More intense competition and passionate music performances will be expected from aspiring Gospel/Christian singers hoping to make their dreams come true when the Gospel Music Channel (GMC) television network kicks off Gospel Dream 2008. GMC, the nation’s first and only 24/7 television network devoted to the uplifting, inspiring and diverse music that is Gospel/Christian music, has renewed it’s popular Idol®-like talent search series Gospel Dream for a third season, with auditions in March and April and the special 90-minute series premiere set for June 1st, it was announced today.

Gospel Dream 2008 will once again invite performers from all Gospel/Christian styles, including traditional, soul, rock, blues and country, to compete on national television for a chance to win a Record & Music Video deal and a Royal Caribbean Cruise, among other prizes. The five audition cities scheduled for Gospel Dream 08 auditions: Chicago (March 8th); Los Angeles (March 29th); Phoenix (April 5th); Miami (April 12th) and Atlanta (April 19th). Specific time and locations for the auditions will be announced shortly.

Solo artists, ages 18 to 40, are eligible to audition for Gospel Dream 2008. 15 contestants, three from each audition market, will move to the semi-finals and finals of the competition, scheduled to be held in Nashville. Audition registration information can be found at www.gospelmusicchannel.com. More announcements about Gospel Dream 2008 will be made in coming weeks.

Gospel Dream 2008 will run for five consecutive Sunday nights at 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Gospel Music Channel, starting June 1st, culminating with the grand finale coronation of the new Gospel Dream winner on June 29th. Entrants’ audition experiences in front of music industry talent scout Ron Grant will be featured on Gospel Music Channel’s GMC Insider and The Kitchen Sink series throughout June. Royal Caribbean International and Crest among others have signed on as sponsors of Gospel Dream 2008. Elvin Ross is the creator, executive producer and musical director of the Gospel Dream series.

“Gospel Dream is the only music reality competition on television that celebrates aspiring artists who desire to inspire, as well as to entertain. The show connected with our viewers in the first two seasons and the 2008 competition promises to be even more compelling and will be seen by even more viewers thanks to our tremendous growth in distribution,” commented Charles Humbard, founder and president, Gospel Music Channel.

Gospel Music Channel is one of the fastest-growing cable channels in television today; the network doubled availability in 2007 alone and is now carried in all ten of the top ten markets and 23 of the top 25.