'GLEE Project' Reality Casting Show to Premiere in June

According to Reuters, THE GLEE PROJECT, which will go behind the scenes of casting a guest spot for FOX's hit musical comedy, has been attracting thousands of auditionees around the world. Twelve finalists have been chosen from the initial 40,000 that have auditioned for the reality show, which will air on Oxygen in June.

Executive producer Dante Di Lorento revealed: "We are not trying to make complex challenges that make fun of people. We are not trying to make them jump through hoops without cause. The mentoring process is really key. It is about giving them the tools to be better performers."

Michael Davies added, "We were entrusted with trying to make a competition series which is as creative as 'Glee' itself."  

As we previously reported, Oxygen Media and Casting Duo, in association with Robert Ulrich, casting director of "Glee," began the casting search for "The Glee Project" with open calls in Chicago on Saturday, December 18 and Sunday, December 19 and in Dallas on Saturday, January 8 and Sunday, January 9. Aside from these open calls, the team also reached out to the next wave of professional performers through official industry channels in order to ensure everyone is included in this opportunity. "The Glee Project," where performers will compete for a multi-episode guest-starring role on season three of hit series "Glee," will premiere on Oxygen in June 2011.

Casting Duo is the full service casting company founded by Randy Bernstein and Danielle Harrington. With over 50 projects successfully cast, Casting Duo has proven itself as one of the premier casting agencies by consistently sourcing and identifying some of the most memorable characters on TV today. Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi, Project Runway's Christian Siriano, and Tabatha Coffey of Shear Genius and Tabatha's Salon Takeover are just a few of the dynamic personalities they've discovered.

Robert Ulrich's company Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer Casting has worked with a staggering array of producers over 21 years in the business including: Francis Ford Coppola, Jerry Bruckheimer, James Cameron, Ron Howard, Wolfgang Peterson, Anne Rice, Steven Bochco, Aaron Spelling, Gail Berman, Joel Surnow, Jodie Foster and Ryan Murphy. For Glee they have been nominated for an Emmy for Best Television Comedy Series and for a Casting Society of America (CSA) award for Best Television Comedy Series. They have also won a CSA award for Best Comedy Television Pilot, and a Media Access Award for Casting Actors with Disabilities.

Oxygen Media is a multiplatform lifestyle brand that delivers relevant and engaging content to young women who like to "live out loud." Oxygen is rewriting the rulebook for women's media by changing how the world sees entertainment from a young woman's point of view. Through a vast array of unconventional and original content including "Bad Girls Club," "Hair Battle Spectacular," and "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood," the growing cable network is the premiere destination to find unique and groundbreaking unscripted programming. A social media trendsetter, Oxygen is a leading force in engaging modern young women, wherever they are, with popular, award winning features online including OxygenLive.com, the real time social viewing party that is also available as an app for the iPhone and iPad, as well as innovative tools shopOholic, makeOvermatic and tweetOverse. Oxygen is available in 76 million homes and online at www.oxygen.com or on mobile devices at wap.oxygen.com. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/OxygenPR. Oxygen Media is a service of NBC Universal.