S09.E13: The Knockouts, Part 3

[Tara Ariano]

The knockout round continues with team members selecting their own song to perform individually. Rihanna is the key adviser.

[Bryce Smith]

Put this in another thread, too, but maybe this is more appropriate for this one.

 

Okay.  It's that time again.  We have quite a bit of time before the final Knockouts tomorrow, so how do you all think it's gonna go down, in terms of final Live teams?  Last season was much easier for me to analyze since I followed that very closely and could reasonably assess everyone's strengths and weaknesses, as well as their visibility via being shown or montaged.

 

Team Adam

Only one pair left here, and I think this could go either way.  But if Adam is still as obsessed with his bromances as ever, I think James has the edge over Shelby.  I actually wouldn't mind this, because it was universally agreed that Shelby made a huge mistake picking Adam over Blake.  It'd serve her right if he dumps her tomorrow when I highly doubt that Blake ever would have.  Shelby does have a chance, though, if Adam's still desperate enough to try and beat Blake with a country singer.

 

Final team for the Lives: Blaine, Jordan, Keith, James, and Amy.

 

Team Gwen

Two pairs left here, and the previews have already mildly spoiled one pair -- Regina vs. Riley.  Yes, Regina's older than everyone in the competition.  And yes, her taste in music leans toward older hits.  But she does have a great, powerful voice that I can see Gwen being intrigued enough to hold onto.  Riley, from what I heard of her, is sweet and nice, with a good voice of her own, but not in Gwen's wheelhouse.  So I can see her advancing Regina and sending Riley packing.  So this leaves the other remaining pair as Kota vs. Jeffery.  Obviously, Kota should rate higher, given that she's a three-chair turn vs. Jeffery being a one-chair turn.  But if Gwen's still obsessed with working with younger boys, then I think Jeffery gets the edge here, regardless.  But if one of the Knockout losers gives a great performance, he or she could be Pharrell's steal.

 

Final team for the Lives: Braiden, Korin, Regina, Jeffery, and Viktor.

 

Team Pharrell

Two pairs left here, as well.  And regardless of how the pairings go, I think Mark's getting through, no matter what.  He's the strongest, best person on Pharrell's team right now.  Evan, Tim, and Siahna are all up for grabs.  But looking at skill level and chair turns from the Blinds, I think Tim and Siahna are toast.  Tim is very good, but not ready for the Lives, and Siahna is sweet and cute, but I liken her to Treeva Gibson and Jacob Rummell from last season -- young singers good enough to get to the Knockouts, but not quite ready for the Lives just yet.

 

Final team for the Lives: Madi, Darius, Mark, Evan, and whomever he steals.

 

Team Blake

Two more pairs left here, as well.  And I don't know how they're going to be matched up.  I suspect that Blake will advance Emily Ann regardless of her opponent, and just as likely send Zach home regardless of his.  So that leaves Chris and Nadjah.  If he wants to stay in his own wheelhouse, then I imagine that Chris will go through and, sadly, Nadjah will go home.  Chris was shown through both the Blinds and the Battles, while Nadjah was shown in the Blinds, but montaged through the Battles, so that'll give Chris the easy edge here.  But if Nadjah gives a great enough performance, there's always the chance that Pharrell could use his final steal on her.

 

Final team for the Lives: Barrett, Ivonne, Emily Ann, Chris, and Morgan.

 

So those are my predictions.  But with seven pairs left to show and the final Knockout show more than likely only going to show six of them, I wonder whose Knockout will get montaged?  Last season, it was possible to show all of them because there only fifteen matches rather than sixteen (due to Anthony Riley's withdrawal causing that three-way Knockout among Sawyer Fredericks, Mia Z, and Paul Pfau).  This season, not so much.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Bryce Smith

[realdancemom]

Team Adam - Shelby over James.  If I'm remembering correctly, they are both country.  This is personal preference because I don't like James.

 

Team Pharrell - Mark and Evan since they are more polished/experienced than the other two.

 

Team Gwen - From the preview, I would pick Regina over Riley.  Don't know if I would pick Kota or Jeffrey.  Kota is really not ready while Jeffrey seems very Broadway like.  I guess I would pick Kota for being a little more unique.

 

Team Blake - Chris as one of them and maybe Emily or Nadjah.

[abelard]

Adam said "You have no idea how good Shelby is" after advancing her in the Battles.  I guess she could flub her knockout but everyone from her battle partner to the coaches talked about Shelby's "power" when discussing her natural vocal ability.  I'd be surprised if she doesn't advance.

 

Blake picked Emily Ann over Morgan in the Battles, and just reclaimed Morgan in the Knockouts.  It would be interesting if he doesn't advance Emily Ann after her Knockout.  I sort of think it would be an admission that he picked wrongly in the Battles.  Not that anyone, including Blake, cares about that, but it would just be interesting to note.  (Personally, I thought Morgan was the clear winner of the Battles and Blake only picked Emily Ann b/c she is younger and he felt he could have "the greatest impact" with her -- but Morgan is already *there* imo.)

[Padma]

For Adam's team, I'd be surprised if he didn't keep his strongest country singer, Shelby.  I would be disappointed if he kept James who I thought wasn't that good and whose backstory I didn't find particularly likeable.  Adam can get his "bro fix" elsewhere--with Keith and Blaine.

 

Gwen: I'd choose Kota over Jeffrey. I thought she wasted the steal on Regina, but at this point--where most (all?) of the older or not conventionally attractive singers I liked have gone home (Blind Joe, Dustin, etc)--why not keep her on over Riley? I don't particularly like her style of singing, but at this point, she's bringing something different with that, and with her age and looks, so...why not?  (Gwen was very lucky to pick up Victor on the steal. He's not my cup of tea, but I think he will really give her a chance to stay in this with an otherwise very weak team.)

 

Pharrell?  I can't remember Mark or Evan off hand, Tim was okay but I don't see him advancing over Siaha. She's SO in Pharrell's wheelhouse as "quirky other"--and I know he sees her commercial/audience potential--so I'll be very surprised if he doesn't advance her.

 

Re: Zach or Chris, unfortunately I can't remember Chris. Zach, I do remember having a good voice and being young, recent to singing but perfectly generically fine, and very handsome.  I don't think Blake really wants to win again, but if he's thinking competitively he might keep Zach, figuring he'll be eliminated before the end.  I don't see him getting rid of Emily Ann--she's a good young singer and brings some fun--and I think Pharrell will steal Nadjah.

[ProudMary]

Adam said "You have no idea how good Shelby is" after advancing her in the Battles.  I guess she could flub her knockout but everyone from her battle partner to the coaches talked about Shelby's "power" when discussing her natural vocal ability.  I'd be surprised if she doesn't advance.

 

Blake picked Emily Ann over Morgan in the Battles, and just reclaimed Morgan in the Knockouts.  It would be interesting if he doesn't advance Emily Ann after her Knockout.  I sort of think it would be an admission that he picked wrongly in the Battles.  Not that anyone, including Blake, cares about that, but it would just be interesting to note.  (Personally, I thought Morgan was the clear winner of the Battles and Blake only picked Emily Ann b/c she is younger and he felt he could have "the greatest impact" with her -- but Morgan is already *there* imo.)

I agree with you on Adam advancing Shelby.

I also think that Blake will advance Emily Ann to the lives letting America make the choice between Morgan and Emily Ann.  Assuming that America saves one of them--I'm betting Morgan--I think he'll let the other one go and instead save another member of his team.  

[Valny]

I'm liking Adam's team, he has two of my faves, Shelby and Jordan. and  didn't realize Gwen has a pretty strong team with Jeffery, Braiden, Viktor and Regina.

Don't think it's Blake or Pharrell's season, but who knows.

Think Pharrell's strongest is Evan.

Siahna's Back to Black..... nope.  It's for a more mature singer.

 

Shelby sounded awesome! So strong and clear.

 

Rihanna needs to be a judge! 
It cracks me up when Gwen mostly provides her team with stage movements because vocally...... really? That's not her strong point for sure.

[Dots And Stripes]

I cringed when Siahna mentioned Back to Black having a message. I get what she was saying, but gah I don't want to think of such a young girl with those lyrics. It works better for me if someone like Jacquie Lee just kills the vocal. I think Siahna made some mistakes and showed she might not be ready for the big stage. Mark was good, but surprised he's one of the 5 to emerge from Team Pharrell.

 

So after Evan's blind audition, Pharrell asks him to sing his favorite Stevie song and it pretty much went better than his actual audition. Rather than picking something in that wheelhouse, he goes for a rock song. Not a smart move. The guy he went against sounded amazing at the beginning of his song, but kind of went off track. So much self-sabotage on Team Pharrell tonight. His top 5 is not as strong as it should be considering how many great artists pick him over other coaches.

 

Shelby doing Jesus take the Wheel. Overdone, and I didn't like her tone. I much preferred the Shelby who came out and gave us Stars.

 

Blake picking Emily Ann was the right choice if only because she is exactly the type of artist he knows how to push forward.

 

Happy Gwen moved the redhead forward. He's interesting and a possible diamond in the rough for Gwen.

 

Gwen pitting her steals against each other was not a great move for her. She needed to add some strength to her team. I know these singing competitions have moved away from crazy vocals and towards who-sounds-like-a-current-artist, but I still am a sucker for singers who go out there and show unbelievable singing ability. I'm actually excited to see a coach unafraid to advance an older artist.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Pharrell had the trickiest and most interesting decisions to make. Evan is clearly his spirit animal, and Mark has performance talent in spades. But I'm a little surprised he didn't move Siahna on to the live playoffs. Posssibly he felt like he'd be rehashing old ground that he covered w/ Mia Z. With Tim, I appreciated the dark intensity he brought to each performance.....but even if he would've knocked Torn out of the park (which he didn't) there simply wasn't a path for him to win a KO against any of the other three.

 

For as female heavy as Team Gwen started out, she finished out w/ 3 males and 2 females (w/ 1 each coming as steals). That being said, Jeffery was the right choice. He showed much more control, and he really got his teeth and emotions tuned into that song. Kota would've been much better served on Team Blake. Although swinging for the fences and missing on Barracuda probably would've gotten her dropped at this stage even if she had gone in a different direction coach-wise. Regina does nothing for me, and I was pleasantly surprised that Riley got the steal back to stay in the competition.

 

Adam made the right call w/ Shelby and rounded out a pretty impressive team, while Blake unsurprisingly moved Emily Ann on (IMO I would've judged that a narrow win for Nadjah). For a split second I thought maybe the Voice would finally get in on the joke about always ending w/ a steal....and cross us up by having Pharrell steal Nadjah. Alas, it didn't happen. Wasn't shocked by Chris Crump being in the battle that was montaged......was moderately surprised that he was axed instead of Zach (who I've been lukewarm on).

 

Going into Lives:

 

Team Adam: Jordan, Shelby, Amy, Keith, and Blaine

Team Blake: Barrett, Ivonne, Morgan, Emily Ann, and Zach

Team Gwen: Victor, Korin, Braiden(?), Regina, and Jeffery

Team Pharrell: Madi, Mark, Evan, Riley, and Darius

 

Bolds are my early predictions for who America will vote through next week, and the Italics are who the coaches would then save. I think Blake's gonna have a brutal call between all three of his young country acts, I'm probably predicting too much w/ my heart for Amy and Korin.....and Pharrell's team kind of baffles me at the moment.

Edited November 3, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Bryce Smith]

Final team rosters/cheat sheets for the Lives:

 

Team Adam

Blaine Mitchell (defeated Andi & Alex)

Jordan Smith (defeated Viktor Király)

Keith Semple (defeated Dustin Christensen)

Shelby Brown (defeated James Dupré)

Amy Vachal (stolen from Team Pharrell)

 

Team Gwen

Braiden Sunshine (defeated Ellie Lawrence)

Korin Bukowski (defeated Summer Schappell)

Jeffery Austin (defeated Kota Wade)

Regina Love (defeated Riley Biederer)

Viktor Király (stolen from Team Adam)

 

Team Pharrell

Madi Davis (defeated Amy Vachal)

Darius Scott (defeated Morgan Frazier)

Mark Hood (defeated Siahna Im)

Evan McKeel (defeated Tim Atlas)

Riley Biederer (stolen from Team Gwen)

 

Team Blake

Barrett Baber (defeated Blind Joe)

Ivonne Acero (defeated Chance Peña)

Emily Ann Roberts (defeated Nadjah Nicole)

Zach Seabaugh (defeated Chris Crump)*

Morgan Frazier (stolen from Team Pharrell)

 

Names in bold indicate someone who has newly won a Knockout and stayed on his or her team, or has been freshly stolen.  An asterisk indicates that this contestant was montaged.

 

So . . . have the producers now decided to surprise the artists with their Knockout opponents?  I saw Mark and Siahna, Jeffery and Kota, and Evan and Tim all be surprised by each other's appearances.

 

So the final Knockouts:

 

James vs. Shelby: If I ever wanted to go on The Voice and do a Blake song, it would've been "Sangria," not the one James chose.  That said, he did all right, but there was something missing.  Shelby, OTOH, blew him out of the water.  Good choice by Adam here.  I'm actually glad for one prediction being wrong, even though, at the same time, I still would've liked to have seen Shelby get served right for picking Adam by subsequently getting dumped by him.

 

Mark vs. Siahna: Interesting that Pharrell wanted to advance Mark through, knowing that he already has Darius to fill his particular niche.  That said, I thought this was a blowout.  After a great Blind and a good Battle, this Knockout was Siahna's worst song to date.  Her pitch issues were more than obvious.  Mark was pitch-perfect and kicked her ass up and down the street, for sure.  This reminded me completely of the Rob/Treeva Knockout last season, when it was clear the powerhouse, twenty-something black male singer was so obviously better than the young, white, teenage female singer.  Also . . . I kind of heard on YouTube from someone who'd seen the Knockouts live during taping that Siahna had been knocked out by Mark, so I'm not too surprised, anyway.  Just like I thought Rob deserved to move on and Treeva to go home, I certainly thought that Mark deserved to move and Siahna to go home.  I did find it cute when she bopped to the music while he was singing "Stand by Me," though.  Whoever wanted her gone, though, congratulations.  You got what you wanted.

 

Jeffery vs. Kota: I thought this was no contest.  Jeffery sounded just breathtaking, while Kota had pitch issues almost as bad as Siahna's.  Gwen made the right pick here, though I'd have liked to have seen Kota advance with a better song choice.  But I'm thinking Adam, Pharrell, and Blake's comments about Jeffery are what made all the difference in this choice.

 

Emily Ann vs. Nadjah: Someone needs to tell Nadjah that Sonic did "A Woman's Worth" a lot better last season.  That said, how the hell could Blake have sent her home?  Not that Emily Ann was bad, but Nadjah owned her by far!  I guess I should've known, though.  Emily Ann was seen in the Blinds and Battles, while Nadjah was only seen in the Blinds, but montaged through the Battles.  Of course Emily Ann would get through.

 

Evan vs. Tim: Honestly, neither performance really wowed or interested me.  But in terms of overall performance, I guess Evan was better.  I'd have chosen him just as Pharrell did.

 

Regina vs. Riley: I can see how Gwen found this one difficult.  I loved both performances.  Regina has great vocal power, and Riley has exceptional control.  In the end, of her two prior steals, I think Gwen chose right by picking Regina.  I think Riley will do fine back on her original team, anyway, so it's a good thing that Pharrell stole her back.

 

As for the montaged Knockout, I'm glad it was between two people I didn't really care a whole lot about.  We only got to see Zach and absolutely none of Chris, though, which seemed a bit unfair.

 

Okay!  Knockouts over!  Bring on the Lives!

Edited November 4, 2015 by Bryce Smith

[Adusk81]

Gay Ginger Jeffrey is freakin amazing. When he speaks I cringe at how feminine he is but then he sings and I melt. Shelby is great it needs better coaching. Regina is awesome. Evan butchered a great song. The rest, eh.

[Bryce Smith]

PhD-Purgatory15, on 03 Nov 2015 - 01:03 AM, said:

For as female-heavy as Team Gwen started out, she finished out w/ 3 males and 2 females (w/ 1 each coming as steals).

Funny.  Sounds like what happened in season seven.

 

Gwen can talk about girl power and how much she wants women on her team all she wants.  She loves being surrounded by men.  Loves it.  Both times, she's decimated her female-heavy teams into male-heavy ones.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Bryce Smith

[Padma]

Funny.  Sounds like what happened in season seven.

 

Gwen can talk about girl power and how much she wants women on her team all she wants.  She loves being surrounded by men.  Loves it.  Both times, she's decimated her female-heavy teams into male-heavy ones.

I'd agree with you about Gwen and male singers--because she can't help flirting and kind of lights up around them differently from the way she interacts with the women. But....re: criticism over the team dynamics specifically....in a team of 5 people, 3 men to 2 women isn't that extremely loaded one way or the other. Also, don't Pharrell and Adam also have 3:2 ratios?  I think only Blake's team skews the other way, with three women to two men, so the show's pretty evenly distributed although I do think it usually skews toward more men than women going into the lives (just a guess, based on memory alone. Feel free to provide a correction!)

[Primetimer]

The Knockouts go down swinging; Carson could probably go down for a nap.

Read the story

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I actually looked back at Gwen's entire team, and it was only 7 females to 5 guys. But my perception was that it felt much more skewed than that (something like 9 to 3) because both Tim Atlas and Noah Jackson were given two seconds each of screen time. Not to mention the fact that Chase K. and Jeffery felt a bit like throw away 1 chair auditions when they happened. Then she went and added two females via battle round steals.

 

I posted the link in the media thread, but according to Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo she is reporting that 4 lucky acts who lost in the Battles or KO's will be brought back (1 for each coach). Its a little unclear how the voting will work for these contestants.......possibly they may only be eligible for the judges save. Thoughts on who might get a reprieve?

 

Looking into my crystal ball, I think Blake could definitely have eyes on Andi & Alex or Krista, Pharrell might bring back Celeste or target Nadjah, Gwen could give a lifeline to Lyndsey Elm or Tim, and Adam might also look at bringing the twins back or go after Siahna...I'd be seriously surprised only if a montaged battle round or KO (sorry Sydney Rhame and Chris C.) loser was chosen to come back.

Edited November 3, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[hks]

I thought this episode was particularly boring - no one was a huge standout for me. No one blew me away, and no one made me want to rewind and rewatch their performance.  In fact, I paused in the middle of the episode to watch the end of Sister Act II. I wanted to hear real knockout singing.  I mean, it might seem unfair to compare these people to Lauryn Hill combined with acrobatics, but last week's episodes had a few amazing moments that I think could hold up. (Jordan, Braiden, Viktor, Ivonne - yes, I guess I have picked my favorites). 

[bluepiano]

I'm sorry that Siahna is gone. She was an odd little bird, but there was definitely something there. In the category of 15 year olds, way more interesting to me than Braiden, who feels very "Glee."  I think that song choice might've cost her. "Fever" was age inappropriate as well, but it's a fun song. Maybe the idea of a 15 year old singing Amy Winehouse was just too dark. (Too bad she didn't get some guidance there). But I still would've picked her in that battle. As a musician I've played and heard "Stand By Me" in a thousand bars, and Mark's rendition was totally nothing special. Pharrell said something about how if you do a song everyone knows you need to kill it, and for me he didn't.

 

I was hoping that "Jesus Take the Wheel" had run its course and I'd never have to hear it again. Didn't like the other (Blake) country song in that battle either, so it made me hard to care who won. But I guess I did prefer the woman.

 

In Emily Ann vs. Nadjah, I think that no matter what Nadjah did, Blake was going with the one he personally felt most comfortable with. A young, pretty, blonde country singer? For Blake that checks every box. No way he was letting her go.

 

I hated Regina's over-singing on "Midnight Train." I know that's her style, but for me, all the fist clinching, face contorting melodramatics are gimmicky and a real turn-off. The classic Gladys Knight version is a lesson in how you can convey emotion that feels genuine while singing with taste and restraint. I have a feeling that "taste" and "restraint" are two words that we will never be associating with Regina.

 

For me the best of the night, by a mile, was Jeffrey. It's become a cliché on this show to say that someone has a "unique" tone. I don't know about unique, but there is something compelling about his voice. Still hard for me to believe he only got one chair turn, considering some of the really mediocre performances that got four turns. (How many of those are already gone?) Gwen turning for Jeffrey was easily her best moment of the season.

Edited November 3, 2015 by bluepiano

[adhoc]

I thought Siahna was dreadful. I half-expected Pharrell to pick her anyway, because of the old "I feel I can make more of a difference with her..." shtick that the judges seem so fond of this season. Thank goodness he picked Mark, who I thought totally earned it.

 

Siahna is an example of why I'm against having these young teenagers on the show. Lots of potential, but simply too young to deliver. And their song choices! Back to Black. Feelin' Good (Braiden). Just awful.

 

Even Pharrell could see that Siahna needs 2-3 more years to mature. 

[Dots And Stripes]

 

I posted the link in the media thread, but according to Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo she is reporting that 4 lucky acts who lost in the Battles or KO's will be brought back (1 for each coach). Its a little unclear how the voting will work for these contestants.......possibly they may only be eligible for the judges save. Thoughts on who might get a reprieve?

 

Looking into my crystal ball, I think Blake could definitely have eyes on Andi & Alex or Krista, Pharrell might bring back Celeste or target Nadjah, Gwen could give a lifeline to Lyndsey Elm or Tim, and Adam might also look at bringing the twins back or go after Siahna...I'd be seriously surprised only if a montaged battle round or KO (sorry Sydney Rhame and Chris C.) loser was chosen to come back.

Thanks for the info, but Ugh at the idea of reviving artists. I'm going to need them to start eliminated 3-4 people per week if we are going to bring back artists. The Voice's problem is the live rounds drag on (or maybe it's just that the early rounds are the show's real strength, anyway...) so I'm against any idea that extends the live rounds. I'm sure Mark Burnett would love a breakout star from the Voice, however, constantly reviving artists with bad rounds isn't going to make that happen. 

 

I think if the coaches have any say, they'll go with people from their own team who maybe lost a tough battle. They have a bond with those artists and they know how to work with them. I just don't see Blake going after the twins.

[Dandesun]

So... do the coaches not have a say in what songs their team picks for themselves? Because there were some bad choices made... kind of exactly the situation where you NEED a coach to say "You're fifteen years old... 'Back to Black' is not your song." or "If you can't Annie Wilson the shit out of 'Barracuda' and hit the notes then you need to pick a different song. Annie Wilson is not of this world and you are a mortal being. Please rethink this."

 

Emily Ann vs Nadjah's result. I said "Fuckin' Blake!" out loud when he made his choice. Of course he went with the full on country girl. Future contestants! If you're not country, don't pick Blake because he will throw you aside for one of his teenaged blonde country girls OR the scruffy outlaw poser county boy. This is just a given!

[Dots And Stripes]

So... do the coaches not have a say in what songs their team picks for themselves? Because there were some bad choices made... kind of exactly the situation where you NEED a coach to say "You're fifteen years old... 'Back to Black' is not your song." or "If you can't Annie Wilson the shit out of 'Barracuda' and hit the notes then you need to pick a different song. Annie Wilson is not of this world and you are a mortal being. Please rethink this."

Thanks for reminding me about this. In the past, I seem to recall artists coming in still deciding between songs or switching during the coaching session. This time, I don't think we saw any of that. While I think it is the artists choice, in the past I think they had some more flexibility to change if they realized the song was just not right for the occasion.

 

I didn't mind a young Jacquie Lee doing Back to Black because she was more about theatrics and vocal tricks, so the lyrics didn't matter as much. Siahna kind of put a big red arrow by the lyrics and showed she was kind of out of her depth on that one. She liked that the song had meaning to Amy Winehouse, but either she didn't understand that meaning or couldn't relate to it herself. It's not enough to choose a song with meaning to someone else, an artist needs to find their own meaning. On top of all that Siahna's vocal wasn't stellar in spots.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

IIRC, the KO round is the only round that gives the contestants the power to choose their own song. Whether everyone actually gets or sticks with their first choice (or has to come in w/ a list) is something that's a little unclear.

 

I remember Jacquie coming in w/ an out of left field choice "Stompa" during her KO round performance and absolutely crushing it. I know during the lives, occassionally contestants will convince one of the coaches to go with a certain song (like Grimmie doing Hold On Were Coming Home by Drake) but it doesn't happen very often.

Edited November 3, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Muffyn]

The funniest moment of the night for me was Blake explaining how diverse his team is as they panned to his group looking like the whitest white people ever.  Aren't four out of five of them young too?  He is really pushing the diversity envelope.  

[Dandesun]

I suppose he meant stylistically?

 

Although, I think that's pushing it, too.

[SandyToes]

My favorite part of this show is still the blinds, but I've been trying to make it through the entire process. I was surprised by how many of last night's performances had pitch problems.  And lots of them. I'm old enough that I never know many of the songs that are chosen, but I still listen for clarity, pitch, performance, and impact.  Some really great things, but I agree, some of the contestants would have been well-served with a coach stepping in to say, "Um, no."    I also think the coaches look at who will garner votes from the public as well as pure singing ability.  Never once have I heard Blake or Adam talk about "my winning contestant." It's always "I won XYZ times."  No, you didn't.  One of the singers on your TEAM won. So I think as long as the coaches see themselves as the winners, they are going to choose people who could win.  May or may not be the best singer.

[Padma]

Well, that was underwhelming. But ITA I had to laugh at Blake talking about his "diverse" team. "Here's my diverse 5 person team! 3 of them are country singers! 4 are white teenagers!  All conventionally attractive, but .. wait... Ivonne wears glasses! And Barrett sings country but he's kind of older than everyone else! .... Diversity is so beautiful!" Oh, Blake. 

 

 On his behalf re: "I've won....", I don't remember about Adam, but I know I've heard Blake say many times--when not joking around with Adam or vying for singers--"It's not about me, it's the contestant who won."

 

Disappointed that Pharrell didn't steal Nadjah. She would have helped his team which I think is by far the weakest (Mark and Evan--who was at his best doing the SW at the blinds--to me he would have been better keeping Sianha (bad song choices and missed notes, but at least she has lots of potential and he could make a huge difference with good coaching on the right song).  [[And I didn't think Blake should have kept Nadjah over EA, I thought he should have paired Nadjah against Zach (or Barrett) and then chosen her. I'm afraid Zach may get votes for his looks and knock out better singers once he gets to the lives]]

 

Teams in my order of preference:

 

Team Adam: Blaine, Jordan, Keith, Shelby, Amy  -- Probably my favorite team (although I hate "Jesus Take..." so much. I have to remind myself that Danielle sung it and I still listened to her for the rest of the show and enjoyed her. Hopefully, Shelby with her good voice and Adam's help  won't choose any more like that.). If I chose a favorite from all teams, at this point, it would be Amy. But unfortunately I think he'll choose between Blaine & Keith and then cut her over Shelby and Jordan. (Btw, Blake. This is what a more "musically diverse" team looks like.)

 

Team Blake:  Barrett, Ivonne, Emily Ann, Zach, Morgan -- Not the "diversity" he hoped for, but I actually like all three of the girls, Zach is handsome (and probably only good for one more performance, so...okay), and Barrett irritates me with the manipulation of dedicating his songs to "the people I survived the plane crash with", but if he chooses a song I like, I'll probably enjoy listening. He won't be around much longer, though.  Same for Zach.

 

Team Gwen: Braiden, Korin, Jeffrey, Regina, Viktor -- Jeffrey was so good. Regina over sings and is so derivative, but for now she'll bring a different "look" and energy to the show, even though I'll probably mute her (unless she chooses something fresher or newer or somehow refreshing and applies her style to it).  None of this team excites me, but Braiden and Viktor will probably be crowd pleasers for Gwen for a while.

 

Team Pharrell: Madi, Darius, Mark, Evan, Riley -- Madi's his best, I think, but I don't think I'll enjoy her song choices. I don't understand Pharrell. He had a lot of good choices and wound up with a pretty forgettable group.

 

The biggest problem with Adam's team is that he's got to cut, but any of them would be at or near the top of anyone else's group.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Padma

[PepperMonkey]

I would have picked Nadjah over Emily Ann, too, but I knew Blake would pick EA. He just mostly cannot get out of his country wheelhouse. I know, I know, he won with Jermaine in season 2, but that was a fluke, man; even HE was totally surprised Jermaine pulled out the win.

 

I was super proud of Adam (a phrase I never thought I would type) when he chose Shelby over James Dupre. James, while technically solid, has never seemed to me to have a musical soul. He wants to be famous as a singer; he doesn't really care about the song. I'd rather hear a passionate, not so vocally talented artist sing all day long when you know they can feel the music, than someone like James, who, IMHO, puts no feeling whatever behind his ability.

Edited November 4, 2015 by PepperMonkey

[Padma]

I would have picked Nadjah over Emily Ann, too, but I knew Blake would pick EA. He just mostly cannot get out of his country wheelhouse. I know, I know, he won with Jermaine in season 2, but that was a fluke, man; even HE was totally surprised Jermaine pulled out the win.

 

I was super proud of Adam (a phrase I never thought I would type) when he chose Shelby over James Dupre. James, while tehcnically solid, has never seemed to me to have a musical soul. He wants to be famous as a singer; he doesn't really care about the song. I'd rather hear a passionate, not so vocally talented artist sing all day long when you know they can feel the music, than someone like James, who, IMHO, puts no feeling whatever behind his ability.

Oh, I'd forgotten all about James. Glad to see you wrote this because I felt exactly the same way. That wasn't a "big song" but Blake does it really well because he "sells" it and understands dynamics. James seemed very soulless to me, too. I'd take Blind Joe, with his occasional pitch problems, or Dustin, any day over this guy. Shelby has a lot more to offer (and for a change, I'm looking forward to Adam imposing his song choice).                                                                             

[Ketzel]

Why can't we have a National Registry of Songs That May Never Be Used On A Singing Competition Again? Imagine the future without more overwrought performances of  "Feelin' Good," "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," "Piece of My Heart," "Don't Want To Miss A Thing," "Hallelujah,"  "I Can't Make You Love Me" or anything sung by Alicia Keys, Adele, Stevie Nicks or Sam Smith. I know it isn't true, but it often feels like the contestants on these shows are offered a catalog of about fifty songs that are shared by every network.

 

Oh, and can we also eliminate "Jesus Take The Wheel' or, as it is known and sung in my family, "Steer Into The Skid?"

Edited November 3, 2015 by Ketzel

[KFC]

Why can't we have a National Registry of Songs That May Never Be Used On A Singing Competition Again? Imagine the future without more overwrought performances of  "Feelin' Good," "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," "Piece of My Heart," "Don't Want To Miss A Thing," "Hallelujah,"  "I Can't Make You Love Me" or anything sung by Alicia Keys, Adele, Stevie Nicks or Sam Smith. I know it isn't true, but it often feels like the contestants on these shows are offered a catalog of about fifty songs that are shared by every network.

 

Oh, and can we also eliminate "Jesus Take The Wheel' or, as it is known and sung in my family, "Steer Into The Skid?"

 

Actually, the few times the veil has been lifted, I think contestants on a lot of these shows have more or less alluded to something similar to what you describe here...

[Noreaster]

I posted the link in the media thread, but according to Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo she is reporting that 4 lucky acts who lost in the Battles or KO's will be brought back (1 for each coach). Its a little unclear how the voting will work for these contestants.......possibly they may only be eligible for the judges save. Thoughts on who might get a reprieve?

 

Looking into my crystal ball, I think Blake could definitely have eyes on Andi & Alex or Krista, Pharrell might bring back Celeste or target Nadjah, Gwen could give a lifeline to Lyndsey Elm or Tim, and Adam might also look at bringing the twins back or go after Siahna...I'd be seriously surprised only if a montaged battle round or KO (sorry Sydney Rhame and Chris C.) loser was chosen to come back.

This season has been so weak so far that I don't like this idea at all.  The show needs to trim fat, not bring back more underwhelming contestants.

[sydneyjane]

 

I would have picked Nadjah over Emily Ann, too, but I knew Blake would pick EA. He just mostly cannot get out of his country wheelhouse.

 

I dunno, probably thinks his chances of winning would be better with Emily Ann.  I could see if Nadja was a Sasha level singer, but she wasn't.

 

What bugs me more than Blake and his country mafia, as Gwen calls it, is Adam and this obsession he has about beating Blake with a country singer.  I get the sense that Adam doesn't really care for country music, from some of his comments about how he doesn't want an artist to get "lost" in country music blah, blah (interesting I never hear judges say something like that to R&B singers; it's okay to be an R&B singer on the show and just do R&B). But, how soon before he has Shelby doing Adele - or maybe he's learned his lesson from before.  I still think Shelby would have been better off with Blake.  At the very least, he would have gotten rid of one of his two blondes. 

[bluepiano]

Why can't we have a National Registry of Songs That May Never Be Used On A Singing Competition Again? Imagine the future without more overwrought performances of  "Feelin' Good," "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," "Piece of My Heart," "Don't Want To Miss A Thing," "Hallelujah,"  "I Can't Make You Love Me" or anything sung by Alicia Keys, Adele, Stevie Nicks or Sam Smith. I know it isn't true, but it often feels like the contestants on these shows are offered a catalog of about fifty songs that are shared by every network.

 

Oh, and can we also eliminate "Jesus Take The Wheel' or, as it is known and sung in my family, "Steer Into The Skid?"

 

This is the number one thing that makes me crazy about all these shows. I don't know how limited the choices actually are (we especially here that related to Idol), but it can't be THAT limited.

 

I think the biggest factor may be the young age of most contestants. They actually grew up and learned about music by watching these shows, so their frame of reference is really limited. It's whatever is currently hot on the radio plus a relative handful of TV competition chestnuts like the ones you listed.

 

In other words, if a contestant wants to do a jazzy, big band kind of number, it's always "Feelin' Good," because they know that one from past seasons but have never heard a hundred other classic American songs with a similar feel or style. For blues/rock the standard choice is "Piece of My Heart" and so on. I think the same thing happens with even more contemporary artists like Adele. I'm personally not that familiar with their catalog, but I hear the same couple of songs of theirs over and over.

 

These singing competition shows are kind of a self-referential loop. I guess arguably the limited song choices enable people to compare apples to apples. (I don't remember past performances that well, but read a lot of posts comparing versions across multiple seasons). But for me the constant repetition is a huge draw back. And when a singer comes up with a song choice that's different, they score huge points with me right away. (So far this year, the only one I can remember doing that is Amy).

Edited November 4, 2015 by bluepiano

[SpringTulips]

I would have picked Nadjah over Emily Ann, too, but I knew Blake would pick EA. He just mostly cannot get out of his country wheelhouse.

 

Yeah, Blake lost me with that one.  He based his decision on not who won the battle but who he thought might have a future in country music.  I take slight delight in thinking Rhianna was seriously annoyed with him,

[ToxicUnicorn]

Yeah, Blake lost me with that one.

 

I thought Nadjah was great and deserved a steal from Pharrell.  That must have been shown out of order, don't you think?  Emily Ann was good, too, though.  Tough choice for Blake.

 

I loved Evan doing Stevie Wonder - he was good but not up to that level in his knock out.

 

Mark's singing sounded all over the place to me.  I didn't enjoy his performance at all.  Regina oversings, but I believe her, and so I enjoy her more.

 

I think each team has a surprising number of weak singers.  This is what I think should happen:

 

Team Adam: Amy and Shelby are good and Jordan probably will be saved.  I would not miss Keith at all, and I have no recollection about Blaine.

 

Team Blake: I think Emily Ann is Blake's only real contender.  He should not have paired her against Nadjah - having both of them would have made his team so much more competitive.

 

Team Gwen: Victor, Koren, and Jeffery to advance, I think Regina and Braiden should be proud of themselves to get this far.

 

Team Pharrell: Evan and Madi are great.  I think Madi is more unique.  I know I didn't like Mark's performance and I can't remember Darius.  Riley was a decent steal.

 

Final 3: Evan and Madi and Amy, unless country is strong enough to sneak in there.  I'd rather see Victor, though.

[abelard]

Well I was so impressed with several singers in the first two Knockout rounds (Ivonne, Jordan, and Morgan were my faves, and I also really liked Viktor's performance), that I had high hopes for round three.  But NOPE.  That was so underwhelming.  Even people that I really liked underperformed.  Shelby was fine but a huge disappointment given what I feel she is capable of.  Nobody from tonight excited me at all.  I would have gotten worked up about some of the coaches' decisions but I just thought everyone performed badly (compared to their abilities) so in the end I didn't care who stayed and who went.  Well, except that I thought Nadja really should have stayed.  She has a great look and great energy, and she does a kind of pop/r&b that no one else is doing as well who's still in the competition.  

 

Nadja getting eliminated in favor of Emily Ann makes me angry only because I really haven't seen anything from Emily Ann that I think warrants Blake's belief in her.  Like, Danielle Bradbury was 1,000 times the singer that Emily Ann is at this stage in the competition.  Yes Emily Ann is totally adorable and *looks* like a star but her voice doesn't impress me at all right now.  Maybe if Blake can help E.A. improve tremendously in the next 2 rounds I'll feel like, Okay, he made a great pick and a solid investment of his time and energy.  But today, I feel a big Nuh-Uh about E.A. 

 

However, now I have 3-4 people I am rooting for in the lives and that's more than I've ever had in any season of this show.  So, tonight aside, I guess I am in fact looking forward to the live rounds as long as my peeps remain in the game. 

[waving feather]

Oh, Blake. I like you but do you know th e definition of diverse? Seriously, seriously?! This is the weakest team he has ever gotten. I'm not interested in any of them except for Emily Ann. I'm not mad she won the knockout purely because she seems much more comfortable on the stage than Nadjah. Nadjah sings well but still looks nervous to me.

My favorite team right now is actually Gwen's. Pharrell's is as weak as Blake's.

[Bryce Smith]

Padma, on 03 Nov 2015 - 03:30 AM, said:

But....re: criticism over the team dynamics specifically....in a team of 5 people, 3 men to 2 women isn't that extremely loaded one way or the other. Also, don't Pharrell and Adam also have 3:2 ratios?  I think only Blake's team skews the other way, with three women to two men, so the show's pretty evenly distributed although I do think it usually skews toward more men than women going into the lives (just a guess, based on memory alone. Feel free to provide a correction!)

Actually, last season, there were way more than women than men when the Lives arrived.  Seven men, thirteen women.  Adam was the only one with a male-heavy team, with three men (Joshua Davis, Brian Johnson, and Nathan Hermida) to two women (Deanna Johnson and Tonya Boyd-Cannon).  Pharrell, Christina, and Blake all had female-heavy teams.  Pharrell's ratio was two men (Sawyer Fredericks and Lowell Oakley) to three women (Koryn Hawthorne, Mia Z, and Caitlin Caporale).  Christina had one(!) man (Rob Taylor) to four(!) women (India Carney, Kimberly Nichole, Lexi Dávila, and Sonic).  And Blake had the same ratio of one man (Corey Kent White) to four women (Meghan Linsey, Hannah Kirby, Sarah Potenza, and Brooke Adee).

Edited November 4, 2015 by Bryce Smith

[DownTheShore]

At least we won't have Adam making the black members of his team sing Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson songs - because he doesn't have any. 

 

I'm guessing that Pharrell will be playing the Jesus card with Darius, since he hasn't had as much airtime as Mark. 

 

On Blake's team, Emily Ann and Morgan are still merely "the blonde girls" to me (I've got The Voice's webpage open as I type this in order to put the names to the faces for some of them). I have no vested interest in either of them. 

 

I actually like Braiden and Regina.  I like his voice and I like her balls-to-the-wall style. I grew up listening to music when the female singers really let it rip - which is why I have very little appreciation for most of the fey indie female singers of today. 

[Wings]

Gwen's choice to keep Regina was totally based on Rihanna's reaction to her.   Regina is dated and has zero shot at winning.  She will probably be gone at the first opportunity.  Riley will make it much farther.  Gwen is not thinking about viewer voting. I agree, Toxic, she should be very happy she made it this far.  

[SpringTulips]

Regina is dated and has zero shot at winning

 

I disagree.  Regina had all the judges on their feet.  Good singing is  good singing and there is no date or expiration on that. i appreciate The Voice for recognizing that at times.  Being in the middle ages myself, I loved her shout out that we are coming to Reality TV.

Edited November 4, 2015 by SpringTulips

[ProudMary]

It really will be interesting to see how the voting goes with Regina now having made it to the lives.  That's new territory for someone over 50.  We've read over the years that the demographic for The Voice tends to skew older; it will be interesting to see if an older contestant can bring out the older vote.  

I actually like the idea of the coaches' "bring back."  I wonder how it's going to work.  Will each coach only be able to bring back a contestant that they themselves eliminated or will a crossover bring back be possible?  The two singers who were my favorites were both on Team Gwen:  Lindsey and Ellie.  As Lindsey was eliminated in the Battle Round, I'm not even sure she'd stand a change of being brought back but my fingers are crossed.  Should be interesting.

[viajero]

I was okay with this episode, primarily because the quality of the performances were a touch better than the previous knockout round episodes.  But I also think that the overall level of talent is far below what we had last season.  There is simply no comparison.

 

I can’t complain too much about the judge’s choices, though I might have given Nadjah and Tim Atlas the edge in their respective knockouts.  I thought Regina had easily the best vocal performance of the night, but I also agree with wings707 that she is dated and has zero chance of winning.  I also liked Jefferey, Shelby, and Riley among the rest.

 

I would like to see the following go through to top 12 (in order of preference):

 

Team Adam: Amy, Shelby, and Jordan
Team Gwen: Jefferey, Korin, and Regina
Team Pharrell: Madi, Darius, and Riley
Team Blake: Morgan, Ivonne, and Emily Ann

 

Not sure what to make of this new wild-card, but the people I most want to see brought back from each team are Andi & Alex (Adam), Lindsey Elm (Gwen), Tim Atlas (Pharrell), and Krista Hughes (Blake).  Lindsey was great in both of her performances and should never have been eliminated in the first place.  Each of others had at least one really good performance and I’d like to see them get a second chance despite the not so good performance that got them eliminated.

[DownTheShore]

As Tim Atlas was singing, I thought that his voice doesn't lend itself well to a wide variety of music. I thought all the other singers much more capable of style change-ups than him. He seemed...limited...so I agreed with him getting the axe. 

[ToxicUnicorn]

Not sure what to make of this new wild-card,

 

I wasn't aware of this, so that explains why there were so many more stoic reactions this season when people were eliminated.  I was wondering about that.

 

I thought Regina had easily the best vocal performance of the night, but I also agree with wings707 that she is dated and has zero chance of winning.

 

Regina sounded good, and then when I looked up, she was very entertaining to watch.  And I've decided "Midnight Train to Georgia" is one of those songs that I love no matter who sings it.  It's just a great song.  (Heck, I loved it on General Hospital when it was performed by Luke Spencer and crew a million years ago, and that was the tamest version that ever tamed.) 

 

I don't think the older voters will propel her too far, however.  As an older viewer myself, I loved Biff Gore, but I could see that he probably shouldn't have been the winner of The Voice (comparing Regina to Biff may not make sense, but it's what comes to mind in spite of that).

[SpringTulips]

Well perhaps there is ageism out there/  Braiden sings "Feeling Good" Mark sings "Stand by Me" and etc.  Yet Regina gets tagged as dated.

[Dale Griffin]

Not sure what to make of this new wild-card, but the people I most want to see brought back from each team are Andi & Alex (Adam), Lindsey Elm (Gwen), Tim Atlas (Pharrell), and Krista Hughes (Blake).  Lindsey was great in both of her performances and should never have been eliminated in the first place.  Each of others had at least one really good performance and I’d like to see them get a second chance despite the not so good performance that got them eliminated.

I agree with three out of four of these.  Truthfully, Adam's such a self-important douche that I wouldn't want to see any of his artists back.  But I do think Andi & Alex are probably the only ones who deserve a shot back.  On Gwen's team, I would definitely prefer a return from Lyndsey the most (she was her only four-chair turn and it still mystifies me that she'd sack her over a teenager with not even half as much experience), but I could also take Ellie or Kota.  Pharrell's team is the one I don't agree with.  I'd rather see Celeste or Siahna get another shot rather than Tim.  On Blake's team, I would agree that Krista should get a second chance.

Edited November 7, 2015 by Dale Griffin

[Padma]

Well perhaps there is ageism out there/  Braiden sings "Feeling Good" Mark sings "Stand by Me" and etc.  Yet Regina gets tagged as dated.

There's definitely ageism, but I'm not sure Braiden and Mark are examples of it not being at work. Braiden was criticized for the song choice because of his youth (I didn't get that actually, but I apparently haven't heard this song overdone like others have. I thought it was an odd, but not bad, choice and he did it pretty well. Maybe I need to revisit the lyrics to see why it would be age inappropriate).

 

As for "Stand by Me", yes, it's an old classic, too, but so many people have covered it. It just isn't the same thing as coming out and doing a song "by Gladys Knight and the Pips" and then pretty much doing it in that same R&B "big performance" style that they did. It wasn't -just- the song that was dated, it was the way she performed it.  Also, seriously, that's Regina's chance to choose a song and she chooses to do a very similar cover to a very familiar GK&P song? It was the lack of originality of not only song choice but of performance that made me feel she was dated.  I really wonder what she was thinking. (Probably, "this is one of my crowd pleasers! )I was really, really surprised by that choice.  If Gwen can help anyone, it will be Regina.

[ToxicUnicorn]

and she chooses to do a very similar cover to a very familiar GK&P song? It was the lack of originality of not only song choice but of performance that made me feel she was dated.

 

I agree.  However, now I'm trying to imagine Regina coming out and singing Midnight Train with an affected little girl voice in a whisper with quirky phrasing, and it's cracking me up.  (I'll leave it to everyone else's suggestions about how her look could be made over.)