After an afternoon of Superstar performances, Paul Jolley from Palmersville, TN became the true SuperStar of Season 3, 2011 Beech Bend SuperStar Contest. The judges of Season 3 came to a unanimous decision that he had the stage presence, vocal ability and SuperStar qualities that it took to go all the way to the top of the winner’s bracket. Paul sang a Clay Walker song, “I Can’t Sleep” which left the judges speechless. As one judge very simply said, “What can I say? Even Clay Walker wishes he could sing that song as well as you just did!”

Paul released his first CD at the age of 16, fueling his drive towards music. Headlining and performing at the Kentucky Opry in Draffenville, KY helped him grow as an entertainer. Throughout the years Paul has been blessed with the privilege to win over 100 talent competitions in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Mississippi. This lead to amazing opportunities to open for great artists such as Aaron Tippin, Lorie Morgan, Roy Clark, Chely Wright, Tammy Cochran, Joanne Cash, Carl Mann, The Peasall Sisters (from the movie O’ Brother Where Art Thou), among others. Staying involved in outreach events is very important to Paul. Organizations such as Relay for Life, March of Dimes, Souls for Souls, Lions Club, Circle of Hope, have all made an impact in his life; even more importantly, the lives of others.

The grand prize for Season 3 includes 2 VIP tickets to the Grand Ole Opry; an autographed guitar donated by PCG Nashville; a Music Business 101 Session Valued at $150, Sponsored by PCG Nashville; a Free Artist Development CD with Jonell Polanski; a Show performance at Beech Bend Amusement Park in 2012 and an opening act performance for a 2012 IGA, Beech Bend Park and WGGC 95Live Summer Concert; Admission for 2 to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and a performance at 12th and Porter.

In addition, Nashville Songwriter’s Association, Inc. awarded the following to the grand prize package: 1. Free $150.00 membership; 2. Two FREE ONE HOUR MENTORING SESSIONS in addition to what comes with their membership; and 3. Swag package of 1 t-shirt, 1-hat and book from their NSAI library.

The Runner-Up for Season 3 was Madison Michelle Hardy. Madison was born and raised in the small town of Philadelphia, MS. In 2007, Madison made the move to Nashville, TN to attend Belmont University. A recent Music Business graduate of Belmont, Madison now lives in the Nashville area, working as a receptionist, also while continuing to perform and pursue a career as a recording artist.

Also competing for the Grand Prize were the following contestants:

• Kaeli-Anne Moriah – Portland, TN
• Abby Ekas – Nashville, TN
• Brandy Neelly – Prospect, KY
• Darby Haas – Franklin, KY
• Haleigh Lanham – Danville, KY
• Skylar Cain – Philpot, KY
• Megan Hill – Prospect, KY
• Abbie Garrett – Hendersonville, TN
• Savannah Faith Hill – Rockholds, KY

As each finalist brought their “A+” performance to the IGA stage, it was an awesome display of singing and performing talent. These artists sang everything from Les Misirables to Whitney Houston, and from Cee Lo Green to Reba. These up and coming Stars of the Future sang their hearts out and gave it their all.

Celebrities and judges were everywhere at Beech Bend Park with all judges commenting “wow, what amazing talent!” There was so much talent and so much potential. The audience was electric and the applause was riveting as each special and talented SuperStar took the stage.

The SuperStar judges on the panel for the finale were Allen Laymen, Preshias Tomes-Harris, Jonell Polansky, Holly Jackson, and Brian Mansfield.

Allen Layman, I am currently part of the Quality Control team for Gibson/Epiphone Musical instruments. I have been a Singer/Songwriter/Musician for over 20 years. I have performed in front of audiences around the country and been on the bill with many of the top stars in country music including Colin Raye, John Anderson, Jo Dee Messina and many more. I have lived in Nashville for nearly 10 years and continue to work on demo recordings for major songwriters and music publishers including Sony, Universal, EMI and others. I was signed to an artist development/production deal with Sony/ATV from 2007-2009

Preshias Tomes-Harris holds the position of Vice President of Artist & Industry Relations, for PCG Nashville, an artist development company in Nashville. Her current focus for the Porter-Gentry division of the company is the new CD, “Teddy Gentry’s Best New Nashville,” produced by Teddy exclusively for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant. The CD is now in over 600 Cracker Barrels across the United States. Teddy Gentry is a founding member of super group Alabama and member of the Country Music Hall Of Fame. Preshias is the artist relations representative for three of the artists on the Best New Nashville CD.

Jonell Polansky is the owner of DaCapo Music. She is a Producer, recording engineer, publisher and recording studio owner. She has multi-Platinum publishing credits with Tim McGraw and has developed artists who have obtained major recording contracts with Warner Brothers, RCA and Universal. She also specializes in working with young performers.

Holly Jackson, A Professional Singer/Songwriter and Reality Singing Competition veteran who is widely known from her performances on CMT’s Can You Duet Season 2. In addition to her very recent Nashville record deal with MickArmour Records, Holly is actively involved in Artist Development with some of the top Nashville studios and professionals straight from Music Row. With multiple appearances in Country Weekly Magazine, Radio Interviews, National Television appearances, and more than 500 live shows in the past 3 years, Holly knows exactly what it takes to become successful in the music industry. Holly is currently gearing up for her debut tour as the newly signed duo 86 West, and is set for Album release in early October.

Brian Mansfield — USA TODAY’s Nashville correspondent — began writing about country music for the paper in 1997 and became leader of its online American Idol community, Idol Chatter, in 2009. He is co-author of Make Me a Star: Industry Insiders Reveal How to Make It in Music with Anastasia Brown. He currently produces the syndicated America’s Opry Weekend radio show and the live Opry Country Classics for the Grand Ole Opry. He also served on the Country Music Association’s board of directors for four years. While he has never auditioned for American Idol, he did sing Boot Scootin’ Boogie at Walt Disney World’s American Idol Experience the day the attraction opened. He lost.

Each week of Season 3, celebrity judges, recording artists, music producers, studio musicians, back-up singers, sound engineers, vocal coaches, artists and development studios and all genres of the music industry professionals have participated, making the difficult decision for each weekly finalist. Beech Bend SuperStar sincerely appreciates the participation of the Nashville Music Industry as professional judges as well as the special prize sponsors.

As well, a sincere thanks goes out to 95WGGC as a partner this season with Beech Bend SuperStar. Our host, Renita Cook, did an outstanding job. You can connect with Renita on 95Live WGGC, “The Goober” each weekday morning at 6:40 a.m. on “Fleabay” as “Emmy Lou!”

Our special guest, Season 2 winner of Beech Bend SuperStar, Mackenzie Morgan, was on hand signing autographs and promoting her new CD, Simple Little Me, which is available on iTunes. Listen for Mackenzie on your local radio station!

Each season, Beech Bend Superstar has opened many doors of opportunity for some of our contestants, resulting in direct appointments with some of the major studios in Nashville. One of our contestants made it to the National Television program, The Singing Bee. Our winner and runner-up from last season opened for Mark Wills, Lucy Angel and Walker Hays at the IGA, WGGC, Beech Bend Summer Concert Series. Many other contestants have booked performances and enjoyed various other opportunities.

Beech Bend SuperStar is a very serious singing contest and a spectacular opportunity for any undiscovered singing talent. Some of our contestants have auditioned for popular reality shows such as American Idol, The Voice, and Nashville Star. Others have been state and county contest winners, in fairs and many other contests. For some contestants, it was the first time they reached out and accepted the challenge to participate, never realizing their potential for the future. SuperStar is open to all ages and all genres of music.

The 2011 season saw contestants from 12 states coming from as far away as Canada, Oklahoma and Texas. Over the season, many newspapers throughout the country posted SuperStar stories as well as front page magazine articles and web pages from many music industry professionals. We thank you…Beech Bend SuperStar thanks you! A HUGE thank you to 95WGGC for promoting Beech Bend SuperStar Contest on their programming. Many listeners enjoyed hearing about it!

SuperStar was very honored to have special guests on finale day. Our honorary guests were: Heather Keys from 145 Performance Studio; Krys Midgett, Editor of Strum Magazine; Diana George, Co-Owner of Doghouse Studios; Paul Blick from American Coaster Group; and Dinky and Jennifer Gowen, Owners, Magic of Illusions.

Providing sound and engineering for the 2011 Beech Bend SuperStar Finale was Robin White. Robin is a record producer and sound engineer and the owner of Disciple Productions of Portland, TN, a provider of sound, staging, lighting, and live event productions.

Beech Bend Park sincerely thanks each and every contestant and all the people who came out to support them. For all weekly press releases for the 2011 season check out the Beech Bend Park website at www.beechbend.com.

It was truly a “SuperStar” season!