Gospel Dream premieres June 24, to air Wednesday nights at 10 PM ET this summer.

ATLANTA (June 5, 2009) – Gospel Music Channel (http://www.gospelmusicchannel.com) announced its line-up of celebrity judges and hosts for the fourth season of the network’s popular American Idol®-style talent search series, Gospel Dream, to be seen Wednesday nights this summer at 10 PM ET/PT beginning June 24.

The judges who will give one lucky person the chance to live their ‘Gospel Dream’ will be: Michelle Williams from the GRAMMY-winning group Destiny’s Child; one of gospel music’s most prolific talents, Stellar Award winner J. Moss; and one of the music industry’s most respected executives, Mitchell Solarek. Kimberly Locke, the first American Idol® alumnae to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts with a non-Idol single, will serve as co-host with Mike Kasem (MTV’s Top 20 Video Countdown, American Top 10.) In addition, two major musical artists will serve as surprise coaches during the season. The theme for the show’s fourth season: The Greatest Inspirational Songs of All Time.

Gospel Dream talent scouts combed the country this spring, auditioned thousands and decided upon the 37 contestants who will have an once-in-a-lifetime chance to pursue their dream of a musical career and do so in front of a national television audience in the fourth season of Gospel Dream. Solo artists between 16–40 years of age from all genres of gospel/Christian music styles, including traditional, rock, pop, country and soul, will compete. Ten finalists – and ultimately one winner – will be chosen. The winning artist will receive record and music video exposure, among other prizes.

Michelle Williams (Talent Judge)

From the very title of her latest album project – Unexpected – Michelle Williams describes the career she’s enjoyed – first as part of the groundbreaking trio Destiny’s Child with Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland who rocked the music world globally early in this new millennium with millions of unit sales of their music, multiple Grammys and a string of #1 records. More recently, Williams became a GRAMMY-winning artist in her own right with the success of her first solo gospel album Heart To Yours, which became the best selling gospel album of 2002.

Check out the official website for a sneek peak of the show and to meet the judges.

Pics credit: TaiYoungStyle

Now you can get all the latest on Michelle Williams via our twitter page: @UnexpectedMW - so follow us and ReTweet to all your friends !! We’re counting on all of you: spread the word about the one & only Michelle Williams !

Michelle Williams, the singing star who rose to fame as one third of Destiny’s Child (along with Beyoncé Knowles and Kelly Rowland), the top-selling female group of all time, will make her West End debut, starring as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre.

Williams will begin performances July 13 for a run to Aug. 22. She will succeed Aoife Mulholland, who will play the role until July 11.

The London company of Chicago currently features Ian Kelsey as Billy Flynn and Rachel McDowall as Velma Kelly, who will respectively be replaced by Jerry Springer and Leigh Zimmerman June 1. The cast also includes David Ganly as Amos Hart and Gina Murray as Mama Morton.

Williams has previously appeared onstage in the title role of Elton John and Tim Rice’sAida on Broadway and in the national tour of The Color Purple in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, playing the role of blues singer Shug Avery. She released her solo debut album in 2002, “Heart to Yours,” which charted as the best-selling gospel album of that year and spawned the single “Heard a Word.” She also released “Do You Know” in 2004 and “Unexpected” in 2008. In 2004, she also reunited with Knowles and Rowland to make a fourth Destiny’s Child studio album, “Destiny Fulfilled,” that was followed by a world tour, after which they officially disbanded. On TV, Williams has appeared in “Half & Half,” and on the reality TV show “Celebrity Duets.”

Chicago is currently booking to Oct. 30, 2010. To book tickets, call the box office at 0844 412 4652 or visit www.chicagothemusical.co.uk. 

Download here. Thanks to David.

Check out her performance of “We Break the Dawn” and the interview afterward!

Watch performance here!

Watch Interview here!

Michelle recently added singles “The Greatest” and “Stop This Car” to her MySpace playlist. Here’s the cover that was posted for “The Greatest”. What do you think?

Life post-Destiny’s Child hasn’t been as easy on its members as it’s been for Beyonce. We all know that Mrs. Jay-Z has had the number one albums and singles, but what about the other ladies? Kelly Rowland struck gold overseas with her most recent album Ms. Kelly, and Michelle kept her sights set on the gospel scene, releasing Heart to Yours in 2002 and Do You Know in 2004 (the former hit number 1 and the latter number two on the Billboard Gospel Album chart). But that time has come and gone, and Michelle is at the point where she feels ready to unleash her pop debut on the world.

That album is Unexpected, Michelle’s third solo effort, which is set to be released on October 7. Its title pretty much nails the reaction that it evokes, sailing on a glitchy Euro-pop sound that seems to have come out of left field for an artist like Michelle. But the reception so far has proved that fans love the direction that the husky-voiced singer has taken, with her single “We Break the Dawn” soaring to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot Dance Airplay chart and spawning seven official remixes (one of which features Flo Rida). The follow-up single “The Greatest” is going to be released soon, but the success she’s had so far as a non-gospel singer shows that she’s on the right path to achieve solo pop stardom.

Michelle isn’t afraid to challenge herself, especially when it comes to establishing a new audience outside of her gospel fans on Unexpected. In fact, she’s even branched out to Broadway and acting, starring as the main role in Aida after she released her debut solo record and following it up with a part in the Chicago-based cast of The Color Purple. Michelle did such a good job as Shug Avery in the Oprah production that she was nominated for Best Lead Actress for this year’s 18th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards, proving that not only can she deliver bumping solo records, but she can also act her butt off.

While in New York City, Michelle was busy making the rounds at Columbia Records. But she managed to find time in her busy schedule to sneak in a conversation with Senior Editor Steven, sounding gleeful and buoyant as she talked up her forthcoming album. After overly apologizing for pushing back the interview time (it wasn’t a big deal!), Michelle got down to business, discussing whether or not she anticipates that Unexpected is going to isolate her gospel fans, what her biggest dream is when it comes to acting and why it’s taken so long for her to join her fellow Destiny Child members and record a pop album!

Listen to audio interview here!