Sorry, should have used some more carriage returns. I thought the Swon Bros did OK, but struggled with energy level.
It was “Meet in the Middle” that got switched up.
He does, and he struggled with the decision. I mean, I was expecting my DVR to cut out. Carson had him less than a minute to end, credits were trying to roll, and he was stalling.
To me, I saw he liked Caroline for her quirky voice and coffeehouse style. He liked Sarah for her tones and range and such. He had dumped just tons of praise on Sarah all along, all the judges fawning over her. And I think she’s good, but I think that performance wasn’t.
So Caroline has a quirky voice, Sarah has a quirky voice and power. Um, gotta go with the second. That was my (ludicrously simplified) rundown of his thought process.
I don’t think of Sarah’s voice as being quirky though. At any rate, I’m glad he dumped Caroline. Although, as I said, I think she has come a long way, and her final performance was much better than her first.
You had written this about Sasha. Another thing I found amusing was that Usher worked with two of the frontrunners of the show, Judith and Sasha. He fought very hard for them, and they seemed to both pointedly pick someone else. Judith mentioned in an interview that she might mention to Usher that they both were on the Michael Jackson memorial together.
Wild and maybe crazy speculation on my part, but Usher seems to objectify the beautiful women on his team. I’m wondering if Sasha and Judith knew that, having worked with him. When Usher put his face right up to Jess’ face and expected Taylor to do the same with him, I was skeeved out a bit. She’s only 17, and she looked really uncomfortable about it. Even Audrey looked a bit uncomfortable when he did it to her. I notice that he doesn’t do that with the guys or with Michelle, who is gay.
I just saw a clip of VEDO on an interview on Hulu. He’s so charming. I’m glad he made it to another round.
I also just saw a clip of Access Hollywood where they asked Usher and Shakira if they’ll be returning for season 5. Neither of them answered. Usher just said that you’ll have to stay tuned in. The ratings have gone up since Usher and Shakira joined the team. What do you think? Do you [general you] think that Usher and/or Shakira will stay on for season 5?
It must have been hard on the performers to have no AC for awhile. Like they weren’t already sweaty and nervous enough.
I still like Sasha to win, or maybe Judith. They’re all really good which is why I like The Voice so much over other talent shows. I started watching again this season because Christina was gone and I hate that she’s coming back. She just seems so toxic with her snarkiness and look-at-me boobs. Shakira has talent and class and I’m sorry to see her go.
I think Cee-Lo is coming back too so no more Usher.
I’ve liked watching the different coaching methods this season and only hope Christina doesn’t needlessly crush somebody’s dreams.
Where did you find out about them coming back?
Speaking of the show, my picks in order of best to worse were
[ol]
[li]Amber[/li][li]Holly[/li][li]Josiah[/li][li]Swan Brothers[/li][li]Judith[/li][li]Kris[/li][li]Danielle[/li][li]Michelle[/li][li]Vedo[/li][li]Sarah[/li][li]Sasha[/li][li]Garrett[/li][/ol]
And why were the judges all so hesitant to criticize Garrett? I mean yeah, telling him his performance sucked big green donkey dicks would be rude, but someone could of at least pointed out how he sped up some of the lyrics like he was trying to rush through the song.
And out of curiosity, not a criticism, but did Sasha seem like she forgot, or almost forgot, some of the lyrics at the beginning of the song? I could understand some of what she was singing in the beginning like she was trying to mumble her way through, but it could of just been my hearing or the TV volume was too low.
DAMMIT! DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT! I was so excited when Sasha was going to sing Alone. I love that song. I was thrilled she was going to do it, I was giddy. Giddy! And then… her tone and notes and pitch were fine, she had the emotion and power and soft part. But her tempo - GACK! You know how Adam talks about “the box”? She wasn’t just not in the box, she danced all around the box without stepping foot in it. Horrible pacing, inconsistent, not matching the music. I went back and watched a second time (and later a third time) just to be sure it wasn’t anything to do with my connection with the original version. Nope, her tempo stuff just killed any ability to enjoy that performance. :mad:
And then Josiah had to go and do that, and make me enjoy his performance. Shit, that was almost good. 
DAMMIT.
There were a lot of good and great performances last night, and I’m hard pressed to rate them in a list. I’ll give my impressions.
I thought Garrett was okay. It wasn’t necessarily the song choice, it just wasn’t great. Once again, Sarah bothered me - there is something about her lilts and tones that annoys me. Josiah stripped it down acoustic and avoided most of the things that I don’t like about him. It really was his best performance so far, and it wasn’t bad. Not that I want to keep him in the face of the others out there.
Vedo was pretty good, enjoyable. Chris was pretty good, but some of his lower notes seemed a bit flat to me. The Swon Brothers had a very good performance, probably their best so far. Strong, solid, heartfelt.
Judith did her thing, and still was awesome. Hard to find flaws with her.
Amber, Holly, and Danielle all seemed similar to me. Danielle should annoy me but I enjoy what she does. Holly delivered an exceptional performance, and Amber was also well-done.
Michelle rocked it out. Some of the softer bits are a tad overshadowed, but she really had the energy and the connection and the moves. She looked a natural out there.
On last night’s performances, I’d have to rate Sasha at the bottom based on the tempo problems, but if I’m picking two to send home, I’m keeping her because of what all else she’s done so well. I’d still send home Josiah. Second pick to leave… Sarah and her tonal things. I know the coaches drool over her, but those yodel-tones don’t work for me. Third probably Garrett from last night’s performance. Kris, Vedo, and the Swon Brothers are all on my chopping block next.
Top 6 for me, in no specific order
Michelle, Holly, Amber, Judith, Danielle, Sasha.
If Sasha can survive last night and get back together, those are the ones headed for the showdown.
I agree with pretty much all of Irishman’s post.
I didn’t notice the tempo problems with Sasha, but I don’t know the song that well. I also wasn’t listening as closely as he probably was.
I completely agree with the parts about Josiah and Danielle. It’s almost disappointing that Josiah did a decent performance. It was easy not to like him to make room for someone else. His interview on Hulu gave a different and better side to him also, IMO.
There’s so many reasons why I normally wouldn’t like Danielle. But there’s something so likeable about her. I like that she’s on-pitch and on-tempo, AFAICT. And I like that she does something that shows a little more character each time. In the battles, it was that she hit and held a long note. In the knock-outs, it was that she showed a lot of emotion that I wasn’t expecting. Last week, it was taking an old song and making it more contemporary. This week, it was that hand motion and the raspy growl at the end of the song. That might not have been impressive for a more experienced singer, but her growth is fascinating to watch.
I wasn’t as jazzed with Michelle this week. She and Danielle seem to be believing their own press recently, and I’m not as pleased to see that. It was the growth and attitude on them that I liked watching the most.
I’m hoping America eliminates Garrett and Josiah. But I’m thinking that VEDO and Kris are close to going also. I like their personalities though. Sarah’s not my favorite, but I’m not as down on her as Irishman seems to be.
I have mixed feelings to see in the news that Christina and Cee Lo are slated to be back. I was initially bummed. But now I’m ambivalent.
On the Yahoo! newsfeed.
I’m bummed about Christina.
(Agree that Sasha was off. Judith is consistently arresting.)
I’m kinda sad about Vedo going home. I don’t think it was his time yet at all.
I wish Vedo would have stayed, but I am glad that Garrett is finally gone.
I’m okay with Vedo and Garrett being the ones sent home, from those performances especially. I liked both, thought they were doing okay, but not up to par with the top ones.
I’m not seeing Michelle copping an attitude. She’s gaining confidence and a self-comfort level, but I’m not seeing her displaying arrogance or entitlement. Or Danielle, either. Blake’s dumping praise on her by the bucketload, she still seems genuine and sweet to me. With a performance poise that belies her age.
I was flipping on the TV to catch it on DVR and saw the wrong scene at the wrong time, it looked like Holly was one of the ones let go. I was so pleased that wasn’t the case. (I was trying to avoid spoilers, so I didn’t pay close attention to what was happening, just saw a shot of her walking in the last seconds, probably in the credits roll review.)
I hope you’re right. I like them both very much, so I would like to see them both continue on for a while. ISTM that America often votes on humility, so I’m hoping they interpreted the comments the way you did and not the way that I did.
I have another wild and crazy, off-the-wall speculation about Blake and Danielle. I get the sense that he doesn’t really respect her. When he told her that other people have to work for that much talent, I saw it as more of a diss than a compliment. Blake is always talking about how much people deserve to be where they are because they worked hard for it. I get the sense that he doesn’t like that she didn’t have to work for all her success. When he chose Danielle over Taylor, he said that it was an easy decision as a coach but a tough decision as a human being. I felt like he was referring to the comments from Taylor that she was a hard worker and that Danielle was just performing for the first time. But my thought is that if you put the two together and logged their hours of singing, Danielle might have done just as much as Taylor. Taylor just saw it as work whereas Danielle saw it as goofing around or play.
At this point, he has to play her up because it’s clear that America likes her. I just hope that he gives her songs that will help her instead of hinder her. I thought the song ‘Wasted’ was a weird choice. What would a 16 year old girl know about someone coming off addiction? Danielle nailed the song IMO, but it was still a weird song choice.
I just googled The Voice in the news and found this:
If that’s right, people who want to see Shakira and Usher again will just have to wait one more season. Since they have two seasons a year, that’s not very long.
I’m not getting that vibe at all, and I can’t see where you’re getting it. Sure, he applauds people the work hard. In this case, he seems to be praising how talented she naturally is, and how well she is doing without much training. It’s not a dis, it’s a compliment.
Again, that’s a weird take. They all hate picking to eliminate one of their competitors, especially when the competitors both do well. I took that remark as simply the comment that as a coach (and therefore the guy picking his best team) it was an easy decision but as a human being (and therefore the person having to break someone else’s heart by sending them home) it was a tough decision. I just don’t see it in any way trying to say that Taylor deserved it more or that Danielle is anything but awesome.
Interesting. I heard that Christina was coming back, but took a pay cut. Both Christina and Cee Lo claimed they intended to come back when they announced they weren’t doing this season. It’s just a time commitment thing, when doing back to back seasons. Bringing in new judges was fun, and I’m liking the change, I’m sure the show producers recognize the value of keeping them involved. Running alternating cycles is one way to get the old ones back but keep the new ones participating, too.
Assuming Blake and/or Adam don’t decide to take a break, which right now doesn’t seem likely, but who knows the future?
Of course Blake could always suggest a replacment of Miranda if it came to that.
I might have kept Caroline. Caroline has a quirky voice. Sarah has an affected technique.
I guess it doesn’t matter that much.
Vedo and Garrett didn’t show much power this week, and they went on early, which is rough. But it still threw me to see them cut before less remarkable singers. I think Shakira didn’t do her boys any favors this week, but Kris still had a better night than poor Vedo.
Welp. I think this is shaping up to be Judith, Sasha, and Amber.
I think Sarah is too affected for me. Danielle has almost the opposite issue; she’s kind of straightforward. Holly is good but her style sounds a bit too old-fashioned and common to me.
Michelle and Josiah have been singing small the last two weeks. Josiah seems to have a thin voice in general, but Michelle might be able to come out of it more.
Kris’s voice seems to get smaller when Shakira’s pushing him to show off his range. Maybe she should let him relax and open up a little.
The Swon Brothers are very precise musicians, but I find them boring.
Admittedly, it’s a pretty wild speculation and a pretty big reach, but I’m getting it more from Blake’s facial expression and what he doesn’t say.
Blake’s face often says different things than he actually says. For example, when he was watching Savannah Berry rehearsing, he had that confused look on his face that he normally has when he doesn’t like something. When he was listening to Justin River’s rehearsal, his head was bobbing and he was smiling. But the words he said were that he might have found his new Justin Bieber in Savannah. It wasn’t a surprise to me that he chose Justin Rivers in that battle. I’m not even sure if Blake himself realizes how much his face reveals. Of course, it could be coincidence, but his face is more consistent than his words.
Also, when Blake doesn’t like someone, he talks about their looks, their clothes or just something about them that doesn’t have to do with the technical aspects of the song or their voice. For instance, he’s talked about Josiah’s t-shirt at least a couple times. It sort of seems like he’s trying to say something nice but since there’s nothing good he can say about the performance, he focuses on the clothes or something external.
With Danielle, his face in her rehearsals haven’t shown him with his head bobbing. He looks more serious and concerned. His head bobs when she performs, but after the performance, he doesn’t ever talk about her voice or anything technical that she did right. He talks about her background and how great she’s going to be. Admittedly, he did a lot of this with Cassadee Pope also, but I think her win was a surprise to him too.
Just some wild and crazy speculation based on body language and word choice.
I’m finally starting to connect to some of the performers this season and pick out favorites. My thoughts on tonight:
Loved: Michelle, Sasha, Sarah
Meh: Amber, Holly, Danielle, Judith, Kris
Disliked: Josiah, Swon Brothers
I really like Amber and Danielle, despite tonight’s just okay performances. Kris is adorable (and hotter than Josiah, and a better singer), so I hope he stays. Judith… I don’t know. She’s gorgeous and talented and has a great voice, but for some reason I don’t really care, even though I feel like I should. I hope Jo and the brothers go, but it’s doubtful.
Great song choice for Michelle!
I guess I’m the only one who loves each and every performance by the Swan Brothers.
My ratings
Top
[ul]
[li]Danielle - Best performance in my opinion.[/li][li]Swan Brothers - Friggin’ awesome![/li][li]Holly - Wonderful performance.[/li][/ul]
Middle
[ul]
[li]Sasha - Strong voice[/li][li]Josiah - Agreed with Adam; A little inconsistent at times.[/li][li]Judith - Great singing, and even though we’re supposed to focus only on their voices, the music could have been better.[/li][li]Amber - Pretty good.[/li][/ul]
Bottom
[ul]
[li]Sarah - Too loud and gritty (and I say this as a lover of hard rock)[/li][li]Michelle - OK, but I just didn’t really feel it as much as everyone else.[/li][li]Kris - Throughout most of the song his performance didn’t do much for me. He has the voice of highly successful artists, yet it felt like something was lacking. I can’t put my finger on it though.[/li][/ul]