Meet The Judges

Debbie Allen

This talented and successful actress, director, producer, choreographer, singer, dancer and multiple Emmy winner continues to redefine herself as an accomplished artist. Recently, she has taken reality TV by storm, as the producer, choreographer and host of the NBC show Fame. She has composed two children's books, Brothers of the Knight and more recently, Dancing in the Wings. In 2001, the Debbie Allen Dance Academy was opened in Los Angeles to offer a comprehensive curriculum for boys and girls ages 4 to 18 in all the major dance techniques. In a classic example of life imitating art, the Debbie Allen Dance Academy brought Allen back to her days where she played the title role of dance instructor Lydia Grant on the hit TV series, Fame. In 2000, Allen hosted and produced her own documentary series on the Women's Entertainment cable network. She also directed, co-produced and co-starred along with her sister Phylicia Rashad in the critically acclaimed PBS special, The Old Settler. Allen's film work includes the highly acclaimed Dream Works/Steven Spielberg production, Amistad. Allen holds the distinction of having choreographed the Academy Awards for five consecutive years. In recognition of her career, Allen was honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, proof to her life-long contribution in the entertainment arts.

Nigel Barker

Barker made his debut as celebrity photographer and permanent judge on the hit show America's Next Top Model with super model Tyra Banks. He is known for his honest and constructive comments to the contestants and his keen eye for spotting raw talent. He has enjoyed several years of success with the show and continues to do so as it enters its eighth season. Baker was born in London, England, to a family of British, Sri Lankan, Portuguese and Irish origins. Barker's mother, a former Miss Sri Lanka, entered him into a televised model search on The Clothes Show where he was a finalist. This opened the door to a successful modeling career spanning a decade and took him to London, Milan, Paris and New York City. It was during this time that his love for fashion and photography grew, and in 1998, he made the leap to the other side of the lens. Barker opened his own photo studio, StudioNB, in the now fashionable Meat Packing District in Manhattan. Barker's contributes to a wide variety of publications such as GQ, Interview, Paper, Lucky and People and his advertising clients include Beefeater Gin, Sean John, Pierre Cardin, Nicole Miller, OP, Ted Baker and Land's End.

Michael Feinstein

One of the premiere interpreters of American popular song, Feinstein is nationally recognized for his commitment to the American popular song, celebrating its art and preserving its legacy for the next generation. He is currently producing a CD for his friend Liza Minnelli. He will also host and serve as consultant on a new PBS film on vintage Hollywood, Soundies, and is producing a documentary feature on arts and society icon, Kitty Carlisle Hart. He has written the score for a new stage musical, Perspectives, in London's West End. In 2003, Feinstein received his fourth Grammy Award nomination for his Concord release, Michael Feinstein With the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, his first recording with a symphony orchestra. The year before, The Michael Feinstein Anthology, a two-disc compilation spanning the years 1987 to 1996 was released. His live performances (from Hollywood Bowl to Carnegie Hall), recordings, film and TV appearances and his songwriting (in collaboration with Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Lindy Robbins and Carole Bayer Sager) have made him an important musical force during the past 15 years. He scored the original music for the film, Get Bruce. His television credits include performances on Caroline in the City, Melrose Place, Coach and Sybil. He has recorded Michael and George: Feinstein Sings Gershwin, Big City Rhythms (with the Maynard Ferguson Big Band), the double-CD Romance on Film, Romance on Broadway, among others. The Library of Congress elected Feinstein to the exclusive National Sound Recording advisory board. He and other industry leaders recently met in Washington, D.C., for a forum on safeguarding America's musical heritage.

Chris Matthews

Matthews hosts MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and The Chris Matthews Show, a syndicated weekly NBC news program. Matthews is a regular commentator on NBC's Today show and has distinguished himself as a broadcast journalist, newspaper bureau chief, presidential speechwriter and best-selling author. Matthews covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa and the Good Friday Peace Talks in Northern Ireland. In 1997 and 1998, his digging in the National Archives produced a series of San Francisco Examiner scoops on the Nixon presidential tapes. Matthews has covered presidential election campaigns since 1988, including the five-week recount of 2000. In 2004, he received the David Brinkley Award for excellence in broadcast journalism. He has been awarded the Abraham Lincoln award and the Gold Medal award. Matthews worked for 15 years as a print journalist, 13 of them as Washington bureau chief for The San Francisco Examiner and two years as a national columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. Matthews spent 15 years in politics and government, working in the White House for four years under President Jimmy Carter as a presidential speechwriter and on the President's Reorganization Project, in the U.S. Senate for five years on the staffs of Sen. Frank Moss (Utah) and Sen. Edmund Muskie (Maine) and was top aide to Speaker of the House, Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr. for fix years. He is the author of four best-selling books, including American: Beyond Our Grandest Notions, a New York Times bestseller. His first book, Hardball is required reading in many college-level political science courses. Kennedy & Nixon was named by The Readers Digest today's best non-fiction and served as the basis of a documentary on the History Channel. Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think was another New York Times bestseller.

Susan Powell, Former Miss America 1981

Powell is the host of her own one-hour series on the Discovery Channel called Home Matters, completing its ninth and final season. She has appeared before audiences in theaters, opera houses and concert halls all across the country. She made her operatic debut in Die Fledermaus and debuted at the New York City Opera in Harold Prince's production of Sweeney Todd. She has starred in Guys and Dolls and also in the world premiere of the new musical, Zorro. She portrayed Mother in Ragtime. Recently, Powell was seen as Guenevere in Camelot and after that toured in Hello Dolly, starring Michelle Lee. Her other theatrical work includes starring roles at the Paper Mill Playhouse, Sacramento Music Circus, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Dallas Summer Musicals and the St. Louis MUNY. In those theaters, Powell has starred in Oklahoma! , Show Boat, Carousel, South Pacific, My Fair Lady, The Music Man, The Most Happy Fella, Pirates of Penzance, The Student Prince, The Mikado, The Merry Widowand The Desert Song. Powell also toured the country with The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Sounds of Rodgers and Hammerstein and The Desert Song. She has been a featured soloist with numerous symphonies and has debuted with the Boston Pops. In the winter of 1999, Powell returned to the Boston Pops, joining them for their annual holiday tour conducted by Keith Lockhart. Subsequently, she joined Maestro Lockhart as guest soloist with the Utah Symphony and the New Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo. Powell is featured on the cast recording of Olympus on My Mind and Fifty Million Frenchmen on New World Records.