16-YEAR-OLD BOY CHOSEN `AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT CROONER'

16-YEAR-OLD BOY CHOSEN `AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT CROONER'

CHESANING, Mich. (Wireless Flash) -- A teenager from Chesaning, Michigan, has reason to sing: He's just been selected as "America's Next Great Crooner." 16-year-old Ryan Robert DeHues won the crooning award in a contest sponsored by Pat Boone to find a new artist who will follow in the footsteps of Tony Bennett, Mel Torme and Frank Sinatra. DeHues has been crooning since he was 12 and thinks today's vocalists pale in comparison to his hero Frank Sinatra. Although he admits he's no Sinatra, the 6' 2" singer says he's as skinny as the young Sinatra and, as a result, resembles Frankie from a distance. Boone and Merv Griffin will hold a press conference with DeHues on June 13 to introduce him to the world and to officially sign his new recording contract.