The Glee Project returned to the Oxygen airwaves this week with country singer Maxfield becoming the first singing casualty of the second season.
Although Maxfield brought a country flair to The Glee Project, the Nashville singer found himself in the bottom three this week with Alyn and Tyler. After singing the Willie Nelson hit “Always on My Mind,” Maxfield saw his time on The Glee Project come to an end.
After winning over Glee Project vocal mentor Nikke Anders, Glee creator Ryan Murphy made the comment that Maxfield had an authentic quality that will undoubtedly connect with a female audience. However, given the fact that Maxfield started his singing career only months ago, his inexperience was evident when it came time to put two singers through to next week.
In a competition that’s filled more with contemporary pop music, how hard was it for Maxfield to be country? As he told The Deadbolt the day after leaving The Glee Project, it was all about being himself.
“I guess you always stay true to your roots and true to yourself. When I’m singing those songs that are so far left, especially when it’s Top 40 stuff, it wasn’t that difficulty once I finally got into it.”
Earlier in The Glee Project, the singers were given Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” as a homework assignment before moving on to the video shoot. Following the choreography and vocals, the video shoot proved to be a key factor in who would fall into the bottom.
Although Aylin was “disconnected” and Tyler struggled with timing, mentor Robert Ulrich felt that Maxfield looked like a deer in headlights when it came to being with the others on stage.
Since Robert made the comment that Maxfield seemed lost during the group number, how did he really feel the next day after leaving the show?
As Maxfield added to The Deadbolt, the group number was brand new territory.
“Well, I’ve never performed on stage for that many people that hasn’t been a band and without a guitar. And doing a theater for the first time, it was very different. So I was kind of lost. I was kind of lost because it took me a while to realize that I’m having fun and have that translate into my facial expressions and my emotions on stage. I think by the end of it I finally found my comfort zone and fell into it pretty good.”