S07.E24: Live Semi-Final Performances

[Tara Ariano]

The semifinal round opens with the Top 5 artists performing.

[ennui]

Did I hear that the finalists would be singing original songs at some point? Do we know when that happens?

[rollerblade]

Song spoilers:

Damien - I Don't Want To Wait
Damien - She's Out of My Life

Matt McAndrew - Make It Rain
Matt McAndrew - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Chris Jamison - When I Was Your Man
Chris Jamison - Sugar

Taylor John Williams - Blank Space
Taylor John Williams - Falling Slowly

Craig Wayne Boyd - Working Man
Craig Wayne Boyd - The Old Rugged Cross

I'll laugh if that's actually the performance order too.

Edited December 8, 2014 by rollerblade

[tmelange]

Hmm. So Adam is letting Chris sing one of his songs. He must really like the kid.

[ennui]

It would be funny if that was the performance order. "OK, singers with one name! Singers with two names, you're next!"  Etc.

[Diana Berry]

Well I have little water droplet things in my eyes after Craig's last performance. That was powerful.

Taylor three names seemed be very pitchy. I just knew that Falling Slowly would be pulled out for someone this season.

Chris makes me appreciate Adam's falsetto.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Diana Berry

[TiredMe]

This is definitely the Matt and Craig show.

I thought Taylor sounded bad on both songs. And why are Damien's song choices always so boring?

[rollerblade]

Matt sounded kinda flat on parts of the U2 song, but of course he tore up the stage.

 

Hmm. So Adam is letting Chris sing one of his songs. He must really like the kid.

 

Yep, and Chris gets to go last. He -really- likes the kid.

[Noreaster]

I thought this was a mixed episode.

 

Chris was the only one who nailed both songs.  I haven't really cared for him much before but he did the best tonight.

 

Matt was fantastic on his first song, but fell short on the second. Craig was the opposite...boring first song but excellent job on the second.  

 

Taylor (or is it Taylor John, as Carson says?) surprisingly did poorly with both songs.  He never had much range but consistently gave good performances in the past.  Not sure what happened tonight.  Damien was mixed. Great vocals on the first song though it was a little boring. On the other hand, the second song just did not work...I guess he's not as good on uptempo stuff as I hoped.  

 

Based on tonight's performances, I think Chris should definitely advance, followed by Matt and Craig. Based on the overall season, I prefer Matt and Damien make the finals, along with either Taylor or Chris. Just don't care for Craig's style (simply personal preference).

Edited December 9, 2014 by Noreaster

[Noreaster]

Hmm. So Adam is letting Chris sing one of his songs. He must really like the kid.

Adam also gave Amber Carrington a Maroon 5 song in the season 4 semifinals.  Broke top 10 in itunes.  

 

Do we know who chose the second songs tonight?  The first songs were definitely coaches' choice.  But how about the second...the contestants or the producers?  

 

And oh my goodness, holy hyperbole, Blake? Does he even notice what he's saying anymore? How is everything the best ever?

Edited December 9, 2014 by Noreaster

[jjjmoss]

Craig already T10 iTunes. The power of Jesus.

[buckybruce]

Country music alway has had a Gospel component to it...every big country act pulls one out of their pocket when it's needed. Still, it was a chilling performance...Praise the Lord.

[mercfan3]

I'm pretty sure it was the contestants choice..but I know they get suggestions too that they might have been with. I think for Chris, Craig, and Matt they probably got what they wanted. I'm not sure Taylor or Damien did. 

 

Chris was always far too good for the type of songs that he was getting, and he proved it tonight. His second song was really an incredible vocal. I really hope we go more that style if he's in the finale. (And he deserves to be there.) As much as he's good at performing and fits the teeny bopper image..he's better that that. 

 

Matt was excellent tonight too. Based on the past and tonight, these two are top 2, imo. 

 

Craig..was a little boring, I thought. I actually preferred his first performance but that's the Craig I like. I want southern rocker Craig..not "I'm country and I sing about jesus." Craig. Still, he's a very talented contestant. 

 

Taylor's voice seemed really strained tonight. He's a better singer than what he showed. I think he gave his spot in the top 3 to Chris, but hopefully he's okay in the wildcard because based on the rest of the season he deserves to be there. 

 

Damien..I'd say poor Damien, but Adam actually gave him the better of the two songs. He really was great in his first one..if a little boring. But the second..I don't even know what that was..still..because he's such a great singer, so long as they didn't saddle him with something awful for a wildcard song, he's a threat in that round if he doesn't make top 3.

 

I think our top 3 is Chris, Craig, and Matt though. 

[buckybruce]

 

And oh my goodness, holy hyperbole, Blake? Does he even notice what he's saying anymore? How is everything the best ever?

They all do it...Adam with his "most favourite song ever"....Gwen with "that brought tears to my eyes", and Pharrel with "you know what kind of artist you are".

 

To be honest, with virtually no time to really listen and critique, what do you expect? It's not the Kiwana's Music Festival...

[rollerblade]

Where are you guys getting the itunes rank? I went to apple's site and the only "Voice" song on the "Songs" tab is Blower's Daughter (#54).

[DownTheShore]

I think T3N is out this week; I don't think that either performance was especially impressive.  He may have liked the songs, but I found them forgettable.

 

I absolutely cringed when Adam said that he gave Damien a Michael Jackson song.  Cringed.  He did it well, though,  I liked his second song better, with its Peter Gabriel flavor (even I recognized that - lol).

 

I thought that CWB did very well on both songs.  He looked very relaxed.  And it was smart to make the last push toward the Southern Rock & Christian music crowds.  Blake is a sharp cookie.

 

Chris was once again okay.  I think that he could probably use a couple more weeks of coaching, though.  He needs to project more emotion in his face when singing.

 

I think that Matt nailed both songs.

[Noreaster]

They all do it...Adam with his "most favourite song ever"....Gwen with "that brought tears to my eyes", and Pharrel with "you know what kind of artist you are".

 

To be honest, with virtually no time to really listen and critique, what do you expect? It's not the Kiwana's Music Festival...

It's true they all do that to some extent, but spread out a bit more. I expected Blake, with 7 seasons of experience, to be a little more discriminating than saying it five times (or something like that) in one episode. He seemed checked out tonight.  

[pivot]

Man, Adam threw Damien under the bus and then the Voice producers backed over him with that bus. There's no way he picked that second song and I knew that Adam would fuck him with an obscure old R&B song. What a tool. Let's pick two current and interesting songs for the contestants I want to move on and let's screw over Damien with some old song no one wants and then just to make sure he goes home, let's make him sing both songs first and make one of the songs the Dawson's Creek theme song. That is some Kristen level of fucking with a contestant.

And of course, Craig does a Jesus song. Blake does have a familiar playbook he follows and country voters will vote for any piece of crap if it praises Jesus enough. I hate the religious pandering that Blake pulls with almost every season. And until tonight, I would have been ok with Craig winning. Now, he can take a seat in the corner with that obnoxious Holly Tucker from Season 4.

I just hope Taylor sneaks in the top 3 and ends up winning in a surprise upset. Sick of the BS from both Blake and Adam.

[Guest]

I quit listening to the coaches a long time ago.  They may as well replace them with a smoke machine, the contestants can all bend over in front of it for 30 seconds after they sing.  At least with Simon Cowell you occasionally got the, "That was horrific.  You're going to watch it back later and agree."  

 

Though in between hitting fast-forward I have a knack for catching Adam being annoyed that the audience talks/yells/cheers over him.  I want him to learn to ignore the audience instead of snapping at them.  He acts like he's the president about to deliver some important address.  Does he have ADD in addition to being so self-involved?  

 

Poor TJW kinda bombed.  It's hard to make Taylor Swift sound good, too, but he did.

 

I actually liked all six of Adam's team's song choices.  

Edited December 9, 2014 by Guest

[Princess Sparkle]

I usually don't comment on the show, since I watch on Hulu and I end up a day behind. I do usually check to see how people did though, and it bums me to hear that TJW didn't sound that great. Especially because I downloaded his version of Blank Space after listening to the snippet on iTunes, and I have now listened to it about 15 times in a row because it sounds great. Too bad he didn't sound that great live, because I've been really hoping he can pull off the upset win this season. I don't know what it is; I just like the guy.

[mercfan3]

Yea, Taylor's voice was clearly tired. He's got a good voice. It's very unique and interesting. But it's..maybe fragile is the word for it..It would make sense that him, out of anyone, would struggle after the likely tiring week they had. 

 

I think Chris, Craig, and Matt are pretty much locks..if we look at itunes, but TJW should get the wildcard..and he's got as good of a shot as Chris or Craig at taking Matt down. 

[Gbb]

I have a knack for catching Adam being annoyed that the audience talks/yells/cheers over him. I want him to learn to ignore the audience instead of snapping at them. He acts like he's the president about to deliver some important address. Does he have ADD in addition to being so self-involved?

Actually, he does

Edited December 9, 2014 by Gbb

[angelita100]

CWB sang his first song off key.  But he'll get through no problem. He's a good entertainer.  I don't mind as I like him but the show is called the voice.

[NewRadical]

I am pretty disappointed TJW didn't do better. He sounded so off, especially with the Taylor Swift song. If he would have nailed it, I would have been so happy. I am also rooting for a non-Adam/Blake win. But I guess I'll root for Craig if TJW doesn't make it. At least he spent some time on Team Gwen

 

I like Matt, but now enough to balance out how much I am not liking Adam. Which I know isn't fair to Matt but Adam is just too smug to handle. Also, I did not appreciate the children speaking in unison, I am sure they were excited, no need to coach them. I am just getting picky.

Chris did really well, some pichiness, but the most consistent tonight.

I know Damien has a good voice but I am just not interested in any of his songs. I do feel bad he went first both rounds. But no one wants to sing Paula Cole with you, Damien. Not even Dawson.

Edited December 9, 2014 by NewRadical

[Guest]

TJW did seem tired.  He missed some of the words in Blank Space.  Maybe that's why for his other song he picked something he'd sang so much before... one less thing to learn.  I thought his first song was way too sleepy and seemed to be about four notes.  But I gave up about halfway in, too.

[Padma]

All that God talk, after Craig's song, was incredibly irritating, sorry, Craig and Pharrell. I wish I knew if that was Craig's song choice or Blake's. So much for Southern rocker..

Also, that song sounds so much like George Jones' "Four Walls"--and imo that one's a much better song. Wish he'd dipped into the George Jones or Willie Nelson song pool if he wan ted to end with something so slllooowww.

 

I was looking forward to this, only caught the last half, but wasn't really engaged by anyone. Good performances, not crazy about song choices. Also, I'm convinced the producers want Chris ( young, contemporary) to win.  It is ridiculously easy to picture the order he'll be performing in (also, for the opposite reason, Damien).

 

Chris, Craig and Matt are a lock for F3. I think maybe a woman will perform well enough tomorrow to make it into F4.

[Ketzel]

I feel really badly for Damien. He has a beautiful flexible voice and if he had been coached by someone who really supported him, he could  have blown up this competition. Why didn't Adam give him "Make It Rain?" Why didn't one of the "stylists" persuade him to shave off that moustache that made him look ten years older than he is? Why did the producers saddle him with "The TSA Agent" as his "persona?" He's been hanging on In the competition by the power of his fans - I hope, but doubt. he makes it into the finale in the same way.

 

Blake's strategy is so obvious, it clunks like a mechanical robot on the stage, but I'm sure it will work again: give the singer an audience-friendly up tempo number and a big churchy Jesus Is My Savior number and watch the ITunes votes pile up for the guy.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Ketzel

[NikSac]

Ouch... I'm only part way through the episode right now (West Coast plus DVR and all) so I haven't heard everyone sing yet but Matt is soooo hurting my ears right now. Maybe I'm too much of a U2 fan and couldn't handle his version of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."  I see a number of other people really liked it, and so did the audience and judges, so maybe it's just me.

 

Other than that I've liked most of the non-country songs so far. And to be fair, not much will get me to like full on country music, so I struggle to get through the country performances even when the singers are good. It's fun to watch Craig perform on the more energetic songs, and it seems like he would put on a really enjoyable show.

[Muffyn]

And of course, Craig does a Jesus song. Blake does have a familiar playbook he follows and country voters will vote for any piece of crap if it praises Jesus enough. I hate the religious pandering that Blake pulls with almost every season. And until tonight, I would have been ok with Craig winning. Now, he can take a seat in the corner with that obnoxious Holly Tucker from Season 4.

I have typically enjoyed CWB's performances.  Then  they pulled out Old Rugged Cross.  I forgot Blake likes to pull out the Jesus song near the end.  Then only thing more disappointing than this song choice was Pharrell's little speech afterwards.  "What does it feel like to be at the top of your game and to surrender it to god in front of the whole world?"  I sort of enjoyed Craig's now almost meaningless from over use response of "I feel blessed".  

[nbsmom]

As I pulled up the songs right after they loaded, and listened to all of them. I was truly shocked at how much I enjoyed TJW's version of Blank Space, but I agree with others here that the live performance didn't match the recorded version, and that he was audibly struggling at some points. A shame. 

 

I just found it irritating that CWB did The Old Rugged Cross. (Can you say "pandering"? I knew you could.)

 

I liked Damien's version of She's Out of My Life, had no use whatsoever for the other song, however. (I also appreciated that he'd cut way back on the annoying gasping breathing tic that he did with so many other performances.)

 

For my money (and yes, I bought When I Was Your Man tonight), I think I want to hear future Chris's take on some of these songs when he's had a little more time and coaching. Of the five left, his voice is  the most natural instrument, and it's a marked contrast how quickly he's learned to really commit to the song (as opposed to CWB's phoning in a couple of his performances). 

 

[Yeah, I really don't want CWB to win, mostly because I think of the five performers, he is the most calculating and cynical and the least heartfelt.]

 

And Matt: if Chris doesn't win it, Matt should. Didn't love his take on U2, but Make It Rain was interesting.

Edited December 9, 2014 by nbsmom

[Padma]

The one thing I really got out of this evening (other than, poor Damien, sorry to see you go) was: Chris!  Until now, he has alternately bored and irritated me because I got tired of him getting better  placement than others I think are more talented and I also got tired of Adam saying how great looking he was when I didn't see it at all.

 

Well, he finished strong because imo tonight was his night, his show to lose. I agreed with Adam that he did justice to Bruno Mars a nd from the clip they showed of his hometown visit, I think he's probably great  when he has his band.with him. I know they got one of the Idol producers to come help this show produce winners and this guy seems very much like some of the Idol winners (or even runnersup ) who went on to make it big. I finally saw it tonght. He could go all the way.

[burntheflaws]

My thoughts on each contestant, both tonight and overall:

 

Damien: For all the Adam-trashing, I think "She's Out Of My Life" was a great performance. One of my two favorites in that first round. Nothing I'll really remember a year or so from now, but his vocals were on point and he did a beautiful job with it. That second song, though... terrible song choice. I was like, "Really? The Dawson's Creek theme song?!" That cost him majorly. He has the best voice of the guys left, but there are so many factors at play in winning this competition. Still, he's been one of my favorites this season.

 

Craig Wayne Boyd: First song was okay. Nothing memorable, but fun. The second one was really powerful. Great vocals and I liked how it was building and then he went for that full-on grittiness with those high notes. It felt very manipulative though, because it was allll about religion, and Pharrell's immediate babbling just made it worse. Craig's a good singer and seems to be a great guy, but he's not really my preferred type of artist and I'd be a little disappointed if he won The Voice.

 

Taylor John Williams: What happened, man? I've been really rooting for him as the sole non-Blake non-Adam contestant, but tonight was not his night. I agree that his voice sounded so strained. It was already rough in "Falling Slowly," which is a pretty quiet, simple song to sing. "Blank Space" was an interesting choice and I was excited to see what he had in store, but he also fumbled a bit with that one. I'm so sad. I thought he had a top three spot locked down. Throwing him a bunch of votes based on his performances this season though.

 

Matt McAndrew: Granted I didn't know "Make It Rain" at all, but as soon as I heard it was played in Sons of Anarchy, I could already picture Matt somehow slaying it. Adam's picked great songs for Matt this season. It didn't quite grab me the way Matt's version of "Take Me To Church" did, but it had a similar building of momentum and quiet strength, and was my favorite performance of that round alongside Damien's. The second song was okay. Matt did a good job with it, but he was just on high the whole time, and it's hard to do that well. He killed that last note though, in the best way possible. He's been my horse this entire season, and though I'm a little disappointed he's on Team Adam (Note: I am one of the minority Adam fans, but I want to see a new coach take it, and the fact that he has three to Blake's and Gwen's one and Pharrell's none is annoying) I really want him to win this thing.

 

Chris Jamison: Really, last both times? You've gotta be kidding me. Yes, he has a great falsetto, and I do like him. But I think that based on everything we've seen this season, he shouldn't be in the top three. "Sugar" was, in my opinion, kind of bland. Chris gave it in the performance and put his all into it as always, but the poppy upbeat songs don't really seem to suit him. Can Adam stop trying to make him into a hotshot swag-filled guy that all the girls fall in love with? That doesn't really seem to be Chris's thing, which we saw when he performed "Georgia On My Mind" last week to save himself (great and I wish we'd seen him do it on a live performance night), and also with "When I Was Your Man." Speaking of which, I think it's his best performance to date. Great technicality. But I don't feel any emotions attached to that song. Bruno Mars feels every word and note when he performs it live. Hell, I remember when Kris Thomas sang it several seasons ago, and while his wasn't as technically perfect as Chris's, I connected to what he was singing so much more.

[mercfan3]

My theory is Adam wants to sign Chris. It's obvious Chris is his favorite, but that wouldn't be enough to give Chris the preferential treatment he's gotten. (And he was pimped far more tonight than just performance slots..hello..sweet pretty sensitive crying humble boy..) 

 

The show knows..and pretty much everyone whose watched itunes knows..Matt's going to win. Like..it's not a contest. So why the push for Chris? Sure, he'd be the most marketable winner for the show..but the show isn't going to get him as a winner.

 

However, if Adam wants to sign him..but isn't interested in the other two..he's got to have Chris beat Damien. He can't very well sign Chris with both Damien and Matt beating him. But if Chris makes the finale and Matt wins, all Adam has to do finale night is say "I love these guys so much, I'm going to sign them if they don't win." Boom, he gets Chris. (assuming Chris doesn't get a better offer. Which is the other alternative. Republic is interested regardless of whether he wins or not..and so the show is trying to get him as far as possible.)

 

edit: And I agree...what Adam wants Chris to be and what Chris wants Chris to be seem to be very different. And quite frankly, Chris has the better idea. 

Edited December 9, 2014 by mercfan3

[ennui]

I think Craig chose Old Rugged Cross. I didn't think it was pandering; it's a classic. Randy Owen with Alabama did a great version, as did Randy Travis. Alan Jackson, Loretta Lynn, the list is endless. I think Blake chose the Merle Haggard song, Working Man's Blues.

 

When did Adam get so PMS-y? Is he peeved he didn't get  repeat of Sexiest Man Alive?

 

As for the coach's (lack of) comments, there's just not a lot for them to say at this stage of the game.

Edited December 9, 2014 by ennui

[DownTheShore]

Is anyone else sick of the guys and their falsetto voices?  What is the freaking big deal about that?  It's like a gathering of the castrati. Hell, give me a Barry White voice any day over a Barry Gibb one.

[ennui]

Speaking of, I wish someone would give Damien a Barry White song. Damien cries too much; I can't imagine an entire album.

[KR Vermont]

I liked the students' enthusiasm for teacher Matt during his hometown visit, and that they performed Pharrell's Happy. My hope that Matt would kill the U2 song was dashed, it was just ok.

 

There were a lot of dancers backing Chris during his hometown gig, not sure why it struck me funny. Back in L.A., the line of females vacuously holding red guitars during one of his performances made me unfavorably recall that crap Robert Palmer video...and their ugly cut-offs were from that era too.

 

Good that Taylor John got in a performance free from a hair wrangling device, to change things up. The name Sniff dog hotel made me smile. Those two dogs had on stylin' jackets.

 

Damien did the MJ song well enough, and for his second song I preferred his version over Paula Cole's--got the Peter Gabriel reference, but ignorant to the Dawson's Creek theme song.

 

I'm ambivalent on Craig, though his hair makeover was a plus.

 

eta: Adam's shushing the audience several times, good grief. Blake just kept talking through the audience roar. :) Judge's comments are fairly useless anyway, especially at this stage of the competition.

But, Gwen looked great tonight. Ditto for Adam's hair.

Edited December 9, 2014 by KR Vermont

[pivot]

I've seen U2 live enough times to pretty appalled at what Matt did to his 2nd song tonight. Bono has such incredible stage presence, huge range and really builds into the soaring end of the song. Matt was on 11 the entire performance and it was just not good.

I agree with the comparison to the Robert Palmer chicks for Chris's performance.

There was no reason that Damien had to go first during both performances. I get so sick of the blatant favortism this show exhibits in this round.

Overall, other than being appalled by the producers/Adam screwing over Damien and annoyed at the Jesus pandering, tonight was just a pile of meh.

I am ready for this season to be over and hope the talent will be much better next season and that the judging panel will be more entertaining next season. This was a bad mix of personalities. Pharrell and Gwen were too bland and nice and Blake seemed checked out most of the season. I hope with Christina coming back, Blake will be more interested in the show.

[fluffysheap]

Apparently Matt, Craig, and Chris all have the iTunes bonus this week, making the eliminations a foregone conclusion unless T3N or Damien also earns the bonus (seems unlikely).  I agree with those results.

 

Performance comments, in order I liked them...

 

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For is a great example of the dangers of doing a song that everybody knows.  You'll be compared to the original, and you'll either be marked down for sounding like the original but not exactly the same, or else for doing something that doesn't sound like the original.  This one clearly copied the original - as close a copy as I've seen on this show - and I have to admit there were a couple of places where the performance didn't quite live up to the original.  But remembering that that's a studio version and this is live, and that was Bono at his peak, I think this performance is the standout of the night.  If he'd done exactly the same performance but the song was lesser-known, I think everybody would be raving.  I think the competition is Matt's to lose.  I'm just waiting to see what he does next week.

 

[edit: I haven't seen U2 live, but pivot is right - the original does have more of a buildup, instead of being full throttle all the way.  I probably ought to take points off for that.  I still think it was the best performance of the night, though.]

 

Sugar really surprised me.  I've always thought of Matt has having the best falsetto, but Chris really brought it.  He's certainly peaking at the right time.  I don't understand how, but all of a sudden, he's gone from just sorta hanging around to being a finalist.  It's just a question of whether people will forget his forgettable performances earlier in the season and focus on what he's doing now.  And I have the sneaking suspicion that I'm going to like this version of the song more than Maroon 5's when I eventually hear that.  Speaking of, it's a bold move from Adam to let Chris do their next single before they release it.  I'm not sure if it's dumb or brilliant but it's probably one of those.  I am not sure why they brought out the Robert Palmer girls though.  Odd stylistic choice - this is not a particularly Robert Palmer sounding song, or even a particularly 80's sounding song.  I do agree that Chris's natural personality and Adam's vision of what he should be don't exactly line up, but Adam's the guy who won the sexiest man alive, so I gotta go with Adam's judgment on how to build a pop star persona.  Dude looks like Wentworth Miller, so he ought to be a sex symbol.  Not wanting to be is just going to make it more endearing.

 

She's Out Of My Life was a flawless performance.  But much like Damien's pattern over the season, a flawless performance doesn't equal a standout performance.  Even though Matt and Chris both had some imperfections, both of their songs were more difficult.  Damien's not phoning it in - he's actually doing great - but his songs are just not getting to that next level.

 

I Don't Want to Wait was interesting.  I liked it better than the Paula Cole original as well - I think it's better from a male singer, and actually I thought Paula Cole lost some of the meaning of the song in the original anyway.  Damien's performance lacked some of the musical range of the original, but this is an all-emotion song and that's Damien's strength.  I wish he had used the full musical range of the original, though.  This could have been a breakout performance.  I'm not going to hold it against him that this was the Dawson's Creek theme.  That's irrelevant to me, as the song was not written as a theme song and got plenty of airplay in its own right (for a few months anyway).

 

Workin' Man Blues was a fun take on the song - I don't agree with Blake that it was totally different from what came before, as this was a pretty rocking country song already 45 years ago, when rock & pop crossovers didn't happen every day.  So it was more just slightly updated than totally redone.  But I liked it.  I guess this is the week when Craig covers the bases in country subgenres he doesn't usually do.  Still, it was well done and he didn't screw up.  Huh, I am feeling like Craig somewhat turned into James David Carter this week, except the stage still loves him.  I guess I'm hoping for something a little more innovative next week.

 

Blank Space is rated a little more highly here than it deserves, as the next two actual performances were better.  But I mark it up just for being the most Taylor thing ever - to do a #1 song right after Taylor Swift came in and did the original.  And it's a song that doesn't make any sense for T3N, or really anybody but Taylor Swift, to do.  Hugely ballsy move and I love it.  It's just that the performance itself... well... I knew it would leave me breathless or leave a nasty scar.  The good news is, there's a blank space in the finale, and I bet quite a few people will be writing in his name.  I am starting to think that T3N is kind of like S5's Nic but with better taste, and I'm not really internally comparing him to Will Champlin any more.

 

Make it Rain was new to me, but a great song for Matt, being well within his range and yet very different from the U2 song.  It showed off the other end of Matt's skills, the more subtle side, with just enough frills to remind that Matt can really sing but mostly being a good moment.  Good choice in a two-song week.  This is the sort of stuff Damien should have been doing all along.  Actually, maybe Damien should have done this exact song.

 

The Old Rugged Cross gets marked down a bit for seeming like pandering, but since nobody did Hallelujah this year, I guess somebody had to do this instead.  The performance of course was good.  In a week when you get two songs, you might as well do one like this, in genre, but far from the usual style.  But I don't have that much to say about the performance itself, just.... it was good.  Nothing stood out.  He did the song the way I expect it to be done and didn't screw up.  Good.  Ok then!

 

When I Was Your Man is the other song Damien should have done.  Agree with burntheflaws - this is a non-flashy song that should have technical perfection and lots of sentiment, which makes it the perfect Damien song.  Chris didn't really nail this one, although it was still decent.  I think Chris put more effort into Sugar this week and this song felt like more of an afterthought.

 

Falling Slowly was the fail of the week.  T3N's voice was way off kilter here.  His falsetto notes were flat as a pancake and he was underpowered in the regular registers.  He sounded better (though still not really good) in Blank Space, so he probably isn't sick or whatever - he just didn't perform this song well.  And it seemed to lack his trademark sense of whimsy.  I think he is just tired out, and prepping two songs this week can't help.

Edited December 9, 2014 by fluffysheap

[MaryPatShelby]

This is probably boards on boards, so I apologize, but I don't understand the annoyance at Blake for allegedly "pandering" to voters and "playing games". Isn't Blake's entire job to position his artist for the win? The win is made of votes, and if he suspects that a certain song will get some extra votes, I'm not sure why he shouldn't use it. There's irritation at Adam for choosing crap songs for Damien (and rightly so), but that seems in conflict with the anger at Blake for choosing a "good" song that might be to his artist's benefit.

[rollerblade]

Sugar really surprised me.  I've always thought of Matt has having the best falsetto, but Chris really brought it.  He's certainly peaking at the right time.  I don't understand how, but all of a sudden, he's gone from just sorta hanging around to being a finalist.  It's just a question of whether people will forget his forgettable performances earlier in the season and focus on what he's doing now.

 

Chris is an enigma to me -- I often forget that he's a 4-chair. His best (for me) is still Jealous, one of his earlier performances; and it's the only youtube performance of his that I watched more than once.

 

Like you, I thought his Sugar was better than When I Was Your Man, but we're definitely in the minority. I guess after tomorrow, he will be the last remaining 4-chair in the competition.... either that or Adam gets all 3 in the finale. T3N does nothing for me, so I suppose I'm okay with Adam having all 3 guys. Damn.

Edited December 9, 2014 by rollerblade

[glitterpants]

Can we just give the win to Matt now and send everyone home? Especially the coaches, who are really struggling to find ANYTHING of interest to say after each performance. Actually, for the finale the coaches should record their favorite stock comments ("You know who you are!", "There's no one like you!" "That was the most perfect performance ever!" "I love you!"), and have a team of trained monkeys in the seats, pressing buttons to play the comments at Carson's prompting.

 

T3N really underperformed this week but I do like the studio version of Blank Space.

Edited December 9, 2014 by glitterpants

[Janie1130]

I'm pretty sure Craig picked Old Rugged Cross. There's an old version of him singing the song with just a guitar on YouTube and in that video he says that the song means a lot to him. Pretty sure there was no pandering involved. It's a song he's obviously sang a lot before and he's comfortable that he could go a good job with it. And he did. CWB FTW!!!!

[nextian]

I agree with everything you just said buffylew, so I won't repeat it all. I just want to ask a sincere question when has Blake given religious songs to artists previously? The only other time I can remember was with Holly Tucker, but as with CWB last night, that was her choice. She described herself at the time as a Christian country singer, so I'm pretty sure that was her choice. I truly don't remember Blake picking religious songs for other contestants. I think

The final 3 is Chris, CWB, and Matt. That being said, I don't want to wait, I still haven't found what I'm looking for and Blank Space were my least favorite song choices last night. Because, Dawson's creek, I have never heard a cover of U2 that I have really loved, and I don't see the reasoning behind picking the number 1 song in the country, no matter how much you change it up.

[blueray]

I liked all of Matt, Craig and Taylor's performances. So if I had to choice they'd go through.

 

I felt that Chris wasn't as good with the first song (honestly don't remember what it was) but was good the second time.

 

Damion was the opposite with doing really well the first song and not so much the second one. Darson's Creek theme really?

 

I also have to say prior the episode starting I was joking that a judge would pick there own song. Then Adam did lol.

[fluffysheap]

Like you, I thought his Sugar was better than When I Was Your Man, but we're definitely in the minority.

 

I think When I Was Your Man is just a better song.  Lots of people really love it, but it's more of a blank canvas song that's easy to put your own stamp on, unlike, for example, I Still Haven't Found... where you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.  I'm a little curious about what was really going on with the arrangement of Sugar.  Adam's voice is so high that it might not be a falsetto song for him, and if they transposed it for Chris's throat voice range, it might have sounded wrong.  I haven't heard Adam's version, so I can't say.  I try not to count the popularity of a song for or against the singer (except in extraordinary cases like T3N and Blank Space) and I just thought Chris performed it well.  Also, I thought the Robert Palmer girls were amusing, perhaps not entirely appropriate, but not annoying.

 

I don't understand the annoyance at Blake for allegedly "pandering" to voters and "playing games". Isn't Blake's entire job to position his artist for the win? The win is made of votes, and if he suspects that a certain song will get some extra votes, I'm not sure why he shouldn't use it.

 

Part of every coach's job is to get the most votes possible for their contestants within the rules.  Pandering might help you win, but that doesn't make it not pandering.  In this specific case, I think it probably wasn't actually intended as pandering, but it still kinda looks like it, and in a popularity contest, perception is as good as truth.  But even if it was, I wouldn't count it against Blake, since Craig picked the song.

[Primetimer]

As we arrive at the semi-finals, Adam's self-promotion reaches a new level of annoying.

Read the story

[tobeannounced]

Damian has never hit the bottom three as far as I can tell, but apparently Adam sucks as a coach and is constantly throwing him under the bus and people have even intimated in prior threads that there's a racial component. I guess Adam needs to step up his sabotage game because it hasn't worked too well up to this point.

[el perro fumando]

I agree with others that Matt, Craig and Chris are going to finals. Probably Taylor three names as the wild card. Hard to imagine anyone who left earlier displacing him, as even his lesser performances have been scoring pretty well on iTunes, so he's got a fan base that the other ejected singers don't seem to have. 

 

On the down side for me, I've grown bored with Craig, which is a shame, because he was really exciting, I thought, when things got started. I was rooting for him over the other three-named country guy because Craig just seemed to have so much passion and energy in his songs. I had high hopes he'd do some great Southern rock stuff. But instead he veered off into country and religion, and I just zone out now. I'm sure Old Rugged Cross was lovely for that genre, but it's just not my thing. Zzzz. Well, since he's certainly making it to next week, I'm just crossing my fingers that he'll break out the Southern rock for the finale! Best for last?

 

Any of those three guys (Matt, Chris or Craig) could win and I'd be good with it. They all really put their hearts into it every week. Good stuff. Look forward to seeing what they work up next week.

[peachmangosteen]

I feel really badly for Damien. He has a beautiful flexible voice and if he had been coached by someone who really supported him, he could  have blown up this competition. Why didn't Adam give him "Make It Rain?" Why didn't one of the "stylists" persuade him to shave off that moustache that made him look ten years older than he is? Why did the producers saddle him with "The TSA Agent" as his "persona?" He's been hanging on In the competition by the power of his fans - I hope, but doubt. he makes it into the finale in the same way.

 

This. I actually voted for Damien just because this is some bullshit.

 

I like all the remaining contestants. It's Adam/Production that I hate. The obvious favoritism/bussing is so annoying. That's what got me to give up AI and I'll probably give up The Voice soon because of it as well.

 

I hope Damien gets the Wildcard spot at least.