S06.E14: The Battles, Round 2 (part 1)

[halgia]

Round 2 begins.

[MissScarlett]

I think all of the right people got passed through to the next round.  Though there were a few that I wish would have gotten picked up by a steal.

Can't wait to watch tonight!

[Etta Place]

Jake has such a weird, stalker-like vibe when he sings these duets. Tonight he managed to make "Have a Little Faith in Me" sound aggressive.

[vb68]

I was so happy and proud of Shakira that she got that steal.

[Swedish Chef]

Very happy to see both Tess and Josh get picked up after both not winning their battles while deserving to win. I would find Blake's picking Josh particularly perplexing, but perhaps he's back in "country trumps everything" mode? Josh isn't bad, but he's not special, and I think Tess might be.

Really enjoyed Chris Martin. He had a good sense of humor and gave sound advice. It makes me wish he was the one with a blog...

[sb1973]

I thought Christina would've easily won this based on her YouTube songs but to me it sounded like Sam won that one.  I think Adam didn't think that one would've been so hard.

[kj4ever]

I was totally surprised that really liked Chris Martin.  I guess I was neutral on him before with a slight negative edge because of his (ex) wife, but he really came off well on the show.

I thought Tess was way better than Jake, but I am very happy both of them got through to the next round.  Tess is the biggest shocker, she just keeps getting better and better.

Adam was insane to pick Devlin.  I thought Josh was so much better.  The Sam and Christina battle was really null for me, I wish both could have been eliminated.  Sam is way to affected and Christina is way to generic.  I think Sam did edge out Christina a bit, but I'm assuming at this point Adam knows how big of a following Christina has and that she did things ilke open for Selena Gomez.

[leighdear]

I was glad to see the back of Sam.  Just way too many tricks that she couldn't sustain.  Like a handful of Skittles, her confused mess of vocals were all jumbled up, and the "flavors" didn't go together with any cohesion. 

Also surprised at the likability of Chris Martin.  He's always seemed so private and unaccessable, based on his marriage I presume.  Plus he's adorable!  *LOL*  I really like the mentors they've been bringing in this cycle.  

[SnarkGhost]

I'm sad to see Cierra and Sam go.  I don't think either of them dominated their battles, but I do think they "won".  I really enjoyed Cierra lush voice, and I found Sam to have a very engaging low to mid-register when she isn't focusing on her affectations.   Would have loved both of them to stick around.

Between Jake and Tess, I actually heard what Blake must have been hearing all along.  Up until now, he struck me as a bit mush-mouth.  Last night he actually enunciated his words and delivered a very compelling performance.  I still prefer Tess, but I think that Blake can ultimately do more for Jake, so I didn't mind him choosing him.  And I'm happy that Shakira picked up Tess, because...damn she is pretty. 

[SnarkyTart]

Adam was insane to pick Devlin.  I thought Josh was so much better.

Right?  Of all the singers last night, winners and losers, Devlin was at the bottom of my list all by himself as absolutely the worst.  I find his tone harsh and unpleasant, and his vibrato is out of control and sooo annoying.    Josh's style isn't one I particularly like, but the guy is so good that I've had him pegged as top 3 since his audition.   Great steal for Usher.  I also think Tess is top 3, and a great steal by Shakira. 

Maybe the show is stacking the deck so Shakira and Usher have a better chance of winning this season.

[viajero]

I thought all the battles Monday night were fairly good.  I'd probably rank Patrick vs. Josh M. as the least impressive overall, but even that one was okay.  The only complete mismatch for me was Christina vs. Sam.  I thought Christina won that one by a mile.  While there are things I like about Sam's voice, she's just very uneven.

I agree with those who though Sierra, Tess and Josh K. won their respective battles, though not by much.  Sorry to see Sierra go.  Tess really does just get better and better, doesn't she?  Great pick-up for Shakira.  I do worry about Josh K on Usher's team.  He's so overloaded with talent now that I don't see how he's going to narrow it down to 3 for the live shows.

[Snarkette]

The show continues to confuse me. At what point do the judge's priorities shift from who sings best to who people will vote for? And who are all those mystery persons briefly mentioned as cannon fodder, for example "Shakira also picked some unknown person over some other unknown person while you weren't watching"

[Maleficent]

I really enjoyed the shows.  I can't get all of their names down, but I will say that I'm liking Usher's team quite a bit.  I also like Sissandra from Blake's team, but I just can't see her winning.  I wonder if Blake will bring in Xtina to help 'coach' her.

This season isn't even over and I already can't wait for Pharrell.  I'm kinda sad because I thought Usher was going to be on next season too, but Pharrell?  So awesome.

[Baboo]

I'm confused too, Snarkette. I thought the show would go to the lives after the battle rounds, but now there are playoffs?  I wish the website clearly spelled out what the rules are each year.  Heaven forbid!  (or are they posted somewhere and I am just missing them?).

The battles that really stood out to me from Tuesday were Sisaundra/Biff and Stevie Jo/Morgan.  Sisanudra had that one in the bag, but I was so sorry to see Biff go, he seems like such a lovely person.

[jhlipton]

I was nervous when I heard that Tess Boyer and. Bria Kelly were going to do "Piece of My Heart".  This is a perfect song to judge ability if done right -- it's got soft vulnerability ("Now you're out on the streets... And you know it ain't right") and hard-core blasting (the chorus).  Usher and Jill even made a point of this in the first meeting.

But they performed the song at a high level all the way through, with no depth.  I would have voted them both off.