TORONTO, September 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
- Musical superstars Boy George,
Alessia Cara, Nikki Sixx, Julia
Michaels, and Jennifer
Nettles join previously announced mentors Shania Twain and
Fergie on THE LAUNCH -
- Additional industry-leading producers and songwriters set to
produce original hit songs for THE LAUNCH Season 1 include
Stephan Moccio, busbee, Ian Kirkpatrick, and Dann Huff who join previously announced mentor
and producer, OneRepublic's Ryan
Tedder -
- Exciting opportunities available now for audiences in Toronto to
attend live studio tapings of THE LAUNCH -
To tweet this release:
http://bmpr.ca/2xuaUWF
With a musical pedigree spanning across multiple genres and
decades, CTV announced today an additional roster of celebrity
mentors for THE LAUNCH: Culture Club alumnus and
Grammy® Award-winner Boy George; international pop
sensation, Canadian singer and songwriter Alessia Cara; rock icon and founding member of
legendary rock band Mötley Crüe Nikki
Sixx; sought-after songwriter with her own current hit
single "Issues", Julia Michaels; and
Grammy Award-winner and co-founder of country-pop duo Sugarland
Jennifer Nettles. The artists join previously announced musical
superstars Shania Twain, Fergie, and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder as mentors on the inaugural season
of the CTV original music series and international TV format THE
LAUNCH.
Also joining previously announced song producers on THE
LAUNCH, including world-renowned music mogul Scott Borchetta and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder, are award-winning
producers/songwriters busbee (P!nk, Shakira, Blake Shelton), Dann
Huff (producer behind more than 50 #1 hit records ),
Ian Kirkpatrick (behind
multi-platinum hit songs from Jason Derulo and Selena Gomez), and Canada's own Stephan Moccio, the music
mastermind behind massive, inescapable hits like the
quintuple-platinum "Wrecking Ball".
"We have assembled some of the most gifted and highly decorated
talent in the music industry today to skyrocket THE LAUNCH
into a new stratosphere of experience for both the emerging artists
appearing on the series and for viewers across the country," said
Randy Lennox, President,
Bell Media. "We look forward to
watching the emerging artists draw from the cumulative wealth of
knowledge and experience that our mentors represent, and the sheer
excitement of watching these musical industry powerhouses place
their imprint on music's next big songs."
THE LAUNCH is an all-new, six-part music television
series and international TV format delivers an authentic,
behind-the-scenes look at the creation of a new original song. The
first season of the Canadian version of the program is currently
shooting in Toronto, before the
format is rolled-out internationally later this year.
A summary of music industry superstars currently announced to
participate in THE LAUNCH include (In alphabetical
order):
ALESSIA CARA
Award winning Canadian singer/songwriter and Def Jam Recordings
artist Alessia Cara emerged onto the
music scene in 2015 with the release of her iconic anthem "Here"
which garnered more than 500,000 total streams in its first week,
going on to become Spotify's Most Viral Song of 2015 selling more
than 3 million copies. That same year she released her full-length
certified platinum KNOW-IT-ALL. In summer 2016, Cara
supported Coldplay on their European and North American tour before
hitting the road to headline her 'KNOW-IT-ALL PT II' tour. Cara
lent her voice to "How Far I'll Go," the official song for Disney's
animated film Moana; and her multi-platinum #1 hit single
"Scars to Your Beautiful" is Cara's gut-wrenching take on female
identity. Her most recent #1 hit with Zedd, "Stay" has sold more
than 2 million copies and has been called the "song of the summer".
A JUNO award winner for 2016 Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Cara
has also been nominated for an American Music Award for Best New
Artist of the Year, People's Choice Award for Favourite Breakout
Artist, Billboard Award for Best New Artist, BET Award for
Best New Artist, BBC Awards for Song of The Year, and 5 MTV VMAs,
to name a few.
BOY GEORGE
Universally recognized as one of the music industry's most iconic
artists, Boy George first appeared on TOP OF THE POPS with Culture
Club in 1982, and has sold more than 100 million singles and 50
million albums worldwide. In 1984, Culture Club won the
Grammy® Award for Best New Artist and BRIT Awards for
Best British Group and Best British Single that same year. Culture
Club became the first group since The Beatles to have three Top 10
hits in America from a debut album, and the first group in music
history to have an album certified diamond in Canada.
busbee
busbee is a Grammy-nominated songwriter and producer. He is based
in Los Angeles and has worked
extensively in Nashville,
London, and numerous other
territories. Many of his biggest hits as a songwriter have been
50/50 collaborations, including "Try" by P!nk, "My Church" by Maren
Morris, "The Fighter" by Keith
Urban and Carrie Underwood,
and "Dark Side" by Kelly Clarkson.
In addition, busbee was a cowriter on the recent crossover smash
"H.O.L.Y." by Florida Georgia Line.
Originally a classically trained jazz musician, busbee has
collaborated with a wide range of artists as both a producer and
songwriter, including Gwen Stefani,
Lady Antebellum, Martin Garrix, Usher, Jon
Bellion, Blake Shelton,
Timbaland, and Kid Cudi.
DANN HUFF
An award-winning session musician and record producer behind more
than 50 #1 hit records since he started his career in L.A. and
Nashville decades ago.
Dann Huff has produced various
artists including Faith Hill,
Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts,
Thomas Rhett, Brett Young, Hunter
Hayes, Jewel, Megadeth, Martina
McBride, and Lonestar, to name just a few. The three-time
Country Music Association Awards (CMAs) Musician of the Year
winner, the four-time Academy of Country Music Awards (ACM) winner
for Guitar Player of the Year, and the Country Producer of the
Decade by Billboard Magazine in 2010, has played guitar on
the albums of artists including Michael
Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Kenny
Loggins, Reba McEntire,
Celine Dion, Bob Seger, Shania Twain, Michael Bolton, Luther
Vandross, Boz Scaggs,
Donna Summer, Rod Stewart, Whitney
Houston, and numerous more.
FERGIE
Influencing a generation of stars to follow, Fergie remains pop's
leading lady. On September 21, the
eight-time Grammy® Award-winning, multi-platinum solo artist
doubles down on her anxiously awaited visual experience and second
full-length album, Double Dutchess - the first release from
Dutchess Music, the label she
founded in partnership with BMG in 2017. The album follows her 2006
debut solo release The Dutchess, which sold 7.2 million
albums and 29 million tracks around the globe and yielded three #1
Billboard Hot 100 hits: "London Bridge," "Glamorous," and
"Big Girls Don't Cry" and Top 5 smashes "Fergalicious" and
"Clumsy." She also remains a driving force in The Black Eyed Peas
whose legacy eclipses sales of 35 million records and 60 million
tracks over the course of four multi-platinum offerings.
IAN KIRKPATRICK
A Grammy® Award-nominated producer and songwriter, Ian Kirkpatrick has landed a dozen singles on
the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and is behind hits including
Selena Gomez's critically acclaimed
"Bad Liar" and Dua Lipa's #1 single
on the U.K. singles chart "New Rules". Along with earning a Grammy®
nomination for his work on Justin
Bieber's multi-platinum album Purpose, he's also
produced and written hit singles like Jason Derulo's #1 Top 40
single "Want to Want Me", Nick
Jonas's certified single "Levels", and Andy Grammer's platinum hit "Fresh Eyes" and
gold-certified "Good to Be Alive (Hallelujah)."
JULIA MICHAELS
Los Angeles-based singer,
songwriter, performer, and 2017's biggest global breakout star,
Julia Michaels' 2016 debut single
"Issues" was certified RIAA double-platinum in the U.S., and
crossed worldwide consumption of 6 million units in less than six
months, becoming the best-selling song by a new artist and the
highest on-demand audio streaming song by a new artist released in
2017 according to Nielsen Music.
Michaels has also solidified herself as one of pop music's most
in-demand songwriters, co-writing a string of Billboard Hot
100 hits alongside musician Justin
Tranter, including smashes like Justin Bieber's "Sorry," Nick Jonas ft. Tove
Lo's "Close," Selena Gomez's
"Good for You" [feat. A$AP Rocky] and "Hands To Myself," and hits
for many more top artists. The cumulative worldwide stream count
for songs she has co-written exceeds 10 billion to date.
JENNIFER NETTLES
Country music star Jennifer Nettles
is a Grammy® Award-winning singer-songwriter and performer, and
recipient of the prestigious Crystal Milestone Award as the first
female artist to be the solo songwriter on an Academy of Country
Music (ACM) Song of the Year winner since 1972. Nettles has been
recognized with five awards by the American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for her songwriting prowess,
including the emotionally charged # 1 Platinum hit "Stay" which
earned Nettles a Grammy®, an ACM, and Country Music Association
(CMA) Awards. In 2015, Jennifer made her Broadway debut as
Roxy Hart in the Tony
Award®-winning, record-breaking musical Chicago. A year later, she released two
critically-acclaimed Big Machine Records' albums - Playing With
Fire and To Celebrate Christmas.
NIKKI SIXX
Celebrated international rock icon Nikki
Sixx is the founding member of Mötley Crüe and Sixx:A.M.; a
three-time New York Times
best-selling author, a philanthropist, and photographer whose first
exhibition in partnership with Leica
Camera is scheduled this fall. Sixx is also the host of two
nationally syndicated radio shows through iHeartMedia, Sixx Sense
and The Side Show Countdown.
RYAN TEDDER
Charismatic front man of the Grammy®-nominated pop-rock
group OneRepublic, Tedder is an in-demand hit songwriter, and
Grammy® award-winning record producer, behind
OneRepublic's massive global smash hits "Counting Stars" and
"Apologize", and 2007 hit song "Bleeding Love", which he co-wrote,
that went on to become an international hit for Leona Lewis. Tedder also wrote and co-produced
the #1 international hit "Halo" for Beyoncé, as well as "XO" from
the singer's hit visual album BEYONCÉ; the smash "Rumour Has
It" for Adele; and more recently, "Remedy" from Adele's album
25.
SHANIA TWAIN
Recognized as the top-selling country artist of all-time, five-time
Grammy® Award-winner, Canadian-born, and internationally
acclaimed musical artist Shania Twain has sold 90 million albums
worldwide. The undisputed "Queen of Country Pop", Twain is the
powerhouse voice behind a string of hits including "You're Still
The One", "From This Moment On", and "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" to
name only a few. A Canadian-born artist and author of the
best-selling memoir From This Moment, Twain has achieved an
unprecedented three Diamond-certified albums; headlined a
show-stopping, two-year Las Vegas
residency in 2012; and was recognized as the 2016 Billboard
Women in Music Icon Award-winner. Shania NOW, Twain's fifth
full-length album led by the declaratory first single "Life's About
to Get Good", is slated for release on September 29.
STEPHAN MOCCIO
Classically trained impresario, Oscar® and
Grammy®-nominated artist Stephan
Moccio is a Canadian producer, songwriter, composer,
recording artist and musician behind some of music's most massive,
inescapable hits. In 2013, Moccio co-penned the quintuple-platinum
song "Wrecking Ball" for Miley
Cyrus. Following the song's success, Moccio quickly became
one of the industry's most sought-after and in-demand producers and
songwriters, going on to co-write and co-produce the two end credit
songs for the film Fifty Shades of Grey: the
quintuple-platinum "Earned It" (The Weeknd) and "I Know You"
(Skylar Grey), which appeared on the
film's platinum selling soundtrack. Previously, Moccio co-wrote the
Celine Dion hit "A New Day Has
Come", which spent 21 weeks at #1 on the Billboard AC chart,
and marked Celine Dion's
record-breaking comeback in 2002. He also produced and co-wrote the
quintuple-platinum song "I Believe" for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
CTV is giving viewers in the Greater
Toronto Area an opportunity to experience the excitement
first-hand by attending a taping of THE LAUNCH. The studio
is located just east of downtown Toronto, and is accessible by TTC with free
parking available within a five-minute walk from the studio.
Participants interested in attending a taping can visit
CTV.ca/TheLaunch for ticket information or RSVP by emailing
LaunchAudience@InsightTV.com with subject line "THE LAUNCH
Tickets". Note: include the number of guests, along with full names
of everyone attending. All audience members must be at least 11
years of age and those under the age of 16-years-old must be
accompanied by an adult.
Reinventing the music television series genre, THE LAUNCH
debuts a new and unique format, documenting an authentic,
behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to break a new artist and
bring a song to life. In each hour-long episode, a group of
unsigned emerging artists are mentored in the creation of a new
original song by a panel of internationally renowned hit makers and
mentors - from discovery to stardom in just two days. THE
LAUNCH takes viewers on a fresh journey every week, unveiling
new talent and new songs in each episode.
Following in the successful footsteps of CANADIAN IDOL, THE
IHEARTRADIO MMVAs, THE JUNO AWARDS, the MuchMusic and Coca-Cola
Covers competition, and most recently, the launch of
iHeartRadio Canada, THE
LAUNCH was put into development in January 2016. The series was co-developed by and
is produced in association with Scott
Borchetta of Big Machine Label Group, Paul Franklin of Eureka, and Bell Media, in partnership with
John Brunton and Lindsay Cox of Insight Productions. The format
is currently being readied for an upcoming international
roll-out.
THE LAUNCH is executive produced by Scott Borchetta, Randy
Lennox and John Brunton;
Lindsay Cox and Paul Franklin are Showrunners and Executive
Producers; Executive Producers for Bell Media are Robin Johnston and Corrie Coe who is also Senior Vice-President,
Original Programming, Bell Media. Pat
DiVittorio is Vice-President, CTV and Specialty Programming,
Mike Cosentino is President, Content
and Programming, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President,
Bell Media.
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Twitter
@alessiacara
@BoyGeorge
@Fergie
@iek
@JenniferNettles
@imjmichaels
@NikkiSixx
@RyanTedder
@scottborchetta
@ShaniaTwain
@stephanmoccio
@BellMediaPR
@bigmachine
@CTV_PR
@CTV_Television
@insightprod
@TheLaunchTV
Facebook
@alessiacara
@boygeorgeofficial
@fergie
@JenniferNettlesMusic
@juliamichaelsofficial
@nikkisixxofficial
@RyanTedder1R
@ShaniaTwain
@StephanMoccio
www.facebook.com/CTV
www.facebook.com/TheLaunchTV
Instagram
@alessiasmusic
@boygeorgeofficial
@busbee
@cloudology
@fergie
@jennifernettles
@imjmichaels
@nikkisixxpixx
@ryantedder
@shaniatwain
@stephanmoccio
@TheLaunchTV
About Big Machine Label Group
Led by Founder, President and CEO Scott
Borchetta, the Big Machine Label Group encompasses Big
Machine Records, The Valory Music Co., BMLG Records, Nash Icon
Records and publishing company Big Machine Music as well as its own
digital radio station, Big Machine Radio. BMLG artists include
superstars Taylor Swift, Rascal
Flatts, Reba McEntire, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Brantley
Gilbert, Hank Williams Jr.,
Ronnie Dunn, Cheap Trick and
Jennifer Nettles; chart-topping acts
Justin Moore, Eli Young Band, A Thousand Horses, Brett Young, Aaron
Lewis, THE VOICE winners Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery, AMERICAN IDOL Season 15
winner Trent Harmon; up-and-comers
The Cadillac Three, Drake White,
Tucker Beathard, Tara Thompson, Midland, Carly Pearce and Delta
Rae. BMLG also helms soundtracks for the hit TV show
NASHVILLE. BMLG artists have
received multiple GRAMMY, CMA, ACM, AMA, CMT, Teen Choice, MTV,
Billboard, People's Choice, and Brit Awards. Big Machine is the
first-ever American label to align with terrestrial radio for
performance royalty rights for its artists and is an industry
leader in fighting for artist, songwriter, publisher and record
company rights. Visit BigMachineLabelGroup.com for more
information.
About Eureka
Eureka is a next-generation
production company combining the expertise, credibility and key
relationships traditionally found within large multi-national
production companies with the energy and nimbleness of a startup.
Launched in January 2016,
Eureka has offices in Los Angeles and Sydney and produces both unscripted and
scripted programs. Within less than a year of opening Eureka has over sixty hours of programming
commissioned in 2017 with more series to be announced soon.
About Insight Production Company, Ltd.
Insight Productions, known for its award-winning ratings
juggernauts, is Canada's most
established content producer. Headed by CEO John Brunton & COO Barbara Bowlby, Insight is an industry leader in
the development, financing, and production of hit programming, both
scripted and unscripted. The Tragically Hip: A National
Celebration; The JUNO Awards; Canada's Walk of Fame; Big Brother Canada; How
To Change The World; and The Amazing Race Canada - the most watched
Canadian series on record - were collectively nominated for 29
Canadian Screen Awards in 2017 taking home 14 statues. Year after
year, The Amazing Race Canada wins the Golden Screen, the CSA for
the highest-rated reality program in Canada. Other productions include: Canadian
Idol; Battle of the Blades; Never Ever Do This At Home;
Intervention; Top Chef Canada; Ready Or Not; Falcon Beach; and A Christmas Fury. Recently,
Insight produced The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration, a live
concert special watched by one in three Canadians. Insight
Productions was founded in 1979 and has since created thousands of
hours of groundbreaking and multiplatform content for the global
market in every genre. In 2015, Insight received the Academy of
Canadian Cinema and Television's inaugural Icon Award in
recognition of its 35th anniversary. For more information visit
www.insighttv.com.
About Bell Media Original Programming
Bell Media has commissioned some of Canada's most-watched and most-acclaimed
original programming, working with the best Canadian independent
producers in the country. Hit series commissioned by CTV include
ratings success stories SAVING HOPE, the record-breaking THE
AMAZING RACE CANADA, MASTERCHEF
CANADA, hit drama CARDINAL, and
upcoming original series THE DISAPPEARANCE, THE INDIAN DETECTIVE,
and THE DETAIL. Among the original series on Bell Media specialty
and streaming platforms are Space's internationally acclaimed
ORPHAN BLACK as well as KILLJOYS, WYNONNA
EARP, and DARK MATTER; Bravo's award-winning and
most-watched original drama 19-2; CraveTV hit comedy LETTERKENNY;
Discovery's first-ever drama FRONTIER; Comedy's satirical news
series THE BEAVERTON, CORNER GAS
ANIMATED; and multiple series and specials for food and lifestyle
channel Gusto, including ONE WORLD
KITCHEN and A IS FOR APPLE. Discovery is also home to Bell
Media's hit factual franchise HIGHWAY THRU HELL, COLD WATER
COWBOYS, and CANADA'S WORST
DRIVER, among others. Bell Media is one of the first media
companies in North America to
commit to producing all new original scripted series in 4K.
About CTV
CTV is Canada's #1 private
broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports,
information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been
Canada's most-watched television
network for the past 16 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell
Media, Canada's premier multimedia
company with leading assets in television, radio, digital, and
Out-of-Home. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE),
Canada's largest communications
company. More information about CTV can be found on the network's
website at CTV.ca.
Natalie Cole, THE LAUNCH Unit
Publicist, nataliecole.njc@gmail.com or +1-416-580-7741;
Matthew Almeida, CTV,
matthew.almeida@bellmedia.ca or +1-416-384-2629