Episode 4
Melanie - Okay, I have a confession: I didn't like this girl. Her personality is nice and all, and as Demi Lovato fan, I've been able to look past someone's gap tooth. But I just don't like her voice at all. Her rendition of "Toxic" is way too breathy, and at times it didn't even sound like singing. I just didn't like it, but I think there is some potential to get better. However, she gets the guys excited, turning around everyone but Xtina. After some brutal fighting, Melanie becomes a member of TEAM ADAM.
Cupid - In one of the episode's most noteworthy moments, we meet Cupid, the guy who made the Cupid Shuffle! This guy is a legend...for DJs at least, they play his music at every event possible. So what's he doing here? To prove he can actually sing. Naturally. And he can sing. But he makes the mistake of singing his own song, which doesn't show off vocal ability. And, as a result, no one turns around. Instead, after his song ends, he sings a second song per the coaches' request, and he sounds damn good. Such a shame!
Brian - One of my favorite contestants of this episode was Brian, a young single father looking to make a musical breakthrough. He's got a story that makes you wanna cheer for him, and luckily, he's also got a voice that makes you love him. Singing "Isn't She Lovely," Brian has a very clear voice, even if his pronunciation is a little strange at times. His howl grabs Xtina by surprise, as it does to me as well! Once again, it's the men's club and, once again, TEAM ADAM gets a member.
Next, we get three failed duos who each have their problems. They're a no.
Beat Frequency - Looking at this husband-wife couple, you have to laugh. Man is older and wife is younger, but they both look like they're trying waaaaay too hard to be "hip." But Shawn and Natasha are talented, and that's what the show's about. Apparently, their performance of "E.T." inspired Cee-Lo to press his button. They're good, and now they're on TEAM CEE-LO.
Tyler - In an episode filled with no turns, this performance surprised me! Tyler is a huge Dodgers fan and he finds out about his invitation to the Blind Auditions on the Megatron at Dodgers Stadium, how cool is that?! Okay, kinda cool. Singing "U Got It Bad," Tyler's voice is a little different from the expected, but he's still pretty good. Just...not good enough. No judges turn around, and Tyler is out of this competition. A little surprising.
Liz - A blonde country girl who can sing? Oh boy...where American Idol lacks in country stars, The Voice readily makes up for it. Still, Liz is a little different. Her performance of "Here for the Party" is different than one might expect: she's got a cool deep voice that we haven't seen in any country singers yet. For that reason, Adam, Xtina, and Blake turn around, but this story has an expected ending: Liz picks TEAM BLAKE.
JR - YouTube sensations...they come, they go, and sometimes, they get on The Voice! That's the case with JR, an Anchorage, Alaska native (woot woot, I have family that live there!) who ranks among the Top 100 YouTube performers of something or other...awesome! Anyway, JR's singing "Just the Way You Are" and he's doing it just fine. He's got a clean voice. It's just...just good. The same can't be said for his weak falsetto. That needs work. Still, Adam, Cee-Lo, and Xtina hear something, and JR picks TEAM CEE-LO.
Agina - Sometimes powerful voices come out of unexpected places. That can be said for Agina, a crazy powerful soul singer who charges "Turn the Beat Around" to 100% from the start. It's really just an unexpected performance, but it's just not good enough. Another no-turn performance.
Nicholas - When I first see him, I scream Cee-Lo! This is his kind of guy. I must have telepathic powers or something. Despite his creepy cartoon character appearance while singing, his performance of "Stand by Me" inspires everyone's favorite creepy uncle to turn around, and Nicholas is now TEAM CEE-LO.
Alessandra - I still don't know how to feel about Alessandra, a student at the FAME school, you know, the one that FAME is based on? Why isn't it just called the FAME School? Anyway, she's here singing "The Climb" and she starts off great. Then, things go....south. When Adam and Cee-Lo turn around, Alessandra clearly gets flustered and her performance falls as a result. That's not good. Still, coaches turned, so someone's gonna have her. Let's hope TEAM ADAM is a good fit for this student.
Next, we get three little snippets of young girls making it through. Adanna goes to TEAM ADAM, and Paulina goes to TEAM XTINA, while my favorite of the three, 15 year old Kelly heads over to TEAM BLAKE. I would've liked to have heard that whole performance.
Avery - The night ends with Avery, singing "Without You," which is difficult to sing and make sound good. He sounds good on the verses, but the chorus, which is just a giant "withooooooooooout yoooooooooooooooou" is boring, and a voice can only help so much. Still, it's a good performance and it gets all four judges to turn around. But Avery can only be on one team, and that team is...TEAM CEE-LO.
Episode 5
Trevanne - The episode gets off to a bittersweet start. Trevanne, a young single mother, looks like she has star potential to spare, and I'm excited to hear her sing. Yet, it's almost written in the stars when she tells Carson she's singing a Whitney Houston song. While her performance was very good, it's almost impossible to judge a performance of a Whitney song, unless it is changed drastically from the original version. Unfortunately, no coaches turn around, which is a shame because Trevanne is someone I really could have pictured rooting for.
Collin - Luckily, a similar fate did not befall the next contestant. Collin seemingly had life handed to him on a silver platter after being accepted to NYU Business Graduate School, yet less than a year before he was supposed to graduate, he dropped out. Uhh....ARE YOU CRAZY?! Regardless, Collin wanted to pursue his dream of singing which led him to auditioning for The Voice. He begins his song, "Wild World," and he's got a crystal clear voice with a bit of a country twang. It immediately impresses Adam and Cee-Lo who smack their buttons very early on with Blake coming in for the last minute swipe, yet Collin decides to join TEAM ADAM, where he has dark horse potential.
Joselyn - Continuing Monday night's "Young Divas" quota, we meet Joselyn, who didn't speak for the first four years of her life, but found refuge in music, naturally. She's singing "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)," and she's doing pretty good. She's got great stage presence and I detect a bit of Latin flavor, which could work in her favor. Christina thinks she's got this in the bag before realizing Blake pressed his button at the last second. But, as all young girls do, Joselyn idolized the pop queen and joins TEAM XTINA.
Benji - One of the night's biggest surprises is Benji, an ex race car driver who is here to pursue his music dream. He's singing "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," which seems a little out of his element, but he does a good job with it. His voice is really good, when controlled. When not in control? We get iffy notes like the screaming high notes that nearly make Xtina jump out of her seat. It's enough to light a fire under Adam and Cee-Lo, who duke it out, with Benji eventually earning his place on TEAM ADAM.
But don't cry for Cee-Lo, my friends! He gets three more members in auditions we only get a little sneak of. He picks up Todd and Emily, and beats Blake to win over Ben. Now, poor Blake is the only coach left without a pick in tonight's episode! Might his fate change soon?
Lorraine - You can't not love this woman. At fifty-two, she's the oldest competitor we've seen, but she's got more spunk and personality than 95% of the contestants (sorry, Domo is still tops there). In my notes, I wrote "Lorraine's personality is the definition of WTF?! but you can't not love her." Still, that doesn't mean you gotta love their voice. Because...I don't. Lorraine is all over the place with her performance, an emotional and vocal rollercoaster. She sounds theatrical, whispery, showy, and downright crazy at various times throughout the performance. It's not good. The judges agree, but Lorraine is still incredibly happy to have had the opportunity to perform. It's a shame she wasn't a better singer, I think America might have fallen for her.
Mycle - Mycle's story is pretty tragic: he lost both his parents at a young age (both seemingly clean deaths, with no drug or alcohol abuse, which makes it all the more tragic) and he was raised by his grandfather his whole life, who then passed away a week and a half before Mycle's blind audition. So this one goes out to him. Mycle begins his rendition of "Let's Stay Together," and I really dig his vibe. His voice is good, and by the end, I'm sold. So, apparently, are Adam, Cee-Lo, and Blake. who all turn around. While we're led to believe Mycle will go with Blake, he pulls a fast one on us and TEAM CEE-LO gets yet another member!
Who were your favorites this week? Who are you pinning as an early favorite? Let me know in the comments section below!
Evan
No comments:
Post a Comment