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Everyone is saying Faith, Martina and etc, which is all well and good. But what about male singers? The comparisons won't be there, which will make it safer for Katharine.
Here are a few male country singers/songs I think Katharine could do and wow people.
1. Brooks & Dunn - Ronny Dunn is pretty much the best male vocalist in Country music. Their new one "I Believe" would be an awesome acapello for Kat, just to steal a little note from Bo. They also have other songs she would do amazing with.
2. Alabama - Now a lot of people will say this is too country for her, but I think she could REALLY steal some country boys and girls with a awesome rendition of "Mountain Music (like grandma and grandpa use to play)". I heard it on the radio this morning, and I thought, that is what Katharine should sing. Everyone knows it (whether you like country or not), it has a lot of big notes, and a climatic ending.
3. Blake Shelton's new one, "Nobody but Me". It has a lot of big notes and it is a cute song for her to sing. Basically the song says, "Don't go lovin' on nobody but me".
4. Garth - Tons of songs to choose from, and everyone knows him. A KF user has already chosen a song from him for Kat, so I won't steal his thunder.
I think Willie Nelson's songs would be perfect for Katharine (especially "Crazy", which he wrote for Patsy Cline). And I'm not worried at all about "stereotyping her too much to oldies". In fact, I 'd say that it's to her benefit to do "classics" or "standards" like Nelson's. If Kat does a current or recent country-radio hit by a star like Faith Hill or Martina, people will automatically compare it to the original version. And, rightly or wrongly, they will conclude that Kat's version falls short if it doesn't "sound just like it does on the radio". I really think that's what happened last week, when Kat did the Christina Aguilera song.
Like Entertainment Weekly said in their article, most AI viewers don't listen to oldies stations or oldies shows on the radio. They really only hear "the standards" at weddings or bar mitzvahs (or sung by amateurs in karaoke bars). So if Kat does something like Patsy Cline, they won't have anything to compare it with. If you ask me, that's why Kat did so well with her versions of "Think", "Until You Come Back To Me', "Come Rain or Come Shine", and "Since I Fell For You". Needless to say, all of those songs are popular standards nowadays, and Katharine was able to do a terrific job putting them across to the AI audience!
oops! - I didn't mean the Entertainment Weekly article, but rather this one from MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12056515/
Katharine McPhee fans around the world