S11.E23: Live Top 8 Performances

[waving feather]

13 hours ago, MaryPatShelby said:

I can't believe how much I ff'ed this episode.  Like someone who commented above, maybe I need a break from this show. 

All Billy Gilman did is want me to look up Celine's version of the song - I liked it but have never really explored Celine's music so have never heard it before. 

I am not a country fan at all, but throughout the years of The Voice, every time Blake sings to demonstrate something to his contestant, and even in group sings with his team, I think "Yeah.  That's how it's supposed to sound."  There always seems to be such a difference between the singers that we're told are the most amazing evah and could be on the radio and doing tours RIGHT NOW! and a true professional. And for some reason I notice it with Blake more than any of the others.

Word. Whenever Blake demo country songs, it just sounds so natural and pleasing to my ears. I don't get why most county artists on his team can't pull it off, even the contestants in their 30s, who should have tons of performing experience.

[MaryPatShelby]

7 hours ago, Gel said:

Lastly, what are those little earpiece thingies they wear? I noticed Billy took one of his out in the middle of his duet with Christian. Does it affect how they perceive pitch? Because aside from the nerves and the lives aspect, a lot of these guys sound horridly pitchy on stage to the point where it's just weird. They don't sound like that on the iTunes snippets or in rehearsal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-ear_monitor

[tankgirl73]

I didn't notice when Billy took his out, but those in-ears are essential to stage performances. You'll see that in almost any kind of concert performance. Pitch is *worse* without them because you really can't hear the band well -- the band feed is piped to the speakers for the audience which you can't hear well. And if you have speakers on stage as monitors, there's a risk of them getting picked up by the mics and causing feedback. In-ears gives you the band feed that's audible only to you. You can also customize the feed -- maybe the drummer wants to hear more vocals but less keyboard, maybe the keyboard player doesn't want to hear as much drum but lots of guitar, maybe the guitarist needs to hear a click track more than anything else, etc.

If he took his out, it may have been having problems... maybe the settings were wrong and he was getting too much volume, or it was uncomfortable and falling out so he just took it out, or it turned off, or had some sort of squeal... who knows. But technical problems happen. Often times when otherwise-good singers have pitchy performances, they'll blame problems with their in-ears... and it's often true.

Quote

I was so annoyed about Angel that I forgot my larger point. So much CanCon. Bryan Adams, Sarah MacLachln, Celine Dion, Alessia Cara. It was like the CRTC got at this show.

I was actually wondering if it was a deliberate theme. I pointed out to my daughter that Angel was a Canadian song (we're actually in the same region that Sarah MacLachlan  is from) so that was cool (even if the cover wasn't). Then, oh hey, Bryan Adams.  And then... more Bryan Adam? And finishing with Celine to top it all off. But what I really wanted to point out is that even though Danny's Song was written by Kenny Loggins, it's arguably most famous in its Canadian iteration, performed by Anne Murray (also from our neck of the woods). In fact her chart-topping version was released just a year after Loggins', way back in 1972. :)

[Gel]

Thanks for the links and explanations on the in-ears.  I guess learning to use them and initial nerves could explain why so many of the singers sounded so bad during the first of the live performances this season.  It's sort of interesting going back to look at the Battles, they're not wearing the in-ears there.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Gel