Celebrities to Judge NCTA ‘Battle of Bands'

Fuse's Allison Hagendorf and other cable-network stars will be celebrity judges at the "Battle of the Bands" charity fundraiser at The Cable Show in Los Angeles on May 11.

On that Tuesday night, Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles will rock to the sounds of bands in the competition staged by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Featuring musicians who hold day jobs with cable operators, networks, suppliers and the media -- as well as a special performance from Band From TV -- the concert will raise funds for this year's CableCares' beneficiary, "A Place Called Home," a non-profit youth center in South Central Los Angeles.

Emceeing this year's competition, courtesy of TV One, will be Christopher "Kid" Reid, host of TV One's Way Black When Black Music Month concert specials in June. Best known as one-half of the former hip hop musical act "Kid 'n Play" and for starring in the House Party movie series, Reid has also served as the host of contest shows such as Your Big Break and It's Showtime at the Apollo.

The three celebrity judges for this year's competition are:

Kim Coles. Perhaps best known as "Synclaire" from her five seasons on Fox's comedy series, Living Single, Coles is the host of BET's pop-culture game show Pay It Off and co-host of their upcoming show My Black is Beautiful.
Allison Hagendorf. A music industry veteran, Hagendorf is a host on Fuse Top 20 Countdown, a new two-hour countdown show that includes interviews with celebrity guests, a recap of the week's biggest moments in music and the most popular music videos of the week. Hagendorf worked as an A&R executive at SonyBMG for both Columbia and Epic Records for eight years, and currently serves as a host for "Steve Madden Music," as well as a voiceover artist (she's the voice of Oxygen TV). She is appearing courtesy of Fuse.

Bob Guiney. Of ABC's The Bachelor fame, Guiney is currently the host of GSN Live on GSN and TLC's Date My House. He also serves as co-host of WE's 3 Men and a Chick Flick, co-hosts Bravo's Battle of the Network Stars, ABC's Super Bowl coverage, and many specials for E!, VH1 and TV Guide Channel.