S12.E23: Live Top 10 Performances

[Nalan]

From TV Guide:

The top ten artists perform live in front of coaches Adam Levine, Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, and Blake Shelton as they try to capture America's vote.  Blake Shelton performs.

Comment on the performances of the top ten here.

[MissSunshine]

I wanted to tell you all about the email I sent to Hunter Plake and the response I received a week or so later. I should have saved the email and posted a screenshot here, but in my irritation I deleted it immediately. Let me give you a background. Hunter is/was my favorite and I love his style. However, like many have said, it is hard to understand what he is saying because he is not enunciating. Now, I know he CAN enunciate because I've seen other non voice performances by him where you can understand every word. So I wrote him an email that said "Hunter we love you! You are our favorite!!!! We would love for you to enunciate more because the people in our house cannot understand what you are saying :(" okay so that's what I said, and I think it's important that the audience can understand the singers because how else can they connect with the words of the song if they cannot understand what is being said? So a week went by, and I received a nasty reply from Hunter. He said "Hi. I do not care nor need advice on what you think I should do. I sing like that on purpose. Thanks." That really rubbed me the wrong way. Coming from a fan, shouldn't he have been nicer? Like if he didn't agree with me fine, but to say it doesn't matter what I think? Who is he trying to get votes from then? Please tell me what you guys think. 

[Sugar]

You know you can go back into your deleted items folder and retrieve deleted emails, right?

You posted earlier that you commented about his lack of enunciation on Instagram, so did you post there AND email him? 

 

[MissSunshine]

I had already deleted everything in my deleted file folder :(. I'm sorry I meant that I emailed it through Instagram. That was the only time I said anything to him about it, besides agreeing with someone on here about it. When I went to his instagram it said "send a message to hunter". When I clicked it I though a direct message template would come up, but instead it opened up my email. I never made a comment about his enunciation on instagram though, just on the message I sent him 

[Nalan]

Songs for tonight:

Team Adam
Jesse: "Jungle Love" by The Time
Lilli: "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole
Mark: "Sign of the Times" by Harry Styles

Team Gwen
Brennley: "Anyway" by Martina McBride
Hunter: "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood

Team Alicia
Chris: "24K Love" by Bruno Mars
Vanessa: "Doo W** (That Thing)" by Lauryn Hill

Team Blake
Aliyah: "Jealous" by Labrinth
Lauren: "Tell Me Why" by Wynonna Judd
TSoul: "At this Moment" by Billy Vera

I think Jesse could go either way on his song choice.  It's relatively clear to me, though, that Adam is throwing Lilli under the bus.  I don't think this song is for her at all.  Oh, God.  Mark is singing a very current song, and if he sings it even reasonably well, we're probably stuck with him another week.

Brennley has returned to country this week, so I automatically think that she should do well.  And a Martina McBride song?  You know she has it made.  But "Higher Love" for Hunter?  I enjoyed Hannah Kirby's rendition in season eight, and I think Hunter will do well with it.  Honestly, I liked the preview of it offered on iTunes.  It's a fresh, out-of-the-box song choice.  One of Gwen's strokes of genius, IMO.  She really is kinda crushing it as a coach this season.  I'm pretty sure that America is at the point that they'll love pretty much anything he does, though, just like with Chris, Brennley, and Lauren.

Well, fans have been pushing for Chris to do something more modern and current, and Bruno Mars is exactly the artists they've wanted him to cover, so this might bode well for him if he does well on it.  And Lauryn Hill is the perfect choice for Vanessa.  I think she'll do well.

Aliyah singing a Labrinth song?  Caity Peters did very well with it in season ten, but I wonder how Aliyah's version will go?  And at least Lauren isn't doing another ballad this week.  I think she'll go through whether she does well or poorly.  Regardless, Wynonna Judd was a good choice for her.  I don't know much about Billy Vera's music, so I can't say whether or not TSoul made a good choice.

Make of these what you will.

[Ohwell]

Admittedly, I've only watched this season sporadically, but I have seen a few of Hunter's performances and I've gotten the impression that he thinks he is very special.  I blame the judges for blowing so much smoke up his ass.  So, that being said, I'm not surprised about his nasty response because he's thinking, how dare anyone question his singing?  

I'm listening to Higher Love right now and he sucks ass IMO.

[Noreaster]

Crap night.  I only enjoyed Jesse and Hunter.  TSoul was pretty decent too but on a really overdone song.  The others were all bad or boring.  I'm starting to get annoyed by Brennley.  She comes across so child star-like, so fake actressy.  Very inauthentic to me.  

[Nalan]

Was that a production slip at the beginning?  Amazing how well Carson fielded that.

So this was . . . okay.  Several song choices that made sense, but I wish there'd been more performances that reflected on the song choices.  Also, Blake performing a new song?  I thought he said he was done making new music and albums.

Anyway, the performances:

Jesse: To get this many early performances makes me think that the show is bussing him, which I'd be totally okay with, since he's just not that good.  And once again, the performance proved it.  I'll give him credit for trying something different, I guess, but this was just not the song for him.  And even worse, it went on too long, and I didn't care for the coach pandering he did near the end.  Still, I think he'll slide by.  Again.  Some more.  But STFU, Adam.  Either you're just blowing smoke up his ass, or you're delusional.

Aliyah: On the one hand, I'm glad she finally did a slower song.  On the other hand, it was lacking in the performance.  The vocals in her middle and upper registers were actually very pretty, IMO.  But Labrinth's "Jealous" also requires hitting some very low notes in a very low register, which Aliyah just wasn't.  Caity Peters hit them amazingly well in her Blind back in season ten, when she, too, did this song, but Aliyah couldn't even hold a candle to her.  Even worse, she felt like she was behind the pocket, or the beat, at times.  I think the dedication to her grandmother might help her, as will crying right at the end of it, but if not, she's singing for her life tomorrow . . . and almost definitely not winning if she's another Mark opponent.

Vanessa: I actually kinda liked this one.  Didn't love it, but liked it.  It was a risk to do a song so heavy on rap, but she did well with what she kid.  Some off-key parts on the chorus, though.  I don't know.  I enjoyed it, but it's not one I can see casual fans enjoying all that much.  I'll be pleasantly shocked if she avoids the bottom tomorrow, but I hope she does.

Mark: We lost Troy and Stephanie for this guy.  Seriously?!  This was awful, as per usual.  Only parts that were even remotely good were the parts he sang in his chest voice.  But the falsetto was terrible (leave that to Chris, please).  That was bottom-three-worthy, for sure.  And of course, Adam verbally fellates him again.  I think he's bottom-bound, quite frankly, and will be shocked if he doesn't hit it again.

Chris: Well, I'll give it to him and Alicia for going for a more current song.  He actually didn't do all that much falsetto this time around.  And throwing in the physical performance actually might've enhanced the performance, so there's that.  Fans have wanted him to do Bruno Mars for some time, and now they've gotten it, and I think it was the right song for him to cover.  He'll get through.

Lilli: She sounded good.  FINALLY.  Well . . . at least at the beginning.  She got a bit lost in the middle, though.  She pulled it back together at the end, thankfully.  I think she could go either way.  She did better with the song than I was expecting her to, and I think she'll be safe over at least two of the others.  But her particular genre will wear on the fans eventually.  I think she's gone in the semifinals.

Lauren: After some okay performances, we needed someone crazy good.  I enjoyed the vocals of this performance a lot.  Glad to see her step away from the ballads and do something with a faster tempo.  Her tone was, again, quite strong, and she was on point throughout.  But she still isn't nailing the stage presence aspect of her performances.  I still think that might hurt her.  For now, though, I think she's safe for tomorrow and maybe even the semifinals.

Hunter: He sounded absolutely terrible in practice, so I expected a trainwreck.  But I actually really liked this.  His performance was excellent and intelligible.  And better yet, he enunciated quite a bit better.  He deserves to stay after this.  I think it's between him and Lauren for my favorite performance tonight.  I do think he's going to get through regardless.

TSoul: This is the most on-pitch he's ever been, and the vibrato wasn't killing the rhythm, so that's a plus.  If anything, it was probably his best performance of the Lives, but only by default, since his other Live performances were pretty average to below average to just plain poor.  Still, every time he sings, it makes me bitter that Blake tossed Casi Joy over this guy.  He might have saved himself from the bottom with this performance, but I still won't be surprised if he has to sing for his life.

Brennley: Excellent job.  She's improving every week, and that was a damn good performance.  Her voice is very strong for fifteen, and her control is excellent.  I still wish she'd do something about that vibrato of hers, but that can't be fixed all that quickly.  What I heard, though, was definitely stunning.  I liked it, and I hope that the country's voters and downloaders do, too.

Top four performances were the same top four we've been having in terms of downloads -- Lauren, Hunter, Brennley, and Chris, for me, in that order.  Vanessa and Lilli were next for me, and pretty much could've done without Aliyah, TSoul, Jesse, and, of course, Mark.

1 minute ago, Noreaster said:

The others were all bad or boring.

Oh?  Even Lauren?

[Dots And Stripes]

I feel like this was the week to take risks for a lot of people. It's a good chance to show another side without worrying so much about deep cuts that are still a week away. I think that came through in a lot of performances, although I'm still working may way through the show. 

Aliyah completely got me. Love that Carson was there to tell her she did awesome and give her a hug. I was glad she finally got a ballad. She has a nice voice although I think she still needs time to develop. 

Mark should have picked a song that didn't require big notes. His tone sounded nice at times but he is not a singer who can pull off belting. He's destined for the save tomorrow, so why not pick something that is more in his comfort zone?

Chris' dancing was great, but his ad libs always sound off to me.

I liked Vanessa. I thought her performance was fun and not something that gets done on this show. 

Lilli's vocal was not good. I blame Adam. It didn't feel like the right key for her.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Is Steve Winwood dead? He's either rolling in his chair or his grave after Hunter's mutilation of Higher Love. Good grief so much mushmouth. That song is so epic, when it's done well, it feels like you are flying (and it was done pretty well as a battle for Team Usher with Stevie Jo and some other dude). Hunter hasn't found a song yet that he hasn't wanted to drown the epicness in unnecessary introspection/introversion.

Brennley is like a bot where everything (performance, vocals, interactions, reactions et al) is all pre-programmed by an algorithm set to "current country star". She's clearly been groomed for this for years (she's got an unsuccessful AGT experience on her resume too). Her singing is fine, but most of the time I feel nothing...and I'm pretty sure she "feels" nothing too.

TSoul (it took them almost a half hour longer to get his song up on the youtube channel...makes you think that's who the show wouldn't mind losing.) I wish I had a time machine so TSoul could go back and be in a Boys 2 Men (or similar) type R&B guy group. He'd totally slay in that kind of environment lol.

Jesse was fun, Vanessa was even more fun (she's got some flow :-), and it was nice to see Lauren having fun on a more uptempo song.

If they are doing a bottom two for a twitter save this week....it finally has to be Mark and Lilli, right?

Edited May 9, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Dots And Stripes]

5 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

 

If they are doing a bottom two for a twitter save this week....it finally has to be Mark and Lilli, right?

It's a bottom 3 with 2 leaving. Mark owns one spot. I feel like Lilli did herself no favors this week. Watching Adam squirm over Mark vs. Lilli wouldn't be bad.

[nextian]

Blake always jokes about whatever album he's working on being his "last album", he's been doing it for years, doesn't mean anything. The song tonight was his fourth single off the album he released last year, If I'm Honest. I'm ready for some new music from him, obviously I'm a fan.

About tonight's performances? Lauren is hands down my favorite, she has the exact type of voice that is missing in country female singers right now. I think it was TSoul's best performance in a long time, but he's not my favorite. I wanted to give Aliyah a hug, and I was happy to see both Carson and Blake be so sweet to her, but I think she's in over her head at this point. I agree with the poster above who described Brennley as pageant like, you can't deny she can sing, but I don't personally believe it. I enjoyed Vanessa rapping, but I am curious to see if it gets the votes. The rest of them were not anything to write home about although Chris doing an upbeat song was more fun then I usually find him.

[Dots And Stripes]

As of last week I became a huge Lauren fan. I would have liked to have seen her let loose a little more. I think it was a good week for her to get out of her comfort zone. She still sounded amazing.

Is Hunter singing different songs every week? It all feels the same. I am starting to actively dislike him.

That was TSoul's best performance but I do wish someone else would have done that song, maybe Vanessa. 

I so agree with the complaints about Brennley here. She feels manufactured. So over her saying that this song was her response to people telling her she's too young. I doubt people told her not to sing, but waiting a few years to go on (another) reality show isn't bad advice. She would have been better off waiting a few years. Fifteen year olds are still developing as vocalists and she comes across as very young. She's doing very well in the competition and may even win, but she may have also gotten more from the experience at an older age. Maybe she can do the Idol reboot next year (kidding!).

[Nalan]

30 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

It's a bottom 3 with 2 leaving. Mark owns one spot. I feel like Lilli did herself no favors this week. Watching Adam squirm over Mark vs. Lilli wouldn't be bad.

Mark is definitely hitting one spot.  TSoul is almost definitely another, despite how well he's doing on iTunes right now.  I think Lilli or Vanessa will take the third spot.  Aliyah's meltdown might've saved her this week.

So after the EST, CST, and MST viewings, here's how everyone stands.  I'm sure the PST spikes will change up some of them, but for now:

19. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
21. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
24. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
25. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
26. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
27. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
44. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
94. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
123. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
124. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

Yeah.  Get ready for trip number three to the bottom, Mark.  And only going on iTunes, I'd be worried for Lilli and Vanessa, but given that he's generally not felt by most of America, I can see TSoul hitting there in one of their places, too.

I'll update you all more as the PST show ends, and several more times throughout the night.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Nalan

[SnarkyShark]

Mixed: I wasn't sure about Lilli's song choice. She sounded better than I expected. Some parts were good, others were off. Jesse didn't blow my mind vocally, but he had great energy. Chris Blue sounded off at a few points to me, although his dance moves were impressive.

Not Impressed: Mark's greatest talent will officially be avoiding elimination if he makes it through again. The parts of the song in chest voice sounded fine, yet the sections in either head voice or falsetto (couldn't tell what he was going for) were very weak. I liked that Aliyah went in a different direction with her song choice, but it didn't sound completely polished and I agree with whoever said she struggled with the low notes. I would be curious to hear Lilli sing Aliyah's song.

The Good: I liked Vanessa a lot. She seemed very comfortable and it was refreshing to see something different. Lauren was solid and she looked like she was having fun. I appreciated that she differentiated with her song choice. Brennley is an undeniably good singer. It's weird that she seems almost too perfect.

We saw some annunciation from Hunter! It was a good performance, and he doesn't deserve to go home. Is anyone else starting to feel like his performances are all very similar? Take and arrange a classic song. Start out singing slowly and softly with some chords in the background. Allow the song to build with full instrumentals and transition to belting by the end of the chorus. Next verse, incorporate falsetto and belt the second chorus, building to a high point. Then shift back to softer notes and go back to simpler instrumentals, ending on a gentle note. Now, I don't want to sound like I'm hating on him. He has been consistent and has a solid formula that sounds made for an indie record. I just have yet to feel more range and variety from him.

[Gbb]

I got bored and FF'd Lilli, Mark and Hunter tonight. I thought Jesse and Chris were energetic and fun and Lauren was good. The rest were ok. Aliyah sounded beautiful except for the low notes. I wanted to hug her. I wish they weren't letting children compete. She and Brennley would be amazing in a couple of years. Or even more pageanty. Hard to say, really. But they're too young right now. 

I thought it was interesting that Gwen let slip what I'd already suspected - that she and Blake help each other with song choices. Actually I guess she only said they discuss Brennley's. But I'd be surprised if that was the only one. It doesn't bother me. I actually think it's kind of sweet. 

[Nalan]

Got the PST bumps coming in, or some of them, and here's where they all stand now:

15. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
18. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
22. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
23. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
25. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
27. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
36. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
91. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
110. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
119. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

Lauren has a good shot at the multiplier again, and Hunter might if he gets continual downloads (but their PST spikes haven't come in yet, so we'll see for sure). Jesse and Aliyah, who's nosed in front of Chris, are having their best showings yet (regrettably, in Jesse's case).  Chris faces the lower half for the first time ever.  Seems like TSoul's fans are getting desperate.  Lilli and Vanessa are having particularly poor showings.  Mark is just as bad as he always is.

More PST spikes to come from those who performed in the second half, though.  These are mostly spikes for the first-half performers.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Nalan

[Nalan]

All right.  Looks all of the PST spikes have occurred.  So as it stands now:

12. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
16. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
20. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
23. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
24. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
25. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
34. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
77. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
97. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
102. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

Lauren is pretty much certain to get that multiplier, at this rate.  Hunter might get it if his downloads keep up.  I don't think any of the others can do it.  As of now, only Mark is charting outside of the top one-hundred, but I'm pretty sure he'll break through it before voting closes.

[JMarie99]

I've been on and off about Hunter but I've really liked his performances the last couple of weeks. I'm a big fan of Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" and I thought Hunter did a nice job of updating it. This show desperately needs some more current sounding singers who aren't necessarily country. I admit his response to Miss Sunshine's email was very rude, but he did seem to enunciate more clearly this week, so maybe he took her advice to heart, without actually admitting she was right.

I'm not a country music fan but still like Lauren and Brennley. 

I thought Vanessa was great (and sans hat!) and I hope she gets through. 

Aliyah got to me at the end with her tears but she totally missed the low notes of her song. I think she'll get through though. 

I've voted for Jesse in the past but I thought his Blues Bros routine was awful. 

I have an irrational hatred of the song "At This Moment" and TSoul's rendition didn't change that. And "Mama Soul"? Please. 

That leaves Mark, Chris and Lilli. As far as I'm concerned they can go at any time. 

[Nalan]

Okay.  Now all of the PST spikes are in.  So the results are now:

9. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
10. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
17. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
19. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
23. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
24. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
28. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
69. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
93. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
99. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

So Lauren has the multiplier if she can stay up there till the voting closes, and Hunter has it, too.  Brennley might get it with her new spike, but she'll have to have loyal overnight downloaders.  Jesse, Aliyah, and Chris, though?  Not getting it.  Nor is TSoul.  Lilli, Vanessa, and Mark are doing very poorly on iTunes, but these are only half the battle.  The actual app and Website votes count, too.  So we'll see as it goes on.

[Nalan]

Current results as of now show that we have a new leader:

9. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
10. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
16. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
19. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
21. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
22. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
28. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
69. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
89. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
95. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

Yes, you read right.  And with this, Hunter takes over the lead and still has the multiplier.  Lauren still has it, too, but she's dropped to second place.  Brennley, Aliyah, Chris, Vanessa, and Mark all nose up, while Jesse, TSoul, and Lilli remain constant.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Nalan

[Nalan]

Current iTunes results:

9. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
10. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
15. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
18. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
20. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
21. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
28. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
67. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
89. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
95. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

So as of this update, Brennley, Jesse, Aliyah, Chris, and Lilli all nose up a bit, while Hunter, Lauren, TSoul, Vanessa, and Mark all remain constant.  Hunter still leads and still has the multiplier, and Lauren still has it, as well, unless something happens.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Nalan

[waving feather]

9 hours ago, Noreaster said:

I'm starting to get annoyed by Brennley.  She comes across so child star-like, so fake actressy.  Very inauthentic to me.  

Yeah, I'm starting to feel this about Brennley. I was so impressed with her "Up To The Mountain" because she did great emoting for a 15 year old. But ever since, I've seen the same type of emoting for every song she has sung. It's a pity because she really is a talented singer. I much prefer Aliyah at the moment. I was so moved by her performance. That's authenticity.

Edited May 9, 2017 by waving feather

[Nalan]

All right.  I'm about to call it a night/morning, but first, one last update while the voting window is open:

9. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
10. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
15. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
19. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
20. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
21. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
27. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
67. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
88. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
95. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

So only TSoul and Vanessa nose up a tad.  Jesse, meanwhile, noses down.  Hunter, Lauren, Brennley, Aliyah, Chris, Lilli, and Mark all remain constant.  The final hours will be crucial.

17 minutes ago, waving feather said:

Yeah, I'm starting to feel this about Brennley. I was so impressed with her "Up To The Mountain" because she did great emoting for a 15 year old. But ever since, I've seen the same type of emoting for every song she has sung. It's a pity because she really is a talented singer. I much prefer Aliyah at the moment. I was so moved by her performance. That's authenticity.

Brennley's mannerisms and reactions are a bit extreme, but I don't think that makes her "inauthentic" in any way.  She's proven since back during her Blind that she's just very expressive and outgoing.  So what might pass for those things may come off as fake to some, but it certainly doesn't to me.  Not in any way whatsoever.  I think she's genuinely excited about everything relating to this experience and taking it in while she can.

8 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Is Steve Winwood dead? He's either rolling in his chair or his grave after Hunter's mutilation of Higher Love. Good grief so much mushmouth. That song is so epic, when it's done well, it feels like you are flying (and it was done pretty well as a battle for Team Usher with Stevie Jo and some other dude). Hunter hasn't found a song yet that he hasn't wanted to drown the epicness in unnecessary introspection/introversion.

And yet . . . he's crushing it in iTunes sales right now.  Hmm. . . . What must that say?

[Noreaster]

32 minutes ago, waving feather said:

Yeah, I'm starting to feel this about Brennley. I was so impressed with her "Up To The Mountain" because she did great emoting for a 15 year old. But ever since, I've seen the same type of emoting for every song she has sung. It's a pity because she really is a talented singer. I much prefer Aliyah at the moment. I was so moved by her performance. That's authenticity.

Yeah, I liked Aliyah more last night.  Though my problem is she crossed the line when it comes to relating to the song and letting emotions get the better of you.  She's just 15 and all so I hate ragging on someone for that, but that doesn't deserve votes in my opinion.  

Some other thoughts on last night:

Lauren was boring as hell for me...I love her tone and she did something more uptempo but the performance felt severely lacking.  She doesn't seem to have much stage presence and the performance just doesn't lead anywhere.  I feel very same old same old with her.  

Vanessa's performance was problematic. A lot of breath issues during the rapping part.  

For Chris, his performance can't help but underwhelm me.  If you can't match Bruno Mars in his performance ability, don't do his songs at all.  

Mark was bad.  Lilli was boring.  

Like I said earlier, Jesse and Hunter were entertaining to me. TSoul to a lesser extent.  I never heard of Jesse's song before but I think that was something clearly in his lane.  He's a funk guy...google his #MPLS band.  The performances are definitely interesting and so not the type of stuff you see on this show.  

[Morgan of Hed]

On 2017-05-07 at 1:06 PM, MissSunshine said:

So a week went by, and I received a nasty reply from Hunter. He said "Hi. I do not care nor need advice on what you think I should do. I sing like that on purpose. Thanks."

He could have taken a less combative tone, but basically I agree with him.  Technical advice from fans is not needed or appreciated.  He (and any other artist) is quite aware of what he is doing, for better or worse.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Morgan of Hed

[Court]

Clearly,  I am hearing something very different from other people based on Itunes. I thought Hunter was bad. I liked Vanessa. 

Mark was awful. I hope he goes home tonight along with Lilli. 

Jesse was fun. Lauren was my favorite. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I voted pretty much the same this week as I did last week.  All votes for Brennley, Aliyah and Jesse.  I like them the best.  

I think my least favorite was Hunter.  His performance last night was one of the worst that I recall on the show with Higher Love.  Just sad to me.  I'm shocked he seems so popular.  I prefer anyone over him really.  I'd hate to see him get $100,000.00 over some of the others, but, strange things do happen.  

Edited May 9, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[waving feather]

I thought Hunter was the worst of the night, on par with Mark. Hunter will never be a favorite of mine but some of his past performances were still tolerable. But I fast forward a majority of this last performance because I didn't like the sounds coming out of his mouth. Same with Mark and Chris. I don't know what that mess Chris was trying for. Don't do things like that unless you can truly pull if off and he wasn't able to.

My favorites were probably Aliyah, TSoul and Jesse. I was most entertained by them.

I like Lauren but she needs to push herself more. I don't mean vocal tricks but in her delivery. It's just...nice. Not outstanding.

Like I've said above, I'm over Brennley. And her higher register is truly shrill.

Surprisingly, I liked Lilli's performance. I think she finally found her groove.

[SunnyBeBe]

I doubt any of my favorites will get the multiplier tonight.  Without that, I suppose they could be in danger.  

I wonder if Mark will be in the bottom again tonight?  

[Jolie]

I like Hunter a lot. Different strokes.

Mark was just cringe-worthy. I had to FF through half his performance. I think he might have done better to do that upcoming show looking for a new boy-band. 

[Sugar]

Loved TSoul, Jesse, and Vanessa. Theirs is music I would listen to and buy.

Thought Hunter was ok (still good, but I'd like to see something really different from him by this point), and ditto Aliyah ( I think she has a fantastic voice, but Blake doesn't know what to do with her)

Was "meh" on Chris Blue. It was his weakest performance, but still a lot better than others.

Bored by: Lauren and Brennley. Love Lauren's tone, but she doesn't sing music I want to listen to. Don't care about Brennley either way. Have to say, I hate her 'Little House on the Prairie' inspired wardrobe.

Hated: Mark and Lili. Mark was so off-key on that crap song, and Lili just doesn't have a strong enough voice to tackle throwback songs. Unforgettable is not an exciting song. To make it worth listening to, you need a lovely tone, charisma, and perfect phrasing. Of this criteria, Lily had none.

Going into last episode, I thought this season had a really strong roster. I'm starting to rethink that now.

[Keekski]

Brennley is Danielle Bradbury 2.0

[SunnyBeBe]

I think they are both good vocalists, but, I like Brennely more than Danielle, though, I think Danielle might have better voice control. 

I got a kick out of seeing the family resemblance in some of the contestants and their family.  It really is amazing how some of us resemble our parents so much. 

[Nalan]

All right!  A few hours to results time, but here were the results at the time of the votes closing:

9. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
10. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
14. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
17. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
19. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
22. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
26. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
72. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
89. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
98. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

Hunter wins the night, with Lauren at a very close second.  But at one point, apparently, they nosed up to seventh and eighth, but were knocked back down to ninth and tenth in the eleventh hour.  Brennley nosed up one more spot, as did Jesse.  Aliyah also nosed up, as did TSoul.  Chris, Lilli, Vanessa, and especially Mark all dropped down, with the latter only barely remaining in the top one-hundred.

If anyone does like him, pray for Mark, because he's singing for his life for sure.  I don't know who's joining him, but it could be Vanessa.  I'm still hoping it's some combination of Lilli, Aliyah, and TSoul, though, because Vanessa wouldn't win against him.  Neither would the other three I mentioned, but I barely care about them, so that doesn't matter to me.

[viajero]

19 hours ago, SnarkyShark said:

Mixed: I wasn't sure about Lilli's song choice. She sounded better than I expected. Some parts were good, others were off. Jesse didn't blow my mind vocally, but he had great energy. Chris Blue sounded off at a few points to me, although his dance moves were impressive.

Not Impressed: Mark's greatest talent will officially be avoiding elimination if he makes it through again. The parts of the song in chest voice sounded fine, yet the sections in either head voice or falsetto (couldn't tell what he was going for) were very weak. I liked that Aliyah went in a different direction with her song choice, but it didn't sound completely polished and I agree with whoever said she struggled with the low notes. I would be curious to hear Lilli sing Aliyah's song.

The Good: I liked Vanessa a lot. She seemed very comfortable and it was refreshing to see something different. Lauren was solid and she looked like she was having fun. I appreciated that she differentiated with her song choice. Brennley is an undeniably good singer. It's weird that she seems almost too perfect.

We saw some annunciation from Hunter! It was a good performance, and he doesn't deserve to go home. Is anyone else starting to feel like his performances are all very similar? Take and arrange a classic song. Start out singing slowly and softly with some chords in the background. Allow the song to build with full instrumentals and transition to belting by the end of the chorus. Next verse, incorporate falsetto and belt the second chorus, building to a high point. Then shift back to softer notes and go back to simpler instrumentals, ending on a gentle note. Now, I don't want to sound like I'm hating on him. He has been consistent and has a solid formula that sounds made for an indie record. I just have yet to feel more range and variety from him.

I agree with almost everything you wrote, except for what you say about Aliyah.  While she was only okay on the low notes, I thought the rest was really good.  More importantly, she showed an emotional connection to song that was lacking in her previous performances.  It may not have been the technically best performance of the night, but I thought it was the most effective.

I would say that Mark had the only poor performance, I wouldn't rate Lilly's too much higher.  Not only was it boring, but she seems to have lost something vocally along the way.  I think those two should be in the bottom 3 along with TSoul.  Unfortunately, I suspect Vanessa may be in there instead, despite what I thought was a very good performance on an extremely difficult song.  If this happens, Mark might just squeeze through if the two women split the remaining votes.

11 hours ago, Nalan said:

Brennley's mannerisms and reactions are a bit extreme, but I don't think that makes her "inauthentic" in any way.  She's proven since back during her Blind that she's just very expressive and outgoing.  So what might pass for those things may come off as fake to some, but it certainly doesn't to me.  Not in any way whatsoever.  I think she's genuinely excited about everything relating to this experience and taking it in while she can.

I completely agree with this.

[SunnyBeBe]

While I do think my favorite 3 have great vocals, I think I like them so much, because of the way they make me feel.  It seems their heart shows through and I like that.  (Brennley, Aliyah and Jesse.)

[kelslamu]

On 5/8/2017 at 9:34 PM, Ohwell said:

Admittedly, I've only watched this season sporadically, but I have seen a few of Hunter's performances and I've gotten the impression that he thinks he is very special.  I blame the judges for blowing so much smoke up his ass.  So, that being said, I'm not surprised about his nasty response because he's thinking, how dare anyone question his singing?  

I'm listening to Higher Love right now and he sucks ass IMO.

I couldn't listen to him at all after the first few lines.  Sometimes making it "your own" isn't the right choice.  I completely agree with you. 

[MissSunshine]

On 5/8/2017 at 8:34 PM, Ohwell said:

Admittedly, I've only watched this season sporadically, but I have seen a few of Hunter's performances and I've gotten the impression that he thinks he is very special.  I blame the judges for blowing so much smoke up his ass.  So, that being said, I'm not surprised about his nasty response because he's thinking, how dare anyone question his singing?  

I'm listening to Higher Love right now and he sucks ass IMO.

You hit the nail on the head. I thinks he is under the impression he is very, very special. 

[Quickbeam]

I just had my hearing checked so I know it isn't that....I can't understand a word Hunter sings. He might as well be singing "lalalalala". It is really annoying. Was happy to see Lilli and Mark go, overdue both. 

[MissSunshine]

On 5/8/2017 at 10:42 PM, SnarkyShark said:

Mixed: I wasn't sure about Lilli's song choice. She sounded better than I expected. Some parts were good, others were off. Jesse didn't blow my mind vocally, but he had great energy. Chris Blue sounded off at a few points to me, although his dance moves were impressive.

Not Impressed: Mark's greatest talent will officially be avoiding elimination if he makes it through again. The parts of the song in chest voice sounded fine, yet the sections in either head voice or falsetto (couldn't tell what he was going for) were very weak. I liked that Aliyah went in a different direction with her song choice, but it didn't sound completely polished and I agree with whoever said she struggled with the low notes. I would be curious to hear Lilli sing Aliyah's song.

The Good: I liked Vanessa a lot. She seemed very comfortable and it was refreshing to see something different. Lauren was solid and she looked like she was having fun. I appreciated that she differentiated with her song choice. Brennley is an undeniably good singer. It's weird that she seems almost too perfect.

We saw some annunciation from Hunter! It was a good performance, and he doesn't deserve to go home. Is anyone else starting to feel like his performances are all very similar? Take and arrange a classic song. Start out singing slowly and softly with some chords in the background. Allow the song to build with full instrumentals and transition to belting by the end of the chorus. Next verse, incorporate falsetto and belt the second chorus, building to a high point. Then shift back to softer notes and go back to simpler instrumentals, ending on a gentle note. Now, I don't want to sound like I'm hating on him. He has been consistent and has a solid formula that sounds made for an indie record. I just have yet to feel more range and variety from him.

Hunter enunciating all of a sudden makes me think that even though my email pissed him off, he may have still taken it to heart :) I agree that having Vanessa do something fresh like that was a very good choice. I love when it is something you don't really expect. And she does have a similar vibe to lauryn Hill

[MissSunshine]

On 5/8/2017 at 11:29 PM, Nalan said:

Got the PST bumps coming in, or some of them, and here's where they all stand now:

15. Lauren Duski - Team Blake: "Tell Me Why"
18. Hunter Plake - Team Gwen: "Higher Love"
22. Jesse Larson - Team Adam: "Jungle Love"
23. Brennley Brown - Team Gwen: "Anyway"
25. Aliyah Moulden - Team Blake: "Jealous"
27. Chris Blue - Team Alicia: "24K Magic"
36. TSoul - Team Blake: "At This Moment"
91. Lilli Passero - Team Adam: "Unforgettable"
110. Vanessa Ferguson - Team Alicia: "Doo W** (That Thing)"
119. Mark Isaiah - Team Adam: "Sign of the Times"

Lauren has a good shot at the multiplier again, and Hunter might if he gets continual downloads (but their PST spikes haven't come in yet, so we'll see for sure). Jesse and Aliyah, who's nosed in front of Chris, are having their best showings yet (regrettably, in Jesse's case).  Chris faces the lower half for the first time ever.  Seems like TSoul's fans are getting desperate.  Lilli and Vanessa are having particularly poor showings.  Mark is just as bad as he always is.

More PST spikes to come from those who performed in the second half, though.  These are mostly spikes for the first-half performers.

Could someone explain to me what the multiplier is? You land in the top 10, and then what happens? Does it affect your results in eliminations? 

[viajero]

5 hours ago, MissSunshine said:

Could someone explain to me what the multiplier is? You land in the top 10, and then what happens? Does it affect your results in eliminations? 

iTunes downloads count as votes (if made by noon Eastern the following day).  If your song makes the Top 10, then those download votes are multiplied by 5 (it used to be 10, but was reduced to 5 more recently and I assume that's what it still is this season).

[Noreaster]

On 5/9/2017 at 3:11 PM, Keekski said:

Brennley is Danielle Bradbury 2.0

I think Lauren is more like Danielle with the pretty tone and similar sounding songs that don't have much range.  Also neither emotes or moves around the stage much (Lauren is a lot better though due to age and experience). Meanwhile, Brennley has a very different singing and performance style and has done more challenging songs.  

2 hours ago, viajero said:

iTunes downloads count as votes (if made by noon Eastern the following day).  If your song makes the Top 10, then those download votes are multiplied by 5 (it used to be 10, but was reduced to 5 more recently and I assume that's what it still is this season).

I would just add that there is an iTunes cumulative vote that is added to the finale.  That is, all the iTunes votes earned over the course of the season (plus any applicable multipliers) are added to the finale vote totals.  I also just checked the voting rules on the show's website and it is indeed a 5x multiplier.  

On a side note, the fact that they reduced the multiplier at one point makes me think that itunes can make a difference in the end.  Which also makes me think that overall vote totals are really not that high?  Like out of the 10 million viewers or so, how many actually vote?  For me, in recent seasons, there were plenty of weeks where I didn't bother voting because I didn't feel invested.  

[viajero]

I agree about Brennley being quite different than Danielle, at least when it comes to their singing.  She has more range and emotes a lot more, but she can also have a touch less control.  What they do have in common is a kind of innocent enthusiasm.

I have no idea how many votes they get, but if you have 40,000 downloads, that translates into 200,000 extra votes.  That could certainly make a difference if voting by other methods is relatively close.  But even back when the multiplier was 10x, it was no guarantee.  That become obvious to me way back in Season 4, when Michelle Chamuel made it into the final over Amber Carrington, even though Amber was the only one of the two to get a song in the Top 10 in the semifinals (personally I thought both of them should have been in the final instead of the Swon Brothers, but then I'm not a country music fan).

[Noreaster]

200,000 extra votes is like nothing.  That's a difference of 20,000 people who vote using only one method (casting the maximum 10 votes for that method) or far less people power-voting (using multiple accounts and multiple voting methods).  Pretty small numbers when there are roughly 10 million viewers for the final.  If 200,000 extra votes is meaningful, then total number of voters is probably small.  Maybe not even 1 million or half a million.  

[MissSunshine]

On 5/10/2017 at 3:26 PM, viajero said:

iTunes downloads count as votes (if made by noon Eastern the following day).  If your song makes the Top 10, then those download votes are multiplied by 5 (it used to be 10, but was reduced to 5 more recently and I assume that's what it still is this season).

Ahh wow interesting. 5 times the votes mean there's pretty much know way you're going home on that night's eliminations for sure

[Noreaster]

10 hours ago, MissSunshine said:

Ahh wow interesting. 5 times the votes mean there's pretty much know way you're going home on that night's eliminations for sure

Pretty much.  

There are a few cases though where a contestant reaching top 10 in itunes was eliminated while another contestant who was outside of top 10 stayed.  Viajero mentioned one example above (Michelle/Amber in season 4). Another example I remember is the season 9 playoffs (on Team Blake, Emily Ann reached top 10 but still got less overall votes than her two fellow team members who were outside of top 10).  In those seasons, there was a 10x multiplier instead of the 5x now.  

[Adusk81]

On 5/7/2017 at 0:06 PM, MissSunshine said:

I wanted to tell you all about the email I sent to Hunter Plake and the response I received a week or so later. I should have saved the email and posted a screenshot here, but in my irritation I deleted it immediately. Let me give you a background. Hunter is/was my favorite and I love his style. However, like many have said, it is hard to understand what he is saying because he is not enunciating. Now, I know he CAN enunciate because I've seen other non voice performances by him where you can understand every word. So I wrote him an email that said "Hunter we love you! You are our favorite!!!! We would love for you to enunciate more because the people in our house cannot understand what you are saying :(" okay so that's what I said, and I think it's important that the audience can understand the singers because how else can they connect with the words of the song if they cannot understand what is being said? So a week went by, and I received a nasty reply from Hunter. He said "Hi. I do not care nor need advice on what you think I should do. I sing like that on purpose. Thanks." That really rubbed me the wrong way. Coming from a fan, shouldn't he have been nicer? Like if he didn't agree with me fine, but to say it doesn't matter what I think? Who is he trying to get votes from then? Please tell me what you guys think. 

I would have responded to you the same way. Why should he care what you think? Don't you think he's tired of hearing that same criticism? Clearly if he isn't hanging it he has no intention to. You're just another annoying bug in his ear. Nothing against you but that is how he viewed your email. Just sayin'

[Adusk81]

Pretty sure we're looking at a Hunter/Lauren showdown in the end with Brennley and Chris being the other two. Someone else mentioned it before but I agree that win or lose, Lauren will most likely experience the most lost show success of anyone who has been on the show. She perfectly fits the successful country formula but has an authenticity and tone that go a step above the usual offerings. But then again I said that about Sawyer so who knows.