I’m not really that unhappy with Cee Lo or Christina. I’ve never had the hangups some people have with her. She uses her experience to show them what to do. My problem with Cee Lo is that sometimes he makes weird choices. Sometimes his costume productions are overdone and are more about the show than the vocal ability. I think that played a role in Juliet Simms’ loss. I don’t know who picked Free Bird for her song, but that rendition did not have the distinction and revamping that her Roxanne did.
I would be surprised if it isn’t a strategy used by all of them to a degree. Adam does seem to make his decisions independently. He will turn on some instantly, he will sit and wait on others and turn later than the other judges, or not turn even when the others have turned. Sometimes he is very emotive, like the “I will set myself on fire” line. Other times, he keeps it sane and more laid back. Maybe he’s fighting less hard on those, or maybe he thinks that will persuade them.
I was never a Pee Wee fan, so I didn’t know who she was. I was amused when she picked based upon the connection to her voice now and music rather than to characters she’s done in the past. The strategy of “I know who you are and love your characters” backfired. Instead of conveying interest and connection, it conveyed interest in the wrong talent, the wrong career.
Irishman, so glad you’re back to The Voice thread. You’ve saved me some typing I was thinking of doing.
Christina seems really different to me this season. There must be something about having someone replace you with little notice and then makes the show more successful that makes one a little more humble. She seems less critical and more focused on connecting with the people instead of treating people as just inferior voices.
You can also do this on Hulu if that suits your purpose. The clips just show the singers who got picked and the coaches’ comments. They generally go in order and most of the time, they don’t have commercials for clips (although oddly they do sometimes). You’d miss the people who didn’t get a chair to turn, but maybe some people would like that too.
I resort to that when I miss a show and want to see what happened before the show is on Hulu the next day. But I find for myself that I miss the intros. I really like that Destinee worked hard to be able to sing, making her start in biker bars and the like. I didn’t like Matthew Schuler as much until I saw his intro.
Equally amazing to me was that she only got a 2 chair turn and that the coaches weren’t raving about her. I hope that gives her a better chance to go further without all the expectation that follows the 4 chair turns.
This is the part I was going to write. I’m hoping that they’re learning from that season and won’t do it again this season. But yes, what they decide to cut has been pretty bad from my perspective as an audience member trying to see who I would pick. At least they don’t get to cut stuff from the live rounds, so there’s that.
From what I’ve read and seen, the lineup for season 5 and 6 is already locked and loaded. It was from earlier this year, so things could change, but Adam and Blake are already touring while they’re doing The Voice.
Here’s a clip of Adam talking about his tour that ends in October, so it doesn’t conflict with the schedule of the show. They tape the blinds and the battles way earlier than the live shows so there’s a gap between. (Adam’s laugh in that clip is infectious.)
So, another pretty good night. I pretty much agreed with all of the judges picks.
I do think at least one should have turned around for Malford Milligan (the black albino) who sang “Let’s Stay Together”. When no-one did I figured it was because they were comparing him to the original, and sure enough they did.
I was a little surprised Christina turned so fast for Timyra-Joi’s rendition of “Girl on Fire”. I’m probably the only one who thinks so, but at the beginning Timyra sounded out of breath. It was kind of weird.
Also, though I’m glad Briana Cuoco got picked, the music at the very beginning was strange and off-putting to me and made me question her voice for some reason. But as the song went on I liked her voice more and more.
And finally, Blake. Yeah, I get it, you’re from Texas. You’ve won three times. No, it’s no longer cute, or funny, or whatever, to mention those facts umpteen million times. :rolleyes:
I had another thought on the Blake strategy. Part of the problem is listening to this one performance, and trying to decide if the person is someone who, with a bit of coaching, could really excel, or if this is their peak. The ultimate telling point is being able to excite the crowd, so if the performer can catch one of the other judge’s attention, it may be worth more to take the risk to get them. Whereas if none of the other judges turn, it has to be something special you see to be worth the risk.
I have to agree. He sounded great, and I was wondering why they didn’t pop. Was there something else he could have done with the performance?
Also, there was the county guy singing Blake’s song that Adam turned for but not Blake. That looks like a case of not looking at that guy’s merits, but comparing to your own performance a little too closely. Blake knows what it takes for that song and is attached to his own rendition, so it’s harder to look at this guy and see through the places he doesn’t quite get right (the breath control).
I thought she was a bit pitchy in places. I agree Christina turned fast, but the others sure took a long while. Good call going with Christina. She had the faith early.
Agreed as well. The music at the beginning was overwhelming her voice and making it hard to hear her tone and vocals. After getting into the song, she was better.
Things they’re going to beat to death:
*Blake being from Oklahoma, Texas, the South
*Blake winning 3 times in a row
*Christina having taken a break and being fresh and ready to win
*Adam and Blake loving all over each other
*Christina being the female who was a young girl in the business, the others don’t understand
*Adam being “So pissed” if he doesn’t get you on his team
*Cee Lo flirting and hitting on and generally being creepy with the hot women
I’d start a drinking game, but I don’t drink. Besides, we’d get drunker than Blake.
I was trying to find an actual example, but not succeeding. Being pitchy is easiest to hear when there’s a musical note from an instrument at the same time, and the notes just don’t quite match. It’s when the singer is just a tad sharp or flat on the note. It sounds off from where the note should be.
Of course, sometimes I think the judges are listening to completely different performances. They’ll say someone was pitch perfect while I’m listening to cats yowling.
No, their feuding is mock anger. The first season they had some comments that were somewhat harsh, accusing of lying to get wins and whatnot. Then they started the bromance thing. They do both - throwing the “I hate him” stuff and then the “he’s so sexy” stuff.
Yeah, but Cee Lo’s flirting just comes off creepy sometimes. Besides, Blake flirts with dudes, too.
Yes, the other judges complaining about Blake winning, and then Blake complaining they’re ganging up on him.
I though Adam made a mistake turning for that country guy. I don’t think anyone else turned for him. He was practically shouting the words instead of singing. I see this guy exiting in the 1st battle round.
Last night finished up the blind auditions. I loved the joy on the face of the last guy picked when he learned he was the last guy picked.
Tonight is a recap night, seeing many of the performances again. It will be interesting to see who turns out to be good singers and who turns out to have issues when faced with learning new songs quickly.
What was Billy Idol Jr. doing? His falsettos and long notes made me wonder if he was trying to work in R&B singing into a rock song. I know he was trying to be unique and make it his own, but he sounded awful in my opinion. I wonder if the judges were being kind by telling him how well he sang.
I watched the review show while trying to skip the preview material. I know the stuff is in the can, but I don’t want to see what’s coming until it arrives.
One thing did stick out to me, though, and that’s the artists they bring in to help coach. I remember the first season, where they brought in specific people they knew to help. Adam had the Maroon 5 musical director (whatever that means), and Christina had a personal friend and singing coach. Now I think the show lines up people using the platform of the show as incentive. Last season it really became obvious when Pharrell Williams was one of the advisors, and then he and Robin Thicke debuted their song.
Oh well, as long as the advice is good, it doesn’t matter.
I tried to find a performance of Diego Roman Navairo singing “Rebel Yell” to show you what I was talking about but it doesn’t look like any video of it was posted.
Here’s a really crappy version someone recorded off their TV from their camera phone or something. The sound is very low, but I can just make stuff out.
Are you talking about around :17 seconds in? I don’t know, it doesn’t sound particularly bad to me. I suppose it’s a little incongruent with the rest of the song.
Irishman - The performance didn’t seem so bad when listening to it in low volume.
OK, for today’s battles, I’m always worried about being too wordy, so I’ll keep my opinions brief.
Team Adam
[ul]
[li]1 Grey - Sounded like she started safe but improved as the song went on.[/li][li]1 Nick - Not a good song for him, but yet he showed more energy and his voice was a little unique. I would have picked him for the win and I’m glad he’s saved.[/li][li]2 Donna & Tessanne - I liked Donna a little bit better but felt that she could have cut down on the raspyness a little. I noticed her sounding like Tina Turner and the judges commented on it too. I thought she should have won and I’m sad she wasn’t saved.[/li][/ul]
Team Christina
[ul]
[li]1 Timyra and Amber - I loved Amber’s voice but thought Timyra’s was a tiny bit better. I would have picked her and wish she would have been saved.[/li][li]2 Briana and Jacquie - I liked Briana’s voice a little bit better because it was a little bit deeper, and that’s what I prefer. I would have picked her to win and I’m glad she’s saved.[/li][/ul]
Team Blake
[ul]
[li]1 Justin and Shelbie - I favored Shelbie and I don’t feel too bad that Justin wasn’t saved. I think he was too laid back for my tastes.[/li][/ul]
Team Cee-Lo
[ul]
[li]1 Anthony - He has a great voice. I like it better than Caroline’s because he seems to have more range. I would have picked him for the win. Again, glad he was saved.[/li][li] 1 Caroline - She has the “quirky” quality that Cee-Lo loves and I don’t. Also, she seemed nervous to me and I thought it showed.[/li][/ul]
So if it were up to me the winners would have been:
Nick
Donna
Briana
Timyra
Shelbie
Anthony
Nick and Grey: Nick’s got a unique style. Not sure this song worked for him, but his style and energy were evident. I liked Grey’s performance and picked her to win. Not surprised he was saved.
Donna and Tessanne: This was a great performance, these two were evenly matched. Both are excellent and I didn’t really have any problems to point out. Donna does sound a bit like Tina Turner. I think my approach to her would be to attack that point head on as soon as done with the knockouts - pick a Tina song and then find a way to do it different. I would have picked Donna on that performance, and I am surprised nobody saved her.
Team Christina
Timyra-joi and Amber: both were good singers, another good pairing. I would have picked Timyra-joi to win. Her tone was better to me.
Briana and Jacquie: I liked Briana a bit better on tone, Jacquie was better on enunciation. This was a close call. I probably would have gone with Briana, but the saves are in play here.
Team Blake
Justin and Shelbie: I like Shelbie’s tone better. Maybe the song gave her more room to work, but I came in preferring her and the performance didn’t change that.
Team Cee-Lo
Anthony and Caroline: I, too, preferred Anthony over Caroline. I thought the song was better suited to him, and prefer his style over her quirkiness. I’m not surprised Cee-Lo went with her, they seem to have a thing for quirky girl voices (Melanie Martinez, Dia Frampton). I’m glad he was saved.
And I loved when Cher said she loved Adam, and then when Blake put her on the spot she couldn’t name a single Maroon 5 song. My wife said Cher probably couldn’t name what band Adam is in.
Not happy so many matches weren’t shown. Anyway, for the matches that were:
Team Christina
[ul]
[li]Jacob vs Mathew - I liked both voices, but I thought Mathew was a little more up-temp which I preferred. I picked him for the win, and I’m glad I was right.[/li][/ul]
Team Cee-Lo
[ul]
[li]Kat vs R. Anthony - I would have preferred less vibrato from both of them but the amount from Kat was really annoying to me, so for that reason I chose R. Anthony. Obviously Cee-Lo didn’t.[/li][/ul]
Team Blake
[ul]
[li]Monika vs Ray- I thought their voices were equal, I just thought that Ray was more consistent and I picked him to win. Glad I guessed that one right. And I do think it was a good thing that Monika got to stay on with Cee-Lo.[/li][/ul]
Aside from the eventually-released DVDs (if then), do they ever show full videos of snippets of a montage? Glad she won the Battle Round, but I was looking forward to E.G. Daily’s performance.
