Last season I was getting the blog up and going so this time around I'm trying out a new format. Instead of using numbers, I'll be using letter grade for the performance "report cards" at the bottom of the post. The report card is basically a ranking of all the contestants who performed tonight. Anyways, on with the show!
I thought the little monologues they had to Prince at the beginning was beautiful. A part of me was really hoping they had a surprise Prince theme. Wouldn't that have been awesome? On the flip side, not having themes is very integral to The Voice's musical success in my opinion. I think it's a smart idea to have contestants go into the direction of music on the show that they'd perform off the show. There's nothing more I dislike than loving a contestant on one of these singing shows and having them go completely left when they go out into the real world because they were trying to cater to a certain audience so they'd go further on the show. On with the review of the performances:
"The Climb"
"The youngest singer in our competition!" ...Carson, boy if you don't...! Jokes aside, this performance was more of a mixed bag from Shalyah. I thought the first half her voice was extremely shaky and her higher notes on the chorus weren't as strong as they could have been. And they could have been because she's proven she has an insane voice. She delivered the emotion superbly, as she always does and that was what sold the performance. I like that she switched up genres but I think it pulled out mixed results. B-
DANIEL PASSINO (TEAM PHARRELL)
"Time After Time"
After Daniel being all over the stage last week, I was very excited to see what he would do with this performance. His past performances have been vocally very good but I think they've lacked depth and emotion and I thought tonight wasn't an exception. Vocally is was brilliant, as usual. The falsetto at the end was a little in your face but it didn't ruin the performance. I just really wanted to see a true emotional connection with the material and his just always seems manufactured. I am REALLY rooting for him, though, because I think he's a great singer and a great performer. "They were still clapping while you were singing. I don't think I've ever seen that on the show." Don't they do that every week, for nearly every performance, Pharrell? B
PAXTON INGRAM (TEAM BLAKE)
"Break Every Chain"
I need y'all to pick up the phone, or start downloading his music because Paxton Ingram is probably the most underrated contestant of the season. He comes out every week, lights up the stage and actually has a very strong voice. My only issue with him is his over pronunciation but there wasn't too much of that tonight. Watching Paxton on stage is absolutely mesmorizing. He's one of those performers that just gets lost in the music and puts every ounce of himself into it and that was in top form this week. His vocal NEVER suffered. I mean, not ounce. But he kept on changing keys, and I felt like one of his veins was going to pop out he was exuding with passion up there. I wish they closed out the night with this performance or saved him for later in the night. While I would have loved for Paxton to have worked up to something this big and powerful, he didn't have the time. He needed to pull something out of his ass and he did it like a master. I think I was vibrating when he hit the second key change, my goodness. (Or "my God" cause gospel). A
OWEN DANOFF (TEAM ADAM)
"Fire and Rain"
Look everybody. I don't not like Owen, I just don't think he's had a moment yet. And he's had so many opportunities to have a moment but he just screams Korin Bukowski. Solid, silky vocals but struggling to really find his place in the competition. That being said, he delivered a fine vocal (maybe his best vocal so far) with the most power I've heard from him and it wasn't as lower-middle of the pond that I feel like he's been the past few weeks. C+
MARY SARAH (TEAM BLAKE)
"Johnny & June"
I think Mary has a very pretty voice, it's just not my style. She has very strong Kellie Pickler vibe in terms of that her voice is so strongly aimed in a genre of music I'm not a fan of that it's almost impossible for me stay still during one of her performances. That isn't to say this was a bad performance, I actually thought it had some very decent moments (particularly in the vocals during the chorus). I'm basically Christina anytime she speaks to her "You look pretty, good voice, introducing me to new songs, consistent, great job love!" C+
ALISAN PORTER (TEAM CHRISTINA)
BRYAN BAUTISTA (TEAM CHRISTINA)
"Stay With Me Baby"
"The song's been done by incredible artists. Bette Middler, Janis Joplin, Duffy..." ...And La'Porsha Renae. A month ago. On American Idol. But I digress because I actually fell in love with it after La'Porsha did it and it's only natural if anyone was to do it this season, it'd be Alisan Porter, who can draw emotion out of a chicken leg. How did she match up (in terms of vocal power and with last week's killer? Much like with "Stone Cold" last week, she accomplished two incredible feats. She sang the living crap out of the song while packing a bit of an emotional punch. I only say this isn't as good as previous weeks because it seemed like she was showing off a bit and lost her connection to the song. Sure, she does this every week but when you do it this good who gives a rat's ass? B+
"Just the Way You Are"
Didn't that remind you of something from an awards show? I think Bryan stepped everything up this week. Current song that was much less cheesy and left less of a bad taste in my mouth after. Also, look at The Voice trying to get us crying. They zoomed in on that poor girl bawling for all of 57 seconds. But Bryan's vocal? It was out of this world. He was a little sharp on his high notes in the first half of the number but the second half's high notes/falsetto were absolutely...crazy. Insane. The arrangement was a bit hit or miss for me but The Voice is desperate to get a major star out in the music world and Bryan is already ready. B
ADAM WAKEFIELD (TEAM BLAKE)
"Lights"
I feel like everything he does is in his safe range because he's a suuuuuch a beast. I don't think I'll ever get tired of his voice. I don't want to sound like a broken record (@TheJudges) but the amount of soul he is able to bring into all of his performance has the ability to captivate anyone listening (I'm one of them!!!!!). That falsetto was spot on, I wish we got some more of it. Adam is reliable to give you a solid vocal but I'm just waiting for Adam to rock my socks off. Literally tear my socks off of my feet because he has it in him. That's not to discredit how talented he is, I just feel like he has the potential to fuck my entire nervous system up with one performance and I haven't gotten it yet.. B+
NICK HAGELIN (TEAM CHRISTINA)
"Your Body is a Wonderland"
Nick has a nice little voice on him, I just don't think there's any real power behind it. The song he performed this week was definitely a winner because it didn't rely on his vocals too much. Less is more with Nick. He also looks so much more comfortable behind an instrument (so let's stick with that?). The performance just didn't really translate anything with me. I say this every time I talk about him but his breath control is awful so he always sounds like he just ran a marathon and he is struggling to walk back to the car. C It sucks being so critical with him because I see what Christina was saying he seems like a really cool guy.
HANNAH HUSTON (TEAM PHARRELL)
LAITH AL-SAADI (TEAM ADAM)
"I Can't Make You Love Me"
I think it's official that we're riding the Hannah Huston pimp train. She got a lot of exposure during the knockouts and the show seems to be riding that wave because 9:45 is the earliest we've probably ever gotten to see Hannah perform so far. She honestly has kept reminding us that she deserves it week by week. She has a great voice, we'll get to that in a second. But she is incredibly versatile. She's tackled older songs, yes, but she went from soulful, to rock, to bluesy to contemporary pop and her voice has not sounded out of place once. She had a few tricky vocal moments a few weeks ago but that's the only time I can think of a bad vocal moment. Her voice was tailor made for this song, some of the vocal decisions she made were pretty brilliant and she smartly held back a little with this song. A-
"Make It Rain"
After Laith sung "pain of my mother," there was a scream in the audience. That would have been me if I were there. I gave a note in my Survivor post that Laith's performances were beginning to wring together for me but he blew this performance absolutely out of the water. The spirit of Beyonce took over that mans voice. I mean, the grit? His growls? He built up the mood of the song like a freaking master mind and his voice is just absolutely out of this world! Uh, where were you guys when the rest of us stood up @Xtina @Blake ???? A-
REPORT CARD:
11. Nick Hagelin C (Last week's position: #10 // -1)
10. Owen Danoff C+ (Last week's position: #11 // +1)
09. Mary Sarah C+ (Last week's position: #12 // +3)
08. Shalyah Fearing B- (Last week's position: #5 // -3)
07. Daniel Passino B (Last week's position: #6 // -1)
06. Bryan Bautista B (Last week's position: #7 // +1)
05. Adam Wakefield B+ (Last week's position: #4 // -1)
04. Alisan Porter B+ (Last week's position: #1 // -3)
03. Hannah Huston A- (Last week's position: #2 // -1)
02. Laith Al-Saadi A- (Last week's position: #9 // +7)
01. Paxton Ingram A (Last week's position: #8 // +7)
10. Owen Danoff C+ (Last week's position: #11 // +1)
09. Mary Sarah C+ (Last week's position: #12 // +3)
08. Shalyah Fearing B- (Last week's position: #5 // -3)
07. Daniel Passino B (Last week's position: #6 // -1)
06. Bryan Bautista B (Last week's position: #7 // +1)
05. Adam Wakefield B+ (Last week's position: #4 // -1)
04. Alisan Porter B+ (Last week's position: #1 // -3)
03. Hannah Huston A- (Last week's position: #2 // -1)
02. Laith Al-Saadi A- (Last week's position: #9 // +7)
01. Paxton Ingram A (Last week's position: #8 // +7)
Laith, Paxton and Bryan delivered some of their best performances from the show. Shalyah and Adam weren't on their game, Everyone else pretty much performed as expected. If it looks like Hannah did worse than last week, she absolutely did not, the three guys just come out of nowhere being absolutely awesome.
PREDICTIONS:
BOTTOM TWO: Nick Hagelin & Owen Danoff
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