As I approached the side media entrance of the Bellsouth Acuff Theatre for Tuesday night's finale of USA Network's Nashville Star, I was met by a line of high school students from Mt. Juliet, TN that stretched damn near to the adjacent Opry Mills Mall parking lot. 'So that's where all those votes are coming from...,' I thought. As it turns out, Erika Jo's school had sent busloads of her schoolmates to the live finale to cheer her on, just as they did last week. Nothing wrong with that. But when I saw that nearly half of the studio audience was filled with Erika Jo fans, I knew that she would probably be the winner. Equipped with cell phones in hand, I saw nearly as many pubescent girls and boys last week dialing Erika Jo's number immediately after the show as the they headed back to the school buses.
I think it's great that her school has been so publicly supportive of Erika Jo, but it also made me wonder if these kids' votes were accurately representing a proportionate amount of America's votes. We'll see this summer when her CD is released and what those sales numbers actually turn out to be.
As the show kicked off, Big and Rich put on what can only be described as a circus, with Cowboy Troy rapping something about playing chicken with a train, a woman painting on a canvas as the performance progressed, a little guy dancing about, and fireworks and confetti spewing from the stage. It was all quite bizarre, but I can't say it wasn't entertaining. It definitely set the tone for the remainder of the high-energy show, which seemed to progress allot quicker than the actual 90 minutes of allotted time.
Host LeAnn Rimes was back this week after a two-week absence due to throat problems, and the crowd was definitely on the edge of their seats. After a few performances and a reprise from the entire original 10-member cast, the first elimination was Jody Evans, the singing police officer from Arkansas. He gracefully bowed out, and although it was sad to see him go, I have a feeling that things are going to be happening for this guy. He has way too many loyal fans, and as judge Anastasia Brown noted a few episodes back, "the most star power" of all the contestants.
Finally, it was time to announce the winner. As LeAnn Rimes slowly...very slowly...opened the envelope containing the winner's name, a hush fell over the theatre. The winner of Nashville Star 3...Erica Jo.
After the show wrapped, the main stage was chaos as fans, well-wishers and family of ALL the final 3 contestants rushed the stage. The other 7 finalists joined Erika Jo, Jason Meadows and Jody onstage as well, and as things began to calm down, I got to sit down on a set of onstage prop steps with Jody Evans. We were interrupted several times by fans during our interview, which is proof that Jody will have a career long after Nashville Star 3 dies down.
Jody Evans is a very polite, sincere, well-mannered guy. Just like we've seen him on TV, he comes across as extremely genuine, and you know it's for real.
"As far as losing the contest, that doesn't mean the career is over," Jody told me matter-of-factly. "God has a plan for all 9 of us that didn't win, and we just gotta have faith in Him and trust Him."
Jody said he was especially proud of his third place finish because back in Arkansas, there weren't really a whole lot of places for him to go out and play.
"This is really the biggest thing I've ever done in my life," he said.
Jody did, however, work in the studio with Dwight Yoakum's producer/guitarist Pete Anderson prior to Nashville Star (in 2002), and his song "Sittin' Pretty" wound up being recorded by Yoakum and released on Yoakum's 4-CD set "Reprise-Please Baby" on Warner Bros. Records. Jody actually performed the song a couple episodes back on Nashville Star.
"That's one of the greatest honors I've ever had in my life," Jody said about Yoakum recording his song. "He has always been one of my heroes."
Regarding his future plans, Jody explained, "I'd like to find a record deal from someone. Hopefully somebody saw me and wants to capitalize on the momentum of the show. I'm just gonna try to stick with the music and keep the options open and seize the opportunity."
I asked Jody his thoughts on season 3 runner-up Jason Meadows.
"Jason and I made good friends...he's a fine, fine fellow," Jody said. "He would give you the shirt off his back. He's a good-looking man, fantastic talent and country. He's gonna do just fine."
As a final thought, Jody said he wanted to thank the fans who supported him in his third place finish.
"I want to thank very much the fans that supported me," he said. "And for those who supported somebody else, I hope they enjoyed my music too. Just because there can only be one winner in Nashville Star doesn't mean you can't have a cabinet full of different artists' CDs. So hopefully I'll be able to give them something they can enjoy later on. I just appreciate 'em all so much."
For updates on Jody Evans and his career, visit his website at www.jodyevans.com.
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