Don't mess with a good thing
Jun. 17th, 2008 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unionstationSo week two opened with the first of our performances and the mentoring groups. Jewel is mentoring the guys, John has the girls, and poor Steele has the groups. So far the girls have the most talent.
Laura and Sophie led off the night with a rendition of the Judds' "Rhythm of the Rain". Bless John Rich for echoing my concerns last week about "age appropriate" music, although I wish Taylor Swift wasn't everyone's immediate example.
Ashlee surprised everyone by doing Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". She has a quirky voice and something about her style is nice and inviting. Hard not to compare her folksy quality against Jewel. (Btw, did you know she has a new album? They only mentioned twice on the show.)
Why why oh why is Justin still around? He's turning into the Whitney Duncan of last year for me. (She's released a new song on Itunes, while Angela Hacker languishes. The unfairness of the music business. Maybe she's improved?) No sugar coating, he's pretty, but he cannot sing. He sang another alternative songs as country and I have to say I listen to "Nashville Star" hoping to hear country music. John Rich went so far as to suggest he snuck into the competition and part of me agrees and part of me wonders what they were thinking when they allowed him through in the first place.
Allison needed the right song to showcase her talent. So it was "Every Breath You Take", the infamous stalker song? That said she did display some very nice pipes. She reminds me of season 4's Melanie Torres
Pearl Heart massacred one of my favorite songs on Jennifer Nettles' "Who Says You Can't Go Home". The judges liked their harmonies, while I thought they sounded painful at home. They still don't think the lead girl wants to step out and take command enough.
Tommy Stanley showed some severe moxie by singing Big & Rich's "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" with John Rich sitting opposite him. I still love his energy but I can see where his performances/staging can look a little stagey. He took a chance, but I think it worked.
I'm surprised Jewel said Gabe was too reserved last week. I didn't see that at all! This week's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" was good, but he can do better.
I can't figure out Shawn Meyer, but I like her spunk and attitude. She wants it, so she tries something a little more out there than everyone else. She went with George Jones' "He Stopped Lovin' Her". As whenever you pick a classic, you run the risk of not living up to the song. There was some debate on whether she was using the lyrics enough. It could have been special, but she fell short of the mark.
Oh, Coffey, why did I like you so much in the auditions but not in the show? He does need to find his own voice. On the other hand, it was nice to see someone actually playing an electric guitar. This year has been all acoustic all the time. The funny part is during the mentoring sessions Melissa is the only one shown behind a keyboard, rather than a guitar.
I know he's done other stuff, but Trace Adkins is forever associated in my head with that horrid "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk". So imagine my surprise when I adored "You're Gonna Miss This". That is the sort of country ballad that stays and stays in your head in a good way.
Melissa tried for the money song with "Natural Woman" and I think she missed the mark by a mile. I really hope she's given a chance next week to show her stuff.
Third Town was clearly struggling. They'd wanted to sing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Their mentor tried desperately to talk them out of it and even the producers/arrangers were having issues, so they went with the feel good "Mountain Music". Yes, it paled in comparison to Randy's performance last year. That said I much preferred their harmonies to Pearl Heart and Laura & Sophie. But maybe it's the young shrieking girls thing.
Then it was elimination time. We said goodbye to Third Town and their three lead singers and their harmonies. I wanted to disagree with the judges a little and remind them of acts like Little Big Town and non-country acts like Mamas & Papas and Fleetwood Mac with the blended sound. I'd be hard pressed with any of those acts to identify one lead singer. Their distinctive sound is their harmonies. What's wrong with that?
One thing John Rich repeated again is they're looking for great artists not just good singers. With that in mind, I watched the recap, looking for that magical spark. The only one I could really pinpoint was the folksy Ashlee and I don't know if it's the stereotype of the folk singer rubbing off or not. She did have a certain quality some of the others lacked. Then again Miranda Lambert had a folksy quality with "Greyhound to Nowhere" and then she switched to "Kerosene".
Laura and Sophie led off the night with a rendition of the Judds' "Rhythm of the Rain". Bless John Rich for echoing my concerns last week about "age appropriate" music, although I wish Taylor Swift wasn't everyone's immediate example.
Ashlee surprised everyone by doing Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire". She has a quirky voice and something about her style is nice and inviting. Hard not to compare her folksy quality against Jewel. (Btw, did you know she has a new album? They only mentioned twice on the show.)
Why why oh why is Justin still around? He's turning into the Whitney Duncan of last year for me. (She's released a new song on Itunes, while Angela Hacker languishes. The unfairness of the music business. Maybe she's improved?) No sugar coating, he's pretty, but he cannot sing. He sang another alternative songs as country and I have to say I listen to "Nashville Star" hoping to hear country music. John Rich went so far as to suggest he snuck into the competition and part of me agrees and part of me wonders what they were thinking when they allowed him through in the first place.
Allison needed the right song to showcase her talent. So it was "Every Breath You Take", the infamous stalker song? That said she did display some very nice pipes. She reminds me of season 4's Melanie Torres
Pearl Heart massacred one of my favorite songs on Jennifer Nettles' "Who Says You Can't Go Home". The judges liked their harmonies, while I thought they sounded painful at home. They still don't think the lead girl wants to step out and take command enough.
Tommy Stanley showed some severe moxie by singing Big & Rich's "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" with John Rich sitting opposite him. I still love his energy but I can see where his performances/staging can look a little stagey. He took a chance, but I think it worked.
I'm surprised Jewel said Gabe was too reserved last week. I didn't see that at all! This week's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" was good, but he can do better.
I can't figure out Shawn Meyer, but I like her spunk and attitude. She wants it, so she tries something a little more out there than everyone else. She went with George Jones' "He Stopped Lovin' Her". As whenever you pick a classic, you run the risk of not living up to the song. There was some debate on whether she was using the lyrics enough. It could have been special, but she fell short of the mark.
Oh, Coffey, why did I like you so much in the auditions but not in the show? He does need to find his own voice. On the other hand, it was nice to see someone actually playing an electric guitar. This year has been all acoustic all the time. The funny part is during the mentoring sessions Melissa is the only one shown behind a keyboard, rather than a guitar.
I know he's done other stuff, but Trace Adkins is forever associated in my head with that horrid "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk". So imagine my surprise when I adored "You're Gonna Miss This". That is the sort of country ballad that stays and stays in your head in a good way.
Melissa tried for the money song with "Natural Woman" and I think she missed the mark by a mile. I really hope she's given a chance next week to show her stuff.
Third Town was clearly struggling. They'd wanted to sing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Their mentor tried desperately to talk them out of it and even the producers/arrangers were having issues, so they went with the feel good "Mountain Music". Yes, it paled in comparison to Randy's performance last year. That said I much preferred their harmonies to Pearl Heart and Laura & Sophie. But maybe it's the young shrieking girls thing.
Then it was elimination time. We said goodbye to Third Town and their three lead singers and their harmonies. I wanted to disagree with the judges a little and remind them of acts like Little Big Town and non-country acts like Mamas & Papas and Fleetwood Mac with the blended sound. I'd be hard pressed with any of those acts to identify one lead singer. Their distinctive sound is their harmonies. What's wrong with that?
One thing John Rich repeated again is they're looking for great artists not just good singers. With that in mind, I watched the recap, looking for that magical spark. The only one I could really pinpoint was the folksy Ashlee and I don't know if it's the stereotype of the folk singer rubbing off or not. She did have a certain quality some of the others lacked. Then again Miranda Lambert had a folksy quality with "Greyhound to Nowhere" and then she switched to "Kerosene".
