"Telescope" is a song recorded by American actress

Hayden Panettiere Hayden Lesley Panettiere (; born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, model, and singer. She is best known for her lead roles as Claire Bennet on the NBC superhero series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' and Juliette Barnes in the Am ...

. The song was written by

Hillary Lindsey Hillary Lee Lindsey is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon ...

and

Cary Barlowe Cary Barlowe (born 1982) is an American country music songwriter, and a former member of the rock band Luna Halo. Born in Virginia and raised in North Carolina, Barlowe originally performed with his older brother Nathan in the rock group Luna ...

. It was released to country radio in October 2012 by

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...

. It was the first official single from the album '' The Music of Nashville: Season 1 Volume 1''. The album also features a version of the song recorded by sisters Lennon and Maisy Stella. The UK compilation ''The Music of Nashville, Season 1: The Complete Collection'' (aka ''Nashville Deluxe'') also includes a version recorded live in Nashville by Panettiere. Panettiere and Lennon Stella recorded a version for the season four episode "Stop the World (And Let Me Off)," released as a digital single.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''Taste of Country'' gave the song three stars out of five. Dukes wrote that "Panettiere proves she can sing with the big girls, and no shortcut is taken in production" but called the song "made-for-television," stating that "lyrically, ‘Telescope’ isn’t sharp enough for a more established country star to sing." Ashley Cooke of ''Roughstock'' also gave the song three stars out of five. Cooke called it "a sassy upbeat song about a girl done wrong, with a very cute concept and catchy lyrics that stick in your head" but felt that Panettiere's voice was "a bit forced" and that the song wasn't "enough to move beyond the TV screen." Ben Foster of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B+, calling it "cool" and "nearly irresistible." Foster wrote that the song "tackles the tried-and-true country music theme of cheating with a clever concept and a great hook" and Panettiere "rides the catchy beat with an assured performance – subtle when necessary, forceful when appropriate," but felt that "the production and background vocals are laid on a bit too thick in some places, particularly toward the end the song."

Music video

The music video was directed by

TK McKamy TK McKamy is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor known for directing music videos. Thomas Knox McKamy III was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia Stone Mountain is a city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population ...

and premiered in November 2012.

Chart performance

"Telescope" debuted at number 51 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Country Airplay Country Airplay is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States since January 20, 1990. This chart lists the 60 most-listened-to records played on 150 mainstream country radio stations across the country as monitored ...

chart for the week of November 10, 2012. It also debuted at number 47 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart for the week of November 10, 2012.

References

{{Nashville (TV series) 2012 songs 2012 singles Hayden Panettiere songs Big Machine Records singles Songs from television series Songs written by Hillary Lindsey Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Music videos directed by TK McKamy Songs written by Cary Barlowe Nashville (2012 TV series)