As we enter week five of the competition, tonight we'll get to see what the finalists are truly made of, as they get to show off not only their singing ability, but their songwriting too. That is, for six of the seven remaining finalists, as once more, one finalist will be sent packing.
Tonight's performance is from Phil Vassar, singer, songwriter, and Nashville Star judge. He sings his latest single, the fun "I'll Take That as a Yes (The Hot Tub Song.)" In the audience, they must have passed out signs that say "Yes" as many of the audience members were holding them up as Phil sang. Great start. Phil sure can entertain. Hope the finalists were paying attention to what a real entertainer is like.
After the credits roll, LeAnn welcomes everyone to the stage, and asks everyone to give it up for Phil Vassar. She sounds like she has a cold as she introduces the seven finalists. It's original song week, and six of the seven finalists will perform their original songs.
After the commercial, we are introduced to the judges. LeAnn also says she's feeling a bit under the weather, but there's no where else she'd rather be than right there. What a trooper!
LeAnn: (to Erika Jo) "Erika Jo, come on over here. Now, as the youngest person on the show this year, how are you dealing with the pressure of the show?"
Erika Jo: "Ooh, I tell you what. I'm just having fun. I'm just going out there and gonna try to have fun, and hopefully, I'll get a chance to do that tonight."
The first contestant America has decided to move on to next week's show is... Jason Meadows.
In Jason's pre-recorded message he says: "One of the coolest things about staying at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel is we have a bar downstairs where we can go practice our original songs in front of hundreds of people. The song I'm singing tonight is a song called "Big Shot." It's totally about my wife. Have you ever seen her? Are you kidding me? Have you ever seen her. I mean, she can have anybody in the world, and she chose me. And you know, that makes me feel like a big shot. I'll guarantee you."
See my Rankings for Episode 5
LeAnn: "You're only four weeks away from possibly becoming a major country music star. How much do you want this?"
Jason: "Oh, I want it more than anything in the world. This is something I've longed for all my life, and I got my family and all my fans are backing me. It's great. That record deal. We want that record deal."
LeAnn: "Ok, let's see what the judges have to say."
Bret: "This is original night, baby. This is original night. This is what we're waiting for. Let me just say this. Phil Vassar. There's a reason he's a big star, right? There's a reason. He writes it, he rocks it, he owns it. Man, you came out tonight. You look like you own it. You look like you got it. I wanna say this. You got the potential to be a Nashville Star. This is fair warning to everyone backstage. I just wanna say this. This is Nashville Star, not Nashville Mediocre. So, everyone better start bringing it, starting right now. And you started it off damn good."
Anastasia: "Jason, you nailed it tonight. But I still don't know why I would plunk down $12.99 for your record over George Strait or Blake Shelton, or Kenny Chesney. You know, I don't know that."
Phil: "It's good. I mean, his energy is great. You got great energy. You perform and you sing great. So, I mean, I think what they're trying to say. They're trying to distinguish you from Tracy Byrd and some of these other guys. And you're doing great."
Bret: "He's gonna. He's gonna man. Keep it up, bro."
Our second performer of the night is... Justin David.
In Justin's pre-recorded message he says: "Last week was an unnerving week, just having to deal with everything. (Cuts to him thanking all his fans for supporting him last week) I gotta make hay while the sun's shining, and it's definitely shining. I'm singing a song tonight that I wrote a few months back called "Finding A Way Back To You." It's time for me to do a ballad. It's time for me to slow things down on this fifth episode. And I think the judges are wanting to see something like this from me, a little bit more vocally driven. So, I'm gonna hope to pull that off this week."
See my Rankings for Episode 5
LeAnn: After the events of the last couple weeks, honestly, do you feel like you deserve to be moving on to week 6?
Justin: Yes I do. And I think once again, I have to thank my support group out there for pulling me through this situation. Thank you all so much. It feels great to be back here on stage performing on Nashville Star.
LeAnn: You obviously have a lot of people that love you out there. Let's see what the judges have to say.
