I do have to say that I am not an Emmy fan at all. I don't know if her persona on this show is an act or what, but I feel like if she has performed on the Opry stage with her Grandma she shouldn't be this shy and nervous all the time.
Here are the video clips of Emmy looking glammed up and very polished in appearance and in performance, very different from the, "Aw, shucks! I'm just a plain, simple country girl who doesn't get all that glamorous stuff and the to-do about it."
Note, this first one (below) was a year and a half ago on the Opry stage. I kind of wonder if the timing of it all isn't key to her wanting to be on Idol a year later.
Like, maybe some record company or manager saw her performance and then did talk to her about making an album with her, as she's Loretta Lynn's granddaughter. Yet, also thinks she'd do better with some exposure on Idol first to give her (possible) upcoming album of her own songs lots of pre-publicity.
She sang her own songs on Idol for as long as she could. (So they probably will all make it onto her album.) Knowing the music industry, Lionel even told her, "That song is a hit," after one of her songs.
The reason I say this theory is because one of my ex-roommates used to work for a famous record company. All she and others did all day was make phone calls to different radio stations around the U.S., requesting a very specific list of songs that the record label wanted to push to be #1 songs, or higher on the charts. The more songs are requested and logged as requested by key radio stations, the more they get played, over and over, and get airtime, which helps the songs get traction and make it to the top of the charts.
If anyone saw the Broadway play/movie
Dreamgirls, they talked about a "payola" that happens behind the scenes in the music industry, where people are quietly paid to push certain songs to the top of the charts. It's not just a random, "This is such a great song and everyone loves it," as the only reason a song makes it to #1. It's often very calculated which artists and songs get exposure and traction and which get set aside. According to my ex-roommate, "payola" isn't fiction.
Emmy Russell and Lukas Nelson at the Grand Ole Opry, honoring the life of Loretta Lynn. She doesn't look all uncomfortable with hair & makeup and false eyelashes done up.
Emmy making her Opry debut singing her own song about Loretta, Memaw, which she sang on Idol. She may have bought her own sparkly dress for this.
And here is Emmy's Tiktok where she has a couple very professionally done music videos, trying to make it look like she is just casually singing from a car window. But, the lighting and the cinematography, sweater to match the car, and glamorous makeup and fake eyelashes are all spot on. And the way she sang to the camera is very polished. She posted this the same day of her audition on Idol. Even if Idol gave her a few weeks between audition and going to Hollywood, no way did she do these videos and got polished on her own in that time. . . and then suddenly show up all "plain" again.
A rather blonde and glammed up Emmy, posted a month after her debut on the Opry stage in 2022 and way before Idol:
An even blonder Emmy back in 2017 when she was performing more. This girl is no stranger to doing things with her hair and having on glamorous makeup on. Not all the time, but enough that she's comfortable with it, regardless of how she portrays herself on Idol.
Compare all that to her 180 degree turnabout with the plain, shy, "Aw shucks! I just want to sing," persona at her Idol audition.
