Showtime Backs Usher Concert

Showtime Networks Inc. is putting some promotional muscle behind its upcoming 90-minute live concert, One Night, One Star, Usher Live.

The premium programmer has joined forces with sister Viacom Inc. companies including MTV: Music Television, Black Entertainment Television, National Amusements Inc. and King World Productions.

The concert will air live on Showtime March 5 at 9 p.m. (EST) from San Juan’s Coliseo de Puerto Rico, marking Usher’s only full-length live TV concert in 2005.

The preshow will air simultaneously on Showtime and MTV at 8:30 p.m., hosted by MTV Total Request Live’s Quddus.

Usher will also appear on BET's 106th & Park during the week of One Night, One Star.

Showtime and National Amusements will hold a sweepstakes in which the winner and a friend will be flown to Puerto Rico to attend the concert. The network is running a similar sweepstakes with retailer For Your Entertainment.

Through King World and Sony Pictures Television, One Night, One Star, as well as a chance to win a trip to the event, were featured on Wheel of Fortune as a prize on the wheel.

The Usher concert will be the centerpiece of Showtime’s “Big Fat Free Preview” weekend March 4-7, during which the network will also debut new comedy series Fat Actress, starring Kirstie Alley, and fresh episodes from returning skein Penn & Teller: Bullshit!.