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ARTICLE

A Dose of Reality: Nashville Star 4 - Episode 8: Finale!
by R.J. Carter
Published: May 3, 2006

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Related Sites:
· Official Site
· Talk About It!
· SirLinksalot: Nashville Star

This is the night. It's a beautiful night, and we call it Nashville Star! It's finale night, and we've got two real contenders for the title and one who's here because the judges asked the voters nicely every week despite lackluster performances. I'll leave it to the readers to discern who's who.

The contestants do the introduction for Wynonna tonight, which begs the question: Where's Cowboy Troy? The man in black is joined by his friends Big & Rich to rock the house with more hick-hop to get in his last yee-haw before we say good-bye for another year. The Fresh Prince of Plano gets the crowd to its feet and pushes the cumulative adrenaline in the house to near-lethal levels.

We end the season with the same judges we started with -- Cowboy Troy's Muzik Mafia brothers, Big Kenny and John Rich. They're asked who they think will win, and Anastasia and Kenny both put in votes for Chris Young, while John Rich most astutely guesses that the winner will be the contestant with the most votes. So let's pull this train out of the station and see how everything shakes out.

Contestant: CASEY RIVERS Song Choice: "Your Cheatin' Heart"
Critique: Casey goes into reruns this week, with another acoustic stab at the old Hank classic. He pulls it off a little better than he did in week three. I guess since tonight's songs don't really count for anything -- the votes already being in -- there just wasn't any need to pull out something new and different.
What The Judges Said...
Anastasia Brown	Phil Vassar	Big & Rich
I think you have been the best student of the competition this season. Every time we have made a suggestion, you've taken it.	I think you might have had a couple of bumps. I think you're probably the best true singer that's ever been on this show, period.	Kenny: I gotta agree, boy, you can flat sing. You've got some pipes man. John: You know what I think is great? Everybody's given Chris Young the edge, I think you're a better singer than he is.

Contestant: NICOLE JAMROSE Song Choice: "Thing Called Love"
Critique: Okay, I was too hard on Casey. Apparently all the contestants are just picking a song already done for the first half of the show, as Nicole also goes into flashback mode. She's definitely on tonight, singing as though she's still going for the audience votes.
What The Judges Said...
Phil Vassar	Anastasia Brown	Big & Rich
When you nail your songs like you just nailed that... there's nobody better than that.	You have been searching for your musical identity on the show, national television. Not so easy, right? But I think you've found it, and I'm so glad you found it before the end of the show.	Kenny: The way you just sang, there's no doubt in my mind you came here tonight to win. John: Make Indiana where you were from and make Nashville where you live.

Contestant: CHRIS YOUNG Song Choice: "Drinking Me Lonely"
Critique: Okay, if the artists all have to go back to the well for their first performances tonight, it shows chrome-plated cajones to pull from original song night. So the question I have is this: What's Chris going to sing for his encore tonight when they crown him the champ? (What do you mean I'm getting presumptuous?)
What The Judges Said...
Big & Rich	Phil Vassar	Anastasia Brown
Kenny: Looks like you got your hat problem fixed. Looks like you got your guitar problem fixed. Looks like you can by-God write a real country song, brother. All you got left to do is be a superstar. John: You win tonight, you'd be a great addition to Nashville and country music.	You were put on Earth to do this, it's so obvious.	You started with a little bit of Toby Keith and Joe Nichols, and you have emerged as your own artist. This could be the night where you have the ticket to climb Mt. Everest.

We interrupt our show at this point to put on a song by Jason Aldean, who performs his hit song, "Hick Town". But it's more than just Jason on stage... all of this year's contestants gradually come out on stage and join in! And they all sound much improved with age. With all these past favorites on, I don't know why the cameraman decided to focus in on the smiling fiddle player's solo, but I owe him a C-note for the favor.

Which reminds me: Usually when we're down to three contestants, don't they get to play judge to a performance by the judges? I wonder if we'll see that next?

I guess not, since Cowboy Troy has announced it's time to eliminate one of the contestants right now.

And the bullet finally finds its mark on Nicole Jamrose. It's been a bumpy road for her, but finishing here isn't a bad thing at all, since she's still going to be touring with the Nashville Stars for the next several months. Work out those kinks and get back to the way you performed in those first weeks (and last week) and there'll be an album with Nicole's name on it soon enough.

Rather than give both the remaining contestants a solo, they both come out and sing together. Casey gamely replaces the Braves with his hometown Cowboys as he belts out the first verse of "I Like It, I Love It". Chris comes out on the first verse flirting with the audience. Then they're both into the audience for some playtime before getting back onto the stage. This was definitely one of the more fun performances of the season.

So just to ratchet up the tension, the show's going to run long. Each performer is going to get one more solo shot, and Phil Vassar is also going to perform "Last Day of My Life". This time, Phil is not joined by the contestants, and we're bound to get a commercial break yet again after this because it's going to take at least ten minutes for the stage crew to blow out all those candles.

Contestant: CHRIS YOUNG Song Choice: "I'm Gonna Love You Forever" Nashville Star has been one of the happiest and most stressful periods of my life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Critique: Chris, you keep singing like that and, win or lose this competition, we're all gonna love you forever.

Contestant: CASEY RIVERS Song Choice: "Don't Rock the Jukebox" This whole experience has been just a whole big ball of emotion. It's been so fun.
Critique: I've always wondered why this is such a rockin' song if the singer doesn't feel like rockin'? Hey, who's got time for irony at this stage of the game? Just let Mr. Rivers flow with the fun.

Okay, now can we find out who the winner is?

Yes! Right after these commercial messages. Go ahead and insert your own two-minute message here before reading any further, just to get the full virtual effect.

Ready? Now? You want to know who won now?

You're sure? Well, unfortunately, at this point, the storm took out my reception, so I don't know.

Just kidding. (Seacrest, eat your heart out!)

I haven't been this unsurprised since Buddy Jewell took the prize in season one. Chris Young deserves this prize based on his original song alone. So keep your eyes peeled for that record to hit the shelves in the upcoming months, and keep an ear out for "Drinking Me Lonely" on the airwaves just about any day now.

Thanks for tagging along for the ride this year, folks. We'll be back next year with more country coverage. And don't forget to check out the rest of our reality television, music, movie, DVD, and media coverage here at The-Trades between now and then. Y'all be good.

Past Episodes:
Episode 4.01|Episode 4.02|Episode 4.03
Episode 4.04|Episode 4.05|Episode 4.06
Episode 4.07