Thanks, but I have a DVR so I’ll watch it tomorrow.
Disagree about Meghan, I thought her rendition of Something was excellent.
I watched this last night but I was completely exhausted, to the point where I don’t remember a lot of the specifics. I do recall that everything was some degree of “liked”, except (again) for Corey. The stuff I didn’t like was song choice or arrangement related rather than voice related, and I think no matter what, there’s going to be someone going home that I’ll be vaguely disappointed by. Such a strong season.
Um, good job, America!
At this point in the competition, I think people have already picked their favorites and are not backing down unless something spectacular or a huge fail occurs.
I liked Hannah’s performance, but those spastic children were really distracting. When CeeLo said to have a children’s choir, did he mean for them to be running all over the stage like that? A children’s choir with them all standing together in the background and looking angelic would have been much more to my liking. I think it would have added to the whole hero motif.
I enjoyed Joshua’s performance also. I wish he had enunciated a few more words more clearly. I could sort of guess what the song was about, but it would have been nice to have more of a clue about what the emotions were about.
This whole performance is exactly what doesn’t work for me about Kimberly. She’s standing there in a beautiful dress, singing beautifully. But the song is about being a creep and an outlier. I don’t get anything like that from her. Gwen said to be there in a chiffon dress that’s torn in tatters. That would make more sense. But she’s standing there, looking like a princess and talking about how she doesn’t fit in. It’s incongruous. I suspect she really does feel like this inside but her outside affectation doesn’t portray it, so it comes across to me as cognitive dissonance.
Michael Slezak, who hates Meghan for some reason that he doesn’t ever specify, made a good point that she started too strong and then pushed it too hard after that. She actually went backwards and backed off the song as it went along. She started on a 10 and backed down to an 8 by the end. But I’m still a fan, so I thought it went OK for me.
I might have mentioned this before, but I saw it again last night in a comment. India’s voice has a “goat-like” quality to it. I don’t care for that. Shakira has it too. I really want to like them. They’re beautiful and on-pitch and their songs are theatrical and generally beautiful. But I can’t get over that “goat” quality.
I was a tad disappointed by Sawyer’s performance. It seemed repetitive to me. But I’m a huge fan. I’m rooting for him to win the show. So I’m pulling for him to have a great performance next week.
Corey is my least favorite. But I really thought he messed up that song. It sounded bad to me. I was shocked that Blake seemed to like it.
Koryn’s airiness bothered me too. It worked last week, but not as much this week. I like her though, but I’m ambivalent about looking past that.
I’d actually be more surprised that Blake drinks as much as he claims. I saw an interview with Danielle Bradbery where she says that he doesn’t drink very much. I get the feeling that the whole drinking thing is just a persona he’s trying to portray. He works a lot for someone who drinks as much as he claims.
It really is hard to pick the bottom 3 because they’re all really good. But I’m going with Corey, India and Kimberly as who I would like to see. Considering those are all the fan favorites, that won’t happen.
It’s more likely to be Joshua, Hannah and Koryn. I wouldn’t miss Corey a bit, so I hope he’s in there somewhere.
On preview, I haven’t seen the show yet, so these are all just guesses on my part.
I just finished watching last night’s performances. Great over-all performances. My criticisms are mostly personal preferences, so I’ll keep them to myself, except for Joshua. I prefer flowing words together, instead of the start-stop thing he did.
Anyway, I’m in the middle of the results show, and so far my bottom two picks have been saved. I’m guessing my top two picks will be the ones to go home.
Results show:
COREY is OUT! It was a last minute, closest vote ever, they pulled down the twitter numbers with him leading and India being on the outs, but all Christina’s begging must have worked because when the instant save results came, India was in and Corey was out. And I’m happy with that.
Unfortunately, Hannah was a goner. Too bad, I hoped she would be rewarded for her “We Don’t Need Another Hero” performance. But when she started singing tonight, I knew right away she was out. That performance didn’t work at all. Bad choice stylistically.
I was pleasantly surprised by Joshua Davis’s results being so good. His pacing on the song was slightly jerky, but overall he did good.
(It’s a Sting song. It’s about having a day of love with a woman in a field, and promising to return to be with her again, but apparently never making it, so she only has the memories of their day in the field of gold.)
[QUOTE=Heffalump and Roo]
I’d actually be more surprised that Blake drinks as much as he claims. I saw an interview with Danielle Bradbery where she says that he doesn’t drink very much. I get the feeling that the whole drinking thing is just a persona he’s trying to portray. He works a lot for someone who drinks as much as he claims.
[/QUOTE]
He seems to drink a bit during the show, but probably isn’t falling down drunk like he seems to pretend.
Hmm, I honestly didn’t give the outfit any consideration. I was going by her delivery. I guess I can see your point.
Speaking of incongruity, what stuck out to me was India singing “Human”, about trying to live up to unreal expectations, and she’s singing all the lines about being only human, bleeding when she falls down, etc, with a big smile on her face. That part of the song is pain, but she didn’t convey that with her appearance. It kinda bugged me a bit. Sure, she delivered on the song, but that kinda was off.
Whereas Corey was mumbles again.
Meghan Linsey, “Something” my favorite for the week. She took a risk taking it in a different direction from the Beatles. But that’s a smart move. Making the song her own.
Really glad to see her advance.
The only thing she needs to work on is her vowels. She let a little of her country roots slip into Something. She’s supposedly left that genre and an ex-husband far behind. A little work reshaping those vowels can shift her more into a R&B style.
Sawyer Fredricks, “Simple Man” was good. I keep hoping they’ll give him some style. That limp shoulder length hair is so dated. Do something with it. Keep it long if that’s what he wants, but at least do something so that it’s not so boring.
YES! YES! YES!
Great vote tonight.
Tonight’s vote was great in several ways. First, Joshua making it first was great validation that an artist can sing their own style as long as it’s done well. It changes the paradigm of the artists having to increase their range, vocal acrobatics and theatrics. America recognizes nuance and emotion, as long as it’s done well. I think that the song and style can’t just be done over and over for the whole show because that gets boring.
I’m hoping that changes a lot of things about the show. All the way back to the blinds, it changes the way the artists are picked. They don’t have to be the artists with the most range. They can be artists that just have the most talent.
As for the saves, I literally cheered out loud when it was Corey, India and Hannah at the bottom. I was really cheering for Koryn for that last save.
But then I saw Corey on the top of the poll at the twitter save and I was dispirited again. When Carson announced India, I was cheering all over again.
Sad to see Hannah go. I really did think her instant save song was the best of the bunch, but it’s getting down to the last of them, and I didn’t want to see anyone else go either. I might not like India’s voice personally, but she really has talent and deserves to stick around a bit more.
I’ve been trying to come up with a way of describing what it is I don’t like about India’s voice. “Uncontrolled vibrato” isn’t quite on point. Your description nails it on the head.
Apparently you’ve forgotten this Cee Lo Green masterpiece. I think it’s exactly what Cee Lo envisioned.
Egads!! I was blissfully unaware of whatever that was, and could have lived happily never knowing. I only watched about 15 seconds of it, wondering why I hadn’t seen that before. Evidently, that was season 1. I started watching The Voice in season 2.
Even though tonight they did a good job singing tonight, nothing they did tonight, or in past weeks could convince me to buy an album, download an MP3, or go to a concert of Kimberly Nichole or Joshua Davis.
And even though I usually don’t care for him, I really enjoyed Sawyer tonight.
At this point, I feel like I’m just writing the same stuff about the same people over and over. I’ve already picked my favorites and my not favorites. Sometimes I can say why they’re my favorites (or not), but mostly at this point, it’s just because I like their style. Unless someone faceplants, it’s unlikely to change. I feel sort of bad for writing that I don’t like my unfavorites because it’s not that they’re bad, it’s just that I already don’t like their style.
First round of songs:
India - I was watching Melinda Doolittle, one of the former contestants on American Idol and TVLine reviewer. She said something interesting about India that really resonated with me. She said that she didn’t think that India is off-pitch, but she makes really bad melodic choices. That’s what I felt about this first song. If that’s how the original song sounds, I don’t want to hear it. It just sounded bad.
Koryn - Pretty typical Koryn fare. It’s getting a little formulaic. It was straining a bit at the end, but I’m still a fan.
Joshua - I like Joshua, but he couldn’t keep my attention on that song. I was trying to pay attention, but I didn’t feel it. Maybe I need to watch it again, but it wasn’t grabbing me at the moment.
Kimberly - Still not my favorite. I don’t like her melodic choices either. She over embellished. But now I know that she didn’t get her affectation from her job. Her mom does the exact same thing and looks identical.
Meghan - She did that starting on 10 thing again. But I still liked it. She had dynamics within the moments. It just didn’t start soft and get loud.
Sawyer - Yup. Still my favorite. It didn’t hurt that his mom is sitting in the audience crying. It was a plain song but came across as really emotional. That was my favorite song of the night.
Second songs:
Kimberly - I really didn’t like that. It was less singing than rapid-fire talking. Was there a moment when she went off-tempo? It was like there was an extra syllable in there or something.
Joshua - I really like that song, so I was looking forward to the performance. And I really wanted it to be good. There was something really lackluster about it. Even his wife looked bored.
Koryn - That was an Amanda Brown imitation. The staging was almost identical. But Koryn doesn’t have Amanda’s stage experience. The singing was good, but she couldn’t pull off the rock experience. Given that, I liked it.
India - What’s with all the talkie songs tonight? The first part had a bunch of talking with the end parts sort of breathy and cut off.
Sawyer - I missed the intro. Someone called and by the time I could cut them off, it was over. I wasn’t enamored of the song, but it had some energy. And as always, he’s my favorite.
Meghan - I’m really beginning to see Michael Slezak’s point. The beginnings to all her songs are so loud. I’m wondering if she really could start off small. Her voice might break. All of that said, I enjoyed it more as it went along.
After I wrote that last paragraph, I went to check Michael Slezak’s column. In an ironic twist, given how little he’s liked her to date, he gave her an ‘A’ grade for that song.
My favorites for the final are Sawyer, Meghan and Koryn. Unless something weird happens, those are my picks for the final.
Is there a twitter save? Carson didn’t mention it. He just said the top 5 will be revealed.
My bottom 2 - Joshua and India, with Joshua going home.
Is this your pick for the bottom 2 or is this comment not related to that?
I’m going to take this back. Those weren’t really my least favorites of the night. Those are the people I think that America will put at the bottom.
But if I had my druthers, I’d prefer to see Kimberly and India in the bottom. I wouldn’t mind hearing Joshua again. Seeing the other two is just an exercise in explaining why I don’t like them.
They’re my pick for the bottom 2.
And fair or not, part of my problem with Kimberly is expectation. I keep hearing about how she’s a rocker, but she doesn’t do a very good job proving it to me in any of her performances.
You know who had a good time last night? The band - “Dirty Diana” and “Dream On” - those guys were thinking, “I don’t care how the singing goes, I’m playing the hell out of this.” They rocked.
My rundown…
India Carney, “Glory”: I’m like Blake, I don’t know the song, and had a hard time picking out the rap parts, so kudos to her for her arrangement. I thought she sang well, but the song didn’t connect for me.
Joshua Davis, “Desire”: I did not like that rendition at all. The biggest problem, he slowed down the tempo. That song is all about unbridled, urgent need. His layed back version just is at odds with the message and intent of the song. And it could use less sax.
Koryn Hawthorne, “Everybody Hurts”: It’s a beautiful song, and overall she did well. She really delivers emotionally. My biggest annoyance is she drops out syllables - I can’t tell if she’s running out of air or what, but she just loses notes in the flow. Also, I can’t tell, it might just be arrangement choice, but she juggles lines a bit. That doesn’t ruin the performance by any means, but if you’re expecting a lyric that isn’t there and one gets repeated, that kinda sticks out.
Kimberly Nicole, “Free Fallin’”: Not a fan of the tempo/lyric embellishments. I don’t like interjections in the middle of lines and words, and don’t care for the tempo juggles on lines.
Meghan Linsey, “Steamroller Blues”: I see the point about her starting at 10, not having some softness in there. Otherwise, great performance and blues works for her.
Sawyer Fredericks, “Shine On”: Very much what he does. Good delivery. Very emotional.
Kimberly, “Dirty Diana”: I liked it, she was strong here. On second review, she sounds a little sharp on the big notes, but overall it was good. Certainly she tapped into the delivery.
Joshua, “In My Life”: This song fit better for him than the last. But it’s a quiet little ditty, not the high energy deliveries of Kimberly and India and Koryn. I don’t know that it’s going to work for him this time.
Koryn, “Dream On”: My recording has some glitches, a couple sound drop outs, so that’s annoying. She rocked it out, and did great.
India, “Lay Me Down”: This song just seems all over the place. The tempo rush at the beginning, then change for the chorus, then the second verse shift style - it just jumps around and doesn’t feel like one coherent song. Not a fan.
Sawyer, “Take Me to the River”: I do like the go-go dance girls. Good for him to do something up tempo and energetic, even though he was awfully still.
Meghan, “Amazing Grace”: She knows how to do that song. A capella and then with the organ was a great choice. This is one song where the solid 10 works.
I think it’s Joshua who is going home, down to 5 from 6.
Also, I was thinking tonight it would be great to get some Jim Croce - no, not one of the playful songs, but “Time In A Bottle” would be a great choice for Joshua. Oh well.
To be fair, that clip showed Christina encouraging more embellishments, and mom duplicated what Christina just did.
Hey, even Michael Jackson flubbed the lines on that song once in a while. 
Yes! That would be a perfect song choice for him. I’d love to see him do that. But even if he doesn’t get sent home this week, song choice for him and/or Adam aren’t really playing to my taste.
To me, this is both Kimberly’s and India’s downfall. Melinda Doolittle laid the blame on the contestants for this tendency to over embellish. But Christina doesn’t seem to be helping.
As for the mom/daughter thing, I was more referring to the affectation you mentioned with Kimberly being a part of burlesque as to why she had that affectation. Her mom has that same ‘I don’t care’ look while saying she really is moved and touched by everything.
All the more reason she shouldn’t have picked that song.
Here’s what Michael Slezak posted about Kimberly’s “Dirty Diana”: (spoilered because he mentions iTunes ranking)
I laughed.
His love of Kimberly couldn’t be because he’s a gay man (he mentions it a lot) who has some of the same affectations (I watch his videos) that she has, could it? 