Julianne Hough Web

Most singers work odd jobs before they land their big break and have the pleasure of turning in their two-week notice. Plenty of recording artists and musicians at one time in their lives have waited tables, worked a cash register, stocked shelves or sat behind an office desk.

Julianne Hough, however, made a unique transition into the world of country music, working first as a

professional dancer and fan favorite on the ABC hit show ‘Dancing With the Stars‘. In spite of the incredibly hectic schedule that came with training celebrities to do the rumba and waltz, Hough was not content to only bring her dancing dreams to reality when there was a song in her heart that she wanted to share.

In 2008, she released a self-titled album through Mercury Records’ Nashville division and began to receive airplay for the lighthearted, youthful single ‘That Song In My Head’. While she promoted the album, filming music videos and appearing at festivals and performing as an opening act, Hough kept up with her day job at ‘Dancing With the Stars’. Now, as she prepares her sophomore album, which is tentatively scheduled to hit stores in November, she has decided to temporarily retire her dancing shoes to focus solely on her musical endeavors.

She returns to radio with ‘Is That So Wrong?’ a mid-tempo inspired by the inherent desire most people have to want someone special in their life. Though the idea may sound like an overly juvenile and even cheesy one meant to attract the attention of teenagers, the subject matter is handled in a way that makes it relatable to those of all ages, much like the little known Kristy Lee Cook track ‘Hoping To Find’.

Julianne Hough shows a newfound maturity with a subtle, but effective vocal that exudes longing without transforming into desperation in the charming piece of modern country-pop that is laced with an easygoing, likable melody and chorus. Occasionally, the appearance of regnant, repeated lyrics can be off-putting but does not hinder the song’s overall quality or enjoyable nature.

Check out the lyrics to “Is That So Wrong?” in our Lyrics Archive!

Julianne Hough has a lot on her plate. In addition to possibly returning to “Dancing with the Stars” next season (she’s playing coy on that one), she is putting the finishing touches on her second solo album and working on two films.

Hitfix went to a listening party for her new album yesterday at the Mercury Nashville offices. We’ll get to the music in a second, but she also filled in folks on the latest with the ever-moving status of the “Footloose” remake.

She remains attached to the project as the female lead and said a new draft has brought back some of the “edge” of the original as opposed to making it into a full blown musical. “Hustle & Flow” director Craig Brewer is now helming the project after Kenny Ortega left the movie. She said shooting begins this summer, despite the absence of a confirmed male lead for the part originally played by Kevin Bacon. After Zac Efron and Chace Crawford both dropped out, Paramount has now been conducting an on-line video search.

Hough also appears in “Burlesque,” which stars Cher and Christina Aguilera. She plays against type in the movie, playing someone “red head and pregnant.”

But the focus on the event was music, with Hough introducing four new tracks including first single “Is That So Wrong,” which is about not wanting to be alone “when a friend is not enough.” Hough co-wrote the mid-tempo ballad with Sarah Buxton and Blair Daly.

Hough also played another mid-tempo tune about heartbreak, “That’s What the Night is For.” “This one is moody and I see all kinds of visual things, like at awards shows, hanging from the ceiling,” she said, leading her record company executives blanched as they had a visual of their own: The amount of money it would take to make such a performance happen.

She also previewed the up-tempo, spunky “Too Good to Be True,” a song that, as Hough puts it, makes you want to “dance your butt off,” as well as “Wildfire,” about a girl who gets scared and always burns the man she’s with (not literally, of course.” This song is about me to a T,” she said. “I wish I’d written this song.” Is Chuck Wicks, her former beau, listening?

The album, produced by Dann Huff, best known for his work with artists like Faith Hill and Keith Urban, finds Hough displaying a confidence missing from her 2008 self-titled debut. That set debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, but failed to produce any significant singles beyond “That Song in My Head,” which stalled at No. 18. No release date for the new set has been announced.

Source:  http://www.hitfix.com

Julianne Hough is in New York this week to perform classic songs from “The Wizard of Oz” with Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on Tuesday night. (You can catch the JHud/Julianne version of “The Wizard of Oz” for free streaming from Netflix on October 3rd.)

After the two women met for rehearsal yesterday, FOX411 sat down to talk about Julianne’s return to “Dancing With the Stars” this season, her predicted winner, and updates on her “Footloose” remake with Chace Crawford.

“I want to come back and dance on the show!” Julianne tells FOX411. “My brother, Derek, and Mark Ballas are going to sing with their Ballas Hough Band and I want to come back and dance while they rock out. I’m working on hooking that up. When I performed my single on ‘DWTS,’ they danced for me. Now it’s my turn!”

Hough says its hard being on the sidelines this season, to a point.

“I am competitive and I do miss ‘DWTS.’ It’s nice to relax a little and watch everyone else. I don’t have to stress out every five seconds to see if my partner’s doing okay! That’s very nice for the time being!”

She does of course have a favorite. “I hope my brother with partner Joanna Krupa are the front runners this season! I haven’t had a chance to watch a full episode, but I get online and watch the dance numbers. My early prediction is that Mya, Donny Osmond, Melissa Joan Hart, Joanna and Aaron Carter all have a great chance to make it to the semi-finals and finals.”

Julianne makes sure keeps her winning partners, Helio Castroneves and Apolo Ohno, on her speed dial. “I still stay in touch with Apolo Ohno a lot,” she says. “We text message and I always offer him tickets to my shows. When I was in Seattle, where his dad is from, I texted to see if he could come to the show, but he was in Beijing. He’s super focused on training for the Olympics in 2010.”

“I also try to keep up with Helio Castroneves,” she adds. “I talk to Apolo the most, but I also follow Helio on Twitter and he Tweets in Portuguese too much. I never understand what he’s saying but he texts me all the time and always cracks me up.”

Once the blonde country star finishes touring the country, she will begin wardrobe fittings and rehearsals for “Footloose” with co-star Chace Crawford from “Gossip Girl.”

“Chace and I are really in pre-pre-production for ‘Footloose.’ We don’t start until next year in March, but I have met up with him a few times and we’ve done a couple of things together – I’m excited! It is going to be true to this era and time with interesting flares of the original!”

We see early 80’s dresses and big hair. We likey.

Source: FOX News

At 20 years old, Julianne Hough has one of the coolest summer jobs anywhere — opening concerts for George Strait. Prior to a show in Cincinnati last month, the two-time Dancing With the Stars champion spent a few minutes fixing her hair, fussing over her puppy and tackling questions about life on the road, her determination to succeed in country music and why her bubbly personality shines through in her songs.

CMT: For the people who see your set, what do you hope they would take away?

Hough: A lot of them are coming because they’re a fan of the music, but a lot of them are coming because they’re like, “Oh, I wonder if she can sing?” You know, “We know her as a dancer. We’ve heard her song on the radio, but can she sing live?” Or, “Is she fun live?” Hopefully, that’s what they leave with when they come to see me — “Oh, man. She’s a great performer. She really can sing, and she deserves to be in this format.” So, you know, it’s definitely a two-thumbs-up when you’re with the King of Country Music, but you still have to show ‘em what you got.

Do you think you were born with determination, or did you develop it?

I have a lot of characteristics that my dad has. He’s very determined, very daredevil. He’d be willing to do anything and do it full out. So I definitely inherited it, but also with everything that I went through — and being young and having all of these opportunities — I definitely wanted to make the best of it.

With so much going on in your career, what’s the course of action when you have to make a tough business decision?

Well, I first go to my dad and I say, “Dad, this is what’s going on.” You know, I have my business manager and I have a manager. But nobody has my best interests like my dad does and my family and my mom and everything. My dad’s just a little wiser because he’s got a business degree. (laughs) I would never do anything that would compromise anything with my family, and I want to make sure that they’re always involved. They’re not stage parents, but they’re very much involved. I let them know what’s going on.

So many young girls love singing and dancing and dreaming of that life. But for parents who see that talent in their children, what advice can you give them?

It’s so hard because everything costs money. If you have it, and you see your kid that has talent … or maybe isn’t technically the most talented, but if she had lessons … that would help them so much. And it would give them something to dream about, to look forward to and even keep them out of trouble. (laughs) I know my parents put me in all of the lessons — and all my siblings because there were five of us. To keep track of us all is a hard thing to do, to make sure we’re doing the right thing. I mean, we always would go to lessons, and we would go to a million different things. Then we would pick the ones that we really loved. That way, we just kept going for it. I would just say trust your kids because even though they’re young, they definitely have passions, too, and dreams and goals, and parents are the ones that can help them achieve it.

Let’s talk about your new music. How far along are you on the new record?

I’m just starting. I’m writing still, and because I started to do Dancing With the Stars again to dance with Chuck [Wicks], I blame it all on him. No, I had to kind of stop the writing process a little bit. I’m just now starting up again and listening to songs and getting ready for that whole thing again. I’m so pumped. I’m so excited. Just being on the road the last year with Brad Paisley and doing my own shows and, of course, now with George, you kind of figure out what works and what doesn’t. I’ve figured out what doesn’t and what does, and now we’re going to go with the “what does” work. (laughs)

What can your fans expect from it? What does work?

You know, just some really fun grooves. Music is music and country music has the lyrics. I want something with a really cool groove. Keith Urban stepped out of the box. He’s got those awesome grooves. It’s still country, for sure, but it makes you want to stand up. It makes you want to move, and that’s one thing I felt that I missed a little bit on the last record. … A lot of honesty. I think the simplest, most honest songs are always the best and people can relate to those and that’s what it’s about. That’s what I’m looking for to, and hopefully everybody else will like it.

I think people are really drawn to your personality. How important is it that your personality is reflected in the music that you’re writing and supporting?

It’s huge. People kind of saw “Julianne” on the show because it’s a reality show. But also, reality shows aren’t always all what they seem to be. They show a lot of things that are great, but I want people to see “Julianne.” She’s positive and wants the best for everybody … and I’m talking in the third person. (laughs). But, you know, I’m just saying that it’s really important. I want people to realize that I’m 20 and, “Oh, my gosh. I have a career at 20 years old.” But it started really early, and even though I’m young, it hasn’t been easy. And I like to just hang out with my family and play with nephews and nieces and just be normal. I think that’s the best part. I mean, I’m sitting here in the bathroom doing my hair and makeup, doing this interview, with curlers in my hair!

CMT.com