John Rich of Big and Rich is one of the music superstars to participate in the CW’s new music competition series, “THE NEXT,” the show premieres on the CW Network tonight, August 16, 9PM ET/PT.

In each episode of THE NEXT, four music industry superstars — Gloria Estefan, John Rich, Nelly, and Joe Jonas drops in on the lives of four up-and-coming local musicians. The show moves from city to city: Orlando, Baltimore, New York, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.

Over the course of 72 hours, each superstar will groom one contestant — while taking over their lives. It’s one thing to work with a musical icon in the studio, it’s another thing to have him or her tagging along to your day job, eating every meal with you, and hanging with you at your local karaoke dive bar.

When that 72-hour mentoring session is up, the four newly groomed artists will go head-to-head at a well-known local venue. The audience will be filled with friends and family, as well as hundreds of local music fans. Since they’ve already established themselves on the local music scene, each contestant will have their own throng of local groupies and cheerleaders. One winner will be chosen and that contestant will move on to represent their city in the semi-finals.

Take a listen to what John Rich had to say about, “The Next.”