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.

Elimination . . . Laura & Sophie Harmonize AND Shaun Mayer Is Gonna Screw Up Somebody's Ride

Here comes Laura and Sophie and Shaun Mayer . . . which one will go home . . .

Laura and Sophie are up first . . . they look much more grown up tonight AND in fact the one girl . . . I can’t figure out which one she is . . . looks just like Miley Cyrus . . . hmmm . . . vocals are MUCH better tonight and they seem to be performing much better. The harmonies were tighter. Much, much better tonight.

To start off, John Rich wants to know why these girls were disrespectful and rolled their eyes at Jewel. One of the girls . . . I can’t remember which . . . said that a lot of people told her that she rolled her eyes but she didn’t know she had done it. Jewel suggests that perhaps she had a seizure and maybe she could go ahead and do it a bunch right now to get it out of her system. Anyway, Jewel thinks that they looked better and that they performed better, but doesn’t think that their harmonies are improving. John Rich doesn’t comment anymore. Jeff Steele is proud of the job that they did and thinks they look better but is not thrilled with their performance. . . . The girls are clearly not thrilled with their remarks . . .

In their defense, I know . . . I know . . . I’m not usually one to defend them, but . . . if I had to stand up on stage every week and get railed on, my face might occasionally betray me. . . The girls were definitely better tonight.

Shaun Mayer is up next . . . and George Jones is in the audience . . . I’m not sure just how that is relevant to Shaun singing, “Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood. Very, very nice. Great job. She really seems like she is comfortable in her clothes and in her voice.

Jewel loved it, and feels a bond with her. She thought she did a really good job.
John Rich thinks that this is the performance he has been waiting for from her.
Jeff Steele thinks she is a bad ass and brought it all on stage.

Great job!

Here we go with elimination . . . Shaun Mayer is smiling and the girls look bitter . . . after the obligatory eleventy years of silence . . . we find out that the duo of Laura and Sophie are eliminated. The girls clearly look as if they have a bit of a speech prepared . . . they knew it was their time. Jeff Steele thinks they’ve got some raw talent there, and that they need to stay friends and keep working . . .

Next week, they are performing their own original songs . . . that should be interesting.

Laura and Sophie . . . Are Just So Happy to be Here . . .

The next to be safe is . . . OH MY-LANTA! Laura & Sophie . . . SERIOUSLY! I have no issue with these girls on a personal level. I think they are sweet and cute and have some talent . . . however, they are out of their league in this competition. They need to be molded . . . and taken to small venues . . . and NOT BE ON THIS BIG STAGE . . . To be honest, I have forgotten what song they sang. Ok, they're harmonies are the weensiest bit better tongiht. They are still flat for the most part . . . and, they are still quite awkward on stage. Yikes, note to young, innocent looking performers . . . DO NOT TRY TO ACT SEXY ON STAGE . . . it just looks creepy. Jewel does not think they belong here. John Rich thinks they are not right for this competition, and need to go home. I am with him until he begins to lean towards the personal attacks rather than the vocal ones. Jeff still thinks they have some talent, but they need to REALLY WORK!

I still can't believe they are still here. . . .

The Bottom 2 and Elimination!

Alyson Gilbert and the duo of Sophie and Laura are in our Bottom 2. I'm a little surprised by L & S being in the Bottom 2. Last week was the first time that I really thought they deserved to be around. So, they both perform . . . yikes . . .

Alyson's up first . . . she's singing "This One's For the Girls" . . . John Rich tries to give her some mentoring to improve her performance from the previous week. . . she listened . . . but didn't sell it. Man, this girl has got a voice in there somewhere . . . and it comes out when she relaxes in her upper register . . . her lower register is a big ole mess. The judges agree . . . of note . . . Jewel ripped her a new one . . . but for some reason, her critique does not come off as . . . er, um . . . assholey (yeah, I made up a word) as John Rich's critique. She basically is telling her to get some life experience so she can sell her vocals . . .

S&L are up next. . . They are going to sing, "I'm Walkin On Sunshine". Er . . . . I'm not really sure about this song choice. I mean, the big criticism of this duo is that they act so young and are very high schoolish on stage. This song does not help. They looked awkward on stage and their harmonies were WAY flat. However, they do seem to sound much better singing individually than together. The harmonies were off . . .

Jewel and John Rich think they are sweet girls but just not for this competition.
Jeff says he's proud of them , but . . . .

So, now, it's time for the elimination. After BRC reads his lines off the teleprompter and gives the obligatory eleventy thousand seconds of silent suspense . . . we find out that Alyson Stewart is going home. In pagent form, she cries and blows a kiss to the crowd. Overall, I liked her. She's got a good voice there, and I hope she keeps going.

The girls look relieved and sing one more song . . . Yikes . . . They are REALLY gonna have to get it together next week. I wonder if they are fighting. Something is just not right here.

Another episode concludes with the knowledge that 2 people will be eliminated next week. Who do y'all think it will be . . . I've got my opinion . . . and I will post those rankings later.

See y'all later!

Lauren and Sophie Are More Than Pretty Young Things

Lauren and Sophie – “PYT” – Once again, I want these two girls to win me over. First off, I’m confused – this has nothing to do with the girls – in all of the other clips we have seen, the performer comes in with what they want to sing . . . however, in this clip they are showing Jeff pitch an idea and an arrangement to the girls. The reason I am pointing this out is that if they are not the only group/performer who is getting this much assistance from the judges, then they are being unfairly portrayed by the editing department. Anyway, on to the performance . . . Ok, adult sized, matching, JonBenet Ramsey dresses aside, the performance was pretty, darn good. I’m not gonna lie, these girls are still not my favorite performers, BUT, for me, by far their best performance. Their harmonies on the chorus’ were tight and they looked at the audience MUCH more than their prior two performances. More impressed this week . . . good job, girls.

Nashville Star: Week 2 - First up . . . Laura and Sophie

We start this week's episode of Nashville Star by learning that John Rich has been paired up with the girls, Jewel has been paired up with the guys, and, much to his country lovin chagrin, Jeffrey Steele has been paired up with the groups. They show all the hugs and the initial reactions and we are ready to go . . .

Now, all the groups are on stage with their mentors. Might I just say, that Jewel looks hot. Loving the dress . . . but I digress . . .

It would appear that they are going to find people safe . . . one at a time from each group . . . and then have them perform. When we are down to two . . . they will both perform, and one will be eliminated.

First to be safe this week . . . From Jeffrey Steele's group, Laura and Sophie. I must watch these two girls very closely as my dislike for their PERFORMANCE last week did not ring popular amongst the masses. I say PERFORMANCE because I think these two girls are very sweet . . . just wasn't thrilled with the duet from last week.

Here we go . . . Ok . . . they are trying to incorporate some of the suggestions given to them last week . . . But, I'm spending a second week on the island of unpopular opinion . . . I still don't quite get it. FOR ME, their harmonies just don't quite gel . . . and, they just don't seem very comfortable on stage. There's no denying that these girls have good voices . . . just not wowing ME as yet.

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.