WINNERS ON AMERICA'S GOT TALENT, THE VOICE AND AMERICAN IDOL
LIL MIKE & FUNNY BONE WIN GROUP OF THE YEAR
AT THE 16TH ANNUAL NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS
FOLLOWING THEIR DEBUT ON AMERICA'S GOT TALENT
Lil Mike & Funny Bone were a featured rapper and dancer duo act from Season 8 of America's Got Talent. Also known as Mike Bone, Lil Mike & Funny Bone are of Native Amerian heritage. The two total 52 inches tall. They are not twins, but they are brothers. They are both named Jesus (their other brother is named Jesus as well).
Their audition in Episode 805 of America's Got Talent consisted of dancing and rapping an original song titled "Rain Dance." Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B, and Howie Mandel all voted "Yes," sending the duo to the Vegas Round.
Lil Mike & Funny Bone were sorted into the "Variety Acts" category in the Vegas Round. Their performance in Episode 809 consisted of rapping a song about Crunk and dancing. After performing "Crunk Nativez," the Pawnee/Choctaw duo of Lil' Mike and Funny Bone was criticized harshly by the judges for what seemed to be a disorganized routine. After they had left the stage, celebrity judge Howard Stern made the unconventional move of calling them back out. He berated them for a lack of preparation and informed them that the four-judge panel was unanimously against them continuing on to Radio City Music Hall.
Lil Mike & Funny Bone seemed undeterred, immediately asserting that they were still the best act on their home turf of Oklahoma City. It appears they were right. This year, they released a CD entitled, Rain Dance which earned them two nominations in the Native American Music Awards for; Best Rap Hip Hop Recording and Group of the Year. After thousands of votes received across the country, Lil Mike & Funny Bone, or Mike Bone, won for Group of the Year.
Click here for their America's Got Talent appearance. https://youtu.be/hnF3BJw8ALs
Their audition in Episode 805 of America's Got Talent consisted of dancing and rapping an original song titled "Rain Dance." Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, Mel B, and Howie Mandel all voted "Yes," sending the duo to the Vegas Round.
Lil Mike & Funny Bone were sorted into the "Variety Acts" category in the Vegas Round. Their performance in Episode 809 consisted of rapping a song about Crunk and dancing. After performing "Crunk Nativez," the Pawnee/Choctaw duo of Lil' Mike and Funny Bone was criticized harshly by the judges for what seemed to be a disorganized routine. After they had left the stage, celebrity judge Howard Stern made the unconventional move of calling them back out. He berated them for a lack of preparation and informed them that the four-judge panel was unanimously against them continuing on to Radio City Music Hall.
Lil Mike & Funny Bone seemed undeterred, immediately asserting that they were still the best act on their home turf of Oklahoma City. It appears they were right. This year, they released a CD entitled, Rain Dance which earned them two nominations in the Native American Music Awards for; Best Rap Hip Hop Recording and Group of the Year. After thousands of votes received across the country, Lil Mike & Funny Bone, or Mike Bone, won for Group of the Year.
Click here for their America's Got Talent appearance. https://youtu.be/hnF3BJw8ALs
NAMA SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR JOSH HALVERSON
JOINS ALICIA KEYS ON NBC TV's THE VOICE
On Monday, September 26th, Award winner, Josh Halverson, appeared on NBC’s The Voice 2016 Blind Auditions and performed Bob Dylans “Forever Young” infront of superstars Miley Cyrus, Alicia Keys, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and host Carson Daly and selected Alicia Keys as his coach.
Josh, earned a last minute three-chair turn during The Voice Blind Auditions as his wife and young son Thunderbird watched backstage. Josh, who is a cattle rancher from Texas, performed a haunting version of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" that had the coaches hanging on the edge of their seats. Once Miley Cyrus, Adam Levine, Alicia Keys, and Blake Sheldon hit their buttons, they all turned around to fight for Halverson's voice on their team. Though Blake brought out his 
best cattle talk, Halverson chose to join Team Alicia.Josh Halverson (Mdewakantonwan Sioux) won the Songwriter of the Year Award at the Native American Music Awards in 2013 for his Cd, One Shot.
Season 11 of The Voice is said to be shaping up to be an interesting one. For the first time, a pair of female coaches, Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys, are commanding the red chairs for NBC’s immensely popular musical competition series. With a fresh voice and new perspective, these ladies have made these Blind Auditions the most exciting yet.
The Voice show’s innovative format features five stages of competition: the first begins with the blind auditions, followed by the battle rounds, the knockouts, the live playoffs and, finally, the live performance shows.
Also on the Voice is Mescalero Apache singer, Khaliya Kimberlie who has joined Team Miley. Khaliya is half Native American and her
father is part of the Mescalero Apache tribe. Her entire family lives on the reservation in Mescalero, NM and takes care of Khaliya's 87-year-old grandmother, who speaks fluent Apache. After singing in a fifth-grade talent show, Khaliya was inspired to join choir. She has always wanted to use her music for good and performs at local benefits for women affected by domestic violence. Much of Khaliya's desire for giving back comes from her struggles with her sexuality.On Team Blake, is Austin Allsup, son of enrolled Cherokee member and Native American Music Awards Living Legend, Tommy Allsup who was at the 11th Annual Awards show and performed in the Ritchie Valens Hall of Fame Tribute.
When Austin was 19 he toured with his Grammy Award-winning guitarist dad Tommy Allsup and the band Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. In 2005, Austin put out his first record and went on a national tour. Later that year he performed at an event that featured Blake Shelton as part of the lineup. Since then Austin has played in about 150 shows a year. He met his wife at one of his shows and they now have two children.NAMAs Living Legend Tommy Alllsup is an American rockabilly and Swing musician. Allsup is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. Allsup was touring with Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson when he lost a fateful coin toss with Valens for a seat on the plane that crashed, killing Valens, Holly and Richardson on February 3, 1959. On January 11, 2017, Tommy Allsup passed away. Our condolences to his family.
Watch NBC’s The Voice Monday and Tuesdays 8:00pm EST and 7:00pm CSTTHREE TIME NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD WINNER CHARLY LOWRY
WAS THE FIRST NATIVE AMERICAN ARTIST TO APPEAR
ON A NATIONAL TELEVISION MUSIC COMPETITION
Native American Music Awards Winner for Best Music Video in 2009, Debut Artist of the Year in 2010, and 2014 Best Inspirational Recording in 2014, Charly Lowry, a Lumbee native from Pembroke, N.C., made it into the Top 32 on Season Three of American Idol.
Charly Lowry's performance of "Proud Mary" earned her a spot among the 32 finalists in Fox television's "American Idol." While Fantasia Barrino outsang the then-20-year-old Lowry in 2004 and every other contestant to capture the coveted title that year, it was an experience that Lowry will long remember. And her amazing rendition of Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools, has allowed her to continue to hold her head high.
Over a decade later, Lowry is now a successful independent musician living in Chapel Hill and is the lead singer of Dark Water Rising, a popular, award-winning band who call their signature sound “rocky soul.” (All active members are Lumbee, too.) Their first release in 2010, a self-titled LP, earned the group a Native American Music Award (NAMA) for Debut Duo or Group of the Year.
The third season of American Idol premiered on Monday, January 19, 2004 and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2% (1.3 million votes)
Charly Lowry's performance of "Proud Mary" earned her a spot among the 32 finalists in Fox television's "American Idol." While Fantasia Barrino outsang the then-20-year-old Lowry in 2004 and every other contestant to capture the coveted title that year, it was an experience that Lowry will long remember. And her amazing rendition of Aretha Franklin's Chain of Fools, has allowed her to continue to hold her head high.
Over a decade later, Lowry is now a successful independent musician living in Chapel Hill and is the lead singer of Dark Water Rising, a popular, award-winning band who call their signature sound “rocky soul.” (All active members are Lumbee, too.) Their first release in 2010, a self-titled LP, earned the group a Native American Music Award (NAMA) for Debut Duo or Group of the Year.
The third season of American Idol premiered on Monday, January 19, 2004 and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2% (1.3 million votes)