This year, I'm going to including my rankings for each of the finalist's performances in the recap itself, rather than separately.
Understanding My Rankings
- Overall Look - This is the overall appearance of the contestant during this episode.
- Quality of Performance - Did they hit all the notes? Were they muddled? Not enough energy? Pitchy? Can't hear them?
- Emotion - Did they "feel" the song?
- Song Choice - Was the song a good fit with their vocal style?
- Originality - Did they sing it exactly like the original artist, or did they make it their own.
- Personality - This is based on what was shown other than the performance itself.
- Stage Presence - Do they take command of the stage, or look like their mama pushed them out there?
- Confidence - Do they believe in themselves, or are they sort of so so when it comes to what they believe they can do?
- It Factor - Did they display that extra something that sets them apart from everyone else?
- Risk Taker - Did they go outside their comfort zone and try new styles, or do something safe?
Rankings are rated from 1 (bad) to 5 (fantastic).
We are in our second week of Nashville Star. Last week, the judges sent a finalist home, and then it was up to America to decide the fate of each of the future finalists. CMT's Katie Cook is on the show now, and she introduces Nashville Star's host, Billy Ray Cyrus.
This week, the finalists are separated into three groups. We have the women, the men, and the groups. The judges don't know which group they will mentor until they get to the studios where the finalists are waiting. The judges arrive in their own Nashville Star buses, each with their own name emblazoned on the side. They each open the studio doors, and we find out that Jewel is assigned the guys, John is assigned the girls, and Jeffrey has the groups. The three judges each want to win. John says he wants to smoke Jewel and Jeffrey. Jeffrey says he hates second place.
Back to the live performance, the groups are on stage with their mentor/judge. Billy Ray says that he will call out their names one by one, and if you are called, you are safe.
The first finalist voted through, from Team Steele, is Laura & Sophie.
In the pre-taped video, we see Jeffrey telling the girls that he feels they sing to each other, and to themselves more than they do to the audience. The girls say that they have certain parts of the song where they look at each other, and it's going to be hard to break that. Jeffrey says "You gotta give it to the world."
Back to the live performance, Laura & Sophie are back to back as they sing their song. They've chosen to sing "Rockin' with the Rythm of the Rain."
My thoughts: I am not sure which girl is which, but one takes the lead and the other takes the harmony part. The girl that sings lead isn't loud enough, and the girl singing harmony is too loud. They are great when they sing together.
Overall Look: 5
Quality of Performance: 4.5
Emotion: 4.5
Song Choice: 4.5
Originality: 4.5
Personality: 4.5
Stage Presence: 4
Confidence: 4
It Factor: 4
Risk Taker: 4
Total Points: 43
John: That was really good. I love that song. You know what I'm concerned with? With the two of your girls... you're so young... at some point, we have to hear songs that really apply to your age.
Jewel: Also, I think that.. I've heard you guys do this song. I know you guys auditioned with it. I'm a little worried about going forward how you're going to be able to do songs that you have to learn with every week.
Jeffrey: Girls, that was good work, but I kind of still feel like I'm at a slumber party.
Next to perform, from Team Rich, is Ashlee Hewitt.
In the pre-taped video, we see John talking to Ashlee. He asks her what song she is thinking about singing. She tells him "Ring of Fire."He says "Anybody that tries to remake a Johnny Cash song, you better make it your own." She sings some for him, and he suggests a higher key.
Back to the live performance, Ashley plays her guitar while she sings. She got a standing ovation after her performance.
My thoughts: I love this song choice for her. Ashley has a very distinctive voice. I also love on the second chorus, she went up in key and really gave a lot of emotion and power to her performance. Awesome job!
Overall Look: 5
Quality of Performance: 5
Emotion: 5
Song Choice: 5
Originality: 4.5
Personality: 4.5
Stage Presence: 4
Confidence: 4
It Factor: 4.5
Risk Taker: 5
Total Points: 46.5
Jeffrey: I closed my eyes, and I tried to see you singing in front of a million people, and I wonder if that's going to come off, if you've got the energy to pull this off the last couple of weeks, if you're gonna be having what it takes to do that. And I wonder if there's gonna be any fire and that ring of fire. And there's a lot of fire on that ring of fire.
Jewel: Great way to take your notes and step it up. I liked seeing you take your guitar behind your back and rock us one like Elvis.
John: I think your voice has such a folk quality to it, and country at the same time. I'm sitting next to the reigning queen of folk country music right here. I expected something good, and that was better.
Next to perform, from Team Jewel, is Justin Gastin.
In the pre-taped video, we see Jewel sitting with Justin, and he tries to play his song, and is making a bunch of mistakes. He's really nervous. She says Justin needs to bring his heart to the table.
Back to the live performance, Justin sings "Hey There Delilah."
My thoughts: Ugh. He was not all that great last week, and this week, his voice sounds really week. His best quality is his looks.
Overall Look: 5
Quality of Performance: 3
Emotion: 4
Song Choice: 4
Originality: 4
Personality: 4.5
Stage Presence: 4
Confidence: 4
It Factor: 4
Risk Taker: 4
Total Points: 40.5
Jeffrey: It's what you do to me. I don't know if it's gotten to me, yet. I'm just not sure yet.
John: I'll just tell you, man to man. You come off very, very, very sweet. Not in a good way.
Jewel: You were a little bit pitchy on that first part. You nailed it on the later part. It's not that you can't sing. You have to get better control of your singing.
