John Legend and Carrie Underwood Headline 2006 NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show

John Legend and Carrie Underwood Headline 2006 NBA All-Star Game Halftime Show

- Artists Join All-Star Lineup of Talent Performing During NBA All-Star 2006 Festivities including Destiny's Child and Andrea Bocelli -

- Special Performances by Today's Top Artists to Reach Worldwide Audience in 215 Countries -

HOUSTON, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Three-time Grammy Award winning artist John Legend and 2005 American Idol winner Carrie Underwood will headline the halftime entertainment that will perform during the 2006 NBA All-Star Game at the Toyota Center in Houston on Sunday, Feb. 19. The 2006 NBA All-Star Game will be televised live by TNT and Rogers Sportsnet Canada throughout North America on Feb. 19 beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET. The game also will be heard on ESPN Radio and will be available in several languages on NBA.com. The 55th NBA All-Star Game will reach a global audience in 215 countries through 103 telecasters.

Legend and Underwood join an all-star lineup of entertainers performing during the NBA All-Star 2006 festivities this year. On Saturday, Feb. 18, worldwide superstar Andrea Bocelli will highlight NBA Cares, the league's global community outreach initiative, before a worldwide audience with his special performance of Because We Believe, from his new CD, Amore, during NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by AOL at the Toyota Center in Houston. TNT will televise the event live on Saturday, Feb. 18, beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.

One of the biggest selling female acts of all-time, Destiny's Child will tip-off the 2006 NBA All-Star Game when they reunite for their last ever performance to sing the national anthem preceding the 2006 NBA All-Star Game at the Toyota Center in their native Houston on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Before Destiny's Child takes Center Court, the Houston Symphony will perform live prior to tip-off. Grammy Award Winner Richard Kaufman, Principal Pops Conductor of the Pacific Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, will conduct the symphony in an eclectic array of music as the East and West All-Star players are introduced.

A multi-talented, singer, songwriter and pianist, Legend recently received three Grammy Awards at least week's ceremonies. He was named Best New Artist and also collected Grammy Awards for Best R& B Album and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. Legend will perform So High and Used to Love U from his Grammy winning album Get Lifted.

2005 American Idol winner Carrie Underwood will sing her sensational hit single Some Hearts off her debut album by the same name. Underwood's album introduced in the fall of 2005, has sold over two million copies. It has also earned her the distinction of becoming the fastest-certified debut country album ever released, even as the disc's powerful lead single, Jesus, Take the Wheel, remains at #1 for its 4th consecutive week.

The multi-talented members of Destiny's Child, who have collectively won eight Grammy Awards, have burgeoning music, TV and film careers. The group's chief songwriter and producer, Houston native Beyonce Knowles, whose multi-platinum debut solo album Dangerously in Love garnered five Grammy Awards, has made forays into Hollywood with lead roles in Austin Powers: Goldmember in 2002 and The Fighting Temptations in 2003 and will appear in the theatrical release of Dream Girls in December 2006. Beyonce and her mother Tina Knowles are also launching House of Dereon, a new fashion line.

Bocelli's latest album Amore produced by David Foster and Humberto Gatica, and co-produced by Tony Renis, was released in the United States on Jan. 31, 2006. The CD has resulted in Bocelli's highest chart debut ever, garnering the number three position on Billboard's Top 200 Album Chart, and the number one position on the Classical Crossover Chart. The collection boasts an extraordinary lineup of international love songs and pop standards performed in French, Italian, Spanish and English, with guest artists Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder and Kenny G.

NBA All-Star brings together the top NBA players and performers for a week of competition, community service and world-class entertainment. Among the many events that reach fans in 215 countries are the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge; Sprite Rising Stars Slam Dunk; Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout; PlayStation Skills Challenge; RadioShack Shooting Stars; NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by Nokia, the league's interactive event that attracts more than 100,000 fans each year; and the 55th NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Source: NBA

CONTACT: Mike Wade, +1-201-892-4977, mwade@nba.com, or Francine Winiker,
+1-212-407-8422, fwiniker@nba.com, both of NBA

Web site: http://www.nba.com/

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