Dots And Stripes

Kind of low stakes tonight. No eliminations. I think it's a slight improvement over last season when there was no voting this round. It's also interesting that TPTB and the coaches got to collect some data tonight. I could see the coaches using some of those numbers in their decisions. I thought Kyla started strong but her voice became strained. Prior was my favorite from Team Blake. The RT's for him and Kyla were very close. Wilkes and Spensha also did well in the twitter vote. I had thought Kelly had a stronger team going into tonight. I no longer think that. I was also hoping anyone but the 15 year old would advance. She ran away with her team's twitter vote too. I very much disliked what Christiana did to Hey Ya. I am over artists making songs slow and pretending its art. I was bored. I had no recollection of Britton before tonight. At times I liked his performance, at times I thought it was cheesy. He also ran away with his team's RT's. I'm a little surprised Team Alicia's numbers weren't higher across the board. Team Adam has some belters. No way Adam lets Reid go home. He just seems like the type of male artist Adam goes for.

I really loved this episode. The Belchers were just being their weird selves. Gene and the Maxi Pads should not have made me laugh, yet it did. The whole cast is so great with line delivery.

I assume they're planning for both a series finale and a season finale, in case it goes either way. This show does have a habit of making a big game changing shake up in the last episode and resolving in the first handful of episodes next season (Jake going into the mob, Jake going into witness protection, Jake being convicted). I do hope they leave Holt at the 99.

He is generally very, very good at this show. That doesn't mean I have to agree with all of his decisions forever. Haven't you discussed this topic with me under several names now? It gets hard to keep track.

I'm not sure what Blake has been doing all season. I have disagreed with a lot of his picks, including steals and saves.

Jameela posted a pic from the first table read. The minor spoiler is it shows several name cards for actors, including the actor who plays Shawn.

The save is weird. At least Adam's first attempt backfired so spectacularly. He really should have chosen the artist everyone else wanted and then "saved" Mia. I'm not sure why he didn't but I think he realized it was a mistake. He looked really irritated. Alicia pushing not to be left out was funny. She ended up with a great artist by accident.

One thing I wondered is how Boyle ended up with a line that could have gone to any of the police officers. Did he get his full episode rate for that?

I kept wondering my Sterling didn't have a lawyer with him. Not that she did any good. Jake's singing was my favorite interrogation technique.

I loved assistant coach Tina and how Lousie and Bob got into eventually. The last seen with the Belcher's and Teddy was perfect. Bob's line about expecting worse (while the fire department is there) made me laugh.

Just when I was starting to look past Jake's decision to trust Doug Judy (again!), Rosa gets thrown into the mix. It's the same pattern every time. Doug always breaks his promise. It was hard to buy that Jake would believe him again, but Rosa should be more levelheaded than that. I'm still glad to have this show back, but I've realized I love the characters of this show and the cases on the show are my least favorite part.

The 14 year old kind of fell apart vocally. Like 99% of 14 year olds on reality shows, she needs time. I was surprised Blake used the steal on her opponent. Ugh, Kelly is too nice for her own good. She's definitely not the first coach to cut the singer they know will be picked up for another team. It's kind, but bad for your odds of winning. Artists who are stolen can do very well on another team. Just ask Miley.

I loved it. I think this show is hilarious! I had never seen Nicole before but she won me over really quickly. I also really enjoyed her rapport with Jacques. My biggest complaint is that Sylvia was only in the first episode. She is easily the best guest judge.

I agree. The red around the eyes looked like a style choice, not a mistake. The thing was creepy but based on the way she was talking, the creepiness was a choice. The suit did look very well done and the cake was the only one they liked the taste of, minus the hair problem.

I liked a few of the song choices tonight, particularly Blackbird, One Headlight, and This Magic Moment. I also liked that this was a bad night for Team Adam.

So everyone but Kelly has used their block and everyone but Alicia has been blocked. Also, no coach who use the block has then been chosen by that artist. It feels kind of unfair to have a finalist from another version of The Voice come here although I wasn't overly impressed with that guy. I thought the girl who sang Hotline Bling was waaaay overrated. Her version of that song made me appreciate Drake's. It did not appeal to me and I was surprised when the coaches not only loved it but acted like it was one of the best auditions ever. The crooner seemed to be doing a Michael Buble impression. It's one thing to adopt a style but that was over the top. I hope Blake can break him of that habit. I did really like Johnny, even if he does look a little like Ronnie from Jersey shore. I thought his vocal was great and he seemed really sweet.

I liked Blake's unicorn line.

This was very dark. Probably too dark for me to stick with long term. I may give it a few more episodes.

I get the feeling Blake threw away his block because he thought it was a pointless twist. He used it right away to have a laugh at Adam. Sounds about right. I like Kelly and Blake although I think it may have been a mistake to put them next to each other. They are friends IRL and it shows.

The US will have the summer Olympics in 2028. Apparently the IOC is having more trouble finding a host for 2026. This article is a good read. From the article, Beijing was one of only 2 options for 2022. Four cities are showing preliminary interest in 2026: Stockholm, Sweden; Calgary, Canada; Sion, Switzerland; and Sapporo, Japan. The US, Norway, and Austria are potentially interested in 2030.

I liked Mike's closing remarks about the Olympics giving people a reason to smile. It hit the right note for me.

The closing ceremonies are emotional. It's been a great Olympics and I enjoyed sharing it with everyone here!

"Those pandas are brave, and those pandas work hard." -Johnny Weir

I'm with you and Johnny, the pandas are cool.

If feels Britney and Reese Witherspoon tweeted everyone. The two of them and Leslie Jones would fit in very well around here with their level of Olympic fandom.