Season 15 Discussion

[Dots And Stripes]

2 hours ago, Babalooie said:

Yes, it was a no-brainer since she was one of Kelsi Ballerini's choices out of the ones that got no turns to begin with.

 

 

2 hours ago, Babalooie said:

I guess some people are put off because she's a plus-sized girl, but I was impressed with how EFFORTLESS her runs and that high note were in that smooth jazz version of a song written by the BeeGees.  I'm a music teacher who is generally hard to impress and feel that the runs really sound forced in many instances with so many "go big or go home" singers.  

It's amazing that MaKenzie was a 0 chair turn last season. I didn't watch any of the bring back stuff, but it makes me wonder if there wasn't a hidden gem or two in the mix that Kelsi missed. Lynnea wasn't bad, but she wasn't really live show material either. 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Dots And Stripes

[vb68]

I thought Team J Hud sounded beautiful on The Rose.

[Wandering Snark]

Lynnea got pretty chewed up and spit out by the styling dept. She looked like a different person each week so it contributed to her not 'catching on' I think. She obviously has the same stylist as Kelly who has been a horror show. But take anyone with no fan base and blast them back into the competition and anyone would struggle. I think the whole thing did her no favors. I may never forget her white/silver eye makeup horror. Too bad.

My only problem with MaKenzie being plus sized is I get flashbacks to the woman who won project runway putting flowerpots on model's heads (among other atrocities). I can't "unsee" it and it's disturbing. She is quietly confident and quite competent vocally but could use a little amp-up in her performance.

I thought that both Sarah Grace and Reagan struggled hardily with their songs. I love songs of angst and struggle with a plastered on smile. *eyeroll* I don't really need teens singing to their boyfriends to take off their clothes however and this is the crux of my problem with the teen wave overtaking the show, they have zero life experience. As they say 'What do you know of love and loss?' Your kitten died and you didn't make the cheerleading team?

Dave was basically played off like a joke performance on a bad dare, and both he and Kirk almost passed out from moving around during, what, a minute thirty worth of song? How could these people ever play a full show without learning to breathe first. Dave's an old dude who's live life on the road so I guess with breaks for beers he gets through his pub shows I guess. But it really showed that Kirk's got a shitty platform of technical wares to work from if he can't get through a performance and try to do anything but sit at a keyboard. Not impressed gents.

Chevel and Kennedy are pretty show ponies, Kennedy more polished than Chevel. They are fine as long as they go by the numbers. Chevel gets the 'aww shucks country' votes and Kennedy gets the 'omgz so young and singing Whitney???' votes that are longtime fountains of singing comp success to draw from so they'll be fine for a while.

I was surprised that Reagan had 'most streams' for the 2nd week in a row. I've disliked the sycophantic relationship between the show and Apple's bottom line ever since they made buying songs a way to vote. Now I see they are making people sign up for their streaming service which means millions of people will next month be looking at their credit card bills wondering where that new 9.95 charge for their first non-comp month of Apple Music came from which is business' sleaziest bait and switch ever, the complimentary* month. Second only to "You can have all the music you want, no limit!! You just have to pay to KEEP it each month for the rest of your life." Obviously they find that to be the better "plan" or they wouldn't have switched over.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Wandering Snark

[Mystery Author]

Quote

but I was impressed with how EFFORTLESS her runs and that high note were in that smooth jazz version of a song written by the BeeGees. 

That BeeGees song was a fun DISCO song. MaKenzie sang it like a dirge. I hated her rendition but WTF, she made it her own.

[filmfan2480]

MaKenzie is frustrating me because, while I LOVE her voice ... her renditions/arrangements of the songs she's performing are not killing it.  They should be home runs.  She sings great.  But I'm always left afterwards going: oooooh, why did I think that would be even better than it was!?  :/

[viajero]

Dave should have been in the bottom 2 instead of DeAndre.  You'd have to go back to the knockouts to find a performance of Dave's that I've enjoyed and he was just awful this week.

Plus, it we were going strictly by Monday's performances, then Reagan should have been there along with him.  But at least I have liked several of Reagan's previous performances.

It was weird that Chevel was the last person saved.  I wonder if she's really not getting the votes or if its manipulation on the part of the producers to create more tension.  Space Cowboy was a bit of a dud.   I found it to be the second most boring performance of the evening after MaKenzie's.

17 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

It's amazing that MaKenzie was a 0 chair turn last season. I didn't watch any of the bring back stuff, but it makes me wonder if there wasn't a hidden gem or two in the mix that Kelsi missed. Lynnea wasn't bad, but she wasn't really live show material either. 

I watched all the Comeback videos on YouTube and thought Lynnea was the best of the bunch.  And I still think her performance of Wolves was one of the better ones we've had so far on the live shows.  But her performances in these last two results shows would indicate that she loses control too easily when under pressure.

[desertflower]

On 11/26/2018 at 11:57 PM, PhD-Purgatory15 said:

It's hard for anybody this side of Pentatonix to recreate the vocal energy/electricity she has in her voice on that song.

I still go to YouTube every once in a while to watch Pentatonix's performance of Dog Days Are Over. Perfection!

[Palomar]

Did I hear right that Kelsi Ballerini was coming back as a coach next season?  Please no!  I do have to say that I've like JHud quite a bit more this season than her first go around. 

[Bridget]

1 hour ago, Palomar said:

Did I hear right that Kelsi Ballerini was coming back as a coach next season?  Please no!  I do have to say that I've like JHud quite a bit more this season than her first go around. 

I thought I heard Carson say that Kelsea is going on tour with Kelly next year. Brynn is going as well, which is a good heads up - now I know when to hit the beer garden! 

[Booklady1017]

I don't mind the Comeback idea but I think it should be for singers who made it at least through the Blinds or even the battles. If they had a bit more recognition, they could make it further. 

I didn't realize I liked Makenzie so much until the Knockouts. I have always liked Kymberli and Kennedy though. I am so over Blake's beard guys though. 

I understand why they had Kymberli do a gospel song but people who are not religious may not connect as much with her on that song. 

I don't get how Reagan can have her song streamed so many times. She's ok but she's nothing special.

[rainsmom]

1 hour ago, Booklady1017 said:

I don't mind the Comeback idea but I think it should be for singers who made it at least through the Blinds or even the battles. If they had a bit more recognition, they could make it further. 

I agree. If you don't get picked in the blinds, you can come back and try again next year. These people, though? I guarantee their chances are now blown completely. That just sucks, because the lack of a fandom guarantees they will fail.

[realdancemom]

56 minutes ago, rainsmom said:

I agree. If you don't get picked in the blinds, you can come back and try again next year. These people, though? I guarantee their chances are now blown completely. That just sucks, because the lack of a fandom guarantees they will fail.

I was wondering about this.  So if Kelsi picked you, does that mean that you can't try again next year.  If so, I would rather she didn't pick me.  I can see how the two that made the Lives can't come back but for the others, I would rather wait.  There are a lot of people like me that don't watch the Comeback performances on-line.

[rainsmom]

14 minutes ago, realdancemom said:

I was wondering about this.  So if Kelsi picked you, does that mean that you can't try again next year.  If so, I would rather she didn't pick me.  I can see how the two that made the Lives can't come back but for the others, I would rather wait.  There are a lot of people like me that don't watch the Comeback performances on-line.

I honestly wonder if being picked to even compete as Comeback Artist ruins their chances. I suppose there's no way to know for sure.

[Ilovepie]

12 hours ago, Booklady1017 said:

I don't mind the Comeback idea but I think it should be for singers who made it at least through the Blinds or even the battles.

Isn’t that how they used to do it? The coaches could pick one artist they had let go to come back. I think this is the fairest way anyway- I just didn’t think it was fair that Lynnea got a free pass to top 13 without having to endure live battle and knockout rounds. Plus, she got ZERO chair turns! Just no.

I have never heard Kelsi Ballerini sing before and I am now sad I have to hear her again because I have tickets to Kelly’s tour. I’m pretty sure every one left in this competition can sing better than her and that includes her comeback pick who I didn’t even like. I think I’ll be wishing it was the same lineup from the last time I saw Kelly - pentatonix opened for her!

Kennedy is reading so old to me. And waaaay too pageant for me. Despite being arguably the best vocalist left in the competition she is one of my least favorites. She is thirteen but she sings old lady songs! I don’t care that she sounded great, I don’t need to hear Greatest Love Of All or Wind Beneath My Wings ever again. She doesn’t sound current. 

[MissSunshine]

On 11/26/2018 at 5:32 PM, SnarkyTart said:

All this conversation you began in the last two pages has been so interesting and on-the-nose about everything that's wrong with "The Voice".  It's what made me start watching singing competition shows from other countries on youtube instead. Do you think American television audiences could appreciate a format like China's "I am a Singer"?  To elucidate, their youngest contestant was 22 years old.  The contestant's songs can extend to up to 5 minutes per performance.  The contestants arrange their own songs and can choose whatever live instrumentation and background vocals they wish, up to and including a full symphonic orchestra. The contestants choose their own outfits and their own stage set.  There are no background sob story packages.  There is NO call-in voting.  Each week is a different in-studio audience of 500 viewers for the live performance and they are the only ones who vote.  The camera editing is wonderful, with very few cuts to see audience members or the other contestants reacting backstage.  And there are no judges or coaches!  Imagine the huge budget "The Voice" or "American Idol" could spend on the contestants' performances without those superstar celebrity judges. Not to mention the true vocal talent that could be drawn to such a competition.  If an American signing competition could end up with a contestant/performance like this one from the Chinese show...I wonder if American audiences would appreciate and support it?

 

Please tell me what platform do you watch these shows from other countries? I would love to watch!

[Booklady1017]

11 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

Isn’t that how they used to do it? The coaches could pick one artist they had let go to come back. I think this is the fairest way anyway- I just didn’t think it was fair that Lynnea got a free pass to top 13 without having to endure live battle and knockout rounds. Plus, she got ZERO chair turns! Just no.

I have never heard Kelsi Ballerini sing before and I am now sad I have to hear her again because I have tickets to Kelly’s tour. I’m pretty sure every one left in this competition can sing better than her and that includes her comeback pick who I didn’t even like. I think I’ll be wishing it was the same lineup from the last time I saw Kelly - pentatonix opened for her!

Kennedy is reading so old to me. And waaaay too pageant for me. Despite being arguably the best vocalist left in the competition she is one of my least favorites. She is thirteen but she sings old lady songs! I don’t care that she sounded great, I don’t need to hear Greatest Love Of All or Wind Beneath My Wings ever again. She doesn’t sound current. 

Yes, it’s beneficial for the contestants, audience and judge, for the comeback artists to be further along in the progress. And I agree, it can go back to the way it was before with the judges picking someone who had been previously eliminated. Ilovepie, I also agree that I wasn’t that impressed with Kelsea’s performance. 

I don’t mind the song selection for Kennedy but they could change it up with some younger songs for her. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Kennedy is definitely a gifted vocalist.  I really have no criticism of her. But, I'm just not as drawn into her performances as I am to those by Mackenzie and Kymberli.  Oh, and Kirk.  But, all 4 of them are all awesome. In fact, I like all those left, with the exception of Reagen.  I'm not sure why, but, I don't care for her performances. (Oh, I've never been a big Jennifer Hudson fan either, and I thought that Kennedy and Mackenzie sounded better than her in that trio performance.)  I like Jennifer on this season so far though.  She seems to be very honest on her assessments, as does Kelly.  

Not sure what it is about Mackenzie, but, she just has something special that pulls me into her performance.  I find her intriguing.  

Edited November 30, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[Booklady1017]

2 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Kennedy is definitely a gifted vocalist.  I really have no criticism of her. But, I'm just not as drawn into her performances as I am to those by Mackenzie and Kymberli.  Oh, and Kirk.  But, all 4 of them are all awesome. In fact, I like all those left, with the exception of Reagen.  I'm not sure why, but, I don't care for her performances. (Oh, I've never been a big Jennifer Hudson fan either, and I thought that Kennedy and Mackenzie sounded better than her in that trio performance.)  I like Jennifer on this season so far though.  She seems to be very honest on her assessments, as does Kelly.  

Not sure what it is about Mackenzie, but, she just has something special that pulls me into her performance.  I find her intriguing.  

I really like Makenzie too!

[Dots And Stripes]

Kennedy definitely went more modern this week. Smart coaching from Jennifer to take the risk now before the blood bath next week. I also liked Jennifer's tweaks to "Because you loved me." MaKenzie was one of my favorite performances tonight. Chris was probably the other one.

Adam is so full of it saying no one else could sing "That's what I like." Yeah, I think there are other reasons why most singers on this show would leave that one alone, especially given the number of teens and tweens who do well. Between that and Reagan singing a song completely outside her depth, I feel like Adam is phoning it in.

[Wandering Snark]

Okay I actually watched this week near real-time (DVR w/commercial skip). I liked tonight much better than previous weeks. Possibly because most people did what they like doing (not to be confused with staying in your lane/box). A bit odd that almost everyone was country influenced or gospel influenced tonight though... but letting idea flow in no particular order...

I'm not down with the whole Yay Jesus! thing but I think that for the genre Kimberli did do well with the song. I'd guess people that lean more in that direction would relate to it and find it inspirational.

Moreso than MaKenzie's show ender that was supposed to be Celine gospelfied. First off as they say in design you don't want to make a big girl look bigger, and the straightened hair and the giant gown did just that imo. We've all hear a better version of this song and I just didn't "buy" it.

Just as you don't make a girl look bigger you don't dwarf a musician by giving someone a bigger role than the LEAD singer as they are called that for a reason. Poor Chris got totally out played and outperformed by that amazing fiddle player while attempting 'Calling Baton Rouge'. It was a little painful.

Which could also describe my feeling watching pretty show pony Chavelle struggle and cheeze (yes with a 'z') her way through 'You're Looking at Country'. It was just too 'on the nose' I thought. Instead of singing country she seemed like she was trying to be 'as Country as possible' as a calculated/coached approach instead of just singing country and letting that make her statement for her. It was a tragically bad song choice.

I'll wonder what people thought of Sarah Grace's House of the Rising Sun/Amazing Grace mashup. I saw they put up an artist's name in the practice portion so she gets no bonus points for arrangement. The trumpet playing was pretty cool though. I liked it a bit and she showed off what she could do in a non repetetive way without going totally crazy with it. That was kinda amazing, Sarah Grace.

Reagan's performance was a little shout-y. Again I'm not sure she's connecting to the songs she does. She is technically okay I guess but there's a disconnect there that I hang on her being so young.

So just be young for crissakes... go out there and let it loose instead of wearing a big gown and singing Whitney at age 13. Do like Kennedy and perform. She just let it loose. While she's not my cup of tea I can see that and easily pick out the performance of the night.

The performance of tomorrow night though may come down to Dave v DeAndre. Again, styling issues with DeAndre. In the all black amonst a line of musicians I couldn't pick out who was the lead vocalist... he just blended in to the ever present smoke on stage and his vocals got lost trying to a song that obviously wasn't him.

I though they both missed the mark DeAndre moreso than Dave. Blake called out his breath issues, which I was happy to see. But, Dave, you were beatboxing last week and now your coach has you talking about how country you are and you do a countrified song sucking up the amazing Voice Country Vote and it came off as insincere to my ears.

The best he can hope for is to siphon some of the votes from Kirk as he won't need all the ones he'll recieve for a solid country performance and riding on his 'Country Til I Die' mantra.

Laters Dave.

I see 'most streamed' as a battle between Sarah Grace (mainly due to the arrangement that wasn't hers) and Kennedy because people will remember the performance.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Wandering Snark

[Padma]

I'm pretty impressed that three coaches found a way to praise Reagan without mentioning how badly she sang Faith Hill's song. 'You command the stage" per Adam. Good one!  But on the bright side, at least she didn't smile inappropriately through it like she did through last week's performance. I still don't think she understands what these "big" songs are about or why she's given songs that are so out of her vocal (and emotional) range.  She's pretty and cute and in a few years might be ready for a career. But it would be unfortunate if she wins over more the more talented singers.  (I also hope the winner won't be one of the shouters. I'm really tired of being shouted at. Subtlety in singing is underrated on this show. I mainly blame the coaches and producers.)

I like Blake's singing, but I wish he'd choose better songs. Did he write "She's Turning Me On"?  The lyrics are among his worst, and that's saying something.

Edited December 4, 2018 by Padma

[Bridget]

During the “behind the scenes” footage during a commercial break, did anyone else notice that the people from Kelly’s glam squad were wearing red and black Team KC jackets too? I love you, Kelly Clarkson! 

@Padma, per Google, Blake co-wrote the song during some downtime on his tour bus last year. I’m with you 100% re: Blake’s singing, the lyrics and the songs he opts to record at times.

Blake is my Boo (we miss you, Pharrell!), but I have found that I tend to typically prefer his more serious songs. I love that he’s willing to be honest and share his feelings, but for someone who is so witty and has a way with words, he’s not a great songwriter.

“Came Here to Forget” is on repeat a lot, as are:

-“God Gave Me You”

-“She’s Got a Way With Words”

-“Sure Be Cool if You Did”

-“Who Are You When I’m Not Looking”

I do like some of his fun stuff, like “Honey Bee” and “Boys ‘Round Here.”

”I’ll Name the Dogs” is catchy, but even I think the lyrics are a bit simple.

Every single song that I listed has one thing in common: he didn’t write any of them, and that’s OK with me. He needs to put down the pen & paper and stick to singing songs that other people wrote.

Back on topic: Reagan was awful. Oh my God. Awful. Did she not hear herself at all during any of her rehearsals? And then to find out that she brought it up one half step? I can’t with her.

Team Adam is all around terrible.

@Wandering Snark: everything you said about Chevel. Every. Single. Thing. I’m honestly shocked that she didn’t have any fringe on her blouse. That said, in my opinion, some fringe would’ve looked a lot better than her Duggar-like hair cascading down the front. Her hair was really distracting!

I didn’t hate MaKenna’s rendition of the Celine Dion song, but I didn’t feel anything either during her performance. I’m not mad about it, but I felt like it was missing some “oomph.” 

It cannot be said enough: singers need to connect to the song lyrics in order to convey any ounce of believability to the audience.

Dave, who cannot only be 40 years old, looks almost as old as Eric on “90 Day Fiancé”, who also claims to be 40. Maybe in dog years?!?!

Dave, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not a great singer. Stick to bars and clubs. You need to leave and take Chris Krouze with you.

There’s an aura of “name dropping” about Chris and I can’t stand it. We get it: you played for the troops who were stationed overseas. You allegedly have “Callin’ Baton Rouge” on your set list back home and you can fill a dance floor. Tonight he said: “...all touring musicians experience XYZ when they’re away from their families ...” Dude. You’re not gone for months at a time because you’re opening for Brad Paisley or Kenny Chesney. Zip it! He comes off as such a try hard in his interviews and he’s not even that good. There’s a huge difference between having confidence (which typically stems from experience) and being full of yourself. I feel like Chris is the latter of those two. On a shallow note, I wish he’d cut his hair. 

I realize that the show isn’t called “The Personality”, but as a viewer, hearing certain things an artist says makes me look at them through a much more critical lens. 

I wanted to like Kirk’s song choice, but I think I realized what he might need to make it to the next level: voice lessons. Zero snark intended - I like him! When he sings, his voice lacks the warmth that country music singers tend to have. He has major potential, but do I think he could open for Blake next summer? Not unless he immersed himself in studying the nuances of country music and how effortless many artists make it sound, like my boo, Blake. I like watching him perform, but I don’t think he’s as polished in his genre as he should be in order to turn into a serious country artist. 

Edited December 5, 2018 by Bridget
I finished watching the episode and had to add more!

[vb68]

Wow, I hated that song choice for Kennedy. HATED it. I think she's safe, though.

[SunnyBeBe]

I really liked Makenzie again, as well as Kirk and Kymberli, but, I really still prefer Makenzie. I do feel that she has held back this week and last though.  Not sure why.  Kennedy was very polished and impressive, but, I didn't care for the song at all.  Still, she's super good and likely at the top.  I thought Reagan's performance was sad. She really struggled, but, that was either nerves or coaching issue, imo.  I have no issue with who is leaving except I hope that Makenzie, Kymberli and Kirk are safe.  I voted for all 3 of them.  I think the Voice's voting site had an issue early this morning though. The voting page would not scroll down so you could properly use the page to vote. I had to do it on my phone. Hmm......I wonder how many others couldn't vote on their computer due to site issue.  Not fair and could cause unfair advantage to some contestants. 

It's funny, because last week, I thought to myself that Chevel reminded me of Loretta Lynn.  lol 

Edited December 4, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[lgprimes]

I am not a particularly religious person, but Kymberli gave me chills. Wow. THERE is a voice.

Kennedy’s song choice didn’t realky show off her vocals but COME ON! That was some professional level performance! She learned that in a week?? You can call her Miss Holmes if you’re nasty!

those were my two favorites this week.

I heard two are going home? I would send Reagan and either Deandre or Chris. My least liked performance last night was Sara Grace’s because I HATED that arrangement, but I can appreciate her talent.

[Booklady1017]

11 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

Kennedy definitely went more modern this week. Smart coaching from Jennifer to take the risk now before the blood bath next week. I also liked Jennifer's tweaks to "Because you loved me." MaKenzie was one of my favorite performances tonight. Chris was probably the other one.

Adam is so full of it saying no one else could sing "That's what I like." Yeah, I think there are other reasons why most singers on this show would leave that one alone, especially given the number of teens and tweens who do well. Between that and Reagan singing a song completely outside her depth, I feel like Adam is phoning it in.

I remember a discussion here that Kennedy should do something younger and Jennifer did well with that. I was really happy with Kennedy’s performance. I agree that  Jennifer did the best with her contestants this week. I loved Makenzie’s performance too.

I agree about Adam and think he’s not such a great coach, in my opinion.

[Booklady1017]

11 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

Okay I actually watched this week near real-time (DVR w/commercial skip). I liked tonight much better than previous weeks. Possibly because most people did what they like doing (not to be confused with staying in your lane/box). A bit odd that almost everyone was country influenced or gospel influenced tonight though... but letting idea flow in no particular order...

I'm not down with the whole Yay Jesus! thing but I think that for the genre Kimberli did do well with the song. I'd guess people that lean more in that direction would relate to it and find it inspirational.

Moreso than MaKenzie's show ender that was supposed to be Celine gospelfied. First off as they say in design you don't want to make a big girl look bigger, and the straightened hair and the giant gown did just that imo. We've all hear a better version of this song and I just didn't "buy" it.

Just as you don't make a girl look bigger you don't dwarf a musician by giving someone a bigger role than the LEAD singer as they are called that for a reason. Poor Chris got totally out played and outperformed by that amazing fiddle player while attempting 'Calling Baton Rouge'. It was a little painful.

Which could also describe my feeling watching pretty show pony Chavelle struggle and cheeze (yes with a 'z') her way through 'You're Looking at Country'. It was just too 'on the nose' I thought. Instead of singing country she seemed like she was trying to be 'as Country as possible' as a calculated/coached approach instead of just singing country and letting that make her statement for her. It was a tragically bad song choice.

I'll wonder what people thought of Sarah Grace's House of the Rising Sun/Amazing Grace mashup. I saw they put up an artist's name in the practice portion so she gets no bonus points for arrangement. The trumpet playing was pretty cool though. I liked it a bit and she showed off what she could do in a non repetetive way without going totally crazy with it. That was kinda amazing, Sarah Grace.

Reagan's performance was a little shout-y. Again I'm not sure she's connecting to the songs she does. She is technically okay I guess but there's a disconnect there that I hang on her being so young.

So just be young for crissakes... go out there and let it loose instead of wearing a big gown and singing Whitney at age 13. Do like Kennedy and perform. She just let it loose. While she's not my cup of tea I can see that and easily pick out the performance of the night.

The performance of tomorrow night though may come down to Dave v DeAndre. Again, styling issues with DeAndre. In the all black amonst a line of musicians I couldn't pick out who was the lead vocalist... he just blended in to the ever present smoke on stage and his vocals got lost trying to a song that obviously wasn't him.

I though they both missed the mark DeAndre moreso than Dave. Blake called out his breath issues, which I was happy to see. But, Dave, you were beatboxing last week and now your coach has you talking about how country you are and you do a countrified song sucking up the amazing Voice Country Vote and it came off as insincere to my ears.

The best he can hope for is to siphon some of the votes from Kirk as he won't need all the ones he'll recieve for a solid country performance and riding on his 'Country Til I Die' mantra.

Laters Dave.

I see 'most streamed' as a battle between Sarah Grace (mainly due to the arrangement that wasn't hers) and Kennedy because people will remember the performance.

I thought Sarah Grace improved this week and doing the trumpet was a good touch. In my opinion, for now if Kymberli wants to do Gospel on the show, she should stick more to songs like last night that sound Gospel but not as overtly religious or even something that is R&B that is given a gospel song. I thought too, as I think you were saying and the other post maybe as well, as some of the performances were overdone with too much going on with singers and musicians. My favorites were actually Jennifer’s two singers last night.

11 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

Okay I actually watched this week near real-time (DVR w/commercial skip). I liked tonight much better than previous weeks. Possibly because most people did what they like doing (not to be confused with staying in your lane/box). A bit odd that almost everyone was country influenced or gospel influenced tonight though... but letting idea flow in no particular order...

I'm not down with the whole Yay Jesus! thing but I think that for the genre Kimberli did do well with the song. I'd guess people that lean more in that direction would relate to it and find it inspirational.

Moreso than MaKenzie's show ender that was supposed to be Celine gospelfied. First off as they say in design you don't want to make a big girl look bigger, and the straightened hair and the giant gown did just that imo. We've all hear a better version of this song and I just didn't "buy" it.

Just as you don't make a girl look bigger you don't dwarf a musician by giving someone a bigger role than the LEAD singer as they are called that for a reason. Poor Chris got totally out played and outperformed by that amazing fiddle player while attempting 'Calling Baton Rouge'. It was a little painful.

Which could also describe my feeling watching pretty show pony Chavelle struggle and cheeze (yes with a 'z') her way through 'You're Looking at Country'. It was just too 'on the nose' I thought. Instead of singing country she seemed like she was trying to be 'as Country as possible' as a calculated/coached approach instead of just singing country and letting that make her statement for her. It was a tragically bad song choice.

I'll wonder what people thought of Sarah Grace's House of the Rising Sun/Amazing Grace mashup. I saw they put up an artist's name in the practice portion so she gets no bonus points for arrangement. The trumpet playing was pretty cool though. I liked it a bit and she showed off what she could do in a non repetetive way without going totally crazy with it. That was kinda amazing, Sarah Grace.

Reagan's performance was a little shout-y. Again I'm not sure she's connecting to the songs she does. She is technically okay I guess but there's a disconnect there that I hang on her being so young.

So just be young for crissakes... go out there and let it loose instead of wearing a big gown and singing Whitney at age 13. Do like Kennedy and perform. She just let it loose. While she's not my cup of tea I can see that and easily pick out the performance of the night.

The performance of tomorrow night though may come down to Dave v DeAndre. Again, styling issues with DeAndre. In the all black amonst a line of musicians I couldn't pick out who was the lead vocalist... he just blended in to the ever present smoke on stage and his vocals got lost trying to a song that obviously wasn't him.

I though they both missed the mark DeAndre moreso than Dave. Blake called out his breath issues, which I was happy to see. But, Dave, you were beatboxing last week and now your coach has you talking about how country you are and you do a countrified song sucking up the amazing Voice Country Vote and it came off as insincere to my ears.

The best he can hope for is to siphon some of the votes from Kirk as he won't need all the ones he'll recieve for a solid country performance and riding on his 'Country Til I Die' mantra.

Laters Dave.

I see 'most streamed' as a battle between Sarah Grace (mainly due to the arrangement that wasn't hers) and Kennedy because people will remember the performance.

I’m over Dave too and think Adam missed the mark with DeAndre too.

10 hours ago, Padma said:

I'm pretty impressed that three coaches found a way to praise Reagan without mentioning how badly she sang Faith Hill's song. 'You command the stage" per Adam. Good one!  But on the bright side, at least she didn't smile inappropriately through it like she did through last week's performance. I still don't think she understands what these "big" songs are about or why she's given songs that are so out of her vocal (and emotional) range.  She's pretty and cute and in a few years might be ready for a career. But it would be unfortunate if she wins over more the more talented singers.  (I also hope the winner won't be one of the shouters. I'm really tired of being shouted at. Subtlety in singing is underrated on this show. I mainly blame the coaches and producers.)

I like Blake's singing, but I wish he'd choose better songs. Did he write "She's Turning Me On"?  The lyrics are among his worst, and that's saying something.

I felt Reagan’s not as strong as previous young female singers and she’s not as strong as Kennedy. She’s not given good song choices either. 

Yeah Blake’s song was just cheesy.

[Booklady1017]

I’m glad there are other people out there too who don’t think Dave  and Chris is so great.  LOL @Bridget above Dave, so true.  And Chevel’s performance was too over the top, agreed.

[PhD-Purgatory15]

The more I listen to Kirk, the more I think he has a limited number of tempos that he can handle. Something about his affectations and a more rapid fire delivery of words causes it to start sounding strangled on the way out of his windpipe.

Dave and Reagan have the same issue, they only sound reasonably good singing at full blast. So therefore, the choruses tend to sound okay to pretty strong while they both sound absolutely lost trying to sing verses. Maybe bandzilla has something to do with that part of the time...but a lot of that is on them.

So, Kennedy went first and she did a very non-Voice style of song with a full-on dance breakdown. I thought she sounded very one-note, monotone...but that was probably just the song itself. I think we could get a sense of if the votes are with her tonight, as it wouldn't shock me if she's one of the three singing for the twitter save.

I'd say DeAndre is probably there for sure (singing in the twitter save)...but for me, he's the one non-country singer who I could remotely see myself hearing on the radio even if he is maybe 10% too derivative of Bruno Mars.

Do they let the coach (or the artist) know that they were just messing with them after they call them safe last before the twitter sing-off? To me, Sarah Grace swung for the fences (Gospel hymn...check. Instrumental solo...check, arrangement that rips off House of the Rising Sun....check) because Kelly and her really believed she was 9th out of 11 last week (or whatever it would've been). I think the combination of all things probably buys her another week.

Chris & MaKenzie keep doing what they do...but at some point (IMO) they have to start hitting the twitter save. Either that or they are just automatic in the cut down from 8 to 4.

Kimberli Joye, didn't listen...surprisingly not the first person to do Oceans on the Voice. DeAnna Johnson did it as well back in the day.

Chevel is getting closer and closer to one of those "trick" Western contestants with the yodel that American Idol always usually finds. I'm half-expecting I Wanna Be a Cowboy Sweetheart or Patsy Cline's Walking after Midnight next week.

Edited December 4, 2018 by PhD-Purgatory15

[Wandering Snark]

Few quick things that popped back in my mind:

Nice of that guitar company to give the members of Team Testosterone Blake guitars, pity none of them chose to play them at the show.

Speaking of guitars, the outrageous amounts of smoke lead to one of my favorite moments from last night. One of the backing guitarists had this moment of terror when he looked down and realized he couldn't see his pedals you could almost hear him say "Oh shit... ummm.. I >think< this the right one?" Hah. I was a Spinal Tap like moment.

That smoke was absurd though... and where it billows off the stage is right at face level for the people in the front row, I bet they could barely see and have sore throats this morning.

[limecoke]

So according to Adam, Reagan took "Cry" a half step higher and thought that was a GOOD thing???  Seriously?  That was the worst she's sounded in the competition so far.  It was wavering off key in the low range and shouty in the upper.  I'm afraid I had to fast-forward through most of it.  The wonder was the judges reaching for positives when they all had to know it was terrible.  

To be honest, I fast-forwarded through a lot of the performances.  

I hate to be so negative but I absolutely hated Sarah Grace's rendition of "Amazing Grace."  Honey,  if you're going for votes from that particular demographic you do not sing THAT song like your torch-singing in a smoky basement club at the seedy end of Bourbon Street.   I don't mind Kimberli Joy (sp??) doing gospel because that's what she wants to do as a recording artist and she does it well, so good for her, but if a contestant is doing it for votes, at least do it respectfully.  Good grief.

I thought this season would be better than it's turning out to be.  It's a snoozer.

Edited December 4, 2018 by limecoke

[viajero]

I think I enjoyed Sarah's performance the most.  I know she based it on an old arrangement, but did fit in the trumpet solo so that it seemed natural.  I like it when contestants take a risk and do something out of the box, particularly when they pull it off as well as she did.  I'm glad she hit #3 on iTunes.

I enjoyed Kennedy's performance almost as much.  I didn't much like the song, but what she did was impressive.  I think she's easily the best all around performer of the season and should probably win.

The others I thought were pretty good were Kymberli, Kirk and MaKenzie.   These last two showed exactly what the other is lacking.  MaKenzie has impeccable vocals, but also sounds kind of generic and doesn't really seem to connect to the songs.  Kirk has an very unique immediately recognizable voice and emotes much better, but is prone sometimes to hitting bum notes.  Between the two, I'd probably take Kirk.

Reagan gets the award for worst vocals, while Dave gave the blandest performance (in all senses of the word).  Add in DeAndre, whose vocals were simply not up to the level of last week, and that should probably be the bottom-three. 

[SunnyBeBe]

As popular as Reagan and Kennedy seem to be, I can't imagine them being in the bottom, but, what do I know?  lol  I don't care for them, but, I can imagine they will get votes regardless of their performance, but, Blake's fans are so loyal.  He'll probably keep his entire team.  Wouldn't it be odd if Adam lost all of his? Man.....

Sarah's not one of my favorites either and I would not miss her at all.  Actually, I wouldn't mind if she and Reagan left next. 

[Archery]

My youth choir did that version of Amazing Grace/House of the Rising Sun when I was a teenager--in 1980. 

I watched Kennedy's performance twice, but the next girl I was was so bad, I turned off the show. I usually start watching at this point in the season but, nah.

[Quickbeam]

Dear Kennedy, please do not refer to yourself in the third person. Thx. 

[Ashforth]

Are they fucking insane? Gwen Stefani singing Feliz Navidad? 

[Quickbeam]

2 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

Are they fucking insane? Gwen Stefani singing Feliz Navidad? 

It was *that* bad. Shudder. 

[Quickbeam]

Wow, Adam threw DeAndre under the bus. Way under the bus.

[Valny]

5 minutes ago, Quickbeam said:

Wow, Adam threw DeAndre under the bus. Way under the bus.

Right?!  Thank you Kelly for saying what you did about Adam/DeAndre/ and Reagan.

Damn, was hoping it would be DeAndre.  He looked a bit pissed...or at least not too happy with his coach

Edited December 5, 2018 by Valny

[lgprimes]

I don’t even care that much about Deandre but I was voting for him as fast as my fingers could go just because I thought that was such a douche move by Adam 

[JeanneH]

WTF Adam?  You're the king of bus throwing, and we know you have a thing about little girls on this show, but oh my gawd.  Thank you Kelly for bringing some sanity (and you know it's bad when Kelly's bringing sanity).  Any backlash coming next week against Adam (and Reagan)?

[Ohwell]

I hope that any future singers who want to be on this show watched how DeAndre got thrown under the fucking bus by Adam and, therefore, will know not to choose him.  What a dick.

[Kaiju Ballet]

"I have a special relationship with Reagan?"

Such a dick move, especially if Adam was responsible for the terrible song choice and arrangement for DeAndre yesterday.

Future Voice contestants with more than Adam's chair turns, remember not to choose Adam.

[Diana Berry]

Yes, you guys said it all!  The bus, Kelly thank you ( did Adam look steamed or what?  Love it).   Boy was that Strange.   

 Not to be rude but she can come out for the last 5 minutes in a bathrobe in full makeup?  Honestly , it would have been more  fair to keep  her offstage.

3 hours ago, Kaiju Ballet said:

"I have a special relationship with Reagan?"

Such a dick move, especially if Adam was responsible for the terrible song choice and arrangement for DeAndre yesterday.

Future Voice contestants with more than Adam's chair turns, remember not to choose Adam.

Wonder if Adam didn't like D'Andre admitting he wasn't thrilled with his song choice so in comes the bus?

[Dots And Stripes]

This is what Adam does. When he has multiple artists in the bottom, he picks a favorite. It's interesting that the producers didn't give him a minute to make a plea Reagan without DeAndre standing right there.

Adam deserved to lose his team tonight. I said last night he's been phoning it in. That Bruno Mars song was not going to save DeAndre. Reagan, who could not convey the emotional depths of Complicated was never going to see Cry. If Adam is looking for someone to blame, he should find a mirror.

Adam can also save a little blame for TPTB. That was a bad set up tonight. It wasn't a fair fight and I give credit to Dave and DeAndre for holding their heads high throughout. 

Finally, this is why I don't like tweens on this show. I do feel bad for Reagan. She was in a tough spot. Adam's need to baby her is an argument for raising the age limit. If kids can't take the lows of being on a show like this, they're too young to participate.

[Kaiju Ballet]

3 minutes ago, Diana Berry said:

Not to be rude but she can come out for the last 5 minutes in a bathrobe in full makeup?  Honestly , it would have been more  fair to keep  her offstage.

Yes, the closeup on a weeping 13 year old girl was so blatantly manipulative. And the cutaways to Adam shaking his head during DeAndre's performance. It will serve Adam right if Reagan goes home next week and his team is completely gone.

[Valny]

Quote

( did Adam look steamed or what?  Love it).   Boy was that Strange.   

Yeah, he looked a bit miffed after Kelly RIGHTLY said what she did.  The fair thing to do would be to praise both your singers,say the usual they both deserve to be here blah blah and hope one of them gets through, not chose one over the other!!  

[Cindyluwho]

If i didnt think Adam was a dick before tonight, he certainly confirmed it tonight!

[Dots And Stripes]

5 minutes ago, Valny said:

Yeah, he looked a bit miffed after Kelly RIGHTLY said what she did.  The fair thing to do would be to praise both your singers,say the usual they both deserve to be here blah blah and hope one of them gets through, not chose one over the other!!  

Yep! No matter what happened, the outcome would have sucked for Team Adam. Adam has always played favorites. The format tonight just forced him to be upfront about it.

I'm also soooo curious about what was happening in the room that we didn't see. The way Kelly phrased things made me think DeAndre and maybe Dave were more visibly bothered by what Adam said than was shown on TV. I doubt many places send entertainment reporters to this show anymore, but I would LOVE an on set report to know what went down.

[Quickbeam]

Like every other judge in every other contest, Adam could have moaned about how hard it is to choose and how great they both are. He sure took the crap road less traveled.