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
Article & Photo Courtesy of Andrea Billups (People Magazine)
Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green Return to The Voice
Christina Aguilera is back! And so is Cee Lo Green!
Fans of The Voice are already getting a first look at the upcoming fifth season of the hit show.
Green and Aguilera – looking super slim with a sophisticated bob and long, lean legs to boot – are reuniting with triple winner Blake Shelton and Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine for the new season, which debuts Sept. 23 (8 p.m. ET) on NBC.
Host Carson Daly is also back for season 5 – just in time for blind auditions, which began this week in Los Angeles. Woot! Woot! It's nice to see our original four back on the set of the best singing-competition based show evah-The Voice! And it comes out just a while after school starts, which means no studying for me.
To briefly explain how the show works, there are blind auditions for each artist that makes it to The Voice stage. Four judges have their backs turned on the contestant and turn around if they want them on their team (purpose is to make sure the judges aren't judging on appearance, but the voice!). Each team is made up of 12 artists and the judges coach these artists throughout the season. When an artist wins a season, they win for their coach as well!
I'm rooting for a Team Adam win; this year I don't want to fuss with yet another Team Blake win (that title of "triple-winner" really adds salt to the wound...). I've been watching this show for two seasons, and for both seasons I was sure Adam was going to win with Amanda Brown (Season 3) and Judith Hill/Amber Carrington (Season 4) but NOOO...they got booted off. Vhat is zis life?
Anyway, enough of my biased rants, I guess we'll just see when the season actually starts. Shakira and Usher, our newbies, will return sixth season. Can't wait to see Usher's interesting coaching techniques again.
Everyone who's a fan of singing should definitely watch this show. It doesn't have create as much drama as the other singing shows (because that shouldn't be the focal point of a SINGING competition), but the quality of the singers cannot be beaten. It remains true to its roots of not judging by anything other than the person's voice, and the coaches are simply gr9.
