‘Nashville’ Casts Transgender Actress Jen Richards in Recurring Role – Transgender actress and activist Jen Richards is headed for Nashville. Richards (Her Story) has joined the country music drama in a recurring role for season five, it was announced Tuesday. She will play Allyson Del Lago, a tough but understanding physical therapist who helps one of the series’ main characters through one of their most difficult challenges. Richard’s casting marks CMT’s first transgender character on CMT and the first out transgender actor on the network. – Read more at The Hollywood Reporter
Blake Shelton Gives Back During Fall Tour Opener – The two-night opening of Blake Shelton’s 2016 Fall Tour Presented by Gildan in Oklahoma City included a big check donation of $600,000 to the Jimmy Everest Children’s Hospital. “They don’t turn any kids away,” Shelton said onstage at OKC’s Chesapeake Energy Arena. “You come in there, you have a problem, they don’t turn anybody away. So I thought, ‘That’s a place that needs some money. Let’s all do the right thing. This is our money, Oklahoma.”
The two shows drew more than 22,000 fans and included a surprise collaboration with Gwen Stefani on “Go Ahead and Break My Heart,” plus an opening set by RaeLynn. – Read more at CMT
Lindsey Stirling Talks What (and Who) Makes Her Strings Sing, From ‘America’s Got Talent’ to Skrillex – If the idea of a dancing, EDM-influenced violinist seems an unlikely recipe for pop success, no one bothered to tell Lindsey Stirling. The 29-year-old Arizonian’s most recent effort, 2014’s Shatter Me, hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and topped both Classical and Dance/Electronic album charts. Her official YouTube channel has notched close to a billion-and-a-half views, and earlier this year, she even co-authored a New York Times bestseller — her memoir, The Only Pirate At The Party. But for Stirling, whose upcoming third album, Brave Enough, is due August 19 on her own label, Lindseystomp Records, it isn’t just about the numbers. “Maybe someone will walk away feeling more loved or inspired,” Stirling says of Brave before sharing some inspirations of her own. – Read more at Billboard
‘America’s Got Talent’ judges preview finale, pick season’s best singers
