Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Review: Zayra Alvarez wins hearts of Rock Star: Supernova Judges

Three Texas women post strong performances

By Mike Orren

Zayra Alvarez

Tonight was the premiere episode of Rock Star: Supernova featuring Dallas' Zayra Alvarez. The show reprises last year's contest to find a frontperson for a band. Where last year's found a new singer for INXS, this go-round seeks the same for "supergroup" (quotes intentional) Supernova, featuring third-string Guns n' Roses guitarist Gilby Clark, Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and Motley Crue drummer/earstwhile Ghostbar DJ Tommy Lee.

Now I'm no fan of Rockstar's cheesy cover performances and embarassingly overexuberant emceeing by Jane's Addiction's Dave Navarro. But, I was eating dinner at home alone tonight while our server was down and decided to take one for the team by watching and reporting on Zayra's performance. (NB: Pay attention Blair and Alan-- If this gal goes the distance, this is going to be your gig...)

I watched bits and pieces of last year's show, and the primary difference I saw this year was that it is, if anything, more over-the-top. The crowd must be force-fed crank in order to amp them up for a bunch of unknowns' mostly tepid cover performances as if they were the third coming of the Beatles. Navarro kisses the butt of every contestant. Newsted is so happy that it makes you think all that "Enter Sandman" stuff was a jolly joke. And Tommy Lee looks ready to hug and/or punch and/or get drunk with and/or make a pass at every performer.

And what of the performances, particuiarly hometown girl Zayra?

First, it's a good thing that Supernova has declared that they are very wiling to have a femaie lead singer. If I remembered any of the male performances -- which I don't -- I'd tell you that they were so milquetoast as to make Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 seem original and vibrant. And, inexplicably, most of the fellas picked downtempo, mellow, or hippie songs -- odd choices given who the audition is for. I just don't see Supernova covering Coldplay, eh? (But, if you're bad, that's what hell might be like!)

The women, however, rocked the house. And, I'll confess to a personal bias against female-led rock bands. Even with that, I repeat: The women, particularly those from Texas, rocked the house.

Austin's Patrice Pike (who plays in Dallas enough that we can call her a homer too), formerly of Sister Seven, pulled off a strong performance of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" -- a song where it is particularly tough to stand up to the original vocals. She pulled it off.

And, unless there's a twist I'm missing, based on stage presence and being a good fit for this particular band, I would go ahead and paint Houston's Dilana Robichaux's name on Tommy Lee's drum kit. Her performance of Nirvana's "Lithium" sizzled and popped. She's definitely got the look and the feist to hang with Tommy. I'll go out on a limb and predict that she makes more than the band before this one's over.

But don't count our Zayra out. She uses her Latin flair to good effect, at least in terms of differentiating herself from the others. Her goth look and pop sensabilities aren't an exact match for Supernova. I was underwhelmed by her performance of Evanesence's "Bring Me to Life" -- you'll find much better and more interesting tunes on her MySpace. But the rockers were impressed. Producer Butch Walker (who has worked with Bowling for Soup) said she had a great "Mazzy Star meets Bjork thing going." And Jason Newsted's review consisted of falling on his knees and asking for Zayra's hand in marriage.

Rock Star continues tomorrow night on Channel 11, but I doubt you'll see any of the Texas gals performing, as only the three lowest vote-getters have to fight for their place.

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Mike Orren Staff

See the performances here: http://www.texasgigs.com/blogs/notmus...

3 years, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )