The American Idol 14 Top 5 Hit Up Nashville! (PHOTOS + VIDEO)

On Thursday and Friday, the American Idol 15 Top 5 travelled to Nashville with mentor and Big Machine Label group chief, Scott Borchetta.

Jax, Clark Beckham, Nick Fradiani, Rayvon Owen and Tyanna Jones got a tour of the city’s Lower Broadway entertainment district, the offices of Big Machine Label Group and the songwriter’s night spot, the Bluebird Cafe.

Brian Mansfield of USA today hung around with the contestants at the Bluebird, where the contestants sat in chairs in the center of the room, and at tone point sang Taylor Swift’s “Style.”

Scott told the story of signing Taylor to her record deal 11 years ago. “This was the very first place I saw Taylor perform,” he said, and then he pointed right to Jax: “Taylor was sitting right there.” What a coincidence! Except that I highly doubt it. Jax later asked, “Can I take it with me?”

The tour of Lower Broadway the night before had Clark reminiscing about his days as a street performer. “I’ve been on Broadway many times,” he said. But not when he was recognized. Rayvon was back on familiar ground too, as a graduate of nearby Belmont University. “It’s cool to come back to what we’re used to, but with a totally different outlook,” he said.

As the quintet cruised the streets, people eventually noticed. “As soon as one person took a selfie, everybody was like, ‘Wait a second … American Idol … ,'” Jax said. “All of a sudden, there were 500 people around us trying to get selfies, because of that one guy.”

Friday morning was the Big Machine Label group office tour. The winner will be signed to one of the Nashville-based company’s labels. “They gave us the visual, walking us through what it would be like to work with Big Machine,” Tyanna said. “We even sat at the table where they get their ideas together and told us what would happen after the tour.”

Clark noted that the theme of the visit was “A tour of the life of the winner. If you win, this is where you’re going to live, this is where you’ll come to work. This is what your life’s going to be like.” Take it all in Clark, because more than likely, that’s going to be you!

The trip to Nashville wasn’t just for fun. “The last few weeks have been all about me doing everything I can do to get them to understand how real this is and how real it can be,” Scott said. “I’ve been trying to get them to elevate as high as they possibly can and really have the burning desire.”

“The more they can feel,” he said, “I hope it makes their desire burn even brighter.”

No doubt footage from the trip will air on Idol. The Top 5 perform for your votes on Wednesday April 29 at 8/7c PM on FOX.

The Idols and Scott Borchetta flew to Nashville on a private jet!

Via USAToday, Entertain This

About mj santilli 34857 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!