Nashville Star: Week Two Recap

Posted by Mike

Unlike Charley Jenkins, who was voted off by the judges last week, we’re back for Week 2. At the end of tonight’s show, another act will be joining Charley in the also-ran pool. Will it be his partner from last week’s Bottom 2, Alyson Gilbert? We can only hope. But first we’ll see performances by all 11 artists (as well as Trace Adkins), who have been divided into three groups and been assigned a mentor for the remainder of the competition. Jewel will help the men, John Rich will take care of the women, and Jeffrey Steele will help out the groups.

The first act that is declared safe for this week is Laura & Sophie. Well, duh. Last week they delivered a knockout version of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man.” This week, they contemporize … a little. Fast-forwarding from 1968 to 1986, they tackle The Judds’ “Rockin’ With the Rhythm of the Rain.” And they tackle it quite well. They seem more aware of the fact that there’s an audience in front of them, without losing any of the chemistry that so obviously exists between the two of them. And by the time they get to the present day musically, they’ll have completely won that audience over. While they’re not quite as good as last week, they’re clearly one of the favorites in this competition, even if they make Jeffrey Steele think he’s at a slumber party. Our rating: 4 stars

Next up is Ashlee Hewitt, who decides to cover “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. Why exactly, we don’t know. It’s not that the song can’t be covered. (Social Distortion proved that it can.) But when you’re more Ring Pop than “Ring of Fire,” it’s best to just leave well enough alone. Ashlee’s version is too sticky sweet for our tastes, although the judges don’t seem to mind. We don’t deny that Ashlee is a competent singer, we just wish she’d stick to Colbie Caillat and leave the Man in Black alone. Our rating: 3 stars

Two weeks in, it seems that no one has told Justin Gaston that this is a country music competition. After covering Train last time out, he moves on to “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s this time. And given his performance tonight, next week he might just be moving on. John Rich says that Justin “shouldn’t be on this show” and that he “snuck through the back door.” We’re inclined to agree. Not only is he not even a little bit country, he’s simply outclassed by the competition. He looks good though. Our rating: 2 stars

Hey, Alyson Gilbert is safe. And our faith in humanity just dropped a little further. She sings “Every Breath You Take” by the Police, and it isn’t nearly as bad as it probably should be. We hate the arrangement, but her voice sounds much better this week and her eyes don’t seem quite so buggy. Alyson has some post-performance “just nailed it” tears, according to John Rich. We’re not quite sure we’d go that far, but we’re willing to give Alyson another chance, especially since we’re pretty sure Justin is going home next week anyway. Our rating: 3 stars

As Pearl Heart takes the stage, we realize that we don’t remember a whole lot from their performance last week. We recall that it was a very solid version of “Wide Open Spaces,” but not much else. That failure to leave a lasting impression does not bode well for Pearl Heart’s chances in this competition. This week, they’re performing Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” a song that we’re actually pretty fond of. Again, Pearl Heart sounds great, but while lead singer (and youngest sister) Courtney takes the judges’ advice to step out and take control, she does so tentatively and awkwardly, which leaves the visual portion of the performance lacking. Fortunately, it’s something that should get better over time. Our rating: 3 stars

It was only a matter of time before a contestant took the stage to perform one of the judges’ songs. For those keeping track, it’s Tommy Stanley, who’s singing Big & Rich’s “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy).” The judges told Tommy he gave off too much nervous energy last week, and it doesn’t appear that he’s dialed it back one bit. In fact, we liked him more last week. The judges, however, disagree, unanimously calling it his strongest performance. Hmm, we wonder why? Our rating: 3 stars

Gabe Garcia’s growing on us. After last week’s George Strait impersonation, we weren’t sure what to think of him. But in the context of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” (a song we’re admittedly complete suckers for), his voice truly does seem to have a special quality, and we see the potential John Rich raved about last week. Great voice, great song, almost great performance. Our rating: 4 stars

If Ashlee bit off more than she could chew with Johnny Cash, Shawn Mayer just might choke to death on George Jones. She insists on singing “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” to which John Rich responds, “If she pulls this off, she’s going to go to a whole new level in this competition.” Well, she can’t pull it off, despite trying to oversing almost every single note. It’s just too much song for her, and the result is a bit of a mess. Our rating: 2 stars

We were beginning to worry about the fate of Coffey, our early favorite from last week, until he is revealed to be the final safe contestant, leaving Melissa Lawson and Third Town in the Bottom Two. After hearing his version of John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change,” we have to say we’re a little bit disappointed. We still think Coffey has the voice and the charisma to win it all, but his instincts seem to be lacking. Jewel warns him to have a purpose behind his vocal runs, and not risk the meaning of the lyrics to his need to show off his voice. Hopefully he gets the message before next week’s performance. Our rating: 3 stars

After Trace Adkins performs his new single, “You’re Gonna Miss This,” we get the first of the Bottom 2, Melissa Lawson. She’s doing “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Aretha Franklin and, while Melissa’s got a big voice, it ain’t that big. She gives her performance an “8 or a 7.” We’re working on a scale of 1-5, and we think it’s only the equivalent of a six. The big notes gave her considerable trouble, and her facial expressions are still just a little too … we’ll say intense, for our liking. Our rating: 3 stars

Third Town is next, and they’re singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen. Make that “Mountain Music” by Alabama. Nice save, Jeffrey Steele. Or maybe not, since the whole thing is kind of a mess anyway. We’re not sure they’re the worst act left in the competition, but they’re certainly the worse of the Bottom Two. Our rating: 2 stars

After a commercial break, the fans’ votes confirm what we suspected. Third Town is going home. Maybe it’s a week or two early, but they weren’t going all the way anyway, so it’s hard to feel too bad for them. Next week we’re down to 10 performances, and another artist will be sent packing. Will it be Justin? Probably. But we wouldn’t sleep all that soundly if we were Shawn, either. And we’ve still haven’t seen enough good out of Alyson to take her out of the running completely. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.