining five contenders were challenged to take their acting skills to a deeper level than ever before during ‘Believability’ week. The remaining five dug deep to convey unattainable love during their group performance of Paramore’s “The Only Exception.†The line between fiction and reality was tested as each contender attempted to make judges Robert Ulrich, Zach Woodlee and Nikki Anders respond emotionally to the music video. “Glee†guest mentor Jenna Ushkowitz (“Glee’s†Tina Cohen-Chang) coached the group on how to be real without overdoing the intensity.
In the final moments of last night’s episode, “Glee†hopeful Hannah McIalwain of Charlotte, NC was eliminated. For her last chance performance, she sang “Back to December†by Taylor Swift directly to Ryan Murphy, but it wasn’t enough for her to make the call back list. Prior to appearing on “The Glee Project,†Hannah (20) had been performing in amateur shows for six years. Even though she sometimes feels self-conscious about her weight, she uses her sense of humor and exuberance to overcome any negative feelings she has about her appearance. Besides her talent for singing, Hannah can also rap (under the alias Rouge), which illustrates quirkiness and positive attitude. Hannah originally auditioned for “The Glee Project†at the Dallas/Fort Worth open casting call.
The remaining four contenders will face their next “Gleeâ€-inspired challenge on Sunday, August 14th at 9PM ET/PT when Kevin McHale (“Glee’s†Artie Abrams) shows the contenders how to put others first for “Generosity†week. Children from Education Through Music-Los Angeles (ETM-LA), a non-profit organization with the mission to provide music education to disadvantaged schools, join the contenders in performing My Chemical Romance’s “Sing.â€
On Thursday, August 4, six of the contenders visited the Rio Vista Elementary School in North Hollywood, CA to participate in the ETM-LA program, reuniting with some of the children featured in Sunday’s upcoming episode and presenting the school with a check for $15,000 on behalf of Oxygen Media to help ensure that music and the arts continue to thrive in schools.
From Ryan Murphy, the creator and Emmy® award-winning executive producer of “Glee,†and executive producer of “Glee†Dante Di Loreto, “The Glee Project†is a 10-episode competition series seeking to find the next star of “Glee†and will award one winner with the ultimate prize of a seven-episode role in season three of the hit FOX show. The series began with 12 extraordinarily talented individuals that were picked from thousands of entries, and an exhaustive nationwide and online talent search. The series uncovers a unique group of artists from both professional and amateur backgrounds, proving every underdog has a fighting chance at stardom. Each week one contender is sent home through intensive rounds of singing, dancing and acting based assignments. During the final ‘Last Chance Round,’ the bottom three must perform for Ryan Murphy, casting director Robert Ulrich, and choreographer Zach Woodlee as they carefully assess which of them has what it takes to be one of the next new faces of the award-winning show.
For fans who want more of the “The Glee Project,†Microsoft’s search engine Bing is partnering with Oxygen to host the Bing Fan Favorite Contest, allowing fans to vote for their own favorite contenders. Shazam is also partnering with Oxygen to allow viewers to use the Shazam app to unlock exclusive content from each episode of the show. This week, Shazam users will be treated to extended footage from a one-on-one session with Jenna Ushkowitz and the homework assignment winner.
“The Glee Project” is produced by Ryan Murphy Television and Embassy Row with Ryan Murphy, Dante Di Loreto, Michael Davies and Shauna Minoprio serving as executive producers.
A print/blogger conference call with Hannah will take place today at 1pm PT/4pm ET. For call information, please contact Mariah.O’[email protected].
Fans of “The Glee Project†can follow the show on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/thegleeproject, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thegleeproject and Tumblr at http://thegleeproject.tumblr.com for access to all of the latest news and information. Additionally, fans can vote for their favorite contender in the Bing Fan Favorite contest beginning at 9pm ET on Sunday, June 12 and continuing throughout the run of the show. Log-on to www.OxygenLive.com for special live chats with cast as well as a special chat with the eliminated contender directly following the episode. Viewers can log on to http://thegleeproject.oxygen.com for a more in depth look at each contender and to meet the judges, complete with photo galleries and video.
For the first time ever, Shazam’s 125 million users will be able to engage with an Oxygen show and chat simultaneously with cast members and fellow fans. Viewers will be able to tag “The Glee Project†using the Shazam feature within the OxygenLive app to unlock an exclusive extended scene each week. Excusive content will also be available directly from the Shazam app itself.
About Education Through Music-Los Angeles
Founded in Los Angeles in the Fall of 2006, Education Through Music–Los Angeles (ETM-LA, Inc.) is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the mission to provide music education to disadvantaged schools as part of the core curriculum in order to enhance students’ academic performance and creative and general development. Education Through Music-Los Angeles forms long-term partnerships with elementary and middle schools which lack the resources for school-wide music instruction, and is based on the proven ETM® model that began in New York City in 1991. Education Through Music-Los Angeles:
- provides every child in its partner schools with music, including those with special needs,
- provides sequential, comprehensive music instruction lasting the entire school year,
- involves the entire school community in developing a school culture that embraces the arts, and
- helps schools create long-term, sustainable music programs.
Currently, Education Through Music–Los Angeles serves over 3,000 children and plans to expand in the 2011-2012 school year to reach an additional 1,000 children. We believe all children deserve a well-rounded education, one that includes music and the arts. Through the sustainable integration of music into the curricula of schools, Education Through Music–Los Angeles supports school reform and works to ensure all children receive equal opportunities for a brighter future.
About Ryan Murphy Television
Ryan Murphy Television is the creative force behind some of today’s most groundbreaking television. Responsible for the Primetime Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning series “Nip/Tuck†and “Glee,†which has become a cultural phenomenon, RMTV strives to bring fresh perspectives to television audiences the world over.
About Embassy Row
Embassy Row is a New York City-based global format and digital production company dedicated to developing original concepts and adapting international formats for television networks, online and wireless distribution in the U.S. and around the world. We specialize in the genres of games, comedy, reality, factual, sports and food and are pioneers in the fields of brand-supported and digital content. Embassy Row is a creative company, led by hands-on producers always on the lookout for the next breakthrough idea. Since 2008, Embassy Row has been a part of the Sony Pictures Television company.
About Oxygen Media
Oxygen Media is a multiplatform lifestyle brand that delivers relevant and engaging content to young women who like to “live out loud.” Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women’s media by changing how the world sees entertainment from a young woman’s point of view. Through a vast array of unconventional and original content including “The Glee Project,” “Hair Battle Spectacular” and “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood,” the growing cable network is the premiere destination to find unique and groundbreaking unscripted programming. A social media trendsetter, Oxygen is a leading force in engaging modern young women, wherever they are, with popular, award winning features online including www.OxygenLive.com, the real time social viewing party that is also available as an app for the iPhone and iPad, as well as innovative tools shopOholic, makeOvermatic and tweetOverse. Oxygen is available in 77 million homes and online at www.oxygen.com, or on mobile devices at wap.oxygen.com. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/OxygenPR. Oxygen Media is a service of NBC Universal.