Jewish Performer Sweeps American Idol Underground Faith-Based Competition
Released on = August 6, 2006, 4:12 pm
Press Release Author = bethschafer.com
Industry = Entertainment
Press Release Summary = Jewish recording artist, Beth Schafer wins American Idol Underground in the faith-based category by appealing to interfaith audiences. Her universal songs have gained her fans of many faiths.
Press Release Body = Orlando, Florida August 8, 2006 -- Recording artist, Beth Schafer dominated the American Idol Underground competition called "The Big Push." Her songs, \"Still Small Voice\" and \"Love Multiplies\" triumphed in the six-month long contest based completely on listener ratings and online votes. Out of over 600 songs, these two singles were originally rated in the top ten in the elimination round. Listeners were then able to vote once every 24 hours for 5 weeks and by the contest deadline of July 15th, Beth won top honors in the faith-based category. Although Beth's music is both in English and Hebrew, her two winning songs are both in English. As far as she knows, she was the only Jewish writer in the competition. Both winning songs are on her latest CD, \"The Quest & the Question,\" released in December 2005. The CDs can be purchased through bethschafer.com, soundswrite.com, and CDBaby.com. The songs are also available for download on iTunes and many other popular download services.
"My songs combine the rich tradition of interpreting Jewish sacred texts with the high production values of contemporary Christian music. The themes are universal which appeal to Jewish and Christian fans alike," said Schafer. She added, "I hope to build bridges throughout the interfaith community with my music and emphasize that we all have more in common than not."
American Idol Underground is the online extension of the Emmy-nominated Fox network hit series, American Idol. Its purpose is to help emerging artists in all musical genres by giving them a chance to expose their music to the public and get feedback and recognition for their work. American Idol Underground currently has more than 75,000 artists registered and houses more than 150,000 songs.
Beth has been a popular writer and nationally touring performer of contemporary Jewish music since 2002. She is also the cantorial leader of Temple Shir Shalom of Oviedo, FL, a Reform congregation and member of the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish movement in North America. Her band includes Schafer on guitars and vocals; John Marsden on keyboards, vocals and technical direction; Bill "Giff" Gifford on bass and vocals; and Charlie Morgan (formerly the drummer for Elton John) on drums.
As part of her American Idol Underground win, Beth will receive cash, a disc pressing package by Disc Makers, an Audix microphone and a subscription to the Musician's Atlas.
For more information on Beth Schafer, contact www.bethschafer.com Or call 407.342.2027
For more information on American Idol underground, contact www.idolunderground.com Fluid Audio 5813-A Uplander Way, Culver City, CA 90230