July 11, 2008
On Monday's episode of Nashville Star, we were shown a behind the scenes video of the duo Laura and Sophie having an emotional argument during a mentoring session with judge Jeffrey Steele. Despite the backstage troubles, the two teenage best friends came out and performed Patsy Cline's "Walking After Midnight" while holding hands. Later in the episode when the other girl group, Pearl Heart, was eliminated, judge Jewel said that she wished it was Laura and Sophie that were the ones leaving instead.
This morning we sat down with both Laura Fedor and Sophie Zalokar to discuss what really went on backstage, how they felt about Jewel's comments, and their plans for future Nashville Star performances. Read on for a full transcript and audio of their interview.
July 9, 2008
On Nashville Star, Jeffrey Steele along with John Rich and Jewel has been tasked with not only judging the contestant performances, but with mentoring the acts each week to help with song choice, arrangement, and on how to improve their performance style. Jeffrey Steele is more than qualified to help find the next big country superstar, as he is an award-winning and hit-making producer that has helped produce music for such huge country stars as Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes and Rascall Flatts, among many others. He is even a performer himself, having hit the road to perform with such artists as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley.
Yesterday we sat down with Jeffrey to discuss the current season of Nashville Star, how he felt seeing one of the groups he's mentoring kicked off the show, his frank thoughts on the remaining performers, and who he thinks will ultimately win. Read on for a full transcript and audio of the candid interview.
July 8, 2008
Last night on Nashville Star, two acts were eliminated from the competition. Right at the start of the show, Tommy Stanley was pulled front and center along with front runner Melissa Lawson. It was clear that the Navy boy with the rock edge was a goner.
What was more surprising was the end of the show when the two finalists up for elimination were Ashlee Hewitt and Pearl Heart, both solid performers that no one wanted to see leave. After giving one of the best performances of the season, it was Pearl Heart that was told to leave the show, much to the chagrin of the studio audience and the judges. This morning, Tommy Stanley and Pearl Heart sat down for a conference call with reporters, and BuddyTV was there to hear all about how they feel the morning after.
July 7, 2008
It was family week last week on Nashville Star, and so the family of Alyson Gilbert got to see her reamed by the judges on live national television before being sent off to languish in the loser's pile along with Justin Gaston, Third Town and Charley Jenkins. I'm sure that made for a rather uncomfortable family gathering after the show.
Tonight, we're finally down to an hour of show and Nashville Star isn't going to pull any punches -- according to the end of last week's episode, one unlucky performer will be kicked off the show within the first five minutes. This after a whole week of preparing to perform, too, and after probably yet another uncomfortably long pause by host Billy Ray Cyrus -- harsh! The remaining seven acts will then get to perform before the other lowest vote getter from last week is also told to pack his, her or their bags and get the heck out of Nashville.
July 1, 2008
Last night on Nashville Star, cantankerous judge John Rich dug into contestant Coffey by saying that he doesn't think the singer is country at all. He wondered snarkily if perhaps Coffey had gone to the wrong auditions and instead had meant to go to that other reality singing competition, American Idol.
John Rich's obsessive compulsive need to bash American Idol aside, it's not an invalid criticism. This is supposed to be Nashville Star not Pop Star, after all. However, this same show a week ago invited pure pop act Danity Kane to perform on their stage, and one of the judges is a former pop singer who herself only recently acquired a faux country accent. The modern country sound is more pop than ever before, but how much pop is too much when it comes to country music?
June 30, 2008
Last week on Nashville Star the competing acts took on pop songs and made them country in performances that ranged from surprisingly entertaining to horrible on every front (Coffey, I'm looking at you). Despite showing some growth, pretty boy Justin Gaston was given the heave ho by Nashville Star voters.
Nine acts remain and tonight each of them will be performing twice. We'll also get to see into their home lives as the performers are treated with surprise visits from their families, and singer Blake Shelton will be stopping by to perform his hit single "Home." With over 18 performances, this evening's episode is just packed with wholesome country goodness.
June 24, 2008
Nashville Star gave pop songs a country spin last night, and the results were nothing if not interesting. Any night of music that includes covers of songs by Britney Spears, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and others is bound to be dance-worthy. Throw in a distinct country twang and a bevvy of beautiful – if unnecessary – backup dancers, and you end up with a crazily entertaining night of television.
While some of the Nashville Star finalists took classic bubblegum pop songs and owned the stage, others were not quite so successful and left us wondering why they were even this far along in the finals. So who came out on top? And who merely popped?
June 23, 2008
It's pop goes country week on Nashville Star, meaning the remaining ten acts are going to countrify pop hits for our listening pleasure. Let's hope they do it better than Kristy Lee Cook did with “Eight Days A Week” on American Idol. Since it's pop night, R&B girl group Danity Kane is going to stop by to perform their hit single “Damaged.”
Last week I shed no tears when the group Third Town was eliminated, but was roundly shocked when talented mom Melissa Lawson was revealed to be in the bottom two. After that unpleasant surprise, I can honestly say that I have no idea how America voted at the end of last week's episode, but we'll find out tonight when the bottom two acts are revealed and one is sent packing.