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‘Songland’: Is winner Madeline Merlo's 'Drink to that' a rip-off of Maren Morris song 'Rich'? Fans think so

Madeline's song's final version got the fans thinking and they actually found the similarity pretty obvious

Season 2 of ‘Songland’ premiered amid much fanfare on April 13, and fans are already loving every bit of their favorite song-writing talent hunt show. For the first episode, the showrunners roped in none other than Lady Antebellum to guest judge. The Grammy-winning trio heard the compositions of the contestants and thoroughly enjoyed each of the contestants’ beautiful lyrics.

While there were many talented contestants who shared their lyrical prowess with the judges, one particular songwriter's work stood out to the fans. It was Canadian country music singer-songwriter Madeline Merlo. Madeline came on the show and initially presented a song called ‘I’ll drink to that’ to the judges. They were instantly drawn to the beautiful blonde’s shimmery outfit which gave off very Cher-esque vibes, and of course her impressive lyrics.

Lady Antebellum were very excited about hearing her crooning her song, and declared that they had a “hit” in their hand. Needless to say, Madeline managed to proceed to the studio performance and was mentored by none other than producer Shane McAlly. Shane and Madeline tweaked the song, and changed the title from ‘I’ll drink to that’ to ‘Champagne Night’, and made several other changes to the song.

However, in the end, when the fans heard the final version, they couldn’t help but notice that the song reminded them eerily of another country singer’s famous song. Fans felt that the song seemed like a rip-off of  Maren Morris’s popular song ‘Rich’.
 
Several fans took to Twitter to express how the song reminded them of Maren Morris’s song. A fan tweeted, “The #drinktothat song on #songland sounds like a RIP of #Rich by Maureen Morris @NBCSongland.” Another fan wrote, “They are really going to keep playing this song like it doesn’t sound like Maren Morris’ Rich?? #Songland,” “I’ll Drink To That” feels more like Maren Morris to me!  #Songland,” shared another fan. “I’ll Drink To That” sounds very similar in cadence to Maren Morris’ “Rich”. #songland,” echoed another fan.

Madeline eventually was declared the winner, when Lady Antebellum chose ‘Champagne Nights’ to perform on their tours.