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Sunday, April 6, 2003

Tasha Takes TV Snub in Stride

By Leanne Potts
Of the Journal
    CULTURE SHOCK: Albuquerque's Tasha Valentine has been eliminated from "Nashville Star," a country music version of "American Idol" airing on the USA Network.
    Valentine, a 22-year-old graduate of Eldorado High who has been working as a Patsy Cline impersonator since she was 18, was one of 12 finalists picked from a field of 8,000 nationwide to compete on the televised talent show for a recording contract.
    She only made it to episode three of the nine-week series, though. The show's three judges voted Valentine off the talent show after she performed a perfectly fine version of Elvis Presley's "Little Sister."
    Judge Tracy Gershon, a music marketing consultant for Sony, told Valentine: "I think you have to watch being a little bit too cute sometimes."
    Ouch.
    Moments later, aggressively perky "Star" host Nancy O'Dell announced Valentine was the contestant being "sent home" (the show's folksy euphemism for getting the big hook). Valentine wept.
    Televised talent shows are so cruel.
    "At first, Tasha was absolutely devastated," said Valentine's mom, Vicki Carr. "She said she knew all week she was going to go. The signs were there."
    Valentine's appointment with the show's hair stylists was abruptly canceled a few days before her final performance, Carr said. Kristen Kissling, the contestant cut the same night as Valentine, got booted from her hair appointment, too, Carr said.
    And when it was time for Valentine to pick out clothes for the next couple of episodes, a wardrobe woman told her "not to worry about the show. Just pick clothes you'd like to have," Carr said.
    "She got the feeling there was an agenda," Carr said.
    The 2 million or so viewers tuning into "Nashville Star" each week (according to Nielsen ratings) might be getting the same feeling.
    As of last Tuesday, three of the seven remaining "Nashville Star" finalists were Dixie Chick-cute blondes who sing pop country. A fourth was a hunky blond guy who sings pop country.
    Coincidence? Perhaps.
    But I bet you a stack of Faith Hill CDs all four hotties are among the five contestants remaining when this column is printed. Sony knows pretty faces with pop voices sell records.
    Despite Valentine's ouster, Carr said the show's producers treated her daughter well. Valentine was paid for her time on "Nashville Star" (she wouldn't say how much) and she will get a set amount of money from sales of the compilation CD that features songs by the 12 finalists.
    Even though she didn't win "Nashville Star," the show opened a door for Valentine: Two Nashville producers approached her after they saw her perform on TV and told her they wanted to work with her.
    "They want to market her to the big labels," Carr said. "They said they didn't want her to sell out and go whiny country, they liked her rockabilly attitude."
    Valentine was still in a Nashville studio last week recording songs with those very same producers, Carr said, which is why she was unavailable for comment.
    Valentine is coming back to Albuquerque sometime in the next few weeks to collect her belongings from her mom's foothills condo and move to Nashville.
    "It's a long way from home, but she figures that is the place for her to be," Carr said.
    The money Valentine earned on "Nashville Star" will pay for the move, her mother said.
    "One way or the other, (the show) gave her a break," Carr said. "Things happen for a reason. If Tasha didn't believe that, she couldn't keep going."