Miranda Lambert Moves to Judge's Seat

Miranda Lambert photo courtesy of SonyBMG

July 19, 2007 — It's only been four years since Miranda Lambert broke into country music as a contestant on the 2003 season of USA Network's "Nashville Star," but now she's taking on judging duties on another reality show.

ABC has announced that Miranda is one of three industry pros who will decide which of the six hopefuls on ABC's "Six Degrees of Martina McBride" will achieve their dream of a shot at country music stardom. Miranda will join Ray Benson, the front man and only surviving founder of the Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel, and Beverly Keel, columnist for The Tennessean and Nashville correspondent for People magazine, on the two-hour special set to air July 30.

Miranda says she's come a long way since her own contestant days. ''I feel like I've grown up,'' she tells The Pueblo Chieftain. "There's a lot more personality in my writing now because I've actually lived through a lot more things. I've been on the road for two years. I've been in relationships. With everything that's happened in my life, having an album out, going on tour, I think it's really changed me as a person and as a writer."

Miranda says her main goal on "Nashville Star" was to stay in the running long enough to sing ''Greyhound Bound for Nowhere,'' a touching ballad she wrote with her dad. ''I thought if I could make it through the original song night, then I could get a publishing deal out of it,'' she says. ''I wanted a publishing deal. Luckily I got everything. I got a record deal and the publishing deal. I was really happy with the whole experience."