The Academy of Country Music announced additional performers, presenters and an unprecedented number of duos and special collaborations for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards. The special will be broadcast live Sunday, April 2 8:00-11:00 PM/ET on CBS.
The featured collaborations will include 14-time ACM Award winner and 14- time ACM Awards host Reba McEntire and Christian artist Lauren Daigle performing “Back to God,” Tim McGraw and Faith Hill premiering “Speak To a Girl,” and Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban performing their hit single “The Fighter.”
Solo performances include Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts.
It's been 20 years since Gordon Kennedy, Jeff Balding, Blair Masters, John Hammond and Jimmie Sloas joined forces as Dogs of Peace to record Speak, a groundbreaking album that was musically inventive, lyrically insightful and both playful and poignant all at the same time.
Now the Dogs are back with Heel, a potent collection of tunes that percolate with the same passion that gave voice to Speak. "The message is just a proclamation of what we believe to be the truth and we try to tell it the best way we can. We're just trying to write the best songs and record them to the best of our ability, and hopefully that's what we've done again."
Each song is brought to life by five well-accomplished musicians.
Kennedy is a legendary guitarist and two-time Grammy winner who co-wrote Eric Clapton's Grammy winning Song of the Year "Change the World." Currently on tour with Peter Frampton, Kennedy has written songs for Don Henley, Garth Brooks, Ricky Skaggs, Bruce Hornsby, Tim McGraw and Carrie Underwood among others as a player, has worked with Little Big Town, Kenny Loggins, Reba McEntire, Amy Grant, PFR, Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins and many more.
Sloas is a world-renowned bass player/songwriter and producer whose credits include Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Megadeth, PFR, Thomas Rhett and others. He has performed with different artists on "Good Morning America," "The Tonight Show," "Saturday Night Live," "Conan" and the CMA Awards Show.
Blair Masters is a keyboardist/composer/producer who has recorded with Frankie Valli, Amy Grant, Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, Megadeth and Jeremy Camp. As a producer, he has worked with Jim Brickman, Twila Paris and Point of Grace. He has toured with Frampton, McDonald, MercyMe, Giant and Steve Wariner, and he has composed music for television shows on A&E, the Discovery Channel, ABC, NBC and CBS.
John Hammond has recorded or performed drums with Vince Gill, Jewel, Faith Hill, Olivia Newton-John, Barry Manilow, Whitney Houston, Peter Cetera, Kristin Chenoweth, Bill Gaither, Christopher Cross, Cliff Richard and many others. He has performed on "The Today Show," "Pepsi Smash," "The Tonight Show," The Dove Awards and for the President as part of an In Command Performance at the White House.
Balding's credits include Taylor Swift, Don Henley, Shakira, Little Big Town, Megadeth, Keith Urban and Jewel. Balding has held elected positions with The Recording Academy and serves on Belmont University's Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business and the Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Magnet High School Academy Advisory Board.
In recording Heel, the Dogs enlisted special friends to lend their talents. Michael Omartian plays piano on "Friend of the Groom." Skaggs lends his mandolin to "Only the Gold" and Frampton puts his signature guitar licks on "Healed." PFR's Joel Hanson, Whiteheart alum Rick Florian and the McCrary Sisters provide guests vocals on "He's the Light of the World." As much as they enjoyed having friends add to their musical offerings, for the Dogs of Peace, the biggest reward was just in being back together and getting a chance to howl once again. "This was a passion project for us all," says Masters. "We didn't go, 'Let's make a record that has a hit song!' It was really, 'Let's make some music that we love making.' That's what inspired everybody and there's a quote from Gordon that we all embrace: 'If nothing else happens with this other than it being an offering, then that alone is enough reason to do it.' That's the heart behind the record. If it's an offering we put at His feet, then that's enough and is the reason for this record."
Colton Dixon will return to the American Idol stage Thursday, April 7 to perform at the 15th and final season of the popular singing competition. The finale will air live on Fox from 8-10:06 pm ET.
American Idol helped launch Dixon’s career when he made it to the top seven on Season 11.
American Idol’s grand finale will be filled with surprise appearances and star-studded performances as the show pays tribute to the past 15 seasons before the final American Idol is crowned. Thursday’s final episode will have all-star performances by former contestants, including Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Ruben Studdard, Jordin Sparks, David Cook, Kris Allen, Scotty McCreery, Chris Daughtry, Clark Beckham, Danny Gokey, Diana DeGarmo, Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Lauren Alaina, Melinda Doolittle, Pia Toscano, and more.
Fox aired the semi-live The Passion musical on Palm Sunday featuring a 20-foot glowing cross being carried through the streets of New Orleans. Facing a full schedule from its network rivals plus The Walking Dead on cable, The Passion experienced a 42% decline from January 31’s Grease Live and set a low for network live musicals.
Fox’s second live musical event of the year so far, the drama of the last hours of Jesus hadpre-taped segments, Tyler Perryas narrator, Trisha Yearwood as Mary, Seal as Pontius Pilate singing “We Don’t Need Another Hero” from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Tears For Fears’ “Mad World”,Chris Daughtry as Judas, andTelenovela’sJencarlos Canela as Jesus.
The program was also 46% lower than NBC's December 3, 2015 broadcast of The Wiz Live! However, that show as up 34% from Peter Pan Live which aired December 4, 2014. Both were down from the Carrie Underwood-led Sound of Music Live! which aired December 5, 2013.
Despite the infusion of contemporary music and Perry’s following among young viewers, the special was older-skewing compared to the other live musicals.
Fox finished Sunday tied with NBC and CBS for No.1 in adults 18-49.
New mother Carrie Underwood won big at Wednesday night's CMT Music Awards, taking home the Video of the Year award for her faith hit "Something in the Water," and she thanked fans while calling it a "blessing." The singer also made history by scoring her 13th CMT award, making her the most decorated CMT winner.
The country music star made her first public appearance since giving birth to her first child, Isaiah Michael Fisher, in February. And she was sure to recognize both him and her hockey player husband, Mike Fisher, when taking home three gongs, including Video of the Year for the fourth year in a row.
"This is my first show since little Isaiah has been in the world," a beaming Underwood told the star-studded crowd at Nashville, Tennessee's Bridgestone Arena. "He's probably napping on the bus right now, but I should definitely say that he has already inspired me so much, as well as my husband, Mike. Thank you guys! … This is such an amazing blessing."
Earlier this year, Underwood's baptism-inspired hit "Something in the Water" scored her a Grammy award for Best Solo Country Performance. She previously spoke about the recording process, sharing that she knew the song would be an instant hit.
"I knew while we were writing 'Something in the Water' that we really had something special," Underwood said. "This was one that, as it was happening, I was recording stuff on my phone. Like, 'Oh my gosh.' Like, 'Let's do it again. I can make that better. We can do this better.'"
The song is Underwood's longest-running Billboard No. 1 hit and the music video has been viewed on YouTube more than 12 million times since it was uploaded in November.
Country superstar Carrie Underwood is currently enjoying another hit with the single "Something In The Water." She has gone full circle in capping a decade of hits with another faith-inspired song. It's been a decade since the country star exploded onto the music scene with her winning appearance on American Idol in 2005 and her first big hit, 'Jesus, Take the Wheel'."
After winning the fourth season of American Idol in 2005 she has enjoyed staggering success, selling more than 64 million records globally, winning six Grammy Awards and had 14 number one country music hits. Now, with the release of "Something In The Water", she sings a song which speaks boldly about conversion, baptism and keeping the faith with lyrics which include the lines, "I followed that preacher man down to the river/And now I'm changed/And I'm stronger/There must've been something in the water." The song ends with an interpolation of "Amazing Grace" before Underwood powerfully sings out a portion of the hymn.
In an interview with the Today TV, she described "Something In The Water" as a "joyous, uplifting song about changing your life for the better and waking up and having that a-ha moment and your life being different from that moment forward." Talking to Esquire magazine she said, "After I released 'Jesus Take The Wheel' people started saying, 'Oh, it's kind of risky. You're coming out with a religious song.' I was thinking, 'Really?' I grew up in Oklahoma, I always had a close relationship with God. I never thought it was risky in the least. If anything, I thought it was the safest thing I could do."
"Something In The Water" is the first track on Carrie's latest double CD 'Greatest Hits: Decade #1' which also includes "Jesus, Take The Wheel" and her duet with Vince Gill, "How Great Thou Art".
Michael W. Smith knew something special had happened following his performance with Carrie Underwood on the CMA Country Christmas special. "What a moment - it made my hair stand up a little bit!" he said to PEOPLE Magazine backstage at the taping of the show in Nashville. The performance, along with a showering of media praise, led to nearly a 150% increase in album sales this week for his new Christmas project - Michael W. Smith & Friends: The Spirit of Christmas.
Smith's live performances with Carrie Underwood and Little Big Town helped solidify a Top 4 position on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart. The Spirit of Christmas will remain there this week in the peak of Christmas shopping season amongst Michael Buble, Idina Menzel and Pentatonix. The Christmas project - which also features Vince Gill, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Amy Grant, Jennifer Nettles, Bono and Michael McDonald - broke into the Top 10 Overall Albums on iTunes, helping secure a No. 16 spot on the Billboard 200 and a No. 1 spot on the Billboard Christian/Gospel Albums charts this week.
Three-time GRAMMY® winner Michael W. Smith will perform on the CMA Country Christmas special to air on ABC on Monday, December 1 at 8/7c. Smith will perform two tracks off of his top-selling Christmas album - Michael W. Smith & Friends: The Spirit of Christmas - and joining him on stage will be CMA Awards host Carrie Underwood and the newly inducted Grand Ole Opry members Little Big Town. Smith made his CMA Country Christmas debut in 2013, performing with host Jennifer Nettles. Smith will perform his original song "All Is Well" with Underwood and the beloved Christmas classic "Silent Night" with Little Big Town. The 2014 CMA Country Christmas special will also feature performances by Leann Rimes, Idina Menzel, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Steven Tyler and more.
Michael W. Smith & Friends: The Spirit of Christmas released only a few short weeks ago, quickly hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart. The album features a plethora of A-list guests - including the aforementioned Carrie Underwood and Little Big Town, as well as Vince Gill, Lady Antebellum, Martina McBride, Amy Grant, Jennifer Nettles, Bono and Michael McDonald. Huffington Post led the critical praise, calling the album an early "favorite Yuletide effort" and an instant "Christmas classic."
Three-time Grammy winner Michael W. Smith announced the September 30 release of Michael W. Smith & Friends: The Spirit of Christmas, featuring an all-star lineup of guests - Vince Gill, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Amy Grant, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Nettles, Bono and Michael McDonald.
Michael W. Smith & Friends: The Spirit of Christmas is Smith's fourth Christmas project, following the successful releases of Michael W. Smith Christmas (1989), Christmastime (1998) and It's A Wonderful Christmas (2007).
Eager to create a one-of-a-kind project to be played at Christmastime for years to come, Smith and co-producer Robert Deaton were inspired by the original Carpenters Christmas album, wanting nostalgia to hit listeners right at the top of the record. Thematically, the album is uniquely divided into three sections, creating an overall arc to the recording. Beginning with the childlike and wintry aspects of the start of the Christmas season, the collection evolves with songs and instrumentation reflecting the true meaning of Christmas with the celebration of family and faith, concluding with what Christmas brought to the world, the birth of Jesus.
Grammy Award winning female superstar Carrie Underwood took to the stage at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville this past weekend with a very special guest, Francesca Battistelli!
Francesca, who made her Opry debut earlier in the year, was a last-minute addition to the bill for this Saturday night's events, which also included a performance by legendary Opry inductee, Charlie Daniels (“Devil Went Down To Georgia,” “Uneasy Rider.”)
The artist quickly shared the exciting news on Twitter:
"So honored to be playing the @opry again tomorrow night! Excited to share the stage with @carrieunderwood!"
Carrie Underwood responded to those who criticized her for her "Sound of Music Live!" performance by telling them on Twitter that they need Jesus and encouraging them to read 1 Peter 2:1-25.
"Plain and simple: Mean people need Jesus. They will be in my prayers tonight... 1 Peter 2:1-25," read a tweet by the NBC's live-musical star the day after "The Sound of Music Live!" was broadcast.
Underwood was cast as Maria in the live performance of the "Sound of Music" for television. After her performance, Underwood tweeted with a visible excitement, saying: "Glory to God tonight...I couldn't be more proud. What a tough thing to pull off and we did it! I am so blessed!!!"
John Elefante is back with a new solo album, "On My Way to the Sun" to be released May 7th.
The 4 time Grammy Award winner is best known for his time as the lead vocalist for the multi-platinum rock outfit Kansas. And fans will be delighted to find that the opening track, "This Is How The Story Goes," reunites Elefante with former Kansas bandmates Rich Williams and David Ragsdale.
"Lyrically, I have more inside me that I need to say, more I need to express and convey than ever before," says Elefante of what just may be the most personal project of his career. One of the album's highlights is the song, "This Time," which tells the story of a young teen's divine encounter at an abortion clinic that ultimately leads her to save her baby. The somewhat autobiographical song touches close to home for Elefante, whose adopted daughter was rescued from abortion.
"This is one the easiest songs I have ever written," says Elefante. "I was able to put myself in the place and time where my daughter was so close to being aborted. It was so divinely vivid to me because this story was meant to be told. I don't know all of the fine details but I do know that on that day God said, 'No! You're not taking this one - This Time.'"
In addition to Kansas and his solo work, Elefante's extensive resume includes writing and performance contributions on more than 100 albums that shaped popular American music. In 1993, Elefante and his brother Dino founded The Sound Kitchen in Franklin, Tennessee, which quickly became the largest recording studio in the southeast and an instant draw for such top acts as Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Natalie Grant, Amy Grant, Keith Urban, Third Day, Jewel, Jimmy Buffett, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Brad Paisley and many more.
Life after the post-show American Idol Tour has continued to be a whirlwind for American Idol season 10 winner Scotty McCreery and runner-up Lauren Alaina.
The talented teens have each been promoting their debut albums, which release a week apart. Scotty’s Clear As Day bowed October 4 and Lauren’s Wildflower hit stores October 11.
Produced by former head of Christian label Word Records, Mark Bright (Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts), the impressive collection suits Scotty’s values and showcases his considerable vocal gift.
Songs like “That Old King James” about a grandfather’s Bible handed down from generation to generation and “Water Tower Town,” a reflection of Scotty’s small-town roots growing up in Garner, NC, an ode to the water tower across from where Scotty played baseball in his youth.
When he heard the song “Dirty Dishes,” he kicked another song off the album to make room for it. “Mama heard it and she sat down crying,” he shares. Scotty says the song about a mother’s prayer as her family sits down to dinner “struck a nerve... It brought back a lot of good memories.”
Scotty says Bright was a perfect choice as producer.
“It was a really cool thing that Mark and I got together because he’d worked with Carrie Underwood and had been through my exact situation,” Scotty says of Bright working with Underwood after her American Idol win. “Also he’s had a background in Christian music, so he knew exactly where I was coming from in the country format as well as my background in church and the Christian aspect in my life.”
Season 10 American Idol runner-up Lauren Alaina is cognizant of her status as a role model for young people and wanted the songs on her debut album to reflect her values.
“I represent all the young girls. My mom and my managers have made that very clear to me,” the 16-year-old Georgia native says. “I can’t sing songs that are inappropriate for young girls to listen to. I have adult fans too, but I feel like the adults would respect me more singing songs that are appropriate for my age than singing grown-up songs. I wouldn’t want to do that anyway because I’m a Christian and I feel I represent a different lifestyle. That was the biggest thing I was worried about – finding songs that were appropriate for me – but my label is awesome and they did a really good job helping me out with that.”
Lauren’s debut single, “Like My Mother Does,” showcases her impressive voice and the emotion she brings to a well-crafted lyric. “It’s a beautiful song. As soon as I heard it, I fell in love with it because my mom and I are best friends,” she says. “We do pretty much everything together, especially over the past year because we packed up and moved to California. I tell her everything and we talk about everything, but being on American Idol, I feel like it brought us even closer.”
Lauren began writing songs at age nine. “One of my aunts had a car wreck and I wrote a song for her called ‘Miracle’ that made my whole family cry. When that happened, it made me realize that was something I needed to be doing. I became addicted to it,” she says. Her debut album includes “Funny Thing About Love,” which she co-wrote with Brett James (“Jesus Take the Wheel”) and Luke Laird (“Mama’s Song”).
Lauren recorded the album during downtime on the American Idol tour, working with veteran producer Byron Gallimore (Tim McGraw, Faith Hill). One of her favorite songs on the album, “Eighteen Inches,” was written by one of her heroes.
“When they were sending me songs, someone gave me a heads up that one of them was written by Carrie Underwood and I got really excited,” Lauren says of the tune. “I liked the song before I even heard it because I knew she wrote it and I’m such a huge fan of hers. Then I heard it and it has such a beautiful message. I have a friend that that entire story happened to her. It reminds me of her so much.”
The title track, “Wildflower,” hits even closer to home. “In elementary school I was a tomboy,” she reveals. “I know that’s hard to believe ’cause I’m not a big tomboy now. I played softball. I didn’t ever fix my hair and I didn’t care about matching my clothes. I was like that until my grandmother passed away. She wasn’t like that at all and when she passed away, I wanted to be like her so I started fixing my hair and wearing nice clothes, which my mom was really thankful for. The song talks about young girl like that. I can relate to that ’cause that was me before.”
Lauren hopes her music will speak to other young girls and help build their self-esteem.
“When you talk to me, you wouldn’t know I’m insecure ’cause I hide it very well, but I really am,” she admits. “I get insecure and the people closest to me know that. I tried not to show that on [American Idol], but it showed a little bit. It’s normal for a teenage girl. I learned a lot over the past year being on American Idol. I am who I am. People voted me as runner-up. I’m not perfect. No one is, but people still love me the way I am. If other people can love me, if strangers can love me, I need to know to love myself. I feel like that song represents that completely and that’s the biggest thing I want to share with young girls.”
The inspirational drama "Soul Surfer" exceeded expectations and debuted in fourth with an estimated $11.1M. Posting the best screen average among the new films, the PG-rated true story of a teen surfer who gets her life back on track after a shark bites off her arm averaged a good $5,014 from 2,214 screens. Overall, “Soul Surfer” came in fourth, but lost the #2 spot only by a nose to “Hanna,” which banked $12.3m on 300+ more screens, and the “Arthur” remake, which played on 1,000+ more screens but took in only $12.6m. Per screen, “Soul Surfer” beat “Arther” by $1,200. No small thing, especially since surfing movies tend to wipe out.
Nikki Finke reports that Sony was hoping for $10 million and is obviously very happy with the results: “If we do 10 million this weekend (or close to it), it would be a home run for Sony and Film District.”
The movie earned mixed reviews from critics, but "Soul Surfer" earned an A+ grade from CinemaScore which is rare these days so word-of-mouth should help the pic to play well for the rest of the spring season especially with the Easter holiday still to come. So the $15 million production should prove to be quite profitable.
Exit polls showed that a whopping 80% of the crowd was female and 56% was under 25. Moms and daughters made up a big portion of the audience.
“Soul Surfer,” which is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a young surfer whose Christian faith and family help her to overcome a shark attack that cost her an arm, stars AnnaSophia Robb, Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt. Thanks to some very good marketing to the teenage crowd in general and to the Christian market specifically, what Hollywood has here is one less excuse to keep ‘em coming.
Carrie Underwood is one of the world’s most successful country music artists, but she tells us that it isn’t only a result of talent and luck. Instead, she credits her strong faith and Christian upbringing for all her life’s charms.
“I grew up in church and have a wonderful family that always supported that,” Underwood told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “I grew up going to church camp and reading my bible and having different faith books and movies in my life.”
The 28-year-old “American Idol” winner makes her film debut in a supporting role in the heartfelt drama “Soul Surfer." And Underwood hopes that the film will enable American audiences to see the power that faith has in the healing process.
“I hope that it is very clear that the faith in this movie is more than an undertone, and that the reason Bethany got through everything was because of her faith in God," she said.
“It’s easy to have faith when things are going great and you’re on top of the world – I’m winning, I’m selling, I’m on tour and this is all great! But this story is about having faith when the chips are down and how to deal with that. We can all learn something from Bethany’s story, even when the little things in our lives don’t go so well, we can take a lesson from her and realize how small that problem really is.”
And although the Oklahoma native embraced the new experience of working on a movie set, joining her co-stars between the waves on a surfboard was not an option.
“I enjoy being by the water, but being on the water is scary. I’m a horrible swimmer, I’m a fear of drowning kind of girl,” she explained. “But (acting) was a totally new animal for me, it was so different but everyone on the set really helped me along. They were patient and understood I had never been in a movie before and helped me through it.”
So it’s pretty safe to say this down-home girl has come a long way – but she hasn’t forgotten what started it all, and tells us she is greatly immersed in the current season of “Idol.”
‘American Idol’ is the only reason I'm in the music business, period. I had no idea how to get in any other way,” she told us.
Carrie Underwood says she's happy with her first acting performance on the big screen. The country music star plays a small but pivotal role in the film "Soul Surfer," the inspirational tale of shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton.
"I'm happy with myself for the role and for the movie," Underwood said. "Am I going to win an Oscar? No. It was so much fun and the important thing is getting the story out there."
Underwood plays youth pastor Sarah Hill, a key figure in Hamilton's life and recovery after the attack. Hamilton, then 13, lost her left arm when a 14-foot tiger shark ripped it off while she was surfing with friends in Hawaii.
The Academy of Country Music announced additional performers, presenters and an unprecedented number of duos and special collaborations for the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards. The special will be broadcast live Sunday, April 2 8:00-11:00 PM/ET on CBS. 
