Coffey Strikes Back!

Ok, so, I've given Coffey quite a bit of flack over this season of Nashville Star. I never quite thought he ever lived up to his potential during the auditions. However, he did get better during the last couple of weeks. So, I thought I would post an interview posted by Reality World detailing his path on Nashville Star, and his thoughts about what happened and his future. Included in the interview, are Coffey's thoughts on the judges and how mainstream African-American media vehicles like Ebony magazine and BET are guilty of promoting rap and r&b artists moreso than country artists. He's pretty outspoken, but I've got to say, I agree with a lot of what he has to say . . . Click the link to read the story.

Who Is Going Home And Who Advances To the Finale!

Oh sweet goodness . . . its elimination time . . . its either Coffey or Gabe going to the finale. Here comes BRC's "spine tingling" silence of death . . . Who's a goin home, y'all?

It's Coffey . . . YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! HOLLA!

That means that Gabe Garcia is going to the finale . . . and rightfully so . . .

Taking the stage for his final performance is Gabe Garcia . . . and he is performing a very appropriate countrified male song . . . as per usual, I'm not really sure about the song . . . I think it's called "Living In Fast Forward" . . . I think . . . maybe . . . its Kenny Chesney . . . maybe . . . Anyhoo, he sounds great. He sounds wonderful, as per usual . . . it could have been a bit more upbeat, but, nevertheless, he is country mainstream all day long . . .

Jeff Steele - Thinks he is radio all day long

John Rich - Thinks that he could be very important to country music, and that there is a record deal in his future.

Jewel - thinks he is singing great, and he is not a very "vain singer" . . . there are notes he has not even discovered yet . . .

I'm not a huge country music fan overall, but Gabe Garcia has been a favorite of mine from the beginnning . . .

Overall, a very, very good episode . . . not quite as good as last week, but a very good job by all three finalists . . .

Rankings to follow . . .

Coffey Is A Star . . . Maybe Not A Nashville Star

Third to perform tonight is Coffey . . . so plays into my theory . . . he's third and Melissa Lawson is last. That will put her as the last performance of the night and the last thing any potential voters will hear.

To Coffey . . . he went home to LA and got a star on the Walk of Fame. Here he comes to perform . . . gonna sing Sweet Home Alabama . . . His voice should be a decent match for this song. Y'all know I don't love Coffey . . . but, he has gotten better in vocals and performance in the past few weeks. As has happened the past few weeks, his vocals are better (a few very iffy moments) and his performance was quite nice. I still feel like he is a couple of steps behind the others.

Jeff Steele - thinks that he is quite nice with these types of songs . . . thinks he is a star, but not sure if he is a Nashville Star.

John Rich - dittos Jeff Steele

Jewel - thinks he did a nice job.

Nashville Star: The Top 5 Perform . . . Coffey Is Seriously A Southern Man

It's time for the Final Five on Nashville Star. We're down to five finalists - Two Guys - Coffey & Gabe Garcia AND three girls - Shaun, Melissa, and Ashlee. They will all be performing songs they penned themselves.

BRC wants us to "get this party started".



Once again, we begin this show with me saying WTF . . . as Coffey is up first. He is singing a song he wrote called "Southern Man" . . . Strangely awkward song . . . his vocals are better this week, and he seems much more relaxed. By FAR his best performance.

Jeff - Wanted to hate it, but didn't.
John - Didn't think the song was a hit song on country radio. . . but thought the performance was good.
Jewel - thought the song was about him and that's why people are gonna vote for him.

Thankfully Jewel is telling us why people are voting for him because I have never really been clear. However, I will say again, his best performance by far.

Official Top 6 Rankings!

Alright, this week was a wee better than most on the entertainment mecca that is Nashville Star!

Here are my rankings . . .


1. Melissa Lawson - By a longshot . . . she is still the Queen of this Kingdom!
2. Gabe Garcia - He's so authentic . . . so vocally amazing.
(SPACE)
3. Shaun Mayer - She took a shot by doing such a contemporary song . . . but she did a very, very good rendition.
4. Ashlee Hewitt - Her stage presence continues to rule, but her vocals are not improving . . .
(SPACE)
5. Coffey - He retains his usual place on this list. He was better this week, but just not good enough. He seems like a nice guy, but he should not still be on this list.

Eliminated Laura and Sophie would have been ranked 5th on this list. They were better, but not great . . . but better than Coffey.

Coffey . . .

The next to be saved from the trash pit is . . .

Coffey. What the feck . . . Y’all, I am so not getting the voting on this show . . . UGH! He is crying about his mom. I hate when anyone uses a parent . . . as someone who has lost a parent, it is a devastating situation. However, I’m not sure the intro montage before he sings is the appropriate place to reveal that . . . Just my opinion . . . He has started crying during the song . . . he lost the words . . . and is that Jewel I can hear singing from the judges station? Song was terribly pitchy, but he channeled some emotion in that one. His best performance so far, but still a far cry from others in the competition.

Jeff Steele thinks he was pitchy, but that he tapped into some raw emotion. John Rich still isn’t sold on him, but thinks he did a good job. Jewel got a little choked up, and thought this was a good effort . . .

Ugh . . .

Who's Hittin the Road?

Once again, Pearl Heart and Ashlee Hewitt are in the Bottom Two. Here comes the requisite teleprompter read from BRC about the two acts.

And now, the requisite ELEVENTY YEARS OF BLUE CHEESE LACED SILENCE . . .

And, yes, I was unfortunately correct, the girls of Pearl Heart are gone. They are taking it very well . . . and have wonderful words for their friends and family.

What will Mentor Jeff have to say . . . . Wow, I believe he just invited them to record a CD. Based on what he said, and the response from the crowd, I believe that we WILL be seeing the girls of Pearl Heart putting out a CD. Of particular importance, Jeff repeatedly discussed their amazing work ethic.

I'm upset, but happy to think that I will be able to buy a CD from these girls. What is upsetting is that I think this elimination is bad for the show. This season of Nashville Star, the first on NBC, only has four . . . possibly five . . . viable acts. Melissa Lawson, Pearl Heart, Gabe Garcia, Ashlee Hewitt . . . and possibly Shaun Mayer. They are in a different league from the rest. Nashville Star is struggling in the ratings for NBC, and they will be in need of a STRONG final three or four to try and pull in enough ratings to guarantee a renewal.

Well, there goes another week of Nashville Star . . . and we still have the dynamic duo of Coffey & Lauren and Sophie . . . ugh. . .

Two more will be eliminated next week. . . SURELY THE AFOREMENTIONED DUO WILL BE VOTED OFF THE ISLAND! Leaving a somewhat viable final 4.

Here's hoping!

The Coffey Is Cold!

Next to be safe . . . well, so far, we've had 2 from John Rich . . . 1 from Jewel . . . and 1 from Jeff (though with the migration of Shaun Mayer, the John and Jeff numbers are now reversed). Who could it be . . . OH MY-LANTA, part 2 . . . SERIOUSLY! Coffey and Laura & Sophie are BOTH SAFE! SERIOUSLY! HE SANG RIHANNA! UGH!

Anyhoo, he is going to sing . . . errrr, ummm, "Proud Mary" . . . oh lord . . . oh, well, here goes nothing. Ok, so, his vocals are better tonight. Not so much Belinda Carlisle inspired vibratto. However, as he is trying REALLY HARD to work the stage, Coffey ends up REALLY UPPING THE BLUE CHEESE FACTOR! Yikes.

As per usual, all three judges think that there's some good stuff in him, but none of them are buying it. Jewel, of course, is proud that "her boy" is being embraced by America.

ugh.

Coffey . . . I Just Can't Find Any Clever Words . . .

Who's next . . . Coffey is safe . . . hmmmm . . .

Seriously . . . Really . . . Y’all . . . I don’t want to be ugly, but this boy was NOT good the first two weeks. He’ll be singing “Hey Good Lookin” this week. Ms. Jewel is worried that this is not a very vocally challenging song. He's gonna sing it anyway. I'm worried.

Here he goes . . . the vocals are better this week, but someone needs to represent Independence Day and light a sparkler underneath his denim clad ass. Absolutely no energy in that number. . . and the cheese factor is quite elevated.

Jeff thinks that he just isn’t it. . . well . . . just isn't . . .

John Rich – Thinks he needed to go to American Idol . . . um, again, didn’t the judges, including
Mr. Rich, put him through to this round . . . just a thought

Jewel – Trying to play mediator . . . voice was steady, and she wants him to stick around and sing a ballad next week.

His second song is "Take me home" I've gotta say, more of the same . . . not awful, but not good.
Better performance than the first, but he still needs to be voted off the island.

Coffey: LEAVE RHIANNA ALONE!

Coffey – “Umbrella” - Ok, I love this song. I love Rhianna’s version . . . and I love Mandy Moore’s version. However, this contestant, who was SO promising during the auditions, has just fallen flat during the competition. I’m a little worried. Hopefully, Jewel has spoken with him about the Belinda Carlisle vibrato that was SO prominent last week. THERE ARE NO WORDS . . . for how absolutely terrible I felt that was. I know from watching Idol that the judges and audience definitely hear things differently live than we do watching on television . . . but, man oh man. I just don’t know what to say. The actual vocal . . . no, no, I just can’t. I know he had good intentions here, but man, there may be an all out bitch fight for next week’s bottom 2.

Waiting on Coffey to Change

Coffey is up next. I remember him from the audition rounds. He was so good. I loved him. Then, last week, eh . . . good performer but vocally a little subpar. Hopefully this week he will live up to his early potential. Jewel tells him not to engage in vocal gymnastics for no reason. Don't do something on stage if it has no meaning. . . . Ok, so Coffey kind of sounds like he’s combining John Mayer and Belinda Carlisle . . . . that vibrato is a bit much for me. Once again, I have to say that his stage presence is much better than his vocal. He's gonna have to improve things quickly, or he could be gone.

Laura and Sophie with a Side of Coffey

Next up is a single dad with a single goal (credit for cheese whiz to Billy Ray Cyrus). His name is Coffey. Our one and only African-American Nashville Star. He has a very good stage presence. BUT, he’s got a much better voice in the auditions than he showed in this performance. And the judges are fighting . . . Jewel called John Rich a no singing son of a gun . . . she so wanted to say mo-fo . . . .



A little underage duo here . . . Laura and Sophie . . . singing “Stand By Your Man” by Tammy Wynette. Something a little strange about two 16 year old girls singing this song. I can see the appeal of them, but I'm not really sure that I love them. They kind of annoy me in a PLEASE MAKE THAT PIXIE RAMIELE STOP SINGING kind of way. The judges, as on Idol, are not being consistent . . . they said that they were great, but that Third Town was not marketable in today’s country because they sang Alabama . . . hmmmm . . . .Tammy Wynette vs. Alabama.