S07.E15: Live Playoffs 1

[car54]

Matt has been my favorite since the beginning, and he did well with the song he was given, but that song choice and his styling kind of went against everything I liked him for in his audition....he seemed a little older and mainstream, and that was not his appeal for me--I hope Adam lets him do his thing instead of trying to make him into something different.

 

I thought Regan's song worked but I thought her styling didn't fit the song, and I find her very breathy--I'm not sure if this is her age and lack of training, but it distracted me during her song. 

Craig's singing was good, but his performance went a little over the top for me--he is obviously experienced, but it was a little stage-y for me.

 

I felt like Gwen and Pharrell had little or nothing to contribute to the performances.   Gwen doesn't seem to have much to say about the actual singing so she mentions their clothing when that happens, and Pharrell seemed to have polite things to say that really didn't actually say much.

[Kcat1971]

Does anyone have information about the itunes standings for last night's show?

[Noreaster]

Damien putting "You're welcome" on his polaroid really turned me off to him. 

I don't think that was Damien writing "you're welcome". That was a joke Adam made in rehearsals.  

Which means I missed I missed Damien & Craig. I assume already-cut-once Damien is toast and Craig is shoe-in, which I think anyone could have guessed from Round 1!

Damien was never cut.   

[Kromm]

Oh Blake.  You namecheck TRAVIS TRITT as Southern Rock instead of someone... actually in that Genre?

[tobeannounced]

James David was already coming across as kind of entitled to me, and then correcting Adam on his name, seriously?  It kind of got by me at first because I play games on my phone while they give their "critiques," but was it as bitchy as it seemed? 

[photo fox]

Eh, maybe I'm being an apologist because I like JDC, but I give him a pass on that. Whatever they're known as on this show is pretty much what they'll be known as professionally forevermore, so I don't blame him for wanting to make sure it's right. And Adam's the one who made the moment last - not that I blame him, either, it's live TV and he was a bit surprised.

 

I have a difficult-to-pronounce name, and even in regular life, I try to (nicely) correct people early on if they have it wrong. If you continue to let it go, it only becomes more awkward. For you, if you eventually say something. For them, if you don't and then they realize some time later that they've been calling you the wrong thing.

 

IIRC his dad called him "Dave" at the blinds. I wonder if he's a Junior? If he thinks of "James" as his dad, that would explain the need for differentiation.

[tobeannounced]

That's true, photo fox.  My daughter's name is Kathleen and people always call her Katherine.  I always feel like such a bitch when I correct them, but there doesn't seem to be any nice way to do it even if you sincerely don't mean it in a bitchy way.

[Minim]

I get the same thing and my name isn't even hard to pronounce. I think people just misread/mis-hear.

 

Back to the show.... Was there a show? Yawn, yawn, yawn. Please stop covering Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. First they came for Adele and I did not speak out because hey, it's just one amazing Brit singer they're butchering. Next they came for Florence and still I did not speak out because, well, it's about time they did some vaguely alternative music on this show, but I did predict Ed Sheeran would be the next Brit on the chopping block and sure enough..... Now they're killing Sam Smith, in the old-fashioned torture-to-death way.

 

Why would Adam pick 'Don't'???? It's a terrible song to showcase vocals and Chris (?) clearly does not do English white-boy rap. He does look a little bit like Philip Chbeeb from the video I suppose. Hair-wise at least. I guess that's something.

 

They need to step away from the done-to-death golden oldies AND the songs of the moment. Comparisons with the greats or with current hit singers don't show the contestants in their best light. How about some less commonly done songs, long past or fairly recent? Surely the broadcast rights can't be any more expensive than on-the-radio-right-now songs.

[viajero]

A very underwhelming episode.  Most of the contestants were actually worse than in the Knockouts.  In fact, the only ones who I thought clearly improved in this round were Jessie and Mia, but mostly because I didn't think much of their previous performances.

 

Loved Craig and Reagan, was "eh" on Jessie and Taylor P.  Couldn't stand Matt.  I agree with the poster above that said the beauty of The Beach Boys songs are those awesome harmonies.  It was a total snooze fest and I do not understand the love for that performance at all.

 

I basically agree with this.  I thought Craig and Reagan were the best of the night, though for very different reasons.  Craig seems best at straight up covers of southern rock classics, without necessarily doing anything interesting with them.  His vocals are always great and he puts his soul into his performances (unlike JDC for instance).  Reagan's vocals can be a little more uneven (especially towards the end of her songs), but she's a natural on stage and has shown a considerable amount of artistic vision.  Some of the choices she makes in her songs are really good (and from the packages its clear that these are her choices).  She may have the most potential of anybody this season of eventually making a career for herself after the show, especially with if she gets some more vocal training.

 

Jessie also made some interesting choices with her arrangement, though I´m still undecided on the extent to which they worked.  But I´d much rather see her go through than JDC.  I can see him boring me to death if he continues on.  Unfortunately I can't see Blake cutting him this early in the season.

 

I guess I’m still in a minority on this, but I thought Matt was the biggest disappointment of the night.  I really liked him coming into this round, but that was a horrible song choice that took him away from what he had done so well in previous rounds. 

 

Not that anyone else really stood out for me on Adam’s team. I guess I do still like Taylor Phelan, even if I prefer the original version of Cool Kids.  Sydney Sierota has a kind of breathless rasp to her voice that I was missing in Taylor's cover (and it helps of course that she still is a kid).  But I do hope he makes it through to the next round.  He does need to get rid of the guitar if he's not going to actually play it.  Otherwise he risks becoming Bria Kelly 2.0.

Edited November 12, 2014 by viajero