"Gone Country" - Be afraid, be very afraid

What Satanic master plan, what doomsday scheme could bring together Jacko sibling Jermaine Jackson, Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC, actress Sean Young, "American Idol" also-ran and "Nanny" soundalike Mikalah Gordon, TV hunk Lorenzo Lamas, Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach and "Fame's" Irene Cara? Well, unless the world ends first - which seems a distinct possibility - these B-, C- and D-listers will come together Friday for CMT's "Gone Country II." John Rich of country duo Big & Rich hosts, and it's his job to help these contestants become country enough to win a Nashville recording contract.

Rich, CMT exec Bob Kusbit and some of the contestants met with the press in L.A. a few days back to talk about the show...

Question: John, it seemed like last season you had a lot of candidates towards the end who really - any one of them could have taken the prize. And you were the only one who chooses the winner. And obviously, other people thought other people that were more deserving. Is that format staying the same? Will you be the sole determiner of who wins this?

Rich: Yes I will be the sole determiner of who wins this, and that's a big, big responsibility. I don't think it would matter who I picked. The fans all pick who they want, you know, and I'm basically going at it from the angle of I know country music. That's my life. I spent my whole life doing it. I know the audience, you know, and I know, uh, what I think it takes to impress that audience and to connect with them. I've told everybody on "Gone Country I" and "Gone Country II" it's all about connecting with that audience.

You know, country music encompasses everything from Patsy Cline to Big & Rich. You know what I mean? It really is the widest format of music out there. You're seeing pop artists and rock artists, everybody from Jessica Simpson to Bon Jovi now coming to country music. Darius Rucker now from Hootie & the Blowfish has a top-20 hit this week at country radio. So you're watching country music really become America's music, really stretching across boundaries like no other format.

So I think a show like "Gone Country," even though it's got such a hilarious aspect to it and such a ridiculous level of drama about it at certain times, at the core of it really is music. For me, it is. And it's like can't - do I think you can connect? Do you have a shot? I think you do. I think you don't. That's the way it goes down.

Question: I would ask about some of the challenges too, you know, when they're chasing pigs or whatever. I mean, what does that have to do with them becoming a country artist or is that just good TV?

Rich: Absolutely nothing except it's fun to chase pigs, you know. I think -- I think having a good sense of humor is a big thing. You know, I think -- I think in country music one great thing that makes a great country artist is when they go on stage, they're a rock star. They're a big-time, big-time star. And when you get them off the stage, they're back down to earth. They can gear that thing back down.

I think Faith Hill is a person like that. I wrote a song for her called "Mississippi Girl" that was a big Number One song, and that was basically written about watching her go from being Faith Hill the mega star to Faith Hill in a ball cap, drinking a Corona, walking around barefooted in a parking lot, you know, in the afternoon after the show and taking care of her kids and being a normal person. And so you ask about chasing pigs, what did it have to do with music. Nothing with the music, but it has something to do with in your head are you willing just to be a down-home guy or down-home girl and have a good time with this.

Question: Ms. Young. Okay. Basically, we know you from your acting. So have you always wanted to be a singer, or do you have any singing in your background?

Sean Young: I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and my parents listened to country music. My dad used to listen to Merle Haggard a lot. And my mom's branched out a little bit with Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. And she even got into Leonard Cohen and stuff. But we always listened to country music, and so the premise of the show is that you go to Nashville and you get to write a song and you get to help to write the song and then you get to perform it. And that was the draw that made me want to do it. ... I was a little bit the underdog because I didn't have the experience that someone like (Rich) had in front of an audience, singing. I kind of started off a little rocky. But by the end, it was a very gratifying experience and - because it was so different for me, you know. A live audience is, like, terrifying.

Question: Is it something that you'd like to continue?

Young: Probably not, because the people are - you know, they're right there and you can make mistakes and you have to be really dedicated to travel around and be, like, on tour and on concert.

Rich: But they loved you at the prison. I mean, you and Mikalah could do a prison tour.

Young: Oh, I was so scared at the prison. I was so off balance for most of the show in terms of what to - where to find where I felt comfortable. Because on a set, I feel really comfortable. I just feel at home there. But in front of a live audience - and then, this audience at the prison was a live audience of people who had committed crimes, you know. It was kind of scary, you know. I was still not really comfortable. By the end of the show, I got very comfortable, but to be a performer and dedicate yourself to being a singer - I've dedicated myself to my children. That's what I really love - My life as a mother is one of the things I really enjoy. (So) nah, not really.

Question: Chris, you played in front of large audiences - *NSYNC was huge - and when you played at the prison, you said you were scared and that's like a small crowd. And, how is it changing from being in the boy band doing the music that *NSYNC did to doing country?

Chris Kirkpatrick: I don't know how you wouldn't be scared singing in prison. I mean, I don't care who you are. That's funny. (Laughter.) You know what, that was like, I figured walking into prison being in the band that I was in, I was pretty sure that none of those guys had any *NSYNC CDs. (Laughter.)

RICH: But they had your posters.

Kirkpatrick: Posted up posters in their lockers or in their rooms, a guy with the twinkle in the eye really was a fan. (Laughter.)

It was weird because like the whole time - I think we all had so much fun on it, and there were so times where I'd get up there and perform - I have another band, but I'm always in bands. This was the first time I had to get out there and actually be, like, myself. And the first night, when she was talking about when we performed on the steamboat, I walked out there, and I did an *NSYNC song, but I'm standing there, and I'm
always used to having the other guys around me or at least like doing choreography or sitting on stools or, you know, have something going on, and they're like, "Perform, perform." And, you know, it really kind of threw me off. But it was fun, and we all learned from it. Everybody had a great performance.

Being in the band that I was in, transitioning wasn't as hard because I have a lot of family that's country, and, you know, I'm from western PA, and there's a lot of country up there. I didn't grow up listening to a lot of country. My family listened to country. I was kind of the rebellious one who said I'm not going to listen to country, but it is in my family, and it was fun,you know, getting to perform that style of music and where it's more about what you're saying and the story you're telling than the show. You know, it was really cool. It was a great experience.

I had a blast, and I'd love to go back to prison. (Laughter.)