The Voice, Season 5

Cafe Society
41

Ahh, the dreaded montages. Jerks.

Team Christina - what’s up with squinty mcsquinterson? Both worked hard to stay on tempo. This was a hard call.

Team Cee-Lo - Kat vs R Anthony. I liked Kat’s vibrato and her tone. I picked her. R. had some good sound, but I rooted for Kat. Plus, she’s got some funky dance moves going on, with her booty kick, her little orgasm spasm, and the funky little short stepping. I had to laugh watching her perform.

Team Blake - Monika vs Ray. Ray had a cleaner performance. Monika suffered from the point that both Cher and Blake made - she didn’t know what she was doing with her runs, so they didn’t sound thought out. It got mangled in the break out. If she could pick something and do it consistently, then she could probably do better making it fit. I selected Ray on that performance. Maybe Cee Lo can shape Monika a bit.

42

Small nitpick. I agree with you that Cee Lo does go for quirky girl voices and some quirky guy voices too. Remember that guy who went pretty far that just did weird funny things every week (can’t remember his name)? He sang on top of a piano once and did that thing where he said, ‘I’m not done yet’ at the end of the song.

But comparing Melanie Martinez and Caroline is a little unfair to Caroline. Melanie was quirky and off-key a lot of the time. At least Caroline seems to be on key to me. That makes a big difference to me. I remember when people were saying that Melanie’s creativity set her apart and I kept saying that I like her creativity, it’s the fact that she’s off-key a lot of the time that bothers me. With Caroline, I feel a little bit better about Cee Lo picking her because at least she sang well along with being quirky.

43

I did not mean to imply anything about Caroline’s ability to stay on pitch. Dia Frampton was good at staying on pitch, too, but also had a weird vocal quality. Melanie had some good songs and not so good songs. All I am saying is I have seen a pattern of picking quirky voiced girls. Like what’s her name from last year whom everyone was raging about her aetherialness and angelic voice but irked the shit out of me. The judges are looking for “unique”, sometimes to the detriment of “good”. YMMV.

44

That’s largely Cee-Lo, and to a smaller extent Adam. Blake and Christina (and Shakira and Usher) haven’t seemed to do that.

45

My brief opinions for tonight’s performances:

Team Christina
[ul]
[li]Michael vs Josh - I thought Josh’s voice had a little more character to it. The judges described it as over-powering Michael’s voice. Either way I wanted Josh to win and thankfully he did.[/li][li]Lina vs Destinee - I didn’t like how Lina started, but she got better as she went along. But I thought that Destinee had a more consistent performance and I liked her better overall, so I’m glad she won.[/li][/ul]
Team Cee-Lo
[ul]
[li]George vs Juhi - I liked Juhi’s voice better and was glad she got saved[/li][/ul]
Team Blake
[ul]
[li]Austin vs Brian - I though Austin’s voice was smoother so I preferred him, and so did Blake.[/li][/ul]
Team Adam
[ul]
[li]James Irwin vs Matt - I love “Counting Stars” and it was nice to hear a version where I understand all of the words. I think James did just a tiny bit better than Matt because I thought his voice was just a tiny bit stronger. I’m glad Adam picked him.[/li][li]James Wolpert vs Will - I wasn’t crazy about either’s performance frankly. That said I liked Will better. At least when singing lower. I didn’t care for his high notes, but I still would have liked for him to win. At least he was stolen.[/li][/ul]
So my picks vs the actual decision
Josh - Won
Destinee - Won
Juhi - Lost/Stolen
Austin - Won
James Irwin- Won
Will - Lost/Stolen

46

Season 1: Blake Shelton had Dia Frampton and to a lesser degree Xenia.

Season 2: Christina had Lindsay Pavao

Season 3: Melanie Martinez was on Adam’s team, but got chair turns from Cee Lo and Blake.

Season 4: Caroline Glaser started on Blake’s team (with Shakira turning chair) before being stolen by Adam. Sarah Simmons got a 4 chair turn before selecting Adam.

They all do it to a degree. Adam and Blake really go for it, Cee Lo does a fair amount. Christina, Usher, and Shakira are the least likely to go gushy about it.

For last night’s performances, I largely agree with Nobody

Team Christina
[ul]
[li]Michael vs Josh - Pretty much agreed - hat guy sounded better. I think this might be a case where song choice made the decision. I just don’t think it fit Michael’s style.[/li][li]Lina vs Destinee - This was the best performance of the night for me. Destinee really connected with the emotional delivery. You could see it in her face, feel it coming from her. I thought Lina was pretty good on emotion, and I liked her tone and overall performance better. I’m with Adam on that one - Christina made a mistake.[/li][/ul]Team Cee-Lo
[ul]
[li]George vs Juhi - I wasn’t really thrilled with either going in or necessarily the song choice, but I liked Juhi better than George. I guess I can see Cee Lo’s motivation, but I disagree on his call. If Juhi can control some of her affectations and get better breath control, she has a decent tone. I’m not sure I would have saved her, but maybe Adam can have some influence and bring out her best.[/li][/ul]Team Blake
[ul]
[li]Austin vs Brian - Austin worked better for me[/li][/ul]Team Adam
[ul]
[li]James Irwin vs Matt - This version of “Counting Stars” helped me appreciate the song. Both had strengths and weaknesses. I liked James better.[/li][li]James Wolpert vs Will - Again, both had strengths and weaknesses. James was a little overstylized to me, I preferred Will’s approach. I agree with Christina on this one.[/li][/ul]

47

Last night we finished up the Battle Rounds.

Of course they saved Cee Lo’s last steal for the last performance of the night (likely via editing). So that meant we knew they’d both be in, just which team.

I still have to register my dislike for the term “steal”. No, Cee Lo did not* steal* that girl. Stealing implies taking something the other person wants. Stealing would be like the following:

Carson: So Christina, who is the winner, Susie or Beth?

Christina: I pick Susie.

<Cee Lo hits button.>

Carson: Whoah, Cee Lo just stole Susie from Christina! Christina gets Beth.

The way it works now, coaches can hit their button for the person eliminated. It should be called the “SAVE”, not “STEAL”.

Now for the review.

First up was Preston Pohl vs Barry Black for Team Adam. Both these guys were very good, and I think it came down to Preston’s tone more than any quality issues with either one.

Then Cee Lo pitted Johnny Gray (hat) vs Shawn Smith (Big Sexy). Both gave good performances, but I was a bit more taken by Shawn Smith’s performance. He was more consistent and had a better sound. But Cee Lo opted for Johnny Gray.

We had several montages that it was hard to know why they went the way they did.

Then we had Christina’s team with country girl Olivia against soul singer Stephanie. The thing is, even though Olivia started by knowing the song better, the first clips we’re shown in the studio reviewing the song I immediately liked Stephanie’s voice better. It just felt grittier and deeper and more engaged. Even for the stage performance, although Olivia had higher notes and hit them fine, I connected better with Stephanie’s performance.

Now we’re done with Battles and off to Knockouts.

48

I pretty much agree with you Irishman

Team Cee-Lo
[ul]
[li]Johnny vs Shawn - I preferred Shawn’s deeper gravely-er voice, even though it seemed he strained on one of the notes. I would have preferred that he won instead of Johnny.[/li][/ul]
Team Adam
[ul]
[li]Preston vs Berry - I honestly had no preference. I was fine with either winning.[/li][/ul]
Team Christina
[ul]
[li]Olivia vs Stephanie - Olivia was a natural at it and sang effortlessly. Yet, I could tell that Stephanie was giving it 100% and, as Blake put it, singing the hell out of it. That really impressed me and I wanted her to win. But at least she got a second chance on Cee-Lo’s team.[/li][/ul]

49

Knock Out rounds.

Team Christina
Amber vs Josh
I liked Amber’s long notes, but everything else seemed… A little safe I guess I’d call it.
I was worried that Josh would do an imitation but he made the song his own. He was my pick.

Destinee vs Olivia
Destinee seemed a little bit winded to me.
Olivia was good on the chorus but seemed a little stale on the verses. I didn’t have a preference.

Teem Cee-Lo
Kat vs Monika
Kat was lacking something for me. I can’t put my finger on it.
Monika had a great voice, great attitude, and I loved her stage presence. I wanted her to win.

Cole vs Jonny
I loved them both, no complaints. But I liked Cole’s performance just a hair more and I wanted him to win.

Team Blake
Holly vs Nick
I thought Holly’s performance was horrible, but my wife liked it.
Although better than in rehearsal, I wasn’t too crazy about Nick’s performance, but I liked it a tad bit better than Holly’s and picked him to win.

Briana vs Shelbie
Poor Briana. I was rooting for her but her performance was pretty week.
I loved everything about Shelbie’s attitude. This was no contest.

Team Adam
Ashley vs Tessanne
I didn’t really like her pause style singing, but I thought her performance got better as the song went on.
Other than the ending, I liked Tess’s performance better over-all and I picked her to win.

Grey vs James
Up until Grey I had been preferring the second singer in each round, but she was the first - first singer I liked and I picked her to win.
To me James’s range seemed a little limited. Or, if it’s not, then I would have preferred he sing higher during the high parts of the song.

50

Amber vs Josh: Neither song really was my thing. Wasn’t familiar with either. Amber had good power but seemed off somehow. It just didn’t pop for me. Josh had better tones and seemed more natural in his song. I voted for Josh. I expected Cee Lo to like Amber better. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that he went for the steal, but that performance just didn’t inspire me to want to steal her.

Destinee vs Olivia: Agree with your descriptions. Also, this is the match Blake said Destinee was a bit flat and Olivia was a tad sharp. Overall, Olivia’s misses didn’t stand out as much to me. Destinee seemed more emotional, she does that well, but the pitch issues stood out to me. I’d have had to pick Olivia.

Kat vs Monika: The only criticism I had for Kat was right at the beginning she seemed just off the pace - “out of the pocket” to use the parlance. But it was very minor and on second listen wasn’t as bad. I thought she rocked the song hard, had the power and emotion and stage presence, the big high kick at the right spot, the drop at the end. Even the crazy eyes. It just all sold the story for me, she won hands down to me. Monika was pretty good and very sultry, but a few spots seemed a bit flat to me and overall tone just wasn’t there.

Cole vs Jonny: I liked Cole a bit better. I liked the smooth easiness, the touch of grit, the pureness of the note at the end. Jonny was good, but something about his strutting around is odd to me, and that gesture where he waved his arm meant to include everyone didn’t work for me. Notice how Cee Lo’s gesture felt like it was welcoming in, but Jonny’s felt like it was waving off. So I’m glad Blake and Adam hit their buttons.

Holly vs Nic: Holly had a lot of emotion and connection with the song, but she had some flat notes and just fell out on one note she should have held, loss of breath. Nic had an interesting retake on the song, though some of his vocal tones aren’t great, he never was off pitch. He certainly seems more style than substance to me, but he’s holding his own.

Briana vs Shelbie: Briana started a bit weak, but broke out great at the end. But Shelbie owned that performance from top to bottom and got everything right. So no contest.

Ashley vs Tessanne: I agree with your summary. Tessanne was better overall, but there were a couple hiccups. Ashley’s pausing style was awkward.

Grey vs James: Grey’s opening was just a bit rough, off tempo, but after that it was great. I didn’t understand Christina’s remark about the notes at the end. James had good heart but some of the notes didn’t work for me, especially the high ones.

51

Well, what I thought was funny was that he said he picked that song to show Adam that he could hit the high notes, and then when he sang I never really noticed him hitting any. He sounded like he went from lower mid-range to upper mid-range.

52

October 29, 2013 My picks are the second performer mentioned.

Team Adam
Preston - I liked his smooth and gravely voice.
Lina - Very solid performance. Very engaging. I liked her just a little bit more.

James - I was Underwhelmed. And his long note followed by, “Maryanne, she slips away, yeah!” was kind of a WTF? moment for me.
Juhi - I thought she had a great voice, grate performance, great range, and more power.

Team Blake
EG - She seemed to have problems when her voice got gravely and she couldn’t sustain notes. I agreed with Christina, she lost control.
Ray - I thought he was just a bit better and I picked him.

Brandon - Pretty good, but I thought he fell flat in places.
Austin - My only complaint is when he broke up the world breath “stop me and steel my brea-eth.” Other than that I thought he gave a wonderful performance.

Team Christina
Anthony - I thought he needed better control. He fluctuated a little here and there.
Jacquie - I thought her performance was head and tails above. No complaints.

Will - I didn’t care for his gravely voice that much. But I know that’s a personal preference.
Matthew - I loved the power in his voice. He went for it, and he delivered.

Team Cee-Lo
Stephanie - I didn’t think her voice and singing style were right for this song. But she is a good singer and I’m glad she was stolen.
Tamara - Her singing sounded a little rough to me, but I thought it was better than Stephanie’s performance.

George - He fell flat a couple of times for me, but I didn’t think he was flat the whole way through like Blake did.
Caroline - I think she played it too safe, but I preferred her just a tad bit over George.

53

When they’re in the first coaching segment, he sang the high notes with his falsetto and went high. Then we saw a comment from Adam that he needed to connect more emotionally. Then we see him singing again, and he didn’t use the falsetto, and Adam gave the comment about being much better. So I suspect that was a comment received during coaching. But yes, it took the high notes out of his song.

With regards to last night:

Preston vs Lina: Lina did everything right. Preston has a good tone, and he gave a solid performance, but the style and song choice aren’t my faves. I don’t think the quality of the performances gave any criteria for choosing, so I think Adam defaulted to his personal opinion of how “classical” and “unique” Preston sounds. It’s a shame, I liked Lina better.

James vs Juhi: James tanked that performance. He just flubbed it. It was an ambitious song choice and he missed. Juhi gave an okay performance, but some elements seemed overstylized - like Adam’s comment about hearing the singing. On those performances, Juhi was much better, but Adam made a gut call based upon his overall experiences. James apparently hit it in the rehearsals, and his other performances have been good, so I think Adam sees more potential right now for what he can do with James.

EG vs Ray: pretty much agree with Blake’s evaluation. Ray didn’t inspire me, but he was consistent where EG just waivered a bit on some of the notes.

Austin vs Brandon: I thought Austin was amazing. Brandon’s song choice was uninspiring to me, his vocal tone is blah, he was breathy in the quiet beginning, and he was flat in spots. Blake said Austin was sharp in places, but I didn’t notice that. Easy win for Austin to me.

Anthony vs Jacquie: Nerves and youth combined with dance song over lyrics song. Anthony had an off night and the weak song didn’t give room for technical misses. Pitchy. Breathy. Jacquie was hands down better. Nice attitude, nice voice, nice connection to the audience.

Will vs Matthew: Matthew had a good voice and powerful delivery of a song I didn’t know. Familiarity with Will’s song helped me connect better. I liked Will’s delivery. Two great performances. I called that Christina would keep Matthew and Adam would steal Will back.

Stephanie vs Tamara: I liked Stephanie’s performance vocally, but I was distracted by the guitar. It didn’t seem like she was actually playing. On Tamara, I’m not sure I can separate the performance from the style choice. I liked Stephanie better.

George vs Caroline: Caroline had the light airy styling and she could have made it pop more in a couple places but overall was good. George was flat. And then he was flat. And then he was flat again. Pretty much like Blake said. Not every note, but many notes. It was just all blah to me. Nothing I liked in that performance.

54

My assessment of the teams as they stand now:

Cee Lo:
Caroline Pennell
Kat Robichaud
Jonny Gray
Tamara Chauniece
Amber Nicole

The only one that excites me is Kat Robichaud, and as previously stated by someone, her style can come off overproduced and therefore not authentic. Caroline is too airy for me, Jonny just bothers me, Tamara has some ability, Amber needs experience.

Adam Levine:
Grey
James Wolpert
Preston Pohl
Tessanne Chin
Will Champlin

Solid team. James had a bad performance and stylistically seems a little weak to me. Tessanne missed a note but is powerful and dynamic. He’s got a lot to work with here.

Blake Shelton:
Austin Jenckes
Nic Hawk
Ray Boudreaux
Shelbie Z.
Cole Vosbury

Austin, Shelbie, and Cole are solid performers. Ray lacked character to me, and Nic seems to be more character than vocal talent. But the same could have been said (and was said) about early Madonna, so there’s that.

Christina Aguilera:
Jacquie Lee
Josh Logan
Matthew Schuler
Olivia Hencken
Stephanie Anne Johnson

Pretty good over all. Jacquie is young and may be hit by inexperience. Something about Matthew bothers me - maybe it’s just his perpetual squint. Olivia isn’t quite as good as Shelbie to me. I like Stephanie, but she’s bounced twice, so that doesn’t bode well for her.

55

Did Blake say that Caroline is the best in the competition? If so, I agree. I love her style. Like Blake, I have a fondness for the quirky ones.

56

Live rounds. I’ll only post comments for artists where I had more to say than, “Great performance.”

[ol]
[li]James - I liked his power and emotion. I could really feel it.[/li][li]Tess[/li][li]Will - Some singers I like their high notes and not their low notes, or vice versa. But I liked both from him.[/li][li]Shelbie[/li][li]Cole[/li][li]Austin[/li][li]Ray - Good performance, but something seemed a little subdued. I couldn’t really get into it.[/li][li]Grey - Not bad, but I felt her voice needed more power.[/li][li]Preson- I don’t think this was a good song choice. His voice was a little too gravely and I thought his rap parts were weak.[/li][li]Nick - It doesn’t help that I find the song boring to begin with, but he also didn’t do anything to make me change my mind. I thought his voice was a little too high pitched and he should have sang a different song.[/li][/ol]

57

Overall, one of the best rounds of performance I’ve seen. Nobody tanked it. There were a few issues, but good performances from everyone.

I’m not ranking everyone, but will specify comments.

Austin, Shelbie, and Cole all delivered, and are strong contenders. Shelbie continues to have that audience connection and the attitude. Cole sounded very similar to Rod Stewart - perhaps a little too similar. All three are excellent and sound great.

Ray was pretty good, had energy, but some of the lyrics were a little muddy and it just didn’t pop for me. A better performance out of him than I expected.

Nic Hawk - I don’t like the song, and I agree something about his tone didn’t work. He really had the swagger and energy and stayed right on pace. It’s just his vocals don’t quite work for me. I’d probably put him at bottom for the night.

James had a great comeback. He needed it. Will was good overall, except one note at the end kinda went wonky to me. But still a good performance. He’s justified his two saves in my mind.

Grey had an energetic performance, but a few notes sounded flat to me. Also had trouble making out all the lyrics.

Preston, I don’t think the song choice worked for him. His tone didn’t fit very well, and his high notes sounded flat or something.

Tessanne - great performance, arguably the best of the night. Being last helps that comparison, versus Shelbie who did great but led off the night and therefore suffers from “wait, how did she do again?” syndrome.

My picks for bottom two performances: Nic and Grey. I’d put Preston in third, but argue it’s song over voice that was the trouble there.

58

Live rounds Nov 5, 2013.

[ol]
[li]Caroline - Despite her quirky voice I absolutely loved her performance. It was a perfect song choice. Jacquie - She made me think, “Hey, it’s Christina Jr.” But other than that, a terrific performance.[/li][li]Olivia - Although I wasn’t crazy about countrifying the song I liked her singing.[/li][li]Kat - Her mic volume seemed low, so I had a hard time hearing most of what she sang, but I liked what I heard.[/li][li]Stephanie - Seemed a little high pitched in the middle, but other than that I thought she did good.[/li][li]Tamara - The first couple of lines seemed rushed together, and this is just a personal preference, but I wish she would have drawn out the word “survive” each time she sang it. Other than that I liked her performance.[/li][li]Matthew - I’m in the minority, but I thought his singing high and soft just didn’t work for me.[/li][li]Josh - I wasn’t crazy (no pun intended) with his version of the song.[/li][li]Jonny Even though his voice was similar to Richard Ashcroft (lead singer of the Verve) I don’t think this was a good song choice.[/li][li]Amber - Weak start. Got better in the middle. Got weak again at the end. It just didn’t do it for me.[/li][/ol]

59

Despite the specific description, I somehow didn’t internalize that this week the teams are competing within themselves, and there will be two America picks and one coach pick from each team, with two leaving from each team.

With that in mind, I will reassess Monday.

For Blake, I think America will pick Austin and Cole, though Shelbie is a contender. I think Blake should pick the third of those, with Ray and Nic going home.

For Adam, I like Tessanne, James, and Will. On those performances, Preston and Grey both had issues. However, Adam may just pick Preston because he’s into that voice vibe.

Now for last night.

Cee Lo:

Caroline had a great performance. I’m not really fond of the quirky, but last night’s performance was her best and it worked.

Tamara’s performance was really good, good song choice.

Kat did pretty well taming the beast. She showed a softer controlled side.

Jonny just didn’t work for me. I’ve never cared for the song, maybe it’s the music that turned me off without connecting to the lyrics. Something about his delivery is just… deliberate. It bugged me.

Amber did okay, but her big problem to me was she slid into her notes rather than hitting her notes. It could have been better.

I think America will pick Caroline and Tamara, leaving Cee Lo with the tough choice between Jonny and Kat. I mean, tough for him not for me. I’d pick Kat in a heartbeat, but he seems caught up in Jonny’s story and has some fetish over Jonny’s sound that I don’t share.

Christina:
Josh was a WTF. I often like creative reworkings, but this one was just all over the place. I didn’t like the style or connect to the song at all. Which is a shame because I think Josh has a great voice and sound.

Olivia struggled with it. It wasn’t the countrification that bugged me, it was her delivery. Something in her tone wasn’t working.

Stephanie had a beautiful delivery and really connected with the song. This was her performance highlight.

Matthew - I now know that song is “Wrecking Ball” and that the repeated line is “you wreck me”. I’ve been wondering, trying to make it out on the radio. I agree with Nobody, I didn’t like that performance. The people on the show apparently did.

Jacquie had a great wrap up.

Judging from the audience reaction, America will pick Jacquie and Matthew. I’d pick Stephanie on those performances, but Christina may opt for Josh on previously displayed ability and potential. I’d pick Josh over Matthew. Olivia is a no for me.

As I see it, Adam’s Will and Christina’s Stephanie have the curse of being double steals - that means they’ve already been beaten twice. That may influence the coaches’ picks. Amber and Cole were steals in the knockouts but won their battle rounds. Nic was steal in the battles but won in the knockouts.

60

I’m glad to see that people are liking Caroline and not liking Matthew because that’s how I feel. I didn’t watch season 1, but after that, I didn’t like any of the quirky singers in Irishman’s list in post #46 at all. They all grated on me, and I wished them gone faster. But I really like Caroline. I like her rhythm, her choice of notes and that she seems on pitch to me. With the other quirky singers, if I didn’t know the song, I’d wonder, who would write a song like that because it sounded so awful to me. I’d look up the original and sure enough, the song didn’t sound that awful. I like Caroline’s songs whether I’ve heard them before or not. They all sound sweet and pretty. I’m rooting for Caroline.

I’m hoping for the opposite. I hope that America picks Ray and Nic, and Austin and Cole go home. If America doesn’t vote for Austin, Blake will probably save him. I don’t like that several people (Cher, Christina and Blake) have told him to not continually use his power for everything, but he doesn’t seem to change.

I think America will pick Tessanne and James. And Adam will save Preston. I really liked Will but there aren’t enough spots. I haven’t liked Grey since the beginning. I really like James and have since the beginning. I hope he overcomes his inconsistency. In his intervew, he said that battling against Juhi was hard because they were good friends.

I’m hoping America picks Caroline and Kat and Cee Lo saves Tamara.

Pretty much agreed on all of that. Olivia has been a no for me since the beginning. I didn’t like Stephanie in the blinds but I’ve become a big fan over the last couple rounds. Except for Jacquie, who is a powerhouse, I think she did the best on Christina’s team. I agree about Josh’s perfomance. What was that about? But I like him from the previous rounds. I haven’t liked Matthew from the beginning and nothing has swayed me since then. I’m wondering how America will vote with him, seeing a couple other people agreeing with me about him. I think the coaches like his ability to hold out a big note, but for me, that’s just one note. And hearing that note doesn’t do anything for me in terms of the song.