Night 2

[unionstation]

Over on American Idol, the 1950s theme yielded two country songs. Chris Daughtry completely changed around "Walk the Line" in arrangement. I almost wish he'd just sing something, rather than try to change it to a rock song every time. But that's considered selling out, rather than say versatility. Kelly Pickler was grasping for ideas when her grandfather suggested Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight". I loved her performance, but I was more surprised that Barry Manilow wasn't familiar with the song.

The theme for this week's Nashville Star was "Redneck Revolution".

Gretchen Wilson performed two songs "California Girls" and "Politically Incorrect". Ordinarily I like her music, but these two songs didn't grab me as much as the ones from her first album.

I have no idea why Larry the Cable Guy was thought of as a good choice for a guest judge on a music show, other than he was available for the show. I didn't find any of his comments funny or helpful.

They continued their usual trend of calling out the names of who would perform tonight and whoever wasn't called was eliminated. It's sorta a pity more shows don't take that idea, but I guess they need the water cooler shows to talk about more than the performances the rest of the week. It must be hard preparing knowing you might not perform though.

Matt sang "Born to Boogie". The judges liked him, but I wasn't overwhelmed.

Nicole Jamrose started the trend throughout the night of not playing guitar. Do rednecks not play guitar or something? Her rendition of "Pour Me" was still nice and husky. The judges preferred her with the guitar in a Sheryl Crow way. (Funny because they always wind up asking the instrumentalists to step out sometimes and then they do it and they say "Oh but we liked you better...")

Jared Ashley performed Big & Rich's "Save a Horse". I tend to agree with Anastasia that he needs to distinguish himself. Right now he sounds like anyone else and that isn't a plus.

Melanie Torres feigned surprise at Anastasia's "beauty queen" comments last week. She was actually more impressive this week in Jo Dee Messina's "My Give a Damn's Busted". Really strong voice and clearly wants this badly. She talked movingly about having her family there to see her perform.

For someone who threatened to move all over the stage, Chris Young didn't really in his "I'm Drinking My Baby Goodbye". He's got a good voice and he's obviously popular, but I just didn't get it.

Casey Rivers performed "Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde". This one is a shame because I liked his voice, but I found his performance all over the place. He wanted to look cool with the guitar swung behind his back, but he kept readjusting it during the performance, so it never looked natural. The song also felt slower than usual.

Monique LeCompte sang "Guys Do It All the Time". She was determined to show John Rich was wrong about her last week. She looked really different this week in ripped jeans, less glam and more country. I really do like her voice, but I can see why some of her mannerisms, especially with the arms, come off as cabaret.

And so we were left with Kristin or Shy... or as I cracked "Blonde and blonder."

Kristin McNamara surprised everyone with her big brassy rendition of Reba's "Fancy". Her first performance really didn't do justice to her voice. I can see why she gets the "wacky" reputation. Some of her comments remind me of Kelly Pickler. Larry did get off a nice zinger when he said if they were allowed to yodel in Nashville, then we must be living in a communist nation.

That meant Shy Blakeman was eliminated from the show. Both Phil and Anastasia were disappointed he was gone, because they couldn't wait to see what he would perform. Anastasia said Shy was channelling Lynrd Skynrd in his rehearsals.

I'm starting to sense that unless the guys step up to plate soon, we may have a female winner repeat this year.