During today's Super Bowl Pre-Game Show, The Recording Academy® announced the Top 3 finalists in the "My GRAMMY® Moment" program as it continues its mission of discovering and nurturing music makers. Music fans will now be empowered to give three unsigned artists the opportunity to compete for a special performance slot on the 49th Annual GRAMMY Awards with multi-GRAMMY nominee Justin Timberlake (who also is performing in a solo segment). Fans can log on to Yahoo! Music (http://music.yahoo.com/mygrammymoment/), the official online partner of the GRAMMY Awards, to view the video submissions, bios and photos of all three hopefuls, and vote to determine their favorite. The Final 3 will fly to Los Angeles to rehearse individually with Timberlake during GRAMMY Week, as well as attend various Recording Academy events.
"The response we've seen through 'My GRAMMY Moment' confirms the value of this project; the Top 3 finalists are a diverse group of extremely talented singers whose passion for performing music is contagious," said Neil Portnow, President of The Recording Academy. "We will welcome them to L.A. for rehearsals with Justin Timberlake in preparation for Music's Biggest Night. Voting for the final performer will continue through the telecast on Feb. 11, so anticipation will be high as millions watch the debut of a very deserving and talented new artist."
Top 3 Finalists (in alphabetical order)
- Africa Miranda (age 30), Montgomery, Ala.
- Brenda Radney (age 22), Staten Island, N.Y.
- Robyn Troup (age 18), Houston, Texas
Fan Voting
Fans can vote online for their favorite finalist beginning today up until 9:59 p.m. ET (8:59 p.m. CT/7:59 p.m. MT/6:59 p.m. PT), the night of the GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 11. Viewers also will have the opportunity to cast up to 10 votes through their text message capable mobile phones within a two-hour window during the live airing of the GRAMMY Awards from 8 p.m. to 9:59 p.m. ET/7 p.m. to 8:59 p.m. CT. Voters not watching the tape-delayed broadcast can text their vote from 5 p.m. to 6:59 p.m. PT/6 p.m. to 7:59 p.m. MT. The interactive mobile voting technology is enabled by VeriSign (detailed voting instruction follows).
Final Performer
The final performer will be announced live before she takes the stage on the GRAMMY Awards, Feb. 11, 2007 at STAPLES Center in L.A., broadcast live on the CBS Television Network at 8 p.m. ET. In addition to a memorable "GRAMMY Moment" performance, the winner will be driving in style thanks to Chevrolet. She will be awarded a distinctively cool, sunburst orange 2007 Chevy HHR that comes fully loaded for the ultimate music fan, with an in-dash six-disc CD changer, an audio input jack for an MP3 player and Pioneer premium seven-speaker sound system.
Brief Biographies on Top 3 Finalists
Africa Miranda, 30, calls Montgomery, Ala., her hometown and currently is writing and performing songs in New York City. To pay the bills, she's working at a temp agency and does promotional modeling and event staffing. She began singing as a child in her school choir and eventually in pageants and school programs as she grew older. Africa says her sound is R&B/pop with rock and hip-hop thrown in the mix. Africa cites Prince, OutKast and Mariah Carey as three of her favorite artists.
Brenda Radney, 22, was born and raised in Staten Island, N.Y., and currently resides there as a freelance singer/songwriter. She began singing at the age of four and has fond memories of sitting in the window at her grandmother's porch singing "Tomorrow" from "Annie" and "Part Of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Brenda's musical style is a mash-up of pop, R&B, alternative, gospel, electro and indie rock, and her aspiration is to become as successful as Prince, Beyoncé and U2. In addition to singing, she writes songs and plays seven musical instruments.
Robyn Troup, 18, was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She has been singing ever since she could talk and has notebooks filled with songs she has written. Robyn is multitalented, having studied ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance along with taking both piano and voice lessons. While she describes her musical style as a blend of R&B, pop and hip-hop, Robyn cites artists including Stevie Wonder, Aaliyah and Destiny's Child as her muses.
Voting Information
-- Web site: Users can log on to Yahoo! Music or CBS.com to access the
Top 3 finalists' video submissions, bios, photos and voting site:http://music.yahoo.com/mygrammymoment/.
-- Online voting: Online voting at Yahoo! Music begins today up until
9:59 p.m. ET (8:59 p.m. CT/7:59 p.m. MT/6:59 p.m. PT) on GRAMMY
night Feb. 11. Only one vote per person.
-- Text voting: Text voting occurs within a two-hour window during the
live broadcast of the GRAMMY Awards on Feb. 11 (8 p.m. to 9:59 p.m.
ET/7 p.m. to 8:59 p.m. CT).Voters watching the tape-delayed
broadcast can text vote from 5 p.m. to 6:59 p.m. PT/6 p.m. to 7:59
p.m. MT. Fans can vote up to 10 times for their favorite finalist.
Only standard text messaging rates apply. Voters can check their
wireless carrier for more details, or text "HELP" to the number
81818 or visit www.cbs.com online for more information. The
corresponding numbers for each finalist are (in alphabetical
order):
-- Africa Miranda - Text "1" to 81818
-- Brenda Radney - Text "2" to 81818
-- Robyn Troup - Text "3" to 81818Submission/Selection Process
-- Unsigned artists in the United States -- 18 years of age and older
-- uploaded a 60-second video clip to Yahoo! Music of an a cappella
performance of one of nine GRAMMY Award-winning songs:
-- "If I Ain't Got You" (originally performed by Alicia Keys),"Breathe" (originally performed by Faith Hill), "Come To My Window" (originally performed by Melissa Etheridge), "What's Love Got To Do With It" (originally performed by Tina Turner),"Dance With My Father" (originally performed by Luther
Vandross), "Cry Me A River" (originally performed by Justin
Timberlake), "Respect" (originally performed by Aretha
Franklin), (originally performed
by Whitney Houston), or "Vision Of Love"(originally performed
by Mariah Carey).About the Submission/Selection Process (cont'd)
-- The selection process of the Top 12 was rigorous and thorough. Thousands of video submissions were judged and whittled down to 12 by a VIP Blue Ribbon Committee made up of singers, songwriters, producers, music industry executives, as well as key executives from The Recording Academy.
- Fans helped to determine the Top 5 and Top 3 finalists by voting at Yahoo! Music.
About The Recording Academy
Established in 1957, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., also known as The Recording Academy, is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs ” including the creation of the national public education campaign What's The Download®(WhatsTheDownload.com). For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com.
About Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music (http://music.yahoo.com) is the #1 online music destination. Yahoo! Music offers more than 2 million songs for download as well as the tools to manage, explore and share music. Yahoo! Music provides a wide selection of streaming video and audio, the Web's largest collection of music videos, Internet radio, original content, exclusive features, artist information and news covering all genres of music to Yahoo! users.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN), operates intelligent infrastructure services that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world's voice and data networks. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
**A special thank you to GRAMMY Style Studio for providing styling for the Top 3 finalists.
