S08.E02: The Blind Auditions, Part 2

[Donny Ketchum]

The blind auditions continue.

 

Could someone add the "2" after "Part," please?

Edited February 25, 2015 by Donny Ketchum

[Ketzel]

I just happen to know that you need to report your own post to the mod and ask for the thread title to be corrected. Just click on the little triangle with the exclamation point at the lower right of your post.   Just something I know. Nothing to do with personal experience. Nope, nothing at all.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Another pretty good night w/out any montaged contestants (chair turn or no chair turn). I was pleasantly surprised w/ Brook Adee, She didn't seem like a pageant-bot and I thought she made some interesting choices w/ a song that is beginning to be a reality show audition staple.

 

Deanna Johnson was good (maybe not 4 chair good) and I'm glad she made a team this time around...but if you want to hear a borderline transcendent audition of that Kodaline song, youtube Stevie McCrorie's audition for the current season of The Voice (UK). It might even be in their thread here too.

 

I was pretty much predisposed to roll my eyes at Wolfchild, but by the end of his audition I was won over. I also liked that he went against the grain and chose to be on Team Xtina.

 

We've had only 5 rejected auditioners so far, and 4 of them have been pretty young (college age or high school). That feels like a trend (if it holds up) which runs counter to how the last few seasons have played out.

Edited February 25, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Donny Ketchum]

Scorecard/cheat sheet of team rosters so far:

 

Team Adam
Tonya Boyd-Cannon (3)
Blaze Johnson (2)
Deanna Johnson (4)

 

Team Pharrell
Lowell Oakley (2)
Meghan Linsey (3)
Sawyer Fredericks (4)
Anthony Riley (4)
Mia Z (2)

 

Team Christina
Rob Taylor (3)
Treeva Gibson (2)
Gabriel Wolfchild (3)
Joe Tolo (2)

 

Team Blake
Sarah Potenza (4)
Cody Wickline (4)
Joshua Davis (2)
Brooke Adee (2)

 

Bolded names are new additions.  Numbers in parentheses are the number of chair turns.

 

I'm actually kinda shocked by all of the ones that chose Adam.  Not one of them had styles that meshed with his.  Maybe Blaze came the closest, but no way Tonya or Deanna lasts on his team.  He'll toss them at the first opportunity, especially if they're up against boys in the Battle or Knockout rounds.

[rollerblade]

Deanna has an interesting accent. Did they say where she or her parents are from?

 

I like Tonya the person but not what she sang in her blinds. Happy has like 5 notes - it just not a good audition song. I'm glad she get a chair to turn though, and look forward to her in Battles. (we know Adam is gonna sac her like she's the quarterback)

 

Joe Tolo, please come sing the phone book to me! Much silk, so velvet. Hope Christina doesn't make him overdo the falsetto.

 

Mia is good, but her decision to marble-fy her words totally bugs. Zanotti is not THAT hard to pronounce. Every time someone on these auditions decide they are too good to have a last name, it made me roll my eyes like in that  scene in You Got Mail haha.

[anonymiss]

I love that James Brown singer, Anthony (I think?). That is my kind of performer. I could watch a whole season of performances like that. Good for him for choosing Pharrell, I hope.

 

I loved that banter Blake and Christina had over Joe. And LOL at Christina just echoing back their notes as her pitch. It's been successful 2/2 so far.

 

That marble-mouthed "affectation" Adam pointed out in Mia is probably why Christina was frowning and didn't turn around. She should have moulded her though--she sounds more deserving than Jacquie Lee!

 

The girl who came back wasn't 4-chair worthy. Her voice is good but a totally forgettable rip-off of Florence Welch and she has no stage presence.

Edited February 25, 2015 by anonymiss

[Primetimer]

Inbred Moonshine, Happy Gray Hat, and Little Man Child (otherwise known as Blake, Pharrell, and Adam) beg and plead as the Blinds continue.

Read the story

[Misslindsey]

 

Mia is good, but her decision to marble-fy her words totally bugs. Zanotti is not THAT hard to pronounce. Every time someone on these auditions decide they are too good to have a last name, it made me roll my eyes like in that  scene in You Got Mail haha.

This. I should be glad that she stuck to her real name unlike American Idol's Shi. I thought Mia had a decent voice, but I could not understand anything she was saying. I hope she learns how to enunciate. I did agree with Adam on her affectation.

 

I enjoyed Wolfchild, because I do like when someone just sings without a lot vocal gymnastics and such.

 

I agree that "Happy" is not a good audition song. I cannot wait to see Tonya sing a song that may show off her skills more.

[ChicksDigScars]

Even though I haven't been a fan of Christina's bitchiness in her past seasons, this season it's different. Maybe because she's at a happy place in her life and that is reflected in her judging and comments so far, but at the same time, having watched the Substitute Blonds (seriously...how about a brunette or a ginger, and does the lone African American on the panel always have to be a guy), Christina does fill a needed void. Shakira and Gwen are nice, knowledgeable, watchable women, but they're almost TOO nice. The Boys Club runs all over them. Christina is more, "Oh, HELL NO," if they try any shit with her.

Edited February 25, 2015 by ChicksDigScars

[Biggie B]

I thought Blaze was really not good. After that whole big build up about his sad, sad, difficult childhood, I thought, "Well, he must be an AMAZING singer to have garnered such an intro." But alas - I thought he bombed. I actually then felt embarrassed that they gave him such a build up only to have no one turn around. I was shocked that he made it. 

[Noreaster]

I watched the 1st hour of this episode. Such a turnoff to hear Blake and Adam commenting on how Blake won last season. Can't trust anything about how this show is edited. That stuff is clearly taped after the fact (with the coaches wearing the same outfits) since blinds were done in late Oct.

Whatever. And such a bullshit storyline about Adam struggling. Overcompensating much to downplay Adam's dominance last season?

[Amy Beth]

I watched the 1st hour of this episode. Such a turnoff to hear Blake and Adam commenting on how Blake won last season. Can't trust anything about how this show is edited. That stuff is clearly taped after the fact (with the coaches wearing the same outfits) since blinds were done in late Oct.

Whatever. And such a bullshit storyline about Adam struggling. Overcompensating much to downplay Adam's dominance last season?

You have to assume that anything the coaches do or say that doesn't involve an actual audition is filmed or dubbed in later. Since the auditions are not shown in order, there is no "after Day 1" scorecard.

But who cares? As long as the people really sing and the coaches really turn or don't turn, it doesn't affect me.

Mark Burnett knows that even "reality" needs edited story lines. If he can get "poor Adam" to trend on Twitter, more power to him.

[NewRadical]

Adam didn't seem to crazy about his first two singers. He didn't seem to fight with the same gusto. 

I am not the biggest Adam fan, but I liked Deanna, and it's likely a good choice on her part as she could use some help which I haven't seen Pharrell really do, Christina would likely make her sing songs not in her wheel house and Blake has at least one young girl talent.

I liked Mia but I also couldn't understand a word she was singing. I figured the minute her family compared her to Christina, Christina would not turn around. 

No one really stood out as amazing this episode

Edited February 25, 2015 by NewRadical

[Noreaster]

You have to assume that anything the coaches do or say that doesn't involve an actual audition is filmed or dubbed in later. Since the auditions are not shown in order, there is no "after Day 1" scorecard.

But who cares? As long as the people really sing and the coaches really turn or don't turn, it doesn't affect me.

Mark Burnett knows that even "reality" needs edited story lines. If he can get "poor Adam" to trend on Twitter, more power to him.

I care. I always knew there were some editing hijinks and some after-the-fact voice overs. Now for the first time (granted I have skipped a lot of non-live eps in the past and just watched the youtubes), it was clear that comments supposedly related to the specific auditions at hand were being filmed later. So when a coach says something about a contestant, unless the coach and contestant are in the same screenshot, I now am going to question if the producers scripted that for them later to fit the storyline. It's a bummer.

ETA: the solution for me of course is to go back to watching these blinds on YouTube only. That way I don't ever hear these fake post-audition comments or these narratives the show sprinkles throughout the episodes.

Edited February 25, 2015 by Noreaster

[rollerblade]

Their editing monkeys for the Youtube videos cut out the part where Christina harmonized with Joe Tolo's falsetto! :S

 

I wish their Youtube videos include all judges commentary as aired, instead of truncating to just "who do you pick?". I do like some of the interaction during pitches. That way I don't have to watch the entire episode on Hulu (hate the sob stories), and the people who dislikes judges commentaries can just close the video after the singers are done singing.

[beaker73]

Deanna has an interesting accent. Did they say where she or her parents are from?

 

I like Tonya the person but not what she sang in her blinds. Happy has like 5 notes - it just not a good audition song. I'm glad she get a chair to turn though, and look forward to her in Battles. (we know Adam is gonna sac her like she's the quarterback)

 

Joe Tolo, please come sing the phone book to me! Much silk, so velvet. Hope Christina doesn't make him overdo the falsetto.

 

Mia is good, but her decision to marble-fy her words totally bugs. Zanotti is not THAT hard to pronounce. Every time someone on these auditions decide they are too good to have a last name, it made me roll my eyes like in that  scene in You Got Mail haha.

I'm watching now and she's fom GA. There's something about her speaking voice that bugs. She sounds dopey. Anyhow, her audition was ok. Not 4 chair turn worthy.

[Noreaster]

I wish their Youtube videos include all judges commentary as aired, instead of truncating to just "who do you pick?". I do like some of the interaction during pitches. That way I don't have to watch the entire episode on Hulu (hate the sob stories), and the people who dislikes judges commentaries can just close the video after the singers are done singing.

The audition videos on Hulu show the entire judge commentary (I think), or at least much more than the Youtube videos.  I caught up on the auditions I missed there.  For me, much more enjoyable than watching the episodes.  No back stories, forced narratives by the show, etc.  

 

For episode 2, the standout to me was Brooke. Though I fear she's not long for the competition.  She's really young, and Blake has done a crap job lately with inexperienced non-country singers. 

[MaryPatShelby]

In the story, the writer said "......it's pretty clear that the entire season is already going to be comprised of "invited artists." "  What does this mean?  I fast forward through the sob stories and buildup to each blind audition, so maybe I've missed something?

[KayElektra]

Even though I haven't been a fan of Christina's bitchiness in her past seasons, this season it's different. Maybe because she's at a happy place in her life and that is reflected in her judging and comments so far, but at the same time, having watched the Substitute Blonds (seriously...how about a brunette or a ginger, and does the lone African American on the panel always have to be a guy), Christina does fill a needed void. Shakira and Gwen are nice, knowledgeable, watchable women, but they're almost TOO nice. The Boys Club runs all over them. Christina is more, "Oh, HELL NO," if they try any shit with her.

I mentioned this in the first ep thread, but I seriously think that Christina has seen the Gwen and Shakira seasons and is now embracing the "team love" and banter that she seemed to be "above" in past seasons.  I didn't sense even a tiny bit of bitchiness from her in either ep.  We'll see how it goes.

[viajero]

For episode 2, the standout to me was Brooke. Though I fear she's not long for the competition.  She's really young, and Blake has done a crap job lately with inexperienced non-country singers.

 

I agree that she was the standout and I worried about the same thing when she picked Blake.  He's very good at selling his contestants, but he doesn't strike me as the best at improving a young singer's technique.

 

Overall, I thought the first three contestants were the best and it kind of went downhill from there.  I guess Mia and Deanna do have potential if they get the right coaching.

[anonymiss]

I mentioned this in the first ep thread, but I seriously think that Christina has seen the Gwen and Shakira seasons and is now embracing the "team love" and banter that she seemed to be "above" in past seasons.  I didn't sense even a tiny bit of bitchiness from her in either ep.  We'll see how it goes.

Perhaps, but I'd attribute the change in her attitude more to intrinsic factors of working on herself versus wanting to model herself after others. She was exhibiting this renewed outlook (and appearance) in Season 5 (before Gwen). She'd just had her first ever vacation from the show and said this allowed her to refocus and get re-inspired. She was depressed at the start of the series (newly divorced and for the first time in her lifelong career her music was received poorly) and is just much healthier and happier now (got engaged, had a baby girl, and picked up her 6th Grammy).

Edited March 1, 2015 by anonymiss

[Vandy10]

I also think it might have something to do with back stage happenings. I just watched Christina on The Tonight Show and she mentioned that the first few seasons were hard because nobody behind the scenes really knew what they were doing, but now that they've been on air for so long, things run much more smoothly. 

 

Who knows, maybe it's a combo of everything: working on her own personal life, seeing the audience reaction to Gwen and Shakira, and an lighter tone behind the scenes?

[Noreaster]

Conference call with episode 2 contestants: http://starrymag.com/?p=5556

[backformore]

Even though I haven't been a fan of Christina's bitchiness in her past seasons, this season it's different. Maybe because she's at a happy place in her life and that is reflected in her judging and comments so far, but at the same time, having watched the Substitute Blonds (seriously...how about a brunette or a ginger, and does the lone African American on the panel always have to be a guy), Christina does fill a needed void. Shakira and Gwen are nice, knowledgeable, watchable women, but they're almost TOO nice. The Boys Club runs all over them. Christina is more, "Oh, HELL NO," if they try any shit with her.

Yeah, the show's formula for judges is  - Adam, Blake, black dude, blonde white  chick.  Has there ever been a variation?  

[Padma]

Yes,the natural brunettes (including two Latinas) who bleach their hair.

[ScandalOZ]

"Christina does fill a needed void. Shakira and Gwen are nice, knowledgeable, watchable women, but they're almost TOO nice. The Boys Club runs all over them. Christina is more, "Oh, HELL NO," if they try any shit with her."

Right but this is what people have called out Christina being bitchy from the start. The interesting thing is Adam is the same as he's always been since the start, an annoying asshole. But now you are all sick of him. Christina's original reaction to Adam was identical to what many are feeling about Adam now. I never had a problem with Christina because I felt her response was understandable. He bullied her, talked trash to her, ganged up on her with Tony Lucca and she fought back and got the wrath of most commenters.

Women have it rough. Expected to not offend male egos or to offend women who are invested in helping to protect male egos. Always have to play nice or figure out how to play rough without it looking like they are playing rough.

I was happy to see Christina stand up for herself. It's what I expect an intelligent, independent woman to do.

[Noreaster]

Christina has taken out shit (like her dislike of Adam) on contestants in the past.  She was a bitch.  Now she's better and not taking everything so seriously.  Fits the vibe of the show more.  Maybe we should move this conversation to the Christina thread?

Edited March 3, 2015 by Noreaster

[ToxicUnicorn]

Eh.  Much weaker episode, compared to the premiere.

 

I really didn't like Gabriel Wolfchild's audition.  (He, himself, seemed to have a nice personality.)  I know I enjoyed Brooke (with the Galadriel jewelry) and Tonya (bald head), but they don't stand out compared to people I have liked in the past.  I think Mumble Mia has talent.  The last one, Rodeo Deanna was not my cup of tea.

 

Country Cody from the premiere is still my favorite.