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Finale spoiler

Gaius Charles has been a regular for the past couple of seasons as a resident on Grey's Anatomy. He's out after this season, though.

I hadn't picked up on that, picklesprite. That's a good point!

I'm starting to think Finn's purpose is to draw the Willicia fans' ire ("she can't have a new love interest so soon!"), to pave the way for her next romantic partner ("at least it's not Finn!") That exchange with Kalinda and Canning made me vaguely uncomfortable. I know he's a self-proclaimed scumbag, and I shouldn't feel any empathy for him, but I thought that bordered on Kalinda mocking his disability. Will wasn't a great lawyer and good friend because he could catch a ball, nor does Canning's lack of physical reflexes mean he can't do the job.

Confirmation from Carson... the results are read in random order. Of course, I assume that means "in an order which will bring the most drama".

Rush's hair made me crazy! I remember reading somewhere that the actress did her own hair, because she didn't want to be one of those female TV cops with perfect hair. Laudable, perhaps, but do RL female cops not know how to use a hairbrush and put in a ponytail? Or get a timely dye job?

A good and a not so good review. Also, the trailer:

Ha! I went back and edited to put them both in my "bottom 5", since they were both apparently completely unmemorable to me. I'm guessing you mean Jake W? Turnabout is fair play! ;) In a way, he reminds me of very early Garth Brooks, who I had the pleasure of meeting before he ever became a star. Admittedly, it's probably partly because of his stature and his style, but he projects a little bit of the same "nobody really wants to hear/see me, surely?" He has a similar mix of "aw, shucks" and "holy crap, I'm nervous." I think he's thinking too much about what he's supposed to be doing, instead of just being himself. Hopefully Blake will help him with that, if he continues on the show. It looks like he will, because last time I checked iTunes he was in second behind Josh.

I think the pregnancy is Calzona. It doesn't really come off like an "unexpected" pregnancy to me, because the OB seems to be saying that this is what they've been trying for. It sounds more like a couple that wanted a baby, but now is in a bad place. I'm excited to see Amelia come to Seattle. Some fresh energy without being a total newbie. I dearly hope Leah gets fired.

I enjoyed it, too. It was a "quieter" episode, but it was a great acting showcase, especially for Martin Freeman. That scene in the kitchen, when Sherlock is gaping at him like the proverbial goldfish, and John is just patiently tapping his toe... perfection.

After watching just the performances on YouTube, I'd place them: Top 4: Kristen, Sisaundra, Delvin, Bria (probably because I really love that song) Middle 3: Josh, Jake, Dani Bottom 5: T.J., Audra, Tess, Kat, Christina I wrote in my notes that Kristen was screwed by doing a shortened version of that song - because it's a "story" that builds - and then she was really screwed by the audio problems. I can't believe they don't double-mic these people, like they do on Broadway. There's no excuse for something like that on a show this expensive. I can't get over how much I love Sisaundra, because her type of music is definitely not my thing, but her voice just blows me away. Plus, she just has so much presence on stage and off. I want to love Jake's performance, I really do, but that was not a good song for him. He's just not strong enough on the low notes. Even though I enjoyed Bria's overall performance, I definitely RME at the prop guitar. At least strum an occasional chord! Off to watch the whole thing, and undoubtedly discover that the coaches completely disagree with me! lol

You have a point there - I remember promotion for the first season touting "country singer Blake Shelton" and "Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine" because they knew a lot of people wouldn't know those names. I guess I'm just thinking that at this point, if you're replacing Blake, who is a superstar now, you need to have someone at a similar level. (Katy Perry's just my wishful thinking.) I like the idea of Kimberly Perry, or even Jennifer Nettles. They may not be household names, but their bands are. I think that in order to be a coach, you need to have a big, distinct personality, and I think they do. (As does Reba.) So many of the ladies of country are marketed as "sweet, wholesome" types, and I'm not sure how that would work in the blinds and with the steals. I'm afraid they'd end up being relegated to the background (as Cee Lo often was). I'm admittedly probably overprotective of "Blake's" spot, even if his shtick gets somewhat old. Partly because he and I tend to favor the same contestants, but also because he appears to be the most invested in his top artists. He's helped launch at least a few people into legitimate careers, and I'd want to know that whoever is sitting in the "country" chair is willing to do the same.

I really like seeing Canning in occasional doses. And it's fun getting to see MJF in such a completely unlikable role.

Eli: Is there something I should know about you and Alicia? Peter: No. Eli: You're monosyllabic these days. Peter: Yeah. Clarke (to the NSA): You know, the public record. The record open to the public. Peter (to the Senator): And it is between you and me. Now. On the phone. NSA general counsel: Objection. Or...whatever. I disagree. Cary: Diane. I'm not negotiating. I'm stating.

I loved all of that as well. Plus the NSA kid saying, "he's kicking ass," and Dell then going to him - and only him - when he needed a lawyer. Nice to see someone in fictional Chicago giving Cary some credit. Did Cary ever say anything to Alicia about her prospective merger with L/G? Or maybe he figured since he shut it down with Diane he didn't need to? I was really looking forward to him confronting Alicia about that. I would prefer seeing more Cary instead of bringing in Finn as well. Frankly, I wonder about Finn's intelligence, sticking with Alicia through some very questionable actions on her part. She pulled it out in the end, but I wouldn't have stayed with her that long. I didn't catch that, but I did think it was funny when Diane asked David about "putting the Fox in charge". Coincidence? Amen. I enjoyed seeing Alicia and Peter independently working the phone taps to their own ends. I love seeing smart people on my television. On the other end of the spectrum, I couldn't believe the NSA kids were discussing the lie detector questions - which I'm assuming are supposed to confidential - in open cubes. The hell? Wouldn't everything at the NSA be recorded? The freight elevator conversation at Florrick Agos reminded me of the old streetside steam grate conversations at Lockhart Gardner. *sad* And for a final (shallow) note: those thick black stockings with a light gray suit that Alicia sported to Finn's hearing were distractingly ugly.

Yep! I didn't know it was broadcast on actual radio stations, but I used to have a radio with a "TV band", and I listened to soaps quite often. That way I could follow along while I did other stuff. I'm not sure if that still works in the era of digital television channels, but I always liked keeping up that way. Oops! Just realized what thread I posted in. Bad mod! My UO is that I love Shick, and probably always will. No matter what horrors those two crazy kids perpetrate upon each other, I will always hope they get together in the end.

Your friend's grandma is Gen X? *feels old* I hate the extra battles as well. We don't get to see what they would pick like we did with the Knockouts, and I just dislike the battle formula in general. It always seems to go one of two ways: a fabulous duet without a clear winner, or two soloists trying to out-diva each other. Neither way lets anyone shine.

I'm not sure I agree. There's actually a dearth of female "superstars" in country right now, and has been for some time. Of the six women nominated for a CMA or ACM award for female vocalist in the past year, two - Kelly Clarkson and Sheryl Crow - aren't considered "country" by most country fans, and one - Kacey Musgraves - is nowhere near "superstar" status enough for this show (even though I love her). That leaves Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Miranda. I can't imagine Taylor tying herself down to something like this, and I'm not sure Carrie would do a non-AI reality show. That leaves Miranda, whose music I like, but didn't impress me as a mentor. I didn't think her personality shone through at all. I'd rather see Adam replaced with someone like Katy Perry, and sub in Brad Paisley for Blake. Or - gasp! - have two women and two black men on the panel, and put in Darius Rucker. His career isn't quite where it used to be with Hootie and the Blowfish, but the same could be said for Christina, Gwen, and Maroon 5 when this show started. He has solid credibility across multiple genres, and I love his voice.

Replying in the "Coach Suggestions" topic.

Hey, y'all, just a gentle reminder that this topic should be for introductions and off-topic conversation, not the actual show. If you want to post something about The Voice, and you don't see a topic for it, start one! I know it's a little weird having all this space and freedom after coming over from The Land of One Giant Thread, so it takes some getting used to. I went ahead and created topics for Gwen, Pharell, The Voice in the Media, and one covering discussion about the show's constantly changing format and rules. I moved some of the posts from here into those topics to get those conversations started. Happy discussing!

Keep up with the constantly changing The Voice rules and formatting here. I'll just say - I hate the Twitter save.

Let me know if you have a topic title, and I'll edit.

Discuss our newest coach here. I'm going to move a few posts from other topics into this one to get us started. If somebody has a good topic title idea, I'll edit it.

I thought Owen and Meredith were a figment of Cristina's imagination for a minute. So I'm thinking not winning will be Cristina's impetus to make some changes and focus more on her career?