Heard It From A Friend Who....

We at Skewering The Skeptics have a bone to pick. This was not our intended blog entry for the day but this can't be passed up. "okievegascowgirl" attempted to pass off another skeptic "explanation" as proof. What are we talking about here? Katrina Elam and her sudden departure from the Keith Urban tour several years back. Katrina Elam is a young singer/songwriter with alot of untapped potential. We at the blog think she is more talented and more of what country music needs. If you don't know of her, she blows Miss Carrie and Miss Taylor away in both singing and songwriting.

So OkieVegas puts out alot of well-known information, some mis-statements, and more rumors to prover her case. Let's take a look.

1)Full disclosure: Katrina - as I knew her at the time, about a yr previous to going out w/KU, and during that tour - was a lovely, talented, down-to-earth young woman


That was her image at the time. Everyone thought she was down to earth and a sweet girl. It came across in her interviews. Alot of people in Oklahoma knew this about Kat (yes that's her nickname) before she went to Nashville. No secret there. What "Full disclosure"?

2)both in her family here in OK, and in her HS boyfriend-turned-fiance/Harvard quarterback.

He wasn't her husband yet, and he'd always been very supportive of her career, so I can honestly say I never heard Katrina or anyone else blame her "declining enthusiasm" and abrupt departure from the tour on their relationship.

Her fiance was also a label intern. He had an inside view of what Katrina was going through. However, what okie fails to report is that there were also rumors of NH, thats the husband, being controlling and wanting Katrina off the road for the time being. Now we at STS don't condone rumors, nor do we see them as fact. But there were conflicting reports all over the place about what happened with her departure, none of which included harassment. So okie's account cannot be trusted. Also what cannot be trusted is her claim that NH was at Harvard as a QB. By our knowledge he was at Vanderbilt, in Tennessee as a Wide Receiver.


3) Katrina started declining physically pretty fast. She got alarmingly thin, didn't seem to be having much fun

Katrina has always been a thin, petite framed girl. We at STS saw some of those shows before she left. She was not alarmingly thin. However, we must say many of the audiences were less than receptive to her. For the low number of people that actually showed up before Ku's set, it was a struggle for Elam to get those few involved. True, she had her fans that were there to support her. But when you are playing arenas with a capacity of 6-7000 people, those hardcore fans don't amount to much. If that appeared to okie as "not enjoying herself" that's her interpretation. but we think highly misleading. She got the most response from the crowd over a Britney Spears joke. But most of the time her vocals got drowned out from the band. If you didn't know the words, you wouldn't be able to understand them at the show. Factoring that with dwindling radio support, the tour was never going to be the huge break Katrina would need to make it to the next level.

4) This was about the time Keith started calling her out during HIS set to duet on MMOU (as seen on the live DVD filmed at The Wiltern.)


Keith is known for his support of up-and coming artists. And he found a perfect way to showcase Katrina. But it wasn't MMOU, it was THE HARD WAY, a song that could have easily been a duet on the album.


5)It was obvious to most who'd seen more than one show that there was zero chemistry between them during the song - to the point that people started noticing that Katrina rarely even looked at Keith during their "duet." It honestly looked as if she was being made to come out and perform during his set against her will, I swear!


You swear? You must think the fans have a short memory. That was never the case when we saw her and as evidenced by this video, your claims are not correct.



6) Was it hard to believe Gary Borman was sexually harrassing Katrina to sleep w/him, or he'd have her fired from the tour? No, because I have absolutely nothing good to say about Borman. But it was the talk about Keith's behavior that was discussed in low voices, and MUCH more commonly believed to be closer to the truth.

Even Okie (not me, duh!) wouldn't deny the questions we asked: did Keith harass Katrina, demanding she sleep w/him - just once, if she didn't want it to be ongoing - because he "had to get rid of any sexual between [himself] and fellow tourmate, or it wouldn't work out"? Did Borman make the demands on Keith's behalf, making it clear that Katrina if didn't have sex w/Keith, she'd be replaced as soon as contractually possible?



The skeptics can't make up any rumors that don't have to do with sex and Keith Urban, can they? The harmless rumors that swirled around Katrina and even later with Miranda Lambert never took root, so they are now resorting to KU & Co. sexually harassing and abusing a fellow tourmate. We at STS have heard the same song and dance over and over from the skeptics....."We hung out with Okie, and he didn't tell us anything specific but rumors were confirmed. We knew all the right questions to ask."

Sure you did. But you forgot to say that many of you were drunk when you had those talks with Okie. And Okie isn't with Team Urban anymore. As Martha Stewart says, "It's a good thing".

tangledupinlove is a sucker. She just accepted okievegas' story like it was the truth. okie, for those of us that can see clearly, can see that she wants to be someone who knows something. If she tried hard enough she can make it look bad for KU. And that's what it comes down to.

If you haven't made the connection yet the skeptics love to accuse Nicole Kidman of playing the victim. Meanwhile, every woman that's come into contact with Keith is a victim based on rumors. Poor Katrina, the only possible explanation for her leaving the tour is that Keith demanded sex from her. It couldn't be that the tour was taking its toll. Lets not forget that this was her first major tour. She was thrown into the frying pan faster than many artists starting out. She had no singles that even cracked the Top 20. Elam had a wedding to plan, another major life event, being away from the family and fiance. maybe it was all too much. Maybe Universal South had something to do with it. Maybe Katrina wanted to concentrate on the wedding and touring this way made it impossible. And for those conspiracy nuts out there, the wedding did really happen. Pictures were posted on a Katrina fansite.

Here are some other things to ponder. If Katrina had such a grudge against Keith why did she post a recording of "The Hard Way" on her MySpace and leave it there for months? Why did she not do a major tour again until Rascal Flatts in 2006, after getting married? Why if KU, Borman and the rest are such sleazeballs did she not press charges or make any kind of stink? Some of us have met Katrina and are of the opinion she wouldn't stand by and be degraded in such a manner. But, it makes the skeptics look good if they can claim KU is a creep and he fooled all the fans. Skeptics you are only fooling yourselves.


Katrina we think you are great. Your songwriting continues to impress. Let's hope the next go-around you get proper support from a label. As a treat for our readers here's an unreleased track from Elam.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com