The Game Is On!

Want to bet on a long-shot? Forget horses. Bet on anyone who wants to make it in the music biz.

I cannot imagine a tougher career choice.

You may not see it that way when you read about LeAnn Rimes cranking out hit songs at 12. Or Kelly Clarkson going from nobody to mega-star in 6 months.

They are the exceptions. They are the 4 leaf clovers. For every new star you hear on the radio, see on TV, or download on iTunes ... there are hundreds of thousands who never got that far.

All of this is why the Rockstar Project was formed 5 years ago as a partnership between Kevin Sucher of the Laboratory, Neil Willenson of Camp Hartland, and WKTI. We thought it would be interesting to find someone in whom we all believed - and push them to the front of the line.

The hardest part for our young talent is that the lines to musical success are set-up like the lines to Space Mountain in Disney World ... The first thing you see when you get to the front of the line - is that there is another line ahead - and you are now at the back of that line.

This is where we pick-up in 2007. Our three past winners have each recorded a single, produced a video, performed all over Wisconsin and had their song played on the radio over 250 times.

This year we wanted to help them move up that next line - and that takes cash. So we are proud to welcome Verizon Wireless as the presenting sponsor of the RS Project ... and this year we are offering a 10-thousand dollar signing bonus.

With the song ... airplay ... and $10K in cash: the rest is up to them. More to come ...