Great Balls of Lukewarm

Guest judge Naomi Judd let contestants have it on tonight's episode of Nashville Star. Melanie Torres was eliminated, as the voting audience continued to pick off the women.

To her credit, Naomi did offer some helpful professional insight, throwing around terms like "resonance" and "vocal timbre." But she didn't hold back on catty remarks, telling Kristen she needed tips on how to do her hair and makeup.

In response to Casey Rivers' lame version of "Great Balls of Fire," Naomi offered her best line: "Sounds more like 'Great Balls of Lukewarm'."

Chris Young was the only standout performer among the men. He finally realized that women respond favorably to good-looking guys who can sing, and started playing to the ladies in the audience. Now that he's adopted that approach, it's his competition to lose.

The best female performer of the night was Nicole Jamrose, who narrowly beat Melanie to stay in the competition. Nicole took a risk singing "Thing Called Love," a song that suits her voice but obviously invites comparison with Bonnie Raitt. Nicole held her own, turning out a strong rendition, without sounding like an imitation of the woman who made the song famous.

Judge Anastasia Brown said that Nicole was the best woman in the competition, but the voting audience obviously favors Kristen McNamara. Kristen performed the over-covered "How Do I Live Without You," which, coincidentally, was also performed on tonight's American Idol. Kristen might deserve to be kicked off just for picking that song.

Jared Ashley and Matt Mason both sounded nasally, and one of them will probably wind up in the bottom two next week.

As for what else will happen on next week's show, I have no idea. Wynonna couldn't concentrate during the show's closing moments, because her mother was onstage with her. And Troy was equally distracted, because something shiny was onstage near him. They mumbled something about next week's show, but their delivery was so off, I couldn't tell what they said.

Hopefully, the wardrobe department will put Wynonna in something more flattering next week. The bell sleeves of her blouse invited Kool-Aid Man comparisons. And then her mother said, "You're the best Hostess since Twinkies." And...oh, hell.