Surprising pick from Adam. Doesn't really matter though, since nobody's beating Javier. I actually think Casey has a better chance than Jeff. I have inappropriate thoughts every time Dia gets on that stage. Another very strong performance. The lights were a bit much though. That was an extremely risky song choice for Casey Weston. I think she did pretty well, but you should never EVER do a Whitney Houston song. First time I've ever disagreed with Adam's decision. I love me some Maroon 5. Add some Christina on top of that? Fuhgedabowdit. Beverly beat out Frenchie 15 seconds into her performance. That was good. Javier frikken Colon. Haha, wow. Blake Shelton is crazy corny. I was hoping for Miranda Lambert. Dang, Xenia did some work. I'd definitely listen to her album if she came out with one. I stand corrected, Blake Shelton. Nice pick. No way she's beating out Dia though. Those heels look really high. Dang, Vicci has some kind of power in her voice. Predictions: Christina: Beverly Adam: Javier Blake: Dia Cee-Lo: Vikki Seems pretty clear-cut.
Watching the end of the semi-finals results show... so far I'm three for three... waiting to see if Beverly or Frenchie wins Edit: I am so good at this... someone sign me up as a talent scout
No surprise for any of the winners IMO. Funniest part of the show was Adam's reasoning for picking Javier. It's quite reasonable and expected, but still funny that he would put it so bluntly like that. I'm confused about how the Final next week would include. Did Carson say that each artist would perform original material AS WELL AS duets with their coach? If the duets part is true I feel sorry for Beverly, as Christina would probably try to sing over her like she does every time she takes a mic.
He graded Javier/Casey at a 65/35 split, while other coaches all went with 50/50 or 51/49. Adam's reason for his large discrepancy was that he had to make sure Javier made it through, that Casey was young enough that the outcome on this show was not going to seriously affect her career. Casey definitely knew that she wasn't going to beat out Javier but she was obviously surprised to see the score.
It may be that the do an individual song first and then while people vote they do the duets. The window for voting decreased to less than a day with the last round... so instant voting would be a really cool way to do the finale. They wouldn't be able to use iTunes that way though. I may go check out the website and see if it shows how the voting will work for the last round. Edit: looks like there will be two shows next week... a performance show and a results show... so I guess the duets will be done during the results show
White C Lo never should have been eliminated. I think Nakia is way better than the crap Blake put on stage. It should have been Javier vs. White C Lo. Oh well. I wouldn't be opposed to Frenchie taking it all either...
Most of the people I know watch this show, and ALL of them have Dia as a strong second to Javier. I liked Nakia the best out of Cee-Lo's team, but if you think he's better than Dia, you must really hate her style of music. Her performances have been spot on this entire competition. To each their own, I suppose.
if he wanted to make sure javier went through, why didn't he just make it 100-0? feel bad for xenia...she was easily the 2nd best on the show, she just had no stage presence and moved around like she was on lithium. i hope she auditions for Idol next year. plenty more personality coaching on there, and time to grow.
I think Dia is #2 behind Javier but I wouldn't necessarily say it's a strong #2. Aside from Javier, I feel that the finalist are all somewhat limited in what they can do. They do what they do very well but aren't well rounded enough to provide contrast, which lifts their strengths to even greater heights. As an example, some may know that I'm a musician and studied jazz in college. I was once told a story about how the Count Basie Orchestra was widely regarded as the loudest big band around. In reality they weren't. They were just better at playing dynamically and were actually able (and willing) to play softer than any other band. By playing softer, their "louds" sounded louder. I've had the opportunity to play with a drummer who was with Basie band for 30 years and was the last drummer Basie had when he was still alive. I vividly remember playing a Basie chart where we got so quiet that we actually stopped playing for a beat or two and then we followed it up with a loud stinger that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It wasn't that the "loud" was louder, it was that the "quiet" was quieter and it's the contrast that made it seem louder. It's this type of element I feel that is missing from some of the finalists. Their strengths are strong but their weaknesses are either poor or mediocre. And these are things that need to be built up and become more comfortable to serve as a contrast. If you're just loud and aggressive and stay that way, eventually it becomes boring. The contrast keeps the audience engaged. You need to have a delicate, more nuanced side so that when the loud, aggressive part comes, it has more of an impact on the audience. This is the whole point behind the advice you've seen Adam give Javier. Don't come out guns blazing, runs coming out of everywhere. Give the performance somewhere to go. The anti-Aguilera School of Oversouling method. Since we've talked about Whitney's version of "I Will Always Love You", that's a good example. She starts out kind of softly, brings it up only slightly for the 2nd verse, brings it up more for the 2nd chorus, but doesn't really start belting it out until the very last chorus of the song before resolving the tension and bringing it back down again. Not to really compare the finalists to Whitney, but that's what I'm talking about. I want those layers. I want that tension to build into a climax and resolution. And that's what I'm missing a lot (not all) of the time. I don't want essentially the same level throughout a performance. Beverly stays intense almost all the time and Dia stays medium/medium-low most of the time. I think that Beverly making her lows lower and Dia making her highs higher will do wonders for their overall performance. Again, I think Xenia's area of strength is very narrow. Very cool tone and phrasing. But her vocal range is narrow. When she tried to go only moderately high last week her unique tone disappeared and she fell out of tune. She also only has one intensity level and dynamic level. She seems like she gets timid and she backs off. When she does, her tone again disappears. And she doesn't appear to be able to get loud at all. She's young. Hopefully she'll learn how to keep her tone all over her vocal range, learn to be more confident, and learn how to incorporate some more aggressive singing into her style. But for where she's out right now, she shouldn't be in the finals of a competition like this.
I think Cannonball's spot on about Xenia. She has a unique voice, but the vocal range is VERY limited. In fact, having to go falsetto on the last song and entirely missing one note on falsetto did not help her cause. I'm rather surprised that she was saved instead of one of her other teammates. I do get the idea that Blake could help someone grow, but one week later, the result remains the same. Moreso, Xenia's stage presence was pretty much absent. Her walk to the front of the stage seemed so forced that you could see her completely dying under pressure. I also think that for the competition to be named "The Voice," they sure let a lot of other stuff dictate the results. Nakia's voice is pretty incredible and he has that Ruben Studdard kind of feel to it. I felt that Vikki won it because of the show that she put on. Don't get me wrong: I felt that her voice was great, but it's definitely the drums and the "show" that put her on top. One thing I've noticed so far, is that the judges are being very careful about negative criticism. I love positive criticism, but at times, the judges are being way too nice in terms of their critiques. I get encouragement, but don't encourage things that are obviously awkward. I'd say that by the third time that Vikki sings, that bending to hit the high notes has to look awkward.... The med student from Tuesday was also absolutely horrible (imo); so bad that the word "swagger" is completely overused to keep the judges from commenting about the song. Finally, I have to say that Cee Lo's team sure gets some nice background choreography to accompany the singers.
That's why they aren't judges. They're coaches. They are way too emotionally invested in their singers to embarrass them on national TV, but I'm betting they aren't so nice during rehearsals.
I'm still bummed Adam eliminated Jeff. If it was really about the Voice, Casey would have been eliminated. I also think that dude with the fro was better than Nakia.
I don't like that these are two hours. Even DVRing it I have a hard time sitting down to watch it knowing that it's going to be an hour and a half of television.
Vicci Martinez could win this. I liked Javier's song better but he seemed a little disconnected, Vicci has so much passion and she's cute too.
Too cute...for some reason her shy demeanor makes her even cuter. I think she may just upset Javier. And yes, two hours is wayyyy too long. They should have made some of these performances back to back.
wow this is so hard to choose!! i don't even know how to begin. i think javier was the most disconnected from the song. he sounded shaky and i think he was focusing on his vocals and remember the lyrics that he just seemed to throw all emotion out the window. I get a "the script" vibe from that song. it was a great concept EXCEPT...i wish he'd done something more soulful. ( Vicci sounded nervous as well but was getting into it towards the end. probably my least favorite original, Dia did a great job and the song is catchy but it never reached the climax like the way i wanted it to. no doubt the girl is talented...although her voice can get a bit annoying after awhile. not gonna lie...i absolutely loveeee beverly. i loved her original song...it had all the energy and emotion i was looking for. she rocked it!! in the end...i guess it's about who can be the most relevant and can sell albums?? if that's the case, my pick is javier. BUT....i get a feeling that beverly can steal the show.
