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Branson Spotlight

Pam C
Lake Charles, La
Branson Idol
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 3 of 5
August 25, 2005
11:43 AM

We are from La. and we come up every year to enjoy Branson. But over the years we found a young man from La. performing, he started out at Barbara Fairchild Theatre and we have been following since. We were so disappointed he wasn't doing the show. We just felt a part of Branson knowing a young man was from La. And besides that we think he made the show so much fun...he was a natural.

This is the first time I have sent in any type of review. I do hope he's back next year and we would love to hear him sing again. It has been a long time since we have heard him sing.

Don W
Westland, MI
Branson Idol
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 4 of 5
July 10, 2005
03:55 PM

This show is FUN!

The new name for this show is Branson Spotlight. It's done Friday nites @ the Jim Stafford Theater @ 11PM. Only the hearty get to see this show! We did successfully come from Ray Stephen's show at 8pm. We only made it thru "creative parking" and use of back roads. If you do an 8pm Friday show before this, I'd recommend a close show or one that has a back exit. The strip was 100% bumper to bumper before the show and we would have been late otherwise. There are a number of theaters that have 8pm shows within walking distance of the Jim Stafford theater - including Jim Stafford @ the Jim Stafford at 7:30.

Now to the show: Like American Idol:
Six contestants from Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri each sang one song. All were selected in previous tryouts. Five did country songs, one did gospel. All had a great deal of talent, though different looks and styles.

Cheryl Gabriel from the Doug Gabriel Show and Chase Havens from the Grand Jamboree were hosts. I'd really have liked to see each of them do one number. Doug Gabriel, Grandma (also from Grand Jubilee), the lady doing Shania Twain at Legends and a local DJ / writer were the judges. Doug was a terrific judge. He critiqued honestly, but very nicely. His suggestions for improvements and his complements both directly hit the mark for each contestants performance.

Granny was hilarious!!! Seeing her there made me wish I'd seen his/her show! (S/he's really a guy dressed up as a Granny!) She was so animated in her responses to the contestants!!! Yet, she ended offering knowledgeable critiques of the performance finding both highlights and potential improvements. The other two spots rotate.

They interviewed Legends Shania Twain actress / singer. Audience members were allowed to ask her questions. Then she sang a number from her show - including bringing up an audience member
r to dance and sing with her. She was helpful to the contestants and performed well. The final judge and Granny had to share a mich. They had a few funny "tussles" over the mich that lightened up the judging. Doug Gabriel also sang "God Bless America" to honor the vets at the show. We had wanted to see him, but his regular show was on vacation while we were there. Seeing him perform @ Branson Showcase was a real bonus!

After the judges rule out 4 of the 6 contestants, the audience votes. One side of your ticket votes for one contestant, the other end of the ticket votes for the other. Before you leave, you know who won. We both felt the #2 contestant in the vote was really good. Even the judges told him he was very "commercial". He would have fit in many shows we saw during the week. The winner was too twangy for us. Six new contestants come the next week.

I'm a 47 year old man, my wife is 51. We attended this as our last show in Branson and enjoyed it. This was our 1st Branson visit. We ended up attending 10 shows. We're both real American Idol fans. I enjoyed the show a lot. My wife thought it was just ok. She wished there was more variety in music styles in the show. I agree, but still had a great time.

Take a Chance on Branson Idol

I am a reality show nut. I do not even take phone call on Thursday nights because of The Apprentice and Survivor. I even watch local city council and school board meetings on our city cable access channel. Yes, I know I am strange. American Idol also ranks high on my list of favorite shows. When I first heard about Branson was going to have their own version of American Idol I was giddy with excitement.

The concept was great and right up my alley. I even tried to convenience my wife to audition, but that was unsuccessful. The great thing about this show is that is that it does not have any competitors. The show happens every Friday night during its season, and starts at 11:00 p.m. There are no other shows at that time. You can even see a show at 8:00 p.m. and still have plenty time to get to Branson Idol before it starts. Best of all, the 2004 ticket price was only $10.

You might be asking yourself why you would want to pay to see a show full of armatures? Well the truth is, you do get to see your share of Branson stars as well. The show is produced by one of Branson’s most successful acts, Doug Gabriel. He also acts as one of the judges along with several other Branson entertainers. The guest judges change from week to week. Homer Lee, one of the best comedians in Branson, and the Brett Family Singers were the guest judges the week we were there.

Five constants were selected at various talent searches around the country for each week’s competition. They each sang one song, and then the judges would give them feedback. Don’t worry, there were no Simons on the judge’s panel. Of course, Homer Lee had hilarious responses every time.

After the singers are all finished, Doug Gabriel sets us a talk show type stage and interviews the guest judges. The guest judges also get to sing something from there show. I had already seen the Brett Family Singers and loved them, so I found the interview very interesting.

The judges narrow the field of five down to two contestants, and then the audience gets to choose the winner. Using your ticket stub you vote for your favorite. The audience actually picks the winner, and that is the person who advances on to the next round.

I loved the show. However, if you are a larger built person like my wife and I, you will not find the theatre very comfortable. The show was in the Legend’s Theatre, and I had been there before when it was the Osmond’s Theatre. However, I did not remember how small the seats were. We were not all comfortable. We hugged each other for over an hour in an attempt to stay out of our neighbors laps. To make thing worse, we were in the middle of the isle and the was very little leg-room. I think that if we go back to this theatre I will get a seat near the back and hope that I do not have a neighbor. That way I will be able to spread out.

Having said that, the theatre was pretty neat. There were pictures of celebrities all over the walls, even in the bathroom, that you cold spend hours looking at. They also had a pretty nice gift shop. If you wait until the previous show is out, you will have no problems finding a close and level-parking place in the front of the theatre.

When it came time to announce the winner I was nervous. My wife and I voted for different people, and like any man, I want to be the one who picked the winner. My contestant did win. I later found out that he also made it to the final round later on in the season, so I felt like I played a part in his success.

Since I am writing this review in March of 2005, I have already heard that they are having this contest again. I think that is great. I am not sure of the location or the price for the 2005 season. When you are in Branson this summer, look up Branson Idol. After all, there is not much else going on at 11:00 p.m. on Friday night. You will hear some great music, see a few of Branson’s stars, and you might even get to help discover a future star. - Heath

JPL
MO
Branson Show: Branson Idol
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 5 of 5
Date: September 15, 2004
Time: 10:16 PM

Amazing. At first I thought that I would hate this show, being that I am a HUGE American Idol fan. But, after seeing it numerous times, I have grown to love it.

I've been there whenever the Haygoods were the celebrity judges, as well as the Baldknobbers, Osmonds, and I can't remember whom else...but in any case, I have always enjoyed it.

The host (Chance Havens) is hilarious. He'll make you laugh so hard whenever he starts into his whole fake Pepsi commercial.

Anyway, go see Branson Idol if you can stay up that late! Oh, I remember now, Jay Stack was the name of the performer that absolutely blew my mind in that show! :) Move over Garth Brooks!

S. L.
Verona, Mo
Branson Show: Branson Idol
Recommendation: Yes
Ratings: 5 of 5
Date: June 05, 2004
Time: 3:56 PM

My husband and I are big fans of American Idol. We have become caught up in the rooting for a certain young singer and then voting to keep our singer in the competition. So on our last trip to Branson, we thought we would see the Friday night Branson Idol Show, even though it began at 11:00pm! Tickets were $10 each or $12 for the first rows. So that seemed like a good deal.

It turned out that 11:00 pm is a pretty good time to see a show. If you see a 7 or 8 o'clock show, you still have time to see Branson Idol afterwards at The Legends Theater. The place was packed. We were glad that we had made reservations for the 4th row center. Since at that time of night all the other Branson shows are over, the balcony/dining area became a place for lots of Branson Entertainers to sit and watch the young new talent try to advance to become The Branson Idol.

This is the Judge and Talent line-up for the night we went:

Celebrity Judge: Tony Orlando

Rotating Judge: Janet Dailey (Romance Novelist)

Contestants: Danielle Drew (Springfield auditions), Crystal Campbell (Tulsa
auditions), Deborah Clary (Dallas auditions), Trish Cordona (St. Louis
auditions), & Ty Bills ( send in package).

Winner: Trish Cordona

The first thing that surprised me was the high level of talent. It seemed that each contestant was already ready for a musical career. I hadn't anticipated that those young people would be so good. The Judges offered very constructive criticism without bruising their young egos. I believe that the youngest contestant was 17 and the oldest was 23.

The Judges gave each contestant marks for performance, costume, stage presence, etc. We didn't see their scores. The two contestants with the highest scores were announced. The top two were Danielle Drew and Trish Cordona.

Then the audience got to vote between those two. Our tickets were our ballots. The Celebrities in the balcony also were able to vote. While the tickets were counted, Doug Gabriel talked with Tony Orlando on stage. Tony was very personable and funny. He answered questions from the audience and even sang for us. Wow, this was another bonus we didn't expect.

Then all Judges and Contestants joined Doug and Tony for the announcement of the Winner, who would go on to compete with other Winners this Fall. It was a very close decision....9 votes difference! Trish Cordona won. She has a lot of talent, but my husband and I really wanted Danielle Drew to win. She had that "something special". I think that Tony Orlando agreed. He told Danielle that she needed to work on her stage movement "but that was the only thing she needed to do". He said that there was one thing he wanted to do when she had finished singing - and then he stood up and applauded her! It was magical.

Finally, Doug's wife announced that there will be 10 wildcards spots. So there is still hope for our new favorite, Danielle. And we will have to plan another trip to Branson for Branson Idol.

For those of you who leave a great musical Show like Swing, Swing, Swing or The Duttons or any other show that leaves you happy and not ready for bed, you might want to do as we did and check out this late night Branson Idol.
But a word of warning - you may become hooked on it.