"Nashville Star" (it's like "Idol," only with talent) rides sibling rivalry to the finish line

    It was the matchup no one saw coming, except perhaps for a proud papa in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

  Entering the "Nashville Star" country music competition in separate tryouts in different cities, brother and sister Zac and Angela Hacker both made the cut for season five, then sang their way forward.

  And now it's come to this: Thursday night, there is a two out of three chance that someone named Hacker is going to be named the winner of "Nashville Star" and take home not only a recording contract with a major label and a Chevy truck, but family bragging rights as well.

  The smart money says Angela Hacker, a 29-year-old single mom, will be collect the most votes from viewers. The results will be announced on the show, which airs 9 p.m. Thursday on USA Network

 

For the record, 23-year-old Zac told their local newspaper, the Times Daily, that he thought his sister would win. Angela only partially returned the favor, saying that her baby-faced brother "has a huge chance."

  After she belted out the Deanna Carter torch song "Strawberry Wine" on last week's show with characteristic power, one of the show's judges, Blake Shelton, gushed, "When I look at you I see a little dandelion growing out in the field ... and then when you sing, I see cigarettes and beer and whiskey!"

  Earlier this month I spent time at "Nashville Star" with my friend John Bohlinger, the show's bandlander. I thought that Whitney Duncan, the bluesy statuesque blond who was voted off two weeks ago, had the most commanding stage presence, while behind the scenes the jut-jawed David St. Romain, who might have the most raw talent of any contestant, strutted confidently backstage.

  By contrast, the Hackers seemed to blend in with the crew. That's not a criticism, just a sign that two southern kids from humble roots have yet to catch up with the personas that were created almost overnight for them by television.

  "Nashville Star" is one of the top-rated cable series in prime time, according to Nielsen. It draws about a third more adult viewers than "Battlestar Galactica," which airs in the same time period Sundays (on sister channel SciFi) and has a much higher profile in the media.

  But -- and here begins a short yet unavoidable list of the ways in which this show is not "American Idol" -- "Nashville Star" is far from the highest-rated program on USA Network (that would be "WWE Raw"). Its weekly audience is less than one-tenth the number who, on average, watch "Idol."

  Buzz is harder to come by for "Nashville Star" because it only airs once a week, meaning that each hour-long episode must include both a performance round and an elimination rite based on the votes that were cast seven nights earlier. ("Idol" schedules a separate show the night after the performances to announce which contestant is leaving.)

  For these reasons, it's not too surprising that "Nashville Star" has had trouble living up to its title. The closest thing to a star the show has minted is Miranda Lambert, and she finished third during its first season. While that year's winner, Buddy Jewell, released one best-selling CD and then faded quickly, Lambert went platinum with her 2005 release "Kerosene."

  Still, not even Lambert's success comes close to that of Carrie Underwood, who parlayed her 2005 win on "American Idol" into a CD that just passed the 5 million mark in sales -- the biggest-selling debut by a female artist since Shania Twain.

  The Hackers' hometown of Muscle Shoals is legendary in the annals of the music industry. In its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, everyone from Bob Dylan and the Stones to Reba McEntire and Ronnie Milsap recorded songs there, relying on the area's rich supply of versatile sidemen.

  Their father, Hardy Hacker, was a professional musician in his day, and as Angela Hacker revealed on last week's show, she and her brother are third cousins of Elvis.

  Above all, the Hackers have their improbable twin ascension from nobodies to nearly famous country-music artists working in their favor.

  Regardless of who wins, both will walk away with recording deals, both will likely release nationally distributed CDs this year and both will perform on tour this summer along with St. Romain and fourth-place finisher Joshua Stevens. (Several dates have been announced at 2007NashvilleStarTour.com, none so far in the Midwest.)

  The winner of "Nashville Star" will get a contract on the WB Nashville label, whose roster includes Shelton, the show's co-host, Cowboy Troy, and the Wreckers, featuring Kansas City's own Jessica Harp, who performed on the show earlier this month.