Hey guys. It’s SirMac again. Excited to be filling in again this week for MJ. Join me tonight as I live blog THE VOICE!
4 teams of 10. Half will go home. Half will stay.
The contestants get to choose their song this week. Tonight is Team Cee-Lo and Team Adam. Which means, I’ll either be happy or sad tonight, because it looks like Trevin goes home (as he cries on his mom’s shoulder).
Team Adam Pairing 1: Jocelyn Rivera vs Kayla Nevarez
Jocelyn is singing Love On Top. She was a “steal” for Adam. Adam really seems to love her voice. Kayla had the sick father. I remember disagreeing with her being picked in her pairing. Jocelyn is first. She’s trying to put a little Jessie J on a Beyonce song, and it’s what I would call an “acquired taste”. Not that it’s bad, but you have to get used to the tone in her voice on the song. Once she gets in the higher range of the song, she starts really getting into it. Kayla follows with Shark In The Water. I’m actually not familiar with the song. She’s doing the same “sound” in her voice. It’s the same sound Xenia made last year. Kayla is a bit more consistent at the sound. Jocelyn dumped it as soon as the song got in the upper register. I would say for this, Kayla is the winner. I don’t know where Adam’s head is at, but we shall see. Blake picks Jocelyn, Christina picks Jocelyn, Cee-Lo picks Jocelyn. The song was ambitious, so everyone is excited. He calls them two of the best singers in the country, and then he picks JOCELYN.
Team Adam Pairing 2: Joe Kirkland vs Bryan Keith
Immediate first thought is that Bryan Keith wins this. First up is Joe, who is singing Mean by Taylor Swift. Bold choice. Bryan is doing Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams. Joe is up first. I don’t hate emo/punk music, but there’s something about Joe’s voice that is annoying to me. I hope I’m not crazy. I would say he’s not hitting all the notes either. Bryan has almost no stage presence, as he walks around like someone would at Karaoke on a small stage with cheesy hand choreography. His voice is much more suited for the song he’s singing. Joe looks beat while Bryan is singing. I hope Joe doesn’t get the win simply because his song was more “difficult”. Blake doesn’t get a pick as Christina starts talking during him, and ends up not definitively picking anyone either. Cee-Lo picks Bryan. Adam thinks Joe was better, but he picks Bryan. lol.
Team Adam Pairing 3: Amanda Brown vs Michelle Brooks Thompson
Amanda is another steal for Team Adam after she went against Trevin. She’s singing Paris (Ooo La La). She’s only wearing a shirt for her mentoring session with Adam (she’s going for the ‘man’s dress shirt’ look). Michelle is doing Spotlight by Jennifer Hudson. She doesn’t want to sound like J-Hud, she wants to sound like Michelle. Based on the mentoring session, this is a really even pairing. Amanda’s performance is really good. She’s hitting all the right ntes. Michelle looks worried. Amanda has a really strong stage presence. Michelle is going to need to knock this out of the park. Michelle doesn’t quite have the same stage presence, and has some bizarre facial expressions. However, vocal to vocal, this is evenly matched as Michelle is slaying this song too. And this song has a bit higher degree of difficulty, so I’d even give the edge to Michelle on that. It’ll be interesting to see where Adam goes with this, but I could see Michelle knocking Amanda out. Blake picks Michelle. Christina doesn’t make a pick and just talks about Amanda and where she is as an artist. Cee-Lo picks Michelle. Adam talks about who he could be a better coach for (oh no), and picks Amanda. I knew that was going to happen when he said who he would be a better coach for. That’s the 2nd of 3 pairings where I’ve disagreed with Adam’s pick… weird.
Team Adam Pairing 4: Loren Allred vs Nicole Nelson
Loren is doing You Know I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse. Adam tells Loren that Amy had a lot of problems, and Loren needs to get away from the wedding singer sound in her voice, and find her inner Amy Winehouse. Nicole is doing If I Ain’t Got You by Alicia Keys (seems like a safe choice). Loren has a cool jazzy vibe. It’s not gritty enough like Amy, it’s a clean jazz sound. Loren gets a standing O from Adam and Christina. Nicole’s got a really cool low register right at the beginning. Neither singer has a crazy awesome stage presence, so it’ll just be voice vs voice. Based on Adam not choosing Michelle, he’s not going to choose Nicole’s GOOD version of an Alicia Keys song. He can work more with Loren, as she’s a bit more in his wheelhouse. That’s my prediction. Blake picks Loren. Christina was wondering where Loren was the whole competition. Cee-Lo says Nicole’s voice is like a mother’s love. Adam says Nicole has always been amazing, but Loren had the element of surprise. He thinks they both could win. Adam picks Loren.
Team Adam Pairing 5: Melanie Martinez vs Sam James
Melanie picked Bulletproof. Adam didn’t lie it in rehearsal. Uh oh. Sam James unexplicably beat Benji in the battle rouns. Sam picked Walking In Memphis, and couldn’t pronounce Memphis. His constipated face isn’t going to get him far though… Melanie starts out. She’s the only one left on Adam’s team that I think could win. It’s a cool rendition of the song, and if Sam was a black gospel singer, I might be worried. But he’s not. He’s a Lee Dewyze knockoff. Right down to the cap and his weird pose and inability to open his eyes. He’s not even in the tempo of the song. Weird faces. It’s not a bad voice, but it’s not a great voice either. Melanie should wipe the floor with him once these judges start speaking. Sam shouldn’t even be here. This is Benji’s spot, IMO. Blake picks Sam. Christina says Melanie is haunting, and picks her. Cee-Lo is skipped over. Adam picks Melanie.
Team Cee-Lo Pairing 1: Avery Wilson vs Cody Belew
Avery is doing some Chris Brown, and is bringing dancing to the stage. Cody is the dude that eliminated DOMO. He’s singing Jolene, and Cee-Lo appreciates it, but he notes that you won’t necessarily win just for taking a risk. Avery is first with Yeah 3X. He could use some fashion help. His vocals are a little strained in parts. He sounds like he’s been oversinging for the past couple hours. His dancing is causing him to be winded. It’ll be interesting to see how Cee-Lo reacts to this. Cody follows up with Jolene. He’d be the first openly gay male country artist, I think. Cody had the better vocal overall. Adam thought Avery was all over the place and gives it to Cody. Blake picks Cody. Christina says Avery was too much, but appreciated the effort. Cee-Lo says Avery can sing his ass off, but so can Cody. Cee-Lo picks Cody.
Brief NBC News update on Hurricane Sandy
Team Cee-Lo Pairing 2: Mackenzie Bourg vs Daniel Rosa
Mackenzie is doing Call Me Maybe. He says mistakenly that it’s the most popular song in America right now. Daniel shouldn’t have won his battle round. He’s singing Back To December by Taylor Swift. He’s showing the “sweet sensitive” side. Like when you sang Somebody That I Used To Know? Mackenzie goes first. This is CRAZY cool. He’s having a “moment”, like when Kris Allen did Heartless on Idol. If he was on Idol doing this, he’s a white guy with guitar after all, he’d probably win. I’m downloading that. Daniel whispers through the Taylor Swift song. Consonants be damned. If Daniel Rosa advances again… over someone clearly more talented than he is. Adam talks about Daniel’s confidence and calls him magical, and picks Daniel. (WTF). Blake calls Mackenzie an artist and picks him. Christina says Mackenzie owned it. Cee-Lo says they represented him well. Cee-Lo picks Mackenzie. Daniel Rosa finally goes home.
More footage of Trevin crying backstage, and his mom trying to console him. I swear to God, if they cut Trevin…
Team Cee-Lo Pairing 3: Terisa Griffin vs Trevin Hunte
Terisa lost to Julio (inexplicably). Now she’s on Team Cee-Lo, only to face off against Trevin. Terisa picked Saving All My Love For You by Whitney Houston. Terisa has to get out of that “karaoke” section with this song. It’s a good vocal, but I find it hard to believe that there’s anything special about her voice. She’s a good singer though, but she’s got a voice that blends in too well. Great vocal though. I hope Trevin pulls it off. He chose Against All Odds (VOMIT… sorry). I love Trevin. You should have figured that out by now. I’ll try to keep the tongue bathing to a minimum, but I really believe he’s the best singer in the competition. I’d love to see him do a face off against Joshua Ledet. Cee-Lo has to pick Trevin, right? He’s crying at the end. Cee-Lo is crying. Blake picks Trevin. Christina is jealous that Trevin is on Cee-Lo’s team she believes he’s special and god given. She’d co-coach him with Cee-Lo. Cee-Lo says that Terisa moved him. Cee-Lo is proud of Trevin. Cee-Lo picks… DAMMIT. COMMERCIAL BREAK. :( After the break, Cee-Lo picks Trevin. Thank god. Terisa calls Trevin her baby.
Team Cee-Lo Pairing 4: Mycle Wastman vs Nicholas David
Who the EFF is Mycle? Am I crazy? Nicholas picked Girl Put Your Records On. Oh.. now I remember him. I don’t know why he’s unrecognzable now. He picked Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me by Elton John. Cee-Lo says he’s looking for attitude and adaptability. Mycle is attending the vocal olympics here tonight. He makes the runs that Trevin did look controlled. He’s a little uncomfortable to watch perform. Nicholas is going for something a bit different tonight. He’s also an odd performer. It’s a very distinguishable voice. If I had to pick, I’d go with Nicholas because of his uniqueness. Cee-Lo picks Nicholas.
Team Cee-Lo Pairing 5: Caitlin Michele vs Diego Val
I would not have picked Diego. Not that JR Aquino is a great singer, but I thought Diego was having a rough time. Caitlin Michele was a steal for Cee-Lo. I hope she wins this. She’s doing Bring Me To Life. Diego is doing Lenny Kravitz. Caitlin goes first. It’s beautiful, but she almost sounds too much like Amy Lee and not enough like her own artist. She is also murdering the lyrics. Why choose a song you don’t know? She holds out her last note too long in hopes of compensating. I don’t think it worked, but we’ll see. Diego sings Are You Gonna Go My Way. He attacks this song. Even though he didn’t deserve to win his battle, Diego is showing Caitlin what she should have done. He’s killing this. Adam says that the song was a perfect match for Caitlin. Christina says Caitlin runs the risk of sounding too much like Amy Lee. Cee-Lo doesn’t think either performance was the best. Cee-Lo picks Diego.
Thanks so much for joining me tonight. I think I’m only subbing tonight, so whoever normally recaps the Voice will be back tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed my live blog. I had a blast! Signing out, this is Sir Mac.
Team Adam Top 5:
Jocelyn Rivera
Bryan Keith
Amanda Brown
Loren Allred
Melanie Martinez
Team Adam Eliminated:
Kayla Nevarez
Joe Kirkland
Michelle Brooks Thompson
Nicole Nelson
Sam James
Team Cee-Lo Top 5:
Cody Belew
Mackenzie Bourg
Trevin Hunte
Nicholas David
Diego Val
Team Cee-Lo Eliminated:
Avery Wilson
Daniel Rosa
Terisa Griffin
Mycle Wastman
Caitlin Michele
