S13.E05: The Blind Auditions, Part 5

[Star Aristille]

From TV Guide:

The auditions continue as vocalists perform for coaches Adam Levine, Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, and Blake Shelton.

This is a two-hour episode with a definite possibility of montages happening.

[Jabu]

Aaaaaaaand we get more montages.  Sigh.

Current team rosters/cheat sheets:

Team Adam
Dave Crosby (3)
Brandon Showell (3)
Dylan Gerard (2)
Hannah Mrozak (3)
Adam Pearce (2)
Anthony Alexander (3)
Emily Luther (3)
Brandon Brown (3)
Whitney Fenimore (2)
Jon Mero (4)

Team Miley
Janice Freeman (2)
Brooke Simpson (4)
Ashland Craft (3)
Shilo Gold (2)
Addison Agen (2)
Moriah Formica (4)
Sophia Bollman (2)
Karli Webster (2)
Chloe Kohanski (3)
Ilianna Viramontes (2)
Katrina Rose (1)*

Team Jennifer
Chris Weaver (4)
Shi'Ann Jones (2)
Lucas Holliday (1)
Maharasyi (2)
Davon Fleming (4)
Kathrina Feigh (2)
Alexandra Joyce (3)*
Eric Lyn (1)*
Stephan Marcellus (1)
Ignatious Carmouche (2)
Meagan McNeal (1)

Team Blake
Mitchell Lee (3)
Esera Tuaolo (2)
Keisha Renee (4)
Red Marlow (2)
Adam Cunningham (2)
Noah Mac (2)
Anna Catherine DeHart (2)*
Dennis Drummond (2)
Rebecca Brunner (1)
Natalie Stovall (1)*
Ryan Scripps (1)*

Names in bold indicate an artist who has newly been added to a team.  Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of chairs to turn for each artist.  An asterisk indicates that this artist's Blind was montaged.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Jabu

[Dots And Stripes]

After the tall guy rambling and hearing every detail of a 17 year old's life (she did gymnastics, then she did cheerleading but she didn't like cheerleading. Fascinating) I have to wonder just how boring are the artists they skipped over? I know people get tired on the sob stories, I do too, but at least those stories are usually compelling. 

The girl with all the fringe getting emotional over the coaches saying nice things to her got me. I like seeing people's dreams coming true. Miley should be good for her.

I was just thinking we had sooo many artists from Chicago when Adam made that quip. Also, Jennifer acts shocked to meet someone else from Chicago every. time. 

I'm glad Gwen isn't on the show this season because she would have scooped that 13 year old up and taken her way too far into the competition. Not turning a chair was the best thing that could have happened to that kid. She has talent but she needs time. Like the coaches I was super impressed with how she coped with the disappointment.

[Star Aristille]

Enjoyed tonight once again, though I hate the montages, even though throwaway one-chair-turns should be the go-to Blinds to be montaged, so . . . go figure.

Anyway, the artists:

Chloe Kohanski: I love "The Chain," and I love what she did with it.  Definitely worthy of her chair turns.  The Nashville connection might've made Blake an easy choice, and Jennifer did admittedly fight her hardest for her.  But given that she was an admitted Miley fan, it was obvious she'd choose her.  Now, let's just see if Miley does right by her.

Olivia Kay: I am still having no problem with the lowered age limit.  However, this one might give me one.  Her youth majorly showed in this song, and choosing Ella Henderson was probably not the best choice for her, anyway.  Something more current and age-appropriate might've been better.  Also, way too shaky and pitchy.  Deserved to get no turns.  Perhaps she should've done "Rolling in the Deep" by Adele.  Might've gotten her at least one turn.  Still, I wouldn't mind seeing her back once she goes and works on herself and her voice first.

Dennis Drummond: First of all, that is one of the tallest men I've ever seen on this show!  And how amazing to see that he's acquainted with, and has been mentored by, Adam Wakefield, the second-place-finisher from two seasons ago!  As for the performance, it was pretty good.  Not perfect, but definitely enjoyable.  He felt like he had more a country or country/rock vibe to him, which makes me agree with his decision of Blake.  I don't think Blake will do him wrong.

Ignatious Carmouche: Gotta love how he won the most recent Snapchat season on Adam's team . . . only to have Adam not turn for him here.  I mean . . . damn!  That is just hilarious!  And seeing Adam's embarrassment over that made that even better!  SCREW YOU, ADAM!  Ahem.  Anyway, I loved his performance and thought that he deserved more than two chairs to turn.  I don't get why Miley didn't turn for that.  That said, of the options that were available for him, Jennifer made more sense, and I think the two of them are going to get along very well.

Rebecca Brunner: For a  moment, I thought I was looking at season eight's Deanna Johnson again!  Well, I thought she looked more beautiful than she sounded.  Wasn't bad, as I actually liked her tone, and she knew how to give dynamic variation, which was another plus.  It's just that the vocals could've been a fair bit better.  No wonder she only got one turn.  I don't see her stay on Team Blake lasting all that long.

Brandon Brown: Nice and smooth as butter, and his deep voice made it all the better.  Deserved the turns he got, but I think Miley should've turned, too.  Then again, based on his choice, it would've meant a four-chair-turn for Adam, and I can't have him be that happy.  Speaking of Adam, I'm not sure if he'll be faithful with him.  He already has one artist in his lane, the other Brandon from the premiere, and as we saw later, he got yet another artist in that lane after him.  If Adam wants one R&B singer only, he'd better hope that he's the one he wants.  And I imagine he won't be the one, what with that warning Blake gave him about the Battles being shown.  Adam is not kind to his black artists during that stage.

Nathan Graham: Are there really black sommeliers out there?  Really?  Anyway, I think this must've been very close to the end of the order, when the teams were nearly full, because he was exactly the type over which Adam and Blake both go crazy.  He actually didn't do that badly.  Maybe with better control over his growl, he would've managed a turn or two. 

Whitney Fenimore: We don't get a lot of folk/Americana singers, so she'll definitely bring something different.  She had a cool vibe I liked, and I also liked, though not loved, the performance.  But she really screwed up by picking Adam.  I don't think he'll do right by her at all.  Miley should've been her choice.  I wonder if what made her choose him was mentioning Christina Grimmie?

Ilianna Viramontes: Well . . . I didn't hate it, at least.  But she sounded shaky and off in some spots.  Still, solid enough that she deserved the two turns she got, but definitely no more than those two turns.  Of the ones available to her, Miley was much better of an option than Blake, since pop does not equal country.  Miley should know just what to do with her.

Meagan McNeal: A little surprised that she only got one chair to turn.  I thought that that was at least worth two of them.  Her voice was strong and clear, with an amazing tone.  It was quite interesting what she was able to do with that Weeknd song by turning it into an R&B-style rendition rather than it's usual pop rendition.  Honestly, all of the others missed out.  She'll do very well with Jennifer, the only one to actually appreciate her.

Jon Mero (formerly known as John Cheatam): I'm torn on this one.  Loved his voice, but I don't think he did enough with the song.  Still a good performance, overall, but not great, and probably not worthy of all four chairs to turn.  But nevertheless, Adam finally gets a four-chair-turn.  It's a real bummer, but at least he'll almost certainly be guaranteed safety till at least the Playoffs.

Montages

I would've liked to have heard more of Katrina Rose, but as she was a one-chair-turn, she was an easy throwaway.  Still, the small snippet I did hear sounded good, and I think she'll be a good fit on Team Miley.  Given that she's older, though, I wonder if Miley will really hold her for long?  I was actually shocked to see Natalie Stovall montaged, especially given her long performance history, as well as apparently being part of the same label to which Blake's been signed for years!  As for Ryan Scripps, I didn't really like what little was heard of him.  I don't think he'll last all that long on Blake's team.

As a final note, Jennifer's collages of Adam and Blake's plea gestures were hilarious!

Good, fun episode once more.  Very interested in seeing how the final Blinds go tomorrow.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Star Aristille

[Padma]

Finally, in Brandon Brown there's someone I'm looking forward to hearing more from. He was off here and there, but has great instincts and a good look and vibe to go with it.  I -never- root for Adam to get someone I like, especially African American men, because they pretty much fall by the wayside and/or get stuck with clichéd R&B from the 1970s. But this time, I wanted him to choose Adam because I think he'll give him Sam Cooke and I want to hear it. Also, he -may- get this guy better than the others.

Or maybe lose him to Blake. That would have been fine with me, too, even though he may not know Willie Nelson, that's not a bad catalogue for him. Willie's country but has a lot of soul (and recorded "Georgia On My Mind" too, of course, which was probably Blake's frame of reference.)

No idea why I'm optimistic about Adam coaching the one singer I feel excited about, but there it is. (And I'm scared that Jennifer is going to be demonstrating and encouraging runs and all the other embellishments that I generally think of as oversinging and can't stand. Adam, at least is somewhat restrained--and will definitely coach him not to point to his head when he sings the line "...on my mind...". lol.)

ETA: Never mind. I'll hope for a steal for Brandon. Adam's got Jon and you can see he's likely to be his chosen one. I liked him, but there's no room on Team Adam for Brandon, too. He'll probably be given Michael Jackson or Stevie Wonder and, if lucky, get stolen.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Padma

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Watching the blinds via youtube from abroad, so I'm missing out all the super illuminating pre-package stuff. Yay? or Nay?

People I liked:

Chloe, big thumbs up for Chloe who is what would've happened to Taylor Momsen of the The Pretty Reckless had she of sojourned to Nashville for a couple years. Don't do her wrong, Miley.

Jon Mero, a rare R&B voice who simultaneously feels contemporary and commercial. He just had a great vibe about him

Ignatious, a rare reality show contestant reliant on falsetto who I thought actually knocked it 90% out of the park. I really hope JHud doesn't set him up as battle fodder for Chris or Davon...

Whitney, not quite as good as I hoping it was going to be...but still pretty good. She'll be my Sammi Zonana this season. I'll root for her, and then she'll unceremoniously get dumped in the battles lol

 

Brandon was fine but not jump up and down worthy, Rebecca was just weird. I sort of liked her but it was so manic/spastic I wasn't really sure what was going on part of the time.

 

Not a fan at all of Illiana (intense hatred of that song probably didn't help either) and really didn't like Dennis's approach to STTA. Something about it just didn't sit right. Megan didn't really make an impression one way or the other.

One of the montagees, Natalie Stovall is really interesting. I'm a fan of some bluegrass music and I remember her group Natalie Stovall and the Drive did fairly well a couple years back (I think they had a song or two get played on Sirius Country Radio...maybe a music video or two on GAC/CMT as well). I wouldn't completely dismiss her chances of at least getting through a battle on Team Blake. She'll probably bust out her fiddle too...

Edited October 10, 2017 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Star Aristille]

2 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

One of the montagees, Natalie Stovall is really interesting. I'm a fan of some bluegrass music and I remember her group Natalie Stovall and the Drive did fairly well a couple years back (I think they had a song or two get played on Sirius Country Radio...maybe a music video or two on GAC/CMT as well). I wouldn't completely dismiss her chances of at least getting through a blind on Team Blake. She'll probably bust out her fiddle too...

She already went through a Blind.  She's on Team Blake now.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Corrected.

[Wings]

Miley said this was her last time judging.  Not last night, just nowhere else to post this.  Why would production decide not to ask her back?  You would think they would leave the option open.  

Jennifer was told to settle down,  that beccame obvious last night. 

[Whimsy]

55 minutes ago, wings707 said:

Miley said this was her last time judging.  Not last night, just nowhere else to post this.  Why would production decide not to ask her back?  You would think they would leave the option open.  

Jennifer was told to settle down,  that beccame obvious last night. 

Did Miley say it was not her choice to come back?  I'd think maybe she just didn't want to do it again.  It's a big time commitment.

[Wings]

2 minutes ago, Whimsy said:

Did Miley say it was not her choice to come back?  I'd think maybe she just didn't want to do it again.  It's a big time commitment.

No, she didn't say who made the choice.  It seemed foolish to make that announcement since they rotate the two female positions each season so she would not be here next season anyway.  Leave your options open.  This is why I think production made that choice and announcing that could have been an effort to get viewer support in demanding they bring her back.  <shrug>  Just seemed odd to me. 

[Dots And Stripes]

12 hours ago, wings707 said:

Miley said this was her last time judging.  Not last night, just nowhere else to post this.  Why would production decide not to ask her back?  You would think they would leave the option open.  

Jennifer was told to settle down,  that beccame obvious last night. 

I'll respond in the media thread.

[viajero]

I thought Jon Mero was easily the best of the night, followed by Chloe.  I also enjoyed Whitney and Ingnateous, while I though Brandon has a decent voice but brought absolutely nothing memorable or interesting to his performance.  Everyone else was fairly uneven, though I did at least get a kick out of Iliana's infectious enthusiasm (and the fact that her Dad looks and sounds like a Hollywood casting director's idea of an FBI agent)

[DaisyFields500]

I really, really, liked Jon Mero's performance.  I loved how he worked the stage and controlled his notes.  He made me look forward to this season.  I hope it's going to be a good one.