JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum John Rich on Nashville Star

I saw this show for the first time when was in the hospital and I have to admit that I never thought I would ever see a judge who was more Simon Cowell than the actual Simon Cowell.

I am referring specifically to Rich's critique of that guy who was eliminated last week based on a sub-par performance the week before, during which he was a bit pitchy on the first verse of his song.

Frankly, I didn't think he was all that bad, but Rich absolutely blasted him. He basically said, paraphrasing, "that was terrible; you don't belong on this show; you found a back door in because of your looks, but basically you suck.'

Last week the guy redeemed himself with what I thought was a really good performance, after which Rich told the guy to go be a movie star. I will bet you all the tee in China and throw in all the coffee in Brazil that this guy will eventually get a major label deal because he has the look necessary to attract teen girls and become a 2000s version of David Cassidy.

John Rich seems like he is a hell of a nice guy so his comments surprised me a little. Simon, on the other hand, is mean all the time so you kind of expect it from him. I have only watched the show twice. Is Rich normally like this when critiquing a sub-par performance?

I toyed with the idea of going out for NS this year, but one of the deciding factors against it was John Rich as a judge. I commend him for his success, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna stand up there and be judged by the author of "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy"!

In my opinion, Save a Horse is the best country based rock song ever written (maybe with the exception being Free Bird).

Almost speechless. I guess if everybody else felt the same, then the song would have at least entered the top ten.

Hey rblight-------------

Welcome back! Hope things are better.

I've always thought Rich is a jerk. A few weeks ago he said someone was pitchy and Jewel said something defending the person accused of being pitchy. Then John said Jewel was pitchy when he produced her record to which she retorted that she'd put her 10* octave range up against Rich's 1/2* octave and see who's more pitchy. I think Rich is a jerk. A talented successful jerk but still a jerk.

* 10 and 1/2 may not have actually been the number of octaves mentioned :-)

Hey rblight-------------

Welcome back! Hope things are better.

I've always thought Rich is a jerk. A few weeks ago he said someone was pitchy and Jewel said something defending the person accused of being pitchy. Then John said Jewel was pitchy when he produced her record to which she retorted that she'd put her 10* octave range up against Rich's 1/2* octave and see who's more pitchy. I think Rich is a jerk. A talented successful jerk but still a jerk.

* 10 and 1/2 may not have actually been the number of octaves mentioned :-)

The charts mean nothing. If the labels push hard enough, they can push any song into the top spot on the charts.

Yeah, I wouldn't be much of a writer if all I got was records that got got someplace between 11 and 20 on the charts.

If they can push "Any" song into the top spot on the chart, then why did this song not make the grade? Surely Warner Bros. had the money to make this song a hit, and probably spent as much as possible at radio to try to make this a top 10 hit. But something happened along the way...and they couldn't fight the truth...it wasn't a hit. The teens on the chart is where you really see what the song is made of. Will it be successful? Or will it flop! The part that sucks for that song is it came super close. In country music, if it doesn't break the top 10, then it is not a success.

You could be a great writer, but you wouldn't be a hit writer. John Rich qualifies as a hit writer, but this does not qualify as a hit song. There's a big difference between having a song in the top ten and just having a song on the chart somewhere, even if it's eleven.

First, I'll say rblight that I am glad you are back with us to argue your position. Hope you continue to improve.

With regard to "Save A Horse..." I remember thinking it's a great hook but not a "Country" hook. Oddly enough, I watched John Rich on the CMT series, Gone Country, tear Diana DeGarmo a new one for not singing a song "country" enough. He was the sole judge of all these stars (none of which had any previous connection to country music) who were trying to make it as a new country act. John Rich was to produce their first single. When all was said and done, Rich chose Julio Igesias Jr. over all the others. If any of you heard him sing, you'd know what a big joke that was. For me, Rich lost any and all credibility then and there.

With regard to Nashville Star, I've been watching every week so far and I can't honestly say why I continue. Jewel is pretty and all and does give some good advice here and there but Rich is a blowhard and truly loses more credibility with me almost every time he talks. To me, he's just a windbag. Billy Ray Cyrus is the biggest joke for an announcer. You'd think by now, he wouldn't need to read the teleprompter so much. He says (reads) pretty much the same thing every week. What a goof. Good thing he's got a really rich daughter.

That leaves Jeffery Steele and since he really didn't need this exposure, I have to believe he must have thought it would be fun and a chance to mentor some newbies before he actually got involved with it. Or maybe they offered him enough money to make it worth his while. Either way, I can't see why someone of his caliber would be involved if he'd known what he was getting into ahead of time.

Sadly, there is not one act this year who, IMO, is even worthy of a contract. There are 2-3 acts with some possibilities but most of them are downright terrible. And now that it's moved from USA to NBC, it's really become a very poorly run show. It's all about flashing lights and hoopla instead of musical talent and the contestants aren't even singing country songs most of the time.

Sorry for the long rant getting a little OT but I had to let it out. But you know the saddest part of the whole thing? I'll probably keep watching the rest of the season. It's like lurking at the site of an accident. You know it's ugly but you just have to look. So, in the end, NBC wins after all and I'm the fool.

You are now making yourself look foolish. there is no difference between number 10 and number 11. that is simply some arbitrary cut off point that people use to make silly arguments like this one. I could just as easily say that a song is not a true hit unless it TOPS the charts. Or, alternatively, a hit song has to be in the top 25, 50, or 100.

You are going to harp on this over and over and over again, aren't you? Feel free to keep telling yourself that it was a commercial failure, but I will bet you anything that this song will have influenced more bands ten years from now than all ten of the songs that topped it in the country charts.

Let me ask you this. Do you think that Stairway to heaven is a hit song? It never charted because it was never released as a single. Zeppelin refused to chop it up for the sake of radio play ....... yet it is the most requested song on classic rock radio and has been played more than almost any other song, period.

The charts are for bored music fans and overpaid music media people. The true test of a great song is how well it holds up over the years.

Agreed Stairway to Heaven was never released as a single. Yes it is a great song. No, Big and Rich should never be mentioned in the same thread.

Thank you, You just summed up why I opted not to bother with it!

Thank you, You just summed up why I opted not to bother with it!