Austin vs Josh “Happy” - To me Josh had a bad start but got better in the middle. Austin had a stronger and clearer voice to me, but didn’t show much range. Josh showed more range, but seemed slightly inconsistent in quality.
Audra vs Alaska & Madi “When Will I be Loved?” - I completely agreed with everything the judges said, especially Usher saying Madi held her own against Audra & Alaska. For that I felt Madi should have won. I’m surprised the other two didn’t get stolen.
Deja vs Music Box “Eternal Flame” - Can’t say I cared for the style both sang the song in, but I very slightly preferred Deja.
Madilyn vs Tanner “Everything has changed” - It was so even I really couldn’t pick. Maybe Tanner by 0.000000001%. I thought he should have been saved.
Dawn & Hawkes vs Josh “Stuck in the Middle With You”- Josh had a good start but needed to have slightly better enunciation on some words. As for the duet, Dawn’s voice didn’t seem to fit in for me. I was hoping Josh would win, but a steel is just as good.
Bria vs Tess “Piece of my Heart” - I thought that Bria’s grittiness evoked the spirit of Janis Joplin and so I’m glad she won. Congrats to Tess for getting stolen.
Austin vs Josh: Austin has a fuller tone, but Josh had more variety and was a little better IMO. Austin missed a few notes it seemed to me.
Audra vs Alaska & Madi: All were awesome. It sounded like there was one big note Audra was just slightly under, but she vibratoed it and pulled through. Overall, I liked hers better. With the way Usher and Shakira were refusing to choose, I thought a steal was in play.
Sometimes, either way a great singer is going home. This was one.
Deja vs Music Box: (“Music Box” - ugh) They both started off just behind the pocket. Music had some pitch problems, and growled out a couple of the notes that IMO should have been sung. Deja was cleaner overall, though she did a little over enunciation at the beginning.
Madilyn vs Tanner: I get a little Danielle Bradberry vibe off Madilyn - similar face, similar vocal tone. I think Tanner started a little cleaner, but Madilyn was a little more stand out in the harmonies. I would pick Madilyn, but I think Tanner should have been saved, picked over Music Box.
Dawn & Hawkes vs Josh: Agreed and agreed. “Cuh-lowns…” I think Dawn’s problem was a combination, first the original song is male vocal, and then there’s two male vocals singing and she only pops up with one line that’s just her, it’s disjointed from the rest of the performance. She had good harmonies. I probably would have picked Josh, so good on the steal even if I didn’t see it coming from Shakira.
Bria vs Tess: I’ve always loved this song, a great blend of emotion power. Janis had a grit and energy that is hard to match. I don’t think this song was suited to Bria’s voice. Tess has a richer sound that fits better with this song. However, I think Bria delivered overall a more emotional connection and energy to the song. Both are awesome so great they both go forward.
They need to stop tweaking the show. It’s a huge hit, if they keep messing with it, it could hurt the show. Also, stop pitting the teams against themselves!
Also, pocket seems to be the trendy new word. I don’t remember them using it in past seasons, but they use it repeatedly this season.
Anyway, for my review of the battle rounds:
Cary vs Sam “Give me Love” - Sam, I hate, hate, hate, hate her “quirky” voice. I liked Cary so I thought she should win, but I see with Cee-Lo gone Adam is the one to carry the torch for quirky.
Kaleigh vs Noah “Everything” - This is the second time Usher says what I was thinking. I thought Noah was one step above a lounge singer. Kaleigh was slightly quirky (not as bad as Sam though) and I thought her enunciation was strange on some of the words. I thought Noah should have won.
Cierra vs Emily “Brave” - First, for some reason in the original version after she sings, “I wanna see you,” I didn’t realize she was saying, “be brave.” I couldn’t tell what she was saying, and I didn’t care enough to Google the lyrics. Anyway, I thought they both gave great performances, but I thought Cierra had a smoother and richer voice and should have won. I’m glad she was saved, although I wonder, if Usher didn’t like her, could have not saved and gone into the next round with an open steel slot?
This about the second Battle Round? I wonder if this will replace Knockouts, or we’ll have those, too. The Battle Rounds are the gimmick because the two artists are singing the same song together. For Knockouts, they compete in pairs but sing their own individual songs. I guess We’ll find out. But yes, I agree, perpetual changes are not necessarily better. I think they hit a pretty good formula. Battle Rounds are hard because theoretically the song choice and style should equally fit both artists, but practically you have times when a song choice/style is a better fit for one than another, and that makes it lopsided.
Blake has been using it, but it is trendy this season, getting used a lot.
Cary vs Sam, “Give me Love”: This is one that I thought was harder on Cary, though Adam said they both were out of their comfort zone. Both are great, but I hear the element of quirky you mention. Hard call.
Kaleigh vs Noah, “Everything”: Not a song that I know. In general, I don’t really like crooning, but Noah had a good voice. I liked Kaleigh.
Cierra vs Emily, “Brave”: Both had pitch issues. In rehearsals, Cierra seemed stronger with Emily struggling more, but it was pretty even in the competition. I liked Emily’s performance a bit better, but Cierra isn’t bad. Her Blind audition was good, so hopefully Usher can pull back on that.
Yeah, that’s a little murky at first. Also, “How big your brave is” isn’t a great line. Once again, a singer making a noun out of an adjective.
I don’t think we know what would happen if a coach got to the end of the round and didn’t use the last save. Though I’m not certain they’re shown in order, it’s possible this wasn’t the last of the day. But it would be interesting to find out if they line up all the eliminated contestants, or the couch does a sing-off between two or three top picks, or what. I don’t think they’d carry the save to the next round, but who knows?
I’ve been wondering for a while now if all the rounds before the live one are shown in order. They usually tout the last performance of each round as the best. So is it just hype, or are the producers taking what they consider the best performance and playing it last?
I hope they have Knockouts also. Either that or let the audience choose anyone from any team earlier in the live rounds. Last season, 5 singers from each team sang at the live rounds. Two were saved by audience vote and the coach saved one. That seemed unfair to me because there had to be a certain number of people saved on each team. A lot of good singers got eliminated because a lot of the talent was on one team. Adam had a couple good singers that got eliminated in favor of lesser singers because of how that worked.
If they have knockouts also, it still leaves the problem of requiring a certain number from each team but at least they’re going against each other, not just being eliminated because they didn’t make the cut of the audience vote.
I’m fairly certain they are not shown in order, or at least not fully in order. There have been a few cases where a contestant finished and did not get the obligatory “this contestant is available to steal”, which would only make sense if all steals were done. But then later someone used the last steal. I didn’t see that this season, but one of the other seasons.
It’s hard to tell, because they can scramble the coaches’ comments as well. Blake asked Usher about his remaining steal and then we went into the last pair.
Given that the Blinds have skips and also rans, I would bet they juggle a bit to make sure they end on a 4 chair fistfight rather than a 1 chair turn, or a nobody picked 'em.
That’s always been a problem to a degree. The first season they went all the way to the finale with keeping the eliminations limited to within a team. Second season as well, IIRC. If they do a second round of Battles and a round a Knockouts, then I would think they don’t have the spare bodies for the “pick 3 of 5” round like last season. Maybe they put in the extra Battles because of that?
Wait, that doesn’t make sense. You want the audience to vote earlier, but then complain that they were eliminated because they didn’t make the audience cut?
Battles and Knockouts are within their own team. During the live round week 1, the coaches have a save after the audience picks. Last season there were 3 out of 5 instead of 3 out of 4. Season 3 was 3 out of 5.
I just looked on wikipedia, it states that Battles Round 2 replaces Knockouts. The singers will be paired and choose from a list of songs. Also, all the teams will be coached by Chris Martin of Coldplay. Apparently Cee Lo has also announced he won’t be coming back.
I had a feeling that would look contradictory when I wrote it. I’m not really wanting the audience vote earlier. I’m not against the coaches having control. But the way they do it, the coach saves 1 after the audience picks 2 of 5.
The coach save is generally gone in the next round. There have been a couple exceptions like Will Champlin from last year, but mostly the coach saves aren’t based on anything, so the audience just eliminates them in the next round.
If the coach pick was based on something, like another round of knockouts or battles, then at least it feels like it wasn’t just about who the coach liked personally and the audience might be able to see why they picked the person they did.
That said, if the audience is going to pick from 5 on each team, I’d like it better if the pick was undifferentiated between teams so that if one team has a heavy amount of talent, those people could stay as opposed to people who are just there because their team has less talent.
I’m really liking Chris Martin’s clips so far. He seems so positive and supportive and has some interesting ideas. There’s even a clip where Shakira notes the respect that Chris has for the contestants and how she’s learning from him also.
I read an article that Pharrell Williams will be a coach on season 7. There’s a part of me that wishes they wouldn’t keep changing coaches. There seems to be a learning curve in being a coach and watching a newbie learn the ropes isn’t as fun for me. But another part of me doesn’t mind that they’re trying to keep things fresh and interesting.
ETA: I must be the only person in the thread so far who isn’t a Bria Kelly fan. She sounds like she’s screaming to me. I can’t listen to her for very long.
I really enjoyed the BattleRounds#2 this evening. These singers are hungry and they’re really going for it. My favorites were the guys, Josh, Delvin were both incredible, also enjoyed Jt Wilkins and Jake Worthington. I thought the guys tonight outshone the girls by a large margin.
I’m just not a fan of Tess, I don’t get the hype for her, except that she’s attractive. I guess that goes a long way to selling records.
I think the women did very well. My only problem with Tess is how loud she sings.
As for my opinions, I seemed to be going for the deeper voices it seems.
Audra vs Megan “The Climb” - I connected with Audra’s performance because it was richer and deeper to me.
T.J. vs Cierra “Get Here” Both were wonderful but again, Cierra had a richer, deeper voice in my opinion and I preferred it, although Usher didn’t.
Jane vs Tess “Have a Little Faith in Me” - Both were great, but Tess sang a little loud for me. Bordering on yelling out her lines instead of singing them, so I preferred Jane.
Christina vs Sam “Counting Stars” - I call it, the quirk-off. Each trying to out quirk the other, but I hate quirk and Christina had less of it, so I picked her.
Josh vs Patrick “Run to You” - Patrick’s vocals were clearer to me, so I preferred him.
Josh vs Delvin “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” - Delvin’s performance seemed stronger and clearer to me, which is why I picked him. Josh gave a great performance too so I’m glad he was saved.
I don’t think so. In theory, the Battle Rounds are a great way to separate the wheat from the chaff. You pit two singers against each other in the same song and performance, and watch which comes out ahead. And sometimes it works out that way, when you can see the flaws and see who is stronger.
But in practice, you get cases where they are fairly even, with one person’s flaws balanced by the other person’s flaws, so it’s do you like tomato or tomahto? Can I fix that person’s pitch issues or that person’s confidence issues?
Or worse, we get how it’s playing out here - both competitors are coming out strong and pushing each other to be better. That gives awesome performances, but very little difference to grade them on, very little way to pick a winner.
Most of the performances tonight were like that - I couldn’t call a winner, and it came down to esoteric matters of taste and whimsy. “Go with my gut”.
Actually, Blake did what I expected on his Jake vs Tess battle. They were both strong singers and both did very well. There wasn’t a musical or technical difference to judge them on. So Blake went with loyalty to the guy he picked in the Blinds. But I respect that he admitted that, there wasn’t another way to judge so vote for loyalty. Sure, that puts the steals at a disadvantage, but consider that they got beat once before, so if it’s otherwise dead even, give to the overall better record. Anyway, I anticipated Blake’s call, and that Tess would get a save. They were lighting her up with too much praise to not go in.
Audra vs Megan: Both powerhouses, both good notes. I’m fonder of Megan as a rocker, but it was very even to me.
Cierra vs TJ: Both had strong, clear voices with good intonation. I couldn’t call it. Hard not to save Cierra.
Jake vs Tess: Both awesome, good save.
Sam vs Christina: This seemed the weakest performance of the night. Both had troubles in the practice sessions. Sam’s quirky vowel intonations almost sound Irish in tone, like Sinead O’Connor or The Cranberries. Sam’s voice is a little fuller when she uses it, but the quirks annoy. I think both were playing around with the melody a bit, and I tend not to like that. I liked Christina better, but there’s room for improvement.
Josh vs Patrick: Josh has some of those weird vowel affectations. Patrick really brings the emotion through. His power and energy and connection - Shakira said it sounded more like Josh’s wheelhouse because Patrick is so bluesy, but I think he has a very Joe Cocker style and sound. I thought Patrick delivered a more moving and connecting performance. I think Patrick is the better one in this pair. Josh is pretty good, though. His run near the end was different and interesting.
Delvin vs Josh: Definitely one of the hardest pairs to decide. Both do soul well. Each has a different character to their voices, but both are strong and clear. Both are excellent performers. Definite steal either way.
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I’m just not a fan of Tess, I don’t get the hype for her, except that she’s attractive. I guess that goes a long way to selling records.
[/QUOTE]
She has a strong, clear voice with a full tone and no weird vowel intonations or funky inflections. Her emotion and attitude come through. What’s not to like?
Ah.
I agree. The first two seasons sucked because they competed within their own team up to the last night. I much prefer the audience having unconstrained eliminations.
Overall, pretty good. Not sure I’m up on the line about windsurfing being a valuable contribution, but okay.
Just heard that tonight. Cee Lo isn’t coming back, and they’re kinda doing that alternating thing with Usher and Shakira vs Christina, so they needed a replacement for Cee Lo. Could have been Usher, but then you have to justify having Christina and Shakira only trading out. It is a sizeable commitment to do the show, and running the seasons back to back makes it tight. Trading out coaches gives room for other projects. Doesn’t seem to have stopped Adam and Blake, however.
When I first heard Chris Martin was coming on, I thought they were swapping him out with Adam. Instead, he’s mentoring all the contestants in the Battles Round 2. Whew.
Everybody please keep in mind that the point is to create dramatic and pleasing shows , not to find the best voice. Viewership is the only goal and once the public voting starts it is as much about looks, back story, and personality as it is about singing. Creating a story line that will capture the imagination of the public is the coaches primary job.
That explains why there hasn’t been a break out star emerge from the Voice. No stars like Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, or Carrie Underwood.
I’m already having trouble remembering this season’s faces or names. Theres so many contestants on the Voice that I can never keep straight who is who. I just try to enjoy each performance.
That’s true of the music industry in general. Creating an image and story line that captures the imagination of the viewers is the job of every musician.
The celebrity coaches themselves don’t have the best voices in the world. Sometimes they even say that a certain contestant has a better voice than they do.
That’s why Shakira pushes that she has 20 million Facebook friends and more Twitter fans than anyone else on the panel. It’s a lot about marketing and those are marketing vehicles for them. The celebrity coaches are masters at creating that image and marketing their talent and packaging it to be appealing to the mass market. That’s what they do in real life and what they do on the show.
As for the voices on the show, I’m often amazed by the audience picks and what creates the viewership. On The Voice UK in 2013, (I’m going to spoiler the rest in case someone wants to watch it later)
[spoiler]there was a blind girl who won the show. Her only backstory was that she was blind and you could tell that instantly. She wasn’t very good looking because she had thick glasses that made her eyes look unattractive. She didn’t do any performing because she couldn’t move around the stage. But her voice was amazing! It had versatility and a haunting quality at times.
The fact that the audience voted for her repeatedly throughout the season shows that the audience does focus on just the voice sometimes.[/spoiler]
First, I’m probably stating the obvious, but it seems to me that the part where each contestant watches the other’s performance is fake. The video looks green-screened.
Anyway, one hour and only 3 match ups? They have to find a way to cut down on the commercials.
Biff vs Sisaundra “It’s a Mans*3 World” - I couldn’t decide. I loved them both. I can see why Sisaundra won though, because she gave it 200% like she said, but I still felt that Biff was good enough to steel.
Dendle vs Deja “Say Something” - I didn’t like Dendle’s performance for a reason I’ve been harping on constantly in this thread. And putting that aside, I Deja did a great job, so I preferred her.
Morgan vs Stevie “Story of my Life” - Both were so great. Stevie kind of had a Bruce Springsteen vibe to his voice. Going with personal preference I chose him, but Morgan was equally as good so I’m glad he got saved.
I noticed on twitter Deja squee’d she’s in the top 20 which means we’ll probably have another 10 battles next week, 6 on Tuesday and 4 on Wednesday. Seems like a lot of filler to fill 3 hours over 2 days, but that’s what I hate about Network television.
I liked the battles tonight, but I think the ones on Monday were more interesting.
Do you mean the part when they’re meeting each other for the first time and watching the video with the coach?
Why do you think that and why would they do that? It never occurred to me. They’d have to fake their reactions to the performances. I’m not sure I’d believe they were such good actors.
I thought Noah was one step above a lounge singer. Kaleigh was slightly quirky (not as bad as Sam though) and I thought her enunciation was strange on some of the words. I thought Noah should have won.