McBride, ABC's 'Primetime' to test six-degrees theory

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 2, 2007 by Bill Blankenship

By Bill Blankenship

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Kansas-born country singer Martina McBride will help ABC's "Primetime" test the six-degrees-of-separation theory in a way that could lead to stardom for another small-town talent.

McBride was born in Medicine Lodge and grew up on her family's dairy farm outside Sharon. When she set her sights on making a living with her singing, she made the necessary human connections that took her from Kansas to Nashville and a career as one of country's most popular female vocalists.

"To get the chance to be heard in this business, it takes talent first and foremost, but it also takes a lot of determination and even more luck," McBride said in a statement from Nashville. "Looking back, the naivete it took for me and my husband, John, to move here with only a few contacts was crazy, but one connection led to another, and I think you have to believe it will happen and take that chance."

Well, "Primetime" has selected six people who could get their big break from McBride if they can build a human bridge to her using the concept made famous in 1967 by social psychologist Stanley Milgram. His experiments suggested two random U.S. citizens were connected on average by a chain of six acquaintances.

"Primetime's" country star wannabes can't just contact people at random but must use one of their acquaintances who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody who knows McBride.

Those who can connect to McBride in six or fewer links will get the chance to meet her and have her produce a demo in her Blackbird Studios. "Primetime" and Sony BMG have arranged to have the demos heard by music executives.

Airdates haven't been set for the two one-hour specials, which will follow the contestants' progress and include interviews with McBride in Kansas and footage of her next tour, which starts April 12 in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.

McBride's ninth studio album, "Waking Up Laughing," hits stores on Tuesday .

Bill Blankenship can be reached

at (785) 295-1284

or bill.blankenship@cjonline.com.