Even Non-Country Music Fans Can Enjoy Nashville Star

"The Nashville Star" country crooner competition has risen from the obscurity of the USA Network to its premier on NBC Monday night. Country fans will love this American Idol knock-off, but you don't have to be a country music fan to enjoy this show.

The show's producers have obviously studied the American Idol concept and deleted what doesn't work. First and foremost, the show starts with an overview of the audition process vs. American Idol's grueling first few weeks of auditions. This show cuts to the chase and focuses on the talented top twelve contestants. Brilliant concept. They've figured out that viewers want to see talented performers vs. weak and sometimes borderline mentally disturbed people being exploited. Bravo!

The show also succeeds in embracing a unique cast, including a mother of five children, a sister act and a best friend duo. Charming host Billy Ray Cyrus knows how to promote his cast and commends their performance, vs. bantering back and forth with the judges. Unlike Ryan Seacrest, he has been a star and he can shift the focus to where it belongs. At one point, he even gave one contestant a bit of fatherly advice when he warned him to keep his child out of show business.

The judges are the icing on the cake. They include multi award winning songwriter and producer Jeffrey Steele, country music star John Rich and multi-Platinum singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy nominee Jewel. All three of them have clearly adopted this cast. As each contestant performs, you can these proud parents, who can't hide their pain or exude their pride. Rich predicts the winner of this contest will have a career for decades, predicting "It's not over when you hit 30 years old in country music. You're just getting started." American Idol cuts off any contestant over 28 from even applying to compete. Maybe they need to listen and learn.