Nashville Star - Week Three

I was expecting another train wreck with this week's episode, but I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by some of the contestants and their performances.  Week three was "Pop Goes Country" night, where the contestants chose a pop song and had to "country-fy" it.  The show opened with all of the contestants doing a big production of Madonna's "Like A Prayer." There were pitch problems all over the place.  A line in the song really stood out - "Let the choir sing" and that's what the show's producers should have done.

Gabe Garcia - sang "Living La Vida Loca" by Ricky Martin.  Made the song his own; excellent version and arrangement.  Great vocals and stayed on pitch even with a bunch of girls dancing all around him.  Seemed a bit more at ease this week.
Pearl Heart - sang "Love Shack" by the B52's. Never thought I'd live to hear a bluegrass version of "Love Shack" but it rocked. Great harmonies; stayed on pitch.  Outfits were very cool - dressing like performers instead of karaoke singers. Lead singer still needs to come out as front person.
Alyson Gilbert - sang "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany.  Bad song choice. Song arrangement was bizarre; wasn't country enough.  Needs to be stronger on the high notes - off pitch. Needs to be consistent from week to week. Didn't look as spastic as the first week's performance, and has developed good stage presence.
Ashlee Hewitt - sang "You Drive Me Crazy" by Britney Spears. Voice is still too breathy and too meek; I had the sound turned up loud and couldn't understand a word she sang.  At times was yodeling instead of singing; seemed very uncomfortable.
Coffey - sang "Umbrella" by Rhiana. Too much vibrato; trouble staying on pitch.  Too many vocal gimmicks - tried rapping and even some beat box. But got the audience involved and they went crazy.  Looked a bit uncomfortable and awkward on stage; needs to loosen up on stage.
Laura and Sophie - sang "Pretty Young Thing" by Michael Jackson. Excellent harmonies; made the song their own. Swapped lead vocals was a cool addition to their style; still seemed a bit uncomfortable on stage. The show's stylists should be shot for picking out their matching prom dresses tonight.
Shawn Mayer - sang "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC. Good arrangement; good strong vocals. Smiled more tonight. Cool move to take off guitar and move the mike stand out of the way. Could have done without the choreography, though. Made the song her own.  Not my favorite contestant but was an excellent performance.
Melissa Lawson - sang "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper. Great vocals and great vocal control. Best performance of the first three weeks; took control and showed she is an artist.  If she can keep this up she'll be the winner.
Justin Gaston - sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper. Great arrangement - made the song country. Vocals were stronger tonight and more in control. One of the best performances tonight.
Tommy Stanley - sang "Maniac" by Michael Cimbiello.  Was not country; was almost identical to the version in "Flashdance." Looks and acts awkward on stage; too stiff.  Performance was too junior high talent show.

Last week's voting found Justin Gaston and Tommy Stanley in the bottom two.  Unfortunately after an awesome performance this week, Justin got the boot.  Too bad he didn't perform like this in the first two weeks.

It was a tie for the winner of this week's Performance That Made My Ears Bleed: the previously mentioned opening number of "Like A Prayer" and a performance by the group Danity Kane (a group of five Pussycat Doll wannabes.)