Rachel Potter on X Factor

[Harpz2006]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 9:22pm

Just watched Nashville bartender Rachel Potter's clip from X Factor... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq0h_0PwnGE


I've thought she was wonderful since I saw her get cut in episode 1 of Search for Elle Woods... thought she nearly stole the show in Evita... I think it's interesting how her Broadway past is not mentioned at all in her audition, though...

Updated On: 9/14/13 at 09:22 PM

[Wynbish]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 9:34pm

She thought she nearly stole the show in Evita, too

[ArtMan]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 9:37pm

I normally don't watch X Factor. While switching channels, I stopped with the woman who wouldn't leave the stage. Then within seconds, was Rachel Potter. I also thought it was odd that they never mentioned it. They were taking it from the focus that she was this Nashville bartender waiting for her big break. I mean, she appeared on Broadway. That's just as if not more of an accomplishment then winning a reality program.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 10:04pm

I snorted and rolled my eyes at her "I'm just a bartender living in Nashville waiting for my big break!" schtick. Her voice isn't for me, it's a little high and nasal-y and grating on my ears. But good luck to her, I suppose.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 10:50pm

Stacy Francis was handled the same way.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 10:57pm

Look, here is the thing, it's a reality program, heavily controlled by the producers, and these are pre-filmed episodes.

Frankly, what was aired is technically TRUE. Rachel is now primarily Nashville based and she IS, indeed, waiting for her big break in the music business. She's recorded an album and she is trying to break out there.

If we are going beyond that to what was NOT mentioned, I think it is stupid to sit there and lay it at Rachel's feet. The show extensively interviews them, they learn their bios, they conduct background checks. EVERY reality singing competition Idol, Voice, X Factor, has had notable contestants with professional pasts and great credits (Sasha Allen, Tony Vincent, Stacy Francis, Carly Rose, Joanna Pacitti, 3/4 of the Grease reality show cast. The producers are there to make good TV and craft a story and plot, so they pick and choose which parts of a contestant's life to focus on. "What will make better tv?" We, as a society, like to believe in overnight success and winning the lottery. It's a lot more appealing to quite a bit of the audience to think there is this person out there doing nothing and one day they wander to a reality TV show contest and wow everyone, because, really, then maybe we can to. It's a lot more appealing to the ear than the idea of someone who works their tail off for years, stars in several Broadway shows and still has to claw her way up the ladder for the next job and fight twice as hard to find success in another field.

The problem is that the producers forget that audiences, like their staff members, have google. 30-seconds on YouTube and you see Rachel wowing audiences in Wicked, Addams Family or Evita, singing in bars, wowing crowds on stage at a Disney Park.. Stacy Francis blowing the roof off the building in Footloose, Joanna Pacitti's Annie tapes and music videos, Tony Vincent starring in Jesus Christ Superstar.. Juliana Hansen in the first national of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Adam Lambert in Wicked or Ten Commandments etc. then, because Americans are idiots, and we SEE the singer and not the producers and editors, people lash back at the artist as if somehow THEY did it and tried to pull one over on you and pass themselves off as an amateur, when really, all they did was show up, tell their stir, work their tail off, sing for their life, and then turn their stories over to some writers and executives so that they can have a chance to climb a few rungs up the ladder.

BLAME THE PRODUCERS, NOT THE SINGERS.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 10:58pm

Her friend who was with her (in the tank top) was on the USA reality competition show, SUMMER CAMP. It had his name and said "Broadway Performer" under it. I looked it up and he's never been on broadway.

Just a bit of trivia.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 11:10pm

Yes, that would be Kyle Kleiboeker. He was on the last leg of the NETworks Hairspray tour, and no, no Broadway credits.

[Wynbish]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 11:10pm

I knew he looked familiar! Summer Camp was a weird show. I liked The Simple Life camp-style better.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 12:03am

I don't particularly care whose choice it was, I just thought it was the most CLICHE "background story" for anybody anywhere ever. Maybe they don't want to get into her Broadway roots but couldn't they come up with anything better or more interesting than that?

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 12:04am

Why is this such a big deal for people??

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 12:36am

Kelly,
Please don't feel that I was aiming at you with that. There has been a pointed blame toward Rachel in some social media circles, as there has been against Lillie MCloud this season, who had a nice recording career in the 80s, and Perez Hilton and several bloggers went HARD after Stacy Francis when she was on, so I am addressing that.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 12:43am

No worries, broadwayguy2, I just don't understand why if they were gonna fudge a backstory, they might pick something a little less "done" than the bartender/waitress living in the big city trying to get their big break.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 1:01am

No one claimed the producers to be clever or original, but they want to make money, so they will go for 1.) The lowest common denominator and 2.) A routine that has worked Again, we the heck do we NEED their back stories at all?

[Kelly2]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 1:04am

Well, if they don't give backstory on any of the contestants, what exactly do you think they'd do with the extra airtime? Just show performance after performance with no context? I mean, part of the idea of these shows is you root for people and you get to know them, that's what motivates the voting in the later parts of the contest. All I'm saying is they could've made her half-robot or something.

[NicoleMWright2]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 4:50pm

I went to a taping of the auditions. Earlier in the year, hopefuls went to audition for producers who picked who they wanted to come back for live tapings (late June). Some are great, some are downright a joke. But the judges asked each contestant questions before they performed for the crowd, and from there the producers can edit and cut to include what they want for that portion that you see. Though I wasn't there for Rachel's audition (she went the day after I had), my day did have some contestants with professional credits that the judges did ask about. So to echo above, it's all up to the producers to what they want to show.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 5:37pm

I'm pretty sure no one is arguing who it's up to. Of course it's up to the producers... they produce the show. They are the gatekeepers.

I think posters in this thread are just voicing their displeasure and/or confusion as to why many of those with previous Broadway experience on these kinds of shows (America's Got Talent, American Idol, The Voice, etc.) are never recognized as coming from the musical theatre world. In the last year, there has been at least one notable Broadway performer featured on each of these shows and, yet, the word Broadway was never mentioned. It's not a secret that producers feel the Broadway angle won't "sell" to mainstream audiences.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 9/15/13 at 8:56pm

On here, less so. In other press, they DO argue that it's the artist being deceitful.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 10:56am

They sure didn't make Rachel look good last night. Her performance was rough and when she said she had been sick the audience boo'd her. It was like Showtime At the Apollo. In the end, she made it to the final 4 of the Over 25 group, but it seemed like the audience was against her.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 11:29am

Ugh...I watched this last night for the first time and am glad I got to see Rachel Potter as I did like her in "Evita" and loved her voice that day.

Last night she was terrible, and giving the "I've been sick" excuse was unforgivable. Any singer can sing through a cold. If it was that bad, you would hear it more in her speaking voice...and she could've cut all of the runs that she screwed up. I think she was just ill prepared and deserved to go home. At the least the female football player should've stayed before her. She looked like a petulant child sitting there all night. It's no wonder the audience turned on her.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 12:06pm

Her first audition was fantastic but I defintely didn't care for her last night. I hope she redeems herself.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 12:49pm

She definitely shouldn't have used the "I've been sick" excuse. If she just owned up and said that she knew it wasn't her best I think it would have gone over better. Who knows, maybe the producers are manufacturing a "comeback." It's lucky for her they seem to like her or she would not have stayed.

[Starship]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 2:50pm

You guys do have to notice that reality tv shows/competitions are very much so rigged. Right from the start they know who is going and who is staying. To even APPEAR in the taped auditions that we see on TV, contestants have gone through MULTIPLE auditions in front of the producers. After they're given the OK to move to the taped auditions, they work on their back stories, their music choices, etc.

However, I was surprised at how many of this years contestants have successful-ish backgrounds. Rachel Potter, Lillie McCloud, AKNU, Josh Levi, Al Calderone. Also, am I the only one who sees the resemblance between Xyra & previous X-Factor contestants Fifth Harmony?

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 3:49pm

I had never heard of Rachel Potter but her audition last night was awful. Very pitchy and weak, I thought.

The final over 25, who made it into the top 4 indeed had star quality. I so enjoyed her performance.

[Jayar2]

Posted: 10/3/13 at 6:48pm

The other friend with her there was Anna Harrington, who was a finalist in the Oprah Winfrey Karaoke challenge a few years back. Marty Thomas (of Wicked, The Secret Garden, Xanadu, and Star Search) was also with her.