Tate Stevens didn't win "The X Factor" Season 2 by taking artistic risks or pushing the country music genre forward--judge Britney Spears once described him as "down-the-middle country," during one of her more astute critiques. So I suppose it comes as no surprise that Tate's first music video, "Holler If You're With Me," is, well, no surprise. The country-cliché video (which will also serve as a Pepsi commercial premiering during Sunday night's Grammy Awards telecast) is typical party-hardy fare, with Tate performing the rousing tune for a gathered outdoor crowd of beer-swilling (or Pepsi-swilling) fans.
But Tate does have a couple advantages here over Season 1's "X Factor" champion, Melanie Amaro. First of all, he managed to get a debut single out less than two months after his season's finale, while Melanie's first single, "Don't Fail Me Now," didn't become available for download until nine months after her win (and the song's video wasn't released until a month after that). At this rate, it seems possible that Tate might even release his album before Melanie releases hers.
Also, this commercial is certainly an improvement over Melanie's bizarre 2012 Super Bowl Pepsi spot, which co-starred Elton John and Flavor Flav and cast her in the role of some sort of Renaissance Faire wench. At least Tate seems in his element here, which is a plus--even if the result is quite predictable.
What do you think of Tate Stevens' debut video?
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