Last week was the premiere of The CW’s The Next, the best new television singing competition show since American Idol; and the big highlight of it for me was when John Rich sat on the toilet and played the guitar while his contestant was taking a shower. So when I spoke to him at the press day for the show, I had to find out what that was all about. He said, “Michael Ray, he was a little too timid for me. Cause he was singing these really aggressive songs and he just thought about everything all the time. I wanted him to see how loose I could get. I go and sit down on his toilet and play my guitar while he was in the shower. He was like what the hell is going on in here. It cracked him up and I said that’s how you got to be, bro. You just got to roll with it man because you never know. You get out on stage you are not a robot. You are Michael Ray, be yourself.” Sadly he doesn’t use that technique on any of his other contestants.
As wild and as crazy as that is, it is not the boldest thing he did on the show. He explained how something he did in NY is what attracted him to The Next. He said, “I Allows me to be a complete maniac sometimes. For instance riding a horse through Harlem. I am galloping up a sidewalk in Harlem, right towards Malcolm X Blvd. I take a hard right on my horse and then there’s my artist walking past The Appollo Theater and he stops and looks at me like this. I say, ‘How are you doing? John Rich.’ I shake his hand and he is like what is going on. I climb off the horse and I go ‘we have 72 hours before you have the performance of your life, son. Show me somewhere we can park this horse because we got to get to work.’ What other show is that going to happen on?” I can’t wait to see that contestant’s reaction next Thursday when that episode airs.
A big part of The Next is that John Rich, Gloria Estefan, Joe Jonas and Nelly get to personally mentor the contestants 72 hours before they perform in front of a live audience. This is something that John Rich has done before. In fact did you know that Gretchen Wilson was his bartender before they wrote Red Neck Woman and Here for the Party together? Look at where she is in career today and then have a gander where his contestants will be when it comes to the live shows. And on that note another Rich said what he also liked about The Next over the other singing shows is, “I love the fact that the people in the audience get to decide who goes forward. Who represents their town. It’s like High School Football. It’s so cool to have that kind of energy in there.” I like that it is up to the people in the audience and not the judges like the other reality shows. That is how it should be because we are the ones that are going to buy the records, not the judges/mentors who will ask for a free copy.
Talking about records John Rich has one coming out on September 18th. Hillbilly Jedi is Big and Rich’s first album in 3 and 1/2 years. That’s Why I Pray is the first single off of the album and Rich said it is the fastest moving one of their career. You will be able to hear them perform that single during the LA episode in 4 weeks on The CW. But before we get to that song, he will be cheating on Big Kenny and singing two duets with Nelly on The Next. John Rich loved their performances so much he said that he wants to go on tour with him. Could you imagine that ticket? It would make you want to ride a cowboy because it is hot in here. Just like The Next that airs every Thursday at 9p on The CW!
