The final auditions which had begun three days earlier in downtown Nashville were coming to a close and the producers and judges of USA Networks will now, at the evenings end, begin to narrow down the field to determine the final 10 performers who will be cast in the upcoming season of Nashville Star.
As expected, for a Friday night venture down to Lower Broad, the Stage was filled to capacity early on and once again there was a line of people waiting to get in the front door that lasted throughout most of the evening.
Newman, local WSIX DJ, was, once again, the evenings emencee, but tonight we noticed that he made most all of his announcements from the floor and remained in the crowd for most of the evening which we and the crowd found to be a nice inviting change.
The Producers Balcony was packed once again with the Nashville Star Producers and production team, as well as Anastasia Brown who impressed us by attending all three nights of the regionals.
Five additional artists were added to the set list bringing the nights total to 22 performers, 10 girls and 12 guys. The night would start off with Texan, Robert Firth performing “Jambalaya” and end with Dallas Burnett, from Spartanburg, NC, performing an original “Who Loves you the Most.”
There were also several returning artists from prior years who had made the regional finals including Haley Davis, Eric Neznik, and Jay Teter.
Once again as the night went on there were several really good performers and some, who honestly, just sent us hunting for a good pair of earplugs. One original song, which is probably one of the worst I’ve ever heard repeated it’s chorus, if you could call it that, a minimum of fifteen times. Another artist distracted, who was relatively good, lost the crowd by actually chewing gum thru her entire performance and several just gave way too much personal information on the origins of their original song.
On the other hand there were some performers that had their performances polished and fine-tuned. Some of our favorites included Cynthia Sheppard, John DeLucia, Haley Davis, and Jay Teter.
One artist stood out far and above any of the others and really had “Nashville Star” written all over her, it was Whitney Duncan from Scott’s Hill Tn. Whitney took the stage and gave an incredible performance, her original, “Skinny Dippin” was great, her vocals were impeccable and the audience was left wanting more. This gal didn’t miss a step and her performance was one of the best I’ve ever seen at any Nashville Star Regional.
We thought that several original songs that stood out above the rest included “Pumpkin” by Dani Strong and “Half Way to Memphis” performed by Kacey Musgraves which was co-written with former Nashville Star Alumi Miranda Lambert's dad, Rick Lambert.
The overall big news of the night for avid Nashville Star fans were the five additional artist added bringing the final number of finalists to 61. The new additions included: Dallas Burnett, Joshua Stevens, Craig Campbell, Whitney Duncan, and Kimberly Kelly.
In unconfirmed news, we were told by an inside source that this year’s label will be with Warner Bros. Label where coincidentally the former Nashville Star Judge and 20-year industry veteran, Tracy Gershon is the current VP of their A&R department. Warner bros. is also the label home to Blake Shelton, Big & Rich, Cowboy Troy, and former Nashville Star Alumni Lance Miller.
Scene & Heard:
Spotted in the crowd were several CMA groups in for the CMA Awards Week entitled “Nashville Celebrates Country", a few local Music Row management representatives, along with Jason Meadows, former Nashville Star finalist and Two-Foot Fred.
Set List
- Robert Frith -
Jambalaya–Just Like That* - Victoria Gibson
Why*- Boondocks - Jay Teter
Hate to See You Go*- Don’t Close Your Eyes - Kelly Stanley
Think Called Love – A City Away* - Cynthia Sheppard
Walkin After Midnite- I May Hate Myself in the Morning* - David St. Romain
Better Life- Heart Wide Open* - Rich York
Tequila Makes her Close Fall Off- Country Just Got Me* - Dana Gibbons
Give Me Someone*- How Bout You - Eric Neznik
Hold On One More Day*- Dust on the Bible - Kacey Musgraves
Leave the Pieces- Halfway to Memphis* - Lisa Curl
It’s Over–Two Sides* - Johnny DeLucia
Darlin–Better Day - Gian Cage
Goodbye Time– Get Drunk and Be Somebody - Haley Davis
Rose Garden-Jesus at the Wheel - Shaun Garth Walker
Jambalaya – Please Don’t Let Me Down* - Dani Strong
What Hurts the Most–Pumpkin* - Zach Hacker
Don’t Close your Eyes- Get Your Love On* - Kimberly Kelly
Maybe it Was Memphis- Gravy Train* - Joshua Stevens
What Hurts the Most–Rock n Roll in Pensacola* - Whitney Duncan
A Thing Called Love- Skinny Dippin* - Craig Campbell
Tequila Makes her Close Fall Off – Help Me Cry* - Dallas Burnett
Better Life- Who Loves You the Most*
*Denotes original song
