S07.E05: Blind Auditions (5)

[Tara Ariano]

The blind auditions continue.

[tmelange]

The reasons these contestants cite for picking Adam make me scratch my head. You look forward to seeing how he molds you? Have you watched past seasons? You picked him because...Adam plays guitar? Good grief.

 

That Bieberized version of Secrets scared me. I could barely recognize the song.

Edited October 7, 2014 by tmelange

[PepperMonkey]

Amen, tmelange.

For the eleventy eleventh time, I'll just say, as a woman, I would NEVER choose Adam.

Also, I thought he's mostly a drummer?

 

I did love when Blake said, yeah, Adam, you can't say that cause you will make them sing something they don't want to sing. Truth.

 

The Gwen and Pharrell lovefest is kinda making me sick, like I might need some insulin or something. Mr. Monkey says it's cause I'm jealous.. I mean, Pharrell is supposed to be MY boo.

Edited October 7, 2014 by PepperMonkey

[car54]

They are taking too many kids.   I know Danielle Bradbury did it, but I really just find the really young ones so much less interesting to watch than a singer who has some life experience.

[BogoGog24]

Matt McAndrew - Liked him a lot. His glasses were so Harry Potter lol But I liked him because he was weird and different

 

Brittany Butler - I thought she sounded better in her YouTube videos honestly. I think she has a naturally great sounding voice but I think she was trying to overdo it here. It didn't sound natural.

 

Evan Watson - Thought he deserved at least one chair to turn. He has a very recordable voice

 

Ryan Sill- Good but generic. A dime a dozen. Nothing special.

 

Fernanda Bosch - Pretty good. Some things can be worked on.

 

Beth Spangler - Best of the night, easily. I could see her in the finals if she keeps it up.

 

Did not get to see Erin Kim or Griffin because I switched to something else for a half hour.

 

Chandra Knudson - Glad no one turned for her. She sounded very generic and wasn't quite there yet.

 

Mayra Alvarez - Thought she was boring and generic.

 

Justin Johnes - All he has to do is change his last name to Bieber and he's all set. And really, this "this is my first performance EVER!!!" bullshit again? With Danielle Bradbery in season 4 it was a little more believable because she made the distinction it was her first "big" performance, not her first performance in front of a crowd ever. There's no way a kid that young can sing in front of people on TV for the first time and be that poised. I don't buy it. 

I also cannot stand how Gwen keeps trying to play the "girl" card. She has nothing better to offer to them than "These are all boys, but you're a girl and I'm a girl!" or clothes? Why not support her argument with her band experience? It's a pet peeve of mine when the female judges on this show try to get the girls on their team by playing the female card. Who cares? A contestant wants to join your team based on what you can do to make them improve, they don't give a flying fladoodle what gender you are.

[jjjmoss]

4 Chairs:

Pharrell - Luke, Taylor, Maiya, Blessing

Adam - Damien, Joe, Mia, Chris, Jonathan, Beth

Blake - James

Gwen - Anita

 

Ridiculously skewed towards 2 judges, but super impressive for Pharrell as a new judge. Or, y'know, a non-Adam/Blake.

S6 Shakira 1, Usher 2

S5 Christina 1, Cee Lo 0

S4 Shakira 1, Usher 1

S3 Christina 1, Cee Lo 1

S2 Christina 2, Cee Lo 0

S1 N/A

 

So more than Shakira's 2 combined, Usher's 2 combined, Cee Lo's 4 combined. Tied with Christina's 4 combined.

[Padma]

Amen, tmelange.

For the eleventy eleventh time, I'll just say, as a woman, I would NEVER choose Adam.

Also, I thought he's mostly a drummer?

 

I did love when Blake said, yeah, Adam, you can't say that cause you will make them sing something they don't want to sing. Truth.

 

Finally! That is so true, but I wasn't sure the coaches knew it. (Somehow a lot of singers still don't seem to.) Adam's charisma in person must be tremendous, because his sales pitch sounds completely fake on television. Pharrell, on the other hand, comes across as sincere and like he'd really help someone's career. I'm glad to see him giving Adam a run for it.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Padma

[Noreaster]

Yeah, Pharrell has definitely been competitive in the blinds. 

 

But so pathetic about how many 4-chair turns there are.  They make up 1/4 of all the successful blinds.  Whereas they used to be reserved for the truly stellar.  I doubt Christina would have turned for many of the 4-chairs in this season and last season.  She cared about technical skills.  Cee Lo also had a good ear for talent. I don't know if he would be turning for all these 4-chairs either.   

Edited October 7, 2014 by Noreaster

[desertflower]

I hate when they do a long backstory on someone, even visiting their house, and then they get no turns. I felt bad for the brewery guy, he seemed nice. And I thought the Tae Kwon Do guy had a good voice.

[tmelange]

I liked the Tae Kwon Do guy too. I thought he'd be a great fit with Pharrell. I was a bit sorry he didn't make a team. I thought he was a lot better than others who got 4-chair turns. But what do I know? LOL

Edited October 7, 2014 by tmelange

[Padma]

I agreed with them that Evan Watson (brewery guy) didn't have enough variety in his vocals BUT he did have a great voice. I think he'll be one that will come back and is so distinctive that someone (probably Blake if he remembers the brewery) will choose him next time. He started so strong.

 

I'm looking forward to the coaching. Adam's going to have to work harder this time or else he'll be losing good singers (who win or nearly win) to other coaches again.

[BogoGog24]

Caught up on Griffin's performance (they don't post rejected contestant's performances so I haven't seen Erin Kim's). He was decent but I don't think he should have sung a Michael Buble song. He sounds exactly like him so by doing his song he sounded karaoke. I think he should have chosen a completely different song/artist and maybe then I'd have been more impressed. But with that song choice he just sounded like a poor man's version of Buble. 

[Paper Bag]

Is anyone else distracted by the fact that the coaches wear the same outfits each week? Did they film the blind auditions in one day and break them up into different episodes?

[rollerblade]

Blinds are filmed over 4 days I think? Judges were asked to wear the same outfit for easy editing... the order of picks in reality isn't what's shown on TV.

 

Caught up on Griffin's performance (they don't post rejected contestant's performances so I haven't seen Erin Kim's). He was decent but I don't think he should have sung a Michael Buble song. He sounds exactly like him so by doing his song he sounded karaoke. I think he should have chosen a completely different song/artist and maybe then I'd have been more impressed. But with that song choice he just sounded like a poor man's version of Buble. 

 

Yea he did come across as a monotone Buble. Not bad though, but I'm already against him because of the "one name" shit. At least he didn't all-caps like MEGG lol.

[pivot]

Man, Blake is really having a hard time getting anyone who isn't country or a child on his team. His team is horribly weak, though it won't matter as his fans will vote through some untalented contestant to the finale. I am happy that we didn't end up with any duos this season.

I continue to remain mystified by Adam's ability to get 4 chairs to pick him. Have the contestants never seen the show before? Adam will throw people under the bus left, right and center to help his Chosen One make the finale.

I think Gwen annoyed me more than ever tonight. She is basically trying to bribe contestants to pick her at this point. Pathetic.

And how pissed would you be to walk into the rehearsal studio and find out that Gavin Rossdale is your mentor? That guy has been irrelevant for at least a decade. The other mentors are real stars and Gwen's team gets Gavin? Maybe he'll give them advice on how to marry a rockstar so you can pretend to be relevant. What a joke. Shows that Gwen is more interested in promo for her family than in helping the contestants from her team.

[DownTheShore]

I was amused by the comments that Adam and Blake made when Gwen and Pharrell were going after the same singer - candy-cane swords - lol.

[Oscirus]

That Macy Gray song was all kinds of horrible. Overall a weak night.  Let her go was pretty much sung in the wrong spirit of the song.  Was that bow tie guy more interested in singing or pushing his clothing line?  He seemed so thirsty for the wrong thing.  I also laugh at the fact that  Gwen's evolving pitch had to make it pretty hard for the editors since the difference between early Gwen and Late Gwen is fairly obvious in her approach.

 

And for the love of god, if you have the last pick, wait. You have your pick of artists and you're in that big of a rush? 

[vb68]

 

I was amused by the comments that Adam and Blake made when Gwen and Pharrell were going after the same singer - candy-cane swords - lol.

 

I thought that both Gwen and Pharrell wanted to scream something like "for the love of god, both of you shut up!"  I still don't buy that Pharrell in particular cares all that much for Adam.  I thought the contestant was trying hard not to look annoyed as well.  She sorta looked incredulous, like "I'm waiting."

 

 

Beth Spangler - Best of the night, easily. I could see her in the finals if she keeps it up.

 

I was over her the second she picked Adam.  I couldn't believe she picked him after that pitch from Pharrell.  And of course Adam has to proceed to be a douche about it.  

Edited October 7, 2014 by vb68

[kechara]

Is it just me or did that Beth girl look like Kristin Chenowyth?

[Noreaster]

My feeling is if the contestants are constantly choosing Adam over other coaches, there must be a good reason.  Obviously a decent amount is edited out.  But the parts of his pitches that we do see are often more specific than what we see from the other coaches.

 

Personally, I never got the feeling that Adam didn't mean what he said when he said it.  Just that he's kind of hyper.  And things often change later.  Some contestants don't live up to their blinds.  Some less promising contestants end up being positive surprises so the coach has got to honor that.  And often it turns out his team is so stacked that Adam can't help but cut some good ones.  But if a contestant gives a strong blind and remains impressive in later rounds, he is extremely supportive.  The so-called chosen ones.  

 

I really don't see what's so impressive with Pharrell's pitches.  They seem so generic to me.  Usually when people talk that way in real life, I think to myself that they must say the same thing to everyone.  Trying to sound smart and insightful, whereas it's really a bunch of crap.  

[Tara1665]

I haven't posted here before but I went ands took a look at Ryan Sills video from college doing Titanium. He has a beautiful voice in it. It's on YouTube under Exit 45. I hope he can sing like that on the show.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Tara1665

[MelsW]

And how pissed would you be to walk into the rehearsal studio and find out that Gavin Rossdale is your mentor? That guy has been irrelevant for at least a decade. The other mentors are real stars and Gwen's team gets Gavin?

 

YES, exactly. Gavin Rossdale hasn't really been on the radar since the 1990s. I say that as a woman in her late 30s that may or may not have rocked a Bush cassette tape in her car, singing along to Machinehead, circa 1995. Apparently Bush has a new album coming out that I am sure he will be promoting but do 17 year old Voice contestants know who he is? Doubtful. I'm sure most would rather Alicia Keys be their mentor.

[Tara1665]

I also wish brew guy would have gotten a chair. Loved his voice. Bf and I were yelling at the tv lo

[Primetimer]

The end of the blind auditions is like watching a candy cane sword fight.

Read the story

[kj4ever]

Eh...

[Ketzel]

I liked the Tae Kwon Do guy too. I thought he'd be a great fit with Pharrell. I was a bit sorry he didn't make a team. I thought he was a lot better than others who got 4-chair turns. But what do I know? LOL

He was very nervous on-stage and hit three loud flat notes in a row in the middle of the song. You could just see the judges losing interest at that moment.

[hincandenza]

I for one was profoundly underwhelmed. At least to their credit, the blinds are now done and seemed a little snappier than last year which seemed to drag on (wasn't it 16 people per team and an extra week of blinds last season?).

But I've seen maybe a handful of interesting singers this year. The rest are just really mediocre! People seem to think if they can carry a tune, they're destined to be a "star" in the making. Most of the people who auditioned tonight- I mean really, this whole season- sounded no better than any dime-a-dozen karaoke singer. You know, those people who are pretty darn good at the local watering hole, but you put them up on a real stage and their lack of training becomes immediately apparent. Their singing is reedy, full of poor or thoughtless choices of breathwork and phrasing, lacking all dynamics, coloration, or personality... just an overall amateurish workmanlike product. If I went to the local University and picked the first 48 people who walked up to grab thei BFa diploma for vocal performance, I'd have a much better show than what I think we're in for this year.

These people, some of whom got 3 or 4 chairs, are just BAD at singing, you guys. I mean, I didn't hallucinate that someone actually picked the Macy Gray girl, who was searching for that melody in the dark without a flashlight for all 90 seconds, did I?

[Noreaster]

The show only did 16 people/team in season 3.  I remember the blinds dragging on a bit.  But it turned out to be my favorite season. What a strong group by the time it got to lives.  I miss Cee Lo.  

[viajero]

Beth Spangler - Best of the night, easily. I could see her in the finals if she keeps it up.

 

I agree.  The rest all seem like fodder, except maybe Matt and Brittney.  Or at least they would have been fodder in any other season.  The overall level of talent is so low this season that who knows.  

 

I normally don't mind the younger singers if they have talent, but only a few of them really seem to this season (only Reagan James and maybe, Matriz Trinidad, come to mind).  Then again, most of the older singers aren't anything special either.  Hopefully a few of them will step it up in coming rounds.

Edited October 8, 2014 by viajero

[car54]

I think Adam and Pharell are going to have to lose some good people in the battles so that Blake will hopefully be able to pick up some adult singers that way.

[MaryPatShelby]

I thought that both Gwen and Pharrell wanted to scream something like "for the love of god, both of you shut up!"  I still don't buy that Pharrell in particular cares all that much for Adam.  I thought the contestant was trying hard not to look annoyed as well.  She sorta looked incredulous, like "I'm waiting."

 

 

I was over her the second she picked Adam.  I couldn't believe she picked him after that pitch from Pharrell.  And of course Adam has to proceed to be a douche about it.  

While she was hemming and hawing over her choice, I said "omg she's gonna pick Adam noooooooooooooooooooo" and of course, she did. I'm sorry, but what a dummy.

[BogoGog24]

Do the contestants know who's already on which teams? That could factor into why some didn't choose Pharrell because he had a lot of really strong singers on his team so obviously they might lose in the battles and knockouts.

[viajero]

I think Pharrell might have freaked Beth out a bit by being a little too intense with his pitch, something that Adam and Blake immediately picked up on and made fun of. That could have something to do with her decision.

 

In any case, I do think Adam could be a good coach for her, as long as he handles her the way he handled Tessanne and doesn't sabotage her with horrible song selection in the semifinals the way he did Grimmie.

Edited October 8, 2014 by viajero

[Padma]

I liked the Tae Kwon Do guy too. I thought he'd be a great fit with Pharrell. I was a bit sorry he didn't make a team. I thought he was a lot better than others who got 4-chair turns. But what do I know? LOL

I would have greatly preferred either of them to Blandy McBlanderson who got on after singing "It's A Beautiful Day". He can't leave soon enough for me if that's his taste in music.

 

I agree that Pharrell's pitch was just too intense and Adam and Blake's teasing was kind of to help him, but he didn't pick up on it. But I think that girl (who later said she wanted Adam to mold her) chose him because she has a little crush. Something about her body language just gave me that feeling. I don't think any of the others ever had a chance.

 

I also couldn't believe anyone chose the woman who sang the Macy Gray song. And ITA that Blake's team should get a lot better in the battlerounds where most of the children will be gracefully eliminated and he can steal 2 good people from one of the other teams (you know he can count on Adam to pair up two of his best).

Edited October 8, 2014 by Padma

[Kromm]

Amen, tmelange.

For the eleventy eleventh time, I'll just say, as a woman, I would NEVER choose Adam.

Interesting (and maybe even a little bit creepy) I have a teenaged niece, who is absolutely in love with Adam, and who claims all her friends are too.

...I know.

I think that girl (who later said she wanted Adam to mold her) chose him because she has a little crush. Something about her body language just gave me that feeling.

Probably true.

[PepperMonkey]

Kromm, I can actually see how someone would think he is crush-worthy.

On the show though, he nearly always picks his bros over most females on his team.

Several years ago, I also read an interview with him talking about sleeping with certain celebrities and how they stacked up against each other... I thought it was misogynistic and it changed my opinion of him a great deal.

 

Also, sorry, but I've never been a huge fan of their music, so when I say I would never choose him, it's strictly MY opinion and I don't expect everyone else to feel the same way. :)

[MangoFed]

Kromm, I can actually see how someone would think he is crush-worthy.

On the show though, he nearly always picks his bros over most females on his team.

Several years ago, I also read an interview with him talking about sleeping with certain celebrities and how they stacked up against each other... I thought it was misogynistic and it changed my opinion of him a great deal.

 

Also, sorry, but I've never been a huge fan of their music, so when I say I would never choose him, it's strictly MY opinion and I don't expect everyone else to feel the same way. :)

Has he actually chosen 'bros' over female members of his team? If anything, he goes the other way, with the exception of Season 2. In Season 4, his entire team in the Lives were women. In Season 5, he rode Tessanne all the way to the end, and if anything, treated Will badly, compared to Tessanne. Last season, his clear favourite was Grimmie. I don't see the 'bros before hoes' thing with him.

[Donny Ketchum]

I'm stunned by how many women choose Blake.  When the battle rounds come along, and they're up against a man, Blake's gonna pick the man even if the woman wipes the floor with said man.  On his team, the only chance a woman has is against another woman, and the only time a man has to worry is against another man.

 

Similarly, I worry for the men who picked Gwen.  With her playing the "girl" card with so many girls, I think she'll automatically pick the woman over the man in the battle rounds even if the man clearly beats the woman.

 

Pharrell and, despite how little I care for him, Adam are the only two coaches I can see being gender-neutral with their team members.

[TiredMe]

Every time someone chooses Adam, I shake my head....it's the lure of his magic peen.

The first guy with nerd glasses was my fav of the night followed by Beth.

[Padma]

Every time someone chooses Adam, I shake my head....it's the lure of his magic peen.

The first guy with nerd glasses was my fav of the night followed by Beth.

And both chose Adam for (imo) ridiculous reasons. ("...he plays guitar!!!" "..."he can mold me!! (i.e. make me sing songs I would never choose as a solo artist)"

 

I've been pleasantly surprised by Gwen and Pharrell in that they seem energized and competitive (in an always "rainbow and pillow fight" way, of course). I expect they will work hard to prove themselves as coaches--and hopefully will get Adam and Blake to step up their games as well.  (Adam already seems a bit less sure of his "I'm the Puppetmaster" strategy v. Pharrell's "I'll work with who you are --AND who you want to be")  Blake seemed even -more- laid back than usual (though redeeming it all by being the consistently funniest one) and at the greatest disadvantage v. Pharrell in the choices.

 

But I think he understands how this works pretty well and he's planning to just pick up some "winners" in the battlerounds while..nicely...getting rid of the dead weight on his team. (He has a lot of it). If that's your strategy, you are better positioned at this point with a weaker team.

 

Edited October 9, 2014 by Padma

[anonymiss]

And how pissed would you be to walk into the rehearsal studio and find out that Gavin Rossdale is your mentor? That guy has been irrelevant for at least a decade. The other mentors are real stars and Gwen's team gets Gavin? Maybe he'll give them advice on how to marry a rockstar so you can pretend to be relevant. What a joke. Shows that Gwen is more interested in promo for her family than in helping the contestants from her team.

I disagree that recent success is a prerequisite for being a quality mentor. I liked Bush in its day and am sure he is a more qualified mentor than the mostly corporate manufactured crop of stars currently on the charts. As an aside, I find it dismaying when aspiring youth in any industry don't care to do their research or have respect for those that came before (not that Bush/Gavin is some rock legend or anything).

 

OK. Adam is hot again for the moment he's genuinely moved by an audition like he was with WGWG Matt McAndrew. I was impressed with him, too. He does sound "seasoned" and a little like Thom Yorke and all the other guys who sort of have that sound.

 

Gwen is more enjoyable each episode. I laughed along with them when Blake sang "Hella Good" in her face when that non-country girl picked him because she watches the show like we do and sees his good mentorship (esp. for young girls).

Edited October 9, 2014 by anonymiss

[Moonbow]

I'm stunned by how many women choose Blake.  When the battle rounds come along, and they're up against a man, Blake's gonna pick the man even if the woman wipes the floor with said man.  On his team, the only chance a woman has is against another woman, and the only time a man has to worry is against another man.

 

That's definitely not true. If it was, how would Blake have ended up with two female winners, Danielle and Cassadee? If you look at his teams for the live shows in the past few seasons, he had 2 females and 1 male in S6, 2 females and 2 males in S4 (counting the Swon brothers as one artist) and 3 females and 2 males in S3. Season 5 is the only one where he only had 1 female and 4 males. I definitely recall women winning against man in his battle rounds too. Perhaps he has a tendency to pair up women with women and men with men more often than pairing up a man and a woman, but I don't think this indicates any kind of gender bias. He also tends to pair up two singers that are close in age.

 

Like many others, I have no idea why people choose Adam as their coach, but I don't think he has a gender bias either. He just picks his favorite or two and screws everybody else. To make things even worse, he usually ends up screwing his favorites with bad song choices too. (Except for Tessanne, where he was lucky that she was such a flawless singer. I still think his actual favorite that season was James.)

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what Pharrell and Gwen will do. Pharrell definitely has a strong team this season, and Gwen has some strong contenders as well.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Moonbow

[Padma]

Like many others, I have no idea why people choose Adam as their coach, but I don't think he has a gender bias either. He just picks his favorite or two and screws everybody else. To make things even worse, he usually ends up screwing his favorites with bad song choices too. (Except for Tessanne, where he was lucky that she was such a flawless singer. I still think his actual favorite that season was James.)

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what Pharrell and Gwen will do. Pharrell definitely has a strong team this season, and Gwen has some strong contenders as well.

Yes. Adam gets his favorites and then has fun (for him) of experimenting with the ones he thinks won't or shouldn't get to the end. I loved it that Blake and Pharrell too (because I think he was subtly referring to Adam when selling himself) called him out for imposing song choices that may not be appropriate or comfortable for the singers. (Yes, sometimes they pull it off. But, in the long run, it's not about them. It's about him.)

 

I will never trust his pitch again after what he did to that duet last season. He even had me convinced he loved them and would do anything and everything to get them to the end. Then he threw them under the bus in the first battle, forcing them to completely change their style of singing/performing and compete against someone who was in his wheelhouse, not theirs. It wasn't that I was such a big fan of theirs (I thought they were kind of just "okay") but if they'd chosen any other coach I think they not only would have gotten farther but--more important--would have at least had one more chance to perform their kind of music. That's so important, imo, when you have a national showcase as an artist. But Adam (whom I like well enough as a television personality and musician, but hate as a coach) doesn't care about what his singers want at all. (Still also remember the Voice musicians having to help Amber out when he gave her...was it "Skyfall"? ... which she felt was so far from her comfort zone that she would fail.)

 

Never would I choose Adam. I still think most people who do, it's either because of (1) "looks", (2) the "Maroon 5 coolness factor", or (3) wishful thinking that he really cares about the singer as he says in the blinds rather than really cares about beating the other coaches, especially in getting the most 4 chair turns, "stealing" a country artist from Blake, etc.. I think he'll pretty much say anything to win.

[Noreaster]

I really liked the duet last season in the blinds, but they weren't good after that.  Especially the girl.

 

I like Adam as a coach.  I usually agree with him on his decisions.  Not always, but most of the time. Maybe that's why I get a little defensive when people constantly attack his decisions and ascribe less-than-noble motives.  Sabotage, conspiracy theories, "bros", and the like. Doesn't it really come down to personal preference? 

 

My theory (and of course feel free to disagree) is that Adam tends to get a lot of viewer favorites on his team.  He is after all extremely successful with his blind audition pitches.  Whenever one of those favorites is eliminated, their fans cry foul.  But this is just the way the game works.  Each team of 12 has to be winnowed down to 3 somehow.  And of course there can only be 1 winner in the end.

 

The other coaches do many of the same things that Adam does.  Uneven battle pairings, questionable song choices, etc. But for whatever reason, those coaches don't get as much flak.

 

I get not liking Adam and his personality.  He doesn't seem like someone I would care to hang out with in real life.  I also personally don't like his music.  I think Adam sold out commercially with his pop songs and a clothing label (at Walmart/Kmart?).  But the criticisms of his coaching sometimes don't make sense to me.  I totally get why contestants continue to pick him in the blind auditions over and over again.  Adam tends to provide constructive criticism more than the others, he shows a great amount of enthusiasm, and he has a respectable track record on the show.  His teams over the past seasons have come across as the bigger risk-takers and the more interesting contestants to me.  They tend to provide the more entertaining performances.  Sometimes there are misses, but you don't get hits without risks.  

[Cramps]

Maroon 5 has a "coolness factor"?

[viajero]

Though I've gotten pissed off at Adam in the past for really bad song selections for contestants I liked, in calmer moments I recognize that this is function of his willingness to take risks.  And these risks have often paid off in a big way.  For instance, I don't think Amber would have been nearly as memorable had not Adam forced her to stretch outside the confines of the country songs she preferred to choose for herself.  I find it quite telling that 5 of my top 10 all time Voice performances were by members of Team Adam.

 

I personally think Adam plays a key role in terms of what makes this show work.  His intensity and enthusiasm are almost a perfect contrast to Blake's laid-back nice guy approach. 

 

I also appreciate Adam because he seems to have very similar musical tastes to my own.  I almost inevitably agree with him when he comments "this is a great song", which is ironic since I really don't like most of Maroon 5's own music.

[Moonbow]

I personally think Adam plays a key role in terms of what makes this show work.  His intensity and enthusiasm are almost a perfect contrast to Blake's laid-back nice guy approach. 

 

As much as Adam annoys me, I have to admit that's probably true. He definitely makes the show more dynamic and interesting. Even if his personality is very polarizing, at least people (including us) are talking about him.

 

My theory (and of course feel free to disagree) is that Adam tends to get a lot of viewer favorites on his team.  He is after all extremely successful with his blind audition pitches.  Whenever one of those favorites is eliminated, their fans cry foul.  But this is just the way the game works.  Each team of 12 has to be winnowed down to 3 somehow.  And of course there can only be 1 winner in the end.

 

The other coaches do many of the same things that Adam does.  Uneven battle pairings, questionable song choices, etc. But for whatever reason, those coaches don't get as much flak.

 

I don't mind that Adam is enthusiastic and successful during the auditions. The problem (for me anyway) is that he never shows the same enthusiasm towards 95% of his own team after that. It really seems like the main thing he cares about is beating the other coaches and getting all the good contestants (even if they represent a genre he couldn't care less about, like country), after which he can ignore/discard most of them and focus on his one or two favorites. Yes, all the coaches sometimes make questionable choices, but I don't think I've ever seen the others show favoritism in as blatant way as Adam does. With Blake I always get the impression that he really cares at least about all the members of the team he brings to the live rounds, while you can spot Adam's favorites (like Judith & Sarah in S4, James & Tessanne in S5, Grimmie in S6) a mile away.

[Noreaster]

Why does it matter if Adam has favorites?  All the coaches do. It's human nature. It's true that Adam doesn't really hide his feelings about it.  But as long as he is performing his job as coach and trying to help all his contestants do their best, I don't care.  How a coach feels doesn't impact how I view the contestants.  

 

And there's never been any real evidence to suggest that he treats his non-favorites poorly.  Unless you count the silly stuff like Adam didn't smile as much or give my favorite a standing ovation.   

Edited October 10, 2014 by Noreaster

[Padma]

What I dislike about Adam's coaching most is in the battlerounds when he matches up his strongest singers and gives a song that is obviously suited for one and not the other. Maybe there won't be a single example of that this season, but I'm betting there'll be at least a few.  I also dislike how he tells them they're the greatest thing ever..."definitely will win this thing if you choose me!", then gives them a lousy song and dumps them early on because (imo) he knew all along they really didn't stand out like he said and he wasn't that committed to their success from the beginning. 

 

I agree that his intensity and energetic competitiveness (so far dialing down the mean comments except for that one about Gwen's age) is a nice contrast to Blake's amiable laid-backness. Much as I liked CeeLo's creativity and knowledge in S1, I don't miss him at all. For at least two seasons he just phoned it in. For the absence of that alone, I'm glad for the addition of Gwen and Pharrell (plus their "nice eachother to death" routine works well for the show, imo).

[kj4ever]

It's okay for them to have favorites, but when they are douchebags to their other contestants is when I have a problem.  Kind of like when Amber was called safe and Adam muttered his infamous "I hate this country" line because with her being safe it meant that Judith or Sarah (or both as it turned out) would be going home.  I know he was probably upset because his team members were going home, but it was really, really insensitive, like he wanted Amber to go home instead of one of them.  I'm convinced he kept her on his team so that Blake couldn't get her.

 

He didn't do his "Oh I love you" stuff to Amber until she was his only option.  That season is when my Adam dislike grew to epic proportions.