S11.E17: Live Top 12 Performances

[adhoc]

The top 12 sing live.  Garth Brooks mentors.

[adhoc]

I did not listen to everyone--maybe 3/4 of the 12.  I was truly impressed by Billy and Ali.  

Wé disappointed me, though not like last week. For some reason, her lower register did not work for me--it sounded kind of artificial.

Aaron mumbles--if I had not been watching with subtitles, I would not have had a clue what he was singing about.

Is it my imagination, or does the blond-haired guitarist from Our Band: Voice change his clothes to suit the staging of each performance?

[Keekski]

Billy bores me. 

I was pleasantly surprised by Austin tonight! 

[Court]

I cannot stand Darby. I'm irrationally annoyed by all the flowers during her performance. 

[Sharpie66]

For the maybe 30 seconds I listened to Darby, I was asking the tv why the hell she was still on this show. Then I ff'd to the next performance. Urgh. Just go away now.

Best country performance was from Austin, to my surprise. Excellent song choice, and I liked what he did with it. 

Best female belters were Wé and Ali, with Ali being the better, even though I am still a big Wé supporter. Courtney was excellent as well. Billy's belting needed more variation away from full-on BELT mode--a little softness should have begun the song.

Much preferred Brendon over Aaron. 

Edited November 15, 2016 by Sharpie66

[Dots And Stripes]

Ali was my favorite for the night. That was really well done. 

I think the Voice is collecting Idol's old gravelly voiced guys now that Idol is out of business. I'm not even talking about Sundance here. A couple of those guys sound like the type of generic dude that dominated Idol in later years. When Blake was talking about how unique one of them was I thought that it was odd, but maybe it was just that those artists tended to flock to the competition before. I'm not a fan.

Most of this group looks like also-rans. I expect one of Blake's dudes will make it far, Ali is peaking at the right time, We wasn't great again this week but she could probably coast a little based on accumulated good will, and Billy looks like he's a lock for the finale. Those are the ones I'm looking out for. 

[adhoc]

One thing I especially like about Ali is that she ENUNCIATES.  I can actually understand what she is saying.

[Noreaster]

I think Ali was the standout of the night.  We was also pretty good though there were some problems.  Billy was excellent vocally but it seemed like the band was drowning out his performance somewhat.

I want to like the rocker guys more but they were not very interesting.  All the country guys did a decent job.  

Everyone else?  Ehhh.  A couple were outright unpleasant to my ears.  Also some weird song choices. Sa'rayah singing Bon Jovi?  Christian doing Coldplay?  

Edited November 15, 2016 by Noreaster

[filmfan2480]

For me, best of the night were Ali, Brendan, and Christian. Hope they get lots of votes.

Billy shrieked too much towards the end.

We sounded good in parts, but goes flat on big notes.

The country guys were good, not great.

And Darby is a horror. I fast forwarded through half of it.

[Court]

I know we discussed last week if the coaches or contestants picked the songs. I think it depends on the coach. Based on comments from Miley's team, she has picked all their songs so far. 

[Ketzel]

A lot of not-so-musical yelly performances tonight, and a overall absence of enunciation. Darby's performance actually hurt my ears - I muted her about ten bars in.

Someone needs to tell frizzy blonde guitar player to stop upstaging the contestants.

[Mr. R0b0t]

Phew.... let's be honest folks (yes, i'm pontificating), this was a show that featured a gluttony of wonky notes and wonkier song choices.  The speed dating last week was a disaster and this week was just...boring(?).  

[huahaha]

Ali came out of nowhere for me. She's the only one all night who made me stop and watch.

This is the week I realized that We is good but her act wouldn't work as well without her age and her Minnie Mouse speaking voice. It helps to have a gimmick though, so those things may still propel her far.

Billy is playing the Adam Lambert game. He has a beautiful instrument, but he wants to show it off with too much shrieking and over-emoting. I'm a little disappointed after his pitch-perfect audition.

[Mystery Author]

Whoever said Ali enunciates was spot-on. And I actually has tears at the end of her performance. Why are the mentors commenting? Filler? Every single singer -- including Darby who mutilated an okay song and, in the process, made my ears bleed -- is soooooo perfect and gonna win, blah-blah, blah.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Let's see.....on Team Adam I'd really like to see Brendan go back and do something like his blind audition "Jolene" with a little more light and shade. That was intense, but a little exhausting by the end. And any reality tv historians will always compare that song to Bo Bice....and you sir were no Bo. Billy looks too much like Ryan Tedder's little brother that's part of the problem. It just feels like Musical Theater/Broadway is screaming out to Billy "I'm your true home, not the pop charts". Josh better hope the country fans stay behind him, because that was weaker than his last effort and could easily get lost in the shuffle.

Alicia...my undying Bon Jovi love allowed me to see Sa'Rayah through rose colored glasses....that and navigating the giant set of stars kept her voice from going into overdrive on the verses. Still, she needed a save so I'd still think she could be in jeopardy. Christian gave a quintessential B or B+ performance, probably not enough to give him front runner status, but he did enough to stay in the game. Passed on We.

Blake...solid performances by Austin and Sundance (and they're not going anywhere yet). I wonder if Blake is going to give them a steady diet of songs by (or made famous by) female singers? Courtney is in danger big time. Played out song, shaky spots galore....not sure focusing in on her son in the audience will be enough to keep her out of danger. Don't see her winning the twitter save either.

Miley...Darby on the other hand could actually be in play for the twitter save. She could be this season's Korin Bukowski who got back to back twitter saves because she was so far out in her own lane. Same thing could happen, a minority of online support could tweet like crazy and keep her around. Not sure I would've guessed a Father John Misty song would show up on the Voice. It's a little refreshing to have no clue what a song is supposed to sound like once in a while. The gravel in his Voice is pushing the limits of taste though. Ali was fine I guess (whoever made the call on her dress should get a serious salary bonus). I still don't see her as a contemporary "pop" star though. At best she's what she was before, singer who a hotel in Manila or Dubai could call up to be there entertainment for a week of shows. Cruise ships too maybe.

If I had to guess, I'll say Courtney and Josh go home. We are losing two, right?

[bluepiano]

4 hours ago, Ketzel said:

A lot of not-so-musical yelly performances tonight, and a overall absence of enunciation. Darby's performance actually hurt my ears - I muted her about ten bars in.

Someone needs to tell frizzy blonde guitar player to stop upstaging the contestants.

Agree on both your points. If anyone watched America's Got Talent this year, Darby reminds me of a grown-up (slightly) version of the little blond girl who won that, with her shifting into weird accents and twisting and distorting words. Tonight she was changing singing styles even within the same line. She actually is capable of singing in a strong, clear voice, which she displays on occasion. I wonder if Miley is encouraging all those vocal affectations, because she thinks that's what makes a singer an "artist."

"Ruby Tuesday" is one of the loveliest songs the Stones ever did. It deserved better. And as someone who lived through the '60s (I was very young), I hate all that phony retro flower child psychedelic crap.

The band's performance on "Whipping Post" was spectacularly bad. There was something really off about the rhythm. The drummer (who was way too loud) was not in synch with the rest of the band, and what the hell was that guitarist doing,"shredding" over the vocal? I know guitarists love playing the Allman Brothers, but he needed to restrain himself. It sounded like your typical bar band that drowns out the singer. Fortunately I think Brendan sang well enough to survive.

I noticed that once again after We finished singing in all the excitement she forgot to do her little breathy voice. I do think it's a gimmick, and unfortunately it's working. To my ears Ali and Courtney have both sung with more consistency, but people remember We because she's young and the contrast between her singing and speaking voices.

I liked the slower, more soulful way that Austin was singing "Do Right Woman" in rehearsal than the more southern rock way he wound up performing it.

Edited November 15, 2016 by bluepiano

[Michel]

My thoughts on the performances:

Sundance: I liked the performance a lot.  His voice is a very good, strong one, and I don't pay much attention to country voices.  I think he'll be all right tomorrow.  His AI following will carry him through.

Darby: In the early days, during the post-Olympic preview, I was into Darby.  And even through the Battles and Knockouts, I liked her performances.  But the bloom is slowly getting off the rose.  I can barely understand her at times, and I can't believe that she has little to no vibrato.  She needs to step it up, or I don't see her in the top eleven.  She'd better hope the fanbase she picked up from the Olympic preview can help carry her through.

Christian: Oh, I loved this one.  I was awed the whole way through.  The lower register was beautiful and clear, but he went up to his higher register, and that was even better!  I'm slowly starting to think that he is going to be Alicia's main contender now.  You'll begin to see what I mean when I get to Wé.  On a side note, I'm shocked that he can speak Spanish so fluently!

Sa'Rayah: I feel like she got drowned out by the band at numerous points.  At the beginning, I could hear her quite clearly.  But as the performance went on, and the band got louder, I couldn't.  Still, I won't deny she's got great vocal power.  I could see her lasting a few weeks during the live shows.

Billy: I won't deny his voice is damn near flawless.  But I don't see in him what Adam and the screaming teenyboppers and twenty-somethings see.  I see a whole lot of surface, but not much "there" there, otherwise.  But he'll probably be finale-bound because the women are gonna be falling all over themselves to vote him through.

Austin: Easily the best country guy tonight.  I can't believe he took an Aretha song and put a nice country spin on it!  I was impressed!  I don't think he'll outlast Sundance, whose AI following will definitely carry him farther, but he'll make it a good way through.

Wé: First, Adam, Miley, Alicia, and Blake.  Next, Charlie.  Then, Tim and Faith.  And now Garth.  It's always fun seeing these mentors and advisors thrown for such a loop when they hear the clear disparity between Wé's speaking voice and her singing voice.  (And Alicia certainly was enjoying Garth's perplexed reaction.)  As for the performance, I remember thinking that that was not a smart song choice for India Carney to sing back in season eight, and I had the same fears for Wé.  And she only partially proved them valid.  She needs to go for one more in her lane next week.  I think she might be sliding out of the top spot on Alicia's team because she's not singing the songs that suit her lane like she was doing during the pretaped episodes, which helped gain her early popularity.  Still, I think she's a good contender for the win, along with Billy, Aaron, Ali, Christian, and Sundance.  (I think Austin and Sa'Rayah are possibly just behind those six.)  On a side note, I noticed she stood near Sundance, Darby, and Christian's families in the audience at one point.

Aaron: I give him great credit that haven't been done on the show before.  And I did quite enjoy the performance.  His gravelly voice was actually quite perfect for the song.  But my one critique is that it got a bit repetitive with the final phrase at the very end of the song.  But other than that, I think he did a fantastic job.  I disagree with the sentiment that Brendan was the better rocker tonight, because . . . so not.  At least Aaron can hold one's attention.  Brendan?  Not so much.  He'll get by on the votes.

Courtney: Decent, solid performance, but nothing too wowing.  My mind actually wandered at least twice, which shows how lacking she was in terms of the much-needed "wow" factor.  Agreed that she might need the Twitter save tomorrow.

Josh: Yeah.  Not seeing a winner in him.  So far, I've had a problem paying attention to all of his performances except for his Blind.  I lost interest halfway through this one.  Good, strong, clear voice.  Unquestionably.  But not wholly interesting.  He'll get the country vote for a few weeks, but then fall out almost unceremoniously.

Ali: I easily agree that this was her best performance so far.  I've liked all of her performances so far, but I've never really loved them, save for her "Dangerous Woman" Blind.  But this was definitely one that will vault her into contender status. 

Brendan: Really very random that he got the pimp slot.  Almost as random as Deanna Johnson getting it in season eight's Live Playoffs.  I don't really think he's enough of a contender to warrant going last.  I might've swapped him and Ali in the order.  I was shocked that none of the teams' top contenders (Billy for Adam, Aaron or Ali for Miley, Christian or Wé for Alicia, or Sundance for Blake) were last.  Anyway, it was just okay for me.  Nothing mind-blowing, nothing terrible.  Just . . . sort of okay.  The drooling fangirls who love him only for his looks will save him for a few weeks, possibly until the semifinals, and then, he'll be gone.  I'll be surprised if he reaches the finale.

Garth was a good mentor.  I was surprised to see how well he did.  He looked really engaged with the artists and definitely cared about how well they did in their performances.

1 hour ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

We are losing two, right?

Sadly, just one.  Carson mentioned that they're determining the top eleven tomorrow.  They're doing the usual twelve-to-eleven-to-ten-to-nine-to-four elimination scheme this season.

58 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

I noticed that once again after We finished singing in all the excitement she forgot to do her little breathy voice.

Oh, no!  Here come the judgments and accusations again![/sarcasm]  *rme*  Seriously.  Her voice was still high, just not nasally.

Edited November 15, 2016 by Michel

[xfuse]

3 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Team Adam I'd really like to see Brendan go back and do something like his blind audition "Jolene" with a little more light and shade. That was intense, but a little exhausting by the end. And any reality tv historians will always compare that song to Bo Bice....and you sir were no Bo.

I stopped watching AI after a few seasons so I didn't see Bo Bice do the song but Jensen Ackles did the song at a few cons. I went and watched his performance again. Same as whenever someone sings Hallelujah I go and watch Karise Eden.

There doesn't seem to be any big standouts for me this year. There are some singers I like tonight but I'm not rushing to buy their song. There seems to be more boring or bland singers/performances. 

[Rosieroo]

Quote

It just feels like Musical Theater/Broadway is screaming out to Billy "I'm your true home, not the pop charts".

Exactly what I said to Mrs. Roo. I know he was doing a Queen song last night which does beg for some drama but he's always dramafied and posey. Still like him but see him more on broadway than radio. 

I haven't liked Darby since day one and her songs are just painful for me so was dreading her performance and asking Mrs. Roo to please just make them stop with my Stones.  So I was a bit surprised that I didn't hate it.  There were some good moments.  Still don't like her but she didn't outright kill RT for me.

[desertflower]

Is it just me or do a lot of these people sound better in rehearsals than they do in the performance? Maybe it's because I'm only hearing a little snippet. I thought Darby sounded promising in rehearsals but the actual performance kind of lost me. There are times her voice is nice but then it quickly slips into something weird. 

I liked Brendan's performance. I keep wanting to call him Nick or Jake because he reminds me so much of Jake Johnson from New Girl. 

I like Garth Brooks. I'm not a country fan so I never listened to his music but he always seems so nice and I hear he puts on spectacular live shows. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

A million percent yes on your last point Winston9-DT3. That is the glaring bug in The Voice system. They've set up a show where the people who could and should be "truth tellers" actually have a massive dis-incentive to do just that (at least on the air). Because nobody (except once in a blue moon Xtina) wants the stigma of being the mean coach. You run the risk of hurting your artists chances in season, and you run the risk of turning off contestants from choosing you in future seasons.

They really should in lieu of, or in addition to having the coaches comment after each performance, bring someone in blind (not a mentor like Tim and Faith or Garth) to be an independent arbiter of the performances. Amazingly, one of the best ever at that was Katy Perry during a season of American Idol (somewhere in the middle years) when they brought in special guest judges in each audition city...

Edited November 15, 2016 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Noreaster]

The lack of coach critique is definitely a disadvantage of the show's format.  I also like hearing critiques but too often (at least on these boards), it seems that viewers think poorly of the coaches who do so.  I often hear "oh, that coach is just trying to throw X contestant under the bus" or "that's just the coach's strategy" instead of accepting that the coach is trying to be honest and constructive.  

11 hours ago, Court said:

I know we discussed last week if the coaches or contestants picked the songs. I think it depends on the coach. Based on comments from Miley's team, she has picked all their songs so far. 

Yeah, it definitely seems Miley is involved.  Though for Aaron, it sounded like it was mainly his song choice but that he and Miley did go back and forth on it.   I think it might vary by contestant also.  Blake is likely to be more involved with his country contestants' song selections.  The same with Adam and his non-country contestants.  

[Ketzel]

Bo Bice singing Whipping Post.   In spite of the hair-whipping, you can still understand the words. :)

[Magic]

7 hours ago, Michel said:

Sadly, just one.  Carson mentioned that they're determining the top eleven tomorrow.  They're doing the usual twelve-to-eleven-to-ten-to-nine-to-four elimination scheme this season.

I would much rather lose two a week until they end up with the final four then losing one a week until 9 goes to 4. 

Miley is showing so much excitement all the time for enough of the contestants she is suppressing any excitement I might otherwise feel.  Although this seems like a handful of good singers but no one who is really exciting.  This may be the first season in a long time I don't download any of the contestant's songs. 

1 hour ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

They really should in lieu of, or in addition to having the coaches comment after each performance, bring someone in blind (not a mentor like Tim and Faith or Garth) to be an independent arbiter of the performances.

 

2 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

One thing I think Idol did better was you didn't hear the song in rehearsal footage.  Usually by the time they finally get around to the actual performance on this show, I've already heard all I want to.  

And who really cares what the judges say.  It's always the same-- blowing smoke-- so no suspense there, either. 

These ideas from PhD and Winston9 could make the week to week MUCH more exciting. 

Instead of rehearsals maybe they could add in a few fun video clips of behinds the scenes of the contestants and judges interacting with each other or similar.  Lord knows the repetitive blathering from the judges, especially after this many seasons, really sucks a lot of excitement from this show.  But so does all the repetitiveness.

Maybe they could even bring back a contestant or two from past seasons each week.  I am sure a lot of fans would be glad to see some of these contestants and how they are performing now.  On results nights they could bring back a past winner.

I love the idea of the show but I am so bored at this stage after this many seasons I fast forward through everything but the performance (or the start of the performance if it is bad to my ears).  And once I have my hand on the ff button, it takes  lot more to make me want to stay and listen.

[TheGreenKnight]

I feel like both Christian and Billy have been coached very badly. Neither are as good lately as in their auditions, gradually becoming singers who shoot for high notes, lacking emotion. Which is especially bad for Christian, who doesn’t have a great range, imo, and whose greatest attribute was his tone—why is he singing a pop song? Billy can at least hit the high notes most of the time, but I wish we could get another “When We Were Young.” The song choices were atrocious for nearly all the contestants: “The Show Must Go On” for Billy, “My Church” for that guy on Blake’s team, ugh. Why are these coaches so bad at their jobs...

Edited November 15, 2016 by TheGreenKnight

[adhoc]

Quote

Instead of rehearsals maybe they could add in a few fun video clips of behinds the scenes of the contestants and judges interacting with each other or similar. 

I like the rehearsal stuff, myself. I feel like I've heard a lot of constructive advice this season from the various mentors. I hated on AI when they showed footage of contestants goofing around or having a meal or some other silly activity or discussion, as though those contestants were actual stars that I gave two hoots about.  

One problem I can see with mentoring or coaching is that you don't want to hurt your own brand by ticking viewers off by the way you talk to or act toward the contestants you work with. Who's to say you won't hurt your own sales by acting in a manner that turns potential listeners/customers off? One thing about Simon Cowell (whose manner I really disliked on AI)--he didn't have to worry about viewers not buying his records, because he was not a recording artist himself. So he could say what he wanted to say, however he wanted to say it.

[Gel]

I think they sound better in rehearsal because the band is fainter.

[bluepiano]

4 hours ago, desertflower said:

Is it just me or do a lot of these people sound better in rehearsals than they do in the performance? Maybe it's because I'm only hearing a little snippet. 

I think maybe because in the rehearsal they're just working with a pianist, or even in the full band rehearsal, the band is very restrained. Then, in the live performance, in order to give you a big exciting show, the band cranks it up, you have back-up singers, distracting lighting effects etc.

This is something AI used to criticized for. Maybe others can check my memory, but it seems to me that The Voice used to have more stripped down arrangements that really put all the focus on the vocal. Now, too many times the singer has to struggle to be heard, which should never be the case.

2 hours ago, Noreaster said:

The lack of coach critique is definitely a disadvantage of the show's format.

I always DVR the show so I can fast forward through the coaches telling everyone how amazingly wonderful and awe-inspiring they were. It would make me crazy to watch the show in real time and have to listen to that over and over and over. So boring. I did catch a snippet of Blake telling Darby how much he loved her performance, and thought, yeah, right. That was so not Blake's style of singing or music.

4 hours ago, desertflower said:

I like Garth Brooks. I'm not a country fan so I never listened to his music but he always seems so nice and I hear he puts on spectacular live shows. 

He's a good mentor, very engaged. And this may sound weird, but wearing a baseball cap instead of the usual cowboy hat made him seem more real, and less like he was playing a character.

But Tim McGraw and Faith Hill last week and Garth this week? That's a really heavy country music emphasis. Ironically on a season in which there are fewer country singers in the top 12 than any year I remember. (I would say that only Josh is pure country. Austin and Sunshine have a lot of rock in their styles).

[Padma]

9 minutes ago, Gel said:

I think they sound better in rehearsal because the band is fainter.

I agree. Also we see them coached to have different arrangements when rehearsing with the mentor & coach, but whoever takes over after that usually ignores that advice. Too bad, since every time that's happened this season, including last night, I've preferred the way they did it in rehearsal.

Is there a name for the kind of "go to" accompaniment they have the band doing most of the time now?  I can't stand it, whatever it is--heavy drums, really formulaic arrangement of the instruments and way too loud. I also hated the addition of a chorus on...what was it? My Church?  The relative simplicity of rehearsal was so much better.

Going home really has to be Darby. I actually liked her on "Brand New Key" but as they say, those were the days. Miley will bring her on tour so she's already gotten more from this than she probably ever dreamed of.

I'm over Billy. There is something soulless about his singing. I'd like to see Sundance, Brendan, Josh and Austin outlast him, although I'm sure that won't happen. Christian's vocals are a little similar in style, going for the range, but although he doesn't have the instrument Billy has, I enjoy Christian much more.  I'll be disappointed if Billy wins this.

[Noreaster]

This discussion about the lack of coach criticism reminds me of a tidbit I picked up recently.  On Yahoo Music, Lyndsey Parker does a weekly chat with Jeffrey Austin (a Voice contestant from season 9) where they discuss the show's performances. Earlier this season during either the battles or knockouts, Lyndsey was complaining about the lack of coach critiques and how she was glad that at least Adam said something unfavorable.  Jeffrey immediately jumps in and says that Adam actually does that a lot and the show just edits it out.  He then said that for his battle specifically (which ended up being montaged), Adam went on for awhile about how bad it was and at one point, Gwen (who was Jeffrey's coach) started getting offended. Obviously the producers didn't show any of this.  

Edited November 15, 2016 by Noreaster

[MaryPatShelby]

3 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

A million percent yes on your last point Winston9-DT3. That is the glaring bug in The Voice system. They've set up a show where the people who could and should be "truth tellers" actually have a massive dis-incentive to do just that (at least on the air). Because nobody (except once in a blue moon Xtina) wants the stigma of being the mean coach. You run the risk of hurting your artists chances in season, and you run the risk of turning off contestants from choosing you in future seasons.

But yet, it's got to be near impossible for the coaches to find something glowing, and marginally original, to say after every singer. I mean, if it's boring for us, it's gotta be agonizing for them. You'd think there'd be a sigh of relief if the coaches were told "Yeah, go ahead and make a suggestion or two for improvement." Not everyone can "win this thing" and it's time the show realized that.

[Nedsdag]

20 hours ago, Sharpie66 said:

For the maybe 30 seconds I listened to Darby, I was asking the tv why the hell she was still on this show. Then I ff'd to the next performance. Urgh. Just go away now.

Best country performance was from Austin, to my surprise. Excellent song choice, and I liked what he did with it. 

Much preferred Brendon over Aaron. 

My chair just turned for you.

I'm sorry, but I have to say this: Billy looks like he was put together with parts from other human beings. Plus, he under sang his song. Sorry, I wasn't impressed. If he's the Chosen One this season, they made a major mistake. Hell, even Josh sounded better.

Darby? The less said, the better. I'm not going to waste font on her.

[Michel]

8 hours ago, Noreaster said:

This discussion about the lack of coach criticism reminds me of a tidbit I picked up recently.  On Yahoo Music, Lyndsey Parker does a weekly chat with Jeffrey Austin (a Voice contestant from season 9) where they discuss the show's performances. Earlier this season during either the battles or knockouts, Lyndsey was complaining about the lack of coach critiques and how she was glad that at least Adam said something unfavorable.  Jeffrey immediately jumps in and says that Adam actually does that a lot and the show just edits it out.  He then said that for his battle specifically (which ended up being montaged), Adam went on for awhile about how bad it was and at one point, Gwen (who was Jeffrey's coach) started getting offended. Obviously the producers didn't show any of this.  

Well, that explains why that Battle was montaged.  It was that bad, so they must've felt like they had to.  And Gwen really shouldn't have been offended.  Giving Jeffery Austin and Noah Jackson The Weeknd's "Can't Feel My Face" did not sound like a song catering to either of their strengths.  And Gwen usually chooses great songs for her Battles.  (Though you should all look for Jeffery and Noah's studio version.  That actually sounded good.)

I'm not surprised that Adam gives bad critiques.  They've actually even shown him give them before.  In season eight, they actually showed him all but say he didn't like Katelyn Read and Treeva Gibson's "Addicted to Love" Battle.  So I'm not surprised at Jeffery's claim of this.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Michel

[Court]

I don't care what We's speaking voice sounds like. But would everyone be so impressed with her singing voice if it wasn't so different?

[limecoke]

Not overly impressed with anyone.  Again, song choices were odd. I was a little distracted by other things so that might be the reason.  Still not on the We love train.  I find her voice too guttural for my taste but I still call her for final two with Billy because of the pimping.

Yes, yes, yes...Garth Brooks puts on an amazing show.  I've seen him in concert twice and it's pretty unforgettable.  He was a very good mentor.

Edited because I forgot about Alli!  She was outstanding.  I can understand the words and her yelly bits are very controlled.  For me...much better than We.

Edited November 16, 2016 by limecoke

[Jal]

15 minutes ago, Court said:

I don't care what We's speaking voice sounds like. But would everyone be so impressed with her singing voice if it wasn't so different?

I believe so. Her singing voice is amazing. Especially recorded.

I thought her performance this week was "meh" whenever she was in the lower register, and great in the other portions. Not the best of the night, but certainly very energetic.

I enjoyed Aaron, Courtney, and Ali. Loved the Bon Jovi pick by Sa'Rayah. Maybe it wasn't her best performance, but I really enjoyed it.

No idea who is going home, but I'm kind of sick of the gravely voices and over-singing.

[Noreaster]

I feel bad for Aaron.  Apparently Father John Misty, whose song Aaron performed, did not like the cover.  

https://www.yahoo.com/music/father-john-misty-slams-voice-contestants-hollywood-forever-cemetery-sings-cover-224327299.html

[Michel]

6 minutes ago, Noreaster said:

I feel bad for Aaron.  Apparently Father John Misty, whose song Aaron performed, did not like the cover.  

https://www.yahoo.com/music/father-john-misty-slams-voice-contestants-hollywood-forever-cemetery-sings-cover-224327299.html

That probably played into the results for the following episode.

[Muffyn]

Aaron made two big mistakes with song choice.  First, it is a largely unknown song.  America likes  to hear what they know.  Second, the song includes "Jesus Christ" in an obviously non-praise way.  While I am not among them, there are many  people who are very insulted by that.  (Which is why I laugh when people  hear songs like Take Me to Church and think it's really about going to church.)  

Edited November 17, 2016 by Muffyn

[MissSunshine]

Yes, I was really disturbed by Wé singing Take Me To Church. It's a really disturbing song and has a really dark background. At first I was disgusted that she would choose that, but then after seeing how Miley picked a lot of songs for her artists I put the blame on Alicia, but now after reading the comments and reading that this song has been used in a previous season I think it could have been the producers. Nonetheless, it put a bad taste in my mouth and I am usually a fan of Wé. Also, did anyone notice how Adam very rarely was given the chance to comment on the contestant's performances? Carson kept asking Miley, Blake, and Alicia their opinion but Adam was rarely included 

[Noreaster]

8 hours ago, Michel said:

That probably played into the results for the following episode.

If you mean Father John Misty's comment affected the outcome, I don't think so.  He's fairly unknown.  Which was sort of the issue with the song choice.  Familiarity matters on this show.  (I also think Aaron didn't really deliver a good/interesting performance.)

[Noreaster]

3 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I've never heard of Father John Misty but I like Aaron's cover better.  And that actress in the video in the Yahoo article will never not be the Parks & Rec girl to me.  And the Father John guy is a douche for not being anything but gracious about the cover, if you ask me.  

I agree.  He should at the very least realize that this exposure might lead some viewers to look up his music.  I personally have discovered some artists because of this show's covers.  Grace Potter and Johnnyswim are a couple off the top of my head.  

[Sugar]

I don't think the problem was with choosing an unknown song. I think the problem, is that the song in question is just kind of a dud. It's not a song that showcases ability or range or emotional interpretation, and it isn't very dynamic. So, even though Aaron is one of my favorites, I was daydreaming during his performance. It's a good song, but not for a singing competition.

I'm actually tired of karaoke performances - the same songs being done year after year with little variation in arrangement or vocal stylings. I'd never heard of Love Interruption before James Wolpert did it, and now it's on every playlist of mine. Ditto Sarah Simmons and "Story" by Brandi Carlisle. But those songs were vocally interesting and allowed the singers to play. Aaron chose a song he loved, but didn't think about how it would fare in this format.

I'd still love to see Aaron do Tom Waits (Eggs and Sausage!) or more bluesy stuff in general. And something slow and stripped down, where he could hold some notes and show more vulnerability.

I thought Billy was terrible, and off. Off-key and off the pace of the song. I'm a huge Queen fan, so I'll always be critical, but if you're going to tackle Freddy, you need to have serious vocal chops and a shitload of stage presence. Billy has a good voice, but it's too clean and prissy - there's no character to it. And he definitely doesn't have the stage presence. Jordan Smith did Somebody to Love and I loved their interpretation, and I equally like Adam Lambert singing Queen, so it IS possible - but not for everyone.

Overall, the song choices in this episode were just crazy to me. Bon Jovi does a lovely stripped down, acoustic version of Livin on a Prayer. I wish Sa'rayah had gone that route instead. And Courney could have interpreted Don't Wanna Miss a Thing in a hundred different ways. If you're going to do a karaoke standard, please do something different with it! At least Christian's The Scientist had some personality to it - it wasn't a carbon copy of the original. But yea, song choices were mostly fails.

[Noreaster]

4 hours ago, Sugar said:

I don't think the problem was with choosing an unknown song. I think the problem, is that the song in question is just kind of a dud. It's not a song that showcases ability or range or emotional interpretation, and it isn't very dynamic. So, even though Aaron is one of my favorites, I was daydreaming during his performance. It's a good song, but not for a singing competition.

I'm actually tired of karaoke performances - the same songs being done year after year with little variation in arrangement or vocal stylings. I'd never heard of Love Interruption before James Wolpert did it, and now it's on every playlist of mine. Ditto Sarah Simmons and "Story" by Brandi Carlisle. But those songs were vocally interesting and allowed the singers to play. Aaron chose a song he loved, but didn't think about how it would fare in this format.

I think it's risky to do unknown songs for voting purposes.  Also, if you think about it, the known songs have already proven to be commercially successful so for sure they will appeal to the mainstream. 

I actually prefer to hear less familiar songs as well but when the contestants and coaches go that route, the execution side matters even more.  How do you make viewers appreciate the song on a first listen?  

[JMarie99]

I agree with you 100%, Winston9.  I loved Aaron's interpretations of REM and Counting Crows, two of my favorite bands. I'm always open to new music too but that Father John song turned me right off. All I got out of it was that "Jesus Christ" opening (which I found offensive) and something about dead grandmothers. I made the mistake of looking up the lyrics, and the parts of the song that Aaron either didn't sing or I couldn't understand were even worse. Ugh. Hopefully he gets a better song next week. 

[huahaha]

16 hours ago, Sugar said:

Billy has a good voice, but it's too clean and prissy - there's no character to it. And he definitely doesn't have the stage presence.

Agreed. He uses a lot of old man mannerisms. Maybe getting him out of the suits would help.

[Ketzel]

14 hours ago, huahaha said:

Agreed. He uses a lot of old man mannerisms. Maybe getting him out of the suits would help.

Heh, if they got him out of suits, I think he'd end up wearing khakis and crewneck sweaters. There is nothing edgy at all about him.

[Padma]

Seeing Billy perform as a child, I think a lot of his current mannerisms date back to that. Also, that he still sees himself as a heartthrob and its important to him to be shown having a big impact on women.

Which is funny, since to me, he has a pretty voice, but zero sex appeal on stage. I see good vocal parts in his performances, but he usually ruins them for me with the inevitable "amping it up" as I feel he's going for the applause, rather than because he feels it.  I really hope he doesn't get farther than F4.  No matter how many times Adam says it, I really -don't- see him as "the one to beat".

[huahaha]

26 minutes ago, Ketzel said:

Heh, if they got him out of suits, I think he'd end up wearing khakis and crewneck sweaters. There is nothing edgy at all about him.

Preppy is still a better hook than 75.

[Noreaster]

14 minutes ago, Padma said:

Also, that he still sees himself as a heartthrob and its important to him to be shown having a big impact on women.

Billy Gilman is gay.  He came out of the closet a couple of years ago.