• March 12, 2008

Make Me a Country Star!

Celebs Try to Get the Hang of Twang on CMT's New Reality Show Gone Country

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From PEOPLE Magazine

The new CMT show Gone Country is attempting to pull off one of the biggest makeovers in reality-TV history: turning Marcia Brady into a full-fledged cow-chip-kickin' country music star. And The Brady Bunch's Maureen McCormick is only one of seven way-out-of-their-element celebs (including Bobby Brown and Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider) to take up the challenge of trying to write and perform a bona fide country hit in just 10 days; the winner will have his or her song produced by the show's host, Big & Rich's John Rich. So what advice did the Nashville vet give the aspiring country crooners? "I told them, 'Country music is about your life,'" says Rich. "You just have to be real."

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The Cast

BOBBY BROWN Soul singer Country cred "My dad played country music in the house. I wanted to make a song he could appreciate." Becoming a believer "I'm staying in my cowboy hat. I'm going to sing a lot more country."

MAUREEN McCORMICK The Brady Bunch star Country cred "It's all my husband and I listen to in the car." Costar scoop "The cast was so diverse. It was like bringing people from different planets onto a space station! But it turned into a love fest!"

JULIO IGLESIAS JR. Latin singer Country cred "My father did a song with Willie Nelson" ("To All the Girls I've Loved Before"). The downside of Nashville "Southern cooking is good. I gained 3 lbs.!"

CARNIE WILSON Wilson Phillips singer Country cred "I've always listened to Kenny Rogers, Alabama and Dolly Parton." Biggest obstacle "I have really bad stage fright, so I was a nervous wreck. I prayed every 10 seconds."

DEE SNIDER Twisted Sister singer Country cred "When I was 8, I heard my mom play it on the radio and I hated it." Favorite country music lyric of all time "Johnny Cash's 'I shot a man just to watch him die.' How badass is that? What a line."

DIANA DEGARMO American Idol runner-up Country cred "I sang at the Opry when I was 12." Costar scoop "Dee was the patriarch, Bobby was the crazy uncle, Sisqó and Julio were the fun cousins, Maureen was the mom, and Carnie was the crazy aunt."

SISQO "Thong Song" singer Country cred "None. Sometimes I'd hear it on commercials." His game plan "Be real—then add steel guitar!" Becoming a believer "One night we went to a country music club. The energy was amazing. It was like being in a church!"

THE HOST

JOHN RICH of Big & Rich Who was clueless "Dee Snider. He's a guy from Long Island who thought it was all about whine and twang." Who surprised him "Bobby Brown. He said soul and country come from the same place—just different neighborhoods. And he's right."