Family night!
Tonight was another night of the occasional hit, and a few misses as the top 9 performed on Nashville Star! It was family week, and as such, Miley Cyrus Jr – uh, I mean Billy Ray Cyrus’ other daughter, Noah, introduced her daddy at the top of the show. (And more and more I can’t stand the other announcer they have on there. Just getting that off my chest now.) The contestants have been away from their family for a month, so they joined the contestants for the week. Tears, squeals and tailgating bbq’s inevitably followed while the contestants picked and practiced their songs -two each this week!- for tonight’s performance.
They go back to the tried and true countdown of those that are safe – and Ashelee Hewitt is the first up. We’re told she has the largest family ever all there with her and she sings “Don’t stop believing” – while playing the piano, then switching to the guitar, and then after the judges tell her she’s growing and doing well she follows it up with a short bit of “Help me make it through the night.” She seemed to be overthinking moving across the stage a bit much, but she was ok.
Then Coffey’s safe again, and we’re treated to many awwww inducing moments as his daughter rushes into his arms. She could not possibly be any cuter! He sings “Hey Good Looking” which makes me want to stab myself, and then some “take me home, country road” which send me searching for a spork sharp enough to do the job. The judges agree, but are nicer then I am – they were all caught up on the fact he sounded more pop then country. I was too caught up on the fact that he can’t seem to sing without doing so through his nose. Heh. Sorry Coffey, but your uber cute baby girl won’t win you this competition.
And again, I hate the female announcer chick as she makes me want to stab HER when she interviews the families after the first performances of each contestant.
Tommy Stanley is next, the military boy with a heart of gold – he gets to see his family for the first time in a year, as well as some of his fellow sailors who looked decidedly awkward on stage as they do their male bonding ‘love ya man’s’ without a bud light in sight. (yes, I’m aware I’m very old for using that reference…) He sings “Bless the broken road” and then a bit of Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer”. The judges point out some of his mistakes, but applaud his work, except for John who thinks he is just as pop as Coffey and needs to country it up some more.
Pearl Heart is up and are reunited with their dog…. and the family who was hiding from them at first. hahah. They sing “I’ll be loving you” and “one wa ticket” and as usual they harmonize the hell out of it, though they do fall flat and mess up in a few places. Jewel says when they hit it’s good, but when they don’t it’s bad, and they’re still checking with each other and it’s just stilted. I still can’t get behind these guys, I just can’t.
WHEW! Melissa Lawson is safe once again – good call America! Her boys (FIVE of them!) are adorable, and she knocks one out of the park with “This one’s for the Girls” and “Landslide” both of which are songs I love. She sings beautifully, natch, and John Rich tells her straight up that if the competition ended right then she’d be the undisputed winner. Amen brother!
Shawn Mayer is safe, and relies on her family to help deciding what to sing. She wanted “Imagine” but went for “Breathe” instead and tried to go girly. She then sang “Forever and Ever, Amen” She was pretty good, and is getting better every week, but the judges agree that she still needs more work – and Jewel says to go with her rawness and not cave into the girly. John thought her second song sucked and rides her case about consistency.
After Blake Shelton sings and my daughters and I agree he should totally get the votes and be safe (…what? ha!) Gabe Garcia is declared safe and sings one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs, “Wanted dead or alive” followed up by “The fireman” which i’ve been humming now for hours. He didn’t just stand there this week, and seemed to be coming into his own and relaxing more. The judges declare him the best male singer of the group.
Alyson Gilbert sings “She’s in love with the boy” and then Laura and Sophie sing “Walking on sunshine” and then they have to wait to see who gets eliminated and who gets to sing the second song. Jewel tells Alyson that her eyeballs were all bugging out again and she’d gone back to trying too hard – then she tells her she needs to go somewhere and get some soul because she feels nothing when Alyson sings. Ouch!
Laura and Sophie’s song is met with all of the judges disappointed. They had hoped it would be great, but it wasnt at all. They fell to Pearl Heart levels for me with that one, and while Jeffrey said he was proud of their work, he told them they need to step it up big time if they stay. It was very much teenage high school talent show.
Who goes home? Alyson Gilbert. After she makes her exit, Laura and Sophie sing their second song, and color me unimpressed once again.
Who will go home next week? Not one but TWO contestants will be eliminated, one at the top of the show. Who will it be? Who do you WANT it to be?
