S07.E05: Blind Auditions (5)

[hincandenza]

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. 

I loved Amber, and I agree she seemed to get shortchanged in Adam's coaching.  But for me that moment was a couple of seasons earlier when he engaged in some juvenile behavior with Tony Lucca aimed against Christina, including the smirking-like-a-7th-grader performance of "99 problems (but a bitch ain't one)" near the end of the season.  That whole load of rubbish was just painful to watch.

[KFC]

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.)

 

Yeah, I thought that was an utterly strange strategy if he wanted her to win... Considering how all the judges, Adam included, had been so critical of contestants picking Adele songs and also the fact that Amber made it perfectly clear she was a country singer and that was the type of music that most resonated with her. She did perform the song well, although it certainly did seem like he was stacking the odds against her at the time.

 

I'm all for stretching the contestants, but I think a good coach will recognize when a singer knows their strengths and will help showcase that to the wider viewing audience that they have access to during The Voice. I seem to recall reading an interview with Amber after the show where she intimated that it was hard having to sing all those pop songs when, post-show, she's still trying to launch a country career but few people got to see her perform that kind of music during the show.

 

On topic, I'll be curious to see what he does with Beth. He seems much more invested in her than he ever did Amber, so I wonder how close he'll hew to the kind of music she wants to sing.

Edited October 10, 2014 by KFC

[Noreaster]

See, most of these seem to be about not liking Adam's personality.  And being annoyed that Amber was not his favorite.  Not really much to do with his coaching.  

 

Just a couple of other things:

 

Uneven battle pairings have been done by all the coaches.  Assigning a song that is in one contestant's wheelhouse and not the other's. Focus on Adam all you want, but Blake and Cee Lo have done them a lot too.

 

"Skyfall" wasn't the first time Adam assigned an Adele song.  Amanda Brown did an Adele song too.  Don't remember accusations of Adam throwing her under the bus.  By the way, "Skyfall" was originally assigned to Sarah.  Amber was given Gotye's "Somebody that I used to know".  They switched.  I remember all the Amber sabotage theories until people found this fact out.  

Edited October 10, 2014 by Noreaster

[kj4ever]

I'll take this over to the Adam thread so this one can stay OT.

 

Now about the blind auditions.....Did I miss something or do we have no "ringer" this year?  Even though some think we are swimming in the shallow end of the talent pool I am kind of excited to see these people evolve.

Edited October 10, 2014 by kj4ever

[mercfan3]

All of the contestants got vocal help. 

 

And actually, that week Adam had given Skyfall to Sarah and Someone That I Used To Know to Amber, but they switched. 

I feel like, when it comes to Adam, Amber was probably his best coaching performance. It's not his fault that The Swon's sang Danny's Song, and Danielle had the pretty blonde country singer voting block locked up. (And she would, being on Team Blake..) But Amber had a ton of amazing performances, and she wouldn't have had them if she had been on a coach's team that wouldn't push her out of her comfort zone. 

 

I don't think we have a ringer, but I've got a feeling the TCO is one of the pop girls. (Which, would be why we don't have a ringer. Can't have someone be dominant if you are trying to get a 15 year old to win.) There's like 5 or 6 of them, which is an indication of who TCO is. (Last season, original TCO was Bria Kelly -it switched to Christina after Bria didn't work out -, and we had a ton of bluesy/rock girls to support her. The year before, TCO was Matt..and we had a bunch of alternative rock guys...year before that, TCO was Danielle, had a ton of country contestants..it's how that works. The thought process is that as those of the same genre are eliminated, people will move to becoming fans of the TCO.) My gut says it's Reagan. But Katriz, with Pharrell's help could be one to look out for..and Bryana is significantly better in her youtube videos than her audition. And Adam has Mia..who is also quite good. But I still think it's Reagan, because not only do we have a ton of young pop girls, but we have a ton of indie style singers too..and Reagan fits in the center. 

[viajero]

Despite the unfortunate timing of that outburst, I really don't think Adam meant that he wasn't happy that Amber got through.  I saw it more as a delayed reaction at the realization that he was losing 2 of his team members, while the likes of Holly Tucker was moving on.  In any case, Amber benefited greatly from being on Adam's team.  I doubt she would have finished 4th or produced some of the all time best The Voice performances had she been with Blake or with any other coach.

[pivot]

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).

I don't think you have to be a current success to be a mentor, if you have had a long successful career like Stevie Nicks. But, when all you have is a some very minor success over 20 years ago with nothing else to show for it but a celebrity wife, you have no place being a mentor. The only reason he got the gig is because of who he is married to. He'd actually be a good contestant for The Voice but he is in no way at mentor level when you look at all the talented superstars other coaches brought on. I'd be disappointed and a bit pissed if I were a contestant on Gwen's team and instead of getting a real mentor I got stuck with her has-been husband.

I hope Gwen is more interesting when we move on to the other rounds. She is really the first coach who was a complete non-entity during the blind auditions.

[dizzyizzy01]

I don't think you have to be a current success to be a mentor, if you have had a long successful career like Stevie Nicks. But, when all you have is a some very minor success over 20 years ago with nothing else to show for it but a celebrity wife, you have no place being a mentor. The only reason he got the gig is because of who he is married to. He'd actually be a good contestant for The Voice but he is in no way at mentor level when you look at all the talented superstars other coaches brought on. I'd be disappointed and a bit pissed if I were a contestant on Gwen's team and instead of getting a real mentor I got stuck with her has-been husband.

 

 

I've found Gwen to be very underwhelming so far, but that's really not accurate.  Bush has had at 3 mutli-platinum albums, so it's not minor success and is probably one of the more successful rock bands of the 90's.  They've certainly had as much success if not more within their genre of music than several of the past mentors like Joel Madden, Miranda, Ed Sheeran etc.  Bush isn't a mainstream band by any means, but they had a pretty long and successful run in the 90's before the broke up.  They only just recently got back together in the last couple of years.

[pivot]

I don't think album sales are the sole measure of how much success an artist has had and Bush sold well back in the early 1990s when everyone was selling multi-platinum. Selling platinum today is the equivalent of selling like 3x platinum back then because album sales are so bad. But regardless, they are a has-been act that was briefly popular for 5 years or so 20 years ago.

Joel Madden got picked as a mentor because he is a coach on The Voice Australia I am sure.

Miranda Lambert is a massive country star. She's won a ton of GRAMMYS and CMAs, has had platinum selling albums and multiple top 10 country hits and she did it all within the 2000s. No comparison between her and Gavin.

Even if Miranda wasn't married to Blake, she'd still be a natural choice for a mentor on the show due to how hot her career is right now. The same can't be said of Gavin. He only got on the show because of who he's married to.

Edited October 11, 2014 by pivot

[dizzyizzy01]

I don't think album sales are the sole measure of how much success an artist has had and Bush sold well back in the early 1990s when everyone was selling multi-platinum. Selling platinum today is the equivalent of selling like 3x platinum back then because album sales are so bad. But regardless, they are a has-been act that was briefly popular for 5 years or so 20 years ago.

 

 

I mean it's not like the sold only a million for each album.  They're debut went 6x platinum.  To put it into perspective, the Mariah's Carey's Musix Box sold 7.3 million in the US and it was one of the biggest albums of '93-'94. 

 

Btw, the grammys have never been all that rock friendly.  They didn't even have a best rock album grammy until 1995, so I'm not sure that can be a measure of a rock band's success, particularly in the 90's.

 

Anyway, I still don't think it matters because I honestly don't think the advisors spend much more time with the contestants than what's filmed/shown which really isn't much at all.  I just don't think Gavin is any less of a "get" as a advisor than a lot of the past artists, but I do agree that he wouldn't have ever done this show without Gwen being on it.  I don't think he would have been asked, and I don't think he would have done it either.

[tmelange]

These blinds were a bit underwhelming from a coaches standpoint. I like Gwen and Pharrell, but they aren't as funny as Usher and Shakira. I'm also a bit tired of nice girls. I'm sort of looking forward to the Return of the Diva: Xtina. Oh, am I supposed to be paying attention to the contestants...

[MaryPatShelby]

All of the contestants got vocal help. 

 

And actually, that week Adam had given Skyfall to Sarah and Someone That I Used To Know to Amber, but they switched. 

I feel like, when it comes to Adam, Amber was probably his best coaching performance. It's not his fault that The Swon's sang Danny's Song, and Danielle had the pretty blonde country singer voting block locked up. (And she would, being on Team Blake..) But Amber had a ton of amazing performances, and she wouldn't have had them if she had been on a coach's team that wouldn't push her out of her comfort zone. 

 

I don't think we have a ringer, but I've got a feeling the TCO is one of the pop girls. (Which, would be why we don't have a ringer. Can't have someone be dominant if you are trying to get a 15 year old to win.) There's like 5 or 6 of them, which is an indication of who TCO is. (Last season, original TCO was Bria Kelly -it switched to Christina after Bria didn't work out -, and we had a ton of bluesy/rock girls to support her. The year before, TCO was Matt..and we had a bunch of alternative rock guys...year before that, TCO was Danielle, had a ton of country contestants..it's how that works. The thought process is that as those of the same genre are eliminated, people will move to becoming fans of the TCO.) My gut says it's Reagan. But Katriz, with Pharrell's help could be one to look out for..and Bryana is significantly better in her youtube videos than her audition. And Adam has Mia..who is also quite good. But I still think it's Reagan, because not only do we have a ton of young pop girls, but we have a ton of indie style singers too..and Reagan fits in the center. 

Sorry...TCO?

[mercfan3]

The Chosen One. The one the show would prefer to win. 

 

The voice doesn't care nearly as much as Idol does (they really care more which coach wins), and you can see it in the lack of manipulation that the show has. But you always have an idea..just in performance order, the type of music that is represented, who they market the most etc..Season 3 was Cassadee, Season 4 was Danielle (although the show seemed like it would have been just fine with Michelle winning. But that's a coach verses contestant thing. Danielle would be the better contestant winner, but Michelle would mean that Usher won.) Season 5 was Matt, until he falter and then Jacquie. Season 6 was Bria until she faltered and then Christina. 

 

But you simply get an idea by what genre is represented, who gets a lot of edits etc..

[ToxicUnicorn]

I like Gwen's look, posture, poise, and laughter.  I like that she's a mother of three, seems to have a good attitude, seems comfortable in her own skin, and is not fazed at all by the guys.  She's polished and beautiful.  Too bad I am disappointed every time she opens her mouth.  Also, in the negative column: her shoes.

 

The only stand out (I liked) so far is the guy with three names and the fringe jacket.  I also liked the brewery guy's voice.  Hope he comes back.  I can't remember anyone else I liked from the blinds, and there are no songs I want to hear over and over again, unlike last year. 

 

Adam was picked by quite a few who should have gone with anyone else, but what else is new.  I agree Blake will have to build his team strategically.  I am looking forward to that.  To me, some of the best parts of last season were when Christina stole Will and Blake stole Cole.  I'm a big fan of the steals.

 

After a few seasons of groaning about it, I am sort of liking Blake's finger pointing thing, because he only seems to do it for the ones he really wants.  It's nice to be able to see inside a coach's head like that.

[Padma]

I don't think you have to be a current success to be a mentor, if you have had a long successful career like Stevie Nicks. But, when all you have is a some very minor success over 20 years ago with nothing else to show for it but a celebrity wife, you have no place being a mentor. The only reason he got the gig is because of who he is married to. He'd actually be a good contestant for The Voice but he is in no way at mentor level when you look at all the talented superstars other coaches brought on. I'd be disappointed and a bit pissed if I were a contestant on Gwen's team and instead of getting a real mentor I got stuck with her has-been husband.

I hope Gwen is more interesting when we move on to the other rounds. She is really the first coach who was a complete non-entity during the blind auditions.

She wasn't as funny as Shakira or as serious (and sometimes a bit superior) as Christina, but she was pretty, pleasant and ...spirited. I didn't have a problem with her, though her coaching will be the part where she really has a chance to shine. The blinds were basically a competition between Adam's charm and Pharrell's "I actually produce hits for new artists".

 

A complete non-entity during the blinds? That would be CeeLo, after S1. That rented cockatoo sitting in his chair would have brought more engagement, personality and vitality than he did last season. Gwen has no problem surpassing CeeLo as a judge or as a coach, imo, anyway.

[Kromm]

Maroon 5 has a "coolness factor"?

Anecdotally, I think (surprisingly) they do.  I know several teenage girls who are (again surprisingly) really into Adam. He's their "grown up" fantasy object (when they start to disconnect from the likes of Beiber).  

 

I know.  It shocks.  And it IS anecdotal, based on just a few instances, but given the exposure from the show the past few years (and a reasonably aggressive release of well positioned song/video releases) I can see it being true for many other girls that age.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Kromm

[mercfan3]

Maroon 5 is one of the hottest bands around. And Adam is attractive. It's not that surprising. 

[Padma]

I see that star-struck look from a lot of guys when Adam gives his pitch, too. Even rockers, not just the pop guys. It's kind of a "wow, I wanna be like you". Always surprises me.

 

There were several guys that struck me that way this season, "Adam is so cool". The guy who chose Adam "because he plays guitar" was one of them. I usually roll my eyes because most of them are going to be given songs in the battlerounds that don't fit their style and then be dumped ASAP.

 

C'mon, Pharrell! Liven things up! I'm counting on you, boo!

[mercfan3]

I fall in love with Pharrell more and more when I rewatch audtitions. He's so adorable.