ROCK BAND POISON FRONT MAN BRET MICHAELS JOINS SHOW HOST LEANN RIMES ON THE THIRD SEASON OF USA NETWORK'S NASHVILLE STAR

STAR-STUDDED GUEST LIST FOR THIRD SEASON TO INCLUDE MONTGOMERY GENTRY, CHARLIE DANIELS BAND AND SARA EVANS

LOS ANGELES, CA. - January 13, 2005 - The producers of Nashville Star, USA Network's grassroots talent search series to find the next country music superstar, have named the third and final celebrity judge, rock band Poison front man Bret Michaels. Michaels will join show host LeAnn Rimes and previously announced judges Phil Vassar and Anastasia Brown for the third season of the show, which will premiere on Tuesday, March 1, 2005, from 10:00 ? 11:00 PM (ET/PT) on USA Network. The show also continues its commitment to booking the hottest guest artists for its third season with a list of some of the most popular names in country music today. The announcement was made today by Jeff Wachtel, executive vice president, original programming, USA Network.

"Having sold over 25 million records, Bret Michaels is one of the best-known and longest-running successes in the music business, " said Wachtel. "But what will surprise his fans, is that he has always had one foot firmly planted in country music. He has the crossover appeal that we are looking for in our judges panel this season. "

Montgomery Gentry, the Charlie Daniels Band and Sara Evans are among the artists scheduled to guest-star and perform on the show. Additional artists will be announced throughout the season, which also promises several surprise guests.

The grand prizewinner of the third season of Nashville Star will be awarded a recording contract from Universal South Records.

Poison front man and singer/songwriter Bret Michaels has been in the entertainment business for over 20 years. After over 25 million records and fifteen top-40 singles, he continues to sell out arenas and amphitheaters worldwide. Among Michaels' many endeavors, he has produced and written for some of the music industry's top talent, including Stevie Nicks. Michaels also formed a production company with Charlie Sheen in which he wrote, directed and starred in several of the films. Michaels has appeared in numerous television shows including CBS 's "Yes Dear" and "Martial Law," Showtime's "The Chris Isaak Show," and has also co-hosted "Access Hollywood " with Pat O'Brien and has appeared on VH1's "Rock Bodies" with Beyonce Knowles. He has made Spin Magazines Top 100 Greatest Moments in Rock, appeared the cover of Playgirl Magazine and has had his ten-acre Malibu Ranch featured on MTV's "Cribs." Michaels recently was featured on the cover of Billboard for his new solo album "Freedom Sound," where his first single, "All I Ever Needed," crossed from the rock to the country airplay charts. With his own funding, Michaels formed his own record label, BMB Records, on which he will not only release his own solo album but which will also be home to new artists in the near future.

Universal South Records is a joint venture between highly respected music executives Tim DuBois and Tony Brown and Universal Motown Records Group in New York, which is part of the Universal Music Group. The label's roster includes: Joe Nichols, Bering Strait, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Katrina Elam, Matt Jenkins, Lee Roy Parnell, Matthew West, Amanda Wilkinson, Holly Williams and Marty Stuart.

About Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is the world's largest music company with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 71 countries. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's largest global music publishing operations.

Universal Music Group consists of record labels Decca Record Company, Deutsche Grammophon, DreamWorks Records, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Island Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Records, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Philips, Polydor, Universal Music Latino, Universal Motown Records Group, and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalog of music in the industry, which is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes eLabs, a new media and technologies division.

Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

REVEILLE, a joint venture between Ben Silverman and NBC Universal Television Studio, develops, produces and distributes new and non-traditional programming formats for television and motion pictures across a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, game, and reality for American and international markets. In addition to selling television formats for independent producers such as NBC Universal Television Studios (USA Network, Sci Fi Channel), BBC Worldwide, Renegade and Princess Productions, Reveille sells its own produced program formats such as "The Restaurant" (NBC), "Blow Out" (Bravo) and "30 Days" (FX). Reveille also distributed the internationally renowned, award-winning "911" documentary and is a world leader in creating integrated marketing opportunities for leading advertisers, developing alternative financing paradigms and selling and distributing television formats in markets worldwide.

Reveille has produced projects such as, "Coupling," "The Restaurant", "The Biggest Loser" and coming in 2005 "The Office: An American Workplace" for NBC. Cable projects include "Blow Out" for Bravo, "The Club" on Spike, USA Network's "Nashville Star" and the Morgan Spurlock project "30 Days" for FX Networks.

USA NETWORK
USA Network is cable television's leading provider of original series and feature movies, sports events, off-net television shows, and blockbuster theatrical films. USA Network is seen in over 88 million U.S. homes. The USA Network Web site is located at www.usanetwork.com.

USA Network is a program service of NBC Universal Cable a division of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.