S11.E26: Live Finale Results

[kathyk24]

Sundance and Kiss for the win! I loved it Billy and Kelly made me tear up. Sundance really is that short everyone towered over him. I could hear Sting fine I had trouble hearing the Weekend and Bruno Mars. Blake wearing Miley's outfits cracked me up. I'm going to miss Miley next season I like her more than Gwen. Kudos to Blake for advocating for his singers.

[Noreaster]

8 hours ago, saber5055 said:

One of my problems with the contestants is, I can't understand any words to any songs (there are exceptions, of course), I just hear shouting in sync with the music. Perfect example was We singing with John Legend last night. Legend perfectly pronounced EVERY SINGLE WORD while all I heard out of We's mouth was a big blur of who-knows-what. I don't even know what the song are about 90 percent of the time, if it's not a song I'm familiar with. So it is the performers, not the show's sound that's the problem. 

I agree.  I have found this to be true of many contestants over the seasons and it's especially apparent when they sing with the coaches.  Adam and Blake are not great vocalists by any means, but their voices usually stand out.  I think Adam because of his tone and Blake because he projects well. Meanwhile there is often nothing distinct about the contestants' voices.  Which probably explains why many find it difficult to break through.  

8 hours ago, Padma said:

Josh, to me, is like so much of contemporary country music and I'm so over it.  (I'd love to know what Blake really thought of the song. The praise seemed a stretch, as if he really wanted to say, "Spend some time in small town America. It's not all "church and bake sales and ribbons for the troops" Or, since Josh if I'm remembering right, was from coal country, why not write about what you know rather than what you think America wants to hear?)

I thought Blake sang exactly that type of music himself.  It's funny.  It seems that Blake and Adam have pretty good musical tastes on the show but the music that they have each put out lately is pretty crappy (in my opinion).  

Edited December 15, 2016 by Noreaster

[Babalooie]

I would be very curious to know the cost of the home recording studio vs. a new Toyota.  I'm sure it depends on WHICH recording studio components and WHICH car.  Any ideas?

[bluepiano]

Regarding Adam Wakefield, I hope he's out there having a career and making decent money. He's a really talented guy and deserves it.

10 hours ago, saber5055 said:

One of my problems with the contestants is, I can't understand any words to any songs (there are exceptions, of course), I just hear shouting in sync with the music. Perfect example was We singing with John Legend last night. Legend perfectly pronounced EVERY SINGLE WORD while all I heard out of We's mouth was a big blur of who-knows-what.

I think it's because this (and all the other contest shows with singers) encourage the idea that being an "artist" means bending or extending words or doing various other kinds of vocal tricks, rather than clearly enunciating the lyrics, which should be Singing 101. If you don't have respect enough for the lyrics of a song to care about communicating them, then you shouldn't be singing that song.

Edited December 15, 2016 by bluepiano

[Padma]

1 hour ago, Noreaster said:

I thought Blake sang exactly that type of music himself.  It's funny.  It seems that Blake and Adam have pretty good musical tastes on the show but the music that they have each put out lately is pretty crappy (in my opinion).  

lol, because I couldn't agree more. I really like Blake's singing but more based on what he does on the show and thinking of how he'd be on some "classic country" that I like) and his song choices for others than the songs he writes. I mean, I feel sorry for criticizing Josh's song as insipid when I think of "Honeybee".  But I still like his singing in general and he'd be my choice for coach (or maybe Miley).

[waving feather]

6 hours ago, Padma said:

I mean, I feel sorry for criticizing Josh's song as insipid when I think of "Honeybee".  But I still like his singing in general and he'd be my choice for coach (or maybe Miley).

Yes, Blake has a lot of insipid songs of his own as well. But I think he is able to sell those well because he has a great voice. I love his warm, honey tone and he always sings with conviction. So, in that instance, something insipid is easier to take than if you have an average voice singing those kind of songs.

[Michel]

YES!  Oh, my God!  I'm just so glad Adam didn't win!  I liked Billy as a person, and had he been on any other team -- Blake's, Alicia's, or even Miley's -- I wouldn't have minded him winning.  But on Adam's?  Sorry, but he had to lose.  So I'm glad he did.

Wé will be fine.  I would've loved seeing Alicia win and see her be the first new coach to win on her very first try (at least on this version, as Jamelia and Una Foden both already accomplished that on the second and fourth seasons of the Irish version).  And I suspect that if Sundance and Billy hadn't been on this season, she probably might've.  But Wé was up against two vote-getting beasts (Sundance with his AI fanbase, likely, and Billy with the old ladies who liked him in his childhood and the teenage girls who liked him this season) and wasn't going to fell either of them without an extremely loyal and rabid fanbase.  Maybe Miley could've rallied her followers to help Alicia.  But third isn't bad, and I think she's going to be great someday.  Unlike some others here.

Josh going out in fourth was expected.  The one saved by the final Twitter save never gets higher than last place of the finalists, which is why I'd just dump it altogether in the semifinals.

Congratulations, Sundance!  He rocked it out from the moment the Lives hit, and he was consistently good each and every week!  And congratulations to Blake for his fifth win!

Unlike most, I enjoyed the season, though I admit I would've enjoyed it less than I ended up enjoying it if Adam had pulled out another win.  Still, Alicia and Miley brought some great new energy to the show and totally rejuvenated it.  All four coaches had great chemistry with each other.  I do worry whether or not that chemistry will stay intact when Gwen replaces Miley next season, but I'm willing to give her a shot.  Maybe her relationship (which allegedly has already evolved into an engagement) with Blake will have refreshed her and actually make her start doing a better job.  Or maybe not.  We'll see.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Michel

[Magic]

14 hours ago, Michel said:

Unlike most, I enjoyed the season, though I admit I would've enjoyed it less than I ended up enjoying it if Adam had pulled out another win.

Makes me wonder how many people feel like that way about Adam winning.  I know I couldn't have enjoyed S7 anymore than when CWB beat all three of Adam's people in the final.  It is one of my all time favorite moments of the Voice.

But the Voice has been getting bland and repetitious and although I also thought Miley and Alicia brought some new energy, and seemed to try a lot harder than some other new judges to win, the focus on them took away from Blake/Adam, so it was kind of funny that Blake beat out two of Adam's contestants, but it wasn't hilarious like in S7. 

The Voice lost a lot for me in going to blinds, battles, and knockouts all being taped and the lives ending up being such a small percentage of the total show.  Plus the shows from T4 on have been a real let down the past few seasons, I think because when you have 8 (or more) people performing you have more chance of having some of them having good performances in comparison, even if it is different someones week to week, so it can make the singing seem better than it is.  But the sudden drop from 8 to T4  instead of highlighting the supposedly best singers, highlights the difficulty in performing one, much less multiple songs well in one night, so makes the singers seem like they are not as good as they used to seem they would be.

[hincandenza]

Delayed commenting; I didn't even watch the performances this week, just the finale- and for that, I fast-forwarded through most performances once they got started.

Enjoyed the Ferris Bueller skit to open the show; The Voice has some good light-hearted bits and the finale is usually the most fun.

Most performances were not good, and I FF'ed through them once I gave them a chance; was surprised to see myself letting the Sundance/Kiss number play out.  I think SH won simply because he had the most fun up there, like it wasn't even a competition.  And yes, I also absolutely thought Miley was about to flash her tits to KISS when she realized she was on TV; glad to see I wasn't the only one.  :)  Seriously though, between Our Band: House and the sound mix, everyone who sings on this show sounds awful.  The Voice truly is mirroring all the old complaints about AI, including the sound mix that drowns out singers.  Le sigh.

This season, if it accomplished nothing else, made me rethink of Miley as a kind of cool, weird, super sincere chick and I really hope she comes back.  And also, even- especially- without makeup, Alicia Keys is insanely gorgeous.  Without makeup, she looks like a devoted teacher at PS 108 in NYC, the kind of curly-haired woman earthy woman that every single divorced dad at that school is absolutely gaga over.  This is a compliment; anyone can look great with two pounds of professionally applied makeup, but AK looks amazing without.  I wanna retire to a Vermont farmhouse with her and can preserves for the winter. :)

Can't hate on the Sundance win; like I said, as much as anyone, he seemed to have the most fun with it and every time he'd move on he'd do that fist-pumping cheer as if he was the only person who wanted to be here.  I think I read in another part of the forum that some of the experienced people, like Austin, didn't want to win due to the contract requirements, but SH seemed to genuinely love performing.  It really stood out compared to other singers who seemed almost embarrassed to be on stage half the time.

Don't really have much else to say; I doubt I'll be back next season, although maybe just for the auditions.  I quit watching this show in the middle of season 8, and having come back I realize I should have left it that way.  The show itself- the format, the song selection, the sound mix- is a completely fucking mess as soon as the lives start.  Why give Burnett & Co. more money to pimp these tired old coaches on us, to the detriment of the contestants?  I remember when in seasons 1 and 2 of Rock Star, they made them write and perform original songs (remember the two-song sets they had to do in season 1, like a real show?!).  Seeing as I just watched a Google 2016 year-in-review video with a backing track of an original song by a child, Grace VanderWaal, it is utterly inexcusable to keep pushing this shitty, shitty, shitty, shitty, shitty... (many more shittys)... shitty karaoke show on us with middle-aged singers who are never allowed to play their own songs.  If your contestants can't write music, then find new ones.  If they can, then showcase that; no one cares about warmed over karaoke "artists" any more.  

Fuck off Burnett.

[Noreaster]

The format is what it is.  Has been that way since the beginning.  A few pre-taped rounds, a few live rounds, all cover songs except for the finals.  Ratings are still holding up, I think.

I might be taking a break myself though.  The show is fairly predictable with the veteran coaches dominating.  Not just winning, but Blake and Adam tend to keep their teams intact the longest.  Song choices have become more safe and boring.  When new coaches come in and try something different, it rarely works.  I think of Pharrell in his first season and Miley this season.  They have to eventually switch to safe and predicable...for example, Aaron Gibson singing "Everything I do, I do it for you" after doing more dark and obscure stuff.  Adam doesn't even take that many risks anymore.  He's a better coach now in terms of getting his contestants far, but I like the old Adam better when his contestants took more risks and therefore had the potential to deliver more memorable performances.  

[TheGreenKnight]

20 hours ago, Magic said:

Makes me wonder how many people feel like that way about Adam winning.  I know I couldn't have enjoyed S7 anymore than when CWB beat all three of Adam's people in the final.  It is one of my all time favorite moments of the Voice.

I don't like Adam, but I don't like Blake either. I was glad to see Adam lose in S7 after he screwed over Damien--but I thought CWB was worse than Sundance.

[saber5055]

I'm rooting for the contestants I like, not the judges. Who is coached by whom has no bearing on the person I'd like to win. This year I didn't care who won really, since unless the winner gets some big cash advance, the other people do just fine, IF they are talented. Pairing the contestants with professional singers demonstrates a stark contrast in talent for the most part. I think some contestant is good, then she's paired with John Legend and she can't get off my tv fast enough. I'll miss Miley next season. She was fun and funny, a breath of fresh air. Gwen ... gah. Get prepared for all sorts of Blake "she's your honey" jokes.

[Guest]

Finally watched.  I liked Josh dropping his mic and catching it on his guitar.  It reminded me of Caleb on Idol dropping one mid-song and him having to like dive under the drum set to retrieve it.  The little things...

Sundance's music wasn't my thing but good for him.  He did seem the most genuine and relatable.  

I think We would've done better if we'd gotten to know her more, though it's good this show lets the contestant reveal or not reveal personal stuff as the singer wants.  I just never understood the weird, manly styling with the heavy eyebrows and stuff.  It was a little offputting.  Or did she address it in a segment I didn't watch?  Apparently I missed a whole Garth Brooks episode.  

Has anyone ever seen Austin's ears?  I was always mesmerized by his hair always hiding them entirely.  

[Ohwell]

23 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I think We would've done better if we'd gotten to know her more, though it's good this show lets the contestant reveal or not reveal personal stuff as the singer wants.  I just never understood the weird, manly styling with the heavy eyebrows and stuff.  It was a little offputting.  Or did she address it in a segment I didn't watch?  Apparently I missed a whole Garth Brooks episode.  

Yeah, I hated to be shallow and mean but I just didn't "get" her look.  I liked her singing but I just couldn't get past her appearance.  I think it was mainly those eyebrows.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Yeah, I hated to be shallow and mean but I just didn't "get" her look.  I liked her singing but I just couldn't get past her appearance.  I think it was mainly those eyebrows.

Yeah, I like both androgynous looks and menswear inspired looks on women.  But when you pair it with Groucho Marx eyebrows on a teen girl, it's a little odd.  I thought the show's stylists would've toned down those eyebrows but since they didn't I guess We saw them as non-negotiable.  But she wore a gorgeous, red, feminine gown at the finale, too.  

Don't Rain On My Parade will always be Rachel Berry on Glee, to me.  And while We's voice is really nice, I don't think anyone compares to either Barbra or Lea Michelle, just in having both the technical skill and a beautiful tone.  

[Noreaster]

Sundance did a bunch of press following his win.  Here are a few articles.  As far as song choice tidbits, his strategy was to mainly do songs by female artists.  It also sounds like it was his idea to do his father's song "Treat Her Right" for the duet with Blake.  Meanwhile, it was Blake's idea to do a gospel song...they considered "Happy Day" but eventually went with "Me and Jesus". 

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/12/14/sundance-head-voice-winner-blake-shelton-friendship

http://www.rollingstone.com/country/features/sundance-head-on-winning-the-voice-stapleton-comparisons-w456004

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-voice/the-voice-interview-sundance-h-62516.aspx

http://idolchatteryd.com/sundance-head-9-years-of-life-made-all-the-difference-on-the-voice/

Here's a brief interview with Billy.  He said he was glad he didn't win because that would mean less freedom.  I don't know if I buy that...onscreen, it seemed to me that he really wanted to win.  

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20161216/billy-gilman-believes-he-may-be-star-once-again

Edited December 19, 2016 by Noreaster

[Muffyn]

On ‎12‎/‎14‎/‎2016 at 11:03 AM, Padma said:

Josh, to me, is like so much of contemporary country music and I'm so over it.  (I'd love to know what Blake really thought of the song. The praise seemed a stretch, as if he really wanted to say, "Spend some time in small town America. It's not all "church and bake sales and ribbons for the troops" Or, since Josh if I'm remembering right, was from coal country, why not write about what you know rather than what you think America wants to hear?)

He could have had a news-based take on small town America and sung about opiate addiction, lack of available work/opportunities and reliance on food banks.  Perhaps he could have focused on the lack of jobs in the coal industry and a movement to automation.  Too cynical for the market?  It is always funny to me how country songs often try to sell this idealized version of small town America.  Of course, the reality is somewhere between what Josh was talking about and the news version I offered.  Also, small towns aren't a monolith, but they are too often in country music.  So Josh was really playing to that particular part of the country base.  His song sounded like a mix of catch phrases all blended together into a bland yet generally not offensive song.

[hincandenza]

57 minutes ago, Muffyn said:

He could have had a news-based take on small town America and sung about opiate addiction, lack of available work/opportunities and reliance on food banks.  Perhaps he could have focused on the lack of jobs in the coal industry and a movement to automation.  Too cynical for the market?  It is always funny to me how country songs often try to sell this idealized version of small town America.  Of course, the reality is somewhere between what Josh was talking about and the news version I offered.  Also, small towns aren't a monolith, but they are too often in country music.  So Josh was really playing to that particular part of the country base.  His song sounded like a mix of catch phrases all blended together into a bland yet generally not offensive song.

Yeah, the funny thing is country music used to be all about that stuff: the poverty and desperation and heartbreak of Appalachia or the rural life.  You don't have to look any further than this season's multiple cameos by Dolly Parton.  It's the cynical pop-infused country that most people say they can't stand, with the incessant references to small-town "monolithic" cliches.  I'm reminded of Bo Burnham's great country song bit in his last stand-up show: 

 

or this mash-up from a couple of years ago showing how identical and interchangeable radio country is (including our own Blake Shelton!):

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by hincandenza
Fixed formatting

[Padma]

10 hours ago, Muffyn said:

He could have had a news-based take on small town America and sung about opiate addiction, lack of available work/opportunities and reliance on food banks.  Perhaps he could have focused on the lack of jobs in the coal industry and a movement to automation.  Too cynical for the market?  It is always funny to me how country songs often try to sell this idealized version of small town America.  Of course, the reality is somewhere between what Josh was talking about and the news version I offered.  Also, small towns aren't a monolith, but they are too often in country music.  So Josh was really playing to that particular part of the country base.  His song sounded like a mix of catch phrases all blended together into a bland yet generally not offensive song.

I'm so on board for your song! lol  It's funny to me how Blake seems to miss "outlaw country"--Waylon, Willie, Merle, Johnny--and gets excited when he thinks someone will bring back classic country--and infuse it with a more soulful sound--and yet so many of his own recordings are such treacle.  I'm glad that Chris Stapleton is making waves and I actually have hope for Sundance to do something, too.  I liked how Blake addressed the record company in his speech after the show--really pleading with them to put some marketing behind Sundance's album and promising "I'll do all I can to help promote it."  That should count for something--hopefully!  I think Sundance has a lot of potential. 

[simplyme]

On 12/14/2016 at 3:02 PM, MaryPatShelby said:

This was my complaint about her original song on Monday night, too.  It was an unfamiliar song, and all I heard was garble.  I don't want to have to watch singing with subtitles on!

I actually was in the next room instead of watching the tv, but I didn't have any problems understanding We as she sang. What annoyed the heck out of me was how repetitive the song was, but I feel like I say that a lot nowadays. Sigh.

[Noreaster]

Here's the transcript of Sundance's conference call.  It's a little repetitive if you read the earlier linked articles (I think some pulled quotes from this call), but there actually is a lot more info here about things behind the scenes.  One of the more interesting things to me (which I copy and paste below) is the discussion on Blake's strategy of doing a gospel song in order to appeal to what they believe is the main viewer demographic of the show...middle America.

http://starrymag.com/sundance-head-the-voice/

Quote

Q) I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about song choice. Were most of the songs that you wound up singing your idea, or where the songs you were given were there any you were a little bit skeptical of? Just talk a little bit about that if you would?

 

Sundance Head:    Sure, most of the time they were my ideas. I can tell you that “Me and Jesus” was Blake’s idea. He said hey guy – well the song per se wasn’t but his idea to do a gospel song was totally his idea. He said Sundance I think right now is a good time for us to do a gospel song. I think people want to hear one right now. There’s a lot going on in America right now and people are divided. And they don’t really I think even know why anymore. And I think we just need to bring it back around and try to really have a positive message about love, and unity and, you know, faith.  And so I immediately said well that’s a great idea. And the original song that we were going to do was a different song let me see here when Jesus – oh “Oh Happy Day” was actually the one we were going to do first. But the song only had a verse and a chorus and it would just repeat and repeat and repeat. So I told Blake I said man I’m not sure that that’s the right one. So we ended up going with “ No One” by Alicia Keys that week which was the backup song for me. That’s the one I wanted to do but Blake wanted to do the gospel. So we were going to do “Oh Happy Day” but it didn’t work out because the arrangement just – there wasn’t enough stuff going on. It was too simple. So we ended up doing “No One” by Alicia Keys. And that song really changed everything for me. So then the very next week we went in to revisit the gospel theme. And we agreed to do “ Me and Jesus.” I took it to my room and I immediately heard a bluegrass barnburner revival type of arrangement on it. I recorded it, emailed it over to him said what do you think? And he goes man I think it’s great. We got with the band. We went over it. They equally liked it. And then, you know, the rest is history.  I told Blake from then on I said I know what we’re going to do man. Every song that we have from now on till the end of time – till the end of the show as long as I’m on it we’re going to go out and we’re going to sing songs that have positive messages about unity, love, respect, you know, anything that has to do with just really good vibes. And so I knew immediately what kind of ride we were going to take. And so that – so it really changed everything for us I think. And it was a message that kind of stumbled upon us by accident but we immediately recognized it. And he as a coach immediately saw the demographic and knew that, that may be the demographic that we could win. Of course middle America probably votes the most, you know, because East Coast is busy and West Coast is late. I mean that’s a no-brainer really. So that’s just one of those things that Blake knew. He just knew that. And his intuitions were right. And that’s one of the reasons why he’s the most winning coach of The Voice. I really felt like just the Holy Ghost on that song man. I mean I joked about that. I wanted to have a religious mosh pit but I felt like I was fired up man. I mean I was really fired up. I was shaking a little bit. I really felt moved during the performance.

[Noreaster]

Here's another interview with Billy.  Some more song tidbits: "My Way" was Adam's idea. "All I Ask" was Billy's choice. The producers wanted Billy to do a Celine Dion song and they suggested some of her more well-known songs; Billy chose "I Surrender" instead.  Adam and Billy texted back and forth on the original song until Adam finally texted him an audio clip of the Maroon 5 song.  

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/exclusive-billy-gilman-talks-the-voice---it-was-an-amazing-platform-but-i-didnt-want-win-due-possible-nightmare-stories-21105.php

http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/exclusive-billy-gilman-on-the-voice-i-knew-i-was-destined-sing-pop-at-young-age-but-no-one-believed-it-21114.php