Whoopi Goldberg

Discovery Looks for the Greatest American

Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg, Grammy Award winner John Mellencamp, comedian Dennis Miller, TV host and actress Kelly Ripa, and singer and actress Vanessa Williams will join the Discovery Channel’s upcoming television event, Greatest American, which airs on Sundays in June. These notable celebrities will serve as correspondents representing some of the program’s top-flight finalists. Each celebrity correspondent will talk about great Americans and the contributions they made to better the United States.

Now that all 25 Greatest American finalists have been announced, viewers can vote for their favorites. During the second episode of Greatest American on Sunday, June 12, 2005 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) the top 25 finalists will be split into groups and each group will receive a celebrity correspondent to provide viewers with facts and special insights about the nominees. With these new insights, viewers will have the chance to reaffirm their support for their initial candidate or to change their mind and vote for someone else.

Whoopi Goldberg earned an Oscar for her performance in Ghost, with other films including The Color Purple and Girl, Interrupted. She recently won a Tony Award nomination for her acclaimed one-woman revival Whoopi, the 20th Anniversary Show.

Grammy Award winner John Mellencamp is widely recognized as a rocker who taps into the American heartland with his songs and lyrics. His more than a dozen albums have featured such hits as “Jack & Diane,” “Small Town” and “Pink Houses.” His most recent CD is 2004’s “Words & Music,” a 37-track two-CD greatest-hits compilation.

Emmy Award-winning comedian Dennis Miller was anchor of “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live. Most recently, he toplined CNBC’s Dennis Miller after a nine-season run on HBO’s Dennis Miller Live, for which he won five Emmy Awards.

Since 2000, Kelly Ripa has been a morning fixture for millions of Americans as half of Live with Regis and Kelly. This fall, she also will begin her third season on the sitcom Hope & Faith. Previously, from 1990 to 2002, she was on the daytime drama All My Children.

Grammy-Award nominated for eight albums and Tony Award nominated for her role in 2002’s Broadway revival of Into the Woods, Vanessa Williams starred in the films Soul Food, Eraser and Shaft.