S17.E11: The Battles, Part 5; The Knockouts Premiere

[Guest]

Airs October 28, 2019

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The "Battle Rounds" conclude and the "Knockout Rounds" begin. The artists will be paired against a teammate once more, but this time they will each select their own song to perform individually, while their direct competitor watches and waits. Taylor Swift serves as a Mega Mentor and will be on hand to work with all of the coaches and their teams as they prepare the artists for this challenge.

[adhoc]

Must be my TV. I thought Cali ("Wicked Games") was very average.  

Marina was amazing, but I think her age (37, which she looks every bit of, and maybe more) and incredible vocal expertise (like, what does Blake have to offer her, compared to Marina?) worked against her. 

[adhoc]

Max was amazing.  In this battle, I agree with Kelly, he beat out Katie (no mean feat).

[Lily H]

I couldn't believe John kept that awful kid instead of Mendeleyev. Is the show catering solely to the 15-and-under crowd now? There's not one memorable singer on this show. Marina wasn't a bad singer, but I'm glad they got rid of her I-just-tasted-a-rotten-lemon face.

And what's with the outfits? Kelly went from one extreme to the other (first in-your-face boobs, then an ugly green sack), and Gwen was tarted up like a cartoon character. Obviously, she's gorgeous, but still, she's 50 years old now and she appears desperate.

[Ellee]

I’m in both Mendeleyev and Preston’s corner. I knew either way I would be disappointed.  Still the sap in me thought John would pick Mendeleyev and Blake would steal Preston.  Maybe even get Michael Buble to appear. 

Now I can only hope that this was a better move for Mendeleyev and he won’t be restricted by the Voice in any way and Kelly/Blake/John help him on his way to a great career. 

[Ellee]

Another thought ... it does appear that a great many dislike having the younger singers. Maybe it’s time to have a Voice kids show. I enjoy watching them online  

I have also become a big fan of Will.i.am.  Don’t know much about him but I really like him.  

[sharifa70]

I find Katie to be too bombastic. She needs to learn to dial it waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back. Like, way back.

After her vocal assault, Max was a balm (though I thought his song was kind of a mess). It may be the relief talking, but I’m glad Kelly stole him.

Edited October 29, 2019 by sharifa70

[adhoc]

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Kelly went from one extreme to the other (first in-your-face boobs, then an ugly green sack), 

And I thought just the opposite about the green dress--I though it was a great color on her and looked good with her coloring. (Though in general I'm not a fan of Kelly's fashion sense or hair color sense at all.) 

[sas616]

2 hours ago, Ellee said:

Another thought ... it does appear that a great many dislike having the younger singers. Maybe it’s time to have a Voice kids show. I enjoy watching them online  

I have also become a big fan of Will.i.am.  Don’t know much about him but I really like him.  

I don't know anything about Will.i.am either, but after seeing him on Songland, knew he was one of the most supportive, kindest and lovable persons ever  with such an upbeat vibe.  He would make a wonderful judge on this show.

[Lily H]

6 hours ago, adhoc said:

I though it was a great color on her and looked good with her coloring.

The colour was fine, I just thought it looked dowdy and shapeless and boring.

[Sounder]

I don't necessarily believe Kelly's "rock is dead" comment.....it definitely doesn't feel well right now though given it's place in mainstream music right now.   The music industry is just more fragmented than ever.  Rock still has it's following.   So I hope Will.i.am does record the rocker Jake win or lose.

But clearly....Katie Kadan has this season pretty much in the bag.   Doesn't mean she'll be a star.....but she's dynamic none the less.

And Marina to me is more a voice for the Broadway stage rather than as a pop singer.  I thought Cali did a solid performance.

Jake Hoot is so throwback that if this were 40 years ago he'd be a "Hee Haw" cast member.   Pure country voice.....how did only Kelly turn for him in the blinds?

[adhoc]

I was moved by Jake Hoot's performance. I hope being on this show gives him a boost in his career.

[UsernameFatigue]

11 hours ago, Lily H said:

I couldn't believe John kept that awful kid instead of Mendeleyev. Is the show catering solely to the 15-and-under crowd now? There's not one memorable singer on this show. Marina wasn't a bad singer, but I'm glad they got rid of her I-just-tasted-a-rotten-lemon face.

And what's with the outfits? Kelly went from one extreme to the other (first in-your-face boobs, then an ugly green sack), and Gwen was tarted up like a cartoon character. Obviously, she's gorgeous, but still, she's 50 years old now and she appears desperate.

I liked both Preston and Mendeleyev, so was annoyed that John pitted them against each other. While others with far less talent are kept. It seems John likes to do this, so if I were a singer picking a coach I would not pick John for that reason.

I often drop out of watching a season because the coaches let go the singers that I like in favour of less talented ones. I know the idea is to coach someone into possibly winning the show, but honestly how often does a Voice winner actually get anywhere after winning? As a viewer I still want to be entertained by the singers, and would love to have heard more of Mendeleyev.

Another question because I have not watched all seasons, depending on who they keep and if I like the coaches. Do they only say "So-and-so is available to steal" when someone actually gets stolen? It was not said with regards to Mendeleyev, even though coaches had steals still available. Do they edit that out if he isn't stolen? 

[xfuse]

49 minutes ago, UsernameFatigue said:

I often drop out of watching a season because the coaches let go the singers that I like in favour of less talented ones.

Everyone's opinion on what is talent differs.  What you may think is less talent singer I may think is the more talent one. It's all about our listening styles. I think that Taylor Swift has little talent as a singer but all her albums and singles sold tells me that not everyone thinks like I do. I also don't see what the fuss is about Katie but that is just me

55 minutes ago, UsernameFatigue said:

Do they only say "So-and-so is available to steal" when someone actually gets stolen? It was not said with regards to Mendeleyev, even though coaches had steals still available. Do they edit that out if he isn't stolen? 

They usually say this about every round loser when there are steals available. If he was stolen they would have shown it. 

[UsernameFatigue]

12 minutes ago, xfuse said:

Everyone's opinion on what is talent differs.  What you may think is less talent singer I may think is the more talent one. It's all about our listening styles. I think that Taylor Swift has little talent as a singer but all her albums and singles sold tells me that not everyone thinks like I do. I also don't see what the fuss is about Katie but that is just me

They usually say this about every round loser when there are steals available. If he was stolen they would have shown it. 

Obviously everyone's opinion on what is talent differs, but I doubt there are many who would think that Mend (sorry too lazy to type out his full name) wasn't talented. I think most 4 chair turns would be considered talented if they are good enough to appeal to all 4 coaches, I supposed part of the reason coaches do this is the element of surprise, but it turns me off and is one of the reasons I rarely make it through a whole season. 

My question about the steal comment was because Carson did not say it with regards to Mend, even though at least two coaches did have steals left. I know he wasn't stolen - that part was obvious. What wasn't obvious and I still don't know that answer to is why Carson didn't say he was available to steal, so assume it was edited out? 

Edited to add, I do agree with you about Katie though, so there is that. She is just way too loud and aggressive, and I can't imagine listening to a whole album of that kind of noise. 

Edited October 29, 2019 by UsernameFatigue

[xfuse]

1 hour ago, UsernameFatigue said:

I think most 4 chair turns would be considered talented if they are good enough to appeal to all 4 coaches,

Sometimes that is the only song they nail. It has happened more than once. There are one chair turns that turn out of go far in the show. Jake Hoot is a one chair turn and I think if Kelly didn't pick him he would have been stolen.

Every coach got a strategy with saves. If they had a singer with similar style or voice than they don't try and steal a singer. We also don't know which order they sang, they might have been the last pairing and no one had a save left.  

[foxfreakinmulder]

1 hour ago, UsernameFatigue said:

I do agree with you about Katie though, so there is that. She is just way too loud and aggressive, and I can't imagine listening to a whole album of that kind of noise. 

Janis Joplin is one of my favorite singers and she doesn't yell through out her entire song. Janis had a lot of soul and tenderness in her voice along with the power which I didn't hear with Katie. I thought Max was better.

I don't care for Kelly's wardrobe and that green dress had ugly shoulder pads but Gwen dresses like a 21 year old going out to the club.

I don't understand why John would pair two 4 chair turns I think he did that last season too and then said "why did I pair my 4 chair turns, rookie mistake" or something like that. But obviously he didn't learn from his rookie mistake. 

I agree they edit weird because they let some singers say last words to their coach and then sometimes you don't see that. If they want to edit something how about the stage rehearsals, who wants to watch that when we're going to see them perform in a minute. 

[DaphneCat]

7 hours ago, UsernameFatigue said:

Another question because I have not watched all seasons, depending on who they keep and if I like the coaches. Do they only say "So-and-so is available to steal" when someone actually gets stolen? It was not said with regards to Mendeleyev, even though coaches had steals still available. Do they edit that out if he isn't stolen? 

They edit the show and don't always show the battles in order.  So even though WE thought there were "steals" (I hate that term - they're not stealing anything) available, this battle probably took place after they had all been used.  Therefore, Carson won't say there is a steal available for one person and then say it is available for the next one we see.  That's why they have them wear the same clothes for all the episodes, so we can't tell what was filmed when.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I'm sure it happened a fair amount before him, but I really blame Pharrell for starting the trend of pairing his best artists up against each other in the battles and KOs in the hopes that he could force a steal from the other coaches.

I don't begrudge him that strategy because it truly was the best he could do for the largest number of his team members...but it feels like show has been out of balance a little bit since that started happening a lot it seems like the distance between the best battles and KOs and the worst ones has grown a lot.

Count me in as being super annoyed that Mendeleyev couldn't even get a steal or save. To me (regardless of the ten names and hippie background) he had one of the 3 or 4 most interesting and confident/self-assured voices of anybody on this year and to think he couldn't even make the KOs is kind of ridiculous when you look around and see who's left.

I've had my fill of Katie already. She's just too, too much and I'm already good. Cali on the other hand I'm digging, and I think she's got a shot to possibly be the last person standing in a rare year for Blake when he really isn't super strong in country artists. I know Zach is still there, but I don't really see him as a huge threat.

[DaphneCat]

9 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

I've had my fill of Katie already. She's just too, too much and I'm already good.

They're doing the same thing with her that they do with other artists.  Taking what's good and focusing ONLY on that quality until we're so damn sick of it we never want to hear it again.  If someone does good runs they have that person sing a song where every other note is a run.  If someone has a good high voice or falsetto (or good low notes), they have them only sing falsetto (or bass).  Because Katie can sing loud, they encourage her to do EVERY NOTE OF EVERY SONG  at 11.  There is no longer any nuance, any build, any interest.  I loved some of her other songs but HATED "Take Another Little Piece of My Heart" because it wasn't very good.  It was just loud.

[Tony Williams]

22 hours ago, xfuse said:

Everyone's opinion on what is talent differs.  What you may think is less talent singer I may think is the more talent one. It's all about our listening styles. I think that Taylor Swift has little talent as a singer but all her albums and singles sold tells me that not everyone thinks like I do. I also don't see what the fuss is about Katie but that is just me

They usually say this about every round loser when there are steals available. If he was stolen they would have shown it. 

"Everyone's opinion on what is talent differs.  What you may think is less talent singer I may think is the more talent one. It's all about our listening styles. I think that Taylor Swift has little talent as a singer but all her albums and singles sold tells me that not everyone thinks like I do."

Well said!  I agree ( Do not understand the Taylor hysteria)!

My watch group and I feel Katie is head and shoulders above the other singers.  Hopefully they won't tone her down and lose what makes her special.

Truly different strokes for different folks.

[Bridget]

On 10/29/2019 at 5:30 AM, sas616 said:

I don't know anything about Will.i.am either, but after seeing him on Songland, knew he was one of the most supportive, kindest and lovable persons ever  with such an upbeat vibe.  He would make a wonderful judge on this show.

He’s a coach on The Voice Kids U.K. (it airs on the Universal Kids channel; check your DVR guide for listings) and I’m convinced that he is one of the best human beings on the planet. I’m not even a fan of his music, but I am a fan of him.

[Ellee]

1 hour ago, Bridget said:

He’s a coach on The Voice Kids U.K. (it airs on the Universal Kids channel; check your DVR guide for listings) and I’m convinced that he is one of the best human beings on the planet. I’m not even a fan of his music, but I am a fan of him.

I've been watching this on YouTube.  And, I am in the Will.i.am fan club too.  There is something infectious about this man.  You can't help but feel better when watching him. 

And, for as cynical as I am these days, I actually do believe that he would go out of his way to help others start their singing careers.

[realdancemom]

On 10/29/2019 at 6:30 AM, sas616 said:

I don't know anything about Will.i.am either, but after seeing him on Songland, knew he was one of the most supportive, kindest and lovable persons ever  with such an upbeat vibe.  He would make a wonderful judge on this show.

Yes, he was so supportive of all the song writers on Songland.