The Voice Battle Rounds-Night Two Recaps

As always, by the lovely Esther Kao.

Jacob Poole vs. Matthew Schuler

Going into this, I thought that Matthew would cream Jacob. Partially because Matthew was a 4-chair and I had absolutely no recollection of Jacob Poole’s blind, because his audition was a montage. Anyway, listening to the battle, it seemed that Christina chose the song to complement Jacob’s voice, and to challenge Matthew a bit. I do think that Jacob really stepped it up, but on the other hand, Matthew did too. The battle was really even, and Christina, clearly going off from Matthew’s blind, chose Matthew. Of course, it was to be expected. Christina’s smart enough not to let a 9 second (or however long it was) 4-chair slip right through her hands.

Kat Robichaud vs. R. Anthony

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2xK3hRrGQ8 (can't. get. the. video. to. upload.)

This was such an entertaining battle round to watch, partially because Kat was bouncing up and down like a spring the whole time. Her dancing wasn’t bad, necessarily—it was… interesting. But aside from that, they both delivered on this sappy song, but I have to say that Kat threw herself in wholeheartedly. Perhaps that’s where all the energy for her epic tippy-toes came from later in the song. You’ve got to wonder how she managed to tiptoe in her 4-inchish high boots, though… Anyway, after that show, CeeLo just had to give her the win, didn’t he?

Monika Leigh vs. Ray Boudreaux

Dang, I really liked this battle. I’ve dug Ray’s voice since the blinds, and his daughter is like ridiculously cute—he is working that unfair advantage, haha. I thought they complimented each other really well, while still managing to stay true to themselves. Ray here felt more solid, so I was rooting for him when Blake was making his decision. I was also impressed by Monika, however, and am glad that CeeLo stole her. Overall pretty happy with this battle round.

There were also three lovely montaged battle rounds, because the producers of the Voice are lovely and fair to all their artists like that:

Cole Vosbury vs. Lupe Carroll

                Winner: Cole Vosbury

E. G. Daily vs. Sam Cerniglia

                Winner: E. G. Daily (go Dotty!)

Ashley Dubose vs. Justin Blake

                Winner: Ashley Dubose

The Voice-Battle Rounds Night One Recap!

Let's welcome guest writer Esther Kao, who is reporting on the first battle rounds of Season 5!

And the battle rounds start off with a BANG! Let's go baby!

Tonight we're serving:

Donna Allen vs. Tessanne Chin

Briana Cuoco vs. Jacquie Lee

Anthony Paul vs. Caroline Pennell

Shelbie Z vs. Justin Chain

Gray vs. Nic Hawk

Amber Nicole vs. Timyra-Joi

Donna Allen vs. Tessanne Chin

While this was definitely a stellar battle round, I have to admit that I was completely unsurprised by how it went. It made a lot of sense—Tessanne = great singer + Donna = great singer equals great battle round. And it was. Adam picked Tessanne, which I do concur with, because her vocals are just a little more polished and controlled. What did surprise me, though, is the fact that no one. Stole. Donna. She has this awesome rasp and was clearly up to par with Tessanne, who is in her own little level. So I’m a bit baffled as how this one played out.

Briana Cuoco vs. Jacquie Lee

Before I watched this battle, I was completely unimpressed with Briana Cuoco’s voice, albeit having a soft side for her, since she’s Mary Bennet in Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and had a high opinion Jacquie Lee, since her cover of Back to Black during the blinds was extremely interesting. This song, however, brought out an entirely new, sultry side to Ms. Cuoco, which only has me further convinced that song choice is key. Jacquie started out a bit nervous, but by the end of the song she’d won me over. I agreed with Christina’s choice to keep her, because although Briana impressed me, I can see Jacquie going so much further in the long run.

And by the way, Briana made a terrible choice by choosing Blake over CeeLo. Not only does CeeLo seem better equipped for a singer like Briana, Blake has a history of sending deserving artists home in favor of his boring, original team (think MarissaAnn vs Julio Cesar Chavez and Luke Edgemon vs Holly Tucker). Hopefully the coaches are going to be using those knockout steals, because Briana faces a very high chance of going home during the Knockouts. Oh, and is it just me, or does Briana sound like Team Blake’s Michelle Raitzin from Season 4?

Anthony Paul vs. Caroline Pennell

First of all, Caroline is one of the most adorable things I have seen in my life. Secondly, I loved her interpretation, and the way she scoops and dives and just the stunning simplicity in her voice. The only thing I can see becoming an issue is her becoming another Melanie Martinez—where everything she sings sounds exactly. The. Same. Hopefully she’ll learn the key to being interestingly and consistently unique. Meanwhile, Mr. Anthony Paul was pulling some heartstrings of his own. He reminded me a bit of a cello, actually, pulling and pushing—pardon my analogy. And is it just me, or does he look a bit like a mannequin? Or an alien.

As for Christina’s steal—she must have really liked his falsetto. But I am reasonably pleased with this battle round.

Shelbie Z vs. Justin Chain

I really do like country. And I thought that these two country singers did a great job. But it was just so expected. I was pleasantly surprised by Shelbie Z’s belting powers, but also agreed a lot with CeeLo—Justin Chain wasn’t really given a lot of room to shine. And they were really pleasant to listen to, but it isn’t the kind of performance that has me on my feet. Shelbie Z was the obvious choice, so I wasn’t surprised when Blake went for it.

Gray vs. Nic Hawk

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this pairing, especially since the song they were singing was Domino by Jessie J. But Grey really, really impressed me. Her vocals remind me a bit of Danielle Bradbury’s (yes, I’m still bitter), and the way she took control over the song was electrifying. Looking back at it, there was nothing hugely special about the battle, but for some reason it managed to hook me. I agree with Adam’s statement—Grey’s potential is limitless. She’s like a pop Danielle Bradbury. I’m excited to see her grow emotionally as a singer, because technically she’s almost 100% there. Nic, on the other hand, brought a sense of fun to the song. While the style of the song was definitely more up Grey’s alley, I thought that the overall vibe was something that fit Nic’s quirky personality pretty well. I was a little surprised that Blake stole him, though—Blake tends to steal girls because he doesn’t want them to cry. So perhaps he’s going to actually take Nic through to the lives. We’ll see.

Amber Nicole vs. Timyra-Joi

This was such an expected battle. I feel like ever since Amanda and Trevin’s battle, the coaches have constantly been trying to meet that same bar. So I came to this battle knowing exactly what I was going to hear—a lot of big notes and vocal acrobatics. And I wasn’t surprised. I have to admit, though, that I was pleasantly surprised by Amber, because her voice was interestingly nuanced, while Timyra seemed a bit delayed at times, which is the same issue I had with her during her Blind. So I was pleased when Christina handed Amber Nicole the win, although I had guessed that she would pick Timyra. What shocked me, though, was the fact that no one stole Miss Joi, because I’d thought that the coaches loved her. But whatever, I wish her luck.

That's it folks! Esther will hop in once in a while to give her opinions on...life...and TV shows.

Thank you :) Have an amazing day

I'M ALIVE

Yes I know, what a useless post. Yes, I'm still time-restrained and too unmotivated to write.

Bad news:

I may discontinue TKA recaps after episode 10! I am definitely going to force myself to finish recapping up to ep 10, but I think I'm losing interest in this drama (like WHAATTT? ITS JOE AND ARIEL HOW COULD YOU DO THIS ALYSSA!!!). I don't know, as I've said before, it's one of those dramas without a plot, and the only thing that's really carrying it is the romance between the two main leads. And when you get used to that, well...

Yeah and I also want to expand my watchings. Usually on the weekends I really feel like watching dramas but I've been avoiding them lately because 1) it distracts me from homework and learning, and I'm already pretty distracted 2) The Voice and Masterchef Junior have started and I seriously don't want to start any new shows (even though I know there's a ton of good American/Asian TV shows that I'm missing out on) because I know it'll distract me in eternity 3) I know it'll take me forever to watch if I start watching because I'm not one of those people who can watch 10 min of a drama that I like and then put it down for a week. NO. I must finish the whole episode in one seating! Or two. Or three.

So yup, I haven't watched one this week. I wish that some amazing Taiwanese drama would just come out like RIGHT NOW. Ugh, why doesn't Ethan Ruan make Taiwanese dramas anymore? All he's done for his last couple of gigs was trim his hair super short and filmed some military movies (yay ._.). COME BACK TO DRAMA SHOWBIZ BABY

School:

Whenever I hear someone talking, it's about school. WHAT IS SO INTERESTING ABOUT SCHOOL? Come on, shouldn't friendship go deeper than that? Okay well whatever now I will be a hypocrite and talk about school.

Books:

GUESS WHAT I've actually had barely any time to read any new books :O. In class we read Lord of the Flies, and our Lit teacher makes us write (A LOT) so I've been spending SO MUCH TIME trying to write good analyses of the Lord of the Flies. Ugh. It was tough cuz I'm so slow at writing and since I know it always takes me forever, I try to put it last on my list. So I end up writing my butt off from 7:00-12:30pm reading and writing and trying to make sense and editing my work. It's tough ._. I've always wanted an analytical teacher, but this is sort of killing me. Thank goodness we're starting a new book, otherwise I think I would've died. The problem is that we weren't allowed to write about anything we discussed in class or wrote about before. And we pretty much have discussion everyday, so there's not much that I can think of that's new, makes sense, AND is analytical. The essay was the hardest part; not only had we spent 4 or so weeks discussing the whole book (which meant we covered pretty much everything), but we had written like 8-ish papers on it already. So basically it's just hard to be original in class. Yup.

But overall, Lord of the Flies is sort of creepy. Don't read it at night; especially the last few chapters. It's not a horror book, but it just gives you an edgy, uncomfortable feeling that the beast is lurking in the corner...

I shall not summarize it because I am DONE with this book. NO MORE.

Also I am reading Thirteen Reasons Why (progress is slow), which is a book about a girl who records thirteen reasons why she killed herself (thirteen people responsible for her death). I think it's fine so far...it's not amazing, but it gives you a good view on how you never know what kind of consequences your loose actions lead to.

I decided to join Duo Interp with Urmila, so that means we have to choose a book to interp about! I don't even think I'm a good actor or a voicer, so I'm kinda nervous ._.

THE VOICE SEASON FIVE IS GREAT SO FAR

XTINA HAS A GREAT TEAM OF GREAT SINGERS

even though usually I always stick by my man Adam, this year I gotta hand it over to the female. Xtina knows what's up and she knows how to get the good singers to her team!

I'm having a bad day guys ._. I've lost my house keys (they're still lost in like school or somewhere help :'( ), my PE clothes (I swear I put them in my backpack, and they weren't in my locker when I checked ._.), and my sweater (it's cold inside ._.)

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS EXCEPT THE KEY THING BECAUSE UGH NOW WE HAVE TO CHANGE THE LOCK BECAUSE OF MY STUPIDITY

I'm not mad so let's ignore the caps lock.

This is a dum dum post.

You know what I always feel like I don't know the people in my class that well, or the people at Lynbrook. There are so many choices of classes, and I feel like since I am taking a certain set of classes, the same people will always end up in my classes. Someone mentioned it in Aletheia the other day...and I have found it to be true. There's a whole other group of people that I haven't had the opportunity to experience life and classes with simply because of the levels or electives we're taking. How sad. Oh well. Here's to another boring year (cheers! :) )