S12.E09: The Battles Premiere

[Vyk]

From TV Guide:

Quote

Guest mentors Luke Bryan, Celine Dion, John Legend, and DJ Khaled help prepare the vocalists as the battle rounds begin.  The coaches have chances to steal artists from opposing teams.

The Battles begin with this two-hour episode.

Edited March 18, 2017 by Vyk

[Jabu]

To remind you, here are the team rosters/cheat sheets going into the Battles:

Team Adam
Johnny Hayes
Mark Isaiah
Jesse Larson
Julien Martinez
Kawan DeBose
Taylor Alexander
Gaby Borromeo
Josh West
Malik Davage
Hanna Eyre
Nala Price
Sheena Brook

Team Gwen
JChosen
Stephanie Rice
Savannah Leighton
Brandon Royal
Troy Ramey
Aaliyah Rose
Johnny Gates
Caroline Sky
Kenny P
Davina Leone
Sammie Zonana
Jozy Bernadette

Team Alicia
Anatalia Villaranda
Felicia Temple
Autumn Turner
Lilli Passero
Quizz Swanigan
Jack Cassidy
Missy Robertson
Lauryn Judd
R.J. Collins
Hunter Plake
Vanessa Ferguson
Chris Blue

Team Blake
Lauren Duski
Brennley Brown
Aliyah Moulden
Ashley Levin
Casi Joy
Micah Tryba
Josh Hoyer
Enid Ortiz
TSoul
Andrea Thomas
Valerie Ponzio
Dawson Coyle

[Jextella]

Anyone know if Kenny P get stolen? I left the room and missed the results of his battle.

[Mindthinkr]

Wow. I am glued to this season. I think these are some of the best battles I have witnessed!!  

[Dots And Stripes]

I felt tonight was a good argument against lowering the age of eligibility for this show, yet one of the youngsters got stolen and another won out right. Both I think would have benefited from trying out a few years down the line.

[Valny]

2 hours ago, Jextella said:

Anyone know if Kenny P get stolen? I left the room and missed the results of his battle.

No he wasn't and I was shocked and saddened by that. That guy has an amazing voice, how does he just walk without someone grabbing him?!! Great battle with both guys though.

[Jabu]

Current team rosters/cheat sheets:

Team Adam
Mark Isaiah (defeated Gaby Borromeo)

(Still Waiting)
Johnny Hayes
Jesse Larson
Julien Martinez
Kawan DeBose
Taylor Alexander
Josh West
Malik Davage
Hanna Eyre
Nala Price
Sheena Brook

Team Gwen
JChosen (defeated Kenny P)
Brennley Brown (stolen from Team Blake)

(Still Waiting)
Stephanie Rice
Savannah Leighton
Brandon Royal
Troy Ramey
Aaliyah Rose
Johnny Gates
Caroline Sky
Davina Leone
Sammie Zonana
Jozy Bernadette

Team Alicia
Anatalia Villaranda (defeated Missy Robertson)
Quizz Swanigan (defeated Felicia Temple)
Ashley Levin (stolen from Team Blake)

(Still Waiting)
Autumn Turner
Lilli Passero
Jack Cassidy
Lauryn Judd
R.J. Collins
Hunter Plake
Vanessa Ferguson
Chris Blue

Team Blake
Lauren Duski (defeated Brennley Brown)
Casi Joy (defeated Ashley Levin)
Felicia Temple (stolen from Team Alicia)

(Still Waiting)
Aliyah Moulden
Micah Tryba
Josh Hoyer
Enid Ortiz
TSoul
Andrea Thomas
Valerie Ponzio
Dawson Coyle

Names in bold indicate artists who've newly battled and stayed on their teams or been stolen by another coach.  An asterisk indicates that this artist was montaged.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Jabu

[Vyk]

Well, not the best song choices for the Battles, but at least the performances were actually pretty good.  You get a good feeling that all of these people really do want it, and they proved it in spades!

Brennley vs. Lauren: I thought that they both sounded just beautiful on the song.  There is no doubt in my mind that Lauren had the edge, so I was happy that Blake deemed her the winner, but I hope people's doubts about Brennley have been eased, since she really delivered, as well, despite only being fourteen (and then fifteen on the day the Battle was taped).  She earned that double steal.  Interesting that she picked Gwen, but given her fascination for imposing her visions of younger girl performers on younger girl artists, she might've made the right choice . . . if Gwen doesn't toss her in the trash in the Knockouts.

JChosen vs. Kenny: Another fine performance.  The song itself wasn't the most exciting, but their voices were still an interesting contrast to one another.  I might've also chosen JChosen, though, because his control was exceptional.  He knew when to turn on the power and when to dial it back, while Kenny seemed to be more about his power.  I don't think there was any time he ever dialed it back.  So I think Gwen chose right here.  Plus, I bet she felt some pressure not to repeat her debacle with Lyndsey Elm three seasons ago and toss one of her four-chair-turns.  Still, I was a bit shocked that Kenny wasn't stolen since he really deserved a steal.  On a side note, JChosen's reaction to seeing Céline might be my favorite reaction to seeing a Battle mentor since Shalyah Fearing and Tamar Davis tried so hard not to cry upon seeing Patti LaBelle back in season ten.

Anatalia vs. Missy: I never would've expected voices like those to come out of young women who look like them.  But that was a damn fine job done by both of them.  Personally, I might've preferred Missy, since I felt like her voice was stronger.  But I can see Alicia's reasoning for picking Anatalia.  Her stage presence is just off the charts.  My eyes immediately go to her, and they never went to Missy.  Shame that Blake didn't steal her, though, as I didn't see Adam or Gwen going for her.

Gaby vs. Mark: I don't think their voices went as well together as the other pairings of tonight, but it was still a decent enough job by them.  But when Adam kept talking about how he could hear Mark on modern-day radio . . . come on.  It was obvious that he was going to win this one.  I can't really feel all that sorry for Gaby, though.  Even on her Twitter, she admitted that she was well aware of Adam's tendency to favor his bromances and his men, in general, over his women.  Yet she picked him, anyway?  Sorry, girl.  If you could pick him knowing what you risked having happen to you, then you reaped what you sowed here.  As for Mark, he had the highest number of YouTube views and studio version viewings for his Blind for quite some time, so . . . he might actually turn out being Adam's main horse this season, even more so than Josh West, his only four-chair-turn.

Felicia vs. Quizz: I was shocked at how well Quizz not only kept up with Felicia, but almost seemed to surpass her at times.  Together, they did an amazing job, and their voices melded fantastically.  I figured that Alicia would be more intrigued by the show's first thirteen-year-old, so that entire time, I feared for Felicia.  I am at least glad that Blake decided to give her another chance.  Let's see if she can do a better job in his team rather than Alicia's.

Ashley vs. Casi: Blake's team was firing on all cylinders tonight, because these girls also did an excellent job!  Their voices didn't just meld well together, but they also sounded similar and almost identical during certain passages of the song!  It's clear they're both going to find great places in country if they hit it big.  I might've given the edge to Casi since she was a four-chair-turn compared to Ashley being a three-chair-turn, but they both were wonderful.  And I hope that whoever said that Ashley deserved no chairs regrets that now, because she certainly earned every turn she got.  She earned the triple steal, as well.  Gwen or Alicia would've been right for her entirely given what Adam does to his women.  I hope Alicia knows what she's doing, though, having not worked with a country singer before.

John, Céline, DJ Khaled, and Luke all gave good advice, I thought.  None of them felt useless.  I hope this continues throughout the Battles going forward.

So it looks like the six Battles tomorrow night are as follows in the order I saw them in the preview: Andrea Thomas vs. Micah Tryba from Team Blake, Johnny Gates vs. Sammie Zonana from Team Gwen, Aliyah Moulden vs. Dawson Coyle from Team Blake, Chris Blue vs. R.J. Collins from Team Alicia, Aaliyah Rose vs. Savannah Leighton from Team Gwen, and Josh West vs. Nala Price from Team Adam.  However, as tomorrow is only a one-hour episode, we're only going to be seeing three, while the other three get the dreaded montage.  Johnny vs. Sammie, Aliyah vs. Dawson, and Chris vs. R.J. have made the promo rounds all throughout the days leading up to the Battles, so I wager these three are shown, while Andrea vs. Micah, Aaliyah vs. Savannah, and Josh vs. Nala all get montaged.  But we'll see if I'm right.

Great episode, and a great start to the Battles!

Edited March 21, 2017 by Vyk

[PhD-Purgatory15]

If anyone needs one more hit of the Voice, they've "leaked" tomorrow's RJ vs. Chris battle to youtube.

So happy, that Blake kept Lauren. She is easily still one of my 2 or 3 favorites from the blinds. She has such a textured voice, something that Luke said (comparing her to LBT's Karen Fairchild) really stayed with me. I think her voice is sort of where female country is trending. Brennley held her own, her facial expressions got kind of manic as they amped it up towards the end though. Not shocked she got stolen (1st battle shown tends to have that happen)...and I do think she's got a chance to make it through KO's on Team Gwen now.

Kenny P, I knew Kenny was screwed during the package when Celine basically treated him as an afterthought to JChosen. There was no way they were showing steals back to back, and there was no way Gwen wasn't advancing JChosen. Thing was, I think Kenny absolutely TKO'ed JChosen in that battle and it wasn't even that close. Just like Gabby choosing Adam, I feel like Kenny P probably has huge buyers remorse that he didn't roll the dice with Blake...

Anatalia and Missy. I do wonder if Blake and Adam were trying to bait Alicia into choosing Missy so they could swoop and steal Anatalia. Tightrope is one of those party trick kind of songs (not quite Snow's Informer but moving in that direction)...so we basically know Anatalia can do one frantic style of singing pretty proficiently and we'll learn if she can do anything else in the KOs. Was pretty confident that Missy was fodder even if she'd picked Blake....but she gave a good accounting of herself.

Gabby and Mark I'm with Vyk....Gabby has no one to blame but herself. You simply do not pick Adam if you a female contemporary pop singer (I think Hannah is probably doomed too). He will pair you up with one of his "bros" and eliminate you even when are at least marginally better than your opponent (even with Blake's nonsense comment about Mark getting the syncopation better). Hell he eliminated Juhi when she went up against James Wolpert who literally died on stage and Adam admitted as much. This one annoyed me almost as much Kenny P's unceremonious exit.

Only caught the last two via youtube. Quizz does nothing for me (I thought he was off, badly in sections of Titanium). Felicia, really surprised that Alicia thought so little of her based on their interactions during her blind. Don't really have high hopes for her on Team Blake now. Ashley seriously dialed up the twang in her voice, that's not really what drew me to her voice in the blind....maybe she felt like she had to fight fire with fire against Casi who clearly seems like this seasons Emily Ann or Mary Sarah, or the Steel Magnolia girl for Blake. Part of me is glad that Ashley gets a second shot, but part of me also figures I'll be bummed when there's like 1 steal left and still three or four people I'm at least mildly rooting for who I fear for their battle pairings...

[Vyk]

22 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Kenny P, I knew Kenny was screwed during the package when Celine basically treated him as an afterthought to JChosen. There was no way they were showing steals back to back, and there was no way Gwen wasn't advancing JChosen. Thing was, I think Kenny absolutely TKO'ed JChosen in that battle and it wasn't even that close. Just like Gabby choosing Adam, I feel like Kenny P probably has huge buyers remorse that he didn't roll the dice with Blake...

Eh. . . . Eh. . . . I think Gwen chose right here.  Kenny was excellent, but he was also "on" the entire performance.  He just belted at a volume of ten so much with no use of dynamics or dialing back at spots.  JChosen at least exercised control and knew when to put it out there and when to dial it back.  I think that was what swayed Gwen.

But it is what it is.  Kenny should've been stolen, for sure.  I can't believe Blake didn't try to go for him.

Edited March 21, 2017 by Vyk

[PhD-Purgatory15]

IMO, JChosen was way too tentative, just like he was coming across in their mentoring sessions. He wasn't "on" enough during the song and that was the problem for me at least.

And because Kenny had so much flavor and flair in his voice, IMO he didn't come off as one note or one dimensional any more so than Anatalia or Casi who won their respective battles. Also if you're making make me pay my own $$ to see one or the other of them at a show, I'm picking Kenny every single time. YMMV, of course :-)

I also think your original thought that she felt like she couldn't burn a 4 chair turn after doing it to Lindsay Elm was probably spot on (I think this bodes well for Troy's chances too)...

[waving feather]

Lauren has such a lovely way of singing and performing on stage that she just draws me in when she is singing. She can really take the song to an emotional place; even when she was singing in rehearsal, I had chills just listening to her. Brennley is really talented as well, but if you ask me whose record I will buy at the end of this, Lauren for sure. She sounds a bit like Faith Hill. Brennley will do well on Gwen's team because Gwen is all about cute youngsters she can play around with.

I thought Quizz's voice was excruciating bad. My ears have not recovered. It's not like Felicia is that great but Quizz is so bad I wonder how he won. I wish Blake has saved his steal for someone better. Gaby would have been a great steal, but oh well, she chose Adam over him, so whatevs.

From those eliminated, Kenny and Missy both have amazing voices.

Another one of my favorites is Mark. He is so good and natural. I love him. Lauren/Mark Top 2 would be a dream.

Edited March 21, 2017 by waving feather

[Vyk]

2 hours ago, waving feather said:

I love him.

. . . Why?  He seems (and sounds) pretty plain to me.

2 hours ago, waving feather said:

Lauren/Mark Top 2 would be a dream.

. . . Really?  No, thanks.  I like Lauren a lot, but the last thing we (and the show, in general) need is yet another predictable Blake/Adam top two.  Time for a new coach to take the top spot.

[waving feather]

31 minutes ago, Vyk said:

. . . Why?  He seems (and sounds) pretty plain to me.

I just like his easy stage presence and vocals. He is not a try-hard on stage. Even when Gaby was singing, he was very comfortable and natural.

To me, it doesn't matter who the winning coaches are. I like Lauren, Mark and Johnny Gates so far.

[Newberry]

Is it me, or is this the first season, where no one contestant has been deemed to be "the chosen one" right off the bat? For the first time I feel like everyone is on equal footing.

And please, if Gwen could just lay off the "I'm a girl, you're a girl" thing...

[ennui]

I wish they could do a better job of song choices. Every season is like listening to the radio.

[saber5055]

As for Gwen overdoing the "I'm a girl thing," I did get a kick out of Adam saying he is a girl on stage too.

Even Blake didn't have a come back for that.

[Sugar]

Quiz sounds like he's going through puberty. He has that awkward in-between voice that men have right before their voice cracks. For that reason, I didn't care for his performance and I wouldnt have picked him. Felicia's voice is just silk. Happy Blake stole her, and I think she'll do well on his team. Hopefully he doesn't give her dumb cheesy 80's songs like he did Kourtney last season.

Brenley looks like Kesha to me, and I thought her performance was a bit frantic. I also find that kind of voice grating, and I thought Lauren was the clear winner there - she has such a mellow tone and lovely lower register.

I was beyond frustrated with the Missy/Anatolia pairing, which was so obviously telegraphing an Anatolia win - especially with that song choice. Look, I get that coaches have their favorites going into it, and that some people are fodder, but at least make it seem like it's somewhat balanced and fair. Missy never had a shot, despite her being the clear winner based on voice and performance alone (in my opinion). She did all the heavy lifting on that song, had a lovely tone, and really did the best she could. It was an annoying song choice and got a bit shrill, but I don't blame her for that. I'm over the cutesy tweeny bopper thing, so Anatolia can bounce anytime - I find her very shouty.

I'm not even old, but who the hell is DJ Khaled?!?! My bf and I both had to google him. I feel he contributed very little of substance.

Lastly, CELINE IS A GODDESS. I've always appreciated her fun-loving dorkiness, and people can make fun of her accent and chest thumping all they want, but she's an absolutely incredible talent. I loved that j-chosen was so starstruck by her - I feel like any real singer should be.

P.S Whenever any of the coaches/mentors sing riffs on the show it makes me miss Christina. She would belt out a note or two and just put everyone to shame. Adam's Happy Birthday was embarrassing - as was the little phrase we heard Gwen sing during the auditions.

 

[Wings]

Gwen's hair.  Come on.  I am not fond of her to begin with.  Do they wear the same look all through the battle rounds?   Say no.  

[viajero]

I agree with Vyk that though the song selection could have been better, the performances were all rather good.  Having said that, I would probably rate JChosen vs Kenny P and Mark vs Gabby slightly below the other four battles. 

I'm fine with the winners of all the battles, with the exception of Felicia vs. Quizz, which I thought she clearly won.  I also think that all three stolen artists merited their steals, though out of personal taste, I might have liked to see Missy go through instead of Ashley.  If I had to rank the individual performances, it would be something like this:

1. Lauren Duski

2. Antatalia Villaranda

3. Casi Joy

4. Felicia Temple

5. Brennley Brown

6. Missy Robertson

7. Ashley Levine

8. JChosen

9. Mark Isaiah

10. Kenny P

11. Gaby Borromeo

12. Quizz Swanigan

The biggest surprise for me was Brennley, who has a much better voice than I remembered from the Blind Auditions, even if her inexperience came through at times in her performance.

All in all, this episode gave me a little more hope for the season, since I was less than impressed with much of the Blind Auditions.

[kathyk24]

48 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Gwen's hair.  Come on.  I am not fond of her to begin with.  Do they wear the same look all through the battle rounds?   Say no.  

Gwen looks like she wants to be I dream of Jeannie  and it isn't working

[Vyk]

Just now, kathyk24 said:

Gwen looks like she wants to be I dream of Jeannie  and it isn't working

I thought she looks more like she's gearing up to be in Mortal Kombat or Soul Caliber.

[kathyk24]

8 hours ago, Newberry said:

Is it me, or is this the first season, where no one contestant has been deemed to be "the chosen one" right off the bat? For the first time I feel like everyone is on equal footing.

And please, if Gwen could just lay off the "I'm a girl, you're a girl" thing...

I argree that there is no clear winner which I think makes this season interesting.

[bluepiano]

22 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I felt tonight was a good argument against lowering the age of eligibility for this show, yet one of the youngsters got stolen and another won out right. Both I think would have benefited from trying out a few years down the line.

I posted earlier that the lower age minimum was going to ruin the show. Well, maybe that's going too far, but I think we've already seen it have an impact. I think that the 14 year old girl who got stolen was just not that good (yet), and better "grown-up" singers didn't get stolen. I was okay with Quizz winning his battle, but I think he's being treated as a novelty. So hard to compare a 13 year old to an adult.

If these "kids" get to the live shows they could be hard to stop. America loves the little ones. Look at past seasons of Idol and America's Got Talent.

Edited March 22, 2017 by bluepiano

[Dots And Stripes]

39 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

I posted earlier that the lower age minimum was going to ruin the show. Well, maybe that's going too far, but I think we've already seen it have an impact. I think that the 14 year old girl who got stolen was just not that good (yet), and better "grown-up" singers didn't get stolen. I was okay with Quizz winning his battle, but I think he's being treated as a novelty. So hard to compare a 13 year old to an adult.

If these "kids" get to the live shows they could be hard to stop. America loves the little ones. Look at past seasons of Idol and America's Got Talent.

Little do they know but the teen girls are also competing to be Gwen's pretend daughter. She is obsessed with these teens. 

[Noreaster]

I thought there were a lot of mismatches this episode.  When they pair a youngster with an older contestant, it feels awkward and don't really make for entertaining performances. They felt like parent/child duets.  

I disagreed with most decisions.  I liked Lauren's blind audition but thought she was underwhelming here.  I preferred Brennley.  I also preferred the other losers including Kenny P,  Felicia, and Missy.  For the Mark/Gaby and Casi/Ashley battles, I thought these were the better pairings of the night in terms of matching genre and age and I also agreed with the outcomes. No one was a standout though.  

Edited March 22, 2017 by Noreaster

[Jillybean]

I'm new to The Voice and glad to have read this thread because at least it provides some explanation for Mark being chosen over Gaby. All this talk of Mark having something "special," and to me, he sounds like hundreds of other bland pop stars out there with nothing setting him apart.

I didn't understand the choice of Quizz, either.  Maybe in a few years..?

Then again, I have no idea what happens to the winner of The Voice. Record deal? I guess I should do my homework because I also don't know who any of the past winners are or how successful they have been.

[Noreaster]

3 hours ago, Jillybean said:

I'm new to The Voice and glad to have read this thread because at least it provides some explanation for Mark being chosen over Gaby. All this talk of Mark having something "special," and to me, he sounds like hundreds of other bland pop stars out there with nothing setting him apart.

I didn't understand the choice of Quizz, either.  Maybe in a few years..?

Then again, I have no idea what happens to the winner of The Voice. Record deal? I guess I should do my homework because I also don't know who any of the past winners are or how successful they have been.

If you're referring to how others claim that Adam always picks the guys over the gals, it doesn't really hold true if you look at the history of the show.  Adam has advanced plenty of women.  In the end, all this is subjective anyway. I personally thought Mark was better than Gaby in that performance.

The winner gets a record deal plus a cash prize (I think $100k).  However, there has been a severe lack of record label support for most winners.  You can probably find more information by reading the other threads on this board (like the media thread, "past winners", "past contestants", how to fix the voice, etc). 

[Vyk]

1 hour ago, Noreaster said:

If you're referring to how others claim that Adam always picks the guys over the gals, it doesn't really hold true if you look at the history of the show.  Adam has advanced plenty of women.

Yeah . . . no.  Seasons one through six, sure.  Seasons seven and on, he's been very much "bros before hoes."  Since then, only very few women on his team have been advanced over men.  They usually have to rely on being paired against other women to even have a shot.

For the record, I, too, thought Mark outperformed Gaby.  But I think Adam would have picked him even if he hadn't outperformed her.  Because . . . Adam.

Edited March 22, 2017 by Vyk

[bluepiano]

21 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Little do they know but the teen girls are also competing to be Gwen's pretend daughter. She is obsessed with these teens. 

Yeah, I remember in the blinds that her pitch to one of the teen girls struck me as kind of creepy. It was like, "I love you, I want to possess you," and she sounded desperate. If I was the girl's parent I would've been screaming, no, don't pick Gwen!

Edited March 22, 2017 by bluepiano

[Noreaster]

1 hour ago, Vyk said:

Yeah . . . no.  Seasons one through six, sure.  Seasons seven and on, he's been very much "bros before hoes."  Since then, only very few women on his team have been advanced over men.  They usually have to rely on being paired against other women to even have a shot.

For the record, I, too, thought Mark outperformed Gaby.  But I think Adam would have picked him even if he hadn't outperformed her.  Because . . . Adam.

Like I said, the history of the show.  Didn't know you just wanted to look back a few seasons.  And if you agree that Mark was better, then it seems weird to also suggest that Adam only picked him because he was male.  I mean, isn't talent supposed to matter?  Maybe the males were just generally stronger than the females in those pairings.  

[Noreaster]

I was curious so I just checked the battle round data on wikipedia going back to season 7.  The male/female ratio doesn't really seem that significant to me given the small sample size.  

Edited to add data from earlier seasons.  Looks like Adam pretty much went with the females then. Also I didn't look up season 1 because I didn't watch so I can't tell genders.  

Winners in male/female battle pairings on Adam's team

Season 2: 0 males, 1 female

Season 3: 0 males, 2 females

Season 4: 0 males, 1 female

Season 5: 0 males, 2 females

Season 6: 0 males, 2 females (and then for battle round #2 this season: 1 male, 0 female)

Season 7: 1 male, 1 female

Season 8: 0 males, 1 female

Season 9: 2 males, 1 female duo

Season 10: 2 males, 1 female

Season 11: 3 males, 1 female

Edited March 23, 2017 by Noreaster
Added more data

[waving feather]

32 minutes ago, Noreaster said:

I was curious so I just checked the battle round data on wikipedia going back to season 7.  The male/female ratio doesn't really seem that significant to me given the small sample size.  

Winners in male/female pairings on Adam's team

Season 7: 1 male, 1 female

Season 8: 0 males, 1 female

Season 9: 2 males, 1 female duo

Season 10: 2 males, 1 female

Season 11: 3 males, 1 female

The sample size is small, but it is still 8:5 male to female winners. How about the knockouts?

Anyway, I think most of the contestants have wised up to his ways as well, since during the blinds this season, he only had 4 female artists on his team.

[Noreaster]

5 minutes ago, waving feather said:

The sample size is small, but it is still 8:5 male to female winners. How about the knockouts?

Anyway, I think most of the contestants have wised up to his ways as well, since during the blinds this season, he only had 4 female artists on his team.

I just added more data.  I'll look up knockouts later tonight or tomorrow. 

[SnarkyTart]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 5:15 PM, viajero said:

All in all, this episode gave me a little more hope for the season, since I was less than impressed with much of the Blind Auditions.

I still haven't found anyone who interested me very much.  I hope that changes in one of the upcoming battle rounds, or it's going to be heavy slogging for me to keep watching. 

[Isle Of Why]

41 minutes ago, SnarkyTart said:

I still haven't found anyone who interested me very much.  I hope that changes in one of the upcoming battle rounds, or it's going to be heavy slogging for me

I think it's been heavy enough slogging already for me to bug out until the finale. Nobody has grabbed me at all in the blinds or the first few battles.

[SnarkyTart]

13 minutes ago, Isle Of Why said:

I think it's been heavy enough slogging already for me to bug out until the finale. Nobody has grabbed me at all in the blinds or the first few battles.

I might be right behind you with my bug out bag soon enough.  Two I was somewhat interested in from the blinds, Casi Joy and Chris Blue, already bored the cat snot out of me during the battle rounds.  I think there may be one, or possibly two, left that I was a bit interested in from the blinds who haven't had battle rounds yet. 

[Noreaster]

Here is the data on Adam's knockouts.  I don't see this overwhelming preference for "bros" that others claim.  

Winners in male/female knockout pairings on Adam's team

Season 2: no knockout round

Season 3: 0 males, 1 female

Season 4: 0 males, 3 females

Season 5: 2 males, 1 female

Season 6:  no knockout round (there was a second battle round instead)

Season 7: 2 males, 0 female

Season 8: 1 male, 2 females

Season 9: 1 male, 1 female

Season 10: 1 male, 0 female

Season 11: 0 males, 1 female

Edited March 23, 2017 by Noreaster

[Noreaster]

2 hours ago, waving feather said:

Anyway, I think most of the contestants have wised up to his ways as well, since during the blinds this season, he only had 4 female artists on his team.

Based on the data, the whole idea that Adam screws over females seems unwarranted.  

As far as the uneven gender splits this season for both Blake and Adam, I think it might be more genre-related than anything else.  Blake with a lot of country females and Adam with pop/rock guys? 

[JMarie99]

I have to revise my opinion on the lowering of the age thing. While Lauren deserved to win her battle against Brennley (Lauren is one of my favorites this season), Brennley deserved a second chance, and I'm glad she got stolen - despite her age. 

Quizz, on the other hand - I just don't get it. His voice is so nasally, and sometimes sounds off-pitch to me, and he throws in all kinds of runs whenever he feels like it - but that's okay because he's ONLY 13!! I'm glad Adam and Blake made reference to the age thing - Adam saying "how many times are you going to hear that?" And Blake saying that Felicia was once 13 too. So far, during the first two battle rounds, Quizz is the one I really don't think deserves to be there. I'm so glad Felicia got stolen - she definitely deserved it. 

[MaryPatShelby]

On 3/22/2017 at 9:17 PM, Isle Of Why said:

I think it's been heavy enough slogging already for me to bug out until the finale. Nobody has grabbed me at all in the blinds or the first few battles.

I think I'm going to bug out until fall.  I'm watching these battles now and I wonder, as I have in a few past seasons, when screaming became equal to singing.  What happened to nuance, dynamics, etc?  But maybe it's me, and I need a break.

[backformore]

On ‎3‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 11:08 AM, MaryPatShelby said:

I think I'm going to bug out until fall.  I'm watching these battles now and I wonder, as I have in a few past seasons, when screaming became equal to singing.  What happened to nuance, dynamics, etc?  But maybe it's me, and I need a break.

I think that's the result of having a "battle".  you get two singers who end up battling by overpowering the other with their voices.   The battle aspect means they end up screaming at each other.

I thought Kenny P was great, and should have been stolen.

Edited April 3, 2017 by backformore

[Shades of Scarlet]

Thank you, Noreaster.  So tired of that canard.  I knew it had no real support in the data but really appreciate you doing the research to prove it.  

Edited April 11, 2017 by Shades of Scarlet