At last night’s CMA Awards — check out the winners here — Kellie Pickler did a tearful rendition of her autobiographical abandonment ballad "I Wonder." She sounded better than I ever thought she would, and the audience gave her a standing ovation — and yet, I’m still wondering whether the waterworks at song’s end (specifically, the perfectly-timed sniffling) weren’t well-rehearsed.
Perhaps this is just me picking on Pickler. You’d never see me questioning Jennifer Nettles’ tears in Sugarland’s heartwrenching "Stay" video. (If Nettles and Trisha Yearwood ever released a duet, I swear I would explode from sensory overload.) And maybe it doesn’t even matter if Pickler was genuinely feeling the moment. She was, after all, performing.
Still, does it matter to you whether singers tears are real? And how moved were you by Pickler’s?
Comments (1-30) of 121 Add your comment
I didn’t think her tears were real when she was crying about her parents on Idol, and I don’t think they were real this time either. She cries every time she sings this on tv, doesn’t she?
As much as I don’t care for Kellie’s music. I’m more of a Carrie fan in country music. Kellie I think was eerily genuine last night, much so, that it was very uncomfotable to watch the tale end. While the song I am sure is emotional to sing. But it’s like that moment on the CMA Stage, singing about her mother leaving her (which really happened), abandoning. It seemed very real. Especially since her mother is starting to come of the woodwork and making it known she’s Kellie Pickler’s mother. Didn’t care for her singing on American Idol past the first week or two, but she did a great job last night. It felt really genuine. As much I love Sugarland’s song “Stay”, now that feel’s like she’s acting. Unless she has had personal experience. Maybe she does. But I just don’t feel it when the waterworks come on. Speaking as a non-Kellie fan, I didn’t think she was acting. IF she was, I think it stopped being acting by the end.
I thought they were real the first time on Idol but now she cries every time she’s on TV practically. I know she had a traumatic childhood, but many people do and they are fine. I will say, thoug, that her cd is better than I thought it would be, even though she can drop the dumb act. That seems as fake as the tears.
Kellie cries everytime she performs this song. I saw her in concert twice. She always gets emotional, and that’s okay. I think maybe she plays it up now, but it is sill her real emotion and feeligns toward her mom. She really is a sweet girl.
She pulled the same stunt on “The View” when she first put at that song in spring.
She’s a good crier though.
I don’t think Kellie is a good enough actress to fake cry. That song always gives me goose bumps and my mother didn’t even abandon me. I think maybe the word Tennessee really hit her b/c she realized where she was at the moment and that she had really made it…this was the first time for her to sing on that stage wasn’t it?
I will say that Jennifer didn’t even have to cry to get a standing ovation…that song is beautifully done.
Even if she did cry each and every time she sang that song, it doesn’t mean the tears aren’t real. It is a VERY personal song and an event that shaped her entire life! We all have things that affect us that we push back because they hurt too much to deal with. Can you even imagine dealing with those things on TV and in front of a live audience? Anyone who dishes her is just cold hearted….
That song is a personal experience that Kellie relives each time she sings. I think last night she was overwhelmed by the emotions of where she was and what she was singing about. She really feels that song because she has lived it. I love Kellie and think she is going to be very big on the country music scene. Cut her some slack. I don’t think she would just cry to get attention. She doesn’t need a trick like that. She is beautiful and has a natural charm and talent. She isn’t some overproduced industry product like some other artists. She is the real deal whether she is your style or not. Even though she didn’t win last night, she was in awe of how far she has come in such a short time. She has arrived!
I’m with Mandi… Something about that performance last night really stuck in my craw. There’s something a little too polished about her act (not to mention her new face/body/wardrobe).
Come on now! That was the most moving moment of the whole show! It was so genuine. She’s now home and belongs in Tennessee. Go Kellie! She looked beautiful and sophisticated, too.
Jennifer Nettles teary-eyes for “Stay,” that’s more part of the performance I would say. Which is fine.
Sounds more like someone is jealous of her face/body/wardrobe to me…I say good for her!She deserves it. If she was plump and homely would the tears be more genuine to you then????
I’m no big Kellie fan, but I’ve gotta say that those tears were real. Or are you nay sayers going to accuse her little brother of faking it too?
I loved this year CMA… Rascal Flatts along with Gary LeVox and Jamie Foxx were great! I saw this great country music directory with lots of videos from people like Taylor Swift, Dierk Bentley and Alan Jackson: http://www.weshow.com/us/c/83/country_and_folk
Which one of those is your favorite singer?
The performance was good. She sounded better than I ever thought she could. I can understand her being emotional & all…the song has a personal meaning, etc. But there is still something about Kelli Pickler that bugs the crap out of me. She’s only famous because she was the ditzy blonde on American Idol. And to the person who said that we are just jealous because of how she looks…we could all look like that if we had stylists & a well done boob job…come on! Carrie Underwood has real, natural talent. Kelli Pickler…not so much. If you need to act dumb to get attention you don’t have my respect…just disdain.
i’m a singer and musician and the physical truth of the matter is that one you cry and become emotional, your vocal chords swell. the swelling seriously reduces your ability to sustain notes, change pitches, and its just too hard to sing that way. i think her story was sweet and she might have been genuine by the end, but if she was really crying out of emotion and not performance, she WOULD NOT have been able to sing what she did.
And is anyone else getting really tired of Kenny Chesney winning every year? I know he’s a good performer & all, but what did he do this year that was so special. I personally feel that he continues to win because he kisses the academy’s butt. How about letting Keith Urban win once…he’s not only an awesome performer, singer & musician, but is also a great SONGWRITER. I think there is only 2 songs off of his current album that he didn’t write. And I’m not just saying that because of the whole rehab thing. He truly is talented.
Kellie is genuine. If you do not recognize this, you didn’t watch her on American Idol. Kellie’s mom left her when she was very young and her father was in jail and her grandfather raised her and her brother. I think Carrie showed a little snobbyness in her last night on the show. I think the success is going to her head too much. Kellie was very overwelmed at where she was, in front of thousands and never dreaming that she would be on that stage. I know as I had the same dream, but cannot just pick up and move to Tennesse. But I would love too>
I’m no big Kellie fan either, but come on folks. Every article I’ve read about the show seems to question her performance. She breaks down in any interview she does about her mother. Clearly, this is a painful subject for her. And clearly, this was a MOMENT for her. Performing at the CMAs in Nashville is a huge deal for any aspiring singer. She got her chance to do that and I’m sure that coupled with the pain of the song overwhelmed her. Would you have done better under the same circumstances? I get tired of snarky writers trying to sound smart who crap on anything they see. Yes, it serves us well to be skeptical, particularly in this age of ultimate superficiality. But when genuine moments happen, for god’s sake let them be. Sigh.
Victor – What are you smoking? Jamie Foxx was great, but Gary LeVox was awful (and he looked like he knew it). He couldn’t physically hit half the notes in that song. I wonder if something happened to his voice last night or if he was stupid enough to agree to key that was out of his range…
Obviously Mandi you’ve never been rejected by a parent. That kind of pain never fades or goes away. It stays with you the rest of your life.
i guess that everyone loves kellie so much that they want to disregard the physical truth that you can’t sing whilst crying. those notes she sang, can’t be reached. you cannot sing with swollen vocal chords which are a result of crying, people!
Ah yes…the poor white trash kid whose father was in prison and raised by grandparents (or was she an orphan?)…SUCH a great Country Story, of COURSE she’s gonna C R Y because THAT’S whats expected of her in he genre…c’mon, are you SERIOUSLY buying her ruse? remember, its called SHOW business…
Kelli did not put on an act…put yourself in her shoes her mom has never been there and this is one of the most amazing highlights of her career and who else would you want standing there saying I am so proud of you. YOUR MOM. Guess what her’s abandoned her so I think she has every right to cry. SHAME ON YOU for taking that away from her!!!
The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir just released the best album of the year. For serious!
I attended the CMA Awards last night and, as someone who is usually pretty quick to point out phony emotional displays (ie Carrie Underwood), I can tell you I was pretty much tearing up during Kelly’s performance last night, as was just about anyone else in attendance!
For the love of all that’s holy…what is wrong with you people?! If you could not tell that her tears were genuine, then you have a heart of stone!!! Besides, she is not an “actress” who can cry on cue…she is a singer! And as for the swollen vocal chords comments…she was NOT able to finish the song properly BECAUSE OF her crying…did you not WATCH it?! I applaud Kellie Pickler for allowing the world to watch and share in the healing of such a painful event in her life. As for you skeptics…try living out ANY part of your life in public, then come talk to me about how it feels! Kellie, I don’t doubt your genuiness for a second…I was crying with you!
I was more moved by her face — it was crumpled up and not pretty, like the emotion was simply starting to overwhelm her. As for not being able to sing through tears, you heard the way she whispered out “Tennesee” at the end of the song. Her vocal chords were definitely affected by then. I’ve never been much of Kellie Pickler fan, but I do believe that her tears were real.
Her tears seemed real to me — on top of the song itself, the CMAs are a highly charged night, especially for an artist who hasn’t been there a million times before.
But what does it matter either way? She’s a pro, and if she can cry on cue as a special effect, just give her extra points for showmanship.
Sorry, I was too preoccupied with the hopes one of those huge NATURAL tits would fall out
Her emotions were real!! Most people would not understand unless you have been left by a parent, which I have. I cried right along with her, because I know her pain. Leave the poor girl alone.