Celebrity Duets Contestants Announced; Show to Premiere August 19th  8/15/06

Chris Jericho, Lucy Lawless, Cheech Marin, Carly Patterson, Alfonso Ribeiro, Jai Rodriguez, Hal Sparks AND Lea Thompson Named as Celebrities Competing FOR CHARITY on “CELEBRITY DUETS” PREMIERING TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, ON FOX; WAYNE BRADY HOSTS

Chris Jericho (WWE World Champion), actress Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Battlestar Galactica”), actor Cheech Marin (“Cars,” “Nash Bridges”), 2004 Olympic Gold Medal-winning gymnast Carly Patterson, actor/director Alfonso Ribeiro (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “All of Us”), pop culture guru Jai Rodriguez (“Queer Eye”), actor/comedian Hal Sparks (“Queer as Folk”) and actress Lea Thompson (“Back to the Future,” “Caroline in the City”) are the eight celebrities who will compete weekly on CELEBRITY DUETS premiering Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. Wayne Brady will host the show.

Each week, the celebrity competitors – as long as they remain in the competition – will be paired with a different recording superstar among Grammy Award-winning and No. 1 artists Clint Black, Michael Bolton, Belinda Carlisle, Taylor Dayne, Peter Frampton, Macy Gray, James Ingram, Wynonna Judd, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, Richard Marx, Brian McKnight, Aaron Neville, Smokey Robinson, Randy Travis, Dionne Warwick, Lee Ann Womack and others. In addition, legendary producer David Foster will serve as a judge for the weekly singing competition. Additional recording superstars and other show participants will be announced.

The show will premiere on a one-time-only special night with a two-hour episode Tuesday, Aug. 29 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. The CELEBRITY DUETS performance show will have its time period premiere Thursday, Sept. 7 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed).

After each performance episode, viewers will vote for their favorite celebrity performers, with the outcome announced live on the weekly results show beginning Friday, Sept. 8 (9:00-10:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. The celebrity with the fewest votes each week will be eliminated from the competition. The winning celebrity will emerge from the competition in perfect harmony, and a $100,000 cash prize will be donated to the charity of his or her choice.

Simon Cowell (AMERICAN IDOL), Michael Levitt (THE BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS) and Arthur Smith (HELL’S KITCHEN, “Skating with Celebrities”) serve as executive producers. CELEBRITY DUETS is produced by SYCO TV, Fox Television Studios, Michael Levitt Productions and A. Smith & Co. Productions.

-FOX-