Pharrell his a few gems this season. Overall, his category was pretty average. I liked a view of the performances bu Riley, Celeste and Darius were the only ones who stood out to me. I think these artists have a great opportunity by having Williams as their mentor. He has so much experience and he's such a chill guy, he mixes those two worlds perfectly when he's mentoring. He is the best of every world. He sits there and gives you constructive criticism if you're doing something off, has a come to Jesus moment if you're singing your ass off and will produce the hell out of your version of a song. Pharrell's just amazing. As for his contestants:
DARIUS SCOTT
I selfishly loved Darius' performance of On Broadway because I'm just a really big fan of soul music and that song was just so funky. My praise for him was, in turn, a little biased because I was just having so much fun listening to the song and seeing him perform it. He's an excellent performer and seems to be the type of artist that would take Hello by Adele and have you up on your feet dancing to it. He really transformed Love Lockdown, it sounded amazing. His vocals were soaring as he transitioned to each of the chorus'. I absolutely loved the brilliant reinvention of the song. Ugh, his jazzy undertones in the bridge just made my soul sing with him. He hit a wobbly note towards the end but he succeeded it with some gorgeous runs and a killer minor note at the end. Yes, ma'am. Or sir, in this case. He seemed very comfortable on stage and I'm really rooting for him. I've like all of what I've seen from him so far. 8/10
EVAN MCKEEL
I don't remember Evan at all but just that moment in the clip package where we get to hear his voice during overjoyed and when we get a cutback to the blind auditions my heart almost melted, it sounded absolutely gorgeous. He seems to be very passionate about what he's doing. The way I listened to him describing when he heard this song performed on SNL in '83 and they way he's telling the audience how much he wants this kind of makes me root for him based solely off that. His personality is so chill, otherwise. I thought it was beautiful when Pharrell told him this isn't The Voice as much as it is The Feeling. Unfortunately when he hit the stage, he had a chance to have a moment and he failed at it. Vocally it was pretty good but there was just nothing that really sounded powerful in his voice and his "emotion" seemed a little more contrived than natural. He no doubt has a voice on him, I would just like to see a little more connection to the song. 6.5/10
MADI DAVIS
She sounded so gorgeous during her Knockout performance so immediately as I heard the name, I perked up. I perked up even further when I heard her actually singing her song in her clip package. This girl has a lovely tone of voice, a very distinct voice that you could pick up if it was a needle in a haystack. She's a natural performer. The performance felt very intimate as the camera closed up on her and her guitar in the dark. Throughout the performance she was able to keep up that vibe as she smiled her way through the song. She's very clear of the direction she wants to go and it shows off effortlessly in this performance. Her voice fit the song perfectly and as she hit the chorus her voice just melted in with the song like candle wax. As she transitioned to her head voice near the end of the song before it went instrumental I was sold on her. Lovely! 7.5/10
CELESTE BETTON
I can't speak on her because she's a comeback artist because I only watched the performances of the people who made it through last week but I loved this girl based on the video clip. She knows what she's talking about and she internalyzes a song in order to find a deeper meaning to it. It's not very common to see a black person singing a country song but as she started off I was sold on her. Her vocal dynamics were gorgeous as she hit the run "I'm changed." She has such a strong voice as well and she has a very commanding presence to her. She brings her personality to the stage and she sells every bit of it to us. Not only that but when this woman belts I see heaven. Her vibrato is so beautiful. While she was over singing a bit I thought it fit the song well and it didn't annoy me at all. Her commitment to the meaning of the song as she sings, "I once was lost, but now I'm found. T'was blind but now I see," is just a testament to why Pharrell brought her back. That was amazing. I loved seeing that white woman behind her family smacking him on the shoulder like "damn she's good!!" Damn, she was good. 9/10
RILEY BIEDERER
I was very hesitant when I heard this girl was doing Tori Kelly's Should've Been Us. Tori Kelly has such a natural powerful voice that it's going to be hard for any artist to cover one of her songs but when she belted out "it should've been us" in her session with Pharrell I knew that I was in for something special. The country elements that were added to the song really complimented her voice and her vocals effortless soared as the song transitioned into the second voice. Her runs as she sailed her way into the chorus for the second time...damn girl. She has a powerful voice on her. She seems a little mechanical at times but her vocals make up for it and it's earlier in the competition, anyways. 7.5/10
MARK HOOD
So Mark is the dude with all the extra personality but just an alright voice. At least that's what I got from his performance last week. When I heard he was doing What Do You Mean I was intrigued because it's very current and he has a chance to really sell us on the type of artist he wants to be in the competition and, well, the real world. Pharrell was smart in telling him to pull back because he was giving 110% when we were only asking for 65. The arrangement of the song was pretty much the same in the beginning, if I'm not mistaken. There was just this funky vibe that was brought to the song that I really enjoyed. I just think when he stops trying so hard to be John Legend with his vocals with the weird tone he gives, that is clearly unnatural, he could really soar in the competition. I just think the performance was way too much. Not bad, just too much. The falsetto was cute, I guess but then he went into John Legend, went back to falsetto did seven runs, spun around then did John Legend again then sounded like he was singing Midnight train to Georgia. It was just like I ordered a cesar salad at a restaurant and they gave me my salad soaked in dressing. Tehe, I feel like Simon Cowell. 6.5/10
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