Nashville Star: Week One Recap

Welcome to the new Nashville Star. What makes it new? Well, it’s on NBC now instead of USA Network, which means a lot more people will be watching. Also, Billy Ray Cyrus is the new host, with last season’s cohost Jewel moving to the judges table, where she’s joined by John Rich of Big & Rich and songwriter Jeffrey Steele. The minimum age for contestants has been lowered to 16, and duos and trios are now eligible, as well. Oh, and there’s a completely new set. Other than that, everything is the same. Tonight, we get snippets from auditions good, bad and ugly (and a performance by Taylor Swift).

Unlike American Idol, Nashville Star doesn’t spend the first couple of weeks mocking the last group. Instead, we dive right in and meet the Top 12. They’re introduced to us during a group rendition of “Life Is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane (or, as country fans know it, by Rascal Flatts). During the performance, Alyson Gilbert delivers the night’s first sour note, and we’re officially underway.

The first contestants up are Pearl Heart, a trio of sisters (Angela, Amy and Courtney) from Florissant, Missouri. They open things up with a damn fine version of “Wide Open Spaces” by the Dixie Chicks. They judges all seem to like them, and the performance sells us completely on the addition of trios to the competition. Our rating: 4 stars

Next, we get Tommy Stanley, a military engineer who was stationed in Japan on the USS Kitty Hawk when he first auditioned for the show. He does Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis,” and he puts a lot of energy into it. A little too much energy for John Rich, who thinks Tommy was a little nervous taking the Nashville Star stage for the first time. John and Jeffrey weren’t quite sold, but Jewel loved him and we’re inclined to agree with her. He seems a shade more singer/songwriter than country, but he’s definitely got something. Our rating: 4 stars

Following Tommy is Shawn Mayer from May City, Iowa, doing “Piece of My Heart.” If you’re going to do a Janis Joplin song, you’d better have a Janis Joplin voice. Shawn doesn’t, and John calls her out, saying she sounded like a girl singing in a bar rather than the next Nashville Star. None of the judges were too keen on the performance, although Jewel seemed to think there was a bigger voice inside Shawn somewhere. If she hangs around past tonight, she’d better use it. Our rating: 2 stars

The second trio of the night, Third Town, is up next. Its members are named Toni, Toni and Jeff, which leaves them one Toni shy of matching Tony! Toni! Tone! (who, incidentally, have never actually included a member named Tony, Toni or Tone). Third Town is singing “Elvira,” which prompts judge Jeffrey to compare their performance to one you’d hear at a county fair. I’d compare it more to the performance given by Jon Lovitz in The Wedding Singer, based on the goofy stage antics of one of the Tonis. Our rating: 3 stars

If I were going to pick an eventual winner of the competition five performances into the season premiere, it would be Coffey, a 28-year-old from Bangs, Texas. He’s singing “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray, and though he’s a little shaky (especially compared to an earlier audition clip we were shown), he’s clearly got star potential. Jewel and John seem to agree, although Coffey gets a lukewarm response out of Jeffrey. That will change. Our rating: 4 stars

Next up is the duo of Laura & Sophie, two teenage friends from Eastlake, Ohio. Sophie, 16, takes advantage of the show’s new age minimum, and makes everyone appreciate the change as she and Laura belt out a beautiful rendition of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand by Your Man.” The judges rave, and rightfully so. The only criticism they can muster, is that the girls need to connect with the audience as much as they connect with each other. We would also offer that they need to show that they can appeal to a younger audience, especially given their ages. But there’s plenty of time for that later. Tonight, they were perfect. Our rating: 5 stars

Laura & Sophie are a hard act to follow, but Gabe Garcia seems up to the task. He’s singing “All My Ex’s Live in Texas” by George Strait and he sounds great. Almost a little too great because, to us, it comes off as more of a George Strait impersonation than an original performance … but the judges disagree and give him their unanimous approval. John, who will ultimately be working in the studio with the winner, really seems to see potential in him. Hey, what do we know? Our rating: 4 stars

We’re already not overly fond of Alyson Gilbert, based on the line or two we heard her sing earlier in the show. Her bug-eyed performance of “Suds in the Bucket” by Sara Evans doesn’t help matters, and we officially have begun rooting for her to be eliminated tonight. She reminds Jeffrey of Martina McBride, though he warns her to be herself. Alyson’s performance drudges up less pleasant memories for Jewel, who calls it a “beauty pageant performance.” We’re with you, Jewel. Our rating: 2 stars

Cute blonde Ashlee Hewitt, from Lancaster, Minnesota, delivers her take on Colbie Caillat’s hit “Bubbly.” Bubbly is one word that could be used to describe Ashlee’s performance. Light and wispy would be others . We’d probably get to a few dozen more before “interesting” comes up. She was OK, but this just isn’t our thing. The judges, especially Jewel and John, are mostly positive. Our rating: 3 stars

With three contestants to go, we hear Charley Jenkins’ version of “I Like It, I Love It,” which adds nothing to the original version by Tim McGraw. Oddly, the judges choose to characterize it as Garth Brooks karaoke … but, in any case, it just wasn’t that interesting. Our rating: 2 stars

Since eliminations on Nashville Star are determined by fans (excluding tonight’s initial judge-voted booting), 19-year-old Justin Gaston of Lytle, Texas figures to stick around awhile. He looks sort of like a cross between Smallville star Tom Welling and Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects, which should help him carry the teenage girl vote. He sings “Drops of Jupiter” by Train, suggesting that he’s completely unaware that this is a country music competition. His performance is solid, even though he doesn’t quite sing as good as he looks. He does, however, look very comfortable onstage, especially for a teenager. Our rating: 3 stars

The last competitor is Melissa Lawson, a 32-year-old mother of five from Arlington, Texas. She’s got a big voice and big attitude to match, and the judges love her. We thought some of her facial expressions bordered on creepy and a few of her dance moves were a bit over the top, but she delivered the goods on her performance of Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About.” Our rating: 4 stars

On to the elimination. Charley and Alyson (yes!) are asked to head to the front of the stage. They are in the bottom two for tonight. Jeffrey thinks Charley should go, John votes for Alyson. That leaves the decision up to Jewel … who picks Charley to send packing. The remaining contestants will now be at the mercy of the audience, who will vote someone else off the show based on this week’s performances. There are a few acts who should be a little nervous, but if anyone but Alyson heads home next week, we’re crying foul. Or maybe just crying. We’ll just have to wait and see.

3 Comments

  1. I admit I was a little harsh on Alyson in Week One, but she didn’t do much to impress anyone. I was kinder to her in my Week Two recap … sort of.

  2. I may be biased because Alyson is from my home town even though I have never met her, but have you listened to her Youtube videos? She really actually has an incredibly beautiful voice, and just needs a little more time to have that right song moment. I heard they only get to pick from 3 songs which would really make it hard.

  3. I totally agree with you about Sophie & Laura — what a breathe of fresh air — beautiful young ladies with dead-on harmonizing. Can’t wait to hear more from them! You can certainly tell they’re best friends — the “bond” comes thru the camera. We need more wholesome young performers to make us proud of what these contests stand for…hope they go far! 5 stars from me too!

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