Kenny Chesney will appear on the PBS show “Soundstage” this week (check your local listings here). The Chicago Tribune has the details:

Kenny Chesney doesn’t wear make-up for just anyone. But one April night in Chicago, it was a must.

The country superstar was on the Northwest Side of the city to shoot his public television debut for “Soundstage” (9 p.m. Thursday, WTTW-Ch. 11), the critically acclaimed live concert television series. It is shot in the highest of high-def, so flaws are not allowed. And therein lies the difference between live and TV: Live shows embrace the flaws and the unexpected. But, as much as “Soundstage” tries to broadcast a live-concert feel, and to bring the artist’s show right into your living room, a television taping is staged. Right down to the powder on Chesney’s face.

Most of the “Soundstage” shows, like this one, are taped before a small studio audience at Chicago’s own WTTW. Chesney’s audience was a combination of about 400 guests of the sponsor and winners from radio giveaways, plus a handful of people who knew someone who knew someone. Then there were the models. The producers hire models to grace the center of the front row, a common practice in TV land. “Soundstage” producer/director Joe Thomas said that practice is about having control. “If all of a sudden you have an audience shot with someone in a T-shirt with an R-rated slogan, you have to erase those shots in post production,” he said. “And that can be too costly.”

Read the entire article here.