HOLLY DUNN NOT IN TOP FORM AT FAIR (CONCERT REVIKEW)

Taking the stage after Jackson resident Micki Mitchell's thunderous rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" Thursday night at the SEMO District Fair, country star Holly Dunn had something to live up to.

As voices go, I'll take Micki Mitchell's.

A veteran of 10 years on the country charts, Dunn knows how to work a crowd and has an attractive catch in her voice, the one Emmylou does to make her voice disappear. But a few of Dunn's vocals sounded downright thin.

An audience of 2,100 attended Dunn's concert, the first of three capping this year's fair. Aaron Tippin performed Friday night and Ricky Van Shelton is the featured performer at 8 tonight.

Dunn sang bits of her number one hits -- "Love Someone Like Me, "Only When I Love," "Are You Ever Gonna Love Me" and "You Really Had Me Going" and some new tunes off her current album, "Life and Love and All the Stages."

She descended into the crowd for "Cowboys Are My Weakness," singing to anyone wearing a hat and boots, and scored a big hit with the audience by singing Conway Twitty's "Hello Darlin'."

Dunn continued raiding the box of chestnuts with Credence Clearwater Revival's "Travelin' Band" and Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight." Neither rendition was any threat to the originals.

Dunn's sang beautifully on the gorgeous "I'd Know That Heartache Anywhere," one of the tunes on her next album. Unfortunately her next single, "It's Not About Blame," sounds more like marriage counseling than a country song.

Dunn fans loved her anyway, a few carrying roses to the stage, but this couldn't have been Holly Dunn at her best.