Around 20 dates (dates listed below) are scheduled for the fall and 70 performances are slated for 2009. Creative Artists Agency is booking the event, home to tween songstress Hannah Montana, Tobymac and Carrie Underwood. For all tour information including dates and tickets, go to myspace.com/iShinelive.

Here to fill an age gap in faith-based entertainment, iShine Live is a two and a half hour event that will include music, a speaker and overall entertainment designed specifically for the eight to 14 tween market.

Tweens ages eight through 14 are emerging in every area including kids music sales which increased 38.5% to $17.1 million last year alone. According to Billboard, this musical category was the only one to show growth in 2007, with tweens spending $50 billion dollars a year and their parents spending an additional $150 billion on their behalf. iShine wants to acknowledge the needs of this growing generation and provide them with not only entertainment, but with an identity in their faith as well.

iShine Live recently held a kick-off event at Disney World’s Odyssey Center on July 13 at the International Christian Retail Show. The event included an address from founder Robert Beeson as well as Michael Omartian and Allan Hardin. The breakfast was attended by around 75 guests and also included devotions from The Rubyz, Robert Pierre, Luke Benward and Paige Armstrong (photo from event attached).

“This younger market is hungry for music and they want something that applies to their lives, something that they can connect with,” explains iShine founder Robert Beeson. “And as far as the Christian community is concerned, there is a real lack of music being made for this age group.”

In addition to the tour, the iShine crew is launching the “iShine So iDance” online contest where they are encouraging tweens to be fun, creative and show how they shine through dance video submissions. Submissions can be sent to idance@ishinelive.com for approval prior to being posted on youtube and will include three categories for solos, duos and group dances. There will be prizes for the best rated in each category and then an overall grand prizewinner. Anyone can vote online at the youtube website. All dances must be choreographed to one of the six songs listed at the below link from Benward, Pierre and The Rubyz. For a free download of these songs, go to iShinelive.com. For more information about the “iShine So iDance” campaign along with a sample video from The Rubyz, visit www.youtube.com/ishinesoidance

About The Artists
At first glance, Luke Benward looks like any other typical 12 year-old boy. Born and raised in Franklin, Tenn., he spends his free time like most kids his age: playing football, video games, break dancing and practicing on his new electric guitar. Lucky for Hollywood, Benward is not just your average seventh grader. Luke’s first break was at the age of five, appearing along side Mel Gibson in We Were Soldiers. At age eight, he was cast as Stevie Dewberry in the family film Because of Winn Dixie. During the fall of 2006, moviegoers laughed as Luke (Billy Forrester) choked down ten worms in the hit Walden Media Film How To Eat Fried Worms. Most recently, Benward has appeared in Disney Channel's Minutemen and can be seen later in the year in the Diamond Dog Caper. He was named as one of “Hollywood’s Top 12 Kids to Watch” by The Hollywood Reporter in 2006 and is working on an upcoming career in music.

Paige Armstrong’s life changed abruptly in 2001, just before her 11th birthday, she was diagnosed with bone cancer. She spent most of the next year in the oncology unit of St. Christopher’s Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia as she endured extensive chemotherapies and surgeries. However, the cancer became an opportunity to begin fulfilling her dream of being a Christian recording artist and songwriter. The Make-A-Wish Foundation sent her to Nashville, Tenn. in 2003 to record songs with industry professionals. Since that time she has been all over the country with her story and songs and was featured on ”The Today Show” as well as the TV show “Extra” when she made a CD for the Bath and Body Works Christmas Album in 2005. Many of her appearances are fundraisers for Make-A-Wish, The American Cancer Society, schools and churches. She and some friends also formed a group called “Kids 4 Kids” who perform at children’s hospitals and cancer camps. Paige wants to focus her message on young people who she believes often become discouraged and aimless because they don’t realize that God has a plan for them. Her “anti-apathy” message includes the slogan – “You Have A Life – Use It!” In addition to her singing and songwriting, Paige is working on a book to guide young people in discovering their gifts, developing a passion and “using the life they have been given”.