The Voice (U.S.)

[Aragorn]

These are who I think can make the final show just based on my gut and how previous seasons went. Granted, I never saw the Swon Brothers making it to the finals, but they picked the right song every single week.

Team Adam -- James. Tessanne is too much like Judith Hill, too good too soon. I don't see it happening for Will but he could last a couple more rounds.

Team Christina -- Matthew and Jacquie.

Team Ceelo -- Caroline (although that coffee house indie voice tends to lose steam the longer the show goes on). Kat's already at the bottom. You don't suddenly gain a fanbase and leapfrog over everyone else unless you're the Swon Brothers.

Team Blake -- Cole (though I consider him to be a longshot). Ray it this season's Josiah Hawley and will probably go home next week. Austin will probably go home in the next couple weeks too.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I agree with that assessment. Cole is this year's Nicholas David and Caroline is this year's Michelle Chamuel. Big enough fanbases to keep them in a long time but not as big a fan base as the bland mainstream panderers.

Hopefully Shueler triumphs over Jacquie Lee. He's not my favorite but I do like him and he does more than just milk big moments and be youngncute.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I wasn't surprised about Kat being in the bottom. I normally go for the rocker chicks, but I don't really like her voice and she kind of annoys me. Just my personal preference though.

Were the results announced in any particular order? I don't think they were, but maybe I missed it.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I liked Kat's first live performance but, well, the public votes are heavily influenced by coach reaction and she got trashed, so that was the end of her.

I thought Wolpert's A Case Of You had a really good feel to it and a good approach to expressing the emotion of the song, but I felt the execution was inconsistent. Frankly though, just the fact that he chose not only a Joni Mitchell song, but not one of her most famous, makes me like him more. And I do wonder if that's a big part of his appeal, that he resisted the urge to pander. If that is really part of his appeal, he's not going to get into the top few, because that has an expiration date.

What happened with Jonny? Like I said I missed this week's episodes, but I thought he was among the frontrunners. Of course, I couldn't hear him without thinking immediately of Collective Soul and/or Eddie Vedder, so maybe it was his 90s-ness that did him in.

 

[Aragorn]

Were the results announced in any particular order? I don't think they were, but maybe I missed it.

Results are never in any particular order. Last season The Swon Brothers were seemingly always at the end of the show to get saved.

I do think they like to keep the last singer saved as someone you're not sure of if they'll make it or go home. So the next couple weeks will probably have a Team Blake singer at the end of the show.

What happened with Jonny? Like I said I missed this week's episodes, but I thought he was among the frontrunners. Of course, I couldn't hear him without thinking immediately of Collective Soul and/or Eddie Vedder, so maybe it was his 90s-ness that did him in.

I never thought of him as a frontrunner. You can generally tell who has the it factor and who doesn't on shows like this. The blind audition is the only part of the show that's only about the voice, especially once you get to public voting.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Wow, I just saw Jacquie Lee's performance from last week on the recap show, and it made her significantly grow on me. Where did that delicate vibrato come from? She didn't have that kind of emotion in her previous performances.

James Wolpert on the other hand was terrible.

 

[Aragorn]

Jacquie's first two live performances were awesome, but regarding her performance tonight, what the hell was that?

If her live performances continue to be like this, she might not make the finals.

I also think James has peaked and it's all downhill from here, and Caroline is reaching that part of the show where people start to realize all her songs sound the same.

I was expecting Ray to be Blake's first one gone, but now I think he could outlast Austin (though neither of them will make the finals).

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Yeah, today's performance wasn't so great, but I liked her one from last week a lot.

Looking at the ITunes sales, Cole Vosbury is ahead, which I agree with 100%. But Austin Jenckes has the worst sales, which baffles me. He was definitely one of the best few. For me the really horrible ones from last night were Ray Bodreaux, Kat, James Wolpert, and Will Champlin.

I definitely see Matthew Schueler and Cole Vosbury in the final three. The third could be a whole list of people. Caroline Pennel or James Wolpert, probably, maybe Jacquie Lee. Hallelujah is still outselling ALL of this week's performances. Hopefully Blake decides to learn from the weaker performance this week and just let him sing what he wants from here out.

Is Without You really considered such a big classic? I used to be forced to hear it every day when I worked a job that had me in CVSs and Shaws for long periods of time, and it made me near-vomit every time.

 

[Aragorn]

Matthew seems to be the show's chosen one that they want to win.

Cole can make the finals like Nicholas David did, but he won't win.

I'm not liking James much anymore, but he still sells well on iTunes, so maybe Adam won't miss the finals for the third straight season.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Wow. That performance...Jacquie would shriek awkwardly for a couple minutes while Christina failed to rasp, then Matthew Scheuler would start singing and you'd be like 'Hey, it's a real performance! I want to pay attention to this!' Then Christina and Jacquie would start singing, and it would be gone again.

 

[Spot's Meow]

^What are you talking about? According to Carson, that was the best coach/team performance on the show EVER.

I'm not real excited about anyone this year. I'm a little surprised that Will and Ray have continued to survive. Though I do like Will as a person, he has the funniest facial expressions sometimes, like he's suddenly become aware that he's on TV.

Cee Lo is down to one team member, which had to be voted through by America. It's not looking good for him. I think that any of the other 3 coaches have a shot at someone on their team winning.

 

[Aragorn]

I think the two seasons a year isn't necessarily diluting the talent, but it does dilute what makes this show stand out.

But one thing this season has going for is that the final round of contestants -- outside of Matthew -- wasn't a given two months ago. You see Jacquie start strong and then tail off, Cole become a contender, Caroline's stock fall earlier than expected and James still selling well despite some mediocre performances.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The only of those performances I thought was all around good was the Tessanne Chin/Caroline Pennell performance. They just had a really good chemistry. Otherwise it was, James Wolpert outsings everyone and Cole Vosbury outsings everyone.

I'm not a fan of his solo performances but James Wolpert is clearly a better singer than Will & Kat. Those five are clearly set apart as the stronger singers in this competition.

 

[Aragorn]

So who's going home along with Caroline next week? Tessanne, Ray or Will?

 

[Venardhi]

I don't think Caroline is a for sure thing next week. At this point no one is totally safe and someone else's mistake may spare someone else who has been foundering the last few weeks.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Will and Ray are the only ones left I think are just not good.

 

[Danny99]

James Wolpert needs to be the one to go. He's nothing special.

 

[Aragorn]

Here's some random news -- the singer who will help mentor Shakira's team next season is... Miranda Lambert.

 

[Venardhi]

Ooooh snap.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I saw the second half of the show yesterday, starting with Cole Vosbury. I think Cole's was the best performance of the competition so far. And Jacquie's was easily her best, she's actually turning into something I wouldn't mind to see win.

And all the performances are in the top 30 in iTunes, except Ray Bodreaux and...guess who. Matthew Scheuler! I agree that performance was just kind of weird, but usually the predictable frontrunner is set in stone at this point in the game. I think he'll be saved by the Twitter vote though and Ray Bodreaux and Caroline Pennell will go home.

And guess who's first in iTunes. Will Champlin? I agree that was his best performance but Cole's was so much better I expected him to get the iTunes bonus this week.