Nashville Star - Week Six

This week was "love song" week - the contestants were supposed to sing a love song.  The key word in the previous sentence is "supposed". 

Ashley Hewitt - sang "Cowboy Take Me Away" by the Dixie Chicks. Still talked through the song instead of singing; still sounded like Taylor Swift, but by the end of the song sounded like the judge Jewel; major pitch problems; screamed the power notes instead of singing.
Gabe Garcia - sang "Must Be Doing Something Right" by Billy Currington. Great vocals and vocal control as usual; great control on the high notes and falsetto; smiled more this week; best performance of the week. Is already a polished and solid performer.
Coffey - sang 'It's Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. Weak vocals; still too much vibrato - sounded like a billy goat; sang too soft with no power; needs to buck up and not be overly emotional when singing; major pitch problems; looked and acted too mechanical.
Melissa Lawson - sang "My Baby Loves Me" by Martina McBride. Great vocals and vocal control; good movement around on the stage; good arrangement; sang with a tad too much power - slightly oversang the song.
Laura & Sophie - sang "Picture To Burn" by Taylor Swift. Weak vocals; major pitch problems; harmonies were way off. The on stage choreography needs to go; only positive thing I can say about the performance was their outfits and hairstyles were more mature.  Worst performance of the week.
Shawn Meyer - sang "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood. Sounded like a karaoke performance. Stayed on pitch but the performance was very cheesy; slurred the notes too much; crowd loved it but I didn't - performance was too mechanical and too karaoke.

Laura & Sophie and Shawn Meyer were in the bottom two this week, with Laura & Sophie getting the boot.  For their sakes, I was glad they got voted off so they wouldn't have to endure John Rich and Jewel tearing them to shreds like they did tonight.  I normally agree with Jewel's comments, but tonight she was way out of line. John Rich asked one of the girls why she rolled their eyes at Jewel last week. The girl said she didn't remember rolling her eyes. Jewel said she wasn't sure what was going on and thought maybe she was having a siezure or something.  I could not breathe when I heard that comment made on national television.  Jewel owes an on-the-air apology for that. I was going to go out and buy Jewel's new CD, but after hearing that, I'll save my money. 

I could really identify with Laura and Sophie, and up until last week, I kinda liked them. I was just like them as a young teenager - singing at church and in local shows with a friend from church.  I'm hoping they won't get discouraged and will continue to polish their vocals, because as their vocals develop and as they mature, they have the ability to become a great duet. 

Coffey and Shawn Meyer's performances this week made me want to change the channel, but the Performance That Made My Ears Bleed was the Taylor Swift wannabe Ashley Hewitt.  I know I'm critical in my reviews, but let's be real - does country music really need another little blonde singer - especially one that sounds like Taylor Swift? I don't think so. Even when they sang the pop songs, she still sounded like Taylor Swift.  And I cringe when Billy Ray Cyrus or the lady announcer interviews her - when she talks it sounds like she has a mouth full of marbles.  And her singing isn't much better.