14 DAY TRIAL // Last night’s Country Music Association Awards marked the open stage debut of Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who performed live the title song from her upcoming movie, “Country Strong.”
In the film, Gwyneth plays troubled country singer Kelly Canter and, because she wanted to make the role as authentic as possible, she decided to sing the songs herself after she was trained properly.
Still, from recording a track in a studio to singing live in front of an audience of pros is a long distance – but Gwyneth made it effortlessly, though not without a serious case of nerves, EW notes.
Dressed in a little black dress with trendy ankle boots to match and drumming on a guitar, Gwyneth did not seem to belong on that stage – at least, not judging by her body language and the nervousness that was written on her face.
Her voice, though, was an entirely different matter since there was hardly a trace of hesitation in it. In fact, the actress handled herself so well for her country debut she even got a standing ovation – and it wasn’t just country music stars being polite either.
“Strumming an acoustic guitar, looking a little nervous but singing the movie’s title song in an expressive, surging tone, she didn’t really need the assistance of the wonderful Vince Gill, there to give a polite, country-industry imprimatur to Paltrow’s efforts,” EW says of the performance.
It was scheduled to take place towards the end of the show for obvious reasons: producers took a big risk when they scheduled Gwyneth to perform because, after all, she’s a newbie.
Luckily, she handled herself remarkably well, putting on what EW calls a “near-perfect” performance, and definitely a perfect one considering Paltrow’s non-musical background.
“She’s bound to come in for some ridicule from folks who don’t consider this scion of Los Angeles show-biz royalty ‘authentic’ enough,” EW adds.
“The entire notion of authenticity in popular music is questionable at best and ludicrous most of the time, and when it comes to country music in particular — well, this sort of cold shoulder extends at least as far back as Olivia Newton-John. In other words, it’s a criticism that is old, tired, and irrelevant,” the same report reads.
Below is Gwyneth Paltrow performing “Country Strong,” the lead track from her upcoming movie of the same name. Enjoy.