‘Clash of the Cover Bands’ Recap: Performers Battle to Become King of Country
Casey Durkin/E! Entertainment Reading Time: 4 minutes
Tonight’s Clash of Cover Bands tribute is to the kings of country. This episode featured Adam Tucker covering Tim McGraw and Adam Rutledge Covering Keith Urban. The judges were looking for an artist that can spill their heart out and relate to everyone in the audience. These impersonators both saw the same experts, but the Tim McGraw impersonator reigned victorious.
The Tim McGraw impersonator is a former football player who became a fan of the singer in 1992. When he got into McGraw’s music, he was the quarterback his college’s football team. On long bus trips, the impersonator would sing the country music to the other football players.
He always knew that he wanted to pursue music, but record companies declined his voice because it’s too similar to Tim McGraw. From there, he decided to continue chasing his dreams, no matter how hard it may be. He brought his three bandmates with him from West Virginia for the compeition.
The impersonator looked and sounded like McGraw when he first took to the stage. After he finished his song, Adam Lambert noted that both Adam and his band gave an authentic stage presence to Tim McGraw. The only weak point they noticed was his vocals. He had too much twang, they couldn’t understand what he was saying. They also stated that he was a little stiff on stage so he’d be seeing a movement expert in addition to the vocal expert.
This Keith Urban Impersonator Only Needed a Wig to Look Like the Singer
The Keith Urban Impersonator is a total family man located in Virginia. Before his time as a Keith Urban impersonator he had his own rock band for ten years. He got into Urban’s music because of the impressive guitar playing. This impersonator also brought along bandmates to the compeition. Right before he stepped foot on to the stage he transformed himself into Urban with a wig. This wig was seriously the cherry on top for his look.
Through the Keith Urban impersonator’s performance, Meghan Trainor was pointing out his similarities to the actual singer. After the performance, Trainor admitted that she loves Keith Urban but the impersonator’s act lacked in stage comfort. Urban typically is laid back on stage and it was obvious that the impersonator was nervous. This impersonator also got paired with the vocal and movement experts.
Both impersonators were mentored by both stage presence expert Ray Leeper and vocal coach Kuk Harrell. They pushed the Keith Urban impersonator to not only look like the singer, but perform like him too. They helped him find both inspiration behind his vocals and a new on stage groove.
When the experts met with the McGraw impersonator they mostly focused on moving him around the stage. Similar to the Keith Urban impersonator they were trying to help him find comfort on stage. Accompanying his new stage presence the vocal coach helped him find the best places for his twang.
Both Impersonators Came Back to the Stage With Obvious Improvements
The battle round began with the Tim McGraw impersonator standing on top of a couch on stage, which quickly had people screaming. These groups were seriously neck to neck, but I personally liked the Keith Urban impersonator more. His stage presence was a lot more comfortable this time around. The improvements out of both impersonators were noted throughout the judges comments.
“Oh my god you guys are up here killing it, I’m like wow!” said Esther Dean. “I also got to work with Kuk the vocal expert, and what he did was show me how to feel music and I felt the music tonight. It showed you studied, it showed you listened to our expert and then brought it to the stage. I just thank you for that.”
Even though both impersonators improved immensely they still had to choose which of the singers was the true king of country. Adam Tucker as Tim McGraw was announced as the third winner of Clash of the Cover bands. They are now going home with $10,000, a performance on The Jimmy Fallon Show, and the chance to compete to be crowned the ultimate cover band at the end of the season.
