Last night’s Nashville Star saw the final four return to their hometowns to put on a concert, be treated like a rock star, and if you’re Coffey, to meet fans Patricia Heaton and Sinbad. Heaton said she’s been watching him every week; Sinbad insisted that he’s been voting. (How hard did NBC have to work to find out that Sinbad was a Coffey fan?) Our thoughts go out to those celebs this morning because their pick got the boot. Let’s break the performances down.
Shawn Mayer At the risk of appearing as transparent as John Rich, who once again gave Melissa Lawson a standing ovation, I totally voted for Shawn last night. Twice. But for once, John and I agreed on Shawn: At the beginning of the competition, we never would have told her to do a Gretchen Wilson song. But she made "Here for the Party" her own. She sounded great. She worked the stage like a pro. She peaked at the right time. The Top 3 got to perform a second song, and she did Garth Brooks’ "The Dance." It wasn’t her best vocal — Jeffrey Steele made sure we knew she was dealing with a bad wisdom tooth — but it was another ballsy choice. You might think of Shawn as mini-Gretchen, but she’ll keep you on your toes. (She’s taken on George Jones and Randy Travis this season as well.) I want to see what a producer can do with her when he gets her in the studio and she has her own songs to sing.
After the jump, Gabe Garcia, Coffey, and Melissa Lawson.
Gabe Garcia Gabe ended up in the bottom two with Coffey, presumably because his nerves kept him from connecting with the audience last week. He continues to improve (to about 90 percent comfortable), but I found him a little shaky on his first song, Alan Jackson’s "It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere." (Jeffrey made sure we knew Gabe had a cold.) His second song was Kenny Chesney’s "Living in Fast Forward," which was a good choice in that it gave him a chance to get the crowd clapping, but a bad one in that Gabe is no Kenny. I do not believe that Gabe is a hillbilly rock star out of control. I do, however, believe John when he says that Gabe will get a record deal whether or not he wins the show. John can’t be the only one looking for the artist who can represent the Hispanic market.
Melissa Lawson Melissa has an amazing voice, but "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" sounds like a karaoke song now even when Pat Benatar sings it. Am I wrong? While Jeffrey noted that the rest of the competition is creeping up on her, John unabashedly pimped for her as usual: air-guitaring during the song and floating her a question that she could hit out of the park after it. (She wants to be the next Nashville Star more than anything because it will not only change her life, but the lives of her five sons, who, okay, were pretty adorable toasting with soda in the limo during her hometown visit). My issue with Melissa can be summed up in the selection of her second song, Carrie Underwood’s "Jesus Take the Wheel." She’s just so predictable. Like Jeffrey, I don’t want to hear her build to the big ending in every song. Truth be told: I think Melissa is the only one in the final three ready to perform at the Olympics (a perk for being on NBC) and to headline the tour that all four finalists will be on this fall. But is she ready to make an album that feels necessary in a world where Martina McBride and Trisha Yearwood exist?
Coffey Again I ask: Am I the only one (besides Sinbad and Patricia Heaton) who actually likes his voice? The judges kept saying it was his charisma that kept him on the show this long. Let’s give the man some credit — he’s not Sanjaya. He can sing. (He can also sweat.) I liked his rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama." That’s another karaoke song at this point, but his runs made it somewhat fresh. That’s why I like him: Shawn is a mini-Gretchen. Melissa is a mini-Martina. Gabe is a mini-George Strait. Who is Coffey? Even if you can say a mini-someone, that someone isn’t going to be from the country genre — which makes his sound unique for the market if you get him to sing a country song. I don’t think unique is a bad thing. Then again, I’m not trying to sell records.
Who will be the next Nashville Star? And from which of the final four would you buy an album?
I’ve been popping in here or there this season due to the high recommendation from EW, and last night I finally caught Coffey.
He’s not Sanjaya…but he can not sing.
Coffey is not good. His runs sounds like a whining lamb and there is no power or strenght in his vocals. He didn’t deserve the final four. Glad to see him go. He has a Christian album on iTunes — that is where his heart (and voice) is, not country or even pop for that matter. He was an early stage American Idol reject. Good riddance Coffey!
And “Coffey”, whether it’s his stage name or real name, is just awful sounding.
And Coffey, one more thing: NICE SWEAT PITS! That was just disgusting. Keep your arms down!
I enjoyed the nuanced performance of Shawn’s second song last night. I think Melissa has better vocals but think Shawn is a strong contender to take the title from her based on her second song and last week’s original song — I like when she sings softly and with restraint, it gives her hard edge a very nice softness that I think is very country commercial. Gabe wasn’t very good last night.
Coffey has always reminded me of Hootie (Darius Rucker), without the golf clubs. He has a pleasant-enough voice, and I’m sure he’ll find success, especially after the tour. As for the Top 3, I think they all deserve to win, but it will probably be Melissa.
As a huge country fan, I would not buy any of their records. I was glad to see Coffey go. He’s not country. Period. I think each of the remaining contestants have a LONG way to go before they can make it in country music. Totally agree with Mandy–I don’t think Melissa is good enough to hang with the great voices of country music such as Martina and Trisha Yearwood (two of my all-time fave voices)and she certainly should not have tried to sing a Carrie Underwood song. All in all, extremely disappointed with this season of Nashville Star… if you aren’t a country music fan, this show is NOT what it’s about…
Who gets my vote? NONE of them. I could not care less about any of the finalists (and this includes everyone in the top 12). Nashville Star was better when it was on USA.
Gabe did awesome..His is pure country.I would buy Gabe’s music..Gabe Garcia our next Nashville Star….
Based on last night alone, I would say Shawn deserves it. She improved drastically since leaving John in the dust. Overall, the talent on this season has been poor. I remember seasons where I felt the Nashville Star final 4 was better than the American Idol final 4. Not this year. As far as radio goes, I think Gabe would probably be the most radio-friendly based on current country radio. Melissa has the best voice, but, outside of Carrie, the belting females like Martina, Trisha, Faith, Sara, etc., haven’t been getting the big airplay lately. I thought the two girl groups (Laura & Sophie, Pearl Heart) had potential. I would’ve liked to have seen Pearl Heart advance because they were improving every week. I think Laura & Sophie, though very talented, would have been a huge distraction on tour with their immaturity, but I look forward to hearing from them again in 3-5 years.
Hurray for Shawn! I had this on dvr and when she was the first to sing,
I started voting for her. I realized she must have been put thru to the finals when my votes where being counted. I voted for her thru the whole hour. She will sell alot of records even if she doesn’t win Nasville Star.
i think coffey was time to go he remindme of two years ago of jason weaver more the gospel voice for him and shawn ok but to much gabe is the favoirte to win but the winner is mark my words when i sey this is melissa
Not sure about the reviewer’s taste. Coffey is not a good singer. He sounded like a goat on his runs in the final episode—like Stevie Nicks on “South Park”. It’s true that his charisma carried him—and also sad, because to me he has very little of that either. And, I wouldn’t describe Shawn as a mini-Gretchen Wilson just because she sang one Gretchen song. She’s done material this season that wouldn’t fit GW. I voted for Shawn because Gabe doesn’t need my help—he has a totally classic country voice that will snag a contract, even if he is totally boring. And Melissa sings the kind of mainstream not-quite-country country that I’m not a fan of. Shawn is the one who could fit into modern country, which is the kind I favor. Thankfully there’s only one ep left, but who wants to be strung along for an hour to find out which one of these three wins???
It doesn’t matter who wins…we’ll never hear from them again. Remember Brad Cotter or Angela Hacker? How about Erica Jo? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Ever heard of Taylor Swift?