Little Bird
01-13-2007, 02:40 PM
I spotted a few mentions in a few articles in the last week or so that mentions Jewel could have been on MTV's Real World years ago.
Click Here (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/music/16420848.htm)to see an interview with Jewel about Nashville Star where she mentions it.
Singer-songwriter Jewel makes her debut as the host of USA Network's ``Nashville Star'' Thursday night, but it's not her first brush with the reality format.
Indeed, Jewel said years ago there was a discussion about her becoming part of MTV's ``The Real World,'' a reality show in which seven strangers live together before the cameras.
`` `The Real World' was just starting when I was coming up and they asked me to be on that,'' the singer said, ``and I didn't want to be known as the girl from `The Real World.' ''
These days, Jewel is focusing on ``Nashville Star'' and helping to introduce new country singers on the fifth season of the USA Network's talent show.
The 32-year-old co-hosts the show with Cowboy Troy, who is back for his second season.
The series is often compared to ``American Idol,'' which gets under way next week, but the two are different in several ways. ``Nashville Star,'' for instance, starts with the 10 finalists already in place, while ``American Idol'' begins with an audition phase.
``The show was created before `Idol' ever made it to the air,'' said ``Nashville Star'' executive producer Ben Silverman. ``We made a show where talent was first, where the quality was real.''
Nevertheless, perhaps because of the music genre or the late time period -- the show airs at 10 p.m., cutting down the potential for family viewing -- ``Nashville Star'' has never garnered the kind of viewer interest or water-cooler buzz ``Idol'' has.
``I absolutely would love more attention,'' Silverman said. ``When people discover the show, they get more excited about it.''
And, like ``Idol,'' ``Nashville Star'' has launched the careers of several country acts, such as Miranda Lambert and Buddy Jewell.
As part of her hosting gig, Jewel will serve as a mentor to the contestants. She plans at some point during the show's run to have them visit her Texas ranch.
``I was really amazed when I watched people perform and read their bios,'' Jewel said of the new crop of contestants. ``It's a pretty competitive field . . . they're pretty stage-savvy.''
As for ``The Real World,'' it seems it's up for debate when Jewel might have been considered for the show.
A spokesman for show producers Bunim-Murray Productions said he could not confirm that Jewel was close to being cast on any of the first seasons of ``Real World.''
``Considering her age,'' the spokesman said, ``it might have been for seasons two through eight.
``I want to say, it was `The Real World's' first year, and I bet I was 18 or 19,'' Jewel said. ``They were putting word out to the industry. My label was looking for a way to break a folk artist.''
It also didn't hurt that her back story included living in a car.
``They brought it to me,'' she said of her record label. But she wanted to be known for her music, ``and not that girl kind of thing.''
Interestingly, the cast of the first season of the ``Real World'' (1992) did include Rebecca Blasband, a budding folk singer.
Click Here (http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/entertainment/music/16420848.htm)to see an interview with Jewel about Nashville Star where she mentions it.
Singer-songwriter Jewel makes her debut as the host of USA Network's ``Nashville Star'' Thursday night, but it's not her first brush with the reality format.
Indeed, Jewel said years ago there was a discussion about her becoming part of MTV's ``The Real World,'' a reality show in which seven strangers live together before the cameras.
`` `The Real World' was just starting when I was coming up and they asked me to be on that,'' the singer said, ``and I didn't want to be known as the girl from `The Real World.' ''
These days, Jewel is focusing on ``Nashville Star'' and helping to introduce new country singers on the fifth season of the USA Network's talent show.
The 32-year-old co-hosts the show with Cowboy Troy, who is back for his second season.
The series is often compared to ``American Idol,'' which gets under way next week, but the two are different in several ways. ``Nashville Star,'' for instance, starts with the 10 finalists already in place, while ``American Idol'' begins with an audition phase.
``The show was created before `Idol' ever made it to the air,'' said ``Nashville Star'' executive producer Ben Silverman. ``We made a show where talent was first, where the quality was real.''
Nevertheless, perhaps because of the music genre or the late time period -- the show airs at 10 p.m., cutting down the potential for family viewing -- ``Nashville Star'' has never garnered the kind of viewer interest or water-cooler buzz ``Idol'' has.
``I absolutely would love more attention,'' Silverman said. ``When people discover the show, they get more excited about it.''
And, like ``Idol,'' ``Nashville Star'' has launched the careers of several country acts, such as Miranda Lambert and Buddy Jewell.
As part of her hosting gig, Jewel will serve as a mentor to the contestants. She plans at some point during the show's run to have them visit her Texas ranch.
``I was really amazed when I watched people perform and read their bios,'' Jewel said of the new crop of contestants. ``It's a pretty competitive field . . . they're pretty stage-savvy.''
As for ``The Real World,'' it seems it's up for debate when Jewel might have been considered for the show.
A spokesman for show producers Bunim-Murray Productions said he could not confirm that Jewel was close to being cast on any of the first seasons of ``Real World.''
``Considering her age,'' the spokesman said, ``it might have been for seasons two through eight.
``I want to say, it was `The Real World's' first year, and I bet I was 18 or 19,'' Jewel said. ``They were putting word out to the industry. My label was looking for a way to break a folk artist.''
It also didn't hurt that her back story included living in a car.
``They brought it to me,'' she said of her record label. But she wanted to be known for her music, ``and not that girl kind of thing.''
Interestingly, the cast of the first season of the ``Real World'' (1992) did include Rebecca Blasband, a budding folk singer.