Keepin' it Country Media & Radio » Skylar Laine

CMT Music Awards Presenters Announced

Tia — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 16:27:52 +0000

With only two days remaining until the 2012 CMT Music Awards, Nashville is brimming with excitement in anticipation of the big night.

Today, a list of presenters were announced for Wednesday’s show. The list includes: Jason Aldean, Sara Evans, Ronnie Dunn, Alan Jackson, Jake Owen, and Kellie Pickler. Previously-announced performers The Band Perry, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan will also be on hand to present awards.

Several other presenters comprise the list, such as American Idol finalists Colton Dixon and Skylar Laine, CMT hosts Tom Arnold and Steve Austin, 2012 Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti, Twilight star Ashley Greene, Tony Hawk, Denise Richards, Dax Shepard and Jordin Sparks.

The show will feature performances from some of the best in country music: Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, Pistol Annies, Rascal Flatts, Darius Rucker, Hank Williams Jr. and Zac Brown Band.

The show, hosted by Toby Keith and actress Kristen Bell, will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena June 6th at 8PM EST on CMT and CMT.com.

We will be at the show, so be sure to check back with us as Keepin’ It Country will be up-to-date on everything related to the Awards and CMA Fest!

VIDEO: Reba McEntire & Skylar Laine

Lydia Picknell — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:44:35 +0000

Last night’s American Idol finale was an all-star finish, with a line-up more like that of an award show than of a reality television finale. While we won’t spoil who was crowned season eleven’s winner last night, we want to share one of the best performances of the night which featured country contestant Skylar Laine and the Queen of Country herself, Reba McEntire. The two teamed up for Reba’s hit “Turn On The Radio,” and the always gracious Reba made sure to give Skylar center stage for most of it.

Check out their performance below and let us know what was your favorite part of last night’s finale:

Reba McEntire To Perform on Idol Finale

Lydia Picknell — Wed, 23 May 2012 15:02:19 +0000

It’s starting to sound like a superstar finish to American Idol’s 11th season tonight. Country music queen Reba McEntire will join country-rock contestant Skylar Laine in a duet on tonight’s big show. Also slated to appear is legend John Fogerty, Aerosmith, Rihanna, Nelly Furtado, and Jordin Sparks among others. The female contestants from the season will pay tribute to the late Donna Summers, and the boys will perform a group number in memory of Bee Gee’s Robin Gibb. The line-up is starting to look like an award show, isn’t it?

Catch the performances tonight on the Idol finale when it starts at 8 pm EST on FOX.

VIDEO: Skylar Laine Performs on Live! With Kelly

Jessica Crans — Tue, 08 May 2012 00:43:24 +0000

Last Thursday, America had a bit of a shocker as American Idol said goodbye to 5th place country spitfire Skylar Laine. This morning she made her way to Live! With Kelly in NYC to perform “Didn’t You Know How Much I Loved You” by Kellie Pickler. Skylar calls her fans “SKOUTLAWS” and Kellie joined in on the fun today on twitter to show her support.

@KelliePickler: @SLaineAI11 What a nice surprise…I’m watching @LiveKelly & you just sang my song again! You did GREAT! I’m definitely a “ScoutLaw!” ;)

@KelliePickler: Oh crap! I mean “Skoutlaw!” ha ha!

@SLaineAI11: @KelliePickler: I love that song so much! Thank u so much 4 sayin youre a SKOUTLAW! Ur music means ALOT 2 me so thank u 4 bein an inspiration

Perhaps we’ll see Sklyar make an appearance at this year’s CMA Music Festival? Country music showed great support to Idols Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina last year and even though Skylar was voted off in 5th place instead of winning or coming in 2nd, we foresee her as also having great success!

Do you want to see Skylar at CMA Fest this year? Let us know what you think! We here at Keepin’ It Country would love to see her there!

Photo courtesy of Live! With Kelly

Country Stars React to Eric Church’s Statements

Lydia Picknell — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:37:02 +0000

It’s been a big five hours for us here at Keepin’ it Country, and for the country music world. Only a few minutes after posting a few quotes from Eric Church‘s interview in the current issue of Rolling Stone, did country stars start reacting. First to find out was the usually funny Blake Shelton, who was pretty serious over what Eric said about Blake and The Voice:

@blakeshelton: “@keepinitblog: Eric Church slams Blake Shelton, @NBCTheVoice, in his interview: http://fb.me/1IjOR0jgE” I wish I misunderstood this…

Miranda Lambert also took to Twitter to defend her husband. She re-tweeted our article then added her own input:

@miranda_lambert: Thanks Eric Church for saying I’m not a real artist. Or @kelly_clarkson, @carrieunderwood & @KeithUrban. Your welcome for the tour in 2010.

American Idol contestant Skylar Laine, one of the few country artists on this season, took offense to Eric saying that there are no real artists on her reality show.

@SLaineAI11: Eric why would you say that??? Readin that crap just broke my heart.

The Voice’s young country contestant, Raelynn, also had a little bit to say on Eric’s statements. Raelynn had just joined Miranda Lambert on-stage at Stagecoach Festival this past weekend.

@RaelynnOfficial: Well I was a fan of @ericchurch till now.

Eric Church has yet to respond to the comments. Read his comments for yourself here on Keepin’ it Country, or in the new issue of Rolling Stone. Eric has a show in Nashville this Saturday at the Bridgestone Arena. How do you think Music City is going to welcome him back?

RaeLynn Goes Live, Spends Sunday Online With Fans

Ted Efron — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:04:05 +0000

After last week’s live show performance on The Voice that earned her a spot in the show’s Top 16, RaeLynn decided to a little live show of her own. We’re not talking about TV or even a club gig. This was simply RaeLynn spending part of her Easter Sunday connecting with her fans in a webcast.

Say what you will about the spunky 17-year-old from Baytown, TX, but she sure has fun. She took the chat in every conceivable direction: From her love of “boy bands” (especially One Direction and singer Harry Styles) to being disappointed in hearing Jake Owen got engaged (even though she said the 30-year-old Owen is pretty old) to talking about one of her friends getting a boyfriend. She may be on her way to being a big star, but she’s still got a lot of kid in her. That’s a good thing.

She sang little snippets of songs that fans requested and even gave some of them a huge thrill by calling them. She even made a few surprise calls to some of her friends from The Voice so fans could hear from those people, too. Unfortunately for her, one of those calls kind of backfired. When she called former Team Blake member Jordan Rager, the fellow country signer didn’t know who he was talking with because he didn’t have RaeLynn’s number saved in his phone. Oops!

As for answering questions, RaeLynn tried her best, but it was hard for her (or anyone watching) to keep up with the fast and furious flow from her fans. Below are some of the her thoughts on various topics and answers to questions:

On her reaction to fans voting her into the Top 16 and what song she’ll be singing next:

“First of all, thank you if you voted for me. I really appreciate it. I’m so excited to be in the Top 16. You’re gonna love the next song I’m doin’. I can’t tell you what song it is, but you’re gonna love it!”

On being coached by Blake Shelton and mentored by Miranda Lambert:

“Isn’t he (Blake) amazing? He is so cool! He’s like the best coach ever! He and Miranda have been mentoring me a lot. Any time I get a new song she tells me what I need to do to work on it. She’s just so cool!”

On her accidental slipping of a swear word during the Results Show. She said it after being named the third of three Team Blake members that voters advanced to the Top 16.

“I’ve been getting so much crap about that! I did say, “Oh, the s-word” after they called my name because it was so crazy! First of all, I was sittin’ there with Charlotte, Naia and Jordis, who are amazing artists. They all did good on iTunes. I didn’t know who in the heck they were gonna pick. So when they called my name, I think anybody would’ve said, “Oh, sh–!” I mean, come on! That was scary! I’ve had a couple people criticize me for it, but stuff like that happens. It was really funny because Miranda said that when she won Album of the Year.” (For those who may not know, that happened in 2008 when Miranda won for her Crazy Ex-Girlfriend album.)

What does she think about being famous?

“I don’t know. I don’t think of myself as famous. It’s weird when people come up to me and are like, “It’s RaeLynn!” because I’m not used to it. I’m just a normal girl with a dream. It’s crazy.”

What does she think about American Idol country contestant Skylar Laine?

“I think she’s awesome! I think she’s a badass, like me! Me and her both are like that spitfire, badass that’s goin’ on in country music. I admire that. And I love rock-country and I think she’s gonna do really well! She’s really great. I really, really like Skylar Laine.”

Who’s more attractive: Adam or Blake?

“Definitely, Adam. Blake’s more like a big brother to me.”

******

Team Adam and Team Cee Lo take The Voice stage this week, so RaeLynn gets the week off from performing. She returns to the stage for her next live performance on Monday, April 16. We’ll find out if she moves on again during the results show on the 17th.

Catch future RaeLynn webcasts at her Ustream channel HERE. Plus, you can keep up with her at her Facebook and follow her on Twitter @RaeLynnOfficial

“American Idol” Top 8: Skylar Laine

Jeanna D. — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 07:46:12 +0000

Last night was 80′s theme night on American Idol. Skylar Laine closed out the show with a fantastic rendition of Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

The judges praised her performance and were impressed with Skylar’s vocal range. They even gave her a standing ovation… her first one on the Idol stage.

I have been a fan of Skylar since day one. I think she is so talented. We know she is a top-notched performer with a great country voice, but I was so glad that she displayed her full vocal ability this week as well.

Judge, Jennifer Lopez, was brought to tears and so was I.

Skylar also sang a duet with fellow contestant, Colton Dixon. The pair took on Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton‘s “Islands In The Stream.”

Watch American Idol tonight to find out this week’s results. Good luck, Skylar! I’m rooting for you.

Check out the video of Skylar’s performance:

Continue reading to check out the video of Skylar and Colton’s duet…

Skylar and Colton’s duet:

“Idol” Support: Miranda Lambert Surprises Skylar Laine

Ted Efron — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 04:07:07 +0000

Skylar Laine has made no secret about how much she loves Miranda Lambert. Now Lambert is returning a bit of the love — in 140 or characters or less.

The 18-year-old from Mississippi has sung her way to the Top 8 of the current season of American Idol and her madness for Miranda (the good kind!) has helped get her there. She sang “Hell On Heels” by the Pistol Annies in her audition and just this week fired off a powerful version of “Gunpowder & Lead.” She’s frequently talked about Miranda and even says in the “about” section of her Facebook page: “My biggest inspiration is Miranda Lambert (I’m obsessed ha!)”

Late Friday night Lambert reached out to Skylar - how else? – through Twitter. The two-time winner of the Academy of Country Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year tweeted:

@SLaineAI11 hey girl I broke my phone and been out of the loop. I’m back and I wanna say I’m flattered you chose me as your hero! Good luck!

A short time later a clearly shocked and surprised Skylar saw the message and replied with:

My IDOL Miranda tweeted and followed me! I’m the happiest person alive! I cant even believe this!

Skylar even included the below pic, which served as proof to everyone (herself included) that it was all real:

There’s also one more Laine-Lambert song connection from this season of Idol. Skylar sang the Faces’ “Stay With Me,” which used to be a regular part of Miranda’s concert set list.

American Idol: Skylar Laine & Hollie Cavanagh Take on Miranda Lambert & Carrie Underwood

Jeanna D. — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:22:02 +0000

American Idol was full of stellar performances last night. It is being dubbed as one of the best episodes ever. And with good reason; the contestants really out did themselves. Eleven seasons in, it is great to see the abundance of talent that continues to step across the Idol stage.

Last night, the contestants each performed songs by their musical idols. Our country girl, Skylar Laine, chose “Gunpowder and Lead” by her idol and country superstar, Miranda Lambert.

You can definitely see the Miranda influence when Skylar performs. Her stage presence and performance energy are impressive, and she has a rockin’ country vibe. Just like her idol.

Skylar slayed her performance of “Gunpowder and Lead” and continues to bring her “A” game every week to the stage!

Check out the video of her performance:

Continue reading to check out Hollie Cavanagh’s cover of Carrie Underwood…

Another contestant this season, Hollie Cavanagh, has a country idol of her own: American Idol winner and country powerhouse, Carrie Underwood.

Hollie performed Carrie’s hit ballad, “Jesus Take The Wheel.” It is difficult to take on a song by an Idol winner, but Hollie did a very solid job. She has great vocal range and a naturally beautiful voice, and is definitely another one to watch this season.

After her performance, Hollie even got a tweet from her Idol:

@carrieunderwood: @CavanaghAI11 You were amazing tonight! You meant every word…made me teary-eyed. I’m honored you picked my song to sing!

Check out Hollie’s performance:

Watch American Idol on Fox, Thursday at 8/7c to find out this week’s results!

What are your thoughts on last night’s episode of Idol? Sound off in the comment section.

American Idol: Skylar Laine

Jeanna D. — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:08:36 +0000

American Idol Season 11 is well underway. As you probably already know, this season’s resident country girl is Skylar Laine and she is definitely one to watch. With a great set of country pipes and stellar performance skills, Skylar is going to be a serious contender for the Idol crown this year. She has “it” as they say.

Skylar has continued to impress me each week, and nails her performance every time she hits the stage. She is one of the most consistent contestants and her stage presence is second to none this season. Her country mixed with rock sound definitely suites her well, and fits in perfectly on current country radio.

Tonight on Idol, we will lose another contestant giving us the Top 9. I would be shocked if Skylar is in jeopardy after her fantastic rendition of Billy Joel’s “Shameless” last night.

Continue reading to catch up on Skylar’s performances from the last three weeks…

Top 10 – Billy Joel Night: “Shameless”

Top 11 – Songs From the Year You Were Born – Bonnie Raitt: “Love Sneakin’ Up On You”

Top 13 – Whitney Houston Night: “Where Do Broken Hearts Go”

Watch American Idol on Wednesdays at 8/7c and tune in for the results on Thursdays at 8/7c.