S12.E12: The Battles, Part 4

[Vyk]

From TV Guide:

The battle rounds conclude as guest advisors Luke Bryan, Celine Dion, DJ Khaled, and John Legend continue to work with the artists.

With only three Battles left, this episode will only be one hour long.

[Dots And Stripes]

No superstar advisor for the next round? I wish they would have given Celine that role. Seeing artists freak over getting to work with Celine was fun.

On a related note, when they showed Alicia  and DJ Kahled working with the band on the arrangement... that was all Alicia. I think DJ Kahled said yeah or something. 

I think Adam picked the right winner in his battle. I also think Adam picked the YouTube girl not because he was impressed by her following so much as he knows her following means some extra votes. I thought she was really uneven and Gwen picked the better singer.

[Quickbeam]

I had hoped Blake would steal the Hank Williams looking guy. I really liked him...but I still can't get names down at this point. 

[Jabu]

Final team rosters/cheat sheets going into the Knockouts:

Team Adam
Mark Isaiah (defeated Gaby Borromeo)
Josh West (defeated Nala Price)*
Johnny Hayes (defeated Julien Martinez)
Malik Davage (defeated Kawan DeBose)
Hanna Eyre (defeated Sheena Brook)*
Jesse Larson (defeated Taylor Alexander)
Autumn Turner (stolen from Team Alicia)
Davina Leone (stolen from Team Gwen)

Team Gwen
JChosen (defeated Kenny P)
Johnny Gates (defeated Sammie Zonana)
Aaliyah Rose (defeated Savannah Leighton)*
Stephanie Rice (defeated Caroline Sky)
Troy Ramey (defeated Jozy Bernadette)*
Brandon Royal (defeated Davina Leone)
Brennley Brown (stolen from Team Blake)
Hunter Plake (stolen from Team Alicia)

Team Alicia
Anatalia Villaranda (defeated Missy Robertson)
Quizz Swanigan (defeated Felicia Temple)
Chris Blue (defeated R.J. Collins)
Vanessa Ferguson (defeated Autumn Turner)
Jack Cassidy (defeated Hunter Plake)
Lilli Passero (defeated Lauryn Judd)
Ashley Levin (stolen from Team Blake)
Dawson Coyle (stolen from Team Blake)

Team Blake
Lauren Duski (defeated Brennley Brown)
Casi Joy (defeated Ashley Levin)
Andrea Thomas (defeated Micah Tryba)*
Aliyah Moulden (defeated Dawson Coyle)
TSoul (defeated Josh Hoyer)
Enid Ortiz (defeated Valerie Ponzio)*
Felicia Temple (stolen from Team Alicia)
Caroline Sky (stolen from Team Gwen)

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 29, 2017 by Jabu

[Vyk]

A decent way to end the Battles.  I think I really only liked the first and last Battles of tonight, though.

Lauryn vs. Lilli: Wow.  Just . . . wow.  Two artists who like old songs doing well on another old song.  I almost couldn't tell their voices apart, they were so similar!  I was barely able to distinct Lauryn's from Lilli's, though, as the former's is more nasally than the latter's.  Both of them did an incredible job here, but I think I agree with Alicia's choice here (and the other coaches' unanimous opinion).  Lilli made me feel the performance a little bit more than Lauryn.  Plus, Lilli is definitely more experienced.  Pity Adam didn't steal Lauryn, though.  A teenage girl with a nice pop voice is what he usually would prefer.

Jesse vs. Taylor: So Adam took two artists with completely different genres to make an unlikely pairing, and the result was . . . not bad, but I didn't think it was all that good, either.  Their individual parts were very nice, but they needed more harmonies to sing together.  It was mostly going back and forth between each other individually.  Of the two, though, I think Jesse was the right call.  He has more experience and fits more into the mold of what Adam goes for, anyway.  I knew Taylor didn't have much of a chance.

Brandon vs. Davina: Great way to end the Battles!  They complemented each other very well, and both together and separately, I thought they sounded just amazing.  That said, Brandon probably had the better performance and fit the song style and what it demanded a bit more.  After all, it is The Weeknd, and Brandon practically screams The Weeknd!  But Davina did shockingly well enough that I think she deserved and warranted the steal.  But I feel terrible for her that she ended up stolen by Adam (whose being left with the last steal I find greatly amusing after all of these seasons of getting his steals out of the way first).  He's gonna dump her for one of his bromances in the Knockouts.  I just know it.  Still, his "blah, blah, blah" as he stole reminded me of when he also attempted to steal Jean Kelley from Gwen in season seven (though Pharrell ended up getting her instead).  On a side note, I found Davina speaking French with Celine to be absolutely aborable!  I wouldn't know that she's French at all, since I don't hear that accent in her voice in the slightest!  Also, I appreciated the show replaying Blake's "hose" snafu that ended up swaying Brandon to choose Gwen.

One thing I noticed, though, is . . . where the hell are the families?  Don't the loved ones watch the Battles, too?  I don't see any of them when the artists go backstage after the Battles or sitting in the stands!  Did they suddenly change that?

Well, the Battles are over, and we have quite a haul of Knockouts to do next week.  Six pairs were given away -- Johnny Hayes vs. Josh West for Team Adam, Aaliyah Rose vs. Brennley Brown for Team Gwen, Chris Blue vs. Quizz Swanigan for Team Alicia, Ashley Levin vs. Lilli Passero for Team Alicia, Enid Ortiz vs. TSoul for Team Blake, and Casi Joy vs. Felicia Temple for Team Blake.  The third pairing might give hope to those of you who want Quizz gone, because no way he can beat Chris unless Alicia is really stupid.

But the coaches themselves being the key advisors for the Knockouts?  What, did getting one of the other mentors blow the budget or something?  The artists rehearsing in front of each other sounds interesting, though.

Gonna be tough to wait for next week.  Well, at least if you're enjoying the season thus far like I am.

Edited March 31, 2017 by Vyk

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Hey Vyk, Did Adam give the game away? The way it was edited right before Brandon and Davina started made it sound like he said "this is the last one right?" not specifically referencing his steal but like he was making sure it was in fact the final battle, in the order period. So it was either steal Davina or the Voice ends up figuring out what to do with one steal left and the entire field of battles complete. I remember something similar happening on the UK version a few seasons ago

Edited March 29, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Vyk]

5 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Hey Vyk, Did Adam give the game away? The way it was edited right before Brandon and Davina started made it sound like he said "this is the last one right?" not specifically referencing his steal but like he was making sure it was in fact the final battle, in the order period.

Yep.  He said that that was the last Battle.  Which tells me that he got very picky throughout the Battles, too, just like he did in the Blinds.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Vyk

[Vyk]

So analyzing the Battles and steals . . . I think NBC is pushing hard for an Alicia win.  Or at least might be.  They showed all six of her Battles this season without montaging a single one.  Adam, Gwen, and Blake each had two Battles montaged.  And Alicia and Blake each had half of their Battles end in steals, and Gwen had a third of her Battles end in steals.  Adam's team has proven to be the weakest yet again since ZERO steals occurred from his team.

Good stuff.  Very good stuff.

[ProudMary]

29 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Hey Vyk, Did Adam give the game away? The way it was edited right before Brandon and Davina started made it sound like he said "this is the last one right?" not specifically referencing his steal but like he was making sure it was in fact the final battle, in the order period. So it was either steal Davina or the Voice ends up figuring out what to do with one steal left and the entire field of battles complete. I remember something similar happening on the UK version a few seasons ago

Not only that but they showed Gwen talking to Brandon and Davina backstage just before the battle and Gwen said, "Someone's got to get stolen."  So B & D must have known that they were the final battle pairing and that there was a coach with a steal left.  I'd say that takes a lot of the pressure off!
It would have been interesting to see what the show would have done if Adam hadn't pushed his button for Davina.  Personally I thought he should have stolen Lauryn.  I actually thought she was better than Davina.  

[Isle Of Why]

I fast-forward the hell out of this, which is a problem because the actual singing takes up so little time that I usually pass by it and need to back up again to even find those precious 90 seconds.

[Dots And Stripes]

18 minutes ago, Vyk said:

So analyzing the Battles and steals . . . I think NBC is pushing hard for an Alicia win.  Or at least might be.  They showed all six of her Battles this season without montaging a single one.  Adam, Gwen, and Blake each had two Battles montaged.  And Alicia and Blake each had half of their Battles end in steals, and Gwen had a third of her Battles end in steals.  Adam's team has proven to be the weakest yet again since ZERO steals occurred from his team.

Good stuff.  Very good stuff.

Based on the summary from @Jabu, it looks like Blake had 3 stolen, Alicia had 3 stolen, and Gwen had 2 stolen. I don't see that being an advantage for Alicia. If one the artists that was stolen wins, that doesn't count as her win. It does nothing to help her. 

I also think one of Alicia's stolen team members was cut because she would get stolen. IMO, that steal is a sign that Alicia weakened her team a bit. She made the choice which would result in both artists staying in, but maybe left her with the less coveted artist.

A few of those montages battles will be cut in the next round. Even if coaches bring a montages artist to the live play offs, they can still make an impression. I think that happened with Zach (the Elvis kid) a few seasons back. Winning isn't even about having the strongest team, it's having the strongest artist. 

[Vyk]

2 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Winning isn't even about having the strongest team, it's having the strongest artist. 

Don't agree for a second.  Every time a coach has had the strongest or at least second-strongest team, that coach has won.  Every time a coach has had the weakest team, that coach has lost.

[sarkygal]

The Adam & Blake and now Blake & Gwen showmance has absolutely ruined this show for me. It was bad enough when it was an almost guaranteed Blake or Adam win, I don't need the couple coach flirting TPTB is shoving down my throat. I want a full coach rotation, not just the two middle chairs. It's become a vehicle for Blake &Adam's careers/egos. So much that the singers don't even stand out to me anymore. 

[ProudMary]

It's been a good many seasons since Blake has not had a male country artist on his team.  That is quite a surprise.  And, with Taylor Alexander eliminated tonight, I'm pretty sure there are no male country artists standing.  That will bring a different dynamic to the lives when America starts voting.  

[Dots And Stripes]

21 minutes ago, Vyk said:

Don't agree for a second.  Every time a coach has had the strongest or at least second-strongest team, that coach has won.  Every time a coach has had the weakest team, that coach has lost.

 I guess it depends on how you define "strongest team." If you heavily weight one front runner than of course sure but strongest team ceases to really mean anything then. As it is, "strongest team" is so subjective that maybe it means nothing already. If a weak team means you have no front runners than yeah of course they are going to lose.

You can have a situation like Craig Wayne Boyd where you are the only one on your team to make it far and still win. Alisan won and would have won no matter who else was on her team. Same for Pharrell's little prodigy (whose name I cannot remember at the moment). IMO, what matters is the artist, not who else happens to be on their team once live voting starts.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Your right, ProudMary. Without someone like a Barrett, or a Sundance, or CWB, or even a Jake Worthington....it definitely opens up the competition a bit. You could usually pencil a male country artist from Team Blake making the finale (if not winning it all).

What's also interesting is that he's not wildly over-represented with female country artists either. He's got Casi for sure. But then he really only has Andrea (who's pop country) and Lauren and Caroline (who are under the country umbrella but have a lot of versatility in their voices). If nothing else, maybe this means Blake won't beat us the death with old soul country songs in the lives this season...

Edited March 29, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Vyk]

9 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

 I guess it depends on how you define "strongest team." If you heavily weight one front runner than of course sure but strongest team ceases to really mean anything then. As it is, "strongest team" is so subjective that maybe it means nothing already. If a weak team means you have no front runners than yeah of course they are going to lose.

You can have a situation like Craig Wayne Boyd where you are the only one on your team to make it far and still win. Alisan won and would have won no matter who else was on her team. Same for Pharrell's little prodigy (whose name I cannot remember at the moment). IMO, what matters is the artist, not who else happens to be on their team once live voting starts.

With all due respect, I don't give two shits about individuals until the Lives hit.  During the Battles and Knockouts, I only care about team strength.  And from what I've seen, Gwen, Alicia, and Blake all have strong teams.  Adam lags behind them greatly with the weakest one.

[Padma]

24 minutes ago, Vyk said:

With all due respect, I don't give two shits about individuals until the Lives hit.  During the Battles and Knockouts, I only care about team strength.  And from what I've seen, Gwen, Alicia, and Blake all have strong teams.  Adam lags behind them greatly with the weakest one.

That's interesting because I'm exactly the opposite and always have been. I enjoy watching singers choose their teams initially and the blinds usually have some of my favorite performances of the season.

After that, I just want to hear some songs I like sung well--and usually get to like some of the people along the way without getting hugely invested in whether they actually win or not--just would be nice to see them have some success and a better career. They don't compete as team v. team (fortunately) and there's really nothing to get excited over when a particular coach "wins" (despite Adam and Blake's hopefully fake competitiveness, I agree with Blake that the singer, not the coach, is the winner). 

I'm sure a lot of people get invested in the team part of it (or else it would just be like AI), but it's basically invisible to me.

I thought tonight was a nice finish. I kind of liked Taylor (especially after John Legend told him to lose a lot of the twang) but agree that Jesse was the better choice (don't see the similarity with Sundance though, except he's a big guy who likes blues).  I always like it better when there's no obvious frontrunner, so the season's off to a good start for me.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Padma

[Vyk]

Just now, Padma said:

I'm sure a lot of people get invested in the team part of it (or else it would just be like AI), but it's basically invisible to me.

I thought tonight was a nice finish. I kind of liked Taylor (especially after John Legend told him to lose a lot of the twang) but agree that Jesse was the better choice (don't see the similarity with Sundance though, except he's a big guy who likes blues).

In all fairness, I think many people are invested in the team aspect given all of the clamoring I see around the Web for Adam and Blake in particular to take a break for a season or two.  They know they make it almost impossible for artists from other teams to win.  So it is very clearly not lost on them.

Also, of course there's no Sundance comparison with Jesse.  I'm stunned that Adam doesn't see that he's just another Laith -- older fat guy with glasses and a beard who specializes in blues and blues rock.

[ProudMary]

1 hour ago, Vyk said:

In all fairness, I think many people are invested in the team aspect given all of the clamoring I see around the Web for Adam and Blake in particular to take a break for a season or two.  They know they make it almost impossible for artists from other teams to win.  So it is very clearly not lost on them.

Also, of course there's no Sundance comparison with Jesse.  I'm stunned that Adam doesn't see that he's just another Laith -- older fat guy with glasses and a beard who specializes in blues and blues rock.

And plays a mean guitar!  :D

[Vyk]

3 minutes ago, ProudMary said:

And plays a mean guitar!  :D

Ha!  That, too!  The comparisons should be jumping out at him!

[Noreaster]

5 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Not only that but they showed Gwen talking to Brandon and Davina backstage just before the battle and Gwen said, "Someone's got to get stolen."  So B & D must have known that they were the final battle pairing and that there was a coach with a steal left.  I'd say that takes a lot of the pressure off!
It would have been interesting to see what the show would have done if Adam hadn't pushed his button for Davina.  Personally I thought he should have stolen Lauryn.  I actually thought she was better than Davina.  

I doubt Brandon/Davina was the very last battle pairing.  When Adam asked Gwen if it was the last battle, he was looking at the booklets the coaches are given.  I think it was the last battle of that day or session (morning or afternoon).  Do we even know if this battle was really Adam's last steal?

5 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Based on the summary from @Jabu, it looks like Blake had 3 stolen, Alicia had 3 stolen, and Gwen had 2 stolen. I don't see that being an advantage for Alicia. If one the artists that was stolen wins, that doesn't count as her win. It does nothing to help her. 

I also think one of Alicia's stolen team members was cut because she would get stolen. IMO, that steal is a sign that Alicia weakened her team a bit. She made the choice which would result in both artists staying in, but maybe left her with the less coveted artist.

A few of those montages battles will be cut in the next round. Even if coaches bring a montages artist to the live play offs, they can still make an impression. I think that happened with Zach (the Elvis kid) a few seasons back. Winning isn't even about having the strongest team, it's having the strongest artist. 

Yes, I agree.  We've seen this in past seasons where one coach's battles end up in a lot of steals.  Doesn't necessarily mean anything.  Could just be that coach is not very good at keeping the stronger artists on his/her own team. I'm thinking Usher in one of his seasons and maybe Gwen in one of hers?  Had multiple battle steals but then lost people early in lives.  

4 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Your right, ProudMary. Without someone like a Barrett, or a Sundance, or CWB, or even a Jake Worthington....it definitely opens up the competition a bit. You could usually pencil a male country artist from Team Blake making the finale (if not winning it all).

What's also interesting is that he's not wildly over-represented with female country artists either. He's got Casi for sure. But then he really only has Andrea (who's pop country) and Lauren and Caroline (who are under the country umbrella but have a lot of versatility in their voices). If nothing else, maybe this means Blake won't beat us the death with old soul country songs in the lives this season...

4 country females out of 8 people on Blake's team seems overrepresented to me.  I'm guessing Blake will cut that in half next round but I don't know how we can argue that Blake is not going to be heavy on country. And then there are still some country females on other teams, I think.  This season will probably be like last with different genders.  There were 3 country guys in top 12.  Same idea with the R&b folks (guys instead of women this season).  

[viajero]

I thought Lilli Passaro was the star of the night, quite a ways above the other 5 contestants.  The winners of the other two battles were okay, as was Lauryn (if a bit squeaky in her upper register). 

Biggest disappointment was Taylor.  I had liked what he did with that Cher song in his blind audition, but he brought nothing to this performance.

Overall, Adam's team does seem quite a bit weaker than the others.  To make matters worse, I don't think he even has a star who can match up to the best performers on the other teams.  He better hope he steels someone good in the knockout round.

[MaryPatShelby]

Maybe this was asked and answered in an earlier thread, but is PTV not covering The Voice this season? Anyone know?

[Vyk]

1 hour ago, MaryPatShelby said:

Maybe this was asked and answered in an earlier thread, but is PTV not covering The Voice this season? Anyone know?

I don't think so.  Which sucks, because I'd have loved to have seen the recapper's take on these episodes.

[Jillybean]

On 3/28/2017 at 11:42 PM, sarkygal said:

The Adam & Blake and now Blake & Gwen showmance has absolutely ruined this show for me. It was bad enough when it was an almost guaranteed Blake or Adam win, I don't need the couple coach flirting TPTB is shoving down my throat. I want a full coach rotation, not just the two middle chairs. It's become a vehicle for Blake &Adam's careers/egos. So much that the singers don't even stand out to me anymore. 

This is my first season watching, and I find the constant Adam/Blake bickering so insufferable that I don't know if I'll make it through the season.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

A little bit belated, but here are my thoughts on the final 3 battles.

Jesse and Taylor, Well first off this should've been the battle that started the night off to draw out what little steal drama their was a bit longer. Second, I have to give Adam a fair bit of credit for finding a song where two extremely different voices could kind of meet in the middle. I have to say I was pretty impressed by the harmonies that were happening. I held out a little hope that Adam might've stuck with Taylor (who I preferred simply because in a season of almost no male country artists he was a bit of a breath of fresh air). But Jesse was always going to be the artist that was closer to Adam's heart and style so his victory was not surprising. To me though, he kind of blends into that mix of Johnny from Adam's team and Troy from Gwen's team. They are all solid, I just have limited hopes that they will truly be able to surprise and impress with an out of left field performance. I think they are too safe, predictable and set in their ways.

Lili and Lauryn, my only negative on Lili comes from the stage performance side of things. In that performance she just screamed Broadway or Musical Theater...not necesarily pop star. Vocally, she slayed it. I think if you could get inside Alicia's head I think we would see it's an extremely close battle to see what order she has Chris, Lili or Vanessa ranked in her mind. They are her top 3 though. Lauryn (much like Missy Roberson) gave an accomplished performance with the deck stacked against her. PhD_Sister was not a fan of the "squeaking" at the top of her register but I actually thought it was charming and kind of a signature sound that she could do something with moving forward. In hindsight she'd have been a better steal option than Dawson (with the knowledge that Alicia couldn't steal her back), Brennley, Autumn, or maybe Davina

Brandon and Davina, Wow this performance was engaging but Brandon seriously ran the razor's edge of the top of his voice for almost the entire song. There were so many spots I thought his voice was going to fail him and just disappear.....but it didn't. He battled through. He clearly can do that "flutter" or aeration thing that artists like Florence, or Ryn Weaver, or the Weekend can do and it served him well on this song. The two of them seemed to have good onstage chemistry which definitely helped "sell" the performance. Davina has potential, but she has some rough edges too. A lot of the younger pure pop singers got axed (Savanah, Gaby, Micah, and Nala all come to mind) so I don't mind her getting the steal from Adam. I also get why Gwen sees a little bit of her younger self in her. She's got a little bit of electricity and life in her vocals that come across well. In looking at who Adam has left on his team, I think she could either be fodder for Mark (the designated teen heartthrob this season) or possibly she could be paired up against Hannah in a KO she could actually win. A steal v steal battle with Autumn might be the other possibility.

Too bad Celine couldn't of stuck around for KO mentoring sessions. I think she would've been a hit with all four teams....

Edited March 31, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Jabu]

On ‎3‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 9:33 PM, Dots And Stripes said:

Based on the summary from @Jabu, it looks like Blake had 3 stolen, Alicia had 3 stolen, and Gwen had 2 stolen. I don't see that being an advantage for Alicia. If one the artists that was stolen wins, that doesn't count as her win. It does nothing to help her.

I think @Vyk meant that TPTB opting to show all six Team Alicia Battles was a hint that they want to push her team and hope that they register enough with the public that one of them gets voted to win instead of yet another expected Team Adam or Team Blake win.  Nothing about any advantages.

[Dots And Stripes]

16 hours ago, Jabu said:

I think @Vyk meant that TPTB opting to show all six Team Alicia Battles was a hint that they want to push her team and hope that they register enough with the public that one of them gets voted to win instead of yet another expected Team Adam or Team Blake win.  Nothing about any advantages.

Except why "push" people who are cut the next round anyway? If someone is gone the next round, it doesn't matter if their battle is shown. I don't find it to be a convincing argument that not montaging any of Alicia's fodder helps Alicia's odds overall. 

As I've said before, you need one artist to win. The best way for TPTB to help Alicia is to take the strongest member, or members, of her team and push them. We'll see if that happens once we hit the live rounds.

[Wings]

On 3/30/2017 at 10:07 AM, Jillybean said:

This is my first season watching, and I find the constant Adam/Blake bickering so insufferable that I don't know if I'll make it through the season.

I have been here since day one so I have become used to it and often find it funny.   I hate Gwen in the mix with this though. Blake lobbying for a singer to choose Gwen over Adam is not amusing and gives the impression that if they choose Gwen they may have a package deal with Blake.  Insufferable.  

I am looking forward to the live shows so I don't have to look at Gwen's ridiculous hair and dress every damn week.  

[Vyk]

5 hours ago, wings707 said:

I have been here since day one so I have become used to it and often find it funny.

Nah.  It lost its charm several seasons ago.

5 hours ago, wings707 said:

I hate Gwen in the mix with this though. Blake lobbying for a singer to choose Gwen over Adam is not amusing and gives the impression that if they choose Gwen they may have a package deal with Blake.

That's how Gwen sells it, and even then, not all the time.  As for Blake, I just think he genuinely wants her to do well, for once, which she actually is, surprisingly enough.