Adam “Bring it On Home to Me” - Very Soulful, but I thought he could have done better on emtoionally connecting with the song. He was my pick to win, but barely.
Payton “Traveling Soldier” I thought her performance wasn’t quite as good as Adam’s. To be honest, I would have liked to see better from both of them.
Moushumii “New Americana” - Never heard that song before. Pretty silly if you ask me. Anyway, I wish she would have gotten into the song more and I totally agree with the judges that she should have chosen a song where she could show more range.
Nick “Lost Without You” - Wow, horrible start. Although I had problems with his performance I thought he would be picked to win because Pharrell could make sure he wouldn’t do that again. But when Pharrell said his performance was worse than the rehearsals I understood why he picked Moushumi.
Maya “No One” - I kind of felt like she phoned it in.
Tamar “Lay Me Down” - Wow, she killed it. Great range, great emotional connection to the song. She was 100x better than Maya. It was no contest.
I wonder if the coaches know ahead of time what the battle round and knock out pairings will be? Deciding who and when to steal requires a lot of strategy. The person you really want may not sing till the very end of the rounds. Do you pass up choice 2 and 3 hoping to get choice 1? If it doesn’t work out then the coach is screwed. They get stuck with the leftovers at the very end.
If they don’t know the pairings and order they appear it’s a complete crap shoot. Somehow the show makes steals work. I can’t recall a really bad singer getting stolen out of desperation to pick somebody. ANYBODY at the very end.
Blake was in the catbird seat tonight. The only one with a steal. But he had passed up some very good talent in the earlier rounds.
I need to rewatch tonights rounds. Nothing jumped out at me except Mary Sarah singing You Ain’t Woman Enough. Her voice seemed too thin and high for that song. Loretta sang it deep and throaty. Like a bad ass beer drinking redneck woman would. Mary Sarah missed the character of that song. She didn’t sound like a woman ready to fight for her man.
Blake is right. Country music is all about story telling and characters. You can sing the notes perfectly and still not sell the song. Maybe lower the key like Adam suggested to Leif would help.
That said, Mary Sarah did an acceptable job. Enough to advance.
Brian “Grenade” - He really got into it and sang it more clearly than Bruno did. My pick. Nate “Let’s Stay Together” - Something about his…accent?..tone?.. I’m not sure what word to use, but I didn’t care for his performance.
Brittany “Still the One” - Sounded to me like she botched the song. Mary Sarah “You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man” - Her classic voice and great stage performance made her my pick to win.
Bryan “Sorry” - Started good, but then got hard to understand. Trey “I Lived” - I thought he was just a tad bit better, and I could understand every word he sang, so I was hoping that he would win.
Abby “Rich Girl” - I felt that she was trying to be too sophisticated for the song. Caity “Leave Your Lover” - Much better, and I liked the low voice on the ending. My pick.
Laith “In Your Eyes” - I was really disappointed. I thought that he didn’t do the song justice. Jessica “Wake Me Up” - Much better. I especially love it when she gets gravelly. I was really surprised when Adam picked Laith. I thought that Jessica deserved to go on.
Joe “Earned It” - Great moves and stage presence, but not so sure about his singing. Kata “Why Haven’t I Heard From You?” - I loved her singing and performance. If I have any criticism it’s that she probably was on 10 a little too long. And this is coming from someone who normally loves it when singers are on 10.
The first night of lives was very good. They got some incredible talent this season. I like that they let each coach invite back one eliminated singer.
no particular order
TEAM BLAKE
Mary Sarah – Lynn Anderson’s “(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden”
Justin Whisnant – Travis Tritt’ “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)”
Paxton Ingram – Calvin Harris’ “How Deep Is Your Love”
Katie Basden – Trisha Yearwood’s “Georgia Rain”
Joe Maye – The Doobie Brothers’ “Long Train Runnin”
Adam Wakefield – Ray Charles and Willie Nelson’s “Seven Spanish Angels”
TEAM XTINA
Kata Hay – Aretha Franklin’s “You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”
Tamar Davis – Andra Day ‘s “Rise Up”
Nick Hagelin – Rihanna’s “Stay”
Ryan Quinn – Sam Smith’s “I’m Not the Only One
Bryan Bautista – Zayn’s “Pillowtalk”
Alisan Porter – Janis Joplin’s “Cry Baby”
Blakes team was my favorite overall. But Alisan Porter and Adam Wakefield had the best performances tonight. Joe Maye did a nice job with the Doobie song.
Mary Sarah wasn’t as strong tonight. She did ok but I hope its enough to get votes.
i didn’t care for many of the songs that Adam and Pharrell’s teams choose.
I do wonder if Laith’s decision to play a lot of guitar will pay off with the voters. Adam supported it. It’ll be interesting to see if the votes keep him in.
Blake’s made a big deal that he can coach any style of music. I wondered if he’s trying to prove something by saving Paxton? Make it clear he’ll go the extra mile for a non-country artist?
He should have saved Joe Maye imho He’s got more potential and more coaching would help his career after the show. I thought he did a decent job with Long Train Running.
I have a theory on that Blake save of Paxton. Blake likes loyalty. If someone picks him first, he’s loyal to them. His saves have to be outstanding for them to get picked again. If a country singer doesn’t pick him in the blinds, he doesn’t work with them later after the show unless he saves them in the show. Paxton picked Blake in the blinds against the odds since he had other choices and Blake was the unlikely choice. Joe picked Christina over Blake in the blinds. In a save situation, Blake was more loyal to Paxton than to Joe. It sort of makes sense too because if the person picked Blake, then he’s worked with them longer and knows more of what they’re capable of. Picking someone else is more of a wildcard, so why take the chance.
I predicted the other top 12 except for Christina’s team. America picking Nick was a huge shock and threw the whole thing out of balance. Because of that, Christina was forced to pick Bryan since he did a great last performance. But then she lost Ryan and Tamar.
With those two gone, Alisan has a better chance of clinching the season. I’m not a fan, so I’m a little bummed about that.
I started the season thinking that there was an abundance of talent but most of them have stumbled or blown out of the competition. I don’t have any favorites right now. Shalya seems to be doing great, but she’s only done balads so far. For some reason, I keep thinking she’s going to crack. Someone will have to do something outstanding to break out of the pack.
Any predictions on a winner as we go into the final rounds?
my predictions for the top three – Adam Wakefield, Mary Sarah, Alisan Porter
Porter is the obvious favorite to win. That means a win for Christina’s team. I wouldn’t count Wakefield out. He’s really good and he’s got Blake. Blake is so smart in picking material and arranging for his artists. Porter stumbled badly last week. I’m curious to see if she comes back strong this week.
I have to say right now that Porter will probably win unless she stumbles on a performance.
here are the top 12 and a nice summary of their backgrounds
Wow, tonight was very strong. I think it also had the most songs where the audience did hand waving that I’ve ever seen. And don’t they usually go from top 12 to top 10?
For me, there were four artists that were perfect: Blake, Alisan, Hannah, and Shaylah.
As for who should go home, and I know others will disagree, but I would pick Emily. In fact, looking back at my notes (since I have no memory) I think the only performance I liked from her was “Big Yellow Taxi”.
Oh, and I almost forgot, I think Paxton made a HUGE improvement in his singing. To be honest, I’m not fond of his voice itself, but his style was excellent.
Mary Sarah missed the character of that song. She didn’t sound like a woman ready to fight for her man.