burntheflaws

I have yet to visit Ho Chi Minh City, but I visited Hanoi a few years ago and it was one of my favorite vacations to date, so this episode brought back fond memories of Vietnam. Both the dance and karaoke songs were so damn catchy. I'm so jazzed that my favorite team Becca/Floyd ran a really strong leg. It was a huge advantage to have tasks that played to their strengths, and Floyd's excitement and energy was so cute and infectious. It was nice to have Victor/Nicole come in second. I'm also rooting for Tyler/Korey, but Tyler did annoy me during the fishing task. Glad Korey stayed focused and caught so many of their damn prawns. Corinne/Eliza can miss me with their bullshit, namely Corinne's "Cam on, or whatever it is. Cam on style." Korea is not Vietnam, and Asians are not a monolith, you idiot. Your Ignorant American-ism is showing. Also, can contestants please stop grabbing and hugging locals? Not everyone's a hugger, and most certainly do not want to be pushed up against your sweaty, stranger danger selves. The Afghanimals continue to be obnoxious and annoying. They're definitely strong competitors, so I was hoping they'd be gone after this leg, but it was a non-elim anyway. I'm starting to like Chris/Bret, so I'm glad they're sticking around for a bit longer.

It seems like a lot of people here hate Rupert and Laura. I know nothing about them (I've watched maybe one season of Survivor, where Yul the puppet master won), but honestly, they seem like a really nice, supportive couple. Even when they were behind they never got frustrated at each other, they didn't say anything ignorant about the locals (Pet Peeve #1; low bar, but it's one of my biggest pet peeves because racers do it all the freakin' time), and they just genuinely seemed really sweet together. I'm honestly sad that they've been eliminated over some over people that make me roll my eyes, like Rachel/Elissa (Pet Peeve #2: Teams who get all up in arms when other teams don't want to work with them... IT'S A COMPETITION), Corinne/Eliza, and Leo/Jamal. I kinda liked the latter in the first episode and admired their arguing strategy, but both of them were so obnoxious and cringe-worthy in this episode that I'm just rooting for them to crash and burn. My two favorite teams, up until the beginning of this episode, are Becca/Floyd and Tyler/Korey, so I was so annoyed that they were the two teams who were U-turned. Ugh, what are the odds? Luckily, the reason they were such a threat to begin with was the reason they got by. They are really strong teams that work well together and stay focused on the task at hand. I also really like Nicole/Victor now. They're so cute, and I love how starry-eyed Victor got because he knew how excited Nicole was about being on the elephant. Laos looks like such a beautiful place. I'd love to take a boat ride on the Mekong River or visit that marketplace. I'm thrilled that The Amazing Race is back so I can travel vicariously through it!

Amy's father is Walter White. I can't unsee it.

I was beyond ecstatic to see the hummingbird and flower dance. It's by far my favorite routine ever performed on the show, and I thought there was no way in hell anyone would pick it. THANK YOU PAULA. I almost fell off my couch in shock and joy when she announced it. It made me miss Wade Robson to the nth degree. I also knew "Outta Your Mind" would be performed, because how could they not with both Alex and Twitch there? That was a pretty defining dance in that a ballet dancer could do hip-hop so, so well. Another favorite and definitely worthy of closing the show. Other than those two silver linings, it is ridiculous to me that this was mostly filler crap about "memorable" (a.k.a. crappy and annoying) auditions and Ryan Seacrest's show that no one cares about. Oh, and the 18 dancers we're going to see every week anyway. They should've had many, many more old routines in there and talked more about the former contestants. Ugh that made me angry. As a viewer who's loved and followed this show since season one, I was so excited to see what amazing routines would be highlighted. I was ready to get flooded with nostalgia and happiness and warm fuzzies. Instead I'm just disappointed and resentful that this was what they passed off as a "special" 10th anniversary episode.

Christine is probably my favorite contestant right now, which no doubt means she'll be cut before the Top 10/20 stage dancers (whatever the format is this year, haven't looked into it). I've gotten bored with most contemporary routines but hers was interesting and combined a bunch of different styles that just worked together. Plus she lights up the stage and is adorable. I also liked Brooke, the krumper, and most of the tap dancers who made it through, especially the one who auditioned a second time. Agreed that the girl part of the engaged couple should not have made it through. Those pauses in her routine were so awkward. I didn't really like the guy's audition either, and as much as it pains me to say this, I agree with Nigel's assessment of it. They're just trying to milk the whole engaged-thanks-to-SYTYCD thing. Eyeroll. And Mertseger, yes, Twitch/Allison! I was thinking the same thing when the judges mentioned a SYTYCD marriage. How quickly they forget.

Agreed about Josh, but Chinese food is amazing (outside of trashy "Chinese"-but-really-American takeout).

Let me get this straight. Christina specially contacted Linda Perry to give Kimberly a song no one had ever done (on The Voice or any singing show, I'm not sure). She gave Rob a pretty recent, chart-topping song. India got one of Christina's very own songs. Lexi gets... "All By Myself." Really?! An oldie and one of the most overused songs in the history of singing competitions? She may as well have given her a song called "Bus," 'cause that's clearly headed her way. I'm so annoyed because I really liked Lexi after "Anything Could Happen," but I can't see any scenario where she'll be safe. That being said, Kimberly, India and Rob's performances were by far my favorites of the night. I was especially surprised about Rob, because I haven't been a big fan, but that song just fit his voice perfectly. Was his hairstylist trying to channel The Weeknd though? Cracked me up when I saw that. Adam's team was a big pile of 'meh.' Tonya is a good singer but her performance didn't really make me perk up. Adam should've given Nathan a slower acoustic song to show off that voice and his technique. I don't get how Deanna was picked to go last when the two performances before hers (India and Rob) were so much more interesting, in my opinion. I agree that Joshua has a soothing voice, but his performance bored me. Of everyone in this team, Brian had the best performance in my opinion. He had the right emotion and vocals for it. But Blake is right, Christina's team ran circles around Adam's. It wasn't even close.

Tonya, like many other past Voice contestants, has a great, powerful voice, but I don't feel connected or interested enough to root for her. Not that invested in Nathan either, other than the fact that I always like seeing fellow Asians advance in these shows (or hell, appear in shows period). Of course, the lives could sway my opinion of both of them, or any of the other contestants I don't care about... but for now I can't see it.

For the first time in The Voice history, I think Team Blake is my favorite going into the live rounds. I love all the women, especially Meghan and Hannah. Brooke has a lovely voice and I enjoyed "Skinny Love" from her blinds, so I was wholeheartedly rooting for her. She had an easy victory in her knockout against Kelsie, who in my opinion suffered from nerves and let them get the best of her (surprising since she'd seemed so confident the rounds before). But Preston's "Electric Feel" still reigns supreme. My only worry is that Blake's team has three rock/bluesy/soul chicks and that might split the votes. It would've been great if they could've been split up among three coaches. But I'll hope for the best. Team Christina and Team Pharrell are tied for me. Overall Pharrell's team has more potential to win. Koryn is my favorite on his team, but Sawyer seems like the biggest contender for this season. It's interesting that Pharrell has a very young team this time, since his contestants were a little older last season. Hopefully he'll change up his coaching style, move away from those dated songs and surprise me with some smart and interesting decisions. Lowell could totally pass as a young Liev Schreiber. I agree that his chuckle in "My Girl" was awkward, but I liked his arrangement and agreed with that win. Christina has one of my absolute favorites, India. Plus I've warmed up to Sonic after her impressive knockout song. As for Lexi, I remember she had a lovely voice in the blinds, but she didn't really leave an impression until tonight. Great performance, and even though the song choice reminded me of Caroline Pennell (one of my all-time favorite contestants), I loved it. That one run was fantastic, and she was on point with her falsetto in the chorus. Adam coached her well in helping her control her nerves and draw out her strengths. I continue to be stunned at how weak Team Adam is compared to the other coaches' teams. If he'd kept Clinton and Lexi, it could've been much more interesting, but I don't really care about any of his contestants right now.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Sam Palladio (Gunnar) being on Showtime's Episodes, one of my favorite sitcoms at the moment. His character is hilariously dumb and lucky on that show.

Kimberly vs. Koryn was the best knockout battle of the night. I loved them both, but Koryn especially surprised me. I already had my eye on her after the blinds, but she did a great job with "Try," especially when she released all that power and those notes at the end. It doesn't beat Amber Carrington's version, but it came close for a song that I've gotten sick of hearing in singing shows (along with P!nk's "Perfect.") I really thought Christina was gonna go with Koryn. She does a good job at teaching and molding young female artists. Season 2's Ashley De La Rosa comes to mind, along with, of course, Jacquie Lee. Kimberly is a more polished and mature performer, and I would've liked to see her back on Pharrell's team to see what he else he could do with her. I can't really imagine him nurturing young talent like Christina can. Oh well, hope Koryn sticks around for a while. And how cute was Christina when she asked the coaches to steal and then couldn't stop dancing? I don't recall her agonizing that much over a decision before. Seconding that it was sad to see Clinton go, but for that knockout it was the right choice. He didn't pick the right song, while Nathan did and made his performance shine. I'm not a Mia fan. I can't understand her when she sings, and her voice just isn't the kind of style I like. I liked Nate, especially what he said about wanting to be moved more than impressed. He and Taylor Swift have been great as guest mentors. Chris Martin... not so much.

Technically they do. Once you take away the commercials it's a little less than 45 minutes. What's really atrocious to me is that they could definitely fit in more if they cut some of the rehearsal footage and the backstage pre-battle blathering. Instead we get a bunch of montages, meaning those poor contestants will either A) get eliminated or B) make it to the lives but everyone will be like "Who the hell is that?"

I may be a sucker, but that last battle was absolutely adorable. It was clear how close Corey and Jacob had gotten, and they were genuine in rooting for each other. I thought the battle was really fun and I wouldn't mind watching it again. It would never make my "top battles" list, but I just felt happy watching it. Probably because they worked together and wanted to have a good time instead of trying to outdo one another. And when Corey was so thrilled that Jacob was stolen, and they were hugging each other in the back, I "awww"-ed out loud. That being said, Jacob was the winner in my opinion. Corey's definitely cute, no doubt about it, but take that away and his voice is average. But I guess you have to factor in the looks to get that overall package. As for the other battles, I vaguely remember "Animals" and preferring the soldier to the guy who won, but I'm not invested enough in either to really care. I also knew Sawyer was a lock for the knockouts, and probably the lives, no matter who he was against. On a superficial note, I don't understand how his hair can look so beautiful and shiny and salon fresh. I'm jealous.

I actually love Florence + the Machine's cover of "Addicted to Love," but then again it was the first version of that song I ever heard. I thought the battle was pretty bad. I guess Treeva won it, but a lot of her high notes sound off to me. Sharp? Flat? Off-key? I don't know the technical term but they didn't hit smoothly the way they should've, in my opinion. India and Clinton's voices blended well together. I thought they added a few too many runs or vibrato to the song, but I really felt the emotional connection. I'm surprised he did such a great job, since he was montaged, but since it was the last battle of the night you knew it had to be good. India's one of my favorites (along with Meghan and Hannah... Caitlin, Brooke and Sarah a little further behind) at the moment, but I'm glad Clinton was stolen. Above all it just makes me happy that the cream of the crop this season seems to be the women. I loved Matt and a few others from last season but I was disappointed at the massive sausage-fest it became. It's getting me excited for the future episodes and especially the live shows.

Aaand commence the Jane the Virgin Motivational Speaking Tour! Wish I could've been there, but it was great being able to see the PaleyFest live stream. The cast gels so well together, and Gina's honest, reflective and genuine responses made me tear up. I love how sweet and heartwarming the cast's responses were. I couldn't stop smiling when they talked about how thrilled the Golden Globes nomination made them, as well as their support for Gina. This show is truly a gem and my favorite thing on TV right now.