unionstation (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unionstation) wrote2006-04-05 07:45 am
unionstation) wrote2006-04-05 07:45 am
Entry tags:
Country night all over
American Idol's country night is always an interesting challenge. Some contestants can change up their styles and others are clearly way out of their league. The advantage obviously went to those familiar with the genre. Simon still doesn't understand the genre at all. I'm curious if they did a country night the first season, because I remember Kelly Clarkson being a big Reba McEntire fan. Kenny Rogers continued his tour of the music shows, giving the contestants performance advice. Kellie Pickler performed "Fancy" a whole lot better than Kristen McNamara, but Bucky surprised me with his tender rendition of Gary Allan's "Best I Ever Had", which probably won for the most obscure country song that wasn't. Vertical Horizon had also recorded the song. Until I Googled the title, I couldn't figure out how I knew the song.
Over on Nashville Star, Sara Evans returned to the show to perform "Real Fine Place to Start". It's really funny. I remember liking the song when I saw the video, but it really lost something in the live performance. I've read online there are some sound issues. She'd performed on the show before though and there are rehearsals, so you'd think it'd get sorted out.
After several mystifying weeks of guest judges, we finally had another judge with a musical background. Wynonna's dear mother Naomi Judd focused some on vocal technique with some of the contestants, but mostly she was after "substance" and the "real deal". After awhile, you started to wonder who didn't have the It factor, because everyone was told at some point that they had it.
Chris Young continues to confuse me. He sang Tim McGraw's "Real Good Man" well, but I still couldn't connect to him at all. Why don't I like him?
Dear god, are there only five country songs cleared for television or something? I just heard Paris on AI sing "How do I Live" and now Kristen McNamara is performing it. I didn't think she had a strong enough voice for that song honestly.
Say what you will about his song choice, but Casey Rivers looked like he was having fun singing "Great Balls of Fire". Apparently his previous performance drew a lot of attention around Music Row, but all the judges were disappointed by this choice. At least he had some personality.
Jared Ashley tried to change things up by singing a ballad and I thought he missed the mark badly.
Matt Mason sang "Keep Your Hands to Yourself". I remember not liking this song when it was originally released, but I actually liked this performance. Again I heard more personality in his voice than Chris' voice.
Ouch. That leaves Nicole and Melanie as the two girls standing. At the start of the night, they announced it was the closest voting in Nashville Star history. Knowing my luck, it'll be Nicole.
Holy... it wasn't. Melanie the beauty queen was eliminated. I'm a little surprised given how strong her performances have been, but obviously you do need more than a pretty face in Nashville.
Nicole Jamrose closed the show with a rolicking version of Bonnie Raitt's "This Thing Called Love". She does the alt-country thing really well. As with the previous two years, the men are excelling in the competition, while the women are being picked off. There was a bit of a disagreement between Naomi and Anastasia on who was the better of the two female singers left. Naomi liked Kristen's "substance", while Anastasia preferred Nicole. Personally I'm with Anastasia, which is unusual for me.
Next week is original night, which is usually a good hint of who will be around at the end. Never mind they usually wind up recording a whole record of other people's material and maybe one of theirs if they're lucky, unless they're Miranda Lambert.
Over on Nashville Star, Sara Evans returned to the show to perform "Real Fine Place to Start". It's really funny. I remember liking the song when I saw the video, but it really lost something in the live performance. I've read online there are some sound issues. She'd performed on the show before though and there are rehearsals, so you'd think it'd get sorted out.
After several mystifying weeks of guest judges, we finally had another judge with a musical background. Wynonna's dear mother Naomi Judd focused some on vocal technique with some of the contestants, but mostly she was after "substance" and the "real deal". After awhile, you started to wonder who didn't have the It factor, because everyone was told at some point that they had it.
Chris Young continues to confuse me. He sang Tim McGraw's "Real Good Man" well, but I still couldn't connect to him at all. Why don't I like him?
Dear god, are there only five country songs cleared for television or something? I just heard Paris on AI sing "How do I Live" and now Kristen McNamara is performing it. I didn't think she had a strong enough voice for that song honestly.
Say what you will about his song choice, but Casey Rivers looked like he was having fun singing "Great Balls of Fire". Apparently his previous performance drew a lot of attention around Music Row, but all the judges were disappointed by this choice. At least he had some personality.
Jared Ashley tried to change things up by singing a ballad and I thought he missed the mark badly.
Matt Mason sang "Keep Your Hands to Yourself". I remember not liking this song when it was originally released, but I actually liked this performance. Again I heard more personality in his voice than Chris' voice.
Ouch. That leaves Nicole and Melanie as the two girls standing. At the start of the night, they announced it was the closest voting in Nashville Star history. Knowing my luck, it'll be Nicole.
Holy... it wasn't. Melanie the beauty queen was eliminated. I'm a little surprised given how strong her performances have been, but obviously you do need more than a pretty face in Nashville.
Nicole Jamrose closed the show with a rolicking version of Bonnie Raitt's "This Thing Called Love". She does the alt-country thing really well. As with the previous two years, the men are excelling in the competition, while the women are being picked off. There was a bit of a disagreement between Naomi and Anastasia on who was the better of the two female singers left. Naomi liked Kristen's "substance", while Anastasia preferred Nicole. Personally I'm with Anastasia, which is unusual for me.
Next week is original night, which is usually a good hint of who will be around at the end. Never mind they usually wind up recording a whole record of other people's material and maybe one of theirs if they're lucky, unless they're Miranda Lambert.