MTV Picks Up Two Series, Renews America’s Best Dance Crew

Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew Returning for Second Season; Rock the Cradle, The Celebrity Music Mentor Project to Debut

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/11/2008 3:49:00 PM

MTV picked up two new television projects and renewed Randy Jackson Presents: America’s Best Dance Crew for a second season.

The new series are Rock the Cradle and The Celebrity Music Mentor Project (working title).

Rock the Cradle will feature children of famous musicians competing in front of their parents and a panel of judges to see who has the best voice. It will debut on MTV April 3.

The Celebrity Music Mentor Project will pair eight music mentors with eight aspiring artists. The protégés will learn from their mentors and team up to compete against the other pairings. Fans will be able to submit their audition videos online, with the celebrity mentors selecting their partners via the Web site. The Celebrity Music Mentor Project will premiere in the fall.

Dance Crew has done very well for MTV, becoming the top-rated telecast among 12- to 34-year-olds on cable Thursday nights. The second season of America’s Best Dance Crew will debut this summer.

“These series represent the heart and soul of MTV -- innovative cross-platform musical extravaganzas that empower our viewers and reflect their world,” MTV executive vice president of series development and programming Tony DiSanto said in a statement. “We are showcasing their dreams and passions, giving them an emphatic voice for the world stage and embracing the power of music in all of its forms, presented in a way that is uniquely visual, uniquely inspiring and uniquely MTV.”