Share
Tweet
Drake Milligan has done it yet again! The rising country singer and America’s Got Talent semi-finalist wowed judges with a roaring live performance of his feel-good original song, “Kiss Goodbye All Night.”
Taking the stage with his band, Milligan showcased what AGT judge Simon Cowell dubbed “the best performance of the night.” The electrifying delivery featured plenty of fiddle lines, pedal steel, rhythmic drumbeats, soaring bass licks and Elvis Presley-influenced dance moves. Sonically, the euphoric tune also had hints of Shania Twain-reminiscent shuffles and a lyrical hat-tip to Presley with its “One for the money, honey, two for the road,” pre-chorus.
Cowell called Milligan “the real deal,” praising his songwriting ability and charming charisma as a performer. “This is, in my opinion, the best performance of the night.”
Subscribe to Taste of Country on
“Drake, this is perfection,” Sofía Vergara remarked with excitement. “Your songs are like they have been playing on the radio for years. You are amazing, you are the whole package. I think you are a star!”
“I will predict that that song will be No.1 on the [iTunes] country chart again, I promise you,” added Howie Mandell, referencing when the song Milligan auditioned with in June, “Sounds Like Something I’d Do,” shot to the top of the same chart.
“The song is great, the music is great, the performance is great, your looks are great. You have a good chance of winning this whole thing!” he continued, before urging fans to vote for the 24-year-old. Fellow judge Heidi Klum also asserted that Milligan has star power “sprinkled all over [him],” which left the humble singer-songwriter blushing and grinning from ear to ear on stage.
If there’s one thing the Stoney Creek Records/BBR Music Group artist has truly established, it’s that he’s got the vocal chops, showmanship and everything it takes to launch himself into country stardom.
Will Milligan make it to the AGT finals and celebrate the release of his just-announced debut album on that stage? Find out Wednesday night (Aug. 10) at 8PM ET on NBC.
Country Singers You Forgot Got Their Start on Reality TV:
Kacey Musgraves on ‘Nashville Star’
Kacey Musgraves on ‘Nashville Star’
Rusty Russell, Getty Images
Kacey Musgraves on ‘Nashville Star’
Nashville Star was a country music reality television competition that ran for seven seasons, but wound up discovering few actual country stars. A look at each season’s finalists finds only a handful of recognizable names, including a young Kacey Musgraves, who finished seventh during Season 5 in 2007. Just 18 at the time, Musgraves can be found performing a song called “Halfway to Memphis” on YouTube. It’d be another six years until we’d get her epic debut album. Angela Hacker won that season.
Chase Rice on ‘Survivor’
Chase Rice on ‘Survivor’
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
Chase Rice on ‘Survivor’
Chase Rice competed on Survivor: Nicaragua in 2010 and did well. He was the runner-up, winning a large sum (supposedly $100,000) and getting a shot to perform an original song during the reunion show in December 2010. He chose a song called “Buzz Back”and the cast seemed to like it. Throughout his season he’d talk about his country music dreams, even singing to his fellow contestants when he wasn’t breaking alliances with them.
Whitney Duncan on ‘Survivor’
Whitney Duncan on ‘Survivor’
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
Whitney Duncan on ‘Survivor’
Whitney Duncan has more reality shows on her resume than charting country singles. Duncan finished fifth on Season 5 of Nashville Star, ninth on Survivor: South Pacific in 2011 and eighth on the 25th season of Amazing Race in 2014. She’s best known for eventually marrying her fellow Survivor contestant Keith Tollefson, with whom she competed on Amazing Race. That union brought about the end of her first marriage as the relationships overlapped, at least on paper. Duncan, whose best-known song was “Skinny Dippin’,” was also on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress.
Chuck Wicks on ‘Nashville’
Chuck Wicks on ‘Nashville’
Marsaili McGrath, Getty Images
Chuck Wicks on ‘Nashville’
In the fall of 2007, then-newcomer Chuck Wicks was set to star on a reality television/soap opera series called Nashville on Fox. The much-hyped, Friday night series followed folks hoping to live out their dreams as country singers. It lasted two episodes before getting scrapped, but Wicks soldiered on with a song called “Cinderella” that would become his first and only Top 5 hit. Later he’d compete on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars with then-girlfriend Julianne Hough. He’s now co-host of the very popular Ty, Kelly and Chuck radio show.
Jamey Johnson on ‘Nashville’
Jamey Johnson on ‘Nashville’
Marsaili McGrath, Getty Images
Jamey Johnson on ‘Nashville’
Also on the cast of Fox’s Nashville was Jamey Johnson, who by 2007 had found some success. His own song “The Dollar” had been a Top 20 hit, and he’d penned George Strait’s “Give It Away,” among others. Now known for being somewhat reclusive, it’s fascinating to imagine him on a reality show/soap opera. What we wouldn’t do to see the four unaired episodes! “Cop Car” co-writer Matt Jenkins was also on this show, as was a woman named Mika Combs who will appear later on this list.
Michael Ray on ‘The Next’
Michael Ray on ‘The Next’
Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images
Michael Ray on ‘The Next’
The Next was a CW reality singing competition with a local focus. Essentially the famous judges and mentors started by pitting local artists against each other, then a winner moved on to semi-final and final rounds. Michael Ray, with John Rich as a mentor, ended up winning with a performance of Jake Owen’s “Barefoot Blue Jean Night.” He got a record deal out of it, which he’s parlayed into several hits. After a single season the series was scrapped.
Chris Young on ‘Nashville Star’
Chris Young on ‘Nashville Star’
John Russell, Getty Images
Chris Young on ‘Nashville Star’
Without a doubt, Chris Young is Nashville Star’s most successful winner, although Season 1 winner Buddy Jewell found a few hits immediately afterward. You probably know Young won, unless you’re new to country music. It was a long road to success for this Tennessean, however. He won Season 4 in 2006, but didn’t notch a hit song until his fourth try three years later.
Canaan Smith on ‘Amazing Race’
Canaan Smith on ‘Amazing Race’
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
Canaan Smith on ‘Amazing Race’
Canaan Smith competed on Season 15 of Amazing Race with Mika Combs (told you to remember her!) and their young relationship played out in amazing ways on national television, none of them good. They did finish sixth, but things came to a head when Combs would not slide down a giant water slide to get to the finish line before Harlem Globetrotters Flight Time and Big Easy (who did some trash talking to intensify her fear of heights and water). We couldn’t find video of the incident but did find this clip of the then-couple talking about it immediately afterward. He was so sweet!
Justin Timberlake on ‘Star Search’
Justin Timberlake on ‘Star Search’
YouTube
Justin Timberlake on ‘Star Search’
Justin Timberlake only dabbles in country on occasion, but we’re so in love with the little cowboy’s performance on Star Search in 1992 that we had to include him. Of course he’d go on to much bigger things and help launch Chris Stapleton into superstardom.
Miranda Lambert on ‘Nashville Star’
Miranda Lambert on ‘Nashville Star’
John Russell, Getty Images
Miranda Lambert on ‘Nashville Star’
That’s Miranda Lambert sandwiched between Buddy Jewel and John Arthur Martinez during the final episode of Nashville Star, Season 1. She’d finished third behind winner Jewell. We still smile thinking about her audition video. The song “Greyhound Bound for Nowhere” is a cheating song co-written with her father.
Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne on ‘Amazing Race’
Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne on ‘Amazing Race’
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne on ‘Amazing Race’
Runaway June’s Jennifer Wayne joined Caroline Cutbirth for Amazing Race Season 24 and finished second behind a father and son team. Both of these teams also competed in Season 22, finishing fourth and eighth. Runner-up teams are said to win $25,000.
Riley Green on Redneck Island
Riley Green on Redneck Island
CMT
Riley Green on Redneck Island
It’s possible Riley Green isn’t eager to talk about his two season on CMT’s Redneck Island. He did win the second time and got a fat check for it, but the show was all about putting sexy, drunk people in impossibly messy situations. And oh yeah, they live together, too. Soooo … show biographies seem to have been exaggerated (when asked, Green denied trying to make friends with cops in college to stay out of jail), and he’s grown up quite a bit since. Actually his new In a Truck Right Now EP showcases some thoughtful country stories about familiar topics. “There Was This Girl” is his debut single.
Sawyer Brown on ‘Star Search’
Sawyer Brown on ‘Star Search’
YouTube
Sawyer Brown on ‘Star Search’
That’s Mark Miller of Sawyer Brown about to perform on Star Search in 1983. The full video stays true to what we learned about the hitmakers later on — their over-the-top performance style didn’t change much, and they were proud to blend influences. Sawyer Brown would win the Vocal Group category that year. Of course there’s video!
Phil Vassar on ‘Star Search’
Phil Vassar on ‘Star Search’
Kevin Winter, Getty Images
Phil Vassar on ‘Star Search’
We have no words for this. Before becoming a thoughtful, piano-driven country singer and songwriter Phil Vassar was apparently a lounge act. It’s almost unforgivable, but it’s hard to stay mad when you’re laughing with such enthusiasm. Vassar appeared on Star Search in the late ’80s but did not win.
Leave a Reply