S09.E26: Live Finale, Part 1

[realdancemom]

Jordan's Christmas song was "Mary, Did You Know?" not "Climb Every Mountain".  I loved his Mary song but not the latter.

 

Anybody that sings "Merry Christmas, Darling" will be compared to Karen Carpenter so they will automatically fail with me.  She died too soon. 

[AwesomO4000]

As for "Merry Christmas, Darling", after I clicked on the link, I remembered it well (dating myself, too.) It's not an edgy choice (and Karen does a beautiful job with it) and I actually would have preferred it, in all seriousness, for Jordan, over the badly butchered "Climb Every Mountain".  The slightly sad theme--nostaligic and wistful "missing my love at Christmas"--would have been a good change of pace for Jordan and I think he could have sung it very well. It has a similar feeling to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"--another good holiday song, but one people would be much more familiar with.  I like the idea of mixing it up, reminding an audience that sometimes Christmas is a time of warm memories mixed with loneliness. 

 

I totally agree. I missed the first few minutes of the finale, and was at first bummed that I had missed Jordan's solo song... until I saw some of it later in a flashback and then I was glad that I missed it. That was a WtH was that moment with that song choice for me. And comparing that to "Somebody to Love" was just a bunch of "what were they thinking?" in my opinion.

 

I'm getting to be a curmudgeon, but I just don't want to hear "Silent Night" and "Oh, Holy Night" etc.--strongly religious songs-- on a secular singing competition. Particularly as there is no lack of good "holiday songs" that aren't actually religious at all.

 

Yup, despite my earlier complaints about most Christmas songs, there are definitely enough holiday alternatives, and even Christmas ones, which are maybe a little different and refreshing rather than the same old, same old we hear ad infinitum in the stores and on the radio by the time Christmas has rolled around. I even thought of another one I love (after seeing the recent commercial using it, it reminded me)...

 

Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas"

 

Edited to add:

realdancemom: Jordan's Christmas song was "Mary, Did You Know?" not "Climb Every Mountain".  I loved his Mary song but not the latter.

 

True, but that "Climb Every Mountain" one still had, for me, sort of that same "holiday" feel anyway * and since I disliked it enough that I would rather have had two Jordan holiday songs than that choice, I could only wish. Also arguably for me the "Mary Did You Know?" song could be considered as much religious and/or spiritual as traditional "holiday." (I'd never heard it before, myself). But yes, I did enjoy that one, so I wouldn't have wanted that one substituted for. The "Climb Every Mountain..." on the other hand...

 

* Because if I'm remembering correctly they used to play "The Sound of Music" on television around the holidays when I was a kid, so I often associated it with the holidays. That in the movie a nun sings the song also kind of associates that religious/holiday feel for me, too.

 

She died too soon.

 

I agree. Such a beautiful voice.

Edited December 18, 2015 by AwesomO4000

[Noreaster]

According to this interview, Jordan was initially going to sing "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/18/voice-season-9-winner-jordan-smith-interview

Also, it sounds like Adam was heavily involved in the song selection process for Jordan over the course of the season.

Edited December 18, 2015 by Noreaster

[saber5055]

Thanks, Noreaster. I think that would have been a good song for Jordan. I was afraid Adam had picked Jingle Bells or something equally insipid. Good to know Adam was helping him with song choice, too.

[ToxicUnicorn]

According to this interview, Jordan was initially going to sing "I'll Be Home for Christmas".

 

I think that would have been nice, too.  Because Jordan has chosen so many inspirational songs over the season, I would have enjoyed hearing him sing one without a message - just for a change of pace.

 

I hadn't heard Mary Do You Know until Pentatonix released their version last year, and now it is the definitive version for me.  Jordan didn't even come close.

 

Pentatonix : Mary Did You Know (official video)

 

was at first bummed that I had missed Jordan's solo song... until I saw some of it later in a flashback and then I was glad that I missed it. That was a WtH was that moment with that song choice for me.

 

When it was announced, I thought it was Adam Levine's way of imitating Simon Cowell, when he gave Katherine McPhee his judge's choice song of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.  Only --- Simon pulled it off and Adam failed hard.

 

Now that I've recovered a bit, I did enjoy Adam's genuine pleasure at being a fan of Jordan.  I think Adam's delight in Jordan's singing looked like Adam's most genuine, most guileless emotional reactions we've ever seen from Adam.  It was quite endearing, really.

 

I only enjoyed the duets on this episode.  Leather and Lace with Jeffrey and Gwen was the most entertained I have ever been from either of them.  Jordan and Adam kind of amused me because they looked like they could be brothers in some universe - with Jordan as the more mature one.  I really liked the way Blake and Emily Ann sounded together on Islands in the Stream --- much more than the original.  (I have never liked Kenny Rogers, for some reason.) 

 

I really loved Blake on both of his duets, actually.  Not only did he sound great and do I enjoy watching him sing, like the generous pro that he is, next to his contestants, but I thought he was suddenly smoking hot sexy.  Thousands of times sexier than I've ever thought of him before.  Maybe he finally looks like someone that a person my age could - um - appreciate.

 

The less said about the other songs, the better. 

[AwesomO4000]

I hadn't heard Mary Do You Know until Pentatonix released their version last year, and now it is the definitive version for me.  Jordan didn't even come close.

 

Pentatonix : Mary Did You Know (official video)

 

I may try that later, but I have some sort of mental block/avoidance thing when it comes to Pentatonix. It's entirely me. I realize that they are extremely talented, but for some reason on their season of The Sing Off, I just didn't really connect with them. I was much more engaged by the maybe less technically proficient in some ways Dartmoth Aires.

 

It's interesting, because some of the criticism I see about Jordan this year with people not connecting with him is how I felt about Pentatonix during their season. They were technically good, but for some reason, I just didn't feel them as much as some of the other groups in that season - or what some people say about Jordan this season. Whereas for me - entirely unreligious and sometimes annoyed by religious songs me - I found myself entranced by his "Mary Did You Know?" It's always interesting to me how tastes and opinions can vary so much.

 

(I have never liked Kenny Rogers, for some reason.)

 

I generally feel the same way. He's either ehn for me, or he sings some songs I really hate. Actually I can't think of a Kenny Rogers song I would want to see done by a contestant on this show... With one exception... I love his hit with the New Edition... "I Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)". Now that song I would love to see someone do on this show... *going to go listen to it on YouTube later*

 

Now that I've recovered a bit, I did enjoy Adam's genuine pleasure at being a fan of Jordan.  I think Adam's delight in Jordan's singing looked like Adam's most genuine, most guileless emotional reactions we've ever seen from Adam.  It was quite endearing, really.

 

I agree. He always seemed so genuinely into the prefomances despite probably having seen the songs in rehearsal many times before.

I also loved how Adam stayed back for a bit and let Jordan have the spotlight after his win. And his hug seemed so genuine - until Mr. Buttinsky came along with the (ugly) trophy to disturb the moment.

I spoilered it just in case, since it's from part 2 of the episode.

Edited December 19, 2015 by AwesomO4000

[bluepiano]

For non-religious Christmas song, what about the great Christmas blues classic by Charles Brown, "Merry Christmas Baby," covered by a ton of people over the years, including Otis Redding, Bonnie Raitt, and Bruce Springsteen:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RJJwk-Opw4

 

Although I can't really imagine any of the top four being able to sing something like that, which is a sad story in itself.

[Padma]

For non-religious Christmas song, what about the great Christmas blues classic by Charles Brown, "Merry Christmas Baby," covered by a ton of people over the years, including Otis Redding, Bonnie Raitt, and Bruce Springsteen:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RJJwk-Opw4

 

Although I can't really imagine any of the top four being able to sing something like that, which is a sad story in itself.

Great song and it would be so refreshing to hear a blues arrangement like that on this show.

 

Oddly enough, the person I pictured giving the song to if I were a coach would be Amy. Maybe she couldn't do it justice, but I'd like to hear her try it--I think she might be very good.

[viajero]

I finally got around to watching this episode and almost quit after the lamest opening hour in Voice history.  Between the horrendous song selection and subpar performances from pretty much everyone, it really was almost unbearable.  Having them do Christmas songs certainly didn't help as I'm pretty much already sick of them.  Plus its just more proof that this show doesn't care at all about making its contestants even remotely relevant.

 

Fortunately things began to pick up a bit when Blake and Emily Ann did Islands in the Stream and we did get a few half decent performances towards the end.  Or to be more accurate, we at least got three somewhat acceptable performances (in order of preference):

 

1.  Emily Ann's Burning House

2.  Jordon's Mary Did You Know

3. Jeffery's Stay

 

Overall, I'd say that Emily Ann won the night, but not by enough to offset Jordan's better performance over the entire season.

 

 

It has been cleared for this show for quite a while.   Season 1: Casey Weston & Tim Mahoney.

 

And speaking of people I would have liked to have heard more from -- Casey Weston!

 

While I enjoyed Jeffery's portion of Leather & Lace, I do not think that song is suited to Gwen's voice.  It certainly didn't come close to what Casey & Tim did with that song in Season 1.  Casey remains one of my favorite country contestants ever on this show.  But Adam was not about to let her get in the way of Javier Colon's road to victory and the show didn't have enough of a country audience back then to offset his obvious favoritism.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8vrtNXXbd8

[TheGreenKnight]

I also loved Casey Weston! Another one in a long list of contestants who I wish hadn't picked Adam. He always picks one contestant to build up and screws the rest.

 

I personally didn't care for Jordan's version for "Mary, Did You Know?" at all, although I liked his performance of "Somebody to Love." I grew up listening to the Wynonna/Kenny Rogers version of MDYK yearly and it's one of my favorite Christmas songs. The sad thing is I've only seen it sung by people I don't care too much for (Clay Aiken, Jordan) or can't stand (Scotty McCreery). Ceelo's version is the only other version I've heard that I don't mind. I'll have check out Pentatonix's version.