Season 15 Discussion

[Guest]

15th Season 

[Skycatcher]

Kennedy Holmes - OMG!!!!!  And working with J Hud?  This is going to be something to watch.

[Sharpie66]

Yeah, she and Patrique had the two voices that stood out for me tonight. The rest just faded to the background in comparison. 

[PhD-Purgatory15]

I thought Kameron the country guy from NC had some potential (he maybe sounded a little too much like Luke Combs though).

Adam might have lucked into the young heartthrob of the season with the young teen (Tyke) from Hawaii. Even being a one chair turn, it will surprise me if he's not left standing on Team Adam going into the live shows.

I enjoyed Patrique (slightly biased because I love love love his audition song), and the very first blues girl too. The last girl was good, but not 4 chair, fawn all over at the end of the episode worthy.

I suppose I should root for Tyshawn being an Ohio guy myself but mostly I was just distracted by his red suit. Radha, the "Mama Knows Best" wailer didn't really do anything for me too much, the returning girl I could've done without (or they could've picked a different redemption artist from S14) and while Mikele (spelling?) was a perfectly serviceable older country artist for the Voice....I didn't like getting beat over the head with his backstory and the weird flirty dalliance they tried to have him make some sort of statement on the Colin Kaepernick/NFL protests.

Edited September 25, 2018 by PhD-Purgatory15

[MaryPatShelby]

I couldn't watch, but was just reading that the coaches said things like "you win, it's over", and "you just won The Voice".  That seems kind of snotty to me, since there are many more contestants yet to audition (in show world, I realize it's taped and has already happened).  Anyone else think they should be more thoughtful about their praise, even if someone is incredibly good?

[Skycatcher]

9 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

I thought Kameron the country guy from NC had some potential (he maybe sounded a little too much like Luke Combs though).

 When Leann Rimes broke through with "Blue" everybody was blown away by how much she sounded like Patsy Cline. Her next released cover sounded just like the original artist too.

  I like country music but most country artist on shows like this to be incredibly bland, weak imitations of a popular artist or the current popular sound. There was only one who caught my attention. One  of the judges referred to him as a throwback sound (my words). Can't remember his name though.

9 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

 The last girl was good, but not 4 chair, fawn all over at the end of the episode worthy.

 

24 minutes ago, MaryPatShelby said:

I couldn't watch, but was just reading that the coaches said things like "you win, it's over", and "you just won The Voice".  [....] Anyone else think they should be more thoughtful about their praise, even if someone is incredibly good?

 I thought she was worth all 4 chairs. But I have to wonder about the over the top reaction of the judges. I'm afraid we're going to see a lot of hubris and maybe even some schadenfreude with this one.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Yeah, that pretty much seems par for the course these days. When they were crowning Jordan, and Alisan, and Sawyer on the very first night of blind auditions as the winner of the show, that was super annoying. Now it seems like instead of pre-ordaining one contestant the winner, they tell somewhere between 10-15 of the blind auditions they are the potential show winner. I guess that's a little better scenario, but still pretty annoying.

With Kennedy, I'm not saying she wasn't good, she was. But I didn't think the gap between her talent and most of the other contestants who only got 2 chairs to turn was that extreme. Now the cynic in me thinks the judges are tipped off ahead of time about various things like oh I don't know...maybe the fact that she was 13 and the youngest auditioner of the entire season so maybe that colored their decision to push so quickly and the hoopla that followed.

I think you were thinking of Mikele Buck, Skycatcher. He was the former Iraq vet who was doing the show in part to raise awareness for returning veteran's suicide awareness. Depending on some of the other country artists yet to come, I could easily see him sliding into the Red Marlowe (old school country) lane and lasting quite a while on Team Kelly or possibly tempting Blake with a steal in the battles or KO rounds.

[Skycatcher]

6 minutes ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

I think you were thinking of Mikele Buck, Skycatcher. He was the former Iraq vet who was doing the show in part to raise awareness for returning veteran's suicide awareness. 

Thank you.  Yup, Googled, and that's him.  Hope he lasts a while so I can hear more of him.  I really like country music with a gritty sound.

[hnygrl]

After the shit-show that was AGT?

This show is a breath of fresh air.

Every season I'm reminded anew why I LOVE this show so much.

[seacliffsal]

Although I like the show, sometimes I just wish the judges/coaches would make a statement and then just not talk anymore.  I kind of sat here silently telling some of the coaches to be quiet...

[bluepiano]

3 hours ago, hnygrl said:

After the shit-show that was AGT?

This show is a breath of fresh air.

Every season I'm reminded anew why I LOVE this show so much.

Yeah, I was thinking while watching that although all the judges can be annoying (especially Jennifer Hudson, with her giant ego and "JHud Productions" crap) at least they are engaged and enthusiastic. The AGT judges barely seem to be paying attention half the time, and then just regurgitate the same mindless comments they've made a hundred times before.

But for me this show has the same problem as AGT, namely the infatuation with very young contestants. The 15 year old who won last year was just not that good, if you judged her objectively as a singer instead of through the lens of "you're so amazing for a 15 year old."  The very young contestants are all graded on a curve that makes it hard for an "older" contestant to compete. ("Older" can even mean someone in their early 20s)

The original concept of The Voice was to provide a forum for experienced singers who had not yet broken through professionally. That was the territory they staked out in order to be different from American Idol. Over the years that difference has really gotten blurred. Since The Voice doesn't have an age maximum like Idol we get the occasional "older" performer, but so many finalists and winners have been teenagers. With very rare exceptions they are never as interesting to me as the older singers, because they haven't yet developed their own musical personality and are imitating current popular singers. It's like high level karaoke.

I generally fast forward though a lot of the pre and post performance babble, so did not hear that Kennedy was only 13. So yes, she's obviously talented, but again we get the "you're so amazing for a 13 year old." Given what happened last year, she could indeed be very hard to beat. No matter how good an "adult" singer may be, they're not going to have the wow factor of a 13 or 14 year old. We hear it from the judges every time they ask a young singer their age. "OMG, you're only ____, you're incredible." You'll never hear that level of enthusiasm for a 30 year old.

Edited September 25, 2018 by bluepiano

[ClareWalks]

I wasn't paying much attention to Kennedy's intro, so when she said she was 13 years old after her audition I just about fell out of my chair. Holy CRAP. I would have guessed she was in her 20s. Such a fantastic voice and, more remarkably, a great connection with the music. Definitely one to watch.

[Skycatcher]

1 hour ago, ClareWalks said:

I wasn't paying much attention to Kennedy's intro, so when she said she was 13 years old after her audition I just about fell out of my chair. Holy CRAP. I would have guessed she was in her 20s. Such a fantastic voice and, more remarkably, a great connection with the music. Definitely one to watch.

Plus, she certainly didn't look thirteen. She looked late teens, early twenties to me.

[hnygrl]

If I recall correctly...Kennedy (super-short blondie?) is a synesthete, which is why her connection with the music is so spectacular. She sees music as colors. Some synesthetes see smells as colors, she sees music as colors so yeah, she'd be really super-connected to her music.

I never want my favorites to "win" these shows cause in reality the objective is to get your face/voice out there. Once you accomplish that and the powers that be see you as a legit artist? The Voice has done its job.

Let's face it. Winners never WIN on these shows. NEVER NEVER EVER. I can't think of any 'winners' of this show that have gone on to huge careers, so I want my favorites to be top 10 or even top 5 but never win. That way they're not tied to the show for 5 years and can go out under another contract.

Wonder how the non-winners are doing?  

[ams1001]

6 minutes ago, hnygrl said:

If I recall correctly...Kennedy (super-short blondie?) is a synesthete, which is why her connection with the music is so spectacular. She sees music as colors. Some synesthetes see smells as colors, she sees music as colors so yeah, she'd be really super-connected to her music. 

That was Sarah Grace. 

I have a former coworker whose daughter sees music as colors and patterns. She plays the piano.

[bluepiano]

1 hour ago, Skycatcher said:

Plus, she certainly didn't look thirteen. She looked late teens, early twenties to me.

Hopefully The Voice employs someone who checks the facts. I agree that she seemed way older than 13.

[Morgan of Hed]

She only looked 13 when she lost it briefly when Jennifer spoke to her.  She reminds me of a young Alisha Keys, very beautiful and carrying herself with a great deal of poise.  She also has a very warm deep speaking voice.  So many of these youngsters belt out in huge voices and talk in squeaky ones.

[Morgan of Hed]

Went youtube hunting.  This was when she was flippin' 9. Yikes.  Accappella national anthem recently.

Edited September 26, 2018 by Morgan of Hed

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Snap thoughts:

This was an Ellen or Oprah type show, even the one rejection made Kelsea's comeback team. So yays! all around.

Deandre was excellent and he didn't do a a straight up copy of Bruno, he changed it up enough that it felt different & had a different intensity in spots. If he's not in Adam's team going to the lives then the earth probably has tilted off it's axis.

The first guy Keith, I liked his quirky, dry personality. He can sort of be the Pryor of this season minus about 40% of the gravel that Pryor had.

Clare or Claire was good, but it feels like she's probably battle round fodder, unless she gets paired up with someone who's even more fodder-y. Franc and Michael Lee were fine and entertaining too (especially the co-ed mma training footage between Michael and his wife lol), but again, I wouldn't necessarily be picking them to advance much farther (especially Franc, but Michael too depending on the make up of Blake's whole team by the end of the blinds.)

[viajero]

I thought it was a pretty solid season premier.  While there were several fairly good singers, Kennedy was the star of the night.  Not many amateur singers out there can sound that good and polished covering both Adele and JHud.  I just wish she was as old as she looks.  The fact that she's only 13 means that all were going hear this season is talk about her age, when people should really be focusing on just how good she is for someone of any age.

Of the rest, I think Sarah was probably my second favorite, though Radha and Patrique were also pretty good (if somewhat predictable).  Of the country singers, I'd give the edge to Kameron.  But this may be because I liked his song a little better.

 

6 hours ago, bluepiano said:

But for me this show has the same problem as AGT, namely the infatuation with very young contestants. The 15 year old who won last year was just not that good, if you judged her objectively as a singer instead of through the lens of "you're so amazing for a 15 year old."  The very young contestants are all graded on a curve that makes it hard for an "older" contestant to compete. ("Older" can even mean someone in their early 20s)

The original concept of The Voice was to provide a forum for experienced singers who had not yet broken through professionally. That was the territory they staked out in order to be different from American Idol. Over the years that difference has really gotten blurred. Since The Voice doesn't have an age maximum like Idol we get the occasional "older" performer, but so many finalists and winners have been teenagers. With very rare exceptions they are never as interesting to me as the older singers, because they haven't yet developed their own musical personality and are imitating current popular singers. It's like high level karaoke.

Only 3 out of 14 winners of this show have been teenagers (Danielle, Sawyer, and Brynn).  Only 3 other winners were under 25 (Cassadee, Chloe, and Jordan), the first two of whom were experienced musicians trying to break out as soloists.  The remaining 8 winners were all in their late-20's or 30's.  

Several of the other teens who have made it to the final were exceptionally talented (like Jacquie Lee and Koryn).  In fact, the only teen finalists who I didn't think were really all that great were Brynn (who benefited from going up against the weakest field in Voice history), Jake (who had no real competition for the country vote) and Aliyah (who saved her best performance for the semis).  So while many youngsters may get a lot raves early on, very few make it all the way to the end. 

I personally find little correlation between the age of contestants and how interesting they are.  Older contestants are just as prone to showing little imagination or end up sounding like they never moved on from the 60's or 70's.

[Ilovepie]

I think the problem for very young contestants is that there is a very narrow window of acceptable behavior for most viewers: either they act older than their age and come off as precocious twits, or they actually act their age and are annoying kids. The other problem is a lack of authentic emotion - they just lack life experience to connect honestly to the lyrics they are often singing and it's just not believable.

[bluepiano]

1 hour ago, Ilovepie said:

 The other problem is a lack of authentic emotion - they just lack life experience to connect honestly to the lyrics they are often singing and it's just not believable.

That's part of what I meant about not finding them interesting. I appreciate that the very young singers are in a tough spot, in terms of finding age appropriate material. They don't want to limit themselves to Disney songs or other songs that would highlight their age. But on the other hand, it's weird to hear a 15 year old singing "you make me feel like a natural woman," or any of the countless songs about lost love and heartache. Or what happened on AGT with 14 year old Courtney Hadwin singing, "I can give you good good loving but you gotta come home with me." 

Edited September 26, 2018 by bluepiano

[rollacoaster]

Solid start! There was absolutely no mystery as to who the first two singers would choose as their coaches. 

Man, Jennifer looked so hurt when Adam blocked her for that singer (I can't remember her name). I did laugh out loud when Adam asked the singer if she would have picked Jennifer if given the opportunity, and she said, "Probably...."

Jennifer looks gorgeous this season, and I love her confidence. I think she'll be a strong competitor as a coach. 

[EllaDisco]

I'm not usually a fan of the teens, but I thought Kennedy was great.  And I agree with others that she looked older than 13 to me.

[Cindyluwho]

Jennifer seems to have toned things down this year. Not quite as loud and obnoxious. At least not yet. 

[kelslamu]

Jennifer has toned it down a bit, but that referring to herself in third person is incredibly annoying.  

[kelslamu]

Ok, this is weird, but that franc west guy's eyes made me think of Alicia Key's eyes.  Maybe it was because I was feeling awful while watching it.  Anybody? lol

[rollacoaster]

Kelly has definitely ramped up the loud, hyper, obnoxious behavior. And, it's just the beginning. 

[jmonique]

I think Kennedy looks 13 without all the stage makeup. She looked 13 in the videos and pictures they showed in her story, IMO.

Beyond that, it was a typical premiere for the show. It really made it apparent that a talent will have to be AMAZING, 100% flawless to ever get more attention than the byplay between the judges on this show.

[Babalooie]

18 hours ago, EllaDisco said:

 And I agree with others that she looked older than 13 to me.

Yes.  

Someone mentioned Courtney Hadwin upthread.  At least she looks her age.

[kathyk24]

I thought this was one of the best nights of auditions in a long time. Kennedy was amazing. I believe she is 13 some kids hit puberty earlier than others. When my sixteen year old nephew went through puberty two years ago he grew several inches and his voice changed making him seem older than he really was. I'm sure the Voice checks ID in order to avoid a scandal.

[EllaDisco]

13 hours ago, kathyk24 said:

I thought this was one of the best nights of auditions in a long time. Kennedy was amazing. I believe she is 13 some kids hit puberty earlier than others. When my sixteen year old nephew went through puberty two years ago he grew several inches and his voice changed making him seem older than he really was. I'm sure the Voice checks ID in order to avoid a scandal.

Oh, I think she IS 13.  What would be the point of lying about it, if she wasn't, as the truth would soon come out.  She just doesn't seem that way.

I agree that this episode was really good.  I actually hadn't planned to watch this season, but my other plans on Monday got cancelled, so I started watching and really enjoyed it.

[Koalagirl]

Kennedy made me cry when I saw her reaction to realizing Jennifer Hudson was speaking to her. Then the duet made me cry again.  Props to Jennifer for letting Kennedy shine and not taking over during their duet.  I’ve seen her live in concert a couple of times and it doesn’t take much for that booming voice to fill up all of the air space in a room.

[AntAnn]

4 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

Props to Jennifer for letting Kennedy shine and not taking over during their duet.

ITA. Although I loves Jennifer’s music, I didn’t care for her when she judged before. I know it is early in the game, but I’m enjoying her so far. I’m totally surprised.

[Guest]

Episode airing Monday, October 1st.

[Guest]

Blind auditions airing October 2, 2018

[Superpole2000]

I tuned in for the final 10 minutes or so, and it was a tough watch. I despise the "block" feature of this show, and Kelly was absolutely shrill when using it tonight. The bickering between judges has always been a bit self-absorbed, but it's fine when it happens in small doses or after the audition. Here, they mixed the audio to make the judges louder than the audition itself, and the audition disappeared into the background because of it.

Maybe they did that because the final singer didn't really "nail" the song. I can see why Adam didn't bother turning around. The Whitney version was miles ahead of this.

[Valny]

I thought this group was so much better than last week, nobody really wowed me last week but there were some real standouts tonight.  I forgot the girl's name, but I was shocked only Kelly turned around for her(She was in all black and had a black hat too,)

I loved the look on Jennifer's face when she saw Kelly blocked her....I was surprised too because I didn't know she did it either! 

From what I can remember, Blake has a pretty good team so far. That one country guy he got tonight was pretty damn good. I was hoping Kelly would nab him but 99% of the time, country singers go with Blake, but glad she finally got her country female.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

YMMV, but tonight's auditions mostly sounded like a hot mess.

Dave the first country guy was particularly phlemmy sounding. And I'm not sure what the judges were hearing on Rachel (the yodeler from WV) and Chevel (the NM teen with the crazy fast vibrato). Both of those girls would've been condemned to failure montages in seasons past.

And then you had "louder is the new better" which was Natasia, Audri (of the black on black hat outfit), and Delaney. Nope. I think maybe Delaney has the most interesting tone of the three, but probably has the most to do to control it and do something productive with it.

If I'm being completely honest and and as cheesy as he was.....I maybe liked Sammy the wedding band singer/improv player/Ben Affleck look-a-like the best. At least he was offering up something a little unexpected.

[bluepiano]

10 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

YMMV, but tonight's auditions mostly sounded like a hot mess.

Dave the first country guy was particularly phlemmy sounding. And I'm not sure what the judges were hearing on Rachel (the yodeler from WV) and Chevel (the NM teen with the crazy fast vibrato). Both of those girls would've been condemned to failure montages in seasons past.

And then you had "louder is the new better" which was Natasia, Audri (of the black on black hat outfit), and Delaney. Nope. I think maybe Delaney has the most interesting tone of the three, but probably has the most to do to control it and do something productive with it.

If I'm being completely honest and and as cheesy as he was.....I maybe liked Sammy the wedding band singer/improv player/Ben Affleck look-a-like the best. At least he was offering up something a little unexpected.

I'm with you. I thought it was a bad night. Actually, that's how I've felt about the whole season so far. Usually (well, at least until last season), the first three blinds have at least five or six singers I'm excited about. So far for me, not a one. I think this show has become like American Idol. It's been on for so long that you have all these young singers who grew up wanting to be on this show and it's their entire musical frame of reference

 I thought the song selection was really boing. The best choice for me by far was the Sam Cooke tune. Even though the vocal was not that strong, I was still surprised the guy didn't get at least one chair turn. I guess he needed to do some screaming, because apparently that's what the judges are looking for, when they say "I was waiting for you take it somewhere." So even if it's doesn't fit the song, you're supposed to throw in some gratuitous and meaningless runs just to show off your voice.

Also, hate to say this, but this season is dividing along racial lines. I believe all the black singers have gone with Jennifer, except the gospel singer who had to go with Kelly because Jennifer was blocked. I think that when you have judges who are so particularly identified with a particular genre of music it makes the show a lot less interesting, because you know who every contestant is going to pick. Blake and Kelly battle for the country singers (and man, there are ALOT of them), the soul and r&b singers go to  Jennifer, and Adam picks up the occasional pop or rock singer. It's all so predictable.

I thought Chevel's wobbly tune was painful to listen to. I think she got chair turns because they could tell she was really young and this show seems to have become all about the young female singers. Rachel was a little better, but I think the reason she got the immediate chair turns was because she was doing the kind of old school country and western tune you rarely hear now. (And while I'm generally a stickler for good grammar, I thought that when she talked about "the judges behind them chairs" it was adorable.)

I agree with you about Sammy. Cheesy, but more fun to listen to than many of the others.

The guy who is "America's number one livestreaming singer" was a total snooze. Makes you wonder about the standards for internet music. Well, I guess if someone has an actual musical career and is out there performing they wouldn't have all that time to sit in their house live streaming. Not to be a meanie, but I was glad he didn't get a chair turn. He seemed pretty full of himself.

Edited October 2, 2018 by bluepiano

[PhD-Purgatory15]

bluepiano, I'm with you on the not being wow'd really by any of the contestants. My favorites so far are probably Kameron (who really sounded a little too much like Luke Combs to be super, super high on him), & Keith Paluso, and if I was giving out grades they'd only be in the B+ range.

I'm also with you on the predictability of it all. If Kelly buzzes in, you can almost set your watch to a Blake buzz in afterwards (the Kelly/Blake duels have largely surpassed the Adam/Blake duels at least so far). I guess that's a little bit of a curse of the longevity of the show. Everyone pretty much knows how the game is best played (coaches and contestants). I still hope will get a few surprises (like a Sisaundra or Paxton picking Blake) but I'm in wait and see mode for now.

Was I losing it? In Chevel's package didn't she say she was 14? And then on stage say she was 16? I'm so confused. But actually, she was a total "there's a voice in there somewhere" pick by all the judges who turned. You could hear the nerves, and with someone who has a naturally fast (I'm guessing) vibrato they became even worse. Little snippets of the song sounded somewhat promising though.

I absolutely hate "Cowboy's Sweetheart" in a competition like this, it's such a magic trick of a song, like the old Jewish rabbi guy from a few season's ago breaking out the faux-rap "The Devil Went Down to Georgia". There was some rodeo queen singer on the most recent American Idol who snuck through the auditions with that song...and this wasn't first time we've heard it on the Voice either. With the Banjo and Mandolin present on her front porch....I wish she would've been a little more Bluegrass or Mountain Music like Emily Ann was a few seasons ago. Or that Natalie Stovall from last season who we barely got to hear thanks to multiple montages.

[seacliffsal]

It's probably just me, but Kelly seems kind of manic this season.  Although I generally like her, she's been over the top a few times and it grates on me.  I thought I would be complaining about JHud Productions, but she seems more comfortable as a judge this season.

[Kaiju Ballet]

I was charmed by Rachel (the yodeler), but I don’t see her going far, a la Natalie the fiddler who was also a Blake Shelton –“You’re what country needs (now)! You’re cannon fodder (later!)!”—pick. I usually like Blake’s sales pitches, but that might have been helped by Kelly’s hyper prattling, which made it hard to take her seriously as a coach. (It's not just you, @seacliffsal!)

I have to admit to smiling at a lot of the goodnatured banter between the coaches last night, but only if it didn’t come at the expense of the person onstage performing or just standing there awkwardly. Kelly did a lot of hollering, which made me fear for her vocal cords, on top of pulling attention away from the contestants.

I also felt a bit squicky about her fawning over the 15 year old. The others may also have commented on his looks, but there was something uncomfortable about her… enthusiasm? Or maybe her overcaffeinated demeanor has just worn me out. She did something similar with the Batfleck Wedding Singer, although arguably if he had a more standout performance there would have been more to say about him. And there might have been a slight advantage in having Brynn Cartelli gladhand contestants right before they were called to the stage --thinking of the one who surprisingly changed her expected pick from Blake to Kelly. Was that Chevelle? She should have been asked to come back. And why wasn't Dude Who Picked the Wrong Song asked to come back?

I was surprised by Adam’s comments about how special the 15 year old guy’s singing was. Did anybody else hear whatever magical quality it’s said to have? Did Adam say something similar about the other young, long-haired dude (from Hawaii) that he was the only one to turn a chair for?  

Jennifer has really calmed down since her previous seasons when she was the one bringing Extra. She gave some useful notes. And her going to duet twice already at the blinds was touching—even if these singers don’t make it far, they now have one of the most amazing experiences a young artist could hope for. (Although I’m not sure if a singer would take it as a compliment that her outfit is “JHud style” or whatever Jennifer deemed it, unless we get another drag performer-contestant.)

Also not a fan of highlighting more of the stuff that used to end on the cutting room floor in the intro packages—bloopers and discomfort with tummy visuals while seated. There might have been more examples, but those are the ones I didn’t ff through fast enough last night.

Edited October 2, 2018 by Kaiju Ballet
I'm not the only one!

[sharifa70]

I didn’t like Jennifer when she was on Idol but I actually like her now. The “JHud Productions” schtick doesn’t bother me at all - it’s far less annoying to me than Blake’s stupid finger. 

I liked the singer who did “Never Enough,” as well as that first country guy and the singer Kelly stole from Jennifer. The rest kind of all ran together for me. 

Count me in with everyone who’s tired of the judges fawning over children. 

Edited October 4, 2018 by sharifa70

[adhoc]

Did that gal who does the "come-back" coaching wait for all of the contestants to audition and then pick the ones who would get a shot at being the come-back singer? How did that work, exactly?   

Whatever, I'm sure that his very good looks played no part in that med school student with the so-so voice getting one of the come-back spots. Nope, no part at all. 

[viajero]

Add me to those who wasn't particularly impressed by any of the contestants in this episode.   So far the only contestants this season who impressed me enough to be interested in what they do next are Kennedy, and maybe Sarah Grace, from the first episode.  This is looking a bit too much like last season in terms of the underwhelming level of talent.

Given the general mediocrity, I was surprised that only Kelly turned for Delaney.  While its true that "In My Blood" proved a bit wordy for her, I thought she otherwise sounded pretty good.

11 hours ago, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

Was I losing it? In Chevel's package didn't she say she was 14? And then on stage say she was 16? I'm so confused. But actually, she was a total "there's a voice in there somewhere" pick by all the judges who turned. You could hear the nerves, and with someone who has a naturally fast (I'm guessing) vibrato they became even worse. Little snippets of the song sounded somewhat promising though.

I agree.  Her performance was very unpolished and uneven, but I think enough natural talent came through to get the coaches interested.  I just doubt she'll be able to improve quickly enough to go far this season.  She seems like a classic case of someone who should have waited another couple of years before coming on the show.

[Babalooie]

14 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

It's probably just me, but Kelly seems kind of manic this season. 

From the many articles I've read over the last couple of years, it seems that her husband is a mega cheater.  I'm no psychologist, but I think that her manic behavior is the result of  trying to cover up her stress from that situation.  

[JeanneH]

The 4-chair turn lady from Chicago was the best performance so far.  That doesn't mean she was necessarily the best singer - I'd like to hear her do something a bit more toned down to judge her singing skills, but peformance-wise she was great. It looked like a mini-altar on the stage by the time the judges finished with their shoes, jackets, water bottles, etc. I figure Blake turned just to see what all the ruckus was about.  I thought she was a shoe-in for JHud (no pun intended) and the look on all their faces when she picked Kelly was priceless.

[bluepiano]

20 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

It's probably just me, but Kelly seems kind of manic this season.  Although I generally like her, she's been over the top a few times and it grates on me.  I thought I would be complaining about JHud Productions, but she seems more comfortable as a judge this season.

Totally agree about Kelly. Her theatrics sometimes border on hysteria. She has a very natural likeable quality when she's just being herself, but the manic stuff is grating.  As someone posted earlier, her "fighting" with Blake has dominated the show this season, replacing the Adam vs. Blake feud. I'm fine with having less of the Adam vs. Blake insults, but the Kelly vs. Blake thing is getting old fast. Adam has been sort of pushed into the background this year. He's wisely just letting that happen, but at some point his ego may kick in and he'll fight for more air time.

14 hours ago, viajero said:

I agree.  Her performance was very unpolished and uneven, but I think enough natural talent came through to get the coaches interested.  I just doubt she'll be able to improve quickly enough to go far this season.  She seems like a classic case of someone who should have waited another couple of years before coming on the show.

Considering the success of so many very young singers (14-15) on this show and others, there's really no reason to wait. Being that young actually helps you, because then the judges (and America in the voting) are willing to overlook flaws.  If she'd waited a couple of years, even if she were a more polished singer, she wouldn't get all that "you're so amazing for 15" gushing.

Edited October 3, 2018 by bluepiano

[PhD-Purgatory15]

Honestly, my overarching takeaway from this hour was that the world needs more Orthopedic Specialists with an engineering/biomechanics background than it does failed pop stars. So hopefully, an early exit off of Kelsea's comeback team will show Wyatt the light. Fingers crossed.

Other than that, Mackenzie the returning contestant from S14 has a genuinely pretty voice. I'm not sure it's enough to make an extended run on team JHud....but it is an objectively pretty tone and sometimes it such a breath of fresh air to not get shouted at from the jump by most of these auditioners. I'll give Reagan the 13 year old credit for picking a smart song for her voice which definitely has that country flavored pop thing going on. The long haired guy feels like fodder, and Foushee (minus the horribly off whistle-notes) was pretty good. A little surprised she went with Adam over JHud

Edited October 3, 2018 by PhD-Purgatory15