I was wrong! Yesterday I described Monday’s The Voice Battle Rounds as “front loaded,” therefore wasn’t expecting much from tonight’s 1 hour battles. WRONG. All three non-montaged battles featured terrific singers who all deserved spots in the knockouts.
My bone to pick are the choices the coaches ultimately made. I would have held on to the soulful and smooth Ethan Tucker over the run machine, Courtney Harrell from Team Blake Shelton. I appreciated the duet’s structure–how Ethan served as the solid core for Courtney’s flights of vocal fancy. She possesses a tremendous instrument, but in the end Ethan was centered and had a better connection to the song. Oh well. There are always disappointments during the Battles and Knockouts.
For similar reasons, I would have chosen Lane Mack over Sophia Urista on Team Miley. Lane’s delivery was authentic versus Sophia Urista whose delivery felt a bit contrived at times. I’ll always choose the singer who connects over the performer with flashy vocals.
I was hoping both would be stolen. But thank the singing show gods that the final battle of the night between Dave Moisan and Michael Sanchez resulted in a steal that allowed both talented singers to advance. I could have done without the piano gimmick that was hyped to high heaven, and to be honest turned into a nothingburger. Strong, compelling vocals carried that battle. I still can’t believe Michael only got one turn during the Blinds.
Finally, I’ve been dogging on Miley Cyrus for months. Her personality still gets on my last nerve, but I have to admit her song choices so far have been A+. Bringing a Pink Floyd song to The Voice for the first time ever was exciting–and under the watch of ultra-cool adviser Joan Jett! The song suited Lane and Sophia perfectly. Ditto the Odetta song, “Hit or Miss” for Ali Caldwell and Courtnie Ramirez from Monday night. Also, anyone who has seen Bette Midler in concert understands why she zeroed in on the lack of connection between Courtney and Ethan. Bette completely embodies every song that she sings. Suggesting the two hold hands while they rehearsed was smart.
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