Music
mogul Andre Harrell is making moves in front of the small screen as a judge in
the new ABC series The One: Making of a Music Star. The
show, which premiered last night (July 18), features 11 contestants who compete
for an Interscope Records deal while living in the same house and receiving guidance
from a trio of music experts. A
personal chef, fitness trainer and choreographer are also present to help participants
become full-fledged artists.For
Harrell, the series represents a change of pace from similar shows. "This
is an academy as opposed to just challenging them to test their will to see how
bad they want it," Harrell told AllHipHop.com. Harrell,
who founded ground breaking label Uptown Records, described the show as "the
Real World meets Idol Maker." "We
empower them with the tools and the direction as if they were signed to our record
company to be the best artist and have the best moment they could possibly have
when they’re on the stage to be voted on by America to be the One," said
Harrell. "The level of artistry and musicianship that this show has…It’s
only right that these people are in an academy with serious people working with
them because this is not a talent show. This is about a great artist show,"
he continued.In
addition to Harrell, the panel of judges includes renowned songwriter, vocal director,
musician and record producer Mark Hudson and Kara DioGuardi, a songwriter, artist
and vocal producer.The
Bad Boy executive was drawn to the project through word of mouth as well as the
variety of talent from the show’s participants. "I
think what turned me on is the diversity of the talent, that it wasn’t obvious,"
said Harrell, who helped Sean "Diddy" Combs, Mary J. Blige, Heavy D
and Jodeci achieve stardom through his Uptown imprint. "It moved me and I
felt something when I watched each of them. And they all have like this heart
and they all were kind of like overlooked, but they all were super talented. Mary
was the type who was overlooked. Heav was the type who was overlooked. K-CI was
like the type who was not obvious. I like that in my artists." Viewers
can vote for their favorite contestant each week after the show. The drama, according
to Harrell, comes the following night when the bottom three are revealed. Harrell’s
role on The One comes on the heels of his new partnership with Voxonic
Technologies, a company which creates software that transforms a person’s
voice into any foreign language. "What’s
exciting about that is that it enables us to take Hip-Hop and communicate it in
every language that you can imagine," said Harrell. "And I think that
like people who have been fans of Hip-Hop in Japan or China or Russia, who like
the feeling but don’t quite know what they’re saying. For those brands
that are established—-like a Jay-Z or even a Nas Escobar, his first album—-This
is a chance to go back and translate those albums and give people that experience
in their own language. In their own voice as if they could rap in French."
The
One: Making of a Music Star airs from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 p.m.
to 10 p.m. Wednesdays on ABC.