S18:E01 The Blind Auditions Season Premiere

[Whimsy]

Air date 2/24/2020

Quote

Nick Jonas joins coaches Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, and Blake Shelton as they begin their search for the best voice in America on the first night of blind auditions, vying to discover and coach the next singing phenomenon.

 

[Ladyrain]

I love these four judges together.   They all seem to "get" one another.   Love Nick and his notes; love the other three ribbing him over his notes; not a big fan of the pre-recorded contestant stories, but it is what it is.   At least we're never sure if that means the person is staying or going home.   This show is SO much better than Idol.   It took me years and years to start watching, and then come to that conclusion.   I'll never understand why The Voice's winners (and their other singers) don't go on to the kind of super-stardom that some of the Idols do.

[DaphneCat]

Wow.  Here it is, the start of a new season, and apparently people are so bored with it they can't even be bothered to comment.  At this stage, unless someone is truly outstanding,  everyone sort of blurs together for me.  I usually only start getting favorites when I've heard them a second or even third time.  The back stories do nothing for me. 

While I felt bad for the girl who was coming back for the second time, I thought they were right to not turn for her.  I noticed that this time, while they were saying to her face that it was lack of experience, not ONE of them said they were hoping she would come back.  I think they all realized that she just wasn't that good, and even with practice, not likely to get much better.

[TVbitch]

Thank god Gwen is gone. 

[slaterain]

1 hour ago, DaphneCat said:

While I felt bad for the girl who was coming back for the second time, I thought they were right to not turn for her.  I noticed that this time, while they were saying to her face that it was lack of experience, not ONE of them said they were hoping she would come back.  I think they all realized that she just wasn't that good, and even with practice, not likely to get much better.

I thought it was a good thing that they didn't turn for her too. (even putting aside the fact that I think they should have to be 18 to audition in the first place)  She needs a few years to get her voice more under control. She may have it but she is definitely still young and has plenty of time. The artists that typically succeed when they are told to come back are usually either not chosen the first time because they totally picked the wrong song and come back the next season with the right one - or - they take a few years to sing everywhere, have life experiences, find their full voice and then come back stronger. 

Edited February 25, 2020 by slaterain

[realdancemom]

2 hours ago, DaphneCat said:

While I felt bad for the girl who was coming back for the second time, I thought they were right to not turn for her.  I noticed that this time, while they were saying to her face that it was lack of experience, not ONE of them said they were hoping she would come back.  I think they all realized that she just wasn't that good, and even with practice, not likely to get much better.

I'm surprised they showed her again.  They usually don't show contestants failing twice.  Maybe, they wanted to show her drawing of Nick which was good.  Agree with the judges that she wasn't ready.

Don't have any favorites yet.  It is good that at least Nick fought for the last girl.  Otherwise, he would just have the young kid from SLC who I also thought was not ready yet.

[sharifa70]

I found Nick to be a delightful surprise. Instead of the usual "you're a super-special amazing unicorn" comments I've gotten used to (and hate), he gave actual specific critiques. His "I was home-schooled" comment as an explanation for his notes cracked me up. I never thought I'd find a reason to tolerate Blake, but their banter amused me as well. John: "You have to choose between a coach....and a dog." I'll give it another chance.

[Quickbeam]

I’m already over the Pentecostal father of 8. 
 

Nick is so much better than I anticipated. 

Edited February 25, 2020 by Quickbeam

[Ladyrain]

1 hour ago, sharifa70 said:

I found Nick to be a delightful surprise. Instead of the usual "you're a super-special amazing unicorn" comments I've gotten used to (and hate), he gave actual specific critiques. His "I was home-schooled" comment as an explanation for his notes cracked me up. I never thought I'd find a reason to tolerate Blake, but their banter amused me as well. John: "You have to choose between a coach....and a dog." I'll give it another chance.

I agree!   Nick is a good judge.  And I haven't watched long enough to be bored with Blake, so he doesn't bother me much - yet! - but I was laughing out loud at the camaraderie among all the judges last night.   They all just click.   I liked most of the singers, too; some really good ones, right out of the gate.   It will take me awhile to put names to faces.

[estellasmum]

1 hour ago, Quickbeam said:

I’m already over the Pentecostal father of 8. 

That family must be trying to make a run of it on reality TV. The son he brought with him was one of the makers on this past season of Making It. I usually FF through all the stories, but saw the wife and kid when the chairs turned, and went back to check.

[Whimsy]

4 hours ago, sharifa70 said:

I found Nick to be a delightful surprise. Instead of the usual "you're a super-special amazing unicorn" comments I've gotten used to (and hate), he gave actual specific critiques. His "I was home-schooled" comment as an explanation for his notes cracked me up. I never thought I'd find a reason to tolerate Blake, but their banter amused me as well. John: "You have to choose between a coach....and a dog." I'll give it another chance.

I love Nick.  I am not a fan of the Jonas Brothers music, by any stretch, but I've seen them on both Songland and their documentary that is on Amazon (I think).  Nick is a true musical genius.  They all have real talent, but I think he's an actual genius.  Very impressed. 

[GonnahearmeRoar]

Nick is a great addition and he is young and fun. Will always miss the Adam and Blake chemistry and banter.

Was impressed with the SRV Pride and Joy contestant. He was cool and I am looking forward to what else he can do. 

I liked the dad of eight. He sounded really good. I really love that song so we’ll see if he impresses again. 

In the same way, the lady that sang Issues had a cool arrangement and I liked her voice. Think there may be more that she can do. 

The last young lady has a nice voice but I didn’t love what she performed. Didn’t know the song but all four of them turned so it impressed all of them. 

Kelly got that young waitress all to herself she was decent. Song choice could have been better. 

The Juke Box Hero dude was fine. Not sure about him yet. It was alright for me. 

 

[Babalooie]

8 minutes ago, GonnahearmeRoar said:

Will always miss the Adam and Blake chemistry and banter.

We will?  I don't miss Adam.  I agree about this group of judges.  Fun.

[viajero]

I thought most of the ones who got chairs to turn were fairly good. I probably liked Tayler and Joanna the best, but then I've always been partial to contestants who come up with interesting arrangements of the songs they are covering (at least when it works).  Plus they both showed themselves to be very good vocalists.

I'd place Todd (the one with 8 kids) and Megan just below them.  I'm as surprised as Kelly that no one else turned for Megan.  She has a very intriguing tone.

I was also a bit surprised Nelson Cade got 4 chairs.  He's clearly an experienced performer and knows what he's doing, but I just wasn't that impressed by his voice.

All in all, a promising start.

[Swenson]

Blake Shelton is to the Voice what the Dallas Cowboys is to football.....every season they go into a season labeled the one to beat..... but it's been awhile for Blake.... what is it five straight seasons he hasn't won?

[Wandering Snark]

As I always say re: this show's schedule... How can we miss you if you won't go away?? I now have recordings on my DVR from two months ago and last night. I haven't made it through a season the last three or four and the scheduling of one season almost on top of the other has led to major burnout trying to keep up.

I'm glad people are saying that Nick is a good add, maybe I'll even give it (yet another) shot.

[foxfreakinmulder]

2 hours ago, GonnahearmeRoar said:

The last young lady has a nice voice but I didn’t love what she performed. Didn’t know the song but all four of them turned so it impressed all of them. 

I agree she had a nice voice. But I wasn't impressed with her, I didn't think she had much of a range at all. I'm not really into jazz and she reminded me of that girl on Blakes team last year, can't remember her name but she didn't leave soon enough for me.

I don't get the coaches because a lot of the times they will tell a singer they didn't turn because they wanted to hear them go high to hear their range then sometimes they will turn after the first note. 

I think Nick is a good addition to the team.

That puppy was soooooo cute!

Kelly looked pretty except for the pink/red and black eye shadow.

Still hate the back stories and the family members standing to side screaming and also the coaches talking while the singer is singing. 

[Misslindsey]

I hate the backstories on the contestants. I wish more shows would do what The Great British Bake Off does, where they mention the contestant's name, age, where they are from, and what they do for a living. They might add in some minor things here and there, but basically everyone gets a similar blurb about them.

I enjoyed Nick more than I thought I would. He is better than Gwen for me, but that is a low bar. I have the unpopular opinion of not liking Blake at all.

I was not particularly wowed by any of the contestants. I think I only enjoyed The Jukebox Hero guy because I wish there were more contestants in the rock genre on this show.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

While, I felt bad for Emily Bass getting the double no (I can only think of one other artist from the early seasons, a guy named Landon who was furniture mover who definitely got two no's...but I feel like it's happened at least a couple other times more recently than that). Honestly, she was closer to getting a chair to turn on her first try (and maybe would've been justified given a few of the people who actually did get chairs to turn last season). But this second attempt was not good, when she tried the big showy notes...they were way off and really jarring with how she was doing the rest of the song.

As for TMH, we haven't had a contestant like a Laith or going way way back to Terry McDermott in S1 for a while. I'll be interested to see what happens with him. Blake clearly is going to keep him firmly in his lane or try to, so I expect a playlist of 80s hair metal classics. Still Loving You or Here I Go Again might be due up in the Battle rounds. I love to see him tackle Winds of Change or Silent Lucidity at some point. And if he wants go something more contemporary...I think that Pink song from the Greatest Showman "Walk me home in the dead of night.." could sound really good in his voice. Or a fun. song.

Beyond those two, I was impressed w/ Turquoise Hair, the last girl who was in the Norah Jones style but had some more power and dynamics, and the one chair turn that Kelly got who had never been on an airplane before. She was definitely raw around the edges...but tonally there was something to like.

Within about 3 seconds I would've pegged the first guy as a Pastor/Worship Leader type. Something just radiated that instantly. I wasn't as blown away by the Stevie Wonder connection guy. Solid, for sure. But not more than 7.5 out of 10 in my book.

[marykat71702]

16 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

I love to see him tackle Winds of Change or Silent Lucidity at some point.

Or maybe Victim of Changes or The Immigrant Song 😁

[marykat71702]

I am really liking how these four judges are interacting with each other-it's not too much or too over-the-top(yet). I had quit watching for quite a few seasons because the judges were annoying to me.  I like Blake and Nick, though, so that, along with seeing a few promos with the singers, had me giving it another chance.  It was entertaining, so they have me back (at least for now...)

[jabRI]

Regarding the waitress, what was up with her mother's throat? Not being rude, just honestly curious what condition that could be

[shantown]

On 2/26/2020 at 12:10 AM, Misslindsey said:

I hate the backstories on the contestants. I wish more shows would do what The Great British Bake Off does, where they mention the contestant's name, age, where they are from, and what they do for a living. They might add in some minor things here and there, but basically everyone gets a similar blurb about them.

This is what they should do for these audition episodes - a very basic, consistent intro for everyone. They can throw in the tragic* backstories for once they're on a team and the show gets more in depth.

*Why is no one like "I just like to sing and I'm good at it so I came on the show. My life is pretty fine actually."??

[TaraS1]

Count me in as liking Nick as a judge.  I didn't know if I would or not because I watched Happiness and thought he was a little immature and took himself too seriously while trying to pretend not to take himself too seriously.  But so far, I think he's a fun addition and seems sweet.

[foxfreakinmulder]

9 hours ago, jabRI said:

Regarding the waitress, what was up with her mother's throat? Not being rude, just honestly curious what condition that could be

I noticed the lump too, I hope it's nothing serious like a tumor.