All-Time Favorite Auditions

[SomethingClever]

I think we all know that the best part of any singing competition show, and perhaps particularly The Voice, is the initial audition. Before the coaches start messing with our faves, before the story lines start overwhelming the voices, and before we get sick of everyone's style, it's all raw potential and surprise. So, what are your favorite auditions from any season of The Voice?

 

The reason I've been thinking about this is because the performance I've probably watched the most from this most recent season is this one:

 

 

This is everything I want in an audition.First, and most importantly, it's a great vocal. Terrific song choice, and it's so smooth and confident and she makes great choices. Then it hits the chorus and she lets loose and is more raspy, and it's just awesome. Just perfect.

 

But it's not just the vocal that makes a great audition, it's everything else that makes it really memorable. It's Ellie's unique style and how she totally owns the stage. It's the point and excitement in her voice when Gwen turns. It's the complete freak out after the song ends. It's "That's the queen of ska, man". Finally, it's this:

 

 

This is my everything

[ProudMary]

This one!  

I so wish he would have picked a coach other than Christina.  I've always felt she took him in the wrong direction.  

[ToxicUnicorn]

Matthew Schuler's Cough Syrup is my favorite, as well.

 

The kid who sang Pumped Up Kicks stands out in my memory, too, for some reason.

[viajero]

There have been a lot of great auditions over the years, including the two mentioned above.  Some of my favorites include Rebecca Loeb and Vicci Martinez (Season 1), Charlotte Sometimes (Season 2), Melanie Martinez (Season 3), Sarah Simmons and Judith Hill (Season 4), Preston Pohl (Season 5), Bria Kelly and Christina Grimmie (Season 6), and Sawyer Hendricks (Season 8). But I think my personal top audition remains Jamar Rogers from Season 2, even if he only got one seat to turn.  Of course I've always loved Seven Nations Army and he did it justice.

 

[ProudMary]

There have been a lot of great auditions over the years, including the two mentioned above.  Some of my favorites include Rebecca Loeb and Vicci Martinez (Season 1), Charlotte Sometimes (Season 2), Melanie Martinez (Season 3), Sarah Simmons and Judith Hill (Season 4), Preston Pohl (Season 5), Bria Kelly and Christina Grimmie (Season 6), and Sawyer Hendricks (Season 8). But I think my personal top audition remains Jamar Rogers from Season 2, even if he only got one seat to turn.  Of course I've always loved Seven Nations Army and he did it justice.

Jamar's Seven Nation Army would be my #2 favorite audition.  I thought he was great and should have won that season.  Cee-Lo had other ideas. :/

[SomethingClever]

There have been a lot of great auditions over the years, including the two mentioned above.  Some of my favorites include Rebecca Loeb and Vicci Martinez (Season 1), Charlotte Sometimes (Season 2), Melanie Martinez (Season 3), Sarah Simmons and Judith Hill (Season 4), Preston Pohl (Season 5), Bria Kelly and Christina Grimmie (Season 6), and Sawyer Hendricks (Season 8). But I think my personal top audition remains Jamar Rogers from Season 2, even if he only got one seat to turn.  Of course I've always loved Seven Nations Army and he did it justice.

 

 

I'd forgotten about that one. Crazy that he only got one chair turn for that.

 

Sarah Simmons' audition is either #1 or #2 for me. It's not just that the vocal is pure fire (which it is), but when her Dad says "listen to her" and his voice just oozes how proud he is of her, it melts my heart every single time.

 

[viajero]

Jamar's Seven Nation Army would be my #2 favorite audition.  I thought he was great and should have won that season.  Cee-Lo had other ideas. :/

 

I was sort of split between him and Juliet that season, so I really can't complain about CeeLo too much.  Besides, she just plain got more votes than he did.  My problem was with the structure of the show at the time, which meant that only one of the two could go on to the final.   Of course I also wasn't happy that the voters then gave Jermaine an upset win over Juliet.  I suspect that the combination of her having a bad cold that clearly affected her finale performances and that great Jermaine-Blake duet was just enough to put him over the top.  I'll always wonder if a healthy Jamar might not have been able to beat Jermaine.

[photo fox]

I don't know if this is my number one, but it's one I go back to over and over. I love everything about it. The song, her voice, her awkwardness, the unbeatable chemistry of the original coaches, and her little brother's reaction.

Unfortunately, she quickly imploded, but this remains one of my favorites. Holly Henry, The Scientist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSqMMtUvx0I&feature=youtu.be

[PhD-Purgatory15]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JD8_Gsfakw&index=14&list=PLg2mpDjHpDFh2iXDwqF2YioebdihVhQOR

 

She still might have my favorite all-time blind. Clarissa went home way, way too soon :-(

 

Others in my top 12: Preston Pohl's Electric Feel (although I hated Blake hijacking the second half of his audition with his typical shenanigans), Juliet Sims' Oh Darling, Nicholas David's Stand by Me, Madilyn Page's Titanium, Trevin Hunt's Listen, Kayla Nevarez's American Boy, Brian Pounds' Wagon Wheel, Midas Whale's Folsom Prison, and because I have erratic tastes in music (and I enjoyed the WTF-ness of all three).....Michael Lynch's Bailamos, DeShawn Washington's Twistin the Night Away, and Samuel Mouton's Redemption Song to round the dozen out.

 

Let's take the topic for a slight tangent, shall we? Any Zero Chair Auditions that have stood out? AKA, Who would you like to see get the 1-3 (approx) "Redemption" slots in next season's Blinds?

 

One person I've wondered about the last couple of seasons was Leah Lewis:

 

 

Apologies for the video quality, it was the best I could find. At 15, she just picked too big of a song. But there was some real "early" talent, and I enjoyed her backstory.

 

I expect we might also see the 15 year old munchkin who was towards the end of this past season's auditions. I mean Pharrell actually asked the audience, to ask her if she wanted to come back. Methinks she probably will if the show follows through...

Edited December 23, 2015 by PhD-Purgatory15

[ToxicUnicorn]

I just remembered Cole Vosbury's Movin' On Up, which certainly was audacious and amused me greatly.

[jsm1125]

Of those that haven't been mentioned, Katrina Parker (Season 2), Erin Willett (Season 2), Pip (Season 2), Joe Kirkland (Season 3), Teresa Griffin (Season 3), De'borah (Season 3), Christian Porter (Season 4), Kat Robichaud (Season 5), James Wolpert (Season 5), Deja Hall (Season 6), Kat Perkins, India Carney (Season 8) Kimberly Nichole (Season 8) and Lyndsey Elm (Season 9)

[Cramps]

Lupe Carroll- "If I were a carpenter." I'm not sure what season this was, and I don't think he made it past the battles, but according to iTunes, this is one of the most listened to songs on my iphone. And I never particularly liked the song that much, but his version is absolutely gorgeous.

Edited to add: he was on season 5. Cee-lo turned for him and I think he lost to Cole (whom I ended up loving) in the Battles.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Cramps

[TheGreenKnight]

I'm not really a fan of the auditions side of the show, but my favorites right off are Damien and Sawyer. After that, all I can think of is India, Sisaundra, and Savannah Berry (who I wasn't really a fan of, but I liked hearing "Safe & Sound" performed by someone with a better voice than Taylor Swift).

[Cthulhudrew]

Cassadee Pope's audition (Torn) still gets me to this day, and I have a soft spot for Tje Austin's rendition of Just the Way Your Are. I think part of that is largely due to the way they framed the "blind" aspect of the audition, back when the novelty was still very fresh. (Though I think he did a wonderful job, and it almost felt like they his coach didn't know what to do with him after that, sadly.)

[Padma]

It's wonderful to be reminded of all these great auditions. If The Voice put a compilation on DVD, I'd buy it.

 

One of my favorites in memory in Jamie Lomo's audition with "Folsom Prison Blues". He's always been one I was so disappointed to see chosen and sent home too early. But that performance is no longer up on YouTube, and the videos he does have up there don't impress me much at all. Makes me wonder if the original was really as good as I remember, or if, discouraged after the show, he went on to a different style of performing.

 

Anyway, in my memory at least, his FPB was very worthy of inclusion in a "Best of Voice Auditions" dvd.

[viajero]

I was impressed enough at the time with Jaime Lomo's audition that I downloaded it from YouTube.  But on watching it again all these years later, I`m wondering why.  It was good, but not that good.  While the vocals are certainly decent, he really didn't do anything all that interesting with the song.  Maybe his intro package made him particularly sympathetic?

 

Of the other Season 2 auditions that I downloaded, the ones that seemed to have best withstood the test of time for me are Jamar Rogers (as mentioned earlier in this thread) and Lindsey Pavao's "Say Ahh".

 

It's a pity they've pulled all those old videos from YouTube. 

[amaranta]

James Wolpert - Love Interruption (my very favorite blind audition)

Michelle Chamuel - I Kissed a Girl (still my favorite Voice contestant to date.)

Vicci Martinez - Rolling in the Deep 

[Cramps]

James Wolpert - Love Interruption (my very favorite blind audition)

Michelle Chamuel - I Kissed a Girl (still my favorite Voice contestant to date.)

Vicci Martinez - Rolling in the Deep

Those are all really good ones!