Big Picture
Kate Upton Takes Cover Plus, Nicole Kidman hangs out with her family and Bradley Cooper is a grizzly guy. The latest pics!
MORE PHOTOS +Most Commented
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: Vote in the Final Round! (2036)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (974)
- TV's Top Couples Tournament: This Round Is Closed, Please Stand By (693)
- Afternoon Mail! Are Gleeks Having More Sex Than Vamps? (586)
- TV's Top Couple Tournament: And the Winner Is... (486)
- Whitney Houston Dead at 48 (394)
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z Share First Photos of Baby Blue Ivy! (391)
- Morning Mail! Is Lea Michele Ready to Walk Like an Egyptian? (286)
- New Ask Ted Video! Should Kristen Stewart Play Elizabeth Taylor? (270)
- Twilight Director Talks Kristen Stewart and Ex Michael Angarano: "They Were Such a Great Couple" (261)
Top 10 Stories
- Playmate Claire Sinclair Describes Scene of Alleged Domestic Dispute With Marston Hefner
- Glee-Dux: Guess Who's Back?! V-Day Episode Delivers Romance, Smooches and Shockers!
- Blake Lively Gets Restraining Order Against Man Who Wanted to "Guide" Her
- 19 Kids and Counting Alleged Extortion Plot: Singer Laughs Off "Intimate Photos"
- Rumer Willis' Hollywood Hills Home Burglarized
- Whitney Houston and Other Divas Who Died Too Soon
- Chris Brown Tweets to Haters After Grammy Win
- Whitney Houston Tribute: Watch LeAnn Rimes' Emotional Performance of "I Will Always Love You"
- Oprah Twitter Scandal! Winfrey Apologizes After Soliciting Nielsen Viewers to Watch OWN
- Glee Scoop: There's a New Love Triangle Going Down!
Fashion Police
Angelina: Going Grey! Plus, Christina Hendricks, Vanessa Hudgens, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Williams and Kristen Wiig. Rate the highs and lows!
MORE PHOTOS +
Our Partners
Searching for the Next Janis
Got beatnik?
A new reality show is determined to scour the country in search of aspiring singers striving to become the next Janis Joplin.
The singer, famed for her throaty vocals and raspy wails on bluesy classics such as "Piece of My Heart" and "Me & Bobby McGee," died in 1970 at age 27 of a heroin overdose.
Search for the Pearl, named in honor of Joplin's hit album, Pearl, which came out a month after her death, is due to begin filming next year.
According to a statement from Joplin's estate, vocalists across the United States will audition and attempt to recreate the gritty styling of the singer's distinctive voice. The series will also feature never-before-seen footage of Joplin and interviews with some of her former band members.
Five finalists in the competition will be flown to San Francisco to perform for a panel of judges.
The singer who puts forth the most Joplin-esque performance will go on to headline a world tour performing with bands that played with Joplin, including Big Brother & The Holding Company, the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band.
The tour is scheduled to wrap up in 2006 with a star-studded tribute concert.
"We are excited about bringing Janis and her music to her fans and introduce her style and spirit to future fans as well," Joplin's brother, Michael Joplin, said Friday in a statement.
So far, there's no word on which network will air Search for the Pearl, nor a specific air date.
Producers of the series are banking on the fact that even 35 years after Joplin's death, she continues to be a defining influence on the music world.
In 1995, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a class that included fellow legends Al Green, Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers Band.
Last Sunday, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 47th annual Grammys, where Joss Stone performed "Cry Baby," then teamed with Melissa Etheridge on "Piece of My Heart" in a moving tribute to Joplin.
Joplin's life has also been a hot commodity in Hollywood, with two competing biopics in the works in recent years--The Gospel According to Janis, starring Pink, and Piece of My Heart, starring Renée Zellweger. The Pink film, however, has been indefinitely shelved. Zellweger's film is expected in theaters later this year.
Search for the Pearl is the latest made-for-TV effort to fill a high-profile music gig. Survivor mastermind Mark Burnett is teaming with INXS for a CBS show seeking a new frontman to replace the late Michael Hutchence, who committed suicide in 1997, while TLC members Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas are collaborating with UPN to search for someone to fill the shows of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who was killed in a 2002 car crash.
0 Comments
Now loading...