Fervent/Reprise Records singer/songwriter Francesca Battistelli continues to make significant headway with her acclaimed debut, My Paper Heart. From the small screen to now the big screen, Battistelli's top 5 radio hit, "I'm Letting Go," can be heard in the promotions for the just-released "Julie & Julia" movie featuring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, while her current radio single, "It's Your Life," was heard during last week's season finale of Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance."
Battistelli is set to perform this fall on the 43-city "Follow You Tour" as special guest to co-headliners Brandon Heath and Leeland. The high-profile touring event kicks off Sept. 23rd in Norfolk, Nebraska and goes through November 22, ending in Birmingham, Alabama. Not one to sit back and relax, Battistelli is confirmed to also perform on Newsong's 2009 Christmas tour and will kick off next spring appearing on the "Rock and Worship Road Show," along with headliner MercyMe. Upcoming dates will be announced shortly.
Appearing earlier this year on the 35-city nationwide 2009 WinterJam tour, Battistelli continues to perform this summer across the country at churches and festivals. She will appear in mid-September at DisneyWorld's famed "Night Of Joy."
Nashville, TN - (March 31, 2009) - On the heels of five Dove Award nominations, recent music features on AOL Music's homepage, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," NBC's "Biggest Loser," and The Style Network's new reality show "Running In Heels," Fervent/Reprise Records artist Francesca Battistelli is at the top of the charts - again! This time, though, she's #1 on four charts!
Battistelli's single, "Free to be Me," reached #1 this week on all three R&R Christian radio charts: AC-Monitored, AC-Indicator, and CHR, as well as on the Mediabase chart, as printed in USA Today. This is the 5th week in the top spot at CHR, and the second week as #1 at AC-Indicator. Additionally, "Free to be Me" is the first #1 single from a female at AC since 2005.
Here's what just a few stations have shared about her and her hit song:
"I think we all saw this day coming. You can't ignore a positive, fresh pop song with stunning vocal talent."
- Sarah Taylor, Spirit 105.3 Seattle
"We could not be prouder of our hometown girl, Franny, for getting to #1 but it is no surprise! We always knew she would be a big success and make a major ministry impact with music! This is just the beginning!"
- Jeff Cruz, Z88.3 Orlando
"How long has it been since a female has been #1? Since this morning! Go Francesca!"
- Mike Prendergast, 94.9 KLTY Dallas
Nashville, TN - March 19, 2008 - Five-time Dove Award nominee Francesca Battistelli is having one amazing week. After wrapping up the nationwide 35-city WinterJam tour last Sunday in Nashville, Battistelli continues to be heard everywhere from the world wide web to radio to network television.
Today, Battistelli's music video for "Free to be Me" was chosen to be AOL Music's "Video of the Day" (http://music.aol.com). Adding to the huge coverage, her song "It's Your Life" is currently being featured in the promo for ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and also was featured on Tuesday's episode of NBC's "Biggest Loser."
"Free to be Me" continues to capture top airplay on radio stations nationwide, hitting the top spot on both CHR and AC Indicator. Additionally, "Free to be Me" is the first #1 single from a female at AC since 2005.
This New York City-born singer and songwriter is now readying for the upcoming Dove Awards. She is nominated for Female Vocalist and New Artist of the Year, while her Top 5 hit single "I'm Letting Go" has received Dove Award nominations for Song of the Year as well as Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year. Her summer 2008 debut CD, My Paper Heart, is nominated for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year.
For the first time, fans have the opportunity to cast their vote for the upcoming Dove Awards with the ability to help choose Artist of the Year and New Artist of the Year. Fan voting is being conducted through the Gospel Music Channel website (www.gospelmusicchannel.com) and at www.doveawards.com. The cumulative fan vote, which is open now and will continue through the live Dove Awards broadcast, will account for one-third of the total vote in these two categories. Visit both sites for more information and most of all, don't forget to vote for Francesca for New Artist of the Year!
Visit www.Francescamusic.com for her blogs, current tour information, and more.
(NASHVILLE, TN) February 20, 2009 –Today Word Entertainment, through its artists, projects and other contributors, garnered 56 GMA Dove Award nominations, with Fervent/Reprise Records’ new singer/songwriter Francesca Battistelli leading the way with five nominations, including “Song of the Year” (“I’m Letting Go”), “Female Vocalist of the Year,” and “New Artist of the Year,” the most for any new female artist in the history of the Gospel Music Awards.
“I am thrilled and honored to just be nominated!” says Battistelli. “It’s humbling to be among such great company, especially as a new artist, and being nominated for Song of the Year is a dream come true. I’m still soaking it all in!”
Word Records’ rock newcomers Remedy Drive were also honored in this year’s “New Artist” category, in addition to nods for “Rock/Contemporary Album” (Daylight Is Coming), and “Short Form Music Video” (“Daylight”). Fervent Records’ Dove-award winning hip hop trio Group 1 Crew were also honored in three categories this year, including “Rock/Contemporary Song” (“Keys To The Kingdom”), “Rap/Hip Hop Album” (Ordinary Dreamers), and “Short Form Music Video” (“Movin’”). Word Records’ powerhouse vocalist David Phelps received “Male Vocalist of the Year” and “Long Form Music Video” (“O Holy Night”) nominations, while Word Records’ new worship artist Meredith Andrews garnered two nominations for “Worship Song” (“You’re Not Alone”) and “Praise & Worship Album” (The Invitation). Canaan Records’ legendary Kim Hopper also received two GMA Dove Award nominations including “Bluegrass Recorded Song” (“What Will I Wear”) and “Southern Gospel Album” (I Just Wanted You To Know).
Word Label Group (a division of Word Entertainment comprised of Word Records, Fervent Records, Myrrh Records, Canaan Records and Word Music Publishing) garnered 38 nominations, including top categories “Song,” “Male Vocalist” (David Phelps), “Female Vocalist” (Francesca Battistelli) as well as “New Artist” (Francesca Battistelli and Remedy Drive).
Word Distribution, another division of Word Entertainment, collected an additional 17 nominations including two nominations for “Song of the Year” (Chris Sligh and Natalie Grant), “Female Vocalist of the Year” (Natalie Grant), and “New Artist of the Year” (Chris Sligh).
Word Music was represented with five nominations, including two for “Musical of the Year,” one for “Youth/Children’s Musical of the Year,” and two for “Choral Collection of the Year.”
Encompassing distributed labels, artists, affiliated producers, published writers and printed collections, Word Entertainment has representation in 31 of 43 total nomination categories.
A full list of Word Entertainment and Word Label Group finalists are below. The GMA Dove Awards event will be held April 23, 2009 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville.
Nashville, TN - (December 10, 2008) - Fervent Records'/Reprise singer and songwriter Francesca Battistelli hasn't stopped since the release of her debut project, MY PAPER HEART, released July 22nd. With the success of her first radio single, the hit "I'm Letting Go," which nabbed the #3 spot on the radio charts, to numerous appearances and touring non-stop this past summer and fall, Battistelli is more than excited for what's ahead in 2009. Set to follow up with her next radio single "Free To Be Me" hitting the airwaves next month, Battistelli has joined the 35-date "Winter Jam" tour, performing in markets all over the country starting in January and going through March. She'll be sharing the stage with artists such as TobyMac, Brandon Heath, and Hawk Nelson, among many other special guests. For the most updated tour dates and information, please visit www.jamtour.com.
FRANCESCA TOPS AT iTUNES!
The music of Francesca Battistelli has been recognized by being named one of iTunes' best new artists of 2008 within the Christian/Gospel Category. In addition, she received accolades for "I'm Letting Go" as the #3 "Best iTunes Song" of the year, following Steven Curtis Chapman and Casting Crowns, respectively.
CHRISTMAS TIME
Garnering even more radio airplay, Battistelli's two newly recorded Christmas songs - "You're Here" (written by Battistelli) and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" - are currently being played on stations nationwide. In fact, both songs are so popular that "You're Here" was the most added Christmas single for the first week of December, while "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" was the 4th highest add, according to Radio & Records (chart below). Not shy to radio charts, Battistelli's "You're Here" also debuted at #25 on AC Monitored and #27 at AC Indicator this week. Both Christmas singles are available exclusively on iTunes.
Did we mention that radio loves Francesca?
"I was blown away by Francesca's debut single "I'm Letting Go." Uptempo, fresh and fun - that actually describes her whole album My Paper Heart. And then, on top of that, she surprises us all with the touching (original) "You're Here" for Christmas. This girl is the real deal." - Sarah Taylor, Spirit 105.3 KCMS Seattle
"Francesca is one of those artists that you just kind marvel at...she can live life, write an amazing song, and connect with our audience every single time. I have no doubt she'll be around for years to come, and I'm grateful to share her unique sound and perspective with our audience at WAY-FM Colorado." - Jeff Connell, WAY-FM Denver
"Bold. Fresh. Sincere. Compelling. Us." - Chris Lemke, WCSG-FM/Grand Rapids
"Francesca delivers a fresh, new sound to Christian music....it's a car windows down, hair blowing in the wind on a bright, warm sunny day style of music that definitely strikes a chord with listeners out there. " - Mike Prendergast, 94.9 KLTY Dallas
ABOUT FRANCESCA
Songs from Francesca Battistelli's My Paper Heart have appeared on two episodes of MTV's "The Hills." She has also appeared on the homepage of YouTube.com with a video featuring her breakout voting song, "It's Your Life," which encouraged listeners to use their voice by voting in the recent Presidential election.
HEARITFIRST.COM
EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT
NASHVILLE, TN—November 11, 2008—Christian music’s biggest annual musical tour
just got bigger. In an exclusive announcement, HearItFirst.com has confirmed
that Francesca Battistelli, the breakout new artist of 2008 will perform at all
dates of the Winter Jam 2009 Tour Spectacular. Also confirmed to headline the
Precious Girls Club Pre-Jam Party on all dates is pop sensation, pureNRG. Punk
Rockers Family Force 5 and power trio BarlowGirl have also been confirmed for
several select dates.
The 10-week tour launches January 8, 2009 in Roanoke, VA, and will conclude at
the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN on March 15th. Grammy-nominated and Dove
Award-winning, NewSong will host the high-energy event for the 14th consecutive
year, which will feature special guest speaker Tony Nolan. Previously confirmed
Winter Jam 2009 artists include tobyMac, the “GMA Artist Of The Year” for 2008,
Hawk Nelson, “GMA New Artist Of The Year” 2008 Brandon Heath, “GMA New Artist
Of The Year” 2006 The Afters, and new Gotee Recording artist, Stephanie Smith.
For more information visit HearItFirst.com or JamTour.com.
Reprise Records’ new singer/songwriter Francesca Battistelli is currently featured on the homepage of www.youtube.com. The video features Francesca’s breakout voting song, “It’s Your Life,” and encourages listeners to use their voice by voting in the upcoming election.
For more information, visit www.youtube.com or www.francescamusic.com.
Fervent/Reprise Records’ new singer/songwriter Francesca Battistelli is set to be featured on tonight’s episode of MTV’s hit reality show “The Hills.” The breakout “Election Theme Song,” “It’s Your Life,” from her debut album, My Paper Heart, will appear in this Monday’s all-new episode of “The Hills,” airing tonight at 10:00 pm EST.
“It’s Your Life” is also currently being featured by www.newvotersproject.org, a non-partisan organization that urges young people to register to vote. The feature on the organizations home page includes a link that directly allows potential voters to listen to her song “It’s Your Life” along with additional songs and videos from Francesca. Francesca’s work with New Voter’s Project is another example of her efforts to mobilize young people to register to vote.
Highlighting Francesca’s expressive vocals and her overarching desire to encourage her peers to make a difference in the world however they can, the standout track “It’s Your Life” is a song about taking action. In addition to the New Voters Project and “The Hills,” Francesca’s music has been featured on MTV/Think, AOL.com and elsewhere.
For more information on the Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project, visit www.newvotersproject.org. For more information from Francesca Battistelli, visit www.francescamusic.com.
(Nashville, TN) June 30, 2008 — Fervent Records’ new singer/songwriter Francesca Battistelli is slated to make her debut performance in New York, NY at For Your Imagination on July 8 as part of “Live at FYI”’s concert series, in conjunction with the launch of her new community-based website, www.francescamusic.com.
Battistelli will perform songs from her upcoming Fervent Records / Warner Bros. Records release My Paper Heart including the most-added song at AC radio from a new artist this year, “I’m Letting Go,” and the breakout song that challenges others to take action on issues that matter to them, “It’s Your Life.” “We’re excited to be working with our friends at Fervent Records and Warner Music Group to help break this incredible new artist, Francesca Battistelli,” said John Henkel, For Your Imagination’s VP of Artist and Industry Relations and the producer of LIVE@FYI. “We look forward to being a part of Francesca’s development into the star we all believe she is.” To catch a live video webcast of the performance, visit www.francescamusic.com at 5:00 p.m. EST on July 8, 2008.
Also streaming on the website from July 8 to street date is Battistelli’s full-length album My Paper Heart, set to release July 22 to critical acclaim. The “I’m Letting Go” EP recently went No. 1 on iTunes’ Christian & Gospel page and is currently a Top 10 hit at AC radio. For more information, visit www.francescamusic.com.
