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Country superstar John Rich is making no secret of his political allegience with his new song "Raisin’ McCain."
The Nashville Star host tells OK!, "You’ve got a guy [in John McCain] who has experience that’s unparalled in the United States."
So does McCain’s ad comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton still get his vote?
"I think it was accurate," he says. "Obama comes off as more hype than substance."
Melissa Lawson, 32, made the top five on Nashville Star and is a favorite to win. After once tipping the scale at nearly 300 pounds, she’s now down 70 and counting. OK! went to Nashville and got the exclusive behind-the-scenes scoop on the shrinking star’s secret to success.
Was being on the show your motivation to lose weight?
No, I didn’t even know I was going to audition. I’ve lost about 45 pounds since the auditions started [in March]. I had lost almost 30 pounds before the auditions.
I had been yo-yo dieting all of my life, and I realized the only way I was going to get over it was to quit dieting.
How did you start?
I started researching healthy eating. I found out that your body needs carbs, fats and proteins to function. So I did things more balanced. I found this great Web site (vitabot.com). You can log your food on there, and it will tell you what you need.
What’s your exercise routine?
I started walking for 10 minutes, then built myself up. Now I work out seven days a week. I do interval training. I walk/run for two to three minutes then I do weights, then I go back to the treadmill. I do three sets. I have a trainer, Ray Wehr, at home. I’m doing a playground workout book with him. There are so many moms that go to the playground and sit on the bench. They can use the equipment to benefit themselves in two minutes of time.
What’s your diet like now?
I wake up and have a banana. Then I take my kids to school, come back and make myself an egg-and-mushroom tortilla or omelet. I’ll have another piece of fruit during the day. I eat a lot of grilled chicken and extra-lean ground turkey. If we have pasta, we use multigrain pasta. I eat a lot of broccoli. I love cheese, but I cut it out just to see what would happen and now it doesn’t agree with me anymore. I have things more in moderation now. I used to drink four 32-ounce [sugary] beverages a day. I gave that up. I drink unsweetened tea now.
Were you heavy as a kid?
I was pretty thin until third grade, and I just started getting bigger and bigger. Come high school, I was a size 14. I was obese compared to the other girls in school.
What diets had you tried?
Every franchise diet and diet book, I’ve done it. I’d lose 20 pounds, then I’d gain it back plus some. I had lap-band surgery and lost about 20 pounds. I had it revised four times, and I finally had it taken out.
Would you recommend it?
No! Ultimately, there is no quick fix.
When did your weight peak?
About nine months ago, I was 298 pounds. I saw the 300 coming up, and that was it. I weighed myself a couple of days ago, and I was 232 pounds. I’m a size 16.
Has your singing voice changed with your weight?
I know it can happen. I personally haven’t noticed, but maybe.
Who do you think is your stiffest competition on the show?
Gabe Garcia. Without a doubt!
Last season, Jewel cozied up to contestants — and the camera — as host of Nashville Star. This season, she returns in a tougher capacity — as a judge — but don’t expect any Simon Cowell-esque tongue-lashings from her.
"I feel like we’re not there to tear people down, or at least I’m not," she tells Parade.com. "I want to be honest. I can’t lie and say I thought somebody was good if they weren’t. But I’m not trying to do it in a mean way or do it to get some sound bite on television by being maliciously clever like you see the judges do on some shows."
Having "taken a lot of criticism to heart" herself in her early days, Jewel understands how difficult it is to put oneself out there for the world to see. "But there are other times that you feel like you have to find your own way and be stubborn about it," she says.
The nice thing about reality shows like Nashville Star is that it could provide the fast track to fame…or can it?
"There’s only, like, one-and-a-half great performers that have come from American Idol. It’s hard," Jewel says of reality show overnight successes. "Just because you’re given the chance doesn’t mean you have everything that it takes. I feel lucky that I got to grow slow. As we used to say, ‘Hard wood does grow slowly.’"
The 33-year-old’s career most definitely grew slow in — graduating from acoustic folk to all-out country over the past decade. But don’t think Jewel tackled the genre on a whim.
"I was raised on country music," she says. "It’s not as if I woke up one day and said, ‘I think I’ll be a country singer.’ I’m doing the same kind of music now that I have always done. If ‘You Were Meant For Me’ was released today, it would be a country song. I’ve got songs I wrote when I was 18-years-old that are ready for Nashville."
One contestant doesn’t get her premiere on tonight’s season opener!
Country has gone global, or at least to network TV!
Tonight, Nashville Star, which name a name for itself on USA Network, is moving on up to NBC with a new host, Billy Ray Cyrus, and a new crop of crooners who survived the auditions to get their big country break. Well, all but one.
TV Fanatic has learned that Texas native Charla Corn, got cut from the 12 contestants competing for Nashville Star’s top slot the day the show taped its first episode. Producers made the decision after hearing her voice give out before the premiere, realizing they had made a mistaking in casting her. Could be the theme of her next country song!
Bad news for Charla, but great news for Third Town, who got a call to fill her vacated seat. Third Town dropped everything, including an opening performance for Kenny Chesney, to make it to the Nashville Star stage. Hey, Kenny’s good, but he’s no reality TV competition series!
Tonight’s premiere episode will also include a performance from country cutie Taylor Swift.
Catch the season premiere of Nashville Star on Monday, June 9 at 9:30 on NBC.
One would think that, considering his upcoming role as judge on Nashville Star, country hitmaker John Rich would have some sympathy for American Idol’s Paula Abdul, who on Tuesday managed to criticize finalist Jason Castro for a song he’d yet to sing. However, you’d be sadly mistaken.
"When Paula made a comment on a performance that didn’t just happen, I put myself in the place of that artist and what they may feel — the humiliation of that," the Rich half of country duo Big & Rich explained at an event to promote the sixth season of the NBC talent search. "The lack of respect is terrible."
In fact, John had some pretty harsh words for singer-turned-TV-personality Paula: "If you’re not any more serious about it than that, get another job! Let somebody that cares judge it."
The country star had even nastier words to say about Idol itself. "American Idol infuriates me… they’re being fake about it," he vented, adding that he’s not surprised the Fox show’s ratings are "in the toilet." (NOTE: While Idol’s ratings are down this season, it is still the highest rated show on TV.)
John also let it be known that his feelings for the show are all-business: "I’m actually friends with Randy Jackson."
Season Six of Nashville Star begins in June.
In the last four years, Miranda Lambert has gone from a wannabe Nashville Star to a Grammy-nominated country superstar. After finishing third on the reality show, the Texas native is riding high on the heels of her platinum debut album, Kerosene, and her sophomore effort, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Taking a break from life on the road, Miranda, 25, strikes a pose with OK! and tells us why she’ll never be a size two and if she’s ever been a crazy ex-girlfriend herself.
So do you feel more comfortable in jeans or in something you might wear on the red carpet?
I really love jeans. That’s kind of my playful side — jeans and boots. I really like sundresses in the summer a lot. The dress-up for awards shows thing isn’t really me; it’s okay for a day, but I’m definitely ready to get back in my jeans once it’s over.
Do you have one beauty product that’s simply your must-have that you need all the time?
I love lip gloss. My favorite is Lip Glass by MAC. It’s really good, it stays on a long time, but it’s not too thick — it’s my absolute favorite.
Do you have a favorite designer to wear to award show events?
I don’t have a favorite designer in particular. For the Grammy’s I wore Nicole Miller and I really loved the dress. The one thing, a lot of the designer dresses are so small, they come in size two, which I’m not. The dress I wore to the Grammy’s was a size six, sometimes I’m a size eight. And that’s normal, but it’s not in the fashion world. So sometimes it’s hard for me. You want to wear something that someone’s never seen before, but sometimes that zipper just doesn’t zip. I really like Nicole Miller because she makes stuff for normal people. Also BCBG, I really like their stuff.
Do you ever have to lose weight to get into these dresses on the red carpet?
It used to bother me. I thought I was fat because none of the dresses would fit. But they make them for runway models, and I’ve come to the realization that no matter how skinny I am, I’ll never be a size two, it’s just not my body. So I’ve accepted the way I look, and if I feel good, then that’s all I care about.
You make it a point not to wear skimpy outfits on stage.
Yeah, I try to be the best example I can be for young girls just as far as my person goes — just to uphold a good image. Plus, I don’t wear skimpy clothes because I don’t really have the six-pack abs to show off. I really have a comfortable style. Onstage, I don’t want to be thinking about my outfit, I want to think about what I’m doing, so I’ll try to dress as comfortably as possible.
With such a busy touring schedule, how do you possibly have time to watch what you eat? Is it difficult on the road?
It’s hard, but I have kind of a routine. I’ve had a trainer out on the road with me for the past year. He really helped me change my eating habits completely — I used to really eat badly. Now, there’ll be days where I don’t care, but on most days I eat salads. It’s really great to have him around, even if he’s not physically there, he could surprise me while I’m eating Cheetos and walk into the room. Then he’ll make me pay for it in the workout. We work out every show day so I’m doing three or four days a week. I’m really active at home too. I have a farm so I’m constantly moving.
You have a farm?
I just got it in October. I’ve got pigs, donkeys, a miniature horse who’s having a baby. It’s great, you know? It’s my paradise, it’s where I go to get away from civilization. I mean, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Those are the times where I don’t have to wear makeup, I don’t have to look cute, I can just be who I am.
How much time to get to spend there?
I’ve really gotten to spend a lot of time there, I’ve been so lucky. During the holidays and the winter season isn’t really a big touring time for us. So I’ve got some weeks off this month and two weeks next month to do some songwriting. So I get to be there with all of that.
You’ve got this sort of double life.
Yeah, but they’re both great lives. I think I need the farm to balance out all the craziness of my career. When I go there, I’m really just a regular girl, not Miranda Lambert.
We don’t really read about you in the tabloids — do you feel like how grounded you are has kept you from going down the path that so many other young stars have chosen?
I just don’t understand the party scene; I’m just not that into it at all. I do that kind of partying for a living, what I do is one big party every night. So when I’m off I really like to have my privacy, be with my boyfriend, be with my family. Anyway, I don’t really have the opportunity, there’s not really a party scene in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma anyway.
So you’re going to start writing again when you get some downtime?
Yeah, it’ll be for the new record — we won’t be going into the studio until fall at the earliest, then the new record will come out next year. But I’m trying to not wait until the last minute to start writing them.
How much of your records would you say is autobiographical?
Well, the first record, Kerosene, I started writing for that one when I was 17, so obviously I didn’t have a lot to write about at 17, so I took from what I’d seen and what other people were going through around me. They’re a couple of songs on there that are personal. But I’ve really lived a lot in the three years that record’s been out, so it definitely comes from a more personal place on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
Have you ever been the crazy ex-girlfriend?
Oh yeah! Currently I’m not a crazy ex-girlfriend, but I can’t promise I won’t be one again.
What kind of reaction have you gotten to that song and others like it?
Girls love that song. Actually, guys do too. We had this thing going last summer when we were out with Toby Keith where we would videotape people telling their crazy ex-girlfriend confessions, guys and girls. It was really interesting to hear some of the stuff. You know, we were kind of afraid that a couple of them were kind of too far out there, like someone might get arrested for this or that story. But it’s fun because I think people can relate to it, everyone has their crazy moments, you know? Guys have had their crazy girlfriend and girls have been that. I guess I’m just the first to actually admit it in an album.
Do you feel kinship or competition with other young women in the country music world?
There’s been some talk of a tour with me and Carrie Underwood and Kellie Pickler because girls just don’t go together a lot; it’s hard for women to draw. I don’t know why, it’s just been that way for years. I really want it to change. It’s great that women are coming out right now that are great, and I think if a few of us could get together and get out there, it would be a big deal. People would love it.
For more on Miranda, check out her gallery and pick up the latest issue of OK!, on newsstands now!
