After a commercial and awkward banter filled premiere last week, ABC's new swing at the reality singing competition Rising Star made it to a second episode this Sunday (June 29) with continued mixed results.
Off the bat, there were a few marked improvements from the show's first episode. Of note, it didn't take 15-plus minutes to get to the first actual performance this week, there were 12 auditions instead of 10 over the two-hour period, host Josh Groban upped his sock game and lowered his clunky talking game and the grating pattern of performance-commercial-performance was actually broken with TWO SINGERS IN A ROW on TV. Remarkable.
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For round two, Rising Star began with background singer Shamela Crawford, who tackled the fun. breakthough single "We Are Young." Though Crawford expressed an interest in singing in the limelight instead of in the shadows, there was something lacking in her stage presence. Her voice was technically proficient, nailing each note with flair, but there was something lacking in her soul and confidence, likely a byproduct of her years behind the bigger, more bombastic singers.
So, what percentage did Crawford end up with? 69 percent, one point below her required threshold.
Now, I'm no conspiracy theorist but I'm no naïve little fawn either, this exact rating (and the fact that "expert" Ludacris could had the make-or-break decision and voted no) makes this feel like a grab from the Rising Star producers. See, Rising Star airs live in the United States' first three time zones and folks all the way through Mountain Time can vote live for contestants. Viewers on the West Coast, then, have a chance to pull through singers who didn't make it originally.
So, a strong vocalist gets 69 percent, only to be saved by the West Coast. What an encouragement to vote, watch live and download that Rising Star app (which Brad Paisley joked about, due to Groban's frequent mentions of the smartphone application).
The voting drama happened again at the end of the show, wherein harp player/all around beautiful woman Megan Tibbits failed to raise the wall with an actual stunning and intimate performance of "All Of Me." She got 68 percent. What a dramatic way to bookend the show!
Come on. We're not that dumb...
Other than the opening and ending drama of Rising Star, the show continued as usual. Last week, the performers sort of fell through the cracks of the show's glitzy production value, kitschy voting schemes and superstar panel (comprised of Paisley, Ludacris and Kesha), but there was a marked improvement in this week's performer memorability.
(It's been just seven days and I can't recall a single performer from last week, except for classic rock dude who nailed "I Put A Spell On You," but I can't immediately recall his name. Jason, maybe?)
The names are still sort of a muddle to me, but at least there was some distinct personality this week. Performer No. 2 and the first person to go through this week was one-handed guitarist April Lockhart. She didn't let her disability stop her from doing what she loved, which is very valiant, and she gave a haunting, acoustic take on one of the Spice Girls' most classic hits "Say You'll Be There."
Maybe it's the seven-year-old in me who definitely wore out my VHS copy of Spice World, but this jazzy, breezy take was an easy early highlight for the show, and Lockhart feels like one to look out for this season.
Other than Lockhart, though, the performers who raised the wall this week were once again just OK, in every sense of the word. There was off-Broadway performer Alice Lee, who tackled Lady Gaga's "You And I." She lacked a major punch in the chorus but managed to pull off the bluesy verses well.
The cult-raised singer Sonnet SImmons gave a haunting, range slaying performance of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," but her song choice left a little to be desired... it's not 1989 and this song isn't immediately familiar to a lot of modern audiences, so despite a killer falsetoo, Simmons barely edged her way onto the next round, with 81 percent.
And then there was Will Roth. My only notes on his take on The Neighbourhood's "Sweater Weather" was that he was "fine."
The flops on Rising Star are always minorly more interesting than those who make it through (and six did tonight). Egypt Dixon is a solidly sassy singer but she should have never attempted to rap Iggy Azalea's "Fancy." Military woman Deedra Erin couldn't really breeze through Ellie Goulding's "Anything Could Happen" despite a soul-crushing backstory (her house burned down two weeks ago). Oh, and then there was the ultra-sharp girl group (with a 19, 20 and 30 year old) Trinitii, who gave such a sharp performance of Ariana Grande's "Problem" that the cheese industry was looking for some cheddar packaging.
Rising Star this week was a marked improvement from its debut on June 23, but it's still not quite the game-changing phenomenon ABC is teasing it as. It still just feels like another gimmicky program with largely a pool of mediocre acts.
Despite its slipping ratings, this is something American Idol has gotten right for over a decade: few frills, few gimmicks and just a proper focus on the entertainers. The show has really only started to fall from grace since incorporating more twists and turns and gimmicks. In the end, people just want to hear you sing, and if you're good, audiences will respond. No need for a crazy app or Kesha's pink hair (even if her style is on point).
But Rising Star will return, for next week at least. The show will have one more live voting round episode before moving to an ominous duel section.
