Morning Show Battles to Heat Up with Summer Concerts

By Chris Ariens 

“Good Morning America” is out with its Summer concert lineup, complete with #hashtags. The 2013 Summer Concert Series kicks off May 24 at Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield with:

May 24 – Mariah Carey – #GMAMariah
May 31 –Pitbull – #GMAPitbull
June 7 –Little Mix and Emblem3 – #GMALittleMix / #GMAEmblem3
June 14 – Carly Rae Jepsen – #GMACarlyRae
June 21 – John Legend – #GMALegend
June 28 – Demi Lovato – #GMADemi
July 5 – Imagine Dragons – #GMADragons
July 12 – OneRepublic – #GMAOneRepublic
July 19 – Jennifer Lopez – #GMAJLo
July 26 – Selena Gomez – #GMASelena
August 2 – Ne-Yo – #GMANeYo
August 9 – Kenny Chesney – #GMAKenny
August 16 – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – #GMAMacklemore
August 23 – The Wanted – #GMATheWanted
August 30 – Alicia Keys – #AliciaGMA

The “Today” show, which has yet to release its lineup, originated the concept of televised concerts on Summer Fridays 18 years ago. “GMA” began its concerts in 2002, setting off a booking and ratings battle. Here’s an email I received from a morning show executive when the Summer concerts kicked off in 2011: “Lady Gaga failed to deliver the goods for GMA last Friday… in an epic battle of summer concert kickoffs, Rihanna & TODAY were victorious.”

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In “Top of the Morning,” Brian Stelter reveals that last Spring “GMA’s” concert booker departed, leaving the show with “B- and C-level acts like Robin Thicke and the Beach Boys and a lot of blank space on its schedule. While Usher was kicking off the summer concert series on Today, GMA unveiled a summer lineup with six Fridays listed as ‘TBA.’ “They really must love this band ‘TBA,'” [Today EP] Jim Bell said in a email.”

“We are proud and excited about this incredible lineup,” Senior Executive Producer Tom Cibrowski tells TVNewser about the 2013 series. “Our entertainment team worked unbelievably hard to set up the best Summer ever on GMA.”

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