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S08.E10: Knockouts Premiere

Tara Ariano

By Tara Ariano
in The Voice (US)

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blueray

blueray

(edited)

No, the middle guy, Paul?, wasn't interupted on my system. He probably should have advanced just based upon skill, but his song choice wasn't an attention-grabber, IMO.

Oh, maybe it was a local thing. It sucked though, they said Paul was going to preform, he came on stage then it went straight into more commercials (local ones) then came back right when he was finishing up. So I don't even know what song he sang or if he was good.

 

I really liked that last performance, glad that they both went through.

Edited by blueray
JeanneH

JeanneH

(edited)

Re: Anthony Riley - Google searches are saying a) he left due to "personal reasons," or b) he refused to perform. I've seen more reports of the former than the latter, but nothing authoritative has been announced yet, afaict. Maybe they're trying to decide how to spin whatever happened.

 

ETA - I've read a message from elsewhere, posted Sunday, that he refused to be paired against Mia, so they dropped him. Wasn't Mia in that trio group?  Again, no official announcement that I've found.

Edited by JeanneH
Treebeard

Treebeard

(edited)

That Mia was impressive with the dog whistle high note.  A little too many runs for me, but she's a contender for sure.

I didn't like Sawyer's song choice. He was kind of all over the place trying to make interesting.  I hope he doesn't flame out like Bria Kelly who also had that old-school grit.  I dig that John Denver/Bob Dylan mashup type thing if he can get it under control. 

The last battle was the best of the night.  Koryn is like a much more controlled version of Jackie from a few seasons ago. She could win too.  Good talent this year.

Edited by Treebeard
  • Love 1
Donny Ketchum

Donny Ketchum

(edited)

Current team rosters/cheat sheets:

 

Team Adam

Nathan Hermida (defeated Clinton Washington)

Brian Johnson (stolen from Team Blake)

 

(Still Waiting)

Tonya Boyd-Cannon
Deanna Johnson
Blaze Johnson
Barry Minniefield
Lexi Dávila

Joshua Davis
 

Team Pharrell

Sawyer Fredericks (defeated Paul Pfau and Anthony Riley**)

Mia Z (defeated Paul Pfau and Anthony Riley**)

Koryn Hawthorne (stolen from Team Christina)

 

(Still Waiting)

Caitlin Caporale
Lowell Oakley
Hannah Kirby
Jacob Rummell

 

Team Christina

Sonic (defeated Ashley Morgan)

Kimberly Nichole (defeated Koryn Hawthorne)

 

(Still Waiting)

Joe Tolo
Treeva Gibson
India Carney
Rob Taylor

 

Team Blake

Sarah Potenza (defeated Brian Johnson)

Meghan Linsey (defeated Travis Ewing)

 

(Still Waiting)

Cody Wickline
Kelsie May
Corey Kent White
Brooke Adee
 

Names in bold indicate those who have either freshly won and stayed on their teams, or been freshly stolen by another coach.  An asterisk indicates that the contestant was montaged.  Two asterisks mean that the contestant was defeated by way of withdrawal from the competition.

 

Well, an interesting set of Knockouts tonight.  I'm interested in finding out exactly what the "personal reasons" are for Anthony's withdrawal, because I imagine he would've killed this round.

 

Sonic vs. Ashley was obvious.  Sonic was just going for it, while Ashley was a tad safe.  Not surprised that, at this stage, no one stole her.  Sarah vs. Brian surprised me, because I really thought that Blake would choose Brian.  Color me shocked when he went with Sarah.  Guess it's good for Brian that he got stolen (though it now means that Adam's basically stolen both guys from Blake who faced off in the Battle rounds), but he makes no huge impression on me, personally.  Clinton vs. Nathan also surprised me, because I thought Clinton blew Nathan out of the water.  But it was a case of montaged through the Blinds and shown in the Battles vs. shown in the Blinds and montaged through the Battles, so I didn't know how it would go.  I guess being shown in the Blinds is more important, though, so hello, Nathan, goodbye, Mr. President.  (I really hope someone gets that moniker for him. ;))

 

Mia vs. Paul vs. Sawyer couldn't have been easy for Pharrell.  Well, picking Sawyer was, again, a no-brainer.  That kid's gonna win it for him, for sure, or at least get him close to the title if the Adam fangirls don't vote for his still-fodderish-contestants.  Between Mia and Paul, I remember the former more, so I'm not too torn up about the latter going home.  She did way better and has the range to spare, so I'm not bitter.  Meghan vs. Travis, a battle of the steals, was also tricky.  I have to say Meghan was more layered, while Travis was more technical and cutting.  But like Blake, I'd have gone with Meghan, too.  He rarely keeps his steals, so this Knockout guaranteed that he'd keep at least one.  And Kimberly vs. Koryn was an amazing battle.  Glad Christina went with Kimberly, and glad Pharrell stole Koryn.  Not exactly accomplishing what he wanted by getting Kimberly back onto his team, though.

 

After a good opening night of Knockouts, I'm anxious to see how it goes tomorrow.  I wish these horrible Undateable and One Big Happy shows hadn't started, because we'd be having another nice, two-hour show if they hadn't.

Edited by Donny Ketchum
  • Love 2
ProudMary

ProudMary

I'm SO disappointed that Anthony Riley is no longer in the competition.  While my favorite contestant this season is Joshua Davis, Anthony was right behind him for me.  I was very much looking forward to how he would do in the lives.  I have no doubt he would have made it.  He reminds me so much of David Ruffin, who is one of my all-time favorite vocalists.  :(

 

Mia has an incredible voice but I'm quite surprised that not one of the judges has yet called her on her enunciation.  It's as if the final syllable in each word doesn't even exist in Mia's world.  How can one connect with a lyric if you can't understand what she's saying?  

 

Lastly, Kimberly vs. Koryn was an amazing knockout.  They were both terrific and I'm delighted that they both made it to the live rounds.  I was kind of surprised that Christina didn't keep Koryn though.  Kimberly is already a finished product.  Koryn would have had the larger benefit of being mentored by Christina and I do think that Christina excels at molding the younger contestants.   I'm sure that Christina thinks that Kimberly can go farther in the competition but I think that under Christina's wing, Koryn might have gone just as far.  I'm not so sure she'll make it on Pharrell's team.  I really hope I'm wrong about it though because she's becoming a favorite for me.  I'm hoping that what she has already learned from Christina will carry her.

  • Love 2
yourpointis

yourpointis

Normally I'm more drawn to male voices, but this season so far it is all about the ladies. In no particular order Mia, Meghan, Kimberly, Sonic, and Sarah really impressed me tonight. Not a fan of Koryn (she like India has too much of the goat vibrato for my taste). Sawyer's song choice failed but I'm still a fan. I'll miss Paul and wished that Clinton had been chosen over Nathan. Although they won't win, Meghan needs to sing songs that are more current and Kimberly don't let Christina guide you to the old r&b route. Pharrel didn't look too pleased when he hit his steal button for Koryn. I truly think he wanted Kimberly back. He will probably have more success with Koryn since she appears to be a fan favorite (just not my cuppa tea). 

PhD-Purgatory15

PhD-Purgatory15

As always, thanks Donny Ketchum for the up-to-the-minute standings.

 

It's easy to read too much into one great performance (see Amanda Brown, Dreamlover), but wow did Koryn ever announce herself to the competition. It kind of reminded me of the early run of performances Alison Iraheta put together on her season of AI to go from someone seemingly cast as fodder to a genuine contender. Kimberly was her usually great self and I sort of understand why Christina would still choose to go w/ her, but I think she just gifted Pharrell one more piece of ammo to add to an already stacked team.

 

Poor Travis, that right there is why I would hate to go 2nd in the knockouts. He didn't trust himself to win by being himself musically....he tried to out Meghan Meghan if that makes any sense. Not good, but in the moment when you can't really "play defense" it's understandable for sure.

 

Thought this was the best Sonic has been to date. Not a fan of her initial audition and thought she benefited from a really weak battle opponent, but she definitely emerged as one of the better "current, pop influenced r&b" options this season. Also liked the non-falsetto parts of Nathan's voice, and the the non-screamy rocker parts of Sarah's voice. Unsurprising that both got through.

 

Mia Z is totally like Jacquie Lee. All the raw talent is there. Can Pharrell continue to sharpen up her rough edges (most noticeably, enunciation issues) moving forward remains to be seen. Thought Sawyer was good, but that he overcame a pretty pedestrian song choice. When Paul didn't perform up to the level he was at in the battles, Pharrell's decision became pretty straight forward.

 

Xtina and Blake have the last two steals....I have to believe that Xtina has her eyes firmly on Caitlyn from team Pharrell, although if Adam screws over Tonya that could be another option. Blake is a little harder to peg. He likes voices like Treeva, but I wouldn't be shocked if he ends up having the opportunity to steal Hannah back to his team. Or if Adam pairs up Deanna and Lexi as I'm expecting, and Lexi performs well but loses.....that's another possibility. Really think Adam wasted his steal w/ Brian. Nice guy, but I just don't see him advancing past the initial live show.....and that's on a really weak Team Adam.

  • Love 1
Noreaster

Noreaster

Liked Meghan the best tonight.  Also enjoyed Nathan which I didn't expect.  

 

Didn't care for the rest of the performances. Personal preference, but I'm not really into the overstyling of songs that some of the contestants do.  Like Mia and Sonic.  Clearly they have good technical skills but I don't feel any emotion in what they sing.  They're more focused on throwing a lot of runs and other stuff in there.  It's like what one of the coaches (or the mentor?) said...he would rather get caught up in the performance than be impressed by the contestant's abilities.

 

Sarah singing "Wasted Love" huh?  Hard to believe that she would pick this song herself. Although I do like the song and think it's really catchy. Heavy pimping of Matt McAndrew here.  I guess he's signed and they're going to release that song soon?

 

Didn't think Sawyer was all that good.  He has a great tone that's on better display with much slower songs. Kimberly sounded great but she looked really nervous on stage or something.  Like she wasn't having any fun and was just doing a job.  Not a big fan of the steals.  Brian was just okay.  Koryn has a lot of potential but she lacks control.

 

Sorry I'm a bit of a bummer. I wasn't really feeling this negative when watching.  I thought it was an okay night but just wasn't blown away.

 

Re: Anthony Riley - Google searches are saying a) he left due to "personal reasons," or b) he refused to perform. I've seen more reports of the former than the latter, but nothing authoritative has been announced yet, afaict. Maybe they're trying to decide how to spin whatever happened.

 

ETA - I've read a message from elsewhere, posted Sunday, that he refused to be paired against Mia, so they dropped him. Wasn't Mia in that trio group?  Again, no official announcement that I've found.

The show said Anthony left due to personal reasons. Everything else is just random internet chatter.  

  • Love 1
anonymiss

anonymiss

(edited)

Mia Z is totally like Jacquie Lee. 

 

I think Mia is a lot more polished and capable than Jacquie who didn't have the control and would get shrill. Mia is a little Christina with Amy Winehouse affectations. She has some of that effortless vocal agility Christina once had. I like her sans the marble-mouthing which she kept to a minimum.

 

Sonic has a memorable name but a relatively average voice. And she needs a style makeover. She blended right into the stage. The "Heartbreaker" performance was superior.

 

I'm glad for Nathan. Beautiful falsetto. He could use a makeover, too. (Guess that's why it's called The Voice.)

 

Anthony was one of my favorites. Sucks that his ego or whatever it was got in the way!

 

Sawyer lulled me to sleep two performances in a row now. Hope the song choices pick up next time. I need to hear that rough emotion he can do so well.

Edited by anonymiss
sydneyjane

sydneyjane

Sawyer is definitely my favorite, but I was disappointed last night, and it worries me that that's a song that he chose for himself. I hope Pharrell can help him, but Pharrell doesn't exactly have the best track record for picking songs (although, didn't he say something on a prior show about maybe asking Blake to help him...I could be remembering wrong, or thinking about another contestant). I think Sawyer might have done better with Blake or maybe even Adam. 

 

Would like to see Sawyer win it all, but I don't know...if his performances are lackluster like the one he had lastnight, then audiences could vote him off the island very soon. But, with the right song choices, I could see him winning it all. And, I think he should keep playing the guitar on songs...nothing wrong with it if it's who he is.

 

Still, he's doing best so far on itunes, even if his song is at number #52 (I think the next contestant was over 100).

basiltherat

basiltherat

Will the fangirls vote for Sawyer because he is cute?  I will, and I'm an old lady.  I am jealous of his hair and would vote for it even if it was not connected to him.

 

What will Blake do with both Sarah and Meghan occupying the same space?  Will he rely on America to decide for him?  I vote for Sarah, she's way more likeable and real.

  • Love 2
susannot

susannot

(edited)

Wow,I just caught Sarah's performance on Youtube because I fell asleep last night and missed it. She blew me away. She has exactly the kind of female voice that I love--deep, bluesy, and raspy--and she has a Janis Joplin vibe to me. I really like her, and Meghan. Neither one of these super talented women would have ever had a chance of being cast on Idol, of course. The Voice is far superior to Idol this year, which is why I have stopped watching it.

Edited by susannot
  • Love 6
Padma

Padma

I like the Knockouts because the contestants have the freedom to choose their songs and "show who they are/want to be." Some of the choices last night were surprising and successful--Koryn, Brian, Sarah--and some were surprising and unsuccessful, like Sawyer and Trevor (I think that was his name). Still, as an artist, it's just so much better to succeed or fail expressing who you really are musically so even when it wasn't all that good, it gave some insights. (I hope Pharrell can expose Sawyer to music he might love, might click with him "style-wise", but which he may have never heard before. Especially for young singers, that is an area where mentors can make such a huge difference. I was so glad Adam stole Brian and I'm really interested what he will choose for him. I think that could be a good pairing.

 

I was very surprised Adam saved Nathan, but also very happy about it.  He really embodied what mentor Nate said about feeling something from a song being more important than technical perfection. Nathan took a lot of chances and showed great potential. I really hope Adam's save means he has a good direction in mind and will show him what's possible with the right song choices. 

 

My biggest disappointment was that Clinton didn't get stolen. I thought he was really good and had charisma beyond his "musical theater" looks. With only one steal per coach and so much talent, I understand why he wasn't picked, but still... too bad.

  • Love 1
Steph619

Steph619

Can't say I disagree with any of the winners of last night's knockout rounds. My favorite by far was Mia. She has a great voice with lots of range and is one of the strongest contestants on Team Pharrell. I still think Sawyer has a good chance of winning despite a boring song choice last night, but hopefully, Pharrell will pick out good songs for him for the rest of the competition.

DeLurker

DeLurker

Bad job by the editing monkeys for Christina's KO of Kimberly and Koryn.  They kept showing snippets of her begging the other mentors to save and one of them actually showed her dancing in glee after it happened.  This was before the actual KO so I already knew whoever she did not choose got saved.  Way to keep the suspense going in.

 

In other news, Christina consistently has a fairly pleasant expression on her face when they show her during the various performances.  I seemed to remember in prior seasons she has a neutral face at best.

hks

hks

I am also really disappointed that Clinton was eliminated. It's been pretty hard to hear anything since his battle with India - I've re-watched it several times.  I did think Nate sang beautifully but I think Clinton is a powerful artist.

 

Ah well.  The vagaries of television, of subjectivity, of taste.  That's what art is all about.

I am disappointed because I, too, have rewatched his "battle" (more like moving performance piece) with India so many times, and it made me a huge fan of his. But I think he messed up in his Knockouts. I think country was wrong choice for him. He didn't get to highlight his skills, and lost the emotionality of his last performance. I was really disappointed to see him go, but based on that performance, I don't think it was the wrong choice.

  • Love 2
burntheflaws

burntheflaws

(edited)

Kimberly vs. Koryn was the best knockout battle of the night. I loved them both, but Koryn especially surprised me. I already had my eye on her after the blinds, but she did a great job with "Try," especially when she released all that power and those notes at the end. It doesn't beat Amber Carrington's version, but it came close for a song that I've gotten sick of hearing in singing shows (along with P!nk's "Perfect.")

 

I really thought Christina was gonna go with Koryn. She does a good job at teaching and molding young female artists. Season 2's Ashley De La Rosa comes to mind, along with, of course, Jacquie Lee. Kimberly is a more polished and mature performer, and I would've liked to see her back on Pharrell's team to see what he else he could do with her. I can't really imagine him nurturing young talent like Christina can. Oh well, hope Koryn sticks around for a while. And how cute was Christina when she asked the coaches to steal and then couldn't stop dancing? I don't recall her agonizing that much over a decision before.

 

Seconding that it was sad to see Clinton go, but for that knockout it was the right choice. He didn't pick the right song, while Nathan did and made his performance shine. I'm not a Mia fan. I can't understand her when she sings, and her voice just isn't the kind of style I like.

 

I liked Nate, especially what he said about wanting to be moved more than impressed. He and Taylor Swift have been great as guest mentors. Chris Martin... not so much.

Edited by burntheflaws
  • Love 1
viajero

viajero

I’d say it was a pretty good episode when I was blown away by no less than four performances (Koryn, Sarah, Mia, and Meghan, in that order).  Plus, I thought three other performances were very good (Sawyer, Kimberly and Sonic).

 

It’s not often that any given season has one “natural” talent, let alone 3 of them in Koryn, Sawyer and Mia Z (all unfortunately on Team Pharrell). Considering the remaining people on his team, I fear that the next round is going to be a bloodbath in which we are going to lose people who could have aspired to be in at least the semifinals on any other season.

 

Meanwhile I think Adam pretty much sunk any chances he had of getting a contender with his steal.  Brian’s good, but not that good.  I guess his only hope is that Joshua does have the right demographics to win this show (a sympathetic family man in his 30’s with a solid voice).  But given the level of talent this season, I kind of doubt this will be enough.

 

My only quibbles with this episode are that I thought Clinton beat Nathan hands down and I would have preferred that Koryn stay on Xtina’s team.

  • Love 2
rollerblade

rollerblade

Wow,I just caught Sarah's performance on Youtube because I fell asleep last night and missed it. She blew me away. She has exactly the kind of female voice that I love--deep, bluesy, and raspy--and she has a Janis Joplin vibe to me. I really like her, and Meghan. Neither one of these super talented women would have ever had a chance of being cast on Idol, of course. The Voice is far superior to Idol this year, which is why I have stopped watching it.

 

Just this year? :p

 

Neither Sarah nor Meghan would be casted because they are "too old", silly arbitary cut-off age of 28 (used to be 24).

  • Love 2
Yogi Nomad

Yogi Nomad

(edited)

Wow what a let down. It seemed like when contestants pairs together they tried harder. Now that they alone, I found almost all of them boring. I don't even know what to comment. Hopefully we have good knock outs next episode otherwise I'm out. 

 

Sonic has a memorable name but a relatively average voice. And she needs a style makeover. She blended right into the stage. The "Heartbreaker" performance was superior.

 

Kinda agree but I prefer Sonic on this round. It felt like paint by the number with Ashley performing. I think Christina made the right choice this time.

Edited by Yogi Nomad
ToxicUnicorn

ToxicUnicorn

I still don't remember everyone's names and/or performances.  I remember thinking a lot of people did well, but I can't recall who sang what.  Relying on a cheat sheet then:

 

Ashley v Sonic: Sonic was the clear choice.  Ashley stresses me out when she sings.  In my opinion, she doesn't have the charisma to be a solo artist.  She's either too timid or too forced.  Sonic clearly went for broke.  I'm not sure she will do anything I'd like to hear again, but she deserved to stay.

 

Sarah v Brian: I like Brian.  Like others above, I'm not sure he should have been stolen.  I was very hesitant about Sarah's song choice, but she was awesome.  I am warming up to her a lot.  It also seems as though she is less defensive and giving a warmer performance.  Keep it up, Sarah!

 

Nathan v Clinton:  I liked them both, a lot.  I am sure there will be a couple people left on the teams who I would gladly give up to keep Clinton around.  I felt sorry that he was not stolen.  I liked Nathan's song a lot and have no problems with him winning the knockouts.  I just wish they had both made it.

 

Travis put up a good fight, but Meghan sang circles around everyone tonight.  GOod thing, too.  I'm surprised so many of the contestants' choices are so darn old, even I recognize them.  Copyright issues?  I would have resented Meghan for doing Aretha if she hadn't delivered.

 

Kimberly - Koryn.  I suspect Christina thinks she might win with either Kimberly or India.  (By this time, I think she's wrong.)  I didn't particularly like Kimberly's song choice and brassy style in the blinds, but she keeps improving in that aspect to me.  Another strong performance.  I am glad Christina kept her.  I think Kimberly might have needed that vote of confidence.  She looked pretty crushed when she lost her battle last round.

 

Koryn is one of those I don't remember.  I remember thinking she absolutely deserved her steal.  She has to stand out more, though.. I think Pharrell will be fine for her.  He seems to love giving young talent a chance.

 

Paul didn't do enough to stand out, between Mia and Sawyer.  That was a tough choice.  Of the three, I was least impressed by Sawyer.  We've seen what he can do and that wasn't it.  His song was boring and slow.  He needed more dynamics.  I hope he picks it up - I think he was given a vote based on his past performances and potential.  If it had been just tonight, I might have picked Paul and Mia.  Hard to say.  I like all three of them.

 

I have to hand it to Mia, she came out swinging.  I would have thought that three-way match-up would have been extremely intimidating.  Good for her.

 

Very sorry to see Clinton and Paul go.  I think both of them had a bad night and I would have been happy to seem them one more time.

ChicksDigScars

ChicksDigScars

Meaghan (I hope I'm spelling this correctly) Lindsey for the win!!

I almost think her association with Blake has hurt her up to now, but now that she's made the live shows, I think she can win it all, given the correct songs to sing.

 

Meghan has some pipes. THANK YOU, Blake, for not pairing her with Sarah, because I like them both.  I want to be able to vote for both. 

 

Having Meghan on his team could have been disastrous for Blake, actually. This is a friend, someone he's known for 10 years. He's already demonstrated that he's pretty loyal to his team, even after the show is over, whether they win or not. How could he possibly cut a friend? Thankfully, so far, Meghan isn't giving him a reason to.  

  • Love 3
jjjmoss

jjjmoss

Sawyer won the race of having the top iTunes song for the 3rd round in a row.

 

Others since S3 with 3 weekly wins: Cassadee 3rd win in semis, 4th in finals
Sarah 3rd and final win in 3rd round; Danielle 3rd win in T8, 4th win in finals
Tessanne 3rd win in finals
Christina 3rd win in finals...but beaten by Josh
Matt 3rd win in T12, 4th in T8, 5th in finals...but beaten by Craig

 

So it doesn't necessarily mean all that much. The only previous contestant with such dominance pre-live-rounds was Sarah Simmons, who totally fell flat when the show went into lives.

Padma

Padma

Good that article cleared up a lot of things, namely:

 

* He wasn't handling the stress of 14-16 hour days, which contestants are warned about from the beginning. After his first Battle round, he told producers about his substance abuse problems.

 

*That night, NBC producers flew him back to PA and paid for him to attend a drug and alcohol rehab, Clarity Way.

 

* He did not send the tweet from his account in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal,a convicted cop-killer. It was sent by his former assistant, Christopher Mapp, who said it "wasn't malicious" and added, "I support the cause." But Riley wants fans to get to introduced to him through music not politics and said, "I don't think entertainment and politics should intersect," 

 

* He didn't leave because of Mia Z whom he called, "quite literally one of the best singers I've heard in my life," adding, "If anything, it would be an honor to go up against her."

 

* There's been talk about Season 9, but right now he has no future plans to be on The Voice.

 

 http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/music/20150328_Anthony_Riley_speaks_about_his__Voice__departure.html#LKarkgbuRce33uYk.99

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