Been Biting My Tongue for too Long

[satyre]

Okay, so America has been pretty good with its voting this season, at least so far. But there's a pattern that keeps repeating. I know some of you will take issue with this, but here goes:

I know country music is probably the most popular genre nationwide. But it has to be noted that, with few exceptions, it isn't hard to be a country singer. While singers of other genres are singing their faces off or showing skillful creativity, if a country singer so much as hits one higher note or attempts one simple run or does anything either out of the ordinary or even traditionally ordinary, he or she gets shot to the moon. Yes, telling the story is an important part of singing (assuming the story is worth it), but one can open a book to get a story, singing is a demanding art. Over the years, too many country or countryish singers have been voted in over far superior vocalists/performers.

And that brings us to Huntergirl. For the last three weeks she has been by far the weakest singer in the competition. And ever since Hollywood week she has been among the two or three weakest. She's done nothing memorable or challenging, she shows no particular charisma or creativity, and there's no vibrato or specialness to her voice. But she got a push from the very beginning with an undeserved platinum ticket, and she's heartland country, so the mindset that she's a top contender, at all competitive with great singers like Christian, Leah, Jay or Nicolina in particular, and even Fritz, is undoubtedly going to land her in the top two or three, as always happens. Does anyone really believe that Jay (in particular) will outlast her, or that he shouldn't? (Chase Beckham over Willie Spence? Trent Harmon over La'Porsha Renae? Really?) Should we be voting on whom we identify most with or on whom we are astonished by? 

Edited May 4, 2022 by satyre

[Someone648]

[wgm]

the weakest, seriously, Hunter is the front runner

[Carrie_On]

Well, you know what they say about opinions. 
 

The truth is you may not like HunterGirl but she’s getting enough votes to keep making it through, so there’s plenty of people who do connect with her. I thought she gave one of the best performances on Disney night. And aside from Laci and Gabby, she’s one of the few country girls who have gone far on the ABC version of the show. 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Carrie_On

[Rainbow_of_greys]

Both agree + disagree with your take lol.

 

HG’s voice is nothing special, like she’s no Carrie obviously. but it’s good enough for country radio.
 

yes the over pimpage is a bit ridic... however. her personality is super fun and likeable. Girl def has charisma to spare. 
 

this season is not that strong vocally. HG wouldn’t have made probably even the top 10 last year, but it’s not that far fetched that she’s a front runner amongst this year’s contestants.

 

JMO

Edited May 4, 2022 by Rainbow_of_greys

[kamil24]

TBH she's the best country singer this show has had in years.

[Gustavo527]

I don't know how the country bias works here since this is my first (and hopefully last) season watching this show. But in The Voice, the country advantage doesn't really work when you are a female. That show hasn't really had any country female in the finale for like, three years. If you are a country female, you have to work twice as hard to get any recognition by Minivan. Chevel won, but take in account, she had to really work hard to get that victory and some people to this day really don't give her the credit she deserves

 

It works really well with country males, tho. If you are a country male, you have an automatical advantage, just take a look at Season 20, Kenzie got a free pass to the finale (and the runner-up) since the moment he auditioned, and he didn't do anything outstanding vocally, most of his performances were basic asf even for country standards, and even country fans agreed that he didn't do justice to some of the classics he sang. 

 

So, yeah, at least in The Voice, the country advantage works really well when you are a male country singers. I totally get your point. 

 

Now, about Hunter, at first i didn't get what the judges saw in her audition, but after a some re-listens, it grew on me. I really enjoyed her tone, it was particulary pleasant to my ears. So, yeah, what can i say?? She won me over. I even started to listen to her covers and her original music and she has some good material for my taste. Also, i consider she managed to give solid performances in rounds where a lot of people stumbled (Top 24, despite questionable song choice, and Top 20), and in my opinion, she has connected well with some of the songs she has sung (with others, not so much *cough* 9 to 5 *cough*), unlike Christian who, for my taste, hasn't connected with literally any of the songs he has sung. And i also can't get into his tone, no matter how many vocal acrobacies he does. 

 

The conclusion is, if i enjoy listening to someone, i'm gonna vote for them, i don't really care if they are not outstanding vocalists. You are in all your right to complain, but we can't really blame the country singers for fit the taste of the main demographic since these people vote for the singers they enjoy (of course, we can't ignore they have certain biases that are not necessarily related to music, but that's a topic for other day). I can't blame them for voting for Kenzie a year ago over singers that i considered more talented, because they just voted for the singer they liked. It sounds unfair, but it is what it is, and after years of watching singing competitions You just get used to the fact that the public doesn't have to have the same taste as you.

 

Edited May 4, 2022 by Gustavo527

[redwood79]

I feel like Huntergirl skating by isn't as bad as certain country artists in previous seasons (cough cough Laine, and that dude that dropped out last season, and the myriad of nameless WGWG) and I don't think she is a shoe-in to win. I don't even think she's going to be the highest placing country contestant this season.

 

Honestly, I feel like she has way more charisma and has given some pleasant performances even more me (a non-country fan) compared to Noah where he's okay and inoffensive but I haven't been impressed a single time. So I've accepted the country curve but the WGWG curve is bigger and more pronounced than the country one. 

Edited May 4, 2022 by redwood79

[satyre]

Good responses so far. Thanks.

 

[frederick]

Well I basically agree. I mean, Dan somehow made the Top 20 over way better people simply because he's country, white and somewhat cute. He's a karaoke singer at best.

 

I do like HunterGirl though, even though none of her performances have wowed me in a while.

[satyre]

Good responses so far. Thanks.

To Gustavo, it's worse on AGT. If you're a male country singer with a story you don't even need a voice. And to Frederick, yes, there's that other factor, too, but I've gotten in trouble for mentioning it.

 

[rockerannah]

I like Huntergirl, but she isn't the best vocalist as far as this season goes, or as far as country music goes. She has a good voice and I think she could have some success in country radio, but I don't think she has what it takes to be the next big thing in country or win the show. 

 

Yes, country singers usually get far on talent shows on tv, but I can see Noah placing higher than her or being more successful than her on country radio, because he's a guy. There have been male singers in country music have careers for decades, but a lot of the female singers in country music fade away. Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert are probably the two female country singers right now with the longest run of success. I don't think Huntergirl can match that.

[MargoK]

Not a huge fan of Hunter Girl. I agree she is nothing special but her personality is helping her. I actually loved her more subtle performance this week. The 9 to 5 kareoke wasn’t good, though.

[KelseyW]

Huntergirl? Nice. Talented? Sure. Deserving of Top 3? Not by a long shot!

[xfactor22]

HunterGirl is not the typical country artist tbh. And She’s good. She had an off night in Disney though. 

[*Chris]

Just now, xfactor22 said:

HunterGirl is not the typical country artist tbh. And She’s good. She had an off night in Disney though. 

I thought she was great during Disney - one of my favourite of the night. 

[mytake1]

2 hours ago, xfactor22 said:

HunterGirl is not the typical country artist tbh. And She’s good. She had an off night in Disney though. 

 

EVERYTHING about Hunter Girl screams the stereotypical blonde Country singer from Nashville.  

[xfactor22]

2 hours ago, mytake1 said:

 

EVERYTHING about Hunter Girl screams the stereotypical blonde Country singer from Nashville.  

Nah

[xfactor22]

5 hours ago, *Chris said:

I thought she was great during Disney - one of my favourite of the night. 

To each their own. HunterGirl is one of my favs, but she hasn’t had the best performances imo the past two weeks. Hopefully she does great this week 

[Gustavo527]

3 hours ago, mytake1 said:

 

EVERYTHING about Hunter Girl screams the stereotypical blonde Country singer from Nashville.  

And the problem is...??

[mytake1]

1 hour ago, Gustavo527 said:

And the problem is...??

Fanboy xfactor22 claims that Huntergirl is not the typical country artist.

 

I say EVERYTHING about her screams the stereotypical blonde Country singer from Nashville.  

 

Her heavy Southern accent, the bleach blond hair, overdone make-up.  Always wearing cowboy boots, fringe.  And most important - her picking the safest Country songs over and over again.  No versatility.  No risks.

Edited May 7, 2022 by mytake1

[xfactor22]

17 hours ago, mytake1 said:

Fanboy xfactor22 claims that Huntergirl is not the typical country artist.

 

I say EVERYTHING about her screams the stereotypical blonde Country singer from Nashville.  

 

Her heavy Southern accent, the bleach blond hair, overdone make-up.  Always wearing cowboy boots, fringe.  And most important - her picking the safest Country songs over and over again.  No versatility.  No risks.

Not a fan boy. Just a fan. Also, minus 9 to 5 , her picks have been Perry original. And her voice stands out from other more typical country female singers. Also if you’re gonna talk about me, quote me. 

[Discovolcano]

On 5/6/2022 at 4:53 PM, xfactor22 said:

HunterGirl is not the typical country artist tbh. And She’s good. She had an off night in Disney though. 

I thought that was her only good night 

[mytake1]

1 hour ago, xfactor22 said:

Not a fan boy. Just a fan. Also, minus 9 to 5 , her picks have been Perry original. And her voice stands out from other more typical country female singers. Also if you’re gonna talk about me, quote me. 

[QueenMae16]

I think the problem with Huntergirl is that she's inconsistent. I agree that she has potential and has shown to be at least good, but she isn't always up to that peak of her talent. I can enjoy her sometimes, but I know she has a lot more potential to unlock, its just that she can be very pitchy at times. To note, "I See The Light" wasn't a very good performance, it was okay, but she was very inconsistent in the chorus and really just shined in the beginning and end of the song.

 

"Heartbreak Down" was a good performance and very pretty, liked her showcasing of songwriting skills. I think she shines well when she isn't pushing her limits.

 

Having said that, I would choose her to win over a certain half of contestants remaining. I can say a few of words about Jay, Christian, Noah and why them winning would actually bother me, but also, I don't care enough about this show to let the effects bother me past two days at most.